The Red Flash

Uzumaki Seal

Jiraiya nodded, understanding, and kept staring at the infant, who kept staring at him.

"I'll pay you a visit now and then," Jiraiya remarked, smiling and nodding to his sensei.

"I'm going to depart right now and will return as soon as possible. I should be on my way; if I have to go, I should do it as soon as possible. Keep the kid safe, sensei; I don't want to die and have to face Kushina if Naruto comes before. Oh, and I'm sad to hear of the passing of your wife."
Jiraiya stated this, and then he was gone, out the window, much to the Hokage's annoyance.

Tomorrow

It was hazardous to face Kyuubi, but confronting the council was too much for the Hokage.

He was now faced with his second-greatest adversary. The Council of Konoha.

The civilian council and the elders, comprised of Koharu, Homura, and Danzo, deliberated on what to do next.

Sarutobi had assigned the care of the young Naruto to several of his ANBU and Kakashi Hatake, one of the village's greatest shinobi.

The civilian council was arguing about how horrible things were right now. How many people had died, and how much it would take to restore to normality. The clan leaders remained deafeningly quiet. Hiashi and Fugaku were both silent, buried in their own thoughts.

"What became of the fourth?" The chief of Clan Nara queried, looking at his Hokage.

"Not that I have anything against you, lord third," the clan leader said politely, "but the fourth is in the hospital."

Everyone could see the ancient Hokage's grief in his eyes.

Shikaku's eyes widened as he comprehended what was going on.
He was extremely acquainted with the expression. He'd seen that face before and didn't need confirmation to guess out what had happened to him.

"The Fourth died sealing the Kyuubi," the elderly man broke the stillness with.
There was nothing being spoken.

Shikaku dropped his sight as he realized his comrade and Hokage had passed away. Many members of the clan shared the same idea. Minato was a well-known Shinobi who died tragically.

"Where did he seal the Kyuubi?" Danzo asked quickly, breaking the stillness.
The Hokage's pupils constricted as he looked at him. Following that, the whole civilian council started to ask the same question.

Sarutobi lifted his hand to hush them. "He sealed Kyuubi into a baby.
Naruto Uzumaki," He responded cautiously, anxious about what others would think of the situation.

The civilian council was in a frenzy, demanding Naruto's execution, just as he anticipated.
'Kill the Demon,' or 'He's Weak now, Throw him out of the community.' When Sarutobi heard this reply, he unleashed his killing intent, making the whole civilian council to experience visions of their own doom. Even the bulk of the head clans were having difficulty breathing.

A particular Nara was silent; he recalled his buddy Minato informing him that his kid will be named 'Naruto.' He understood who Naruto was straight immediately.

"SILENCE," ordered Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the whole council became quiet. He gazed at every face on the council with a gloomy expression, offering nothing but anguish if they didn't keep quiet.

"Minato intended Naruto to be portrayed as a hero, not a monster; he's the one who prevents the Kyuubi from escaping and killing us all," explains Hiruzen.

The third stated it in a threatening tone. Some civilian council members wanted to speak out against it, but when they saw Lord Third's killing expression, they restrained their mouth.

"I will retake the cap and my position as third Hokage," he said. Everyone seems to be thinking the same thing. No one on the council objected to this, save Danzo, who seemed annoyed.
Because individuals like Hiruzen made Konoha weak, he longed to be the next Hokage.

"Who are Naruto's parents, Lord Third?" a Hyuga queried, his eyes welling up with tears.

Sarutobi had opted not to tell them because he was scared the knowledge would spread and the other four great shinobi villages would soon discover Minato had a son. Iwa would go to any extent to murder him in retaliation for what The Fourth did to them during their effort to seize the leaf village.

With a sad face, Sarutobi answered. "I'm not sure, but I know his parents were killed in the fight against Kyuubi."

The leader of the Hyuga clan disagreed, but remained silent. Shikaku Nara had already worked out who his parents were, he noted.

The fact that the youngster lacked parents aided the civilian council.Some of them had already began to think of injuring the demon, and the fact that they didn't have any parents to keep an eye on him made things simpler.

The elders were suspicious about the boy's father.
Danzo, on the other hand, understood precisely who it was and realized the youngster could be transformed into a legitimate weapon and useful to Konoha, just as Kumo had done with their Jinchuuriki.

After hearing a cough, Hiruzen turned to confront Danzo.

"I'd want you to give me the boy, Hokage-sama. I can teach him and turn him into a wonderful wea... Village ninja," Danzo proposed with a smile.

Hiruzen's and several of the clan leaders' eyes narrowed. "No. And the child has a name.
He shall be reared at the orphanage just like any other boy "The Hokage declared unequivocally.

Danzo was not pleased with this one. He reasoned that there had to be more methods to make him a weapon.

"Allow me to nurture him, Hokage-sama, with all due respect. He'd have a family and could be like a brother to my kid "Shikaku offered, and the majority of the council members were surprised since they didn't anticipate Shikaku to say such a thing.

"Please accept my apologies, but the request has been refused. Naruto cannot be given to any clan. He will grow up in an orphanage. He'll start at the academy when he's six years old."
The announcement was made by the Hokage. Despite the fact that he wanted to deliver Naruto to Shukaku. He was fully aware that he wouldn't be able to pull it off. The other clans, particularly the Uchiha clan, would be enraged.

Shikaku had no time to object. "You would let the Demon to enter the Academy and become stronger," shouted a civic council member.

The Hokage clinched his teeth and dilated his pupils. He was furious because Naruto had been referred to as a demon. He motioned with his palm, and the shouting man's head rolled to the floor, blood pouring everywhere. The citizens were taken aback, but they stayed quiet.

The Hokage paused for a few seconds to check whether anybody else was sick of their head.
Because there was nothing but quiet, the Hokage shifted the topic.

"Now that we've finished this. I'd want to talk about what we lost and how much it will cost to reconstruct." The Hokage chose to change the subject.

Throughout it all, one clan chief stayed mute. Clan Uchiha was led by Fugaku Uchiha. Fugaku was well acquainted with the boy's parents. Mikoto, his wife, was close to Kushina Uzumaki. He wasn't sure how his wife would react if she discovered he was being raised at an orphanage. He, on the other hand, was not excited about it.

The Hokage stated at the conclusion of the meeting that Naruto would never be mentioned as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi again. That knowledge was classified as S-class, and revealing it would result in the death penalty.

Naruto

While all of this was going on, a baby with red hair was napping. The seal in his stomach was completely invisible. To remain warm, he was covered in sheets. Naruto was dead asleep, yet he was the only one who noticed when his seal started to burn red for a few seconds and then stopped.