Will of embers

Chapter 17

Hiruzen honestly expected worse while visiting the orphanage. He thought he would see run-down buildings with leaking roofs and missing windows. But the buildings were sturdy and well isolated, meaning that it wouldn't get too cold in the winter. It even had a nice playground for children to enjoy. It didn't seem that his worry about not allocating enough money was warranted.

He tried to raise as much money as the budget allowed for the orphanages. He did it also because he had to do everything to stop Danzo from gaining more power, and he knew that Danzo was taking children from orphanages. But maybe he should thank Danzo because if not for him, he wouldn't have put much thought into the orphanages. Even today's visit was to see if Danzo had any influence on them.

The most striking thing that greeted Hiruzen was the number of orphans. He expected that there would be a lot of them since the Third Shinobi War ended not that long ago, and it haven't been even half a year since the Demon Fox attack. But the number of children still surprised him. There weren't enough caregivers to take care of them all. And those who worked here, were mostly older women who clearly didn't have as much energy to keep up with the children.

"Thank you again for visiting, Hokage-sama," Nono, the headmistress of one of the largest orphanages in the village, profusely thanked Hiruzen. "I don't know what I would have done without the support the village has provided this year."

"If only I could do more," Hiruzen only saw how much more help they needed. "But alas, our budget is tight as it is. I can only hope that it will be enough."

"We manage," Nono replied with a kind smile. "We always manage. And quite a few talented children will join the academy in a few months. It will lessen our burden, even if it is a little bit."

"Is that so?" Hiruzen asked as he looked around and only found normal children playing around.

"I am a retired shinobi, I mind you," Hiruzen snapped at Nono before quickly hiding his surprised expression. He had no idea. She looked like a normal middle-aged woman—she didn't even look that fit. "I guess you wouldn't have noticed me. I was just a medical-nin. Barely worth your notice."

"Not at all," Hiruzen really needed to know how to distinguish shinobi from normal people. "You were talking about talented children. Do you have any examples?"

"Firstly, I have to apologize," Nono bowed her head while Hiruzen waited for her to continue. "I know I should have reported it to you first, but I had too much work as it was and forgot. Please punish me; the child had nothing to do with it."

"Before I make any decision, I should hear what you did," Hiruzen felt awkward as he looked at Nono as he didn't know how he should react.

"Isn't that why you come? I thought you had already found out that I was teaching one of the children without informing anyone."

"So, rather than forgetting to report it, you were hiding the fact?" Hiruzen asked as she had just confessed to something that could be considered a crime in this village; some might even take it as treason.

"Please don't punish the child," Nono again bowed her head, tears swelling in her eyes. "I know how long it takes to get something to you if it ever reaches your hands, Hokage-sama. And back then, I needed to make money, so I used my knowledge of medical ninjutsu to help people to raise money. One of the children I adopted was very talented, and I couldn't resist teaching him to help me. It is my fault."

Hiruzen would have to look it up as he couldn't remember off the top of his head, but any ninjutsu training outside clans was prohibited. It would cause quite a bit of trouble if civilians learned ninjutsu but never joined the academy and the shinobi forces. Clans were expected to join the forces so they could teach their children their clan techniques. But that rule didn't bind civilians, so they couldn't have their children learn anything outside before the academy.

"So, you saying that the child was so talented that he learned medical ninjutsu just from watching you perform it?" Nono was quite obvious, clearly trying to manipulate Hiruzen to be lenient. Even without the knowledge of being shinobi, Hiruzen noticed multiple lies in her words. And her expression wasn't nearly sincere enough to trick him. But he could tell she wasn't a bad person and was distraught with the idea of Hiruzen punishing the child in any way.

"What? Oh! Yes!" It took a moment for Nono to understand what Hiruzen meant. "Before I realized he was imitating me and learned medical ninjutsu. All by himself. How impressive, right? He was such a talented child that he might even surpass Princess Tsunade one day. Right. Right. He is a very dutiful and intelligent child."

"Calm down," Hiruzen found Nono quite funny. She didn't really have an image of a retired shinobi. She was too nervous and extremely fidgety. But Hiruzen could give her some slack as she talked to the Hokage. "It was only one child that learned it, right?"

One was still acceptable. Nobody would really blame the child for learning. Hiruzen could overlook Nono, too, as he didn't want to deal with this, but if multiple children were taught without permission, then it would cause a lot of trouble. She would be accused of being a spy and trying to create a group of unknown shinobi to harm the village from the inside. She didn't look the type, but Hiruzen wasn't very good at seeing through people.

"Yes," Nono replied with a relieved sigh. "I am really sorry for putting you in a difficult situation, Hokage-sama."

Today wasn't supposed to go like this. All Hiruzen wanted to do was make rounds, find out how the village was holding up, and prepare the budget for this year. He didn't want to deal with something like this, and if Danzo found out about it, he would use it against him. Nono really didn't seem to be a bad person. Her concern and love for these children looked genuine.

"Show me the child. I want to have a few words with him," Hiruzen told Nono, who nodded and beckoned a boy with ash-grey hair to come over.

"Hokage-sama, this is Kabuto Yakushi."

Hiruzen stayed silent as he looked at the nervous child with onyx eyes. He had thought that he would be at peace for quite a while since he had locked Orochimaru up. But seeing a boy who would grow to be on the same level of evil as Orochimaru snapped him to reality. After all, nothing goes as planned in this accursed world.

"Hello." But the image of the half snake, half man who was responsible for the Fourth Shinobi World War, was nowhere to be seen on a boy with glasses and a paper helmet. He was just a boy who looked up at Hiruzen with nervous eyes.

"Hello," Hiruzen knelt to be on the same level as the boy. "I heard that you were helping people with your medical ninjutsu. You must be very talented to achieve mastery of it at such an early age. Are you excited to join the academy this spring?"

"Yes!" the boy replied, his eyes seeming to light up with excitement at the mention of the academy. "I will be the best medic-nin in history and make people healthy."

"I'm sure you will," Hiruzen patted the boy's shoulder. "I am looking forward to the day when you surpass my student. But you must promise me that you will work hard and study diligently to achieve your dreams. A pinky promise, alright?"

"Pinky promise," The boy quickly linked his pinky with Hiruzen's and exclaimed.

Now, let's hope he won't grow up to be a monster that will be responsible for countless deaths. The boy was only about seven years old. And Orochimaru won't get his hands on him, nor will Danzo, since now Hiruzen knew where Kabuto was. Thinking about it now, Hiruzen realized that Danzo was responsible for most problems Hiruzen would have to deal with.

Everything that guy touched seemed to turn evil or corrupted. After all, wasn't it also Danzo's interference with the Amegakure that turned the Akatsuki into the way they were? Hiruzen didn't remember much about it, but he was sure it was Danzo's fault—just like it was Danzo's fault for letting Orochimaru experiment on humans. If he didn't stop him, it would also be Danzo's fault for turning the Uchiha against the village.

He will not let Danzo ruin Kabuto's life or mess with the Uchiha clan. Itachi was Hiruzen's backup plan for a Hokage if Kakashi didn't go as planned. But Danzo was just too good at politics, and he had the Konoha's council in his palm. And Hiruzen was already on thin ice, letting Orochimaru live—a decision nobody liked.

"I see if I can arrange some work for the boy in the hospital with Tsunade," Hiruzen told Nono as Kabuto returned to play with other children. "Maybe even let him be Tsunade's apprentice if she is up to it."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Nono bow seemed to be sincere.

But Hiruzen won't take chances. He will put Anko to watch over Kabuto and Nono. The problem was that Hiruzen didn't know anything about them. Danzo could have already had his eyes set on them, so he had to be careful. Hiruzen trusted that Tsunade would be able to see if the boy had an evil streak in him or if it was only nurtured by Danzo and Orochimaru.

…

"Ouch!" Yamato yelled as he rubbed his head when Hiruzen hit him in the head with his staff. "Why did you do that?"

"If you don't want to hit, dodge, block, or deflect the attack," Hiruzen replied, feeling a bit bad now for hitting Yamato. Still, Yamato was getting better and faster each day, and it became harder and harder to get him with Hiruzen's current skill. Rather than the other way around, Yamato was pushing Hiruzen to work harder not to let Yamato surpass him. "If you can't keep up, than you should take some rest."

"No, I can still go on," But Hiruzen couldn't, he was exhausted. Even when he was working in the office he had four shadow clones training taijutsu. If he didn't do that, Yamato would already have surpassed him. That kid was ridiculously talented. Hiruzen had been improving steadily by going over everything that real Hiruzen had taught the Sannin, but Yamato seemed to be as talented, if not more, than the Sannin.

"No, it is enough for today; you still have studies to finish," If Yamato hadn't learned general studies, he would have gotten even better. But the boy had to learn literature, history, and mathematics. "You can't skip it. You need to prepare for your first exam."

In the end, it wasn't so bad. Hiruzen has gotten a lot better and basic things, and he was confident he could beat most genin even without the system's help. Hiruzen also suspected that Yamato got more from Hashirama's cells than they thought. So far, Yamato could only make tree branches with the control he had, but he had more energy than most people; he also seemed to recover quickly from injuries and fatigue.

Hiruzen wished he could do the same. With all the work and training, his old age was catching up to him. Every day, his muscles would ache from exertion, and he didn't remember when he had a full eight hours of sleep. The system was silent of the late. No quest came up. And even though he didn't want to complain about it, he wished he had some quests that would reward him with more vitality.

"Yo!" Hiruzen stabbed his staff at Jiraiya out of reflex as he dropped down from a tree above him. "Whoa. Almost got me, sensei."

"Hmm, you're getting slower," Hiruzen replied, trying to control the sweat that was falling down his forehead. "It is getting warmer of late."

"You sure? It still feels like February to me, maybe because it is still February."

"Maybe you need to have some training since you feel cold, Jiraiya-boy." Hiruzen gave Jiraiya the evilest smile he could.

"Now that you mentioned it, the winter seems to be leaving us behind," Hiruzen knew that Jiraiya was probably imagining things since he had memories of throwing Jiraiya off a cliff while tied to a log. Those were some good memories. "Anyway, I came to give you something, sensei."

"What is it?" Hiruzen had already started to ignore Jiraiya and thinking of how nice a hot bath would be now.

"I have written a new book, I wanted to have your opinion about it."

"Another one of your cliché and cheesy adventure novels?" Hiruzen had read The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, and it was the most generic thing he had ever read. The idea and the story were fine, but it was predictable, and the jokes didn't land. Even in this world, there are many better stories with a similar premise.

"Hey! That's a bit harsh." Jiraiya didn't take Hiruzen's review of his book well. "Anyway, this one is different. It is a romantic tale. In this one, the main character and heroine, both new to love, begin dating, and their eyes gradually open to grown-up love."

"Like I said, another cliché and cheesy novel, but this time it is romance," Hiruzen looked skeptically at the draft Jiraiya prepared for him. "Icha Icha Paradise. At least the name is catchy."

"Just give it a try and tell me what you think," Jiraiya seemed to be on the verge of tears from Hiruzen's harsh critique.

"Fine."

It wouldn't be too bad to read something that wasn't about laws, economics, or politics. And as generic as his last novel was, it was still fun to read. Jiraiya had a flair for everything he did, and his writing wasn't an exception. And it was entertaining to make fun of Jiraiya's writing. Sometimes, he needed those simple joys in his life to distract him from everything else going on in this world.

…

"Are you going to stay silent for the rest of the visit?" Orochimaru asked as Hiruzen observed him closely.

"That was the plan," Hiruzen replied. "I didn't come to talk to you. I just wanted to look at you and find a reason not to kill you, as everyone demands it so much."

"Then why not listen to them?" Orochimaru asked. "Wouldn't it be easier? After all, you no longer care about me, right?"

"Maybe," Hiruzen replied. "But then again, the easiest way isn't always the right one."

The security was still as tight as always. Hiruzen had to go through many checkpoints to reach Orochimaru, so even someone like Danzo wouldn't be able to reach him, especially with the Hyuga on watch. Hiruzen felt those looking at him, and he knew there was little he could hide from them. Shikaku said that the one stationed here was an elite. No genjutsu could trick him.

Hiruzen could only sigh at it. He couldn't deny that the quest wasn't one of the reasons why he left Orochimaru alive, and his memories of him also had some influence. And even if he could make Orochimaru talk, Danzo probably already hid any evidence that would indicate his involvement with Orochimaru. Hiruzen could only hope that Danzo would grow hasty and try to kill or break Orochimaru out; getting caught red-handed would give Hiruzen enough reason to dispose of him.