4 4 Interrogation

The unwelcomed man wandered the blank mindscape trying to find his way into the subconscious where the memories were stored, even those long forgotten. The ground was made of soft grass that swayed in the gentle breeze. The sky was covered in blood-red clouds. There seemed to be no end to the landscape - but as they say, walk far enough in one direction and you're bound to find something. After what felt like hours and miles of walking, Inoichi spotted a speck in the distance. He let out a relieved sigh that mixed with the breeze.

It was a set of doors. The man approached them in confident strides, ready to see the mysteries of the ninja's mind.

The arched doors were made of a metal that seemed to be made of light, but the glow was not blinding, it was warm and soft. There were a bunch of carvings on the doors. Each carving depicted two ninja fighting each other. On closer inspection you could see one that resembled the First Hokage and some other man with long thick hair. The one below it was much bigger than others, it was the boy with what looked like the rasengan and another the same age with a lightning jutsu of some kind. At the very top, looking down on it all with a wise and saddened face, was a man with an eye on his forehead and horns, he was surrounded on either side with all nine tailed beasts. He held a staff that was curved in a crescent on one end and had a circle with rings on the other. He had six round spheres formed in an arch above him.

The doors welcomed him to open them. He reached for the door handle slowly. The handle - that was made of the same metal as the rest of it - was so warm. It spread through his body providing warmth he never knew he lacked. He pulled the door open and walked through.

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Pale green eyes opened to the familiar room in the Konoha hospital. Naruto was lying on the bed and had been unconscious for three days in a drug induced coma. After Lady Tsunade looked him over, she had stated that he had quite a few internal injuries and broken bones. His external injuries weren't as serious but he was still wrapped head-to-toe in white bandages like a mummy. She had said that if he was to gain consciousness the pain would put too much stress on his body and not alow it to heal properly. However he didn't seem to be healing anyways.

"What did you see Inoichi? Is he an enemy spy?" asked the Hokage. Inoichi furrowed his brow.

The man explained what he had seen. He described the doors in great detail. He got a feeling that they were important.

"Were the doors a mind protection to keep you from entering his subconscious?" inquired Minato thoughtfully.

Inoichi shook his head. "Maybe, like I said I've never seen it before. I don't think it was intentionally created."

The Hokage closed his eyes and sighed. "Well I guess we will just have to wait until the boy wakes, then we try again."

"Do you really think he will allow us into his memories?"

"Well if he refuses then I guess we will have no choice but to brand him an enemy of the Leaf."

"Refuses what?" the two men and a so-far silent Minato turn to the new voice in surprise. "You shouldn't be awake." said the Hokage almost accusingly.

Naruto pursed his lips. "I just have a high metabolism." he said, looking away as if that wasn't the whole truth.

"Right." Minato said in a mumble that he probably wasn't supposed to hear. Naruto looked at him, meeting his gaze. A look of pain shadowed his eyes before his guard went up and they turned to ice, revealing nothing more to those in front of him.

"Now I have some questions for you young man. Inoichi is going to use a truth jutsu so trying to lie is pointless." the Hokage said sternly. If the boy was at all distressed, he didn't show. The old man nodded to Inoichi who placed a hand on the blondes head, and closing his eyes he made a hand sign. He made a small gesture for the Hokage to proceed to his interrogation.

"What is your name?"

"Naruto." he responded without hesitation.

"Is that your full name?"

He shook his head. He seemed to struggle before glancing at Minato. The man nodded for him to continue.

"Naruto . . . Uzumaki." the men's eyes widened. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘒𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘜𝘻𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘧.

This time it was Minato who asked. "Where are you from?"

Naruto seemed much more comfortable with him asking the questions, something the other two took note of.

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. " And is that to whom you are loyal?"

"Of course." Naruto replied instantly. A lot of tension left the men. 𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺.

Minato looked to the Hokage, expecting him to continue the interrogation. "Minato, why don't you ask the questions." While is was phrased as a question, it wasn't.

"Alright . . . how can you be an Uzumaki? I thought Kushina was the last one."

This time the blonde was really fighting the jutsu. The men waited for an answer.

"I can't answer that." he got out through gritted teeth.

"Why?"

Naruto was saved from answering by the sound of the door scraping open. Lady Tsunade entered with a clipboard but froze when she saw the kid was awake.

"What so you think you are doing? You're not healed yet. You shouldn't even be awake." Naruto stared at the woman, shocked. He hadn't expected to see her so soon. A warmth rose in his chest as she glared at him.

"I'm fine." he assured.

"Stupid shinobi. Always saying 'I'm fine.' 'Don't worry.' 'Can I go train now?'" she mumbled. The blonde laughed glad that some things never change no matter where you are, or in this case - when.

Tsunade looked over his injuries and pulled back in surprise. "They're already healing."

"Yeah, did I forget to mention I heal fast?" he joked, though there was something dark about it. As if he wished otherwise.

The lady didn't laugh. "But before you weren't healing at all."

"Ah, yeah. Kurama was out of chakra and I guess my body doesn't heal well on its own."

"Who's Kurama." blurted Inoichi.

Forgetting the jutsu was still on him, Naruto blurted it out before he could stop himself. "Kurama is the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Silence Then, "That's not possible, Kushina is the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki." pointed the Namikaze.

Inoichi shifted uncomfortably. "He's not lying. My jutsu prevents him from doing so." he said.

They continued to question the blonde but he refused to answer. Seemingly able to resist the jutsu more and more the longer it was cast.

"Naruto Uzumaki." the Hokage said in a tone that said he meant business. "I order you to tell us how you have the Nine-Tails." Naruto just blinked at the man unfazed. He opened his mouth to talk when he was once again saved by the opening of the door. Minato growled in uncharacteristic agitaation. "We really should lock that door." the others nodded in agreement.

"Hey sensei, you didn't show up to training so we came to look for you." greeted Obito enthusiastically. Naruto found himself glaring at the younger version of his enemy. Lucky for him, everyone was too focused on the Uchiha and his companions to notice the hatred that brewed behind his cerulean eyes.

Well, all except a silver-haired Hatake. He tilted his head fractionally and narrowed his eyes. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't to fond of the Uchiha either, and he often glared at the boy. But what he saw in Naruto's eyes was beyond simple dislike.

Obito then noticed Naruto sitting up on the bed. "Oh hey Naruto! You're finally awake." the glare was dropped and replaced by steel. He put on a smile.

"Hey Obito." he said 'cheerfully'.

Obito was now looking closely at Naruto who was shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. "Don't you know it's rude to stare." Said Kakashi. He was ignored.

"You know Sensei, he looks a lot like you." the room was once again filled with silence as they looked from Naruto and then to Minato countless times.

"You're right. The resemblance is uncanny." said Inoichi, wondering how he hadn't noticed earlier. Naruto shrugged off the curious looks.

"Now Naruto, one more thing before we go." said the Hokage in a very serious manner, disrupting the silent observation. Naruto deflated as he had been hoping to avoid this. He knew that Inoichi being here could only mean one thing.

"You want to see my memories."