Torture Comes in Many Forms

Chapter 5: Sai’s First Party

There really was nothing for Ibiki to show Sai in the bathroom except where Ibiki kept the towels and toilet paper and what rack, hook, shelf, and drawer were now “his.” In the kitchen, Ibiki showed Sai where the key dishes and food were and where the towels and trash went. Ibiki then showed Sai the large closet that he had completely emptied save for the bedding for Sai to lay out in the living room each night. It was at that point that it occurred to Ibiki that Sai hadn’t brought anything with him.

“Where’s your gear?” demanded Ibiki.

“Naruto’s going to have a bunch of clones bring it over after the party.”

“What party?” snapped back Ibiki out of habit.

“Naruto and Sakura told me it was traditional to have parties for new apartments, new jobs, and leaving your team—since I’m doing all three, they arranged the whole thing. In fact Sakura and her helpers should be here any minute with the food.”

Ibiki was glad that Sai’s back was to him because he was sure that his right eyebrow twitched. Fortunately the younger nin was checking out the closet and bedding. Ibiki told himself, `This is good. I’m clearly slipping—I haven’t been this challenged not to show emotions in years. This will make me a better interrogator. This isn’t something to panic over. You can handle this.’

“Should I leave?” asked Ibiki, hoping the answer was yes.

“If you want,” said Sai. “Sakura and Naruto, however, are expecting you to be here; I got the sense that the roommate and new employer traditionally attend these parties.”

`Damn!’ thought Ibiki. `If I don’t stay now I look like a jerk or a coward.’ None of his annoyance, however, showed. Ibiki had been a bit shaken by that eyebrow twitch, particularly coming after that whole embarrassing thing with his erection. Ibiki prided himself on having control of his body, and he was currently very displeased with himself.

Sai, however, didn’t seem to notice Ibiki’s silence as he began spreading out the bedding in the long narrow closet. The futon completely covered the floor space of the closet. Standing in the hall next to Ibiki, Sai turned to look him in the face, “I think I’ll sleep in here at night and just move my things into the living room at night.”

Ibiki merely shrugged in reply. Whether Sai slept in the closet in between his bedroom and bathroom or he slept in the living room that the hall emptied out into, didn’t really make a difference. Either way, Ibiki was unlikely to feel comfortable. On the other hand, he wasn’t likely to be feeling empty and hollow either. He’d spent too many nights in this place sitting in the kitchen drinking alone. He’d probably spend the night thinking about Sai, about how he’s like to just push Sai down on that futon and get acquainted with the feel, the smell, the taste of that lithe body—fuck—he had to get his mind off that.

Ibiki cleared his throat and said in the voice he used to convey calm, relaxation, “So a party, eh? I haven’t been to party in about ten years.”

“I’ve never been to one,” said Sai shutting the door to the closet.

Ibiki struggled to suppress his surprise and pity. The hallway suddenly seemed very small.

“What are parties like?” asked Sai.

Ibiki reminded himself that he was supposed to be finding out Sai’s motives for requesting this job—and befriending a suspect was one of the best ways to get information out them. “A lot of people eating, drinking, and gossiping. If there’s drinking, people using that as an excuse to say all the socially inappropriate things they usually suppress,” said Ibiki, his voice a little lower and huskier than he’d intended. Somehow instead of the sympathetic friend voice, he’d used the seductive tempter voice. Sai’s eyes were like the darkness of a starless sky, as black and empty as the airless space of the cosmos. His lashes were long and dark. Those lips of Sai’s looked so soft, so needy—

At that point, the doorbell rang.

When the doorbell rang, Sai felt relieved. It looked like Ibiki was going to be cool with the party. And if Sakura, hadn’t rung the doorbell now, Sai was afraid he might have gotten another erection without even touching himself. That voice of Ibiki’s—god, that must be what was meant by the phrase “a bedroom voice.” It sure had made Sai think of bedrooms, of beds, and of all the things lovers could do on a bed. But there wasn’t anytime to think of such things now. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were everywhere. Sakura and Ino seemed to think that Ibiki and Sai existed merely to move furniture, fetch bags of ice, and meekly obey their every command. Normally, Sai wouldn’t have, but at least letting Sakura and Ino boss him around meant that he wasn’t having to deal with Ibiki at the moment.

Ibiki was just letting those two kunoichis take over for now. He could use the distraction to keep his mind off of Sai. Thank god for this party—otherwise, Ibiki might have done something that would have sent Sai fleeing the apartment. Tsunade had made it clear Ibiki needed to protect Sai. Sexually assaulting him was a no-no.

“Here,” said Ino, shoving a thick candle into Ibiki’s hand, “go light this in the bathroom.”

`I’m in some weird dream world,’ thought Ibiki, as he headed for his bathroom. He set the candle on the sink and lit it. It smelled of gingerbread—and the scent suddenly took Ibiki back to a memory he had long forgotten. Idate hadn’t even been born yet. He had been six or seven, and his mother was baking gingerbread cookies because he had begged her to after having them for the first time at the academy a week or so before. After they had come out of the oven, they had sat down and eaten a number together. They had been so good, much better than the ones he’d had at school. When he’d told his mother that and asked her why, she’d laughed and said, “I put in a special secret ingredient, Ibiki, that makes them taste so good.” She had refused to tell him what it was. Ibiki smiled and sniffed deeply. That ingredient had been the first secret he’d gotten someone to tell him. It had taken him days and days before his mother had finally told him, “Love, Ibiki, love. Love makes everything taste better.”

“What are you thinking about?” asked Sai.

Ibiki looked up and met Sai’s eyes in the mirror. “Making gingerbread cookies,” he said. The doorbell rang again.

“Sai, get that,” yelled Ino from the kitchen.

Sai’s image disappeared from the mirror. Ibiki took a few more deep sniffs of the gingerbread scent before he went to the living room to see who else was invading his home. But when he got in the living room, Sakura shoved a tray of sushi into his hands and told him to circulate. The living room was surprisingly crowded. Naruto, Yamato, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Gai, Lee, Shino, Kurenai, Ten-Ten, and Kiba were all there. The doorbell rang again, and Genma and Anko came in. Oh, god, not Anko! Anko always tested his patience. Ibiki allowed Gai to drag him into a corner.

“Ibiki, such youthful exuberance! How wonderful to see you becoming a sensei! Ah, the joys of molding young minds!” Ibiki suppressed a moan—god, he’d forgotten how annoying Maito Gai could be. He tried to use the tray in his hands as an excuse to leave Gai, but Gai had the tray out of his hands and into his student Lee’s before Ibiki could even get his mouth open.

Fortunately some twenty minutes later, Kakashi, Gai’s eternal rival, arrived and distracted the green-clad man. Ibiki bolted into the kitchen only to find himself being eyed by the five females at this party. Ibiki just cut through the kitchen to the hall as if that was what he had intended all along. Damn, the bathroom was full. He just wanted a few seconds of alone time. He darted into his bedroom and locked the door behind him—parties were hell. This mission Tsunade had given him was going to be worse than having every finger and toe slowly broken.