"Guardian of the Fox"

Chapter 6

"A truly strange interrogation part 2."

Mycroft didn't remember the last time he was genuinely surprised.

He needed to know what was going on in the minds of people around him, it was part of what made him so good at his job. His ability to predict that something was going to happen long before it had the chance to hatch in the original perpetrator's head, has saved the country more times than it had any right to.

His way of thinking is constructed in such a way that there was simply no room for such uncertainties in his life.

The elder Holmes thrived on the predictability that polluted the human race.

Even with him being in an entirely different world, he was convinced that there was nothing that could ever catch him off guard anymore.

The surroundings may be different but the average human brain always works on similar waves.

He has been proven right when visiting other countries, and he didn't expect the 'ninja world', as he began to call it, to be any different.

But when he suddenly discovered one of his tormentors, admittedly one that wasn't as bad as the other two, actually inside his Mind Palace, he decided that perhaps, his world view needs to be reconstructed.

Inoichi's presence, while unexpected and quite shocking, didn't alarm the fox-haired Holmes at all.

He knew the Place won't reveal anything to the Japanese man without his full consent, even if he was able to actually open one of the Memory Doors. That's what the encryption was for, after all.

In fact… the whole situation did little more than merely intrigue him.

Finally, there was something he couldn't explain using his own arsenal of knowledge.

Finally, there was something new and exciting.

Finally… there was something for him to actually learn.

With this in mind Mycroft stepped out of the shadows and confronted the blonde intruder, taking no small joy in seeing the confusion on his face when the memory he tried to look through turned out to be insanely encrypted, and he wouldn't be able to understand anything even if he knew English.

When his control over the situation has been established, the elder Holmes changed the hallway they stood in into a room resembling one of his offices back in England.

One that's dark, gloomy and showing off his natural dominant aura.

With a curt nod he sat the poor fool in front of him in a chair, and proceeded with his interrogation.

"So tell me, Mr. Inoichi…" He began slowly, enjoying watching the blonde man squirm in the unfamiliar environment. "Why exactly was I being interrogated? As you may guess from the interior design of this room and the memory you managed to glimpse, I am not a novice when it comes to shady government business. Though I must say, nothing I have done warranted such drastic measures of obtaining information."

Inoichi swallowed and then fidgeted uncomfortably on the wooden chair he was placed on, clearly unaccustomed to being inside a Mind Palace.

"We couldn't take chances." He flinched at the sound of his voice speaking unfamiliar words, as Mycroft's mindscape automatically translated the Japanese into English. "You could have been a spy working for an enemy village."

"I wasn't aware children could be actively used in the war effort." The world Mycroft found himself in, turns out to be more unpleasant and brutal, by the minute.

"Surely this can't be all that surprising." Inoichi insisted, now looking at him with a bit more interest than fear. "Even here in Konoha children as young as eleven and twelve can be sent into the front lines in genin teams, if the situation is dire enough."

The elder Holmes felt sick, though he was careful not to show it on his face.

"So this isn't something unnatural to you…" he whispered to the man before him. "You've done this before, haven't you? Turned children into sleeper agents to infiltrate the opposing villages…"

Inoichi looked down.

"We all do what we must to protect our home."

"Nothing justifies what you're doing to those innocent children." The fox-haired man hissed. "Stealing their childhoods, turning them into weapons… making them fight in a war that began long before they were born."

"Sacrifices must be made for the greater good." The blonde's voice was sad but strangely accepting.

"Don't you preach to me about sacrifices!" Mycroft's hands hit the desk. Somewhere in the middle of all this he reverted back into his adult form. "I have led a nation for the better part of my life, I had to make decisions that led to deaths of hundreds upon thousands of people, in order to save millions." He took a breath in order to calm himself down, as his outburst clearly startled his… guest. "Regardless of the reason why, what your village is doing is insane. How can any of you live with yourselves, knowing that you're sending the future of your country to their premature deaths?!"

Mycroft knew this was none of his business and that he was crossing a line, but right now he didn't give a damn.

He was sent here to take care of one orphaned child, only to find out this world was filled with innocent kids that were sent to the brutal battlefield before they've had a chance to even hit puberty.

And that he simply cannot ignore.

"They know the risks and are honored to die for the good of the village." Inoichi's responses became sounding robotic in nature, making the red-haired man think they were rehearsed to a point where he had no choice but to believe them.

It made Mycroft sick.

"That's because you gave them no choice in the matter!" Again his hands slammed the desk before him, causing the blonde flinch again. "They've been raised to believe they should die for their village whenever it calls for such a sacrifice, from presumably a very young age! I would honestly be surprised if any of those children knew what a musician is! Or a baker, or an athlete! Or about any occupation, other than ninja!"

Eyes blazing and on the verge of emotional explosion, the fox-haired got out from behind his desk and walked up to the window to the right of it, and rested his hands on the cool windowsill.

Inoichi had nothing to say to that, so he only hung his head in shame.

"How old?" Mycroft suddenly asked, voice icy and dangerously low.

"Excuse me?"

"How old were they youngest killers your 'Hokage' sent to the front lines?"

The blonde interrogation specialist swallowed thickly, forcing the lump in his throat to go down with it.

"The man in the porcelain mask…" He whispered almost too quiet to hear.

Mycroft looked back at him, ice-blue eyes shining in attention.

"He… was the youngest genin Konoha has ever seen, at age five."

The window exploded.

Glass shards flew everywhere, cutting up the expensive chair seats and embedding themselves in the ebony desk. Inoichi blocked some from slashing away at his face but other, smaller ones still sunk their sharp edges into his arms and tights.

Despite it being all inside someone else's head, he still felt as if he had been stabbed for real.

Mycroft, despite his fist being the cause of the window breaking, was unharmed, though shaking with the pent-up rage he was trying to contain.

He then pulled his right hand from the window frame with a hollow chuckle.

"And people say I'm a monster." Holmes then flicked his hand, tiny pieces of glass falling harmlessly to the wooden floor. "I would wager they'd quickly change their tune, had they met you. Your actions make me look like a bloody teddy bear." He chuckled again, it sounding a lot hollower than before. "And it takes a lot of work to make the Iceman look warm in comparison."

Inoichi lowered his arms from protecting his face, still watching his companion for more impulsive actions. He could sense the red-haired man was nowhere near calm.

"One must wonder…" Mycroft began, sitting back behind his abused desk, his voice cutting like a sharp ice blade. "What kind of training could possibly prepare ten to twelve-year-olds to fight against people nearly twice their age, in a bloody war?"

Seeing the other man regain some of his earlier composure, the interrogator straightened in his seat.

"Make no mistake, we only sent teams that have mastered their jutsus and chakra control." He spoke up sternly, trying to soften the other man's vision of his home. "Wolf was a special case. A genius tactician and perfectionist when it comes to his elemental techniques, even at that age."

A look of confusion crossed Mycroft's face at the mention of jutsu, before it was replaced by the look of thought.

"I'm not sure I understand what you tried to say…" He said slowly, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "Where I come from 'chakras' are various focal point in the subtle body used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra. They are treated as focal points, or putative nodes in the subtle body of the practitioner. These theories differ between the Indian religions, with many esoteric Buddhist texts consistently mentioning five Chakras, while separate esoteric Hindu sources will offer six, or even seven. They are believed to be embedded within the actual physical body, whilst also originating within the context of mental and spiritual fields, or complexes of electromagnetic variety, the precise degree and variety of which directly arise from a synthetic average of all positive and negative so-called 'fields', this eventuating the complex Nadi." He paused for a second. "Whereas 'jutsu' means either 'technique, method, spell, skill or trick'." Icy-blue eyes blinked. "I fail to see how any of those things can help children fight."

Hearing the, now no longer boy's, explanation of how he understands those words, made Inoichi remember that he's talking to a civilian and not a trained ninja like himself.

"Your information regarding chakra is correct, however limited it may be." Mycroft blistered at the word 'limited', making the blonde wondered why. "It is an energy that flows within our body, yes, but it isn't used only for meditation. It can also be used in combat in the form of 'jutsus', techniques in which we use hand signs to manipulate the energy within us into any of the five elements, and attack our opponents."

Mycroft tilted his head. This was beginning to sound a bit… surreal.

Seeing that his audience had a bit of trouble contemplating what he was saying, Inoichi decided to show him one of the jutsu learned in the academy, The Clone Technique.

"I can see you're having a bit of trouble picturing what I mean." He stood up from his chair and took a few steps back to make space. "That is why I will show you exactly what performing a 'jutsu' looks like, if you allow me to."

After taking a few minutes to think it through the fox-haired man gave his consent, having his interest peaked by the fellow man.

Inoichi then began going through the well-known hand signs for the cloning jutsu, making sure to do it slowly enough for his audience to see each and every one.

Once the sequence was finished, a perfect copy appeared next to him in a puff of smoke.

Though Mycroft was reasonably startled by the appearance of another Inoichi in his head, he didn't let it show on his face. Previous anger quenched by the temporary curiosity.

"How is this possible?" Holmes also left his seat in order to examine the newcomer up close.

"To create a non-tangible clone of oneself, one must first picture the thing/person he wants to clone. Only with said image in mind, the user may release their chakra in a specified spot in order for it to form the chosen image." Inoichi then released his hands from the seal they were kept in, his clone following suit a few seconds later. "The clone may be made to do anything the user chooses, which makes this a perfect technique to use as temporary distraction against your adversaries." To prove his point the blonde mentally commanded his carbon copy to do a backflip.

When said clone landed silently back on the ground, Mycroft's eyes sparkled in excitement.

"As you said it is non-tangible, has no shadow… makes no sound as it moves…" The fox-haired man walked around the ghost of a human, sharp eyes taking in every detail they could spot, before his head snapped up suddenly. "Is there way to make one that's tangible?"

"Yes, though that is a jutsu that only jōnin, the highest rank an active ninja can receive, level ninja can learn." The interrogator shrugged. "I shall show you if you wish."

"Please do." There were so many ways in which he could use that technique… so many possibilities, it practically made his head hurt from all its uses.

Again Inoichi nodded then proceeded with the well-known hand signs slow enough for the human eye to see, another clone appearing to his left once he was done.

This time Mycroft moved first, stepping towards the carbon copy and gently slapping it on the shoulder. Though expected, he was a bit surprised to feel solid material under his palm. The clone looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Mycroft noticed that Inoichi himself didn't move, nor did he react in any way, and immediately came to one conclusion.

"It reacted to my action…" The red-head whispered in wonder. "It has an individual thought process despite being connected to you in a similar way that the other one is..." With that realization being processed by his brain he breathed out and said: "Amazing…"

"That is only one of the many techniques we expect our young ones to perfect before sending them anywhere near the front lines."

The exited spark in Mycroft's disappeared immediately.

"They shouldn't be allowed into the warzone at all." He countered, voice turning icy. "Though I suppose you're not the one I should be sending my complaints to." Mycroft conceded after a few seconds. "That would have to be your leader."

"And you will get your chance to voice them to him… if we decide you're not here to cause the village harm." Inoichi crossed his hands over his chest.

"The only reason I've been sent here was to ensure a small boy doesn't have to grow up alone." Mycroft stated with utmost sincerity. "I have little to no knowledge about your village or any other, and I just learned what 'jutsus' and 'chakra' mean in your understanding." He then shrugged. "You must admit I pose a meek, if any threat to your home."

The blonde interrogator thought for a second.

"It is true that so far you haven't proven yourself to be any kind of treat… however, I must ask you to let me scan your… Mind Palace, for any signs of mind-control jutsus. Though you don't appear to be lying about not wishing to harm Konoha, I'd rather be sure."

Considering that in this world it is possible to control a person without said person's consent, Mycroft actually decided to show his good faith and allow the invader to look through some of his most recent memories, to put his worries to rest, purposefully avoiding the ones involving his meeting with the god of this ninja world.

They walked through them together despite Mycroft wanting nothing more than to bury those last few weeks, where he could forget they ever happened.

Watching his last conversation with his parents, felt like having old wounds brutally reopened.

Seeing himself sitting in his Diogenes speaking his last words to the only friend he ever had, about her taking over his empire once he was gone, made his heart clench in regret and guilt.

Reliving his own suicide was too much. Mycroft left the room seconds before his counterpart managed to pull the trigger.

A few minutes later, Inoichi returned to his side, face rather grim looking.

"This form you're taking right now… was it your father's?" He whispered, turning to the red haired man with a sympathetic look on his face.

Holmes looked up in surprise before remembering that the blonde only knew him as the ten-year-old child he was turned to, and came to the conclusion that his present adult form was taken from the parent he will resemble most, once he grows up.

Deciding it was best to let the man believe the explanation he came up with, the fox-haired former politician nodded.

"Yes…" Mycroft whispered quietly. "He was a political leader in my country, the best of his generation in fact…" He chuckled before sighing sadly. "Until he hit his lowest point, and the family he spent his entire life protecting turned its back on him." The proud ginger head was lowered. "He lost the only reason he had to keep fighting… leading him to the fate you saw displayed in that room."

"Was it…" Inoichi swallowed. "Done on your eyes?"

"No…" The fox-haired man sighed. "But I saw the body. It wasn't hard to put all the pieces together and figure out what happened, once I saw the hole in his skull."

They stayed silent for a while before the blonde announced:

"I believe I have everything I need to put forth the case that you are no danger to the village, as there was no hidden mind control seals placed in your subconscious." He nodded to himself before moving away from Mycroft, and preparing his hands to form the seals necessary to go back to the real world. "I shall now return to the outside of your mind, to arrange for your release and meeting with the Hokage once you recovered from our interrogation methods."

Mycroft nodded to him.

"Thank you." He stated, looking at the other man with newfound respect. "I'm glad we are no longer enemies."

Inoichi graced the red-head with a small smile.

"You're a good person, Maikurofuto." He began performing the hand-signs as he spoke. "I don't think the young Uzumaki could have hoped for a better guardian."

With those words he disappeared from the large Mind Palace.

Leaving Mycroft to enjoy the return of the solitude that normally occupied the ginger's mind, before he rejoins him in the real world.

He opened his eyes to the sound a door opening, and the shape of a blonde woman appearing in his line of vision.