Hello guys!
I'm back with a new chapter.
It's a very serious one. A lot of facts which will be important for the progress of the story.
I have got only one review for the last chapter. That's quite sad actually since I know how much reviews can cheer on the author.
SO PLEASE BE KIND AND WRITE ONE SENTENCE FOR ME!
And now, on with the story!
~ life is like drawing - just without a rubber ~
chapter four: the familiar stranger with his secrets
They reached the village at dawn. Even though he would never have admitted it, Naruto was exhausted and tired. Minato had insisted on running the whole way back to Konoha. As the group had just traveled half of the way, Naruto's injuries had already started to make themselves felt. Breathing had become hard, his legs leaden and concentrating on his surrounding had become nearly impossible.
Yet he had noticed that young-Kakashi had never taken his eyes of the blond boy, keeping his hands near his weapon-back, always ready to defend.
As if he had had enough strength to run away. Let alone attack them.
The travel had been really quiet. Minato had been running ahead, Kakashi had spent his time glaring at Naruto and Obito and Rin had to concentrate on keeping up with their sensei, they hadn't had enough breath left for smalltalk.
Kurama had been sleeping. The fox had always said that he didn't need any sleep, but apparently he enjoyed it. That had meant no conversation in his mind for Naruto either. He had been listening to the fox' relaxed breathing for a while but that had made him even more tired so he had blocked the noises out.
If Naruto could have decided, he would just have searched for a nice place under a tree and slept until noon. But Minato had the command, and as it was for now, the Nanadaime had to follow the Yondaime's orders. Yet he had not been sure how long he could have keep up with him.
Lucky for him, Minato had slowed down right after the village came in view. Otherwise he might have collapsed after all.
The group was now nearing the town gate. Everything looked the same as Naruto remembered it, expect one difference: the gate was now closed, keeping every not welcomed visitor out.
Minato went in front of the gate and then turned to the right, facing the stall where the gatekeepers were sitting. This gatekeeper was sitting on his chair, bracing his head on his right hand. His eyes were covered by his black bangs. He didn't attach value to his fellow ninja as Minato stepped closer.
"Hey, gatekeeper", the Yondaime said. "We're back."
The man on the chair didn't answer. He didn't even look at Minato and just kept staring at the wooden surface of his counter. At least that was what it looked like. Because of his hair his eyes weren't visible.
"Would you mind open your gate for us?"
No response.
Minato actually seamed nervous and Kakashi was eying Naruto as if he was the cause of the gatekeeper's absent mental state. The blond ignored him. Not that he didn't care, but he needed all his willpower to keep his eyes open. There wasn't enough energy left to waste it on a glaring-contest with that chunin.
"Gatekeeper?", Minato asked again.
The man behind the counter snored.
Obito burst out in laughter. Kakashi looked a bit confused at first but then eyed Obito reproachfully. Judged by his expression, he did not think that the situation was funny at all. Rin had her hand pressed on her mouth and avoided to look at either Obito nor Kakashi. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to remain silent.
On Minato's temple throbbed a vein. He closed the distance between himself and the sleeping man in front of him, grabbed his arm and pulled it out from under his head. The gatekeeper's forehead collided with the wooden surface of his counter with a hollow noise. His eyes flew open and his dead jerked up.
The man stroked his hair out of his face and looked at his opponent with a blank expression.
Then a smile spread slowly on his face and he said: "Welcome to Konohagakure." Obviously he hadn't realized the Yondaime yet.
"There are two questions on my mind", Minato started. "First: Why is the gatekeeper sleeping during his work, and second: Why the hell is there a mustache drawn on your face?"
Rin couldn't hold her laughter any longer and started giggling, while Obito already gasped for air. Tears were forming in the corners his eyes. Kakashi looked even more confused and his gaze wandered from the black-haired man to Naruto and back. That kid really was a warily bastard. Naruto had never seen this man before.
"Well, it's like this, sir", the gatekeeper started. "I unfortunately don't know the answer to the question number two. That is connected to the answer for question number one. But what are we talking about now, number one or num ... "
"Ok!", Minato disrupped him, obviously trying to regain his composure. "It's not that important. Just open that damn gate already, we need to talk to the Hokage."
The gatekeeper nodded hastily and stood up from his chair. He went over to the heavy wooden door. A large and rosty key was pulled out from beneath his jacked and inserted into the keyhole.
The gate swung open with and revealed the sight to a big street.
It was still early in the morning so the road was deserted, only a dog was sleeping in front of a stall.
The group walked through the gate and entered Konohagakure.
"What's so important that you would wake up the Sandaime at dawn?", the man asked.
Minato didn't answer, he simply pointed at Naruto. The gatekeeper turned his head to the blond boy and then his jaw dropped. He rubbed his eyes as if the boy would disappear once he opened them again. Of course Naruto didn't and so the black-haired man just kept on peering.
Naruto didn't notice the incisive stare. He was to busy watching the sleeping dog across the street ... and feeling jealous.
The gatekeeper brought his mouth closer to Minato's ear and whispered: "This little boy looks just like you. Who the hell is he? I thought you said that you don't have any relatives."
"None I know of, yeah. We caught him wandering around in the forest. Apparently he is a homeless ninja, searching for his, well, foster father or something like that. But if you ask me there's more than meets the eye. I haven't talked much to him yet. For me he is a walking mystery. Something about his story doesn't make sense. But I'm not ready yet to believe that he is spy either. And there's some kind of strange seal on his stomach. More or less an interesting case."
"Probably more 'more' then 'less'. Let's just hope you know what you're doing", the gatekeeper sighted. "Just keep in mind that your credulity could be dangerous sometimes. It's a hanging matter."
"You are one to talk, sleeping during your shift. You are the one riding for a fall."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was in bad mood. He had been up late in order to finish his paperwork. Of course he had fallen asleep on his desk. The results were a sore neck, a leaked inkwell that had stained not only the documents but also his right hand black and a cold cup of tea.
All in all the new day hadn't started really good. Why had Minato insisted on meeting with him so badly? At 5.35 in the morning!
The Sandaime grunted, he took his cold tea cup, opened his window and threw the liquid outside. He smashed the window close again and put the cup on his table.
A knock at the door interrupted his actions and he concentrated his mind on the guests. An ANBU member entered, behind him followed a tense looking Minato and his team: Kakashi, Obito and Rin.
A sixth figure followed. It was a young man, around the age of sixteen. He had bright blond hair that was cut short and spiky. Three whisker marks on each side of his face carved his lightly tanned skin. He looked worn out and tired. Dark circles covered the area under his eyes. These eyes. They immediately caught Sarutobi's attention. They were as blue and clear as the sky. And as he kept staring at them, he found himself captured by their depth.
"We're back old man!", Obito screamed excited. "We've brought someone with us! His name's Naruto."
He grabbed Naruto's arm and shoved him in front of the Sandaime. Sarutobi eyed the boy once again, then he turned to Minato and smiled.
"He looks like a little Minato. So you really have a relative, right Minato?", he stated. "Lucky you! We've searched so long without success and now he just drops in by chance."
Naruto didn't answer. He was just to tired. In his eyes the old man hadn't changed at all, still trying to see the best in every person.
"He's not my relative. Or at least I think so. We found him wandering around in the forest, seeking the village. We were not sure whether to trust him or not. So we brought him here."
"To dump the decision on me, like always. Well, since you want to hear my opinion I'll tell you", Sarutobi replied. "I like him", he simply stated and ruffled Naruto's hair.
"Can't an adult who by chance carries the title of Hokage behave like one once in a while?", Kakashi asked. "You've just meet him. That was not even five minutes ago and you're already trusting him. This country will go down the drain."
Obito just grinned. "I said that he is a spy that changed his appearance, in order to look like sensei. It didn't even come to my mind that he could be his relative."
"That's because you are an idiot."
"Could you two just stop fighting?"
"Of course, whatever you want, Rin-chan!"
"It's even worse. You are an idiot in love."
"Ok, you guys. Quit it!", Minato interrupted his pupils conversation.
Naruto felt yet again reminded of his time with team seven. That didn't raise his mood either.
"A spy, huh? No not even the shinobi of Iwagakure are that dumb. So why are you here?", Sarutobi asked him.
"I'm searching for someone. It's a ninja who has saved my life, he's something like a parent to me. But I haven't been successful yet so I came here in the hope to finally find him", Naruto explained the second time this day. These lies were getting really annoying.
"A ninja, huh? Any kind of special tally? A photo or a description?"
"Not really. He did never show me his face, was always wearing a mask."
"We have many masked people in this village. Our entire ANBU detachment wears them", Sarutobi answered.
"No, it wasn't an animal mask. It had a strange design it white and black."
The Sandaime turned to Minato. "Do you know a ninja in our village that description applies on?"
Minato shook his head.
"And you three?"
"U-uhh."
"I can't remember but I'm not entirely sure."
"No sir! Never ever ever!"
Naruto sighted. "Well, looks like I'm not right here either."
"Was that all for your visit?", Sarutobi asked the blond boy.
"No, not quite. I have been wandering around a lot, you know, and then ..."
"To make it short his chakra-flow is messed up. He says he had been caught up in an explosion and now he can't use it anymore", Kakashi disrupted him.
"I'm standing right beside you bastard and I've already told you my name, so stop speaking about me like I'm not here."
"Zzzz ..."
"Yeah just keep on sleeping, you damn fox! One day I'll get you back for this!"
"A messed up chakra-flow?"
"Yeah! I've been hoping that one of your medical ninja could fix that for me."
"That's no problem, we can handle that."
"Don't be so trustful, Hokage-sama", Minato suggested. "We don't know anything about him. It could always be just lies."
"No worries, Minato", the Sandaime assuaged him. "We'll have to look into his mind in order to check on his chakra. We'll just take that chance to convince ourselves if he's a spy or not." Sarutobi turned to the ANBU that had accompanied the group to the Hokage's office.
He had been standing in a corner of the room the whole time. Naruto had already forgotten that he was present. Konoha's ANBU was really talented.
He took the chance and looked closely around the room. Nothing was really different from his time. The desk was still at the same place and was untidy like always. Naruto doubted that that had ever been different, regardless of which Hokage had lead the village. Some seals on the desk caught his attention. It was a total of five identical seals.
In their appearance they didn't differ very much from the other seals that laid criss-cross on the desk. But unlike the other papers, which seamed to have been treated rather careless, these five did not have a single kink in them, let alone dog ears or coffee stains.
Sarutobi noticed his intense stare. He smiled at Naruto and shoved the five seals carefully under one of the countless open books on the desk.
"Cat, if you please?"
The ANBU with the cat mask stepped out of the shadow and went over to Naruto.
"Look into my mind ... Oh, Shit! HEY, YA LAZY FOX! WAKE UP KURAMA! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
"... Hn ... What do ya want, kit? Why are you waking me up?"
"They said they were going to check my mind to find out wether or not I'm a spy and to find a cure for my messed up chakra!"
"So?"
"What 'So'? If they enter my mind they will find you there!"
"Hahaha, don't worry, kit. Just let me take care of it."
"Now I really do worry."
"Don't panic."
"I don't panic. Just wait until I've had a nice little nap and thought over the situation once again. The I'll panic."
"Don't make such a face. It won't be painful", the ANBU told him and rested his hands on his temples. "At least if you've nothing to hide, that's it."
And then Naruto was forced out of reality, his vision became blurry, then the office vanished and he entered his own mind.
Oh, god!
The man with the cat mask materialized in front of Naruto again.
They were now standing on the large white lake without any end. Nothing seamed to be wrong here, expect for the blue and red glowing strings of chakra. The ANBU's eyes widened in surprise. Not that Naruto was able to see it trough his mask.
The ANBU memorized every detail of the shining net. Then he focused on the blond boy in front of him.
"I have a few questions for you in order to make sure you are not an enemy. I will cast a jutsu that will force you to speak the truth", he explained to the host.
Naruto just shrugged with his shoulders. "Fine by me." It was not like he would be able to hide anything down here anyway.
"Ok, here goes", the ANBU said and carried out a few complicated hand signs. His fingers started to glow with a blue light. He put them at Naruto's temples again and a shiver run up the blond's spine. The sensation was weird, like a raw egg that was dripping down from his hairline.
"Are you here to harm the village Konohagakure?"
"No."
"Have you any intention to give information on the village to our enemies?"
"No, I don't."
"Are you really only here in order to restore your chakra and to search for this masked man you mentioned?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm here for."
The ANBU nodded. "Ok one last question: That chakra of yours. I have never seen anything like it. Is it some special type of chakra? Are there other people who have a similar chakra-flow?"
"Yeah, it's kind of special. There are similar types of chakra out there but none that would be exactly the same. Chakras are unique."
"Alright that's it", the ANBU sighted. He would have loved to ask more questions but that chakra was the boys personal matter. He had the information he had been searching for. The boy did not mean any harm to the village. No need to remain in his mind any longer.
The ANBU closed his eyes and let himself be drifted back into reality.
"No need to worry, sir", the man with the cat mask informed the Sandaime. "The boy does not desire to cause harm in any kind of way to the village. There should be no risk in letting him stay."
"Very good", Sarutobi smiled at Minato. "I told you there's no need to worry. You are way too mistrustful. It's kind of sad what war does to people. If we would live in peaceful times nobody would have cared to check on a visitors intentions."
"But since we are forced to live in war, it's good that we are careful. Otherwise we would have already been given a good kicking", Minato replied coldly.
"Never mind! Soft blows to the back of your head will increase your intelligence!"
"Yeah, but they can also be deadly."
The Sandaime just rolled his eyes and turned back to the ANBU.
"What about his chakra-flow?"
The ANBU was silent for a while. "His chakra is something strange. I have never seen something like it before. It's hard to describe."
"Can we fix that somehow?"
"No, sir. I don't think we can. It really is a total mess. Nothing is on it's originally place anymore. It will take a lot of work to get it back to normal. I am certain that we don't have a medical ninja in the village right now who could heal this kind of injury without causing any damage. In the worst case the boy could even die."
Naruto's heart dropped a bit lower.
"But maybe ... "
"Yeah?"
"Well, I was just thinking that maybe 'she' could help him. If she's willing to."
" 'She'? But we have no idea where she is at the moment. She could be everywhere."
"I was just thinking loud", the ANBU said.
Sarutobi sighted. "Thank you. You can leave now."
The man with the cat mask vanished through the door and the Sandaime turned to the group of five people again.
"Who's 'she' old man?", Obito asked excited and waved with both of his arms whereby he nearly gave Kakashi a blow to the jaw.
Said masked boy was about to scream at his teammate but his eyes got caught by his sensei's face.
"Sensei, you alright?", he asked.
Minato really assumed a light shade of green. "You are not talking about 'her' are you, Hokage-sama?"
Rin looked confused.
"Would someone please tell me who 'she' is?", Obito demanded.
"Oh we will tell you, just be patient. But first I would like to speak to Minato in private. Kakashi, Obito Rin and Naruto please wait outside."
The three teenagers were heading to the door. Rin still looked a bit confused, Kakashi was obviously bored and Obito was deadly disappointed. Naruto himself didn't move.
"Hokage-sama?"
"Yeah what is it Naruto? I asked you to leave."
Naruto smiled one of his 'foxy smiles'. "I know but I have something to ask you. Since you asked me a lot of questions that would only be fair, don't cha think?"
"Fine, go ahead." That grin always worked.
"I was just wondering. What are those seals for?", Naruto asked and pointed at the five identical seals that looked out from beneath the book.
"Oh, these seals?", the Sandaime answered. "They are nothing really special. You know that we are building a stone face for our new Hokage, don't you? But building this face does not just mean to carve it out of the mountain. There's a lot more work behind it then it might look like. We use seals for frost protection or to prevent the the stone from being damaged by the weather or climate. In the end there's a lot to do for keeping these faces intact. Every seal that's been used is made from a specialist, only the best. And if we can't produce the seal in Konohagakure, we import it from other countries."
"That's really interesting, old man!", Naruto stated exited. "I had no idea that the village would take the mementos of the Hokages so serious!"
"Yeah, whatever. Now get out before I ground your bones to powder and bake bread out of it."
Naruto was leaning against the wall of the corridor. He watched the three younger kids: Kakashi and Obito were fighting again and Rin was trying to convince them to stop killing each other.
Everything had gone unexpectedly well. It seamed like his resemblance with Minato had stopped the Samdaime from checking him more thoroughly. It was as if Sarutobi had wanted him to stay. For Minato's sake. As his relative.
"That old man's really caring."
"I can't stand him!", Kurama answered his thoughts.
"Be glad that he was. Otherwise this whole thing could have come to a bad end. That was just damn risky. Believe it!"
"Oh, don't complain, everything turned out well."
"Nothing but luck. Fucking simple luck!"
Yeah, it had been nothing but luck that the ANBU had faced Naruto's direction when he arrived in his mind.
It had been nothing but luck that the questions had been so easy to answer.
It had been nothing but luck that the net out of chakra-strings and been such a breathtaking view that the man hadn't insisted on looking around.
It had been nothing but luck that the ANBU hadn't turned around.
Because if he had he would have seen it.
The giant orange fox-demon, towering over him, dangerous passion flashing in his blood-red eyes, watching every step of the intruder of his territory.
Minato watched the back of the Sandaime who was now standing at the window.
"Why did you want to speak me in private?", he asked.
Sarutobi turned around and faced the blond man in front of him.
"You've probably noticed that something with this boy isn't right. I don't think that he will be dangerous for the village, but he is hiding something. Something important. Kakashi said that 'Naruto', if that even is his real name, had been caught up in an explosion. But no normal explosion could cause this kind of damage to a person's chakra-flow. So something different must have happened."
Minato nodded slowly. "I figured that out, too. My guess is that some kind of powerful jutsu had been involved. Some jutsu so powerful that it was able to give him all these injuries. They could easily have cost him his life. Luckily for him we found him. It was probably not the case that Naruto was just 'caught up' in this 'explosion'. And I think that he was meant to be hit. Maybe it has something to do with the strange seal on his stomach."
"But who in the world would have an interest in killing a teenage boy? He is not known in the ninja-world either. What secret does this boy have?"
"Is that the reason?", Minato asked. "The reason why you want his chakras to be restored so badly?"
"One of them, yeah."
"What else would be important enough for you to get Tsunade involved in this whole mess?"
"Haven't you noticed it Minato?", Sarutobi asked in disbelieve. "His face, his hair, his eyes: He looks so much like you. Such resemblance without a blood relationship? I doubt it. There's a high possibility that we really have found a relative of you. I'm sure that Tsunade can ascertain a blood relationship beyond doubt. She is the only person I would trust on this."
Minato sighted. "Have you any idea where she is at the moment?"
"I have a guess."
"So you will send Naruto there?"
"No I will send you there."
Minato blinked confused.
"Naruto is injured. He needs to be treated and he needs someone who will look after him the next few days. Minato, since you are deeply involved in this case you are from now on responsible for the boy. You, your team and Naruto will set out tomorrow in order to search for Tsunade. Naruto's fate is now in your hands. And his secrets, too."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Thanks to those who have read through this chapter until the end.
Next chapter will be out around the end of the week. Then the real story will start.
Please review :)
