Chapter 10

Little Steven was curled up on the floor under a blanket he was wrapped in, like an armor letting nothing from his body visible. He sat in the middle of his room, in front of a TV broadcasting Lord of the Rings. There was no light to reveal the walls covered with posters, the scattered piles of video games, the shelves full of books and manga ... The broken mirror's pieces ...

No light bulb, nor the slightest sunshine. The windows were all blocked with wooden boards monstrously thick. The boy was alone. He was happy. At least he kept repeating that he was, because he had to convinced himself.

He saw two warriors with light sabers fighting in a station as large as a planet.

He heard laughter behind the door. His arm shook, then went out alone from under the blanket. He reached to the door, eager to hold the handle. The boy got up and opened it slightly, then he get completely out. He saw a city in the darkness of its own smoke. It was flooded with devils laughing together. They seemed to have fun. The critters saw the child. Most ignored him, others laughed, some threw pebbles. The sound of their insults and jokes became deafening.

Steven quickly returned to his room and shut the door, double locked, the heart filled with an old grief that passed quickly, as it usually did. This was not the first time. The first days, it was excruciating, but not now.

He now remembered why he had closed the door. He recovered in front of his TV to see Aragorn addressing to the armies of Gondor and Rohan.

Then a blinding light begun to replace the images on the screen.

He saw a warrior with golden hairs willing to destroy an enemy with his fists.

He began to regain consciousness.

Steven had trouble waking up, as much because he was not a morning person than because he did not sleep very well on the floor of Naruto's apartment. He felt the sun on his skin, and some growling sounds. Was there a storm in the air? He slowly opened his eyes, lamenting. His vision was still a little troubled, but he guessed that the morning was well advanced and the sun was shining strong.

When his vision returned to normal, he discovered he was not alone. Just above him were five persons looking at him with very dark faces, a little frightening. Steven's eyes blinked several times, until the information reaches his sleeping brain. He recognized one annoyed Naruto, Kiba growling, a rabid Akamaru, an upset Hana and a frustrated Anko. He also felt some pain in various parts of his body and his hairs were not dry, but what he had over him was more important for now.

The young Londoner tried, with a sleepy voice.

"Uh ... Hi everyone."

"You finally wake up you asshole?" Anko coldly questioned.

"It's been a while we try to make awake you!" Kiba bellowed.

"Really?" Steven asked. "That much?"

"Totally." Said Naruto. "We tried everything: shaking you, screaming at you, hit you, throw water to your face..."

"But nothing worked." Anko said. "I even threaten you with all the Killing Will I could."

"But you didn't reacted at all." Naruto explained. "It's like you were barely breathing. It was like you were in coma."

Then Hana said angrily.

"You're supposed to work on How to save our mother. And the trial is this afternoon! Do you even know what time it is?"

"No idea." Steven recognized.

"It's almost ten and a half hours in the morning!" Anko got angry.

"Oh, that is why I am so tired." Muttered the geek. "For a day with no school, it's like five o'clock in the morning for me ... Come back in two hours."

"NO WAY !" Bellowed everybody.

"You better get up." Kiba threatened. "Or else I says to Akamaru to piss on you!"

"WOOF!" Confirmed the puppy.

"If you wanted to wake me up, you should have makes me hear the Opening 1 of Hunter X Hunter 2011 ... or the Chrono Cross introduction, that's fine too."

Add to frustration and that he still did not get up, these little incomprehensible references were the straw that made Explode the camel's back.

"WAAAAAÏ ! Owowowowow! RELEASE ME ! HELP ! WAAAAAAH !" Were examples of Steven's screams while he was lynched, beaten up and punched by the group of ninja.

"STOP IT!" Steven screamed. "Okay ... I get up ..."

"Good." Hana sighed, while her "savior" was put up.

He passed casually between two ninjas saying.

"Just give me a moment."

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Take a shower and prepare my hairs."

"NOOOO !" Yelled the blonde. "DON'T LET HIM ENTER IN THE BATHROOOOOOM !"

Flashback

Last night

Naruto and Steven were facing each others. Naruto couldn't believe what he saw. Steven feared his reaction. Suddenly, the little blond said cheerfully.

"Steven! You're back!"

Then took him in his arms, cheeks pressed against him. This greatly surprised the geek of course, he was not expecting that. Not knowing what to do, Steven said sincerely.

"S ... Sorry for being away so long."

"Do not worry. The old man explained everything to me."

"... Really?"

Steven was completely lost there. The Sandaime told to Naruto that he was put in prison?

"Yeah." Continued the child. "He told me that you had to go in a hurry without even having time to take your bag."

"... He told you that?"

"Yep. At first I was not glad you went like that, without saying anything. You had promised to return after all. But the old man explained me that it was important and that you could not do anything apart break your promise this time. Then I calmed down and did not blame you. "

Steven should have felt somewhat reassured ... But in fact, he was FURIOUS.

'This old man...' thought the geek with a rage that Naruto could not see. 'Calm Down Steven ... No I can't.'

He knew it was not reasonable, but Steven could not help but being angry against the Sandaime. It was an objectively acceptable lie. Steven did not seemed cruel, it gave him a reason for not returning, and the little one did not have a bad opinion about the old man.

But, despite this, the geek could not accept this situation. With a good reason or not, even if that child had to save this village, as suspected the stranger, it did not change what seemed most important to him: The old man made Naruto believe that Steven had broken his promise voluntarily.

For the young Londoner, it was unacceptable.

There could be circumstances that put a spoke in his wheel, but he never broke a promise.

EVER!

Steven brought Naruto inside, closing the door by slamming. He put the child on a chair, sat down in front of him and looked at him in the eyes, with a determined look that surprised the small blond. He was a little taken aback and intimidated.

Steven told him, on a tone that brooked no interruption or objection. No one suspecting that they were observed.

"Naruto ... I'm sorry to tell you that ... But your old friend lied to you."

Under the incredulous eyes of the child, Steven told him what had really happened in the past six months: the meeting with the Hokage, the Prison, the Asylum and the Case.

Naruto could not believe it. But the more he looked at Steven, the less he could doubt his honesty.

The little blond, taking his pentacle in hands, became angry. He screamed that all this was unfair. Seeing him, the geek calmed. He had not wanted a violent reaction, only restore the truth.

Before the little blond could say more, the young man asked him to calm down.

"Calm down little one, I know you're not happy, me neither, but you should not too harshly judge them. Otherwise you'll do like me with Bioshock Infinite: To think that this is the evil incarnate because a guy tells you when in fact it's cool when you observe it yourself. "

The little blonde was, again, completely lost. What his friend said was quite contradictory.

"But Rai-san ..." Hesitated Naruto. "They locked you ... And they lied to me."

"I know but I do not tell you that to make you hate them. I hated them for a while, believe me. But after I calmed down. Sleeping in jail was strangely pleasant, I was always more serene after. I probably had sweet dreams. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pissed against them, they almost tortured me, and I have spent several months without a screen. You can not imagine how it's horrible for a geek. But I remembered that they do it for reasons they thought were good. Some of my favorite characters in stories seem mean but actually did what they believed were right with the informations they had. "

Naruto seemed increasingly lost.

"They did what they felt ... right?"

"Yes. These morons could have been a little less hasty but, basically, they just wanted to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"I'm a complete stranger. I arrived from nowhere and becomes one of your friends in less than two days. For ninjas, it is suspect. You will learn that in this world, apparently, you must be vigilant."

The little blond did not know what to think, as the observer hidden near the window. The child just asked.

"So ... Why did you told me all this?"

"To restore my honor."

"Your Honor?"

This intrigued the observer. Steven explained.

"I know their motives were valid. But if there's one thing that you do not mess with me, this is my loyalty. When I make a promise, I keep it, even with the delay. There, I was quite makes you think that I broke my promise at the first difficulty. There was no way I would let you see me like that, even a little bit ... "

"You always keep your promises ..."

Steven smiled.

"That's Right. It would take an army of Xenomorph, or a queen's life in danger to stop me."

"Isn't it a princess normaly?"

"I prefer the Queens. They are strong, dignified and classy."

Steven then made Naruto promise to not be angry against the old man. He promised. After that, the teenager asked to use the bathroom to take a shower and do his hairs. Naruto let him do ... and didn't saw for THREE HOURS. He also promised to not make that mistake again.

Non of them suspected they had been observed by a kunoichi with a cat mask. Who was smiling. What she had heard, and should report to the Hokage, pleased her. She was, moreover, very curious to see the reaction of the Sandaime.

But none of them, nor the young ones nor the kunoichi, or even the Hokage, could imagine that there wasn't One observer. There was actually Two. The masked ninja had no idea that, standing near her, there was somebody. Someone who observed Steven and Naruto. A being that nobody, even the kunoichi, albeit within inches of him, could see or feel.

This entity with plaid shirt and a sympathic round face, which looked more like an office employee than anything, seemed very preoccupied. Then he said, in a voice that no one could hear.

"This one can visibly helped to put things right. As the red-haired one ..."

End of flashback

That was close. Fortunately, Naruto reminded last night and that evening six months ago. The team had managed to stop the geek before he enters the bathroom. He had struggled with all his might, that was actually nothing for ninjas, even the youngest.

They had finally made him sit on a chair where he ruminated with annoyance, tweaking his two medallions, the Dragon from Elder Scrolls and Assassin's sign.

Everyone was sitting at Naruto's table. Something, after a minute, seemed strange to Anko. The Kunoichi asked Naruto.

"Brat ... What are you doing here?"

"Well I'm gonna help you."

"No way." Opposed the kunoichi. "It's already annoying with the two that are related to the case then no need to add you."

"I do not take orders from you!"

The child, in a flash, had a gash on his cheek. Then he felt fear, discovering his injury ... and the face in shadow of the one who had done this to him. Both Inuzuka, more the dog, were in each other's arms, shaking with terror.

"I'm not in the mood to play, brat." Growled the kunoichi.

Naruto ran getting behind Steven, who did not understand what that little boy was doing there.

"Help me Rai-san! Protect me!" Asked the blonde.

"Big strategy mistake, Naruto." Steven replied nonchalantly. "In Dungeon and Dragon's language, my armor class is about Minus One Hundred. And I have no protection from evil. You should go away Leveling like in Dragon Quest ."

"What does that mean?"

"It means: Go and train, I'm less good than a Level 1 Armor."

The child wanted to protest, and ask him better explanations, but a kunai swung an inch from his face, and drove in the wall, and made him change his mind and go do jogging at the other side of the city.

"It was a bit harsh." Stated Steven, too sleepy to worry. "The poor probably imagined he saw Kayako Saeki."

"Stopp it now!" Anko spat. "It's your fault I'm pissed!"

"Watch out. You'll be in Super Saiyan mode if you continue."

"SHUT UP !" Ordered the kunoichi pinning a folder on the table, which cracked.

The shock awoke for good geek that realized how much he had almost lost his life this time.

'Wow!' He Though. 'I have to do be more careful from now. The last time I took so much unnecessary risks, it was to explore a Level 90 territory with my Mage Night Elf Level 8 on World of Warcraft. '

Putting aside this (very) bad memory, Steven relaxed atmosphere by seriously and calmly questioning the kunoichi, as if nothing happened.

"Well, you talked to the doctor who examined of Inuzuka Kuro?"

The children relaxed and Anko took a deep breath, regaining her composure, before answering.

"I did it. And to tell you the truth it was not a nice meeting ..."

"Don't give me details please." Asked sadly the geek.

Anko remembered why he had not come with her yesterday and explained directly.

"Basically, I had to make him have a bad time to make him say the truth. In fact, what nobody knew was that he was the doctor of the victim."

"What?!" Screamed the little Inuzukas.

Steven was surprised a bit.

"You did not know that your father had a personal doctor?"

"Completely." Hana confirmed. "He had always been in perfect health. He had never been sick."

"Being healthy and do not look sick, it's not the same sometimes." Steven explained.

"Actually, he rarely saw him." Anko clarified. "That's why nobody suspected it. He did not need a regular visit and he did not want everyone to know for his condition."

"What was his problem?" Asked Steven.

The kunoichi opened the file and read.

"Cardiac malformation."

This revelation left the children breathless. Anko continued.

"If I believe the doctor and his record, he risked a heart attack if he does too much effort or had too much stress."

"That's impossible!" Kiba shouted. "He was super strong! It's because of mom that he left us!"

"Kiba" Interrupted his sister. "How dare you say such a thing?"

"But it's true." He insisted. "It was he who told me that. Not badly, but he said it."

Hana refused to argue. But Steven asked curiously.

"He really told you that?"

This puzzled the two kunoichi in the room. Kiba told, sadly

"At my last birthday ... He asked me privately what gift I want, He had never been good for gifts, and I told him I wanted it to be with Mom again... And he replied that it was not possible. "

"What did he say exactly?" Steven went smoothly.

His insistence intrigued Anko but she did not intervene.

"Well .." Remembered Kiba. "He just said he could not. I asked him if it was because he no longer loved mom ... or me ..." Hana looked pained at this. "But he said it was not true, he loved all of us as much as before ... Even though Mom was still agitated."

Steven had a little intuition. He asked Hana.

"They fought a lot before their separation?"

The Genin thought for a moment before declaring.

"Not really ... Well they screamed often, but this was because mom is not ... very quiet ..."

"It's a fury you mean!" Kiba clarified.

"Let's say that ..." conceded Hana. "She keeps arguing with everybody and cause problems. It is mainly because people have not accepted that dad marry her. They thought she was too... unstable to lead the Clan. But over time, she earned the respect of some Inuzuka... "

"But not all of them, isn't it?" Steven ventured.

Hana heavily nodded.

"That's right. I'm sure that over time, people would have come to accept her. But it was not easy. As soon as she talked with key members of the clan, it degenerated and dad had to calm her and fix things, often raising his voice. "

Anko questioned with curiosity and humor.

"Said like that, I wonder what he might like with such a tornado. Hehe."

Steven looked at her darkly, which silenced her, not because he was particularly threatening, but because it reminded her that she was speaking about their deceased father. However, Hana replied, looking down and sadly smiling.

"We sometimes asked him. But Dad said that's why he loved her. He was a pretty lazy shinobi it seems. It was her who urged him to be more energetic and respected."

"He was very strong." Kiba added.

This piqued Steven's curiosity, who asked Anko.

"And his condition never bothered him? I thought stress and effort were dangerous for him."

Anko replied.

"It was, yes. But the doctor said that his problem was the type to reveal with age. When he was young, it was fine. But the older he got, the more his heart began to have trouble keeping up. And there are quite a few years, he finally asked the opinion of the doctor because he nearly had an heart attack. He also told him that he should have come to him much earlier. "

"Dad has always been stubborn ..." Sadly precised Kiba, Akamaru tempting to comfort him with his paw.

"Kuro asked his doctor to say nothing to anyone, he wanted to do it himself. He agreed. Moreover the doctor pretended medical confidentiality to not telling me everything. But I saw that it is also because he did not like Tsume-San. "

Steven looked thoughtful. Anko noticed it and asked him.

"It inspires you something?"

Steven did not even seem to have heard it, he looked concentrated. Instead, he asked a new question.

"So his death ... It's still because of the electric current. Is not it?"

"Indeed." Anko confirmed. "The electrical attack caused a heart attack. But if the doctor did not say anything ... It is indeed because he does not like Tsume and believe she's guilty."

This enraged the Inuzuka children. This egoistical scientist had deliberately concealed important informations.

"That's what he said?" Questioned the geek.

Anko was a bit annoyed by Steven's mania for details. But she understood its usefulness, as she answered.

"He said he found her irresponsible to be as stressful despite her husband condition. And the fact that he was killed by electrocution, just enough to die of a heart attack, was sufficient to prove her guiltiness to him. But he felt that it was not necessary to specify all of this because she was going to be condemned. "

Kiba was on the verge of breaking everything. The puppy was also angry. Hana was upset too, but contained her anger the best she could. Steven asked to them.

"Do you think your mother knew about your father's condition?"

"I don't know ..." she admitted. "I'm not sure of many things now. Probably I would say. I do not see our father hid these things because of pride. But if she knew ... she would have been less .. . energic. She really loved him you know. Once he returned from mission with a broken arm and she helped him like a baby. " She chuckled, remembering that. "He was very upset by the way, they argued about it throughout the healing. But, actually, he liked that. He said that there were only two things he really loved in this world : His wife and the Clan... Before our birth. "

All were silent for a moment. The Inuzuka by melancholy, Anko by embarrassment and Steven because he was thinking. Others noticed that their foreign friend had his eyes closed, and was unconsciously tapping a tune on the table. This intrigued them and annoyed Anko.

She interrupted him with a kunai planted between his fingers. Steven noticed, stood frozen for a moment ... then screamed.

"WAAAAH ARE YOU CRAZY ?! You've wanted to do like in Aliens or what?! You almost cut my index! How can I press the " R "buttons of joysticks or a mouse without indexes ?! "

Anko ignored these stories about buttons, to not get irritated again, and said.

"You shouldn't have done that annoying music with your hand."

"You dare to call Super Mario's theme Annoying?"

Wanting to avoid bloodshed and a further loss of time, Hana rushed to intervene.

"THEN RAI-SAN! Do you have an idea?"

Steven sighed and announced.

"I have several. But we lack the elements that can makes me choose one of them ..."

The children seemed a little disappointed. Kiba asked.

"What do we do then?"

Nobody said anything. Two rumblings sounds answered.

"What was that ?!" Steven worried.

Both children responded with shame.

"This is our stomach. We didn't took a real breakfast because mom is not there."

"Whew!" Steven was reassured. "I thought a Bioshock's Big Daddy was in the room."

Anko, tired of Steven's references, got up, sighing. Then she suggested, or rather imposed on the team.

"Let's eat, it's time anyway. We'll probably have more ideas eating."

The child and the geek followed her closely.

Once in the street, Steven continued to think, what made him slow down and be a little far behind.

Then he heard a "Hey!" that surprised him a bit. He looked around and saw a strange man standing in the middle of a small dark alley. The style of this person disconcerted the geek. He had neither kimono nor ninja dresses, but a jeans and a plaid shirt. This was obviously a Japanese man, who was probably thirty years old, with a bowl haircut that would have given him a sympathetic look. Only his aura and his non-smile gave the opposite effect. What most intrigued the londoner was that, despite the fact that this person obviously called him, he was not looking. This strange man was focused on the big notepad on which he seemed to draw.

"Uh ... Hello ..." Hesitated Steven.

The person did not react. But a moment later, he lifted his brush and turned the notepad to make Steven see what he had done. And that surprised the geek even more than his dress style.

There was a beautiful drawing of an ancient style Japanese house with, below, a message in Hiragana, the Japanese 'letters', saying exactly:

'THE MISSING PIECE IS IN INUZUKA DOMAIN.'

Steven froze on the spot. He heard Anko calling him from afar. His eyes turned to her for a moment. But when he looked back into the alley, the man in shirt was gone. More than that, he had literally disappeared. As if he had never been there. The Londoner did not know what to do. Should he talk about that with the others?

'I shouldn't.' He Thought. "I'm not crazy. I saw him. But if I tell them that, they will believe I am, clearly. I may be dreaming ... Maybe ... No, if we were in the normal world I would have believed it. But in this world ... "

Steven returned to his team when they called him again. His mind was more occupied, not only by the case and by what he had seen, but also by the fact that he no longer designated his home world by the term 'Real World', wondering since when he stopped doing it.

The young man then returned to the streets under the gaze, from the top of a roof, of the man in shirt holding his notepad with a draw of Naruto.

Sorry, still no conclusion of the case in this chapter T-T

But I tried, but otherwise it would have required me to remove things and it would have been illogical or Precipitated the story.

I still prefer to give the elements one after the other.

List of references:

Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Dragon Ball Z, HunterXHunter (2011), Chrono Cross, Bioshock Infinite, Alien, Dungeon & Dragon, Dragon Quest, The Grudge, World of Warcraft, Dragon Ball, Aliens, Super Mario Bros. , Bioshock.

See you Soon on The Queen, the Geek and the Princess. ;-)