Third Hokage, What Are You Pretending to Be So Benevolent For?

The hem of the Hokage's robe brushed the edge of a puddle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in the middle of the street, with the arriving ANBU and several patrolling Chunin behind him, and six-year-old Naruto ahead.

Between them lay several people, groaning on the ground.

The backstreet was narrow. Fishmongers, vegetable sellers, and peddlers usually crowded together here, and mealtimes brought cooking smoke and shouted sales pitches. Now every shopfront was half-shuttered, with eyes packed into the gaps.

No one dared make a sound.

Naruto's words—"Get on your knees when you speak to me"—still hung in the air, sharper than the Nine-Tails Chakra.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's grip tightened around his pipe.

He could not kneel.

If the Hokage bowed to a child here, Konoha's order would crack today.

But he could not attack immediately, either.

The chakra around Naruto's body was stable—unnaturally so. This was no rampage caused by a broken seal. It looked more as though someone had tamed the Nine-Tails' power and wrapped himself in it.

The Third Hokage looked into Naruto's eyes.

There was no frenzy in those golden, slit-pupiled eyes.

Only clarity.

That clarity was more dangerous than a loss of control.

"Naruto." Hiruzen Sarutobi slowed his voice. "I know you've been wronged, but power isn't meant to hurt the village. You're a child of Konoha. One day, everyone will understand you."

Naruto glanced at the villager still kneeling on the ground.

"One day?"

He walked to the fish stall and picked up the crushed bottle of milk from the ground.

Its mouth had cracked. The sour liquid inside spilled onto the ground and mixed with the muddy water.

Naruto tossed the milk bottle at the Third Hokage's feet.

"Third time this month."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow twitched.

Naruto pulled several crumpled receipts from his pocket and spread them out.

"Expired milk, moldy bread, spoiled canned food."

With each item he named, another shopkeeper turned pale.

"I used my living allowance to buy food, and this is what they sold me. The ANBU saw it and did nothing."

Naruto looked up.

"Third Hokage, did you do anything?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not answer at once.

There were too many petty incidents like this, and not every ANBU report reached his desk. But he did know Naruto had a hard life.

He knew.

He had simply chosen to let Naruto keep suffering.

In his plan, loneliness would make Naruto crave warmth and approval until he came to see the Hokage as the only light he could cling to.

It was the safest way to manage a Jinchūriki.

But he could not say any of that.

"The village has only just begun to recover from the pain of the Nine-Tails' Attack. Many people still haven't let go of their hatred." The Third Hokage sighed. "I've always protected you. If I hadn't held them back, they would have treated you even worse."

Naruto laughed.

"Protected me?"

He pointed at the ANBU.

"Is your idea of protection having them hide on rooftops and watch me get beaten?"

The ANBU operative he pointed at stiffened.

Naruto looked back at the Third Hokage.

"Or is it giving me too little money to eat properly each month, then telling me you're the only person in the village who's good to me?"

The Third Hokage's expression changed.

That struck at the heart of it.

"Naruto, who taught you to say these things?"

"No one."

Naruto stepped forward.

The ANBU immediately drew their blades.

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand to stop them.

Naruto came within three paces of him. His orange-red chakra made the gravel on the ground tremble and roll.

"I just figured it out."

"If the whole village hates a child, how does everyone know he's the Demon Fox?"

"If you've been protecting him, why does he go hungry, lack warm clothes, and live in a house with a leaking roof?"

"If you keep saying you'll look after him, why are the only people ever near him ANBU assigned to watch him?"

Each question struck the street like a blow.

The eyes behind the shutters began to turn away.

The people who had shouted "Demon Fox" moments ago barely dared to breathe.

The lines on the Third Hokage's face seemed to deepen.

He could use the Hokage's authority to silence civilians, but he could not silence Naruto's questions.

They were too specific.

Down to every bottle of milk, every receipt, every time an ANBU operative stood by and watched.

"You're still young. You don't know how hard things are for the village." The Third Hokage tried to turn the conversation back to the bigger picture. "Konoha needs stability, and a Jinchūriki needs even more—"

Naruto raised his hand.

A chakra arm reached past the Third Hokage's shoulder and seized the ANBU operative behind him.

It tore off the operative's mask, revealing a young man's face.

Naruto stared at him.

"How many stones hit me today?"

The ANBU operative's lips moved.

The Third Hokage's face darkened. "Naruto, don't make trouble for someone carrying out his orders."

Naruto did not look at the Third Hokage.

The chakra arm tightened.

The ANBU operative forced out an answer. "Sev... seventeen."

Someone in the crowd collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way.

Naruto asked again, "Which one split my head open?"

Sweat beaded on the ANBU operative's forehead.

"The fourth."

Naruto nodded and released him.

Then he looked at the Third Hokage.

"Did you hear that?"

"Your ANBU remembers it perfectly."

The Third Hokage's pipe slipped from his fingers and struck the paving stones, scattering ash across the ground.

Everyone saw it.

Lord Hokage had known all along.

His people had been watching the whole time.

Naruto turned toward the other side of the street, where another ANBU operative hid in the shadows. He did not flee; Nine-Tails Chakra had already wrapped around his feet.

Naruto took a Record Scroll from his coat.

An ANBU seal marked its surface.

Naruto touched it with a finger, and the Sealing Jutsu the system had analyzed pried the scroll open like a key.

Today's record lay before everyone.

It read:

"Target driven away by villagers. Life not in danger. Continue observation."

Naruto tossed the scroll at the Third Hokage's feet.

"That's your protection."

Rapid footsteps came from the end of the street.

The Konoha Military Police Force had arrived.

The Uchiha ninja leading them had barely stepped into the backstreet when he saw the ANBU Record Scroll on the ground, read its contents, and saw the Third Hokage's face turn grim.

Naruto turned to the Uchiha ninja.

"Perfect timing."

"Help me find out one thing."

"Who are my parents?"