You are my Star

Chapter 13 - The Interrogation Room

"I see," said Lady Tsunade, knitting her fingers together. "Could they really be trying a reanimation jutsu...? Even if they were, why would they want to?"

"All these questions. We have to find out what these four are planning. The village is at stake," said Hoshiko.

"We know that," said the hokage, annoyed. "For now, just stay on stand-by. We'll figure it out soon enough."

Hoshiko and Shikamaru left the office, and was quickly replaced by a man from the ANBU black ops. "Milady," he started. "We've found and captured Danzo. He's in the interrogation room."

Lady Tsunade scowled. "That good-for-nothing bastard. I'm going to give him a nice talking-to."

She and the ANBU walked down to the interrogation room, which was bathed in red light. He and another man were tied to chairs at the center of the floor. The hokage's heels clacked on the floor menacingly as she drew closer. 

"Well, well," she said, "Hello, Danzo."

"Princess Tsunade."

She put her hands on her hips and demanded, "What are you planning? Why did you run away?"

Danzo was silent. She tried a few more times, all with similar results. She sighed, then stepped toward the other man and leaned down. "What. Is. Danzo. Planning." Her voice was low and dangerous. The man shook, trembling in fear at the hokage, but didn't speak. 

Suddenly, the doors opened. The two advisors, Homura and Koharu, walked in. "Lady Tsunade, this man is not at fault."

"What?" Lady Tsunade blinked. "He was found with Danzo!"

"This whole time, he wasn't reporting only to Danzo," said Koharu, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "He was also giving us information. He isn't a criminal, but a loyal citizen of the leaf."

Lady Tsunade growled, but stepped away. The man slumped in relief. 

"In fact," the advisor continued. "He was told by Danzo to investigate the very mystery you're having children lead right now."

"Very capable children," Lady Tsunade corrected.

Koharu ignored her and barreled on. "And, he found that the four ninja were actually after that child Sora the entire time."

A particular, blue-haired boy lying on the rafters above gasped quietly. After him? But why?

"You are aware of what the boy did at the Fire Temple all those years ago, right?"

Lady Tsunade nodded. "I am."

Homura took up the reins. "There is no doubt that he possesses great power. Dangerous power, even."

Captain Yamato and Asuma-sensei, who were standing nearby, raised their eyebrows. 

Danzo spoke up. "And since you have brought him into the village, Princess Tsunade, you must decide how to handle him."

"Perhaps we could keep the boy locked up," suggested one of the advisors. "That way, he could be watched at all times."

"No," said Danzo firmly. "To get rid of a problem, it and everything involving it must be cut off. The boy must be killed."

The hokage's eyes widened. "Elimination?"

Nobody said anything for a good minute.

Sora was still in the rafters, having a panic attack. Was he to be killed? He thought back to half an hour ago, when things were much simpler.

***

Sora glowered at a giant, white dog. "What are you lookin' at, ugly?" 

"Hey! Who are you calling ugly, you big fat loser?" It was Kiba, stomping up to Sora and picking him up by the collar. 

"Is that your mutt? You should teach him some manners, ya know."

"Akamaru's been trained to bark at ugly weirdos. I wonder what that says about you."

"What did you say?"

"Hey, guys, can't we all just get along? Please?" The pair whirled around. Choji was walking next to Shikamaru and Hoshiko, munching on a handful of chips, another bag of it in his hand.

"Butt out, fatso."

Kiba dropped Sora and gaped at him. Shikamaru and Hoshiko gawked, too. 

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Akamaru whimpered.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Choji boomed. 

"I said you're fat, idiot. Can you not hear me?"

Kiba, Shikamaru, and Hoshiko's jaws dropped ever wider. 

Choji charged at Sora. In the scuffle, both Choji and Sora kicked Kiba.

"Hey! You little-"

And just like that, the fight increased in number, from two people to three.

"Why did no one invite me to join in this amazing bonding sparring session?" cried a voice from behind. Lee. He leaped into the fray and started throwing kicks and punches, adding to the chaos. 

Naruto ran up. "What...did-Sora..."

Hoshiko gestured to the tangle of bodies. "Sora managed to offend both Choji and Kiba in one sentence. A misunderstanding led Lee to join in, and this is my nightmare now." She shoved her hands back into her pockets. 

Naruto sighed. "I leave him for one minute and this happens."

"Reminds me of someone, don't you think?" asked Hoshiko sourly. Then she snorted, and pointed at Akamaru, who had made himself comfortable on the ground, content with watching his master fight on his behalf. "Even dogs are smarter than boys."

"Hey! I'm right here," grumbled Shikamaru.

Hoshiko laughed. "Maybe except Shikamaru. The man has a 200 IQ."

Naruto went in to break up the fight, but in no time, he was hitting and scratching just like the others.

Hoshiko sighed. "You ready, Shikamaru?"

"Oh, yeah. This is an eyesore."

He got on one knee and formed the hand sign for his shadow possession jutsu. His dark shadow extended toward the mass of boys and caught them easily.

"Hey, why can't I move?"

"Oh come on, I was about to sock him in the eye!"

"Yeah, right."

"What's happening?"

Then a barrier slammed down on top of them. They all yelped and groaned.

"Ow."

"What was that for, Hoshiko?"

"Stop being idiots," she responded. "Even Akamaru is smarter than you guys!"

But now, it no longer was like that. He tried to process the information shoved upon him. Elimination? Was he going to die? Was the last thing he saw going to be the ceiling of this interrogation room?

Just then, a quiet whoosh sounded behind him. "Well, well, what have we here?"