"The little brat should be waking up soon, Hokage-sama."
The old man briefly gave the attending doctor the evil eye. Sighing, he dismissed the seasoned medic-nin. Turning back to the hospital ward, the village leader was surprised to see the young child's face break into a small smirk as the other man left.
"Aw, old man, he wasn't that bad. He actually bothered to visit, unlike the other doctors."
The Hokage sighed once again. "I'm sorry, Haru. The nursing staff was supposed to take turns looking after you."
Haru's shining blue eyes dimmed slightly; his smile seeming a little forced. "It's ok, you know. I guess silence is better than insults. Do you think I should stop my pranks?"
The elderly Sarutobi found himself at a loss. What could he say? "Yes" would be a lie, but could he just answer "no?" He was especially unnerved when the boy's blue orbs seemed to pierce him for a brief moment with the intensity of an experienced shinobi, as if searching for something.
Then it was gone.
"Nah, I'm not going to give up that easily." The spunky little blond boy grinned, his exuberance back in full force.
"Great, then you can go now. The hospital has cleared you and I'm afraid I have to get back to work."
"Aw…" Haru pouted, making adorable puppy dog eyes. The most powerful man in the village felt his defenses crumble.
"I have some ramen stocked in my office. Why don't you come with me and we'll talk while you eat?"
Haru's response was enthusiastic: He jumped up, screamed "Yahoo!" and proceeded to drag the Hokage back to work. It was a most amusing sight to the Hokage's trusted bodyguards, but most of the people on the street were, naturally, less impressed.
The rambunctious little blond inhaled his noodles happily, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.
"Hokage-sama. The mission was successful. Here is the data you asked for."
Haru paused in the middle of his meal to take in the appearance of the third person in the Hokage's office. His eyes widened when he saw the special mask that person was wearing.
"Thank you, Itachi. You have done very well."
The young man only nodded in acknowledgement.
"Excuse me, Itachi-san, but are you a ninja?" Haru asked.
Itachi turned around in surprise to meet the child's curious gaze.
Sarutobi hid a smile. Who knew the loud-mouthed brat could be so sneaky? The Hokage once thought it was simply because he was careless. Then, he started receiving reports of how the pre-academy age boy managed to elude elite ANBU teams for hours at a time. The boy sure was something else.
"At ease, Itachi. This is Haru Uzumaki."
"Ah, yes, Uzumaki. I've heard of you."
Haru's eyes dulled a bit. Experience had taught him to be wary of people who knew about him before even meeting him.
"The ANBU squads are still talking about your exploits," Itachi stated in a neutral voice. This seemed to ease the young blond's mind as he bounced up and down in excitement.
The most recent Haru chase was perhaps one of the highlights of his young life. A pint-sized child leading over a dozen shinobi on a two-hour long wild goose chase across Konoha was a rare sight to behold. In addition, the blond boy had managed to skillfully pit his pursuers against each other when they tried to corner him.
"I was told that you modified a water technique to cover an entire city block with mist. I wonder where you learned that?" The ANBU captain looked genuinely intrigued.
The technique itself was fairly simple, but it was not native to Konoha. Also, normal mist techniques were notoriously easy to dispel, which was why genjutsu specialists and others schooled in stealth, concealment or evasion almost never used them. Yet, those in the chase reported that it took them almost five minutes to get rid of Haru's unusual mist. So how did such a small boy know it and put it to such effective use?
In response, Haru scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking bashful.
"I… uhm… I saw this guy being chased a few months ago and saw him do that cool technique. I was close enough to see it so I tried to learn it myself."
That made sense. There was a Kumo shinobi who was chased and apprehended by ANBU for espionage a while back.
"I didn't remember exactly how he did it, so I tried it out. I'm sorry. It was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt anyone." The little child looked up with tearful eyes.
The Hokage moved quickly to placate the boy. "No one's mad at you, Haru. It was just very impressive, wasn't it Itachi?"
"Indeed. An accident, you say?"
Haru nodded innocently. Both Itachi and the Hokage just stared. One simply did not modify a technique to be a hundred times more effective than the original by accident.
"That was still very good. You are certainly an interesting child, Haru," Itachi remarked.
"Ah-huh. I want to be a strong ninja just like you. I trained all day today. Until I got hurt, that is."
The Hokage nodded in thought. So that was what he was doing.
The normally stoic Uchiha allowed a small and very brief chuckle. To the surprise of both people in the room, he removed his mask, revealing the famous Sharingan eyes, and bestowed upon the blond a bemused smile.
"Keep training, Uzumaki-san. Maybe one day you can be. By your leave, Hokage-sama?"
The Hokage nodded as the renowned ANBU member left.
"I'm going to be just like Itachi-san and join ANBU one day." The blond boy firmly stated.
"My boy, Konoha ANBU, includes some of the very best shinobi in the village. It functions as our primary line of defense in times of emergency."
"Then I'll be the very best! Even better than Itachi!" The force and conviction in Haru's voice surprised Sarutobi.
"You won't be if you keep hurting yourself. What did I say about training alone? The doctor said you most likely fell from at least three stories up. What were you doing, Haru?"
"I saw some guy teaching some kids to climb up trees so I tried it myself. What else can I do, old man? It's not like anyone else will help me." The boy sulked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Sarutobi sighed, not for the first time. The young blond wasn't entirely correct. There were skilled shinobi willing to aid the neglected boy. Unfortunately, they were all providing other vital services to the village. It would be impossible and extremely improper for them to take on another student.
In the end, the distance between Itachi and Haru would not be defined by their abilities, but by the tools made available to them. Itachi had the resources of the mighty Uchiha clan behind him; Haru had nothing but the barely concealed contempt of the village. Sarutobi felt distressed at not being able to do anything about it.
"What about your friends? You were so happy last week." The Hokage almost kicked himself for asking as Haru's face fell.
"I… they… well, they don't like me anymore, I guess," Haru mumbled, sounding distinctly unsure. If there was one thing Haru was not, it was being unsure.
Sarutobi looked at him in shock, not knowing what to say. A profound sadness filled the elderly leader. It was one thing for the adults who had suffered under the Kyuubi to treat the boy with open hostility, no matter how unfair it was. But to have that malice passed on to the children…
"Whatever. Thanks for the ramen. I'll be off then," Haru stated as he sprang to his feet. The boy seemed to have recovered his energy despite losing his enthusiasm.
"Haru, wait!" Sarutobi knew what he was going to do was highly unusual, but he simply couldn't condone the wasting away of this talented child.
"These are instruction manuals for some basic ninja techniques that academy students and genin first learn. One of them has information on the tree climbing exercise you attempted. I know you sometimes sneak into the ninja archives to look for information." The Hokage had been impressed that the young boy managed to move around the secure facility undetected.
Haru looked shocked at the revelation before becoming embarrassed.
"It's ok. I'll see if I can get you normal access to those archives. I can't stop you from training, and these aren't perfect substitutes for actual practice. However, I think they'll help you. If you have any questions or want someone to look over what you have done, please feel free to come to me, Haru."
Haru seemed to beam at the man's sincerity.
"Sure thing, old man! Don't worry, I'll be the greatest ninja and become Hokage one day!"
Sarutobi laughed. "Oh? And what of your promise to surpass Itachi-san?"
Haru thought about the puzzle for a moment before smiling, "I'll take Itachi's job first and then take your job, old man!" Satisfied with his brilliant plan, the blond boy scurried out of the Hokage's presence wearing a stupid grin.
The Hokage couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day.