Suddenly Naruko started stirring from her unconscious state, muttering something about crazy medics. Instantly, all attention focused on her and Paul went down to a knee by the couch as if to appear less threatening to her when she awoke. After all waking up from unconsciousness, after being put there (even if indirectly), to find an armed man standing above you is cause for alarm.
Piercing blue eyes opened, flitting around the room to rest on the man nearest her, supprised to find a kind smile on his face.
"Hey, Old Man, what am I doing here?"
Sarutobi gestured at the man kneeling next to the couch saing, "This man here, who goes by the name of Paul, found you in an alley and after healing you brought you here."
The young girl's expression turned to one of suprise."Why would you do something so nice to me?" Naruko asked addressing the now named Paul.
"Why would you expect anything else?" He countered.
"Everyone else beats me," she said quietly, looking downtrodden, "nobody but Old Man Hokage and Ero-sennin over there and a few of the Anbu have ever shown me kindness. And the worst part is I can't figure out what I did to make every one hate me. Why don't you hate me?"
"Why should I hate you? You have done nothing wrong. The villagers hate you for what you carry." At this point Sarutobi started to say something only for Paul to keep on talking like the old Kage's thoughts weren't worth stopping for.
"On the day you were born a great beast known as the Nine Tailed Fox Demon attacked Konoha, leaving hundreds dead in its wake. The only reason this town is still hear is because of the Forth, your father, sacrificed himself to seal the demon into you." Naruko's mouth dropped open, stunned at the implications of what he had said.
"Now as to why he would pick his only child, his daughter who is not even a day old, are quite simple. One, he couldn't ask someone else to give up their child when he wouldn't, for that would look bad on him as a leader. Remember that a good leader leads by example as well as words. Two, you were the only child born that day, and if the baby is more than a day old not only the chances that the child will die from the sealing, but also the greater the chances of the seal failing and thus releasing the Fox into the world, where it would undoubtedly continue where it left off in destroying the village. Three, he trusted the village to see you as the jail of the Fox, not the fox itself, which shows the naivety of the man. That's one of the few flaws that the Minato had, but it was his greatest. And four, he trusted you above all others to keep the demon sealed, for the seal only works as long as the jailer of the demon wills it to be sealed away."
Silence reigned in the room as Naruko contemplated all she had just heard. Meanwhile Jiraiya, looked on with a slightly troubled expression, and Sarutobi glared at Paul, livid that his wishes had been completely ignored in this matter; his teeth clenched so hard it was amazing that he didn't bite off the stem of his pipe.
"You said my dad was Minato, the Fourth Hokage. Do you know who my mother is?" Naruko asked hopefully, breaking the scilence as she did.
Paul shook his head sorrowfully at her, "Your mother was a woman by the name of Kushina Uzumaki. She was the last of the Uzumaki clan and the only known survivor of the destruction of Uzugakure during the Third Great Shinobi War. While her body has never been found, she is believed to be dead."
"Why wasn't I told of my parents? Old Man, why did you say that you didn't know who my parents were?" Naruko asked, tears falling as she realized the sheer magnitude of the betrayal of trust the old Kage had committed.
"He did it for your protection. For while the villagers might have not beaten you knowing that you are the daughter of the beloved Fourth, there are people out there who would have stopped at nothing to see you dead upon learning of you heritage." Paul answered, stepping in as Sarutobi floundered for an answer that would have started to heal the chasm that had opened between him and Naruko.
"Why do they hate me?"
"It's not you they hate. It's your father. He killed hundreds of Iwa ninja with his Flying Thunder God technique. Just like how the villagers here want to get revenge on the Fox for nearly destroying the village and killing hundreds, the people of Iwa want to get revenge on Minato, and sense he is out of their reach they'll go after the next best target in their minds, you."
"Why is it everyone hates me?"
"There are many who don't hate you. Sarutobi over there loves you like a granddaughter. Jiraiya… I'm not actually sure on his feelings but he saw your father as his son, so I'd imagine that he also sees you as a granddaughter. And while I don't love you, you are one of the few people with my respect, because not only did you not become what the villagers believed you to be, you strove to gain their respect and trust."
Naruko had a thoughtful look on her face, studding the man before her. He had been nothing but honest with her, at least to the best of her knowledge. (You don't survive in a hostile world without becoming suspicious of things, not to mention she had just been betrayed by the one person she trusted completely.)
"How do you know so much?" she asked, curious as to how he had not only such detailed information on the world but also had knowledge of her own thoughts and feelings.
"That is an excellent question that we're all interested in hearing the answer to." Jiraiya said. "Not only do you have knowledge of village secrets, but also speak of things I have just found out about with familiarity."
His reply could only be described as cryptic.
"The trees speak to me in the rustling of their leaves. The wind whispers in my ear the secrets spoken. The earth stands mute witness to the acts of all that travel upon it and tells me of the world."