The 7 year old Inochi felt someone was lifting her up. She couldn't see the person but just let them because she did not have any chakra left, even for her consciousness. "I hope its not the masked man" Inochi thought before drifting into oblivion

-" Inochi Nohara, can you hear me?" Inochi was slowly regaining consciousness.

-" Hmm" Inochi hummed as speaking was still difficult for her.

- "Do you know where you are?" The voice asked her.

-"........" Inochi couldn't say no nor could she shake her head in response.

- "I will take that as a no. I just now want you to relax your mind. Don't worry you are safe here." The male's soothing voice was enough to reassure Inochi.

Inochi was being held at a kind of interrogation room and her mind was being probed by the Yamanaka clan's leader, Inoichi Yamanaka.

-"What do you see Inoichi san?" The third Hokage asked.

The third Hokage who was 'killed' by Inochi's mangekyo was a shadow clone. Shadow clones cannot die, but that one did. When suffered by extreme injuries, clones disappear, and all the experience it incurred goes back to the original Shinobi. However for the Hokage's shadow clone, it did not.

- "It's a genjutsu. Should I look into it Lord third?"

- "If you get trapped I will take you out" The Hokage did not let anyone else aid Mr. Inoichi. He did not want to let anyone else to come to know about Inochi's Sharingan.

- "Ok sir" Mr Inoichi went inside the genjutsu. He was expecting something similar but did not think it would be that intense. He saw Inochi being forced to see her sister's death and that too by Kakashi's chidori over and over for months. Inoichi himself being trapped in the genjutsu for a fraction of a second felt as if days had passed. As he escaped, he found himself perspiring and exhausted.

- "Here" The Third handed him some water. Inoichi left the interrogation room for an hour to regain his strength while leaving the Hokage and the unconscious Inochi alone in the room.

The Hokage put his palm on Inochi's head and tried healing her mental strength. As he did so, Inochi regained her full consciousness and sat up.

-" It happened again" Inochi said while reminiscing how the current situation was so similar to that when she killed the jounins who murdered her parents.

- "Inochi.. its not your fault" the Hokage tried to console her.

- "I don't care. I gave into the illusions they made me watch. I really believed that Kakashi niisan killed neesan" Inochi said hiding her face with her palms. As she hid her face, she started bawling her eyes out." Is he okay? Did you save him?" Inochi said in between her sobs.

- "He is in the hospital right now. He is okay" The third said. He was not good with consoling kids, especially those who have went through grief so many times. But still he was like a grandpa to eveyone in the village. His presence was enough to make her feel safe.

- "Wait! How are you here?" Inochi said as she remembered how Hiruzen burst out in front of her.

- "It was just a shadow clone. I am not that weak you know" Hiruzen chuckled. His laugh made Inochi a bit relieved.

- "But it did not vanish" Inochi questioned.

- "We will talk about it later okay? First you need to rest. Then we will have a complete discussion about everything that happened. Don't worry okay?" Hiruzen knew that Inochi's curiosity was bigger than her will to live. If possible she would have preffered to have the discussion right there which was why he highlighted the point that he will surely have the discussion soon.

- "Umm. When will I be allowed to see Kakashi niisan?" Inochi said while being scared that she would no longer be allowed to meet Kakashi.

- "You can meet him after you get better. He is already conscious so-" Hiruzen couldn't finish his sentence when he saw Inochi's wet eyes dart at him. He clearly understood what they meant.

-"Can I-"

-"NO"

- "Okay" Inochi did not want to push her luck. She was still subconsciously guilty and scared of what she had done.

As the Hokage left, he met with Mr. Inoichi in the corridor who was returning from his break.

-" Inochi is awake now" The Hokage informed Inoichi.

- "Oh that's good. Did you ask her sir?"

-" No, first I want everything to return back to normal. Then we will do a joint interrogation with her and Kakashi. We also need to keep a check on this masked man you saw in her memories"

- "Isn't he the same as-"

- "Yes he is. We need to be prepared if he decides to visit again"

The masked man was the same as the one who was behind the nine tail's attack on Konoha a year back. Hiruzen was busy protecting the village while the fourth Hokage and the original jinchuriki, his wife Kushina took care of the tailed beast. Hiruzen only caught a glance of the masked man back then, but he was more than sure that he was same person who appeared in Inochi's memories.

Back in the room, Inochi was sobbing all the while Hiruzen and Inoichi were having this conversation.

-" I am really ...sorry.... I am REALLY sorry..... I am REALLY SORRY... " Inochi was practicing how she would apologise to Kakashi. "I really messed up... AGAIN" Inochi lied down on the bed, hiding her face with a pillow. "how many more will be hurt because of me...... I am really sorry" Inochi muttered between her sobs before drifting off to sleep.

After a week Inochi was allowed to leave the interrogation buiding to go and meet with Kakashi who was still in the hospital. In those seven days, as Inochi was not let to meet anyone, it affected her mental health a lot.

" I am a threat now so its necessary" Inochi kept repeating this whereas the real reason was that the Hokage wanted to keep Inochi safe. However, by not letting her know why she was kept there for so long, Inochi got even more burdened with guilt. Everyday she would have the nightmare of Kakashi killing Rin and her killing Kakashi which was not any less torturous than the genjutsu.

As Inochi walked down the main street she felt as if everyone was cursing her just when Might Gai came rushing to her.

- "Inochi chan! Where were you? Do you know Kakashi has been injured badly?" Gai said while looking at her already beaten up face. "Looking at your face, I guess you know. You look like as if you were crying a lot. Anyways, let's meet him right now! He is all better" Gai said while pulling Inochi by her hand.

Inochi freed herself just before Gai could rush her into Kakashi's assigned room at the hospital

- "What's the matter Inochi chan?"

- "Gai san, I am sorry, but I need some time"

Gai was confused as to what she was talking about but nevertheless left her to bring some flowers for Kakashi. Inochi staggered to the nearest support and slid down to the floor. She held her head with her hands and digged her nails into her skin so as to induce pain, as right now pain was the easier emotion to be felt.

- "I cannot face him" Inochi muttered while being completely ashamed and scared of what she did.

- "Hey little girl what are you doing here?" A nurse asked while being concerned about Inochi, who was completely disheveled.

Inochi, as she heard the phrase, jumped off from the seat. She realised that she now had a trigger, the phrase 'little girl'. She saw an equally frightened nurse in front of her and decided to play it cool. Inochi was afraid that the nurse would capture her and take her to some asylum if she acted weird.

- "Ar..are you o..okay? M..miss?" The scared nurse asked again. Inochi, who was equally scared replied in the most normal tone she could,

- "YEs" Inochi's voice cracked, as the nurse scurried away to avoid any trouble.

But before Inochi could heave a sigh of relief, she heard;

- "Inochi?" A voice from inside the room asked for Inochi.

- "Shit" Inochi knew it was Kakashi. Debating whether to flee from there or respond , Gai soon appeared with a bouquet in his hands,

- "Inochi chan here you go!" Gai handed her the bouquet and pushed her into the room alone, as he stayed back to let the two talk.

Inside the room Inochi was standing just at the door with the bouquet of flowers in her hand. She tried her best to hide her face with it just when Kakashi called her

-" I know you are embarrased but that bouquet is too small to hide your face Inochi"

Inochi was taken aback by the friendly tone Kakashi was using. Even before the incident Kakashi never talked in such a way.

-" Umm.. Gai san... he bought it" Inochi said ,after a pregnant silence, to let Kakashi know whose bouquet it was.

- "Oh is that so? You can keep it over there" Kakashi pointed at a couch overflowing with bouquets.

- "Its not from any girl. All of them were bought by Gai" Kakashi chuckled. "He said he will keep giving me two bouquets everyday till I get better"

-"........" Inochi was not sure how to react. She was on verge of tears still, and just couldn't comprehend anything of what Kakashi was saying. Seeing Inochi, Kakashi called her closer.

Inochi slowly walked over to his bed with her head still hanging low. She did not even dare to make eye contact since the minute she entered the room.

- "Inochi, look here" Kakashi asked her to look at him.

As Inochi looked up, she saw Kakashi holding up his shirt, exposing a large scar on his belly, seemingly from the rasengan Inochi had used.

-"You really learned how to form a rasengan so quickly. I am proud of you" Kakashi said while trying to start a conversation.

- "I... I am really.." Inochi whimpered. "I am really sorry.." and soon started weeping. She tried to wipe her tears but she was wailing like a new born baby. Feeling light headed she fell onto her knees but before she could hit the floor Kakashi caught her and made her sit on the bed beside him.

-" I am sorry too. For not being able to protect you. And for not telling you about Rin."

Kakashi hugged her tightly. Till that incident, Kakashi was never worried about Inochi. If anything, he just saw her as someone who he was giving shelter to. He rarely talked to Inochi when he was with his team or even after he let her into his house. But now in the hospital, he realised what a big mistake it was. If anything, he now wanted to protect Inochi from anything and everything, as she was the only one left with whom he had a history. Everyone else who he had a bond with was already dead.

Inochi kept crying for a few minutes before calming down. As she wiped her tears, Inochi stood up and was completely dazed.

- 'Inochi, let's have a talk over ramen shall we?" Kakashi asked softly.

- "ok" Inochi answered meekly while nodding her head.

As they both ate ramen, they sorted out all the misunderstandings. Kakashi told Inochi how Rin came in front of his chidori and sacrificed herself for the village as the enemies had sealed the three tails inside of her. His narration was enough to satisfy Inochi but it also filled her with guilt. Gai joined them a few minutes later and they all had quite a nice time. Inochi was completely distracted just when she and Kakashi got called into the Interrogation room.

At the interrogation building, Inochi and Kakashi were asked to tell whatever they faced. Kakashi told the Hokage and Mr Inoichi that he went out looking for her, as she was taking a lot of time, when he found out the sketchy guy hovering over Inochi.

Inochi narrated whatever she remembered. Mr. Inoichi and the Hokage had already seen it in her memory but again wanted to see how much she remembered. At last they offered her a choice

- "Inochi, for a person of such age to suffer such a genjutsu is very harmful. If you want we can erase that part of your memory" Hokage gave Inochi an option to regain her mental health. He said that he needed her guardian's, that is Kakashi's approval too. After discussing for some time, they signed the approval and Inochi had her part of memories washed away. She still remembered everything, but just not the damage the genjutsu created. This however led to even more problems which were not apparent at that time.

Even after she was erased from all the effects of the genjutsu, she still retained her coping mechanism of self harm, which then took the form of addiction to violence. Inflicting pain to divert her attention from something else became euphoria to her.

As Kakashi and Inochi left, Mr. Inoichi turned to the Hokage and asked with utmost concern,

-" Sir but what about your shadow clone? Shouldn't it have vanished instead of degrading?"

- "I think that's the power of her mangekyo" The Hokage said with a bit of doubt. He had already asked Inochi to be aware with the usage of her eyes as they may attract a lot of unwanted attention. He told her that he won't be regulating her eyes and that she herself has to be the one learning how to control and use it. "Even the information did not reach me"

-" Isn't that impossible? That goes against the chakra rules. Chakra cannot be made or destroyed!"

- "I dont know how its possible. I just know that my part of chakra, which I used to make that shadow clone, is forever gone" Hiruzen said while almost feeling sad that his shadow clone had 'died', which he never thought was possible. "If I had to infer something, all that I can tell now is that Inochi's mangekyo is just too dangerous to be present in this world"

---------------------------------------------------------

(The flashback ends here)