Chapter 1: New Beginnings
"After years of struggle and despair, a new beginning starts right now."
"Uhhhrahhuh," a young man yawns loudly. He crawls out of bed in his new apartment and looks through the open window. While feeling the breeze on his face, he finds himself smiling the biggest smile he ever has. The next moment, he screams, "I'm the new Hokage! Believe it!" Everyone in the village who hears start to cheer and celebrate the first morning of their new Hokage, Naruto.
After a few years had passed, the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, had retired. She has grown sufficiently tired of having to file paper work in her old age. So in the end, Tsunade decided to pick the next Hokage. When choosing, she had no doubt in her mind who it would be. He was finally old enough, and she knew him to be a strong determined man, just like his father. She decided to choose Naruto.
Naruto had grown so much over the few years she has known him. He probably has even surpassed her in certain things, but definitely not in medical jutsu. Many of the villagers have come to respect him completely, some even forgetting that he holds the Ninetailed Fox within him.
After getting dressed, Naruto speeds on over to the Hokage Mansion to speak with Tsunade. On his way, many of the villagers wave and congratulate him on his new acheivement. Just a few more blocks away, someone calls out to him. From the corner of his eye, he sees a girl. It's Sakura.
"Naruto! Wait up for me!" she yells.
"Hey, Sakura!" he responds.
Just like Naruto, Sakura has grown, both in maturity and in skill. Since the war, Sakura has become less aggressive and more caring towards Naruto and everyone she meets. Though she still has her moments and fits of rage, she has become a respected kunoichi. She herself has also managed an important title, becoming head of the Konoha Medical Department. She is now in charge of the Konoha Hospital, training Medical-Ninja and taking care of injured patients. Over the years, Sakura has honed her medical techniques to the point where many see her on the same level as Tsunade, maybe even higher. Many of the villagers go to her for both advice and for medical treatment.
Sakura is running, half of the way, waving to Naruto as if she hasn't seen him in years. By the time she is a few feet away from him, she is out of breath. Despite this fact, she smiles a gentle smile.
As they meet up, they begin to hold a conversation.
"So how are you feeling there?" Sakura asks with a grin.
Knowing full well that she's referring to being Hokage, "Heh, kinda nervous. Is that weird?" Naruto responds.
Taking his hand, "Not at all. But I'm surprised you're not shaking, not even a bit."
At this point, Naruto blushes at the fact that Sakura is holding his hand. Looking back on his life, he never recalls Sakura holding his hand unless she was going to throw him. A moment later, Sakura becomes fully aware of this sudden redness and decides to pull away her hand saying, "But you're always weird like that, so in all honesty, I'm not surprised."
Sakura punches him softly in the arm and they both laugh. Soon, silence overcomes the both of them. They continue to walk silently while being surrounded by the noise of the village. Out of nowhere, Naruto stops in his tracks and places his hand on Sakura's shoulder asking, "And how are you?"
As Sakura turns to face Naruto, she know exactly what he's asking. She responds, "I'm fine."
Naruto continues to ask, "Have you talked to him yet?"
"No, not yet. I don't even know what I'd to him. Naruto.. I'm glad he's back, but it's so different. I thought things would be the same. I mean it's been 5 years since, but nothing has changed. And I don't think he even wants to see me."
"But it's Sasuke. I'm sure he's just being a sissy. I mean he is the jerk who kept pushing us away. Maybe he's just feeling guilty."
"I guess..," Sakura responds as she ends the conversation with a smile.
Lately, that's all she's been doing, smiling. Ever since Sasuke's return, Sakura has been trying to hide her thoughts and feelings about how this is affecting her. Shouldn't she be glad that he's back? That he's alive? That he's not trying to kill them anymore? She thought that everything would be like it was when Team 7 first formed, but this was nearly impossible after everything that has happened.
They continue to walk, not speaking, and before they realize it, they arrive at the Hokage's Mansion. They look up at the newly built building. It's much taller than the older mansion, but it still retains much of the original's parts. Before entering the building, they had to pass the gates protecting the Mansion. On each side of the entrance, there are two members of the Konoha Police Department who keep watch.
As they walk in, Sakura notices that she still hasn't said a word to Naruto ever since dropping the conversation in village. As she stares at Naruto, who is now walking a bit faster probably due to his excitement, she thinks to herself, "Heh, I can't believe that your dream is finally coming true, Naruto. You don't have the slightest clue what's going on with me, but I guess that's for the better. I wouldn't want you worrying about me when obviously you're really happy. But thank you, Naruto.. for never leaving me.."
Suddenly, Naruto, realizing that Sakura isn't beside him anymore, looks to find her giving him a genuine smile, "Hey Sakura, you okay? you're kinda creeping me out smiling like that at me."
Sakura responds, "Yeah, I'm okay. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you and well.. Thank you."
They continue to walk through the halls and stairs of the mansion until they reach the door of the Hokage's room. As Sakura opens the door, she notices that someone other than Tsunade is in it. For a moment, Sakura doesn't recognize who it is, but this soon changes. Soon she feels as if her legs are about to give in. She stops in her tracks with a look of nervousness on her face. Naruto notices that Sakura has stopped, and so he tries to force himself through the door. As he fixes himself up from budging between Sakura and the door frame, he now understands Sakura's behavior. The man that they come face to face with is none other than their former teammate, Sasuke Uchiha.
During the war, Sasuke played a important role in defeating Madara. Along with Naruto and Sakura, the three were the reason the Shinobi Alliance had won the war. It was Naruto and Sasuke who ultimately ended up defeating Madara, and it was Sakura who cut the number of casualties in half through her medical jutsu. Though helping out the world with such a great deed, many still viewed him as a criminal. But it was Naruto and Sakura who defended Sasuke at the end of the war. They convinced the nations to pardon him. And they ended up asking if he would like return to the village. Surprisingly he accepted.
But ever since his return to the village, everyone viewed him in a light very different from when he was younger. They viewed him as a danger and a criminal walking in the village, making it unsafe. It seemed as if Naruto and his role had been completely switched. But as a token for returning back to the village, Tsunade had granted him the title as the head of the Konoha Police Department, the security within the village.
So there they were, the three of them. They stood in silence while sharing glances with each other. They would've stood there for hours if it wasn't for someone walking through those doors. It was the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake.
As Kakashi walked in, he notices his three former students staring at each other, he says, "Hey guys."
Sakura, her concentration on Sasuke broken by Kakashi, shakes her head and greets her sensei, "Morning, Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto and Sasuke follow Sakura by bowing their heads.
Kakashi, now aware of the feeling of tension in the air, thinks to himself, "Well, this is going to be an interesting meeting." Kakashi sighs.
Not a moment too soon, Tsunade bursts through the doors with her assistant Shizune. As she walks in, Tsunade carries a big smile on her face as if she purposely planned for the old Team 7 to meet up at this exact time, which she did. As she sits down, she does role call in her stern voice, "Kakashi Hatake. Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura Haruno." After, she slams the attendance book closed and looks up at the four and says, "Well, I see Team 7 is back together again. It appears to me that your team has worked itself quite a reputation. But let's get down to business. Sakura."
"Yes, m'lady," Sakura quickly responds. The next moment, Sakura hands Tsunade books and a scroll.
After a few seconds, Tsunade sends a smile to Sakura and congratulates her, "Just as I expected from my own student. Well done, Sakura. You're becoming a very promising kunoichi."
"Thank you, m'lady," Sakura says as she falls back into line.
Sakura had handed Tsunade books of new medicinal herbs Sakura had studied while out on the field during the ninja war. The scroll contained information on progress of the training of the medical-ninja. Sakura was nervous. She didn't know whether or not she was doing her job properly, or rather, good enough. But apparently, it was.
"Naruto," she says as she waved for him to come foward. "Are you ready?" Even before Naruto can answer she orders for Shizune to walk out of the room. Tsunade then gets out of her chair and leads them to the roof of the mansion. By the time the five of them reach outside, they could already hear the cheering of the entire village.
Tsunade beats a drum causing the crowd to fall silent, "Attention! Today is the day when I, your 5th Hokage, present you with the 7th Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto has shown extrodinary skills as a shinobi and more importantly as a villager of the Hidden Leaf. As I hand my title down, I entrust this village to you!" Tsunade turns to Naruto.
At this point, Naruto is almost at the verge of tears realizing that his dream is coming true. Realizing his nervousness, Tsunade warmly waves on over to him to come over giving him a gentle smile. Naruto is surprised to see this side of Tsunade for he has never seen it.
Now realizing that Tsunade really does believe in him, "I, Naruto Uzumaki, accept the title as the 7th Hokage. I swear that I will lay my life down for this village. I will do whatever it takes to protect this village and never give up because that's my ninja way."
In response, the entire village cheers and Naruto is jumping at excitement. While this happens, Sakura is standing in line between Sasuke and Kakashi. For a moment she admires Naruto, but this is over come by curiousness over the person standing to the right of her, Sasuke Uchiha. She repeatedly tries to glance over at him, but never completely gets a good look in fear that he'll notice. Sakura thinks to herself, "Can I ever forgive you..?"