Disclaimer: I own no part of Naruto or Devil May Cry

My Right Arm

All was quiet in Konohagakure. And why not? Tonight was a night like any other in this peaceful place. The hum of cicadas could be heard, a soft breeze could be felt, a full moon could be seen in the cloudless sky, you could even smell the smoke of someones Bar Be Que in the air. Yes, this was the quiet sort of night that made it all worth while for the road weary Sandaime Hokage. These were the peaceful days that were worth living for.

However, sometimes the worst things in life come on the most peaceful of days. It was only after several minutes that the Sandaime noticed that the smoke he had attributed to someone cooking was coming from the low income residential district. But only there were only apartments there, and few had either porches or grills. A dark feeling appeared in the pit of his stomach and he decided to see for himself what was happening. He told himself it was likely nothing. Just a simple over reaction on his part. But he still couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that had fallen over his peaceful evening.

He was right to be concerned. As soon as he came into view, he knew what that foreboding was. One of the apartments in this district had caught fire. It only took him a glance to know who's it was. Without a command needed, his ANBU guards jumped into action. Moving to aid in evacuating the building and casting suiton jutsu to douse the fire. The Sandaime, without waiting for the blaze to be quelled, burst into the apartment through the window. Inside he found the boy. He had passed out already from smoke inhalation. The whole room was engulfed in flames, including the boys right arm and part of his upper body.

Sarutobi wasted no time, and scooped the boy up in his arms and left through the same window that he had just entered through. The moment his feet hit the ground an ANBU in a dog like mask joined him. Sarutobi passed the boy off "Get him to the hospital now!"

Without so much as a nod, the ANBU was off for his destination. This peaceful night had just brought a tragedy on someone who had already suffered too much. This peaceful night had just changed the fate of young Naruto. For better or worse, it was too early to say.

"What could be taking so long!"

The dog masked ANBU spoke to no one in particular as he paced back and forth in the waiting room. The moment he entered the hospital ER, Naruto was swept from his hands and too the Burn Unit. It had been an hour since then and still no word on Naruto's condition "These things can take time, Kakashi."

Kakashi turned to see the Hokage standing behind him, ash still staining his white and red robes from the fire. His expression was that of a defeated man, he had failed Naruto again "We just have to have faith in the doctors here."

No sooner had the Hokage finished speaking then, finally, one of the doctors emerged from the Operating room. The doctors face was beaded in sweat, no doubt from the tireless work he and his colleagues had just put into saving the boys life. The Sandaime spoke "What is his condition, Doctor Hiroko?"

Doctor Hiroko wiped his brow with his forearm "We've managed to stabilize him and he should live. The burns to his chest and stomach ranged from light 3rd degree to severe 2nd degree, which we were able to treat. These we will likely leave little to no scaring."

Hiroko hesitated for a second. It was no secret that the Sandaime held the boy in high regard, so the next part of what he had to say would likely upset the man "Please continue." was all Kakashi said.

The doctor let out a heavy sigh as he prepared to continue "I'm afraid the good news ends there. The damaged to the boys right arm was extensive. 4th degree burns, his skin and muscle were burned to the bone. Because of the boys... condition, he had already begun healing by the time we started, but the over all damage was too much for even both the fox and our own abilities to help. Most times limbs the badly damaged have to be amputated. We were able to restore and save enough muscle tissue and skin to prevent that, so I suppose that is some what of good news."

"The amount of muscle tissue loss means that his arm will likely never regain or reach it's full strength. The nerve damage means he will have trouble moving and even feeling anything with it either. Some of this may be correctable with physical therapy, but he'll never make a full recovery. The best we can hope for is that the arm becomes functional again."

This time it was the Sandaime who sighed "Is that all doctor?"

Hiroko gave a quick nob before ducking back into the OR. Kakashi finally sat down for the first time since arriving. He brought his hand to his face and started massaging his temples 'Why? Why had this have to happen? I wouldn't wish it on any other child, but why did it have to be Naruto? Had he not suffered enough?'

Kakashi and Sarutobi sat in silence for a moment. They didn't need to speak since they were both likely thinking the same thing 'Why him?'.

A few days passed without incident. The doctors had said they would keep Naruto unconscious for a while, at least til the worst of the burns to his upper body had healed to spare him the pain. The pain in his arm would matter little since he probably wouldn't even be able to feel it for another month. The Hokage had ordered an investigation into what may have caused the fire.

The door to his office swung open without notice or announcement, there were only two people who did that, and one was in the hospital "Asuma, I trust you have a reason for barging in." The Sandaime spoke without looking up from the document "I'm quite busy."

Asuma continued across room, with a handful of documents with him "Just thought you'd want to know about the apartment fire the other day."

The Sandaime sat up straight at those words, locking eyes his son "Continue."

"Well, after the Military police turned the place upside down, they determined that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical socket. One closest to the kids bed, in fact." Asuma looked up from the form "Why were you so eager to get this anyway?"

The Hokage let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He then turned his chair so he could look out the window "I was concerned that there maybe a criminal loose in the village."

Asuma perked up at those words "You mean like an arsonist."

"Yes, that too."

Now Asuma was confused "What do you mean 'that too'. What else could it -" Asuma stopped for a second "Hold on, you didn't think this could have been an attack on him, right." The Sandaime's silence was his answer "Oh, come on! I know that the kids not well liked, but no one in the village would do this!"

The Hokage didn't bother to turn around to see the surprise on his son's face "I was concerned. Naruto has always been an object of fear and hatred in this village. He has always been treated with neglect, but never outright violence. But recently many from the country side have moved to the village. They have a tendency to more superstitious and fearful then most. If one of them had learned of Naruto's identity, I'm not sure they would be above violence."

Asuma hesitated for a moment. It was true that many new people had moved to the village as of late. Supposedly, there was a drought in the eastern half of the country that had hurt many of farmers there. Most had to leave their family lands in order to survive. At that thought, Asuma cast his head down a bit. The old man was right, he always was, and Asuma hated it.

The Hokage finally returned he chair forward and looked to his son "Is that all, Asuma."

He offered only a nod before turning around and leaving the same way he came. Sarutobi stared at the door for a moment before looking back down at the sheets of paper in front of him. Even if he wanted to think a bit more about what would be come of poor Naruto, he still had other duties to attend to. Sometimes the job of Hokage could break your heart.

'What's happening? It's so cold here. Where am I? It doesn't hurt anymore.'

Naruto was filled with an odd sense of detachment. A numb feeling. Like he was simply floating in open air. He could only see an odd blue light that seemed to shine through like it was coming through water. He felt as if all the strength had been ripped from his body. All he remembered before this was the pain. It was so hot and it hurt so bad. Like nothing he had ever known. He remembered no being able to breath. Then he knew nothing.

'What is this place? Why can't I move?'

Suddenly the diffused blue light seemed to concentrate to a single point in front of Naruto, taking on a much deeper, solid tone. The light seemed to take the shape of a hand and started to reach for him. Naruto's right arm began to reach for the light, even though he was not doing it himself and he couldn't feel it.

Naruto's fingers met with the light 'Give...'

Naruto's eyes widened, but only slightly, still too exhausted to react 'Give me...'

Naruto's eyes slowly creaked open. He could see a white ceiling above him and a large white club just to the right. He turned his head to see that the club was his arm, so wrapped in bandages that it was barely distinguishable as a limb. He was still tired and not sure what had happened, but what he did know was that his arm was hurt bad.

In seemingly the next moment a nurse entered his room and saw that he was awake. The next few things were a blur. A doctor came into see him, followed by several nurses. Some were nice and smiled at him, but a few simply carried about their business and left in a hurry. Finally, after what felt like hours, someone Naruto actually wanted to see showed up "Jiji..." Naruto said weakly, only able to move just enough to sit up "What happened?"

Sandaime wore a sad expression "There was a fire, Naruto-kun. You were burned very badly." The Sandaime stopped for a moment, gauging Naruto's reaction. The boy seemed to have figured as much on his own, so the Hokage continued "Your arm was hurt the worst. The doctors say that it will likely be a long time before it's okay again."

The Hokage was trying to be as gentle as possible. He didn't want to upset the boy anymore then necessary. Naruto finally spoke up again "What about school?" Ah, the boy had started at the academy a few months ago. He had been quite excited at the time, saying how soon he would be 'even stronger than you Jiji' "I need my arm for school."

The Hokage had dreaded this moment. He was afraid of how the boy would react "You may not be going back to school Naruto-kun."

At this, Naruto seemed to jump "What do you mean? I have to go back! How else am I suppose to become ninja? Wait, are you gonna teach me, Jiji? Yes, I knew you would recognize..."

"Naruto!" The Sandaime shouted to cool down the boys expectation "That's not what I mean. With what happened to your arm, it will be unlikely that you will be able to continue on as a ninja. I'm very sorry, Naruto-kun."

A moment passed and nothing happened. Naruto cast his eyes downward and his body began to tremble. The Sandaime thought that he was about to cry. He considered comforting the boy when Naruto's right club shot up, aimed at the Hokage "I know what's going on, your scared. Your scared that I actually will become stronger than you. Well guess what? I don't give up! No matter what you or anyone else says, I won't quit, I'm going to be the greatest ninja of all time. Even if I have no arms or legs, you can count on it!"

Sarutobi was taken aback by this. He then felt a smile tug at his lips 'The boys resilience is truly incredible.' The Hokage pushed his smile back down and took up a more serious expression "Don't think that your instructors will go easy on you Naruto-kun. They will demand of you the same they demand of all their students. Is that clear?"

A smile split across Naruto's face "Hah, they just better look out, because Naruto Uzumaki is-argh?"

At that moment Naruto had moved to far forward and had strained the burns on his chest and back. The Hokage let out a sigh "Perhaps you should wait til your better before you hurt yourself again Naruto-kun."

With that the Hokage turned to leave. He still worried for the boy. His future would be even harder now and the roads even longer. But so long as he kept that spirit, perhaps there was hope for him yet. Only time would tell.