"Guardian of the Fox"

Chapter 5

"A truly strange interrogation part 1."

"Myc! Hey Myc! Hurry up, you ninny!" He saw a seven-year-old Sherlock call to him in the distance, waving his right hand back and forth. His form obscured by a strange fog, preventing Mycroft from seeing his brother clearly. "The butterfly is getting away!"

What?

"Wait up, Sherly!" Mycroft heard himself scream back, trees and bushes appearing in his way forcing him to dig his way after the smaller child. "Don't run so quickly, I can barely keep up with you!"

His body was moving on its own accord, he had no control over it…

It's as if… it's as if he was reliving a memo-

No...

Sherlock's child-like laugh erupted all around him.

Please no…

"You're getting fat, Myc! Get going or me and Redbeard are going to leave you behind!"

Not this one…

"I'm not getting fat, Sherlock!" Not now… "I just don't exercise as much as you do, anymore!"

Please!

"Sure! Sure! Whatever helps you sleep, fatty!"

Anything but this one!

And just like he remembers, he falls down, leg caught in a tree root. He scratches his knees when they touch the ground, and the pain feels sharp and real.

He bites his lips to keep from screaming out and alarming Sherlock, but the smaller child turns around anyway.

"Myc? Are you okay?"

Mycroft shakes his head and bites back tears.

"I'm alright, Sherlock! Go on without me I'll… I'll catch up with you in a minute!" He calls back, keeping his voice from quivering.

Please… just this once listen to me and go.

But that doesn't happen.

Even without looking up from his injured knees Mycroft could hear the boy and his dog approaching.

No… No, damn it, no!

"Sherly you're going to lose track of the butterfly if you don't turn back now."

You hear that, Sherly? You'll lose the butterfly you've been chasing after all day, if you chose to check on the brother you'll end up hating anyway. So why don't you do both of us a favor and ignore me?!

But the boy kneeled next to him anyway, a clean tissue in his right hand.

"Silly, Mycroft." The seven-year-old said, gently wiping away the blood on Mycroft's right knee. "I'm not going to chase after a stupid insect while you're hurt."

No… No, don't say that! Mycroft felt his sanity threatening to break. Goddamnit, why won't you just hate me?!

"But… the experiment…" The elder Holmes tried to argue.

Little Sherlock snorted.

"What fun are those without the bestest big brother around to enjoy them with me?" The curly haired brat winked at him. "We're not going anywhere without you, aren't we, Redbeard?"

Stop it… STOP IT!

He could hear himself laugh as the red dog barked and then proceeded to lick his face clean.

"Well… if that's how you want to spend the day…" The dream Mycroft said, a soft smile gracing his lips. "Just so you know, I wouldn't be mad if you went after it. I'm old enough to take care of a scratched knee or two."

A minute later Sherlock squeezed the air out of him with a strong hug.

"You'd never leave me if I was hurt…" the curly-haired boy murmured against his chest. "So I won't either."

The elder Holmes blistered against the close contact, even as his own arms moved to return the embrace.

"I love you big brother."

That was the last time those words ever left the younger Holmes mouth and, just like the moment he realized they will never be spoken again…

It felt like drowning.


He hoped this will end when his eyes open…

He prayed to God that the memory will disappear now that he's fully conscious…

But it didn't.

In fact…

It only got worse.

At first all he saw was darkness.

Then his face became dunked into something wet and cold.

Next thing he knew, he was trying to breathe in water.

Mycroft's eyes snapped open only to immediately close again, the saltwater making them sting.

Instincts kicked in before he could stop them, chest heaving to cough out the unwanted water.

He was rewarded with a fresh mouthful of ice-cold seawater.

Panic begiun to override his rational thinking, as he started to struggle.

Somebody was holding his head down…

He couldn't move… he couldn't pull his head up…

'Can't… Breathe!'

But, just as air in his lungs was about to run out…

"Soreha… jubundesu… Ibiki."A voice said over his own panicked thoughts. "Kare… o kokyu… sa sete."

He felt a strong hand tighten painfully around his ginger curls, sharp nails scratching his skull, before his head was brutally pulled out of the water into cold air, and sharp light.

Harsh coughs erupted from his lungs as he desperately tried to purge the inferior water out of them, the liquid falling noisily back into the bucket in front of him.

Before Mycroft had the chance to catch his breath and collect his thoughts, his head was jerked up again, towards the blinding light.

"Anatahadare?" A man in a white porcelain mask and spiky silver hair, appeared in his line of vision, swarming the poor redhead with questions. "Mura ga anata o okutta no wa? Naze anata wa jinchuuriki o totta nodesu ka?"

Mycroft's head was ringing, his thoughts were incoherent and there was a large possibility that he had a concussion.

But, even with all those factors working against him, he still recognized the masked man.

"You…" The fox-haired kid whispered, looking said man dead in the eyes as best he could. "You're the one that hit me."

He could hear a large number of people begin to murmur around him, probably wondering what were those sounds that just escaped his mouth, while the man addressed moved away from his face.

The masked man must have realized Mycroft recognized him because seconds later, his head was once again dunked underwater.

He didn't even have time to take a breath.

This time Mycroft didn't trash in his holder's grip, wanting to save what little oxygen was left in his lungs. Thankfully, the sudden silence in the water helped him concentrate on figuring out how he got into this mess and, subsequently, how to get out of it.

Given enough time he would have made a successful escape plan, despite the concussion considerably slowing down his thinking process.

It was rather unfortunate then that his captor chose to brutally pull him out of the water, before he was able to get very far.

Instantly his hungry lungs gasped for air like a dehydrated man gulps fresh water, before he was faced with the same masked man as before.

Mycroft blinked away the blurriness that came from being rid of air for an extensive amount of time, ready to look into the black holes that were the man's eyes.

Only… they weren't black.

One of those eyes… was red.

Taken completely off-guard the fox-haired youth turned all his attention to the anomaly…

Making perhaps the biggest mistake he ever made.

Because, as it turned out, this wasn't just a cleverly designed contact lens that he saw some of the members of the younger generations use for fun…

No…

That eye was real

And it was moving.

The black tear-shaped dots surrounding the iris began to spin, and Mycroft was… entranced.

Despite the alarm bells sounding off in his head… he kept on staring.

Couldn't… couldn't blink… couldn't… look away.

Just… stare.

A tiny voice spoke up in his head, one that wasn't familiar to him, telling him that he should try to think in… Japanese.

Mycroft frowned, not used to being commanded by someone that wasn't his mind's own creation, but tried to do so anyway.

Then the masked man began talking again but… this time he could understand him.

"Do not play tricks on me, stranger." The man's voice was harsh and lowered to a threatening growl, but Mycroft could tell he was no older than twenty. "I know you can speak our tongue, I saw you use it when talking to the boy." Holmes's head snapped back from the punch. "Now speak!"

The ginger's head was spinning more harshly than before and a rusty taste of iron filled his mouth, as blood began to flow from the broken nose.

He knew he shouldn't tell them anything… he really did…

But his body moved on its own accord.

"Who…" He said, this time in the demanded language, then swallowed thickly to get rid of the nasty taste. "Who are you? What… what do you want from me?"

The hand holding his hair tightened again, making the boy hiss.

"So you do understand us, brat." The man behind Mycroft chuckled darkly. "And here I thought Wolf was simply hearing things."

The masked man, now helpfully dubbed Wolf, ignored the comment and kept on gazing at him with that demonic eyeball.

"Who are you?" He asked, and the redhead realized he was echoing the same questions he asked a few minutes ago. "What village are you from? Why did you make contact with the jinchurriki?"

Mycroft's first instinct was to lie. To take on one of his many alter-ego's and make them all believe what he wants them to believe.

But his body ignored his orders and answered with the truth, making the Holmes fear for his sanity.

"My name is… Mycroft Holmes." The tear-shaped dots continued to spin… just as the poor fox-haired child continued to talk. "I was not sent by… any village. I do not know… what a 'jinchurriki'…is."

A fist connected with his cheek before he was done talking.

"Don't think you can lie your way out of this, stranger." Wolf hissed, mask inches away from the ginger's face. "I saw you take him home! What were you planning to do with him?! Whose spy are you?! Did Iwa sent you?! Did they?! Answer me, damn it!"

Mycroft couldn't think straight anymore. Everything was spinning at ridiculous speeds and he could hear a nine-year-old Sherlock asking him to go outside and play pirates.

"W-What?"

He could feel his ribs cracking under Wolf's punch, more blood flowing down his chin.

"Your employers." The silver-haired man insisted. "Who are they?"

"I… do not have… employers." Another truth… Why can't he shut up?! "Never heard of… a place called… Iwa."

"Why you-" He would have been hit again, if it wasn't for a newcomer stepping in and catching Wolf's fist mid-swipe.

"That's enough, Wolf." Mycroft looked up at his savior and immediately deductions began swarming his vision. "If you keep on using your eye like that, you'll end up in the hospital with chakra exhaustion."

Tall, ash-blonde hair, blue-green eyes, older than the silver haired man (clearly Wolf's superior, as shown by the ability to make him listen to orders), red vest-coat muffled at knee-height, similar blond hair in the fabric (has a child… a boy, no, girl… about Naruto's age), clothes ruffled and lacking in woman touch (wife dead/and or divorced, clearly not living in the same household)-

The deductions were interrupted by his head being pushed into the water again.

Having been in the middle of taking a breath, the poor redhead ended up with lungs full of both blood and saltwater.

But, before he had the chance to properly drown, he was pulled upwards by the blonde man.
"Ibiki!" Said man yelled at the person behind Mycroft, as the Holmes coughed out the liquid mix back into the bucked below. "That was uncalled for! You could have drowned the boy before we got anything useful out of him."

The person behind Mycroft chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry there, Inoichi." The same gruff voice from before said. "Force of habit."

The man now known as 'Inoichi' to the concussed Holmes, rolled his eyes before rubbing his temples.

"This is getting us nowhere." The blonde shook his head, as he helpfully petted the red-haired boy's back when the coughs got harsher. "It's obvious neither violence, nor Sharingan-induced genjutsu will give us the answers we need."

"It would have, had you not stopped me." Wolf snarled, but his voice sounded weaker than before. Strange, considering all he did was throw a couple of punches.

"You can barely stay awake right now, Kakashi." Inoichi sent the masked man a glare. "Had I allowed you to continue, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

The silver-haired man growled but otherwise remained silent.

"So what do you suggest we do, then?" Ibiki asked, the deep rumble of his voice inches away from his back, making Mycroft shiver. "Hitting and drowning him does nothing, using genjutsu makes the brat talk gibberish. We're looking at two of the most effective methods of interrogation known to man, both of which flowed over this ten-year-old, without so much as ruffling his hair."

The young Holmes would be flattered to be considered tough in his captor's eyes, if he wasn't busy trying to get his body to function normally after being nearly drowned.

"Indeed. For someone who seems to have no shinobi training bare a bit of taijutsu, the boy seems to have quite the immunity to torture methods that were specifically constructed to break a well-trained ninja." Inoichi rubbed his chin in though. "Interesting."

A chuckle came from where Wolf, or 'Kakashi', was seated.

"Does that mean you're going to go in and see what makes him tick, Inoichi?"

That question successfully gained Mycroft's full attention, as his pounding head snapped up in alarm.

'Wait… what?'

"Since it seems that we have no other choice in the matter… I believe my clan's special ability is in order." After presumably getting the nod of approval from 'Ibiki', the blonde placed his hand over the ginger's forehead, ignoring all his attempts at shaking it off.

"W-What are you-"

But Mycroft's question was left unanswered, as they both got sucked into his mind-palace.


Inoichi Yamanaka has been in various heads throughout his career.

He's seen the buzzing, loud and never-stopping minds of natural geniuses.

He has traversed the uncontrollable and often self-destructive thoughts of the mentally insane.

He uncovered hidden information inside Sleeper Agents, installed in them by Governments that wished to cause Konoha harm.

And he looked through the fidgety memories that flashed inside his victims' head as they realized they had an unwanted visitor in their heads.

At some point, the Head of the Yamanaka Clan though he had seen it all.

That the human brain no longer held any secrets from him.

He continued to think so as he slowly entered the mind of the young child they were now interrogating.

He stopped, however, when instead of an enormous brain appearing before him, he materialized in the Entry Hall of a giant, dark building.

Blinking away his confusion, Inoichi began making his way down the hall, his steps echoing loudly against the polished floor.

The building was unlike anything he has ever seen before.

All the walls reached up higher than the blonde could see, making it seem as if there was no roof, the floor was dark and smooth like a mirror. There were no windows, a dim light being provided by oil lamps adoring each wall.

Another thing that stuck out about the hallway was the endlessness of it as no matter how far he went, no end was in sight.

Like most hallways this one also had doors on each side. Said entrances were made out of onyx-colored wood and, like everything there, reached way above the Yamanaka's head.

Deciding to cut to the chase, Inoichi randomly picked a door and was about to twist the doorknob when…

"Can I help you?"

Not expecting anyone to be here with him the Yamanaka jumped at the sudden question, his head snapping towards the location of the new voice.

A tall man dressed in a dark-blue suit with red hair, sharp blue eyes and a black umbrella at his side was leaning against the opposite wall, an eyebrow raised in a bemused way.

Inoichi stared at the newcomer for a solid minute, still not quite sure how to react to the presented situation as something like this has never happened to him before.

"Well?" The man twirled his umbrella in his hand.

Hearing the man speak again somehow snapped the blonde ninja out of his frozen stupor, so he shook his head and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Who are you, and how are you here?" Inoichi demanded, squaring his shoulders.

"I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Inoichi." The man said, voice cold and devoid of emotion. "Seeing as I'm the resident and you're the impostor."

"H-How do you know my name?" The Yamanaka backed away at that, shocked at the new revelation.

"Ah, I apologize. I forgot you do not know me in my current form." With a snap of his fingers the man disappeared, leaving a young red-haired boy in his wake. "Perhaps this will help."

Inoichi's eyes widened.

It was the same child he, Ibiki and ANBU Wolf were interrogating.

But this… this was all wrong!

He wasn't…

Maikurofuto wasn't supposed to be aware of his presence in his mind, let alone be able to confront him!

"This… this is impossible." The blonde shook his head. "How are you doing this?"

"For someone with the ability to enter people's minds, you don't seem to know much about how they work." The fox-haired child shook his head with a sigh. "I am the owner of this Mind Place, it bends to my will. Practically nothing happens without my knowledge."

That made Inoichi feel even more confused.

"M-Mind Place?" He never heard about a technique like that. Was it a Kekkei Genkai? Can it be achieved via meditation? How does it work? Does it have limits? What does one have to do to-

Shaking away his sudden fascination, Inoichi decided it was high-time he got what he came for.

He already wasted enough time.

"This changes nothing." The blonde proclaimed, turning his attention away from the boy and back to the door he meant to open. "I still have access to any information stored in your mind, your technique does not stop me."

"That may be so." Maikurofuto shrugged, not seeming particularly worried about information being stolen. "If there is indeed no way for me to prevent you from taking what you want, please, help yourself." He then gestured with his hand for Inoichi to continue.

A bit suspicious by the lax behavior, the blonde cautiously twisted the doorknob and then pushed it open.

"Though, I do think you will have quite a surprise…"

Trying to ignore the boy, the Yamanaka stepped into the room, immediately taking in the scene showing another dark room with the adult version of the red-haired boy, having a conversation with a couple of other people dressed in sharp looking suits.

Seeing that the memory looks like it concerned the Government that sent the child to them, the blonde ninja walked closer to overhear what they were talking about.

That's when he realized he might have a bit of a problem.

Particularly because he couldn't understand a word being spoken.

Every sentence sounded like a series of clicks and grunts, which had nothing in common with any language he knew.

"…because I've encrypted all my memories to prevent delicate information from being leaked via backhanded methods."

Feeling outsmarted, Inoichi turned back towards Maikurofuto, who was still leaning against the wall.

"But enough about me." The boy waved a hand and the door closed, the blonde appearing in the hall once again. "Let's have a talk about you and your strange world, shall we?"