Waking up in strange places was getting old. Fortunately, this time I was in a real bed in what looked like a hospital room. If the sterile smell hadn't given it away, the IV next to me surely would have. As the lull of sleep slowly left me, I began to notice small irritations. The sheets were thin, my new hospital gown itchy, and the steady drip of the IV was making my skin crawl. The light from the window was also obnoxiously bright, but when my eyes adjusted, I got my first look at the Hokage monument. From the First to the Fourth Hokage, the rock faces were much more detailed than the manga and anime depictions. Each face held a clear emotion of its own, from stern to confident. I could see how some people could feel comforted by their gaze, but tt was also pretty Big Brother of the Leaf.

Looking at the faces made me realize I'd been spouting about Jiraiya as if the Third Hokage was the current one. I'd guessed it right, since no one corrected me, but that was a pretty stupid oversight. A dry chuckle left my lips at that.

Soon after, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi, appeared in a swirl of leaves, flanked by Ibiki and Shikaku. The Hokage was dressed in his formal clothes, a white and red kimono, tied by a white sash, with that ridiculous square hat. He looked bemused, emanating a strong grandfatherly vibe. He looked so peaceful that it was hard to believe he was in charge of a village full of killers. Ibiki wore the same clothes as last time, but he looked relaxed, no trace of that anger I'd seen. Shikaku had black hair styled like a pineapple with a pointy goatee. He wore the standard shinobu uniform: black pants and black, long sleeve shirt with a green flak jacket. Interestingly, while Ibiki had two scars running vertically on his face, Shikaku had two scars running horizontally on his. Neat.

Although he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else right now, Shikaku was the first to speak, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "We've come to the conclusion that you're not a spy or a distraction. There's too many inconsistencies for either. Even though you've set off a lot of red flags, fact is, we don't know what you are. That makes you a potential threat." Shikaku shrugged as he finished. Was he trying to to tell me something?

Ibiki picked up, hands loose in his pockets. "I'm sure you could imagine how seriously we take threats to the village. Keep that in mind while you take your chance to convince us you're worth keeping. Don't screw it up."

Sarutobi took a step closer and despite his soft voice, his presence filled the room. "I understand you chose your words carefully with Ibiki, but if we are to become allies, I expect you to be truthful now." I nodded. I guess that made sense. Before I knew it, Sarutobi was all business. The grandfather replaced with the commander, "You mentioned the village was compromised from the inside. Before anything else, we need to know what you meant by that."

I took a deep breath, eager to answer but mindful to keep it on point. "Okay. But before I start, I need to know that no one else is listening or could listen to what I'm going to say."

The Hokage nodded, "We're clear."

Well, here went everything. "The compromise comes from a man named Danzo. I'll assume that all of you know him. He, well, he wanted to be the Hokage very badly in the past. In fact, he started a secret branch of the Anbu called Root to take care of all the, umm, undesirable and nasty missions a clean village shouldn't do. You, that is the Hokage, told Danzo to dissolve Root based on some pretty horrible things Danzo carried out. Namely, the Uchiha massacre. Here's the thing though, Danzo never dissolved Root. It's still around, and it's growing."

"What proof do you have?"

"None, but Danzo has plenty. Specifically, his injuries do. The bandaged eye actually has a Sharingan implanted in it. The arm has about a dozen of them."

All three ninja looked thoughtful. Judging by the lack of suspicion or reaction, they weren't surprised by the possibility. Shikaku turned to the Hokage and asked, "Sir, who cleaned up the dead Uchiha? Did anyone keep track of their eyes?"

The Hokage was starting to look a bit pale. His voice sounded far away, "Anbu. I dispatched teams of them to dispose of all the bodies. And no, no one kept track of the eyes. Everything was supposed to be destroyed."

Ibiki shook his head as he said, "Danzo would only need a single operative there to smuggle some out."

Judging by the increasingly ugly look on their faces, they were not going to like what came next, "On the chance that you believe what I'm saying, be very careful approaching Root or Danzo. The Anbu under him have seals at the back of their tongues that make it impossible for them to speak about Root or Danzo to non-Root members. As for Danzo himself, all those Sharingan must be enhancing his perceptive abilities. Might explain why he gets away with things so well. Anyway, he has a crazy ability. I don't remember the name, but by sacrificing one of the Sharingan, he can, uh, make his imagination into reality? Think of it like this. Deadly wounds disappear. Depleted chakra gets restored. Deadly technique coming his way? Never existed."

The Hokage was definitely starting to look his age, "Shikaku, how would you recommend we proceed?"

While the Hokage started to appear older and more frail, Ibiki was slowly clenching his fists. Shikaku was the odd one out in his reaction, or rather, his lack of one. He looked thoughtful but no more so than hearing a list of items to buy at a store. He took a moment to answer, voice never wavering. "First, we need to verify the information is true." He turned to me. "Reading your mind would be the quickest way, but you have objections to that. Mind elaborating?"

I guess it was my turn to grimace, not like I had much choice at the moment or desire to lie. Now, how to explain it in a way that makes sense? "It'd be pretty cliche to say I can see the future, but I do know a lot about what should happen. I can see you're already doubting me, but it's true. Hear me out for a second. I have a lot of information on people, events, and places. Past, present, and a future. The problem is that I also know a lot of what ifs, potential, I guess you could say, deviations on how things should be. These deviations are so numerous, it'd be terribly hard to make sense of anything I know without knowing what's supposed to happen."

The Hokage scowled, Shikaku raised an eyebrow, and Ibiki chuckled roughly. The latter spoke, "Like a time traveler?"

I shrugged. I guess that worked. "Not quite, but close enough."

The Hokage turned to Ibiki, "You're confident the truth serum was potent enough?"

What?

Ibiki nodded, "Gave him the strongest dosage a civilian can handle. Sorry kid, had to make sure you weren't twisting your words again."

Shikaku said, "Can you prove that you know this information without endangering anything?"

Now that they brought this thing about the truth serum up, I tried saying no, going against that need to let them know, but the words got stuck in my throat. Who would've thought ninjas had access to truth serum? Actually, it's kind of stupid to think they wouldn't in retrospect. They probably had even more ways to make me tell the truth in all honesty. I felt my hurt arm itch at that was unsettling thought. "I can." May as well play along for now. If I can't trust these three, who could I trust, right? Wait, was that the serum making me think that? Better tell them trivia, just in case. "I know Minato married Kushina, that she was the Nine Tails jinchuriki, and that Naruto's their son. Oh yeah, and Jiraiya's the godfather that came up with the name.

"I know that Kakashi blames himself for the death of his teammate Obito to the point of obsessively visiting a certain grave. I also know Kakashi's Sharingan belonged to Obito.

"I know Itachi's innocent and that he's gathering intelligence on a group of rogue ninja." I could see their dubious expressions slowly shifting. Maybe if I gave them one big thing to think about? I turned to Sarutobi for this one. "I know how you let Orochimaru go when you could've killed him and that he's going to kill you." Alright, maybe two things. Wait, shit! That was a big one. I clamped my mouth before I could start talking again.

The Hokage held my gaze with a pained expression. "What are your intentions?"

Easy question. "I want to help. I know so much about the Leaf that I want to see it turn out well."

Shikaku nodded, "Meaning it doesn't. In the future."

"That's right. You see..."

Ibiki's snarl made a small comeback, shutting me up. "I don't like this. Someone with so many secrets is as much of a resource as he is a liability. We should get everything we can out of him and dispose of him. For all our sake's." Wow, I did not remember Ibiki being that bloodthirsty.

Shikaku shook his head. "As problematic as keeping him could be, he's a much better asset alive than dead. After all, without the proper chakra levels, his mind wouldn't take mind jutsu well. Could collapse before we've even scratched the surface."

Ibiki didn't back down. "Then we keep him locked up. He can take pain well." Well fuck you too Ibiki.

Shikaku didn't argue that point. He sent me the closest thing I'd probably get to an apology via shrug, but it was clear that no matter how much he didn't like that idea, it made some amount of sense to him. So much for being the good cop. Wait a minute...

The Hokage stepped up to the foot of my bed, breaking my train of thought. "What do you get out of this?"

Another easy question. "Safety. A new place to call home. A way to use everything I know to make a difference. An opportunity to fix the problems of a place I like." The words just kept coming out. Not that I minded, but wasn't I supposed to keep talking to a minimum? Well, adding a little bit of flair wouldn't be too bad. "I told you I know what should happen, and me being here, that was definitely not supposed to happen. The more I think about it, the more I'm beginning to think that's already changed something. Ever heard that a butterfly's wings, small as they are, can cause incredibly ripples for the future? Well, I don't have to point out my existence no doubt generated way more ripples. I don't know if the changes are going to be good or bad. The more reason to keep me around, you know."

The Hokage didn't reply but the way he stepped back was answer enough. He'd made his decision.

Shikaku seemed to understand whatever that decision was. He nodded and smiled just a little, "What do you need from us right now?"

Oh thank god! I said, "Shikaku. Your son, Shikamaru. Is he a Chunin? Genin?"

"Academy student actually."

"When does he graduate?"

"If he sticks to his class, 2 years. Figured out when you are with that?"

Two years before Naruto canon started. That was a lot of time to work with! "Yeah. There's a lot of bad the village can avoid and prepare for. Like..."

Ibiki cut in, "Is there anything that needs our immediate concern?"

Huh, yeah, that's a good question. "Keeping me alive, I guess. Danzo doesn't start taking direct action until 5, 6 years from now. Things don't start getting overly complicated until roughly 2 and a half years either. I can't stress enough that this really has to stay between the four of us. Danzo, Orochimaru, and who knows what else would love to know the future."

Ibiki nodded, "Of course. Anything else?"

The light from the window was almost gone. Some stars were already peaking out. Perfect atmosphere for a dramatic mini speech. I turned to the Hokage. "I know you're a good man Sarutobi. Anyone can see that. But that's not enough. True, the ninja world needs more good people, but more than that, the world needs people like you who can stand up for their beliefs and break the cycle of hatred. Don't think you have to do that on your own either. There's people who want to help you."

I didn't see them leave. One moment all three were there and the next some twirling leaves slowly fell around the room. A few words resonated from the window, "Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village."

Show offs.

Sometime at night, a demanding set of pings woke me up. Two panels stood out in the darkness. I quickly fell asleep again, too hurt, drugged, exhausted, and who knows what else to deal with the panels. That was a problem for future me though because right then, all that matter was that I made it!

Quest Passed: My First Ninja Encounter!
Joined the Hidden Leaf Faction
Relationship with Sarutobi, Shikaku, and Ibiki increased
50 Experience

Level up!
+2 Skill slots
+1 Ability score