Chapter 4
The next two days were agonizing because I had to wait for the results of the Academy and were more so because my schizophrenia was acting up. The voices were amplified and while I could not literally see the hallucinations around me I knew they were there. I had ended up wondering more than once if my disorders could be ignored by the Academy board or would they actually deny me because of them. Truth be told I knew very well one of the three requirements they had were to be ' Healthy both mind and body'. Now that never stopped Lee from becoming a shinobi in the least; but it could stop me if they deemed me unhealthy. The problem was I remembered this after I signed the sheet and they possibly have no idea I have schizophrenia or multiple personalities and I couldn't remember for the life of me if they actually had questions about such problems on the paper.
Those thoughts led me to my worried state of mind as I look at the Hokage Tower with slight apprehension. As I turn my eyes to the sky and pray I feel a little bit of relief and feel that there is a plan for me despite my sudden appearance to Konoha. That somehow, everything would be all right.
With that feeling within me I ventured inside the Hokage building. This time the place looked busy as there were people standing in a small line in front of the office desk and people sitting within the waiting area. I figure I actually need to check in at the desk so I join the line and wait as the people move to have their business attended too.
When it is finally my turn I find myself surprised. There is another lady sitting within the desk. This woman had her hair tied back into a bun and had a slightly looser looking kimono dress on. Underneath I could see a plan green shirt rested underneath.
" How can I help you?" I return my eyes to her face as I say.
" I'm here for a meeting with Iruka Umino." There is a type writer on the desk and she types on it.
" Ok, let me tell someone to let him know." I nod my head and thank her and I leave to wait in the waiting area.
The waiting area has at least three chairs up on the walls facing the east wall of the room and tables were set in between the sets of three chairs. In the middle of the waiting area there are more chairs set up with their backs against each other. I decided to seat myself in one of those middle seats away from other people as I never liked sitting near strangers and I wait there as I watch people come in and leave from the receptionist's desk.
I admit I feel pretty bored watching the people come and go and would have much rather read something instead; but when I see Iruka come down from the stairs I feel a lot of relief and stand up to meet him. He walks to me and I can't help but feel some worry for his words. " You have to come with me." While I did want to ask why I decided not to. I follow Iruka to the stairs and through the strange hallway. We passed a lot of doors and when we stop I find it alarming. Iruka had stopped at a door and knocked on it. I find myself very unnerved and very nervous as I hear Iruka say.
" I have the woman here." I hear a muffled reply and I follow Iruka into the room.
The room has windows directly across the room and a desk with a old man in white robes sitting at the desk with his head resting on his hands. The desk itself was piled with papers. I know from the man's clothing that he is the Hokage; the leader of the village. " You may leave us Iruka." I look to Iruka as I see him reply.
" But Hokage sir." The Hokage interrupts him,
" I'm quite capable of taking care of her, Iruka. be sure of that." Iruka nods and leaves through the door and I look back to the Hokage.
He looks at me with old eyes and I feel very nervous.
" Come closer." I comply to him though I feel my nervousness hype. He moves a hand and digs in his desk. He pulls out a pipe and asks.
" Do you mind?" I reply.
" No sir." He leans slightly in his chair and I can't help but ask.
" Are you interviewing me?" He replies as he lights his pipe with a match.
" In a manner of speaking." I can't help but ask.
" Why do you need to interview me?" Warning lights went on within my mind as he answers.
" We need answers from you."
" But isn't this something for Ibiki to do?" He simply asks.
" Ibiki?" I ask him.
" He isn't in charge of interrogation?" I realize at this moment I revealed something I shouldn't have known and I cannot figure out how to answer the Hokage.
" How do you know Ibiki?" I could only reply with an intelligent
" Um." We couldn't figure out how to get out of this situation and when he states.
" I'm waiting for an answer." I realize that I couldn't really dig myself out of this situation, that any excuse I make would bring more trouble. So I answered with a sigh.
" I really don't know how to explain it to you." He doesn't give me much of an answer other than.
" I'm listening."
" I learned about him from an outside source, you could say it was public." I then quickly try to save the people who work in that department.
" No one from your agency leaked information, sir. I only learned about him because of where I'm from." He has a very stone like expression as he asks.
" Where are you from?" I sigh again and say.
" I'm from an alternate reality." I quickly say
"I know it sounds crazy but that is the truth sir." He simply says.
" Explain."
" There are other realities that exist and I came from one of the more different ones." He nods and asks.
" Did you come to this reality on purpose?" I answered.
" No sir, I was simply walking to school when a dark hole showed up and sucked me through!" I couldn't help but express my anger because of what happened was unexpected and quite unfair.
" So you weren't here by your own accord?"
" No sir. I didn't know that could happen in my own world until it did." I decided to add.
" You could say I was a victim of a space time jutsu and just ended up here as an effect." He took a deep drag of his pipe and asked me.
" Are you certain this is true?"
" No sir. I really don't know what happened. All I know is that I'm here and I'm stuck here unless someone could figure out a way to take me home!" Realizing I'm too expressive I bow my head and I apologize.
" I'm sorry." I hear nothing for a few moments and I look back up at him.
He regards me with a serious look and I have the feeling that things will not end well for me. He asks me
" Where are you from?" I answer him.
" The United States of America. Thats where I'm from in my reality." While I answer his other questions I feel dread fill within me as if my life would no longer be my own and that he regarded me as being mentally unstable. He raises an eyebrow asks.
" Really now?" I could feel the life drain out of me as I answered him.
" Yes sir."
He stands up and looks out of the window and says.
" You're not the only one who traveled to a different reality." My jaw drops as I'm dumbfounded by his words.
"Wait, you know somebody else who's had this happen to them?" I feel my hope return to me as well as my disbelief.
" Yes." he replied and I find myself impulsively asking.
" Who is this person? If you don't mind answering." He looks back at me and smiles.
" I am the one who I speak of." I couldn't help my stutter in the beginning of my sentence as I ask. " W-wait. You're the one who crossed worlds?" I feel astounded and relieved to know that I'm not the only one who has experience with this kind of situation.
" In a manner of speaking." I can't help but express my relief as I say.
" Well that just makes my day better!" He raises a hand and gently says
" Settle down." I try to calm myself as I didn't realize I was being too much.
"I'm sorry sir. I just, I thought no one else had gone through this and that I would be thrown into a loony bin." I notice my dialect had change as I said 'loony bin' only because the Hokage asks me to clarify with a simple.
" Loony Bin?" I realize he didn't know what I was talking about so I decided to clarify. " I mean mental hospital or asylum." He says to me.
"We don't have that kind of hospital for the mentally disturbed." I found myself very relieved and yet curious.
"Where do you keep them then?" he answers me smoothly.
"We usually let the families of such people take care of them and offer help when it is necessary." I give a sigh of relief and say.
"Oh that's good cause' it would suck if I had to go there, to one of the asylums." He says nothing and for a moment I thought I would have to reveal my disorders to him. He turns to look back at the window and he asks.
" Do you have a place to stay?" I answer him.
" Yes, I just don't have the money to pay for it." He sighs and ask me.
" How much of an allowance would you say is reasonable?"
" I'm not sure, I'm not familiar with your kind of currency." He returns his gaze to me.
" Sir, I don't mind accepting your help; but isn't it against your job as Hokage to pick favorites?" It seems like he regards my words and answers me a minute later.
" You're not from here, and it would seem you have no job experience, correct?" I reply. " Yes sir." He says
" I'm only going to allow this until you become a shinobi or are forced to a different carrier." Despite the pressure of his words I find myself feeling relieved because I believe I'm not taking advantage of his kindness.
" I will keep your origins a secret as well as your, disorders." I couldn't help but ask out of confusion.
" How did you know about my disorders?" He reached into the desk and pulled a pile of papers out and placed them on the table.
" You made note of them within the files you filled out." I was confused.
"Aren't you only supposed to allow people with healthy minds and body into the program?" He simply says.
" Now I'm sure you're aware that Konoha isn't aware of your status nor is it aware of these different disorders. You could say that you never had any because they aren't diagnosed by the doctors here."
" Isn't that lying?" He shook his head.
" It's not if we don't have it diagnosed and besides that you need to learn how to read and write. The only place you're going to be able to do that is by going through the academy." I couldn't help but question his motives and ask.
" Why are you on my side?" He gives a sigh and answers me.
" When I crossed worlds I didn't know what happened to me, I was helped by the locals of that world even when there was no reason too. When I returned I thought it was a good genjutsu and I was left for dead; but with you here I'm proven wrong. I cannot help you other than giving you this chance to become a shinobi. If anything, you should only stay in long enough to learn to read and write as it is your goal." I nodded and said.
" To be honest I have wanted to become a shinobi; especially one of konoha's shinobi." He asks me.
" How do you know of this world?" I answered him after a moment of thinking.
" I learned about your world through a series of movies, you could say your world was our entertainment. Through this show I learned about Konoha and some of the more important people here." Of course his world and our world have different technologies and therefore trying to explain anime would be confusing if not a strange concept. That didn't mean I wouldn't explain further should the question be asked. Which began to happen.
" Show?" I nodded.
" A Lot of the movies were sequenced one after another so in English we call it a show." He gives a stern.
" I see," He walked back to his chair and sat himself down within the chair. " How accurate is your information?" This is the time to admit something that had crossed my mind more than once before this whole mess began.
" Sir," I started out and took a breath for a moment to figure a way to explain the concept that I had come to understand.
" This world, is not exactly the same as it was within the movies. because I am here this world is dramatically changed, not only will it never be the same again. But it will continue to grow different because of my existence." I found my mind once again and tried to get to the point.
"What I mean is my information is technically invalid because this is not the same world as the movies." He rests his head on his intertwined hands once again.
" So you could not benefit me unless you knew the information was valid."
" I could still tell you the information I know, but whether or not it is true for this world is up for debate." I was worried that this conversation would come about, I have no problem helping this man because I believe he is as good as he was within the show; but what really worries me is if I would somehow become important within the politics that had already had a natural course and I already know I will not lie to this man, even if I wanted to.
He did ask me questions and many of which I didn't have the answer to because it involved people who I knew nothing about people. I was sure the people had places within the council of this city. I did tell him events I did know about; the deaths of the Uchiha clan, the forth shinobi war, the rise of Akatsuki and their plans for the jinjuriki ( jin-jur-i-key) and how the Jubi ( or ten tailed demon) could arise again because of the plans of Madara and how he could manipulate the Akatsuki to his plans. He was not pleased to be informed of this possible events( I wouldn't have been either).
" So when could this all come to pass?" The whole confession I did left me nervous of his decisions and I could only answer.
" Ten to twenty five years because these events will come to pass slowly."
" So we have time." I couldn't help myself from saying
" I suggest you take my information with caution, I cannot say that this, that these events will actually come to pass. This is not the same world as the world I had seen. Mainly because no one has traversed within their realm of existence like I have. As far as I know this world and that world are very different."
" So some of these things won't come to pass?"
" That very well might happen." he hums a moment and asks me.
" What would you do?" I answer him as honestly as I could.
" You cannot change what you don't know about. All I know and we all know is the present. I would keep this knowledge in mind but give it a benefit of a doubt." though I remind myself that this is not my world shinobi must consider all possibilities and I say quickly after.
" though I am not a shinobi and I know shinobi benefit from paranoia rather than be hindered by it." A worrying thought came to my mind; what if he told his fellow council men? And that made me also say. " I recommend keeping this information to yourself as much as possible. To many other peoples ears what I have told you is practically crazy talk. There is no guarantee that it will happen at all really." He then asks me another question.
" Why haven't you tried to stop these events from happening?" I'm in shock of his words and my mouth moves before I can stop it.
" How do you expect me to do anything? You're talking to a foreigner here! I can't stop a massacre from happening let alone stop the Jubi from reviving! All I know how to deal with is the present. I have no idea how to stop those things and I can't even if I wanted too…" I sigh and feel my personality switch ever so slightly.
My eyes had turned away from the Hokage for a good while now and could only hear him reply.
" Samantha, you have done something. By telling me these events you have possibly saved many lives. Things I would have never guessed would come to pass and you have showed me these things willingly." I could only look up at him with surprise. " Do not forget, you have the will of fire within you, and you can do more than what you think you can." He has a small smile on his face as he comments.
" Before you came here no one knew of what could happen within the future; but now we have a chance to prepare and it's all thanks to you." My modesty took control as I say.
" Well I couldn't lie to you. I would have never lived it down." His next words strike within me. " And that will perhaps be your downfall. As a shinobi you tend to have to lie about things, whether it would be about vital information to telling your enemy you don't feel pain." He stands up again and holds his hands behind his back. " Of course you realize I mean it's for the benefit of our village, and not for oneself." I nodded and replied. " I understand sir." He nods " Good. I'll be sending your money through the mail within the week. Is that alright?" I nod and reply.
" Of course, as long as I get it." I couldn't help myself as I said.
" It would be nice to get it sooner, I've been without food for most of the week." He smiles as I feel nervous from mentioning my predicament.
" I'll get it in to you tomorrow then." I bow forward deeply and thank him.
" Thank you so much Hokage sir." I hear him answer.
" No, I should be thanking you." A knock issues on his door and I hear.
" Hokage sir, the counsel is waiting for your arrival." I look up at the Hokage to see him nod. He looks to me and says.
" Well this is where I must end our meeting."
" Of course, you have things to do. I understand." He gives me a smile and does the unexpected. He holds a hand out to me. I walk up to his desk and accept his handshake while trying to keep in mind that my clothing most definitely smells bad by now. So I attempt to keep my stench to myself by keeping my arms close to my sides.
He doesn't react but for all I know he could smell me. Which leaves me to figure out how to clean not only myself but my clothing.
I hear the door open and I turn my eyes to the door. A young man with short brown hair enters the room wearing the same style green vest.
" Sir, I'm to escort you to the meeting." I look to the Hokage and he nods then looks to me.
" I trust you know how to exit the building?" I nod.
" I should be able to find my way back. Don't worry about me." The memory of this place was fresh within my mind. The worst that could happen is me entering a room I've never been in before.
" You should expect your answer by the end of the week. If not then than check in on Monday." I nod and while it made me nervous to ask I did ask one final question
" What should I expect the answer to be? A paper or something?" The man next to him had apparently wanted to speak but the Hokage silenced him.
" You will get a green card and note by your acceptance into the academy you realize that we take matters seriously." I nodded and answered
" Yes I understand."
" Is that everything?"
" Yes, that's all." Truthfully that wasn't everything, but because he was needed elsewhere there was not much more room for discussion.
" I expect you to be here Monday morning if everything else fails to follow." I nodded and began reviewing that information within my mind.
He nods and begins to leave the room and I follow after him and his guard. We part our separate ways when we enter the hall way and I was left to think over this event as I navigated through the building.
Questions and worries fill my mind as I walk down the hallway. How does he plan to use this information? Will he use it at all? A more important question also flooded my mind. What if he doesn't actually believe me? He said that there are no facilities for the mentally deranged; but surely there was something they did. Was lobotomy still used here? Was it used at all? What would he do?
I am basically left with one option; to not worry about it. Of course this was easier said than done. Not only do I now have to worry about rent. I also must worry about food, how to get clean cloths, and how the hell I'm going to be able to read any of the stupid labels!
Now my only real option was to wait for the results, which pretty nerve racking. In fact this whole process has been nerve wracking. Not only that, My schizophrenia has begun to become more volatile as its type of logic is trying to consume me. The thought of food also consumes my mind. My clothing is going to start becoming harder to wear the longer I have to put off eating. Who's to say I'll be able to afford a good meal with the money I'll receive?
How the hell am I going to survive until Monday?