Prologue: All for One
The only sound in the dark, secluded room was the clock, ticking away the time until dawn, and frankly, he was exhausted. If he was in his prime, he wouldn’t be exhausted at all, but he wasn’t in his twenties anymore. In fact, he was fifty seven, and he was sure that he would’ve fallen asleep by now if it weren’t for his young charge.
He had been spending the entire night guarding the child from the outside world which seemed so intent on bringing the child’s young life to an end; already he had disposed of five of his own ninja who had attempted to take the boy’s life.
Even though he was an infant, this child was distinguished from any other his age for several reason; one being the mass of blond hair that had already begun to cover his small, large head, and another being the fact that he was orphaned, left with only vague instructions in the care of Sarutobi Hajime. But most importantly, this blond orphan was the only protection that Konohagakure no Sato, one of the most powerful ninja villages in the entire world, had against the Kyūbi no Kitsune, which had, only hours ago, nearly decimated the village; destroying countless homes and just as many lives.
But of course, the rest of the village did not think like the Sandaime Hokage and the Yondaime Hokage, who had given his life to seal the Kyūbi within the child. They did not believe that the child protected them from the demon; instead, they believed that he possessed the potential to finish what the Kyūbi had started and insisted on dispatching him before he could tap into that potential and become the demon kitsune.
Sarutobi did not dismiss the theory as false, however. Because he himself did not know how much power the boy possessed or how much the Kyūbi influenced him. But he did know something.
He knew that for as he lived, he would never allow the meaningless, unjustifiable slaying of an infant child.
Sarutobi clenched his teeth in anger as something hit the door with a sickening thwap.
“In all of my years as Hokage, I would never have thought that the citizens of this great village would blame an innocent child for the deeds of a demon,” he disgustedly thought as a loud howl of anguish was heard outside his room.
Already numerous people had been killed defending the ideals of their Sandaime Hokage, who had brought victory to Konoha in the war against Iwa only months earlier. And now, it seemed, another person gave their life. For who’s cause Sarutobi did not know, but he would pray for their soul nonetheless.
It was then that splinters of wood were sent flying in sporadic directions as Sarutobi’s desk cracked under the pressure of collision.
“I’m alright; don’t worry about me” assured the man that collided with the elder man’s desk as he got back up onto his feet and charged back in to the battle outside the Hokage’s office.
Sarutobi cursed himself for not being able to protect those who fought so valiantly and selflessly for his cause. But he knew that the second he left the child alone he would not only fail the child, but the Yondaime and all of the people who died or were injured defending it.
He quickly brought the katana down behind him in a crescent arc, the reverberation of metal on metal ringing throughout the room.
“Ichigo; ANBU squad captain reporting in,” announced the masked man behind him who held a wavering guard with a double bladed kunai against Sarutobi’s katana. Simultaneously the two put their weapons down, the two looking into each others eyes.
“How is it out there?” Sarutobi asked as he glanced over towards the crib where the infant slept. He did not have the faintest clue as to how the child could sleep at a time like this, and frankly, he thought it was better that he wasn’t awake.
“Once the Uchiha and Hyūga shinobi began taking action the amount of hostility dramatically decreased. At the present time only a fraction of the original rioters remain hostile; the others have either been knocked unconscious, dispatched, or simply admitted defeat and left. The remaining hostility will be quelled by dawn the latest,” informed the man as he also looked at the peaceful infant. “Permission for inquiry?” the man asked without taking his eyes off the child.
“Permission granted,” Sarutobi grunted.
“What will you do with the child? I doubt that the rest of the village will just peacefully comply with him living here,” the man inquired as he walked over towards the large window next to the mahogany desk that was cluttered with paperwork of various forms and stared into the beautiful night sky with bright stars scattered haphazardly along the dark, abyssal sky with a full moon partially hidden by wispy, gray clouds.
“Truthfully, I can’t even begin to think of what I will do with him. But all I know is that he won’t have a happy childhood here; there are too many people out there wish for him to die. And those who don’t wish for him to die will wish for him to suffer,” Sarutobi sighed. The sounds of battle ceased from the hallway, and the silence was rewarding to the old man’s ears.
“All this for the death of one man, it sound foolish, no?” Ichigo asked as he observed the battle outside end; the invaders retreating from the various clans that banned together to protect the Hokage.
“Don’t you dare speak ill of Arashi; he was a great man,” Sarutobi warned, his voice a blade. Ichigo turned back to faced his superior, and Sarutobi could almost swear that the man was sorrowfully smiling beneath his mask.
“Don’t worry Sandaime, I hold nothing but respect for the man my otōto died for,” Ichigo responded as he walked back towards the Sandaime and the makeshift bassinet in which the infant was just beginning to stir. He stood over the bassinet and peered into the infant’s small, beady blue eyes and for several seconds none of the three knew what would happen next. The boy then began to cry loudly, causing both men to cringe at the high-pitched oral assault. Ichigo then picked the baby up and slowly rubbed the infant’s back, coaxing him to stop his wailing.
“Sandaime, I have a request to make of you,” Ichigo said as he held the baby.
“And what would that be?” Sarutobi asked as he wearily sat down in a nearby chair to rest his weary bones. His eyes began to blur with exhaustion and his limbs felt like lead; it seemed as if old age always seemed to catch up to you, no matter how fit you are or how skilled. “And if it’s to kill the boy, please leave this village,” he commanded seriously.
“No, that’s not it in the slightest,” answered the ANBU captain as he felt his shirt becoming wet with drool. “I want to be the caretaker and eventual sensei of the brat,” he said.
“I’m sorry, I think my hearing is going. Did you just say you want to take care of him?” Sarutobi asked. He never would have thought that anyone, nevertheless a sixteen-year-old ANBU captain, would volunteer for the task. He feared that the only place where the boy could go was the local orphanage, where he would most likely be tortured in ways unpreventable by even himself, the Hokage.
“Yes, I request you to allow me to look after him. If the man my brother died for placed the last of his energy and hope into this child, then I want to make sure that their deaths were not in vain,” he explained.
“And how do you expect to propose this to your clan?” Sarutobi asked.
“I don’t. I would be leaving this village for one of our allied non-shinobi villages after the funeral tomorrow,” he answered.
“Thank you,” Sarutobi said. He would have said more, but he was reaching his limits and coherent thought was beginning to be a struggle. “The name given to him by his parents was Uzumaki Naruto,” he informed.
Ichigo then removed his cat mask with one hand while holding on to the drooling Naruto with the other and allowed it to fall on to the floor. Soon Naruto and Ichigo were both staring into each others eyes like before, but instead of seeing only slits where his eyes were, Naruto gazed, almost calculatingly, into the man’s still activated Sharingan eyes.
“Welcome to the world of the living, Uzumaki Naruto. It seems tough, almost impossible to survive at times, but there’s always a way to survive. I’m going to teach you how to find the way to survive and then you can live up to the expectations of the Yondaime Hokage. I am Uchiha Shisui, and welcome to the first day of training,” Shisui said.
Any other onlooker may have thought it odd that a sixteen year old was talking to a newborn infant as if it could actually comprehend words, but to Sarutobi it seemed an almost natural thing to do. After all, he was positive that with Shisui as his mentor and caretaker, Naruto would need to learn how to comprehend, and fast if he was to actually surive.
And what he found most interesting was the look of Naruto’s look as Shisui said all of this.
If he was not a newborn, the look on the infant’s face would almost certainly be interpreted as comprehension.
And for the first time in Naruto’s life, he smiled.
And for the first time since the death of his otōto, Uchiha Shisui smiled.
As he watched this bonding ceremony, Sarutobi could not help but think that he made the right decision by adhering to the Uchiha’s request.
‘It may seem foolish to do this all for one person, but, in the end, isn’t it truly worth it?’
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