Part I: Foundling of the Forest
The voices came first — cautious, distant, yet trained.
"Captain, I'm detecting faint chakra signatures nearby."
"Human?"
"Alive… barely. Young."
Leaves whispered overhead as masked figures dropped soundlessly into the clearing. The faint scent of steel and ozone followed — ANBU, clad in porcelain masks that gleamed in the light. The one in front knelt, hand hovering over Ishi's shoulder.
The boy flinched.
He didn't see them — not fully — but the air itself bent around their presence. Their chakra felt sharp, ordered, like blades arranged into a human shape.
"I mean no harm," he said softly, lifting both hands. His voice wavered, but not with fear. "Just a little lost. Maybe cosmically."
The lead ANBU exchanged a glance with the one behind him. "What's your name, child?"
"Ishi," he said. Then after a beat: "Tanaka Ishi. Or… maybe just Ishi. Depends which world's paperwork you're using."
The captain blinked behind the mask. Sarcasm, from a half-starved child in the middle of Fire Country? Odd didn't even begin to cover it.
He noticed the black cloth wrapped around the boy's eyes — cleanly tied, not makeshift. "Are you blind?"
Ishi tilted his head, a smile tugging faintly at his lips. "You could say that. Or that the world's too bright and I'm… delicate."
There was laughter in his tone, but it carried a strange echo. The captain's instincts prickled. "We'll take him to the Hokage."
And so began Ishi's quiet entry into the Hidden Leaf.
Part II: A Village of Color and Smoke
Konoha, when he finally smelled it, was chaos — not the cold, digital kind he knew, but human chaos. Vendors shouting, sandals scuffing on stone, laughter, the smell of grilled meat and damp paper lanterns. It was warmth woven into daily noise.
They led him through the streets, and though he couldn't see, he felt everything. The chakra of the crowd washed over him in waves — some soft and dim, others burning like miniature suns.
He realized quickly that looking too long at anyone, even blindfolded, sent sparks through his mind. Information overload.
So he learned to turn his head just enough to seem normal.
People stared. A blindfolded boy escorted by ANBU wasn't subtle, and whispers rippled like wind through grass.
"Who's that?"
"He's kinda pretty for a boy…"
"ANBU escorting a kid? Must be trouble."
Ishi smiled faintly at that last one. "Trouble's such a strong word," he muttered. "I prefer walking enigma."
Part III: The Hokage's Office
The scent of pipe smoke was the first thing he noticed. Then, the slow rustle of robes and the weight of age that filled the air.
Hiruzen Sarutobi — the Third Hokage — studied the boy before him with the calm gaze of someone who had seen too many oddities already. The boy's posture was strange: too composed for his apparent age, every gesture practiced, almost theatrical.
"You were found alone," Hiruzen said. "No signs of family or escort. Do you remember how you got here?"
Ishi hesitated. He could lie — say bandits, or memory loss — but something in the old man's tone disarmed him. Not fear, but curiosity.
"I remember… light," he said finally. "And a voice telling me to see what gods blinded."
The Hokage's eyes sharpened. "A prophecy?"
"Maybe just bad poetry," Ishi countered with a lopsided grin. "You'd be surprised how often those get confused."
The old man chuckled despite himself. "You speak like someone much older."
"Occupational hazard."
There was a pause. Then Hiruzen leaned forward, fingers steepled. "Your eyes. May I see them?"
The room tightened. Even the ANBU nearby shifted uneasily.
Ishi's smile faltered. "You really don't want to."
"I must insist."
He sighed, loosening the knot. As the cloth slipped, the air grew heavy — chakra rippled invisibly, like heat distortion. Hiruzen's pipe cracked in his hand. For a split second, he saw rings within rings, impossible colors turning in black irises streaked with gold.
Then Ishi yanked the blindfold back down with a sharp breath.
The pressure vanished.
Silence fell. The ANBU nearest to him was trembling slightly. One of the ink paintings on the wall had peeled itself backward as if trying to flee the gaze.
"See?" Ishi said lightly. "Told you. Bad idea."
The Hokage exhaled slowly. "Those eyes… they resemble none I have ever seen. Not even the Uchiha."
He summoned a parchment scroll with a flick of his hand. "Until we understand what you are, you'll remain under watch. You will be registered as an orphan — a provisional citizen of the Leaf. And you will wear that blindfold at all times."
Ishi bowed slightly, the motion oddly formal. "Understood. I'm used to people staring anyway."