Naruto AU: The Untold Story

Chapter 22: Confronting Loneliness

Hisako knocked on Lord Hokage's office door and waited till she heard Lord Hokage's voice say from the other side, "Enter,"

As Hisako's hand hesitated on the handle of the door, she couldn't help but admit to herself that she felt fear wash through her. She was walking in there to approach Lord Hokage about wrongdoing he's committed against a member of his village. She was walking in there to defend Naruto and the disservice this village had done to him. But, on top of that, she was doing this and she wasn't born here in this village. This could end very horribly for her, but she also knew that she couldn't allow Naruto to suffer any longer.

"Lord Hokage," Hisako greeted, finally finding enough courage to enter his office and walk to his desk.

She had to gulp down the doubt that crept up as Lord Hokage's dark gaze made contact with Hisako. Lord Hokage's pipe was in his hand, the smoke withering above his head, but, she could feel that he wasn't too pleased with her. His eyes were narrowed and he choose to be silent for a few heartbeats, almost like he was letting Hisako contemplate her next words. Or regret them.

Hisako didn't speak first. She didn't have the courage to be the first to speak. Besides, she felt that if she did speak first, she would lose this debate they were about to have. What Hisako didn't understand was how Lord Hokage already knew that she had done something that would probably upset him. Or maybe how he knew that she was about to do something that would start a conflict.

"I see you have figured out who Naruto's parents are," Lord Hokage finally said, his voice even and emotionless.

"Yes, I did," Hisako confirmed, keeping her voice as calm as she could, she was afraid that her voice betrayed her and she could have sworn she heard her words shake.

Lord Hokage let out a long, controlled sigh as he took a long drag from his pipe. He took his time blowing out the smoke and the suspense almost drove Hisako to insanity as she quietly observed Lord Hokage's every move.

"I'll be honest, I was expecting someone like Shikamaru to figure it out first. He's a smart kid and it seems he gets into trouble with Naruto at the Academy quite often. I suppose doing that type of research wasn't something he choose to do." Lord Hokage finally said.

His words started to put Hisako at ease. Maybe she wasn't in trouble? She supposed since he was expecting someone to find out and tell Naruto, maybe he was expecting this day. But, she knew better than to let herself relax. This conversation was far from over.

"But, I am curious as to why you felt inclined to do the research into Naruto's lineage," Lord Hokage continued, leveling a scrutinizing stare onto Hisako.

Hisako gulped and shifted in her stance uncomfortably as she sorted through the words in her head, "at first, I didn't," she replied calmly, "feel inclined to do that research," she clarified, "at first I was looking into the Jinchuuriki, which eventually lead me to the Nine-Tail's attack on the Leaf Village, and the questions started popping up as I came across popular names, Lord Hokage the Fourth, Minato Namikaze, the Uzumaki Clan and a family tree I saw with the name Kushina Uzumaki and I began thinking, wondering. Was Naruto connected to the Nine-Tails attack somehow?"

"I see. So tell me, what did you find out?" Lord Hokage asked.

Hisako bit back a sigh of exasperation. He already knew what she found. She didn't need to repeat herself.

"I know he's the son of the late Fourth Hokage and his First Lady, Kushina Uzumaki. I know he's from a prestigious clan that is on the verge of extinction and that he's the son of a Hokage. Which, when I learned that, something still didn't make sense. Even though I am an outsider, I wasn't born in this village, it wasn't difficult to observe that Naruto was ostracized by the villagers. He was outcasted and left alone and people seemed to fear him. I never understood why, and frankly, it annoyed me. Why would people ostracize someone from their own village?