Forgiveness of a Kitsune

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did then there would have been serious changes made to the story.

Prologue

It was a normal night of Konoha. Well it was as normal as you can get when there's a giant fox that looks like a mutated rabbit with orange fur and nine tails that are swinging around wildly. Many shinobi and kunoichi fought the Kyuubi no Kitsune only to lose their lives as a result. Fortunately the 4th Hokage had appeared and those who were still alive watched him standing atop the giant toad summon, Gamabunta. Those who could cheer in victory and their spirits were raised at the impressive sight. Only to watch as Minato performed a jutsu that created a flash of light as he attempted to summon the Shinigami in order to seal the Kyuubi into his own son. His last words were for the village to view his son as a hero since he is the shield that keeps them safe from the Kyuubi. Most would later view Minato Namikaze's sacrifice with honor and only most of the ninjas would view his son as a hero instead of the demon he contains. Though that handful would have some added opinions of why he did it. The reinstated Third Hokage Sasuke Sarutobi would believe he did it to avoid the paperwork and the wrath of his wife Kushina Uzumaki who left after she heard about what happened. Rin accompanied her as a favor to her deceased sensei and to get over everything that has happened as well. Sarutobi didn't complain or argue. Though that could be because he didn't want to deal with two upset kunoichi who could make his life hell should he attempt to stop the two. Jiraiya didn't feel like staying in the village but he still helped out when he could with his spy network gathering information on threats as well as keeping tabs on Orochimaru. Tsunade had left around the same time as well. She and Shizune left after seeing how everyone reacted when they heard the news of what happened. Specifically, Tsunade was rather disgusted with what happened when Sarutobi revealed their savior. Needless to say her respect for her sensei went down a notch or two when she was told that she couldn't take Naruto with her. Sarutobi did learn a few things that night.

1. He should have probably tried knocking Minato unconscious and do the sealing himself. At least then both of Naruto's parents would be alive and be able to take care of him.

2. It might have been better if he had kept quiet about the sealing. Now Naruto has many people inside the village wanting to kill him. Sarutobi could only hope his decree to keep them from speaking about the Kyuubi being inside Naruto would make things easier for the boy.

3. Apparently, Tsunade has a soft spot for babies and endangering even one is suicidal. Sarutobi was just lucky that he was her old sensei and that he was old. Those who care about Naruto would think that she just took it easier on Sarutobi because he cares about the boy and needs to be healthy to protect Naruto.

4. He might need to assign a mandatory examination to those survivors who were in close proximity of the Kyuubi. Several survivors had reported hearing something they passed off as a hallucination. They could have sworn that when the 4th had performed the sealing they heard a woman's voice shouting out "Oh Shinigami-kun!"

For now, Sarutobi had something more important on his hands. Something not even Minato could eliminate completely. He had a secret to making the problem easier to manage. Unfortunately, he took that secret to his grave. Sadly enough, that leaves Sarutobi the reinstated 3rd Hokage to deal with the paperwork that Minato left behind with the additional paperwork that was generated due to the night's events. The old man was even forced to smoke some stronger stuff than what he usually put in his pipe. Especially when he read the reports that made him question the sanity of many surviving ninja. Thankfully, Kakashi has been keeping an eye on Naruto. Now if only he could finish this damn paperwork and figure out how to keep Naruto safe in the years to come, then he might be able to get a little reading done. Good thing no one entered the hokage's office at that moment or they would have seen a light blush on Sarutobi's face and heard a perverted giggle as he continued to deal with paperwork. The things Konoha citizens could think up from seeing that would certainly not do well for his image as the village leader. He needed to be hokage to keep Naruto as well as the village safe.

Sighing, Sarutobi found it rather unfortunate that Danzo didn't die during the attack. Then he wouldn't be considering the idea of either killing Naruto or trying to turn the boy into a weapon. The circumstances wouldn't have been so bad if his teammates didn't agree with Danzo. Fortunately a majority of the council is against either idea but they certainly aren't going to jump in and support Naruto. The orphanage will have to care for Naruto when he is older since the council overruled him on allowing some one to adopt the boy. The old man almost smirked when he thought of how that action just prevented a clan from using Naruto's power to suit their own ends. As well as any one who would use this as an opportunity to abuse the boy behind closed doors. Maybe some day Naruto will be able to forgive him for what he has done. For now… paperwork.