It was a bit over a month before we were released from the hospital. Naruto’s injuries, despite being far more severe, were gone in a few days. This of course led to him being overly worried about me, since he assumed since I took longer to heal that my injuries must have been worse, and not that he was the weird one. Unsurprisingly, it seems that my ribs were bruised, who could have guessed that getting flung across a room could lead injuries. Regardless, my ribs were fully healed after about a month, but they kept us there an extra week just in case.
Hiruzen visited us almost every day during our stay, though he never told us who he really was. This lead to Naruto starting to refer to him affectionately as ‘Gramps’, which always made him smile. I however started to call him ‘sketchy geezer’ and when he asked why I responded “what else should I call some old dude who helps us, asks for nothing in return, and refuses to give his name?” In the end he bribed Naruto by offering to bring him to Ichiraku if Naruto could get me to call him something else. Of course, being the great older sister that I am, I couldn’t help but give in to his pleading, but I still made it clear that it was only if I got to go too. And so, once he Hiruzen agreed, I started calling him ‘Sugar Gramps’ much to his chagrin. Naruto, being the innocent child he still was, thought it was just me saying he was sweet so Hiruzen was unable to ask me to stop.
It wasn’t until we were finally released, and he came to pick us up, that he finally introduced himself as the hokage. Naruto of course freaked out “Gramps, you were the Hokage all along? Why didn’t you tell us?!”
“I apologize for hiding it, but I didn’t want to cause you undue burden, knowing the hokage was checking in on you” I couldn’t help the smirk that came to my face when he asked “but how come you don’t look very surprised?”
“I figured it out when we first arrived. The nurses called you hokage-sama”
a strained look came to his face “then you didn’t really have to call me ‘sketchy geezer’ did you?”
I deadpanned at that question and, quoting myself from over a month ago, I pointed out “what else should I call some old dude who helps us, asks for nothing in return, and refuses to give his name?”
“and Sugar Gramps?”
“well Naruto calls you Gramps and you-” and Naruto interjected “it’s because he’s sweet right?” “of course, Naruto” I smiled widely as I looked over at Hiruzen “what else could it be?”
“cough. Well, putting all that aside” (“I could tease him for deflecting it, but I’ll let it slide.”) “since you have made it clear that the orphanage is no longer an option, I have arranged for an apartment for the two of you as well as a stipend to help you with food. I’ll also arrange to have someone check in on you twice a day to help you with meals”
“no need” I interjected “if you want to have someone check on us for our safety, that’s fine. But I can handle cooking”
“Sakuya-chan, you can cook?”
“I told Naruto, it’s onee-chan”
“but we’re the same age?”
“not in maturity, regardless we can discuss this later. But yes, I can cook. I’ll also be handling our finances, and depending on how much he’s giving us we can even go for Ramen once a week”
instantly turning on Hiruzen, he exclaimed “how much are you giving us?!” and upon hearing the number I feigned sadness “sorry Naruto, it seems that Ramen will be once a month at best”
“what?! That’s more than enough for-” “Gramps! Are you being stingy?! You promised us Ichiraku!” unable to endure, he ended up giving a new number.
“Naruto, make sure to give ‘Gramps’ your thanks, now it seems you’ll not only be able to have ramen every week, but can even have more than one bowl”
Naruto bowed with what likely the most sincerity he had ever shown “Thank you very much!”
Just in case, I made sure to add “and don’t worry Naruto, surely the great Hokage-sama would never go back on his word” causing Hiruzen giving me a look of utter defeat.
Naruto nodded and much to my amusement and Hiruzen’s horror proclaimed “As expected of Sugar Gramps” and just to rub it in, I chimed in “that’s right, thank you so much, Sugar Gramps” putting emphasis on every syllable of Sugar Gramps in a sing-song voice.
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It took until we reached the apartment for Hiruzen to finally mentally recover. He gave us a quick tour and It was a very nice apartment, much nicer than you would expect to be solely for two children. There were two bedrooms each with a king size bed, a chair/desk, and their own attached bathrooms. Not only that, there was a fully furnished kitchen with a dining area, and even a living room complete with a sofa, a love seat, and an arm chair.
I couldn’t help but gawk at him “this seems a bit much to give to two kids for free. What do you want?”
“Am I so untrustworthy?” “yes” “cough. Well, I suppose you could consider it an investment in the future as well as an apology”
“apology? For what?”
“While the orphanage is technically not something that I oversee, as the Hokage it’s still my responsibility to make sure all children of the village are safe. In that I failed both of you, for which I’m sorry” upon which he bowed his head
Naruto surprisingly managed to recover faster and stated “but Gramps, it’s not your fault. If anything it’s thanks to you we’re even alive”
“I’m ashamed as the big sister, that I had to have my younger brother be the one to say that” to which Naruto interjected “we’re the same age” ignoring him I continued “but I fully agree with him. Not only have you quite literally saved us, but you have even made it so we will be able to continue to survive. I’ve always wanted to be ninja just to learn medical ninjutsu to heal animals, but If it was under someone like you, I think I would be willing to actually be a ninja”
Naruto suddenly exclaimed “I’m not going to be a ninja-”
to which hiruzen and I couldn’t help but interject “What?!”
continuing he stated “I’m gonna be the Hokage”
I brought my hand to face “Naruto, do you know what the Hokage is?”
“it’s the leader of the village, right?”
“right. And how does one become hokage?”
“by being the most respected ninja?” he brough his fist down on his hand “I changed my mind, I am going to be a ninja. But not just any ninja, I’m going to be the hokage!”
I held in a sigh “I’ll be rooting for you, but it’s going to take a lot of work. That mean’s you’re going to have to study”
“geh. Do I have to?”
“Hokage-sama, would you mind?”
Hiruzen seeming to have finally rebooted chime in “Ho-ho-ho. You don’t think I became Hokage by neglecting my studies did you?”
“there you have it Naruto. Just leave it to your big-sis. I’ll make sure to help you with anything you don’t understand.”
“...we’re the same age”
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