Days of Neon Gray
Prologe
The Great Ninja War ended two years ago and our beloved blonde hero turned eighteen a few weeks ago. There hadn´t been any time to celebrate his birthday, because the three weeks before and after his special day were turned into mourning weeks in order to cherish all the shinobi and civilians who were killed during that gruesome war.
The hidden village Konoha struggled hard, but it managed to get his former glory back. A small part of the village was still damaged because the money and shinobi were short.
Naruto noticed it, but he still managed to keep the civilians motivated and work together.
But Konoha had another crisis to face, not only the heavy shortage.
Tsunade of the Sanin died one day before our hero turned eighteen.
Naruto felt horrible. To have another important people vanish from the land of the living was really harsh.
Even though some time passed since Neji died, he still felt responsible and had trouble to look at a Hyuuga clan member. Whenever he sees one, he´ll be reminded of the long haired boy, who became without a doubt a very good friend over the past years. Kakashi, Sakura and especially Hinata tried to relive his guilt. None of it worked.
But at least he had his best friend back. Sasuke returned home after the war ended and had to face the council of the alliance to decide his future path. Tsunade defended him as good as she could, so Sasuke got away with being banned from the chuunin exams and Jounin exams.
If you asked Naruto about the punishment which was brought upon the Uchiha, he would simply shake his head and grin.
"Sasuke-teme got light punishment. He just became the strongest genin in the world.", he replied carefree.
Sasuke, however was not happy. He expected to get some punishment, but since he was a major factor for winning the war, he thought his former actions would be forgiven. After all he was also an Uchiha.
The Last and only Uchiha.
The day Tsunade was buried and taken away for eternity, the sky was covered in thick dark clouds, promising a heavy rain pour.
Naruto excluded himself from his friend and his new found family. He wasn´t able to look at their grieving faces. Especially not the one of Sakura who had lost not only her master but also a mother figure. He was barely able to keep himself in check.
He knew he had to be strong. Stronger than anyone else. For the sake of the village.
Out of all people he was not allowed to burst out in tears. He had to give the villagers a feeling of safety. After all he was the hero of Konoha and most likely the successor of the Hokage-position.
He sighed lightly and tightened his grip around his other hand.
"Stay strong lil´ old boy.", he tried to convince himself but not even a second had passed, his tears started to run down his cheeks.
The beginning rain, which suited the uproar in his heart, hid his tears, so no one noticed it.
"Tsunade-baa-chan.", was the last thing he whispered before the coffin was closed and send to the underground.
*###########*
The council room of Konoha was completely different from the former one. While the current one was divided in different department, the old one only consisted of a few rows which were taken either by the shinobi council or the civil council.
The new one was divided in Anbu representatives, Civilian representatives, Clan representatives and shinobi representatives who are completely independent to the Clans.
On top of that there was a big chair only meant for the Hokage , which was on the opposite to another chair, which obviously belonged to the fire daimyou.
Said daimyou was a middle aged man with a few streaks of gray in his brown hair. As his chin rested on his fist, while looking bored, one might say that this man has lost his edge, but in fact he was fully aware of his surroundings and kept his attention.
He may looked older than it was to be expected of a recently crowned daimyou, but his old man just wouldn´t die, so Masamune of the Fire had to wait.
Of course assassination had crossed his mind, but he somehow still liked the old man. He couldn´t do it.
A few ninjas and clan heads entered the room and the chattering of the waiting present inhabitants of the hidden Leaf village died off.
The successor would be chosen now.
When Naruto marched into the room, he got himself a seat in the Shinobi section. Since neither the Namikaze Clan nor the Uzumaki Clan held a position in the Clan section, he had to act as a ninja from civilians. Tough it was stupid, but there was no other choice. If he had to take two clan seat he would have doubled power, which was considered as cheating by some jealous fools.
Naruto accepted it. Of course he was not happy about it, but he didn´t want to ruin Tsunades Mourning Day because he had to rant like a child.
Naruto caught sight of his best friend who was half asleep but still maintained to look wide awake.
Sasuke was sitting in the direct opposite of him in the Uchiha seat.
Some shinobi asked Naruto many times how the bastard Uchiha managed to stay in the council even though he was once one of the most dangerous nuke-nin across the countries.
Honestly Naruto didn´t know but he was glad, that Sasuke was there. That way he was able to distract himself from annoying conversations revolving around very obvious things.
But today was different.
Well, the next Hokage was chosen.
Even tough Tsunade already announced him as the Rokudaime, the fire daimyou had still to give his permission.
Naruto didn´t think it would face a problem, but the council still had to debate about it.
It was more of a formal thing than to take it seriously.
Still Naruto paid attention and gave his opinion to this matter.
"So this Uzumaki guy will take over the position as the next Hokage, huh?", the daimyou Masamune interrupted the heated conversations.
The heads turned to him.
Naruto stared at the man on the flashy chair. For some reason he didn´t feel right. Something was off.
"Daimyou-sama.", Naruto started overly polite. Not wanting to offend this man with a whole shitload of power. "I am late with my introduction but I am Naruto Uzumaki, the chosen successor of Tsunade-ba- Godaime-sama."
The young Uzumaki bowed slightly.
"You are sitting in the Shinobi Department. So I can assume, that you are not a clan head.", the fire daimyou stated with a slight disgust in his voice . In the same moment Naruto knew something just went majorly wrong.
"That´s right. My father is from a civilian family and my mother is only a clan member of the Uzumaki clan, which is not acknowledged by Konoha. Therefore I have no right to claim a seat in the clan department.", Naruto answered, trying to hide his anger.
He seriously hated the fire daimyou.
"So...how come you think you could become a Hokage if you are not even a clan member from Konoha? It´s the same as a beggar trying to become a king. It´s ridiculous. Only humans with a pure blood line should wield the power to reign a whole shinobi village.", shot Masamune back and let out a loud yawn because the whole situation bored him. How could a mere shinobi think about claiming an important position as the Hokage? They were not prepared to lead.
His father, the late daimyou may allowed it, but he was different.
Because of his fathers inability to chose the right person for right job, the war started.
He would not make the same mistake as that fool.
The other present shinobis and civilians were shocked. Nobody spoke of their hero like that.
"Daimyou-sama, I am sure you know, that we won the war only because of Narutos braveness. If it weren´t for him not only Konoha would have been destroyed a dozen times, but also the fire nation.", Shikamaru, the current head of the Nara Clan reasoned, still not believing, what the older man just said.
"I have to agree with Shikamaru. I have to excuse me for my behavior, but I think it would be a huge mistake to take the right to be Hokage from Naruto. He is the perfect candidate. The villagers trust him and on top of that he is the strongest Ninja available.", Ino backed up the lazy Nara.
Certainly she wouldn´t accept anyone else but Naruto as the next Hokage.
The young boy was meant to be.
Even tough the reasoning of the two of them were based on logic, Masamune shook his head.
"As far as I am concerned there was also another boy who fought on equal terms with Uzumaki. And I also heard, that he was the last remaining Uchiha."
Narutos stomach went up in a turmoil. He couldn´t believe it. How was it possible.
He worked so hard to get acknowledged to become Hokage. There was no way this was all in vain.
His head turned to Sasuke, who was smirking at the development of the events.
Of course Naruto knew that Sasuke also wanted to become the next leader of the hidden village, but not even in his dreams Naruto thought it would turn out like that.
He felt so powerless.
The crowd looked up to the daimyou who was about to announce the new Kage.
No one really doubted that their favorite Uzumaki would become their leader.
After all he managed to rescue their home not only once but twice.
If you count out the normal rescue mission.
They were chanting his name in anticipation, already planning for a new Kagefestival.
The daimyou raised his hand and the whole place went silent.
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha had taken their places behind the ruler of Hi no Kuni.
From far behind Naruto spotted Sakura along with the other remnants of Rookie Nine.
They waved their hands, yelling his name, while adding Rokudaime.
"Quite!", the daimyou shouted angrily. His voice echoed through the masses of people.
"This is a special occasion, so I expect you to pay at least a little bit respect."
The villagers didn´t mind that much. After all they already know who was going to be Hokage.
"I will make it short, since this is only an official announcement. The two choices, please stand up."
Naruto walked next to the fire daimyou, even tough he would like to spit in his face.
He really despised the man.
Sasuke took his place next to the other side. A loud murmur went through the crowd.
They quite didn´t get the current situation.
"As Naruto Uzumaki was chosen by Godaime Tsunade, I refuse to accept this choice.", the middle aged man started.
"Instead of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha will take on the responsibility to protect this village."
So this was the prologe. To tell the truth English is not my native language but I tried my best. I hope for your support and I promise you that I will get better by time. But I also have a few FF in my language, and I am much better actually but well. It still worked somehow.
I have a rough idea how to go on with the story but I am not sure if Naruto is going to be evil or not. And I have not decided on a pairing yet.
I am sorry for every mistake. If anyone wants to volunteer as a Beta reader, please tell me.
Buddycomlex