Thrown into the Dark

In the Sunshine

Soramaru's hands were tied again, but he didn't really mind. Naruto was escorting him to the place of his second interrogation. It was a bright, sunny day, and the sun filled him with a new energy. His leg grew stronger quickly, and he was able to walk normally again.

The idea of someone sifting through his memories scared him a little, but he had told the truth, so he was mostly calm about doing this. When they finally got to the building, Naruto handed a man the papers that Sakura had written out and left. Soramaru was led into a gray, windowless room. He had to kneel down into a strange dome thing that closed around him, leaving only his head outside of it.

A man with a blond ponytail put a hand on Soramaru's head. He could feel the man enter his mind and pull out memories, mainly the ones from the lab. When it was finally over, Soramaru was released. "So, looks like you were telling the truth. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village." Naruto said upon returning.

Laying around wasn't an activity that Soramaru particularly enjoyed participating in, but after being locked up in a lab for who knows how long, he let himself relax. Soramaru was laying in the grass, his arms spread wide, his eyes blissfully closed. Just lying down, bathed in sunshine. Naruto had let him do what he wanted, and sat still against a tree for as long as he could. He lasted ten minutes. Naruto's shadow was cast over Soramaru. Naruto nudged him gently in the hip with his foot. "You having fun there?" He asked, he had a slight teasing note to his voice, but not enough to get to Soramaru. "Yes!" He responded. "Where I'm from, I haven't seen the sun in ten years." Naruto frowned, a world like that seemed beyond depressing.

"What's it like, where you're from?" He asked. Soramaru sat up, his abdominal muscles still ached. "Is this more interrogation?" He asked, nervously. Naruto shook his head and plopped down next to him. "I'm just wondering, did you live underground or something?" Soramaru couldn't help but smile a little. "Not underground," He said, "Just under clouds."

Soramaru told Naruto about where he was from, his home, the family shrine, the local town, the imposing prison in the middle of the lake. He mentioned his brothers, but didn't feel completely up to talking about them yet. "It sounds really nice!" Naruto said when Soramaru was done talking. He was right, and homesickness hit Soramaru at full force.

He described the ferry that he and Chuutarou used to push to get criminals to Gokumonjo, it had never been a cheery job, but suddenly, he missed it. Tenka had been alive then, he would have done anything to his old way of life back. He may have taken on the title of head of the family line, and he may have been ready for it, but he wanted Tenka to take it back.

The day was over just as fast as it had began.Soramaru learned a bit about his surroundings. He already knew Sakura, but had gotten to know her better. From what he could understand, she was a medical ninja and had been training under the hokage, the leader of this village, for about three years. He liked her, she seemed nice, until she hit Naruto over the head when he had joked about something. After that, she scared him a little.

He met Sai, who was socially awkward, but friendly. For some reason he had this obsession with nicknames. Soramaru rejected pretty much all of Sai's suggestions. He ended up letting Sai call him Sora. Soramaru didn't mind, but the name brought back some memories. Being called that he was reminded of Chuutarou a little.

He met Kakashi, who turned out to be Sakura and Naruto's sensei. He always had his nose buried in a book with a mildly indecent looking cover. According to Naruto and Sakura, he always wore a mask that hid most of his face. "So, why does he wear a mask?" Soramaru had questioned while Naruto and Sakura escorted him back to his hospital room. "No one really knows." They said at the same time. "And you don't know what's under it?" He persisted. Sakura sighed, "We got him to take it off once." Soramaru felt some of his excitement rise, "So, what was under it?!" Now Naruto sighed and looked tired. "Nothing but another mask." Soramaru's confusion and disappointment were immense.

He liked all the people that he had met, they were kind and all of them were a bit quirky. They all really reminded him of Tenka. He liked this village, a lot, but more than ever, he really wanted to go home.

Soramaru slept in the hospital that night. As far as he knew he would sleep there every night. The room was cozy, so he didn't mind too much.

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