Naruto Uzumaki's POV, again
Suddenly, the door flew open. And in flew Hiruzen in his two-toned robes. (?!) What is he doing here?! Was he standing outside the door? Why?
"Hmm…" he scanned the room. All ten cribs were in place; there were only children in the room. "Strange."
He said something incomprehensible after finishing his inspection. I still don't understand the language. And I have little idea how to learn it. But that's something that will come with time.
When the old man burst in here, I started to worry. But then the thought of how pointless that was flashed through my mind; there was nothing I could do anyway. So I began to calm down.
There was a rustle, and before I could even react, several more ninja appeared in my room. Only these were in black uniforms with gray armor on their torsos, and they wore painted porcelain masks.
Is there a masquerade going on around here or something?
"All clear, Hokage-sama. No source of killing intent detected," one of the ANBU operatives reported.
"We lost them…" Hiruzen stated grimly. "Sweep the area and the hospital."
"Yes, sir," three shinobi throats responded in unison, after which they disappeared.
After his words, the old man continued to frown and look around the edges of the room. After another half a minute, he sighed heavily and walked over to my crib.
He looks at me, I look at him. To my eyes, which haven't yet learned to see the world properly, he currently looks like just a dark, blurry silhouette.
"I kept my promise, Naruto…" he addressed me, but I still didn't understand the words. "At least, I tried to… one of them. I'm sorry, but not all the villagers see you as a hero. The loss of their loved ones has blinded them. Even if, to me, they wish to show otherwise. I hope you find the strength to forgive these broken leaves…"
He fell silent for a few seconds. "Your chakra reacts in time with my voice. And at the same time, it has so many different shades. An emotional child… I hope you don't cause as much trouble as your mother did," he chuckled at something.
The door opened again, and this time another old man entered, with a cross-shaped scar under his lips. His robes were also two-toned—most likely white… and some other, darker color than the Hokage's.
What is he doing here?!
"Danzo?" Hiruzen was also surprised, but not as much as I was.
"I was going to wait for you at the residence, but I sensed killing intent," he replied coldly, then turned to me for a second. "Is everything alright?"
"No, since someone showed up," the grimness returned to the Hokage's face. "We couldn't find them."
"I still propose leaving him with me, in Root. The jinchuriki will be safe there."
"And I still say that will not happen," Sarutobi's tone was more expressive. "To grow up well-rounded, a child must know what care is."
"No. He must live in adversity to grow strong and understand his place." In response to his words, Shimura received a glare filled with anger. "Hn. Have it your way."
"I will arrange for him to be watched. Naruto's safety is my concern. He was entrusted to me, so I will handle everything else." Just as quickly as Hiruzen had gotten angry, he calmed down. "Why did you come?"
"Funding."
Sarutobi's face twitched.
"Is everything alright? Hokage-sama, Elder-sama?" a nurse unexpectedly entered the room.
"Yes," the one called "Hokage" nodded and waved the newcomer away. Then he turned to the second one mentioned. "Let's go, this isn't the place."
Well, that was a talk, I noted after everyone had left. Wonderful! And what am I supposed to think now? Am I moving into the basements of Root? Am I?
Time began to gallop.
No, they didn't take me anywhere.
But that didn't seem to make life any easier with each passing day. If anything, it got harder. My mind, though it had grown a bit unaccustomed to it, longed for the constant flow of information and was howling with boredom. Training with my energies was, of course, an engaging activity. But I couldn't do it forever. On top of that, there was the problem of slow progress. This slowness became more and more noticeable over time. Not only because I often ran out of ideas of what to do, but also because the activity-sleep cycle shifted in favor of the former.
A pressure in my head, ever-increasing, as if… I had been locked in solitary confinement. Without communication with people, without the ability to move properly. Even the energy exercises didn't help to shake off this feeling. I don't really know what solitary is actually like—I've never been. But I imagine it's something similar.
Thus, another two weeks passed until my brilliant mind came up with an equally brilliant idea. Or rather, after two weeks, I learned to devote myself to this activity—meditation.
Unfortunately, I didn't have internet access. There was no internet in this world at all. So I had to meditate by feel, based on my general understanding of what meditation is. Concentrating on different thoughts, then on the surrounding world, then on the "inner" world of my being. It was the latter that fascinated me the most—the endless flow of chakra through my channels, which I simultaneously couldn't see, yet felt in great detail, creating a phantom image of the chakra system in my mind.
For some reason, the process of meditation didn't get boring over time. It was a wonderful state of calm that, over the past few days, had lifted the pressure from me. The days began to fly by much, much faster than before. Later, I even started to catch myself spending whole days in complete silence, doing nothing at all. So I had to start planning, setting a goal for myself to engage in self-development for a certain amount of time each day. Fortunately, I had experience with this—forcing myself to do something useful, as well as a rough concept of discipline.