A Child, You Were a Hero

"It probably... probably wasn't like that." Genma Shiranui scratched his head, the senbon rolling around in his mouth. Anyone could see that his emotions were in turmoil.

Naruto raised his head instead, his large, watery eyes fixed tightly on Yuuhi Kurenai as he waited for her next words.

"How could it not be? Did any of you ever care about this child's living conditions? Did any of you care about his mental state?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, tell me. Before today, had you ever seen any of these people even once?" Yuuhi Kurenai asked loudly.

"N-No..." Naruto shook his head and spoke slowly.

"Well, the Hokage told us not to come looking for him," Namiashi Raidō defended himself quietly, turning his head to look at Naruto's familiar golden hair.

The Fourth Hokage had been so dazzling. He had shared good relations with every Konoha ninja, even those of the Uchiha Clan. His ability to defeat Orochimaru and become the Fourth Hokage had been inseparable from the support of the villagers and ninjas.

As members of the Hokage Guard Platoon, their relationship with the Fourth Hokage might not have been exceptionally intimate, but it had certainly been far from ordinary.

No one could say that after the Fourth Hokage's death, they had immediately become cold and heartless people who had completely forgotten Namikaze Minato's kindness.

But someone had been able to make them forget it all: the Third Hokage, who had returned to power. If he had not personally forbidden it, no one could have stopped people from all sides from contacting Naruto Uzumaki.

"Of course he was a hero. Without him, the monster the villagers called a monster—the monster that had killed our parents, children, and loved ones—would have continued ravaging the village. Tell me, did that not make him a hero?"