Kakashi faced Danzo with a firm stance, a determined gaze and his Sharingan beneath the cloth spinning slowly, "I couldn't possibly fail a friend," he told himself, not because he wasn't somehow angry about Kurenai's death, but because, to him, Devan was still a friend, a comrade he had gone to war with.
At that moment Sarutobi stood up, the powerful Chakra in his body rose like a white aura surrounding him, this immediately brought a small wind throughout the room. Danzo stopped looking at Kakashi to look at the Third Hokage, swallowed hard and calmed down in less than a second.
"Devan will arrive soon, we'll be able to clear our doubts, and also Danzo will be able to ask some questions, however," Sarutobi focused his gaze on the shrewd old Root leader, "You are not allowed to fight inside my office, Danzo, otherwise, I will have to stop you myself."
The threat was obvious, the old man was serious, Danzo could tell just by listening to the tone of those words, however, he still grumbled, seemed ready to say something when the door suddenly opened.
"..."
Immediately the three men fixed their eyes on the person who had just entered, with long black hair, calm eyes and a rather cold expression, Devan stepped firmly into the Hokage's office.
"Kurenai and you shared a past, she even saved your life a couple of times during the war, now that she's dead... you look far too calm," Danzo let out the first comment, he wasn't outraged, he just wanted to mock the necromancer a little.
However, Devan barely looked into Danzo's eyes, instead, he walked calmly to the center of the office, bowed toward Sarutobi, "Devan presents himself at your call, Lord Hokage," he said, with the same elegance as the first time.
The old Sarutobi, for his part, smiled brightly, he really liked it when others showed respect to him. However, Kakashi didn't stop looking at the necromancer, something in his single visible eye shone, perhaps small tears about to come out.
"What exactly did you tell Kurenai?" still, Kakashi's voice was cold, calm, almost without any apparent emotion, only Devan could feel the fragility of the man through those words.
"I..." Devan stopped halfway through his words, noticing how everyone in the office was watching him, each waiting for his answer, "I refused to go out with her," the answer was simple.
The answer was so simple that it left everyone in the room almost speechless, mentally speaking of course.
Sarutobi opened his eyes in surprise, from his experience he could tell that Devan wasn't lying, Danzo slightly moved his staff and made a light noise with his mouth, equally astonished, but not showing it outwardly, while Kakashi almost dropped the book in his right hand.
"Just refused to go out with her?" the three of them wondered at the same time, they couldn't believe it, not only because they knew Kurenai, and knew she wouldn't mentally collapse over just unrequited love.
"I mean, there was a bit more than that, I told her I wasn't ready for a relationship, that I appreciated her as a friend, and in general, it was a gentle rejection," Devan clarified, but this only intensified the disbelief in the men present.
It wasn't until a few moments later that Sarutobi let out a long sigh, "Hmph, I feel like you're not telling the whole truth, Devan," he smiled slightly, "But my experience tells me you are telling part of the truth, that's... even so, that is strange," Sarutobi bit his lower lip.
"At the end of the day, if what you say is true, then Kurenai didn't deserve to go on living in Konoha..." Danzo let out with some contempt and began walking toward the door, "Letting herself be guided by a love disappointment and committing suicide, those are the ninjas who grow under a weak Hokage..." Danzo opened the door, and just as he left he closed it with force, producing a small noise in the office.
For his part, Kakashi simply stood watching Devan for a moment, "Kurenai really was in love, and when I say this, I mean, I only saw those eyes of love in one person before..." he thought, remembering his old friend Obito, and how he looked at Rin back then.
"We should go eat some Barbecue one of these days, Devan, I'll bring Guy too, of course," Kakashi said before disappearing into a puff of smoke.
Devan was left alone with the Hokage, that old man didn't stop examining him from head to toe, almost as if he were trying to find the slightest flaw to point out.
"I have been informed that you bought a new bed, food, and many things for Naruto... that is good," Sarutobi changed the subject while smoking from his pipe.
"But not for him... Devan, most ninjas know that Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, however, he is not given any special treatment, Do you know why?" Sarutobi asked.
Devan shook his head, he really didn't know why, he simply wanted to do it, something told him he had to buy those things for Naruto yesterday, "It's not like there's some desire for justice or need for approval, I just wanted to do it," he told himself.
"Humans value what is scarce, you cannot value food if it is always available, some ninjas have criticized me for not helping Naruto enough, for not giving him a beautiful mansion to live in with servants to maintain him and all that..." the old man began to inhale from his pipe, a small smile on his wrinkled face.
"But I tell them, Is that what they really want for a Jinchuriki? A bearer of the Kyubi, the most destructive weapon of Konoha, let me tell you, Devan," Sarutobi inhaled some of the smoke again.
"If Naruto had everything, Would he value it or see it as normal? If you always have everything, then, Why fight? You don't appreciate it, you feel that being rich is... the natural order of things, but no, the ninja world doesn't work like that," Sarutobi felt like he was teaching a student as he said those words.
"The world is tragic and cruel, the villages weren't always there, at first we killed each other for a piece of meat, learning to value every little thing we have in life is the first step to valuing people, because... Devan," Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, stood up.
"A mighty oak that withstands winds and storms does not grow in a greenhouse," Sarutobi walked to a bookshelf, "Naruto needs to suffer to understand that life is harsh, only then can he be that oak resistant to winds and storms, otherwise he'll just be a spoiled rich kid, a spoiled rich kid who has the nine-tailed fox in his power, Do you understand what that means?"
Sarutobi finally took a book from the bookshelf, walked calmly to Devan and handed it to him, the title of the book read, "Men learn from mistakes, not from advice."
"This was written by Lord Tobirama some time ago, maybe you can read it, it will help you in the future," Sarutobi smiled.
Finally, Sarutobi returned to his chair behind his desk, "Go back, I'll send someone to help you with Naruto's care, organize everything for Kurenai Yui's funeral, you'll be a bit busy, just work part time at the cemetery and part time taking care of Naruto."
The Hokage's orders were precise, Devan quickly nodded, with a "Yes, Lord Hokage!" he left the office.
...
"I should probably place more Anbu to watch him, it's impossible that Kurenai would mentally collapse just because of a love disappointment," Sarutobi thought in his office as he looked at the place where Devan had been before.
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