The Ledger Doesn't Lie

The Administrative Ninja's document bag hit the paving stones.

Its mouth fell open, and several bills slid out. The evening wind blew them to Naruto's feet.

More and more people gathered beyond the street.

Some had come after hearing the Nine-Tails had gone on a rampage. Others had heard Lord Hokage was there. Still others just wanted to see what trouble that Demon Fox brat had caused.

But when they saw the seals on the files scattered across the ground, their murmurs gradually died away.

Naruto Uzumaki's living allowance disbursements.

The words were unmistakable.

So unmistakable that the Third Hokage wanted ANBU to collect the files at once, but it was already too late.

Naruto bent down and picked up the top bill.

The paper had been well preserved. A red edge still marked the Hokage Office's financial stamp.

"Konoha Year 54, January."

Naruto read the first line aloud.

"Naruto Uzumaki's living allowance: three thousand ryō."

Someone in the crowd muttered, "Three thousand ryō? That much?"

Naruto kept reading.

"Amount actually paid: three hundred ryō."

The Administrative Ninja Uchiha Tekka had stopped went deathly pale.

Naruto turned to the second bill.

"February. Allocated: three thousand ryō. Actually paid: three hundred ryō."

The third bill.

"March. Allocated: three thousand ryō. Actually paid: three hundred ryō."

He read them one by one.

His voice was quiet, but it was harder to bear than any shout.

The shopkeepers who had sold him expired food began edging backward.

They had always assumed Naruto had no money because the Hokage gave him so little. Some had even thought selling the Demon Fox spoiled food was more than he deserved.

But the ledger made it plain.

The money had been allocated.

It had never reached Naruto.

Naruto stopped at the seventh bill and looked at the Third Hokage.

"Six years."

"Three thousand ryō every month. Three hundred reached me."

"Third Hokage, where did the rest go?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face had turned grim.

He looked at the Administrative Ninja.

"What happened?"

The question struck the middle-aged man like a needle driven straight into him.

The Administrative Ninja's legs buckled, and he dropped to his knees.

"Lord Third Hokage, I... I only followed procedure. The funds went to Orphan Welfare Coordination, then logistics distributed them. I didn't know the amount actually paid was so much less..."

Naruto folded the bills.

"Orphan Welfare Coordination?"

He walked up to the Administrative Ninja.

"Who signed off on it?"

The Administrative Ninja's lips trembled. He did not dare answer.

Uchiha Tekka pressed his sword's scabbard against the man's back.

"Talk."

The Administrative Ninja closed his eyes for a moment.

"The Hokage Advisor Office."

A collective gasp went up around them.

The Hokage Advisors.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

Naruto looked at the Third Hokage.

"Your advisors took my money."

A wrinkle on the Third Hokage's face twitched.

"We haven't established the facts yet."

"The records are right here."

Naruto held up the stack of bills.

"The man who signed them is right here."

He pointed to the kneeling Administrative Ninja.

"And the missing money is right here."

He bent down and pulled another itemized statement from the document bag.

This one was thicker.

It listed expense after expense: housing repairs, nutritious meals, clothing allowances, medical examinations, counseling.

Naruto went through them one by one.

The roof of his apartment leaked.

His clothes were clearance leftovers from a secondhand shop.

No one had ever told him about a medical examination.

The nutritious meals were an even bigger joke.

For the past six years, he had mostly eaten cup noodles nearing their expiration date and half-price rice balls.

"Housing repairs: twenty-four thousand ryō."

Naruto looked toward the end of the street.

His old apartment building stood in that direction.

The hole in its roof had been leaking for two years. On nights when it rained hard, he had to set out basins to catch the water.

"Nutritious meals: one thousand ryō a month."

His mouth twisted.

"I had expired milk last night."

One woman could no longer bear his gaze. She grabbed the doorframe and vomited.

The ANBU behind the Third Hokage shifted uneasily.

Some of them had guarded Naruto's home. They knew what that run-down building was like.

Naruto stuffed the statement back into the document bag.

"Let's go."

Uchiha Tekka frowned. "Where?"

"The Hokage Archives."

The Third Hokage spoke at once. "Naruto, the archives aren't somewhere you can enter whenever you please."

Naruto turned around.

"You have my financial records. You have my parents' identities. You have my inheritance."

The Chakra tail behind him swept across the ground, splitting a row of cracks through the paving stones.

"Now I'm going to get them myself."

The Third Hokage stepped in front of him.

This time, Naruto gave him no chance to speak.

An arm of orange-red Chakra formed and swept aside the ANBU formation behind the Third Hokage.

Two ANBU were about to move when the Konoha Military Police Force officers behind Uchiha Tekka drew their swords.

The air went taut.

The Konoha Military Police Force might not dare go to war with the Hokage.

But the ledger lay on the ground, and the crowd was watching. If the Uchiha backed down now, the whole village would call them the Hokage's dogs tomorrow.

Tekka took a deep breath and suppressed the shock inside him.

He looked at the Third Hokage, his voice firm.

"Lord Third Hokage, the Konoha Military Police Force has the right to witness an on-site investigation into the misappropriation of a child's funds and irregularities in public spending."

The Third Hokage slowly turned his head.

"Tekka, do you know what you're saying?"

Tekka's grip tightened on his sword.

"I do."

Naruto glanced at him.

This Uchiha might not be a genius, but at least he had made a choice when it mattered.

Naruto turned and headed for the Hokage Building.

The crowd parted on its own.

No one dared call him a Demon Fox now.

They watched the six-year-old child step past the scattered bills and broken stones, making his way toward the seat of Konoha's highest authority.

The Third Hokage remained where he was, his eyes frighteningly dark.

An ANBU landed beside him and lowered his voice.

"Lord Third Hokage, should we notify Root?"

The Third Hokage did not answer immediately.

In the distance, several black birds rose from the eaves of the Hokage Building.

Naruto paused when he reached the street corner.

The Nine-Tails' voice came from the Sealing Space.

"Brat, someone's following you underground."

The gold in Naruto's eyes deepened.

"Root?"

The Nine-Tails bared his teeth.

"Thirty-seven of them."

Naruto kept walking.

"Then let them follow."

"Before we reach the archives, let's find somewhere with a little more room."