Chapter 3: she sees him (them)

"Naruto! Where are you hidin-" A brunette Chunin started angrily, ripping open the door before noticing Tsunade's presence and the boy behind her. "Ah, forgive me Tsunade-hime. My student is a little bit of a menace, please don't mind him and continue the lesson." He then stalks forward and angrily grabs the boy by his collar.

"You just don't appreciate my art-ttebayo!" 'Naruto' screeches and- Uzumaki. Tsunade knows that chakra, knows that verbal tic. "If you're so amazing, how come you or those tree ninjas never catch me, huh, huh?"

Uzumaki Naruto- Kushina and Minato's son- screams with the loudness and loneliness of a neglected child.

"If you want me to stop pranking, then ya hafta chase me better. Believe it, dattebayo!"

"Tree ninjas?" Tsunade says curiously because he can't possibly...

"Yeah, they're kinda weird, dattebayo." He scrunches up his nose, words tumbling out quickly. "They have white animal masks on their faces alllll the time, they've been watching me since I was a baby, you know that, dattebayo? It's like they have nothing better to do with their lives, ya kno-"

"Naruto!" The Chunin yells again, this time, with a darker edge than what Tsunade thinks is necessary for Academy teachers.

-Iruka-

He's mad though and Tsunade-hime couldn't blame him for it. Many citizens had escaped, albeit wounded and traumatised, from the Kyuubi demon because of the ANBU yet this child dares to disparage their courage.

When the child minutely flinches, a split second of fear and pain flashing across his eyes, Iruka feels a sliver of guilt in him. Iruka knows that the child isn't the Kyuubi and definitely wasn't responsible for any of the casualties but amongst the whispers of the crowd and the mass isolating the boy, he couldn't help but watch and stand by, hoping that some part of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was suffering.

(Who was he joking? Hokage-sama had told you, Iruka. He's a Jinchuuriki. The jailor of the monster. Not the monster itself. You know that.)

But that arose the question: how did the civilians even hear about Naruto's circumstance?

They shouldn't have been privy to that information; it was an S-Rank secret and anyone below high level Chuunin status weren't meant to know.

And even then, the information hadn't been properly absorbed. The process of Fuuinjutsu doesn't connect with the villagers and as soon as they heard 'Kyuubi' in the same connotation as 'Naruto', they had ignored everything else.

(Such as the important part about how Naruto was not the Kyuubi.) 

Kyuubi child this. Kyuubi child that.

Parts of Iruka judges the civilians for being so shallow minded but when he thinks of his parents' backs- because shinobi couldn't lose sight of their target- he could only see their deaths and the fox that caused it.

When he sees the boy, he could only see the three whisker marks on the boy's face (and not how the boy looks exactly like Minato-sama and Kushina-san).

He could only see how this boy was related to the Kyuubi, connected to the Kyuubi. You mean, he was burdened with the Kyuubi and all the hatred that came with it.

Iruka knew his hypocrisy, he knew it deep down in him but it was so much easier blaming the boy that everyone else was blaming. 

He watches the glimmer of panic wash away as the boy dumped a (obviously fake) sulking look over his features. The ability to wipe away and seal off emotions was something that even most Chuunin couldn't do but the conditions the boy had been through made the action easy as breathing to him.

Iruka remembers how every single morning there'd be a-

"It's the Ky-"

(That dejected, saddened look on the boy's face.)

"Shh, can't talk about tha-"

(The movement as the child had hunched in over himself.)

"Kaa-san, why is he all alone?"

"Hush sweetie. Remember what I told you? That boy is what I was talking about."

("My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebyo!" Iruka had flinched at his loudness like he didn't know it was a desperate action into getting attention. "You better remember it!")

"Remember son, it's not a normal boy. In fact-"

Iruka remembers standing there, pretending to check the roll that he had marked long ago on his clipboard. Iruka remembers ignoring the boy that had sat on the old swing under the shade of the tree.

"-most say that it's not really a 'boy' at all."

Iruka remembers walking past the sobbing child.

How old had he been then? Five or six? Hokage-sama had enrolled the boy into Academy really early after all. Iruka remembers thinking- 'even the Hokage had wanted to wash his hands of that boy.'

Iruka now thought: 'A child shouldn't have to have that ability to store away emotions.' The boy grumbled slightly and Iruka was dismayed as he realised that he could only see a mischievous class clown.

Naruto had built up a wall that children should never have to build and he couldn't even read past it.

(Iruka knew that the blonde boy in front of him used to shake in fear and anger- no one would be able to tell from his frivolous gestures.)

-Tsunade-

Those were signs of past verbal abuse, why would an Academy teacher-

And that was when the dots connected. Uzumaki. Kushina. Minato. This was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Did the alcohol eat away at her brain? No wonder. No wonder.

"That's a bit of a mean tone for a teacher, don't you think?" Tsunade murmurs and the Chuunin snaps his gaze to hers before his eyes dart about shamefully- looking for an excuse probably.

These 'shinobi' were so bad at hiding physical indications of their mental process- did Ibiki die? Did Inoichi go lax? Actually that would explain the Yamanaka heiress's frivolousness. What had Sarutobi been doing?

"But that's... impressive." She turns to Naruto. Tsunade inwardly starts grinning.

Not only was she incredibly intrigued with this boy, it would also piss off the council a lot if she were to take him as an apprentice. Jinchuuriki were human weapons of war and to make him a Med Nin was to pull him out of the battlefield. It was an unspoken rule that she couldn't take the last Uchiha as an apprentice because, well, he was the last Uchiha. The Sharingan Dojutsu being awakened and utilised for the benefit of the Village was first priority.

It was the same for Naruto... but that information was confidential. Officially, Tsunade 'didn't know' who and what Naruto is. If the Elders protest against it, using an excuse like: 'You must have known.' 'It's obvious.' Or, 'everyone knows.' Then they'd just have to admit of their incompetence at keeping an S-Rank secret... well, a secret. And they were so desperate, they wouldn't dare to force her to change apprentices.

With Naruto's hereditary large reserves, his natural potential and his enthusiasm, Iryo Ninjutsu- well, once Tsunade tackles it into him, would be extremely beneficial for everyone. Being the potential son of Kushina and Minato, their chakra natures would undoubtedly be somewhat passed down- managing to trick, sneak past and evade ANBU... it took serious trickery and skill.

Untapped skill that was.

Her mind races through the few things she had learnt so far- countless pranks? Avoiding ANBU and legitimate shinobi? That already ticked off: trapping skills, potential Fuuinjutsu capability, stealth, basic creativity, smarts and instincts... courage, definitely guts, perseverance and...

Her mental grin widens.

Tsunade had never felt such an urge to learn about someone before.

(How could someone so bright and hated be so happy yet lonely at once?)

(How could the Yondaime's child be treated as everything he wasn't?)

"Yeah, yeah? I told you Iruka-sensei." Naruto yells... and Tsunade would need to work on that volume. "I'm super amazing- I'll become the best Hokage one day, just you believe it, dattebayo!"

-Tsunade has to mechanically inhale to stop the memories from overcoming her. 

"Hoh? Why Hokage?" Tsunade pretends that his bright, awe-filled smile didn't shatter her heart. Dan, Nawaki-

"Because- because! I will get stronger and stronger until everyone will have to acknowledge and respect me! Believe it, dattebayo!"

She represses the urge to back up from the in-your-face enthusiasm. There must be a reason to his loud repetitiveness after all.

(It's something else to think about as well.)

"Please, Tsunade-sama, do not mind what the boy says. He is but a-"

"Did I ask for your opinion, Chuunin?" Tsunade turns a cold, assessing eye over the teacher. Here they were having a nice, casual conversation (you mean: emotional and traumatic conversation- you're fooling yourself, Tsunade) and this- this little brat decided he had the audacity-

She makes a show of judgementally scanning him up and down.

He had a well-kept attire and lead smudges all over his right hand. His overall stance screamed of a well-behaving, respectful and dedicated teacher.

"I want to listen to what Naruto says." Tsunade pointedly pronounces. Not 'the boy' but 'Naruto'. "You may not- nay the entire Village may not, but I care for his opinion."

The man looked kind, honest and sweet yet the majority of the Village was kind, honest and sweet- what of the treatment of Naruto? The citizens were all respectful and generous yet as soon as one in power whispers a nasty word, they turn their backs- cast their minds. She remembers when Orochimaru was the one being glared at- avoided and ignored.

"I'm gonna- hnrghh, I'm gonna punch their lights out-"

"Stop it, Tsunade," Jiraiya had hissed, hand over her mouth. It was probably the only time where he had manhandled her without a perverse intent. "You're causing a ruckus."

"How could you, Raiya?" She had looked at him with an aghast expression. "I thought you were better than that!"

"Take a look around you." Jiraiya's eyes had flicked around and she reluctantly turned to glance around at the civilians inching away from the trio with an expression of disapproval.

"Look at your friend," She had hissed back, completely undeterred. Jiraiya was so fiercely protective of his precious ones yet for some reason, the only time his common sense came into play, it was in this kind of scenario.

"It's ok, Tsunade." Orochimaru had smiled slightly before Jiraiya got the chance to assess the other boy's facial emotions. "It's always been like this."

"It's not meant to be like fucking 'that'!"

"There's nothing you can do about it anyway." Orochimaru had smiled again, albeit more sadly and gently, folding his arms into his kimono sleeves. "I'm happy enough with the two of you caring for me."

The pendant that laid upon her breast bone had never felt so present before. Her hatred for Hokage was ever growing and she felt so cynical in the face of Naruto's persevering smile. Here she was as a Sannin with two of her most beloved dead, and there he was as a shunned orphan with no one to fall back upon.

She had lost a lot yet he had nothing at all. Comparing circumstances didn't matter in this case because ultimately, he was the one with a smile- he was the one that hadn't given up.

(If she had stayed with that little, sad, stupidly curious and annoyingly smartarse boy- he was younger than Tsunade by a year, did you know?- Would Orochimaru have still joined ANBU? Still joined ROOT? Still left the Village?)

"-been so badly mutilated that she wouldn't have been able to recognise him anyway-" Those words had haunted her like Nawaki and Dan's deaths had. (Like how Orochimaru's carefully blank- but she could always read past his façade- but inwardly shell-shocked and sorrowful expression had haunted her.)

'He will die young.' A menacing voice hissed. 'Uzumaki Naruto will die young like your Dan and your Nawaki. Hokage is a fool's title. A title bleeding with suicidal motives.'

'He won't die young.' She replied to that voice for the first time since Dan's death. 'As long as I'm here- as long as I welcome him, he will not.'

Tsunade doesn't know why she was acting so out of character- at any sign of Nawaki or Dan, she would've fled. At the thought of Hokage, she would've sneered. That optimism usually pissed her off but... it didn't. Yet it wasn't the Elders' threats that held her ground, it was something of Naruto that made her stay and fight against her own miserable self.

Maybe she was just tired of feeling old and drunk or maybe she just felt like kicking her sadness in the arse. Maybe...

"There's nothing you can do about it anyway."

Maybe Tsunade just wanted to relish in the fact that now, she could do a fucking thing about it.

The classroom stared with agape mouths as a Legend defended the boy- and not just any boy, it was-

That boy.

They felt a bubbling indignation at that boy- their parents were right! Over the years, they had slowly started to ignore their parents' whispers- after all, that boy was just a stupid, pranking idiot. He was a clown that couldn't do anything.

But now they understood. That boy was manipulative and tricky 'like a fox'- they had snarled with a hatred they had not understood. It happened every time their parents got into a heated discussion, slightly drunken slurs- 'A ghastly, demon fox!'

Tsunade-sama was so mean to Ino-chan and Sakura-chan- the two most popular girls and yet she was so nice with that boy. What trick did he use? How did he fool Tsunade-sama?

No wonder their parents had told them to stay away from that boy. That boy that everyone hated, ostracised and avoided.

Some students opened their mouths to recite the words of their elder generation- 'Tsunade-sama, you do not know! You must stay away from that boy- he is a demon- a dangerous vermin!'

But a single Look from their Sensei silenced them. That was strange because Sensei usually didn't care much for it. (They all knew that the Senseis all hated that boy- they weren't stupid.)