Chapter 3:

A pair of bright blue eyes- belonging to a young man with vibrant, spiky, yellow hair- watched in tranquility as the sun continued shining its warm light upon the valley he was standing above.

The man was dressed in the standard attire of a Leaf Shinobi which consisted of dark grey pants, an earthy green vest on top of a dark long sleeved shirt, with a metal-plated headband on which the Leaf Village's symbol was inscribed. He was a handsome man to say the least and to many, he was known as Namikaze Minato- the Fourth Hokage.

With his hands tucked comfortably in his front pockets, Minato leisurely walked down the trail that would take him to the valley floor. As he reached the flat, green earth, he inhaled a deep breath of fresh air through his nose, savoring the pleasing aroma that belonged to nature.

"It's awfully quiet around here." He stated to himself out loud. Not that he minded. Quiet was always a nice change here and there since things were rarely quiet with him back in his village-especially with his team of three young Genin.

With two of his students, both being boys who had completely opposite personalities, they were constantly going at each other's necks. Luckily, the last one however, the only girl on his team, was far easier at maintaining her emotions.

Needless to say, they made one heck of a team. However, a part of him did wish to see the day that those two boys, Obito and Kakashi, would finally come to terms with one another. "Things would certainly be a little less noisy if they weren't bickering all the time." Minato stated with a brief chuckle to himself.

As the blonde man continued to walk the area, coming close to where the valley meshed into a forest, suddenly, he started sensing an unfamiliar presence. It was a strange combination of Chakra and something else…something he couldn't explain for it was unlike anything he's ever felt before. Stopping at the forest's entrance, Minato stared off into the trees. "Odd…" he murmured softly as his blonde brows furrowed in deep thought. "I wonder what that cou…"

Before he could finish his sentence, his thoughts were interrupted by a distant, young cry. Sensing the distress from within the shady line of tress , "Oh!" he gasped. Letting his instinct take over, Minato quickly took off into woods in search of answering that cry for help.

It didn't surprise Sayomi necessarily that the three men had caught up with her. However, she didn't think they would've done it so quickly.

One minute, Sayomi was sprinting fast through the woods, weaving her way through the trees, using them as barriers in case she was actually being followed-next thing she knew, a large weighty mass crashed into her form from behind taking her down to the ground with it landing on top. The girl cried out in shock before she had the wind knocked right out of her body when she landed hard on her stomach.

"You stupid brat!" She heard Ishio hiss into her ear from behind as he painfully gripped her arms which were behind held behind her back now, "Thought you could escape, huh?" he asked as dropped her limbs and quickly rose to his feet so that he stood above Sayomi's fallen form.

She whimpered in response.

He then took a step towards her cowering figure, nudging her in the back with his foot. Another cry came from her at the contact before she made an attempt at crawling away.

Barely making it a foot, she was then roughly seized by her hair and jerked to sit tall on her knees by Ishio. "Hey, did I say you could move?" He asked while he wrenched unforgivably on her hair.

Pain-filled tears now flowed freely down Sayomi's round cheeks before dropping off her chin. Her small hands came up to hold her throbbing head in pain.

"Awe I'm sorry did that hurt?" he mockingly asked.

She sniffled in response and faintly nodded her head.

"Well don't worry precious…" He sneered as he dropped down to a squatting position behind her while a single hand came around her front to hold a sharp kunai blade up against her throat. "I can always just put you out of your misery." He stated as he forced her head upwards to better expose her neck to his deadly weapon.

"Ishio!" Came the firm voice of Kai as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere before them, "Stop fooling around." He said, "…you know we can't kill her. She's too valuable."

Ishio growled in response, "Valuable?" he replied with a snarl, "She's a pain in our asses." He corrected.

"She'll learn obedience." Kai promised as his icy unfeeling sapphire eyes landed on Sayomi's tear-stained face.

"Yes…" Came Makato's voice in agreement as he too dropped in on the group, "...she will. And pain will be her teacher." He added as he slowly came to stand directly in front of Sayomi. Raising a hand up from his side, he brought the back of it across Sayomi's left cheek, cleanly cuffing her across the face.

The force of his blow snapped her head to the side as she emitted a brief scream of hurt-leaving her skin stinging as though it had been touched with fire.

"If you think that was bad…" Makato began, his hand readying into a large fist, "…wait till…Nagh!" he howled as a kunai blade unexpectedly came down and grazed his right bicep. Using one hand to cover the small, bleeding gash, Makato, followed by Kai and Ishio, all turned in the direction from which the blade came from.

As their eyes landed on the form of Minato, each men growled in rage.

"Haven't you strayed a bit too far from you're village, Leaf Shinobi?" Makato asked as his dark eyes narrowed at the young yellowed haired man, instantly recognizing where he was from by the headband he wore.

Minato's blue eyes narrowed as well, "Perhaps," he replied in a low tone as his eyes fell upon the tiny girl who was ruthlessly clutched in their hold , "…considering something as despicable as this is actually taking place." he paused for a brief second to quickly look Sayomi over who was now watching him with wide, frightened and curious eyes, "…didn't anyone ever teach you to pick on somebody your own size?"

Ishio snarled before he pressed his kunai back up against Sayomi's throat, "This is none of your concern Leaf Shinobi. Go back to your village." He declared.

"Hmm…." Minato answered as he thought about Ishio's words while he analyzed the situation, "…no." he replied, "…I'm afraid I can't do that. Now I'm going to have to ask you…to let the girl go."

Makato chuckled and shook his head, "Such arrogance." He stated, "…who are you to be giving us orders?" he questioned.

"If you're not going to cooperate, then I shall remove that girl from you by force." Minato returned coolly as he reached into his ninja pouch behind him and pulled out another Kunai Blade.

At this, the three men chuckled together before Kai finally stepped up, "And I suppose you expect us to just cower before you and give in to your demands, right?"

Minato frowned, "If you choose to do this the hard way, suit yourself. I can work both ways." He warned.

"Piss off!" Ishio spat.

Well that settled it. Straightening up to his full height, Minato gave a slight nod of his head, "Ok then."

In a yellow flash, too hard to follow with normal sight, the Leaf Shinobi went from up on the tree branch, to down on the ground right inside the group of men. Going first for Ishio, he broke the man's hold on the little girl before grabbing him by the scuff of his shirt and throwing him directly back into a tree behind him.

While their one comrade went flying, Kai and Makato quickly pulled out their own weapons and charged at Minato who was all ready to take them both on at once.

Sayomi stumbled back from the fight, her eyes trying to focus in on what was going on. But everything...everyone was moving too fast. It made her head spin. Overwhelmed by dizziness, she dropped to her knees upon the ground only to then bring her hands up to cradle her aching head for a few moments-just until she could regain composure. Meanwhile, the sounds of clanging metal weapons, grunts of pain and struggles continued filling her ears for a couple minutes more.

And then...everything was silent.

"Huh?" Sayomi slowly lowered her hands back down to her side. Lifting her head, relief flooded onto her face as she saw Makato, Kai and Ishio swiftly retreating back into the trees. They had lost the fight.

"This isn't over, Leaf Shinobi!" Makato called back before the three of them disappeared from sight.

Perplexed at just what had happened, Sayomi blinked a couple times before she turned her head around in search of the man who had saved her. She didn't have to look far though, for in one easy yet startling movement, he was already down on his knees before her.

"Are you alright?" The deep concern in his voice was heartwarming for her to hear as Sayomi continued staring hard into his welcoming, blue eyes in shock.

Seeing her speechlessness, Minato raised a hand up to his head and closed his eyes while giving a small smile.

Next thing Sayomi knew, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head as she collapsed right then and there into the Leaf Shinobi's arms.

Gazing sympathetically down at the small girl in his arms who had just fainted from fright, Minato softly shook his blonde head, "The poor thing…" he whispered out loud while he gently cradled her small body close and rose to his feet. She was so tiny, he noted to himself. If she was awake and standing, her head wouldn't have even surpassed where his hips were.

Not only that, but Minato couldn't seem to make out where this little one had come from in the first place. She wore no crest or symbol that represented her village or clan...in fact, the only thing he could see clearly were the unusual black stripe-like marks running down her bare arms. With the girl in his possession now, he was able to take notice the air of difference that hung about this child. He didn't know what...but he did know something was radiating off this tiny form. It was the strange chakra presence he had sensed earlier.

And with that realization, there came multiple questions that filled Minato's mind.

"Who is this girl?" he asked himself at loud as his eyes traced over the girl's unconscious face. Better yet, " What did those men want with her?"

Knowing a man who may have some answers to this new found mystery, Minato, with the child safe and secure in his arms, turned to set off for home in the Hidden Leaf Village...

A few hours later, Minato entered the grand office of the Third Hokage- nodding his head respectfully at the older man sitting behind a rather large wooden desk. The aging man looked up at him with calm eyes,

"Minato…" he stared, "…You're back." He stated in an unsurprised tone.

"Hiruzen…" Minato replied as he stepped further into the office, coming to stand before the older man.

"How did the negoti…."The Hokage started to ask but stopped his sentence midway when his eyes landed on the small unconscious child in Minato's arms. "….Er...perhaps I missed something?" he stated curiously.

"Uhh…" said Minato as he too looked down on the girl he carried, "Well sir, everything went as it should; mission was a success. But then, on my way back, I stumbled upon something unexpected." He explained.

Raising a single eyebrow as his eyes darted back down to the girl, the Third nodded his aging head in encouragement, "Go on, Minato."

"I discovered this girl in the hold of three men, they were possibly rogue ninja, and they weren't with her on friendly terms."

"Hostile?" The Third guessed coolly; Minato nodded his head,

"Very. And they weren't at all pleased when I had interfered."

Standing up from his desk, the Hokage slowly moved around the large wooden workplace and went to stand before Minato to get a better look at the child he carried. Instantly his eyes caught sight of the multiple black marks that covered the girl's body, including the light bruising across her left cheek.

""Odd…" he began, "….I've never seen a child so young bear marks like this in all my years." He stated as he reached a wrinkled hand out and lightly placed it over the girl's brow. At the touch, a sudden shocked and contemplating look appeared on his face, "Hmmm….." he murmured to himself.

"You feel it too, then?" Minato guessed knowingly, referring to the unusual chakra presence that the girl seemed to carry.

"Strange…" The Third stated. .

"I thought so as well." Minato agreed as both men stared down on the small girl's form.

"Where is this girl from, Minato?" the Third asked curiously.

"I wish I knew…" the younger man answered, "…That's why I came here to you; I was hoping you might have some idea."

"Well at the moment, I'm absolutely stumped…" The Hokage confessed with a furrowed brow, "…but I'll see what I can find out. With her particular looks, surely it can't be too hard to trace where she had come from." He answered, "I'm sure we'll have our answers about this child soon enough." He added.

Right as those words left his mouth, a messenger came running in through the open doorway.

"Lord Hokages!" he exclaimed breathlessly as he swiftly crossed the room to where the two men stood. "This just came in!" he informed while he extended out a small, scarlet colored scroll for Hiruzen to take.

Seeing the color of the scroll and what that color meant, the Hokage instantly took the scroll and opened it up. Minato watched with serious eyes,

"What does it say, Hiruzen?" he asked.

As his older eyes finished reading the last line on the paper, the Third Hokage slowly lifted his eyes over to Minato, "The girl's name is Sayomi Yamamoto ." He answered.

"Th…the scroll's about the child?!" Minato asked in disbelief.

Hiruzen nodded his head and read aloud, "Born on the 5th of June at midnight, she's six years of age, and from the small, and very secluded Village of the Wilderness."

Minato's head fell gently to the side as he took in the information, "Village of the Wilderness?" he repeated, "...I can't say I am familiar with that one."

"Not many are...it's a diminutive village located somewhere inside the Country of Lightning...it's insignificantly populated." Hiruzen explained, "...you'll almost never find it on a map."

"I see...what else does the scroll say?"

As the old man scanned the message, he found himself starting to frown, "Her village was attacked early last night by a group of Rogues, and the girl…" Hiruzen clarified while he nodded over to the sleeping child, "…was missing. This letter here was asking us to help find and recover the girl."

"Oh…" Minato replied, "…But with the child already in our possession, I'm guessing that we must now deliver her back to her village?"

"Actually…" Hiruzen replied while looking Minato dead in the eyes, "….no."

Minato raised a confused eyebrow up at the older man's response, "No?" he repeated, "…what do you mean 'no'?"

Averting his eyes back down to the scroll he still had in his hand, Hiruzen shook his head as he reread the message, "The scroll here says that the girl was obviously the objective for the attack, but for reasons unknown." He explained, "After the desolation of the village, out of worry for the child, they've asked us to locate her. However, upon finding her, they've requested that we keep her here in our village instead." The Hokage informed.

"They don't want her to return home?"

The old man closed his eyes gravely and shook his head, "No."

"Why would they do that to her?" Minato argued, "...she's innocent."

Hiruzen sighed, "Well...though they don't entirely blame the girl for what happened...nonetheless, they ruled her presence as a threat to the rest of the village."

Minato frowned with soft anger as he stared down at the little girl he carried, "How disgraceful...a village turning their back on a harmless child..."

"Indeed..." Hiruzen agreed.

A minutes silence befell the room.

"...Do you think it might have something to do with her strange marks or charka presence?" Minato asked.

"It must."

"What could it mean for the child?"

"I don't know...but...we'll accept her village's wishes and we'll keep the girl here with us."

Minato's eyes flickered over to his predecessor, "Keep her here, in Konoha?" he asked.

Hiruzen nodded his head while he slowly rolled the scroll up and turned away from Minato and the sleeping girl to go and stand in front of one of the large windows he had inside his office. " We can at least offer her protection."

"I see…." Minato murmured out loud in quiet understanding.

Sighing, the Third Hokage glanced over his shoulder, back at the little child in Minato's arms with thoughtful eyes, "...but she'll have to be kept under close watch.." He added with certainty.

Minato blinked a few times in silence, not bothering to hide the surprise on his face from the Hokage's statement, "Do you really think that's necessary?" he questioned, "After all…this is just a child we are talking about." He reminded.

"Yes…" Hiruzen replied calmly, "…but nonetheless, she came from outside our village...a village hardly anyone knows anything about." He answered before pausing for a long second. "….and with her looks and…that aura...she'll draw attention to herself wherever she goes, without even trying." he stated before he turned his eyes upon the younger man in the room.

Minato swiftly licked his lips before nodding slowly, "I understand." He confessed.

Hiruzen nodded his head with a soft grunt, "Then it's settled." He murmured. "You and I will see to it personally that she's looked after."He answered. "And in time, who knows? Maybe with some proper training…" He paused briefly in his thought, "...perhaps she can prove to be a very useful asset to our village."

"That's fair." Minato agreed with a curt nod of his blonde head, "...where shall she stay though?"

"Hmm..." Hiruzen thought the question over long and hard for a few moments, "...I believe there's small, empty house on the outskirts of town." He informed, "... the girl can live there."