Summary: The Sandaime remembers Naruto's first dream, and it had nothing to do with becoming a ninja.
Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.
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The Genuine Dream
Ever since the Nine-tailed beast had been vanquished, at the price of the Yondaime Hokage's life, the village of Konoha was more or less at peace. There were no wars with the other countries, and no more Bijuu attacked any other village for over a decade. Life was, for a change, quite peaceful.
The old Sandaime was back from retirement and in power, as per Konoha's people's insistent request, after Minato Namikaze, the Legendary Yondaime, was killed sealing the demon before announcing a successor.
Konoha was finally at peace after so long, and so Sarotoubi had the time to see the people of his village, understand them, help them with their needs, and advise them with his admirable wisdom. Although Sarotoubi knew war, and treachery and death, he remained an admirable, kind old man - a balance so few shinobi could achieve. He tried to make a little of himself available for everyone, but he took particular care to spend a decent amount of time every once in a while with the child that was the reason the village was once again at peace.
Minato's only child, and the actual human host of the Nine-tailed beast. Naruto Uzumaki.
He understood well, where most didn't, that the child did not get nearly the amount of care and attention he vitally needed to grow up without a sense of depravation and loss. So if no would care to provide the needed attention and occasional spoiling a child so needs, he did so himself.
Naruto started talking when he was nearly three, and could form quite coherent sentences at four. The Sandaime would purposely engage him in conversation to help him improve his talking, seeing as few others would bother talking to him.
oOoOoOoOoOo
"Naruto, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Sarotoubi asked the little blond one day, while they had a small breakfast alone in the Hokage's office.
"I wanna be a sailor!" the kid announced happily.
"Mm, a sailor?" Sarotoubi laughed, "Why do you want to be a sailor?"
Naruto looked at him for a moment, as if he did not understand why the old man could not see the point of being a sailor, then said, "To live on a boat in the sea! I wanna live on a boat!"
"Is there any other reason?"
"Sailors are very strong and big! Nothing frightens you if you're strong and big! You don't have to be scared! They're not afraid of anything and people aren't mean to them."
Ah. Sarotoubi thought, There's the reason.
They went on eating and talking, and as usual, Naruto spilled ramen all over Konoha's official paperwork. That was Naruto's first dream.
oOoOoOoOoOo
When Naruto was nearly seven, he still answered to the Hokage's frequent summons to his office for their quality time together. But something had changed in him.
The blond had become more emotional, easily agitated. He had become distrustful and even a little paranoid – not really towards the old man, but towards nearly everyone else. It worried the old Hokage a lot. He feared that people were treating him worse than he thought they would, considering his orders to treat the boy humanly were not exactly met with eager consent on the villagers' behalf.
On one calm afternoon walk together around the village, Sarotoubi asked him the question he'd asked three years earlier, "Naruto, what do you want to be when you grow up? You still want to be a sailor? That's indeed a an interesting job, I'll say."
"Nah, not anymore. I have a dream now a BIJILLION TIMES more interesting! I'm gonna be a gangster!"
That was the last thing Sarotoubi thought he'd hear.
"A – what?"
"A gangster! You know, those big mean people with black sunglasses that they wear even at night and have big fire weapons to take whatever they want!"
"Naruto! Haven't I told you to stop watching those movies? Those are too violent and you are still too young to be watching them.."
"I'm not a baby, Ojii-chan! I can watch whatever I like!"
"Naruto, why do you want to be a gangster? What's wrong with being a sailor? I thought you wanted to travel around the world and sleep on a boat?"
Naruto looked at the ground and dragged his feet as they walked, a look of longing and a bitterness so unpleasant on his face it nearly disturbed the old Hokage. "Not anymore. I wanna be a gangster because people treat them with lots of respect even if they don't want to. They give them whatever they want and wouldn't hurt them."
Naruto..what's going to happen to you when you're older?
"Naruto, people only treat gangsters with respect because they are very afraid of them. They never do it from their hearts and would attack and kill a gangster if they had the chance. People hate gangsters very much, Naruto. The respect they get is only an act. Do you understand? You don't want people to hate you and plan to harm you behind your back."
Naruto said nothing, but the bitter expression on his face grew, until the Hokage nearly considered stopping to give the boy a hug. He bent down on one knee, and turned the boy gently around by his shoulders. Naruto looked like he was about to cry, but he didn't, though his eyes shone. He was getting better at holding it in, despite his now-short temper.
The boy is fed up with crying, the Sandaime thought grimly.
For a while afterwards, terrible scenarios of the boy growing up to be a criminal or even a murderer would fill his mind, each more frightening than the last. If Naruto lost his way, he would inevitably meet a terrible end, and at the hands of the very people he did not even know he was protecting.
Sarotoubi kept an even closer watch on Naruto.
oOoOoOoOoOo
"Anousa! Ojii-chan, I wanna be a ninja! Enroll me in the Academy!"
Sarotoubi looked up from the official papers he was working on. An eight year old Naruto was perched on the edge of his desk, grinning hopefully from ear to ear and looking so expectantly with his wide, blue eyes. His face was quite endearing in Sarotoubi's eyes.
"Now you want to be a ninja?"
"Like you were, Ojii-chan!"
"I still am one, Naruto." He answered exasperatedly, but smiling nonetheless, "Why do you want to be a ninja?"
"I want everyone to acknowledge me and respect me for who I am! I don't wanna be a gangster anymore because I don't want people to hate me anymore! I want them to really like me from their hearts, like you said! I'll protect them from the gangsters, and I will become the Hokage one day, and EVERYONE will respect me, and then you can be my assistant, Ojii-chan!" Naruto learned to talk quite well, but apparently did not see the use of full stops.
Sarotoubi smacked the boy lightly with the papers in his hand, "Don't talk to your elders like that, Naruto. I can put you in jail for that. I'm the Hokage." He tried to keep a stern face, but he cracked into a grin instead. Naruto was laughing – a sincere, unforced laugh, unlike the ones Sarotoubi heard him laugh a great many times just to cover up his frustration.
You got me again, Naruto. For someone whom the villagers pointedly avoided, the Hokage thought the kid had some precious social skills that could make him very likeable one day, if only people would give him the chance.
"Will ya enroll me, Ojii-chan?! Will ya! WILL YA?!"
"Naruto, you're piercing my eardrums! Be quiet and hear me out: If you want to be a ninja, I agree. That is an honorable job. You can still travel around the world and be strong and fearless like you always wanted. It would be as good as being a sailor."
Naruto was leaning forward and waiting, saying nothing.
"If you are sure that is what you want, I will enroll you a- "
"YAYY! Thank you Ojii-chan!" Naruto hurled himself at the old Hokage, nearly pushing him off his chair, "I'll do my very very very best, I promise! You'll see! People won't look at me like they do anymore!"
"You better not let me down, Naruto. It's gonna take me a bit of effort to enroll you, understand?"
"I won't! I have a 'will of fire'!"
Sarotoubi laughed. "Where did you hear that?"
"Eh? I heard some ninja say it, so I thought I should have it, too, if I wanna be one!"
"I think you do, Naruto. A person can have a 'will of fire' only if they never give up on what they want. Say what, go out to Shuzuki-san and ask her to get us an Academy enrollment form, will you?"
Naruto had already bounded out the door before Sarotoubi could finish. The old man shook his head and sighed. How can he keep up with this kid's energy?
Naruto was indeed successfully enrolled in the Academy. But it was difficult for him to keep up with the other children's scorn. It frustrated him to no end when he failed his final exam three years in a row, but Sarotoubi kept his optimism and faith. Everyone complained about Naruto, and what a loud, time-wasting, trouble-making delinquent he was, but Sarotoubi knew better. The kid wanted only people's attention, so he could show them what he could do.
How many people besides Sarotoubi knew that Naruto actually loved gardening? Did anyone know that he had an ear for languages? This child, like every other child, was a gift to the village of Konoha, and that was exactly why Sarotoubi calmly sat back and kept silent when people came to him to complain about the blond's appetite for the most outrageous pranks.
The old Hokage would listen to the complaints quietly, and remember that Naruto's first dream was to become a sailor. How he would love for the people of Konoha to understand the very first sacrifice the child was making as a ninja-in-training for their sakes. Ninjas make sacrifices for the sake of their people, after all.