Arrival

The moon cast an ample glow upon the village hidden in the leaves, bearing witness to the receding liveliness as the denizens retreated from the confines of their daily duties, routing back to their dwelling compounds.

Unbeknownst to these people, a crimson-haired man skillfully blitzed through the crowds. Finally, he appeared before the great Hokage Mansion. The man was none other than Namikaze Hayato. He entered the extravagant building, striding along the vacant corridor with occasional passersby. The tapping of his feet echoed amidst the vacancy as he continued his stroll, and before long, he had arrived at his destination; the Hokage's Office. 

He raised his hand to the door in a gesture of knocking but momentarily hesitated. The situation earlier made the whole thing awkward after all, but reassuring himself, he gently tapped on the door twice, and announced;

"Lord Third, may I enter?"

After a momentary silence, an aged voice confirmed from the other side, "You may enter," thus, allowing Hayato to enter.

Twisting the doorknob, the door slowly parted with a creaking sound, and with heightened resolve, Hayato stepped into the governor's realm.

*CREAK*

Sat in the tail end was a debilitated old man, none other than Lord Third, behind a desk piled with tonnes of unattended paperwork. Though Hayato remained callous, he couldn't help but internally compare the state of the desk to when Minato, his older brother, was Hokage. Whenever he had visited his older brother in this exact location, the desk would always be empty, giving the table space to breathe. As such, it left a lasting impression on everyone of the capabilities of the Yellow Flash. Even more mind-boggling was the fact the man never showed signs of strain, and had a nonchalant disposition.

Comparing that to this... 

'Nii-san is truly a beast... They don't call him the Yellow Flash for nothing I guess,' he complimented, unable to hide his admiration for his older brother.

"I assume that they will be arriving shortly," interjected an aged voice, snapping Hayato of his reverie.

Recomposing himself, Hayato shook from his musings, eyeing the old man who had leaned forward on interlocked hands. Hayato nodded in approval, and added, "My 'wife' will be here... with a child." 

The latter statement caused Hiruzen's brows to arch, confusion evident. 

Understanding Hiruzen's trail of thought, Hayato elaborated, "Her name is Karin, Uzumaki Karin, and I intend to adopt her."

Now Hiruzen's turbid eyes unfurled, and he continued, "Uzumaki?! I see, so is that why..."

He paused, allowing Hayato to finalise...

Hayato continued; "Yes, it's as you think. As I said earlier, there was a slight problem at Kusagakure, and it was personal. We had found her near the border of that village and noticed the torment she had undergone. Kaede will explain more in detail, but I had created a fake identity for Karin, where I, Uzumaki Saruto, am her biological father. That should reduce not only my risk of exposure, but her's too since I basically did kidnap her, and I'd rather not instigate a war in Kusagakure."

[Kusagakure (Village Hidden In The Grass)]

Hiruzen sighed, "So I believe that is what you meant by "surprise"."

"Yeah," Hayato admitted. 

Hiruzen went back to Hayato's declaration, where he casually quipped he kidnapped the child. Without further elaboration, Hiruzen intoned, his tone carrying a hint of worry, "That is rather worrying; you kidnapped a primary asset of Kusagakure."

Hayato nodded in support, and spoke in an attempt to ease Hiruzen; "Yeah, perhaps... Though I believe nothing too bad will happen."

Hiruzen sighed in resignation, and deliberated, "Well, that further explains why you opted for an Uzumaki lineage. It was for your 'daughter's' sake to integrate with the village..."

With a momentary lapse, his eyes narrowed, and he continued, "If they find out the child was kidnapped, then..."

Hayato nodded, "I guess we may get in trouble if they find out." 

Hiruzen chided along, "That's right. They may very well strip me of my authority for lying, and supporting this risky maneuver."

Hayato added, "I doubt anything will happen to you Lord Third, it will mainly pose a problem with me, and quite frankly, if the higher-ups do find out, ..."

With a slight pause, his crimson gaze appeared to exude dominion, and he finalised tersely, "... I don't really care! She is my daughter. The harsh treatment she had undergone is unbelievable, and so, I have taken her under my wing."

Pointing at himself, he declared, "To take her away, they have to get through me first!" 

Hayato's deep tone carried authority and an unwavering sense of ambition. No matter what obstacles may be thrown in his path, he will persevere, and trample on the opposition, no matter who they may be. 

Hiruzen decided to abstain from intruding in familial affairs, and in opposing Hayato. Should the time come when he'll be confronted, then he'll think about it later, but right now, he was in no such mood. After all, the conversation on the balcony earlier left him with some lingering guilt, and the least he could do was support Hayato in these tough endeavours.

As such, he tended to the reports under his nose. The uncanny ambiance was disturbed by the sound of paper being flipped, and Hiruzen claimed, "Very well, I'll get everything set." 

The exchange resumed, as though what had transpired earlier in the balcony had never occurred. In this case, they were professionals, casting aside personal feelings.

"!"

A sharp exclamation rang in the air as both individuals felt a presence above them... To be exact, there were 2 signatures. Hiruzen cast an all-knowing gaze at Hayato, while Hayato's lips involuntarily curled in optimism.

"So... They're here," Hiruzen was the first to break the silence.

Hayato admitted, "Yeah." 

"Hayato-san," a deep voice rang in Hayato's head, and Hayato remained stern, understanding immediately who it was.

"Yeah, it's them, no worries," Hayato replied resolutely, understanding the person who had connected with him was Inoichi.

"Alright," Inoichi cut off the communication upon Hayato's confirmation.

"I'll go get them," Hayato quipped, to which Hiruzen nodded in agreement. 

Hayato vanished from his spot and immediately reappeared with 2 other individuals. 

One was a beautiful female, whose long black hair cascaded gently in the air, had a pale composition, and obsidian black eyes as though crafted for seduction. A gentle smile graced her cherry lips, and she bowed in reverence to the lethargic Lord Third seated before her.

"It's been a while Lord Third," she spoke, her tone infectious, and beguiling.

Hiruzen's lips curled, and he replied, "Indeed."

She was clad in full black; a black vest, black armbands, black jeans, and the headband bearing the sigil of Konoha wrapped around her head, hinting at her pride as a Shinobi of the village.

She was able to connect to the top of the establishment via Flying Raijin. 

As we know, Hayato had placed a marking on the balcony, thus, enabling him to teleport to the balcony instantaneously. The female had performed the very technique, successfully establishing a connection with the same glyph.

"It took me 1 minute to connect to the seal," the female pouted, her cheeks slightly puffed in annoyance, conveying her ineptness of the technique.

Rubbing her back, Hayato comforted, "Haha, no worries. You're right on time.".

The Uchicha female massaged her glabella, subsequently sighing in peeve, "Sigh, that's not my point. You and Minato-san can do it so much faster." 

Hayato could only chuckle at her distress, and continued rubbing her back in encouragement.

The female Uchiha was none other than Uchiha Kaede, and his wife! 

Turning his gaze downward, Hayato noticed a miniature version of himself clutching the leg of Kaede; that is to say, the child was basically a replica of Saruto. 

As such, she had complementing dark pink hair of shoulder length, and dark pink eyes, and donned a casual attire in a pink t-shirt and black tracksuit. Her petite frame observed Hayato skeptically, but when Hayato cast a wink at her, the creases of her eyes glistened with a liquid substance and her lips curled in jubilation.

"Papa," she exclaimed, her eyes brightening before releasing her grip from Kaede and lunging unceremoniously at the crimson-haired man. Hayato knelt before the child, allowing the child to fall into his embrace. The child wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, heralding her sincere affection for him.

Rubbing the back of her head, Hayato questioned in a deep and loving tone, "Did you miss me Karin?"

"Y-Yeah," Karin stammered embarrassingly in a croaked tone, digging her head into Hayato's shoulder.

Warmly embracing his adopted daughter and patting her head, Hayato internally judged, 'Such a soft child. How could those mongrels do that to such a small girl?'

A subtle fluctuation radiated from his crimson eyes, stemming from anger, which didn't go unnoticed by Hiruzen and Kaede. 

Hayato had always pondered over how eldritch the Shinobi world was, leaving him feeling revolted. Karin was merely a child of Kusagakure, and her mother had a highly classified technique that benefited the village significantly; her healing ability, known as the 'Chakra Transfer Technique.' This technique enabled her to transfer chakra to others, promoting healing and restoring their vitality.

As such, she was seen as a tool. Her exceptional, and unparalleled healing ability was sought after by the higher-ups of the village, and she was used to heal the injured so that they could rejoin the front lines... Or rather, she was forced to! As a result, she died due to over-exhaustion, and her only daughter was the next to be forced into the vile act.

All villages are the same it seems; they'll use children if it means protecting their home, and they care not if they break the child apart!

Politics reigns supreme, that's how the world works! That's all the hierarchy cares about.

With this revelation, no matter how many times it echoed in Hayato's mind, his stomach would churn in grotesque! With this twisted mentality, the world was a far cry from ever attaining true peace. One day, someone may very well snap, and claim war upon the world, and it wouldn't be very surprising!

Hayato disregarded his mental musings for now, as he realised he had to focus on the current job at hand. Removing the weeping Uzumaki from his embrace by her shoulder, he instructed in a tone of warmth, "Alright Karin, go join mom." 

Karin complied, clutching onto Kaede's thigh, seemingly skeptical of the old man seated behind the desk. At this, Kaede couldn't help, but let out a rueful chuckle.

"Kaede," called a voice, to which Kaede redirected her gaze to her husband. Hayato gestured with an extended hand, and Kaede immediately understood. Reaching into her navy backpack that drooped on a single shoulder, she extracted stacks of papers held within, and inferred, "Right, I've got all the documents. The fake marriage certificate and all." 

Hayato accepted, skimming through the texts. His pupils darted back and forth as he quickly and diligently flipped through the dockets and assessed with acute precision. 

Humming in affirmation, Hayato handed them to HIruzen, and intoned, "Alright, perfect. Here."

Analysing the certificates, Hiruzen's brows creased in confusion. Constructing fake records was a daunting task in of itself, yet to be able to do it with the assistance of another nation... It must've been at a cost!

As such, Hiruzen raised his doubt, "How did you do this, Saruto-san? To be able to create a completely fake record in Yukigakure."

[Yukigakure- Village Hidden In The Snow]