Chapter Two
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Naruto bounced into the room, grinning broadly and Sune smiled at him.
"Hello Naruto. Did you sleep well?"
"Sune! Jiji there, gave flower!"
"You dreamed of you grandfather and gave him a flower?" Sune translated and Naruto nodded. "Well, I bet that he was very happy."
Naruto nodded again, then his smile increased as Sune placed a plate of food in front of him.
"Eat up, Naruto. I'm afraid that more chores await us today."
Naruto smiled as he applied himself to the food. The day was barely started, yet it promised to be good.
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"I've never seen a flower like this before, Lord Hokage. Where did you get it from?"
Yamanaka Inoichi looked up from his examination of the orange flower in the vase, his gaze darting to Hiruzen, who was standing by the window, looking out across the village.
"I know this is going to sound strange, but Naruto gave it to me in a dream."
Inoichi blinked. Of all the explanations he had expected, the one he had just heard hadn't even made it anywhere near to his mental list of possibilities.
"I beg your pardon, Lord Hokage, but did you just say…?"
"That Naruto gave me this flower in a dream." Hiruzen repeated. "Last night, I fell asleep at my desk and found myself in a large field. Naruto was there, looking happy, and there was a golden fox as well, a glowing one twice my height. She said that Naruto was with her, sleeping in her shrine."
"Inari." Inoichi said after a long, thoughtful moment and Hiruzen nodded.
"Yes, Inari the Fox Goddess. She and I talked a bit, then she faded away, leaving Naruto and myself to enjoy the field. We watched the fish in the pond, talked about how he was, and then I woke up to find that the dream flower I had tucked into my hair had somehow come with me."
"And this flower is the one from the dream." Inoichi realised. "Lord Hokage, what are your orders?"
Hiruzen sat down.
"I want you and Shikaku, and Chouza as well if he is willing, to search the archives. Find out if we do have a Shrine to Inari in Konoha, and where it is. Or was."
Inoichi nodded slowly. "Yes, Lord Hokage."
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Sune smiled at Naruto's cute frown of concentration as he helped to polish the stone statue of Inari. He had started by trying to rub as strongly as he could until Sune had gently corrected him, and now he was slowly and carefully using the cloth to clean the paws of the statue.
"Looking good, Naruto." Sune commented and Naruto looked up at her, his brilliant smile almost outshining the morning sun.
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Uchiha Fugaku stepped into the Hokage's office.
"You summoned me, Lord Hokage?" He asked emotionlessly and Hiruzen nodded.
"Indeed. As you know, we seem to have lost a certain, high value individual. I would appreciate it if you asked the police to keep an eye out for Uzumaki Naruto. He vanished a couple of days ago, but we think he is probably still in Konoha."
Fugaku raised one brow slightly. "I do not wish to sound like I am questioning you, Lord Hokage, but I know several people who believe that the dem… my apologies, the boy who contains the Demon is rather dangerous. If he is gone, it means that we are no longer at risk of having the Demon unleashed upon Konoha once more."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, hiding his sudden anger behind a professional mask.
"Those who believe that are ignorant. My predecessor used perhaps the ultimate sealing technique to lock away the Kyuubi, there is no risk of it breaking free."
"As you say." Fugaku agreed urbanely. "Do we know if he ran away or if he was kidnapped? Assuming, of course, that he is still alive."
"He was chased out of the orphanage he was in, and I have every reason to believe that he is still alive." Hiruzen responded. "The flower on my desk is proof of that."
Fugaku glanced at the aforementioned flower with disinterest. It was admittedly an odd colour, but beyond that, it was just a flower and wasn't anywhere near as important as gaining new jutsu or power for the Uchiha clan.
"I understand, Lord Hokage. With your permission?"
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Naruto leaned against Sune's side, her arm wrapped around him as she continued telling the tale as they sat in the porch, watching the rain fall outside.
"…so Kami agreed to let Inari place the stars in the sky while he worked on the land and seas. Using her paws and tail, Inari started to place the stars one at a time into the sky, placing them to form pictures. However, her attention soon wandered to what Kami was doing and she grew bored with her task. Deciding she had spent long enough, she gathered up the stars that she had yet to place and with a great heave of her arms, she threw them into the sky. As the stars landed in the night sky, Inari suddenly realised that she had not done what she meant to do, place a picture of herself amongst the stars, and so she started to cry.
"Her tears fell to the ground and formed great lakes wherever they landed. Kami looked up from his great work and then rose to comfort Inari, to amuse her he created a ring of light and threw it across the sky, leaving a trail of seven colours, and Inari forgot her sadness and chased the ring.
"To this day, the stars show that Inari didn't finish her task how she had planned and the rain shows her eternal regret, but the rainbow is proof that Kami saw nothing wrong, as she had indeed placed all the stars in the sky."
Naruto looked up at Sune as she wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I'm sorry, that story always gets me like that." Sune explained with a small smile, hugging Naruto, who hugged her back.
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"A shrine to Inari?" Chouza asked, looking at his blond friend with a confused expression. "Even if there was one, after the Kyuubi attack, it probably got taken down. After all, foxes aren't liked here."
"Troublesome as it may be, there used to be a shrine in Konoha." Skikaku said, earning an odd look from the other two. "It's listed somewhere in my clan's archives. According to our clan lore, Inari bestowed the gift of shadows on the first Nara. It's where our name comes from, we were originally the Nii-Inari, Inari's adopted younger siblings. Over the centuries, the name changed to Ninari, then Nari, then Nara."
Inoichi stared at him for a while before slowly nodded. "Well then, let's get looking in your archives."
Shikaku sighed as he pulled himself out of his chair.
"This is such a drag." He moaned as his two friends exchanged smirks. "But at least it gets me out of the house and away from my troublesome wife. Come on, let's get this over with."
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Naruto moved as he tried once again to duplicate Sune's movements. Her gentle corrections were filled with love and approval, something that Naruto absorbed like a sponge absorbs water. The gentle flow of the Dance soothed him, calmed his thoughts, relaxed him as he let himself sink into the flow of the Dance, not thinking, just feeling, not excited or depressed, but feeling only a joyful acceptance engulfing him.
Deep inside him, something far larger than anyone could imagine being hidden in such a small form stirred, its ears twitching as the sewer it was imprisoned in started to change, the shadows incrementally retreating as the walls began smoothing out, losing some of the deep scoring and cracks in the brickwork.
Naruto remained unaware of this, he just knew that he wanted to learn the Dances.
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"There's no shrine there, I've been down that road a hundred times." Chouza stated, staring at the map.
Shikaku shrugged. "Troublesome as it may be, that's where the shrine was. Exactly halfway between the Hyuuga compound and the nearest gate."
"Well then, let's take a look."
The trio moved off.
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Naruto looked at the trio standing just outside the gateway. Holding Sune's hand, he listened to them arguing.
"You see? There's no shrine here, just an old piece of wall." The large one said.
"This is where it used to be." Said the brown-haired one. "My clan wouldn't make a mistake about a whole shrine."
"But Sarutobi said that the boy was at the shrine of Inari." The blond said slowly. "I wonder…"
Naruto watched as the blond stepped forwards, hand raised, then stopped. After a moment, the blond stepped back, frowning.
"That's a real wall, all right. Wait here."
The blond walked to one side of the gate and a moment later appeared from the other side.
"No sign of anything odd, this is just an old wall."
"Is it?" a familiar voice asked and a very familiar figure appeared. Sune released Naruto's hand.
"Say hello, then bring him inside."
Naruto nodded and sprinted forwards.
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Hiruzen stood in front of the wall, looking at it curiously.
"So this is where the shrine was, hmmm?"
"Yes it… what in Kami's name!?"
All three members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio froze, eyes wide, as a blond tornado seemed to erupt out of the brickwork without actually disturbing it and cannoned into Hiruzen with a cry of "Jiji!" before grabbing his hand and pulling him through the solid wall. For over a moment, no-one said anything, then Inoichi extended a shaking hand and pressed it against the wall again.
The wall was solid, yet the Jinchuuriki had gone through it twice, once with the Hokage in tow.
"…Lord Hokage…?"
Hiruzen's head suddenly appeared, as if he was leaning through the wall.
"Wait for me here, you three. Actually, Inoichi, Chouza, go to my office and bring back the trunk I prepared earlier. And don't worry, you were right about the shrine. Now, excuse me for a moment."
Hiruzen vanished back into the solid wall, leaving the trio absolutely gobsmacked. After another few minutes of silence, one of them spoke, summing up the situation perfectly.
"Troublesome…"
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"So this is the Shrine of Inari, is it?" Hiruzen asked, looking round and the lady that Naruto had excitedly declared was Sune nodded gracefully.
"It is indeed. I am Sune, the Shrine Maiden here, and of course, you already know my new friend and student Naruto. Naruto, would you get a cup of water for your Jiji, he might be thirsty."
"'Kay!" Naruto chirped before running off in a tangle of limbs that should have seen him fall over, but yet he managed, in defiance of all the laws of physics, to make it through the door without incident. Hiruzen watched him go, then seemed to change from kindly old man to the Professor God of Shinobi.
"May I ask what your intentions are towards Naruto." He snapped and Sune looked at him.
"My intentions? My intentions are to give him somewhere safe to live and to grow, to show him he deserves to be loved rather than hated for that which he had no control over, to help him become all that he can be and to eventually surpass his father."
Hiruzen's eyes widened fractionally and Sune nodded.
"I know all about him. He is the son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Red-haired Habenaro. He is the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the son of the second to hold it. I know these things… and I will not tell him. That is your task, Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, it is your burden and your responsibility.
"But the time for that is not yet. When he earns his Hitai-ate, that is the time to tell him. When he becomes Shinobi, it will be proof that he is strong enough to take up the burden that he must bear, the responsibility that he must shoulder.
"He will be strong enough to carry his burden, Sandaime Hokage, but the question I must ask is… are you strong enough to bear yours? You are old, you are are reluctant to continue, yet you do so from duty, but many conspire to increase your burden and seize your power while you are not looking.
"Naruto is safe here, you have my word on it. Plant the flower he gave you and it will grow and bloom, a single petal in your hand when you sleep will transport you to Inari's Garden, where you met with him before.
"I will see to it that Naruto learns from the scrolls and books you send. I will teach him how to read and write. I will teach, and when the time comes, he will go to the Academy and learn the ways of the Shinobi."
"Jiji, water!"
Hiruzen turned and smiled at the approaching boy, who was concentrating on not spilling anything from the cup he held. Accepting the drink, he sipped in order to buy some time to think.
"Sune-san, may I ask…"
"What's in it for me?" Sune half-laughed. "Hokage-sama, Inari has an interest in Naruto and wants him protected so that he can grow to become all that he can. As the Maiden of Inari's Shrine, can I do any less?"
Hiruzen nodded slowly. "Very well. I cannot think of any place safer than here for him, but he will need to learn to interact with other children. To just grow up alone…"
"He will learn." Sune smiled. "Inari moves in unpredictable ways, and will provide, if we just keep our eyes open."
Hiruzen nodded again.
"I… will take your word for it."
"You may wish to keep Naruto's safety a secret." Sune added. "If your rivals are looking outside the walls to seize his power, you can secure your footing inside."
Hiruzen blinked, then looked down at Naruto who had attached himself to his leg.
"Alright, Naruto-kun, what do you want to show me?"