[Hokage Office]
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, absentmindedly smoking his pipe while working through another stack of reports. The rain from the previous day had finally stopped, leaving the village unusually quiet.
A knock came from the door.
"Enter."
The door opened and Ibiki Morino stepped inside carrying a thick folder.
"Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen looked up immediately.
"You have the report?"
Ibiki gave a single nod before placing the file on the desk.
"I've questioned the matron, several staff members, and reviewed every record the orphanage kept on Naruto Uzumaki."
Hiruzen's expression hardened.
"And?"
Ibiki took a slow breath.
"It is... far worse than simple neglect."
Silence filled the office.
"When Naruto first arrived, he was treated no differently than the other infants. That lasted less than a month."
Hiruzen closed his eyes.
"Continue."
"The matron admitted that after rumors about the child's identity began spreading, several members of the staff refused to care for him. Rather than disciplining them, she allowed it."
Ibiki opened the folder.
"From that point onward, Naruto consistently received smaller meal portions than every other child."
"The records?"
"They were altered."
Ibiki placed two papers on the desk.
"These are the official meal logs."
Another pair followed.
"These are the kitchen inventory records."
Hiruzen frowned.
"They don't match."
"No."
"The food allocated for Naruto was routinely reassigned to other children."
Hiruzen slowly clenched his fist.
Ibiki continued.
"The matron claims she believed he 'didn't need as much food.'"
The Hokage remained silent.
"As Naruto grew older, the isolation became more deliberate."
"No child was ever explicitly forbidden from speaking to him."
Ibiki paused.
"They were simply told that it was safer if they kept their distance."
"Children imitate adults."
Hiruzen muttered quietly.
"Yes."
Ibiki nodded.
"Within a year, none of the children would willingly approach him."
"The staff reinforced that behavior."
"If another child shared toys with Naruto..."
"They were punished."
"If someone sat beside him..."
"They were moved elsewhere."
"If anyone defended him..."
"They were reminded to stay away from 'the monster.'"
The office became unbearably quiet.
"The child eventually stopped trying."
Hiruzen looked down at the report without speaking.
"The staff also assigned Naruto nearly every undesirable chore."
"Cleaning storage rooms."
"Washing dishes."
"Taking out garbage."
"Scrubbing bathrooms."
"Tasks normally shared among older children."
"He performed them alone."
Ibiki turned another page.
"Medical treatment was also... inadequate."
"There are records of untreated fevers."
"Infected cuts."
"A fractured finger."
"Repeated bruising."
"The orphanage only sought medical attention when they were legally required to."
"And the injuries?" Hiruzen asked quietly.
Ibiki hesitated.
"Most appear consistent with falls."
Hiruzen looked up.
"Most?"
"The doctor believes several bruises could not have been accidental."
"But there is insufficient evidence to identify who caused them."
"The matron denies ever striking him."
"I believe her."
Hiruzen frowned.
"You do?"
"I don't think she needed to."
Ibiki answered calmly.
"She simply created an environment where nobody felt responsible for the child."
That sentence lingered in the room.
"What about outside the orphanage?"
Ibiki sighed.
"Witness testimony confirms that Naruto was frequently harassed by civilians."
"Shopkeepers refused to serve him."
"He was chased away from public parks."
"People threw garbage at him."
"Some adults shoved him into the street."
"There are also reports of teenagers throwing stones."
"Did shinobi participate?"
Ibiki shook his head.
"Not directly."
Hiruzen released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"But..."
Ibiki continued.
"There are multiple reports of off-duty shinobi witnessing these incidents and choosing not to intervene."
The Hokage's shoulders seemed to sag.
"They looked away."
Another page.
"The child never filed a complaint."
"He never cried."
"He never retaliated."
"He simply left."
Hiruzen stared at the desk.
"Cat." Hiruzen called out and a woman with a cat mask appeared in front of him.
"Have Naruto take a physical exam and a medical exam and Ibiki I want you to find any shinobi related to this and put them in prison, I don't care which clans they are from." Hiruzen said.
They both nodded before leaving.
"Hound."
An ANBU operative wearing a hound mask appeared in a swirl of leaves.
"You called, Lord Hokage?"
Hiruzen dismissed the rest of the ANBU from the room.
"Leave us."
Within seconds, the office was empty except for the two of them.
Hiruzen walked to the window overlooking the village.
"Hound... tell me, how many people knew Naruto would be moved out of the orphanage today?"
"The orphanage matron, myself, Cat, the administration office that processed his housing assignment, and you, Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen nodded.
"Too many."
The old Hokage remained silent for several moments before speaking again.
"When Kushina gave birth, only a handful of people knew where she was."
Hound's posture stiffened.
"The information still leaked."
"The Nine-Tails was released."
"...Yes, Lord Hokage."
"I swore that would never happen again."
Hiruzen turned to face him.
"Naruto Uzumaki no longer exists."
Hound blinked.
"...Sir?"
"Officially, the orphan named Naruto Uzumaki remains registered at Konoha Orphanage Number Three."
Hound immediately understood.
"The records..."
"Will be falsified."
Hiruzen walked back to his desk.
"The child who now resides in Apartment 17-B will exist only under a temporary identity."
He picked up a blank document.
"Name."
He paused.
"...Gojo."
With a brush, he carefully wrote the name onto the paper.
"From this moment forward, every document concerning his residence, medical records, monthly stipend, and civilian registration will list him as Gojo."
"No mention of Uzumaki."
"No mention of Naruto."
"No mention of his status."
Hound frowned.
"If someone searches for Naruto..."
"They'll find an orphan who never left the orphanage."
"Exactly."
Silence settled between them.
Hound finally asked the question on his mind.
"Lord Hokage... is this truly necessary?"
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
"Someone leaked the identity of Konoha's jinchūriki."
"The leak did not come from outside the village."
"It came from within."
His voice became colder.
"I refuse to allow that mistake to happen twice."
He slid the newly written document across the desk.
"This is not merely a false identity."
"It is bait."
Hound looked up.
"If information about 'Gojo' reaches the wrong people..."
"We'll know another leak exists."
"Precisely."
"The alias itself is classified."
"Only those directly responsible for the child's welfare will know it."
"If Gojo's identity spreads..."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
"...then we will know exactly where to begin looking."
Hound slowly nodded.
"I understand."
"There is more."
Hiruzen continued.
"For the next two weeks, I want every person outside this room who gains knowledge of Gojo's identity documented."
"Names."
"Times."
"Reasons."
"No exceptions."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
[A few hours later]
Ibiki handed him another report.
"Naruto is severely underweight for his age."
"Vitamin deficiencies."
"Mild anemia."
"Signs of chronic sleep deprivation."
"There are several healed scars."
"An old burn on his forearm."
"A poorly healed fracture in one finger."
"And countless small injuries that were never properly treated."
Hiruzen slowly closed the folder.
"The examining physician wrote one final observation."
Ibiki said.
When I asked the patient how he got his injuries, he said 'I fell down the stairs.... many times.'" she said.
Hiruzen let out a long sigh.
"I would recommend at least a session or two with a therapist considering the abuse and trauma." she said.
"Thank you." Hiruzen said and the lady left the room.
"Anbu" Hiruzen called out.An anbu appeared in front of Hiruzen.
"Tell Inoichi to clear up his schedule for tomorrow, and meet me in my office." Hiruzen said and the anbu nodded.
[Next day]
Hiruzen and Inoichi Yamanaka are sitting in the Hokage's office.
"Inoichi, you have a session with someone today." Hiruzen said before taking a drag from his pipe.
"I do not understand why you have chosen me Hokage-sama, anyone else, from my clan, would qualify for conducting a psychiatric evaluation." Inoichi said.
"Well, I want you to evaluate Gojo." Hiruzen said to the clan head. The clan head nodded understanding why he was called instead of someone else.
"You will only tell me what you think. I want no record of Gojo's evaluation. Is that clear?" Hiruzen said and the clan head nodded again.
[Naruto's apartment]
Naruto was eating in his apartment, as he was reading a book, he got from the library.
'Hmm.... yesterday the doctor told me I was very weak and frail, hope this book helps... A proper diet and exercise huh?.... maybe I should give it a try.' Naruto thought as he was reading the book.
Naruto finishes his food and starts doing the exercises he saw in the book.
'Well, the book says that beginners should not overdo it while exercising... but I am not really tired... maybe I should keep going.' Naruto thought.
After an hour of exercising, Naruto sat on the floor, tired. As he was reaching for the book to read more, his head started hurting.
'Ahh...this again.' Gojo thought as he held his head in his hands.
'Maybe I should have told the doctor about these headaches.' Gojo thought as he lay on the ground and closed his eyes. Just as he closed his eyes, he felt a little relieved and slowly the headache went away.
'Every time I get tired, I get a headache.... closing my eyes makes it go away.....?....this is weird I should do more research about it before telling anyone.' Gojo thought as he slowly sat up.
'Library should have some books about stuff like this.' Gojo thought as got up and went towards the library.
[At the library after some time]
'Hmm.... well, it appears my eyes are not normal.....I can see much farther than the average eye... my eyes appear to be special... I do not think anyone should know about this.... yet.' Gojo thought and closed the book he was reading and put it back, as he was walking around the library he went over to a section he had never gone before the shinobi section.
There were books about the various aspects of a shinobi's life, from camping to scouting to tracking, of course not in detail (academy level). He picked up one of the books and started reading it and as time went on, he kept reading and reading. The boy read several books within a couple of hours.
He learned about ninja weapons such as kunai, shuriken, senbon, etc, and ninja tools such as scrolls, smoke bombs, etc.
Naruto found himself fascinated by the lives shinobi lived and their motivations to live as they did. He had read about the Hokage and their ambitions and motivations and admired them for that, but reading about ordinary shinobi also taught him many things.
He realized that one of the main reasons people became shinobi was to protect themselves and the people precious to them.
'I need to be a shinobi too if I want to survive in this world' Naruto thought to himself as he put the book back. As he was putting the book back, another book caught his eye, 'Dojutsu 101'.
[15 minutes later]
'Hmm... so let's see, every dojutsu awakens in a different way huh..... and overuse of them can cause chakra exhaustion and headaches.... well I do get headaches and I know my eyes are not normal so it might be a dojutsu...?!.... but my eyes do not look like anything in the book.... ok maybe it is not from Konoha... is that even possible?' Naruto thought as he closed the book and started walking out of the library trying to process all the new things he had learned.
He walked over to Ichiraku's and had a couple of bowls of ramen and started walking towards his apartment.
On his way, he could see something approaching him fast but before he could do anything it hit him on the shoulder and he screamed out in pain when he looked, there was a kunai in his left shoulder. He looked back in the direction where it came from and saw several more coming towards him.
But before he could do anything a person appeared in front of him and blocked all the kunai flying towards him.
"Naruto are you fine?" a familiar voice asked.
"Y-yes Cat I am fine." he said as he dropped to one knee.
"Do not touch the kunai Naruto, let me handle this." she said as she bent down, removed the kunai, and used some medical ninjutsu.
'This feels a bit better.' Naruto thought.
"Naruto I have stopped the bleeding, I will take you to the hospital to get it checked out." she said and Naruto weakly nodded.
She picked him up and took him to the hospital.
At the hospital, she was shocked to find the wound had already healed.
"Well, the wound has already healed considerably so I will just wrap it up and it will be fine just some scarring." she said as she walked out of the room.
"u-um Cat it feels better now, could I go home?" Naruto asked her.
"Sorry, Naruto we have some work today as well." Cat said.
Naruto let out a tired sigh before saying, "I understand".