The Harsh Truth

Chapter 5

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, groaning slightly as he could feel the dull pain on the back of his head, and, mostly, the gut wrenching feeling that something horrible was about to happen.

He didn't know what he could have done wrong, nor if it was him or Itachi, but when Fugaku had called his son's name, well: he had given the boy a push towards him. Maybe, in hindsight, he should have realized the Anbu could have taken that as an offensive action. Still, he never liked the Anbus. Always silent around him, except Kakashi, who had to great lengths to be assigned as his sole Anbu protector, especially after some very nasty attempts at his life from other shinobis…one had even required him to change his bed…explosive tags didn't leave much behind.

He took some time, to let the room get some focus, as he could feel his breathing slowly calm down, but the pain was still there, lingering, in the back of his head. His eyes darted to some strange brown fuzz next to him that seemed to be telling him something, something he didn't quite catch. The words turned to a sort of screeching concerto in his ears, as his head flared from the pain, just for a brief moment, before, finally, everything came back to normality.

"Naruto…Naruto? Are you alright?" the ex-Hokage asked him, a slight worry in his voice, as he seemed to be sitting on a wooden chair, one that had been placed right next to where he was laying.

Taking a better look around, he noticed he hadn't actually lost his vision: the walls were pitch black, but light still seemed to come in from the flicker of torches, positioned outside the cell of the jail he had to be currently in.

"Hiruzen-san," Naruto muttered, keeping the bile from reaching his mouth, the foul taste already at the back of his throat, was a hit to the head the cause of such twirling pains and events? Probably he should have read something on Anbu strikes…but he didn't know if there actually *was* a book about it…was there? "I feel dizzy," he muttered, answering the question.

"Now, Naruto-kun…you can call me Jiji as always," the once third Hokage spoke with a small smile, "And I'm going to have you checked, once we get out of here," as he finished speaking, the blond boy simply nodded, saying nothing more.

Hiruzen, at that, sported a frown: was the boy not going to ask about this treatment? Was he actually hiding something about Orochimaru? Did he actually know the reason he had been taken in such a manner?

The ex-Hokage simply shook his head, there was no way that was possible, and it was useless to worry about it, when he could directly ask the blond boy.

"You aren't scared, Naruto-kun?"

"No…It wouldn't matter, would it?" the boy replied, his blue eyes looking down, at the stone floor of the cell.

"Well…do you know why you've been taken under custody?" at that question, the boy meekly nodded.

"Oh? You do? What is it, if you know?" if the boy had been hiding information on Orochimaru's experiments, as much as it pained him, it would make everything more difficult. Had he still been Hokage, he might have been able to let the boy's actions go unnoticed, especially since he could always say that he wasn't actually obeying orders from that traitor, but actually being used by the snake sannin.

"It's because I spoke with it, right?" Naruto whispered, his eyes turning sad, "But it was sleeping! And the choker was hurting him! I mean…who'd do that to such a poor creature!"

"Repeat that, please," Hiruzen muttered, as his mouth slowly opened in a small perfect circle.

"I…I spoke with the Kyuubi, right? That's why I'm being…" as Naruto squirmed, getting to sit up in the cell's bed, he couldn't help but pale, when the look of utter shock of the third Hokage slowly became an angered stare…but not at him, no.