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“Chiaki-chan, I'm sure you're wondering why I had you brought here, especially while you were meant to be in a lesson. I'm sorry to have to do this, seeing as you are only a child,but the details around your appearance are rather suspicious, and I need to take some precautions to ensure you are not a spy for Konoha's enemies.” The middle-aged man growled out in his gruff voice, his facial expression unreadable, but eyes holding an undertone of guilt.

This is bad I thought to myself. I didn't want to lie to this man, after all he was kind enough to accept me into his village, despite my mysterious circumstances, but I had no idea how to tell him my story without sounding like a raving lunatic. My mind drifted in its conflicted state. At this point I was seriously considering telling the Hokage the truth. Until, that is, the voice reappeared.

Don't you dare tell anyone it hissed at me, if you do, they'll find out about me, and all the shameful things that your father did to you. You don't want that, do you Chiaki-chan? It chuckled maliciously, using my false name mockingly, before my head erupted into flames. Not literally, obviously. I had never been set on fire before, but the agony that gripped my head couldn't have been much less painful than that. I had never felt this much pain before, my head and vision searing white-hot. Before I could process what was happening, or alert the Hokage (I was in so much pain I couldn't even groan), I had passed out, fading into comforting, painless darkness.

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

I awoke to a familiar sound of beeping, my eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight reflecting off the white hospital walls into my sensitive brown eyes. Wait a second. HOSPITAL?!?!

While I was caught up in trying to figure out how I got to my current location, a familiar - looking lady crept into the room, taking me by surprise.

“Hello Honey, how are you feeling?”

It might sound stupid, but I hadn't actually thought about that until this moment. Surprisingly, I felt fine, apart from a few pinpricks in my arms, but I chose to ignore them for fear of instigating another panic attack.

“Fine thanks, Miss. How long have I been here?”

“Just a couple of hours” she smiled softly. “The academy day hasn't even finished yet, so don't worry about panicking your young house-mate again!”

Ahhhhh. She was the nurse who treated me before.

“Anyway, if you're feeling better, we can let you check out now. Your vital signs have returned to normal and your heart rate has stabilised. But I'll need to take you back to Hokage-sama's office before you go home. Is that okay?”

I nodded my consent, before remembering the events of the afternoon. I must have passed out during the conversation with the Hokage, though I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was about.

After a short walk, during which the kind nurse tried – and failed – to instigate conversation, I made it back to the Hokage's office. Knocking firmly on the wooden doors, I let myself in, noticing that the nurse had already abandoned me. Looking down, I noticed that my hands were quivering in anticipation and nerves: despite the Hokage's kindness, this was probably going to go very, very wrong.

“Chiaki-chan, welcome back. Are you feeling better?” He asked, his voice laced with genuine concern.

“Y-yes t-thank y-you, Hokage-sama. I'm so-sorry for the i-inconvenience I m-must have caused you.” I replied, bowing slightly in apology. He merely waved his hand at me, as a gesture of acceptance.

“Now, back to the matter at hand. I need you to tell me how you ended up in the forest outside my village. I know there is more than you were letting on, I can see it in the way you hold yourself. I hope you will tell me by your own free will. I wouldn't want to have to use other methods on a child of your age.”

My body shivered with a sudden chill, as my mind comprehended the torture that I could be subjected to if I wasn't forthcoming. Suppressing a whimper (I was seriously scared now), I opened my mouth to talk. Our previous conversation before I passed out had come back to me and I had made up my mind: I would tell him the truth. Well, most of it anyway!

“U-uhm, i-it's di-difficult for me to t-talk about, b-but I'll t-try. “ I started, stumbling over my words already.

“I c-come from a c-country c-called England, w-which I believe to b-be in an e-entirely d-different world to Konoha. I w-was very, u-uhm, unhappy w-with my life, so I tried to k-kill myself.” At this, the Hokage sucked in a hissing breath, but I continued on, tears now streaming silently down my face, my throat constricting making it harder to talk.

“I th-thought I h-had b-been s-su-successful, but then I w-woke up in y-your f-forest. O-other th-than that I h-have no i-idea h-how I g-got here.” I wasn't sure if the Hokage believed me, but by now I didn't care. It felt good to have confided in someone, even if it made me sound like a raving lunatic. I was now openly sobbing, and the Hokage reached across his desk, gripping me in his strong arms and depositing me in his lap, holding me close to his body.

“I k-know you p-probably don't b-believe m-me, but i-it's true, I swear.”

The Hokage shushed me, holding me tighter.

“It's okay Chiaki-chan, I believe you, no matter how ridiculous your story sounds. However, I may still have to use some techniques to ensure you are telling the truth as evidence for the Council of Elders. They are less likely to believe your story and probably will think you are lying.” Sensing me tense on his lap, he rubbed my back gently with his hand.

“Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you.”

After our talk, the Hokage walked me back to Minato's house. We knocked on the door and waited patiently, until it flew open under Minato's strength.

“Chiaki-chan, where were you? You were gone for hours. I...I was worried about you.” Minato started out loud, voice getting quieter and quieter until the end of his sentence. As if realising what he had said, his face flushed bright red and he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“It's okay, Minato. She was with me.” The Hokage responded for me, with a look that said “don't-ask-any-questions”. Heeding the Kage's demand, Minato ushered me in. He invited the Hokage for dinner, but he declined, citing his massive pile of paperwork. Smiling, he waved at us before leaving back to his office.

Dinner was an awkward affair. Minato kept trying to pry the details of my afternoon “chat” with the Hokage, so in the end I just stopped talking all together, ignoring his voice. I shovelled the food (Ramen, obviously!) down as fast as possible before rushing off to bed. I couldn't stand to stay in the room with Minato any longer.

That night, I was plagued again by horrifying dreams of my past. I'll spare you the details, but it involved a knife, a broken alcohol bottle and a hell of a lot of blood. Oh, the joys of parents. Note the sarcasm.

At some point during my carnival of horrors, I must've screamed as I awoke to Minato's usually joyful face looming over me, shaking my shoulder. I brushed off his concern with mild disinterest, secretly thanking him for waking me up before my dreams took an even darker turn.

He was my saviour.

What? Where the hell did that come from?

Passing off the strange thought as exhaustion, I passed out back into sleep. Thankfully this time I was greeted by a peaceful darkness, rather than scenes taken from my own personal horror film.