Authors note:

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and just so you all know, I wasn't trying to bash Tsunade or anything in the last chapter. She is actually one of my favorite characters and I am kind of addicted to stories where she adopts/raised Naruto.

JUST TO NOTE, there is something in this chapter that is somewhat cliche. Before you send me a bunch of reviews tearing into me, please read the whole thing, and then stop and think about it for a second. Please, don't hit the scene in question, and then immedieatly jump to the bottom to leave me a review telling me how stupid I am, or how this or that never happened in Canon.

Special thanks to my beta Sakiku Torakak once again. All reviews/criticism is welcomed. Without further ado, I give you chapter three of Naruto: Shadows of the Mind.

'THOUGHTS'

LINEBREAKS=CHANGE OF SCENE/POV

CHAPTER THREE

Three Years Later

A small child cried as he walked through the streets alone. While some might find this somewhat alarming and offer assistance to the child, few if any would give any help to this particular child for reasons as varied as anger, fear, hatred, or just sheer indifference.

His name was Naruto Uzumaki and he was a monster. He didn't know why he was a monster, but all of the adults told him he was, and surely they knew what they were talking about. After all, only the Old Man ever said he wasn't, and while he seemed really smart, he was still just one man that Naruto only saw from time to time.

The reason for Naruto's tears today was his recent trip to a park near his orphanage. He had often heard about parks from the other children at the orphanage and had always dreamed of going to one. The other children had made it sound like a lot of fun and a place to make friends. Naruto had never been allowed outside of the orphanage walls before and was only rarely allowed around the other orphans, so he was always lonely when the Old Man wasn't around.

For some reason though, that had all been changed three days ago during one of the Old Man's visits and now Naruto could go where ever he wanted, whenever he wanted as long as he was back at the orphanage by sunset. So after a few days to test and get used to his new freedom, Naruto decided to go to a park a few blocks away that the other children had talked about. Once he got there he had been amazed at what, to him, seemed to be a paradise. There were all kinds of sandboxes, and swings, and slides, and some odd metal contraptions that Naruto wouldn't later learn were called seesaws and jungle gyms. And most importantly, there were children of varying ages all around, just playing and having fun. Naruto had watched in fascination as a little girl had walked up to a group of children and simply asked "Can I play?" and just like that, she was a part of the group. Naruto wanted that.

Naruto had eagerly run to the other children to try to make friends, certain it would be as easy as it had been for the little girl. Alas, this was not to be as the moment Naruto got within arm's reach, a swarm of parents showed up and began grabbing their children away from him. Then came the whispering. "Stay away from him... He's a bad boy... He's dangerous... If I ever catch you near him, you'll be grounded for a month... Don't even look at him..." being among the most common whispers. After just a few minutes, Naruto was left completely alone once more.

When the last of the parents and their children began to walk away from him, Naruto couldn't hold in his tears any longer. He ran from the park crying and asking himself, 'What did I do? Why doesn't anyone like me?' It never occurred to the young child that the adults might have been afraid of him. After all, as far as most children were concerned, "grownups" weren't afraid of anything, one of the many reasons children were so eager to grow up. It also never occurred to him that for every parent that told their children to stay away from him, there were two or three who didn't even seem to notice him, preoccupied as they were with going about their own lives. All he saw were parents dragging their children away from him, and all he heard were those terrible whispers.

Naruto was so lost in his confusion and pain that he never saw the balding man with a graying mustache until he was stumbling back from the force of his collision with the man. He did see it when the man grabbed him by the arm though, and he definitely noticed when the man began to curse angrily while shaking him back and forth. Terrified at this new experience, Naruto tried to pull away, but he never really had a chance against a fully-grown adult.

Naruto flinched fearfully as the man raised his hand in the air as if to strike him, which almost made him miss the man being hit in the head with a rock. The villager stumbled to the side from the hit and loosened his grip enough for Naruto to pull free and run. Had he looked back he would have seen a pair of Anbu members Shunshin into view, jab a pressure point on the man, then Shunshin away with the villager in tow. If he had, then he might have been frozen in wonder and fear at the sight, and as a result, what was about to occur might have been prevented.

Instead, he ran on for another block or two before ducking into an alley to catch his breath. Once his lungs were no longer pumping like a bellows, Naruto poked his head around the corner, nervously checking to make sure that the scary man hadn't decided to chase him.

Breathing a sigh of relief when he found no trace of the villager in the crowd, Naruto fearfully decided to cut through the alleyway just to be sure. Turning around Naruto made his way through the back street which, as far as alleys went, was fairly nice. Sure, there were a number of garbage cans and some discarded magazines and bottles, but overall it was fairly well kept. Certainly there was nothing about the alley that would have made him wary or fearful, so when he suddenly found himself lying face first on the ground he was caught completely off guard. Trying to focus through the agonizing pain in the back of his head, Naruto unsteadily tried to push himself to his knees. He barely managed to even get his hands under him before a hand buried itself in his hair and pulled him completely off the ground and threw him into the wall, painfully ripping out a fist full of his hair in the process.

Disoriented, Naruto collapsed to the ground and struggled fitfully to draw in another breath. Between the lack of air, and the pain in his head and his back, Naruto never saw the foot that slammed into his stomach, driving what little air he had left out of his lungs.

Looking up through watering eyes, Naruto finally got a look at his attacker, though in his confusion it still took him a moment to realize that he was being attacked. Though Naruto lacked the life-experience to know the difference at the time, the man was a civilian, probably a merchant of some kind if one were to judge by the make and quality of the man's clothing. The man had brown hair that fell to his collar, but was combed over a rather large bald spot on top. He wasn't much more than average in height, but he towered over Naruto's small frame.

Naruto didn't even have the chance to formulate a sentence as the man growled and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off his feet before slamming him repeatedly against the alley wall. What terrified Naruto the most though, wasn't the suddenness of the attack, nor was it the attack itself. It was how quiet the man was. The only sound he made was the grinding of his teeth and the ragged breathing.

He just kept looking at Naruto with those hurtful eyes.

Now truly afraid -not to mention coherent enough to be afraid- Naruto tried desperately to draw enough breath to scream, to call for help, to beg for mercy, anything to make the pain and terror go away. Unfortunately, between the hands squeezing his throat and being repeatedly slammed into the wall, he was already approaching unconsciousness. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your view, the merchant stopped suddenly and threw him to the ground once more, allowing Naruto to painfully gasp for air. Naruto's respite was short-lived though, as his unnamed assailant straddled his chest, easily pinning Naruto's arms down with his legs.

Trying once again to suck in enough air to scream, Naruto felt a horrible stabbing sensation in his right side. Coughing, Naruto terror grew a hundred fold when he saw his own blood splatter out from his mouth.

Only later would he learn that the man's kick had not only broken two of his ribs, but it had also forced one of the bone fragments into his right lung.

Finally the man spoke, his face scrunched up in disgust. "Little bastard! How dare you soil me with your tainted blood!?" Naruto could only whimper in confusion and fear as the man drove a fist into his face, breaking his nose with a sickening crunch. Naruto's head swam with the sheer agony he was experiencing. Combined with broken ribs, bruised throat, and the lung that was slowly filling up with blood and other bodily fluids, Naruto was on the verge of passing out.

While his vision grew darker and Naruto began to slowly slip into blissful unconsciousness, his struggles -weak as they were at this point- stopped.

However, just when he was about to pass out, he felt a new pain that brought him screaming back to consciousness. Naruto tried to look up at the villager only to find that the man had Naruto's neck and lower jaw in a vice-like grip, cruelly grinding the right side of Naruto's face into the cold cement in the process. Eyes darting towards his attacker, Naruto felt his stomach churn nauseously at the twisted grin on the man's face as he stared down on Naruto.

The villager giggled in sick glee, a sound that seemed completely at odds with the look of utter hatred and rage on the man's face. "Let's see you try to hide now you fucking monster."

Naruto could just make out the knife handle out of the corner of his peripheral vision. He stared at it in confusion for a moment, still wondering what had caused him such pain to drive the darkness away, before his eyes widened in horrified realization. Naruto barely had time to beg, "Please don't-!" before the man began to brutally cut at his face with a sawing motion, as if he wanted to cut straight through Naruto's cheekbone and come out the other cheek.

The pain was horrific, a burning sensation, like someone had pushed red-hot steel across his face and then jerked it back and forth jaggedly. Naruto screamed with everything he had, which was very little at this point as his vision darkened once more, though this time it was a mixture of tears and his own blood that was the cause. As the man lifted the blade from his face he felt a new pain as the wound was exposed to the air, as if molten steel was poured into the cuts.

After a moment that seemed to last for an eternity, the pain subsided to a -relatively speaking- dull ache. Blinking desperately to try to clear his vision, Naruto could only scream when he heard his assailant cackle. "Two down and four to go!"

Hitode brought the blade towards the demon's face, intending to continue his grisly work. There was no room in his enraged mind for anything else at this point, not after everything he had lost over the last three years.

Hitode had at first thought his family lucky in the hours following the Kyuubi's attack. They'd all survived, even his newly promoted Chuunin wife Miku who had been out helping to defend the village. Throughout that terrible night, Hitode had hated himself, hated how he was hiding in the safety of the shelters while his beloved Miku was out there fighting, and possibly dying. Even when he gathered the Academy students together so their Chuunin-sensei could join the battle, he hated himself for not being by his wife's side. And he'd never felt as happy as when he was reunited with his darling wife in the aftermath, finding her tired but gloriously alive and unharmed. Even with all of the chaos and the loss of the Yondaime and so many others, Hitode had felt certain that he was blessed by the gods. And then his elder brother Shido had learned the truth behind the Kyuubi's defeat.

Hitode had been horrified to learn that the demon was not only still alive, but was actually being protected by the Sandaime! What was the old man thinking?! Even worse, the Sandaime had actually overruled the Council and declared the demon would be allowed to live alongside the rest of the villagers! Hitode had fiercely supported his brother's decision to gather the people together to confront the aged Hokage, who had obviously allowed his power to go to his head if he thought he could just do as he pleased despite the Council's unanimous objections. He'd even helped spread the word about the demon's attempt to avoid its destruction by hiding in the form of a child.

So one could imagine his horror when instead of uniting behind his brother and the other Councilors, the people had turned against them. Rather than being outraged at the Hokage's betrayal of them all, the shinobi had actually arrested Shido, as well as all those Councilors who had been helping him. Then, when the Sandaime tyrannically ordered their deaths, the shinobi hadn't hesitated to comply, executing their duly elected leaders without a flicker of remorse!

Hitode had been crushed, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes even as the Sandaime personally explained his latest law and the consequence for breaking it. Even worse, while Miku mourned with him and supported him through his brother's death -whom he hadn't even been allowed to bury as his body was left for carrion to devour- she actually supported the Hokage! That while she would miss Shido and regretted his passing and the pain if had brought him, she couldn't condemn the Sandaime for enforcing the Village's laws. That Shido, however much he might have believed he was doing the right thing, had handled the situation terribly, and had actually committed treason by his actions.

Their marriage had barely survived after that, despite the great love they had for one another. It took nearly two years of harsh arguments combined with barely seeing Miku -as she and the rest of the shinobi were run ragged to get Konoha back on its feet- before they had been able to reconcile with each other. Admittedly, it was Miku's near death in an ambush that claimed the lives of several teammates that truly drove home what Hitode had been about to lose. It also helped that Miku desperately wanted children, nearly as much as Hitode himself, and even better, Miku's dream job was to be an instructor at the Academy, a posting that many other shinobi tried desperately to avoid.

With that in mind, Hitode tried to put Shido's murder behind him, and to ignore the demon child in favor of preparing for his new family -not to mention the frantic "practice runs" Miku put him through while waiting for her request for paternity leave to go through. For a wonderful few weeks, Hitode had once again dared to believe he was truly blessed. But slowly, things had become less and less wonderful. While Miku's request for leave had been approved, actually conceiving a child had proven almost ridiculously difficult considering how many accidental pregnancies happened in a Hidden Village each year. Hitode had honestly had no clue how difficult it could be to intentionally impregnate a woman. Ironic considering lengths he'd gone through as a young man to avoid just that.

Still, a quick trip to the doctor had set their minds at ease. Learning that it wasn't uncommon to take up to a year for a couple to get pregnant the first time had surprised him, as had the doctor's chuckled warning that daily sex could actually decrease their odds of conceiving. Still, while slightly embarrassed to learn that he and Miku might have simply been trying too hard to have a child, Hitode had been happy.

But then a year had come and gone without a pregnancy. And while Miku remained optimistic, Hitode only grew more and more convinced something was wrong. And then, it occurred to him, that Miku, his darling beautiful Miku, had been exposed to the Kyuubi's tainted chakra for hours during the attack! Who knew what effect that could have on a woman? Hitode had tried to put it out of his mind, had tried telling himself that surely someone would have noticed by now if the Kyuubi's chakra had negatively affected anyone. But he couldn't do it.

Over time, he only grew more certain, enough so that he had tearfully confessed his fear to Miku. In turn, Miku had gone looking for answers herself from her kunoichi acquaintances. She'd returned hours later with a relieved smile, joyfully telling him that his fears were for naught, and there had never been any such side effects noted from exposure to demonic chakra.

Hitode himself had been relieved for a moment, before his treacherous mind had reminded him that there had to be a reason for their difficulties in conceiving a child. And worried that Miku had simply been reassured by one of her friends who didn't actually know, Hitode had asked where she'd gotten her information. Her answer had shocked and horrified him.

"The Sandaime." she had cheerfully replied, seemingly completely put at ease by what that murderer had told her. Unable to contain his outrage, Hitode exploded at Miku, calling her a fool among other things, reasserting his belief in the demon child's role in their difficulties. The conversation quickly turned heated after he brought up the demon child, and Hitode honestly couldn't remember what exactly it was he had said that had set her off, but for some reason, Miku had actually slapped him, before coldly telling him that he understood nothing, least of all about the demon that she insisted on calling "poor boy". That was more than he could take, not after everything that monster had taken from him and his family.

So he threw Miku out. Not for good, just so she could have some time to come to her senses and realize the danger that the Kyuubi continued to pose, especially if it was able to keep them from conceiving a child. Hitode was more than prepared to take her back, and was in fact able to concede that while not in the wrong, some of his words had been unduly harsh to his wife -who he realized must have been terrified at the possibility of being barren because of that monster, and thus simply grasping at straws to try to reassure herself. It hurt him to be away from his beloved Miku, and that pain had led to him drinking more than was probably good for him, but he'd known the pain would only be temporary. After all, they'd gotten over their arguments following Shido's death; surely they would get over this one as well.

But as the days turned into weeks and then months, Hitode began to grow worried when he didn't hear from Miku. So he went looking for her, and growing more worried when he failed to find her at first. She wasn't at any of the places he could usually find her, and most of her friends still weren't talking to him after their fight, so he was truly at wits end. He finally did find her of course, though at first he couldn't believe it was actually her. Much to his surprise, when he stumbled into her he found her pregnant!

For a moment he could only stare at her, and then he laughed joyously, rushing forward to engulf her in a hug and kiss her deeply. What a fool he had been, thinking that the Kyuubi could actually prevent pregnancy. Even more so when he realized that he must have finally gotten her pregnant just days before their fight.

It never occurred to him to wonder why she hadn't told him before now.

Just like it never occurred to him that she might avoid his attempt to hug her and convey his joy. Or that she would look at him so coldly as she asked what he wanted.

Just like it never occurred to him that she would laugh when he asked why she hadn't told him that she was pregnant, or that she in turn would ask why he thought she would.

Just like it never occurred to him that she would tell him that she was just shy of being four months along, nor remind him that they hadn't so much as spoken in almost seven months.

Just like it never occurred to him that when he threw her out that day, it was the last straw for her. That he had hurt her so badly and so deeply that she had crawled into a sake bottle and hadn't come out until weeks later when she had squandered her savings away staying as drunk as she could for as long as she could, leaving her in the streets with nowhere else to go. That is, until another man had found her. The same man that had taken her in as if she were a stray kitten and carefully nursed her back to health and sobriety. The same man she had somehow fallen in love with. The same man she had demanded to marry her. The same man who had laughed before kissing her and asking if she wanted a traditional wedding or not. The same man who had gotten her pregnant on their wedding night. Their first time together.

Hitode couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that he had lost his beloved Miku to another man. He couldn't believe that Miku was actually carrying another man's child. He'd stood there in a daze, desperately wondering where it had all gone wrong for him even as Miku walked away. And when he saw the demon child dart into an alley, he could no longer stand by and watch as Konoha's greatest enemy walked unpunished through the village. Not after everything the bastard Fox had done to him and his family.

So he had chased the beast down, and made sure to extract every bit of punishment from the bastard as he could. Marking the demon for what it was, was only the beginning as far as Hitode was concerned as he laid the blade across the screaming bastard's face for a third cut.

"Oh God, what the hell are you doing!?" A horrified voice shouted. "Hey, Naoto, come on!"

There were running footsteps.

And then two young men were dragging him off of the Fox-Child. Hitode screamed in incoherent rage as he struggled with the two interlopers, thrashing from side to side and throwing one of the fools off him, the other holding tightly to his knife hand. Twisting, he delivered a vicious punch, shattering the young redhead's nose with a sickening crunch. Yet the young man didn't relinquish his grip, and seeing the second man getting back to his feet, Hitode grabbed the redhead by the hair and slammed his head into the alley wall.

The man's grip weakened, and Hitode wrenched his hand free, spinning back and raising his knife over head to end the Fox-Child once and for all.

Then a hand suddenly seized his wrist, the pressure just short of snapping the bone. Simultaneously, an arm wrapped around his neck from behind and yanked him off the ground, dragging him several feet from the Fox-Child.

Hitode snarled and tried to twist free, only to come close to soiling himself when he saw a Usagi masked Anbu dash past him and scoop the demon into his arms. He let out a slight whimper when Usagi looked up from the thing in his arms to Hitode, or more specifically, to the other Anbu holding him.

"Saru, I'll take Naruto to the hospital, you deal with the traitor and inform Hokage-sama."

"Understood." was the grim response that came from behind Hitode.

Hitode watched as the gray armored shinobi leapt to the rooftops and dashed off.

"Thank you for your assistance in this matter. You have done a great service to Konoha." the voice now identified as Saru said to the two interlopers. "If you will wait at the opening of the alley, a Medic-nin will be along shortly to tend your injury."

The uninjured man nodded as he supported his dazed friend. "Come on, Naoto, let's get you a cloth and some ice for your nose."

Naoto nodded woozily as his companion began shuffling him from the alley. "I ope dey execoot dat shick bashtard..." the redhead slurred through his broken nose. "What kind of monshter does dat to a child?"

Hitode wanted to scream at the fools, to tell them about the demon, and his brother, and everything else that monster had taken from him. Then Saru chuckled darkly, "Well, looks like Ibiki is going to have even more fun today." This time Hitode really did soil himself.

Usagi held Naruto as gently as he could while dashing across the rooftops towards the hospital. He hadn't been able to do a very thorough check on Naruto, but his limited first aid skills were more than enough to know that he needed immediate medical attention. Luckily, he had used Tanuki Neiri Jutsu on the boy; otherwise he had no doubt the child would not only still be screaming, but also probably struggling to escape from Usagi, even if he had nothing to fear from the Anbu. Besides, it was very hard to be stealthy when you had a screaming and struggling child with you and the last thing he needed was someone "coming to the child's aid". Whether they were sincere or not didn't really matter at this point.

Landing in front of the main hospital Usagi ran through the doors into the emergency room. Finding the nearest doctor Usagi made his way across the currently empty room to the desk where the man was conversing with a nurse.

The nurse jumped to her feet when she saw the Anbu and the unmoving child cradled to his chest, alerting the doctor to Usagi's presence. "What happened?" the man asked as he began to run a diagnostic jutsu on the small child.

"He was attacked. I don't know how bad the damage is, but he seems to be having trouble breathing." Usagi responded in clipped tones, trying to maintain a professional attitude in spite of the red hot rage he felt both at himself, and the at the bastard who would actually do something like this to a child for no reason.

This almost went out the window when the doctor went to examine the lacerations on Naruto's face and got a good look at who the child was. "Fuck!" The doctor hissed, recoiling in disgust from the child. "Get that thing out of here! I won't let this hospital be tainted by that filth!"

Usagi just stared at him for a moment, honestly indecisive for a moment. On the one hand, the doctors of Konoha had always had the right to refuse any treatments or procedures they considered immoral or unethical. This law was originally put in place so the civilian doctors wouldn't be forced to heal enemy combatants who were set to be tortured for information. It was also meant to appease those who felt it wrong to heal someone set for execution, or to remove healthy organs from prisoners for transplant to Leaf Shinobi. The idea being that doctors wouldn't feel the need to leave the medical practice over the guilt of betraying their own moral beliefs. And with the large number of talented, more understanding Medic-nin that Konoha boasted, such a concession had always seemed rather trivial overall.

On the other hand, the law was not meant to allow doctors to refuse treatment based on a grudge, or prejudice like this one was doing. Even if the man in question didn't see it that way. The problem was that technically, the doctor was within his legal rights, even if he was abusing said rights.

Still, Usagi was responsible for Naruto's safety, a mandate given to him by the Sandaime Hokage himself, and he had no doubt that the child needed medical attention. All this flashed through his head during that brief moment, before coming to a decision.

'Fuck it.' Were his thoughts as he channeled chakra to his right hand and grabbed the hand the doctor used to point at Naruto.

A series of cracks and snaps were heard when Usagi vindictively broke the doctor's hand, before snapping his wrist.

The doctor screamed in shock and agony before he dropped to his knees, cradling his hand, and looking up at Usagi in disbelief. The scream also drew the attention of a couple of other doctors and a handful of nurses, who came running into the room. They stopped short when they saw one of their own on his knees in front of an Anbu with a small child cradled in the assassin's arms.

Usagi stepped away from the physician he had…disciplined… and approached the small group of doctors and nurses. 'Well, it's too late to turn back now.' He thought with a wry snort and a mental shrug. "This is Naruto Uzumaki" he stated stiffly while holding the child out towards the closer of the two doctors. "He needs immediate medical attention." Usagi finished as he watched for the second doctor's response. The man looked surprised that an Anbu was blocking his path to his injured colleague, before he seemed to realize what Usagi had just said. As soon as he did however, the man's face became resolute.

"I'll have nothing to do with it. The Yondaime may be a hero, but creating this...thing was unforgivable, even for him! As if it weren't bad enough that the other Hidden Villages insist on creating such horrible abominations to use as weapons, the Yondaime destroyed that poor child as well? I'm sorry, but I can't condone aiding in the continuation of such barbarism!" For a full thirty seconds after his rant, Usagi just stared at the man.

"Wrong answer." was all the Anbu finally said as he spun in a circle to his left, using his free arm to hit the doctor with the full force of the centrifugal wind-up. It was a very effective technique that utilized the bony part of the lower forearm to hit the target's neck. If performed properly, the hit would land on a spot that forced every muscle in the body to relax for a second or two – good for temporarily stunning an opponent before following up with a more permanent take-down. With as much force as Usagi used though, the blow flipped the man into a partial cartwheel that ended when the doctor's shoulder connected with the floor, followed by the rest of his now unconscious body

The remaining doctor and the nurses gasped as Usagi returned to his previous position. For a moment, he just stared at them. "I'm not going to say it again." He stated coldly.

This seemed to wake the staff from their stupor as the doctor rushed to take the child while a couple of nurses grabbed a gurney for him to place the thankfully still sleeping child on.

Glancing at the two physicians on the floor as well as the trio of nurses who stayed behind to help them, Usagi couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. His actions would not go unpunished that was for sure. Other Hidden Villages might tolerate or even encourage such behavior from their shinobi to their civilians but Konoha most certainly did not. At least, not for something like this. Looking down the hallway at his young charge, he felt a strange sense of determination. What he did was wrong...yet at the same time... right.

Walking back past the two former doctors Usagi went to a water cooler that was set against the wall. Reaching down to the levers, he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should even bother to take the time. 'Oh, why not?' He decided as he stood back up.

Heading back to his charge, Usagi snorted when he passed the downed physicians. "Don't even bother." He ordered amusedly to the trio of nurses who remained with the now injured/unconscious doctors, while forming a series of hand seals. On the last seal, the water in the cooler began to churn chaotically before the plastic container suddenly exploded; spilling water everywhere, which then began to rise up in two places until they formed perfect copies of Usagi.

'Whoops...' he thought sarcastically as the rest of the water left over from his jutsu drained out of the jug.

Continuing down the hall, he chuckled aloud. "Ibiki will be so happy. He's already received two playthings today, and now I'm giving him two more." The nurses gasped as the Mizu Bunshin grabbed the doctors and shunshined away. Despite the severity of the situation, Usagi couldn't resist whistling a merry tune. So what if he put the fear of God into them? Maybe that would remind them that the liberties given to them were just that.

Catching up to his charge and the staff moving him into one of the many rooms on this floor, Usagi took up a position near the door as the doctors -'huh, there's two of them now…'- worked on Naruto.

Usagi would remain in the corner until the Hokage arrived, as was the protocol decided for this kind of situation. Usagi flinched slightly as he thought about that little fact. The Sandaime would not be pleased with today's events, that was for sure.

Sarutobi frowned as he tapped his finger on his desk. Naruto had been hospitalized. Hospitalized! He growled just thinking about it. A barely three and a half year old should not be in the hospital with two broken ribs and a punctured lung. The child had also received a few "minor" injuries including a broken nose, which had been easily set, and a pair of deep cuts on the left side of his face that were not so easily healed. Or at least, not enough to remove the scars that now covered two of his birthmarks. 'As if Naruto needs something else to make him stand out.' Sarutobi thought bitterly.

Sarutobi had some satisfaction in knowing that the last few days the former merchant Hitode would be agonizing to say the least. Still, that was nowhere near enough to make up for the knowledge that he had failed Naruto once again. 'How many times have I failed you now? First, the fiasco with the council, then those ignorant fools at the orphanage, and now this.' Sarutobi mused grimly. 'Perhaps I need to increase Naruto's security detail? No, no, they've done an excellent job of keeping him safe. This attack probably happened by chance.' The usual Anbu details had always been more than enough to deter or intercept any attacks and were loyal enough to follow their Hokage's orders to the letter. In the streets at least. He still couldn't forgive himself for what the caretakers at the orphanage had done to Naruto, or his failure to foresee it.

Oh, Sarutobi knew that logically there was no way he could have known that not only would a caretaker at an orphanage neglect or abuse Naruto, but that almost the entirety of the other workers either took part in it, or turned a blind eye to the abuse. Nor could he blame the Anbu for not suspecting it either. After all, it takes a very paranoid and jaded person to consider that without some kind of proof, and as Sarutobi himself had selected that orphanage, it was likely the Anbu assumed those within had already been vetted by him. An assumption that Sarutobi knew would have been true, if he hadn't allowed himself to get so distracted in the months following the Kyuubi's attack. Still that didn't make him feel any less guilty about it.

Even after three days of interrogations, Ibiki still couldn't provide a complete picture of just what went on in that orphanage when Sarutobi wasn't around. What he did know was more than enough to cause restless nights filled with guilt and doubt. Constant isolation, regularly skipped meals, and verbal abuse were all confirmed, with others merely suspected. The real question was just how bad it was. Hopefully, once the current situation was resolved Ibiki would be able to finish the investigation into the orphanage, and if there was any decency in the world, that would be the extent of the mistreatment.

Sighing, he picked up the Anbu report from the hospital incident involving Usagi. Something he could admit to having mixed feelings on. Skimming over it once again, Sarutobi spoke to the seemingly empty office. "Bring me Usagi."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." was the soft-spoken reply, as the telltale smoke from a Shunshin dispersed in the shadows. Sarutobi knew what he would have to do, as much as he didn't want to.

Looking up he watched as Usagi appeared silently before him.

"You summoned me, Hokage-sama?" the masked Anbu asked with a salute.

Sarutobi gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat Usagi. We have much to discuss." He opened one of his drawers and retrieved some tobacco for his pipe. Lighting it he took a few calming puffs while studying Usagi. "You do know why you're here don't you, Usagi." It was more a statement than a question.

"I can take a guess, Hokage-sama." the Anbu replied stoically.

Sarutobi sighed. "Despite your excellent mission record, and your unwavering loyalty, I cannot overlook your actions at the hospital. On the one hand, I applaud you for what you did for young Naruto. However, Konoha has never been a place where civilians must fear their protectors. What you did, however well intentioned, was intimidation, pure and simple." He paused to observe the young man in front of him. There was a sense of resignation in the Anbu's body language. 'No doubt he knew from the beginning that his actions would result in this. That he went through with them anyway would be admirable in other circumstances.' "Using your skills to needlessly attack and intimidate the very people who you have sworn to defend is unacceptable. If you were any other ninja you would only receive a severe fine for this. However, you are not any other ninja; you are Anbu, one of my personal shinobi. Your actions will always reflect not only on Konoha, but on me as well. As such, more than any other ninja, you are expected to maintain discipline and professionalism." Sarutobi paused for a moment, and then asked, "Tell me Usagi, why didn't you simply seek out another doctor? Why did you feel that assaulting your own comrades was acceptable?"

"Should I have let Naruto die then?" Usagi retorted heatedly. "Those doctors were abusing their power to satisfy their own hatred or even their political beliefs! What else should I have done?"

"You could have taken Naruto to the Anbu Medics." Sarutobi said quietly. "You could have invoked my name to coerce the nurses to at least stabilize Naruto while you found a doctor or Medic-nin for him. Such was certainly within their abilities. Or..." Sarutobi paused once again to level a stern look on Usagi and added some bite to his tone. "You could have retrieved Todoh-sensei from his office, not twenty feet from where you were standing. You remember Todoh-sensei don't you? He was the second doctor you found aiding Naruto when you returned from your showboating with your Mizu Bunshin in the lobby." Sarutobi allowed his voice to grow more heated as he went on, taking notice of Usagi's flinch. "He is also the doctor who has seen to Naruto's medical needs since he was barely a month old. Surely as one of my elite shinobi, you were capable of moving twenty feet before your charge died?"

Sarutobi scoffed tiredly and looked to the file on his desk once again. "It never even occurred to you to find another doctor did it? You allowed your anger, both at yourself for what happened to Naruto, and at the doctors who exercised their rights, to blind you to any other possible course of action. Rather than choosing to accept their refusals and search for another means of completing your objective, you instead decided that only they would be acceptable, and you acted to force them to act as you wished. Still I understand that you acted in what you felt were the best interests of Naruto, so there will be no fines for you. That said I cannot allow you to remain in the Anbu either."

A slight tightening of his fists was Usagi's only outward reaction to this news. "I understand, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded, "Turn in your mask and your Anbu uniform to the quartermaster. I've already informed your Captain of your discharge. Report back in three days for reassignment."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The now former Anbu stood and saluted for what would be the final time as an Anbu operative.

As he turned to leave the Hokage spoke up again. "By the way."

Usagi turned back to his leader in time to catch a small scroll. Blinking at the scroll in confusion, he looked back to the Hokage, who was now smiling ever so slightly.

"You've been a Chuunin for some time now, ever since you were recruited for the Anbu four years ago. I believe it's about time for a promotion, don't you?" The Sandaime chuckled. "After all, your skills are more than sufficient for your new rank, and you possess the leadership qualities necessary -when you choose to actually use them. You'll find both your promotion paperwork and your new vest in that scroll. Congratulations Special Jounin Genma Shiranui."

Genma bowed to the Hokage, feeling more than slightly bewildered. "Thank you, Hokage-sama." As he left, Genma let out a slightly forced chuckle as he shifted his mask just enough to expose one corner of his mouth. "Well that wasn't so bad." Sticking the end of a senbon in his mouth, he left to complete his discharge from Anbu. He'd expected a hefty punishment for harming those doctors, though he didn't expect to be discharged for it. Nor did he expect a lecture the likes of which he hadn't received in quite a long time. Though looking back with the benefit of hindsight, the Hokage was right. Self-righteous bastards those two doctors might have been, Genma didn't need to punish them to get Naruto treatment. He certainly shouldn't have even wasted the time it took to do so, not when his charge's life was on the line. Most of the nurses there were young enough to be easily persuaded by an imposing Anbu to do as he asked, and logically speaking, the odds of getting two doctors who refused to help Naruto in a row were about the same as being struck by lightning after winning a lottery. Or about the same as Tsunade Senju getting a royal flush in a game of poker. So Genma could admit that he'd overreacted, which in turn led to him screwing up pretty badly in more than one way.

Still, he was more or less satisfied with how everything had turned out. On the one hand, he was getting a little tired of Anbu missions, and he got a "free" promotion out of it. On the other hand, he was going to see a serious pay decrease. Not to mention having to interact with a new team that more than likely wouldn't be as experienced as him, seeing as how he had Anbu training. Still, his "punishment" could have been a lot worse really.

No, despite the shitty start this day had had, the ending wasn't so bad…err, well, not as bad as it could have been. Whistling as he strolled out of the Hokage tower, Genma thought about his new promotion in a more positive light. 'Hmm, I wonder how the ladies will like my new vest? Hehehe… Moritaki's bar here I come.' Yes… not that bad a day at all.

Translations

Saru= Monkey

Usagi=Rabbit

Tanuki Neiri Jutsu=Forced Sleep Technique

Author's note: There you go, chapter three. PLEASE, DO NOT ATTEMPT THE TAKE DOWN MOVE DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER!

With Hitode, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go into as much detail as I did with him, but I also didn't want him to simply be a random ass Naruto hater either. For those who didn't catch it, there's an insinuation that Hitode was sterile, but rather than even entertain the idea, he decided to blame something/someone else. In this case, Naruto. And when he learned that he'd lost the love of his life to another man, he didn't want to accept that he had no one to blame but himself. So he blamed Naruto again.

Also, before anyone jumps down my throat again about the "evil civilian council" Hitode's understanding of how the council works is wrong. He'd never been a member himself, never really got involved with how someone became a member, nor did he understand that his brother had no power whatsoever. His brother made assumptions when Sarutobi told them about Naruto, and not truly understanding what had happened, Shido allowed his assumptions to lead him to commit treason. People don't like thinking beloved family members as criminals of any sort, let alone as traitors. It was easier for Hitode in his grief and based on his misunderstanding as to how the council works, to see the Sandaime as a power hungry dictator, who had murdered his brother. And when he learned that he'd just lost his wife for good -despite having lost her half a year earlier- he snapped and did something he would otherwise never dare to do. He attacked an innocent child.

Basically, this was an unplanned, isolated incident, not the start of any "mob attacks" or "fox hunts" or anything else like that. Likewise, the scene with the doctors was one guy who saw Naruto as the Kyuubi, and one doctor who saw Naruto as the victim of a practice so horrible, it would be better for the boy to just die than to be forced to continue on. That Genma got so angry about the situation that he lashed out at said doctors rather then going about doing his job in the most efficent and professional manner possible, while understandable, was not truly acceptable in the grand scheme of things. As a shadowy, mysterious organization that answers only to the Hokage, and is otherwise above the law, it would be very easy for this incident to start a growing perception that the Anbu were brutal oppressors and secret police.

That all out of the way, let me know what you think about those scenes, or about the varying reactions of the parents to Naruto. The idea with that was that while some pulled their kids away out of fear, far more were simply going about their lives. They had shopping to do, relatives to visit, meals to cook, etc. As usual, any reviews, suggestions, criticisms, etc. are welcomed and appreciated.