Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters generally associated with it. I still hate copyright laws.
A/N: This kind of came to me on a whim. I was checking out some other Naruto fics, and I started thinking about Kyuubi and Naruto. I was looking at the title "Legacy of a Fox: Seven Years" by Ying and Yang Twins. I haven't actually read it yet. But it gave me the idea.
-- Sakura Kaijuu
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Naruto looked out the window of his office. He had achieved his goal of becoming Hokage at the age of twenty-three. Tsunade had passed the responsibility to him, making him the Rokudaime of the Konohagakure.
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Tsunade called him into her office. He was expecting to get another S-class mission from the old lady. As he walked through the doors he realized vaguely that it had been ten years to the day since he had met Tsunade. It was definitely something he'd remember forever. Being defeated by an old bag who was only using one finger wasn't something he really wanted to remember, but it wasn't something he would forget either.
He blinked as he looked around the office. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, wearing the full Hokage regalia. That was odd in itself. Shizune was on her right, as always, but Kakashi, Sakura, Iruka, Shikamaru, and Jiraiya were there too.
"Oi, Tsunade-obaa-chan, what's everybody doing here? Is this for some big mission?" But he still couldn't make sense all three of his teachers being there.
Tsunade smiled at him. Shizune and Sakura were smiling too, but they looked near tears. Shikamaru was grinning his same old cocky smile, and Jiraiya, Kakashi and Iruka looked pleased. Tsunade removed her hat. "Naruto, Today I am announcing you as my official heir to the Hokage position."
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. He blinked several times. Shizune and Sakura had given up trying not to cry. Shikamaru smiled widened. Jiraiya laughed at his protégé's dazed expression. Iruka and Kakashi simply shook their heads at his confusion.
"What?" Naruto continued to stare.
"You are going to be the Hokage. I'm going to retire eventually. I'm getting old. And you are truly deserving of this seat. You've worked for it," Tsunade continued to smile. She stood and walked over to the jounin. She placed the hat on his head.
He didn't know what to do. He touched the brim of the hat to make sure that he wasn't imagining things. He hugged Tsunade tightly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Naruto."
----
He'd asked Sakura to marry him not too long after Tsunade had told him that. She had accepted. She didn't appear to have any regrets.
----
Sakura blinked. "What?"
Naruto blushed. "Will you marry me?" He held the ring in its box in front of her. Somehow becoming Hokage had finally given him the courage to ask her. He knew she still loved Sasuke. But Sasuke was dead. He had been for many years.
When Sakura and Naruto had finally found him on a mission to infiltrate Orochimaru's compound, he was almost inhuman. They had tried to bring him back to Konoha, but he refused. But instead of going back to Orochimaru, he chose suicide. He died in front of his best friends' eyes. They had both cried over his death. They returned to Konoha with last Uchiha's body.
Since then, Naruto had been trying his best to win Sakura over. He had finally succeeded when they were twenty. Their friends had been happy for them finally getting together.
"We were starting to wonder if you'd ever hook up!" Ino had exclaimed to Sakura.
Sakura looked from Naruto's pleading face to the shining ring he held in his hand. She couldn't say she hadn't been expecting it. Naruto was horrible at keeping secrets. But for some reason she was still surprised.
"Sakura?" Naruto looked at her nervously.
She came out of her reverie. "I'm sorry, Naruto…" His face fell. She shook her head and let out a nervous laugh. "No, I mean…Of course I'll marry you!" She flung herself on him.
He let out a triumphant "Ha!" before being kissed by his new fiancée.
----
Naruto sighed and buried his face in his hands. He had buried her. She had finally died of old age. She had hung on as long as she could. Their children and grandchildren had mourned with him. He and Sakura had been forced to put several of their children to rest, and even to watch them die on a few unfortunate occasions. Such is the burden of being Hokage and a med-nin.
He looked at his hands. They were as smooth and agile as they had been the day Tsunade had passed the name of Fire Shadow on to him.
----
"Tsunade-obaa-chan!" the blonde man yelled at her. She was one of his advisors now, and she looked up warily from the missions to be organized.
"Yes, Naruto?"
"What's wrong with me?" He looked hard into her eyes.
She lost the staring match, unable to match the intensity of those bright blue orbs. Tsunade blinked and sighed. "What do you mean?"
"You know damn well what I mean." Naruto glared at the old woman. "It's been more than fifteen years since you made me Hokage, and I haven't aged a day."
It was true. Not a line had appeared, not a joint had started to go. At first, Naruto had simply told himself that he was in excellent shape. He was the Hokage, after all.
However, he had begun to notice signs of aging in his friends and senseis. They were getting old, and he was staying young. Something was wrong. And Tsunade was the most likely one to know what it was.
She closed her eyes slowly. Naruto was still so full of energy it made her tired for him. Even when he was angry, his energy was bursting at the seems. "Naruto, you need to understand that this has to do with Kyuubi."
His eyes widened. She continued. "The chakra and stamina you possess are extraordinary. That is mainly due to Kyuubi. You have to realize that your aging may be slowed because you are a jinchuuriki."
Naruto started to back away from her. He stood up straight and stared at the old woman. "No…"
"I never researched the exact effects that Kyuubi would have on you. I doubt that you're immortal. After all, Gaara was dead once. Years and years ago. And you're in a similar situation," the old woman paused. She looked at him pityingly. "But I can't guarantee that you won't outlive most of the people you love."
His shoulders slumped. There was no way. It was impossible. But it made so much sense. He hated himself. He took a deep breath and looked down at his feet. "Thank you for being honest, Tsunade."
He left quickly and shut himself in his office. He refused to see anyone else the rest of the day.
----
So many people were gone. Sasuke, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura…They were all gone.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this. He remembered how Tsunade had been so obstinate about being asked to become Hokage, because her most precious people had died. He remembered Haku and his devotion to Zabuza. He remembered Zabuza's final request from Kakashi. He remembered the endless number of times that he and Sasuke had saved each other, teased each other, helped each other, argued with each other.
He remembered Gaara. He remembered the boy he had fought against to save Sakura and his village and the young man he had saved from death at the hands of the Akatsuki.
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"Gaara, what do you think will happen to us?" Naruto looked at the Kazekage. They had been meeting to review the terms of the treaties and the chuunin exam. With the business behind them, they turned to more personal topics.
"I don't know." Gaara looked a little sad. He and Naruto had resigned themselves to outliving everyone they knew.
Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "God…I wish I knew what was going on. Do you think they'll take over?"
"Only if we let them," he replied. Naruto noticed that the black circles around Gaara's pale eyes seemed darker all of a sudden.
"I wish they weren't so greedy…" the blonde man looked at his stomach sadly.
"Yeah…"
The two of them sat in silence for a long time. But they both knew who they were thinking about.
----
For many years Naruto had been maintaining the lie that he was using a youth jutsu like Tsunade, and later Sakura, had used. But he knew that people were beginning to get suspicious.
Nevertheless, he walked down the streets of Konoha and out to the place he had become a genin. He stared at the three logs. He remembered testing his own genin team with the bells, just as Kakashi had tested Team Seven. It was uncanny how much they had reminded him of Sasuke, Sakura, and himself.
He walked around to the memorial behind the logs. He sat and stared at the stone. He touched the names of those he knew. As his fingers passed over his father's name, the Yondaime Hokage, he felt sadness and anger enter his heart simultaneously.
It was his father's fault that he was cursed with this life. But he had only been trying to protect the village and the people he loved. He probably didn't know what the repercussions of his actions would be.
He reached Kakashi's name. Even if Naruto had been blessed with a normal life, Kakashi would have died before him. It was still hard to see the name, though. It was even harder to see Sakura's name.
Naruto shut his eyes and reached deep into the depths of his mind. He found the colossal gates behind which Kyuubi was sealed. He glared into the darkness. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?" the hoarse voice of the beast replied. The fox opened its giant eyes and glared back at the soul of his container.
"Why are you fighting to be alive? You're trapped. You won't get out. The most you get to do is give me power. Why won't you let me die?"
Kyuubi laughed loudly. It wasn't a pleasant laugh. He bared his sharp teeth. "Because this is the only revenge I can have."
Naruto's shoulders slumped. "I didn't do this to you. The person who did died the moment after he sealed you. Why are you taking this out on me?"
"Why do I need a reason?" The Nine-Tails looked down at him with his unpitying eyes.
"I'm so tired…" He covered his face with his hands. "I want to be able to go. I don't want to be alone. I want you to die so I can die."
"What a predicament for you," the fox replied. He grinned maliciously.
Naruto gasped and opened his eyes. He was still in front of the memorial. He was so tired.
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A/N: The end! Man…That was kinda sad. But I needed to write it. I hope you guys liked it. This turned out a lot differently than I thought it would. I knew it would be kind of depressing, but the flashbacks just kind of showed up. I hope it worked well.
And on that note, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy New Year and whatever other holidays I might have missed (not intentionally)! In other words: Happy Holidays! (That sounds so incredibly cheesy…)
Why am I so weird…;p
-- Sakura Kaijuu
P.S. – I will try to keep working on my other fics. I promise.