Chapter 5
Naruto's mind, one week ago
As soon as I had entered, the doors slammed shut behind me, before fusing into a solid wall of stone, trapping me. I assumed that there would only be one path to the boy's inner self, but I was proven wrong. Three doorways were before me, each one less inviting than the last. As the intrepid explorer that I once was, I opened the least inviting door and followed the path through progressively dark and gloomy paths. One could feel the slight downward slant of all the halls, but it made no sense until I was at a point I knew to be below the fortress: the sewers.
Well, sewer doesn't really do them justice. It was more of a giant storm drain system than anything else. I stepped out of the hallway onto a ledge next to the water channel and followed it along to the left. The system eventually opened up to a large room with huge bars running vertically, floor to ceiling, through the middle. And there, in the exact center of the room, on a small platform raised above the water, was the boy. I stepped out into the room and across to the boy. As I approached I could hear quiet sobbing. I reached out to the boy, and began to shake him to get his attention.
"Hello? Are you all right?"
The sobbing figure stopped, before turning over and, in a voice as soft as a whisper, replied, "You don't want hurt me?"
This stirred up my anger, but I repressed it before I could involuntarily do any lasting damage in the boy's mind. "No, I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help you, but first you need to wake up."
"I'm asleep?"
"Kind of. I'll explain it to you after you wake up. Follow me."
I led the boy up and out of the fortress, before continuing back across the barren plains outside to the soul door. I stepped into the corridor, and the boy came with me. I brought him to the door that led out of his mind, and we walked out through it together into my house.
Xi's tree house
The boy suddenly shot up out of the bed, promptly bumping his head into my hand. Then, in a voice that was slightly hoarse from disuse over the past two weeks, the boy spoke to me.
"Moshimoshi? Daremoga aru nodeshou ka?"
Well. That would certainly complicate things. They just had to speak Japanese—the one language I never learned to speak fluently—wherever we were. I called on my training from last time, and spoke telepathically to the boy.
/I'm sorry, I can't speak Japanese. I'm speaking directly into your mind right now, so you can understand me. Just think your replies to me and I will understand./
(AN: For simplicity's sake, I'm going to write their mind conversations in quotation marks. However, Xi will not be actually speaking until he learns Japanese fluently… eventually.)
"Umm… Who are you, and why can't I see you?"
"I'm Xi, the person from your dream. I'm sorry that you can't see; my eyes are more accustomed to low-light environments than yours, so I don't need it to be very bright to see."
"…What?" came the confused reply.
"I can see in the dark better than you."
"Oh! Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"
"I like fancy words."
"Right… So can you teach me how to be a ninja? You can talk into my head and see in the dark, so you must be able to do other cool stuff too, right? Could you teach me? Please?"
The boy then proceeded to make the dreaded "cutsie eyes of doom" at me, which would have been much more effective, I'm sure, if he had even been facing my direction. As it was, he was making said face at the wall directly opposite me, so it had little effect other than to make me chuckle.
"Yes, I will teach you. Even if you hadn't made that face, I would have taught you. You need to be able to defend yourself the next time something like that happens."
The boy proceeded to jump into the air cheering, before slipping on the rug and knocking himself unconscious in the process. 'Kids these days… they never can stay quiet'
Uchiha Compound
A dark haired boy with black eyes sneezed, before hurrying after his older brother to look for footprints.
"Itachi-aniki! Wait for me!"
Hokage's office
Danzo Shimura, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato (AN: I'll explain later), rubbed his forehead in an attempt to stall the migraine he was developing.
"So, let me get this straight. A mob attacked Naruto, and then a figure came in and carted him off—"
"Yes, milord."
"I wasn't finished talking, Neko-san. So, this figure has now been successful in repelling and incapacitating multiple teams of ANBU and is living in the Forest with the boy?"
"That would be what happened, Hokage-sama."
"That's just wonderful. Kaji! Tenzo! Get in here this instant!"
Two figures wearing masks—one with a cat mask with red and green markings, and one with a plain mask with the kanji for "fire" on it—appeared in the middle of the room next to Neko.
"Yes, Danzo?"
Danzo frowned at this show of disrespect. "Kaji, while you wear the mask, I am your superior, not your friend from the Academy."
"Yes, Hokage-sama. I apologize for my rude behavior."
"It's fine, just don't do it again. Now, the reason I called you here: Kaji, I would like to know why, as commander of the village's ANBU forces, you have withdrawn from an effort to retrieve the Kyuubi's container. I would also like to know why you, Tenzo, as Kaji's right-hand man, why you did not advise him against it. The Kyuubi is a great asset to the village and cannot be lost to any unknown forces. Withdrawing from the search is borderline treason. Give me one reason why I shouldn't exile you both and mark you as missing-nin or have you executed."
"Forty-two," came the soft reply of Kaji.
"What?"
"Forty-two, sir. It's the number of teams that we have sent since the container disappeared; one every four hours. It's also the number of teams that have been incapacitated and delivered to the edge of the Forest by one single person. We are clearly outmatched in this mission, and I would prefer not to lose any more men in this venture. They are all in some sort of coma and have not woken up yet. Not one of them."
"I see. So you mean to tell me that this person has single-handedly defeated almost two hundred ANBU on their own, and our village knows nothing of them?"
"Yes and no, sir. Yes, they have defeated two hundred ANBU, but the village does know who they are, even if they don't know who we are."
"Elaborate."
Kaji reached into one of the pockets on his flak jacket, and pulled out a file, handing it to Danzo. He opened the file, before reading it slowly, with his face showing more shock as he went further down the page.
"I see. You and Tenzo are dismissed."
After they had left, he turned to the remaining ANBU in the room. "You, however, Neko-san, need to step up the training of the troops. If one person can defeat that many ANBU, think on how that reflects on your training regimen. Dismissed."
The Godaime Hokage buried his head in his hands, muttering to himself, "I understand why Hiruzen-senpai retired… I'm getting too old for this."