It was late at night.
Chiyo sat on the tatami, with three things laid out on the low table before her.
One was a Border Security Risk Assessment Report issued by the Konoha Defense Department.
One was an invitation personally signed by Baishi, the Fifth Hokage.
The third was a copy of the accounts detailing private dealings between Konoha's former adviser, Mitokado Homura, and Sunagakure's Puppet Corps, sealed inside a scroll.
The ink on the report had already dried, but phrases such as "Human Puppet," "chakra drained in an instant," and "killed in the line of duty" seemed to retain a lingering trace of blood.
The invitation was earnestly worded and accorded her the highest courtesies, elevating her from a prisoner to a "Specially Appointed Technical Expert."
The scroll lay there quietly, like a snake lying in wait. It was both a gift and a price.
Chiyo's thin, withered fingers brushed gently over the pages of the report. The paper was fine, smooth and crisp, unlike the gritty paper commonly used in Sunagakure.
She knew this was a card Baishi had offered her.
A card she had no choice but to take.
Refusing would mean she tacitly admitted that this rogue ninja faction had ties to Sunagakure, or that she was unwilling to help Konoha maintain its so-called peace along the border. Either interpretation would strip Sunagakure of what little leverage it had left in the diplomatic struggle to come.
Accepting meant stepping into a game the other side had carefully arranged.
She lifted her teacup. The tea had long since gone cold.
Outside, the ANBU assigned to watch her stood like statues in the shadows, their breathing even, as though they had become one with the night.
The next morning, in the Hokage Building, they met in a small