Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.
AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.
When I was reading fanfictions, I never really understood the importance that author's placed on reviews, favorites and follows. Now I do. I can honestly say that every time I get an e-mail with a review, favorite or follow it brightens up my day and makes me want to write more.
I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already done so, and those who plan to. Once more, I cannot say how thankful I am for them. Keep them up.
Adapt or Die
By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra
Chapter 4 – Behind the Scenes
The Hokage was currently smoking his pipe in the early morning silence while finishing his first stack of paperwork. As he was prone to do in his old age, he began thinking about the future of Konoha, the Fire Nation and the Elemental Nations in general.
Hiruzen knew that the future always rested in the upcoming generations, as he told his youngest son, Asuma, over a game of Shogi what the 'King' piece really represents.
As a result, Hiruzen was thinking about his pseudo-grandson Naruto Uzumaki.
The Hokage knew beyond a shadow of doubt gained through decades of experience that the future would revolve around Naruto's decisions and actions. He just had to make sure that despite being lonely, miserable, shunned and discriminated against that Naruto didn't grow to loathe humanity and Konoha.
No big deal.
For starters, Naruto was the first known Jinchuriki of the Kyubi although the amount that of people that knew was currently being kept constant. It would truly be a miracle if none of the other nations knew that Konoha at least had a jinchuriki of the Kyubi.
Sarutobi wouldn't be the Hokage if he underestimated the other Kages to believe that a Tailed Beast could actually be killed. In fact, the amount of people in Konoha that actually believed it was a little disconcerting to be honest.
Nonetheless, Jiraiya, Naruto's secret godfather, removed spies and traitors caught attempting to sell Naruto's secret to other villages, while he was chasing after his old teammate and best friend Orochimaru. If Hiruzen was honest to himself, he was glad that Jiraiya hadn't learned of Naruto's upbringing at the Orphanage and consequently his brothel family. After all, Sarutobi had constantly been sending messages assuring Jiraiya of Naruto's well-being.
Meanwhile, the Konoha Military Police Force whose forces mainly comprised of Uchiha clan members strictly adhered to the Third's law regarding the true fate of the Kyubi. That was another issue that has been giving the Hokage a few headaches lately. The Uchiha were becoming increasingly unpopular with the villagers and fellow Shinobi.
First, a rumor started claiming that the Uchiha were responsible for the Kyubi attack citing Madara Uchiha's ability to control the Kyubi during his defeat against Hashirama Senju at the Valley of the End. If the Uchiha weren't responsible, then they for sure did not do enough in defense of the village. They should have used their Visual Prowess to force the rampaging Kyubi to flee Konoha or make it tame enough for the Fourth to take down without sacrificing his life.
Unfortunately, it was the Hokage himself who told the Uchihas not to involve themselves during the Kyubi attack. Agreeing with Danzo, he simply couldn't afford to give that much power to Konoha's most powerful clan.
Furthermore, the Uchiha were never that well liked by the populace in the first place, as they were the ones that cracked down on rule breakers and maintained regulations. Everyone always did find their distinctive eyes to be unsettling and flat out creepy. Also, the Uchiha clan were never very becoming in the first place thanks to their overzealous pride. This was all further exasperated by the Uchiha clan complex being walled off 'outside' of the village in terms of authority and politics.
Secondly, the rumormongers used the Uchihas cracking down on the Third's law, as proof that they were telling the truth about the Kyubi and that the Uchiha clan were protecting their Demon Child. Ironically, the Uchiha hated Naruto with a greater passion than the rest of the village. They blamed the poor child for all of their current political and social problems and forced to defend the child anyway.
Hiruzen knew all of this and ordered ANBU to trail Naruto for his own protection, when he was an infant. The Hokage would laugh when he visited Naruto at the Orphanage, and the young child would talk about the scary masked men that would watch him.
What was not so funny was apparently the ANBU didn't do there job nearly as good, as they could have if Naruto was being bullied by the caretakers and fellow orphans. Also, they clearly failed the job when someone who just learned how to speak could see the ANBU. The whole point about secret covert operations was not to be seen, and here was a recently potty-trained boy pointing them out in broad daylight.
Sarutobi would need to check one day if Uzumaki's were capable of being sensors, or if his elite professional troops were truly that lax.
The First Hokage Hashirama Senju's dream that Jinchuriki would be protected and well-taken care of in honor of the individual's sacrifice to host a Tailed Beast inside their body. Instead, Hashirama's dream was perverted beyond imaging as they were treated as weapons of mass destruction to be used against the village's enemies.
This became abundantly clear during the three Shinobi World Wars. In fact, thanks to Iwa's two jinchurikis, Iwa was winning the Third Shinobi World War after they slaughtered two platoons of Konoha Shinobi.
Furthermore, the First detested how others sought the tailed beasts out as tools to be controlled. Hiruzen can remember the disgust in Hashirama's retelling of his victory against Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End when referring to how Madara considered the Kyubi as a pet.
Although Hashirama wasn't innocent himself, he sold the Tailed Beasts to other Shinobi villages that he captured with his Wood Release in exchange for peace treaties and to stabilize the balance of power between the newborn Elemental Nations. While admirable, the First's dream for peace was ultimately just that a dream.
Hiruzen could not thank Hashirama's brother, Tobirama, enough for establishing Konoha's infrastructure including the Academy, ANBU and the Military Police Force. While Hashirama was the soul and heart of Konoha, Tobirama was the brains behind the operation.
Both of their influences could be easily seen today. Tobirama in the daily operations of the village and Hashirama's Will of Fire present in all true Konoha Shinobi.
Of course, nothing ever goes normal with Naruto, so when the Hokage tried to explain the concept of the Will of Fire to the young child it blew up in his face. While the blonde accepted the idea that love is the key to peace at face value, he completely rejected the notion that the entire village was like a large family unit and every Konoha Shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes and fights to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them. It was this belief Hiruzen told young Naruto that gave Konoha Shinobi the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building will power and strength of character.
Naruto explicitly expressed that he was glad his parents died because if they had treated him like the village did he would probably have committed suicide or worse. Hiruzen had the decency not to continue that conversation, as he learned that Naruto praises all of the gods in the world in thanks for giving him an actual family that actually loves him.
The Hokage swiveled in his chair to look out over the village. The slight problem for the future was that the fate of the world depended on a neglected and rejected child who follows every word of a man-hating and jaded brothel owner with over thirty years experience seducing and assassinating men.
'If only people knew with what little understanding the world is ruled,' Sarutobi thought to himself.
The Hokage knew he was a little unfair in his worry about Kurmochi's maternal relationship with Naruto. Unfortunately, the Hokage couldn't escape the nagging in his back of the head that she used the exact same mode of operation as his wayward student, Orochimaru.
The snake had a sick tendency to pick up strays that were in desperation. Thus, he would gain the undying loyalty of those who had nothing because Orochimaru would give them a single act of kindness. What was worst was the fact that Orochimaru's little fetish for orphans was a perversion of Jiraiya's attempt at being a teacher with the three orphans he picked up while fighting in the Land of Rain.
He was probably being too harsh on Kurmochi though. With no mincing of words, Mura explained to him that if she never found Naruto after throwing out that drunk Hiruzen wouldn't have to worry about finding his pseudo-grandson in a brothel but rather facedown in a dirty ditch or filthy alleyway.
At which point, the Hokage wouldn't have to worry about keeping Naruto's condition a secret because the Kyubi's chakra would be leaking out like a miasma. At which point, Konoha would be in pure pandemonium, and the Third's little stack of cards would come tumbling down.
With so much chaos, someone would do something stupid. And when they did, things would turn nasty.
And by nasty, Kurmochi meant the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Although this would be the first one to have a nickname, 'Naruto's War.'
It was disgusting how quickly the Third could envision the war. Jinchuriki always had a soft spot in their heart for their fellow Demon Containers. The Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tailed Beast and Kumo's beloved guardian and also the Raikage's brother would without doubt demand retribution along with the vessel of the Two-Tails.
Next, Kiri's Kage himself was the container of the Three-Tailed Beast. Maybe even the rogue Six-Tails' container would join Kiri in their war against Konoha.
Konoha for sure could not rely on Suna to come to their defense despite multiple treaties detailing a mutual defense pact. And who knew what the status of their One-Tailed Beast was?
Taki's Seven-Tailed Beast's jinchuriki was directly related to their leader and wouldn't lift a finger so much as a tail in Konoha's defense.
Although Iwa's jinchuriki were current out of commission in the sense that they stopped working for Iwa after the end of the Third War (They weren't exactly people persons, and their abilities were too flashy), they would quickly find themselves on the front line sweeping past Konoha's defenses just like in the Third War.
Thus, because a few villagers could not see a six year old in lieu of a Nine-Tailed Fox Demon and protectors who couldn't care less, Konoha would lose its image carefully cultivated since Hashirama and Madara founded the Village Hidden in the Leaves and immediately find themselves beset on all sides by enemies with no allies in sight.
The Hokage shook his head of the deeply disturbing rabbit hole he was going down and turned around to pull the scrying orb from its drawer. He would forever be awe of Mito Uzumaki's skill at the Sealing Arts. The woman managed to place an entire detection barrier around Konoha that was constantly monitored to this day by a Detection Division using the Sensing System Technique and a five member Interception Division.
Hiruzen dragged himself back to current affairs regarding his pseudo-grandson. He knew Naruto's teacher hated him. The Third had to personally remind the instructor that he did not want useless ninja especially one that could die releasing the Kyubi back into the world.
A lie. The Kyubi would die with Naruto according to the seal on Naruto's stomach, but the Third Hokage was suspicious that any seal could remove such a vast amount of chakra. If only one wisp of the Kyubi's chakra escaped the seal, then the wisp of Kyubi's chakra would grow using the latent Chakra in the world to eventually reform the Kyubi to his prime.
At the same time, Naruto would need to grow a tough hide. People would not like him including superiors and fellow Shinobi, and the quicker Naruto accepted that fact the better.
Also, Sarutobi was glad that Naruto finally started the Academy. With Naruto not spending the majority of his day inside of a brothel, the Hokage could finally use his scrying orb. He really did not want to explain to the person who caught him why he was using his scrying orb to look into a brothel. Knowing his luck, the person who caught him doing it would probably be a female.
That would be a public relations scandal like no other and would permanently defame the venerable position of Hokage. Also, the look on Kurmochi's face, if he were caught, would be too much for him to handle.
At the Academy, Naruto would be able to spend time with other kids his age. Kids who did not know about Naruto's secret. Unfortunately, the parents' hatred towards the blonde passed down to their offspring, and as a result, they too shunned the Jinchuriki. Apparently, Naruto has decided to take the first swings on that front outright ostracizing all other children especially clan members.
Naruto's hatred for all clan and seemingly civilian children would not be good for his career as a Shinobi especially, since he was immediately shunning basically the whole entire Ninja Corps. Ironically enough, Naruto was ignoring them without giving a time to prove themselves just like they were doing to him. Mutually assured destruction.
At least Naruto on some level knew his hypocrisy, when he apologized to the Aburame heir and quickly befriended the Akimichi and Nara heir too.
The Hokage would admit that Naruto's disdain for clan children was a result from when Naruto stormed into his office one day demanding a list of all other Uzumakis in the village. Unfortunately, Hiruzen had to notify the boy that they were all dead.
Unfortunately, the Hokage had to lie to the boy and inform him that his last name was not Uzumaki due to blood but rather as an honorary name. Naruto's last name was given to him in honor of his unknown parents sacrifice defending the village from the Kyubi attack. The reason why the Hokage knew that much was because of the young child's chakra levels that was above those of a civilian.
The Hokage simply could not afford Naruto assuming he was the child of Kushina Uzumaki and begin trying to connect the dots to determine his father as well. Naruto finding out or being informed of his parentage was going to be someone else's bucket of worms to deal with. He was too old for that shit.
The boy then demanded all documents relating to the Kyubi attack because he wanted to know every last detail about his parents' deaths. The boy claimed it was the only thing he could link to his biological parents, and he demanded it as his right.
Of course, the Hokage could have denied him his self-appointed right, but Hiruzen feared that rejecting the child's demand would lose all of the child's remaining trust.
The next day, the Third showed up at Naruto's apartment and gave him a pile of carefully screened documents relating to the Kyubi attack. If anyone deserved to know the details of that fateful night, it was Kyubi's container.
The Hokage realized his mistake of giving Naruto all the documents at once because he apparently holed himself away in his apartment committing every word on every document to memory. That could not be healthy.
A knock on the door interrupted Sarutobi's thoughts. After receiving the Hokage's permission, a messenger from the Academy entered the office to start explaining with a stutter about Naruto's improper actions and quoting what the young child said. 'The mouth on that child,' Hiruzen thought in astonishment before narrowing his eyes. 'I don't need a second guess as to where he learned that language.'
Kurmochi might have scared the headmaster into having him send her a messenger, but she wasn't the only one keeping personal tabs on Naruto's affairs.
'Speaking of which,' Hiruzen pondered. 'I bet Danzo also is keeping tabs on the boy in order to convince me to give the boy to him for training to become an emotionless tool.' Some people were just too easy to predict.
"Thank you for delivering this message for me," the Hokage said, "and please notify the headmaster of my thanks dealing with this matter. Tell him that I will be letting Ms. Kurmochi handle this matter regarding Naruto's choice selection of words. Please notify me, when she arrives at the Academy."
Like hell he was getting involved with a student telling his teacher to stop sucking another student's dick.
Furthermore, Hiruzen wanted to know how she would handle this situation and her method of punishment. He needed to determine if the punishment could be viewed as cruel and unusual. He would always be looking for ways to discredit her.
Naruto being completely dependent on Kurmochi's affections was bad news. If anyone knew about Orochimaru's methods like Hiruzen did, then they would understand as well. If Kurmochi ever turned evil or was murdered, then the Third hoped he was already dead because he really did not want to perform the Reaper Death Seal on his Kyubi-induced pseudo-grandson.
Secondly, Hiruzen always secretly liked being the only one that Naruto had. Of course, he would never admit this because then he would be comparing himself to Kurmochi and Orochimaru. Also, it was extremely petty, and he knew it. Nonetheless, Sarutobi purposefully kept himself distant during Naruto's earlier years out of necessity, and he did not want Naruto to grow a dependence on him.
That absolutely backfired in his face.
Naturally, the messenger returned a little less than two hours later to tell him that Kurmochi arrived at the Academy that was at most a twenty minute walk. She obviously took her sweet time to annoy the headmaster and to make Naruto squirm in his desk as his overactive imagination worried more and more about his punishment.
Hiruzen also had a distinct feeling she did it to bother him as well. 'Jokes on her,' Sarutobi thought with a smile. 'I have paperwork to keep me busy.' He had to restrain himself from visibly deflating at that thought. He couldn't let the ANBU in the room see their supreme leader defeated by a stack of paper.
Sarutobi grabbed his scrying orb and focused on Naruto's unique chakra signature that he made sure to memorize after kicking himself for not attuning himself to it before the Orphanage kicked him out. 'It is only a failure if you don't learn from your mistake,' the Hokage sagely told himself to make him feel a tad better about that fiasco.
Kurmochi's face remained blank throughout the headmaster's retelling of Naruto's actions earlier that day. Meanwhile, Naruto squirmed in his seat with his head looking at his lap and pushing invisible specks off of his kimono. Hiruzen couldn't help but notice her look of secret approval in her eyes at Naruto's actions.
Apparently, she wasn't a fan of the clans as well. This fact was probably rooted in the fact that very few clan members ever participated in her seductive missions. The Hokage didn't delude himself saying that her attitude didn't rub off on young Naruto.
Naruto's meek appearance before the headmaster completely shattered for the Hokage, however, when the little brat looked to side with a gleam in his eyes and a slight smirk. The manipulative little brat knew she was proud and was therefore proud in his actions. What was worst was the little charade originally fooled the Third himself.
After making a few promises that this will never happen again, Kurmochi took Naruto by his ear marching him out of the office and towards Naruto's classroom whispering a few words of praise.
All of Hiruzen's lingering doubts about the duo's sincerity came crashing down, when Naruto started back-talking the teacher while apologizing at the same time. Kurmochi's face at the same time was turning sour, but Hokage knew that what she was really thinking was most likely along the lines of: 'He needs more work'.
When she dragged Naruto out of the classroom and into the hallway, Sarutobi's suspicion was answered. "You need to learn to control that wicked tongue of yours, Naruto-kun, or it will get you in real trouble one day," Kurmochi whispered in his ears.
The Hokage felt his cheeks flush a little at that point. 'Couldn't she have chosen a better way to phrase that statement,' Hiruzen questioned, 'and why did she have to say it like that? He is only eight years old.'
If Sarutobi's cheeks were pink before, they transformed into a decent red. The Madame placed Naruto's hands against the wall and used her foot to spread the blonde's legs apart slightly. She then yanked the backside of Naruto's kimono over his head revealing his teal boxers covered in green frogs.
Then, she started to whip the boy's rear with the wooden ruler that she borrowed from Saji. The Hokage really hoped that no one walked into the hallway to find out who was screaming like a little girl. He really did not want to mess with that shit and mountain of paperwork.
The Hokage cursed Kurmochi under his breath. Like hell he could use this as an example of cruel and unusual punishment because that would mean that was explicitly viewing them with his scrying orb. This would then bring up questions on to what else he could possibly be using his scrying orb for. Hiruzen could already see Kurmochi asking him what he saw with the orb, and Hiruzen really did not want to say out loud what he was watching.
All Hiruzen could do was hope this didn't permanently screw up Naruto's head and develop some weird fetishes in the future. Of course, the Hokage was worried about the boy's future sex-life. He was a good grandfather like that.
Once she was done performing her chosen method of punishment, Kurmochi pulled Naruto's kimono back down and whispered into his ear, "That will be your lesson to learn this new thing called subtlety. Look it up in that dictionary your sister's gave you."
Naruto could only nod his tear-stained head up and down. The Hokage believed he saw enough after Naruto apologized to his sensei and class and perfect his handwriting under Kurmochi's strict tutelage.
Like hell the Hokage was ever going to let her become a substitute teacher much less an actual teacher. He was drowning in paperwork as it was, and he didn't need a bunch of angry parents and clan heads breathing down his neck.
One hour later
All of Hiruzen's previous spying on his pseudo-grandson was making him a little hungrier than usual by this time in day. The Hokage ordered one his elite soldiers to go pick him up a lettuce wrap and to fix him a pot of tea, while he pulled the scrying orb out again.
Hiruzen focused on Naruto's chakra signature again. He noticed that Naruto was just starting his own lunch break with a slight limp in his step from his previous beating.
Hiruzen put a small smile on his face, when he remembered how he made friends with the Aburame, Nara and Akimichi clans despite a less than pleasant first impression. The smile quickly turned into a deep look of disapproval in response to some civilian kid's insulting words.
Sarutobi knew that this would not go well, but he truly did not understand how much of an understatement that was. The Third's face changed from disapproval to shock, as he witnessed Naruto's physical transformation.
The color of his eyes turned into a blood red, the whisker marks deepened, the ears became slightly pointier, his hands and feet turned into claws –all telltale signs of the Kyubi's presence inside of Naruto. What was worse however was Naruto's seemingly uncontrollable anger, as he brutally lashed out against the bully.
It would seem that the Fourth's seal was not as strong as previously believed. The belief behind the seal was that it would channel a small amount of the Kyubi's chakra into the container's chakra system; however, the chakra would be purified from its poisonous demonic state into one suitable for humans.
Granted as a Jinchuriki, Naruto would be more resistant to the Kyubi's chakra than anyone else currently alive. It would seem that seal was not completely filtering the hatred inherent in the Kyubi's chakra but merely diluting it. The Hokage also suspected from his previous experiences with Jinchuriki that Naruto's emotions, especially hatred, would subconsciously draw out more of the Kyubi's chakra.
When Naruto would draw more of the Kyubi's chakra than originally intended, the seal would not be able to have any effect on the red chakra's tendency to turn the container into a rampaging monster.
The seal instead prevented the Kyubi from completely dominating its container and releasing the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox through the container's loss of willpower. This was truly what made the seal a masterpiece in the Hokage's humble opinion. Tailed Beast chakra was like a crack in a dam. The more water that would leak, the weaker the dam would be, the larger the crack would grow, more water would leak and thus the cycle would continue until busting the whole dam.
In this case, instead a lake worth of water being held back by a dam, a rampaging Nine-Tailed Demon Fox would be released into the world. Thus, the seal would kick in as a failsafe at the point of no return knocking the Jinchuriki unconscious and putting the Kyubi back into its cage.
Of course, the Fourth also made a key to open the cage and disable the failsafe protocol for when the Jinchuriki believed himself strong enough to defeat the Kyubi. If Naruto lost, however, then the Kyubi would be released once more onto the world. 'Because what is life without a little risk,' the Third sarcastically thought reprimanding the Fourth's ideas.
And to think, he developed this plan within hours, while the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was destroying the village. It merely required the sacrifice of Konoha's greatest hero, since the First founded the village, and the Kyubi's previous Jinchuriki along with the aid of the God of Death to create the seal.
Nonetheless, the Third had to quickly get Naruto's rage under control. The Fourth's legacy might be Naruto, but the Third would be damned if he was going to have his legacy be an uncontrollable rampaging Jinchuriki in Konoha's own walls. Thus, the Hokage dispersed into a pile of leaves in a Body Flicker into the Academy's schoolyard.
The Hokage loudly cleared his throat getting all of the students and teachers' attention. Hiruzen's eyes were instead locked on to Naruto's struggling head-locked form. Fortunately the forced restraint was causing Naruto to calm down, and the blonde made eye contact with the Hokage.
Naruto's eyes widened and whispered in slight exhaustion and fear for what just hpapened, "Grandpa."
"I'll take it from here," the Hokage announced. He needed to fix this quickly and now, and he could only think of one solution that allowed Naruto to keep his humanity.
The boy's clear inability to control his emotions especially his rage in reference to his 'family' could not be allowed to continue. If it became obvious that the Jinchuriki could not control his emotions and resulted to a berserker state that would put Inuzukas to shame, then the Hokage would be hard-pressed protecting Naruto from the village's machinations. The Shinobi Council, the Hokage's advisors, Danzo specifically and to a lesser extent the Civilian Councilmen and women would all demand immediate action ranging from weaponization to imprisonment to exile to execution.
'Like hell', the Hokage thought. 'He wasn't going to put the Fourth's legacy's future in the hands of the people who couldn't even see that they were at least partially responsible for Naruto's poor mental state.'
Also, it was simply too easy of an emotional trigger. His 'mother' was literally the Madame of a brothel, and his 'sisters' were literally whores. That was just the truth. Hiruzen had no idea how Naruto could not have already come to terms with these facts. The boy has been practically living with them for two years now.
'But how do I solve this conundrum?' the Third pondered. 'He couldn't have Kurmochi teach Naruto this lesson. She would probably only turn his hot anger into a cold fury, and I've seen too many Shinobi explode with pent-up emotions in his lifetime. Also, it would only further young Naruto's dependence on her, and I really want to avoid that.'
'The Yamanaka clan have a potential, but I don't want to place too much political weight on one clan. The whole point of seeking help was to avoid problems with the Shinobi council which held the most power next to myself. Also, their abilities deal with delving in their target's brain. The last thing I'm going to do is condone going into a Jinchuriki's mindscape, especially one with mental issues in the first place. To top everything off, the Yamanaka clan were terrible gossips, and I really don't want everyone knowing Naruto's current mental health.'
'I can't have Naruto have daily visits with Ibiki Morino, the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force. The man was a professional sadist who believed that pain was an effective form of communication. While the man had complete knowledge of the human psychology, he was best at using it to break people, not fix them. Furthermore, Naruto would lose all faith in him as the Hokage and the village as a whole after being psychologically destroyed simply because he had some well-deserved anger.'
'What I need is a third-party that wouldn't be influenced by any of Konoha's politicking,' the Hokage concluded, 'and someone that could claim to be above my influence as well.'
A name popped into Hiruzen's head. Kagemura Tenshin. While he wouldn't technically be above the Hokage's influence, it was the best Sarutobi could think of at the moment. In his line of work, one quickly learned to take the best real option and not wait for some mystical person to arrive and solve all of the problems.
Sarutobi nodded to himself in conclusion, and then pointed at the groaning boy in the dirt, "Take the boy to the Academy clinic to begin healing his wounds. Tell the medic-nin to bring his class with him as a demonstration. Then inform the headmaster and have a messenger sent to the boy's guardians telling them that their son is receiving treatment. If they wish to come, then they may. I will also be willing to talk to them along with the headmaster. Furthermore, Ms. Kurmochi will not be told of this situation. Naruto will have the pleasure of doing that himself at a later time. I'll be escorting Naruto to the teacher's office, where we will be having a serious discussion about his actions against the other boy. Everyone else continue what you were doing."
Hiruzen grabbed Naruto by his shoulder and led him towards the teacher's office, while the two instructors carried the beaten boy to the Academy's clinic. Meanwhile, all of the other students started loudly gossiping to each other.
The Hokage had more important issues to worry about at the moment like a pseudo-grandson that was staring at his bloodstained hands that he was squeezing and releasing. Fortunately, his Jinchuriki features had completely faded as quickly as they had come.
"Calm yourself, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen voiced in his well-known grandfatherly-like tone. "We are merely going to discuss what happened. We can't be having that happen every day, now can we? We must learn from our past actions after all to better ourselves in the future."
Naruto could only nod mechanically. Once they entered the office, the Hokage set himself across the desk and motioned for Naruto to sit as well.
Breaking the silence, Hiruzen asked, "Would you like to explain to me what happened in the schoolyard with that boy?"
Naruto balled his little fists and answered with a distant voice described the whole event in good memory. 'It's a good thing he didn't try to lie to me,' the Hokage concluded.
"And how did that make you feel?" Hiruzen almost wanted to wince at how cliché that statement was, but the Hokage needed to know the answer to that question.
"I. He. He just made me really mad. Then, I saw red and reacted. I felt so strong. Like I was on top of the world, and no one could take me down. I was in charge. Everyone had to look up to me. I stopped feeling so weak like when I was at the Orphanage. I could stand up for myself. I wasn't weak. I was strong. And I liked it. I didn't want it to end."
Hiruzen nodded, "That would be the filling of adrenaline which is a chemical that your body makes and releases throughout your body. It seems to me as if you were practically running on it." That and the Kyubi's chakra, but he wasn't going to be discussing that with him at such a tender age.
"While there is nothing wrong with being strong, the problem arises with how you use your strength. In your case, you overstepped the lines the moment you started hitting the boy, when he stopped being able to defend himself," Sarutobi lectured.
"I don't understand," Naruto blurted.
"Oh," the Hokage replied raising an eyebrow. "What do you not understand?"
"When the children and adults at the Orphanage would bully and beat me just because they could, no one would stand up in my defense. In fact, everyone would cheer them on and be rewarded. Yet, when I do the same thing to defend me and my family's honor, I'm in an office speaking to the supreme leader of the village. Also, why does he get medical treatment? I never got medical treatment! I got spat on! That's what I got!" Naruto said in a melancholy tone that quickly escalated to heated shouting.
Hiruzen gave a downcast expression, "What they did was wrong? I'm sorry, but-"
"Sorry? You're sorry! What the hell is that going to do for me? You're sorry! Where the hell was your sorry, when I needed it?" Naruto demanded.
"We can't change the past. All we can do is accept it and move on," the Hokage instructed.
"Accept it! You want me to forget what happened to me? You want me to forgive?" Naruto shouted in disbelief.
"I never said anything about forgiving them or forgetting about what happened. You must learn to come to terms with it," Sarutobi continued.
"Oh, yeah. I understand perfectly now. It's okay for them to beat me, but I can't do the same in my defense. I understand it crystal clear now. Thanks for clearing that up now that I know my role as the village's whipping boy," the blonde venomously retorted.
'Where the hell did he make that connection?' the Hokage thought to himself mystified. 'It matters not. What I am doing is clearly not working.'
"I have no idea where you got that idea from. I merely pointed out that you crossed a line, not that defending yourself was wrong," Hiruzen restated. "However, there will be consequences for your actions."
Naruto crossed his arms and guffawed, "At the Orphanage-"
The Third raised his hand, "We are no longer at the Orphanage Naruto. We are the Academy, and the sooner you realize that the better. Things are different now. You know that more than I do. What I cannot have is you blowing up and beating everyone to a bloody pulp that insults you or your family. You don't see me starting a war with everyone that insults me or Konoha."
Naruto continued to cross his arms but puffed his cheeks out in an immature pout and remained silent.
Seeing that as an opportunity to continue, "Naruto, the past can't hurt you anymore, not unless you let it." Naruto's face shun, as if he just achieved nirvana. If the Hokage were being perfectly honest with himself, then he would admit he was more than a little worried by the way the boy acted like all of his problems were just solved.
Deciding now would be a good time to quit potentially making this situation worse, the Hokage diverted the conversation, "I understand that your life has not been easy by any means, but you must understand that other people can help you make it better. Just take me, or your 'Mama' or your sisters."
Naruto nodded in agreement. The Third continued, "There is no shame in admitting a weakness. In fact, not doing so is a weakness. As a Shinobi, failing to acknowledge a weakness is tantamount to failure and potentially the death of yourself or your comrades. You are probably wondering why I am telling you this. I'm going to admit that I am not good with these kinds of conversations. All I can tell you are lessons that I myself have learned."
"Furthermore, I cannot always be there for you. I'm a busy man with a lot on my shoulders, and I will admit that I am no longer in my prime. At the same time, I cannot let you continue bottling up your emotions for you to explode like you did in the schoolyard a few moments ago."
"Instead, you will be having daily visits with a good friend of mine named Kagemura Tenshin at the Fire Temple here in Konoha. In fact, I'll be walking you to the temple after class today."
Naruto began to protest before the Hokage lifted his hand again demanding silence, "This is not up for discussion. I assure you that this is best for you whether or not you believe it right now. I myself have visited him multiple times for assistance, and he has always proven himself beneficial."
"Here is what we are going to do now. You are going to the bathroom and go wash your hands and face, while I wait outside of the bathroom. Then, we will walk back into the schoolyard. I will talk to your sensei that we have come a mutually-agreed upon commitment that you will be going to the Fire Temple directly after class everyday from now on.
"You will be silent and go eat your lunch. You will not cause any more trouble today no matter what anyone says or does. You are both stronger and better than them. You must rise above them. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience."
"After the lunch break is over, you will go back to class without causing any drama and pay attention to the lesson. You and the other boy's actions today do not merit permanently disrupting your studies. Once class is dismissed, you will walk outside without drama. You will then wait for me if I am not already outside. You will hold my hand, and then we will walk to the Fire Temple."
'Unlike you, Naruto,' the Hokage despaired to himself, 'I have to talk to the child's parents that you just wrecked and then have nice long and tedious conversation with the village's 'concerned citizens'.'
"Under no circumstances are you allowed to antagonize anyone or retort back. I don't care if what you do is in self-defense, or if it makes you feel weak. You will prove to me that you are strong enough to handle this and rise above everyone's petty hatred or prove that everyone was right about you, and that I have been wasting my whole time with you."
"That is what will happen. It truly breaks my heart that I have to say this, but a Shinobi must learn to set aside their compassion and steel themselves for what needs to be done. This may seem harsh, but life is too."
"Now stand with me in our most peculiar light. This world will try to tear you down. You must stay strong and gather your allies and friends around you and ignore the naysayers. Who are they after all before Naruto Uzumaki?"
The Hokage walked Naruto to the bathroom and said, "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."
After Naruto finished cleaning his hands and face in the bathroom, the both of them walked down the hallway towards the schoolyard, "Be not afraid of greatness Naruto. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
The Hokage then grabbed both of the blonde's shoulders and said in complete seriousness, "I firmly believe with every ounce of my aging bones that you will one day achieve this greatness, and everyone will see what I see in you. You will face more obstacles in your life than I could possibly imagine, but I believe in you. I believe that you will overcome all of them just like you have always done. And one day you will stand before all the people who doubted that such a day would ever happen and you will ask them, 'What have you to say now?' "
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha, the Professor and God of Shinobi, walked hand in hand with Naruto Uzumaki, the Living Vessel of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the Village Pariah and Unsung Hero, into the daylight of the schoolyard heads held high.
AN: When I was first writing this story, I had the intention of writing it starting at least around the graduation of the Academy. I would then progress my story, and have flashbacks to explain the past. I'm afraid that will no longer be happening as I now have the full intention of detailing the Academy years.
Whenever I watch a movie, read a story, etc, I find myself always more interested in the stories they didn't tell like more information about Hanzo and Pain's fight/the Akatsuki formation (now in a video game). For another example, I really want a detailed story about Robert's Rebellion/The Battle at the Trident or the conquest of Westeros in A Song for Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones).
Do not worry though. The story will not be progressing in a day-by-day fashion. It just happens that Naruto's first days at the Academy are stressful and require me to write about them.
If anyone has any recommendations or suggestions about: my plot, what you want to see, what you think would be a good idea (large or small; i.e. a fight scene or the color of Naruto's boxers), critiques of my writing style, or observations that you like and wish for me to continue, then I would greatly appreciate them.
After all, I can only improve if you tell me what I am doing wrong or right.
Thank you all again for reading my story. Until the next chapter.