Kasi Namikaze woke to the sound of quiet breathing.
Not his own.
He opened his eyes slowly. The air felt stale and cold. He blinked, confused, feeling a heaviness in his chest as if he had been asleep for a very long time.
"Where… am I?"
His voice sounded weak. Dry.
He tried to sit up. Pain sparked along his ribs, but he forced himself upright. Bandages wrapped around his waist and shoulder. A hospital gown hung loosely from his thin frame.
The room around him was small and empty. No fresh flowers. No visitors' chairs. Dust in the corners.
This room had been forgotten.
Just like him.
Kasi closed his eyes and tried to remember.
A night of screaming.
A fox made of pure hate.
Minato-nii standing in front, cloak glowing.
Kushina shouting.
Kasi running toward them—
Then darkness.
He inhaled sharply.
"Minato-nii… Kushina-nee…"
He pushed the blanket aside and put his feet on the floor. They felt weak—almost unfamiliar—but he stood anyway.
He walked to the window.
Outside, the village was quiet. Rebuilt. Different. Children laughed near a small training field. Houses he did not recognize stood where empty lots should have been.
*How long was I asleep?*
He turned and found a small calendar on the wall. The year written on it made his heart stop. then he suddenly had lots of foreign memories and he muttered
Eight years.
Eight years had passed since the Nine-Tails attack.
Kasi's hands shook. He grabbed the window frame to steady himself.
He swallowed hard. It hurt.
If eight years had passed, then—
Minato.
Kushina.
They should be here. They should be living in the village. They should be smiling… they should be—
Kasi did not want to think the thought that came next.
He clenched his jaw and made a hand sign.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
A clone appeared beside him, its face calm but eyes reflecting the same fear he felt.
"You stay here," Kasi whispered. "If anyone comes, pretend I'm resting. I need… to confirm things myself."
The clone nodded and lay on the bed.
Kasi changed into old clothes he found in the cabinet—rough and worn, but familiar enough. His body felt light and weak, but his mind was firm.
He walked out of the hospital room and into the hallway. Nurses glanced at him with surprise, but no one stopped him. Maybe they thought he was another patient on a walk.
He stepped outside.
Kasi's heart felt heavy.
He looked up toward the Hokage Monument.
The Fourth's face—Minato's face—was carved into the stone..
Kasi's chest burned. He pressed a hand against his chest—not because of the wounds or anything, but because of the pain inside.
"I'm sorry… I wasn't there."
His voice cracked.
People walked past him, smiling, talking, living. No one knew him. No one stopped to stare. No one recognized him.
It was like he was a ghost in his own village.
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and took a slow breath.
"I need to know everything. I need to know what happened that night. what happened while i was gone."
He tightened his fists. He has to confirm what he saw in his memories he got.