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It was early, ridiculously so, as the sun was just peeking through the horizon, and the atmosphere was still chilly and filled with morning dew.
Despite this, the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was in his office quite earlier than most.
This was because he had a meeting scheduled earlier than normal, but he would not deny that upon hearing that Yamanaka Inoichi had requested a meeting, he was expecting a more serious topic than that of Naruto.
Still, he would give Inoichi the benefit of the doubt, considering the extenuating circumstances, it was not entirely the first time a Clan Head had approached him about the blond.
"What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen would have found this question odd, and then laughed at anyone who actually had the impetus to ask him such a question.
Except, when it came from one of his most trusted shinobi, and the appointed leader of his T&I Department, then it became another issue entirely.
He responded what he knew about the boy, his parents, his background, and of course, the secret that was sealed into him.
"What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto personally?"
With that question came some guilt, as he had not invested much time into the boy's life and affairs, but what he did know, was that the boy had a fondness for Ramen, a penchant for pranks, was often loud and boisterous and wished to become the Hokage of Konoha.
"What else?"
What else? Well...
That is...
The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha found his lips furrowing into a sad thin line.
That was, as a matter of fact, all he did know about the boy.
"Hokage-sama, what if I told you that those qualities you mentioned are what everybody knows about him, and nothing else?"
Hiruzen's nose rumpled.
"What?"
"Yesterday, Hokage-sama, I met with his Chunin Academy Instructors, and before that, I met with a select few of his classmates, and likewise still before that, I met the owners of the Teuchi Ramen Stand. All of them, every last one, when I asked them to tell me what they knew about Uzumaki Naruto, they recounted these exact same three things."
Yamanaka Inoichi raised three fingers.
"He loves Ramen."
One finger down.
"He likes pranking."
Another finger down.
"He wants to become the Hokage."
The Sandaime Hokage placed his hands on his desk as he gave Inoichi a stern but contemplating look.
Had this been anyone else other than Yamanaka Inoichi, he would have stopped listening and waved off their concerns on accounts of blatant paranoia and some hidden bias against Naruto.
However, Yamanaka Inoichi had known Namikaze Minato, and the two blondes had been friends and comrades, to the point in which they had sometimes worked on the same team.
Even more, Inoichi had also known Uzumaki Kushina, and the man was definitely not someone who would ever have any form of bias against her son, somewhat considering the fact that just as Uchiha Mikoto had supposedly possessed some childish infatuation with Minato during their Academy days, so had Inoichi possessed the same with Kushina.
Not that the Hokage listened to or cared about such things, as it was merely the freedom of youth.
"I do not see where the problem lies Inoichi."
"The problem Hokage-sama, is that we are human beings not one-dimensional cardboard cutouts. It is impossible for one person to only have three, and just three features about him that makes him memorable, to only have three aspects to his personality and character."
Inoichi shook his head.
"To put this into perspective Hokage-sama, what does Uzumaki Naruto do when he is neither pranking people, nor eating ramen, nor declaring his desire to steal your hat? Where does he go? How does he spend his time outside of classes when neither pranking nor eating? What does he do after a long and exhausting day?"
The answers to those three questions were all equally unknown, and it dawned on the Sandaime just how little he truly knew about the young boy named Naruto, who looked up to him with stars in his eyes as though he was Kami's best gift, yet, Sandaime knew that he had failed Naruto more than he had helped him.
He let out a tired sigh.
His age was rapidly catching up to him, and he knew and believed that he had tried to do his best for not only the village, but also for the son of his successor.
Everyone Minato knew that was capable of taking care of Naruto was not available. Hatake Kakashi was a mess, psychologically speaking after the loss of his teammates, he retreated into ANBU and took only the toughest of missions of the S-Rank caliber, and it was clear that he possessed some sort of death wish.
He clearly could not leave the upbringing of a child to him.
Jiraiya was far too busy maintaining Konoha's spy networks, or at least, so he claimed, as his job did include him travelling from place to place drinking in bars and taverns and peeping on women in hot springs.
Of course even if he was not basically a wanderer, the Sandaime could not in good conscious leave Jiraiya all alone to raise a child.
Tsunade would have been perfect, but she was now an alcoholic and gambling addict lost to her own grief, and he would not want her raising an impressionable young child either.
Uchiha Mikoto had once offered, but the Clan politics were against such a thing, as the Uchiha Clan had just been accused of the one's masterminding the Kyubi's attack in the first place, it would be tremendously bad if one of their own had then decided to adopt the boy.
The Hyuga were out of the question, and part of his village they might be, but Hiruzen had never appreciated or favored a clan that could and would so callously brand their own family members as slaves in the name of preserving and protecting a bloodline. Such a place was not where he wanted Naruto to grow up, believing that such practices were the norm.
The Aburame once again offered, but it was likewise impossible as at the time, the Kyubi's chakra and presence made their Kikaichu bugs scared and wary, and of course, there was the issue of Naruto eventually growing up to feel like an outsider, as he vastly contrasted the majority of the Aburame.
The ideal clans would have either been the Nara, the Yamanaka, the Akimichi or the Inuzuka.
However, there was once again the question of allowing a single clan that much 'power.' It was not viewed as a Clan attempting to train and foster the son of their hero, rather, as a Clan potentially raising and shifting the loyalty of a Jinchuriki away from the village and into their own hands.
And so, Naruto had grown up unloved and uncared.
"Hokage-sama?"
The aged man was drawn from his musing, and he shook his head, letting out a long sigh.
"I believe we should let sleeping dogs lie Inoichi."
"W-what?"
"If you are worried about Naruto-kun's loyalty, I can personally assure you that Naruto is loyal to Konoha without measure. I can see it in his eyes, in his movements. He would be the last person in the world to betray Konoha."
"But Hokage-sama -"
"This is my final decision Inoichi. For kami's sakes, let the boy be.
Once he graduates from the Academy, then you can conduct whatever tests you wish during his psych evaluations."
Yamanaka Inoichi let out a deep sigh, and Hiruzen watched as the man gave a salute.
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Now is there anything else you wanted to speak to me about?"
"Nothing of any real value, Hokage-sama. Except to perhaps look into the Academy Instructors to find if indeed there are Chunin intentionally sabotaging student scripts."
Hiruzen slowly rubbed his beard.
He knew that there was always that possibility, for Chunin instructors to be visibly biased against Naruto, but he had hoped that it would be of a miniscule level of simply asking him more questions in class rather than giving him unfair grades. He could not go out and start rooting every Chunin that was biased against a single student, otherwise that would make it appear as though he was the one being biased against them.
"Alright. I'll have an ANBU team look into it. Anything else?"
"No, Hokage-sama."
"Dismissed."
The leader of the only naturally blond-haired clan in the entirety of Konoha nodded, and utilized the Body Flicker technique to leave Hiruzen's office, making the aged Hokage sigh once more as he leaned into his desk. It had only been a month since he had seen Naruto, and he had not seen or heard from the boy at all on any other occasion.
He knew he was busy, and he knew that he also had to think of the lives of the other villagers and of his shinobi, but Naruto was simply that breath of fresh air that was perhaps often needed.
Of course, there was also the small, disconcerting part of him that realized that what Inoichi said was somewhat true, as he knew very little about what Naruto did or where he went to in his free time.
He was about to call the ANBU, but he stopped halfway before he did so, and let a small contemplative smile come on his lips instead.
Rather than summon Naruto into his office, it was best to make it into a surprise.
He swung on his coat and hat, placed his pipe into his mouth, and then prepared himself to move forward and once more allow 'The Professor' to grace the streets of Konoha.
Meanwhile, the hidden ANBU guards of Konoha followed the Hokage from the shadows, except for one particular ANBU who left something behind in the office: a bug. The bug eventually took off into the sky, flying low and free from the threat of birds, before eventually landing on the hand of a certain individual.
"What does it say?"
"Yamanaka Inoichi believes the Kuyubi Jinchuriki could constitute a flight risk due to how little is truly known about him."
"Danzo-sama must hear about this."
The two figures gave each other a nod, before vanishing once more, unseen and unheard, as phantoms in dawn.
Unbeknownst to Naruto, his actions had set something much larger in motion, like a spark that flutters into the dry underbrush of a forest. This spark, innocent and unnoticed at first, had the potential to ignite a firestorm that could sweep across Konoha. Would this burgeoning flame bring warmth and light to the village, or would it evolve into a raging inferno, consuming everything in its path?
Only time would tell whether Konoha would bask in the glow of this fire or be scorched by its fury.
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[ Author Note: What do you think about the last paragraph? Will Konoha receive the warmth of the flame that is Naruto Uzumaki, or be burned by it?