Under the Orange Jumpsuit

Therapy for the Soul

"No way!" was the first set of words to tumble out of Naruto's mouth when he heard Tsunade's words. Therapy was out of the question!

It had been a couple of weeks since he was admitted and he'd bitten his tongue and behaved accordingly on everything else: the daily weigh-ins, not fighting the orderlies at every chance, he even tried his hardest to accept the food given, even if he may have tried to get rid of it somehow during meal times.

But now, he wasn't about to just sit and accept the idea that he'd be forced to talk about his feelings with some stranger.

"You can kick and scream all you want about it, Naruto. It's happening. Today will be your first private session between you and two of my trusted staff, and you're going to sit, be nice and let them help you." Tsunade ordered as she leaned into his space, "Or you won't like what happens."

Her small threat wasn't enough to scare him, however, "Hey! You can't threaten me and you can't make me do it either! I'll do everything else but I'm not going there, there's no way!" Naruto snapped back stubbornly at her. He didn't care what happened as a consequence, all he knew was, he wasn't about to go cry to someone about how he felt, it was ridiculous!

Tsunade sighed, "Well, you might think you have some choice here, and I know you're going to make it difficult, but that's not for me to worry about. Besides, once you find out who's in charge of your therapy, you might think twice about being stubborn."

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't care who it is! I'm not talking to some bozo!" Naruto wailed, flailing his arms in anger at her. He knew her words meant nothing, just plain attempts at trying to frighten him into being good, but it was failing miserably, and he was just about to call her on her bluff. A bozo am I? That's an interesting take." Naruto froze at the new voice, his eyes immediately shot up to see that Ibiki standing in the doorway, his large frame taking up the majority of the space, as he loomed.

The tall, broad man strode into the room, cloak trailing, looking as menacing as ever, and with each move closer to Naruto's bed, Naruto scooted back, almost falling off the opposite side in the process, "Hey, what's he doing here?!" Naruto shrieked as he stood on his bed, using the added height to try and seem more intimidating though a meager attempt even with the help of the bed, Ibiki's height was just that impossible to tower over, Naruto couldn't even reach his collar bone. He didn't like the dark gaze the other was aiming at him, and his body suddenly went cold at the thought of Ibiki being called in to perform some torturous act to get him to comply.

"I would be nice to him, if I were you, Naruto. He is one of your therapists after all." She couldn't help smiling at Naruto's horrified expression. "He's what?! No way! He uses torture to get information out of people, are you insane? I don't want him near me!" Naruto bellowed in outrage and panic as he could feel the impending danger.

Ibiki wore an unimpressed expression at the boy's childish behavior. "Before you work yourself up into a pointless fit about your circumstance, why not simply sit and listen for once? Or shall I make you?" He spoke to the boy, not at all worried over his tantrum and even putting emphasis on the threat by moving that much closer, Naruto cowering back again.

As scared as he was, Naruto still huffed loudly, "You can't just come in here and order me around, you're not the boss of me!"

Tsunade chuckled softly, "With that, I think I'll let you two discuss." She cast one more look at Naruto, knowing that this might not end too well for him, if he kept up the attitude, before walking out, heels clicking against the ground loudly.

Naruto flailed as he tried to look over Ibiki's shoulder at Tsunade's retreating, "You can't leave me with him, Granny, this is uncalled for!" He whined but the door simply closed on his cries. Ibiki was still eyeing him, taking note of his behavior and reactions before pushing the boy down and out of his face, Naruto plopped back onto the bed, "Now, how about a civilized conversation? Or have you not finally realized as yet that your little fits will get you nowhere?"