Chapter 11 - Welcome to Konoha
[13 Years Ago]
"Isamu, once more. Again."
The little girl threw took a deep breath as she felt her legs shake following her father's voice. He sat outside their small hut in the small village of Takumi in the Land of Rivers. They lived further away from the small village where most people lived. Isolated from civilisation stood a small hut where the family of 3 lived. Takanashi Jun and Ayumi had finally settled in the Land of Rivers after managing to run away from Konoha. Branded as traitors they were hunted down for their crimes- taking orphans of war for experiments.
Takanashi Jun was a high ranking Jounin much like his wife who was the chief and director of the poison and infection unit in Konoha's hospital. The husband and wife were a match made in heaven. No one would have guessed that the Takanashi family would ever betray the village that they grew up in but the desperation for recognition and power made people do terrible things.
Jun had found a mysterious scroll during one of his mission in the untouched forest of the Land of Fire. Hidden in a cave underneath dust and rubble was a scroll that promised great power to a child. Their desperate attempts to gain more power had led to the destruction of their morals and in the process of following the scroll's vague instructions, many lives of innocent children were loss.
But standing in front of the pair of husband and wife was a small child with thick dark hair and vibrant red eyes, a child who showed great potential in strength that was hidden inside her frail, tired body.
"I said do it again! Do you want to go back into the room?!" Jun barked at the child who jumped at the sound of his voice.
Meekly she followed his orders just like a soldier. Her mind picturing the cold, small, damp room in the basement. She didn't want to go back there. Forming the hand seals and feeling a surge of chakra through her body, she did the final hand seal and a dark flame spouted out from her mouth. The head was enough to make Jun cover his eyes as the tree in front of him started to burn, dark soot and smoke flowed up into the orange twilight sky.
"W-Was that alright… father?" She asked, her hands instantly brought to her side as she trembled.
She couldn't fail. The little girl's stomach rumbled and growled loudly as her father looked down on her and from inside the house she could feel her mother's cold stare on her back. The last time she failed she didn't have her meals until she succeeded, the red eyed girl wasn't sure if she could survive another day without food.
"You can do better but get inside, your mother has prepared food."
The little girl nodded, giving her father a polite, low bow before scurrying inside to the warm house on her bare feet.
"That wasn't bad." Her mother muttered to her father as she walked out of the house, clutching her cloak close to her body. Ayumi sighed as she saw her daughter shoving food into her mouth as quickly as possible. If she didn't look properly, she could have sworn that the child looked like a stray animal.
"Not bad but not good enough," Jun replied, "She has power but she's too timid."
Jun's eyes flashed at the shadow that he saw from the corner of his eyes and instinctively grabbed his wife's wrist, "Did you see that?"
"Get in the house, they found us."
"Fucking Konoha Dogs. Make sure to get the Isamu out and burn everything."
"I'll meet you at the checkpoint."
"Ah."
"They've come for us."
"Make sure the girl burns everything. Don't let them get her, otherwise, all our efforts will go to waste."
"Is that her in there?"
Minato looked at the old man beside him and nodded. His eyes bore into the frail girl sleeping on the white hospital bed. Her dirty, tattered clothes had been changed into a new hospital gown and her skin and hair was now clean but white bandages covered her arms and legs. The image of her wouldn't leave the blond man's mind. They had ambushed the Takanashi couple who had burnt everything down. The forest was soon evaded with black smoke and soot as their modest little hut was set on fire. Dark red flames licked the straw hut as the smoke burnt down his throat but he couldn't stop, he couldn't let them get away.
"Are her parents both dead?" The hokage asked again but his eyes didn't leave the girl. The hospital bed and blanket engulfed the small girl. She was still a child but he found it difficult to think about her as a child, the wounds that had now been covered in bandages scared her body. She looked like she was an adult who bore the wounds of war and torture.
"We killed Takanashi Jun but Ayumi…," Minato replied, feeling a wave of sickness rush through his body as he thought about the corpse of the woman, "There was something strange."
"Something strange? Did they get away?"
"She had managed to get away, we thought we had lost her until we heard a scream… there was no one else besides Ayumi and her daughter…"
"What happened?"
"Ayumi's body looked like it exploded. When we found her child… she was in shock, covered in blood."
"Must have been an explosive tag."
"Sir, we didn't find any explosive tags on Ayumi and no weapons on the girl either."
"Are you saying this child killed Ayumi by herself? With no weapons?"
"That is the only plausible explanation sir."
"It seems like we have to keep a close eye on her. Who knows what the two of them were doing to her in that place…"
"Do you think… they could have experimented on her to give her some sort of… power?"
"We can't rule that out. I'll keep some ANBU around her for surveillance."
"Hokage-sama, I respect your orders but I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Hm… why do you think that Minato?"
"She… She might lash out. She's in an unknown village after being raised completely isolated from the world. She doesn't know how to interact with people her own age and if she finds the ANBU following her… I don't know how she will react." Minato replied, his eyes darting back to the little girl who stirred in her bed.
Her eyes clenched as she opened them for a brief second, the bright lights of the hospital burnt her eyes and she quickly covered them with her bandaged hands. Slowly, she opened her eyes, trying to adjust them to her surroundings. The sterile scent of the hospital was unfamiliar to her and as she opened her eyes to see two men staring down at her she jumped and tried to scramble out of bed.
"Are you alright?" Minato asked, leaning forward slowly.
Her frightened bright red eyes darted around the room, "W-Where am I…"
"You're in Konohagakure, my name is Minato. Can you tell us your name?"
"I-Isamu…" She whispered, cowering in the corner of her bed with the blankets clenched in her hands.
"Isamu, can you remember what happened back in the forest?" The hokage asked, giving her a warm smile. But his smile was not returned as the girl tried to scramble further away from the two men. Her voice was raspy, an aftermath of breathing the smoke from the burning hurt back in the forest. The pain from her injuries panged through her body but it didn't stop her from swiping at the hands that were reaching out to her.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She cried as the two men tried to calm her down. She scratched at their hands and hid under the blanket, "I couldn't control it… I really tried to control it but I couldn't! I'm sorry! Please don't put me in that room! Please anything but that room!"
"We won't hurt you Isamu-chan, please calm down… we promise we won't hurt you…" Minato chanted, trying to calm down the hysterical girl.
"I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to hurt her… please… please don't hurt me…" She whimpered as she hid her face in her hands and curled into a ball on the bed.
Minato looked at the Hokage before returning his attention back to the girl. His hand gently reached out to her and tapped the top of her head, "Isamu-chan… I promise… nothing will ever harm you ever again. We'll protect you… Please don't cry…"
The little girl glanced up at the man when she felt his warm hand on top of her messy black hair, "R-Really?"
"I promise… I won't let anything or anyone hurt you ever again."
"T-Thank you... Mister…"
"My name is Minato Namikaze, Isamu-chan, welcome to Konoha. This will be your home now alright?"
"T-Thank you Minato…san…"
A/N: Thank you for everyone who reviews my story! I read them but I'm not sure how to reply, I'm just incredibly grateful that anyone reviews my story at all omg. I am also so so very sorry for being away for so long! I was on holiday and I didn't have the energy to write! I was suffering from a little block hahaha, I know where I want the story to go but it's just a little hard to for me to write it down, hopefully I get back in the groove! like always please review my story and if you want to send me a message please do! I might also publish the story on AO3... I'm still contemplating that but for now, enjoy this little chapter! We get to see a bit more of Isamu's past, more to be revealed so stay tuned!