"Guardian of the Fox"

Chapter 7

"Red and yellow make orange."

When Mycroft woke up, the first thing he heard was a woman's scolding voice.

"I swear, Kakashi, it's like you're doing this on purpose just to make me worry!"

The person she was yelling at answered something, but he couldn't make it out.

"Don't you give me that crap! There are other ways to obtain information! You didn't necessarily have to use your Sharingan!"

Head still swimming in confusion, the red haired youth pushed himself to a sitting position.

A hand appeared on his chest, immediately halting his progress.

"Though I'm relieved to see you up and about kid, I do not advise sitting up just yet." Ice-blue eyes traveled up the extended arm, snapping up almost instantly when he got to the woman's chest. Child or no, he was still a gentleman. "Since you are a civilian, your body is unused to the feeling of healing chakra in your system so adjusting to the foreign power put it through quite the strain."

'So not only can one create tangible and intangible copies of themselves using chakra...' Mycroft thought, eyes shining with excitement and curiosity. 'But also heal internal and external wounds that would usually take months or even years to heal, in a matter of hours?!'

He shook his head to clear it.

'Is there anything this 'chakra' can't do?!'

"Mind if you tell me your name, kid?" The woman's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "I'd like to know the name of the person I just wasted two hours healing up to peak physical form?"

Reminding himself about this little thing called 'manners', Mycroft shook his head.

"I... apologize for my rudeness, my lady." He flinched at the sudden pain in his chest. His ribs may not be broken anymore, but it seems like either 'chakra' can do nothing about the pain the wound left behind, or his healer, used to fixing up people with more resistance to pain than a simple civilian ten-year-old boy, forgot to get rid of it. "My name is Maikurofuto Holmes, but, since it can be rather problematic to pronounce, please call me 'Maik'."

While waiting for a response, the youth took the opportunity to study his saviour a little closer, allowing his deductive thought process to flow freely.

The lady carries herself with a dignified, but untroubled manner: meaning she is a figure of authority, thought not one troubled by the burden of leadership.

Hair a nice pale blonde, eyes a striking emerald, cleavage large enough to interest males of every status and occupation: Though her finger bears no ring, suggesting a fiery spirit, not amused by the countless attempts at courtship thrown her way.

Hand is strong, fingers feel calloused against the plain material of my white t-shirt: Not only is she highly annoyed by the men proposing to her left and right, she also responds with something far more heart-shattering than a simple slap in the face. Punching is highly probable.

Upon closer inspection a faint outline of a ring can be seen adoring the ring finger of her left hand: Suggesting a previous relationship that ended with either a bad break-up or a death of the potential partner. I do not have enough information to confirm which one of those options is the truth.

Addressed 'Wolf' by his actual name, while scolding him for reckless behavior regarding the use of, what I can only assume, is his strange red eye: a large suggestion that they know each other on a personal basis, as total strangers wouldn't take such a large interest in each other's health. The fact that she accuses him if 'only doing this to make her worry' suggest that this is, indeed, a repeated offense on the man's part, further proving that previous encounters have occurred.

Further deductions have been disrupted by the lady knocking gently on his ribs to get his attention.

"Hey, kid. Are you alright? You've been staring at me for quite some time now."

Blinking quickly to get rid of the sudden dryness of his eyes.

"Oh… my apologies." He lowered his head in shame. "I did not realize I was staring."

Another knock against his ribs, though this time it was comforting.

"Hey there, don't beat yourself up about it. It's probably just a side effect of your body still adjusting to chakra-invasion I put it through, so no harm done."

The medic smiled warmly at him before turning to someone on her right.

"You see, brat? Those are called 'manners'. If even a small child can possess them, there is no reason for a grown-ass man like you to be ignorant about them!"

This time, however, Mycroft was aware enough to catch the grumble of a response.

"Now is not the time, Lady Tsunade."

Huffing under her breath, the blonde woman lifted her hand from Mycroft's chest, finally allowing the boy to sit up straight.

Seeing as his potential handlers were busy bickering with each other, Mycroft decided to take a good look at his surroundings.

Having full view of the room he was in, the red haired boy was rather disappointed to see that, even in an alternative universe where a mystical energy could heal wounds in mere seconds, the hospital wing looked just as miserable and sickly, as the one back home.

White walls glared at him from all four sides, the sunshine coming from a one large window giving the already blinding colors of the room even more shine, the hospital curtain around his bed looking worn out and rather old.

All this made a shiver go down his spine.

The last time he was in such a position, was when he got shot in the chest during a field mission when he was twenty-one.

It was a ghastly experience, filled with pain and nightmare inducing hallucinations, that he rather not go through again.

"Ah, is seems our young friend has regained consciousness." A new voice, one sounding much older than the ones already inside the room, sounded from the door.

Icy-blue eyes immediately narrowed down on the newcomer, assessing and analysing every bit of information they could acquire.

It was an elderly man, likely in his sixties or seventies, with a wrinkly face, wise black eyes, small beard and mustache, and a pipe sticking out of his mouth. The clothes he wore were also slightly unusual, but that didn't mean much considering how everyone else dressed in this strange world, as most of his body was covered by a heavy white robe, and his head was hidden by a large white hat.

"Sensei!" The woman, Mycroft assumed her name was 'Tsunade', as Wolf addressed her as such. "What are you doing here?"

Guard on each side, armed to the teeth and very suspicious of me: That fact alone leads me to the conclusion that this is someone with very high authority in this village, as normal citizens don't usually get top tier protection.

The clothes he's wearing seem to be a symbol of his position as, unlike Wolf's uniform which is worn by two other men standing guard at my window, is unique only to him: Most likely this is a very important businessman or perhaps, the leader of the village himself: the man I only know as 'Hokage'.

Though his hands are covered by the cloak, it's obvious that he is a married man, as signaled by the stitches on the old robe that were made with a woman's hand. At least one of his children is married and has their own offspring, as indicated by the baby prints around his neck: Despite having a position not dissimilar to my own, this is a family man that adores the presence of both his children and one grandchild, as there is no evidence of there being more.

Mycroft shook his head.

'Having a family while having hundreds upon thousands of lives to protect...' He sighed. 'What a foolish decision...'

Lady Tsunade addressed him as 'sensei', the Japanese word for 'teacher' or 'mentor': This lets me believe the man was once either a teacher in school or a doctor. While it is unusual for a former professor or doctor to want a position in the country government, it is not unheard of and quite high a possibility.

His wonders about the identity of the man were ceased with Wolf's next words:

"Lord Hokage." The man bowed, low and respectful. "To what do we owe this visit?"

'Ah...' The red-haired boy nodded. 'So this is the leader.' He chuckled. 'Seems like our meeting might occur rather sooner than later.'

"At ease, ANBU Wolf." The old man raised his hand. "I am merely here to visit our guest." He then narrowed his wise eyes at Mycroft. "I believe we need to talk."

Hearing the invitation/order in his voice, the fox-haired boy nodded and allowed himself to be led to the Hokage's office.

"You've caused quite the commotion for a mere civilian, young one." The older man finally said once they both sat down, Mycroft feeling rather strange as the last time he sat on this side of the desk was back in primary school.

'He doubts I am all that I claim. Basically challenging me to tell him otherwise.' The man-turned-boy wasn't going to back down from the challenge.

"I am all that you see." He then gestured at himself. "I trust you have been briefed by your subordinate?"

"Indeed I have." He puffed his pipe.

"Then you must know that, aside from a few punches and kicks, I am not knowledgeable in the arts of battle. If we accompany that with my very limited knowledge of 'chakra' and 'jutsu', we can see that the level of danger I can bring against your village is insignificant at best." Icy eyes glared, waiting for the older man's next move. "Surely, there must be far greater threats out there, than a small boy, that took care of a few bullies."

For a second, the old man didn't respond.

He simply watched Mycroft with wise eyes, puffing his pipe.

"Your words ring true." He finally admitted. "In terms of physical combat, there is not much you can do to endanger our home… yet I do not believe you to be completely harmless." The Hokage let out a long huff and then met Mycroft's eyes with a sharp spark of his own. "Inoichi has gone into great detail about your little encounter inside your mind, and how unusual it was. I can even go as far as to say, he's rather intrigued by you."

"I fail to see why our encounter could be any different to what he normally experiences." True, the man did seem rather surprised by his Mind Palace, but that didn't mean everything else was an anomaly.

"On the contrary, dear boy, your little encounter was believed to be an impossible feat to a none-Yamanaka, as one captured by the Mind-reading technique is never aware of the other presence." He raised his elderly brow. "Tell me then, child, how were you able to accomplish such a feat with no ties to the clan, and no knowledge about chakra?"

'This is a trap question.' The fox-haired boy thought, calculating his options. 'He's expecting me to lie.'

"It is nothing more than a simple party trick, Hokage-sama." He explained slowly. "I simply envisioned a large building inside my mind, to help me organize all my memories and data." He shrugged. "It's not a technique unique to my family, anyone can do it."

That is when Mycroft realized, he might have fallen into the old man's trap.

"Yet having such a technique allows you to be unaffected by our Mind-reading jutsu, one of the most effective in our arsenal." Ah, there it is. Mycroft could almost hear the proverbial teeth closing in on his flesh. "Moreover, you possess a photographic memory. One so honed, it is capable of remembering conversations happening years into the past with perfect accuracy, making it clear that whatever you see or hear, says there for all eternity. All this points to you being a one-of-a-kind genius, with an intelligence level so high it puts all others to shame." The Hokage rekindled his pipe, not taking his eyes off of the boy before him. "The way we see it, Mr. Maik, whatever village you originate from would have to be run by some rather incompetent fools, to not utilize you as a spy."

Mycroft smirked.

'Well played, old man. Well played.'

"Since you seem so sure in your deductions... Tell me, what village do you suppose I originate from, Hokage-sama?"

The other man didn't respond and the boy had to smile.

"Ah, it seems like you have no answer for that." He leaned over the desk, placing his elbows on the brown wood and forming a position his younger brother used regularly while in deep thought. "Allow me to make a guess as to why that is." He took a deep breath. "While I was unconscious you had your former student take a blood sample from the vein on my right arm, in order to compare it with those of your enemies. Since you know I don't come from Konoha, you expected my DNA to help you narrow down my place of birth." He smirked. "But brought you no such results, correct?"

"..." The Hokage stared at him long and hard before erupting with rather friendly laughter. "You're just as clever as we assumed you to be." He calmed down, though the mirth was still present in his eyes. "It is as you say. Your blood sample did not follow any of the patterns in our database."

"Leaving me as a child with no Homeland." Mycroft leaned back in his chair, not unlike he did back during in his days as the British Government. "Tell me then, dear Hokage-sama, where do I come from?"

"That does not matter." The man swiftly reflected the question. "Regardless of where you comes from, whether or not you are a enemy to my village, is yet to be determined."

"Then I fail to see the point of this conversation." Mycroft admitted, crossing his arms on his chest. "It's clear nothing I say will convince you of my alliance with Konoha, so why not simply place me under strict observation until I prove myself worthy of your trust, and be done with this complete waste of time?"

He was about to stand up and march himself out of the office but-

"Sit down, Young man." The Hokage's voice turned commanding and cold, the man clearly using his parental tone to get him to listen. "Before I order my guards to keep you in this office by force."

He's lucky Mycroft was in no condition to fight him on this.

He's lucky the only thing that mattered to the young genius right now was getting back to his new younger brother, or Mycroft would have made plans to usurp his position purely out of spite.

But most of all…

The Hokage is lucky he sounded so much like his old mentor, it actually bloody hurt.

That alone made him return to his seat.

His, well let's be honest here, captor's face turned back to the 'friendly grandpa' expression he wore earlier.

But all they boy could see was the disappointed face of the man who molded him into the leader their country needed.

Uncle Rudolph Holmes.

"That's better." Smoke escaped the man's pipe as he exhaled. "Now… I believe this is where I inform you of my decision regarding your situation."

Mycroft said nothing. He never did when the elder Holmes spoke to him.

Because all he can hear is Rudolph's angry, disapproving voice.

There was no Hokage, no ninja world, no new little brother.

Just an angry teacher and an idiot student.

'How could you do this, Mycroft?' The boy's breathing sped up, and he swallowed the lump that formed around his throat.

'How could you throw all that effort I put into training you away for sentiment of all things?!'

Mycroft lowered his head in shame, the words stinging more than he ever cared to admit.

'You were such a promising young man, Mycroft…'

The boy's heart stopped.

'Oh God…'

'Such limitless potential… wasted!'

'Please… don't!'

'Maybe your mother was right after all.'

'No… No! Please, don't! I… I can't take this right now! Please!'

'Maybe you really are nothing but a Limited Idiot Boy.'

Something crashed, and Mycroft suddenly felt very very empty.

His surroundings became nothing but darkness, and he thought he was going to faint.

He was about to give in to the blackness, to give up when-

"NO!" Something rather small and fluffy slammed into his side. "Hokage-sama, please don't lock up my big brother!"

Mycroft blinked.

Then he blinked again and again.

Was that…?

"N-Naruto?"