"I'm not the stupid one around here… Kakashi." Naruto frowned at the silver haired man before turning and leaving.
"No… you're not."
The Jounin groaned mournfully as he awoke to a very bright and annoying sliver of sunshine. It was coming in through the crack between his two curtains. One of these days, he was going to have to solve that problem. However, he had one in front of him already. A Jounin, much younger than himself, stood at the foot of his bed with a very discerning grimace on his tan face. The Jounin blinked away the blurriness in his sleepy eyes and grumbled, turning over onto his side. The younger Jounin sighed and resorted to drastic measures… he flung the curtains wide open and dragged the bed sheets off all in one fluid move.
"Naruto! If you don't let me sleep off this hangover, so help me GOD I will sick every one of my ninken on you!" The Jounin half shouted, half slurred out as he curled up.
"Kakashi-senpai… I've been allowing you to "sleep off this hangover" for the past two hours. You're going to be late… again." Naruto frowned deeply at his former teacher. "Besides… you shouldn't have been out so late when you knew you were going to receive new students anyways."
"I don't care." Kakashi buried his head under the pillow and huffed.
"…I'm being sworn in as Hokage tomorrow." Naruto mentioned listlessly.
"What?!" Kakashi sat straight up and gawked at the younger, blonde Jounin.
"Chance!" Naruto grinned and grabbed his teacher, hauling him unceremoniously to the bathroom and shutting him inside. "You should have seen the look on your face!"
"That wasn't funny Naruto… we all know that Tsunade-sama's going to have to choose who the next Hokage will be by tonight." Kakashi muttered from the other side of the door.
"Oh, come on Kakashi-senpai… you know it won't be me." Naruto said ruefully.
Kakashi snorted and turned towards his sink. When Naruto was determined to do something, there was no arguing with him. In truth, Tsunade was finally looking at Naruto as a serious candidate for being the Nanadaime. No one was supposed to know that outside of herself and Shizune… it's not his fault he was eavesdropping. He was actually hoping that Naruto had been serious. He would have walked over to the Hokage tower and set in his approving vote immediately. The boy was older now and nothing like the teenager than he once knew. Sure, he was only twenty-two, but his personality was refining into something akin to his father. Naturally, Naruto didn't know it, but all those that knew the Yondaime saw him in the blonde Jounin more and more every day.
"Kakashi-senpai, hurry up! My team's going to kill me for being late because of you… again!" Naruto tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.
"Just tell them that you got caught up having a nice conversation with a scarecrow." Kakashi said humorously.
"I tried that once, they didn't believe me." Naruto chuckled and mimicked one of his students' voice. "Naruto-sensei! We know that you had to drag Kakashi out of bed again! Stop making up lies!"
"Am I that bad that even your students know about me?" Kakashi opened the door and stared at a bemused blonde.
"Only Koe… she's the smart one. Cheeky little bugger, she is." Naruto grinned.
"Oh yes… I met her…" Kakashi frowned. "I hate her."
"You say that about all Genin when you first meet them." The two turn and see another Jounin sitting on the window sill next to Kakashi's bed.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked curiously.
"I was told to help a fox wake up a scarecrow." The raven haired man smirked.
"Thanks…" Kakashi frowned again. "Even Sasuke's team is knows about me."
"Only because we tell them not to complain about us." Sasuke stated.
"We always remind them that at least we're not perverted…"
"Or always late…"
"Or aloof…"
"Or-"
"I get it, I get it!" Kakashi waved his hand dismissively.
The two younger Jounin grin triumphantly and leave the bedroom so Kakashi can dress. The silver haired man lets a smile grace his ever masked lips. He found the fact that his students complained about him rather endearing. If you complained about a teacher, they were memorable. He liked being remembered. Once he was dressed in his Jounin uniform, he joined the other two that were sitting comfortably in his living room. They left the apartment and walked toward the training areas. Sasuke and Naruto's teams were going to be training together today, so they walked off in one direction. Kakashi headed off to the academy to pick up his new Genin team. Would he pass them, he wondered. The only team he had ever passed was Team 7 with; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto.
Evening rolled around and Kakashi sighed. Another team bites the dust… he felt that he would probably never again pass a team. The silver haired man stood outside the Hokage tower with Icha Icha Violence in his hand. He didn't want to be the first Jounin to arrive to the voting for the Nanadaime. He felt it could be bad luck… what if Tsunade and the council chose him? He shuddered at the thought of all that responsibility. After all, who heard of a Hokage reading porn? Ah well. Kakashi knew he would accept the offer if it was presented. Only because Naruto had threatened him. The blonde knew that he was in Tsunade's consideration for Nanadaime. He told Kakashi that if he was offered the rank, he'd better take it or he'd be sorely missing his book collection.
"Kakashi?" The silver haired Jounin looked up at the voice that called out to him.
"Yo, Sakura." Kakashi pushed off of the wall he was leaning against.
"You're early… are you feeling alright?" Sakura asked suspiciously.
"No, I just finished with the Genin team earlier."
"Maa… Kakashi, you didn't pass another team!?" Sakura tsked and folded her arms. "And I wondered where Naruto and Sasuke got it from."
"Hey, at least we passed a team last year." Sasuke retorted half-heartedly.
"I'm kind of regretting it now, of course." Naruto rubbed his cheek were a fading bruise sat.
"Did Jiro manage to land another hit?" Sakura tried to sound stern even while she grinned.
"Actually, Jiro ducked and I ended up hitting him." Sasuke admitted.
"Little punks… Jiro never moved that fast before!" Naruto whined.
"It was rather impressive though." Sasuke said and Naruto nodded with a smirk.
The four walked into the tower together. Kakashi listened idly to the three talk about Sasuke and Naruto's team. Sakura had been far too busy the past two years to take on a team. Tsunade was teaching her the last she could in her final days. As they reached the large hall in which the meeting would take place a silence fell over all of them. Especially, Naruto and Sakura. The two were exceptionally close to the Godaime and were saddened when they saw the once powerful and beautiful woman in a wheelchair. She was nearing the end of her life and it was painfully obvious. Naruto quietly approached the woman he came to see like family and knelt down in front of her to speak for a moment.
Sakura held out a hand to keep Sasuke back. He didn't understand the relationship between the two… he hadn't been there to see it grow. The Uchiha, while confused, stood were he was and watched from a distance. He wasn't often found away from either Sakura or Naruto's side. Their presence was more comforting and light than others, even Kakashi. The former teacher of team seven stood next to the raven and the flower as he pretended to remain focused on his book. His mind was in a whirlwind… he wanted Naruto to receive the title of Nanadaime. However, he had a horrible suspicion that Tsunade would suggest him.
Slowly, more and more Jounin entered the hall. ANBU also began to appear and all of them found seats to plop down in tiredly. Kakashi watched as they entered with mild curiosity. Chouza, Inoichi and Shikaku entered with their children Chouji, Ino and Shikamaru. Kiba and his mother Tsume and sister Hana also entered shortly afterwards and the room began to grow noisy. Shino and Shibi arrived. The Hyuuga family entered with TenTen, Gai and Lee behind them. Kurenai came in followed by Ebisu, Genma and Raidou. Kakashi eventually turned his eyes away from the people entering so he could find a place to sit at one of the long rectangular tables. This would be a long process. He didn't want to end up with a bad seat to sit in.
Unfortunately, he did… Gai spotted his silver hair and made a beeline for his eternal rival. Plopping down squarely next to the Jounin. Lee followed suit just as always… how amusing. Kakashi grimaced and glanced to his other side where Sasuke and Sakura sat trying not to snicker at his predicament. After all the Jounin arrived, the doors shut and everyone grew silent. Tsunade's voice wasn't quite as prominent and boisterous as it once was. Naruto stood and prepared to head towards a seat, but Shizune stopped him. Kakashi sat up a little at the movement and watched studiously as Tsunade's assistant talked to Naruto in a hushed voice. The next moment, Naruto nodded and walked down the middle aisle towards Kakashi.
"Kakashi-senpai…" Naruto waved him over.
He begrudgingly stood from being able to finally sit and moved towards Naruto. The blonde grinned and they walked up to the front; at the bottom of the stairs they stopped. Tsunade smiled at both of them fondly before looking up to the crowd. Kakashi felt worried… was she unable to decide between him and Naruto? Was she going to put it all up to a vote with the Jounin and ANBU?
"I have been debating this… for many years." Tsunade said as strongly as she could will herself to sound. "I am unable to make the final choice of who will be the Nanadaime… so I present to you the two I cannot decide between. You will have to vote for one or the other… take as much time as you need. Both have fine qualities to reign as Hokage, but they are not perfect. Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto are the best choices that Konoha has to offer. This is not an easy decision, I know, but this is the best I could do."
The crowd all exchanged looks with one another. This was rare… this was very rare. Once the initial shock wore off, they all grabbed for the paper and pens. Kakashi and Naruto turned and faced the crowd… they would have to stand in front like this until it was over. The two mentally groaned in discontent. Hopefully, the Konoha ninja would take too long. Minutes went by… then an hour and no one had casted a vote. Finally, after reaching the two and a half hour mark, Ebisu stood proudly and walked up to hand in his vote. Kakashi and Naruto both bowed their heads gratefully as he went back to his seat. After his vote was entered, Shikaku and Shikamaru went up to cast their own.
One by one people started to stand up to give their votes to the proctors. Kakashi and Naruto nodded to them. The last two that casted their votes were Sakura and Sasuke. Naturally, it would be difficult to pick between their former teacher and their former teammate. Both were still comrades, but Sasuke and Sakura had a bond with both. After everyone handed in their votes, the proctors sat down and began to count. It took them thirty minutes to tally the votes. Once completed, the proctors looked surprised… and concerned. One of them stood and walked up to Tsunade and Shizune. She whispers the results to the other two women. Shizune looks surprised and Tsunade sighs wearily before looking up at the crowd.
"The votes have been counted… Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto…" Tsunade looked at the two as they turned to face her. "You both received the same amount of votes."
The whole crowd burst into a murmuring frenzy. Kakashi was shocked. They received the same amount of votes? What did that mean!? What was going to happen, were they going to hold another vote? That wouldn't make sense… that means someone would have to change their hard thought out vote. Kakashi was about to ask, but he heard Naruto chuckle from his side. Shizune, Tsunade and Kakashi shifted their gazes to rest on the blonde. The crowd noticed the shift in attention and grew silent once more. Naruto was smiling and he looked up at Tsunade.
"I deny your request to make me the Nanadaime Hokage… and I cast my vote for Kakashi-senpai." Naruto said without any hint if remorse or bitterness.
"Naruto…" Tsunade stared at him wide eyed.
"I can always be Hokage after Kakashi-senpai… I'm still young." Naruto grinned, cocking his head to the side.
A few days later, Kakashi was sitting at his desk… still in awe of Naruto's abrupt announcement. The Jounin had given the Hokage name to him without any hesitation. While he sat quietly, a knocking sound reached his ears. He looked up just as the door opened to reveal Naruto himself. He was grinning rather strangely and he shut the door behind him. Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows at the unusual smile on the blonde's face… he almost seemed to be hiding something. Something that usually warranted a smack or two from Sakura. The blonde hurried over to his desk and snickered lightly.
"Kakashi… take this." Naruto handed a book over to his former teacher.
"What is it?" Kakashi eyed the book suspiciously. It reminded him of his Icha Icha series.
"Jiraiya didn't tell you, did he?" Naruto blinked.
"No… what?" Kakashi found himself really interested suddenly.
"He left me the rights to the Icha Icha series… this one's my first book I wrote and got published." Naruto almost laughed when Kakashi snatched the book from his hand.
"Are they anything like Jiraiya-san's?" Kakashi opened it eagerly.
"If they weren't, they wouldn't have the same name… or author's name. I kept it as a pseudonym." Naruto chuckled. "The editor's said it was just like Jiraiya's, but less errors and a little better."
"Hm, Hm, Hm!" Kakashi grinned to himself as he began to read through the prologue.
"Now you can see why I didn't want to be Hokage yet…" Naruto added somberly.
"Huh?" Kakashi stopped reading at the change in Naruto's tone of voice.
"I want to travel for a while, Kakashi… do I have your permission to do that?" Naruto looked down at Kakashi where he sat.
"Travel?" Kakashi repeated dumbly.
"Yeah…" Naruto smiled wistfully. "Like when Jiraiya and I used to."
"…" Kakashi wasn't sure how to respond. "…When… when would you return?"
"Oh… I don't know. It would be a few years, I'm sure of that in the very least."
"What about your Genin team?" Kakashi regained himself enough to recall the blonde's students.
"Sakura's going to take them on while I'm gone. They need someone like her to rein them in again." Naruto chuckled.
"…I…" Why did it feel so hard to give Naruto the okay to leave and travel for a while?
"You don't have to answer right now. It's going to take a few days to make the switch over to Sakura with my team." Naruto smiled sympathetically. "But I expect you to say 'yes' in three days."
With that said, Naruto left the room. Kakashi looked down at the book in his hands… suddenly not wanting to read anymore. He set the new Icha Icha Adventure on his desk and sat back in the chair. What should he do now? Let the blonde leave? Or deny him and make him miserable? Kakashi groaned unhappily. These are the decisions he hated… he absolutely hated. He didn't want Naruto to leave because then what would he look at? What would shine down on him and take the time to wake him up every morning he was up too late or out drinking? Then again, if he made Naruto stay… he wouldn't be happy. The blonde would probably start ignoring him or give him a hard time about missions. He really didn't want Naruto to leave again for years. It had weighted down on him so heavily when he had left with Jiraiya. What should he do?
…..AHAHAH! STORY! Yes… I'm back with another one. This one… I think might end up a two-shot. It'll depend on how I feel after finishing the second chapter.
…..My hands hurt from all the typing and what not now… So, I'm done for tonight!