Looping, oh the fun! (Naruto)

Ch5 Ibiki's Silence

Instead of taking Naruto to his office, Sarutobi went straight to the T&I Department. He was smiling as he tuned out Naruto's blabbering of his exam. Inside, however, he was in turmoil. The result of yesterday's interrogation was startling.

Flashback

"What do you mean it never happened?!" Sarutobi bellowed, standing in front of Inoichi, Ibiki, and an unconscious Mizuki tied to a chair.

"I've looked into his mind, and read his memories. What Uzumaki Naruto had claimed...had never happened. Mizuki has no memory of ever telling Naruto to steal the Forbidden Scroll." Inoichi said.

"Are you saying that this man is innocent?"

"No. Though he has no connection to the Scroll incident, I found out that he's actually a spy for Orochimaru. In his memories, it's shown that he'd been secretly sending information to Orochimaru, especially information about the jinchuriki." Inoichi explained. "Thankfully, by reading his memories, I'd learned the locations of where he'd seek out of Konoha and of one of Orochimaru's hideout."

Sarutobi was silent, arguing with himself. One half of him wanted to be suspicious of Naruto, while the other half of him wanted to continue believing in Naruto. After all, he saw Naruto as his grandson. He'd seen Naruto grow up, and he knew the type of person Naruto was. Naruto would never steal the scroll and learn its jutsu, then lie and frame another person. Right?

Flashback Ends

Sarutobi stole a glance at the boy chattering next to him. The more he observed Naruto, the harder he could convince himself to be suspicious of Naruto. It just seemed so impossible, so out of the blues. Besides, the raw emotions Naruto had shown the other day couldn't be fake. Sarutobi wasn't the Hokage for nothing. He'd lived through wars, interrogated and tortured prisoners; he may not be as good as Ibiki, but he could tell if a person was lying or not. And when Naruto broke down, Sarutobi knew it wasn't an act. It couldn't be.

"Jiji, where are we going?" Naruto's voice broke him out of his reverie.

"We will be carrying our discussion elsewhere," Sarutobi answered calmly. "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Oh," Naruto uttered, and gone back to chattering.

Soon they arrived. The location of the T&I Department was hidden under many seals and genjutsu. Sarutobi quickly disabled them and led Naruto inside. After walking through a long, narrow, and dark corridor, they arrived in front of Mizuki's interrogation room.

"Hokage-sama." Inoichi and Ibiki greeted when they saw Sarutobi walking in with Naruto in tow. Mizuki was still tied onto the chair, unconscious.

"Jiji? Where are we? Why is Mizuki-sensei tied up?" Naruto said in confusion.

"Naruto." Sarutobi finally made his choice. "Drop the act. You're not Naruto aren't you?" He targeted Naruto with a sharp glare and a little killer intent.

"What do you mean, jiji?" Naruto said with an awkward smile. "Of course I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto! Have you finally gone senile that you can't recognize me anymore?"

Sarutobi observed Naruto with analyzing eyes. He's behaving as if he really is Naruto. There's not one sign of nervousness and anxiety of being found out. Not once did his eyes widen. Could I be wrong?

"Yesterday, we had performed a jutsu on Mizuki that can look into a person's memories. And we found out that Mizuki had never asked you to steal the scroll. Everything you'd claimed had never happened according to Mizuki's memories." Sarutobi decided a confrontation would be the best. Talking in circles won't lead him anywhere.