Chapter 18 - Despicable (1/2)

(The Next Morning)

”Kiyo! Where are you?! Ah, my daughter, please come out!”

This is what the two of them woke up to a screaming mother trying to find her child.

Hikaru and Naruto walks out of the while still in their pajamas. They saw a middle-age woman yelling in the middle of the street with a large banner and in it is a young girl's face drawn in it.

”Kiyo! Please! If anyone has ever seen her, please tell me where she is!” the mother desperately cried for help.

As Naruto saw the poor mother desperately calling out for her daughter, she felt a deep sadness emerging from her heart.

”Hey Hikaru, let's not go to the Academy today, ” she said.

Hikaru looks at her and asks, ”Why?”

”Because... I want to help her. I don't know what she is feeling right now but I feel that it must have been very painful for her to suddenly lose her child like that.”

Hikaru simply smiles at her unconditional kindness for other people and he replied to her, ”Fine, if that's what you want. After all, the Academy is just right there.”

”Thank you, ” she didn't notice it but a tear was dripping down on her face.

Meanwhile, with Hikaru. When he saw that, he knew he would have to report this to the Hokage. Call this stupid, but he felt a gut feeling that something terrible is happening behind the scenes.

(3 Hours Later, At The Council Room)

*Bam!*

A civilian councilman slams his hand on the table and yelled at the Hokage, ”Hokage-sama! What that kid did is unforgivable! Sasuke-sama was almost killed by him, you should kick him out of this village, ASAP! He is a danger to everyone around him!”

The civilian council nodded their heads in agreement while the shinobi council shook their head in annoyance.

”Ahem, ” Hiruzen cleared his throat first, ”First of all, don't yell at me, ” he glared at the councilman, ”And second, I don't take orders from no one except the Fire Lord. Don't be arrogant civilian, or else...” he left that threat hanging on purpose.

The councilman flinches, he just sat down and stayed quiet.

Hiruzen clears his throat again, and said, ”Shikaku, did you investigate what I told you?”

Shikaku has two scars on the right side of his face which were probably his most noticeable feature. Like his son, he has dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail, dark eyes as well as a goatee. His ears were also pierced.  He wears a meshed shirt underneath his flak jacket, a deerskin coat over that, and handguards.

Shikaku stood up with a grave expression on his face holding a bunch of paper, which seems to be his report, ”Hokage-sama, your instincts were right on the spot. The civilian council is indeed doing something terrible behind our backs.”

Hiruzen smirks at the civilian council as if he was telling them that he has already won.

”Tell me, ” Hiruzen said.

Shikaku looks at the papers before telling them to Hiruzen.

”The first one here is that the funds we have been giving them for the Academy have been pocketed into their own pockets, in short, they have been stealing from the village.”

All of the civilian council members stood up while their eyes widened in panic.