Disclaimer: Naruto and every character of the Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and companies I don't know.
I want to thank the hard work of ScarsOfTime who originally betad this crap into an actual chapter. Applause for betaing the revision goes to my precious beta readers: ImaginationJunkie1412, Duesal10 and Minatochan2
Original upload date: 21th of October 2012
Last update: 12th of October 2014 (Complete revision)
Chance for a Prophecy
Chapter 2 – At the doorstep of a new life
"What do you mean you don't remember anything?!" Minato's voice echoed in the small hospital room. This wasn't new to him. A lot of captured shinobi resorted to this trick, especially in the last few years of the war. "Amnesia. Couldn't they have come up with something more creative?" he muttered to himself. It was disappointing, really.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Minato barked after a sigh.
The young blond blinked, and his frown deepened in concentration. "It's—it's you, standing above me. But before that, it's blank."
The boy's voice became ragged, and the air left his lungs with a whistling sound at his next exhale. His breathing increased, and his azure pools didn't stop traveling back and forth between him and the room. Just like a cornered animal. Minato could even hear his wildly drumming heart behind his ribs. 'Great. Another spy acting the fool… At least he knows his stuff.' The Yellow Flash let out another sigh and started to massage his forehead in frustration. He really thought the boy would at least come up with something more interesting to explain his previous behavior.
The boy finally regained some of his composure as he finally let his wild blue eyes linger on Minato. His voice was shaky, and his throat must've been sore as he cracked, "Where am I?" The blond shinobi looked back to the boy, but he refused to give him an answer. "Who are you and why am I bound to this bed?" Minato was lost in thought as he eyed the blond beneath him. "Who am I?" He still received no answer.
"Am I a criminal?"
"That remains to be seen…" Minato finally said with a calculating glance. He ran his fingers through his blond locks, and the frown was once more on his fine features. "I'll go and inform the medics and Hokage-sama about your current state and that you are conscious. Stay still, and don't try anything. The medics will examine your head while we try to gather some information about you."
The boy nodded in understanding and forced himself to calm down and gain more control over his breathing and his storming emotions. As Minato left the room, he turned back to the boy from the doorway and gave him another suspicious glance over his shoulder. What he received in return confused him yet again. The boy forced his head up as much as he could from the bed and gave him a small, hopeful smile.
"Thank you." Minato shook his head and closed the door to inform the medics, as well as to give his report to the Hokage.
Ten minutes later, Minato was staring up at the Hokage tower in the middle of the village. With a sigh, he approached the entrance with slow steps and nodded with a friendly smile to the chuunin next to the elaborate wooden door near the front of the building. His eyes ran over the carvings; his pools were locked on the various details that experienced hands had carved into the hard wood during the first hokage's rein. It was a ritual he did every time he stepped through them. His eyes stayed more on the centre of it, where a small flame shouted away the identity of the village. Other worldly plants framed the will of fire, their stems circling all the way around the great carving. Uncountable amount of leaves, buds and flowers made the design flawless.
Shinobi passed him as most of the Genin and Chuunin teams had received their mission scrolls and were now beginning their next tasks, or perhaps marching into their doom.
Minato ascended the stairs and was now standing in front of another wooden door which lead to the Hokage's private office. Letting out a last exhale, he knocked on the door and entered when permitted.
"Hokage-sama." He gave a bow towards the man behind the desk and received a welcoming nod in return. Minato strolled to the center of the room and sat down in a chair in front of the large desk, which was already buried under a mass of papers and scrolls despite the early hour. He surveyed the battlefield on the desk, and a faint smile tugged his lips upward. "Beginning of a long day, Hokage-sama?"
The older man tracked his eyes toward the mess and gave a weary shrug. "As it seems. What do you want to report to me?"
Minato's posture immediately straightened. "The boy that we found in our training ground last week is awake again, and he claims to suffer amnesia." The older man let out a sigh, closed his eyes while beckoning for Minato to continue. "He claimed that he doesn't remember anything before waking up. He doesn't even recognize me and stated that he had never seen me before, despite his first reaction when he saw me in the hallway," Minato replied.
The Hokage closed his eyes, and a deep frown appeared on his face, deepening the starting wrinkles on his face. "What are your opinions on this, Minato?"
"It's hard to tell." He shook his head in frustration. "If he's a spy, then he's either really terrible or a genius. What kind of spy would reveal his strength before assessing the situation? And going by the security seals, no one suspicious crossed the gates, so he shouldn't even be here. The seals didn't detect any illegal entry at the border. If he lied about the whole thing and this is a part of some well-planned attack, then he must have experience well beyond his years. I honestly can't tell if he's lying or not, and he seems to truly believe he has amnesia. He was confused and disoriented. However, when I left, he thanked me for my help." Minato shook his head and waited for the Hokage's answer.
Hiruzen finally opened his eyes to look up at the blond. "Have you any reasonable ideas about what's going on at this point, Minato?"
"I suggest that before we make any conclusions we should interrogate him properly, and I also suggest we involve a professional from Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force. If he truly is a spy, then we will need a full mind scan from a Yamanaka."
The Hokage stared back at Minato in contemplation, then started to chew on the end of his pipe. "Let it be so. I entrust you with this case. Please make the necessary arrangements."
Minato nodded, rose from his chair, and stopped for a moment, staring back to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama?"
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you've never met him before?"
Sarutobi looked up from his desk at Minato and blew out the tobacco smoke from his lungs. "I'm certain. He has a very unique appearance. I'm not so old as to become senile just yet."
Minato bit down on his lower lip and after a second of hesitation he accepted the answer, nodding before he bowed, and left the Hokage alone within his never-ending battle with the bureaucracy.
Sarutobi Hiruzen locked his gaze on the closed door with a deep frown for a few minutes. The sudden appearance of the boy worried him, and he was also worried about Minato. After returning from his last mission at Kusa, the promising young man had fallen into depression. A knock halted his troubled thoughts before he could further evaluate the blonds.
"Come in."
A woman pushed the door open with her elbow, and Sarutobi's face fell. "Hokage-sama, we received the last of the missing mission reports from the west wing, and there's also the official invitation for today's council meeting. Here are the necessary documents for it."
Hiruzen let out a sigh and started to eye the new tower of paper in front of him. "Then let the battle begin," he murmured to himself as the woman left the room with an apologetic look.
Minato entered the base of the Torture and Interrogation Force somewhere in Konoha to arrange everything. He knocked on the door and entered as he received permission from the inside of the office. A middle-aged man dressed completely in black looked up from the table and greeted the young shinobi. "Ah, Minato-san. It's good to see you again. It's been ages since we last met."
Minato sent an apologetic smile at the man. "It's good to see you too. I was on the battlefield for the last month."
"Yes, I heard. What brings you here?"
"I have a job for you. We found a boy last week at one of our training fields, but I'm sure you already know about this." The black-clad man nodded and didn't interfere, so Minato continued. "He is awake, and I would like to request a proper interrogation and full mind screen. He claims to have amnesia."
A grimace spread across the man's face. Something between disgust and despise. "So another spy."
"We don't know yet," Minato stated warily. "But yes, based on our experience in the last few years, he seems to be. I would like to start it as soon as possible before he has the chance to gather any more information than he already has. His condition is stable, almost completely healed despite some minor scratches, so it can be done in the department."
"I'll inform my team then."
"Thank you. I'll bring him in myself in twenty minutes." Minato bowed courteously before leaving the room to make the necessary arrangements for the transfer.
Fifteen minutes later Minato was again next to the young boy's bed. "Hello again," he greeted the boy, who gave a nervous look to him with a small, forced smile.
"Ah, hi."
"You will be moved to another place for questioning. After we finish there, I will attempt to answer any questions you may have."
The boy was nervous, but didn't show any sign of suspicious behavior. He slowly nodded and warily looked at the two masked people behind Minato. "So what now?"
"I'll remove the shackles, but I won't undo your seals. You won't be able to move on your own." The boy nodded again, his calm facade slowly fading as he nervously eyed the two masked shinobi while Minato removed the leather shackles. The two guards — a little rougher than it was necessary — lifted him by his armpits, and he prayed to every Kami that the ANBU wouldn't release him because if they did, he would fall face down on the hard tiled floor. Minato nodded to the two ANBU, and they disappeared with the boy in a swirl of leaves.
When he arrived at the Torture and Interrogation Force, the young boy found himself sitting in a chair in the middle of a small room with pale white walls, dressed in slacks and T-shirt by his previous two Anbu guards, which was — by the way — easily his most embarrassing experience. Well, at least he hoped so because it was already bad enough. He tried to shift his limbs to a more comfortable pose but failed to twitch them more than mere millimeters. He silently cursed and accused his misery to the paralysis seals all over his body, completely forgetting about the thin wires around his ankles and wrists securing him again, this time to his chair. The only furniture visible was a desk and another chair opposite him. A large mirror made up most of one wall.
The boy stared at the desk. He couldn't shake off the nudging feeling at the back of his mind that he was being watched. The blond closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. The two masked men stood outside the door. His eyes slowly opened and traveled toward the mirror and tilted his head to the right. There were two more men watching him from behind the mirror. One of them was definitely the blond who spoke with him at the hospital, but he couldn't recognize the other.
Minato stared back into the boy's blue eyes in disbelief. He stepped a little bit to the right, and as he suspected, the eyes followed his movement instantly. He glanced at his comrade, who stroked his bare chin, lost in his thoughts. Minato furrowed his brows and opened his lips. "Well, this is impressive. We can confirm that he has outstanding sensing ability without any doubt."
The boy's eyes wandered from Minato to fix onto his comrade's, who nodded in agreement. "Very impressive indeed. This room was built to conceal our chakra, scent, and sound. We should be totally isolated, but he can still sense our presence."
Minato nodded again and turned to his comrade. "Makoto-san, let's begin."
The two men left the room and entered their prisoner's hold. Makoto sat down in the empty chair, while Minato leaned against the wall behind him, arms folded in front of his chest and nodding to the boy, who gave him a small, forced — and definitely nervous — smile in exchange.
The lead interrogator cleared his throat to gain the captive's attention, and the boy immediately swept his head toward the new voice. "If you stay calm and answer honestly, there's no need to be nervous. I'm Kawa Makoto, and the man behind me is Namikaze Minato, if you don't know it already."
The boy nodded and give one more forced smile, this time to Makoto. "We haven't had the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves at the hospital," he mumbled weakly, a small embarrassed grimace equilibrating on his lips.
"Well, then, it's your turn to introduce yourself to us. Who are you and where are you from?"
The boy started nervously chewing his lower lip and looked down at the table, stubbornly staring the curves of the wood, then shook his head after a long pause. "As I said to Namikaze-san, I don't remember a thing. My first memory was waking up in the hospital and him talking to me." He shook his head again and looked back to Makoto. "I really want to remember, and I really want to help you. Believe me, this is as frustrating to me as it is to you. I don't have any intentions of harming anyone. I don't even know where I am, what happened to me, or how the hell I got here."
The last part of his sentence bubbled out with frustration. He was nervous. He still didn't know a thing. Nobody told him where he was or why was he in a hospital and why they handled him as if he was a criminal. His neck and stomach still stung a little, but other than that, he felt okay physically. The blond named Minato promised that he would get answers after they finished, and he really wanted those answers. He was frustrated, confused, tired and hungry as all hell.
Makoto continued to ask the blond random questions about random things. About shinobi life in general and of course about his past. Where he was from, what his intentions are in the village were repeated several times. And he asked how he received the wound on his neck and stomach. At least he knew why they had been stinging. He told him random names, but none of them sounded familiar. The blond couldn't answer any of them. Makoto tried every method in his repertoire to get any kind of suspicious answer, but the boy seemed to be honest. He tried to be kind; he tried to be stern; then threatening; he tried to confuse the boy. But there was no sign of a lie, no spike in his chakra flow, no sweating, no shaking, not even a tense muscle.
After long hours of questioning, the boy's eyes snapped to the door behind Makoto. In that moment, a short knock broke the silence of the room, and a tall man with long, dark blond hair tied in a waist-long ponytail that swung at his back entered. The two men in the room shared a surprised look; the boy knew that someone was coming, and they sensed nothing. They were veteran shinobi, and Minato himself couldn't tell that Inoichi was approaching despite also having remarkable detection shook his head and sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
"Minato-san, Makoto-san." The newcomer gave a short bow to them.
"We just finished. Any questions in advance about what we're looking for?" asked Minato as he shook away the surprised look from his face.
"No, I have a pretty clear idea."
Minato nodded and turned to the boy. "This man is Yamanaka Inoichi. He's here to help you regain your memory and help us clear up who are you."
Inoichi let a grimace slip through his composure. He was actually here to help them decide whether or not that boy intended to do any harm to the village, to decide the boy's fate of whether or not he lived or died: his judge and jury to put it bluntly. The boy gave him a small smile and a nod. His eyes were full of the hope that Inoichi was doubtful he could give him. He tossed his feelings to the side and stepped beside the boy and put one of his hands on his forehead. "Now, relax. This will only be painful if you resist."
The boy nodded nervously and closed his eyes. Inoichi mimicked him his forehead wrinkling in concentration as he attempted to reach the boy's consciousness. The blond relaxed himself and resisted his natural urge to do anything to hinder him while the interrogator entered his mind.
It was easier than usual. Inoichi felt the boy's determination to lend him access to his memories. Most of the people placed under his hand tended to resist and fight hard to counter his jutsu. Well, not that those minor attempts hindered him; there was no way they could resist a veteran interrogator. Being allowed to enter someone's mind, however, felt unfamiliar. With a faint click in his mind, his jutsu succeeded.
A projection of the interrogator appeared inside a long passage lined with shelves, slumping under the enormous quantity of scrolls and books. This was the boy's general knowledge, gathered since the time of his birth. Inoichi stepped to one of the shelves full of scrolls and picked a few at random, reading the titles.
'Calligraphy,' 'Basic Fire Ninjutsu,' 'Advanced Tiger Style Taijutsu,' 'Mixing Colors,', Inoichi raised an eyebrow and moved to the next title. 'Itching Powder...' 'What?' He frowned and moved to the next shelf to examine some more. 'War Tactics,' 'Advanced Stealth,' 'Location of Female Bath Houses...' The mind reader found himself very confused. The boy's general knowledge was a huge, chaotic mess of subjects. Most people's minds separate various banks of knowledge and categorize it by subject. He moved to the third shelf, where he found 'Upper-Level Elemental Chakra Manipulation,' 'Advanced Wind Element Ninjutsu,' 'Upper-Level Kinjutsu,' 'Animal Taming and Care'. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and moved toward the end of the passage, where he arrived at the symbolic door of the boy's consciousness unopposed. He opened it, bracing himself for what may come.
Inoichi had to shut his eyes and shield them with his hands as the scene reached his non-existing body. It was bright. Too bright. And his vision still burned from the overwhelming light that had engulfed his irises after the dim passage. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, but he still had to rest a minute to compose himself. Finally, he braced himself and stepped over the doorstep and inside the room, turning around only to see…
Nothing. Nothingness all around. He turned to the door and looked around behind it, but the only thing he could see was more of the void. White. White everywhere. White sky, and pure white sand as it slowly circled on the ground by a light breeze, which drew small dunes and abstract lines and curves into the soft sand. Not in an aggressive way, but as one would in a zen garden. It was so peaceful. He felt that he could stay there forever, escape his problems, get away from the real word. He took a deep breath and sniffed at the air. The sweet smell of lilies lingered around him. The symbol of hope, faith, birth, purity, renewal and finally, the promise. This brought a small smile to his face. Strange. Usually when he was in someone else's mind, he felt very uncomfortable. He always felt like he was an intruder as he was one actually, but this place was different.
He looked around one more time to leave but his eye caught something jutting out from under the white sand. He tilted his head to the side as he studied it. It looked like paper, or a document, only one of its corners visible.
He turned towards it, and slowly started walking in the sand. Secretly enjoying the sensation as the grains shifted under his feet. Inoichi stopped at the paper and leaned down to pick it up.
It was a photo. An old, wrinkled and cracked photo of two smiling girls in front of a counter probably in a restaurant. Experienced eyes searched for any symbols where the photo was taken, but he found no familiar places in his memory. Nor he could spot any clan symbols as both girls were in casual clothes.
One with short pink hair gently smiled at the one behind the camera, while the blond next to her held two fingers over the pinkets head while they took the shot. Bunny ears. The oldest prank since photography existed. Her eyes sparkled cheekily and her long, blond hair streamed down on her shoulders in a high ponytail. Inoichi lips turn up into a kind smile and he brushed his fingertips along the surface of the photo where the blond girl was.
Suddenly, he heard muffle voices behind him and immediately spun around on his heels.
The young blond girl from the picture lay in front of him, her eyes closed, but nothing out of the ordinary. No wounds, no blood— like she was just sleeping. However her chest didn't rise and fall like it should do. It stayed motionless. The pink-haired girl knelt next to her, appearing to be fighting for her friend's life. Her hands glowed green, sweat pouring from her forehead, her eyes wildly scanning her still body. The pink-haired girl gritted her teeth, while salty tears balanced on her eyelashes, ready to drop on her pale cheeks and leave a thin wet line on her unnaturally white skin.
"Sakura…" a soft, tender voice said from behind Inoichi, but before he could turn towards its source, a person stepped through him like a shadow, a ghost without a body.
The blood freeze in his non-existent veins as the person stepped out from his non-existent body. The hair on his neck started to rise and goosebumps covered him from head to toe. He could see the blond boy again, clad in a long worn-out overcoat with a black flame pattern at the bottom. Inoichi stepped aside to see the scene from a better perspective. A deep frown appeared on his face as he ran his eyes over them. His eyes were searching for any signs, any hints where they were from, but there were no clan marks. The only thing he could spot was a strange forehead protector he had never seen before, and it only puzzled him more. It contained only one word on the blond's forehead, instead of the well-known symbols of the hidden villages: 'Shinobi'.
The boy stopped behind the pink haired girl and knelt down to cover her hands with his own. "Sakura. Please. Let her go…" The young kunoichi didn't answer, only vehemently shook her head. Her tears let go of her eyelashes and rained all over the place, not leaving out the reassuring hands on her own. "Please. You know that you can't help her anymore." he pleaded once more.
The pink haired girl squeezed her hand as the green aura slowly faded. They didn't speak, the boy just hugged her tightly for several minutes before he dared to open his mouth again. "Sakura-chan, Just please, believe in me, and I'll handle everything."
They stayed in silence for another minute before the boy spoke again. "Tomorrow, it will be over. I promise." Only fiery determination was shown in the azure eyes of the young boy. "And I don't go back on my word. That is my nindo. You can trust me. You know that, don't you?"
The girl nodded, and the boy continued. "I told you that I'll break the cycle of hatred. I'll break this curse. If there is such a thing as peace, I'll find it. Believe in me. This is my legacy that they left for me."
The kunoichi didn't reply. Instead, a small sob escaped from her mouth as she leaned nearer to the boy's chest for comfort. "You were always like this, you idiot. You don't have to do everything alone. You don't owe the world anything. Don't bear such a burden alone."
The mixture of the boy's emotions hit Inoichi's mind. Hatred, rage, sadness, strong determination to save everyone, to change the world. The apparition gradually faded away, and he was alone again in the white desert.
He looked down to his hand and watched as the picture disintegrated, the breeze carrying the fragments away to assimilate with the white sand. The remains of his memories. That were the sand everywhere. Inoichi was always a professional, a veteran shinobi, and during his tasks he always hardened his mind and heart, never letting the captive's emotions overwhelm him. But when he witnessed the death of the blond girl, his heart broke apart for reasons unknown to him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and emotions, then turned around to take one last look at the landscape before stepping out from the boy's mindscape.
Inoichi looked down at the heavily panting boy, watching as his head sagged limply in exhaustion, then he nodded to his comrades.
"We'll let you rest a little, then we can speak again," Minato said while the boy next to Inoichi nodded without looking up, still trying to catch his breath.
Inoichi made one last glance at the panting boy. His hair shrouded his eyes as his head hung to his chest. A small wet line traveled down on his cheeks. Maybe it came from his sweaty forehead, but it was most likely from his tears that were escaping his squeezed eyelids. That memory. It shattered something in him for sure. He finally tore his gaze away to look into his companions eyes that demanded answers, but he instead shook his head and motioned toward the door. He wanted to offer some privacy for the boy to gather his emotions.
The three men marched out from the interrogation room to occupy the room on the reverse side of the mirror.
"So, what did you find out inside?" asked Minato, turning to Inoichi.
"He remembers nothing." Inoichi paused before continuing. "He has a very great, but chaotic cache of general knowledge, but beside this, his full mindscape was an empty desert. I only found one memory fragment. " Inoichi frowned as he remembered the blond girl and the boy's determination to change the world. He shook his head and continued. "I don't think he is a threat."
"What was that memory about?"
Inoichi turned to Makoto and frowned again. "It's easier to show you. May I?" The two shinobi nodded, and Inoichi placed his hands to their forehead.
"I hate this part, this feeling. " Makoto muttered and rolled his shoulders while Minato's eyes widened as the memories flooded into his mind.
"It's not my cup of tea either, but it's faster than it is to transfer it to the projector room and then come back.", Inoichi muttered back in the same distasteful voice.
"I think we can make our conclusion now. He isn't a spy. Most likely he was part of a small gang fighting against someone. Full surveillance is necessary while he is in the village," Minato stated to the shinobi around him, who nodded in agreement. "I'm going back. I promised I'd give him some answers when we were finished. Please give your report to the Hokage as soon as it is possible. I'll make mine when I finish up here. Makoto, you'll have to arrange a surveillance room for him here while we come up with a better solution. This way you can check on him from time to time to see if he regains any more of his memory."
Makoto nodded to them as a farewell and left the room. Inoichi's eyes wandered back to the boy behind the glass, meeting with the boy's blue ocean staring into his own. He collected his composure, but the glittering wetness under his eyes told tales about his feelings to the interrogator. Then Inoichi finally realised something. He gave a questioning look to Minato, who shook his head.
"Don't ask. I don't know how he's doing it." Minato chuckled and shook his head again. "Interesting kid, isn't he?"
"Indeed.", the interrogator agreed with a hushed tone, his eyes glued on the boy as Minato entered the interrogation room once more.
"It seems that you're clear." Minato smiled at him and earned his first sincere smile from the boy.
"Can I ask now?"
"Yes. Feel free, but first I'll untie you and remove some of these seals."
The boy nodded and let Minato remove the wires and deactivate the remaining paralysis seals. "Who I am?" the boy asked while he massaged his now aching wrists. The familiar and not to mention frustrating tingling sensation had returned when the seals were removed.
"This is a question whereupon I also haven't got an answer. We don't know yet."
The boy nodded in understanding but wore a disappointed look on his face. His shoulders slumped, and he couldn't stop staring at the table in front of him for long minutes. He finally raised his head."Where am I?"
Minato occupied his last position at the wall, leaning against it with his hands casually resting in the pockets of his blue slacks. It felt too familiar for the blond, and he couldn't shook off the déja vu feeling at the somehow lazy pose. "You are in the heart of Fire Country in Konohagakure no Sato. You appeared a week ago in one of our training grounds. You made quite a big impact, literally as well as figuratively. My Genin team found you in the middle of a crater. You were badly wounded and could have died on the field if one of my team members hadn't given you immediate medical care."
The boy didn't speak. He tried to process the new information and force his brain to remember. "What about my memory loss?"
Minato shook his head. "No, your head is completely fine. However, you were clearly fighting with someone. They found no sign of head trauma or any jutsu that would cause your amnesia."
"Why was I handled like a criminal?"
"This is because of two things. One: we are in the middle of a war. We've captured several spies in the past that have claimed to have amnesia. "The boy made a small nod."Two: when you woke up yesterday…" The boy gave a confused look to him. "...You knocked out five highly trained shinobi and two medics while attempting to dispel a non-existent genjutsu."
The boy stared down at his hands in shame, not daring to look back at Minato. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to hurt anybody." The boy mumbled his sincere apology.
Minato couldn't stop watching the boy, and finally, a kind smile tugged his lips upward. "They're okay. Nothing that a long nap can't help."
The boy slowly and unsteadily nodded. He opened his mouth several times, but no words came out for several tries. Finally, he shook his head and glanced at Minato in the mirror. "What will happen to me?"
Minato didn't answer immediately, instead he chewed the inside of his mouth to gain some time while he was choosing his words carefully. "You will have a room set up in here, and you will be under surveillance until we find another solution. If you show no sign of suspicion, you can either stay in Konoha, or you can leave freely. It will be your decision." The boy nodded and once again looked at his hands on the table. Minato stared at him in wonder before he hesitantly asked, "Do you know what it means to be a shinobi associated with a village?"
The boy gradually nodded, not letting his eyes wander from his clenched hands.
Minato curiously observed the boy until he couldn't stand the silence anymore. "You knew that we were on the other side of the mirror, didn't you?"
The boy gave a foxy smirk to Minato, immediately warming up the previously serious mood. "Well, that was pretty obvious."
Minato shook his head. "I mean, you knew where we were. You knew exactly how to pinpoint us, and also that Inoichi-san was approaching the room. How?"
The boy shrugged before he answered, "I don't know. I just... knew." He looked up to the mirror again and gave a smaller, but still cheeky, smile to Minato. "You know, we got an eavesdropper — even now."
The mirror vibrated suddenly as if someone on the other side had slammed their head into it in surprise. Minato couldn't conceal the chuckle that bubbled out from his lips and beckoned to the mirror. A minute later, Inoichi entered the room, sporting a brand new welt on his forehead.
"We made the arrangements. He can sleep on the first floor. The ANBU will escort him."
Minato nodded and turned to the boy. "I think that's enough for now. I'll let you get some rest."
The boy nodded and made a hesitant glance at his wrist, where the two ink black marking stood out from his sunkissed skin. He hesitantly raised his arms toward the blond. "Ah, I'm sorry, but do you think you can remove these other seals? I'm missing my chakra circulation, ya know."
Minato immediately shook his head, but he still raised an eyebrow and carefully stored the previous information. "Sorry, they will temporarily stay. Just a precaution."
The boy nodded but he couldn't mask the disappointed sour grimace. But he shook it off in the next blink and began to rise from his chair when his stomach gave a loud lurch. Minato chuckled and gave the boy a small smile. "But I think I can help with that."
The boy chuckled back and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, I'm starving. I could eat anything right now, doesn't matter what it is. Even if it was worm soup." He paused and immediately shook his head to get rid of the disgusting idea and the grimace on his face. Worm soup. Where the hell did that come from?
His appalled face soon turned into a smile again, his eyes locked on Minato. He chewed on his lower lip hesitantly before he blurted out. "Will we meet in the future?"
"That is more than likely," Minato replied with a small smile.
But they didn't get more time to chat. Two ANBU guards appeared beside the boy, but he didn't even flinch. Based on previous experience, he probably already knew they were nearby. He gave a last smile to Minato before they disappeared from the room within a fast shunshin.
Inoichi stepped beside Minato and looked to the place where they had vanished. "You know Minato, as strange as it sound, I think I like this boy."
"Yeah. Me too. Me too." Minato agreed with a hushed, puzzled voice.
Minato stepped into the Hokage's office ten minutes after he arranged a meal for the boy, and even if it was only cup ramen, it was still much better than worm soup. Sarutobi nodded to him in greeting and waved his hand invitingly towards the chair. The Hokage patiently waited for his shinobi to settle down, but his curiosity secretly ate away his mind. "Am I right that you are finished with our little guest?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. He truly has amnesia. His general knowledge is unaffected. He knows about the countries, particularly the shinobi aspect, but his personal memories were all but eradicated, save one." Minato smirked. "It seems that our little guest has a very honorable goal."
"What do you mean by that, Minato?" The Hokage furrowed his brow.
"In his memory, he stated to a girl that he will 'break the cycle of hatred and bring peace to the world.'"
"That's quite an ambitious goal for a teenager, isn't it?" Sarutobi stated.
"I left him at the Torture and Interrogation headquarters. They put him into one of the surveillance rooms. I also removed the paralysis seals, but I left the chakra binding seal on him as a precaution. He is also under twenty-four hour observation by an ANBU. I doubt that he can do anything with that seal. It's my own creation, not a standard one like before." Sarutobi nodded in agreement, letting Minato continue his report. "The boy has a decent bank of general knowledge. However, it's strewn about quite chaotically. He also demonstrated a remarkable detection ability. He knew we were in the monitoring room."
"Everybody knows that there's always someone behind the mirror," muttered Sarutobi and leaned back in his seat.
"No, I mean he knew exactly where we were within the room. He looked into my eyes, and when I moved, he followed my movement."
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "So we have a shinobi with a Kage level chakra system, remarkable sensing skills, and amnesia—"
"—Who knows the recipe for itching powder and the location of the nearest all-female bath house," chuckled Minato.
A grunt left Hiruzen's mouth. "The last thing this village needs is a fusion of Jiraiya and Kushina running around." Sarutobi shook his head. "It's very unfortunate that, because of his memory loss, he remains a threat to the village. I don't think we can allow this risk to go unchecked. The war council will urge the execution of the boy."
"I know, but… But if he were to defect to Konoha, we gain a strong ally. If we execute him now, that would make us merciless killers. His only crime as of now is that he knocked out seven people due to a misunderstanding."
Sarutobi hemmed, chewing his pipe in thought. "I'll try to keep the boy's case under wraps, but I don't know how long we'll be able to play this game."
"If the boy becomes a shinobi of Konoha, the war council will have no influence in his case. He would be under your command."
"'If' is the key word here," Sarutobi stated doubtfully. "If he would decide to join our side he would be your responsibility. If he would do anything suspicious, you would report it immediately. I trust in your intuition and in you. And yes, he would be a very powerful ally indeed."
A deep frown appeared on Minato's face. He couldn't forget the only visible symbol they've found. "Hokage-sama, have you ever seen a forehead protector with the sign 'shinobi'?"
The named aging man gave a curious look to the blond and shook his head. "No. I haven't. But it would be nice if our kind wouldn't be shattered by villages, by different beliefs. If we became united under that symbol... But I guess it's currently a utopia."
Minato nodded, and a thick silence fell between the men briefly.
"Minato, I want you to take a break. You haven't been yourself since you returned from your last mission in Kusa."
"I'm okay. I can handle it."
Sarutobi shook his head and looked at him purposefully. "No, you can't. Nobody can go this long without a break. Not even you."
"I told you, I'm fine. My comrades need me on the battlefield!" Minato protested, but immediately regretted it. He shook his head and realized that he had stood up during his outburst. When he sat down again, the Hokage give him a sad smile.
"I don't want to risk the loss or mental condition of one of my best shinobi, of my good friend."
Minato rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and let out a long resigned sigh. "How long am I off duty?"
"Until I deem is necessary, but I advise you at least three weeks. After that, we can talk about your service again." The third observed him for a second before he opened his mouth again. "You seem to be much better after your talk with the brat. Other than your recent outburst that is." Minato smiled back at him.
"Yes, he is very…interesting."
"Be careful not to get too close. He could be dangerous," the Hokage answered with a deep, concerned frown.
Minato slowly rose from his seat and walked toward the open window. He gave one last glance over his shoulder to Hiruzen, a wide smirk plastered on his face.
His last words echoed inside the empty office for long minutes after he was gone with the flash of his golden locks. "So can I."
Author's note:
Lily, Lilium symbolize hope, faith, birth, purity, renewal, promise. I didn't know this when I chose that scent. I just love it, but when I checked the meaning today I thought that I should play lottery. It's just absolutely fitting for Naruto. What a coincidence. :)