Sword of God -- A Naruto Fanfiction

| 1 | Enlightenment

Naruto stands in the Hokage's office, peering upwards at the man who is his grandfather in all but blood, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hey, old man!" He exclaims, his tiny and malnourished frame bursting with rambunctious energy. "Why do..."

He hesitates, allowing sadness to pervade his eyes, piercing through his happy demeanour.

"Why do the villagers hate me so much?"

Hiruzen stares down at the twelve-year-old. Even after four rigorous years where blood, sweat and tears had been spilt, Naruto had yet to graduate from the academy.

He is stumped at what to do.

Perhaps, just perhaps I should give him a motivator, the aged Hokage ponders on it, scratching his beard. Well, I suppose... After all, Minato said nothing about this...

Flashback -- Day of the Kyuubi Attack

"Minato! Let me do it! You are better, as Hokage," a wizened man, dressed in a black jumpsuit with mesh segments covering the lower portions of his limbs. He also wears an armoured hood to provide protection to the head.

"No, Hiruzen," another man responds. The Yondaime Hokage, recognised by a white haori with red flame-like motifs on the hem. He glances at his elder with desperation left in his azure blue eyes, his spiky blond hair dampened by dust that fills the air.

"This, I must do. It is my duty as Hokage." His voice is full of acceptance. He had embraced his fate, and now, there is no stopping him from what he feels he must do.

Hiruzen sees this change in him, his argument falters.

"Very well. What are your final wishes?" His tone is sombre and grave. Hiruzen doesn't want the village to lose its greatest shinobi since the time of Hashirama Senju, but it is a necessary evil. One that would ensure the survival of their mutual love and joy, Konohagakure no Sato.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Minato pauses. "Use the Uzumaki name," he articulates clearly. "It will deter those from Iwagakure."

He gestures to himself. "My lineage is a magnet for trouble."

Hiruzen nods, remaining silent and allowing his successor to think. "Don't tell him of his lineage until you feel he is ready."

A pained expression flickers over his face. "It's for the best."

Even Hiruzen knows that he is trying to convince himself exactly that. The conflict of a parent sacrificing their child to a great evil, subjective to hatred is too great to even explain.

"Make them see that their Yondaime wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero."

He says this quietly, a glimpse of a softer side of the fearsome Minato Namikaze shining through the rough.

It is the last time that I will be able to say words of peace, words as myself and as a parent. Once I step on the battlefield, I am doing what is best for the village, not only as me, Minato Namikaze, but also their Yondaime Hokage. Their leader.

He takes a shuddering breath. "Goodbye."

A flash of yellow light permeates the room that they had been standing in, the features unrecognisable through the clouds of smoke and dust that fly through the air.

Hiruzen sobs. Just once. He still has work to do in the name of his successor. He steels himself, before departing from the Hokage's Office.

Until this crisis is over, he further solidifies his resolve. You do not think about it until it's over...