30 Chapter – 27 A Day with the Hypocrite Hokage

The old man looked at the young Uchiha with a surprised expression, and spoke, "Ahhh… Uchiha Sasuke-kun… what a coincidence to meet you here… are you here to pay respect?"

'Coincidence? I think not!' Sasuke screamed in his heart. Even in the most bizarre situation, he would never believe that meeting this old man just outside the cemetery was a 'coincidence.' It must be a deliberate arrangement. Intelligence about him visiting the Konoha Cemetery must have reached the old man's ears. Of course, he did not voice out his true thoughts, and nodded politely with a respectful bow, "Yes, Hokage-sama… Today is the death anniversary of my parents and Clansmen, I wanted to pay respect to them…" That's right, it's none other than the brainwasher and child indoctrinator Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hypocritical Hokage whom Sasuke happened to 'coincidently' meet just outside the gate of Konoha Cemetery.

"I see…" muttered Hokage with a sigh, he had a saddened expression on his face, and drops of tears–that he was trying his hardest to not let out–seemed to want to burst out of his eyes.

Noting Hokage's hypocritical expression, Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes, 'Does he really take me for a complete idiot? Does he really think that all it would take to melt my coldness and indifference would be those Crocodile tears of his?' Playing as per Hokage's plan, Sasuke bit his lips and asked with an 'expectant' tone, "Hokage-sama… for you to come here today…?" 

"I am here for the same purpose as you, it's to pay respect to the Uchiha Clan…" answered Hiruzen with a saddened smile.

"I see… Thank you, Hokage-sama…" said Sasuke as a brief smile appeared on his face. He 'seemed' truly moved to hear the revered Hokage especially come to the Konoha Cemetery to pay respect to his deceased parents and Clansmen.

Hiruzen shook his head, "No… no… there is no need for you to express your gratitude to me, the Uchiha Clan has been an integral part of the village since its foundation and loyally served the village to the best of their abilities… it's my responsibility as the current Hokage to remember them for everything they did for us. I feel truly regretful and saddened that we lost most of them on that night of tragedy at the hands of Itachi, but those that left us still exist within the heart and spirit of the village, within the next generation of this village… and I believe that's what we ought to cherish to honor their sacrifice."

"I see…" muttered Sasuke as he pursed his lips. On the front he appeared rather emotional and moved after hearing Hiruzen's words, in truth, he was speechless at Hiruzen's shamelessness. 'To be able to speak such words without a hint of shame appearing on his face, he truly is the 'God of Shinobi,' the so-called 'strongest' Kage!' thought Sasuke, trying his best not to let his murderous intent get the better of him.

Hiruzen smiled, "Well then…" and urged Sasuke, "Let's go inside…"

Sasuke nodded, "Hmm…" then went inside the Konoha Cemetery, and following him Hiruzen too walked inside.

Inside the Konoha Cemetery, thousands of graves were erected, as far as the eye could see there were graves. Each grave bore a gravestone inscribed with the name of the person it commemorated, along with the symbol of Konohagakure. The Cemetery even has a sculpture at the front representing the 'Will of Fire' of the village, along with the Kanji of 'Hokage' inscribed at its base.

Walking inside the Cemetery, Hiruzen spoke to the young Uchiha, "I will not disturb you here Uchiha Sasuke-kun… you may take your time…"

Sasuke nodded gratefully, "Thank you…" and watched as the Hypocritical Hokage left toward the side of the Sarutobi Clan's graves. 

'Is he going to pay respect to his deceased family?' thought Sasuke. Sarutobi Hiruzen's direct family save for his younger son Sarutobi Asuma and grandchild Sarutobi Konohamaru are dead, so it won't be strange if he were to pay respect to them now that he has come to the Konoha Cemetery.

Another possibility is that Hiruzen might already be aware of the three thousand flowers that Sasuke bought from the Yamanaka Flowers and understood that the young Uchiha would need some time to put all the flowers on the graves of his deceased clansmen, so Hiruzen needed to 'pass' that time on something else, which might be his own deceased family.

'Whatever…' Shaking his head, Sasuke went to the side where the graves of Uchiha Clansmen were erected, and began to carry out the ceremony, which wasn't much, all he had to do was clean the graves of his deceased clansmen, then put the flowers he had bought and pay his respect through a prayer. He started with his father and mother, then went over to others including Izumi and her mother, Shisui's mother, the Ojisan & Obasan who often treated him with crackers from their shop, and so on.

Throughout the process, Sasuke wasn't in a hurry, he took his time to pay respect to each of his Clansmen who died on the night of the Uchiha Genocide as time continued to pass. When he had started, it was still morning, but by the time he finished, the Sun had already crossed the subsolar point and had started to move toward the western horizon, in short, several hours had passed, and surprisingly enough, Sarutobi Hiruzen was still around, sitting beside the sculpture that represents the 'Will of Fire.'

Feeling the presence of Sarutobi Hiruzen's chakra still within the grounds of the Konoha Cemetery, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder, 'What does he want?' 

Hokage is a busy person, this is obvious considering all kinds of responsibilities that they shoulder, yet the old fucker had decided to waste his time at the Konoha Cemetery for whatever reason instead of carrying out whatever responsibilities he must complete.

'Or is it that I think wrong and Hokage has all the time in the world to waste on pointless matters…' wondered Sasuke and tried not to pay special attention to the Hokage for the time being and continued with the ceremony. 

Standing before the graves of his parents, Sasuke once clapped his hand and murmured to himself, "Rest assured Tou-san, Kaa-san, I will set everything right within the next few years… The Uchiha Clan will get the justice they deserve!" Then, he bowed to the graves and clapped his hands, clap, clap!

With that, the ceremony was completed, and it was time for him to leave the Cemetery, but Sasuke did not leave immediately, he remained standing before the graves of his parents while keeping his eyes closed. Time passed bit by bit as Sasuke finally sighed and after a bow, he turned around and began to leave, but the moment he turned around, he was 'stunned' as he noticed the Hokage standing two steps behind him with tears flowing down his eyes, "Hokage-sama…?"

"Haa…" Hiruzen sighed as he wiped the drops of tears from his cheeks, "I am alright… just got a little emotional. When people get older, they tend to get emotional even for the smallest of reasons."

"I see…" mumbled Sasuke. What else was he supposed to speak? Was he supposed to add that they also lose control over their bowel movement? 'Maybe I should have said that… it would have made him speechless…' he thought inwardly.

Hiruzen spoke, "I still recall that evening… it happened nine years ago… it was after the Jōnin council, Fugaku had stayed behind…"

'Tou-san?' wondered Sasuke as he paid close attention to Hiruzen's words.

Hiruzen continued, "He wanted to ask me something… my permission to be exact… I was curious about what Fugaku wanted to ask, and I listened… turns out, he was about to have a second child, and he wanted to ask me if he could name the said Child after my Otou-sama if the child is a boy… imagine my surprise… The patriarch of the Uchiha Clan wishes to name his child after my late Otou-sama…"

"Huh?" Sasuke was stunned. No, don't take it the wrong way, he is aware of the fact that he was named after 'Sarutobi Sasuke,' and that's something he highly regrets. If not for the fact that he was named by his father, he would have discarded this name long ago, after all, it is connected to the Sarutobi Clan, and no way he wants anything to do with the Sarutobi Clan, that's how much he loathes them. Of course, his hatred for the Sarutobi Clan is another matter… but for Hiruzen to bring up that matter here…

Hiruzen nodded with a smile, "That's right, Uchiha Sasuke-kun… Uchiha Fugaku named you after my late Otou-sama… Fugaku had hoped that you would become a great shinobi just like my late Otou-sama, Sarutobi Sasuke!"

"I… I see… I did not know that…" muttered Sasuke, trying his best to sound a bit overwhelmed. After all, 'Sarutobi Sasuke' is supposed to be a 'big' name, and inheriting such a name should mean something, and that something might be a little too much for a young boy burdened with the thought of revenge.

Perhaps Hiruzen felt that Sasuke was overwhelmed, and explained, "Today, looking at you, I seem to recall my younger days… I lost both my parents too when I was your age… later in life, I lost my wife, my son, and my daughter-in-law… so I felt that perhaps we have some connection… I guess, we aren't that different from each other, huh…" 

"Are we…?" mumbled Sasuke a little unsure. Perhaps they are indeed somewhat similar, after all, Hiruzen holds responsibility for the Uchiha Genocide, and Sasuke's goal is to carry out the Sarutobi Clan genocide, in that regard, the two of them are indeed very similar.

Unaware of Sasuke's true thought, Hiruzen sighed, "I think we are, for now at least… whether that'll be the case in the future or not would depend on the path that you take in your life…"

Sasuke was a little confused, "What do you mean, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen smiled and shook his head, "That is something you have to figure out yourself with time…" then he sighed, and spoke, "All that aside, what I really want to say is… today I am what I am, it's because I had Shodaime Hokage-sama and Nidaime Hokage-sama watching over me at that time. In the same manner, I want to say that if you need something, if you need some advice you can come to me… I will try my best to help you…"

After a moment of silence, Sasuke nodded, "… I understand."

Hiruzen was satisfied, "Good," then he looked at the Sun and changed the topic, "Come on, Uchiha Sasuke-kun… it's getting late…"

Sasuke nodded, "Yes…" indeed, the Sun was slowly approaching the Western Horizon, so it was about time he left for his hou–!

Growwwllll!

At this time, suddenly, a low stomach growl echoed in the Konoha Cemetery.

Hearing the stomach growl, Sasuke looked at the Hokage who blushed lightly, "I haven't had anything since morning, I guess it's about time I eat something…" he then looked at Sasuke, "What about you Uchiha Sasuke-kun, do you want to join me?"

"If you don't mind my company, Hokage-sama…" answered Sasuke. No, kidding, can he refuse to the Hokage? The moment Hiruzen asked him, the answer was already obvious, moreover, Sasuke hadn't had anything past breakfast either, so he was also starting to feel hungry too.

"Of course, not… please come…" said Hiruzen, then began to leave the Konoha Cemetery and made his way toward the Konoha Shopping Centre.

Sasuke thought for a moment and followed after Hiruzen.

…

Konohagakure Shopping District

Hiruzen and Sasuke walked side-by-side through the bustling streets of the Shopping District. 

As Sasuke and Hiruzen made their way to the most famous shop in the Shopping District, there was no shortage of people greeting Hiruzen with respect, "Good evening, Hokage-sama…" "Hokage-sama is personally visiting us today!" "It seems Hokage-sama wishes to stroll around the village!" and so on.

Those who greeted Hiruzen with respect also noticed the Uchiwa-fan logo on Sasuke's t-shirt as he was walking beside Hiruzen and looked at him with pity in their eyes. At the same time, respect for Hiruzen increased in their hearts. 

Despite all the responsibilities that Hokage-sama shoulders, he spares no effort to take care of the pitiful orphan of the once-prosperous Uchiha Clan, he is such a benevolent man, and his kindness knows no bounds.

'Truly, Hokage-sama is indeed the kindest… he is kind even to that child of the Demon Fox… we are really blessed to have such Hokage!'

Sasuke felt disgusted upon hearing the conversation around him.

Just when he needed a distraction, Hiruzen brought up a topic, "Sasuke-kun, how are you adjusting to the new apartment?"

"Huh? The new apartment? It's fine… Academy and other areas are also close… I am truly 'grateful' for the new apartment," answered Sasuke.

"I see… that's good… At that time, I felt that it might not be appropriate for you to live at your former house considering what happened there… so, I instructed Uzuki Yūgao to search for a new place to live for you…" spoke Hiruzen, and thinking of something, he asked, "Speaking about Yūgao, is she good? Is she taking care of you?"

"Eh? Yes… she is fine… whenever she is in the village, she comes by the apartment to check up on me…" nodded Sasuke.

"I see… I see…" nodded Hiruzen, then asked another question. "And I heard from Yūgao that you are learning Kenjutsu, how is that going? Have you made any progress? Are you facing any problem?"

"I have got the basics in the past year… next up is combat drills and partner drills to understand combat and get used to fighting enemies…" once again Sasuke answered.

"Well, that's good to hear… but I am wondering, are you not interested in Ninjutsu? You cannot neglect Ninjutsu training if you wish to become a great shinobi…" Hiruzen seemed like an elder guiding Sasuke on a proper Shinobi Path.

"I know, but currently I don't have enough Chakra to use on Ninjutsu, that's why I am more invested in physical training and Chakra Control Training so as to increase my Chakra reserves and increase my Chakra control…" answered Sasuke. Of course, the answer is only half true, indeed, he is short on Chakra reserves considering his young age, but he has also already completed training for Water Chakra Nature Transformation and has some mastery over Fire Chakra Nature Transformation too. He paused for a moment, then added, "Besides, once I awaken the Sharingan, learning Ninjutsu would become very easy, so I don't wish to spend time on it more than necessary…"

"Hmm… I suppose that's a reasonable explanation…" nodded Hiruzen. He couldn't help but agree with both the reasons given by Uchiha Sasuke, and while there were some points he felt he could speak to perhaps change Sasuke's perspective, he decided not to add them for the time being, instead, he asked another question, "What about the Academy? How are things there? I have seen your exam records, so I think you are doing very well academically, but what about socially? Have you made any friends?"

"Boring for the most part… as for the friends, I don't want to deal with an annoying bunch, and most of them are annoying. Girls only know how to squeal, moan, and fight over me, while boys are mostly dumbasses. As such I am not interested in the merry making for the time being, moreover, they would only distract me from my goal which I would rather avoid…" shrugged Sasuke.

"Hmmm… I see…" muttered Hiruzen with a thoughtful expression on his face. '...'

While having such conversations about various topics, Sasuke and Sarutobi soon reached their destination, the Ichiraku Ramen.

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