Forest Bells - Familiar Scenery

Where am I?

I woke up on a bed. Everything felt… foggy.

Something's not…

The door to the room opened, and I saw a sound ninja enter the room. Standard uniform and headband.

"You're up, good. Report."

"Yes sir."

How did I get here?

I shifted myself to a seated position with a grip on the soft bedding-

Realisation.

I said earlier that chakra was like a pool. Trying to alter the flow or shape of the pool itself was generally an act of futility. Well… I did the equivalent of a belly flop.

My mind sharpened. I remembered everything.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"I understand you're confused. A patrol managed to find you and get you back. Now-"

"The hidden sound doesn't have soft beds, none of our outposts do either. You're a hidden leaf ninja."

With the genjutsu on my mind lifted, I could take in the room itself. Stone walls on three sides, bars and door on the fourth. There was a security camera in the corner behind me. It wasn't damp like the hidden sound, but dry, despite the cool underground.

A prison cell.

I was also missing my headband.

I sighed.

"What happens now then? You guys know I'm not fooled, so anything I say from this point could be a lie, so even if I tell the truth you guys would have no reason to trust me. You could try torture, you have a division for it, but I don't feel any physical pain. Even if you resort to psychological or genjutsu based torture, I'll just end up saying whatever I think you'll want to hear to make it stop. Which leaves, Yamanaka..?"

I shook my head.

"Not a good idea. You've probably given me a medical checkup by this point. My body is practically tearing itself apart, that damage would transfer to whoever possessed or read my mind. Though, I could be wrong about that."

I'm talking a lot…

"Ah… another genjutsu right? Get me talking?"

I raised a brow at the 'sound ninja' who nodded.

I shrugged.

"Fair enough. Could I get a face to talk to instead of someone in a mask? If i'm going to keep talking it might as well be an actual conversation."

The ninja left the cell.

"Oh wow… wasn't actually expecting that to work."

I leaned back.

"Who do they send? I am almost 12 so probably a friendly face. Someone who at least appears likeable."

A figure approached.

Black trench coat. Grey military-like uniform. A bandana variant of the hidden leaf forehead protector. He had two large diagonal scars across his face and a resting frown.

I burst out laughing, which only seemed to deepen his frown as he stepped into the cell.

"Haha, oh my god. Sorry, sorry. This is just too funny."

"How so?"

He asked as he sat down.

I let the laughter die down a bit.

"I was expecting you guys to treat me like a child and send for someone friendly looking. Then you showed up. Ibiki Morino, head of T&I if I'm not mistaken."

I shook my head.

"I really shouldn't have assumed."

I looked him over once.

"How much of that posture is intentional? You're doing this whole 'lean forward enough to appear in control of the situation, but not far enough to seem invasive' thing. How much practice does that take?"

His expression didn't shift.

"A notable amount."

I nodded and brought a finger to my chin.

"Right, makes sense, this is your area of expertise so you would probably put in a lot of work. By the way did I mention this genjutsu thing you guys used is amazing. I usually can't articulate myself this well. Is it a confidence booster? Or does it subdue-negate the mental filter stopping me from voicing my thoughts? How does this work when self-cast? Could I learn it?"

I shook my head again.

"Of course not, I'm a foreign ninja, you wouldn't teach me your jutsu, but right, I'm going on a tangent, how can I help you sir?"

"What were you doing here in the land of fire?"

"I'm still in the land of fire? Good to know."

I snapped my fingers.

"Right, what I was doing. I deliver supplies and messages. We'd done our last delivery to some village in the middle of nowhere and were returning back to the hidden sound. I can't tell you what village it was, where we did the drop off, or who it was for. Haruka kept that information close to his chest."

"What were you delivering specifically?"

"I don't remember. It all just kind of blurs together after a while. If I had to guess: supplies of some sort or another."

"So you do a lot of deliveries then?"

I nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I haven't been home in half a year. Which really sucks just so you know."

"Understandable."

I cocked my head to the side.

"Really? That's strange. The hidden leaf is one of the better places, if not the best place, to live. I'd expect you to have a lower opinion of anywhere else as a consequence. Then again…."

I tapped my chin thoughtfully.

"...you could just be saying that to keep me talking. Which makes sense, this genjutsu thing seems to make me voice whatever I'm thinking, so I need to keep thinking about things for it to keep going."

"Why do you say that about the hidden leaf?"

I stared at him blankly.

"That's a stupid question, you're supposed to know better than me why the hidden leaf is better, you do live here after all."

Lightbulb.

"Oh. Sorry, I just realised you're asking for the foundation of my opinion. Well, the hidden leaf was founded with moralistic principles in mind: peace and safety for your loved ones. As a consequence, your culture and tactics follow similar moral foundations. Protect your teammates, look out for one another, make the world better for the next generation, etcetera."

I crossed my fingers and leaned my chin on the back of my hands.

"The positive culture and history has led to many of your prominent heroes and leaders to be good people, not just great people. Good people in charge try to make things better, which then leads to more good people who continue the cycle."

I sighed.

"It's not perfect though. The village does have its snakes and the occasional rot in its roots. On top of that, the very protective and society-oriented nature leads to a very strong xenophobia. Still, I'm quite frankly envious."

I stretched my arms out.

"Which makes sense, this is-"

My eyes widened and I caught myself.

I silently brought my hands together and broke the genjutsu on me.

With the effects dispeled, my posture naturally collapsed back down again.

"I'm sorry sir. I guess I'm not as honest as I thought I was." I said in a much more muted tone.

He smirked.

"Not so happy with that genjutsu now are you?"

I flinched at the predatory glee, but stayed silent.

Sensing that he wasn't going to get anything more out of me, Ibiki changed the subject.

"We offered your father the chance to ransom you back, and your village a prisoner trade."

I could see where this was going.

"The village refused, and the daimyo claimed that you were dead."

My gaze fell down.

"So what happens now?"

"We can't just let you go."

…because that set's a bad precedent. No one would be willing to pay a ransom if they're going to let their prisoner go anyway.

"...but you haven't committed any notable crimes against the land of fire or its people. So instead of leaving you in a cell, you'll be put under the jurisdiction of one of our shinobi."

He stood up.

"If you try to escape, they will stop you; if you try to leak information, they will silence you; and if you try to harm any of our citizens, they will kill you. Is that understood?"

I nodded mutely.

"Then we're done here."

They asked me a few more minor questions throughout the day.

…

"I don't know where the entrance to the hidden sound is. It's all underground and it just takes two jutsu to move the entrance: one to collapse the old one and one to raise the new one. They move it regularly."

…

"I can't tell you anything about our patrol routes. I only did supply runs."

…

"Training? None. They just made us fight. Everyone was responsible for getting their own training."

…

"Any known plans or operations?"

I could mention the invasion…

I shook my head.

No, if things change up too much here then it definitely won't happen.

"You seem to know something."

"Merely speculation unfortunately. I was wondering if any of it was worth mentioning, it wasn't."

…

"My loyalties? To my family and my friends."

"Not the village?"

I snorted.

"It's hardly a village. At best it's a base."

…

"Who leads the village?"

"Orochimaru."

He nodded.

…

It's strange…

They didn't press me to answer anything. They didn't seem to doubt anything I was saying either, even though I was sure they didn't believe anything that came out of my mouth.

If I didn't know better I'd think they were being soft.

The hidden leaf's torture and intelligence division wasn't soft, and I knew way too much about the village for them not to be curious.

I even mentioned Ibiki by name! How stupid could I be?! I also totally flopped when I started thinking about the invasion. "You seem to know something." Bleh.

Yet nothing. I mean, sure, I was a stupid genin who probably shouldn't know anything, but there were limits.

So what's their game?

There's more at work here. I'd have to be on guard.

God damnit, why are they making it so hard to cooperate!

Of course it would be him.

The dark grey haired jonin from the forest had shown up.

"I'm here to set you free."

I sat up.

"You're not setting me free, you're just switching my chains. So what am I supposed to call my new warden?"

He opened the door to my prison cell.

"I would prefer you not think of me that way. My name is Hayama Shirakumo."

"Our opinions don't change the facts. Like it or not, you are my jailor."

He's trying to be nice.

I took a calming breath, and stepped up to him.

"Is Haruka alive?"

"I did not finish him."

I felt my shoulders slack.

"Thank you."

"You'd thank your warden?"

"Our opinions don't change the facts. You keeping me here doesn't negate the favour you did me."

He stared me down a second with his stern unreadable expression, then began to walk.

The first thing I noticed as I followed him was that it got warmer as we made our way up to the surface.

The second thing-

"Yo, Hayama. How're you?"

"Back from patrol Hayama?"

"Long time no see."

-was the people. Unlike back in Sound, everyone here was either neutral or friendly. Still, on instinct, I kept my head down and tried to draw as little attention as possible.

A door creaked open, and the sudden warmth on my skin forced me to realise that we'd gone outside.

I raised my head again, and I lost my breath.

I recognise this!

A sight right out of the manga. The mountain looming over in the background like a watchful guardian with the faces of the four hokage sculpted into it. The red tiled roofs, white and grey walls. The trees that rose up and covered the otherwise tight urban city like green clouds. The electrical poles and wires that spanned out like any lazy cablemanagement should, almost like it was added as an afterthought.

There was the unexpected verticality. Next to the 5 floor tall hokage office was a house that barely could be said to have two floors, and some of the trees were taller than them both.

It wasn't just the sight, it was a page come to life.

A cool breeze typical of the season blew past bearing the scent of leaves. The streets bustled with civilians and ninja alike. A couple of silhouettes darted across the rooftops.

I was there.

I was in the hidden leaf village.

"Yumika?"

"Let me look a bit longer… please."

I felt my shoulders shake and a wetness on my face.

How much would someone from earth have given to see this?

How long had I planned and schemed to try to end up here?

How easy would a life here have been in comparison?

How cruel must god be to force this on me now?

…it's not home.

I couldn't stay.

My family needed me.

My friends needed me.

My home needed me.

It had been half a year already. My brother would be twelve in a month. Kanshi and Isae would be ninja soon.

I want to go home.