“Have you seen that young girl?”
“I heard she’s newly graduated from the ninja academy and she can even outclass Chunin!”
“That’s nothing. I’ve heard she can even hold her in battle against the third Hokage!”
“I think it‘s just a hoax. She‘s nothing but trouble, that one. Isn‘t she the one with the bad family?”
“Yeah, I heard her mother suddenly disappear one day? She ran off with some foreign man no doubt. Just up and left leaving her husband to raise both her and little Iruka.”
“Hush now. I think I see them coming.”
That day there were cheers filling the streets and I can clearly remember that little girl being pulled up on a pedestal by her boy friend as the whole village celebrated her and her fellow classmates becoming official Genin. I myself, the proud third Hokage, joined with the roar of clapping and the enthusiastic calls that bright, happy day as little Saika smiled and waved nervously to us, her younger brother, Iruka, clinging to her shirt and her boyfriend Kakashi Hatake stood beside her in an adorably dignified manner. I remember thinking it was a good change from the norm. It wasn’t every day that girl received recognition for her outstanding achievements. She was not high in favor with most of the village since her mother and aunt had such bad names. She was shunned most of the time. Most people thought she was just as bad as the other women in the family. But that day was different. Now she was being hailed for the genius she was. However, not a soul knew that soon, the same girl who stood smiling and laughing before them would receive all the sorrow and pity of the world. No one knew just what a burden that smile, those dimples, and that loving demeanor put on that young girl’s shoulders.
Looking back on that day, I’m utterly sickened with myself. How could I not notice it? Ninja are supposed to be able to see through deception. It is the first lesson we need to learn. I could not see what was hidden behind a simple grin, so that can only mean that the great Hokage is nothing more than a blind fool if I couldn’t see past the illusions of a mere Genin. Saika was such a sweet, radiant girl, who never cried or got upset. When the other children would pick on her or the adults shun her, she would only smile. No sensei could ask for a better or brighter student. She excelled in every subject, won nearly every battle she fought, and she had the most beautiful voice. It was truly marvelous to hear her gentle voice sooth the weary heart. Looking back after all these years, I begin to wonder; how could anyone see past her illusions? How could anyone see that behind her smile, her songs, and her performance in school that she was dying every day a slow, painful death?
I remember the night the nine-tailed fox demon attacked our village. I remember thinking how strange it was that a demon as wise and as old as a kitsune would attack a village for no apparent reason. Regardless the fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to seal the fox demon within a newborn baby boy who would later be called ‘Naruto Uzumaki’. By the time the two children arrived it was already too late. Even if I wanted to spare to fox demon, it was too late. Most of the villagers wonder why I would even think to let that beast loose. I didn’t know why exactly the fox had attacked us, and it wasn’t until much later that I grasped the truth; the fox was in a rage because of what had happened to Saika.
The children came before me just as I received word that the nine-tailed fox had been sealed away. Saika’s eyes held no life in them whatsoever and yet, remarkably, her body was still mobile. She was covered head to toe in blood, her blood it seemed from all the lacerations on her body. In her arms she carried a newborn baby boy with moonlight silver hair. He was dead, stabbed through the heart. Young Iruka followed behind his sister in hysteric tears. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew it had to be something horrendous…