Chapter 6

Athena currently found herself experiencing great disappointment. That was an emotion she hadn't felt in a while. Well here it is. Disappointment. What exactly had her so disappointed?

She spent half the day doing nonsense with Naruto. They ate ramen. They played in the playground, after Athena chased the bullies. She tried to teach him something about chakra. Keyword, tried. They did lots of entertaining stuff and now they stood in the door of Naruto's apartment.

Disappointment.

"Your room looks like a garbage heap" She said bluntly.

Naruto chuckled nervously and looked away in embarrassment.

"Sorry, about that"

Athena looked at him. Then at the mess of a room. She sighed and carefully stepped in. She maneuvered her way through the mess and made her way to the fridge.

Disappointment.

There was almost nothing in there. The cabinets all had instant ramen in them. She looked back at Naruto who now looked like a scolded puppy.

"Is Ramen all you eat? No wonder you're so short. How are you supposed to grow if you do not eat properly? "

Naruto couldn't look at her and twisted nervously.

"Well they don't let me into stores. And when they do they give me such high prices that I can't pay for anything. The only place that let's me in is Ichiraku and Teuchi always gives me these cup noodles"

Athena glared at the noodles. She knew Naruto got bad treatment but that is just too much.

"Naruto, we are going to clean this place up and then you're coming with me, understood?"

The other blonde nodded immediately.

"Good"

Athena looked around for some gloves. Once found she and Naruto wielded them and got to work.

First order of business: throw everything out

The amount of trash that was adorning the floor was it's own joke. The smell of the place was almost sickening. She's sure something died in some corner. Together with Naruto she cleared the floor of anything that belonged in the trash. In the end they had two full trash bags. Seriously.

Second on the list : the dishes

Naruto looked like he never once did the dishes. For all Athena knew that might as well be correct. She was almost convinced to let him sit it out, but she shook that thought out her head. Naruto needed to know to clean his apartment. He was not getting out of it. Athena washed. Naruto dried. The process took time seeing as they're short five year olds with tiny hands. Eventually everything was spotless and in their place.

Next up : sweeping brushing and moping

The two swept the entire house. From bedroom to living room. Athena would not stand to see one spec of dirt on the floor. The dust was dumped in one of the trash bags in a corner. By the end of it the floor had a different color. After that they got to brushing off any stains left on the floor, carpet or furniture. They got everything out, double checking to make sure. Lastly they got a mop and a bucket of water and got to work.

With that done the place looked brand new. The last thing on their list was Naruto's bed. Athena showed him how to properly make it so it doesn't get messed up as easily. She also told him to always make his bed after he got up in the morning.

"Wow this place feels so different"

"Because it's clean, Naruto. Make sure to keep it that way"

"I'll try"

"You must" Athena gave him a look that told him if she found it otherwise she would kick his ass.

He nodded

"Good, let's go"

"Where are we going?"

"The Hokage"

~~~~~~

Hiruzen was in heaven. For the first time in ages he had little to no paperwork. The council wasn't screaming in his ear about it and the village seemed to be operating smoothly. All of it was thanks to Athena's amazing system. That child was a gift from above. He wondered how she was. He hadn't seen her since that day. He felt bad about it. His question had brought up some painful things. He could tell. Kakashi told him of what happened when he found her by the KIA stone. The knowledge she possessed was amazing. She knew exactly who was controlling the fox. She made it clear that it was not an Uchiha currently in the village. That's a relief.

There came a knock at the door and with his permission in stepped two five year olds. His two favorite blondes.

"Hey there old man Hokage" Naruto greeted cheerfully while Athena only waved with a frown on her face.

"Hello Naruto, Athena to what do I owe the pleasure? " The old man asked. He could tell by the look Athena adorned that she was there for some serious business.

"Did you know that the store owners do not let Naruto in? Or when they do they raise the prices considerably so he can't buy what he needs? "

It's the first Hiruzen is hearing of this. For all he knew the village was treating the boy fairly well. The member on the council in charge of these things reassured him everything was in control. Had he been lied to?

"I did not"

"Well now you know and you need to do something about it. Naruto isn't eating healthy. All he eats is Ramen. It's not good for him. Look at him. He's shorter than me and I'm pretty damn short. He's a boy he needs to be taller and stronger. His muscles are scrawny for crying out loud"

Hiruzen was sure Athena was pissed. He's never seen her angry. Seeing it now he's reminded of his student. She really takes after her mother. He averted his eyes and observed Naruto. He was indeed very short and didn't look very well kept. He sighed.

"I'll have a talk with the person in charge of the shops"

Athena scoffed.

"Sure talk. Just talk to him and see if anything changes" She glared. "You know what? Do it right now. Call a council meeting. Call both of them. Shinobi and civilians. I really want to be here for it. And Naruto is not going anywhere either"

She was dead serious, he could tell. Naruto looked both confused and nervous though. Hiruzen chuckled slightly. Athena was being a protective older sister at the moment.

Should he do as she says? It would be amusing and he figured she would help him out. Kakashi has told him of her intelligence. That paired with her knowledge does make her quite dangerous.

He took a puff of his smoke.

"As you wish"

~~~~~~~

Athena could feel eyes on her. Normally it would make her uncomfortable but not right then. Naruto on the other hand was clearly nervous. He was getting glares from everyone in the civilian council. Athena was not blind to this for she glared right back at them.

"Lord Hokage what is he doing here" On of the civilian counselors asked with venom in his voice.

Athena glared even harder at the man. If looks could kill.

Hiruzen was looking very calm at the moment. He took a puff from his pipe before speaking.

"Athena"

The blonde at the mention of her name stepped forward still glaring dagger at the council members.

"I would like to introduce you all to Athena, some of you already met her" The old man said still calm. "Now then Athena has brought it to my attention that Naruto over there does not get accepted into the stores. Care to explain this to me, Gakuen"

The man named Gakuen was the same man glaring holes into Naruto. Athena clearly saw a flash of rage in his eyes before he plastered on a smile.

"Lord Hokage I assure that nothing of the sort has happened. All my stores welcome the young Uzumaki. The children are obviously pulling your leg" He looked straight at Athena. "Would you really believe a child? They have very wild imaginations you know"

Athena quickly stuffed her hands in her pocket when she felt the urge to punch something. Her glare never faltered and she gritted her teeth. She wasn't liking this man. He's clearly lying. Naruto wouldn't lie about something so serious. Not to the only friend he has. She knew him.

"Lord Hokage are you saying that you called this meeting because of two children? " Another civilian council member questioned.

"Yes" Hiruzen answered. "Is there a problem"

"Sir, you can't seriously be taking these children seriously. They are kids they must be playing some prank"

Athena gripped her fists even harder. There it was again. The thing she hated the most. She's a child so that automatically made her opinion useless.

"Athena"

She looked at the old man, glare disappearing briefly.

"You look like you have some things to say. Feel free to"

"Can I say it all? "

"If you must"

Athena turned her attention back to the council.

"To everyone on the civilian council I just have one thing to say. Especially to Mr Gakuen" She said very calmly. "You're all worthless fools"

Her bluntness and words was more than enough to almost send the shinobi council into a fit of laughter. Never before had anyone ever said such a thing to the council members. The shinobi council agreed with her statement completely.

"You insolent child"

"That I may be but I shall not apologize for stating the obvious truth. You must all be fools if you think you can lie to the Hokage. You're even bigger fools if you think you can convince him Naruto and I are lying"

"Lord Hokage you would allow her to speak so rudely to us? "

"No no no no" Athena glared. "Do not go to him, I'm not done with you old toads. The Hokage will not butt in. He gave me permission to speak every word on my mind so I will speak every single word uncensored" Athena finally removed her hands from her pockets and twisted her wrist. "I am very much offended that you do not take me seriously, you will regret that. As I said you are all worthless fools. You could be killed any second of the day for the things you do. You for example Gakuen. You know damn well what I'm talking about. You know that the stores do not let Naruto in. You are they're boss are you not? You're the one who instructs them not to let him in or raise the prices. That's pathetic. You would rob a child of his necessities because of something that happened five years back? Fools. Stop wallowing in self pitty and pinning blame on a five year old and act your damn age"

Everyone in the room was left completely shocked by her words.

"This is why humans disgust me. We are worthless selfish beings that cannot appreciate others. We are greedy. Ungrateful. Vile. Deceitful. Hateful. Vengeful. You cannot cope with certain situations so naturally you find someone to make you feel better about yourself. You blame a child for something he doesn't even know about. He doesn't know anything. He does not know why you all despise him. For all he knows his only mistake was being born. Because that is what you make him feel. He has skin and bones like you do. He bleeds red blood like you do. He feels pain like you do. He has emotions like you do. Yet you treat him worse than the dirt you walk on. So tell me who is the real monster here? "

Silence. The room was silent. Everyone was feeling something from the words the child spoke. Some even looked ashamed of them selves when the words sunk in. Athena was right. Humans really are despicable.

"You don't know what you're talking about! He's a monster" Gakuen fumed. "It's his fault I lost everything. It's all his fault"

"What? Are you gonna cry about it?" Athena questioned. "The nine tails is the one that brought destruction upon the village. I wouldn't even blame the thing it was being controlled. But the fact remains doesn't it? The nine tails is the one that caused you to loose everything , not Naruto" Athena sighed. "What he has inside of him does not define him"

"You could never understand, you are but a useless child not capable of anything with out assistance"

This struck a nerve. Useless? There it was again. How long had it been since she heard that word. It always made her feel depressed. Now. Now she felt rage at being called useless. She knows she's not useless. She couldn't be. She has a use in this world. She'll make damn sure of it.

Somehow the glare Athena had been directing at the man increased in intensity. There was a sudden change in the air. It was heavy and tense. The shinobi were shocked by what they were feeling. Even more so when they found it was coming from the small five year old girl. Danzo raised an eyebrow in interest. The civilian council couldn't breath. It felt as of all the air escaped their lungs. There was nothing entering their lungs. Nothing escaping. It was terrifying.

"Useless? " Athena's voice was suddenly laced with a thick coat of venom. The Hokage widened his eyes in shock. "Useless. Useless. Useless" This time she chuckled dryly. "You don't even know how many times that word had been said to me. Associated with me. You cannot even begin to comprehend the emotions it made me feel. You would be shocked by the amount of times I tried to cut my life short because I truly believed it. I truly believed that I was indeed a useless waste of space" She smiled slightly. A very terrifying smile. "Like you are right now"

Gakuen gulped in fear. He wanted to run. He wanted to scream. He wasn't capable however. He was glued to the spot. Groveling at the feet of this child.

"Hearing that word now only angers me dangerously. Over the past few days I've learned what I'm capable of. The things I can do. The feats I can perform. And I am very confident that I can put you in the hospital or worse" She clicked her tong.

"If you ever call me useless again it will be the end of your pathetic life"