Cats Are Coming Out

Hiruzen

The old Hokage looked at the main door of the house and sighed. 'Why does someone like her have a sudden interest in that boy?' He thought to himself. 'Might as well ask if she is willing to take the old offer.' He knocked on the house's main door and waited.

A few moments later the door was opened by a tall and well-endowed young-looking woman with grey eyes and long straight silver hair with strands. She wears a thin dangling red earring on each ear and a standard maid kimono. Her face despite having a sharp beautiful structure, was stoic as ever.

After the young woman realized who was standing at the doorstep she quickly bowed her head. "Hokage-sama, it is an honour to see you again. May I inform the mistress?" She voiced with her stoic expression.

"Yes, please. I have some important matters to discuss with her, Isane-chan." The old Hokage answered with a smile.

The young woman bowed her head in acknowledgement and welcomed the old Hokage into the house. She guided him to the living room and went to inform her mistress. After a few minutes of waiting in the living room, the young woman walked back with her mistress.

The silvery-haired young maid was quickly dismissed by the older woman who was looking at the old Hokage with an irritated glare. "Did you have to come this late at night, Hiruzen?" The old woman asked with a light growl.

The Hokage smiled and answered, "It is a matter of great importance to me, Kagawa-dono. I wouldn't have dared to bother your beauty sleep if it wasn't."

Naoki raised her eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh-ho! And mind telling me this world-ending important matter that could not wait till tomorrow morning."

"Ma-ma, Kagawa-dono, it is not some world-ending matter but just an old man's concern over a little incident." He assured with a calm smile.

The old woman sighed heavily, "Cut the crap. If you are here to give me another offer then please leave. There is nothing you can offer which will change my mind on that matter."

She looked sternly at the old Hokage and continued, "I have already given more than forty years of my life to my village and its people, birthed three wonderful children who are currently serving this village's ninja forces and guided many new generations of future ninjas in this path. I am also one of those few fortunate people who retired with all of my limbs attached."

"When I say that there is absolutely nothing you can offer me which will change my mind to come out of my retirement and start teaching some bunch of brats in the academy, I mean every word of it."

Hiruzen silently listened to her every word until she finished her words. "Hmm. Yes, every word you said is very true. I'm sorry if you felt offended by my offer back then," He narrowed his eyes at her, "However, please tell me if you have no interest in teaching the ninja arts to anyone anymore then why take a promising young child under your wings again, Naoki?"

"Oh-ho…" She narrowed her eyes, "So, that little kitty cat was spying on me," She smirked. "Tell me Hiruzen, have you finally gone senile or are you sending anbu's to spy on me just because you care about my wellbeing?"

"I asked you first." The old Hokage voiced.

Naoki huffed, "The answer to your question would be an old veteran sensei's pride."

Hiruzen raised his eyebrow, "Can you please elaborate on this further?"

She sighed, "I take one promising prospect under my wing and you come knocking at my door late at night. Honestly, how did Biwako put up with you I'll never understand."

"I would kindly ask you to refrain from using my late wife's name." The old Hokage said with a stern voice.

"I think you are forgetting who are you talking to Hiruzen," Naoki replied viciously. "Before she was your wife, she was my sworn sister, my teammate and the godmother of my children. I can say her name whenever I please to whoever I want."

The old Hokage sighed in defeat. He looked at the troublesome woman sitting in front of him with irritation. He hated to admit it but she had every right to say his late wife's name. Biwako was closer to Naoki than her actual sister who died a year ago. But that did not mean he liked it.

"You still haven't elaborated on your previous words."

"If you have to know the details then fine, have it your way." The old woman began, "I just want to know what it is like to teach a prodigy."

"A prodigy you say, huh," Hiruzen scratched his chin.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed the obvious signs on that child," Naoki said curiously.

"No-no, I still haven't lost that much of my perception." Replied the old Hokage. "I have seen the boy's body language, the way he sits, and the way he stands clearly shows he has some decent amount of taijutsu experience. The gap between his fingers shows some slight cuts and scars that can only come from the basics of handling shurikens, his wrist is very still for a child so he must also have experience using kunais and I'm no natural sensor but even with my little sensory skills I could confirm that he has already unlocked his chakra."

Naoki nodded. "So you can at least understand why I want to teach him."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding. "Yes. He certainly has a talent for the ninja arts that is certain."

"I sense a 'but' is coming in your sentences," Naoki spoke up. "But…" He began with a sigh while Naoki smirked. "Is it really talent? Or does someone has other intentions with the child?"

The old woman raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Do you think someone is helping him?" Hiruzen shrugged, "It's not out of possibilities. Children like him normally don't just hide their skills from others. They are more likely to show it for acknowledgement. If he was raised by a shinobi family then I might understand but as he is…I doubt it was all natural."

"Hmm…" The retired kunoichi closed her eyes in thought, "I can see your point however if it was true then someone would have already taught him how to act relaxed while being on guard. The Arts of Deception. Chapter 3 of 'In the Way of Shadow' third year…if I remember correctly."

The veteran Hokage looked at Naoki and sighed. She does have a good point. If anyone did teach the boy in secret then the first and most logical thing they would have taught him would have been the arts of deception. Hiding in plain sight but the old Hokage did not feel right about it.

His gut was telling him the boy knew more than he let on. If the boy's skills did not show that he is still relatively new to the ninja arts then he might have thought that his old traitorous student has completed that forbidden jutsu and came back as the young boy. Maybe he was being too paranoid in his old age.

"Maybe you're right, Naoki."

"Do tell me Hiruzen, why did you conclude the boy was being trained by some other ninja?" She asked him.

The third Hokage sighed. "It was something he said that struck a cord in my nerve,"

Naoki raised her eyebrow indicating she was waiting for him to further explain it. "It was about the Kyuubi jinchuuriki…" Hiruzen began, "He told me he figured out about the Kyuubi from reading some books. Which itself is not something I would have been suspicious of as I have placed many books about jinchuuriki in the civilian section in the library myself but it was how he connected Naruto and the Kyuubi."

"Kushina's son?"

Hiruzen nodded, "He said that he figured out that Naruto was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki by his date of birth."

Naoki looked at him curiously, "And?"

"He said Naruto's birthday was on the 10th of October which is not incorrect but I had fabricated the date to the 7th of October. Three days prior to Kushina's due date. So, no one would connect Naruto to Kushina and Minato."

"Only a handful of people know Naruto's original birth date which includes me, you, his godfather Jiriya, his godmother Mikoto, Tsunade, Shikaku, anbu commander, the previous head doctor Amaya and the current head doctor Emiko. Maybe Uchiha Fugaku and Nara Yoshino know of it too but I can't be sure."

"Hmm…" The old veteran kunoichi sat and thought. "That is suspicious."

"And how did he say he got the information?" She asked.

"He didn't and I didn't ask him further. He would become cautious of me. Better to let a smart person think he is surrounded by idiots than intelligent people. They will drop their guard and sooner or later reveal their secrets by mistake."

"Can't argue with that." The old woman spoke. "But that still doesn't answer where he got the information from. Are you sure no one else knew about Kushina's boy's birthday? Maybe the matron of the orphanage knows about it. The previous one did."

Hiruzen shook his head. "I highly doubt it. She was there when the boy told me about Naruto and her surprised expression confirmed that she did not have any prior knowledge of it."

"I had all of Naruto's documents removed from the orphanage after the incident with the previous Marton."

"Maybe there were some documents left behind in the orphanage and the boy found it out from there." She suggested.

"There is a possibility. I'll send someone to check on it later."

"Does Naruto knows about his real birthday?" She asked.

Hiruzen nodded. "After the incident with old Marton of the orphanage, I had to explain to him what a birthday meant. He was tossed out of the orphanage by that woman on his birthday after all."

"Ah, yes. I remember that cunt." The retired kunoichi cursed, "Tossing out a four-year-old in the street as a birthday present. By the old gods, it was nice to see her shitting herself while her head was chopped off the block."

"Do you think Naruto could have told him about his birthday?"

The old Hokage closed his eyes and put some thought into it. The bo was the closest friend Naruto have. Maybe he could have found out about the date from Naruto directly. "That is the highest possible scenario. But still…I'll have someone check into it later."

Naoki shrugged. "If that is all then can you please leave I need my sleep. I asked the boy to come at five in the morning."

"About that Naoki," Hiruzen smiled lightly, "I would like you to not teach the boy. Instead, I can assign a chunin or a tokubetsu jonin to teach him personally."

Naoki growled in annoyance. "And why shouldn't I?

"Well, don't you think it would benefit the boy?" The old Hokage asked calmly. "To learn from an active shinobi then a retired veteran. It's obvious that you have left your ninja life many years ago and I would like it if you didn't put stress on your old bones."

"I will personally select his instructors. After all, I do have experience in training gifted individuals."

"If you consider failure experience," Naoki huffed and voiced sharply.

"Pardon," Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, "I consider experience experienced. I do happen to be one of the few that has actually trained gifted individuals in my lifetime."

"Did you?" She mocked. "Then please enlightened me Hiruzen as to what has become of those gifted students of yours?"

"Because last I remember one of those gifted students of yours has cut all ties with this village except her family name and has become a drunk gambler breaking her vows of a doctor and medic-nin. The other one is a missing-nin, who has killed countless children of his own village for power. Truly your 'experience' in guiding gifted individuals knows no equal."

The old Hokage looked down in shame. Every word the woman spoke was a cold hard truth. He has trained all of his students to be a force to be reckoned with but failed as a guardian.

Jiraiya grew up to be a fine shinobi that would make any sensei proud but as he grew up he started to have an unhealthy interest in the opposite sex. In his early teen, it was normal like any other hormonal teenage boy to show interest in the fairer sex but as time passed and the tragedy of war struck his unhealthy interest in the female body became his coping mechanism for dealing with grief and loss.

Tsunade grew up to be one the most beautiful kunoichi in all of Land of Fire. She was the first successful combat-oriented medic-nin in history. A medical genius and the youngest doctor of all time. She revolutionized medical knowledge all around the world and became one of the strongest kunoichis of all time but losing her loved ones in the war broke her. She left her home, her vows and her life and became a shell of herself.

Orochimaru, his star student. A once-in-a-lifetime prodigy. He still asks himself to this day where it went so wrong. How did he not see the monster he was becoming? Was his love for him that blinded him? Even when the time came to stop his mad student, he failed. He let him escape. A decision that haunts him to this day.

"Yes, I admit that you have trained some very talented individuals in your lifetime," Naoki spoke with a vengeance. "But you know what Hiruzen, unlike your students who run away from their life problems or can't accept them at all, my students face their life problems head-on. Do you know why? Because I taught them to do so."

She wasn't done yet.

"There is only one student of yours that hadn't abandoned their village and even he runs away from his problems. He is still infatuated with your other student and can't move on. My students, on the other hand, may not have been battalion crushers but you know what it doesn't really matter because they have achieved something that yours never will. They have successfully passed on their progeny who will carry on their legacy while yours will eventually die out leaving behind nothing."

"And historical legacy doesn't mean shit if your bloodline dies with you while your enemies' blood lives on for generations."

Hiruzen sighed heavily, "I get it, Naoki. But how is it my fault if they did not decide to have a family? I can't make them do that."

"You should have taught them to. Even force them to have a family and pass on their line if it was necessary." She calmly answered. But there was a ferocity in her voice. "It's the family bond that ties people down. It's their loved one that becomes their bottom line and keeps them in check and it is the will to protect one's family that makes them stronger. If your students had a family, an anchor then perhaps they would have never fallen so low. You of all people should know, Biwako was your anchor."

Naoki sighed, "I don't intend to just teach the boy some ninja arts and be done with it. Any ninja with a working brain cell and half-ass achievements under their belt can do that," She calmly spoke. "I intend to teach him everything. From the ninja arts to family education. The proper behaviour, the proper way to speak, the proper way to walk, dress, dance and even breath. Just like I taught all of my previous students and just like how I was taught by Mito-sensei."

"Mito-sama…huh?" The old Hokage smiled fondly remembering his late sensei's sister-in-law. The first Hokage's firey wife, Princess Uzumaki Mito. The last heir to the Maelstrom throne in the land of Whirling Tides and sensei to his late wife Biwako and the troublesome woman sitting in front of him.

"That brings some very scary and very fond memories of mine," He smiled with a slight sadness.

Naoki slightly giggled, "You mean the time like when she drowned you in the hot spring for smoking on Biwako's face."

Hiruzen shuddered remembering that memory. He was thirteen at that time when he first tried a cigar and released the smoke on Biwako's passing face. She cried and ran back to Lady Mito. After the firey princess found out what had happened, she hunted him down like a wild animal and drowned him face-first in the hot spring's bowling water. After every few seconds, she pulled him up, healed his face and then repeated the process for three hours straight.

After that incident, he didn't touch any form of smoking for over three decades. Uzumaki Mito was known to put the fear of god inside many mortal men.

"Alright, Naoki," He began, "You can teach the boy. Just make sure to report to me about his progress every week."

"Once a month and I'll just write his progress, so don't expect a detailed report."

The old Hokage sighed. "Alright."

"And stop sending spies. Their presence annoys me at this age."

"She wasn't assigned to you." Hiruzen stated calmly, "She is assigned to the boy and Miss Eto. Especially Miss Eto."

"Arashi and Miss Koime?" Naoki smirked. "So, spying on a brat with talent and his civilian mother figure, you are finally going senile, Hiruzen. It's about damm time!"

The old Hokage's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "She is assigned to protect them. In any unlikely event, someone tries to attack them, not to spy on them."

"Yes-yes! Of course," The retired kunoichi yawned. "And your student Jiraiya is gay."

"Good night Hiruzen and don't come back unless it's a world-ending event."

"It was a pleasure talking to you Naoki. Good night." The Hokage got up and left.

Yakumo

The heiress to the Kurama clan was doing her homework in maths. 'That stupid Arashi. How can he say math is easy? I can't believe I'm agreeing with Naruto but math is kind of boring.' She sighed. "Maybe I should get some chocolate. I am getting hungry."

"I'll just sneak into the kitchen when no one is watching." She giggled. "No one will ever know." The young heiress jumped out from her study seat suddenly her head started to pain.

Yakumo quickly grabbed the side of her study table for balance. 'Again? What is going on with me?'

Ever since yesterday, she is experiencing some small head pain and sometimes she is seeing some weird dreams while she is awake. Almost like she is seeing her old memories, but that couldn't be, she never remembers any memories like those. Memories of where she scratched her mother's arms so badly that they bleed. Memorise where she bit her father.

The Kurama heiress wants to inform her mother but she fears if they hear she is in pain then they might stop her special training with Kurenai-sensei. She doesn't want that, she loves training with her sensei. Kurenai-sensei is lovely to talk to, she is so calm, so confident, so powerful and yet so kind and caring. Kurenai-sensei is like the elder sister she always wanted. Maybe she should talk to Kurenai-sensei about the headaches. She would know what to do.

But first, she needs to eat some chocolates.

Yakumo slowly walked towards the bedroom door but suddenly she felt like someone was behind her. She quickly turned around to find nothing. No one was there. 'I could have sworn…maybe it was nothing,' She shrugged and went her way to sneak inside the kitchen.

Once she left her room the cupboard slightly opened. A blackish eye with a yellow iris blinked.

Sup,

Sorry, I haven't uploaded it in a while. Truth be told I have been very depressed for almost a year. Life problems. Not really dealing well with it.

I almost felt like stopping and giving up. Almost did for a few months.

I know, pathetic right? I know everyone has problems and life is a bitch to almost everyone, unless you are one of the very few who have lady luck's blessing or were born with a hyper-super fortune…unfortunately, I'm a bottom-tier person when it comes to that.

Sorry about the small chapter and also about mentioning my stress. I felt like you guys should at least know the reason for my absence.

You guys deserve to know the truth. Without you…I would have never even had the courage to write and know this side of mine. Thank you for that and thank you again for following my story.

The next chapter will take some time. I'm trying really hard not to just give up. So, I might try to upload some other stories on my profile for a change of mind.

Thank you again.

Hope you and all of your family stay healthy and safe. Goodbye for now.