Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.

Note 1: English is not my first language. So you would come across a lot of grammatical mistakes.

Note 2: this is my first time writing an SI.

Note 3: The background of my SI is not Japan or any western country but rather my own country and my culture.

Note 4: For any reader who had read this chapter before, this is a rewritten version of this chapter.

OxoxO

It was just another day for Hiruzen Sarutobi. Wake up, get dressed, have breakfast, get to his office and face the continuous barrage of paperwork that keeps coming all day long. And it gets boring really quick. That's why now a day he has to keep his trusty pipe always in his robes. There were moments, when he wonders if overpricing paper would save him from this eternal trouble.

Right now he was putting tobacco in his pipe to enjoy his daily dose of cancer while he watches the sunset from his office window. The view wasn't anything compared to the view from Hokage Mountain, but he doesn't have the luxury to go to that place with a pile of papers on his desk.

Before he could light his pipe, he sensed a familiar signature in his sensory range. His student was there, just outside the window on the other side of his office. He lit his pipe before calling out to his student.

"Jiraiya, come inside." He told his student as he let out a puff of smoke. "Talking with you would help me to keep my mind off from my paperwork."

"Fifteen seconds. Longer than the last time I was here." Jiraiya stated as he stepped foot inside his teacher's office, an office that was offered to him several times. "What's wrong sensei? Something troubling you?"

"You could say that." the aged leader turned around and gestured his student to sit in the cushioned chair in front of his desk. "So how did your search for Orochimaru go?" he asked as he took his seat behind his desk.

"Very little progress on that note." Jiraiya started. "Last I heard of him, he was raising money by doing tests on human subjects for anonymous pharmaceutical companies."

"Sometimes I wonder, what made him turn this way." A long sigh escaped Hiruzen's mouth. It was his failure to notice his student's spiraling into darkness that there were so many casualties left behind by Orochimaru's human experimentation. And they were on his shoulder. "He have to be dealt with before he succeeds in his endeavor."

"You don't have to tell me that." Jiraiya replied with hardened face. "Whenever or wherever he surfaces, my whole network is notified to contact me ASAP." Then his feature softened and his voice gained his usual cheerfulness. "On lighter note, how is Naruto?"

"He was in the hospital recently."

"Did any of the villager hurt him?" Jiraiya might not be around his godson but when it came to his wellbeing, he never compromised. In last 8 years, he had sabotaged several attempts of kidnapping him undertaken by other villages. Not to mention, some of the prominent members of civilian population of Hidden Leaf mysteriously disappeared who were suspected of assisting the foreign ninjas.

"He came down with Yin-Yang Imbalance when he unlocked his chakra few days ago." Hiruzen explained. "The boy's Yin had suddenly increased almost 4 times than his Yang. This sudden increase has put the boy in coma. He spent two months in a hospital bed. He made a complete recovery about a week ago."

"What changed in him?" Result of Yin-Yang Imbalance varied from person to person but they were always noticeable. What concerned Jiraiya at the moment was if the changes would bring him more trouble.

"His behavior." And his physique to some degrees. But people who knew him or knew about wouldn't be noticing his physical change once they saw him after his 2 months long stay in the hospital. "According to the ANBU assigned as his guard, Naruto's change in behavior was noticeable from the moment he woke up. He talked with the nurse and doctor politely instead of his usual brash attitude. His voice was calm where it used to be loud to attract attention from anyone nearby. And most importantly, he hasn't announced his dream to become Hokage once in the past few days." He considered if he should tell his student about his worries that was very much a possibility. "However, I am not sure if his change was the result of Yin-Yang Imbalance or a psyche altering jutsu."

"What do you mean by psyche altering jutsu?"

"We found a Root agent, a Yamanaka, in Naruto's cabin the day he woke up. He was comatose and drained of chakra. Inoichi is currently working on him. He should be done with him by now."

There was a knock on his office door as he said that. "Lord Hokage, its Mr. Inoichi." His secretary's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Speak of the devil." Jiraiya murmured under his breath.

"Let him in."

A tall man with long ash blonde hair and green eyes entered the room a moment later.

"Inoichi," the aged leader greeted his subordinate. "Since you came here, I take it you successfully watched Fu's memory?"

Fu Yamanaka, an agent in his old rival Danzo's Root. A nurse found him in Naruto's hospital cabin; both of his hands on either side Naruto's forehead, unconscious and drained of chakra. The shinobi was put in T&I prison cell immediately, but the interrogation had to wait due to his almost null chakra reserve. After investigation, he was identified as Fu Yamanaka, a boy who was recruited by Danzo 4 years ago. And that worried Hiruzen immensely. As a Yamanaka, Fu ought to know many things about human psyche and how to alter them. Whatever jutsu he used on Naruto, is sure to be something dangerous, especially a jutsu that leaves the caster in that state.

His worry intensified later in the evening. Naruto woke up that day before noon. Whatever Fu did, it changed Naruto from hyperactive knucklehead to calm and mellow.

And then there was his sudden increase in skillset. Hiruzen had sent Naruto his allowance before he went to coma. Naruto used the money to buy several sets of clothes, grocery and surprisingly various types of stationary goods. All under the guise of a transformation jutsu. True the jutsu has been demonstrated in his academy class but it was in his time in hospital. And according to his guard, he practiced chakra control exercises following days that weren't included in academy's curriculum.

Last thing he did before turning in, was finding the classmates who left get-well-soon cards in his hospital room, Chouji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuga. He presented all of them packs of candies as thanks. It seems even though he isn't trying to get attention to himself, he is determined to make friends.

"I was Lord Hokage," Inoichi replied. "And what I saw left me confused and worried. Whatever Fu intended to do to Naruto didn't succeed."

"But Fu was found drained of chakra. Surely he used some kind of jutsu."

"Lord Hokage," Inoichi knew he was treading on egg shell. If words got out that a Yamanaka tried to change a jinchuriki's psyche, they will be under heavy suspicion. It wouldn't matter that said Yamanaka was under the war hawk Danzo's command. There was no proof aside from Fu's memory that he didn't get a chance to cast any jutsu. The only one who can confirm this was Naruto himself and said boy was already showing drastic change in his personality. Hard to not know when his own daughter complains how Naruto is trying to act 'cool' like Sasuke in dinner table. "I assure you whatever Fu intended to do to Naruto didn't come to pass. In his inner world, Naruto didn't even give him any chance to do anything."

"You mean to say that he can manifest himself in his inner world?" Now Hiruzen was astonished. No children Naruto's age should have the ability to manifest themselves in their inner world.

"He can, Lord Hokage. And the surprising thing is the representation of his self in his inner world is that of a young man in his early 20s or late teens. From what I've heard from his medical report, I think it has something to do with the sudden increase in his yin." He produced a seal tag from his pocket. "I have recorded Fu's memory of his journey in Naruto's inner world." He placed the tag on Hiruzen's desk. "You should watch their interaction before you decide their fate."

"Their fate?" the threatening undertone in Jiraiya's voice sent a shiver down Inoichi's spine.

"I can't be certain until I question Naruto." Years of experience in interrogating people helped him keeping his composure. "You should watch it before you decide."

"Then let's watch it." Jiraiya said to Hiruzen. "Just the three of us".

The Hokage signaled his ANBU guards to leave the room and put up a privacy seal. He went to one of the walls and pushed a bit of his chakra into a small seal. A part of the wall slid off to reveal a mirror. "Inoichi, place the tag on the mirror."

Inoichi did as his leader commanded and took his place beside his leader and the Toad Sannin. The tag sank into the mirror and the mirror emitted a bright white light. After the light subsided, the mirror started showing Fu's memory.

The first scene that was showed was that of Fu perched on a tree-branch near the hospital. It was night time. He scanned the hospital windows from his vantage point. After he found the one he was looking for he left the branch via Body Flicker. After a moment he appeared in a room's sun-shade. The nurse in the room was checking up its occupant. After the nurse left the room, he entered the room silently.

'No nurse is coming to check up on him for before 6 o'clock. Enough time to finish my work here.' Fu's thought was heard by the viewers.

He went near the hospital bed. On the bed Naruto was sleeping with a content smile on his face. For almost 2 months, the boy was in a coma. The reason for this was worrying for Danzo. Increase in yin chakra means increase in knowledge and experience. There is no telling what the boy will do with this.

Fu crouched on the floor beside the bed. He went through several handseals and then placed his hands on both sides Naruto's forehead. 'Secret Art: Inner World Entry' he intoned to cast the jutsu.

The room vanished from Fu's vision. It was replaced with bright sky and a never ending grassy plain. However the grassy plain wasn't empty. For as far he could see, he saw thick pillars scattered throughout the plain. They were connected with each other via ropes. The ropes had strings coming out of them and papers of various sizes were hanging from them. In far corner he could see new pillars rising. Moment after they rose to full length, ropes shot out from the structures and latched to other pillars. Papers grew from the ground and flew towards the ropes. Strings grew from the ropes and papers attached themselves to the strings.

'The way his mind palace looks, he just piles up any information he gathers. It would be hard to find out what kind of knowledge he possess and how much.' Fu thought to himself as he walked forward. After few moments of walking he saw 3 stone monoliths. The one on the right had a figure of a prancing stag carved on it. In the stone carving, the stag had a crown around its neck. Underneath the carving there was something written in Western Common.

'Ours is the fury.' Fu read to himself. 'A rules he lives by? May be his pranks are a way of unleashing his fury.' He moved to the next one. This one had a carving of a snarling wolf. Unlike the previous one, this carving doesn't have any additional gear on the figure. It also had writings underneath it. 'Winter is coming. I am missing some context here. The way it is written, it should mean some kind of warning. But a short season like winter could hardly be a warning.' Next carving didn't look much. At first glance it looked like a human body hung upside down on cross. However in closer inspection muscles, tendons and veins could be seen on the body. 'A human body without skin, hung upside down. This certainly represents cruelty.' He looked underneath the carving. 'And the words. Our blades are sharp. All these words give off warning. Only this carving shows what actually will happen to anyone who will wrong him.'

Shiver went down his spine. A person's inner world was his own domain. As long as he had the will power, he could do anything in here. By any chance if Uzumaki got a wind of him then, judging by the words and the last carving, he will make him experience all kind of hell. It might not do any kind of physical damage, but the mental trauma could keep him bedridden for days. 'However Uzumaki is still a child. He couldn't have access to his inner world.'

"Should you be so certain?" Fu whirled his head so fast, if did it in real world, his neck would certainly have snapped. He found the owner of the voice sitting on the monolith with wolf carving.

He was expecting to see Naruto Uzumaki but the person he was seeing couldn't be him. Whereas Naruto was a boy of 8, this person was young man in his late teen or early 20s. His skin was tanner than Naruto's. His head was full of spiky blonde locks with dark tips. His brown eyes were cycling between amusement and apathy. His clothing consisted of green long sleeved shirt, white cargo pant and black sandals.

On instinct, Fu reached for his tanto. "Who are you?" Fu could already guess who this person is but it's hard to believe a child could manifest himself in his inner world as a grown up.

"You are trespassing my domain and you are asking me who I am?" the man admonished him with an amused smile on his face. "Why don't you take agues?" he said as he pointed to his cheeks. Fu could see faint whisker-like birthmark on the stranger's face.

At the end of his sentence, chains shot from the monolith with flayed man and wrapped around Fu's legs, hands and neck. The chain pulled back and he was hung on the cross carved on the monolith upside down, the same way as the flayed man. He struggled to free himself from the chain but to no avail. 'I have to free myself from! No matter what, I have to report this to Lord Danzo!'

"So a guy named Danzo is gunning for me, huh." Naruto replied. Amused smile that was previously on his face is replaced with a look of curiosity.

"How did you find out? Are you a mind reader?"

"You mean like you?" Naruto jumped from his perch on the monolith and strolled to Fu. "Not really. But our minds are connected right now thanks to whatever you did." Fu's eyes widened at the implication. He had to cancel the jutsu right now! "Please don't go so soon. This is the only human interaction I had in quite a while. Besides, guests come at their wishes but they leave at their hosts' wishes." He said as he placed his palm over Fu's forehead.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"An experiment of sort. And thank you so much for being a volunteer." Naruto's lips stretched into a pleasant smile but it didn't reach his eyes. It was an uncomfortable feeling for Fu. A bit shy from being unnerved. "I am looking forward to see what result it might yield for me."

"What kind of experiment?"

"I will tell you if we ever meet in outside. But knowing your work that might take a while. Now relax and let sleep claim you."

And with that mirror turned to its usual state. There was pin drop silence in the office. Inoichi has already seen Fu's memory so he knew what was coming. But the other 2 adults in the room were surprised by Naruto's appearance and mannerism in his inner world.

"Inoichi, you said you couldn't be certain of something." Hiruzen asked his subordinate. "Of what?"

"I am not certain if that person is Naruto or not."

"Explain."

"His Yin chakra was four times higher than his Yang and as per ANBU surveillance, he showed mastery at using some jutsus that wasn't known to him before. So I thought that those knowledge could very well have been sealed in him and unlocking his chakra also unlocked the seal. Thus the surge in Yin."

Inoichi stopped his explanation briefly to look at his leader. Noticing his hesitance, Hiruzen gave him a nod. So he explained further. "However, after I went through Fu's memory, his appearance made me think that Naruto as we know him might not be among us anymore."

"What convinced you?" the question came from Jiraiya.

"Our appearance in our inner world is always the same as our physical appearance. As it is ingrained in our subconscious. But the only thing that was similar between his physical appearance and his inner world appearance was his birthmark. So my conclusion on the matter is that either the surge in yin granted him years of experience and knowledge that made him mature spiritually or someone took over his body."

"Sensei," Jiraiya looked over his old mentor. "What should we do about Naruto? After what we saw, we can't act like he is just another kid."

"That's true. But we don't know everything about his personality yet. His interaction with Fu was very brief. We can't judge him by that single interaction alone. And if he is an adult in mind, he is sure to keep many things to himself." The aged leader felt his age catching up with him. Before he watched the recorded memory, Naruto was like grandson to him. But now he didn't know how he felt for the boy. The words etched on the monoliths worried him, especially the last one. He knew how treatment of populace of a hidden village changes a jinchuriki and there is little to nothing good about it. At best, they become aloof and start to detest human contact and at worst, they become bloodthirsty maniac. Sure he didn't do anything to Fu or any villagers since he woke up but how long would he stay his hands?

"Lord Hokage,"

"No." Hiruzen shot Inoichi down before he could even propose his idea. If the person they saw was really someone from their enemies, he couldn't let him anywhere near Inoichi.

"All right. I am going to talk to the kid." Jiraiya voiced his decision as he was about to make his way to the door.

"Wait Jiraiya." Jiraiya turned around as his teacher called him. Hiruzen went to his desk and brought out an envelope from a drawer. "Take this with you."

"What's this?"

"An excuse. Here is his last two months' allowance. It should buy your way in."

"Sure, I will take it to him." Jiraiya pocketed the envelope and was about to exit the room when he remembered something. So he turned to his teacher. "You don't want to listen our conversation?"

"If you would like to provide us a way to do so," Inoichi answered his question when Hiruzen he the troubled look on his leader's face. It was natural in their line of work to spy on people. But any ninja would hesitate to spy on someone they were close to, especially if it was a kid. "I would appreciate it very much."

At this, the sannin brought out a seal from inside his vest and placed it on the Hokage's desk. "I will activate it once I reach his apartment.". With that Jiraiya left the office to meet his godson.

After he left, Hiruzen brought out his crystal ball from his desk drawer and set it beside the seal. He motioned Inoichi to sit on the front chair. Guess his day wasn't going to end as just another day.

OxoxO

Western Common: I took this name for English from Iryu-nin Kasa.