Uchiha Zaito led his team and the troublemaking stall owner back to the Police Department and then resumed patrol.
"Shuumei, you did well today—not acting rashly regarding that kid and reporting to me first. I'll put in a good word for you with Seiryu-sama," Zaidou said, patting a young team member on the shoulder.
"It's all thanks to you, Captain," Sakurai Shuumei sighed in relief. "Honestly, I was shocked to see that kid being bullied."
These civilian ninja had worked for the Police Force for a while and sometimes saw Naruto on patrol.
At first, not knowing Naruto's true identity, they were influenced by rumors, treating him as the demon fox who brought disaster; some, or their families, had even bullied him before.
But the Uchiha captains, even if they didn't know Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son, at least understood what a jinchuriki was.
Messing with a jinchuriki—even if the jinchuriki lost control and killed people—at worst, they'd get punished, but the dead would stay dead.
Having gotten along well with their civilian colleagues, the Uchiha would remind their subordinates—so now, the civilian ninja and their families in the Police Force knew Naruto was not to be provoked. Their attitude toward him might not have changed overnight, but at least they wouldn't openly insult him.
"By the way, if you see that kid while on patrol, look out for him a bit—but not too obviously, got it?" Zaito reminded them.
Before seeing Kakashi with Naruto, the Police Force mostly left Naruto alone due to how sensitive things were. But now that Kakashi was involved, and Kakashi was close to their clan leader, Zaito gave these instructions.
"Captain, why?" someone asked curiously.
"Don't ask too much. If I can tell you, I will," Zaito said.
"Right, it's classified. Knowing won't help us anyway," the man said, scratching his head sheepishly.
Over time, the civilian ninja realized the Uchiha, once demonized by rumors, weren't so bad. They were a bit proud and talked about Uchiha honor a lot, but otherwise were fine.
If you had a problem at work, they'd scold you but still help. If you asked for help with ninjutsu, they'd say stuff like, "Of course, without Uchiha blood you have no talent," but would still teach you things you'd never learn at the Academy.
"Good, just remember," Zaito said, rolling his eyes. "Now, don't waste time, finish patrol—drinks are on me after!"
"Long live Captain!" the team cheered.
That was another reason—the Uchiha were generous to their own.
…
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Naruto had lost all interest in shopping after that incident.
"Um, Big Brother Kakashi," Naruto said quietly, head down, "I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing? This wasn't your fault," Kakashi replied.
"But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to go through that," Naruto said.
Kakashi stopped, squatted down to look Naruto in the eye, and said, "Naruto, listen—others may be at fault, but you're the only truly innocent one here. So you don't need to apologize."
Hearing this, Naruto's eyes reddened. Since he could remember, aside from the Third Hokage, Kakashi was the first person to ever completely trust him.
"If anything like this happens again, go to the Police Force—they'll stand up for you," Kakashi said.
"The Police Force? Those ninja uncles from before?" Naruto asked, curious.
"That's right," Kakashi nodded.
"Will they really help me?" Naruto still had doubts.
"They will. I promise," Kakashi said, a special light flickering in his eye. "Come on, let's go for ramen."
At the mention of his favorite food, Naruto immediately perked up, forgetting all the unpleasantness and laughing as he followed Kakashi.
…
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen listened to an Anbu's report about the incident on the shopping street and couldn't help but sigh heavily.
Just then, the office doors were flung open and Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu stormed in, furious.
Sarutobi waved the Anbu away.
As soon as the Anbu left, Homura demanded, "Hiruzen, what are you thinking? How can you let people approach the jinchuriki so freely?"
"You're overthinking it. Kakashi was Minato's student. He's qualified to look after his teacher's son," Hiruzen replied patiently.
"Hiruzen, this concerns the jinchuriki. You can't be too soft," Koharu said.
"So what do you want to do? Lock Naruto away and brainwash him into a weapon, like Danzo suggested before?" Hiruzen snapped. "Don't forget, Naruto isn't just a jinchuriki. He's Minato's son! The Fourth Hokage's son! Minato gave his life for this village!"
"Hiruzen, that's not what we meant," Homura said. "But Kakashi has the Sharingan—you remember what happened six years ago!"
"Enough! This matter is closed!" Hiruzen said sharply.
"Hiruzen, Danzo was right—you're too indecisive. You'll regret this someday!" Koharu snapped as she and Homura left, slamming the door behind them.
After they left, Hiruzen lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and looked out the window, his eyes full of shadowed, unreadable emotion.