Rational? I Think Not. [private/mikaboshi]

[Hanone]

The Jounin was tired. He'd battled long and hard against several foes. His companion for the mission had been badly injured and almost killed. There was a chance the boy would still die too. Burns did not always heal well and infection could run rampant in such a ravaged body. But these things were not his concern right now. Right now he was on overdrive mode; forcing himself to continue forward when all he wanted to do was fall on his ass.

Still he trudged on. Caked in dried blood, the man took his prisoner through the Grand Palais, around the back alleys of Sietch Zensunna and toward the huge prison. Here she would be interrogated and brought to justice. The binds holding her kept her at bay, but she hissed and fought as much as she could the entire way. Hanabi refused to become a prisoner willingly. And although she knew in her heart there were no ways to escape her fate now, she would struggle none-the-less.

This did nothing to aid Eiji's tired mind and body. He was glad when the woman was finally through the prison doors and tucked into an interrogation room. The basic ones were located on the first lower level so the effects of the prison were minimal and didn't cause those working for Suna to be overly bothered by it. If convicted, she would be led downward to much worse levels where the vicious pressure and darkness of the prison attacked one's mind and body like a living thing.

Once the door was closed, Eiji sent a note to the Sennin's office, letting him know he was requested for this interrogation then figuring he had a little time, found himself to the bathroom on the 1st floor in the ANBU headquarters. He was ANBU so this place was like a second home to him in a way. Having served for the branch for almost ten years now, he had come in and out of this place more times than he could count.

After a hot shower, he changed into a set of spare clothing left for just such cases, found himself something to eat, then returned to the questioning floor. There he would wait outside her cell, sitting on the floor until his sennin would arrive. The time alone gave him peace and quiet, enough to clear his mind and rest his body some. The man held a busy title; Eiji was also used to waiting.

[arrived, looking for Mikaboshi]

 

[Mikaboshi]

Mercifully, Eiji did not have long to wait.

Shortly after he sat down upon the ground, the warden appeared from the darkness of the Palace as soundlessly as if he had always been there. He found the darkness of the Palace familiar and soothing, unlike most others, but that was mostly in due to the fact that his chakra was impossible to remove. Unlike a human being who had a supply of energy within their body to wield and use, Mikaboshi's depth of energy came also from the shadows around him which provided him with a non-stop flow of energy. Ultimately speaking his body could tire from molding and wielding the energy but he could never have it stolen from him. His energy simply didn't work like that. In his right hand, Mikaboshi carried a dull-looking manila folder which was full enough with paper that it was visible even from where Eiji sat.

"Agent." He greeted Eiji with a title rather than a name. Truthfully, Mikaboshi struggled to keep the names straight of all the human beings that he'd met since his revival. Unlike Ancients, which could be told apart simply from the spiritual presences that followed them where-ever they went and were distinct to each of them, Mikaboshi was required to keep track of humans by their physical features and if he would be forced to be honest about it, humans mostly looked the same to him with some obvious exceptions to the rule. Eiji was not a particularly remarkable example of any of those exceptions though and as Mikaboshi looked down at him he struggled to bring up the memory of what Eiji's name was. "I take it the prisoner is lucid enough for discourse?"

He wondered shortly if Eiji had any idea what the Sennin had in mind. The criminal element in Sunagakure had grown bold over the last few years. The civilian police force struggled to keep them in check and often failed. The streets ran red with gang violence and for the most part the criminal element of the city ruled beneath the gaze of the shinobi aristocracy. It wasn't that the ninja of Sunagakure didn't care for the suffering of their significantly less powerful members of their population, it was that for the most part they simply didn't notice. The affairs of shinobi were often beyond the scope of common criminals which dabbled in the areas of things like drug trafficking. But as they ignored those criminal organizations, they consolidated power and rotted the city out from underneath the government of Sunagakure. It was possible that within a few decades the government might be facing some sort of economic upheaval as various criminal personalities finished consolidating their power structures over business and trade in the city. With the oath that he'd sworn to Sousuke, Mikaboshi simply could not let such a threat go ignored.

 

[Hanone]

Eiji had almost hoped it would take a little longer for his commander to arrive. He was tired and his heart was still aching badly from the encounter with his old lover's corpse and worse, the disposal of it. But as the new ANBU sennin came into view. He seemed to apparate from the shadows as if he were part of them. This was a good trait in an ANBU. Eiji was well trained to be part of the darkness when need be.

Tired, but strong he stood up. At his full height he was still several inches shorter than the new ANBU sennin and followed dutifully. "Boss." he said, his tenor voice was sincere and obedient. This wasn't his usual nature, but he had served the ANBU for enough years to know his place with his superiors when at work. "She is in a feisty mood. And she's unharmed, just bound."

Usually when attending to an interrogation, Eiji would be wearing his ANBU outfit, his pika mask and all. But not today. The woman already knew his face, already knew her captor and she wasn't exactly an ANBU prisoner; only an enemy of the village and it's steward. Yet there were no better at extracting information than the special task forces. And Eiji was looking to get to know the new sennin at least in part so this worked out for him either way. Bringing her here and asking for his sennin only made sense.

He didn't know entirely what the other man was capable of or what kind of methods he preferred. If it had been the last Sennin, that bitch Hotaru, he knew exactly how this would go. They would enter. She would question. If the prisoner didn't comply, someone with genjutsu abilities might come in and trick the person's mind into betraying it's secrets. It didn't suit him. He had higher hopes for this one; he wasn't exactly your bunny petting, ice cream eating ninny.

The slim man followed his Sennin, his eyes resting on the room before them.

Inside the room, Hanabi was sat in a plain looking chair. Her odd-shaped body was held tight; invisible binds holding her arms behind her and her thin legs and frumpy middle against the chair. Her once fancy red dress was torn on the shoulder and was smudged with dirt and old brown blood spots. Not her own. She had since stopped screaming, but as soon as that door would open she would spout curses and blasphemies. That was, when the sennin entered. Eiji was following here, not leading.

 

[Mikaboshi]

Mikaboshi lifted the folder that he clutched in his right hand and thumbed it open as Eiji responded to his inquiry about the status of the prisoner. The mission to bring her in had been a standard arrest warrant-- a basic smash and grab. Eiji hadn't had the opportunity to file a report yet for her own side of the story but a few tentative complaints had come in from Hanabi's public sector over her detainment. Most criminal organizations were similar in form, if not function. At the very least they all had organizations that served as their public faces with which to secure some form of legitimacy. It was what allowed them to pool their resources to legally purchase property to hold their meetings and was what they used as a shield against the meddling authorities when they chose to intervene. They of course threatened to withdraw their support from Sunagakure over Hanabi's arrest, citing her "perfectly legitimate business enterprises" as evidence enough that she was not guilty of whatever crime she'd been arrested for. But Mikaboshi saw through that bluff. The relationship between criminal organization and shinobi village was complicated at best but they held no real power over the government. They were like a parasite on the body of the village which could not be permanently excised from it. Crime would always be an element in a city like Sunagakure where there was a semblance of free citizenry. But ultimately speaking even if Mikaboshi lacked the power in the government to make Sunagakure immune to the disease that was criminality those same criminals lacked any real power to retaliate against him. They couldn't force him to release Hanabi. The best they could hope for would be to appeal to the Council which the Steward possessed the power to overrule. And with the faith that Sousuke had in Mikaboshi, the Council would never be able to force him into releasing her. As of the moment she crossed the threshold into the Palace, Hanabi belonged to the ANBU.

And it was time to make that clear.

"Then let's begin." Mikaboshi remarked, flipping the folder shut as he turned to the door of the chamber and entered with a click of the doorknob. The security on this level of the Palace was light to say the least, mostly because it mattered very little if the prisoner managed to escape her chakra-binds. Even if she managed to get out of the room she would be powerless to escape the central column of the Palace alone without aid from one of the garrisoned ANBU. And if she "escaped" into the prison enclosure... well. Then she would only be doing Mikaboshi a favor by speeding up his process of elimination.

Coming into the room, Mikaboshi cast his gaze over towards Hanabi as she began to sputtering and swearing at the top of her lungs forcing a curl of his lip in disgust behind his mask. His first impression of her was immediately negative and for a moment he considered rejecting her out of hand and having Eiji process her for elimination. Waiting for Eiji to follow him into the room, Mikaboshi gestured at the door causing lashes of shadow to violently slam the door behind him and then directed his attention fully to Hanabi. If the abrupt slamming of the door wasn't enough to give her tongue pause, Mikaboshi would drop the folder he held in his hand onto the table before walking over to where she sat and without saying a word reach up with his right hand to grab the lower part of her face preventing her from screaming or speaking. Being an amalgamation of human, science and ancient monster, Mikaboshi's physical strength drastically dwarfed that of the small human woman sitting before him allowing him to grasp her mouth tightly with his hand and hold her head fast so that he could lean forward close to her face and bring his predatory yellow-gold eyes even with hers.

"You are not to speak again without my explicit permission. If you do, I will have my agent-- who I understand you are familiar with already --break your fingers, cut out your tongue and then feed you to my prison." Mikaboshi calmly explained, his voice even but the edge of the threat he'd made obvious behind the relatively amicable volume and tone of his voice. "Next to nobody knows you are here. Those that do are powerless to do anything about it. There is no one coming to save you from this place. Now, I am going to release your jaw. I will not warn you again."

 

[Hanone]

Eiji didn't startle as his Sennin shut the door behind them loudly. He hadn't seen it coming but was well trained enough to not jump at loud and unexpected noises. However at the moment he had little to do but wait in the background, looking imposing and stern. The latter wasn't hard for him to do, but the former... well he rarely looked imposing. Eiji only stood 5 foot 5 inches tall. His frame was slim, albeit very strong and compact with dense, lean muscle. When he was undressed that would be more apparent, but dressed he always just looked rather lithe.

In this case though, Eiji knew Hanabi had a lot of fear when she saw him. She had watched him slaughter her hired guns like sheep and kill her friends as if they were mere pawns. Only one had survived and he wouldn't be making it long either as soon as Eiji found him again.

The frumpy woman was struggling in her binds, spitting and snarling. She was obviously not intimidated by the Sennin, but then she hardly knew who he was. Her defiance was rocked by the sudden grip of Mikaboshi's hand to her mouth. His grip was painful and with practiced authority. The defiance lingered in her eyes as he brought his harsh yellow ones to her level. Watery blue stared back at buttery gold; angry and hateful but slipping. Then they looked away, unwilling to stare into them any longer. When he threatened her for silence and compliance, her eyes shifted back to the brunette standing behind Mikaboshi and fear flashed over her face, held as it was it was quite noticeable. One didn't witness that sort of brutality and take threats from that same source lightly or at least smart ones didn't.

If and when he released his hold on her, she wouldn't speak again. The tightly pressed together lips would explain that well enough. Her life was in the balance.

Eiji never thought that woman was the type of concede to another's demands, yet he was proved wrong. Lucky for her.

 

[Mikaboshi]

For a moment, Mikaboshi savored the look of terror that overtook Hanabi's features. He missed that look. There had been a time in the world where if Mikaboshi had walked into a room each and every human being would have prostrated themselves to avoid standing out too much and gaining the interest of an Ancient Lord. Mikaboshi understood that within the human communities that served under the will of most Ancient Lords it was commonly accepted as wisdom that it was best to avoid the gaze of an Ancient Lord all together. While some of them were benevolent in nature or at the least had altruistic streaks to them, the Lords were beings that barely registered human beings as life. Even the kindest ones typically only acted that way out of pity towards the lesser creatures that they had volunteered to steward. For Mikaboshi's part, he was a predator. A wolf in a world of sheep. Stories were told around campfires in the surface world of the Ancient Lord of Shadows and his penchant for coming to the surface at night to hunt his lessers.

"Now that we understand each other," Mikaboshi said as he relinquished his terrible grip upon Hanabi's face, "I will get to the point. You have been arrested under a number of criminal charges. We know that you are the head of a small drug smuggling ring that operates within Sietch Zensunna. To that organization-- and by proxy to you as their ring-leader --is also attributed several murders and accounts of kidnapping and torture. Add on to all of that, I understand that body-guards under your command assaulted the arresting shinobi with lethal force."

Mikaboshi allowed that to sink in for a moment. Just as he'd let his threat hang in the air, he allowed the charges to once more turn over in her brain. She was in quite a bit of hot water, as the humans said. The crimes alone were enough to warrant a very long incarceration within the first or second level of the Obsidian Palace. When Sunagakure deigned to take an interest in the type of civilian-level crime that Hanabi was involved in their tolerance it was notoriously small.

"You are a cancer on this city, Hanabi. Given what we know about you and your group, why should I even allow you to go to court? I could kill you right here and save us all the time." Of course what he was telling her wasn't the precise truth. The charges at hand did not warrant her summary execution after being detained but at this point with circumstances being as they were, it would be just as easy to say that she died resisting arrest. As Mikaboshi understood it, the only other arresting shinobi on scene was a young non-ANBU. And he had been unconscious at the time according to the report. The only person who had any eye-witness accounts of the end of the battle was Eiji and he was an ANBU. A loyal one, if his personnel file was to be believed. "You may speak for the moment. I would advise you however to choose your words carefully and with respect."

Mikaboshi had already made clear the position she was in and had cleared up any possible misunderstanding between them about his willingness to see her murdered and discarded. He felt no need to waste his breath making the threat again. If Hanabi chose to spit more insults and disrespect at him with the opportunity that he was giving her to save her life then he would waste no more time on this offal of a human being.

 

[Hanone]

Silence fell about the dark room. Eiji watched raptly, and obediently unmoving. His eyes followed the hand of his sennin upon Hanabi's face, then lingered on her mouth when his hand fell away. She was chewing on her bottom lip as a child before her enraged mother. A memory of his own mother standing mad at him and how he cowered before her came to mind. He was so young then. Hanabi was not a child now. Eiji would never act as she was at this point in his life. He felt disgust for her further. This opinion was only furthered as he assumed it was also due to the fact she was a woman. He assumed before the night was out, she would be crying. Pathetic.

Yet his inner feelings didn't show through onto his passive face.

Hanabi, as Eiji had noted, was chewing her bottom lip once released. The once raging fire in her was quelled to a dull, barely flickering tealight of defiance and anger. The silence on her half went on a long time. She needed to try to defend herself and she wasn't a complete fool. What the...man had said to her about all her crimes.... she knew she was in for life without some sort of alibi. Had she been sledgehammer, she would have been able to think quite and say she didn't know what was happening. That she was a pawn herself, only a placeholder of a boss. Then she could rat out a fake name to take the blame for her. but she wasn't quick witted. She was all fire and brute. Her way was; comply or I'll kill you and your family. She wasn't used to being cornered.

Unwilling to let any more quiet continue and for her to get killed for saying nothing, she tried to speak. At first her voice cracked and the words didn't come. She was shaken so badly it took a second try. This time her voice came to her and she was pleased to note it sounded much stronger than she felt. "I don't have anything to apologize for." it was a good start, yes she knew what she would say. It was the truth. Trick was to not get too angry and get your throat torn out for it. "I'm wronged. I made my way in a shit world you shinobi left us in. It's a prison there and we did what we had to. None of you come to save us. I kill the people who hurt the families I protect. It's justice. I also offer a way for others to live when you... people leave us nothing else. So many people in the Slums can't even make it without me so... so..." Her voice was leaving her. She wanted to throw insults, call him and his kind selfish traitors to the people they claim to protect.

What else could she say? She knew if she was put in the courts she wouldn't be heard. Because the courts are run by the rich families and the shinobi who don't know their pain. It was pointless to speak to him, to any of them. Snide and hateful, she spat, "IT came" he referred to Eiji, looking right at him over Mikaboshi's shoulder, "to take me away and in turn as killed a hundred families who now have no one else to protect them. I was defending myself."

The self-righteousness bothered Eiji. He too had grown up there and it was hard certainly, but she had twisted things to see it that way. She had chosen to wrap her hands around the necks of others, grow powerful on the shoulders of weak people and then have the audacity to claim she was their protector. His jaw tightened. What a bitch.


[sorry about the delays]

 

[Mikaboshi]

As Hanabi railed on about being a victim, Mikaboshi did not move but a snickering laughter slowly built from where he sat as she spoke and slowly as she got to the end of her rant crescendoed cutting off Hanabi's final words. The notes to his laughter however weren't filled with mirth or happiness as laughter usually went. No, his was a cruel laugh. A hollow sound of hate and mockery that resounded off of the walls of the small room. Shaking his head with his eyes on the table, Mikaboshi stood from his seat and allowed the last few chuckles from his biting laughter subside before he brought his eyes up to look once more upon Hanabi.

"And that... is your answer? You think to play the victim here? Show me the error of my ways by highlighting that I am a monster?" Mikaboshi allowed himself one last chuckle, a drawn out and slow one not unlike the growl of a beast. This laugh was decidedly not hollow. This time it was filled malice. "I assure you little woman, I am well aware that I am a monster. Your kind tells stories about things that go bump in the night because of things like me. But we are both beasts, you and I. The difference being that I acknowledge what I am. Revel in it. You feebly try to justify your monstrosity with ethics so that you can pretend for a moment that you're a human being. And that makes you weak. More specifically, it makes you useless to me."

Mikaboshi turned from her and with a gesture the door's latch turned and it's hinges creaked as the door slowly opened once more, this time slowly as if drawn open by an unseen hand. The Hand then motioned for Eiji to join him in the hallway. Hanabi was still bound by Eiji's bind which meant that she was ultimately of little concern. She could be left alone without worry just as they had done before. Not that it would be necessary for much longer. Strictly speaking, Mikaboshi felt no disappointment with how the meeting had gone; he'd expected as much from the scrawny woman. Her file had not indicated that she would be of any interest to his goal. Rather, she would prove a stunning example of what happened if you crossed the government of Sunagakure. You would simply disappear as if the devoured by the night itself. As that thought crossed his mind, Mikaboshi decided that perhaps he might set that exact rumor ablaze in the minds of criminals through some of his contacts. The idea that at least some of human kind might still fear the night itself for the sake of it amused him to no end.

 

[Hanone]

Laughter. He didn't care for a thing she was saying. He thought she was a joke.. and wasn't she? Rage started to bubble inside of her again but fear was much stronger. Her eyes, while growing hard and angry, found the floor where they stayed. It was clean, and polished. She could imagine blood had been spilled here over and over again. It would be stained if not for the cleaning. How many bodies had been dropped here? How many by this crazy man or the other Sunan pawns? The muscles around her eyes and lips tightened as she tried not to cry...

Eiji watched his sennin belittle the woman further. What he said was no different than he was feeling. It was justified. Killing her was also justified.

The interview was probably now over as the ANBU was beckoned from the interrogation room into the hallway. He followed his leader quietly, leaving the woman with her head hanging toward the floor and shut the door behind him. The hallway was colder than the room. Even in that short time the woman's anger and emotions had warmed up the small holding cell a few degrees.

As he followed the slightly taller man, Eiji felt the wound on his chest reopen a little. He suppressed a wince, hoping it wouldn't be noticed. He relaxed his clenched jaw forcefully and inquired, "Yes sir?"


mft
wc: 231

 

[Mikaboshi]

"As an organization, the ANBU are going to begin taking a more vested interest in the criminal element of this city. They are a cancer which is rotting our city out from underneath us as we pretend they are not a threat to us." Mikaboshi told Eiji as he heard the sound of the door shutting itself tightly. There were no other ears here in the halls of the interrogation rooms. The guards would be some distance from where they were in the hall and the door that Hanabi was behind was sound-proof. Unless Hanabi possessed an ultra-hearing talent and was far more competent at hiding information about herself than Mikaboshi had given her credit for thus far, the information would go no further than between them. "I intend to put a stop to it. To do that, I am going to need ANBU which are capable of putting the greater good of the city and our organization above things like ethics."

Mikaboshi looked then upon the countenance of Eiji to gauge his reaction to his Sennin's words. Mikaboshi was blatantly saying that he intended to do things which others in the hierarchy of the village might consider immoral. The Ancient had always found it an interesting contradiction that as a military organization Sunagakure was above no mission or job. Theft, destruction and death was their business and Sunan personnel were among the best in the world at carrying out their craft. But still the leaders of Sunagakure clung to the same type of ethical standards that Hanabi did. They told themselves that the actions they took while on missions were just business as if that somehow made it acceptable that they commonly took the lives of others in exchange for ephemeral things such as money. It was why Sunagakure had laws against the shinobi of the village using their talents against it's citizenry. Why they had structure to prevent shinobi from simply exterminating the criminals of the city.

Mikaboshi was done with that.

"Are you such an ANBU?" He asked, his tone casual as he talked despite the grave nature of his question. In essence he was demanding to know if Eiji was willing to proceed with him into the territory of possibly illegal conduct in order to protect their village.

 

[Hanone]

Once the door was closed tight, Eiji found himself faced directly by his sennin and posed with a question, a dangerous quesiton. The woman left behind him was of no interest anymore. She was expendable trash, a thought that he wasn't alone in thinking apparently. It was expected for criminals to be tried and found guilty by those with authority, for things to run through a process of guilt or innocence, but there were too many loopholes and ways to sway the minds of those who would listen to your stories. Too many bad men had walked away from punishment simply because there wasn't enough proof of their wrongdoing. Eiji knew, everyone knew but nothing was done.

If this were the world of storybooks and heros, some vigilante would enter here, cleanse the village of it's scum by strong but merciful ways. He would find a way to make it all work, but this wasn't a storybook world, it was a corrupt one.

If anything was going to change and for the better, Suna's leaders had to save face; to look as though they were upholding the same laws as before, but men with stronger resolve needed to work in the shadows. This was something Eiji had felt for a long time but had no ability to power to do so. One man wouldn't be enough, but one man with a few dozen hands? Mikaboshi could be that man and Eiji could offer his hands to the man's sound logic. Would be be willing? He could turn the sennin in for treason just for asking Eiji what he did.

The question was, did Eiji really love Suna enough to risk his own self to save it from itself? The parasites had grown large and fat, suckling from the dense blood of the village. In some ways the connection had been symbiotic. But it was more harmful than helpful. The parasites were also killing their host, albeit slowly. What was Suna to him?

He raised his hand to his clothed chest, touching the still aching wound with weathered fingers. How many of these wounds did he have given to him service? His hand moved up further to his forehead protector, which on this day was where it belonged; on his forehead. The cold metal met his skin. A single brush over it, he could feel the engraved symbol of his loyalty. Suna. It had served him home and sanctuary. Really there was only one answer. Eiji's hand dropped to his side once more and he tipped his head down, respectfully.

"I am, sir. My hands are yours." And he meant it. He felt a strong alliance for the man form in his mind and heart, one that wouldn't easily be shattered.

 

[Mikaboshi]

"Excellent." The emotionless mask that Mikaboshi wore upon his face did nothing to hide his satisfaction with Eiji's response. He had plans for the future of Sunagakure and for those plans to succeed he would require loyal soldiers. He could not depend on the typical rabble of Suna's forces; they were too easily swayed by their consciences. Concepts such as mercy and legality would only hinder Sunagakure's road to recovery from the infection which plagued her. He knew already that the actions which his ANBU would take would likely be considered illegal by many. He also knew that as an organization they stood at a curious precipice. If they failed, Mikaboshi and his ilk would be painted as traitors and monsters. History would only remember them as a power-mad group of murderers. But if they succeeded? History would remember only the results of their actions. Over time he knew that the less legal things that they were forced to do to ensure the future of the city would be glossed over by the victory won against the criminal element in the city.

"From now on when you greet me, you will do so with a specific sentence and I will give you a specific answer. If you do not give me that sentence, I will assume you are an impostor. I would have you assume the same of me if I do not respond correctly." Mikaboshi explained. It was a weak failsafe against anyone who had any real skill in surveillance and infilitration but it would ensure that they were not infiltrated by lower-level scum. "If you are asked to elucidate on the nature of the greeting by anyone but the Steward-Kazekage then you are to tell them that it is a quirk of our working relationship and a show of respect towards each other. Your greeting will be "the shadows are here" and I will respond with "the shadows are everywhere"."

Mikaboshi turned his gaze towards the door. Hanabi was worthless to him. He intended to use the criminal organizations against them by subjugating enough of them to give the ANBU an ear to the ground with the pulse of the criminal world. They would be exterminated eventually as well unless they could prove themselves useful enough to the ANBU that it would be against their best interests to destroy them. Ultimately he needed a criminal leader that was ambitious enough to seize the possible gain that could be had in siding with the authorities against their kin but at the same time was not cunning enough to see the guillotine blade that would inevitably fall upon their neck. It was a tough sell, he had to admit. But not impossible. Either way, even if he couldn't find such a leader the fumigation of Sunagakure's streets would proceed none the less.

"Do as I threatened. Break her fingers, cut her tongue and incarcerate her. I do not care which level; the prison will consume her quickly enough." Useless things were to be discarded. With her tongue gone, Hanabi would not be able to talk her way out of whatever danger found her in the darkness of the prison and with her fingers broken she would hardly be in a state to defend herself even though Mikaboshi sorely doubted that such a sad excuse for a human would have much skill in doing so regardless. "If you'll inspect the folder I brought with me, you will find that the record-- and by proxy your report --reflect that Hanabi was killed resisting detainment at the scene of her arrest. Her presence in the Palace is, as of this moment, a state secret. I will expect your discretion, Captain."

Eiji had given him a measure of trust and so Mikaboshi would respond in kind. By giving him an immediately unsavory task and putting the promise of a promotion to ANBU Captain on the table by addressing him as such, Mikaboshi had made the unspoken point that Eiji would not go unrewarded for loyalty. Whether Eiji caught the implication or not was on his head; the King Under the Sands was not in practice of fully explaining himself to human beings. Mikaboshi would say nothing more if Eiji had nothing further to say to him. If Eiji said nothing, Mikaboshi would turn and stalk off into the darkness of the prison to pursue the next object of interest upon his agenda for the day. There were going to be lots of confused criminals on the streets that night.

Perhaps... he would go out for a hunt.

[Topic Left (Unless Stopped)]

[You know where to go to collect your banner.]

 

[Hanone]

The smaller man stood quietly, listening to the direction of his Sennin with a slight sense of pride swelling within him. He felt he was being taken into the man's confidence which was only a reflection of his loyalty to the branch and his leader. For years he had worked for the ANBU and under such weak leaders, his passion and desire to be useful remained dormant. Mikaboshi was different, harsher and more direct. It was refreshing and inspiring.

However, his mind needed to stay on point. He was given a direct order to address him in a certain manner and it wouldn't do well to forget such a thing, or even need it repeated... "The shadows are here." yes that he could remember. And the rebuttal, "The shadows are everywhere." That too. It suited the man. To show he understood, he nodded both at the words and after the reference of how to deal with questions on the matter. It would be a secret for just the two of them, save the steward.

Finally Miakboshi brought the woman back up. He gave Eiji his final decision on her, rendering her worthless and his new tasks were assigned. A steely readiness swam over his nerves at the thought of what he would do to the woman bound behind the door. It was suitable. His eyes slimmed with a hint of pleasure at the thought of ending her fucking voice for good. He thought perhaps that would be the end of the conversation and the two would part there, but he was surprised once by being handed the folder with 'his report' and then a second time by the title...

Captain.

A smile blossomed over his painted lips then. He could not contain it. A promotion for his loyalty and willingness. He knew there was no reason he wasn't a good choice for the position, but he'd never sought out a promotion and never expected one either. He wasn't a man with strong morals and a merciful hand. His psyche evaluations had even stated he was a little unstable and reckless, but then it was that old sennin, the pale bitch who had been reading those reports before. She did not like him, he did not like her. This was a different story.

Once his words were concluded, Eiji tucked the folder under his arm and gave his sennin a bow. "Your trust will not be and has not been misplaced. Thank you, Sennin-sama." With their business concluded with one another, Eiji let his branch leader leave. He did not turn back to the door until the man's back was no longer in view.

When he was gone, Eiji took a few moments to himself in the hallway. Another smile escaped him. The pride he felt at the moment was enough to wash away the notice of the previous battle that so recently left him injured. Captain Motomori... he would be able to take a team of his own. Thoughts of calling up the ANBU, setting them to tasks and having them address him as their superior pleased him to the core.

Eventually he sobered up and slipped the folder into one of the larger pouches at his back then turned his eyes on the dark door. Excitement returned to his body, but not in the same way as before. No, he was going to terrorize this woman, cause her incredible pain and suffering then leave her to rot. She had almost gotten him killed. She had even made him use... him... to survive. She had stolen something from him that he could never replace. She would suffer, yes.

Quiet footsteps made their way to the door, his hand turned the handle. Inside was the woman, sitting bound. Her defiance was deflated but upon seeing the sickened smile on Eiji's face she could see what the verdict had been. She could assume only she was condemned to death. She would wish that had been the case very soon... death would have been much kinder. Silently, Eiji disappeared behind the door and a quiet click was the last thing to be heard in the dull hallway. Her screaming would be muted by the walls.


[topic left]
[yay thank you!]