Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
Thoughts are underlined
Chapter 3:
Temporarily we must now turn our attention to another character in Naruto's life. The man whose name was Danzo.
Now despite what many might think. Danzo was not an evil man, he was actually a pretty good one. He cared for everyone in the village and everything he did for the sake of Konoha. It was just the things he did that made many people dislike him. There were 2 essential things which gave him a very unpleasant reputation.
While the Sandaime believed in peace treaties and essentially to keep the populace safe by making it so no one wanted to attack them. Danzo believed that the best way to protect the populace was to make it so no one would dare attack them out of fear for their lives.
The ends justify the means. In order to protect the whole, individuals would need to be sacrificed.
An example of the latter would be the organization Root. An illegal organization Danzo created that essentially was composed of brainwashed emotionless super soldiers that were loyal only to Danzo. Another example would be Naruto's current circumstances.
He knew if he could mold Naruto correctly, Naruto and his demonic power could become a great asset to the village. So he needed a way to gain Naruto's trust, and saving someone's life creates trust.
He had people sabotage the wards, but didn't have Naruto attacked directly because the attack cannot be in any way tied to him. He figured that sooner or later somebody would do that job for him. He would then have one of his agents save Naruto and thus gain the Demon Container's loyalty. Children were so easily manipulated. Rather unfortunately, the plan went wrong. Danzo did not expect the attack to be so explosive, and the agent watching Naruto ended being killed by debris. By the time Danzo knew what was happening; Naruto was in a maximum security hospital room and thus out of his reach.
He thought he could snatch Naruto when moving him to another hospital room after the second fire, but Sarutobi (the crafty bastard) insured that no one that Danzo had control over was in the boy's escort detail.
Currently, Danzo figured he would get to Naruto at the boy's mandatory post-traumatic psychological therapy, and if not there, well he was patient. He would get to the boy eventually, and using the power of the demon fox, he would bring Konohagakure into a golden age. And he would take his rightful place as Hokage.
It's only a matter of time.
Konohagakure Institute of Psychological Research and Application
Dr. Seishin Dokutoru
Final report regarding patient Naruto Uzumaki
October 24, 9832 PDE
As regarding the patient Naruto Uzumaki, the subject received horrendous burns and injuries 7 months ago when chemist Kaji Koumeiseidai attempted to murder him with explosive arrows. That incident in addition to the strange fire in his hospital room afterwards has lead to deep level of mental scarring in the patient. Note: The patient has no physical scars from the attack as a result of his special circumstances. Those special circumstance being relevant to the patient's current mental situation is suspected but not confirmed.
In my opinion, the patient should be kept for further treatment. Unfortunately his status as a ninja in training prevents this. As a result of the Ninja bylines of law 142 subsection 15 of the original Konohagakure charter, a ninja or ninja in training cannot be held without consent unless certain criteria are met. And rather unfortunately, the patient does not meet the criteria by the slimmest of margins. That and his refusal to give consent to further treatment means we can't hold him at the institute longer than the mandatory 6 months that the law requires of victims of traumatic incidents.
So I'm afraid that we will have to let the patient go even though he is desperately in need for more therapy and treatment. He leaves the institute tomorrow for a government paid apartment.
Konohagakure Herald
November 16, 9832 PDE
The Firefly Enters The Scene
Washi Manako
Criminals beware! For a new player has entered the game, and they don't like you. Now whether this new figure is a hero or another criminal themselves is not yet determined. What we do know is that the Arashi Rikugun has been found dead. Rikugun, the former head of an underground drug cartel was rumored to have recently taken refuge in Konohagakure. Well that rumor was true, he was hiding out as pharmacist Jurei Hataraki who using his extensive contacts, alibis, a stolen entrance seal, and forged paperwork managed to gain admittance to Konoha. Enough with this history lesson. Rikugan was found dead today in the warehouse district of downtown Konohagakure. His wanted poster lying next to him and word Firefly literally burned into the man's flesh. Witnesses claim to have seen a small figure flying away from the scene. Police quickly identified Rikugun and the body was cremated.
Konohagakure Herald
October 6, 9837 PDE
The Firefly Strikes again
Washi Manako
You guessed again. The Firefly strikes again. A controversial figure, the Firefly's illegal vigilante actions has removed many criminals from our streets, but has performed many acts of arson against buildings and other inanimate objects. Most recently the Firefly has burned down a bakery. The police still reeling from Itachi Uchiha's attack are unable to respond to the attacks by this pint sized arsonist. The question on everyone's mind is still who is the Firefly?
"Naruto Uzumaki".
Sarutobi regarded the speaker. It was Hiashi Hyuuga, head of the Hyuuga clan. The advisory council was to help him regarding the decisions of the village, so they had frequent meetings.
"What about him?"
"You actually are going to let him become a ninja. Such a thing is incomprehensible. You know what he is".
"I do hope you are not referring to Naruto's tenant."
"I couldn't care less about his tenant. I am talking about the boy being the damn Firefly!"
"There is no proof of that."
"And you don't think it all suspicious that Uzumaki developed pyrokinetic abilities and pyromania that same time an insane arsonist/vigilante appears? That boy's actions are undermining our society. How are people supposed to feel safe when their businesses are being burned down? We have a rogue element out our control that is interfering with our justice system. That boy needs to be stopped!"
"Investigations are being done as we speak. I'll be careful as for a moment there it sounded like you were ordering me. Remember the council's power is dependent on my will. Any power you have is the power I have given you. I have given power to the council because I believe the populace needs to have a say in the workings of government. However, I have the ultimate authority, and the power I have given to the council members I can easily take away."
"Such an action would break the original charter. How well would you govern without the support of the clans?"
"But we are not talking about the support of all the clans; we are talking about the support of your clan. If you turn against me, do you really think anyone would stand with you? I will not allow such dissention within this village. If there is a rebellion and it cannot be handled diplomatically than it will be taken care of through other means. And the power loyal to me is far greater than the power loyal to you. Especially as people realize that if they support me they will be rewarded, while if they oppose me they will be killed. Even if you succeed, no one on this council is fit for the position of Hokage. No one has the political might to run this village or the skill to coordinate all the relations with other countries, nations, and powers. And none of you would agree on who should rule and civil war would erupt. Leaving us weak to the attack that would be caused by the hostility stirred up by your lack of knowledge on our foreign relations. So no one will stand with you, for they realize that being loyal to me is the most favorable outcome to themselves and this village. So what is your decision?"
Hiashi looked around at the other council members, who all tried to avoid looking at him.
"I apologize for my outburst Hokage-sama."
"Then please be seated Hyuuga-san. Now are there any other issues left to discuss for this council meeting? If not, than dismissed."
It took only a few moments for the room to clear.
Hiruzen hunch over in his chair with a sigh. He did not want to be mean, cold, or ruthless. He wanted the village to be a place of peace and harmony, a place where people felt safe, where their ideas could be freely spoken. To this end he made many concessions to attempt to benefit the whole. However, there were limits. He would give his life for Konohagakure, to maintain the glory of the fair village. To insure the roaring flame of Konoha would forever burn bright. He will never allow civil war and unrest to enter his village. No matter what.
Of course there was one other thing that was bothering him. That thing being Naruto Uzumaki.
Hiruzen could freely admit to himself that he wanted the boy to have a happy life. Part of this was out of a sense of guilt because of the attack, partially out of a sense of obligation to the boy's father, and also because he actually cared of the boy and thought he had great potential. While he may currently have some problems, in time Hiruzen knew that Naruto would become a great man who will do great things for the village. However, the problem came from the fact that Naruto may not live that long. The Firefly was a plague and a disease upon the village. The Firefly must die, and if Naruto was the Firefly like he suspected, than Naruto must die as well.
Waizu Tetsujin looked at his class, which was still a very much so a new concept to him. Before 4 days ago, he was the teaching assistant to a man named Mizuki. Waizu would still likely be Mizuki's assistant if Mizuki was not revealed to be a traitor. Mizuki actually came up with a great plan to commit treason, he just stupid enough to try to pull it off himself. He tried to steal the Forbidden Scroll.
The Forbidden Scroll was an ancient scroll that contained knowledge that has been deemed forbidden for some reason or another, usually because of nearly guaranteed user fatality. It is knowledge that should never be used, but it is too valuable to risk losing. Most of the time, the scroll is kept in the Vault, where it is protected so thoroughly that there is no way anybody without authorization can get access to it. However, every few years or so, the Scroll needs to be taken out of the Vault for maintenance. Sarutobi always does the maintenance himself as he did not trust anybody else with the access to the forbidden knowledge. He takes the scroll out in the early morning, and works on it straight until it is done, then returns it to the Vault to minimize the amount of time the scroll is away from the Vault.
Mizuki somehow found out when the next maintenance session was scheduled. He orchestrated a disaster elsewhere in the village to draw the attention of the Hokage's guards away from Sarutobi's office. Mizuki also used his considerable manipulation skills to trick some idiot into holding Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson, hostage with a bomb, which drew the Hokage away from his office. So he snuck in ready to steal the scroll, everything going great, until the Hokage returned earlier than he expected and caught him. Now Mizuki was enjoying the rare and wonderful pleasure of being tortured and interrogated for information for as long as he had information to give. When he no longer had any to give, he would likely be killed. It really was a pity, as Waizu liked the guy.
However, Mizuki's fate was not relevant to the situation at hand, which was Waizu's class. As he announced who would be in which squad, he looked around and he took note of variable students, but his eyes inevitably landed on two individuals. Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka. Naruto Uzumaki was the sole survivor of the Yasuragi fire, a fire which stole hundreds of lives. The Kyuubi was probably the only reason Naruto survived, but he did not survive unscathed. Naruto was dark, paranoid, sometimes cruel, sadistic, and far too interested in flames to be healthy. His nature was clearly evident to the other students as around Naruto seat was a very clear and large space as no one wanted to sit near him. On the other hand Kiba Inuzuka caught Waizu's eye because he was glaring at Naruto and if he could get away with it, he was sure that Kiba would have killed Naruto right there on the spot.
The Inuzuka clan was a clan that possessed many traits and characteristics. But if you had to pick one trait to describe them by, there was one that truly stood out from the rest. The trait was loyalty. An Inuzuka's loyalty was not easily earned, but if you do earn it, then you have their loyalty for life. They will stand by you until the day they die. They will support you in any venture you do as long it doesn't interfere with their other loyalties. You will never in your life find a more dedicated and loyal friend and ally. Of course, the opposite was true. If you earned the loathing of an Inuzuka, then they will loath you forever. And if you messed with one Inuzuka, you messed with them all, so the entire clan will also hate you. Unfortunately Naruto engaged the second option.
All Inuzuka have a canine partner. But partner was maybe not the right word. An Inuzuka and their hound were bound by their souls. They are closer then friends, then family, then lovers; they are almost literally one soul in two bodies. Kiba's partner was named Akamaru and Naruto nearly killed him.
The event happened on the day that Naruto returned from psychiatric treatment. Akamaru detecting the massive amount of demonic energy on the boy started barking and snarling at him. Naruto, annoyed, threw a wave of fire at the dog, which badly burned Akamaru. Kiba went berserk, and attacked Naruto. Now this was not some playground spar, this was a boy trying to kill another one. The fight was broken up quickly, but the damage was done. Even after both boys were suspended and much later returned to class, even after Akamaru made a full recovery, Kiba loathed Naruto. And he always will.
It was for this reason that Waizu knew he would regret what he has about to do, but he and the Hokage felt the decision was for the best.
"Squad 7: Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Naruto Uzumaki."