"What further complicated the matter were the exact seals he used to seal the Kyūbi. There are at least two and I suspect there are more. The first was the Shiki Fūjin (Reaper Death Seal). The second was the Hakke Fūin (Eight Trigrams Seal) which is made of two Shishō Fūin (Four Symbols Seals). Even the least complicated of these seals is way over the heads of an untrained civilian, so they act as humans often do: distrust what they don't understand."
Naruko's face was an embodiment of anger. "And the shinobi?" She demands, "There had to have been someone who understood Fūinjutsu other than Yondaime-sama!"
"There was and is." Sarutobi acknowledged. "My own student, Jiraya of the Sannin, is now Konoha's last remaining Seal Master. Unfortunately, Jiraya-kun is rarely in Konoha because he is in charge of our spy network, which requires him to be on the move on a frequent basis. That meant he wasn't in Konoha during the attack of the Kyūbi and, sadly, he couldn't tell the idiot civilians how they were disrespecting both the wishes AND the abilities of the Yondaime with every cry for your death."
"Great. Just great." Naruko said bitterly, "So no matter what I do, I'm screwed." Her eyes shone with tears she refused to shed.
"I would have to disagree with you there Naruko-chan." Sarutobi said gently, "Iruka's parents died during the Day of the Kyūbi. He now sees you for who you are. Ichiraku Teuchi and Ayame have known the truth of what you contain for years, and they see you for who you are as well. As for me, I have never seen you as anything other than who you are."
Naruko scoffed softly. "Four people out of an entire village?"
"The longest journeys often begin with the smallest of steps." Sarutobi told the depressed kunoichi. "Keep persevering and I don't doubt that you will become the Hokage."
"Do…do you really believe I can do it, Ji-chan?" Naruko asked in a small voice, her eyes locked onto his own desperately.
"I hold no doubts." Sarutobi replied softly.
Naruko wiped at her eyes for a moment then gave him one of her trademark foxy grins. "Thanks Ji-chan." she said in a voice more like her own.
Sarutobi waved the thanks off. Privately, he was very relieved. By the looks of things, he had nipped that line of self-doubt in the bud just in time. The last thing the girl needed was an existential crisis on top of the pressures of being a new genin.
"Now, to return to the seals…the seals are designed to allow you to draw upon the chakra of the Kyūbi and use it as your own." Sarutobi told Naruko solemnly.
"WHAT?" Naruko yelped, disgust on her face, "If I use that chakra, the villagers will hate me even more!"
"Ah, well, there is no way for you to access the chakra at the moment." Sarutobi replied.
"Eh?" Naruko responded with a quizzical expression on her face, "But you just said-"
"At the moment, the seal is fully tightened." Sarutobi explained, "It only permits you to access the chakra of the demon fox when you truly believe your life to be in mortal danger."
"Oh…" Naruko seemed taken aback.
"Once I believe you have sufficient maturity and skills, I'll get Jiraya-kun to teach you how to harness the power of the fox." Sarutobi told her.
"I am skilled!" Naruko protested with a cute pout, "I learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
"Yes, an impressive feat, learning a B-Rank Kinjutsu in only two hours." Sarutobi acknowledged, "The ease with which you infiltrated the Hokage Tower was equally impressive. I must ask you to write down how you did it. If you do, I'll pay you for the successful completion of a B-Rank infiltration mission, in addition to your A-Rank Mission of Retrieving the Forbidden Scroll of Seals."
"Hell yeah!" Naruko cheered, "Two high ranking missions before I'm even out of the Academy! Beat that, Sasuke-teme!"
"On the other hand," Sarutobi continued, "You are neither able to perform the basic Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) at all, nor can you use any genjutsu. Although the last is an unfortunate side affect of housing your tenant, the first is solvable."
"Eh? How? That damn jutsu was the bane of my life!" Naruko asked, her eyes boring into her grandfatherly figure.
'This must have been what I looked like when I asked Minato-kun how he finished his paperwork so quickly.' Sarutobi chuckled to himself.
"Naruko-chan, please perform the Bunshin no Jutsu. If my suspicions are correct, I will be able to help you." He told the exited girl, who drooped slightly at the request.
"Please don't laugh OK, Ji-chan?" she mumbled as she ran through the seals for the basic clone jutsu taught at the academy.
"Bunshin no Jutsu!" she called as a puff of smoke appeared next to her, which revealed a sick and unhealthy looking clone of Naruko.
Sarutobi nodded. "Just as I thought."
"What? What is it-dattebayo?"