Naruto was staying in the hospital for the time being. To say he was depressed by the thought would be an understatement. He didn't how many times he had cried neither if he was going to stop anytime soon. His heart was crushed, his surroundings were blurry and he found he had trouble breathing. Sometimes, he would hear some comments made by the nurses in the corridors, and for a time, he cursed for having such heightened senses. If he had no real trouble to hear people when he still had his sight, he discovered now that his ears were picking everything they said behind the doors. 

_ Good thing he won't become a ninja, it would be already too much trouble. 

_ Who knows what he'd do if he gained the knowledge of some dangerous jutsus ? 

_ It's not such a loss. 

_ At least, he will no longer be a threat to the village. 

Knowing this while he knew he was not himself the demon fox hurt even deeper than anything. At first, it could have been a relief to know that he was not responsible but to hear such things, to be accused like that for something he didn't do didn't stop his tears. The knowledge of who were his parents was not helping him either. He knew that if those nurses and the staff in the hospital knew of his two parents, they would respect him more. 

But what good would it give ? They didn't trust him back in the orphanage when children were stealing what was his, would they really believe such information ? They would say he is lying, and maybe even hit him to degrade the memory of one of the most powerful ninjas that the world had ever seen. The happiness that was present before was no longer existing. It was absent, as if it had never been here. He didn't even say it to the old Hokage that he considered like a grand father what he discovered.  No, his sorrow what unbearable.

He was back to cry again when he heard that someone was stopping in front of the door. Indeed, it was three persons. One might be a nurse from the scent she gave off. A scent of medicine, chemicals and chloroform.  The second one was the Hokage himself, with the smoke following everywhere and a linger of paper and ink. The last one was one of the ANBUs, very subtle and giving only some scent of metal, making almost no noise when he walked. The voice was very calm, almost to not make him afraid, as if he was a small animal. 

_ Good morning Naruto. We came here with the lunch. 

Naruto could not see it but he knew that the old man was smiling, as if his warmth was radiating to appease the young boy. He felt thankful to Hiruzen and more than ever wanted to speak with him, be with him. He was not one of his relatives in blood but the boy considered him like one. Even if it was not long, to be with him would be more than enough. And even more in this situation. 

The ANBU and the nurse stayed quiet, standing behind him. Naruto felt the stoic presence of the ninja, here not only to protect the Hokage but to protect Naruto as well. He didn't know he actually knew that but the aura was directed at him, trying to reassure the boy. 

For the nurse, he felt her uneasiness as she standing near the ANBU. For a matter of fact, even if there was a lot of people in the hospital and even more ninja, it was actually pretty rare to come across one of the ANBUs. It was not rare to see them but not in a mission in the hospital because they were the guards of the Hokage himself. So even if the nurses and the staff in the hospital had seen loads of ninjas, it was very rare to see the Hokage himself going inside of a room to see one of the many injured. So to actually see an ANBU as a civilian was a rare thing. And add to the fact that said injured was the demon fox of the village. 

The nurse was rather surprised because if the boy was so dangerous, he seemed so vulnerable that she couldn't actually trust the people who say that he is a blood thirsty demon. No, not without seeing the tear marks that were staining his face. Everything about him felt so... Different from what she had heard. The accusation that the demon fox was this boy was so... Unreal. And the Hokage himself is coming to see him and not to hurt him but actually to keep company with him. And if there was one thing that she trusted, it was the Hokage's judgement and his kindness. He would NOT be like that if the boy really was a threat. And even more with his aura. 

The nurse knew now one thing. This boy was no demon. 

_ Oh, thanks Ojii-san. 

All three of them were surprised by the voice. It was so... Broken, not what they knew. And Naruto had called Hiruzen "Ojii-san" ! Never once did he call him like that. Always Jiji. But never Ojii-san. It almost called back the tears of the old Hokage but he decided not to cry in front of the boy. The boy seemed on the verge of the tears and from what he had heard, he had cried. It was like twisting the knife in the wound. 

Swallowing his saliva, Hiruzen said with, he hoped, a light tone :

_ We could get you some ramen, but for the next few days, you will have to eat what the hospital gives you, okay ? 

The boy nodded, as the old man approached him, one of the bowls coming from Ichiraku. Hiruzen knew perfectly that the boy adored this place and always came back because the people there, Teuchi and Ayame were both always nice to him, always here to give him a boost in his confidence, and they had a reinvigorating aura around them, even more the young blond orphan. Moreover, the ramens there were delicious. 

As the boy was settled on the boy's lap, Hiruzen gave him two sticks to let the boy eat. Trying to reach one of the noodles, he met nothing but air. The boy tried again but he was taking too much this time and the it fell on his lap. He tried a third time but it didn't work. The attempts were taking a toll on the boy. Failing over and over again, he could not help but the tears falling again in his bandages. His lips were trembling and his body was shaking. He wanted to cry. And he did. 

The Hokage tried to calm him but no matter what, Naruto didn't seem to be able to stop. His appetite had disappeared and the boy wanted nothing more than being alone in the room. Still, the Hokage managed to make eat some noodles before the boy said that he was no longer hungry and that he wanted to sleep. And he didn't say what he knew. He was tired, broken. His body fell on the mat, as his breathing became regular and not longer interrupted by his sobbing. 

Leaving him with the ANBU in the room to assist him if he needed help, the Hokage left, and his face became as cold as stone. His fury was now radiating around him in the form of killing intent, frightening all the people around him. And all pried for the poor souls who made the old, kind and patient man so much angry. 

________________________________________________________________________________

It now has been a week since that accident who cost the boy's sight. The young Naruto now could go out of the hospital or rather, he was invited not to stay too long. Not that he minded anyway. His injuries always disappeared pretty quickly, maybe because of the fox influence, he thought. He had been given a white stick, supposedly to help him when he had to walk. But sadly, because he wasn't used to this, most of the time, he was walking right to a wall. 

The ANBU had stayed by his sides the entire time, keeping him company and showing him the good directions, even if he didn't really talk. There was no real exchange between him and the ninja but having someone near him was kind of nice. Since the accident with the villagers, the Hokage had wanted the ANBU to stay near the young Naruto at all cost and he had expressly said to the ninja he didn't care if his presence was not very liked among the citizens. 

It had frightened the young ANBU because when he asked about it, the Hokage had had such a cold stare that he didn't want to know the answer. But the old man's response was filled with killing intent : "If they complain, take them to my office and I will speak my mind to them. Be it from the Hyuuga Clan, the Uchiha Clan, whatever, I will never let such a thing happen again." Never in his entire service did the ANBU see such a killing intent from an enemy even more to the ever so calm Hokage. It showed that even though he was old, he still was the Kage of the village and the strongest ninja in it. 

Having the cane in his right hand, the young Naruto was stumbling in the hallways, unaware of the stares that were made by the passers-by. The blond boy had never seen a blind person in his life, so to become one was a totally strange feeling, even more because he could see a few days ago. He stopped to cry but the thought still brought him sadness. If it was not for the ANBU just beside him, it could've been far harder. The ninja had his hand on his shoulder, guiding him gently. More than once, the boy was about to fall, to be taken back by the masked ninja. 

_ One step at a time, he said with a quiet voice. 

The boy would nod to him to thank him but nothing else. The boy was already not really talkative but it seemed the incident had dealt a much heavier blow to him than they thought. It was slowly but surprisingly and to the surprise of many, the boy was used to it pretty quickly. Even the Hokage wasn't sure what to think because no one, even more with this kind of handicap could learn that quickly how to use the white stick that was so common to the blind people. 

So when they had to get out of the hospital, the ANBU no longer had to guide him with his hand on his shoulder, he just had to walk beside him, to protect him if the situation called for it. The boy became used to the ninja's presence as well. Naruto had been insulted most of the time by the drunkards and glares were not unusual to him but feeling someone near you who was here to protect you was reassuring. 

Walking out of the hospital was a relief to the boy because he could not stand the odor in the hospital and it seemed that he hated even more now, so much that he had the feeling that his very nose was stuffed with it. And it was so noisy, he could hear even when the doors were closed, and when some were screaming, yelling, whatever, it felt like a headache to him. Not really fast but not slow either, the young boy walked out of the hospital, the ninja behind him. 

The ANBU felt a bit uneasy to be with the boy, even more when he was seeing the different reactions of the persons in the street. To know that such a small child was hated that much by almost everybody in the village was pretty hard and the ANBU himself didn't know he could have stayed in the village so long if the people were like that to him. Little by little, his feelings were changing to begin to feel nothing more than disgust. No matter what, no one should act towards a child like that. 

He could not help but snort at the villagers' stupidity. If they didn't really want to deal with the so-called demon's revenge, why were they freaking like that in the first place ? Sometimes, stupidity really was an issue in this village. If the boy hadn't had the help that was provided to him by the Hokage himself, there was no doubt that the boy would begin to act violently and would begin to be dangerous. Because even if he was a young vessel, he was still the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox, the most powerful and dangerous Tailed Beasts. 

At first, the ANBU wasn't really doing anything but finally, his patience wore thin and he began to let sometimes so killing intent to them, giving the blind boy and the ninja a way just for them. But seeing that the boy was really uneasy with it, he stopped quickly but he was still glaring to the people in the streets, almost daring to them to act with him here. 

_ Would you like to go somewhere ? 

The boy was pretty surprised to hear the question. No one ever asked him this. It felt great. With a warm smile, he answered :

_ I would like to go to Ichiraku, please. 

That was another thing that had changed. The boy was now polite and respectful but that was not really a surprise that he had been rather... Hyperactive when most of the time he was ignored or had to face threats from people. But it was still something strange to them that the boy acted like that, so calm. The loss of his sight had transformed him, literally. 

The ninja silently began to push him in a direction to walk towards the famous ramen stand. To every fan of the ramen, this was just... Heaven. There was no other words to describe it. The ninja had often went here when it was his day off and more than once had loved it. He was not an enormous eater like the young Naruto but still ate quite a lot. The ramen there always had such a flagrance that was delicious to anyone who ate it, so much that you could not help but come back. But after that, it was very hard to come back to the flavorless ramen that you can find in a supermarket. 

And then Ayame and Teuchi. Both of them were so kind and the atmosphere they created was not so far to the feeling of home to all the persons that had lost a member in their family. But you had to know where to find it. Which was not an easy fit. Taking the big central avenue of the village, you had to walk forward before you found another road. You take left and walk until you find the little stand, between a bookshop and some buildings. 

_ Well, let's go. 

It was always like that. No real exchange but the ties between him and the child were strengthening more and more. Staying with the child he had so many horrors about was truly... Weird. The boy was not as dangerous as a four-year-old boy. To say it simply, if he had to be taken to another village, being unknown of his origins and what he held and the people would take him directly to the orphanage to be chosen by a family. But such things would never happen in this stupid village. And the boy would never relinquish his origins. No matter how much it hurt. No matter how much it was painful, it was still in this village that he was born. 

And now that he knew who his parents were, he was proud of this and even if he could never become  a powerful ninja like he had dreamed to be, he will still stay inside of it because of them. Because of their love. 

While they were walking, the young boy was thinking about his parents. Minato Namikaze, also known as the powerful Fourth Hokage. Kushina Uzumaki, previously the vessel of the Kyuubi. But he didn't really know who they really were. Sure, there was a lot of things he had heard about the Fourth Hokage and his might, but never of the man in itself. Neither of his mother. Her, it was as if she had never existed. Maybe because no one knew that both of them would have a child ? 

_ Excuse me, but... 

_ Yes ? 

The boy knew it was a bad idea. Those two names were not common ones, they held power and could be pretty famous in the higher ranks. But he had to know. Using what was left of his courage he asked : 

_ Have you ever heard of Kushina Uzumaki ? 

The ANBU froze on the spot. The young Naruto didn't really know if he did well, to ask information about her. What if the ninja was angry ? After a long silence, the ninja questioned him, with a voice below a whisper : 

_ Who told you that name ? 

The boy murmured even lower than him, in a voice only the ninja beside him could hear. 

_ The fox. 

The ninja exhaled. What could he say ? Was he even allowed to do this ? What else did the freaking demon say to the young boy ? No matter what, before he could even say anything about her, he had to report it to the Hokage. If the fox had tried to speak with the child, who knows what he had done ? 

_ I heard of her but right now, I can't say anything about her. Not here. And we will first have to take you to the Hokage before we could even speak about her in the street, he whispered. 

The boy nodded sadly. Before, he didn't even know that he had had parents, even less that they were  major figures. And now, he had the thirst to get to know everything about them. But he still had to wait. It took him four years to know he had parents. He hoped he didn't have to wait this long before he could find information about them. 

The rest of the little trip to Ichiraku was done in complete silence, with the boy using his white stick to advance without hurting anyone and the ANBU looking around to see if anyone was still daring enough. Both of them had a sigh of relief when the ANBU stopped Naruto so they could walk inside the stand of Teuchi and Ayame. You could almost tell the difference from the moment you were outside and the moment you entered. 

_ Good morning ! said Teuchi. 

Teuchi was a middle aged man, and a very great cook. He was also a very open-minded person, not taking care of whatever was said before he had seen it himself. So when he had heard what was said on the infamous demon boy, he paid no heed. He invited the starving boy inside of the little restaurant and offered him a meal. The boy was so kind that they immediately decided that all that was said was nothing but rumors and lies. And it would take them to actually see the boy they came to like act like a monster to make them doubt even a little bit. To say the amount of trust they had in the blond haired boy. 

So when he saw the young four-year-old, he was instantly worried about him. 

_ Oh Kami, Naruto, what happened ? 

Ayame, hearing about the boy, came as well. She had to control herself not to gasp at the sight. Bandages all around his eyes and a white stick. Her heart missed a beat and worry began to overflow in her veins. 

They didn't even into consideration the ANBU who was just beside the young boy, as all the attention was solely focused on the injured boy. Relief could be seen on his face behind his mask as at least, some people were nice to Naruto. 

_ I had an accident. And because of it, I lost my sight. 

_ An accident ? Are you sure it was an accident young boy ? 

He was given no answer. Teuchi cursed. 

_ I hope they will burn in the darkest pits of hell what they've done. You know what Naruto ? You can eat all the ramen you want. It will be taken to the house. And you will still become Hokage ! 

That affirmation made the boy's lips quiver and the old man regretted it. The ANBU murmured : 

_ Actually, he has little chance to become a ninja because of it. 

The ANBU didn't want to crush the boy's dream like that, even more in front of people. Even if it was lying to the boy, he didn't want him to lose hope. If there was one thing the ANBU had learned on his missions, it was that unless there was a 0% to succeed a mission, the mission was not stopped until it happened. No matter what. If there was even the shadow of a doubt, if there was a possibility for the boy to become a ninja, you should never say that he will not become one. 

Twice now, Teuchi cursed. He hated it. But he decided to put his wrath on the noodles instead of people. Even if he smashed a little bit too much on the pasta to make the noodles, he imagined it was his punch that was sent to one of those stupid villagers. Sometimes, it's really relieving. 

The noodles were served but Teuchi continued to cheer on the boy. Even if it was impossible to some persons, he knew that the young Naruto could do it, he could become a ninja. It brought the young boy almost to tears to see so much kindness from those people. He knew not to focus too much on the imbecile ones. He should always focus on the better persons. 

But all of them were praying in their heads. Teuchi, Ayame, the ANBU, the Hokage, all of them were praying for this boy whose fate was so horrible. They all wanted it. And like the oil that had fallen on his eyes, there is always a twist in someone's destiny, to push the balance. And in just a little moment, everything can be changed. 

Naruto didn't know at which moment it happened. It just... Happened. It was just an innocent question. 

_ Um, old man ? 

_ Mmmh ? 

_ I think I hear something a bit in front of me. It's like a whistle. 

A whistle ? The ANBU was slightly surprised. Ayame and Teuchi looked to each other before Ayame said : 

_ Oh no, the hot water !! 

She immediately pushed the door, rushing to the back kitchen but found nothing. She came back, surprised and asked Naruto : 

_ You are sure of what you heard ? 

_ Yeah and it's still making noises ! 

Noises ? 

_ You mean you hear them clearly right ? 

_ Of course ! Can't you ? 

Both of the two civilians turned towards the ninja but the ANBU didn't hear it either. In the street maybe ? Looking everywhere, they still could not find the "noises" that the boy talked about. 

_ Can you show us where does the sound come from ? asked Teuchi. 

_ I can ? 

_ Yes you can. 

The boy stood up from his chair and began to walk behind the counter. He walked in the back kitchen before heading towards one of the old cookers. He pointed it with his finger. 

_ There it is. 

Teuchi and Ayame looked towards the ninja beside them, asking him a silent question. The ANBU had to focus all of his hearing ability to actually catch a light whistle coming from it. And Naruto said that it was making noises from his place ? Just what in the world ? He shook his head, amazed and completely dumbfounded. He stayed quiet for a few seconds before he ask again in a murmure so little that not even Teuchi and Ayame could hear it, not even if they were trying to focus as much as possible on his voice. And the fact he had a mask on was not helping either. 

_ And you say it is making noises ? 

The boy nodded for the second time tiredly. 

_ Yes, I said it already ! 

_ And do you know that not even I could hear it from where I stood and that it was only when we came near the machine itself that I managed to catch a little sound ? 

Both of the cooks looked at the ninja while Naruto could not even utter a word. If himself, an expert among ninjas in the ANBU was saying this so... 

_ Naruto. We must have other exercises. And I just know what we can do. 

He looked towards the still surprised and hopeful Teuchi and Ayame before handing them the money for the meal. 

_ Thanks for the meal. But I feel like we have to go and try some... Little things out there. 

When they got out of the restaurant, the ANBU immediately took him to the Inuzuka compound. There, he asked some of the members to get him some things that was usually used on the member of the compound. All of them looked at him as if he was some kind of weird animal and it was taking a toll on the ninja's patience. Tsume, the master of the Inuzuka clan came to see him and after a long discussion, she finally accepted and took them inside of it. 

Naruto could not help but wonder inside of it, some many smells were here and... Huh. It smelled like the toilets of the orphanage where one day, one of the child had a stomachache and stayed in the cabinet for more than fifteen minutes. The result was a horrible odor that stayed for four days before it was washed away. And here, it was like the thing was right under his nose. Even stronger than before. 

The Inuzuka head clan had seen it but said nothing. Finally, they entered a place that looked like a classroom. White walls, some tables and a board. The ANBU took him and the young boy on one of the many chairs that were around the room, disturbed in a weird fashion, as if the persons that had been inside the room had made all the effort possible to transform this room into a maelstrom. And with the amount of colored hair on the floor, the ANBU almost cried to the poor staff that had to tidy all of this. 

_ So, you want me to test the pup's sense of smell, right ? 

_ It is a way to sum it up, Tsume-dono. 

Tsume directed her eyes to the boy and even without his sight, he still could feel a shiver when her gaze passed through him. As if she could see his very soul. Without taking her attention from the boy, she said : 

_ I will give him the same test we give our pups when they begin to train as ninjas. The same test exist as well to select some new trackers but in a more difficult exercise, as well as other abilities such as stealth and odor tracking. But if it is a waste of my time, you will regret this, order from the Hokage or not. 

Without letting him say anything, she disappeared in the back room. Naruto watched suspiciously the ANBU. With the smallest he could mutter, he said : 

_ I lied to her. 

_ But... 

_ Don't worry, you'll have to believe me on this one.

Naruto looked rather unsure and when Tsume came back, her eyes swept the two boys, holding in her hands some powder contained in little bags. 

_ What ? 

_ Nothing. 

Tsume nodded and walked towards the little table, putting in a few little containers the powder, as well as other materials. Holding in her left hand was seven other powders, which she put in a column. She then crossed her arms and said in an emotionless tone : 

_ Here is the test. You will be able to smell each of those powders. They will then be put in this box over there and you will stay here for fifteen minutes. You will then smell this one just once and you will have to guess what kind of material was used to make it while saying the number of the powder. Remember, you can do it only once. 

Tsume was not really nice because the test in itself was not that hard and this one was usually used for the more developed noses of the pack. But she had heard so much boasting from the ninja about his amazing sense of hearing that she decided to see for herself if this four-year-old could beat some ten-year-old Inuzuka in this. And if he could, well... He would have the best sense of smell of all the non-Inuzuka she had ever seen in such a young boy, a four-year-old no less ! She knew that some ninjas could enhance their senses with some chakra but here she was asking to a little child who had no knowledge of chakra whatsoever to know the difference between each scent. And it was not a small fit. 

_ Go on, she said. 

Encouraged by the ANBU, the young boy began to walk near the table. Naruto smelt as much as possible and found that it was not that difficult to actually smell it. And then to remember the smell... It was as if his brain was focusing itself on the scent, and subconsciously, the scent was marked in his memory. But that, none of them knew about that. For now, the boy continued to go to the other scents. Each scent had its quirks, from spicy to a sweet one and flowers as well. Finally, he returned to his seat. 

_ You're done ? said Tsume, hiding a bit her surprise. 

The boy nodded. 

_ Well, let's see that, she continued, beginning to have some doubt. 

They stayed inside of the room while Tsume made the countdown to fifteen minutes. The time ticked away and all of them had some relief. Here was the real deal. 

With a nod, Tsume showed the powder to the boy. The two adults were waiting, impatient to see the result before the boy spoke : 

_ I can smell that a lot is number one, an equal quantity for three, six and seven and just little bit of two. 

Tsume was not trying to hide her shock. That was far from being the test. The test was to see if they could know what kind of ingredients was used, not to talk about the quantity ! She looked over the ANBU, still not believing it. Here it was. All of what he said was true. It had been used a week ago and she was here as well to see the test. So she knew the answers. But to see a young boy, not from her very clan, winning against ten-year-old boys and girls, without chakra... She had a little smirk on her lips. She was SO going to give them a hellish training. 

_ Very good, pup. You have a great sense of smell. 

Naruto seemed rather pleased with that and showed it by smiling a bit.He was not very used to compliments but it gave him a pleasant feeling in his chest, warming it up. 

_ Well, thanks a lot Tsume-san but I'm sure that we have other things to do and to test. 

_ Of course, but can you please tell me the results when you get them all done ? I'm interested to see if his other senses are good too. 

_ I will do it as soon as possible. Thanks again. Now let's go Naruto. 

Going out of the compound raised a few eyebrows and some glares to see the demon child but they were rebutted by an angry Tsume, which was tapping her foot on the ground, crossed arms. 

________________________________________________________________________________

The ANBU and Naruto were looking at each other, at the limit between the training ground and the forest. 

_ So now, this test... 

_ Yes. There are two little bells. I will ring them at different places and you will have to guess which on is farther away or the closest to you. Okay ? 

The boy nodded. They were in a training ground and since there was no genin team here, they were alone. 

_ Well, here I go. 

Holding both of the bells he rang the first one, the closest one to Naruto. Unbeknownst to him, the boy remembered the sound coming off of the bell in less than a second. The second one came soon after. 

_ So, which one is the closest. 

_ The one with the lighter sound. 

_ What ? 

_ I mean, the second one. 

The ANBU didn't really know what does the boy was meaning. 

_ What do you mean by lighter sound ? 

_ The sound faded with a clearer sound, little by little and less abruptly. The other bell had a graver sound than the first one, I think ? 

The ANBU said nothing for a few seconds, before he continued to speak : 

_ I will go in the forest, you will have to guess where I am just by the little bells. Okay ?

He knew it was useless because he had seen first hand the ability of the boy to hear the sounds in the distance but he decided to test it anyway. And so went the test. For more than forty minutes, it was a game of hide and seek and the ANBU to his amazement and surprise, had to go all out to hide himself. But it was useless. No matter what, when he rang a bell, soon after, a blond head would come at the bottom of the tree. 

The elite ninja barely stopped his excitement. It was enormous ! If the boy was trained only with sounds and his other senses, he would be able to easily overcome most situations, such as genjutsus ! There was very little genjutsu that acted on the smell and the ears, if trained correctly could easily make the difference between the reality and a genjutsu. Same goes with the smell. Moreover, it gave him an enormous advantage against the best illusion users in the village, known as the Uchiha clan. The sharingan was a very powerful tool but to do that, you had to look right in the eye of the person to make it work. But in Naruto's case, the boy was blind ! Such an advantage could easily the boy allow him in the academy even with his handicap. 

But he preferred to hide it. To even make the boy a fine ninja would be an enormous task. Why ? Because he would have to overcome his blindness and such fit was not an easy one. They had to train him early. Earlier than even the youngest clan members. But first things first, he had to go and see the Hokage. Such news could NOT be kept from him. It was the boy's future after all. 

________________________________________________________________________________

_ Freaking paperwork... If only you... Yes Tori ? 

Tori, the ANBU who made the test go for the boy was kneeling in front of the dest, which was cracking almost because of the amount of paper which was on it. Different reports, invitations and the stuff which was the all-Kage's nightmare. 

_ I wanted to give an amazing news, Hokage-sama. About the young Naruto. 

_ Go on. 

A spark of joy appeared in the old man's face. Everything that was about his surrogate grandson was good to know. And from the body of the ninja, it was easily very good, not even trying to hide his excitement. 

_ The boy could become a ninja, but it would need tremendous efforts from our parts and his. 

_ What ? But... How ? 

_ His other senses, Hokage-sama. His other senses are just tremendous. The first thing that is a proof of it was when we were eating in Ichiraku. He could hear the whistle of the machine, but it was so little that I had trouble to hear it. I had to be right in front of the machine to catch it and the boy kept complaining about "noises". I wanted to see if his other senses were as good as that and... I was right. All of the other senses were tremendous. We didn't try to see about the sense of touch but just his hearing and smelling ability were amazing. From what I saw, he has a better sense of smell than a ten-year-old Inuzuka and a sense of hearing which allows him to follow me, even when I'm ringing a bell from a miles away. He can become a ninja, sir.