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Shizune heaved a weary groan as she locked her front door behind her. Who knew that filing paperwork would be more exhausting than being a babysitter for a grown woman? It was better for Tsunade, of course; a schedule, responsibility, and a sense of ownership were doing wonders for her mentor's mental health. But she was still totally useless at keeping everyday life moving. So they both worked late nights, Tsunade in meetings and Shizune at her desk but even after grabbing a late dinner from a food cart, the younger woman still had personnel review for the Medic Corps to do. Ah, the joys of being promoted to a senior position. Dropping her bag and takeout box on the table, she shuffled into her room to change into comfortable clothes.
"I should have guessed," Came an unfamiliar voice, "that Tsunade would keep you late. Seems our mentors have that in common."
Adrenaline buzzed up her spine like hornets at the sight of Kabuto Yakushi standing before her bookshelf, seemingly perusing her medical reference collection.
"Get out of my house, you traitor." She growled, tensing for a fight. She didn't have her senbon shooter on her wrist, too obnoxious with the amount of writing she did. Poison gas then, though her darkening window behind him, just over her bed, was open. Must have been how he got in. The Sound ninja smiled at her and she wished she could take a hammer to that smug face.
"I just wanted to drop by and speak with Tsunade's closest confidante. Is that so wrong?"
"I'll show you what I have to say to that-"
"Now now, let's not do anything rash." Kabuto faced her, one hand extending into her strike zone and interrupting her attempt to form a seal as she pivoted away. "I don't want to have to paralyze you to make you listen, you'll spend the whole time trying to break out of it."
"There is nothing you can say that I would listen to." She snapped, quickly scanning his pose. No visible weapons, though she knew that didn't mean anything with him, too relaxed, like her home was his(!), but still had his back to the window for a quick escape. Her bedroom wasn't big either. She would only need to take two bigs steps to be in his face. Ooooh, if he had stepped on her bed, she was going to make him pay-!
"No?" He asked, quirking a silver brow behind those thick glasses. "Not even if I were to give you information on an upcoming abduction in one of Leaf's border villages? Orochimaru is always looking for more test subjects, you know." To his credit, it did make her pause a moment, filing it away even if she knew there were too many small villages on the border to narrow it any further. Konoha did always suspect Sound was taking children for experiments, but they were good at hiding their tracks. No one could ever say for certain where the children had gone.
"Like I would be foolish enough to trust information coming from his right hand man." She retorted but he seized on her pause like a mutt on a tossed scrap.
"But can you afford not to listen? If there is a chance you could do something about it?"
"Knowing you, it's all lies anyway. Like everything else you told the village. What do YOU have to gain by telling the truth anyway?" Shizune spat and though his demeanor shifted little, she saw the slight drop in his arms, the smoothing-over of his face that said he knew she'd seen through his lie.
"Actually, the abduction tipoff is just the bribe." He shrugged away the glimpse of defeat she caught, blinking once before fixing her again with those black holes he called eyes. "I came here to speak to you specifically about something that only you and by extension Tsunade can know. Even Orochimaru doesn't know I'm here right now. So please, just listen?" His eyes were.... hopeful, almost believable. His palms lifted in a small pleading gesture before falling back to his sides.
Well. That wasn't what she was expecting. She rather thought he'd, dunno, try to kidnap her by now, or leave through the window since his plan had been spotted. And despite her bluster, she might still get useful information out of him, so long as she listened between the lines at what he wasn't telling her. He was a good actor, had to be to be as successful a spy as he was, but none of this made sense in that picture yet. What did he get out of making her listen to something he knew she wouldn't believe?
Well, if he wanted to play interrogation games, that's what he'd get.
"Fine, but step away from the window."
"What, don't want your neighbors seeing me in your apartment?" He smirked, right back in his cocky persona as he complied.
"Want two more seconds to stab you if I need to." Shizune replied, checking the paralytic needle in her sleeve as subtly as she could. His head nodded thoughtfully as if thinking that fair, while his right hand drifted over her desk. She scowled as his fingertips rested on her papers, cursing herself for not putting them away. He began,
"Now, please understand that what I'm about to tell you is one of Konoha's best kept secrets. You cannot tell it to anyone except Tsunade, or more than just a few children are going to get hurt."
"What would you know about Konoha's secrets?" Bristling at his intrusion, she stomped into his space and swiped the paperwork under a folder. Kabuto raised an eyebrow at her, but otherwise didn't react to her bait. They were close enough to really do damage to one another, if someone tried. Did he really not come here for a fight?
"A lot more than you think. I am a spy after all, am I not? Though this came even before that." He paused, looking away at her blank wall. Come on, there wasn't anything there to look at, she thought frustratedly. What are you getting at? "It's important that the Fifth's attendant know about this before she does. She's going to need someone to lean on." He took a deep breath to steel himself, then launched ahead.
"I was born Kabuto Hyuuga, eldest son of Hiashi Hyuuga of the main branch. At age seven, I was recruited by Sandaime as a double agent against Sound Country after an unfortunate run-in with Orochimaru at Kikyo Pass. My birth and school records were destroyed and new ones drawn up as Kabuto Yakushi, orphan of the same event. Ever since, I have been feeding as much information as I could back to Konoha on the Sannin's plans, while pretending to do the same for him. However," He remarked with a grimace that went over her head, an expression heavy enough on his face to have impacted the wall. "With Sandaime's death, I no longer have any way to feed information back to my country. Orochimaru has a new body now and I still can't be away for long, but I need someone to know in case something drastic happens."
...She was supposed to believe this? This outlandish story was honestly worse than the tales Tsunade used to tell back in the days when she was smashed by 2pm. Come on Shizune, she thought furiously, what was this story not supposed to tell her? Where did he slip up?
"But you let Orochimaru kill the one man who supposedly knew who you were." Shizune scolded flatly and he glared down at her.
"It's not like I had a choice. I did everything I could to try to dissuade his plan beforehand and he kept me busy elsewhere when he did it. Strictly speaking, the Hyuuga elder knows, but he'd never speak to anyone besides the Hokage about it. Hence, you."
"But why me and not Tsunade, if it's that important?" She pressed, crossing her arms.
"Because," Frustration edged into his voice; good, she was getting to him. "She would automatically assume I was there to kill her and attempt the same. However, you can't be sure what I'm saying is true and won't tell her until it's confirmed."
...Damn, he had her there and it irked her that he read her that well. Wouldn't be any use to rile up Tsunade about something she couldn't turn into action. The woman hated information she couldn't do anything about. But, if he was banking on her, she could take advantage of that.
"I don't believe you." She retorted, taking a step back. "Hiashi Hyuuga agreeing to send his heir out as a spy, and a child no less? Sarutobi erasing all records of your existance? Orochimaru not finding out his right hand man has been a spy all along? You need to think of a better story than this!" Scoffing, she watched him seethe slowly, trying to lure him into saying something more useful. "I can't imagine any of the people you mentioned doing what you said they did! That has to be the stupidest cover story anyone has ever made. You can't honestly expect me to believe that."
"I thought you might not. Fortunately, I can show you proof." He replied, still frustratingly composed before forming the handsign for Release and the sudden change sent a chill down her spine. His eye color drained from black like her own to lavender, pupilless, and veiled in anger; a look she'd seen a few times whenever a Hyuuga came into Tsunade's office to complain. Against his silvery hair, the effect was both striking and alarming, like a ghost peering through a mortal body. Frowning unhappily, she stepped forward to place her hands on his face.
He didn't even move away, facade stoic despite the implicit threat. Any well-trained medic could sense the intent and flow in chakra that had been externalized; an expert could sense the flow of chakra even under a person's skin. Chakra flow was the one sense genjutsu couldn't fool. And as far as she could tell, his keirakukei was humming along normally, no chakra exuding from his tenketsu to indicate an illusion. Her displeasure deepening, she felt along his forehead and neck despite the subtle hitch in his shoulders.
Why he was letting her get this close? She had her hands on his neck. Should... should she knock him out? She could probably stop his breathing for a couple seconds before he could move away, though being a medic himself, he could probably fix it before she could subdue him.
Why was he trusting her this much?
"Satisfied?" His voice rumbled through her thumbs, Hyuuga eyes still staring almost through her. Damn his height, he was younger than her. It wasn't fair that he was still taller than her.
"That this is an elaborate genjutsu, yes." Stepping back, Shizune planted her hands on her hips in frustration. "I don't know how you constructed it to mimic chakra flow, but I still can't believe it."
"That's because you can't do that, it's impossible." He insisted with an exhasperated shake of his hand. "Is that so much more likely than me telling the truth?"
"Yes." She watched his expression buckle at her reply, some of the fire going out in his eyes.
....She didn't think that could be faked, she conceded to herself reluctantly. A sigh, almost a growl, came out of his mouth.
"What other proof would you like? Unsourced intelligence records? Old deaddrop locations? I could block your keirakukei if you're so in need of physical proof."
"How about turning yourself in?" She tested, half serious, but the look she got back was one of horror. Kabuto actually physically recoiled like he'd nearly stepped on a snake.
"You know what that man is willing to do. You really want to remove the one factor keeping him in check? I may be his right hand man, but he doesn't rely on me like Tsunade does you." Shizune glared at this, but the spy kept going. "I plan to turn myself in when the odds are more in Konoha's favor. Until I'm sure that I can't be more useful as a preventative."
"Awfully convenient that you're the one who gets to decide that." The Sound nin rolled his eyes so hard it rivaled Tsunade's whenever she told her to cut down on drinking.
"You literally could have killed me not two minutes ago when I let you put your hands around my neck. Would I have done that if I wasn't genuinely trying to help? Here," And with one step forward, he grabbed her hand. Hard.
"Let go of me-" Voice rising in panic, she tried to jerk away, but his grip was nearly a wrist lock: thumb on her palm bending the hand back towards her wrist, tight enough that she could get hurt if she fought too hard. He then pulled her palm to his chest, firm enough that she could feel his heartbeat through the fabric. Though he made no further move, Shizune still leaned away, ready to bolt. Unable to reach her needle or make handseals, this could be-
"Activate your chakra scalpel." Kabuto demanded, holding her palm in place. She blinked at the bizarre request. Why that technique?
"What?" She didn't wait for a response before her hand glowed blue against his purple shirt, casting his face in eerie light now that the sunset had sunk low enough to cast her room in looming shadow.
"If I'm lying, you can rip my heart out right here."
Silence struck her darkened bedroom, the two of them frozen together by the junction of their hands.
"That's barbaric." She protested, trying once more to wrestle her hand away, less frantically than before.
"But effective." He murmured, pressing it more firmly against his chest. The rhythmic beat thudded in her palm. Shizune met his gaze again to find it sober and intense, expression pleading but strangely resigned. "Lady Tsunade will need someone to believe her when the time comes to tell her my story. She trusts you the most." The spy took a deep breath that she couldn't help but follow.
"So. Am I lying?"
The medic looked away, pursing her lips. Though she didn't believe his story for an instant, there wasn't any other reason she could find for.... this. If he were spying, he would have tried to get something from her, information, documents, something, but instead he'd given her two genuine opportunities to do grievous damage to himself and asked for nothing in return.
What if he wasn't lying?
"....Only someone who is telling the truth or taking a dangerous gamble would do something like this." She said slowly. Her chakra scalpel shredded a hole in his shirt until her palm rested on his skin, but he still didn't flinch. She could kill him here in ways he couldn't recover from; stop his heart, sever all his major arteries, fill his lungs with his own blood. What if....
"Lie to me." She commanded. "Tell me Orochimaru let Sarutobi live."
"Orochimaru let Sarutobi live." He said flatly, and as good a liar as his face was, she could feel his heartbeat go up slightly.
"Now tell me the truth." She asked, black eyes fixed on the blue glow before her.
"My name is Kabuto Hyuuga and I am a double agent for Konoha." He confessed quietly. This time he looked away, staring at the floor off to her right. But with the next sentence, his voice cracked, pain like jagged glass buried in his words.
"I want to go home."
His heartbeat was steady.
"I still don't believe you." Shizune warned superficially, finally pulling her hand from his chest and deactivating the scalpel. As he looked up, he reassembled the veneer she knew so well, the smiling young man who'd failed the Chuunin exams five times and stood silently by Orochimaru's side. He really was far too good at that. With a complex series of handsigns, his eyes sealed back to traitor's black.
"That's alright. You don't have to." He stepped over her bed onto the windowsill, leaning out into the dark. Though she gave him one last glare to keep up appearances, he only smiled and waved back before disappearing into the night.
Sighing, Shizune closed the window before heading back into the living room. She hadn't even touched her dinner yet or the personnel evals, but she was not up for doing those now. Throwing herself on the couch with a sleeve over her eyes, she wondered how in the world he'd convinced her to trust him without a single word of coercion.