Too Far to Reach (Kakashi Love Story)

[5] Hiruzen Sarutobi

The Hokage's building was too grand to explain. The symbol for "fire" was in the middle of a circle on the top of the building. It was red with brown boards going around it in some areas. It had an additional connected building that was a bit smaller yet similar to the front.

What was even more grand than the Hokage building was the Hokage mountain. None of the other nations had something like this; it was a rarity among the ninja world. Four faces were carved into the mountain side, the four past Hokage. They were in the order of when each person was Hokage. A few buildings and stairways ran across the surface of the mountain. It was a masterpiece; true art.

Kakashi saw me gazing at the faces. "Isn't it beautiful?"

I nodded. "Uh-huh. So your fourth Hokage is in power now?"

Although it was hard to tell, I could notice Kakashi's visible eye droop down a fraction of an inch.

"What's wrong?" I asked, hesitant.

"The fourth Hokage...died, protecting the village. The third's in power now."

"Oh." I knew I shouldn't have asked. It wasn't my business. "Did you...know him personally?"

"He was my sensei," Kakashi replied with a shrug.

Dammit. I'm so stupid. "Uh, I'm sorry. I know how you feel."

He gave me a quick side glance, but turned his attention back in front of him. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Come on."

He led me up a winded staircase that went around the Hokage building up to a doorway; we walked through it and went down a long hallway. Kakashi bumped into a few of friendly faces, including those two guards that I met at the gates and a guy with multiple deep scars going across his face. I put it down in my mental checklist not to get too close to him; he seemed scary.

Finally, we reached a pair of double doors that I presumed was the Hokage's office. Kakashi knocked on them first, and a raspy old man's voice came through saying, "Come in."

He pushed open the doors, revealing a very old man sitting at a desk wearing a strange hat that was the same red as the Hokage building with the same symbol for "fire" written big on the front. His clothing, which resembled a dress, was the same red, with a white cloak draped over his shoulders that connected to the inside of his hat. He had a wispy white beard and wrinkle-lines under his eyes. The old man was smoking a brown pipe and had a small smile on his face.

I immediately clapped my hands together and bowed, saying, "I am honored to meet you, third Hokage."

Kakashi seemed a bit surprised at my adult act, and a small smirk crept onto my face. Little did he know that I really was an adult that knew how to be respectful; but only to some people.

When I brought my head back up, the Hokage was beaming. "Very good, child! My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, but please just call me Lord Hokage or third Hokage. What is your name?"

"Tomiko," I replied simply, again not giving out my last name.

"I see. So Kakashi says that you want to join the village, correct?"

"Yes."

"And that you ran away from home because it was too cruel for you there?"

I nodded slowly. "I couldn't bear being there. It was too horrible."

The old man leaned forward anxiously. "If you don't mind me asking, what was so bad there?"

I sighed quietly. "Well...I wasn't treated great there. The higher-ups liked to bully the lower-ranked peop--er, kids, just because they thought they were better. I decided to leave my family and friends so I could travel the world and learn kindness and how to be a ninja."

Dammit, why did I say I wanted to be a ninja? I really didn't; being a ninja is pretty much a death wish. I never even learned how to control my chakra! How am I supposed to be a ninja if I can't even do that?

The Hokage looked taken aback. "Were they allowed to treat you kids like that? What about your village's leaders, didn't they notice anything?"

I shook my head. "They didn't care. In fact, they did the same to the adults. They thought that discipline would only be seized by pain and suffering."

Kakashi and the Hokage looked shocked. "That's terrible!" Kakashi muttered.

"I can't imagine what you've endured at such a young age, child," the Hokage said, his words filled with pity. "What village did you live in?"

I looked down at the ground. "Um..."

"It's okay," the Hokage said suddenly, causing my head to snap back up, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand that you don't want to get in trouble with your land's rulers."

I hesitated. That story works. "Thanks..." I muttered silently, nervously kicking at the ground.

The Hokage smiled. "I grant you full permission to enter this village and the Ninja Academy."

My smile quickly faultered. A Ninja Academy? I mentally facepalmed. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.

"What's wrong?" the Hokage asked. "Why are you frowning?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Er, sorry, nothing. I was just thinking...where would I live? And what would I wear? All I have is this--" I gestured to what I was wearing.

"I see. Well, I might be able to provide some living conditions for you for a little while, but after you become a ninja; considering you do; you'll have to use your mission money to pay for the rent, clothing, and food."

Actually, I had a reasonable amount of money with me; my brother directed me to a stash of ryō before dying. It was a total of 300,000 ryō; I stuffed it all in my bag before running out the door for good, stepping over the multiple dead bodies rotting in the dirt in the process.

I clapped my hands together again, and bowed. "Thank you very much, third Hokage."

The old man smiled a crinkled smile, and Kakashi looked baffled, once again.

"Kakashi, take this ryō with you and help Tomiko find an apartment," the Hokage ordered.

Kakashi bowed. "Yes, sir. Common, Tomiko." I followed him out of the Hokage's office and back down the spiral staircase. When my feet touched the ground below again, I gazed up at the whole village from the view, and smiled; I think I might like it here.

~~~~~

Lol, did anyone notice that this is going along like practically every single Naruto fan fic? That's pretty much what I'm doing...mashing together most of the fan fics I've read into one 'fic. Ah, aren't cliches refreshing?

Oh yeah, if you're curious about the extremely large amount of money that Tomiko got from her family's safe, lemme explain to you that, for example, 1200 ryō is equivalent to $12 in American money. So that means that 300,000 ryō would equal $3,000 in American money; sorry, I don't know the currency for any other countries besides the United States.