THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
INTERROGATION ROOM,
BEHIND THE OBSERVATION
MIRROR.....
Inoichi Yamanaka was currently standing on the other side of the room behind the one-way mirror as Naruto Uzumaki was being questioned by Ibiki. Inoichi is the commanding officer of the ANBU Force of Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation Department. As such he is Ibiki's direct superior but soon he was going to step down to spend more time at home with his beloved daughter Ino and help his wife in maintaining the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Ibiki was going to succeed him as the new Commander of the Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation Department in the near future.
That's why Ibiki was being given the forefront on most of the recent investigations and interrogations to get him attuned to the position before his eventual promotion.
Once Ibiki was finished with the questioning, Inoichi would perform a psych evaluation on Naruto in order to determine his current state of mind and if he could be capable of committing the the two murders he was suspected to perform, the old Uchiha Police man Satsune Uchiha and the gate gaurd Sugerei Uchiha and helping Itachi Uchiha in performing the atrocity known as the Uchiha Massacre which had taken place the previous night.
He watched the questioning through the one-way mirror in order to gain as much information as he could about the boy before he starts the evaluation. He was also a little surprised at the boy's outburst and felt a little guilty because he too has once warned his daughter to avoid the Jinchūriki but he couldn't help it, Ino is his precious daughter. And besides he didn't warned her to stay away from the Jinchūriki out of hatred but due to concern, he just wanted to protect his little princess from what the little Jinchuriki contained which was the reasons why he did what he did, he found no shame in admitting it even though he felt a little guilty.
The metal door to the questioning room opened and Ibiki stepped out. Both men stood by the observation window and looked at the blonde boy within it who was currently staring at the mirror and sobbing. It was Inoichi who broke the silence, "What do you think?"
"He answered all my questions truthfully and left nothing out from what I can tell. I don't think he is repressing anything. He didn't even knew who committed the massacre. So it's out of question that he was Itachi's accomplice in the crime. And neither did he murder the gate gaurd. He simply slipped on his blood. He also says that he didn't murder the Uchiha policeman. And as far as I am concerned, he had no motive behind them neither any personal vendetta against them." replied Ibiki.
"What about the motive behind his visit to the Uchiha compound, all those evidences found in his apartment like the files describing the Uchiha movements, their patterns, etc; files on Sharingan and it's weaknesses; weapons and foremost his confession of the crime to murder Satsune Uchiha infront of those fifty three civilians and thirteen shinobi? On top of that there were five eyewitnesses, although four of them were drunk but they had seen him skewering the weapon of murder into the victim, what about that?" asked Inoichi in one breath.
"He visited the compound to prank them, that's why he kept watch over the clan and learned their patterns. He doesn't know anything about those other weapons at his apartment and most surprisingly, he doesn't even have a single clue about the Sharingan, let alone it's weaknesses. He had admitted the murder of Satsune Uchiha infront of the mob just to scare them away. The eyewitness saw him at the worst possible moment when he was trying to help Satsune. They saw him in bloodied clothes and in the heat of the moment they assumed he skewered Satsune and started screaming. All in all, I think he is an innocent who was present at the wrong place in the wrong time." answered Ibiki and waited for a few moments and continued, "And if that squabble with the gate gaurd and the policeman one week ago can be considered the motive behind the murders then following the same logic, the boy has enough motive to kill off most of the villagers." Ibiki said.
"You're right! And the motive is mediocre at best. There was no real reason for him to kill Satsune-san and Sugerei-san out of all the people who have wronged him." responded Inoichi and continued, "Did you manage to find out the whereabouts of the weapons we found in his apartment or the store that sold them?"
"Yes! A store owner has reported weapons theft today and he had given statements that the theif was fully masked but she has somehow managed to notice the blue eyes of the thief and our suspect too has blue eyes." replied Ibiki.
{{{A/N: Danzo's men used these store's stolen weapon and planted them in Naruto's house and the blue eyes' thing well the store owner came up with it to frame the demon aka our hero, out of hatred.}}}
"What about scents and fingerprints!? Did the tracking team find anything on the weapons, files or the crime scene?" asked Inoichi.
"We did find the scent of Uzumaki on the files and weapons but at the same time they were devoid of any fingerprints so we have assumed two scenarios: either the suspect has somehow managed to remove all fingerprints yet failed to get rid his scent or somebody is framing him. But the crime scenes tells a different story since it has both his scent all over the area as well as fingerprints on the weapon of crime and on the body of Satsune-san. And there is one more thing to note: the body of the gate gaurd Sugerei Uchiha lacks any sort of fingerprints but there is some of our suspects' scent present there." replied Shinobu Mibu, one of the lesser-ranked investigators.
"Based on the boys proclamation there must be some supplies for pranks near the compound. Did you find any of his supplies of pranks near the Uchiha compound?" inquired Inoichi.
"No! We didn't find any sort of supplies that could be used for pranks by our suspect anywhere within one kilometre radius of the Uchiha Compound." replied Mozuku, one of the other lesser-ranked investigators.
{{{A/N: Mozuku and Shinobu Mibu are cannon characters and members of T&I Department.}}}
"Even if we somehow assume that the suspect is innocent but there is nothing to prove it. There are no other fingerprints present at the crime scenes other than his, with the exception of Itachi and his clanmates. Furthermore, Itachi has fled the village and his clanmates are dead, Sasuke Uchiha is in trauma. The same goes for the case of the files or the weapons. No scent other than his and Uchiha Clan members were found on the crime scenes neither any supplies for the pranks. All in all, the kid is screwed." finished Shinobu Mibu.
Inoichi glared at his subordinate who whimpered under his stare and said, "Sorry! Boss!"
"Even then, if we still consider someone is trying to frame him then we have to assume that the perpetrator used gloves to avoid fingerprints. As for the scent, it seems it was somehow covered up or masked and the perpetrator probably planted as well as removed the evidences to their liking during the chaos of the aftermath of the 'Uchiha Massacre'. The perpetrator could be anybody, almost the entire village hates him." said Ibiki in a neutral tone.
"We have asked for assistance from Tsume Inuzuka, the Inuzuka Clan Head regarding the scent but even she couldn't find anything from either places: the boy's apartment or the crime scenes. There is almost no scent, fingerprints or any little evidence in this case to prove the boy's innocence." finished Mozuku in a defeated tone.
"I still doubt that the boy can be even remotely capable of what the evidence suggests. He is only eight years old and has very little ninja training yet somehow he managed to kill two veteran shinobis, a Jōnin Police Man and a Chūnin gate gaurd no less. Lord Third has checked the seal when Naruto-san was unconscious and it seems fine but he isn't a seal master and that seal is supposed to be one of the most complex known Seal in the village and perhaps in all of the Elemental Nations. The barrier sensing team also didn't felt any of the Nine-Tails' chakra in the past two weeks nor the ANBU assigned to occasionally keep watch over him neither did anyone in the entire village. It just doesn't add up." said Inoichi trying to come up with an explanation.
"True but this isn't just any boy we are talking about. The boy contains the Nine-Tails and if it is influencing him which could be the case and only explanation I can come up with regarding the boy being able to murder two Veteran Shinobi, not to mention the Nine-Tails is known for hatred and considering that Madara Uchiha, an Uchiha Clan member was responsible for it's capture, there's a possibility that the bijū somehow possessed the boy when he got near the Uchiha Compound. The night of the Uchiha massacre was full moon and I have heard that the Jinchūriki of Sunagakure was occasionally get possessed by his bijū during the full moon. So it's possible that the Nine-Tails somehow possessed him when he saw the Sharingan and made him murder Satsune-san and Suigare-san without his knowledge and the boy is just unaware of his actions" said the one of the other investigators(aka Danzō's plant).
{{{{{A/N:He said this to get the vote of Yamanaka clan head and by proxy the Akimichi clan's and Nara clan's vote too in Danzō's favour. Since Inoichi is very good with knowledge regarding the mind and if he says something like that to them then the other two clan heads will be affected and may even vote in Danzō's favour.}}}}}}
The others narrowed their eyes on him and he squirmed under their gazes and muttered, "The Nine-Tails and the Uchiha clan has a very bad history, isn't it? So I think it became enraged when it saw the Sharingan and then possessed our victim and made him murder those unfortunate ones."
{{{{A/N: They knew that Sunagakure has an insane Jinchūriki but they didn't knew it's exact identity, afterall they are part of information gathering unit. So they knew some classified info too.}}}}}}}
"How interesting! That's a very good theory, it might explain the case! Keep up the good work Hasaō Tanimura and someday you might succeed Ibiki as the next commander. Though its unfortunate but my clan can't use any kind of 'Mindwalking' techniques on the boy due to his condition, not to mention, it's too dangerous. I don't think anyone has ever even entered the mind of a Jinchūriki before and I don't want any of my clanmates to even try it." Inoichi said solemnly.
"In any case it doesn't really matter whether he is innocent or not. The evidence from the investigation is overwhelmingly against him. As soon as word gets out about this, there is gonna be a shit-storm in the village. The boy is not a ninja just an academy student which technically makes him a civilian and therefore will be tried under Civilian Court. So in the end after analysing all of the proofs, I think he will be found guilty and will be punished even if he is innocent. There is nothing we can do about it" said Ibiki and resumed, "Excuse me, Inoichi! I have to go present my findings to the Hokage." said Ibiki.
"Good luck! Ibiki-san!" Inoichi replied solemnly since despite the tall man's lack of showing any emotions, he could tell that the situation has irked Ibiki. But he could understand afterall Ibiki has a little brother almost the same age as Naruto.
HOKAGE TOWER,
HOKAGE'S CHAMBER....
The Hokage sighed and opened the top drawer of his desk and took out his pipe. He had a feeling that his stress level was about to go up again and he was going to need another smoke. Despite being noted as 'The Professor' and the 'God of Shinobi' in the Shinobi World, the Sandaime was dreading this visit. He had been woken up early this morning by his ANBU with the information that the entire village has somehow find out about Naruto's situation and were in outrage over the incident. They had also informed him about the occasional riots and protest of civilians who wanted vengeance upon the Nine-Tails in order to 'serve justice' and 'finish what the Fourth Hokage has started'.
Many people were talking as if they knew such a day would come all along and it was just a matter of time before the demon finally shows it's true colours. They are out for his blood. It had only been fifteen hours since the massacre and civilians had already declared Naruto guilty and responsible for the death of the village's greatest clan.
They had already taken it upon themselves to punish the demon so they had set fire to Naruto's apartment and they didn't even bother to disperse themselves after committing the act to escape from punishment and arrest.
On top of that some bloody idiot has spread a rumor that 'the demon' was being held in the Hokage Tower. Not long after that, the ANBU assigned to guard the tower were fighting off a riot that had started just outside the tower with some civilians and even some soon to be former shinobis alike trying to break into the tower in order to publicly execute Naruto and bring justice to the fallen Uchiha's and the martyr of the Nine-Tails' attack.
It took several hours for the ANBU to subdue the mob and the situation was so bad that they had to call in the Jōnins and some of the off-duty shinobi to get the situation back under control.
The hospital was flooded with injured civilians and Shinobi from the scuffle. And because they could not find Naruto to punish him, tensions in the village were all time high and the other villages were eyeing Konohagakure, since with the Uchiha Clan gone and the civil unrest at it's doorstep, it had made Konohagakure look vulnerable.
The Third Hokage was doing everything in his power to keep Konohagakure safe from the outside threats and he is on the verge of losing himself in rage trying to deal with the villagers. Nearly every influential civilian in the village, including every member on the Civilian Council were demanding an audience with him in order to discuss the situation and what he will be going to do about it.
Then there was the Shinobi Council and his teammates, the so called Go-Ikenban had demanded an emergency meeting with him but he has declined it as it isn't healthy to conduct one with the chaos currently happening right outside his window.
It wasn't until the ANBU had taken the riot at the Hokage Tower under control that things even begun to settle down. Even the Fire Daimyō has asked for a report on the situation, the situation was that bad.
He, the Hokage was forced to deploy almost all of the available shinobis in the village to get back his control over the citizens as well as soon to be former Shinobi who had joined in with the mobs. He had to divert most of the shinobis from missions and countrywide patrol duty to stop the rioting in the streets.
Hiruzen had never been so thankful that the location of ANBU headquarters was known only to a small group of trustworthy people. Only the ANBU, himself and his advisers, the clan heads, as well as the top ranking jōnin in the village knew of the location. In addition to that, any offenders that did find out about it would have to storm up the Hokage monument to get to it and even then they would need more than just a mob to break into the base. Needless to say, the safest place for Naruto in the entire Konohagakure was inside his holding cell at the moment.
It wasn't until after the Hokage secured the village from the villagers itself that he finally sat down in his chair inside the Hokage Chamber and relaxed, he felt like shit. He has given his secretary the rest of the day off and ordered his guards at the tower to use excessive force if necessary to keep anyone from trying to barge in and only allow Ibiki to enter his office.
The riots are still taking place all over the village albeit in a subdued manner.
The Third Hokage was beginning to fear that at this rate, he may have a civil war waiting to take place within his village. If it happened, it would be disastrous for Konohagakure since the village has just lost one of it's founding clan and arguably it's strongest clan. He also has fear regarding Naruto's situation since it might degarde even further if the investigation doesn't find anything useful to help Naruto prove his innocence as the case falls under civilian jurisdiction where he has little control and knowing them, they might call for his public execution.
The Sandaime had inspected the seal after Kakashi had brought Naruto directly to him and found nothing wrong. He had already sent a message for Jiraiya but he had no idea when his travelling student would get the message and how soon he would arrive. Minato's seal should be perfect. The Nine-Tails should not be able to influence or possess the boy, yet he was currently embroiled in a situation that would suggest otherwise.
The Third Hokage was awakened from his musing when he heard a voice.
"Knock! Knock!"
"Enter!" responded the Third Hokage.
Ibiki entered the office and said, "Lord Hokage! I have finished questioning Uzumaki-san and have put together my findings."
He motioned for Ibiki to sit and said, "Please present your findings Ibiki-san!"
Ibiki nodded and sat on the chair, he then begin, "After questioning the susp... I mean Uzumaki-san, it was obvious that from his perspective he did not commit any crimes. The files contained the detailed reports." Ibiki finished and handed over the documents/files.
The Sandaime exhaled a plume of smoke as he took the files and studied it for the next twenty minutes. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to fight off a building headache with each passing moment. After sometime he asked Ibiki "What are your thoughts on the case Ibiki?"
"Personally I doubt the validity of the allegations regarding the boy, or that he was somehow manipulated or possessed by the Nine-Tails. There are some inconsistencies such as a lack of Nine-Tails' chakra and a eight year-old killing two veterans without getting a scratch on him. Nine-Tails' empowered or not, I don't think he could be capable of everything that he is being accused of." Ibiki gave his opinion.
The Third Hokage nodded his head at the logic behind the Ibiki's argument. There were many discrepancies in the case. Unfortunately none of these findings would get the case thrown out of the court or prove Naruto's innocence.
"Inoichi is currently giving Uzumaki-san a psych evaluation but I have a feeling that it won't tell us anything more about the case. I'll keep you informed. The blood found on Uzumaki-san was a match to the two victims, namely Satsune Uchiha and Sugerei Uchiha. There is also the matter of eyewitness's account. I have interviewed them and Inoichi-san did a 'mindwalk' to confirm that they were telling the truth. They did saw what they thought was Uzumaki Naruto skewering Satsune and killing him at the scene of the crime. The sword found in his hands by ANBU Dog has the blood of twelve Uchiha victims as well as only the boy's fingerprints. We are currently double checking all the evidences." Ibiki said before he got up from his chair and prepared to leave.
"Ibiki-san, what do you think his chances are in the trial?" The Sandaime already had an idea of Naruto's chances but he still asked for a second opinion.
"Honestly, Lord Hokage! I don't think its possible for him to get a non-guilty verdict in any court, even with the help of the best lawyer in Fire Country." replied Ibiki.
"That's what I thought as well." the Sandaime replied with a heavy sigh. Before Ibiki left the Sandaime had one last thought, "Has Naruto been notified on what charges he is being held for?"
"No, he has not. I thought it would be best to wait until the investigation is over before even thinking about telling him. I am not too sure that informing him or having him sit through a trial with the evidence being displayed will be healthy for a eight-year old, especially if his mental stability is in question. Also he does not know that he holds the Nine-Tails and there is still a law against telling him. What do you want to do Hokage-sama?" asked Ibiki.
"Perhaps, you are correct! He should not be present at the trial. I'll have to consult Inoichi after the psych evaluation on what is the best course of action for informing Naruto of the Nine-Tails and the charges against him. Thank you Ibiki!" said the Hokage with sadness. Ibiki nodded and left.
The Third Hokage turned towards the wall containing the pictures of the past Hokages and specifically gazed at the one containing the picture of the Fourth Hokage and cursed loudly at the entire situation. There was no good outcome in this situation and in any manner that he looked at the situation, he had failed the boy, Minato and Kushina. "I am sorry Minato! Kushina! I can't do anything. I can't protect him. I have failed you." the Third Hokage thought sadly and for the first time in years openly cried, "Curse you! Whoever planted the false evidences and removed the real evidences. Curse you to hell!"
"I can't even image what the verdict would be and the consequences the village will face for charging a young child with murder. Hopefully Jiraiya will get here to examine the seal before the Civilian Council forces a trial date to be scheduled. I don't know how long I can hold off the inevitable storm." he admitted and turned away from the pictures as he couldn't look at the blond haired man anymore. He was preparing himself to attend the emergency council meeting tonight to discuss the situation of the village and to decide Naruto's judgement.