Touched by Fire

by Hitori no kage

Surviving was complicated enough without a life being placed into her hands. But when she does finally embrace it, fate decided to throw in the wrench and make her world a lybrinth of the unknown and the unexpected. Now she must make the right choices or lose everything she ever held dear. Another one of my complex plots w/ some dark themes. Non-SI. Genre & rating to change. R&R!

3. The Man Who can Keep a Secret

Chapter 3: The Man Who can Keep a Secret… and the Girl Who Needs to Find It

My days after that, absent of any color but white and gray of the hospital room, was stressful and a bit hazy. The general details of what happened was largely subsumed by my fear of what the future held for me and my little brother during the day, and by my struggle to escape the nightmares (of being beaten, of red, fire and blood on white snow) which refused to free me from their grip during the night. Coupled with severe malnutrition, internal and external injuries the nurses and doctors refused to elaborate on, I was taking a lot longer to recover than I was comfortable with. Everything around me seemed to both fog over yet sharpen at the same time, making me rather hyper sensitive to sudden noises and to the people around me.

Despite the medical staff's persistent dissuasion, I held onto my baby brother fiercely, carrying him against my hip when the time came for me to see Hiruzen at this office of his, wary and ready to fight my way out tooth and nail if I had to in order to protect my brother. But as the tall building my guide and guard, Inoichi, called the Hokage Tower came into view as we walked there, I suddenly became much more apprehensive; something slowly clicked into place like piecing together broken pottery. For someone to have an office within such a grand, tall building as this, certainly, they would be a very important person? When I asked what Hiruzen's occupation was, Inoichi's dryly amused answer had the blood in my face drain away faster than the speed at which my baby brother used to drink his milk when ravenous.

"Why, Sarutobi-sama is the leader of this village, the Sandaime Hokage. That is why his office is in the Hokage Tower…"

I nearly cried in horror. "Well, I didn't know what a Hokage was!"

To think that I had so rudely called the Sandaime Hokage-sama, leader of a shinobi village, by his first name, to have glared so heatedly at him when he came to visit a lowly person like me in the hospital- for me to have shown none of the respect one of such high status as he was due… surely, it was very well punishable by death?!

I must have either looked close to fleeing or fainting, because Inoichi put a steadying hand on my shoulder and asked after my condition with a troubled expression. He didn't let go of my shoulder the rest of the way up to the Hokage's office, though he made sure to keep the hold light.

"Ah, I see that the medics finally freed you from their clutches, though I'm sure they were very reluctant." The Sandaime-sama lightly teased when we entered the spacious room. He was lightly teasing me. Jovial, like I was his old friend, or his granddaughter, or a citizen of his village…. None of which were true.

What?!

I ignored my confusion and threw myself to the ground after setting baby brother down. I smacked my forehead against the wooden floor in the most reverent form of bowing I had learned, praying that this leader was merciful enough to at least spare my innocent baby brother, who was not old enough to have possibly learned to give proper respect to someone of higher status than he. This fault, this ignorance, was my own to bear the consequences for.

"This- this servant greets m'lord, Sandaime-sama! This lowly one deeply apologizes for this servant's impertinence and ignorance of m'lord's importance and deserves death! But please, please have mercy and spare this servant's baby brother! Kill this lowly one if m'lord must, but please, this servant's brother is still so young, barely out of his infanthood and-"

"What on Earth-!"

"Stand up, lest you injure yourself again, child! No one is being punished! Inoichi-kun!"

Inoichi's large hands immediately gripped my shoulders and pulled me up like I was fragile glass. I perhaps looked that way, though I wouldn't know; I've never seen how I looked like. But that wasn't exactly on my priority list in comparison to what just registered in my mind. Was he really not going to take offense for my oversight? I voiced my question, half in building hope, half in wary suspicion that he was playing me for a fool.

"Th-this servant is forgiven?"

"There was nothing to forgive. I had told you nothing of me save my first name… and you shouldn't address yourself that way. You're not a servant here." The Hokage sighed tiredly muttering that he almost had a heart attack at the sudden groveling and gestured towards one of two wooden chairs placed before him.

"Have a seat here, child. There was no need for posturing on the floor like that." The desk separating us, as I sat with baby brother on my lap, was piled high with papers, books and scrolls. There was a small blue picture frame peaking out from behind the paper mountain, the only color I saw decorating his table. Inoichi made to stand further away to give me space and leaned against the wall with his arms lightly crossed at his chest to watch.

"Now that things have calmed down, let us properly introduce ourselves again to avoid any future confusion, shall we?" He smiled at me with a gentleness that could only be associated with wizened grandfathers when speaking with their favored grandchild. But I wasn't one and it was both puzzling and uncomfortable somehow. I wasn't used to that kind of attention. "My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage and the leader of Konohagakure, the shinobi Village Hidden in the Leaf."

He gestured towards Inoichi. "This person here is Yamanaka Inoichi-kun, a shinobi of this village and also the leader of his clan."

Oh no, oh no… So I may have managed to insult not one leader, but two?!

Yamanaka Inoichi-sama chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. He must have seen my stricken face. "Again, you didn't know, we didn't tell you. There's no need to fear that we were insulted. Stop worrying."

I gave a small, tentative nod and bowed my head. "Thank you for your kindness, Yamanaka Inoichi-sama, Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama…"

The two men suddenly looked highly amused.

"It seems there is much to teach you to get you assimilated here… that is if you wish to stay…?" The Hokage chuckled.

"I do!"

"Well then, the first thing you need to know is that you don't have to call us by our full name. Just Yamanaka and Sarutobi will do. Now then, I did say I was going to give you each a name, didn't I?"

I nodded in curiosity and anticipation. Having a name seemed so… dignifying.

Sarutobi-sama handed to me two pieces of paper, each with characters written on them. Should I have mentioned to them that I couldn't read?

"Um, please pardon me, Sarutobi-sama… but I don't know my letters and characters. What is written on the paper, sir?"

The two adults looked at me in surprise and I knew, I had much to learn indeed…

The rest of the meeting went generally well, if I could recall and understand half of what went on. They asked me questions about the things Yamanaka-sama reported in paper from what he saw in my memories, such as about my early years in the Home; they explained the Home was actually an institution for parentless children called an orphanage. They also asked me what the Ma'am looked like, how many children there were, who worked where and if a lot of people had left town when I took leave of the place as well. I answered their questions as best as I could and by the time they were done asking at least an hour and a half's worth, my head felt swollen and they took pity.

They had then set me up to an apartment close to the Hokage Tower and gave me a little booklet they said was my bank account through which they would send me money every beginning of the month until I was situated in the village comfortably enough. I immediately protested the idea, afraid of burdening them when I couldn't do anything in return for their kindness. There had been a resulting gleam in Sarutobi-sama's calculating yet soft eyes.

"Well then, you can repay my kindness by going to the daycare nearby and meeting someone for me at eight tomorrow morning. You can bring your little brother there with you of course."

There was one other thing they asked of me as well: I was to go with three groups of their shinobis they called Anbu back to the place of my captivity to help finish their investigation, provide any details as a witness and perhaps, remember the events that happened towards the end of our ordeal. It seemed that the memories were somehow locked into the back of my unconscious and even Yamanaka-sama would not been able to see them clearly without causing permanent damage to my mental health. I had been hesitant in going, after all the things we the captives went through but I knew I needed to recover those memories and I also thought back on what I left behind… more like who I left behind. I asked for permission to do something there in return, should I agree to go; I wanted to dig up the three I had to bury hastily and without honor, to bring them back to Konoha and lay them to rest properly. It just didn't seem right that I was given the chance to escape the horrors of those days and that kind of peace couldn't be given to those three even in death. The two leaders allowed it quite readily.

So here I was, standing before the doors of the daycare center with my hand grasping and engulfing my little brother's tinier one. I nervously knocked on the front door and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened and a chestnut-haired woman peeked past the door with a welcoming smile. "Well, hello! You must be the one Hokage-sama mentioned." She opened the door wider and smiled gently down at my baby brother. "Oh, why hello there, cutie! This is your little brother, isn't he!"

I bowed low in greeting and nodded. "Thank you for seeing us so late in the afternoon. My… name is Izumi and this is my little brother, Miharu."

"Oh! What lovely names! Let me guess, he's three years old?"

"Eh?!" I was surprised she could guess his relative age… At least I think he should be three by now. I didn't know where to start counting, but I guess it would have to do. "Yes, he is, but how did you know?"

"His name is Miharu, isn't it? Can I see the documents Hokage-sama wanted you to hand in?"

I quickly handed over the papers and she pointed out the characters of my brother's- Miharu's name. "See here, I was right! Miharu means three Springs, so his birthday is right around the corner right?"

My mind stuttered to a halt. "Wait… What? Isn't it still winter?"

The lady laughed jovially. "Moving here must have been hard on you if you lost track of time! It's March already, the third month of the year! Spring is here already, even if it still feels like Winter from time to time." She pointed to a tree behind me in front of the gates. "Turn and see for yourself! If you look close enough, you'll see the beginnings of buds at the branch tips."

Sure enough, there were brown and green little buds on the tips of the delicate looking branches. My eyes widened in alarm and I quickly searched for another tree, a nearby bush, the soil of the front gardens. They were moist and signs of plant life were beginning to show no matter where I looked. The lady gave me a sympathetic pat on my shoulder.

"Moving from another town definitely took a toll on you, what with a baby brother to look after and all. I'll help you get settled down and you can start working here next week, while your brother is enrolled in the daycare till he's six years old. For now why don't I show you where the market is, and other important places you'll need to know about?"

"Um, I'm supposed to work here?" I was mighty confused at this point. Another surprise thrown my way. "Sarutobi-sama didn't mention this…"

"Ah ha, he's pulling your leg, is he?" She laughed again. "He likes to do that a lot when he's in a good mood, and from what I've seen, you're probably the type of person who doesn't like being in other people's debt, are you?" I gaped at her like a fish desperate for air when out of water.

"It's what usually happens when he tries to help people like you. He doesn't want you to turn down his help. He's cunning that way; leading people by the nose while they're still unaware… but that's neither here nor there. I've digressed. Let's get going shall we?"

I had no idea what just happened, with her babbling and using words I didn't know, but I was thankful for her help anyway. I wasn't prideful nor foolishly stubborn enough to not accept necessary help when I just began to live in an entirely new place. I bowed deeply again in gratitude. "Thank you so much for your help and your future guidance. Please treat me well; I'm in your hands, …"

"Oh dear, I still haven't introduce myself, huh… " She scratched at a flushed cheek sheepishly but then bowed towards me as well. "Well, I'm sure we'll get along splendidly and it's definitely my pleasure to make your acquaintance! My name is Michika; inner beauty and knowledge is like fragrant incense."

.

3

.

It was Spring. It was the beginning of March and it was Spring.

How much time had I lost? Was I unconscious in the hospital this entire time or have I lost all my memories from mid-November… or was it both? If it was the latter, how much of my conscious memory was lost and how much of it was because I was unconscious? What had happened? How was I not told I lost probably almost four months worth of my life?

I was dazed with the onslaught of questions I asked myself as Michika-san helped me buy some basic groceries, toiletries and other necessities for my new apartment. I was listening with half a mind as she pointed out stalls she knew had good products, places to buy good furniture and affordable places she liked to eat at.

When I finally separated from Michika-san, I found out belatedly as well, that the apartment already contained furniture sent in by the Hokage with the first month of rent paid for. It wasn't a grand place, nor did it seem like it was ready to fall apart. It was a nicely sized two-bedroom apartment with an eat-in-kitchen, a cozy living room and a small bathroom fitted with a shower stall, a sink and a toilet. The kitchen was well equipped with cabinets, a small stove, a sink and a wooden table big enough to sit four people, while the living room had a used light grey colored couch and a dark brown coffee table. Each bedroom was fitted with a bed, a closet and a drawer. It was well furnished, to say the least.

That night, after everything in the apartment was largely set up and put together with my broth- Miharu contentedly sleeping in his own little bed, I sat down at the kitchen table and stared blankly at the pastel yellow walls around me, still unsure of whether I was dreaming this up half dead in captivity or that it was real. Was- was I truly safe now? Am I here? I pinched myself really hard.

"Ow!" I rubbed my forearm furiously watching as the area I abused became red. Well… that proved I was living in reality (I hope) but… the fear, the indescribable haze that had me focused on Miharu and nothing else but surviving; I was wavering between finally letting myself go and replace those feelings with relief or holding onto them because they were the only things I knew for so long. I still couldn't let go. Everything was happening so fast that to suddenly let go of those emotions seemed to mean that everything I had experienced with those feelings before were unreal- merely a figment of my imagination.

Besides, I still felt like I couldn't trust in the people I met so fully yet. There seemed to be so many things I didn't know and that they hadn't or wouldn't tell me. And it was about my own situation as well.

No, I cannot let myself relax yet. Not without knowing that Miharu and I were absolutely safe from the danger. Not yet. For now, I must still remain strong.

With that in mind, I stole one last look at Miharu's sleeping face at his door as I headed to my own room and in leaving my door open just in case, I got into bed for a long night of fighting off demons, questions and just hoping that maybe, maybe I'll have a moment of solitude for myself.

.

3

.

Meeting nine masked, intimidating people at the gates of the village, even if I was accompanied by a familiar face like Yamanaka-sama, was intimidating enough. But to be carried on the back of one of them and watch as the scenery around me passed my face as nothing but colors on our way back to the place of my nightmares was an indescribable experience all on its own.

We were (they were) running through the treetops, landing on one branch to another, somehow, by using something warm that I felt travel from the shinobi's lower back, to the thighs and disappeared down to his feet to propel forward away from the branch we landed on to the next one at speeds that left me slightly dizzy if not fearful. I encircled my hands around the masked person's neck a little tighter and the person chuckled, the rumbling of his back reverberating through me and I pouted.

"I won't drop you, don't worry." His low voice traveled towards me with little difficulty as I was all but attached to his back with my growing fear of heights. "But if you strangle me any further, I just might accidentally."

I immediately almost let go entirely and he had to tighten his grip on me to prevent me from flipping off his back due to the strong winds caused by their traveling speeds. "I'm sorry, Shinobi-sama!"

"Just call me Wolf, Izumi-chan. And relax, once your eyes start adjusting to our traveling speed you might be able to glimpse some parts of our surroundings." There was a lightness and laughter in his voice as he spoke gently.

I nodded into his shirt, my eyes still tightly shut with my face buried into his shoulders, but I willed myself to listen to him. I took a moment to breath in and out deeply before hazarding a try. Slowly opening my eyes, I lifted up my head away from him and peered cautiously to my left before promptly shutting my eyes again from the dizziness. It was still a blurry array of colors and I almost wanted to accuse Wolf-san of lying that it would get better.

"Try looking ahead instead. I promise it'll help."

I wanted to ignore him from now on, but something in me grudgingly wanted to try again. I didn't want to go home to tell my brother I was being a wimp or that I wasn't strong enough to get past my fears, let alone protect him. This time, I did as Wolf-san suggested and peered past his shoulders.

The green foliage and patches of sunlight seemed slower than when I looked to the sides for some reason, as the images filtered into my vision. It was indeed better. Especially now that I was less wired up, I began to hear the birds and other sounds of wildlife around me in the silence of our travel and even more silent footsteps. For the first time since we began to travel, I finally felt my muscles relax. Since we were so high up in the trees, the sky seemed even closer than I could ever dream of and for a moment, I wanted to let go and reach out to see if I could graze at the edges of the clouds. The way shinobi's ran must surely be an amazing way to travel.

"Thank you, Wolf-san." I whispered, a little shy at my previous distrust of him. He only nodded, adjusted his grip on me and the rest of the travel remained in relative silence as I continued to admire the peaceful surroundings to settle my nerves.

The scenery when we arrived: the run-down wooden house with a bench teetering on three legs on the porch, the now dead horses still tied to the wooden beam on the left and the caravan bound to the thick tree several feet away near the edge of the clearing; all of it was still as clearly burned into my memory as if it were yesterday. The shouts of pain, the crying and the slave traders' raucous, grating laughter screamed at me in the back of my mind. I didn't realize I was hyperventilating till Wolf-san put a hand gently on my shoulder and snapped me out of it. Though not before I scrambled away from him thinking he was one of them in my memories. He backed off easily and I apologized.

"Let me know if you remember anything. Some of us will be exploring the surroundings and the house for our investigation." I nodded, mute. Remember… Right I was missing memories and needed them.

I followed them to the house, afraid of being alone. Wolf-san may be a man but in the present, I recognized that he was not that man or one of the slave traders so I knew I would be relatively safe with him.

Walking into the tiny house again was the hardest part of the whole experience. Every fiber of my being was screaming, pleading for me to turn around and just go back to Miharu without ever having to remember my time there. For every creak of the old, damp wood as I walked up the steps of the front porch and the cracking as the Anbu removed the rest of the broken door before allowing me to enter into the living room, the nightmares that I had managed to keep at bay as only part of dreams became more and more alive in me. I must have turned extremely pale for the rather small build of another Anbu with the mask of a crow came into view but hesitated in touching me.

His voice was quiet like he was talking to a frightened injured animal. "Would you like to stay outside? Technically speaking, there may not be anything you would remember that we wouldn't find through hard evidence, though your memories may help clarify our findings. You don't need to force yourself."

I shook my head stubbornly. "No… if I can't overcome even this part of my past, how am I supposed to expect myself to protect my baby brother? How am I supposed to face the children I lost and the lady who helped protect Miharu even at the cost of her life if I can't even remember things that may help complete the investigation? I won't be able to face even myself." I swallowed and turned a shaky smile in the crow-masked Anbu's direction. "Please let me try."

He stared at me silently for a little while longer before nodding, but stayed near the doorway and watched my movements from time to time while examining what was left of the entryway.

The box shaped living room was just as I remembered, the deerskin rug at the center close to the fireplace, now bloodied and partly shredded. Parts of the dark wood flooring was charred here and there like something had burned the wood but managed to keep it from catching fire and spreading. There were splintered pieces of wood of what used to be the table, the one that man had sat at on that last day I remembered while I'd been preparing breakfast…

At that thought, I edged through the doorway a little further in and peaked at the fireplace to see that the pot I'd made stew in had rusted over and the water long dried into the wood. There was also a large moldy patch where the boiling water must have seeped into the already worn wood, bits of unidentifiable remains of what might have been the deer meat and potatoes lay scattered among broken shards of a plate next to it on the ground. There was a staircase in the back of the room on the right side, facing the entrance and a broken couch at the opposite wall on the left close to the fireplace.

"I know that man, the leader of the slave traders, slept upstairs in one of the rooms… I think the first one next to the stairway. He only ever allowed me in there when he felt like…. It usually happened at night and they don't have anything but candles to light the halls so… I can't be too sure I remember the layout or what else is there…" My gripped my pants with trembling hands. "Sorry, but I- I don't think I want to go up there…"

"That's fine, Izumi-san." The feminine voice came from the Anbu shinobi with the cat mask. "Thank you for your information. Would you like to see if there are anything you might want to salvage from this place or in the wagon outside? Wolf, mind going with her?"

Wolf-san nodded and I thanked the both of them quietly and hurried outside. I exhaled the heavy feeling that permeated the house and had saturated my entire being a moment ago, now feeling lighter than before. I never want to step back in there again.

Focusing instead on the caravan, I walked up to it with an unease of a different kind. It was almost exactly the same as I last remembered it to be, except for the weathered and browned canvas, dirtied from the snow and rain of the winter and early Spring. There were holes here and there from the prodding wildlife tended to do when unusual things were left alone in their territory long enough. The belongings in the wagon were slightly tossed or rolled here and there by those same creatures and possibly other bandits who may have passed by. The latter possibility was rendered impossible though, as I pulled out a few bank notes and a bag of silver coins from one of small compartments inside a bag. There were also a few toys that belonged to the children, clothing, blankets, mummified bits of rotted potato the day I left it in the wagon for Miharu to eat. I quickly sorted through things I could still keep and Miharu's long lost rag doll, while Wolf-san took out a roll of paper, made some quick hand gestures and disappeared the pile.

"Um… "

"They are in the scroll for storage, Izumi-chan. It'll be easier for us to bring them back with us to the village that way."

"No, that… wasn't what I wanted to ask you… Would you- um… would you help me bring-bring them…." I didn't know what I wanted to say anymore and gestured helplessly to the ground next to the rotting vehicle; something as simple as wanting to take the people I cared for away from this awful place, to bring them and myself a measure of peace and closure… I couldn't find the right words to convey my intentions clearly. Fortunately, Wolf-san seemed to immediately understand and nodded, giving me a reassuring pat on my head. He was most likely informed of my request to the Hokage before setting out.

He motioned for two other people to come over and soon set to the task of unearthing the two children and the lady out from their crude and hastily made graves while I debated between watching the extraction process or leaving the scene for a while to give myself some room to breath. It wasn't exactly a pleasant memory for me to revisit. I could still feel the coolness of their bodies, the opaque gaze of their eyes which stared at nowhere when I checked, and the stiffness that set upon them faster with the rain and cool nights.

I shook my head and stood stiffly as the team pulled the bodies out one by one using their ways of moving the soil gently without even using their hands.

"You're finally getting out of here." I whispered emotionally, "I'm bringing you home."

.

3

.

Working, taking care of Miharu, keeping the apartment and making sure everything was in order was a lot more taxing than when I was at the orphanage. At least when I was too busy, I could have another one of the children, those still too young to work outside but old enough to take of others, to watch over Miharu. But now, I was completely alone, the daycare during work hours my only saving grace. It was only then, that I could focus on doing my job while he was preoccupied in meeting new friends.

"Mama, I'm hungwy~..." Miharu whined petulantly as he came out from my room after his afternoon nap. I smiled and gently pulled at his cheeks. He was learning to speak much quicker than I had expected.

"You ate a snack just two hours ago before your nap, little brother, and you're hungry already? If I give you something to eat now, you'll spoil your appetite for dinner…"

"But Mama, I wanna eeeaaat. Pweaaase?" He looped his arms around my skirt covered leg and rubbed his face into it tiredly. He looked so cute, I couldn't say no to him anymore and sighed. I really needed to be more firm with him.

"You promise me to eat only a little for snack and to eat all your food at dinner, even the onions?" I laughed inwardly when he pouted but nodded his head in agreement before pinky promising me. I opened a cabinet and retrieved his favorite senbei crackers for him to nibble on with a glass of milk while I took three more to the butsudan* I had set up in the living room.

I had the three bodies cremated on the spot during the investigation a week ago to be brought back with us because the bodies still reeked heavily of decay and death, and it was easier to store in scrolls than a full body. And since I couldn't afford a proper burial, nor the land for them to buried in, I kept them at home until one day, I would be able to buy a plot of land to do so. For now, I'll pay my respects in the only few ways I can.

It was the next day during lunch break that I made an appointment to go see Sarutobi-sama again. The past few days, no the past few weeks, made me realize just how much I was in the dark about events that happened to my person and even visiting the one place I vowed never to go back to didn't work to ignite any of my buried memories. I needed to know, at least for the sake of my sanity.

I met with the secretary and he brought me once again to the door of the Hokage.

"Sarutobi-sama." I bowed low as I entered his office. It was just as messy as the first time I saw the room.

"Ah, Izumi-chan. I hope you have adjusted well with living here. How is working at the daycare?" He observed my face before smiling genially, though this time, I couldn't help but stay wary at that expression.

I nodded in thanks anyway and answered his questions. "I have adjusted rather well, thank you, sir. The daycare staff has been treating me well and training me. They've also been really patient with me in learning to read and write." I couldn't help but smile with happiness.

"Thank you again for giving us our names. Michika-san explained their meaning to me and I'm very honored by the care you put into naming us."

"Hmmm, that's good to hear, good to hear…" Sarutobi-sama puffed leisurely on his pipe and lightly tapped the burnt tobacco out into the stone ashtray on the left of his desk. He rummaged in his drawer to take a tin out and proceeded to stuff some fresh leaves into the pipe opening. "So how can I help you today, Izumi-chan?"

He seemed too nonchalant, his actions. "Forgive me for being straightforward and seeming ungrateful for your help, Sarutobi-sama, but I have to wonder why you're helping me so much? Could it be possible that you would help any civilian child with no name and no background to this extent or is there something there s-something being hidden from me?" My stutter aggravated me and I steeled my nerves.

"Why would you be willing to go so far as to find me a comfortable apartment, furnish said apartment, pay the first month rent and even set up a job for me, all without my immediate knowledge? Why are you being so nice to me and Miharu-chan?" I held his gaze with defiance against my instinct to look away as one with lower status would before their superior. "And the fact that I may have lost not just a few days of memory due to being unconscious at the hospital but months of it? Just what is going on?"

Sarutobi-sama only seemed to pause for a moment in preparing his pipe before he looked back down and moved on… ahh, I see. It was as if he had anticipated my questioning of his motives. Finally, after the tobacco was relit and in taking a long draught of the fume, he looked into my gaze again with examination before he spoke.

"In truth, I hadn't really expected you to gain the courage to ask me those questions until much later; perhaps not for another few months. But then, you seem to have a mental capacity much older than your physical age and you survived taking care of Miharu-chan for so long. I guess I shouldn't have thought less of you." He didn't have much of the grandfatherly aura about him anymore. Instead, he was exuding that of a stern leader.

"How much do you know about ninja villages, child?"

I shook my head, momentarily confused by the sudden and seemingly off topic question but answered him regardless. "Not much other than the famous and probably romanticized battles that ninjas seem to be involved in, though some of the information and how you work… I'll have to rethink if those may be true after all, seeing how ninja can actually fly across the trees without the use of hands."

He nodded in understanding with a brief hint of amusement at my last statement before returning to a serious expression. "I see. To be honest with you, an important aspect of a ninja always learns during their training is to always be vigilant… and wary of any new people we meet who suddenly come from nowhere… Do you catch my drift?"

I froze in my seated position as thoughts ran through my head. Suddenly, a saying flashed across my mind and before I knew it, I blurted it out loud through the lump forming in my throat and he smiled. "Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer."

"Close but not quite, since we are still determining whether we will have to consider you an enemy. You have to understand, in the ninja world, anyone can claim their innocence and then turn around and stab us in the back. We have been brought up to never let our guard down. Just as you are still wary of us, you are no exception in our eyes either."

I protested on behalf of my brother. I will never be able to view Sarutobi-sama's laid back demeanor as friendly ever again. " I am but barely thirteen and my little brother is all of three years old! Why go to such lengths to keep me in your sights?!"

"Child soldiers exist, child, and we teach our clan children how to fight and eventually to kill from the crib as do other villages. It wouldn't be surprising to see other children your age on the battlefield fighting against adults and for some to even be on par if not exceeding the strength of those adults. You may think this way of living is harsh, but even then, we are considered soft compared to other shinobi nations. But don't think too deeply into it; while I may be wanting to keep an eye on you and observe your trustworthiness, I am not so cold hearted as to turn a blind eye on the plight of a young girl protecting a brother who is not even related by blood, injured as you were those months ago. I wouldn't have left a child your age to fend for yourself without helping."

"You could have put me into another orphanage along with my brother."

"Yes, I could, but based off of your experience in one previously, how well would you have been able to cope mentally in another one, even if the location, the people and the system are entirely different?" The village leader looked at her grimly, "I doubt you would have done very well and your psychological health would affect your brother negatively as well."

There was nothing I could say to that, because truth be told, another 'Home' was the last place I wanted to end up in. Even if the people and the place may perhaps be nicer, I would never be able to keep myself from judging the place based off of my previous experience and shun the place. I would sooner run away than stay there.

I had to concede to his argument and nodded without another word. He sighed.

"As for mentioning your memory, there was much you had to take in already. To put you under more stress by revealing the state of your health would have undone a lot of the work the medics put in to heal you. That topic would have been broached during your next hospital check up anyway… if they deemed you ready."

Somehow, as sound of an argument he seemed to make of this, the explanation seemed more flimsy than the answer he provided for her previous questions. But he probably had a reason for this… right? There was nothing I could do to get a different answer from him so I accepted what he placed before me and let the matter drop.

"Now, I understand that having months of your memory missing is extremely unnerving and by saying this, I may seem callous about the position you are in. But as long as you make it to the follow up appointments at the hospital once per week for this month and once per month afterwards to keep track of how your health is improving, then there shouldn't be any major problems. At the same time, I would know that you're not acting suspiciously; two birds with a single arrow, right?"

I acquiesced rather reluctantly, still not sure how much I could trust this battle wizened man behind the desk. From all the lessons and books I had begun to read, I now knew that the Hokage, or the kage of any village, was hailed as the strongest in the village. It was best to heed his subtle pushes than to attract his ire.

He smile gently and sat back in his seat, the corners of his eyes wrinkling from the sagging skin of old age. But never let it be said that old age didn't come with immense strength and wisdom; to judge him by his genial look of frailty would prove fatal.

"Anything else you'd like to speak with me about?"

"No, sir," I shook my head and stood up to bow low once again. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me while you are busy with work. I'll take my leave now."

Sarutobi-sama waved away my indirect apology and decided to pick up a scroll to begin examining with a wry expression. "You just had to remind me of my never ending pile of work. Go ahead child, run along now. Your brother is probably missing you by this time."

"Good day, Sarutobi-sama." I walked out the door, past the secretary and out of the tower towards the daycare again, with none of my questions truly answered and with even more inquiries than before. He had revealed his intentions before the table, yet shown me nothing at all.

.

.

"The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep."

E. W. Howe

A/N: Truthfully speaking, I'm not as satisfied with this chapter's ending as I thought I would be. Half the time, it felt like it was kind of directionless and without much meaning. But at the same time, it felt like there were some things that had to be written into this conversation here in terms of how I wanted to set this story up… Does that make sense?

In terms of the direction of the story in the long run, I have a clear view of some aspects but what I really need to brood over is how I am to get there. Hahaha

Anyway, here are the meanings of the names as well as the one new vocab here:

Michika: (美智香) beauty, wisdom, fragrance.

Izumi: (泉) Fountain

Miharu: (三春) Three Spring months

Butsudan: An altar set up in the house to pay respects to dead family members, or in most cases, for ancestral worship in the Buddhist and Shinto religion. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

That's it for now! Until next time!

Adieu,

Hitori no Kage (Yes, I have changed my username)