Writing on the Wall

Down the Hole

"Did you hear, Chika-sama? A woman managed it. The woman named Endo Minori."

"Ah yes, I remember her. She had so much potential, I can't say I'm surprised... I suppose I can thank Lady for taking her in after her downfall. But I'm afraid we're too late. The war hawk got to the child first. But don't lose faith; after all, chances are the child's father will be careless once more."

"Yes, I'll prioritise him in the notices across all nations..."

"Good."

Darkness, followed by the slow filtering of dim light as your eyes struggled to open.

Next came the panic, caused by the sudden realisation that your body was immobile, that your groggy mind functioned enough to inform you of the inevitable.

Your limbs restrained, ankles and wrists straining against rough material, heedless of the skin being rubbed off leaving them raw and painful.

Cold.

Your old thin clothes were doing nothing to stave off the natural frigidity of the bland room, and your small thin, verging on skinny, body helped you none.

Terrified.

You took in your surroundings breathlessly, chest heaving.

A sparse grey room, cube-shaped with nothing visible but a mirror reflecting your sorry state. There you sat, in a metal chair just as dull as the rest of the room, the only discrepancy being the malicious nature of the rope cuffing you to the armrests and chair-legs.

Your eyes, a grey so dark they would better be referred to as black, displayed the true nature of your emotions for all to see.

The mirror spanned the width of the whole wall opposite you, and reflected on the middle of the wall behind you was a single wooden door.

That was how I woke on that fateful day.

I'd watched enough detective movies to know anyone could be watching me from the other side of the obscure window.

Hopelessness washed through me. I had a feeling I knew where I was

As time went on and no one appeared, I began to calm down enough to think things through.

As far as my theories went, I had been taken in by Danzo's minions because I had gotten slightly too close to Naruto. Though why they cared about who Naruto interacted with, I wasn't sure, but I could take a guess:

Because they didn't want someone to control the kyuubi, emotionally or physically, or they didn't want him killed and the 'weapon' lost.

That led to Naruto having only verified friends, like academy teachers and old Konoha-born civilians. It didn't include random kids that appeared out of nowhere that attempted to befriend him, civilian or no. I probably had no record on file either, no birth certificate, no identity.

I could only hope no mind reading techniques would be involved, otherwise my past life would be revealed. I paled further as I realised how stupid I had been.

Not that your average person would jump to the conclusion that Naruto was being watched.

Well, too late now, I thought, dryly.

If I hadn't been tied to the chair, I would have jumped a foot in the air when the door behind me slammed open. The small amount of calm I had managed to retain shattered instantly as I heard footsteps and the suspicious sound of a cane hitting the ground approached me. I didn't dare look in the mirror, my eyes squeezing shut, hoping that not seeing would somehow make it not real.