The next day was back to routine for everyone, though all felt the changes that had occurred over the past week. Hinata was happier than ever, hardly ever stuttering and keeping her oversized tan jacket open rather than keeping it zipped up as she usually would. Haku and Zabuza had settled into their apartment; Haku was assigned to Yamato, who wouldn't complain to anyone that he had his hands full just with the seemingly-emotionless Sai, while Zabuza was put on the inactive list while the Hokage looked for a loophole in their treaty with Mist that he could use to bring Zabuza in completely as an official Leaf ninja. Saito and Yuugao were more comfortable than ever as they taught their team, and the genin noticed this. Anko was as crazy as ever, though their genin responded better than before, actually putting every ounce of their energy into getting better, while Kakashi had begun to teach Sasuke specifically about the basics of the Sharingan. Even Shikamaru was putting in more effort into his training, to the delight of his parents and teachers; he'd realized during the battle at the bridge that he might have been able to prevent Sasuke's 'death' if he'd been able to trap Haku even with the Hidden Mist jutsu active.

Days passed to weeks, and weeks passed to months, and though the genin were still doing only D-rank missions with the occasional C-rank, none of the missions seemed to have the pep of the Wave mission. Kiba found himself pacing in irritation one day, three months later, saying "I don't have anything against helping out the people of the Leaf, but I want to go on another exciting mission like the Wave mission!"

"I don't know," Chouji said as he ate his chips. "Anything is better than cleaning the same house for a month. Despite all the secrets that the Fourth's house has, we ended up not learning anything else while we were there."

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, and it's too bad. I wanted to figure it out so bad, too. But we can't go back in there now, since our teamwork is much better than it used to be."

All three of them sighed, but they didn't notice Kurenai and Asuma watching them. "Asuma, should we get another C-rank mission for them? They seem to be bored with all the D-rank missions, which makes sense since we've done most of the usual ones, and since it's been pretty peaceful this fall I think a change of scenery would help."

"It would, but only temporarily," Asuma replied. "They don't want another C-rank mission; they want another Wave mission, if I read their lips right, and that's impossible, even if we were to raise their rank to chunin."

"Speaking of which, when's the next one?" Kurenai asked.

"Spring, and it's being held here. The one going on right now is in Cloud, which isn't exactly the best place for even our most experienced genin to be right now," Asuma said. "They're still sore about the whole Byakugan incident eight years back. Today's the... 9th, right?"

"Yeah, October the Ninth. Why do you ask?"

"We need to talk to Saito, as well as our own genin." Asuma looked up at the clouds as he continued. "Naruto's turning thirteen tomorrow, and you know how that usually goes. I doubt he'll have any trouble now, since he's a ninja, but I do remember it being a lonely time for him, and I'd rather him not go through that again."

Kurenai nodded in agreement. "You go get Saito; I'll get Anko."

A few minutes later all of the jonin were assembled. "I assume this is about the Fox Festival and what it coincides with?" Anko asked. "No worries; I'll keep the rowdy crowds out of his hair tomorrow."

"It's more than just that, Anko," Asuma said. "I want Naruto to know what a real birthday is like. Ichiraku agrees and isn't going to have the diner open tomorrow during dinnertime, since he'll be joining us in celebrating his birthday. The question is, what should we do?"

"A dinner at a nice restaurant would be good, I think," Yuugao suggested. "We should probably keep him away from the festival areas as much as possible, but if we can contain him to some of the booths in the nicer districts... definitely need to dress him up."

"I can find him a good yukata for the festival. Nothing orange, obviously. Might need to cover up the birth marks, too," Kakashi said.

Kurenai looked over at him and said, "Let me know what you find, so I can get a matching one for Hinata."

"Why's that?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, I thought it might be nice for Naruto and Hinata to dress alike," Kurenai responded. "No one will mess with Naruto, especially if he looks like he's with the Hyuuga heiress, right?

"We'll all be there with him, so I doubt it'll happen, but I'll look anyway," Kakashi responded, though he doubted in his mind that Naruto's safety was Kurenai's only motive.

"I have an idea," Anko said. "All day tomorrow, Naruto will spend some time with one friend, and they'll switch out after their time is up. Hinata will be the last, and she'll take him to the restaurant, where we'll all surprise him."

"Excellent idea, Anko," Asuma responded. "Alright, we'll go with that. Make sure your students know about the plan and have a good yukata for this, not to mention birthday gifts. We'll meet up tomorrow morning to launch the plan."

"Understood!" they all responded, and with that they dispersed.

…

Naruto, for his part, looked sullen as he exercised with Rock Lee. Lee finally took notice and asked, "Naruto, surely your flames of youth burn low today, and this is very much unlike you! Tell me, what has happened?"

"Ah, nothin', Lee..." Naruto muttered as he began his one-arm pushups. "Just not feeling it today..."

"Ah, that cannot be good!" Lee exclaimed. "If I cannot help fan your flames of youth, I shall do one thousand extra pushups with each arm. And if I cannot do that, I shall run a hundred laps around the village on my hands! If I cannot-"

"It's fine, Lee. Really, it's fine," Naruto snapped, tired of Lee's loud voice. "I think I'm just going to exercise alone." He got up and picked up his jacket as he left. "Sorry..."

Lee watched him go, still holding himself up with one arm, and said to himself, "Naruto is in far worse shape than I'd thought. I must go investigate!"

Naruto wandered around the village aimlessly, not walking fast or anything, but was lost in his thoughts even as he kept himself aware of his surroundings. He made sure to keep out of the busier sections of the village, which meant no Ichiraku or Hokage. He thought about seeing Hinata, but since it wasn't a training day he didn't want to call her out, especially since she was probably busy with her family. He'd noticed her with her father and sister one day at the park, which surprised him because he'd never seen Hiashi outside of their home. He'd watched as Hinata talked and laughed, how Hiashi would talk back in a much more relaxed voice than he'd remembered, and how Hinata's little sister ('Geeze, I wish I could remember what her name was... Hinata keeps telling me, but I keep forgetting') had looked confused at first but began to warm up to the idea of taking a little time off for a family lunch. His chest had started hurting, so he'd left before Hinata could notice him. Since then he saw her less outside of team meetings, which had left him feeling more like he remembered as feeling before team placements. Shikamaru was always busy, too, between learning his family's jutsu and learning swordsmanship from Yuugao. Haku was always busy, and Zabuza wouldn't let them hang out anyway. He could never find Saito, so that was a dead-end. In fact, the only person he'd been hanging out with lately was Rock Lee, who seemed to always have time for him even while he was training, and now he was getting tired of that too. He found himself sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's head, staring out over the whole village. "I wish that I had a family... I wish people didn't hate me... " For a moment, he looked over the edge and contemplated the sensation of falling a great height and landing on trees and eventually the ground, wondering if the spike-like tops of the trees would skewer him and leave him to bleed to death from a large stab wound, or if he would fall on branches and they would break his fall so that, when he landed on the ground, he'd be in pain and agony but alive.

"If you even try, brat, I'll keep you alive just so you can feel the pain of your own stupidity."

Naruto's head shot up and he looked around, saying "Who said that?"

"Naruto!" a different voice rang out as, from across the heads, Lee and a few others waved at him. "Come on, let's go hang out together!"

Relieved to know it was only Lee, he ran over and joined him. With him were Sasuke and Kiba, who had heard of Naruto's emotional state and dropped what they were doing to come by. They hung out much later than they'd intended that night, and Naruto went to sleep happy with what had happened. 'Still,' he wondered as he drifted off to sleep, 'I wonder what that first voice was... sounded kind of familiar' He heard what he thought he imagined as being a dark-sounding chuckle, but he shrugged it off as he slept.

…

The next day, Naruto awoke to the smell of cooking eggs, bacon, and other morning foods. Shaking off his sleep, he walked from his bedroom into the kitchen area of the main room and saw Haku and Zabuza cooking breakfast for him. "Good morning, Haku, Zabuza. I'm glad to see you two, but why did you decide to pop in?"

"We heard it was your birthday, Naruto," Haku replied, "so we decided to do something for you."

"Eggs are ready," Zabuza announced. "That's everything, right?"

"Yes, Father. The bacon and hash browns are keeping warm in the oven right now, so pull those out and start fixing the plates." Haku finished juicing some oranges and set the pitcher on the table before pulling out a bowl of fruit salad. Quickly the two had the plates ready and they sat down at Naruto's small table to enjoy breakfast.

"Thank you very much for doing this," Naruto said as he bowed and joined them.

Haku smiled and nodded. "You're welcome, Naruto. It's the least we could do, really."

After they ate breakfast, talking about various things over it (Naruto found out that Zabuza was selected to become one of the proctors of the upcoming Chunin Exam), Kakashi knocked on the door. Naruto let him in and asked, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what brings you around here?"

"Well, Saito and I were talking, and we agree that you need a new wardrobe," Kakashi explained. "So, in honor of your birthday, we're going to start with a new yukata for the festival."

"Uh, thanks, but that's not really necessary. I'm not big into parties, you know. Lots of training to do so that I can become Hokage, right?" Naruto said.

"Yes, but there's another aspect of training you sorely need. Social interaction. Do you see the Hokage out in the training fields all day? No, he has duties that include signing laws and other such things that he does in his office. In addition, though, he has a duty to be among the people and to help them whenever he can, so often during the afternoon he'll stroll along the streets in disguise while a Shadow Clone does any paperwork he has," Kakashi responded. "Today we're going to work on blending into the crowd, and we're going to do it without any jutsu."

"Wow, really? That'd be cool!" Naruto responded. "What are we going to do?"

"First," Kakashi began as he tossed a box at Naruto, who caught it, "go get changed. It's tailored to fit you perfectly, so don't worry about it being too big or small."

"Uh, okay, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto replied as he turned and went into the bathroom.

Kakashi looked over at Zabuza, who nodded. Both of them had grown rather fond of each other, mainly because they both wore masks, and they eventually became known as the Masque Duo. Everyone tried to watch them as they ate, but it seemed as if the masks never came off, and it had generated a lot of buzz. Even Haku didn't know what Zabuza looked like without his mask, but she didn't really care, since he'd been wearing it ever since she could remember.

Naruto came out, wearing a blue kimono with small spirals etched into the fabric. "It doesn't have any orange, but it's pretty cool! Comfortable, too. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"The design was Saito's idea. He figured you liked them since you have a giant one stitched onto your jacket. I must say, you look more mature wearing that," Kakashi responded. "Right, Haku?"

"Definitely. A few more inches in height and he'll look like he's in my age group," Haku replied, chuckling as Naruto blushed lightly.

"He's growing good enough," Kakashi said. "It'll catch up in no time. The next part is to get the face part of your disguise right." He pulled out some cream and began applying it to Naruto's cheeks. "You have some very recognizable birthmarks, Naruto, so you'll stand out if you don't wear something over your cheeks. I'd color your hair black, but I don't think we need a second Sasuke." He finished and admired his work; the marks were completely invisible. "Perfect." He held up a mirror. "What do you think?"

"Wow, I look almost like the Fourth Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed. Zabuza blinked in surprise and examined him more closely, while Haku just looked on in confusion.

Kakashi nodded, not answering Naruto's remark on purpose. "Anyway, I have to jet, but Ino's outside. She wants to hang out with you." His trademarked eye-smile appeared. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" With that, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"That doesn't leave out much..." Zabuza muttered under his breath as he stood up. "Go tend to your guest, Naruto; we'll clean and lock up behind us."

"Alright. Will you two be around later today?" Naruto asked.

Haku shrugged. "I don't know. Yamato-sensei wants to train some more today, and Father has planning to do. I'll try to find you when I get a break, okay?"

"Alright. I'll see you two later!" Naruto said

As soon as he stepped out, everyone stopped and stared. One woman went "It's the Fourth Hokage, back from the dead!" and ran for what she thought was her life, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Weird..." Naruto muttered as he walked down to Ino. "So, Ino, what brings you around here?"

"Well, I was thinking about how I never thanked you for saving us back at the bridge, so I kind of wanted to make it up to you," Ino replied; while what she said was true, she knew she had to keep the plan a secret. "Let's go check out some of the shops!"

Naruto nodded, and they began to explore. No one recognized him, to his relief, but a few looked at him with curiosity. As he went from friend to friend, whispers began to develop that were kept just out of range of Naruto's hearing. By the time he'd finished lunch with Shikamaru, who had done a double-take when Naruto walked into the Ichiraku diner, the rumors began to be told in hushed noises that were just loud enough for Naruto to hear. Things like "Is he the Fourth Hokage, back from the dead?" or "Is he a relative of the Fourth?" or even "Who is that guy? I feel like I've seen him before..." reached him, but he paid them no mind as the day wore on.

Finally, Sasuke hugged Naruto good-by and left him with Hinata. They both noticed that they were wearing the same print, though her yukata's color was lavender. "You look great, Hinata! Your yukata matches your eyes!"

"Thank you, Naruto. You look handsome," Hinata replied, smiling from ear to ear and blushing lightly. In the back of his mind, Naruto quickly realized that Hinata was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, and immediately determined in himself to see her more like this. "Let's go, Naruto."

"Oh, uh, okay, Hinata!" Naruto said, knowing he was probably blushing as he linked arms with Hinata and strolled down the streets with her. It had become twilight, and the festival lanterns were now lit, making the festival look even greater. There were many different vendors selling foods and chances to win prizes by playing their games, among other things. The first game they tried was the goldfish scoop, and it was frustrating Naruto because the goldfish would fall through the paper. Hinata held his hand and slowly moved the scooper, pulling up a goldfish and lowering it into their bag-tank. As the vendor gave Naruto a week's worth of fish food, Naruto made a mental note to get some books on keeping goldfish pets. The next one was a shooting contest. Naruto smirked to himself and took up the toy crossbow and, after aligning his shot, nailed the demon fox in the background. As he whooped in triumph, he vaguely felt a knot in his stomach, but he ignored it as he got a large fox plush, one that looked cute rather than menacing, and gave it to Hinata. After an hour of this, both Hinata's and Naruto's stomachs were growling, to their mutual embarrassment. "So, uh, Hinata, where would you like to eat tonight?" He'd remembered the conversation he had with Haku and decided this would be a good night to try.

"Well, how about that place?" Hinata said as she pointed to a restaurant close by, which had already been determined to be where Naruto would receive his birthday party. The inside looked like it had been closed, but the sign said 'Open'.

Naruto smiled and bowed, saying "As milady wishes." He'd been reading a heroic fiction tale recently and decided to try a line. He got the reaction he was looking for, as when he looked up Hinata was blushing deeply and smiling. Linking her arm with his again, Naruto led her into the restaurant.

"Good evening, sir and madam. Table for two tonight?" a prim and proper waiter intoned.

Before Naruto could say anything, Hinata said, "We have a reservation. Look under the name 'Hyuuga'."

"Ah, of course, Madame Hyuuga! Why, I should smite my own eyes for not recognizing you! Please, follow me." Naruto tried hard to keep himself from laughing as the waiter took them to the back of the restaurant, where a door to a back room was. "Please, enjoy yourselves!" With that, the waiter disappeared into the back.

Naruto was glad that he'd kept a kunai hidden up his sleeve as he slowly opened the door; he'd learned long ago to be cautious of going into a dark room. To his surprise, he didn't even need to draw it, for as soon as he opened the door and turned the lights on, all of the Rookie Nine and their teachers, plus the Third Hokage, Iruka, the Ichiraku family, Haku, and Zabuza (only at Haku's insistence; he disliked parties with a passion), jumped out and shouted "Happy Birthday!" Naruto nearly dropped the goldfish in the plastic bag if Hinata hadn't quickly started pulling him into the room. All of them began hugging him and repeatedly shouting "Happy Birthday, Naruto!" and "Welcome to the party!" and other such things.

Sarutobi spoke up as soon as Naruto was in the middle of the group, saying as the other voices hushed, "Welcome to your thirteenth birthday party, Naruto. We wanted you to know how much we love you and enjoy having you around, so we decided to throw a surprise party." Seeing that Naruto was practically swamped, he clapped his hands and said, "Alright, everyone, back up a bit so the birthday boy can have some air."

As they did so, he could see that Naruto was crying with happiness and shock as he said, "Really? You did all of this, just for me? But what about spending the day with your families?"

"Meh, we hang around them almost all the time anyway," Kiba said. "We should be allowed to at least spend some time with our friends, especially on their birthdays." Everyone agreed immediately.

"*sniff* Thank you, everyone!" Naruto said, breaking down into a pool of happy tears as everyone hugged him again. Once the boy had stopped crying, they all sat down to a large meal, paid for in part by everyone there, and then had cake and ice cream. Naruto found himself enjoying this meal far more than any meal he'd ever had, and was easily swamped with gifts of various kinds. Rock Lee, who had been unable to attend because his team had been called on a mission, had left him a new pair of training weights and a promise to hold a party for him tomorrow, together with Gai-sensei and Tenten, and another promise that if he forgot or did not "follow through, I shall buy one hundred gallons of ice cream for you, and if I cannot do that I shall build a whole dojo for you to practice in, and if..."; at that point the pen seemed to have been ripped violently from his hands and was continued by a much neater hand that said "Don't doubt that he'll try to do all that and more, but I'll try to keep him tied down to earth for you; enjoy my self-published book on weapon mastery!" He knew immediately that Tenten had written it and chuckled to himself. 'Those four are too much like a family; I wonder if they realize it...' The next gift had been a fire-type jutsu scroll from Sasuke, which detailed the advantages and disadvantages of the Phoenix Flower jutsu, the hand signs to use it, and the amount of chakra it should take to maximize its power and area-coverage. Sakura had gotten him some cologne, and Ino (who knew he liked gardening) bought him a variety of flower seeds. Shikamaru got him a chess set and made Naruto promise that they would play together often. Kiba's present, which apparently was from the whole Inuzuka clan, was a month's worth of free passes to the hot-spring bathhouse's private pool. Shino, as per Naruto's prediction, got him an encyclopedia on bugs, though he made it a point to mention that there were "many bugs that are hostile to gardens as well as those which are helpful, so it should come in good use outside of missions too." Naruto thanked him and then opened Chouji's present. Inside was a large recipe book that contained easy-to-cook meals that were both "nutritious and delicious," as Chouji put it.

Haku's present was similar to Sasuke's, except it was an advanced water-type jutsu scroll that depicted how the Water Dragon jutsu worked (Zabuza mentally made it a point to figure out when she had the opportunity to get her hands on the scroll that held his second-favorite jutsu). The Third Hokage promised to personally train him the day after the next day (he knew that Naruto would likely spend the whole day with the ever-energetic Rock Lee). Saito and the other jonin presented him with an entire new wardrobe of clothes and made him promise to, with the exception of one orange jacket, get rid of his old attire. To his delight, a battle robe did have orange on it, but they were orange flames on a black background; this robe also had his spiral woven into the chest as his insignia. He later found out that the inside of it had special seals woven on it that allowed him to carry a lot of spare kunai that he could call on mid-battle. The material itself was a rare fiber that the strongest armors were made of and was impenetrable to anything except the strongest fire jutsu or an enchanted sword; it wasn't rare, of course, because the materials that comprised it were rare, but because few people knew how to weave them to create the composite fiber. The Ichiraku family had come up with a new flavor of ramen and named it the "Uzumaki Special".

At the end, Naruto was left speechless and, nearly bursting into tears again, said "I don't deserve any of this... thank you all so much!" Once again, there were hugs and tears all around, and the rest of the evening was filled with much joy and celebration.

Unfortunately, things went south from there. When they had returned from the restaurant, they were greeted by an ugly sight: a drunken crowd was standing outside Naruto's apartment door, banging on the door so hard it looked like it was about to cave in. "Come on out and face judgment, monster!" one person shouted, another screamed "You'll pay for killing my son, you demon!", while still others shouted "Let's break the door down and destroy everything, then kill him when he gets back. We'll teach him to not bring disaster on this great city!" Naruto had, at this point, immediately bailed and fled for his life out of reflex, and as the Hokage and the jonin approached the oblivious crowd, he turned into an alley a short distance away.

The Hokage made a motion and the jonin dispersed themselves to cut off escape routes, then spoke to the crowd. "Dear people, why must you defy my law? Must I repeat myself every year? And now you are threatening the life of one of my soldiers. You know both laws, and what they both call for!"

The crowd, realizing that the Hokage had heard every word, tried to disperse, but found themselves blocked completely. "Why must you defend that monst-augh!"

"Traitor dealt with, my lord," Yuugao, who'd slipped her ANBU mask on, stated as the man who'd previously spoken fell before her, silent as the grave. "Permission to carry out your orders?"

"Those who defy my laws must be dealt with swiftly and justly; I, the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, declare that all who seek the death of one of their own are traitors, and the punishment for traitors is death." As the Hokage raised his hand to give the signal, many people in the crowd were down on their knees, begging for mercy in their half-drunken state. Pausing, the Hokage asked, "Why should I grant mercy to those who would not show mercy on a child?"

"But he's not a child!" a man shouted. "He's a de-ugh!" This time, the masked Kakashi cut his throat open and let the man bleed to death.

"Please, don't listen to him! We won't bother the mo- er, the boy anymore!" several of them shouted. Apparently the stench of death was a good way to sober people up.

The Hokage sighed and lowered his arm. "I shall overlook the death sentence tonight, but understand that all of you are under a permanent watch-list. If I find out that any of you are harassing him in ANY way, and that includes such things as buying food, ALL of you will be held accountable for tonight's event and bring swift justice, as surely as one would amputate a diseased foot or hand in order to save the body from death. Do I make myself clear!?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the crowd shouted.

The Hokage nodded and the jonin disappeared. Immediately the crowd dispersed and went back to their own dwellings. "I'm far too soft in my old age... I need to find a new Hokage, and soon."

"Nonsense, Lord Hokage," Kurenai said as she came out of hiding. "You made your point very clear; I doubt this will continue anymore."

"All things being equal, Kurenai, I will not have any of my men in danger from their own countrymen," the Hokage said as he looked around. "Where is Naruto?"

They all looked around, but Kiba (thanks to his nose) found him first. "He's over there, in that alley, sir!" They all ran over and saw Naruto curled up in a ball, crying tears that weren't of happiness but rather of grief, relived pain, and frustration. "Naruto... come on, bro, they're gone."

He went to help them up, but Naruto flinched involuntarily and ran further into the alley. Hinata, forgetting all protocol, ran up to him and hugged him tightly, ignoring how Naruto curled up even tighter, and whispered "It's me, Naruto... it's Hinata. I'm here for you... we're all here for you. Please... don't do this..."

"Lord Hokage, why is Naruto like this? Why was that crowd after him?" Sasuke asked, while the other genin echoed their confusion.

The Hokage sighed and said, "I cannot tell any of you why, until you attain at least the rank of chunin. Let's just say that old age often brings more mistakes than more wisdom; it's likely why most ninja don't live into their fortieth years." Shikamaru, of course, was busy trying to put all of this together, but no one noticed him in his thinking posture as their attention turned back to Naruto.

As she cried, Hinata kept mumbling "Please, come back..." A tear fell and hit Naruto's neck; this new sensation woke Naruto up and he looked around. Seeing Hinata in tears, he turned and hugged her tightly; the two clung to each other, both saying "I'm sorry" repeatedly. The others could only stand and watch with a mixture of emotions, not the least of which was rage at the people who'd made Naruto feel as he did.

At that point, the Hokage walked over and pulled the both of them into a hug, which they responded to in earnest, and quickly they were surrounded and hugged in a giant group hug by the others. After a few minutes, the Hokage dismissed all of them to go back home, but he stayed with Naruto; Hinata was the hardest to get rid of, but the Hokage finally managed to nurse her to sleep and sent her home in Yuugao's arms. He then took Naruto, along with his stuff, into his apartment and sat him down in the recliner in his living room. As he went into the kitchen to make tea, he said "Naruto, why did you hide?"

"I don't know..." Naruto replied miserably. "Something in my head took over and I found myself running into the alley. All I could hear and see was the screaming of the crowd, going 'Monster! Demon!' and fists coming at me from every side."

"..." The Hokage couldn't bear the mental image and shook it off as he brought some cups, filled to the brim with a relaxing blend of tea, and gave one cup to Naruto. "I am sorry you've had to endure so much injustice... I've done you a grave harm."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "How did you harm me? You weren't out there with torches and pitchforks, if you know what I mean."

"But I did nothing to protect you from their grief-driven anger; in fact, they know what they blame you for because, on this day thirteen years ago, I made the foolish decision of telling them why you are a hero, thinking that they would treat you as well as they treated the Fourth Hokage, but obviously they didn't," Sarutobi said as he took off his hat, set it aside, and knelt on the ground in shamed penitence. "Please forgive me, Naruto." He was surprised when Naruto got up and hugged him.

"It's not your fault! I know you probably can't tell me, but if it's as bad as it sounds then I'll endure it," Naruto said. "Please don't kneel to me; it's not right!" After a few moments they separated and sat back down. "I do want to know, though... what's this terrible secret that has so many people out to kill me?"

"Unfortunately, I'm bound by law to not tell anyone who isn't at the rank of chunin or above, not even you," the Hokage responded. "Once you start making exceptions, law and order begins to break down. That is why I had to kill tonight, and why I couldn't tell the people who care dearly about you why you were in such torment. I will say this much, though; that secret is only one half of the puzzle, and the other half far surpasses the first in magnitude. I will also say that once I can tell you the second half, I know you will be leaping for joy all around my office and the entire village with your unstoppable energy." Noticing the time, the Hokage stood up and said, "It's bedtime now. We've been up too long today, and given the fun time you had with your friends you'll fall asleep as soon as your head hits your pillow."

"Please stay!" Naruto begged as he jumped up and clung to Sarutobi. "At least until I do fall asleep!"

"Alright, Naruto," Sarutobi said as he smiled down at Naruto with fatherly kindness, "I'll stay until you fall asleep. Would you like to hear a story, once you're settled into your bed?"

"Definitely!" Naruto responded. He ran off and got ready for bed. A couple of minutes later he shouted from his room, saying "I'm ready!"

Sarutobi chuckled as he went in; Naruto was already in his pajamas and under his covers. "Did you brush your teeth, clean your face and hands, and make sure to put on fresh linens?"

"Yup!" Naruto replied. "What are you going to read tonight?"

"You'll see... I think you'll like it," Sarutobi said. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and pulled out a book. "This was written by Jiraiya when he was my student."

"Really? He's an author, too? This is going to be awesome!" Naruto commented as he settled into his bed. Sarutobi began to read the story, which he continued reading long after Naruto had fallen asleep. Finally he looked over at the peacefully-sleeping Naruto and whispered, "Your father would be proud of you for overcoming the trials you've had... Rest well, Gutsy Ninja Naruto."

The next day saw the village in an uproar. The executed criminals were buried unceremoniously, and the citizens were truly frightened. The Hokage, who had made an announcement early that morning that a couple of people had tried to murder someone in cold blood, but that he had brought down the swift hammer of justice. Eventually, because of his plea that none "should even want to think ill of their brother, let alone want to kill them", adding that "this great city is built on love rather than hate", everyone that knew what had happened knew that the Hokage would not give out any more grace, and those who didn't were glad that the Hokage did not tolerate excessive violence or 'traitors'. All, by the end of the day, took the Hokage's message to heart.