Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, except Hikari and family, but since I'm a generous kinda lady you guys can borrow them if you ask nicely.

Chapter 7: A meeting with the Hokage

Bull's shunshin took them both to the foot of the Hokage's tower. Hikari stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face, but a hand with fingers like steel bars gripped her upper and pulled her to her feet, holding her upright until she was balanced.

"Thanks," Hikari gasped. "Wow that's a rush. I can see why you shinobi insist on doing that all the time. Feels like flying."

Bull cocked his head, examining her, but offered no comment. Hikari just shrugged. She was used to the huge guy not talking a whole lot. Vaguely she wondered if he was the same with the mask off, but decided that it didn't matter. It was really very much none of her business.

Turning to the tower, Hikari looked at the number of stairs she was going to have to go up and swore.

Bull looked at her, his mask angled in what Hikari had decided was his "questioning" look.

"Ugh, don't worry about it," Hikari said, flapping one hand. "Just that many stairs is going to be a bitch to get up... No! That's not what I meant! Don't even fucking think about it," Hikari snarled when Bull wordlessly offered to carry her up the stairs. "I might be crippled, but that doesn't make me useless, and the day I let a flight of stairs defeat me is the day I let my Aunt Noriko have her way about the nursing home she suggested when I first lost the leg. For the record," Hikari scowled, "that day will come over my dead body, so the point will be moot."

And with that proclamation, Hikari began to carefully make her way up the stairs, using the bannister on one side and her crutch on the other to swing herself upwards step by step, putting as little weight on her prosthesis as possible. Bull followed behind her, and Hikari decided to pretend that he was just doing his job as escort, as opposed to making sure she didn't need the help that she'd refused.

Even if she did stumble, she would refuse. She'd make her way up those stairs alone if she had to crawl.

About ten minutes later, having been stopped a few times by paperwork-nin who had wanted to know what the hell a civilian was doing in the Tower, (Hikari, slightly breathless from exertion had simply pointed at the massive masked presence at her back and most of them had paled and backed away slowly,) they were finally at the Hokage's door. Bull pushed past Hikari and entered with only a perfunctory knock. Hikari followed closely behind him.

Hikari had never seen the Hokage up close before. She could recognise him, obviously, considering that his face took up a significant proportion of the mountainside, and his official robes were pretty distinctive, but the closest she had ever been to this man was most of a room away when her little brother Masaru had graduated the Academy.

This was a man, she reminded herself, who was called "the Professor" because he knew and could perform a ridiculous amount of jutsu. This was a man who had been given the job as Hokage because he was, "the strongest" of all the shinobi of his generation.

She had to remind herself, because frankly, the Hokage looked pretty old and tired, as he sat hunched over and squinted over his paperwork through slightly battered-looking reading glasses. He was almost as old as her grandfather, and she had little doubt that the man had seen and heard enough to age him a century past that.

It was a quietly held opinion of many of the civilians that ninja years were like dog years. Hikari, as a 17 year old civilian, was only now beginning to escape being treated like a child, whilst 12 year old genin were allowed into bars. It was a badly-kept secret that a significant proportion of the "kunoichi classes" were devoted to instilling in the girls how to have safe sex, in missions and out of them. The lessons covered hygiene, contraception, and psychology so that careers would not end prematurely due to the girls growing feelings for clients, falling accidentally pregnant to their usually male team-mates, or any of the other pitfalls that could arise from the new experiences of hormones coupled with lax rules at home and often death-defying missions abroad. Kunoichi had to walk a delicate tight-rope, of exercising self-control, and looking out for when their generally less mature male peers were about to get themselves into trouble. There was a reason after all why there were girls on every genin team.

But the real reason why the genin were allowed such privileges over their civilian peers came down to the simple fact that otherwise, they might not ever enjoy them. Teenagers were known for risk-taking behaviours. In between the permissiveness of the laws concerning child-soldiers ("might as well let the brats take what little pleasure while they still can," was a common sentiment, and it was hard to consider anyone with a thousand yard stare to be still a child, no matter that they still had puppy fat) the universal brutality of the only exam genin could take outside of wartime that would allow them promotion, and the fact that any mission that a shinobi took could easily be their last due to bad intel, bad decisions, or just bad luck, the likelihood of ninja dying or being permanently crippled in their first five years of service was one in three. This had only gotten worse since the legendary medic-nin Tsunade had left, and the general standards of the Konoha Hospital had henceforth dropped noticeably, and so the likelihood of ninja surviving the first five years along with their original genin team-mates was even lower.

So when ninja reached the age of 21, it was more than just marker of coming of age like it was for the civilians. Civilians who turned 21 would often have large parties with their friends and family. Ninja who turned 21 were generally quietly acknowledged as being by default worthy of registering in the bingo books of other nations, regardless of known exploits. Sometimes especially if they had no known exploits. A ninja who had reached 21 without drawing the notice of the various competing intelligence services of the Hidden villages was sometimes either stupidly lucky, or kept close to home due to their lack of skill and/or politics.

But sometimes, it was because they were just that good.

In any case, because of the dangers and stresses of the shinobi way of life, if it was rare for a full genin team to reach the age of 21 and still be at combat efficiency, ("unscathed" was not a word that any one with any sense would apply to a shinobi who had been active for almost a decade,) it was even rarer for them to grow old enough to have grandchildren. That was the other reason why the Hokage was called "the Professor". He had taught the Sannin, and regardless of what personal flaws and strengths that Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru had shown, they would not have become the awe-inspiring ninja they were without their teacher. The Hokage was the rarest type of genius in the ninja world- one that had managed to produce students that had a diverse set of specialisations, and that had managed to live up to the strength of their mentor. That said as much about Sarutobi Hiruzen as it did about his students.

Thus, even if the Hokage was past his prime, there was little doubt the man was a living legend. Not to mention his position as leader of an organisation that routinely organised assassinations, theft and espionage, alongside the innocently innocuous D-ranks that were the public face of shinobi missions.

Hikari, not being a complete idiot, decided to show the old man as much respect as she could muster without feeling like a toady. She respected the Hokage, and was more than happy to show it, but at the same time, her experience with watching civilian/ninja interactions was that ninjas were generally suspicious or contemptuous of obsequiousness. Bowing her head politely, she silently waited for the Sandaime to acknowledge her presence.

She didn't have long to wait.

"Greetings Sorayama Hikari-san. If you could please take a seat, I will be with you in just a moment," the Sandaime Hokage said without looking up as he stamped one of the pieces of paperwork he had laid out in front of him.

Hikari nodded, "Yes Hokage-sama," and moved to drag a chair over from the wall. She figured that the shinobi must usually give their reports standing up, because there were no impressions in the carpet to imply that the chair usually rested in front of the Hokage's desk.

Before she could do so, however, Bull blurred, and then whisked the chair so that it was suddenly in front of her.

Forgetting who she was in front of for a moment, Hikari growled, "Damnit Bull! I could have got it fine for myself."

Bull just shrugged, obviously unapologetic.

Hikari rolled her eyes, and sat down on the chair a little harder than necessary.

It broke beneath her, and then suddenly, she was lying on the floor, in a mess of chair parts.

"Son of a bitch!" she swore, kicking herself free and then levering herself up using the Hokage's desk. At least this time her prosthesis hadn't fallen off, even though her crutch had gone flying.

"Are you Alright Miss Hikari?" Bull suddenly boomed, at her elbow in an instant.

Hikari blinked. She had never heard Bull sound like that before. Normally he was so restrained, and quiet. Had her fall broken his iron control? Why?

Holding onto the edge of the Hokage's desk for support, she checked herself over, fixing her clothes a little as she went.

She shook her head. "It was just a nasty surprise, Bull. I'm fine."

"I am extremely sorry about that."

Hikari jumped. She hadn't even noticed the Hokage move, and he was suddenly right beside her, looking her up and down, before nodding and moving to check the chair.

Looking at the pieces, it was pretty obvious that the chair had been sabotaged- the breaks in the legs had clean saw marks.

The Hokage made a sound of severe annoyance. "That boy..." he grumbled to himself. He looked up at the ceiling, and growled out, "Anbu, report!"

A short Anbu with a green ponytail that matched her Frog mask flipped down from the ceiling.

"Hokage-sama!"

Hikari looked sidelong at the Hokage, and was not surprised to see that his expression was fixed on very unimpressed indeed. She swallowed hard, silently and was glad that she wasn't Frog.

"Could you please explain to me why the chair that I use for visitors and injured shinobi has been sabotaged? Without you, or any of the other Anbu guarding my office noticing?" the Hokage had an expression that suggested it was only his iron control that was preventing him from yelling at one of his elite forces in front of a civilian. Judging by the extreme tension that Hikari could see in Frog's stance, Hikari got the impression that he might as well have.

"..." the Anbu hesitated, before answering, "the only person who has been in your office today without supervision was Uzumaki. But I only took my eyes off him for like five minutes!" the Anbu's words could have been interpreted as whining, but the tone suggested more impressed incredulity. Hikari knew that she was impressed, despite the fact that she was still a bit sore from hitting the floor like that. No kid she'd ever heard of had been able to get one past Anbu like that, especially one that wasn't even out of the Academy yet.

The Hokage face-palmed.

"Oh Naruto..." he groaned. He then looked up and snapped at the Anbu. "Well? What are you waiting for? Bring him here. I want him in front of my desk five minutes ago," he raised one hand as if to wave it in dismissal, but then paused. "Intact. I want him in front of my desk five minutes ago intact." Then he waved dismissively.

The Anbu hesitated for a split second, but then looked at the Hokage and Bull, visibly resisted cringing away from the latter, who had cocked his mask in the way that somehow expressed Well? What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation? and then hastily shunshined away.

The Hokage shook his head, muttering darkly under his breath, before he turned to Hikari, and said, "My apologies, Sorayama-san."

Hikari shrugged. "No harm done. It's not the first time I've hit the ground and it won't be the last." She shook her head a little ruefully, and accepted her crutch back from Bull, who had picked it up for her. "It's not even the first time that kid's knocked me down this week."

The Hokage sighed. "Yes, I did hear about that incident. As I am sure you are aware, your cousin, Council Member Sorayama Wakana, has threatened to file an assault case on your behalf."

Hikari gaped, honestly surprised. "Wait, what?"

The Hokage's gaze sharpened, as he nodded to himself. "So the rumours are true then."

Hikari just stared at him, and then pushed away from the desk, hobbling over to one of the wide windows so that she could lean against the sill, ignoring the hand that Bull offered her for support.

She took a moment to compose herself, considered the last few minutes, and then realised what was going on.

Politics.

She audibly groaned.

The Hokage, and Bull, who had been silently watching her, both looked askance.

Hikari massaged her forehead with one hand. "Okay, so let me see if I've got this straight. This meeting isn't about my business at all. You ninja haven't felt the need to do more than keep an eye on me since I got set up six months ago, and I haven't woken up in some dank cell in the basement of T&I, so obviously I'm not in trouble for something I've done." Hikari took a breath. "On the other hand, the fact that I'm here means that I've gone and stumbled into something important, haven't I? This is about the kid?"

Something in what she had just said made the Hokage's eyebrows raise almost imperceptibly, but he merely nodded.

There was a pause, and then Hikari belatedly realised that the Hokage wanted her to keep going.

"Oh, uh, right. Well since you mentioned 'rumours', then I assume that it's got around that I didn't exactly spit at the poor kid even though he knocked me over. Hell, you probably had some Anbu getting eyewitness reports just out of general policy like, five seconds after it happened."

The Hokage outright laughed. "You overestimate the abilities of Anbu's information gathering."

Hikari just snorted. "Sure I do. Let's both pretend that you don't have Anbu watching the kid 24/7. Let's pretend that you're really that stupid." She looked up and blanched a little at the Hokage's suddenly harsh expression, and the sudden feeling that his chakra was going to crush her. She sank abruptly to the floor, but this time no one made any effort to help her up.

"Explain your statement."

The words were relatively mild, but Hikari had sudden visions of that dank cell in T&I. Shit. Her mother had always told her that her mouth would get her into trouble.

Hikari gasped, trying to refill her lungs with air and raised both hands in the universal gesture of "unarmed civilian here, seriously, I know you could squish me like a bug, but I'd personally prefer if we could both go our merry ways unscathed!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did I say? Look, obviously you have someone tasked to keep an eye on the kid. I can't say why, obviously, without breaking the law, but you wouldn't have that law there if you weren't trying to keep his... condition secret or something from outsiders. If no one is allowed to bring it up, then Konoha's enemies are less likely to learn about the fact that we've got a... thing I will not be talking about. So on the one hand, this could be just you wanting the kid to live to puberty, on the other, this means that when the kid gets a bit bigger, Konoha's got a secret weapon that our enemies can't be sure that we have. Unless they open their eyes and notice how most people either treat the kid like he's a leper, or are openly hostile, which come to think of it is another good reason to have someone keeping an eye on him." Hikari babbled. "Now, please don't kill me! We can't afford Mum's medicine on just Masaru's genin pay!"

Slowly, the feeling of being crushed ebbed, and Hikari opened eyes that she hadn't even realised she had closed while she cringed.

When all that she heard was silence, she looked up warily.

The Hokage's expression was still blank, but she couldn't help but feel that she was being assessed.

Assessed on what?

Hikari felt a familiar evil presence, and shuddered.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a small orange-clad figure was thrown in. He rolled a little, and hit the Hokage's desk, crumpling with a small moan.

Hikari was shocked for a split second, but when the kid dazedly blinked his eyes open, she saw red.

Ignoring the fact that she was crouched on the floor, Hikari turned to look at the Anbu who had just unceremoniously thrown an eight year old child into a desk, standing to smug attention next to the door like a dog waiting for a pat on the head from Master and a biscuit for being a good girl.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hikari demanded, attempting to struggle to her feet.

She heard a sharp rustle as the Hokage's head suddenly snapped around to stare at her again, but ignored it.

The Anbu, who was still Frog, Hikari noticed, just stared at her through the holes of her mask.

"Seriously," Hikari made it to her feet by hauling herself up by the windowsill, and stood straight, and defiant. "I know violence is what you're trained for but since when do Anbu throw kids into furniture for no apparent reason?"

If Hikari hadn't known better, she would have thought that the Anbu just blinked at her.

"The civilian does make a very good point," drawled the Hokage, his sarcasm especially pointed on the word "civilian". "Please someone correct me if I am wrong, but I am fairly sure I asked you to bring me Naruto intact."

The Anbu's smug attitude vanished.

"We'll be speaking of this later," the Hokage growled. "For now, you are dismissed."

Frog bowed, and then vanished.

Hikari, having regained most of her equilibrium, noticed that the kid was still sitting on the floor looking a little out of it. She hobbled over to him, and poked him with her crutch, avoiding touching him as much as she could.

"Hey kid. You okay?"

The kid shook his head as though to clear it, making his blonde hair flop all over the place. He looked up at Hikari. "Oh hey, you're the lady with the cool fake leg!"

Hikari blinked. No one had ever said her wooden prosthesis was "cool" before.

"Naruto, haven't I told you to be polite to strangers?" the Hokage sighed in exasperation.

"Sure Old Man, but Fake Leg Lady isn't a stranger! We met before!" Bright blue eyes looked innocently up at Hikari, silently asking her to confirm his story, completely missing the point.

Hikari spotted the resigned look on the Hokage's face and snickered.

"You call it like you see it, don't you kid?" Hikari said, ignoring the Hokage's assessing look. Seriously, what was this, a job intervie- wait a second.

"Hang on." Hikari whirled on the Hokage with wide eyes. "No. Uh uh. No. No fucking way, I'm sorry, but I can't do it."

"Can't do what?" the Hokage asked her calmly.

"Whatever it is that you want me to do with the kid, my answer is no. Shit." Hikari ran her fingers through her hair. "Look, I'm sympathetic to the kid's plight and all, but I can't be associated with him any more than I already am. I'm already persona non grata in enough places just because of a rumour. Which admittedly is based on truth, because I don't kick puppies, no matter what they-" Hikari visibly bit back her words, knowing that had she continued, she would have broken the Hokage's decree. The Hokage just watched her, his expression carefully blank. He seemed to have decided to let Hikari talk herself out before he made any proposals.

The kid looked up at her, eyes wide with confusion, and a little dawning hurt.

Hikari winced. And she'd just said that she didn't kick puppies. Apparently she had just made herself a liar, since the "puppy" was apparently smart enough to know when the grown-ups were talking about him.

She turned to the kid, ignoring the Hokage for the moment, and the roiling fear-nausea that rose in her stomach at the feel of the kid's chakra. "Look kid, it's nothing personal, and frankly, it's really unfair, but-"

"Why d'you call me 'kid'?" the kid interrupted her.

Hikari blinked. "Huh?"

"Why do you call me 'kid'?" the kid repeated himself.

Hikari frowned a little. "Uh... because you are one?" she said.

"B-but everyone calls me a demon, or fox-brat, or something... Unless they call me Naruto. Or Uzumaki, but only the Old Man and the Masked People call me that..." the kid trailed off.

Hikari bit her lip. It wasn't that she didn't get exactly where those people were coming from and all, but still, didn't the kid have anyone who treated him like a human being? The Hokage and the Anbu couldn't count- the Hokage, no matter how much he might personally like the kid, would have to be aware of his potential as a weapon and the politics that would surround his every action, whereas the Anbu were almost definitely acting on orders. Even if they weren't, Hikari thought to herself, it wasn't like they'd be allowed to interact with the kid in more than a bare-minimum fashion anyway, since it was well-known that Anbu were supposed to be emotionless tools as soon as they put on the masks. If nothing else, they had a reputation to keep up, but also, Anbu were not supposed to get close to people when they were masked. It was a bad idea for a number of reasons, not the least that they were supposed to be detached and anonymous from their Anbu identities.

Hikari shrugged awkwardly at the kid's question. The kid was looking up at her with those big blue eyes, half-cringing in anticipation of what she might say. Shit. She couldn't stand hanging around him for long without feeling physically ill, but she didn't want to hurt the kid. What could she say?

"Well, I don't know about what everyone else says, but you sure don't look like a demon to me," she eventually stated.

Which was technically true. If only she couldn't feel that chakra... Hikari only barely repressed the urge to back away. The kid's chakra felt vile, like rotten fish and mouldy chilli mixed together with bitumen, and it was only getting worse the longer he stayed.

The kid's eyes widened, and Hikari was appalled to see the beginnings of tears in them. She had just enough time to brace herself before the kid sprang at her and hugged her around the middle.

Hikari froze, and then after a while awkwardly patted the kid on the head as he got snot all over her top from bawling. All she could do was stand there, and try not to pass out from the proximity of the noxious essence of Kyuubi.

She turned to the Hokage, and saw the assessing look had changed slightly. She wasn't sure how to interpret it.

Hikari resisted the visceral urge to shove the kid away. It hadn't even been five minutes since she had thought the ninja leader was about to kill her, and now she had to deal with this? She wondered just how much of this meeting had been a set-up. Maybe the Hokage organised the chair to break just to watch her reaction. Maybe the Anbu was supposed to make the kid look more pathetic, to try and encourage any maternal leanings she usually vehemently denied she had. She wondered if she was just being paranoid.

She wondered just how many problems the jinchuriki being attached to her was going to cause.

Literally as well as figuratively, she thought ruefully, absently rubbing circles on the kid's back with shaking fingers that he didn't seem to notice.

She glared at the Hokage, and was interested to note the mock surprise had shifted into the real thing.

Once the kid had settled down to sniffles, Hikari bent a little and wiped his face with her scarf. Somehow she managed to suppress the trembling of her hands enough that he didn't notice.

"Alright kid. Here's the deal. Me and the 'Old Man' need to have a bit of a discussion about things." Hikari said airily. "It's all boring adult stuff, so you won't be interested."

The kid looked a little disappointed. "Aw man! You're just trying to get rid of me."

Hikari nodded seriously. "Yep." Those damn puppy eyes. Hikari sighed inwardly. "But, I'll catch up with you later. Okay?"

The kid nodded, still looking a little unsure, obviously expecting rejection.

Hikari, having grown up with a little brother, and having listened to the gossip, knew exactly what to do.

"Right, soldier! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to piss off, and then meet me in three hours at Ichiraku's for ramen! Do you accept?"

The kid suddenly grinned, his whole attitude having done a 180 at the mention of what was well-known to be his favourite eating place. "Yes Ma'am!" he saluted her sloppily, and then ran out the door.

The occupants of the Hokage's office watched the door swing closed, the kid's footsteps becoming quickly distant before it closed completely and all sound from the corridor was cut off.

Hikari had to refrain from letting out an audible sigh of relief.

This time the Hokage looked genuinely surprised, (Hikari wondered why- was it the fact that she knew the jinchuriki's favourite food? Hell, everyone knew that, he yelled about it at the top of his lungs all the time-) but he apparently decided not to comment, as he simply pulled another chair out for Hikari, and then sat back behind his desk.

Hikari sat down cautiously, and when this chair held, she relaxed a little.

"So..." she looked over at the Hokage. "Are you going to let me babble out my conclusions that I've been coming to over the course of this meeting, or are you going to tell me what the hell you actually want from me?"

The Hokage's eyebrows raised to somewhere under his hat.

"Very well," was all he said. "As you seem to have deduced, I want a favour from you, and it concerns Naruto."

Hikari nodded. That much was bleeding obvious by now.

The Hokage paused. "As it turns out, you were not... entirely correct in your assumption that I have Naruto watched at all times by Anbu. For one thing, we have been rather short-handed since the Kyuubi attack. For another..." the Hokage looked a little uncomfortable, "well, I always thought that he would be safe so long as he stayed relatively anonymous, and in the village. Frankly, I did not realise the true extent of the hostility amongst the civilians until recently. I was more worried about outsiders hearing of him. I knew that he had been having some problems, but... I wanted him to have as normal a childhood as possible."

Hikari couldn't help herself. She goggled.

"Are you serious?" the cleaning lady looked the Professor, the Sandaime Hokage in the eye and was horrified by what she saw. He was deadly serious. "Oh Kami help us all, you actually are. Why?"

"I do not have to justify my decisions to a civilian," Hikari flinched at the sudden iron in his voice, "but..." he sighed. "Really, it all comes down to the fact that most of the jinchuriki are well-known for being insane, anti-social weapons, who live and die alone. Naruto is already an orphan. I did not wish to dishonour his parents' sacrifices for letting their child grow up like an attack-dog in a cage. That is a common enough fate for jinchuriki, and the tales I have heard of the results of such treatment are not... palatable. Besides," and here the Hokage's eyes showed every one of their long years, "I knew that like any of our shinobi, if I could instil a love for this village in him, then he would fight that much harder for it when the time comes. And then the people who have scorned him will realise that he might be a jinchuriki, but he's our jinchuriki." He smiled bitterly. "The Yondaime wanted him to be seen as a hero."

Hikari considered the Hokage for a few moments in silence.

Then dropped her face into her hands.

"Shit," she mumbled. Then raised her head again. "Yeah, that makes sense. I don't like it, but when life gives you shit, you need to make fertiliser. Which might smell awful, but it makes the plants grow. Insert Leaf metaphor here."

The Hokage's lips quirked at her choice of words, but simply nodded.

Hikari groaned. "Okay, okay. Tell me what you want from me. You've already shown that you're willing to try and bully me into it."

The Hokage smiled like a benevolent shrine image.

"Ah, but I prefer willing acquiescence. After all, you've seen what happens when I try to order civilians to act a certain way. My shinobi have spoilt me, as the Code states that they must give their Hokage and Village complete, unquestioning loyalty. So even when they disagree, they will at least follow orders. Civilians..." the Hokage grimaced in distaste. "As much as my position is respected, if civilians do not like an order, they are more likely to either creatively interpret it, or actively look for the loopholes. It is why clanless ninja tend to do so well in diplomacy."

"Well that explains why it's not just the Yamanaka and Akimichi being sent on so many high-profile above-board missions," Hikari mused, half to herself. The Hokage shot her a look, and Hikari flinched, before saying, "what? They're both clans that have the most positive dealings with civilians. The Uchiha are too busy with the police, and even if they weren't, they have a tendency towards sneering at civilians. Don't even get me started on the Main Branch Hyuuga- anyone willing to treat more than half of their own family members like dirt shouldn't be let anywhere near diplomacy. Besides, if you believe the rumours and look at Hatake 'Sharingan' Kakashi, if things went sour, both those families have harvestable eyes. Enough said. The Aburame have the kikai beetles, which tend to unnerve most people, and the Inuzuka like to make people think that they're all barbarians. Which you know, is not so bad if you don't mind about manners, but as diplomatic representatives? Puh-lease." Hikari paused. "You know, you are really good at making me babble Hokage-sama. I'm going to shut up now."

The Sandaime Hokage just stared at her for a few moments, before shaking his head. "You seem to have thought about this for a while," was all he said.

Hikari rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Oh heheh, well you know, I have a lot of time to think when I'm cleaning. Not much else to do while my hands are tied up with scrubbing."

The Hokage cleared his throat. "Indeed. In any case, we are getting off topic. Now, I do not often make this offer to civilians, but I would be willing to give you B-rank pay, for a highly unofficial mission."

Hikari had a bad feeling about this.

"What I wish for you to do will require you to spend a significant amount of time with Naruto..."

Bad feeling justified.

The Hokage continued on, explaining that this was all part of his plan to cause Naruto to be more civilian-friendly. It wasn't that Hikari didn't sympathise with him, but this was not going to happen.

"Hokage-sama," she finally interrupted him.

"Yes?" The Hokage took being interrupted by a civilian surprisingly well. Or at least he seemed to. Hikari decided to take that at face value, at least for the moment.

"I can't do it," she said.

"What do you mean you can't do it?" the Hokage sounded unimpressed. Hikari decided to quickly elaborate.

"It's not that I mistake the bowl for the sake, or the plant for the pot- pick your own analogy. But that chakra..." Hikari stopped restraining herself and shuddered violently. Once she had started, she couldn't stop, and before she knew it, she was crying. She saw a sudden, aborted movement in the corner of her eye, and realised it was Bull. She had almost forgotten he was even there, since he had been working hard to melt into the shadows.

"...You're chakra sensitive?" the Hokage sounded incredulous.

Hikari sniffled, and looked up. "Sensitive?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"You can feel other's chakra?" the Hokage sounded surprised about something that Hikari had been able to do all of her life.

"Uh, yeah? Can't everyone?" she asked rhetorically, as she could see from the Hokage's expression that in fact, no, no they couldn't. Hikari was surprised, both at herself having a skill that was unusual, and at the fact that none of the ninja whose houses she had cleaned had thought to mention that her being able to detect traps by their chakra signatures was anything out of the ordinary. She said as much to the Hokage, and he turned to look at Bull, eyebrows raised.

"Bull, you said she's cleaned your house before. Why didn't you report this to me?" the Hokage demanded.

"Had not ascertained how she did it, sir!" Bull answered promptly, posture rigid.

The Hokage frowned. "Why didn't you just ask her?" he asked.

Bull paused, and Hikari noted a distinctive sheepish vibe coming from him. "There were bets riding on it, sir. It was decided that asking Miss Hikari outright would be cheating, sir."

The Hokage looked like he was visibly restraining himself from hitting his head on the desk.

"Of course," he muttered. He turned his attention back to Hikari, who was still looking decidedly unhappy, but calmer, as she had regained her composure whilst they were talking.

"You were in the Academy before you lost the leg," the Hokage stated.

"Ye-es..." Hikari was unsure where he was going with that statement. She was sure he must know this, it was public record after all, and judging by this meeting, she was sure he would have checked her dossier.

"What a waste," muttered the Hokage, shaking his head. "You know, most people can't actually feel a jinchuriki's chakra unless they're actively channelling it," he said conversationally. "Those who can have often spent years training their chakra detection skills."

"What?" Hikari stared at him, shocked. "But, but, most of my family can feel him!"

The Hokage blinked thoughtfully, and then pulled out his pipe and lit it.

"Well," he said, considering. "That would explain why your cousin has always been so adamant that Naruto is a menace to society." He shook his head, and took a puff of his pipe. "That also explains why you were shaking when he got close to you." The Hokage was staring at her as though Hikari had grown an extra head.

Hikari shifted a little uneasily under the scrutiny.

"Can your brother sense chakra like you can?" he asked her.

Hikari shrugged. "I assume so," she said. " We've never really talked about it. You'd have to ask him."

The Hokage picked up a pen and scribbled a note, muttering something about there needing to be a better screening test for the children from civilian families who entered the Academy.

"Very well then," the Hokage said finally. "If you cannot spend time with Naruto without experiencing physical discomfort, then I can hardly force you into proximity with him." Neither he nor Hikari bothered to note that actually, yes, yes he could, but the Hokage's plan would not work without Hikari's complete cooperation, and she could have caused problems in a number of ways, starting with visibly not being enthusiastic to be in Naruto's presence, and ending with her appealing to her connections with the Civilian Council. The Hokage wryly acknowledged the first of these options by saying, "I must commend you on your acting skills, as he did not seem to realise how much you wished to avoid touching him, but above that, I must commend you for treating him like a child. Both I and Naruto have noted your insistence in referring to him as a 'kid'. What's the real reason?" he asked her with a knowing expression.

Hikari snorted. "With all due respect Hokage, anyone who can spend more than five seconds in the company of that kid and not realise that he really is just a kid is a waste of oxygen, as it obviously isn't going to their braincells. Just because being near him causes me discomfort doesn't mean my eyes are shut..." she sighed. "But you are right. I refer to him as 'the kid' to remind myself. I can't help what I feel when he is near, but neither can he, and so I remind myself, constantly."

The Hokage merely nodded, and Hikari was glad that he accepted her answer.

"Very well," said the Hokage. "Would you at least be willing to spend very brief periods of time with Naruto in order to teach him some life skills? He has recently moved from the orphanage into an apartment, and it has come to my attention that he does not know how to look after it, or himself."

Hikari nodded wearily. "I'll give him a lecture and a demonstration or two, and I'll clean his apartment for him once a week until he learns if you pay me, but if I'm tired or unprepared, the best I can give him is a smile and a wave from across the street."

The Hokage nodded. "That is more than I could have expected. Thank you Sorayama-san, and may your business continue to thrive."

Hikari took that as the dismissal it was meant to be, standing quietly and bowing. "This meeting was about the confidentiality agreement?" she asked politely.

The Hokage nodded. "That would be appreciated."

Hikari hobbled out of the office, Bull opening and then holding the door for her. She nodded thanks to him, and then she was gone.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, sitting in silence for a few moments as he digested all that he had just learned.

"Well, there goes that plan," he sighed. He gestured for Bull to come and stand in front of him.

"Bull, report."

"Hokage-sama, sir!" Bull stood at attention. "As rumoured, Sorayama Hikari is working to buy expensive medication for her mother. She and her family live in a modest home, with few luxuries. In my personal opinion, I doubt Sorayama Akira will survive another year."

The Hokage nodded. That was congruent with the reports of the rookie Anbu he had assigned to double-check the background of the young civilian. "And your impressions of this meeting?" the Hokage asked.

Bull hesitated. The Hokage restrained himself from showing surprise. Bull rarely, if ever hesitated about anything.

Eventually Bull said, "I believe that my feelings may have become biased when it comes to Miss Hikari, sir."

This time the Hokage didn't bother to cover his bemusement.

"How so?" he asked.

"This meeting merely confirmed my suspicions," Bull stated, "that Miss Hikari is a kind, considerate, intelligent lady, with a strength of will that exceeds that of many shinobi." He shifted a little. "As I have watched her over the past months, she has persevered, never giving up, and when she has hit obstacles she has overcome them with great ingenuity." The Anbu looked out the window and mused in a distinctly dreamy fashion, "she truly is a most beautiful Bougainvillea..."

The Hokage just about fell out of his chair. He had never seen Bull act in a less than professional manner like this. His non-masked alter ego on the other hand...

"Gai, are you in love with her?" the Hokage asked, flabberghasted.

Bull removed his mask, revealing Maito Gai's face in an expression that the Hokage had never seen before- extremely sheepish.

"I didn't mean to?" he offered lamely, before wincing and standing to attention. "I apologise for such a lapse in professionalism, however I had not realised the depth of my feelings until today. I nearly broke cover to comfort a civilian- worse, a civilian that I was tasked to perform surveillance on, and so I can only say that I will complete 600 one-handed push-ups with a boulder tied to my feet alongside any disciplinary actions you choose, sir."

The Hokage stared at one of his more idiosyncratic shinobi for a few moments, before waving his hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it Gai. You were... sufficiently restrained that I doubt Sorayama-san noticed anything. Dismissed."

Gai replaced his mask and returned to the persona of Bull. He bowed once, quietly, respectfully and then shunshined away.

Left alone in his office, the Hokage waited thirty seconds, and then gave in to the gales of laughter he had been holding in.

Maito Gai in love? Sarutobi hoped that Sorayama Hikari was as formidable as Gai seemed to think she was, because she was about to get quite a rude shock.

…...

A/N: Hey guys, you didn't think I'd forgotten about this one had you?

For those of you who are probably wondering why this hasn't turned into an "OC looks after Naruto and he becomes more awesome"!fic, well frankly, I decided that that wasn't where I wanted to go. This fic isn't really about Naruto, after all. It's about those side characters that exist in the background- Unnamed ANBU no. 3, Civilian no. 24, etc. of the actual canon. I wanted to write something that could easily run in the background of canon, without actually changing any of the events, but Naruto being Naruto managed to wedge his way in regardless.

But yeah, now that "eventual" Gai/OC thing is starting to warm up, so let me know what you think.

No promises on when the next chapter will turn up, but it will turn up eventually...