6: Meeting with the Hokage

"Well, here we are. You can go in, Seiji. The Hokage-sama is waiting for you inside."

Shisui pointed to the door. Seiji couldn't control his emotions. He didn't know what to feel: fear, nervousness, anticipation. The whirlwind of emotions in his chest seemed ready to explode. After all, behind that door was the Hokage, the most important person in Konoha.

Ever since they entered the building, he felt his chest burning. He couldn't anticipate what would happen once he crossed the threshold. The closest he had ever been to the Hokage was during his speech about the Will of Fire to the entire village.

*Sigh*

Seiji gathered his courage and stepped through the door. On the other side, an elderly man with a kind smile greeted him. However, Seiji didn't underestimate him. He knew that behind that smile lay incomparable power. He could swear he saw a mountain rising behind the old man.

'Well... he looks like any other old man...'

Seiji approached, a bit nervous, and gave a slight bow. He thought for a moment about what to say and finally spoke:

"It's an honor to meet you, Hokage-sama. My name is Seiji Hoshino."

Hiruzen looked at him, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"You missed a bit in your introduction. Don't forget, you are the patriarch of the Hoshino clan. Also... why so cold? You can be a bit more casual. I was friends with your father."

Seiji was surprised. He had never heard that his father was close to the Hokage.

'Damn old man, couldn't he have mentioned he knew the Hokage in his letters? Instead of all those warnings about the Uchiha...'

Seiji cursed internally. He didn't know his father was "friends" with the Hokage. In his mind, his father had simply earned the recognition needed to found a clan, nothing more.

"Hokage... I didn't know my father was your friend. Also, it's still too early to call me 'patriarch.' I don't even know if I have the talent to be a ninja."

Seiji knew the basics of Konoha's politics. Calling himself the patriarch of a clan was a huge responsibility. First, he would have to prove he had the talent for it, as participating in Konoha's political struggles was too dangerous.

"I know Kasuya left many letters for you. I'm a bit disappointed to hear he never mentioned me in them... since your father was someone who valued me greatly."

Hiruzen seemed genuinely affected, but he could guess that Kasuya was more concerned with letting his son know his feelings. Kasuya always knew he would die young, as he suffered from an illness that had plagued him all his life.

"I guess my father focused more on giving me advice."

Seiji tried to justify his father's actions.

For his part, Hiruzen was more interested in the "advice" Kasuya might have left for his son.

"I see. May I ask what advice Kasuya left you?"

Seiji thought for a moment and replied:

"Well, there were several things, like: always pay attention to ninja world news, remember to stay calm, always give your all no matter the opponent, and... find trustworthy comrades."

Hiruzen nodded with a smile.

"Those are things Kasuya would say. He was a special case. Most people would simply leave their jutsus for their children and encourage them to train in combat and gain experience."

"Your father was quite intelligent. Once, he surprised me by saying a phrase that basically negated the path I took, haha. Although he immediately apologized for it. Do you know what that phrase was?"

Seiji shook his head, eager to learn more about his father.

"I do not fear the ninja who practiced a thousand jutsus, I fear the ninja who practiced one jutsu a thousand times. A great phrase, if I do say so myself. As for why it negated my path, I don't know if you're aware, but I'm known as 'The Professor' because I know all the jutsus in Konoha."

Seiji's eyes widened in astonishment. Though he lacked experience in the ninja world, even a child like him knew that was an incredible feat. After all... how many jutsus were there? There had to be at least a couple of hundred.

Seiji and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, continued talking for a while. Their conversation consisted of Hiruzen boasting about his achievements and Seiji praising him, while listening to a few stories about his father.

Seiji wasn't aware that Hiruzen was trying to lower his guard and make him trust him, making him think he was a very approachable person.

After a while, Hiruzen decided to address the main topic.

"At first, I had planned to assign you a task... in exchange for teaching you chakra control. But... I can't pretend I didn't feel it when I looked at you..."

Seiji seemed momentarily confused. He didn't know what Hiruzen was referring to.

"You see, I'm not a sensor ninja, but with my experience, it's impossible not to be good at it... and I felt it the moment you entered the room."

Hiruzen hesitated and continued with a smile.

"Really, Kasuya was lucky... even without you being able to control your chakra, I can sense your enormous chakra reserve. It's... astonishing, to say the least."

Seiji's eyes widened. He knew that one of the biggest factors determining a ninja's talent was their chakra capacity. The amount of chakra decided your talent, and your elemental nature decided your path.

He clenched his fists, smiling. He had talent, so he could follow his father's legacy.

Hiruzen smiled as he saw Seiji trying to contain his excitement.

"I see you're happy, and with good reason. Your chakra capacity is enormous. Not at the level of the Uzumaki, but you surpass most clans with bloodline limits (Kekkei Genkai). With that in mind... we just need to check your elemental affinity, but we can leave that for another day."

Seiji was a bit confused. Though he knew that with his chakra capacity alone, he was almost guaranteed to have talent, he wondered why they didn't just finish and analyze his elemental affinities.

"You see, now that I've verified you have the qualifications to be the patriarch of the Hoshino clan, I have a task for you."

"First, I need to check something... on the way... why did you help that girl?"

Seiji took a moment to understand the question, but he quickly grasped the concern.

He thought Hiruzen was worried about his intentions with Naruko, whom Seiji assumed was the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi.

However, Seiji decided to answer truthfully.

"My father... tasked me with finding her and taking care of her. He said to look for a girl younger than me, with blonde hair and blue eyes, small fox-like whiskers on her cheeks, and... the Uzumaki swirl symbol."

Seiji waited for a reaction from Hiruzen, but all he saw was a sad expression.

"I should have guessed... seeing that you're waiting for my reaction, I can assume you know who she is... did he tell you?"

For the first time since meeting the Hokage, Seiji saw a flicker of anger in his eyes.

"No, he only told me to look for her because she was family. But... in the books he left me, the term 'jinchūriki' is explained... with that information, plus how the villagers treat her and the Uzumaki clan's swirl symbol... it's not hard to reach a conclusion. After all, the Uzumaki clan is known for being the most suitable for being jinchūriki."

Hiruzen looked at him for a few seconds and then sighed.

"For a second, I thought Kasuya had told you Naruko's identity... It's strictly forbidden to reveal the identity of the jinchūriki. I'm relieved you figured it out on your own."

"Besides, it was obvious your father would do something like that. After all, Kasuya was Naruko's godfather. Originally, someone else was supposed to be... but that person was too... unreliable, so Naruko's mother strongly opposed it and chose your father instead, as he was a great friend of both her parents."

'So that's it. She's my father's goddaughter, so she is family.'

Seiji was relieved to know the reason his father considered Naruko family. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to cause trouble with Hiruzen, but in the end, everything was resolved.

"As for the task I have for you, it's to take care of Naruko."

Seiji's mind went blank for a few seconds, processing Hiruzen's request.

"What?"

Seiji asked, not understanding, completely stunned.

'How exactly was he supposed to take care of a jinchūriki? Take care of her from what? Isn't it the village's job to protect their jinchūriki...'

"Take care of her from what exactly...?"

*Cough*

"Well... you see... a spy... yes, a spy from an enemy village spread the rumor that Naruko is the 'Kyūbi.' And since ordinary people can't know the term 'jinchūriki,' this has led to Naruko being in a rather precarious situation."

"As you saw when you met her, she's discriminated against by the civilians, and I need to find a safe place for her. That's where your Hoshino clan comes in. As the patriarch, you'll take care of her as she grows up... of course, with a reward."

To Seiji, it seemed like Hiruzen was improvising everything on the spot, but he shouldn't be... or was he?

"I understand... but wasn't there a stronger clan that could take care of her?"

Seiji didn't see how his declining clan, which consisted of only one member, could protect Naruko.

"It's fine, I don't expect you to protect her. That's the ANBU's duty. I just want you to give her a home. Since the Hoshino clan is the only one I trust enough to do so."

Seiji wanted to argue, but he couldn't when he saw Hiruzen's determined gaze.

"That's all. From now on, you, Seiji Hoshino, are tasked with taking care of Naruko Uzumaki, the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi."

"As a reward, you will be granted an S-rank jutsu upon graduating from the ninja academy."

"Also, someone will come tomorrow to teach you chakra control, a very capable person."

"That's all. Goodbye."

Seiji was led out of the Hokage's office by one of Hiruzen's assistants. For his part, he couldn't help but feel that Hiruzen wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

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If you're enjoying the reading, please leave me a comment. I would also appreciate some power stones 🥹.

Thanks to the person who pointed out the mistake, I forgot to translate it, haha.