Third person pov

Everything was black. Inoichi had never seen a mind so dark before. He couldn't tell up from down, or left from right. There was no sense of... well, anything in here. No direction, no sound. Just a constant buzz that made Inoichi's mind feel heavy and dazed. It was almost as though a thick fog had settled over his mind, struggling to deter him from his mission. The Yamanaka held strong, beginning to walk straight ahead in hopes of finding something that wasn't engulfed by inky blackness.

The darkness teemed, sometimes looking almost as though it were moving. Inoichi pushed onward, his eyes darting every which way as he tried to spot something- anything- to work towards. Normally a person's mind was made up of pathways. Some even had signs that pointed you towards different memories. This was just a shadowy mass of chaos.

Something shimmered in the corner of his eye, and he flipped around. 

Naruto was sitting there on his knees in front of someone. He couldn't see the other person's face. Naruto was blocking the way. They sat there in the middle of the gloom. Faint sobs echoed around Inoichi as he took a hesitant step towards the blonde. He was in the same state he was when they got him in- his hair ashy with soot, and clothing ripped and bloody.

"Sensei, wake up." Naruto's voice was small, and nothing compared to the cheerful one he'd used when they entered the interrogation room. A wave of sadness hit Inoichi like a tidal wave, and he almost stumbled back from the intense emotion. He shivered, his face paling. The grief was cold against his skin, eating away at his control over the jutsu. He shook his head a little, urging himself forward towards total control. He couldn't let go or let Naruto's emotions overtake him. It would break the jutsu.

"Sensei, please." Naruto's voice cracked pitifully. He sounded like a kid. "Sensei, you have to wake up!" He leaned forward, taking the evidently-dead person into his arms. The poor boy sounded so forlorn, and so desperate. Inoichi frowned.

"Naruto, it's just a memory." A booming voice bounced around him, coming from all sides. Inoichi stumbled back in surprise, head whipping left, and then right. Two, crimson eyes stared down at Naruto with an unrivaled amount of sorrow in them. Whatever that creature was, it looked almost in pain as it stared down at the blonde. "You're okay. You're safe."

"Sensei." Naruto weeped, body trembling harshly. 

"Wh-What are you?" Inoichi made the mistake of whispering. The eyes, the pupils animalistic slits, turned to him in a second, as though they hadn't noticed him before. Inoichi put a hand over his mouth, cursing himself for blowing his cover. He'd been detected. Passionate rage flared in the red eyes, and it was all directed towards him. Killer intent unlike any he'd ever felt filled the space around him, threatening to cripple him.

"GET OUT!" The voice bellowed in a ballistic fashion, sending a jolt through the Yamanaka. "GET THE HELL OUT!"

Inoichi stumbled backwards, falling into the blackness. The red eyes watched him go, snarling angrily as the Yamanaka was engulfed. A large paw reached out for Naruto, the orange fur spiked with rage. The young blonde wailed, reaching for the memory of his dead sensei as the beast dragged him away from the body, his blue eyes holding a despair no man or woman should ever have to feel, let alone a kid like Naruto.

The Third Hokage jumped slightly as Inoichi's eyes popped open, and the blonde gasped for air, his teal eyes wide. Sweat dripped down his brow, and his whole body shook from the threat he'd faced in Naruto's mind. His face was paler than usual as well, the color having drained from it the moment those two red eyes landed on him. But his reaction was nothing compared to the one Naruto had.

The boy's eyes snapped open, and the sheer horror reflecting in them startled everyone watching. "Sensei?!" He stood up suddenly, knocking his chair back. Minato readied a kunai, inching towards the door as the Third Hokage stood up. The elder man kept a hand on Inoichi's shoulder as Naruto looked around for his sensei's body. The Third had never seen someone Naruto's age look so utterly distressed before.

"No!" The blue-eyed boy knotted his hands in his air when he realized the body was nowhere to be seen, choking out a sob as tears spilled down his cheeks. He clenched his teeth, his brow furrowing harshly, and his muscles bunching. They all watched him slowly sink to his knees, staring off at something nobody could see with an intense fear and hopelessness, as though he thought the world itself was ending.

"Naruto, it was just a memory. Kakashi is gone, okay? You can save him, but the Kakashi you know risked his life to save you." Kurama's voice was uncharacteristically soft as Naruto stared at the floor, his breathing labored, and his heart thumping with wildly in his chest. He was panicking, and Kurama was afraid of what the boy would say if he didn't stop him. "It's alright, but you need to calm down before you do or say something you regret."

"Th-There's something in there." Inoichi's voice shook skittishly. "He's got s-something sealed in there. He's-"

Minato threw the door open at that, entering uninvited. Naruto took one look at him and started to cry harder, and Kurama groaned loudly, throwing his head back. He was the mighty nine-tailed fox! The demon, made of pure hatred! Not a- a damned therapist! He understood human emotion about as well as an infant understood the concepts of quantum physics. As in he didn't. Who the hell did the Gods think he was? Doctor Phil?

"Jinchuuriki?" Minato asked sharply, eyes never leaving the grieving Naruto.

"I don't know, but there's something in there." The Third readied a kunai, but Naruto didn't seem hostile. Upset, yes, but ready to attack? The boy looked ready to break if nothing else, struggling to regain himself as the memory Inoichi had unintentionally brought to the surface flashed before his very eyes.

"I-I don't think he's a threat, Hokage-sama." Inoichi wiped his forehead, only succeeding in smearing the heavy sheen of sweat. He was still undeniably shaken up. "It didn't attack- i-it just... it wanted me out, seemingly because I was upsetting Naruto." Inoichi paused again, taking a few deep breaths. "And Naruto is his name."

Minato lowered his kunai slightly, but not his guard. The Hokage let out a heavy sigh. Naruto could be a threat; a spy from another country, sent here to destroy the leaf with whatever creature or demon he had sealed inside of him. Yet, if he wasn't, he could be a valuable asset. They already had the power of the Nine Tails on their side. Having another demon, tailed beast or not, would most definitely give them the upper hand in the war.

Minato seemed to have the same idea. "Naruto?" He asked the teen. "It's okay, Naruto. We aren't going to hurt you."

Naruto turned to look at him. Minato flinched at the haunted look. The anguish didn't leave the younger blonde's face as he shakily stood up. "Sorry." He whispered, lowering his head. "Minato-san, Inoichi-san. Hokage-sama." His voice lacked the excited and animated vigor it had before. Minato felt his heart break for the poor boy. Very few people had ever exhibited such emotions that Minato had seen. All of them were war veterans. Not... Not nineteen year old boys.

"It's okay, Naruto." The Hokage said softly.

"M-My sensei was from Konoha." Naruto said suddenly, and they could feel the truth in his words. He looked up again, forcing a smile. "I don't mean you any harm. I-I understand if I can't-" He stopped himself, lowering his head again, and clenching his fists. 

"You have a demon inside of you." Minato noted softly. Naruto's gaze snapped to him, but this time, it was venomous.

"His name is Kurama." He insisted, the hostility dropping just as suddenly as it'd come. He wiped his face. "He saved my life. He's not- he would never... He would never hurt me, or your village. We're friends." Naruto shook his head. "God, I'm so pathetic. One memory, and I lose it!" He looked annoyed now. Minato realized then that the teen wasn't a good liar. His face was too much of a window into what he really felt. There's no way he was a spy.

"It's okay, Naruto. I'm sorry my entering your mind brought up such a memory." Inoichi's voice had leveled out again; though, he still looked spooked.

"Well, Naruto, I believe you." The Hokage smiled brightly in an attempt to lift the mood. The young man blinked at him curiously. "I don't think you mean to harm this village, and I can tell Minato and Inoichi here feel the same. So why don't you take a seat, and we'll talk about putting you on a team."

Naruto's entire face lit up, and Minato couldn't help but grin back at the younger blonde as he hurriedly set his chair back up, his excitement overtaking whatever petrifying memory he'd been reliving in a mere second.