Kinoshita Hisachi was not a ninja. She was an ordinary villager of Konoha. In her youth, luck and a bit of beauty let her meet and marry a Konoha shinobi, and with that came a small, warm home.
She thought her life would pass in quiet happiness. Her husband, only a chunin, lost a leg in the Second Great War. She wept, yet some hidden part of her felt relief. He could retire. He could live.
The village still hung white cloth on doors from time to time, a reminder that the era itself was war.
Then came that night a year ago. The Nine-Tails' Rampage. Her husband and child were buried forever beneath the rubble of their little house.
When she was ready to follow them, a figure cloaked in black with a cat mask found her.
"Granny, I want that one."
A clear child's voice snapped Hisachi from her memory. Smiling, she looked to the blond boy who had slipped from her hand and toddled toward a stall.
His name was Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Two years younger than her lost child, and barely over one year old now.
Caring for him was the job the village had given her. It was busy work for one so small, but it chased shadows from her heart. Watching him bounce and beam, she could not help but smile.
"Uncle, I want that lollipop."
"Out. Get out, you ill-omened brat. You are not welcome here."
The sudden shout made Hisachi's chest tighten. She rushed to the boy, knelt, and gathered him up. His eyes were already wet from his first scolding. She looked up and snapped at the grocer.
"Too much, Mr. Saza. How can you bark like that at a child barely past one."
They lived on the same street. She knew him as a kindly man. Seeing that smiling face twist so harshly made her raise her voice.
Neighbors drifted over. Hearing Hisachi, they frowned at the shopkeeper and began to murmur.
"How could he? Scolding a baby."
"Right. He always seemed gentle. Turns out he is that kind of person. Probably violent. Scary."
"I heard perverts act nice in public. No wonder he grins all the time when I shop. Creepy. What if I am already on his list."
Saza's broad face twitched with veins while a trio of aunties gossiped. He glared at Hisachi, who was cradling Naruto like a hen with her chick, and said without courtesy:
"Mrs. Kinoshita, you know nothing. That kid is the fox's vessel. He is the Nine-Tailed monster that destroyed your home."
Silence fell. Eyes widened. A forbidden fruit had been sliced open.
Hisachi's face flushed hot. Her chest rose and fell with anger. She pulled Naruto behind her and stood tall.
"What are you saying. Even if you do not like him, you cannot slander a child. He is a year old."
"Look at him. Does he look normal. What human child is born with six whisker marks on his cheeks. And when he smiles, his eyes squint like a fox."
People turned to Naruto. Six whisker-like birthmarks. Suspicion took root.
Seeing belief sprout, Saza lowered his voice for effect. His volume still carried ten meters.
"This is not random talk. The other day, my son's classmate's mother's next-door neighbor Wang came to buy groceries. The moment he saw the kid he went white. I had to pry the truth from him."
He spun to the crowd, eager to seal the story.
"Do not spread this, but Wang Maru Akemi is a ninja. Would a ninja lie. He said the Fourth could not kill the beast, so he had no choice but to seal it into the shape of a child. Even that took all his strength. He had to die with regret, leaving the village he loved."
"The Third fears the fox will cause chaos again. That is why he brought the boy back and ordered the matter kept quiet so we would not panic."
Saza stared hard at Naruto and raised his voice for the final stroke. "Brat, you are the Nine-Tails that ruined our village. They hid it."
Hearing the names of ninja and the Third and Fourth Hokage, the ring of onlookers exploded.
"No wonder I felt sick the first time I saw him."
"My relative is a ninja too. He told me to keep my distance from this kid. I did not take it seriously back then. Thank goodness."
"I do not know what the Third is thinking. A danger like that should be executed. If not executed, then locked away, not wandering the most central street in Konoha."
"Shh. You cannot question the Hokage so lightly. If the Third placed him here, maybe it is because the Hokage Building is close. If anything happens, the Third can subdue the fox at once."
"Right. The Third is the strongest of the Hokage. If the Fourth could beat the monster down into a child, the Third can finish it easily."
"…"
"No. Please listen. Naruto is just a normal child."
Hisachi hugged the boy's head to her breast and pleaded. But a thousand tongues make iron. As people spoke, her own memories stirred and doubt crept in.
Naruto ate too much for a one-year-old. His recoveries were eerie. A fall or a cut would vanish after a single sleep, not even a scar.
And the Hokage, busy as he was, often came to see the child, always with a sadness in his eyes.
Naruto.
Is he truly a monster.
Hisachi drifted home to her top-floor apartment. She laid the sleeping Naruto on the bed by the window and sat down, dazed.
Her hands twisted in her lap. Hatred, sorrow, and the ghost of a mother's smile flickered across her face.
At last, as if a decision had landed, she slowly reached toward the sleeping child.
He looked so peaceful. Six whisker-marks that once seemed strange now looked almost cute. His shut lids trembled. Tears still clung to his lashes.
Even if he is the fox, it must be a rebirth. He is barely past one. He is a baby.
I am sorry. Granny is only human. Your face makes my heart tear open.
Naruto, forgive me.
She gently wiped the wet from his eyes, pulled his blanket straight, tucked the corners by his little feet, then leaned down. She wanted to kiss that round cheek. Her gaze touched the six marks and she could not. She sat back down.
Time passed. She scrubbed the tears from her own face, stood, and cleaned the room twice over like always. She made sure every corner shone, the fridge stuffed with milk and bread. She hung stray wires out of a child's reach, checked the toilet for leaks and sockets for sparks.
Only when sunset poured into the room did she straighten and exhale.
She drew the curtains, half knelt by the bed, smoothed Naruto's fine blond bangs, pressed away the crease in his brow, and stroked his baby-soft face. Her voice was a whisper to him, and to herself.
"Eat without fuss. Grow fast. Bathe every day and keep warm. Do not stay up late. Sleep on time. Make friends. Not many. A few true ones are enough."
"You will be a shinobi one day. Study well. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. If school is hard, do not lose heart. Respect your teachers and seniors."
"And remember the three prohibitions for shinobi. Especially money. Be careful with loans. Save your mission pay. Do not drink until you are twenty. Too much drink harms the body. Always know your limit."
"The most dangerous of the three is women. When you grow up you will be curious. But do not pick a woman like Granny. I told you to grow up with me, to never lie, to never run from trouble, and I could not do it myself. I am a coward with no spine. Naruto, I am sorry."
Night pressed the room into shadow.
Clack.
A door closed softly. The room became very still.
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