I do not own Naruto, any of his characters, any of the affiliated material that Kishimoto has created. I can only hope to play in his pond briefly
-Prologue-
From his perch on top of the Great Hokage Stone Faces, he could see the stars, They looked really clear tonight. Yeah there had been some rough times. After the Shinobi alliance had dispersed there had been all kinds of work to do.. but that was years ago. a life time..Hell the younger generation had even forgotten about the war. having never experienced it. and though the will of fire still smoldered in the citizens of Konoha That burning passion had been cooled by peace. Yes there were skirmishes between the nations, but it almost never resulted in loss of life. Yes there were criminals, some ex-shinobi, so there were fights, and death, but all in all the Shinobi world respected each other, that is just the culture that shinobi had grown into. For all intents and purposes he had done it. He had brought peace to the ninja world.
He felt pensive tonight, his mind hopped fleetingly from memory to memory. He remembered Neji Hyuga who died for him on the battlefield, little things had been leading up to the woman who became his wife, but THAT That one moment, had defined it. that event sealed the deal, He saw Sakura's face as she got older, her emotions, played across his mindscape.. Now her pink hair was a light gray of what it was, her active days had ended years ago. Her great grand-children were now enrolled in the academy with his own. only a few still lived. Kikash had died almost 25 years ago. Gai not to long after that. Anko had had much of her life drained away in the war, and didn't live long after its conclusion. Captain Yamato Still looked like he did to this day. Must have something to do with his genetic make up Ino still lived, but again long retired. and though Akumaru lived a full long life for dog, he was still a dog, and Kiba did not long survive his death, but he had a pack of kids before that. it was the most amazing thing.
So much had changed, No more caged bird, there were Uchiha children now. Though non showed the ability to activate the sharingan, Sasuke that temme still was alive and well. looking quite distinguished now in his old age, he too was retired. More and more memories flicked by Shikamaru dead 10 years now, asleep in his bed, surrounded by his family. Shino who one day simply was devoured by his on bugs, high honor, or so he understood, from the Aburame clan. Rock lee still teaching the students at the academy, even though he had abused his body .. but the aches in his joints and back would floor him when he really got riled up, Chouji, had turned out to be a fine friend, Sai, who had married his distant relative Karin! Konohamaru, who was currently serving as Hokage, TenTen it was amazing that she was such good friends with Hinata.
And his Hinata. He had been so blind as a brat, Her raven black hair had become gray, but her eyes had remained clear and beautiful until the day she closed them forever in their home. Odd that he could see her so clearly now, Flames burning brightly in the background, her raven hair flapping around her face as she strode toward him, beckoning.
"Come on Naruto, lets go, there waiting." He surge forward with strength and ease he hadn't felt in years.
" You can believe it! Lets GO!" He grabbed her soft hand and turned and followed her into the warm flames."
Some time Later that day, surrounded by ANBU, The Hokage arrived, he looked down at the old golden haired man, Sakura and Sasuke Uchiha sat beside the golden haired Ninja, watching the sunrise, silent tears rolled down everyone's, face, but it was hard to feel sad, The old nin, though his eyes were lifeless, they were still clear and blue, and the huge smile on his face said it all.
The Sixth Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, had lived a good and long life, and left his will of fire to the Youth of Konoha.