His Secret (A Naruto Rewrite)

Chapter 3: He's a Bright Child

It was only once they reached the Lady Hokage and gave her the parcel did they get answers. Upon opening the door, Naruto was hit with an oddly familiar feeling, one he had felt with Kakashi too. His home had changed a lot, though he couldn't see much from Kakashi's shoulder, where he buried his head to keep from a villager snagging him and beating him up (which he thought was a very real possibility). The room was the same but... not? And Jiji was nowhere to be seen, instead it was some lady who still hadn't noticed him. Kakashi trailed behind, knocking on the door politely before coming in, unlike the blonde who'd never had to worry about that before.

"Where's Jiji?" Naruto asked before Tsunade could say anything. Her eyes snapped to his, which were just barely peeking over her table. She stood abruptly, making the boy jump back and scurry to behind Kakashi. She looked angry.
"What is the meaning of this? Where is Naruto?" She demanded, looking between the three and not spotting him. Sakura responded before Kakashi could.

"On our mission Naruto was taken! When we found him, he was like this. The Kazekage sent us with a package containing the details, but couldn't tell us much other than confirming that's Naruto." Honestly Kakashi was suprised she properly explained it, he was expecting her to go on a rant of some kind about Sasuke eventually. The boy in question, hearing his name mentioned several times, glanced between the 'adults'.

"Hand it here," she requested, Kakashi automatically obliging with some difficulty. Walking around with a toddler on your leg is hard even for an ex-anbu. She ripped open the seal effortlessly, her eyes scanning the scroll and a few papers that were placed inside quickly, darting right to left, up and down. The other stood on tense silence as they waited for her response. With each paper she read, she grew more and more concerned, by the time she sat the last page down, her hand was on her mouth with tears threatening to spill as she looked at how young Naruto was. She was the Hokage though, she must pull it together.

Clearing her throat, she began. "Alright, it seems that Naruto was the subject of an experiment with time. According to the reports, or at least the information you all can know about, the Jutsu created was supposed to reduce wounds by rewinding time, making them disappear as if it never happened. Instead, it reduced Naruto's age. It seems like Naruto wasn't the only subject either. Each one was brought back to the worst part of their life, so it's safe to assume," she paused, almost in tears again.

She knew the life of a Jinchuriki was difficult, and even more so as a ninja. So, was what happened to him at three worse than his grandfather figure dying? His mentor dying? She didn't want to imagine what caused it. Especially since her first thought went to when she first took the position as Hokage and someone reproposed an old idea that the third Hokage refused, and for good reason. The idea had something to do with allowing the townspeople to hunt to Jinchuriki on the day of the festival to celebrate the defeat of the nine tailed beast.

"I can't believe this is real..." Sakura said sadly.
"I can't believe this either honestly... Who would've thought that this type of Jutsu could be created..." Sasuke replied stoically. If Sasuke saying something other than "hn" to the situation didn't tell you how serious the situation was, I don't know what will. Jokes aside, Kakashi was inclined to agree, he could feel Naruto's tiny hands grabbing tightly around his pant leg, anxious as everyone but Kakashi stared at him. He, out of anyone, had an idea of what made it so awful, it wasn't until years later Kakashi found out about the beatings Naruto had received before the Third cracked down on them about it. He just didn't know it happened when he was so young (or that they kept happening even after lord Third said something, but he still doesn't know that so...).

"But- how could this happen? What happened to make this the worst time in his life?" Sakura asked. Kakashi didn't need to feel to know Naruto flinched at her words.
Tsunade sighed, "I'm not sure, nor am I sure how long this Jutsu will last." She paused. "Sakura, Sasuke, you both are dismissed for now, I'd like to talk to Kakashi alone." She sat back in her chair, Sasuke immediately heading for the door and leaving as soon as he was told.
"What about Naruto? Should I take him with us?" She asked, stepping towards the door unsure. Tsunade hummed, nodding to give her permission, but when Sakura reached for the blonde, he scurried away from her and clung tighter to Kakashi.