I'll ride this storm with you

Chapter 24

"Ibiki," the Hokage greeted as the burly Jounin made his way in front of his desk. The bigger man's mouth was set in a thin line, the crease in between his brows looked deeper, more pronounced than it already was. Immediately, Kakashi is on alert. The man before him rarely smiled nor show emotion but the way his limbs moved in a stiff, almost robotic way had Kakashi concern. Ibiki locked the door behind him.

"Hokage-sama, there's something that you would want to know," Ibiki said gravely as his hands clenched on his sides.

Kakashi nodded once, his whole attention now focused on the man standing before him, "Tell me."

The Jounin looked down for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, and Kakashi was suddenly wary of what news the famous interrogator will bring. He knew Ibiki to be a firm person, always ready to face challenges and deliver important news no matter how grim. The Ibiki standing before him now, however, looked so unsure of himself and he looked... he looked ashamed.

When the Jounin finally raised his face to look at him, he had put on his hard mask, one that Kakashi is more accustomed to see.

"Hokage-sama, we have noticed some suspicious activity made by Yuki ninja Sota Miho while he was with the captured rebel," he said firmly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in confusion. The incident with Miho happened more than a fortnight ago. Why is he only reporting it now?

As if reading his mind, Ibiki answered his unspoken question, "I only noticed it now since we were so absorbed with trying to listen with what Miho was saying, in case he says or whispers something. We never paid much attention to his fingers or his eyes."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in apprehension, his shoulders tensed, "Can we please get to the point, Ibiki?"

Ibiki ran a hand down his scarred face, looking ashamed again for a moment before speaking, "Miho, while interrogating the prisoner, kept on tapping his fingers and blinking excessively. We dismissed it at the time as a nervous tick, maybe even a weird mannerism of his. But, one of my subordinates made a discovery earlier this day that rhythmic tapping and blinking can be a secret language devised to convey a hidden message," Ibiki explained.

Kakashi's eyes widened marginally, "So, you're telling me that this Miho might've been communicating with our prisoner via tapping and blinking?"

Ibiki nodded affirmatively, "That's our current theory. Perhaps Sota Miho was passing a message, maybe even a threat, to our only lead in this situation that caused him to spontaneously kill himself so that he would not be subjected to a Yamanaka mind-reading."

"Miho is out there with the search team with Yamato. We have to take him to custody immediately," Kakashi announced as he reached for his mobile phone and dialed Yamato's number.

The Hokage ran a hand through his hair as he listened to the incessant ring on the other line. Miho is out on a search today, together with Yamato and there's so many escape routes that he can take to avoid capture. They had to arrest Miho soon and bring him in for a thorough investigation and mind-reading by Ino. All this time, their enemy had been right inside their walls and they never knew better. Even with all the tightened security and more ninjas deployed as roving guards, he was still staying inside the village and he, probably, already knew intimate details about Konoha's security.