A small note I want to make is that this will sort of be a slow start to the story. Hopefully that will be fine but I'm going to take some time building up the story. I will try avoiding useless cross over information or scenes from the show.


Chapter 2: Hollow

Days have passed by for Sasuke without him doing anything. He had just been wondering aimlessly around the compound during this week. Nobody had visited him, but it's not like he expected to have any visitors.

'Everyone I knew was already dead.'

He found himself walking and settling down by the lake in the compound. This was the usual spot he spent sitting down. He would just sit at the end of the walkway and would just stare down at the waters surface. As he did so, he watched his reflection intently. He studied his features closely and he could tell that this ordeal was taking its toll. He could see dark bags forming underneath his eyes from the lack of sleep he was getting nowadays. He tried his best to avoid sleeping at any cost. The nightmares were too much for him to handle.

As he stared at his reflection he saw it morphed into that of Itachi. Itachi had the same look on his face, as when he was standing over their parents. That unreadable cold stare, he wore it so well. But what did it hid underneath.

'Brother, what were you thinking that night. Did you feel any remorse for what you did, or are you just a cold blooded killer like everyone else believes?'

He asked these questions in his head to the image of Itachi. Continuing just staring down hoping for some sort of sign. However this was all just in his head. The reflection was just his imagination and it would never give him the answers he desirers. And so he just sat there in silence.

Time passed and soon he figured that he might as well start heading off before it got too late. As he was pulling himself together, a noise from behind him caught his attention. He could hear the creaking of the wooden planks like somebody was walking along them, coming directly towards him. Freaking out, he jumped up and quickly turned around to face whoever was sneaking up on him. And what he was faced with shocked him.

Right there standing in front of him in all his glory was the fourth Hokage. Sasuke could tell straight away that it was the Hokage from just a quick glance at his appearance. From his spiky blonde hair, right down to his iconic haori, he knew that he was facing Minato Namikaze. This was the first time he had came face to face with him. All of the other times he had seen him, had always been at a distance. Whether it was when he was having a meeting speaking to the entire village, or the hand full of times he saw him have a meeting with his father. It has always been at a distance and couldn't clearly see his face. But now in this position he could tell why so many people respected for even feared the man.

As they stared directly at each other, Sasuke looked into his piercing blue eyes. At this moment they looked to have a gentle feel to them, as he smiled down at him. However even though there wasn't any malice in them, he was still unnerved by them. He could sense that there was great power behind them, one that commanded respect from the village. He was captivated by the Hokage's stare and failed to notice that he had been speaking the entire time. Feeling embraced he quickly said someone.

"Umm I'm sorry but I wasn't paying attention just now, what did you just say?"

The Minato let out a small chuckle at his words.

"No apology needed Sasuke. I was actually just apologising for coming into your place without your permission and for sneaking up on you like that."

Sasuke just stood there silent, at a loss words. 'Why would the Hokage apologies to me. He's the leader of the Konoha. Nobody had more power then him. Shouldn't he be allowed to do whatever he wanted?'

Minato noticed him not responding again and a confused look grew on him face.

"Did you hear me Sasuke?"

But Sasuke suddenly cut him off before he could continue on.

"Why are you apologising to me, you're the Hokage you should be able to do whatever you want?"

This caught Minato off guard for a second, but he quickly composed himself and began to reply.

"Sasuke what do you being the Hokage means?"

Sasuke was irritated at that. 'Why is he avoiding my question? Of coarse I know what being the Hokage means.'

"That's a dumb question. Of coarse I know what it means."

Minato smiled back at him once again at his words.

"Ok then, well could you tell me your answer please?"

Sasuke was now glaring daggers at him now, but that didn't bother Minato in the slightest. Deciding that he wasn't getting anywhere this way, he might as well answer his question first.

Why a large sigh he went on to answer Minato. "The Hokage is the leader of the village. They are the boss and are in charge of all of the ninjas and make sure that they all uphold their duty for the village."

Minato was slightly nodding at Sasuke's words.

"Well you're not wrong there. That is part of the Hokage's job. However I personally believe that the most important part of the job of Hokage is protecting the village, not just getting to boss around everybody and do whatever they want."

He looked to see Sasuke's respond to this but saw no signs of him planning to interrupt him again, so he just continued on.

"You see the Hokage is the embodiment of the will of fire. They see the entire village as part of their own family. They should always be willing to place the village's safety before their own. They're the strongest in the village and therefore they must use that power to protect everybody who doesn't have the strength to protect themselves. They do this so that future generations have a chance to grow and continue on the will of fire."

This was truly amazing too Sasuke. He had heard speeches like this one before. However never had one so hard hitting been directed straight at him. He could almost feel himself wanting to believe his words. He then thought back to his visions he had back in the hospital. He could recall the memory of the fourth Hokage fighting off a giant nine tailed fox. Apparently this beast was forced to destroy the village by a masked man. Minato however fought against the beast. Eventually he chose to sacrifice himself so that he could seal off the beast into his own son, therefore saving the village from utter destruction.

It was the story of legends, however that wasn't his story. This man clearly walked a different path. But the question was how different? He didn't know, but he needed to figure out what type of man the fourth Hokage was.

"So that is what a Hokage is meant to be"

"Well that is the ideal version that we should be all striving towards, yes." Minato replied.

"Fine, well then could you just answer something for me."

Minato nodded. "Of course I would be willing too."

Sasuke continued on with his question. "Would this type of man you talk about kill innocents so that they could maintain the peace and protect the village?"

It was only small and only for an instant. But Sasuke noticed a frown quickly fall across the Hokage's face. He then him caught his mistake and return back to the small smile like before. He didn't reply straight away though. He seemed to be pondering what the best respond to that loaded question would be.

"I wont lie to you, what I told you about being the Hokage is true. However that is the ideal version of what they should represent. Sometimes they don't have the power necessary too protect everyone. Sometimes, they must make hard decisions and walk the grey path in order for the greater good."

Sasuke just stood there, trying to process the meaning of what he had just heard.

'So the vision could've been true. He said that they would've killed off my clan just so they could protect the rest of the village.'

Minato was watching intently, seeing how his was going to react. He knew that he was walking a tight rope with this conversation right now. However he knew that however he handled this conversation could change this boy's fate forever. And so he watched and prayed he was doing the right thing. Once the boy had processed his words Minato felt some dread take over him. He saw the boy's features harden and then the anger behind his eyes grow.

'Oh no, maybe I shouldn't have been so upfront and blunt with him.'

Worried that he could've messed this all up, he thought that it was best to quickly change the subject.

"So Sasuke. You probably know that the academy is starting back up in a few months. Have you given it any thought whether you're going back to the academy this year?"

Thankfully this looked like it had done the trick. His question seemed like it caught Sasuke by surprise and had got his mind off what they were talking about. His anger also seemed to have simmered down because of it.

Sasuke hadn't really thought about that yet. He had been so caught up in all of what had happened, that the last week seemed to have all past by in some sort of trance. All he knew right now was that he needed too find Itachi and get some answers. Were his visions correct and had Itachi been forced to do all of this, or is what Itachi said to him that night about only wanting to test his strength true? Whatever the case, Sasuke knew he needed to obtain getter power too achieve this. And the academy was the best place to start.

"Oh course I'm going back."

Manito tried to the best of his abilities to keep this line of communication going.

"That's good, it would be a shame if you didn't come back. I'm sure that some of the other students would be have been upset not seeing you again this year.

Sasuke thought back to the other kids in his year. He hadn't been concern about making any friends so far. All of the boys were all too loud for his taste so he avoided hanging around them. On the over hand the girls were even more of a hassle. All of them would always be obsessing over him and his looks. Because of that he had completely shut down any of those foolish enough to try and talk too him. Soon enough word of mouth spread and others learnt not too try anymore. So he doubt that anybody would've cared if he hadn't come back this year.

Sasuke wasn't saying a word anymore and Manito noticed that he probably wasn't going to get any further with this conversation now. So he figured that it would be best to leave him for now and try again some other day.

"Well I've probably overstayed my welcome, however I will stay this one last thing before I head off."

Sasuke looked back up, paying attention once again to him.

"I just want you to know that this sadness and pain you're feeling right now, you don't have to handle it alone. If you are willing to look up from that dark pit that you feel like you're in right now, you would be surprised by just how many people there are willing to lend you a helping hand up. Just remember that"

Without waiting for a reply from Sasuke, Minato left him sitting there on the peer by himself again. And once again he was left alone with his thoughts. In spite of that however, this time it was different. Unlike all of this week were he was lost in his despair and was just a shell of who he once was. Now he finally had something new preoccupying his mind, he now finally had a goal. He was going to become as strong as he could. Once he was strong enough he would finally be able too wade through all of these lies he had been feed and find out the true story on what happened that night.

As the sun started to set, Sasuke decided that he would call it a day. He would need to get a good night sleep so that he could get up early tomorrow and start up his training regime again. Across town on the other hand Minato had just made it back to his office. He still needed to finish up on some of his paperwork. As he entered the room, he was meet with his pupil Kakashi just sitting there with his back towards him seemingly waiting for him. Minato could already guess what he wanted to talk about.

Thinking this, Minato walked around and sat down at his desk. He then went on to start sorting through his paper work. They sat like this for quite some time, the only noise coming the ruffling of paper and the scratching of pen and paper. Kakashi soon figured that if he wanted to get this conversation started then he was going too have to get the ball rolling.

"Sensei, how did your talk with the boy go?"

Minato finally stopped what he was doing and finally looked up and acknowledged Kakashi's presence.

"Straight down to the point, that has always been your style."

Kakashi just continued staring down Minato. Minato buckling to his stare let out a large sigh. There was no way around it then. He was going to have to tell him all about his failed talk from before.

"It didn't go as well as I had hoped it would have gone." He said.

"What exactly happened between you two?" Kakashi asked.

"Well it started off well enough, we discussed about the will of fire and what it meant to be the Hokage. However that was when it started to go downhill. All of a sudden he started to ask some strange questions about if I would kill innocents if it meant that I could save the village."

This caught Kakashi by surprise. "What prompted him to ask about that?"

Minato out a sigh again. "You see that's the thing I don't really know were it came from. At first I thought he was just in trauma from the ordeal he went through and that he was just acting out. However I don't think that's the chase anymore. If I think back to it, it seemed like there was something more going on." With that said Minato lent back on his chair and started to look off into distance, while deep in thought.

"So wait, what are you trying to say? Are you suggesting that he suspects foul play from village during the massacre?" Kakashi replied accusatorily.

Manito stopped gazing off and locked eyes with Kakashi again. "I don't blame him if he does, he wouldn't be the only one who suspects something off with this whole event."

This shocked Kakashi, he couldn't believe that these words were coming form his sensei. 'Does sensei believe that someone else orchestrated the attack on the clan?'

"You can't really be saying what I think you are saying?" Kakashi asked.

Minato voice went dead serious. " Yes you're correct, I'm starting to believe that there is a traitor within our midst. Someone who could've that planned out that attack on the Uchiha clan."

That's just what Kakashi suspected he was thinking. However that still didn't help him with how he was meant to handle this piece of information. "So what does that mean for us?" Kakashi almost whisperingly asked.

"Well you see that's the problem we have now. I have been thinking about it for some time since the incidence." Minato paused for a second trying to find the right words to say. "Don't you think it was strange that Itachi, who we were having secret meetings with about trying too find a peaceful solution with, would just all of a sudden decide to murder his whole clan. Just so that he could test out his strength?"

Kakashi thought about what Minato had just said. It did seem strange to him now when he said t out loud like that.

Minato saw the look of realisation dawn upon Kakashi's face. "You see it too don't you? It just doesn't add up."

Kakashi nodded at his sensei's assessment of the situation. "Yea, I believe that you're right. But then who do you think gave him the command?"

Minato pondered Kakashi's question for a second. "Well if this was an inside job and that's a big if, then the only person I can think who would of done such a thing or even had the opportunity to do such a thing would've been Danzo."

It was all clicking inside of Kakashi's head now. It seemed so obvious that he almost felt like kicking himself for not seeing it sooner. Since the beginning, right when they had been informed about the coup from Itachi. Danzo had always objected to Minato's plan of trying to find a peaceful solution to prevent the conflict. 'But did he have that kind of influence to make Itachi kill his family?'

"How could he of have achieved such a thing in the first place sensei?"

"Well I couple of thoughts come too mind." Minato replied.

He then began to list off his reasons. "Firstly maybe Danzo could have bribed Itachi, or even had something too hold over him and forced him to commit the act. The second reason I could think of was that somehow Danzo manage to cast some sort of genjutsu on him and that's how he forced him to do it. "

Kakashi thought over those two options. "I don't believe Danzo could of ever managed to overpower Itachi in terms of genjutsu. I can attest to Itachi's proficiency in genjutsu, he is the most powerful ninja I have faced in that field of expertises."

Minato nodded in reply, agreeing with the reasoning behind Kakashi's words. "Then that only leaves us with blackmail. If that's really how he did it then, then what could he of have had over Itachi?"

Both of them went silent. Trying to figure out what kind of information or power Danzo of had over Itachi. Kakashi began thinking to himself, trying to connect all of the dots. Itachi wasn't just like any normal ninja he had come across. His loyalty towards to the village was greater then almost any other. It almost seems out of character to have done such a thing.

'Then what could've been the reason then?'

Then it came to him. "Sasuke."

Minato looked back up after hearing Kakashi. "What was that?" He asked.

"Sasuke, Danzo must've used him as some sort of leverage against him." Kakashi quickly replied.

'That was it' Minato realised he was correct.

"You're right, that would explain why he was kept alive."

"Exactly my line of thought." Kakashi replied, while nodded along.

Minato continued on with this line of reasoning. "Maybe he promised some sort of amnesty for Sasuke if he was to kill his clan."

That was probably their best explanation so far too explain what had happened that night.

"However even if that is correct, we don't have anything to back up our claims." Minato added.

Kakashi knew he was right. All of this was just speculation at the moment. They didn't have any evidence to back up any of this.

"What should we do then?" Kakashi asked.

Minato contemplated what should their next step be. He knew they had to be careful. They didn't know who they could trust anymore. Even he didn't know how deep Danzo's influence had spread. Anyone of his men could be an informant for Danzo.

"We have to keep this quiet for now, just between the two of us. We can then quietly find evidence to support our theory without raising any suspicions. Are you ok with that Kakashi?" Minato was looking Kakashi dead in the eyes at this point.

Kakashi knew that this could become dangerous for the both of them. However knew he couldn't just leave his sensei alone too handle of all of this mess. So he steeled his nerves and quashed away any doubt in him mind.

"Oh course Sensei, I'm with you always."

Minato smiled at his words. He was proud of how far Kakashi had come since his younger days.

"Thank you, I don't think I could've done this without you."

"No worries sensei." Kakashi replied.

"Now then, I'm going to need you to try and find out anything you can on Danzo and who's working for him. While you're doing that I'm going to see what I can find out through my position as Hokage."

Kakashi nodded. "You can count on me."

Figuring he should get to work on his end Kakashi got up to leave. But as he did that, Minato called out just before he made it through the door.

"Kakashi, you be safe alright."

Kakashi turned around and gave Minato a smile. "Don't worry, I know how to handle myself nowadays. You on the other hand, don't get yourself into any trouble."

"You don't have to worry about now, I would be too scared seeing Kushina's reaction if I got myself hurt in anyway."

The both of them let out a small chuckle at that remark. Then with them both saying their farewells, Kakashi walked out ready to head back home thinking about how he should start off his investigation.


Thank you all you have read so far. I hope you're enjoying the story.

Once again I would be glad to hear about your thoughts on this chapter. Also point out any spelling or grammar mistakes I may of missed (It's the only way I can improve as a writer).