Chapter 5: The Bitter Taste of Truth

Torture & Interrogation Headquarters, Konohagakure no Sato (0940 hours, September 22, 7 AK)

Suzu was locked in a padded room, restrained by a straitjacket. Following her brutal attack on the two bullies, several ANBU members shunshin'd into the cafeteria and neutralized both Suzu and Naruto. The amount of force displayed was not necessary to subdue a "civilian" girl and an Academy student, but the staff of the orphanage exaggerated the severity of the assault. As a result, the Uchiha arrived with a force capable of taking down a "deranged maniac" and "the demon brat." The reports were largely falsified (as Naruto did not lose control of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and Suzu was generally docile for the most part), and as a result ANBU manpower was wasted on answering the call. The Konoha Military Police could have easily handled the situation.

For now, Suzu was deeply thinking about the actions of last night. She just wanted to show the world that she and Naruto were friends and that nobody could do anything about it. It then escalated into something…something so bloody. She wanted to believe that she could forget the events of last night, but she remembered it all so vividly. She spent all day staring at her hands, hoping that all of her sins can spontaneously combust and disappear from her life. Not once did she stop looking at the metaphorical blood in her hands. She did not even take the time to eat the breakfast that the jailors had given her.

She remembered the screams. The cries of agony that begged her to stop. She remembered the feeling of the blood flowing down her hand. It was…ticklish…and she actually enjoyed it. She enjoyed the slow descent of somebody else's blood down her own skin. The screams were incentives to continue her psychotic torture. She could still feel the futile grip on her shoulders of the boys as they tried their hardest to get her off of them. It filled her with a strange sense of bliss; the vain struggle of her victims furthered her sense of superiority in the predicament.

Even when she was getting beaten by all the boys, the adrenaline rush never subsided. In fact, she was even more eager to get out of her dilemma and pay the boys back triple fold. When she stabbed the boy in the leg with the chopstick, it elated her beyond human comprehension as to how she could possibly do that. When she shoved her finger inside the boy's eye, she had never felt so alive.

Then she heard Naruto's voice. She heard him screaming, begging her not to hurt them anymore. She saw the tears in his eyes, and it all confused her. Why would he being crying for a bunch of people that hated him with a burning passion? She was doing this for him, to protect him. Nobody would ever dare harm Naruto-kun while she was around. He was the greatest person in the world for her, and she would do anything to make him happy. He made her happy, so she could only repay the favor.

Yet, when she saw his crying face, she couldn't help but question everything about her limited life. All the things she learned about herself and all the things she learned about the life of a shinobi. Shinobi should not cry, and Naruto was training to become a shinobi. So he shouldn't have cried. It was all too confusing to her. Everything about last night was too confusing to her.

She could not deny her pleasure in the fighting. No matter how hard she did, the joyous memories of her actions would leave her feeling light-headed in a feeling of elation. Yet, normal 6 year old girls would not enjoy the things she did. They were supposed to hate fighting and indulge in making themselves look better for the boys. They were supposed to be passive and obedient, sociable and kind. Not bloodthirsty and battle-starved. She could only conclude that she was not a normal 6 year old girl. Far from it, actually. For some reason, when she came to that conclusion, she felt a weight being lifted off of her shoulders. She no longer had to feel bad about being socially awkward, or having bad conversational skills. She could finally focus on something she truly relished: becoming stronger.

But as she thought about becoming stronger, she also thought about her friend, Naruto. She wondered what he thought of her and her sudden outburst. It was definitely a change in persona for the young blonde. Would he accept her for who she was? Would he still look at her in the same way as that day in the tree? She really wanted to go back to the old days, when they were not disturbed and they could hang out whenever they pleased.

Why did they have to hate Naruto? Suzu had always thought about this in the 11 days she had been friends with Naruto. Based on her actions, they had more to fear from her than they did Naruto. She almost killed two boys yesterday, and she liked every moment of it. Even with her actions, she could care less about what other people thought about her.

Naruto, on the other hand, was such a kind spirit. He did not allow himself to be ruled by his hatred, which was something that Suzu respected in the boy. For a nitwit that loved to pull pranks because of the attention it brought him, he was wise beyond his years. Naruto may have been brash, cocky, and reckless, but he was just as tolerant and forgiving as the Sandaime Hokage, who Suzu revered as an amazing role model. Naruto did not deserve the hate he was receiving.

So that's why she felt she needed to protect him. If Naruto was not going to defend himself when others were mocking him or ridiculing him, then she'll be there to take the brunt of the insults. She'll take it in full force, and lash out against anyone who dared. Naruto was precious to Suzu.

Suzu would never allow anything to hurt her precious Naruto.

Torture & Interrogation Headquarters, Konohagakure no Sato (1200 hours, September 22, 7 AK)

Sarutobi Hiruzen pinched his brow in frustration.

He was relaxing in his estate after a hard day of paper work, watching his grandson Konohamaru play around with a paper shuriken. It was the little things in his life that he learned to love, after all the war, casualties, hatred and death he witnessed in his 63 years of life. Konohamaru was looking like he was getting the hang of throwing the paper shuriken, which brought a grandpa-like smile on Hiruzen's face. That was when Dog entered Hiruzen's estate to notify on the situation at Komatsuzaki Homes.

This was the second time in a span of a month that Suzu managed to get herself in trouble. For two counts attempted murder.

How did it turn up like this? He thought that by sealing off Dhaos' mental influence from Suzu, she would grow into a fine shinobi that prioritized peace over everything else. In fact, when she volunteered at Hiruzen's office, she seemed to be just that.

He heard reports from the orphanage that Suzu was a quiet, detached girl that chose not to involve herself with her fellow residents. Hiruzen thought that was alright. Not every person is capable of socializing with others. Some were shy and introverted, like the Hyuuga heiress. Others were vocal beyond comprehension and capable of having multiple friends and social circles. Suzu seemed to be the introverted type.

But when she volunteered around Hiruzen's office, she was so engaged and interested. She listened to all of Hiruzen's stories and complaints with such intrigue that he probably would have mistaken her for an apprentice. She also offered her own feedback (or whatever feedback a 6 year old child could provide with their developing brains). She was so very talkative around Hiruzen, it made him wonder if the reports were falsified.

He watched Suzu everyday as she left the office. Due to her diligence and hard work, a lot of the paperwork would be completed and filed into their proper cabinets and folders, so he took to watching her in the crystal ball of his. He watched as the girl went to the park every day after work just to look at the birds more specifically the sparrows. She never once tried to talk to people of her age group, and the park was busy with civilian and shinobi children alike. She always sat under the shade of a tree, watching the sparrows go about with their daily lives.

So, based on his interactions with the girl over the last couple of weeks, he could have never expected her to just try and kill someone. When he heard more detailed reports of the incident, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Apparently, according to speculation from the ANBU agents, Suzu was defending an Uzumaki Naruto from bullies that decided to interrupt their dinner.

Naruto had a broken nose (that healed rather quickly, strangely enough) and his clothing was soaked with what appeared to be broth of udon noodles. Hiruzen is really going to reprimand the orphanage staff for allowing such a scuffle to occur in the first place. If the staff were doing their job properly, then Naruto would not have gotten injured, and Suzu would not have tried to kill those two boys.

Hiruzen was well aware of the stigma Naruto dealt with on a daily basis. He knew of all the hateful glares that plagued Naruto's everyday life. It pained him to see Naruto deal with such an unfair and unfortunate discrimination, yet he could do very little about it. He already created the law that prevented people from talking about Naruto's status as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and made very clear the consequences of spilling such information. Yet, instead of acting as the deterrent that Hiruzen hoped it would, it served to further ostracize the boy from his peers. Hiruzen was just as guilty for Naruto's solitude as everyone else in the village.

He had very little alternatives, however. He knew that Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, would not want Naruto to be hidden off from the world in order to protect his identity. He made it clear and coherent that he wanted the village to recognize Naruto as the savior of Konoha and to be treated as such. That backfired horribly.

He did not want to simply give the boy to Danzō, either. He had his suspicions that Danzō did not comply with his order to disband ROOT, an organization that takes underprivileged youth and warp them into desensitized weapons under Danzō's direct control. Yet, there was no evidence that the group continued its operations, so Hiruzen could not charge him for insubordination. If Danzō did acquire Naruto, he would most definitely train him to be an emotionless shinobi and deny him of the childhood he deserved. Danzō was not an option.

He hoped that people would grow out of their prejudices and actually see Naruto for what he is. What he trying to show people he is. Naruto has been desperately seeking attention since he could walk, and no one would grant him that. Except for one person.

Maybe it was due to her memory being erased. But Suzu easily and openly accepted Naruto, in spite of his bad reputation and what effects it could have had on her. Suzu never once cared about conforming to social norms and her willingness to befriend Naruto gave Hiruzen immense pride. However, to turn to such a drastic methods to punish people…it was frustrating Hiruzen to no ends. Maybe she's just mentally disposed to gravitate towards violent outcomes. If that were the case, then she would really be a liability in Konohagakure. She would have to be isolated, or worse…

"It seems that you have failed to stop yet another incident from occurring, Hiruzen." Danzō said, walking into the room nonchalantly.

"Don't question me, Danzō." Hiruzen said frustrated. Humans can take only so much failure before they begin to seriously doubt themselves, and Hiruzen was beginning to question his own leadership. He couldn't kill Orochimaru when he defected from Konoha. He wasn't able to stop the villagers from turning Naruto into a scapegoat of their grievance and hatred. And now he failed to turn Suzu into a productive member of society. He was unable to stop her from killing her own parents, and he couldn't change her into someone that believed in the ideals of peace, like he did.

"You should have heeded my warning when I told you to kill her." Danzō said. "Of course, you did not have the spine to do it. Now we have two traumatized-for-life civilians, an injured jinchuuriki that is relatively useless, and a mentally unstable young girl who tried to kill again. Your lists of 'accomplishments' is certainly 'impressive' indeed, Hiruzen."

Hiruzen did not respond to Danzō's insults. Danzō usually reverted to this strategy in order to get under Hiruzen's skin. Everything was a political game to Danzō. Whatever he could do to discredit Hiruzen and bring into doubt his ability to lead, while boosting his own image in the eyes of the people, he would do without hesitation. Danzō's ultimate goal was to become Hokage, and protect his village his way without any restraints. However, he would first need to show Hiruzen to be incompetent in the eyes of the Daimyo. Or Hiruzen would need to die. Killing Hiruzen himself would amount to treason in the highest degree, which would be detrimental to his bid for the chair of Hokage.

This development with Fujibayashi Suzu, on the other hand, was turning out to be much better than he had anticipated. With the current charges placed on her, Hiruzen's decisions in the coming hours would definitely determine his political future. Whether or not he forgave the child or punished her would decide if he was truly capable of being a Hokage.

Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage, should have selected him, not Hiruzen, for the position of Sandaime Hokage. It was his ROOT agents that turned the tide of the Second Shinobi World War, while his students fumbled and failed to defeat the leader of Amegakure, Hanzō of the Salamander. And yet, Hiruzen was too soft-hearted and told him to disband the organization. Hiruzen failed to have any contingencies for a potential outbreak of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He was partially to blame for the devastation that was caused afterwards. And instead of molding the new Kyuubi Jinchuuriki as a weapon, he chose to hold his potential back and have him try to conform to the society that clearly hated him. Danzō always respected his sensei for being tactical and logical, but his decision was one of his greatest blunders. Danzō will soon rectify that mistake.

Hiruzen and Danzō walked into the padded room holding Suzu. Ibiki had interrogated her late last night, and she had been compliant, much like last month. However, instead of blabbering intrinsic nonsense about some person that did not exist, she honestly told the man her real reasons for her actions. Of course, Suzu did not remember Ibiki, and Ibiki had to act as though he never met her before as well, so all that was left was for Hiruzen to question the girl in order to decide the fate of Suzu. He was going to get all perspectives of the matter before he made his conclusion.

"Hello, Suzu-chan." Hiruzen said in his grandfatherly tone. "How are the officers treating you today?"

Suzu did not respond to her idol. She kept staring at her right hand as if it held the keys to life itself.

Hiruzen stared at the little girl looking down on her hand. He was told that was all she did throughout her time with Ibiki and all morning. Maybe the girl was feeling remorse for her actions?

"Suzu-chan." Hiruzen said more sternly. "You and I both know why I am here. So, could you please start explaining your side of the story?"

"…They started it…" Suzu said, not looking at Hiruzen for an instant. "Me and Naruto-kun were having yucky udon and we were laughing and having a lot of fun. Then the mean bullies came over and started messing with us. I tried to be polite to them, hoping that they would leave us alone." She stood silent for a second, thinking of her next couple of words. "Like you taught me, Jiji-chan. We should always find peaceful ways to solve problems, right?"

"That's right Suzu-chan." Hiruzen said with a smile. Although Suzu still looked at her hand, he noticed that her cheeks rose up slightly, indicating that she was smiling too.

"Then they knocked Naruto-kun's food on his lap, and I asked 'what did they do that for?' Then they started to make fun of me, and Naruto-kun asked them to leave us alone, and they wouldn't listen. I was getting angry, and I accidently bit my lip."

That went along with the reports of the investigation. Suzu had a cut on her lower lip that was hypothesized to be an injury from a punch, but the area around her mouth appeared to have been uninjured. Her explanation made sense, and went along with the speculations that the ANBU had on the issue.

"Then one of the bullies grabbed a tissue and was about to give it to me, but they spat at it as they handed it to me. That's when Naruto got really angry and tried to punch the bully in the face. But the bully hit him first and knocked him to the ground. That's when I…I…"

Her hand began to tremble uncontrollably, but she still stared at it. Hiruzen tried to comfort her by grabbing her hand with both of his hands. Suzu felt his cold, wrinkled, and gentle hands over her own. For the first time, Suzu looked up to meet Hiruzen's eyes. But what Hiruzen saw shocked him. He thought that Suzu was crying, showing true regret for her actions. But instead, he saw emotionless, blank eyes staring at nothingness.

Danzō took note of her emotionless state. She would truly be an ideal shinobi, if she was a little more mentally sound.

She turned to look back at her now passive hand. "I grabbed the boy by the throat. I squeezed my hands, and I felt something wet filling my hands." She subconsciously flexed her fingers, trying to imitate her actions at that time. Danzō also noted this behavior as well. "Then one of the boys kicked me in the face, and they all started to gang up on me." This account is consistent with the reports. There were minor bruises that could only be made from kicks all over her body. "I don't know what happened after that, but then the kicking stopped, and I reached for the nearest thing I could find and I…"

Suzu's hands began to tremble even harsher than before. This time she put her hands near her body to try and stop the terrible shiver. The cold, blank stare returned to her eyes as the fidgeting began to subside.

"I stabbed one of the boys in the leg. I stabbed him so hard that the wooden thing on my hand went right through his flesh. I felt some liquid spurt on my face, but I didn't care. I wanted to hear him squirm." The way she said the word 'squirm' actually shocked Hiruzen. It was so dark and malevolent, a tone he had not heard since his student defected years before. It was such a sinister tone for such a pure and innocent girl to have at such a volatile stage in her life. "I dropped him to the floor and went on top of him, and then I put my thumb over his eye." Again she imitated her actions, flexing her thumb as if she really did have it over his eye. "And then I squeezed."

He heard this report several times over the last hour, but to hear it so coldly from the perpetrator herself was a completely different experience. No child should lose their eye over a minor scuffle like this, one that should not have happened in the first place. It was understandable that someone lost their eye or a limb in the line of duty. But to lose it while off-duty, or living the civilian life, was horrific. He wanted to remain unbiased throughout this interrogation, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that Suzu showed no guilt for her actions. The way she replayed her actions subconsciously, while typical for people undergoing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, seemed more or less as if she wanted to do it again. Her cold, blank stares hinted nothing at her emotional state of mind, and her monotonous tone sounded mundane.

"And then, Naruto-kun told me to stop. I didn't know why, those bullies were so mean to him! They hated him, even though he did nothing to them. But he was crying. He was crying when he told me to stop. Why, Jiji-chan? Why?" She looked up at him, and he saw confused eyes, ones that longed for an answer. "You told me that shinobi can't cry. You said my parents wouldn't want me to cry. But why was Naruto-kun crying? Why was he crying for people that were mean to him? They don't deserve it!"

"Suzu-chan, you should know by now that people hate Naruto-kun. But have you seen him once lash out on anyone until today?"

"No." Suzu said, shaking her head.

"Do you know why that is?" Hiruzen asked her.

"No." Suzu said again.

"It is because Naruto-kun has a heart more pure than even my own." Hiruzen answered with a smile.

Inwardly, Danzō scoffed at the idea. Such sentiments were unfitting in this cold, dark world of shinobi. People are better off completely closing themselves off from such values rather than embrace them.

"Naruto-kun seeks attention from everybody, but nobody ever paid him any mind. People instead chose to hurt him in whatever way they could. Instead of succumbing to the hatred around him, Naruto-kun has used it as inspiration to better himself by whatever means. Even if it means making a bigger and badder prank. Naruto-kun doesn't judge anyone harshly for their actions. He tries to win over their acceptance."

Suzu nodded. She knew that Naruto was that kind, from the time he spent with him. He just never had an opportunity, other than with her, to express his kind heart.

"But, I think Naruto-kun was not crying for those boys you were hurting." Hiruzen said, surprising Suzu. "I think he was crying for you. I think he saw that you were no longer the same cheerful, wonderful Suzu-chan that he came to enjoy. What he saw was a Suzu-chan that was hurting in the inside. A Suzu-chan he could not help because she saw that he was hurting. It pained him that he could do nothing as he watched his best friend transform into something completely different."

Hiruzen walked up to Suzu and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Hiruzen's kind smile and forgiving eyes. "Suzu-chan, I said that shinobi can't cry. And that is true. But you and Naruto-kun are not shinobi. You can cry all you want Suzu-chan. You still have your childhood to enjoy, so smile, play, laugh, and cry. Don't put off your childhood, Suzu-chan. And please, accept Naruto's feelings. He's never cried before, so far as I've heard. So that means you are special to him. Don't take his feelings for granted. "

Suzu stared into Hiruzen's eyes. She was in deep contemplation of his words. Shinobi can't cry, and she promised herself that she would never cry again. But she also valued Naruto's friendship above anything else. He was kind, understanding, silly and thoughtful. He was a little too kind, however, and that led to people trying to use abuse him. No matter how hurt she became; no matter how worried Naruto was about her condition, she won't stand for any damage done to her friend.

"Jiji-chan, I said I won't cry anymore." Suzu said. In a twist of irony, a single tear drop did roll down her face, just like when she saw Naruto crying. Yet she did not notice the tear sliding down her cheek. Hiruzen, of course, noticed this single drop. But Suzu's eyes remained as adamant and firm as ever. It was as if her body itself was struggling with itself, trying to find her true beliefs. "I'll never take back my actions!" She clenched her fists tightly at the statement, and her gaze became more intense and resolute. "Naruto-kun needs somebody to be there for him, so I'll be the one. I won't ever turn my back on him! He needs me more than I need him, and I'd be more than happy to help him out!"

Hiruzen stood silent for a second. He's heard enough of Suzu's story. Now he needed to hear the point of view of Naruto, the apparent victim in this incident.

"Alright Suzu. I understand where you are coming from." Hiruzen said with a warm smile. "Just know that your actions must be met with consequences. You must realize that as a citizen of Konoha, we do not condone the deliberate injuring of fellow citizens. You nearly strangled one boy, and caused another to lose sight on one of his eyes. As such, your punishment will be met accordingly. I will be coming back to inform you of your fate, am I understood?"

"But Jiji-chan, they were th-"

"Am. I. Understood?" Hiruzen asked more solemnly. He lost the kind tone he had with Suzu the entire conversation and took on the tone of a military commander, ready to reprimand his subordinate. It was cold, efficient, and frightening, especially considering that Suzu had never heard Hiruzen speak like this before.

Suzu inwardly grumbled her grievances. Hiruzen was not being considerate; those boys deserved the punishment she brought out upon them! Yet she had to comply. Hiruzen may be a kind old man that Suzu respected, but he is also the Sandaime Hokage, and his word was law.

"Y-yes…" She said reluctantly.

"Excellent. Well, I have to go. I hope you could think carefully about what you have done in this room and come to some sort of reconciliation when I next return." Just as Hiruzen was about to walk out, Suzu screamed out to him.
"WAIT!" She yelled desperately.

"What is it, dear Suzu-chan?" Hiruzen asked, turning around to meet Suzu's eyes.

"They….they called me a murderer…" She said quietly, realizing the line of questioning she wished to bring up. "Why? I didn't kill anyone!"

Hiruzen stood silent. He thought he had a leash on this recent dilemma. How in the world did the information leak this time? Were his ANBU really incompetent?

"Jiji-chan, answer me? Why did they call me a murderer? Does it have to do with my past? What happened in my past? Why can't I remember anything?"

"Suzu-chan." Hiruzen said in his grandfatherly tone. "You did not kill anyone. You do not need to worry about what the others told you. That was to rile you up; to provoke you. You have never let what others told you to influence your path, so why start now?"

Suzu wanted to say something, but the words could not come to her mouth. She felt like he was avoiding her questions, not giving her truths. And if she had these doubts…

Hiruzen nodded. He was done now. He made his way to the door and exited the padded room. However, Danzō remained in the room. He waited several seconds before he cleared his throat. An ANBU agent shunshin'd into the room and immediately bowed to Danzō.

"Is there anybody nearby?" Danzō asked.

"No, Danzō-sama." The ANBU answered. "However, Hokage-sama is raising questions as to your whereabouts."

"I know. I'll make this meeting quick. You are to continue observing the VIP in his holding cell until I arrive. If he does anything that may prove to be a hazard to the village, you are to incapacitate him."

"Understood, Danzō-sama." The ANBU said before he shunshin'd away.

Danzō turned to face the girl. Unlike Hiruzen, his eyes were cold, manipulative, deceiving and calculative. Suzu was frightened at his gaze, as he seemed to pierce right through her fragile mask of innocence.

"You are a liability to Konohagakure. An unstable, defective tool like yourself should be disposed of. If it were not for Hiruzen having an interest in your development, I would have killed you last month."

"What do you mean?" Suzu asked. Did she ever meet this guy before? No, she definitely would have remembered an odd bandaged old man like him. He sticks out like a sore thumb, almost as much as Naruto's bright orange pants.

"Hiruzen is such a fool." Danzō continued. "To lie to you now was fruitless. It will only be a matter of time before you would strike again. He does not see it, but I do. You are genetically disposed to be violent and aggressive. You hide it in your innocent demeanor, but you are violent, bloodthirsty, sociopathic and maniacal."

"No I am not!" Suzu yelled. "I…I…I'm not violent!" Suzu made a mad dash to Danzō, but he merely slapped her out of the way. Suzu was knocked several paces from Danzō, lying on the ground and rubbing her cheek. For an old man, Danzō can sure hit hard. Danzō walked up to the little girl and picked her up from her collar. She could do nothing at the display of Danzō's apparently overwhelming strength. And all he was using was one hand. His other hand was slung on a cast that was covered by his robe.

"You say you are not, yet you tried to assault me. You explode into fits of violence whenever you get angry." Danzō said. He flung Suzu to the other side of the padded room. Her impact was offset by the softness of the pads, designed so that detainees may not attempt suicide by bashing their heads on the wall. Danzō stared at the struggling little girl with pity. With the reputation of her parents, she probably would have turned out to be an amazing shinobi for Konoha. Instead, she was a mentally defunct little girl; another one of Hiruzen's unending failures.

"…You did not lose your memories because of amnesia." Danzō continued. Suzu was surprised at Danzō's sudden revelation. If she didn't lose it with amnesia then how-

"It was erased. Ordered by 'Jiji-chan' himself." He revealed indifferently.

"Why…" Suzu said. She stared at the floor. She did not want to believe the man, but she wasn't going to get the answer from Hiruzen. Besides, apparently he and Hiruzen seemed to be familiar. They called each other by their given names without the honorifics. Hiruzen must trust the man. Why would he lie to Suzu? That still did nothing to ease the pain of betrayal she was feeling. Her idol…is it possible her idol ordered her memory to be erased?

"It was a punishment." Danzō answered. "He felt that, if memories of your prior life were eradicated, you could start anew, clean from the crime you have committed. I told him he should have killed you, but he was too weak."

"What…crime…?" Suzu asked, worried about the answer she was about to receive. If what the boys said was true, then she had a good idea what crime she committed.

Danzō raised an eyebrow. "Why murder of course. The boys were not lying when they called you a murderer. How that information was leaked is beyond me, however. Hiruzen had once again failed to keep things under wraps."

Suzu's eyes were twitching. She…she killed someone before? No, no she would never! Well, she did try to kill those two boys that harmed Naruto…but that was justifiable! Well, in her own mind it was…

Maybe she was mentally unstable. She did not know. She wanted to believe that she was of sound mind. That she could make sensible decisions. But she was beginning to doubt that. Especially if she was indeed a "murderer" as this man was boldly proclaiming. Ultimately, Suzu had one more question to ask the man who seemed to know all about her past.

"Who…who did I 'kill?'" Suzu asked, saying the word "kill" with such blatant sarcasm.

Danzō stood silent. Even he did not know how to put this in words. How to explain to her the severity of the crime she committed. He was never good at talking to children, the amoral aspects of his occupation keeping him from raising a family. He was far too busy trying to ensure the safety and wellbeing of his village to concern himself with the matter of succession. He had children in the ROOT organization, but he had instilled unquestioned obedience into their minds before they could even walk.

But Suzu…she was a growing girl. Not only was she still in development, but she was also fragile. She could take this revelation and turn psychotic. She could take it and close herself off from the rest of the world. Or, even worse for Danzō, she could defect from the village. Not that she could do anything on her own.

He decided to just tell her bluntly. What was the worst she could do? Besides, if she threatened to endanger the village any further than murder, than Danzō can arrange for her 'sudden disappearance.'

"Suzu. You killed your parents."

Hey Y'all!

God it has been forever since I submitted a new chapter of one of my stories. All I can honestly say is...I got bored. Some thing else caught my interest and I focused on that instead of this. My apologies, but that's how I roll in my life.

But now I'm back. For hopefully weekly releases of only one story. This is the story that I will be focusing on for the time being. I have a lot of fun writing this, and writing this (and reviewing my own work) makes me realize I have a lot to learn about being a writer. I'm okay, but I'm not like other writers. I'll try to get better, but no guarantees.

All of my other stories will be put on hiatus until I get done with this one (or get bored with it). So please, enjoy this story. I have an idea of how its gonna go about.

-Blackrazgriz 3/19/2014 12:20 PM EST