Lamentations

The formatting edited the bold print, which was supposed to mean someone was thinking internally. I'll be putting single quotes to clarify where certain parts are internal thoughts.

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After what seemed like an eternity, my thoughts broke the surface. I was no longer drowning. After the Kyuubi had been sealed into me, I had been out of it. Incoherent, my thoughts and memories scrambled, I wasn't able to remember most things past a certain age. I was probably in a similar psychological stage that I was when I was about eight or nine. Most of the time. The first few days, I was mostly lucid. Minus a bit of confusion, I was mostly fine. Then someone tightened something on my gut, likely the seal, meaning Jiraiya, come to think of it.

Before the seal had been tightened, most of my thoughts and memories were still reachable. Some of them felt more like implants, but they were still there. When I would force myself into a state of anger, or at least as angry as an infant can get, more clarity would enter my mind, with the memories feeling more real. My most likely theory was that a decent part of the yin chakra that represented my personality was dragged by the shear volume of the Kyuubi into the seal. Looking back, that was likely what occured, especially with the conversation I had just overheard between a very familiar voice and one that I could recognize anywhere.

Yin instability since infancy, only to be seemingly cured by a Genjutsu and a kunai to my chest. I remembered very clearly the thoughts and words I had said to my sister, drawing a feeling of guilt from it. I can't imagine what she's going through right now. I think the trauma of what was shown with the Genjutsu, and the near death experience caused the seal tightening to either loosen or maybe even break, causing a sizable chunk of yin chakra to break loose, rejoining the greater portion, fixing most of the disjointed thoughts, and hopefully mind fog. Can't really have a lot of coherency when you have no context for the memories.

That Genjutsu hurt more than the kunai. Don't get me wrong, I didn't exactly enjoy the reenactment of my original death. But I'd already lived that. Felt that. Died from that. The Genjutsu showed the child version of myself his worst fear. And it was directly affected by what had recently transpired.

A mysterious figure taking my sister from me. An unfamiliar figure and me fighting. My blade finding its why into my opponents chest. The hood falls back. My little sisters violet eyes look back, a look of betrayal in them. "Why?", she begs, her eyes slowly fogging over, "you promised. We promised.". The words I heard next were in my own voice. "I don't know you."

The kunai was what broke the Genjutsu. God bless that kunai. The taste of blood and trying to breathe out of a busted lung was far more sufferable than seeing my sister die at my own hand. The first damn thing I'm learning is how to break a damn Genjutsu. I'm not dealing with that shit again.

For the next hour or so, I laid in the hospital bed, feigning sleep. Letting my thoughts wonder to the conversation I had heard between the Third Hokage and Yamanaka Inoichi.

///////////////

Sarutobi Hiruzen had nearly been ready to go home, his work finally finished. Much of the tedious paperwork had been handled. His missive to Jiraiya about the twins reaction to his presents had just been sent on its way. Things were good.

Everything pointed at him getting an early nights sleep. Something he hadn't had over the last several months since Orochimaru's betrayal. He could finally get some much needed rest. But it was not to be.

A Shinobi knows above all else the total suprise death can arrive as. If given the opportunity, chaos will strike at the least opportune time. A discordant note, causing a complete disruption of the symphony. This note arrived in the form of a still uniformed Uchiha Itachi charging through the tower, right into his office, nearly kicking the door off it's hinges to get in.

Rising from his seat, ready for a potential confrontation, his chakra flaired, he shouted towards what appeared to be one of his ANBU, "What is this?". 'Why the hell was Itachi here? What was going on? Whydid he have so much blood covering his front?'

Itachi fell to one knee, head bowed. "Hokage-sama," he said, trying to slow his breathing from running, "Uzumaki Naruto was attacked."

The world seemed to go still. Hiruzen could feel his chest clinch, his eyes widening at what he had just heard.

'What!'

"What happened?", he demanded, wanting to know what happened.

"Someone henged as a caretaker from the orphanage-", before he could finish, he was interrupted by Hiruzen.

"Orphanage?... Where is Rin?" he asked, his voice betraying his near panic.

"She was still there the last time I saw her."

"Guards!", Hiruzen shouted, three of his ANBU guards in hiding appeared before him.

"Sir", they replied, awaiting orders.

"You two," he ordered, pointing at the two on the left. "Go to the orphanage, find Uzumaki Rin and bring her to me."

"Where will you be, sir?" one asked.

Hiruzen gave Itachi a look, demanding to know where Naruto was.

"The hospital on the east side, the one more heavily guarded."

Hiruzen turned back towards the two ANBU, "Bring her there. And if anyone tries to stop you, terminate. With extreme prejudice."

This was not the kind old man that many saw when out in public. This was the man that was the star pupil of the Senju brothers. The Professor. A man who had grown old in a profession where men die young. This, was their Kage.

With a nod, both ANBU left the office with haste, mission on mind.

"Both of you, with me," he instructed shortly, gesturing towards Itachi and the sole remaining guard.

The three then left the office, the hospital as their destination.

////////////////

Rin had eventually cried herself to sleep. The exhaustion from the effort overwhelming her. Her brother had left her. Alone. Abandoned.

'I don't know you.'

Those words had been burned into her mind, the look on his face as he said that as well. She was pulled from her troubled sleep when she heard a single knock on the door. She jumped from her bed, hoping beyond all hope it was her brother. She pulled the door open, only to be left disappointed.

There were two masked ANBU, they looked like the ones that she sometimes spotted when her and her brother were with jiji. 'Why are they here?'

"What is going on? Why are you here? Tell me!", she demanded, not even giving them time to answer her first question.

"You need to come with us." the one on the left said. Voice neutral.

"Not until you tell me WHY!", she snarled angrily, the past few hours being terrible on her mind.

The other ANBU responded in a clinical matter of fact tone. Almost like he were commenting about the weather.

"Your brother was attacked."

Everything stilled. She didn't hear him right. It was just misunderstanding.

"What?", she asked, eyes wide, all the anger in her voice vanishing.

"The Sandaime told us to bring you to the hospital. He and your brother are there." the one on the left said this with a little more kindness than his partner.

This can't be happening. Her brother was supposed to be invincible. Nothing could hurt him. None of the hate from the village or the orphanage bothered him. What happened?

"What happened", she asked, begging them them to know who hurt her brother.

"You'll know more when we get there." he said, his tone showing that there would be no more discussion on the matter.

Grabbing her shoes, she put them on and was ready to leave. Seeing this the ANBU turned to leave, with their objective behind them.

/////////////////

Hiruzen arrived at the hospital with Itachi and his ANBU guard in tow. Approaching the lady at the front, he asked about Naruto.

"You had a boy come in with a kunai wound to the chest, which room is he in?"

Noticing who the man asking the question, the lady's eyes widened before she answered.

"Um, room 23, s-sir." she said, worried about what the Hokage being here meant.

A brisk "Thank you." was all she heard before the Hokage and his masked guards walked at a quick pace to the aforementioned room. Purpose in their stride.

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The sight Hiruzen was confronted with was a terrible one. Naruto was on a hospital bed, tied down, with close to half a dozen chakra suppressant tags on his forehead, limbs, and chest. Not to mention the copious amounts of blood that stained his clothes.

'It was Naruto's blood on Itachi, not the assassin's.' He realized. I need to know more on what precisely happened.

The nurses on standby spotted the three men, the older of the two approaching Hiruzen.

"What happened? Why is he restrained?", He asked, concerned on why that would be the case.

"The trauma surgeon ordered it. Something about "Shinobi put under Genjutsu thrashing around", or something along that line. I mostly cover non Shinobi patients, you'll need to speak with him if you want to know more." she replied, a look of disappointment that she couldn't give him more information.

"Thank you", he said, "Would you tell the surgeon I'm here? I wish to speak with him."

The senior nurse nodded, before asking the younger one to come with her, the two exiting the room.

Once the two had left the room, Hiruzen turned to Itachi, his face stern.

"Tell me everything that happened." his tone demanding no nonsense.

Itachi told him everything that occurred, leaving nothing out. The henge, the Genjutsu, the first and then second blast of chakra, and the after effects of it. The screaming, and finally the assassin flinging the kunai, and carrying the boy to the hospital.

Hiruzen then noticed how Itachi's eyes behind the mask were bloodshot and squinted. He had also noticed him quirk his jaw like he was trying to pop his ears more than once.

'How strong must the blast have been to do that?' he wondered. Normally it was the Hyuga that would get their eyes irritated from extremely potent chakra. But it wasn't to this level. And it was a Sharingan that it happened to.

"Go home, Itachi," he whispered, he knew Itachi was not at his best and needed to rest and recover from whatever the hell happened.

"I'm still fine, sir." he responded, not wishing to be dismissed.

"You're focusing on my lips, not my eyes. And your eyes are redder than when they're activated. You can barely hear me, or see me. You need rest. Unless there is something else that you forgot to tell me, you should go home and recover. Don't be like Inu."

At the mention of the other anbu, Itachi deflated. He was right on all counts.

"Ok,sir." he said quietly, before stepping towards the door. "One thing," he added. "I can't be sure if I saw it correctly, but I thought I might have seen somethingshoot out from Uzumaki towards the assassin. It looked gold coloured. But I can't be sure if it was just a trick of my vision."

It was almost imperceptible, if Itachi wasn't looking for it, he would not have seen it. There was a very miniscule tightening of the Hokage's mouth at the mention of the golden thing he had seen.

'So it wasn't just me seeing things after the blast.' He thought to himself, as he exited the hospital, in need of a rest for his eyes, ears, and mind.

///////////

Seconds after Itachi left, the surgeon entered the room. The man looked to be in his early forties, with his dark hair streaked with grey, one hand in his pocket. Spotting Hiruzen, he walked towards him to speak with him. "You wished to speak with me, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen nodded. Looking at the boy on the bed. "Why is he restrained?"

The surgeon adopted a look of discomfort, as if thinking of a bad event.

"He was fighting us." he said simply, "We tried to treat him but he was thrashing around too much. He ended up breaking one of the nurses arm from a kick."

Hiruzen looked straight at the man, as if thinking of something. "How did you get the kunai out?"

"We didn't." the man said simply, looking at his resting patient. "He pulled it out himself. We restrained him because he started swinging it at us."

Hiruzen looked at the boy, then back at the man. "Tell me everything from the moment he got here."

And the man did. Telling the Hokage how the boy promptly started thrashing around after he was handed over to them by the ANBU carrying him. Him screaming in an unknown language, repeating a certain word over and over again. Them trying to hold him down. The kick and the resounding crack of the nurses forearm. The boy pulling the kunai out of his own chest, swinging it blindly. Only after they pried it out of his hand and restrained him did they notice something. The wound had already mostly closed, looking like days if healing had been done in the course of a minute. They thought was the end of it until a small flash of chakra emanated from the boy. Gold in colour, it caused a couple of shallow cuts on the nurses holding him down. The surgeon got it the worst, with a deep gash in the palm of his hand, explaining why he kept his bandaged hand concealed.

They had to put a suppressant tag on him, but it burned away in seconds, so they put one on each limb, one over his heart, and one on his head. The tag on his head finally put him out.

Hiruzen thanked the man for the information, telling him if he needed to know anything else, he'd ask for him. The surgeon nodded and left the room to get his handed healed the rest of the way, he had been in the middle of it being sealed up when the nurse had requested his help.

Now it was only the Hokage and his remaining Anbu guard in the room. Turning to the masked Shinobi, Hiruzen gave him a simple instruction.

"Do you know where Yamanaka Inoichi lives?" he asked. At the nod of confirmation, he continued. "Go to his house and tell him to meet me here. Tell him it's urgent. It pertains to his number 9 patient."

The ANBU nodded, and promptly left the room, not wasting a minute.

Hiruzen looked at the boy, his state of sleep softening his features, making him look even younger.

' Idon't know how this could have happened. I will need to calm Rin down. Assure her he'll be fine. Kami, I hope Inoichi gets here so I can confirm it.'

About a minute later, one of the two ANBU he sent to collect Rin made himself known.

"Sir", He said simply, "We have her. No problems enroute."

Nodding at what he had heard, Hiruzen went to exit the room. "Where is she at?"

"Waiting room."

"Stay here for now", Hiruzen ordered, "I'll be back shortly."

A simple nod was all Hiruzen saw before he exited the room, his path set to help a girl in the midst of an emotional crisis.

///////////////

Before even arriving at the waiting room, he could here shouting.

'That's not good.' He thought. Getting closer, he began to be able to discern what the shouting was about.

"I WANT TO SEE HIM. LET ME GO!"

Knowing he had his work cut out for him, Hiruzen stoked himself up before entering.

'Kami give me strength. Hopefully she's more reasonable than her mother or Mito.'

Famous last words, you poor bastard.

Upon entering the room, he saw his ANBU guard holding the girl down in a chair, his hair frazzled and what appeared to be a bite mark on his right hand.

When he saw the girl's hair bristled out in the form of several tails, his hopes rapidly diminished.

'Kami, it's worse.' Upon seeing him, the girl's attitude seemed to do a 180.

"Jiji !" she shouted, kicking the ANBU's leg to try and get free.

Nodding towards the ANBU to let her go, to which he did, Hiruzen prepared to speak to Rin about her brother, a certain thought going through his head.

'They didn't clean the blood off him. Do I tell her she can't see him and lie? Or do I let her see him in the state he's in?' The restraints look like what they do with prisoners. Or animals. With the girl free from his ANBU's grip, she ran towards him, grabbing him in a tight hug.

"Is he okay?" she asked, her tone that of a frightened child, instead of the warrioress just seconds ago, "He's not dead. No. He's not dead, he can't be." she continued, her voice more frantic with every word.

Grabbing her tightly and forcing her to make eye contact, Hiruzen leaned in to look directly into her violet eyes. "Rin," he said softly, "He's not dead. He's going to be okay. They got him here. He'll be okay."

He saw tears of relief spring from her eyes, her whole posture looking like she could collapse in his arms.

"I want to see him."

'Lie. Truth. Lie. Truth. Which one, damnit.'

Looking at her eyes, seeing the raw vulnerability in them, he made a choice that would plague his thoughts for weeks.

Swallowing his guilt, he replied to the recently turned six year old with his softest tone.

"He will be okay, but there are many people in the room and you would only make it harder for them to help him."

When he saw her about to say something, he continued. "Rin, don't tell me you wouldn't run straight to him and refuse to let go, even if they needed to treat him."

Rin closed her mouth at this, knowing he was 100% correct.

"But it's my fault." she choked, a tear going down her face, "I told him that I told you about his dream."

'Oh kami, no wonder she is like this. She blames herself.'

"Rin, look at me", he said sternly, getting on his knees to make direct eye contact. "It is not your fault. It is the man who did this where the blame is. Do not blame yourself."

"He said he didn't know me."

... Hiruzen didn't know how to respond to that. 'What the hell was going through your mind, Naruto? To say that of all things.'

Thinking of something, he looked back at Rin. "Do you trust me?"

At the sudden question, Rin looked up in slight suprise. Swallowing, she nodded a yes.

"Do you trust my judgment?"

Another nod.

"Then trust me when I say you are not to blame. Naruto will not blame you. Trust me that I know Naruto didn't mean it when he said that. And trust me when I say he will be okay."

She was quiet for a moment before she relaxed and gave him an answer. "Okay." she said softly, a watery smile on her face.

Sitting up from his kneeling position, Hiruzen smiled softly, looking down at her. "I'll let you know when I here any news. Go and get something to eat if you need. The ANBU would love to take you." He finished, giving the ANBU a side glance.

Not noticing the ANBU flinch, Rin walked away from Hiruzen, looking at a sign for directions to the cafeteria. When Hiruzen was almost to the doorway, he realized this might be a chance to sate his curiosity about something.

"Rin," he asked. Seeing her turn towards him, he voiced his question. "the doctor said Naruto was saying a certain word repeatedly. We think it was a word that you two made up."

At that, Rin's attention was piqued, wondering what word he had said.

"What is it?"

Hiruzen said the word, hoping he had pronounced it properly. He saw her adopt a look of slight concentration, as if trying to remember. When she did answer, he didn't know, till the day he died, how he managed to keep the horror and near terror from showing on his face.

It means "fox".

////////////

Yamanaka Inoichi was having, to put it mildly, a fantastic day. He had managed to call in a favor from Shikaku to have him babysit Ino for the night. Choza got in on the action and got Shikaku to take Choji for the night as well. "Bonding experiences for the next InoShikaCho trio" they had told their wives. Despite the man's protests, they got him to take them on the promise of his debt being clean with them, mainly Inoichi. All they had to do was tell Shikaku one thing, or more specifically, a date. October 2nd. With that one sentence, all protests died from Shikaku. That day brought nothing but a combination of hilarity and trauma to Inoichi when he thought of it.

(Flashback)

"For all your smarts, you're a damned idiot." Inoichi grumbled to Shikaku, despite knowing he probably couldn't understand him in his drunken state. It had started with them going to their normal bar. The place the three close friends would go to relax and spend some time together on the weekends, away from their wives. Shikaku, as the jonin commander, had been run ragged the last several months since Orochimaru's betrayal. Needing to give the appearance of continued strength, mission rates had climbed, and much of the paperwork load was split between the Hokage and Shikaku.

Shikaku's wife, Yoshino, was very understanding of his plight and wouldn't demand anything of him when he was home, understanding how very tired he was from all the work. She would show him how grateful she was for all his hard work. This included being very nice to the point of doting on him. As well as... other things.

The funny thing, his work schedule had returned to normal a month ago. He conveniently left out how his schedule was no longer as intense as it was before. To celebrate his continued good fortune, he decided to imbibe in more amounts of alcohol than normal. Neither Choza or Inoichi realized how much he had drank until he fell out of his chair near closing time.

Inoichi looked at Choza, shaking his head in exasperation. "We're going to need to carry him home, aren't we?"

Choza snorted, and nodded his affirmative. "Looks like it." He said gruffly, pulling the smaller man to his feet. "Up you get, Shika. We need to get you home."

Pulling the man to his feet, Choza let his grip slacken, only to have to catch the man again as he started to fall. "How much did you drink?" he asked, genuinely suprised that he was that out of it.

The only response he received was a light snoring sound.

"He's passed out." Inoichi pointed out unnecessarily.

"No shit. Well, I guess I'm carrying his broomstick looking hide back."

With that proclamation, Choza hoisted Shikaku's form upword and started carrying him to his house.

"We'll take him back to his house. I told my wife that I was meeting you and Shikaku sadly couldn't make it." Inoichi said to Choza.

Choza just responded with a grunt, shifting Shikaku's weight to get a better grip. "Sure thing. Damn, you'd think he drunk half a barrel from how much he weighs."

Inoichi snorted a snicker at that. Several minutes later, they got within visual sight of Shikaku's house when he began to stir. "zzz- Where are we?" he slurred, his vision out of focus.

"We're almost to your house. We'll get you to your room in no time." Inoichi assured him.

At that sentence, Shikaku's eyes widened and he tried to get out of Choza's grip.

"No. No. You can't." he said frantically, barely coherent. "Yoshino can't see me like this."

"What do you mean she can't see you li-... oh." Inoichi realized.

All three of their wives knew how much Shikaku liked to drink. It was a form of relaxation. A way to let his mind slow down a bit. So he didn't think to much. It was such a drag. But there was something all of them, including Yoshino, knew about his habit.

He never drank while on the job.

Yoshino was sharp, not as sharp as her husband, but still sharp nonetheless. Shikaku had told her that he had been working on the weekends, which was true. But that was when his schedule was what he was saying it was. If he came home drunk, on a weekend, with his two best friends in tow, the jig would be up. Not only would she tear strips from her husband for being not only a lazy ass, but a lying one as well. But she still wouldn't have her pound of flesh. She would tear into the two of them as well, for helping to hide it. She would tell their wives and leave the both of themin the doghouse as well.

"For all your smarts, you're a damned idiot." Inoichi grumbled.

Thinking of a plan, Inoichi came up with a plan that would rival Shikaku in brilliance.

"We're still going to your house." he said, "Shut up and let me finish." he added irritably when he saw Shikaku try to interrupt him.

"Your office is on the west side of your house, yes?" At Shikaku's nod, he continued, " I'll mind jump into you, the alcohol won't affect me as much and Choza will carry me up there. I'll open up some files to make it look like you worked late and I'll have you in your offices bed to look like you called an early night."

Choza stepped in with his own opinion, "I might not be able to get up the wall. I might have drunk too much."

Intoxication. The bane of chakra control. Unless you had a tolerance of Legendary proportion, you weren't going to be able to belt out the most effective jutsu, even something as simple as sticking to a wall.

"You have more tolerance than us." Inoichi said, gesturing towards himself and Shikaku.

Several minutes later, they arrived at the side of Shikaku's house. Choza gently let Shikaku down, his form looking like a stiff wind could blow him over.

"You ready?" Inoichi asked.

"Hmmnn", Shikaku nodded.

Using the jutsu his clan was known for, Inoichi made the hand signs very slowly.

'Kami, I'm drunk.'

Jumping into Shikaku's mind, Inoichi opened his eyes to see his unconscious form just a short distance away.

:That was much easier.' he thought.

It was normally almost impossible for him to jump into Shikaku's mind. The man was in possession of one of the strongest minds in the Elemental Nations. But that was, of course, operating under the assumption that he wasn't half a step away from blackout drunk.

"Inoichi?" he heard Choza ask from behind.

Turning around, Inoichi nearly staggered from the movement.

'If it's bothering me this much, how stinking drunk is he?'

"Yeah. I'm good." he answered, after seeing the look of concern on Choza's face.

"I don't like this, you shouldn't be doing mind jumps drunk."

Inoichi waved his concerns off. His plan was brilliant. Brilliant enough it would leave Shikaku green with envy.

"Not a big deal. Just get me up there, I'll pull some papers out onto the desk and I'll drop his ass in his bed, and we'll be done.

Choza simply responded by turning to walk to the brick side of the house, muttering something along the line of, "Idiots, the both of you."

Inoichi let it slide. His plan was brilliant. It would work. Following Choza, he got another look from his friend.

"Remind me why I have to carry your ass up?"

"Shika's chakra doesn't work well with mine."

It had been something he and Shikaku had been theorizing over for years. The Yamanaka clan techniques were not as effective on the Nara. Shikaku theorized that since the Shadow technique of the Nara was yin heavy, just like the Yamanakas mind technique, they acted like same side magnets and repelled one another. But that was just a theory.

Choza nodded his understanding. Grabbing ahold of Inoichi in Shikaku's body and putting his foot on the wall, he said one last thing.

"Don't get pissed if I drop you."

"You won't."

Taking a step up the wall, Choza carried Inoichi up the wall. One step. Two. Three. Four. After about the halfway mark, Choza started to wobble.

"You okay, Choza?" Inoichi asked alarmed.

"Yeah", he grunted. "Just getting a little slick."

Taking another step, a chunk of brick broke off the wall, causing Choza to lose his balance. Being forced to either fall, with Inoichi in tow, or drop him, Choza made the right choice.

He dropped his friend.

The look of betrayal on his face wouldn't have been comical if it were any other situation.

'You bastard.' Inoichi thought.

Inoichi looked back as he fell, trying to see where his fall would take him. It all seemed to go so painstakingly slow. He saw where he was going to fall, and it was the worst spot imaginable.

He was going to fall on himself.

'Kami, not the face.'

His prayers went unheaded. He saw, in his minds eye wear he was going to hit. 20 feet. 15. 10. When he struck the ground, Shikaku's bony elbow found its landing in a quite sensitive area of the male anatomy.

The agony was unimaginable. The force of the impact broke his mind jump. He was back in his own body, experiencing pain no man should ever feel. Gasping for air, he rolled to his side, eyes watering and heaving from pain.

Choza had a look of horror on his face, rapidly turning green at the thought of the pain his friend was in.

Shikaku chose that time to wake up from the mind jump, confused as to why he wasn't in his bed.

"The hell happened?" he slurred, looking down.

He was pulled from his lethargic thoughts by the sound of gasping to his left. Seeing his friend clutching his genitals and on the ground, Shikaku asked a question any man in his situation would.

"Tha hell happened to you?"

Pulling himself up, after the worst of the pain had subsided, Inoichi looked at Shikaku with contempt.

"You. Owe. Me." he gritted out.

Inoichi sat there a moment, before dragging himself to his feet, pulling Shikaku up with him. He pulled Shikaku several feet further away from the wall before turning to him.

Inoichi went through the hand signs again, only to be interrupted by Shikaku's swaying.

"Hold still Shika," he growled, in no mood for anything else.

"I think I'm gonna be sick. I'm gonna vom-blaagghhh", Shikaku vomited all the alcohol he had consumed out of his stomach. And all over Inoichi.

Choza took that as his que to drop from the wall, laughing his ass off.

Inoichi stood there. Shaking. He looked at his friend with an unmatched hatred.

Putting his hands up, Shikaku tried to placate his friends rightfully irate mood. I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-", he was punched in the face by his blond friend, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Inoichi went through the hand signs again, jumping into his possibly former friend again. "Stop laughing, jackass." he bit out irritably at another potential former friend.

Choza had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Composing himself, he walked up to Inoichi, his voice still full of mirth. "Idiots. The both of you. I said I might drop you."

Inoichi couldn't even offer a counter. He was correct when he said that. Sighing with a since of defeat, he contemplated on what he could even do.

"What are we even going to do?" he asked, with none of his former optimism. "You can't climb, I can't, and the drunk can't either." Not even addressing him by his name.

Choza stood there a moment, before a moment of realization seemed to dawn on him. "We're all idiots." he stated firmly, before expanding his arm, using his clans technique.

"I thought you couldn't do that?" Inoichi stated, thinking Choza would have been too drunk to do it.

"I can do one arm." he stated, before grabbing ahold of Inoichi. "Arms and legs closed."

"If you spike me into the wall, I'll kill you."

Choza just snorted at his friends threat. "As if." Before flinging him at the window. Somehow, it worked. Inoichi, in Shikaku's body, flew through the window and landed on the floor of the office.

'I can't believe that worked.'

Dusting himself off, Inoichi stepped over to Shikaku's drawer, pulled out a few papers, arrayed them in a fashion as if they were recently finished, and was prepared to strip off Shikaku's clothes when he heard the door to the office open.

'Oh what fresh hell is this?' Inoichi saw Yoshino walk in, a purple nightgown draped across her frame, looking like she was stalking towards him.

'She knows. She knows. Don't panic. Just play it cool.'

Mimicking Shikaku's posture, he looked at Yoshino with Shikaku's normal look when he talked to his wife.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I didn't realize you were back." she said simply. A look of confusion on her face. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Inoichi had to play this safe. If he screwed up on anything, he was doomed.

"I needed to finish some papers I left here." he said, with Shikaku's familiar drawl. "I didn't want to wake you. You've done so much for me these past few months and I don't want you to think I'm taking it for granted."

At that response, Yoshino's features softened, "Oh sweety, you don't have to do that. You work so hard and I'm proud of you for sticking to it anyway."

Each word was punctuated by her taking another step towards him.

'Oh no.' he thought. 'Please no.'

As she was within a foot of him, her hand reaching to cup his face, he made a decision. Even if it caused him to break character.

'Screw it. I won't do it.'

Stopping her hand, he looked at her softly. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to finish these papers and take them to the Hokage tomorrow. It will take me a few more hours.

Pouting at the denial, Yoshino patted his cheek. "Okay. But I expect you to take your reward tomorrow."

Inoichi simply nodded. Very uncomfortable right now.

As she was about to leave the room and he turned to reach for the papers, he heard her voice call for him.

"Sweety," he turned, and saw something he would never imagine he would see.

She stood at the doorway, nightgown on the floor, not a stitch of clothing on her. She smiled smugly at the look of shock on his face, mistaking it for desire.

"Here's just a taste of your present." she said, before stepping out of the room. Getting his heart rate calmed down, he shifted the papers around some more, before heading to the bed.

"I hate you so much, you drunken bastard." Feeling extra vindictive, he stripped Shikaku's clothes off and chucked the shirt out the window. Shutting off the light and climbing under the covers, he had a few parting words for his friend.

"Nighty night, jackass."

Opening his eyes, his own eyes, he sat up, feeling the vomit drip from his hair.

"What took so long?", Choza asked, wondering why it took more than a few minutes.

Inoichi looked at him with an empty look. "I don't want to talk about it."

Seeing that is friend was in no mood to talk, Choza let it be. "Why the shirt?" he asked, having seen the shirt fly out the window.

Inoichi stepped towards the article of clothing, grabbing it, and proceeded to wipe the vomit off his face with it.

"Oh." was Choza's only response.

The two then parted ways and headed to their respective homes, silently vowing not to bring it up with anyone but themselves.

(End Flashback)

////////////////

Inoichi was shaken from his thoughts by the sight of his wife. She was in a silk lingerie outfit, approaching him like a predator stalking its prey. They weren't able to do this when Ino was home. They weren't wanting to scar her for life.

'Thanks, Jackass.' Thinking of his close friend. You got to reap the benefits of me and Choza lying for you. Now it's our turn.

She walked towards him, settling herself on his lap. He leaned in for a kiss, only to be stopped by his wife, a coy smile on her face.

"Ah Ah Ah", she said, finger on his lips, "I want to know, how did you convince Shikaku to take Ino and Choji for the night?"

Inoichi responded with a wry grin, "My silver tongue?" He asked rhetorically, grin not leaving his face.

"Oh, I think I can find out. And it involves your "silver tongue".

Before they could go any further, a knock was heard at the door.

"Were you expecting someone?" she asked confusedly. This was supposed to be a night off for the both of them.

"No. It's probably nothing, let's just continue." he said, not wanting to give up this night of all nights.

Another knock. This time, much louder.

"Just get it", his wife said finally. "See who it is and then we can get back to it."

She rise off his lap to go in the other room, obviously not dressed for guests. Inoichi walked to the door, murder in his eyes.

"Shika, I swear if it's you and you've got yourself drunk again, I'm gonna drop your ass in the Inuzuka kennels with raw beef tied around you-", he was stopped in the middle of his tirade by seeing the individual at the door.

It was an ANBU, one of the Hokage's guards, to be exact. "What are you doing here?" he asked, realizing that he answered the door without a shirt on.

"Patient number 9 was attacked. You are needed."

Digesting what the anbu had just said, Inoichi's brows nearly disappeared into his hairline.

'Naruto attacked? Why would I be neede-... Damnit, the seal.'

"Which hospital?" he asked urgently, needing to know which one.

"The east one." was the reply.

"Wait here." he said, heading back into his house to inform his wife of the change in plans, and to grab a shirt.

At the confused look from his wife, he walked up to her to inform her of what had transpired. "The Uzumaki boy was attacked, they need my help." the look on his wife's face said it all.

"Your help? That means something is very wrong. Could it be -"

"I don't know." he replied, his hand cupping her cheek, "I need to get there to see what is going on. I'll be back soon. I love you."

She gave him a quick kiss before handing him his shirt. "I love you too." was the only thing she said before walking to their bedroom.

Sighing at the mess of an otherwise romantic night, he put on his shirt and walked back towards his front door, opening it.

"I'm ready," he said.

The ANBU nodded, before turning to leave, beckoning Inoichi to follow. With that Inoichi stepped forward, closed the door, and followed the anbu to Konoha's hospital in the hopes of helping a young boy.

////////////////

Arriving at the hospital, the two men walked to room 23, the masked one guiding the blond. Entering the room, Inoichi saw that the only other person in there aside from Naruto, who was restrained to the bed, was the Sandaime.

Stepping forward, he addressed the elder Shinobi. "Hokage-sama?" he asked questioningly, wanting to know the precise reason he was here.

"Inoichi," he said softly, " I fear something far worse has happened then I previously thought."

"What do you mean, sir?" he was confused now. how serious was it if the Hokage was worried?

The elder of the two stood there silently for a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts. "Leave us." he said, looking at the sole anbu in the room.

The masked man nodded, before exiting the room.

'This was bad. Very bad. What would cause him to dismiss one of his personal guard?'

"What can you tell me of Naruto and Rin's personal language they have?"

'That was a bit out of the blue.' Shaking off the slight bit of surprise, Inoichi gave an answer.

"Not alot, I confess. Twins tend to sometimes make their own language up. It's not the same as any language I've heard before. Different sounds. Different stressing of syllables. And he also says them more slowly."

"Anything else?"

Inoichi thought for a moment, before answering. "He showed me a few words. He wrote them out with a different alphabet. Not one I recognize. He showed a few words to me. I couldn't make heads or tails of it."

All of this had been written in his weekly reports to the Hokage. Why would he be asking this in person?

"Do you remember any of the words, at the top of your head?"

Inoichi tried to think of any of the words, but came up short. "No. I can't."

"Would you recognize one if I said it out loud?"

Now Inoichi was getting concerned. Why was the Hokage doing this? It wasn't like him to play games, especially for this event.

"Why are you asking me this, sir? What's wrong with Naruto?"

The Hokage turned to face him, having had his back to him the whole time. What he saw was something that took his breath away. The Hokage was pale. Paler than he had ever seen. His hand slightly shaking from stress.

"The surgeon said that Naruto pulled the kunai that had stabbed him out of his own chest." He started. Inoichi flinching at the image. "He swung it at them and they were forced to restrain him with restraints and suppressant tags."

"But that is not what worries me. What worries me is what the surgeon had said afterwards. He said Naruto was shouting words that he could not understand. One word, in particular, was repeated. He told me how it sounded. I asked Rin if she knew what it meant, when she arrived here. Now, can you guess what her answer was?"

Inoichi knew it was bad if the Hokage was evading like this. Mustering his will, he looked the man in the eye, requesting the answer.

The Hokage looked straight to him, and answered.

"She said the word meant "fox".

The look Inoichi had on his face at the answer mirrored the Hokage's.

"That's", he started, not knowing what to say." That's not good. The only way that seal would let something like that leak to him, tight as you said it was, would mean-"

"It's breaking." The Hokage finished, his eyes downcast.

Inoichi didn't know what to say. They had a plan. Jiraiya tightened the seal, keeping the excess yin chakra from flooding the boy's brain. Inoichi was the one that spotted gaps in the boy's personality. He thought up the reason for it. He, with Hiashi's help, found that there was a large portion of chakra, mostly yin, that was trapped in the seal. And it wasn't the Kyuubis'. His best theory was that when the Kyuubis yin half was sealed into the boy, the seal pulled in the extra yin chakra he was born with. It seemed to have stunted his mind fir the first couple years.

His appointments with the boy were a mixture of talking, and scanning the boys mind. With each passing year, the seal leaked out a bit of the Kyuubis' chakra, "as was intended" the Hokage had told him. When the small amount of the Kyuubis' chakra leaked into his system, it carried a small portion of his own personal Yin chakra that was accidentally sealed at his birth. The more time that passed, the more chakra that reconnected with its source.

He noticed, over the years, the boy's "mind fog" and confusion steadily improved. His thoughts were more clear, his speech more precise, and he seemed to carry a level of maturity that belied most children his age. If Inoichi had to place a bet on it, he would have bet that had the seal not caught the over-reach of his yin chakra and pulled a large chunk from the original, he would likely have shown an intellectual brilliance on the same level of Namikaze, Hatake, or the Uchiha heir.

A once in a generation prodigy.

He had planned on having the Hokage's help by popping one of the tighteners on the seal and shepherding the largest yin portion still behind the seal into the boy's chakra system for reintegration, curing him of all of his maladies.

But that only works if the seal isn't collapsing.

There is in no possibility, according to Jiraiya, that the seal would weaken enough to give him images of the fox, unless the seal was structurally destabilized. It shouldn't do so until Jiraiya removed the tightenings himself.

'That's why he's shaking. Naruto is asleep. He needs me to mind walk to see if the Kyuubi is in his mindscape. The question is, what will he do if I find it?'

Steeling himself, he asked the Hokage that very question. "You want me to mind walk?" at the nod, he continued. "And if I see the Kyuubi in his mind? What then? Jiraiya-sama won't be here in time to stop it." he continued, knowing, despite not being well-versed in seals, what happens when a Jinchuriki seal breaks down.

Hiruzen simply gave him an empty look, before pulling a kunai from his hip. "I will do what I must." any strength the man had was absent from his tone. Inoichi approached the boy's sleeping form. He didn't know if it was a trick of his hearing or not, but he thought he heard a whisper that sounded like "The village, or my heart." He couldn't be quite sure.

He looked down at the boy who was the same age as his own daughter, face soft in sleep. Innocent.

'Kami, please let there be nothing.'

Going through the handsigns, he did his mind jump.

//////////////

Entering Naruto's mind, Inoichi was confused. There was darkness.What memory is this?

Fasting it forward, he saw something that he wasn't exactly expecting. He saw three lights. They felt very much like fire. The one was safety. One was bright. The third was intense.

'What are they?'

It only took him a minute to put the pieces together.

'Are these chakra signatures? Who's are they?'

Fasting forward the memory further, he eventually got to something aside from seeing the bright signature grow brighter. He saw the one that felt of safety, and brightness begin flickering. Wondering what the hell this memory was, he fast forwarded further. Things went black for a moment, the flames went out. Not long after, he heard what sounded like a baby crying, he saw a flicker, then something greater. Multiple signatures. One was right next to him. He knew he was looking at things from Naruto's perspective. He finally realized what this memory was.

The day of his birth.

'How the hell does he remember this? This isn't supposed to be possible. Even the Nara, with their greater than normal minds don't remember this far back. Could It be a side effect of something? I don't know.'

He was taken out of his thoughts by a slight sign of movement in the boys "vision.

'This is chakra sensing at a level I normally don't see in most children who are sensors, let alone a newborn who sensed his mother, sister, and Kyuubi before he was even born.'

The slight movement was there in an instant. The light holding him winking out and a burst of blood falling on his face. Even insulating his mind from his patients, or prisoners, didn't completely stop all of the feedback. He felt Naruto's terror at a light vanishing.

He probably doesn't even know what that would mean.

Something not human grabbed him. Everything got a little fuzzy, until the whole world seemed to explode in light.

'I can't breath.' Inoichi thought. 'Wait. Is this Naruto's dream? Did he subconsciously have this in the back of his mind? This is what the large chunk of chakra that simply wouldn't budge was holding back? If I'd tried to shepherd it in without realizing that there is this intense of a memory with it, I might have got my mind damaged. Badly.'

The mass of chakra disapeared from the boy's range. Thank Kami for small blessings.The next part was Naruto feeling a cold sensation on his stomach, something painted on his stomach, with his sister right next to him.

The final part was near the end. He could feel the memory was almost over. For the first time, he saw through Naruto's actual eyes.

Of course the first thing the boy would see in this world was the Kyuubi out for his blood. Nine tails swishing furiously, a deafening roar. He saw Namikaze Minato summoning something. He saw Kushina holding the beast down with our chains, attempting to keep it still.

He saw it. The chains weakening. A tail shooting forward. A shout of warning. He saw the two jump forward. A sound of flesh being pierced. Their faces. The memory looked slightly damaged, he couldn't see what they were saying.

What came next was one of the worst experiences he'd ever felt in a mind jump. The lights winking out in front of him. The crying as his sister screamed in pain. The screaming of his own, when the other half was sealed in him. It felt like he was on fire, and this was an insulated sensation. It was much worse than what he was feeling. His lonely cries for help. No one coming. But then, when he thought he was going to be saved from his pain, these strange lights stole his sister from him. His light vanished. Darkness.

He was forcefully driven into another memory, this one far more recent. He saw Naruto and his sister talking. A look of concern on the boy's face. "You're scaring me," he said, wanting his sister to tell him something that she was keeping from him.

She told him of her telling the Hokage about his dream. The feeling of betrayal. Abandonment. Darkness... Hatred. The shouting was awful.

'I shouldn't be seeing this. It's too private.' He saw Naruto blast through the door and out of the orphanage, to an unknown destination. He saw that they were now at a park, one that Inoichi recognized. The boy was there for maybe 10 or 15 minutes until he saw one the caretakers at the orphanage. Inoichi recognized this one. She never did seem friendly towards the boy whenever he saw two of them together.

He noticed the out of character tone that she addressed him with.

'Henge.' Inoichi thought.

The assailant in disguise lied to Naruto about his sister being at the hospital. His caution was tossed to the wind and he followed "her" in the direction of the hospital. Some minutes later, they made it to an alley. The henge was dropped, fear of his sister being hurt by this stranger spiked. The snarled demand of where she was. The non answer. Pulling a blunt kunai and charging. Getting knocked to the ground.

'Here it is.' He thought. This will likely determine whether it's seal collapsing.

The Genjutsu cast. The sight Inoichi saw through Naruto's eyes.

'Oh Kami, no wonder you were screaming.'

He saw what Naruto saw. His sister looking at him in betrayal as she died in his arms. "I don't know you."

The kunai is what broke the Genjutsu. He fell to the ground, gasping for air.

I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Seemed to be the only coherent thoughts that he could muster up.

He didn't remember the Kyuubi attack. He only remembered the effects its Killing Intent had on him. The inability to breathe was only part of it. It reminded him of losing his "light".

The last decipherable portion was of Naruto pulling the kunai out of his chest, the sensation of the wound knitting together like a medi-nin was using their Mystical Palms technique, but there was no one doing that. The last part was him screaming that word again. The memory of the Kyuubi attack dancing through his head. But Naruto didn't truely believe that the word meant fox. He didn't tell his sister that he thought it meant something worse... far worse.

Demon.

///////////////

Inoichi pulled away from the mind jump, falling to his knees, his stomach desperately trying to rebel against him.

"Inoichi." the Hokage asked alarmed, walking towards the man. "Are you you alright?"

Inoichi just simply looked at him and replied with a monotone voice. "He remembers the attack."

The Hokage looked slightly confused at the answer. "That's not that suprising. That's what put him here."

"No. Not this attack." he gestured to the boy. "The Kyuubi attack."

He heard a deep intake of breath. "Impossible." the Hokage gasped, not wanting to but leave such a terrible thing could be remembered at that early of an age.

"I didn't want to believe it either, but it was the attack." After forcing himself up, he continued. "I saw it."

Hiruzen's response was three words.

"Tell me everything."

And so he did. The attack. The argument that caused this whole debacle. The recent attack. The Genjutsu. The reason he was screaming that word. What the word really meant.

Even with the clarification on how deep the issues were, Hiruzen couldn't help but see the good in it.

"The seal isn't damaged. Only the memory was jarred lose."

"Yes." Inoichi replied. " This was actually a better way to get his remaining yin chakra free from the seal. The tightenings felt like they were still there. If we'd removed one and then I tried to pull some of his chakra back, like we planned to, it might have caused my mind or his to break. I wasn't expecting a memory to be the center the remaining portion of chakra. It felt like a limb's worth."

That was the frightening part. If the yin chakra had not been accidentally sealed away, the excess amount may have potentially caused development issues that would have been aggravated further with maturity. But that was more of a worst case scenario. It seemed almost as if something caused a series of increasingly unlikely events that actually benefited them in the long run. Neither man was going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Will there be a psychological or personality differences?" Was Hiruzen's only question.

Inoichi thought for a minute or two, before giving his best answer. "Very unlikely on the personality. One memory, no matter how traumatic, won't change a personality to something else. On the psychological part, we know what that event did to seasoned war veterans. I'm worried what it will do to a 6 year old boy who hasn't seen war. Hasn't seen death like we have."

Hiruzen got quiet at that, deep in thought. "You, me, and Rin are the only ones who he can trust with this." he said firmly. "We will need to be there for him."

Inoichi nodded before adding something else. "I think his thinking will be much clearer than it was before. He always had more maturity than the average child his age."

Hiruzen had noticed that. Some of the boy's behavior almost reminded him how Jiraiya had described Minato when he was that age.

"I got my own little genius, Sensei", He said gleefully. "And I think he's even better than Orochi was." Before doing that ridiculous little dance of his.Hiruzen knew that trauma could change a person. It had changed such a bright child that was Orochimaru into someone obsessed with stopping death. Hiruzen knew, even when his student tried to hide it, that he was trying to stop death so no one would feel like he had seen Tsunade feel.

Or himself.

He never thought he would stoop to such levels to defy death. Man's Last Night. The love that he had for his mother and father. The love that he had for his teammates. That beautiful, bright love. Was the same love that fortified him in evil.

'I can't let that happen to Naruto.The death of his parents and the sight of his friend's pain is what initially drove Orochimaru. Was there something else when he decided to sever ties with the village? His home? His friends? Perhaps. But he likely wouldn't find out.'

Hiruzen needed to be there to help Naruto. He couldn't let another Orochimaru happen. Not with the power of a bijuu. Not with a power he believed the boy inherited from his mother's line.

'I will be there for you, even if it kills me. I've lived a long life. Yours has just begun.'

His thoughts turned to Inoichi. He looked at the man, seeing his slight swaying.

"It took a great deal out of you, yes?" He asked, noticing the mans fatigue.

"The memory was intense," he admitted, "I can feel my pulse in my head."

"Get some sleep. You need to be at your best."

Nodding, Inoichi left to go home, wishing for an end to the night.

Hiruzen left a minute after, but before he left, he turned to have a look at the boy that was his grandson in all but blood.

"I'm sorry, Minato, Kushina." He whispered to himself, A tear rolling down his cheek, before exiting the room.

Unbeknownst to either man, as the Hokage's back was turned again to leave, a pair of sharp blue eyes opened, a look of deep thought in them.