Torture Comes in Many Forms

Chapter 2: Tsunade’s Secret Request

Ibiki was surprised when he received word that the Hokage was coming to see him in his office. Tsunade had never asked to meet him here in the secret ANBU underground facility in which he worked. She normally just sent for him if there was something that they needed to talk about. Moreover, Ibiki prided himself on knowing when a meeting with the Hokage was coming and what it would be about. But today he had no clue, and he was feeling something he hadn’t felt in a long time, something odd—surprise. When you dealt in those things that villages were ashamed of—spying, assassination, terrorism, and torture—you were surprised by little.

But the head of ANBU’s torture, interrogation, and black ops never let himself show surprise—unless that was exactly what was needed to get information or to manipulate someone. It was second nature for Ibiki to conceal his reactions, so much so that sometimes he wondered if he really had normal reactions any more. Late at night in his bleak apartment, he sometimes wondered if the emotions he suppressed really existed at all. Maybe his belief he was hiding some emotion was really an illusion created by his mind's need to believe he was still normal, still human. After all, he’d never come close to letting any emotion show that he didn’t want to.

When Tsunade arrived, the mystery was explained. She had something she didn’t want anyone to know, and unfortunately there were few rooms in the Hokage’s tower where she could secretly meet Ibiki without drawing undue notice to their top-security conversation. She let Ibiki know that Danzou and Sai together had requested that Sai be assigned to work and train under Ibiki. The reasons they gave had to do with Sai overcoming trauma over his “brother’s” death by torture. Tsunade had told the two she would research the situation and get back to them. But when researching Sai and his brother’s background, she’d uncovered a secret file on Sai created by the Fourth Hokage.

As Tsunade explained: “I can’t tell you what I discovered just now, Ibiki, but it is important that we keep Sai alive and well. I want to put him under your care and protection. Frankly, serving under you is one of the safest jobs a ninja can have. He’s grown up in ANBU, so I doubt that a few months working with you will damage him psychologically. But Ibiki, I get a sense that Sai is lying about why he has made this request. I want you to see if you can identify his motive for wanted to work under you. Also, as you train him, protect him. But this investigation and protection must be kept secret at the moment from everyone. We are going to keep using the code name `Sai’ for him. I’d like him to move into your apartment and share your emergency quarters here, but I won’t force that on you. If you do agree to that, however, I will have my staff try to find a larger apartment for the two of you as soon as possible.”

Tsunade fell silent at this point and seemed lost in thought, clearly troubled. Ibiki opened the files on the ANBU members currently being referred to as “Sai” and “Sai’s brother.” After studying them, he broke the silence. “It is as odd request, but keeping Sai under my constant watch is probably the best way to both keep him safe and discover the motives behind his desire to work with me. I don’t have a problem with having him move in with me although it would be better if you could arrange for us to move to a bigger apartment with two bedrooms. When do you want this training to start, Tsunade-sama?”

“I’ll inform Sai and have him pack. How soon can you arrange to be free to meet him at your apartment?”

“I can be there at 5,” replied Ibiki. The conversation then moved to issues involving uniforms, official job classifications, and salary. When all that had been settled, Tsunade left. Ibiki sat at his desk in a bit of shock. He hadn’t lived with anyone since his younger brother Idate had run away at age 12 after failing the chuunin exam. Ibiki had been 23 then. Although he was only 30 now, he felt much older. Idate had stolen the scroll of sealing, having been falsely told he could become a chuunin that way. When he found he had been tricked, he’d fled. Ibiki, already a jounin and part of ANBU, had been assigned the job of capturing him. Ibiki had lost the rest of his ANBU team and had been brutally tortured in an attempt to force him to reveal the secrets of the scroll. He hadn’t and had managed to save his brother who had fled to Tea Country thinking Ibiki dead. The two hadn't been reunited until Team 7 under Kakashi was hired to protect Idate, three years ago. It had been good to see his brother again.

But it was seven years since anyone had shared an apartment with Ibiki. This Sai’s age was unknown, even in his ANBU files, but he was at least 17, possibly as old as 20—basically around Idate’s age. The both had dark hair and eyes along with a slim frame. Sai’s face was a more oval than Idate’s, and his lips were certainly different. In fact Sai’s lips gave his whole face a delicate air—they formed an almost diamond shape—the center of each lip was thick while the ends thinned out. The effect made his mouth seem tiny, feminine in a way, sensual. Staring at the official photo of Sai, Ibiki found his eyes going back to those lips again and again. It bothered him that looking at those lips made him think of vaginas, of anuses, of how those lips would feel around his cock. This wasn’t the sort of thing that normally popped into his mind when looking at a photo. The fact that photo was of someone about ten years his junior only made it seem more disturbing.

But Ibiki didn’t let this mild feeling of distaste for his own thoughts bother him—he couldn’t in his line of work. Moreover, if there was one thing he’d learned in his years in Black Ops, it was that in every human mind there lurked many dark, disturbing, and depraved thoughts. Fortunately most people didn’t act on those thoughts. It was normal to have them, but it was also normal to feel guilt over them. But he’d have to just accept that and let it go—he was going to be sharing a small apartment with his new apprentice and teaching him things that could send the stress levels soaring and even cause some minds to break as if the torturer was being tortured. The last thing that was needed was for there to be any sexual tension between the two. But giving that photo one more look, Ibiki had a strong premonition that he was going to have to work a lot harder than he had in years to keep that air of cool, indifference, and invincibility that had earned him the nickname Iron Ibiki.