Chapter 17

Naruto:

"Uhhh, gee. I guess that depends. How likely is it that you'll let me out of this chair, I'll walk out of your gates and we'll all put this behind us?"

Naruto put on his best 'innocent' expression (he did this a lot to annoy Orochimaru, so he was quite good at it by now) and gazed questioningly at the heavy set man, who was slowly approaching his chair.

The man's face didn't change, not even a small twitch from his mouth or at the corners of his eyes. Now that Naruto thought about it, he was pretty sure he had seen this guy before. It was an old memory, hazy from all the time he had spent suppressing thoughts of his past over the last three years.

He had definitely been confronted by this guy before, something about knowing a village traitor… but now wasn't really the time to think about that.

"You don't fancy my chances?"

He continued when the man – Ibiki, he remembered – gave no reply other than to halt his movement 5 feet in front of Naruto.

Naruto was now looking up into the interrogators face, an intimidation tactic that had stopped working on him 2 and a half years ago – curtesy of being almost constantly strapped to a table.

He sensed, more than heard, the old man stand up and walk around his back; almost as though he were evaluating him – another tactic Naruto had become intimately familiar with.

"You smell."

The words had a strange harshness to them; clearly they had a lot more meaning to the man now tugging on the hair at the back of his skull than they did to Naruto.

"Gee, way to help a guy's self-esteem. I had a bath this morning and everything!" He allowed his voice to take on a miffed quality, acting as though he actually gave a damn what he smelt like, y'know, after long term captivity in – what could only be described as – a massive dungeon.

He got the feeling the man was rolling his eyes.

"You smell like snakes… mostly. Care to tell me why that is? I can count on one hand the number of people I know who smell like that, and I would only let one of them within 100 feet of me."

'Huh, does he know Orochimaru?'

'How dare he! Suggesting that snake face is more dominant than I, the great Kyuubi!?'

'I… what, Kyuubi!? You took your time, and what the hell are you talking about?'

Naruto was slightly annoyed by the fact he apparently smelt like his captor of three years, but he supposed it made sense; those years had passed without a whiff of fresh air after all. What he didn't understand was why Kurama sounded so upset by the comment.

'The only thing you should smell of after 15 years with me is fox, you hear me!'

'Yeah alright I – wait, why the hell are you making such a big deal out of this anyway? Look at it from my point of view, I don't even get my own scent.'

'Quiet mortal! You were never a factor in this equation, I'll show him who's more dominant. He shall feel my wrath!'

Naruto jerked forward slightly in his bonds as Kyuubi tried to push out his power, trying to override the blondes control and lash out at the other men in the room. Naruto's breath started to come out in short, harsh pants as he struggled to keep back the Kyuubi's chakra.

Kabuto had once told him that everyone else knew he held the Kyuubi, it had apparently been both the worst and the best kept secret in the village. Worst because most people knew of it, best because he never found out. It was highly likely that these two men would know him instantly if Kurama let loose.

'Stop it you idiot! If they find out I want it to be on my terms, not yours! It's possible we could take this guy on his own, but I don't care to find out just yet so shut up.'

With the last words he gave an almighty mental push, hammering down the shields around Kurama to keep his power back. He breathed in deeply, only now thinking of how strange his struggle must have looked to his creepy onlookers.

He raised his eyes, glancing at the gruff looking interrogator in front of him. With one look, Ibiki's eyes widened ever so slightly in confusion, Naruto's imitating the action as he quickly lowered his head.

'Oh crap, what did he see? Are my eyes still red … or was it my whiskers? Kyuubi, sit your ass down now!'

He saw black boots moving in front of him, then a hand gripped the hair on the back of his skull; wrapping around the brown spikes and wrenching his head back. He didn't think to close his eyes as he gasped at the uncomfortable angle of his neck, panic starting to set in as his view of the ceiling was invaded by two curious faces.

The panic washed away the last vestiges of control he had left, taking his false image away with it.


Ibiki:

Suddenly, Ibiki found his fingers buried within long, golden locks, gently brushing against furry red fox ears. He stared down into crimson eyes awash with panic and desire; the desire to be free. It was one he had seen many a time and he knew it like the back of his hand; there was no mistaking that emotion.

The man opposite him let out a tiny gasp, it would have been inaudible had the room not been completely void of any sound or movement. Even the ANBU above stared down in shock at the boy they had been after for three years.

As Ibiki watched, the panic faded away, replaced with grudging acceptance and then determination, as the boy – Naruto – tried to hide his emotions. Ibiki found himself suddenly hoping no root operatives had been able to sneak into the session. They hadn't managed to flush out any of the illegal operatives yet, and he knew Danzo would love an opportunity to get his hands on Naruto now.

"Gee umm… I know I'm irresistibly attractive, but do you all have to stare so much?"

Ibiki knocked the boy's head forward as he let go, letting out a sigh as he thought of what to do next; should they untie him?

He knew the Hokage would be coming by as soon as he finished listening to reports, he also had no idea how the boy would react after so long away; he could be a spy now for all they knew.

He watched silently as Jiraiya walked around to his side of the chair, his eyes never leaving Naruto as he reached out a hand.

"These are real?" The Sannin questioned as he ran his fingers along the side of an ear, watching the tails behind his … godson … twitch in response to the contact.

Naruto let out a huff of air and jerked away from the contact quickly, as if he were being tickled.

"Yes thank you, and sensitive so keep your hands to yourself."

Jiraiya stared a moment then whirled away, yanking something out of his pocket and bending his head. Naruto's ears twitched a moment later as the sound of a scratching pen and quiet giggling started up.

Were Ibiki not currently in the middle of a job, he would have rolled his eyes at the unprofessional behaviour Jiraiya was displaying. Though he really should have expected it, what with the new appendages presented to them which – he was sure – gave a whole new type of inspiration to the perverted man.

He watched Naruto look on with a rather weirded out expression, before he started to twitch, wiggling from side to side. Ibiki tensed in case the blonde was attempting to break out of his bonds, bit relaxed as the boy spoke up.

"Uhh, this is awkward but could you… I mean would you… umm.

Ibiki raised an eyebrow, allowing no other muscle to twitch from its stoic position as he questioned the boy's uncomfortable expression.

"Well… one of my tails is kind of stuck…"

His brow fell back into place as he understood what the blonde was trying to ask. He stood unmoving for a moment longer, unsure how to go about it and unwilling to move closer in case it was a trick. He was saved the decision a moment later when Jiraiya stowed his note book back into his pocket and turned back to Naruto.

The man stood with his hands on his hips, searching with his eyes for the tail that was allegedly stuck. He found the tip sticking out slightly from the left of Naruto's back, after a quick count, he realised that would make it the ninth- 'Of course'.

He leaned forward and gripped the tip, causing Naruto to jump slightly in the other direction. Using the extra space, he got a firmer grip and tugged the tail towards him, earning a yelp from Naruto and recoil that – had the chair not been bolted into the floor – would have left the boy lying on the floor.

The door to the interrogation chamber swung open just as he was squeezing the extension, testing that his godson really did have a genuine tail.

He didn't turn around until he heard the clang on wood on the stone floor, reminding him that only those currently in the room knew that Naruto was back.


AU: Finally another chapter! I know it's been a long while, I've been updating my profile to let you know of progress and issues. For those that haven't been reading it, I haven't posted in a long time mainly due to exams (they were important!) and then holiday and then because I was updating my other stories first.

So I do apologize for the long wait. On the upside, I have improved the first three chapters of this story (slightly) and will continue to re-do the rest – because they suck and my writing skills have improved (I hope). There isn't any point of re-reading them! It's just for the benefit of people who have recently stumbled across my story.

Anyway, this story is nearly finished, just a few chapters left to go! I'm sorry if some are sad because of that, but I have said almost all I have left to say. If you want more, read my other stories – they are both Naruto related and are both (in my humble opinion) better.

Please R&R, I will write again soon!