Sasuke didn't quite know what to think.
Naruto—the dead last, the worst ninja in their year, the prankster orphan who cared more about getting a laugh than becoming a better ninja—held the Kyuubi inside of him?
What?
The Hokage sighed as he continued to examine Naruto's stomach, poking and prodding different points on the dark lines while the blond tried not to flinch. Sasuke didn't know if he wanted to laugh or scream at the whole situation.
The blond kept his eyes firmly on the ceiling, not looking at them as the old man continued to speak.
"A Jinchuuriki is literally what the name implies: a human sacrifice. Naruto is the container of the Fox much like a sealing scroll is the container for whatever item it holds inside of it. Obviously it is more complicated than that, but the basic concept is the same."
"More complicated than that…" somehow, Sasuke thought the Sandaime had a gift for understatement.
"In the past, the First Hokage captured the bijuu after being forced to seal the nine-tailed fox into the first recorded Jinchuuriki. He then gave each captured bijuu to the other hidden villages to maintain a balance of power. Otherwise the other villages could have—and likely would have—banded together to destroy Konoha. Jinchuuriki or not. That kind of a war itself would have destroyed this village—if not a good portion of the world—no matter which side 'won'.
Sasuke had focused on the idea that someone gave away that much power and the village being destroyed in a war no one could presumably win. Naruto, unsurprisingly, had caught onto something completely different.
"So there are others out there like me?" he asked, eyes wide and blinking, with a light in them Sasuke hadn't seen before. Not that strongly… not from Naruto.
The Sandaime smiled sadly. "Yes, Naruto. Suna already had the One-tail, so they were given the Eight-tails. Kumo was given the Two-tails and the Seven-tails. Mist was given the Three-tails and the Six-tails. Finally, Iwa was given the Four and Five-tails. Since then, many villages have lost or gained a Jinchuuriki. Someone—we are still unsure whom—stole the Seven-tails from Kumo, who then stole the Eight-tails from Suna. And while some of the Jinchuuriki are known, the villages try to keep them secret as they are often targeted for the sheer power they lend their village."
Sheer power.
Sheer power.
Sasuke sat there, staring in a stupor because he couldn't begin to comprehend the mind-set of someone who would just hand that kind of power over to one's enemies so knowingly. But then he wondered what he himself would do with that power if the other villages banded together and attacked. Would he just wipe them out of existence?
He could understand war and the necessity to kill. He didn't like the idea (he didn't want to be like that man at all), but he could understand it. But still, wiping out an entire village? Simply for not falling in line and either allying themselves to Konoha or becoming subservient… simply for the crime of not being born here. Because that's what it would have come to.
Part of him wanted that kind of power, and would likely choose to wipe his enemies out if he could. The rest of him realized that that man would likely choose the same… in part because he already had. And the idea of making the same, disgusting choice his brother would made him physically sick.
It took him a minute to remember Indra's words about how there was something else going on. And with everything that had happened recently, he was starting to really believe it.
Still. He didn't want to be like Itachi. Not anymore.
(He didn't.)
He shook his head, not wanting to think about it anymore. What had he been thinking of before? Right, the bijuu and their power and what their lives would be like right now if Konoha hadn't given giant chakra constructs away like candy.
The idea of giving Konoha's enemies bijuu scale power still did not seem to want to stick, but… well, he supposed it was a little more understandable when it came down to that, or all-out-war that would literally destroy perhaps the entirety of the elemental nations. It still went against every instinct he had.
And then Sakura spoke up, breaking him out of his reverie.
"So… Naruto will be targeted?" she asked worriedly. "By other villages?"
The Hokage looked up at her and nodded solemnly. "When the other villages find out who he is, yes."
Something about that had struck Sasuke as wrong. When other villages found out who Naruto was? The jinchuuriki were kept secret… It took him a couple of seconds to realize what about that niggled at the edge of his conscious thought.
The glares. Sasuke had always chalked the angry glances and stares the villagers gave Naruto up to something the blond's family had done or his pranks or something. He hadn't really cared before as Naruto hadn't been a friend, but he'd noticed.
But this changed everything. Because they knew. Everyone already knew. Well… obviously not everyone. Maybe only people above a certain age? That would make sense if the secret got out years ago…
"But that's why everyone hates him…" Sasuke decided to point out with a frown. Naruto looked away from them, his hands balled into fists. "Isn't it?"
"O-oh…" Sakura whispered, her voice both soft and harsh at the same time as she realized her teammate was right. "I… always thought it was the pranks."
The old man shook his head. "No. Although… that didn't help." He shot a reproving look at Naruto.
"They deserved it," Naruto muttered.
"No… I'm saying that everyone already knows," Sasuke huffed. "Except us, I guess," he grumbled that last part but then shook his head and returned to his previous tone. "If it's a secret, it's the worst kept secret in the village."
The Hokage sighed, suddenly looking so old. The change was both subtle and obvious at the same time. Sasuke felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. He remembered that the Sandaime had been Hokage for decades now. And he'd had to come out of retirement.
It took him a moment to realize that the man didn't want the position Naruto so coveted. Not really.
But he did it anyway. For the sake of the village.
He loved the village, or at least some of the people in the village, that much. He'd kept going because no one else had been good enough and willing to take the seat.
Both Sasuke's respect and pity for the man increased a large amount in those few seconds of insight.
"I tried to contain it with a law stating that anyone overheard discussing his status as the Jinchuuriki or as the fox itself, would have to face extremely unpleasant consequences," the Hokage said quietly. "I hoped that would give you a normal life, Naruto… but it seems that the older generation simply passed on their hatred to their children if not the reason for it."
Before Sasuke could make a comment, Sakura spoke.
"But that's not fair! He isn't the fox!" the pink-haired girl said suddenly. Naruto seemed to stiffen and then his head whipped around to stare at them as if he hadn't believed what he heard. Sasuke could see the hope in the other boy's eyes, even if the disbelief seemed to drown it out.
The Hokage shook his head. "No, but discussing it would only encourage those who would target him."
"That doesn't seemed to have helped much," Sasuke scoffed.
The Sandaime frowned at him. "He's alive and still here. That's honestly more than I initially could hope for." Sakura gasped but Sasuke's frown only deepened. He didn't think he agreed, but also didn't think arguing with the Hokage was a good idea.
After a tense, silent moment, the old man spoke, strong gaze never leaving Sasuke's. "It will allow me to punish any traitors who do target Naruto, which discourages people and does give him some protection."
The Uchiha felt his eyes narrow. That… was not a strong reason in his opinion. Then again, he could understand clinging to what protection one had left… even if it ended up doing just as much (if not more) harm in the future.
Still, somehow, that just didn't seem like enough. But from the look in the Hokage's eye, he wouldn't listen, and further arguing would do no good. He remembered that look from his father…
He pushed that thought away as quickly as he could, and said nothing.
"Well, Naruto," the Hokage said as he sat back and changed the subject with a finality no one in the room could miss… except maybe Naruto, "it looks like the seal is working fine."
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances, both realizing they'd remember that conversation before mutually and silently agreeing to move on.
"Why did it hurt him like that, then?" the pink-haired girl asked, frowning.
As Naruto put his shirt down and sat up, he sighed. "The fox wanted to talk. Something Indra-nii said freaked him out."
Sasuke was sure he wasn't the only one shocked by that judging from the sort of disbelieving squeak he heard from his nearest teammate and the stony expression from the Sandaime.
"What could someone possibly say to scare The Kyuubi?!" the Uchiha asked incredulously.
"And… will it happen again?" Sakura ventured, sounding small and worried.
Naruto looked down again. This time, Sasuke didn't blame him. She sounded so scared…
"Will what happen again? The Kyuubi getting… worked up, or the… results?" Sarutobi-sama asked, choosing his words carefully.
Sasuke glanced back at Sakura.
"Both?"
The Hokage sighed. "I couldn't say. I don't know what this… Indra said."
"He said Indra stole his brother's name," Naruto said.
Everyone stared at him. He shrugged. "What? I didn't get it either."
"Then most likely, yes," the Hokage said slowly, running a hand through his hair. "To both. Apparently we have no idea what will set the Kyuubi off, so we will have to be careful there. But it's also historically easier for the contained bijuu's chakra to manifest in times of need or desperation. The point of having a Jinchuuriki is to harness that strength for the sake of the village, so yes. That, too, will happen again.
"Although, while the Kyuubi is the strongest of the bijuu. It has been… historically difficult for the nine-tail's Jinchuuriki to use their bijuu's power due to the seals necessary to simply contain that power. This seal is far more free with the Kyuubi's chakra than other seals, allowing said chakra to trickle out and be absorbed into Naruto's chakra system. It's a brilliant piece of work that even I couldn't tell you all the details behind. The Fourth Hokage himself came up with it—albeit with some help…" he smiled nostalgically, expression sad and pained under the fondness. Then he glanced back at the genin in the room. "And it should allow Naruto to work as freely with the bijuu's chakra as other Jinchuuriki have been known to work with theirs, while minimizing the harm that would come to him.
"However, that power always comes with a price, Naruto," the Sandaime warned, voice stern and serious as he met the blond's gaze. "Just because the danger is minimized doesn't mean it isn't actually there. Your body is being acclimatized to the Kyuubi's chakra through that seal—is slowly getting used to it," he added on when Naruto looked confused. The puzzled expression left the genin's face and the old man went on. "But your body is not used to that power now. The more of that chakra you draw on, the more dangerous you will become, even to your teammates and allies. I cannot tell you exactly what will happen or how to control it, that is something you will have to learn on your own, but if you have to draw on that chakra, do not do so lightly. Do you understand?"
Naruto nodded, looking a little pale.
Then the Hokage turned to the other two genin in the room. "And can I count on you two to accept him? Understand and work with him? To not fear him as so many others do?"
Sasuke thought about that for a moment. Could he? Just accept the dead last? The boy who had a literal chakra monster living inside of him..
But then he thought back to what Indra-sensei had said about working together and how Naruto's training had been sabotaged. He thought of how far his teammate had come just in the last week and of his immense chakra capacity.
He thought of how useful that would be when going to stop Itachi…
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all?
So he took a deep breath and nodded.
xXx
Sakura didn't know what to think as she walked home from the Hokage's tower. She did so alone, her teammates having gone off after making their reports…
Reports about Indra-sensei—who was an unknown ninja and… just who was he? Was he really even an Uchiha? Sasuke-kun's family? Had he really been trying to help them?
Sakura thought back to the conversation they'd just had with the Sandaime Hokage. She remembered feeling so overwhelmed as so many things came to light. And then he had asked if they could accept Naruto… just like that. Even with all the danger he represented.
She hadn't known what to say at the time… so she'd just nodded. Sasuke had nodded as well, although he'd seemed just as hesitant at first. The Hokage had still looked very pleased with their answers, and Naruto, hopeful but wary. But then the Sandaime had asked them to speak about their experiences with Indra and the blond had launched into his protests about not hurting 'Indra-nii' again and Sakura had realized that it really was still just Naruto…
With a nearly unlimited source of power… but then, that was Naruto anyway. Or maybe he had that unlimited source of power because of the giant chakra monster sealed in his gut?
Was that what had drawn Indra to her teammate? The man had just shown up out of the blue and suddenly Naruto had a new sensei and… it was all terribly suspicious.
Sakura was by no means stupid, and so she had gone through every single action she could remember from the man, but nothing had come up that didn't seem like he meant anything but to genuinely help them. Nothing suspicious at all except that he was friends with Naruto and willing to train all of Naruto's teammates. And he had trained them… well. Sakura already felt stronger and more sure of herself in the last weak than she had in the last several years of her life. And yet…
She didn't want to think of Indra-sensei as the bad guy, but… there was so much stacked against him. Had he known about Naruto's… condition? Did he purposefully infiltrate the village to get close to Naruto? So he could kidnap him maybe? Or at least use him somehow… The thought made her shudder and clutch at her elbows to try and give herself warmth. She wasn't Naruto's biggest fan, but she didn't want him to get kidnapped just for the power he held within him. Power that the Fourth Hokage had sealed inside Naruto… who had been born on that night. He'd never had a say in it at all.
Something about that made Sakura frown. Why would he choose a baby of all available options? She wondered if the Fourth Hokage had known Naruto's parents and had thus put his trust in said baby. But then why a baby and not the parents? Perhaps they had already died?
Eh… plausible, but something still seemed off about it, and she couldn't think of what.
Frowning, she paused and turned to look at the Hokage monument, her eyes specifically searching the stone face of Namikaze Minato. She frowned. He looked so different with his face in stone like that. She was positive whoever had carved said face was talented with their earth jutsu, but he just looked so… dull. She'd seen pictures of him (of course, hadn't everyone?) and he'd always seemed so… vibrant with his yellow hair and blue eyes and…
Wait.
She frowned, and then blinked before rubbing her eyes and looking again. His face was more angular, thinner and taller… and yet… if she just put three whisker marks on his cheeks…
"It… couldn't be…" she whispered to herself. Then she frowned. "Could it?"
She turned and continued to walk down the street in a sort of dazed shock as she mentally compared the Fourth Hokage to Naruto…
There were so many similarities…
Nope. No. Just no. She slapped her cheeks and shook her head. She did not want to think about it anymore. She'd already felt overwhelmed and like she would not be able to grasp the implications of what she'd learned today for a long time. This was something she would have to deal with later. As in much later. Well… at least after she'd had a chance to just absorb everything.
And she had no idea how long that would take.
She groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Just how many secrets surrounded Uzumaki Naruto? Did she want to know?
Somehow, she didn't think so.
That was when she noticed the dango stand on the street a couple of meters down the road. Screw it, she needed some comfort food.
Besides, calories, right? And if she gained any weight, she'd work it off tomorrow.
xXx
AN: So yeah, that happened. LOL. Don't worry, we'll get back to Kakashi next chapter. :3 Sorry for the short chapter, but hope you enjoyed it. :D
Someone said that Kyuubi wasn't the oldest because the Juubi was split into the 9 bijuu at the end of Hagoromo's life, but I could have sworn I remember him saying they were born first. Well, if Indra and Asura were born first, then I can see Kurama thinking something like, "I outlived them, so I'm the oldest" or something like that. He does seem to choose the strangest hills to die on, and he's still a very angry, Yang-based chakra construct at the moment... sooo yeah.
Also, did Kakashi think that Indra is Obito? It certainly crossed his mind, and that's one reason he was so upset when he showed up and saw Indra and not Obito.
Anyway, Quathis and I thank you all for reading this!
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