Chapter 2
Ooohh... I feel like crap. Did they stuff me full of some garbage again?
"Bueee... Ptui!.." Tastes like a whole pack of cats died in my mouth. And not just any cats — ones the size of Matatabi!
Good news: I'm alive! Survived a face-off with the Nine-Tails and actually managed to keep it inside its jinchuriki. Gotta be proud of that! Sure, I didn't exactly see any tails, but that dense aura was already there. So yeah, I'll give myself a passing grade. Even if I burned myself out almost completely in the process. That tailed beast is seriously strong!
Now the bad news: they tied me up and threw me in a cell. No idea how long I've been here. A day? Two? No windows, and the guards don't talk — just bring food in silence. Also, sometimes the food comes with fun little extras that either knock me out cold or leave me in some kind of foggy brain state. That's when they interrogate me. A lot of the time it's this attractive woman with golden hair and murky green eyes. She shows up, gives me something vaguely like a smile, puts her hands on my head, and starts asking questions. I answer. Sometimes she doesn't come alone — brings another woman with her. Now that one is genuinely scary. Leather trench coat, all black underneath, two deep scars across her face, and the eyes of someone who's done a whole lot of interrogating. Morino Ibiki... wait, no — Ikki. Morino Ikki, head of Konoha's interrogators. And the blonde, by the way, was called Inoichi. Yamanaka Inoichi. And from what I gather, that's Ino's... dad? Hm. Or "mom"?
So... parallel world, huh? I actually had a feeling something was off back when I was staring at the Hokage Monument. I just hadn't quite figured out what I was looking at yet. Second red flag went up when I noticed the jinchuriki's frame was way too slender and the hair was a little longer than canon... Only this time they didn't let me finish that thought — jumped me from behind and knocked me out cold.
Yeah... It's weird, all of this. Sitting in a holding cell pondering the structure of the universe. Looks like everything's swapped. Men turned into women, women turned into men. So Naruto here is... Naruko? Guess so... Then Sasuke would be... umm?.. Saki? Uchiha Saki?.. And Haruno's a guy? A pink-haired guy, ha... And Hiruzen's not Hiruzen anymore? And what about the Sannin Trio?? Oh, damn... I can sort of wrap my head around Orochimaru, and Tsunade too — or whatever they're called here now — but Jiraiya?!.. You're telling me somewhere out there is a gray-haired fifty-something woman hanging around public bathhouses, peeping through holes at young guys washing up and giggling like a pervert?!..
Brrr! Nope, those bastards definitely slipped something into my porridge again. Pretty soon I'm gonna completely lose it, and then "kind" lady Ikki-chan will come visit, smile sweetly, ask her questions while twirling a red-hot poker and promising to stick it somewhere real interesting.
Creak.
Oh, speak of the devils! Not Morino this time, though — just two masked types. No idea about gender or age.
"Come with us," one of them said flatly, pointing at the door. Huh, that's new. Usually the guests come to me — I don't go visiting them.
So now what? Should I start chanting a death mantra?.. Might not get the chance later: quick knife across the throat and into a ditch I go. Then again, why would they? I'm not a criminal. I actually helped — kept the little fox in its cage until the suppression team... or was it the pacification team?.. Whatever. Until the heavy-hitter shinobi showed up and restrained the possessed girl.
So I don't think things are quite as bad as they seem. Whatever else, the fact that they detained me is totally understandable: the jinchuriki goes berserk, the Tailed Beast's about to break loose, and then some random guy pops up and starts forcing the demon's rampaging prison back down. That's gonna raise a ton of questions real fast: Who is he? Why'd he jump in? How'd he know what to do?.. And they could definitely suspect me of all kinds of nasty stuff. They're shinobi — they've got their own weird hang-ups. Plus, they've been interrogating me relatively "gently" so far. No torture, no mutilation. Sure, they pumped me full of some drug, sure, they dug around in my head for verification. And since nobody's dragging me onto an operating table demanding I spill future knowledge, Yamanaka must not have found anything THAT big in my head. Lucky me. Most likely I got lucky, and only because they weren't specifically looking for it, so they missed it.
Gotta remember to thank the Kami for that small mercy. Later, when I've got a moment.
Oh, looks like we're here! Bright room, pretty cozy. Hey-hey, are we out of the interrogators' dungeon? Weird — how'd I miss that transition?..
Meanwhile my escorts bowed politely and left, closing the door behind them. Three people inside: Morino Ikki and Yamanaka Inoichi — already familiar from earlier visits — and a third person I didn't know, but her clothes really didn't leave room for other interpretations. The white-and-red haori and that funny little hat with the kanji for "Fire" — hard to mistake those for anything else.
"Now, now, no need to stand by the door. Come in, have a seat," the elderly woman said kindly, puffing on her pipe. Her wrinkled face looked pleasant and welcoming — especially against the backdrop of Ikki's terrifying mug, which somehow kept radiating menace even when she smiled. Seriously, what a gift that woman has!.. "My name is Sarutobi Hiruko, and I'm the Third Hokage. And you're Nagisa Kaoru-kun, correct?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama." I bowed politely. It's not like it costs me anything, and the Hokage — spry as she might be — is still an old woman, even if she could turn me to dust with a snap of her fingers. Gotta respect old age... And basic courtesy never hurts. "Umm... Pleased to meet you?.."
"Oh?.. O-ho-ho-hoo..." The Hokage laughed, covering her mouth with a thin, withered hand. "What a well-mannered young man! How refreshing — truly refreshing — to see that not the entire younger generation has grown up into blockheads, and that courteous people can still be found under this sky. Do sit down, sit down, Kaoru-kun. Don't worry, we're not going to eat you! O-ho-ho..."
"Mm... Domo." I sat down warily on a chair across from the trio. Still, all this friendliness feels a little suspicious. I'm not big on conspiracy theories and crap like that, but being treated this nicely by complete strangers? Kinda puts me on edge.
"Well then? Nothing you'd like to ask me, Kaoru-kun?" Sarutobi narrowed her eyes, peering at me from under the brim of her hat.
"Well... I think I'll hold off for now." Okay, calm down, Kaoru Nagisa Tabris-kun. It's just a conversation. I'm sure this energetic granny already knows everything she needs from those lovely ladies over there. Now they're evaluating you. Sizing you up, watching your reactions. Just relax and be yourself. I've got nothing to hide (well, almost), so it's gonna be fine.
"Om Shri Sache Maha Prabhu..." Chanting the Mantra of Spiritual Calming in my head, I got back to normal. Mantras are great! Doesn't matter if they're Daoist, Indian, or Chinese. What matters is they help. And here, in this world, they've actually got real power to them.
"Ooh? And why's that?" Another narrowing of the old woman's eyes, but this time she clearly wanted an answer.
"You listen to your elders first, right? That's just polite, at the very least." I'd relaxed enough by now to even throw in a casual smile. "I figure Hokage-sama will tell me everything I need to know, and nothing more. Whatever I ask, she won't tell me more than she wants to. Besides, I doubt the esteemed Hokage-sama has that much time to waste just listening to my questions."
"And intelligent on top of everything else!" Sarutobi smiled with satisfaction. "You see, Ikki-chan, Ino-chan? This is what young people should be like! Courteous, sensible, always ready to listen to their elders! Ah, the youth of today... But forgive me, Kaoru-kun. I'm sure you have no interest in listening to the idle grumbling of an ancient relic like myself, either. O-ho... You're right, boy. I don't have much time to waste! And since you have no questions, allow me to ask you mine: tell me — why did you come to Konoha? What were your goals?"
"I was traveling, Hokage-sama," I answered honestly. The old woman nodded along patronizingly, hinting she expected a more detailed answer. Alright... "Only recently I left the temple of the benevolent Sun Goddess, the great Amaterasu-sama, as an Unsui-no-ryokaku. I wanted to see the world, to observe people..."
I gave her the short version of my journey — clear enough, but no extra details. Why was I heading here? I wanted to see how real shinobi live! And there wasn't a drop of falsehood in that either.
"Very well... Now tell me, Kaoru-kun, what happened after you arrived in Konoha. You do remember what occurred then, don't you?"
"I remember, Hokage-sama." This topic was trickier, but still not dangerous. Main thing was to answer fully while avoiding any sharp corners. "You're talking about the demon, right? I may be young, Hokage-sama, but the Head Priest has pointed out my skill in exorcisms more than once. We do that kind of work often at the temple: sometimes people come to us struck down by strange ailments, and we drive the evil out of them using prayers and Onmyodo."
"Is that so?" The trio exchanged quick glances. And they weren't exactly subtle about it, if you ask me.
"Hai," I nodded. "That day, when I arrived in the Village, I suddenly felt this terrible malice aimed at all living things. Something huge and awful wanted to kill everyone around it. Then people started screaming, running away... And well..."
"And?.."
"I ran too. Just in the other direction. I mean, a yokai possessing someone in broad daylight... The possessed can be dangerous, and it's my duty as a monk to protect people from evil."
"Oh, and you did quite well at it," the Hokage smiled. Why do I suddenly feel uneasy?.. "I've read the reports: you clearly have a talent."
"Thank you. But honestly? What I did was stupid." I scratched the bridge of my nose, a little embarrassed. "If those masked shinobi hadn't shown up, I wouldn't have held the demon for long. It was insanely strong — I've never run into one like it before!"
"Is that so?.. Self-critical. Truly, a very sensible young man."
"If I may, Hokage-sama?" I ventured cautiously.
"Of course, Kaoru-kun, of course."
"What happened to the possessed girl? Something like that couldn't have just passed without leaving a mark on her..."
"Worried about her. Kind as well, are you?" The Hokage chuckled. Kind or not — doesn't matter. But this world's "Naruto's" health does matter to me. Nothing like this ever happened in canon, after all. "She's fine. Alive and well. I think that will suffice?"
"Yes, thank you." If she's not lying, that's good.
"Well then, here's another question for you, Kaoru-kun..."
Questions, questions, questions... Pretty soon it became clear what the Third was really after. Me, of course. My abilities, my talents. Honestly, not surprising — I should've guessed sooner. My life story only interested the Hokage in passing; Morino and Yamanaka had probably already dug through it thoroughly enough and found nothing remarkable. But my training at the temple was a lot more interesting to the Village's leader. On that subject she asked in greater detail, repeating questions several times using different words. I know that conversational technique. Well, I didn't have much to hide, so I didn't exactly resist or try to conceal anything. Though I had to be more careful with a couple of answers. Hope I didn't slip up...
"I think we'll stop here for now," the Hokage concluded after the umpteenth question. I'd stopped even trying to count. "Oh, old age is no joy... I'm not young anymore; I tire easily. I doubt you're tired, Kaoru-kun, but won't you forgive an old woman? Yes, it's good to be young..."
Tired? Right. This granny could give my Old Man a run for his money — you could haul concrete slabs on her back! If anyone here's "tired," it's me! I feel completely drained. Good thing the questions ran out, because another half hour of this and I wouldn't have made it.
The familiar masked figures appeared and escorted me back to my cell. Oh, and lunch is already here! Perfect timing. Oho, and it actually looks better than last time. Did the cooks soften up or something? Whatever! Where are the chopsticks?!
Done eating, I sat down on my cot and started easing myself into a meditative trance. Got a feeling I'll need my strength again today, so I should get at least some of it back.
Sarutobi Hiruko took a deep drag from her pipe, sitting in her favorite chair in her office, and exhaled a thin stream of smoke through her nose.
"Well? What do you think of the boy?" she asked her subordinates. "I know, I know about the reports, but I want to hear your personal opinions from your own lips."
"Interesting kid," Morino Ikki offered. "He's afraid... no, wary. But he doesn't shake like some who've fallen into my hands. Knows how to hold himself. Can barely hide his emotions, though. Has brains, so he doesn't clam up and doesn't even try to lie. Good raw material."
"Of course that's what you'd say, you animal torturer..." The Hokage snorted. Pretty much what you'd expect from the head of interrogators. "And what about you, Ino-chan?"
"I mostly agree with Ikki," the blonde woman replied. "The boy's clearly no fool, and he holds himself well, but he obviously lacks skill and experience."
"That's not what I'm asking about, not that. Stop playing dumb, both of you!" Sarutobi frowned. "Ikki, your assessment?"
"Acceptable." The interrogator shrugged. "The questioning revealed nothing dangerous to Konoha. Of course, it could be an elaborate cover story, but even I find that hard to believe: too complicated and inefficient."
"Umm... Inoichi?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama. I examined his memory, but likewise found nothing: no traces of genjutsu or memory tampering. He's clean. The information from the interrogations is fully confirmed: he really is from the Temple of Amaterasu, lived there his entire conscious life, and then set out on a journey. I didn't focus on specific memories — just a general sweep. Going deeper, even with the drugs, would've been dangerous for him and taxing for me. Well, you understand..."
"Of course, Inoichi, of course." The old woman in the white-and-red haori nodded. "What about his abilities?"
"As strange as it seems, Sarutobi-sama, this was confirmed too," Inoichi said with some bewilderment. She had to admit, it was damn shocking — suddenly discovering there might be people out there who seriously fight demons and spirits. As a shinobi, she herself was shrouded in an aura of "mysticism" since ordinary people didn't understand the nature of abilities like hers at all. To peasants and other uninformed folk, ninjutsu seemed like sorcery. But not to shinobi: for them, chakra and its manipulation was natural and mundane. Just an element of life — ordinary, familiar to everyone. "Honestly, Hokage-sama, it seems absurd to me. I always thought evil spirits were just scary stories to make children behave better. Maybe we shinobi have drifted too far from ordinary people?"
"Maybe so, Inoichi. But personally, I'm not ruling out the possibility that a group of people simply has knowledge, techniques, or genetic mutations unknown to us," Ikki put in. "Temples can hide a great deal in their closed libraries. To me, that sounds more reasonable than exorcisms of evil spirits and other such nonsense. You're just too impressionable. You saw the world through this boy's eyes, didn't you? You can't state with certainty that these 'evil spirits' of his are actually spirits and not just creatures unknown to us. Don't forget: we shinobi can use summons. Maybe this is something similar?"
"Are you questioning my skills, Morino?" Yamanaka frowned. "Fine, I only viewed things from the boy's perspective. But I think with my own head! And since you brought up summoning creatures — what, then, are the Tailed Beasts? We've learned to contain them and use their power, but what the Sage of Six Paths did with them we don't know and never will. Maybe they're just beasts of chakra, or maybe they're true demons, captured by the Sage long ago?! And if that's the case, why wouldn't we consider that besides them, there might be others in this world?.."
"Quiet, both of you." Sarutobi waved a hand, stopping her subordinates' argument. The old woman sighed: "Honestly... Grown women, and you still behave... Ahem... Be that as it may, the boy has some kind of ability, and that's hard to deny. Have the examination results come in yet?"
"Only a surface analysis, Hokage-sama," Inoichi replied again — she was the one handling this. "A couple of days is obviously not enough for a full investigation, but our geneticists have discovered something. As we suspected, certain mutations are present, but decoding them isn't possible yet. The Hyuga who conducted the examination noted decent development of the chakra system. Of course, 'decent' only compared to Academy students around nine or ten years old. For his age, it could be better. There are clear signs of attempted development, but they're pretty clumsy. It seems the boy trained on his own, without a mentor. This is really obvious from the imbalance in his system: the upper portion, especially the arm areas, is more developed than the lower. An anomaly in the core has also been observed... The researchers are linking this anomaly directly to the discovered mutation."
"Elaborate on that."
"Hai. According to preliminary data, there's a clear imbalance in the Yin-Yang system, leaning toward Yin by about one third. The chakra reserves themselves are relatively small — comparable to those of a fresh genin graduate, which, given the subject's age, is below average. Now, regarding the anomaly itself: the Yin and Yang components within the chakra core don't mix completely. More precisely, some portion of Spiritual Energy concentrates externally and forms a kind of separate system. It's rather amorphous and indistinct, but still traceable. Experts believe this effect is caused by the detected mutation: the body simply adapted for its own convenience. Furthermore, this auxiliary Yin chakra system partially interacts with external, natural chakra." Yamanaka finished reading the medical team's report. "Nothing like this has ever been seen before, Hokage-sama. Could it be that this very anomaly produced such an effect?"
"Quite possible..." the Third drawled, puffing on her pipe. She spoke slowly, clearly thinking and reasoning as she went: "The lad managed to restrain the jinchuriki. Not for long — he drained himself almost dry — but it was still enough to hold back the rampaging Tailed Beast, prevent casualties, and buy time for the suppression team to arrive. It may be that this very mutation is nothing other than a strongly expressed Tailed Beast suppression gene. Perhaps the effect is similar to the gene of Senju Hashirako: she alone could most effectively restrain Tailed Beasts with her Wood Style."
The Third Hokage fell into thought. This was an opportunity. For three generations, jinchuriki had been containing the Nine-Tails within their bodies. The first was Mito Uzumaki — the husband of Hashirako Senju, the First Hokage. The second was Uzumaki Kushi. And the third, the current jinchuriki, was Uzumaki Naruko. And therein lay the problem. Whether the Fourth had botched something in her seal, or whether it was because Naruko was only a half-blood — periodically she suffered episodes where the Tailed Beast's fury would breach the confines of its living prison. As a rule, it never got to the point of manifesting Tails: special teams always managed to calm the jinchuriki in time. But it didn't always end without consequences. There was destruction. Sometimes there were casualties.
Needless to say, this couldn't help but affect how the populace viewed what was, at heart, an innocent girl. She didn't even remember what happened to her — usually losing consciousness and memory during her episodes. But the people didn't care: they saw before them the embodiment of their darkest fears, and they couldn't stop being afraid.
Sarutobi was Hokage, and as the ruler of Konoha, she was obligated to care for the Village and its future.
"Minami, how could you?.. You left this whole mess to me — an old woman." The Third shook her head, continuing her thoughts.
Tailed Beasts are incredibly hard to restrain. Their chakra is aggressive, harmful, toxic. A rare host lives past forty, unless they're an Uzumaki — those are tough as nails; they can survive far worse. But the Uzumaki are gone. Maybe some representatives of that once-great clan still wander the world somewhere, but in Konoha, only Naruko remains. How long will she live? Twenty years? Thirty? But however long her life lasts, it'll end one day, and the Tailed Beast will need to be sealed again. And any other host would be worse than even a half-blood Uzumaki, let alone a pure-blooded member of that clan. Proven by numerous examples from our "neighbors": no matter how perfect the seal — and such seals can never truly be perfect — the outcome's the same. Unless you seal the Tailed Beast completely shut. But in that case, the jinchuriki can't use the Tailed Beast's power and would be nothing more than a prison on legs. Completely useless as a "weapon" for the Village.
And then this boy shows up — Nagisa Kaoru. Barely set foot in the Village and immediately drew attention to himself in the most guaranteed way possible: by clashing with the jinchuriki.
To a paranoiac — and for a shinobi who's lived as long as Sarutobi, being a paranoiac is perfectly normal — this situation seemed thoroughly suspicious. The mind of an old politician immediately coughed up dozens of scenarios, from infiltration attempts to espionage to assassination plots. And only simple logic forced one to admit: most likely, everything that happened was just a coincidence — though it was hard to believe.
On the other hand — this incident was a Chance! A chance for the Village she, Sarutobi Hiruko, was responsible for. Rest assured, the old woman wasn't about to let an opportunity like that slip! Working from dry facts, the Hokage laid out the essentials for herself: The boy can restrain a Tailed Beast. Maybe it's a genetic trait, maybe a learned skill. Either way, as the head of Konoha, she couldn't ignore this.
Sarutobi was still pondering and weighing possibilities, but her cold reason — not dulled by age one bit — was already formulating plans:
The boy himself wouldn't be suitable. But maybe his children could restrain a Tailed Beast thanks to their mutation! They could become new jinchuriki for the Leaf. But for that, the children would need to be strong — which meant the parent had to be strengthened too. The boy was rather weak by shinobi standards. Already too "old" to be taught anything truly serious. But something could still be done. Later — find him a girl with a "good" bloodline, and a spirited one at that. Maybe even more than one. And then let the youngsters "sort things out" themselves. O-ho-ho...
And if it turned out the child couldn't contain a Tailed Beast within themselves, then surely they could contain it in another! Nagisa had already demonstrated his talents. Sure, the episode by Naruko's standards was relatively mild, but the boy still managed to restrain both her and the Fox. Now imagine if he'd been trained for this from birth!.. Oh, the prospects! It was entirely possible that, even without obtaining new jinchuriki, Konoha could acquire a whole new kind of specialist — Tailed Beast Suppressors! After all, if Nagisa could restrain Naruko, he could restrain others too! And if there were several people like him: Konoha could effectively counter enemy jinchuriki! At that point, willingly or not, you might even start thinking about world domination...
Snorting, the Hokage broke into a cough: the tobacco smoke had gone down the wrong pipe.
"No, no. No world conquest! You old pepper pot — what kind of thoughts are these, in the style of Uchiha Mada?! You flabby wreck, are you going completely senile?" Sarutobi mentally scolded herself.
"Ahem... In summary, here's what we'll do. Ikki! You can release your 'guest.' My people will come tomorrow and arrange everything. The official order will be issued tomorrow as well. You're dismissed for now."
"Hai. Goodbye, Hokage-sama."
"You may go as well, Inoichi." Hiruko leaned back in her chair. "Thank you for your work. I'll inform you of your further tasks later."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." The woman bowed and also left the Hokage's office.
Well then... A plan was outlined — now it was time to act. And act fast, before the details of the incident reached all interested parties. First and foremost, she needed to make sure the boy wanted to stay in Konoha. Train him at least a little, verify his safety several more times in the process, instill loyalty, and assign him to the jinchuriki. It'd also be wise to study his abilities in greater detail. And, of course, ensure that he eventually produced offspring. Couldn't forget that part! But no need to rush on that front — best to act gradually, in small steps.
And Sarutobi had always excelled at that. The old monkey was wise. She knew how to wait.
"What are your orders, Danza-sama?" A shinobi with pale skin on his face bowed before an elderly woman.
"Watch him. Observe, but do not interfere." The face, half-hidden by bandages, twitched slightly as the old woman spoke these words.
"Hai, Danza-sama!"
"Go."
"Hai!"
"We shall see, Hiruko..." Shimura Danza murmured, staring grimly at the wall of her office. Had it been up to her, she'd already have this shady Nagisa bound with a hundred restraints, instilled TRUE loyalty to Konoha, and slapped a cursed seal right on his tongue! But since the Hokage forbade it, nothing to be done. "If your way doesn't work — I'll handle it myself. Know that."