In need of a Hokage

Hey guys, I hope you liked the first chapter of "In need of a Hokage" I hope it was to most of your taste's but alas I cannot please everyone, so if you don't like where this is going then don't read it, simple. Anyway, this chapter has sadly no Naruto training in it, as I will put them in flashbacks throughout the story as little reminders to Naruto of his new responsibility. I also realised after finishing the first chapter that I have sort of done cannon but earlier. So? That's just a means to an end for the way the story is going. On with the story!

I would like to say as well, that this chapter is all Kakashi, in third person but you know what he is thinking, and that the net chapter will probably be a mix of Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura and Hinata, those four are my main characters, Sasuke will be a sort of anti-hero/villain throughout until the end of the Five Kage Summit, I have plans for Sasuke, that's when he'll become more of a main character to the story and less of a plot device.

"The Author would like to remind all readers that he will not tolerate any 'Flaming' he also would like the reader to know that on his desk are two cans of Coca-Cola and are in fact two of the few things he owns, unlike the Anime and Manga series that is Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and all associated media, they belong to the owners."

REVIEW RESPONSES:

To the guest called "Kit" I am the author, not you, this is my story not yours, if you have a problem with my writing style then it sucks to be you, cause I aint changing anything, "Ero-sennin" vs "Pervy Sage" is pretty straightforward, "Pervy Sage" sounds better to me! "Datebayyo" instead of "believe it" will never happen as I have never understood it or even heard it in the English subbed versions of the show,

To Kronus96 thank you for the criticism, it was not my attempt to distract you from the story, I just thought that it was funny with my use of croaked and Naruto being the new Toad Sage. Danzo has been my least favourite character ever since he appeared, I hate Part 1 Sakura, but she changed, Danzo for the time he was a major character was just a complete arsehole and I just laughed when Sasuke killed him/Danzo's seal suicide.

Chapter 2: The Next in a chain of Many! Part 1: Meetings and Memories

As Kakashi walked into the temporary base of operations it dawned on him that he was going to have to do a lot to convince the Fire Daimyo to not have many shinobi discharged. He had said in the meeting yesterday that it was the heads of the various departments fault that Konoha wasn't ready for Pain's attack. It was now his job to convince the Daimyo that even if the attack was predicted the shinobi wouldn't have made much difference overall, most ninja in Konoha were mid Chunnin and many of these shinobi had little combat experience with ninja of Pain's calibre. When it came down to the facts, Kakashi was surprised that Naruto could equal with Pain in terms of power.

"All rise!" Shikaku, the Jounin Commander stated in a tone similar to that of his son, Shikamaru, absolutely lazy.

"Thank you Shikaku, you may all be seated, now we just wait for the Daimyo to arrive." Kakashi sighed, it was around this time that he would be paying his respects to Minato-sensei, Obito, Rin, Lord Third and sadly now, Jiraiya. Ever Jounin, Tokubetsu Jounin and Kage ranked ninja would understand why Kakashi did this, not only was this to pay respect to the fallen, it was another way he coped with what being a killer did to him, Make Out Tactics and the other novels were one outlet, this was his other outlet, not that he'd tell anyone directly. The only two that weren't Jounin or above were Naruto and Sakura although he had a suspicion that Shikamaru would understand just as well, the calculative son of a bitch.

Within ten minutes the Daimyo arrived with his 2 of his guards from the 12 Guardian Shinobi. Then the meeting commenced with the issue of Naruto's defeat of Pain.

"Lord Sixth, how do you know the Hero of the Hidden Leaf, if I may be so bold?" The Daimyo asked with the most condescending voice Kakashi had ever heard, and he knew Ebisu.

"Naruto is, or maybe now, was my student for a time, he is the son of the Fourth Hokage," This earned gasps from around the room, from many of the council, most of the shinobi clan heads just nodded, all except the Sarutobi clan head, Konohamaru, after the deaths of his father, grandfather and uncle, he was the only one to head the clan, but he had an older more experienced Sarutobi clan member with him.

"Naruto was the son of Lord Fourth?" Konohamaru gasped, completely shocked by this revelation.

"Yes, he was my sensei's son and I know that he now knows this. As most of you are aware, when battling Pain, Hinata Hyuga, a fellow classmate of Naruto, leap down to try and unfortunately fail to protect him from the Akatsuki leader, according to a Hyuga clansmen I have spoken with, the young heiress was stabbed through the abdomen and fell unconscious from hr injuries, to Naruto, I guess he snapped, as a person Naruto has the strongest ideals I have ever seen, except those of his father. With Hinata, appearing dead during his panicking, Naruto's emotions snapped and being a sentient chakra demon of hatred, the Nine Tails broke free of the various levels of the Fourth's seal."

"And why was this seal breaking, Lord Sixth?" The Daimyo's snooty voice rang true to all of the council, all of whom were captivated by Kakashi's telling of the events of the previous week.

"Naruto's seal, Lord Fourth's seal, was based upon the theory of feeding a small amount of the Nine Tails' chakra into Naruto's own reserves, a fact that will mean the Nine Tails will die with Naruto, unless Naruto releases the beast, which currently I doubt will happen." Kakashi paused, thinking on how to carry on without scaring the civilian council, "Now, what I am going to explain now is how strong Naruto is," He voiced sternly, looking at the civilian council, the majority of whose families barred Naruto from their stall, shops and restaurants, "The seal, like I said feed Naruto the chakra from the Nine Tails, this in turn fuses with his own large chakra reserves and fuels him for longer, however anyone who is adept at sensing chakra will tell you that whenever Naruto uses this chakra, by choice or not, you can feel the hatred in it, the boiling anger of what the Fourth sacrificed his son to bear. In such cases where the flow that Naruto taps into increases, it is usually because of emotions such as rage, anger, pain and sadness. As a child many of you here, and don't deny it, made my student feel despair to the brink of suicide, Naruto Uzumaki, clan head of the Namikaze, was driven by your hatred of the thing sealed in him, to suicide, not just once but several times." Kakashi had ended up shouting at the end of that, even with the Daimyo there he couldn't care less, and that was one fact that had always bothered him.

He carried on by saying, "I'm can honestly say to you and even with the Daimyo and one of Naruto's friends here, that as an ANBU black ops, I asked the Third to let me tail Naruto, yes you heard correctly, the Third Hokage wasn't as senile as many of you thought, he knew that the law he decreed concerning Naruto's burden and heritage would be ignored subtly and sent various two man ANBU teams to oversee his life."

"Lord Sixth!" The Daimyo shouted, to get Kakashi's attention

"Yes, my lord?"

"With your implanted Sharingan, is there any way you can show us some of Naruto's past?"

"I can, my lord, but I don't need my Sharingan, just Inoichi's permission." Kakashi replied looking at the Yamanaka clan head, who in turn nodded his permission.

"Right, everyone, please join hands, ANBU make sure that no-one, regardless of why does not enter this room."

Many of the Jounin noticed the blurs of darkness shift as the ANBU moved into a protective formation. Then the council and the Daimyo joined hands, almost grudgingly by some, eagerly by others.

"Right, Lord Sixth may I explain what will happen?" Inoichi asked.

"With pleasure."

"Ok, when I activate this jutsu everyone here will be placed into a unconscious state and our consciousness' will be transferred into Lord Sixth's mind, we can then look at his memories as he deems fit, I can end the jutsu, but with permission from the Hokage, is this understood?"

Around the room everyone nodded, Kakashi noted that Konohamaru nodded so fast it seemed as though he was being shaken by some unknown spirit.

"Okay then, Collective Consciousness Jutsu!" Inoichi called and signed the clan jutsu.

The whole council and the Daimyo suddenly became unconscious as their minds were brought into Kakashi's own. He then began remembering something he wished he would never have to see again.

-*-Flashback-*-

Kakashi had bolted when he had heard the news, like most of the younger generation, he was told to stay back and protect the citizens, so when a toad messenger, one of both Lord Jiraiya's and Minato-sensei's appeared he knew deep down, just knew that something hadn't gone the way his sensei wanted it to.

When the young Jounin arrived all he saw was devastation, he saw the dead bodies in body-bags, the third Hokage holding a small bundle of cloth, Lord Jiraiya kneeling in front of the body bags and finally the small but deadly sealing altar. Unlike both his sensei and Lord Jiraiya, Kakashi wasn't an expert in sealing jutsu, but he knew what that abominable altar was for, every shinobi from the village did.

With shock keeping him from feeling the overbearing pain that was to come, he struggled over to the Hokage. As he arrived he bowed his head, "Lord Third, please tell me that isn't…" For the fourth time in his life Kakashi felt grief, complete and destructive grief. The first time was when his father, the White Fang had committed suicide, the second was when Obito had died, saving both him and Rin from falling boulders and the third was when he had been forced to stab Rin in the chest by using the Raikiri. This, if it was true, meant that he was the only one left, that his generation's Team 7 was gone, forever.

"Yes Kakashi, I'm sorry, but it's true, Minato gave his life trying to save our village, his village from harm, we all saw what happened when he summoned Gamabunta, he disappeared with the Nine Tails and suddenly Gerotora told Jiraiya where to find Minato."

Kakashi then remembered that there were two body bags, "And the other one is…?" he asked already knowing from instinct that it would be…

"Kushina, yes, poor Naruto has been forced with a life without his parents."

"Naruto?" He remembered that Kushina was pregnant and nearly due to give birth to sensei's son but how did that link her with the Nine Tails attack.

"Yes, I guess you're thinking of how she links in to the Nine Tails attack, right Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded, and glanced over to Jiraiya who was making his way over to them.

"She was its prison!" Jiraiya seethed.

"Jiraiya! Calm yourself, we cannot change the past, it is forbidden, you should know this better than anyone!" The Third barked, his former student flinched.

"I'm sorry, I, I just can't believe he's dead, he should be here with us, discussing how Naruto will learn about the demon, Naruto doesn't deserve to hear it from a stranger."

"Lord Jiraiya, what did Gerotora tell you when he told you about the attack?" Kakashi had to ask, he needed to know if Minato-sensei had done this for a purpose later on in life.

"Yeah, he also was told to get four letters from Minato's house. There is one for all of us, and another for Naruto when he's older."

Jiraiya then handed the young Jounin a letter, which was quickly torn open and opened up.

In Minato-sensei's words were as follows:

'Dear Kakashi, I know that this will be hard for you, especially after Obito and Rin, but I need your help, yes me, Konoha's Yellow Flash needs the White Fang's son's help. I need you, Jiraiya-sensei and Lord Third to always be around for Naruto, he should be seen by you and your generation as a hero, not some monster, not like the Nine Tails. I know that I will die tonight and I'm glad I got to see my son even if it was only for a short time.

If Kushina has survived this then tell her that you will be there for both her and Naruto, if she has passed on, promise your sensei this last request, that regardless of whatever you hear from anyone, concerning myself and Naruto, that you won't react, other than helping Naruto. Also as you asked last week, your ANBU assessment has been scheduled, so that may help later on.

I know, as much as you that Jiraiya-sensei will return to his spy network, and that the Third will be reinstated, so whilst both of them are busy I need to be Naruto's guardian. I know that as a young man, you don't want children yet, and trust me I agree with you on the age part, but even if it is from the shadows, protect him, for I believe that Naruto will save us from the Pain of the shinobi world.

Yours truly

Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash and Fourth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves'

-*-Flashback end-*-

Inside Kakashi's mind the council and the Daimyo were shocked, that the Fourth Hokage had actually given his life freely and wasn't forced by the demon to do so. The Hokage were always chosen because of their Will of Fire, and mulling over Kakashi's memories confirmed to all of the council civilian and shinobi alike, that the Fourth Hokage had put aside all of what he wanted as a father and sealed the demon into his very own son, to save the village. That was the truest form of the Will of Fire that any of the council had seen before. Suddenly they were pushed into darkness, which receded into colour, many of the civilian council paled, as they may or may not have instigated this, and to know that the Hokage was an ANBU at the time and was watching over Naruto made some of them sweat.

-*-Flashback-*-

Kakashi needed to hurry, the citizens were beginning to catch up with the boy, the young 6 year old child that was his sensei's son, a child who should have been regarded by all of the Leaf as a Hero, not a Demon. They had begun this ritualistic hunt for him every year as today was Naruto's birthday, and the day that Minato-sensei sacrificed both his life and Naruto's future by sealing away the Nine Tailed Fox into Naruto himself.

After the reorganisation of the village from the Nine Tails attack, Lord Third had indeed, just like Minato-sensei predicted, returned to his seat as Hokage. Both men had discussed Naruto's fate and both had decided with the small input Jiraiya had given before leaving once more, that Naruto was to be placed into an orphanage to try and find a loving family for him. This had failed as some shinobi had seen the blonde haired child and had let slip that the Nine Tails was sealed inside of the child. Many had become to see Naruto as the Nine Tails reincarnate, so Kakashi and the Third came to an agreement. Naruto would be given the choice to become a ninja like his parents or to stay a civilian, if he chose the former, when he graduated from the Academy, Kakashi would be his sensei, if he passed Kakashi's test. In return the Third let Kakashi into the ANBU and almost always assigned him to guarding the child. In case any of the civilian made any attempts on the young blonde's life.

Currently though, the child was screaming in terror as the mob descended upon the alley he had failed to hide in properly, in any case Kakashi was always amazed by how Naruto bounced back, he was kind, and friendly if you allowed yourself to meet him properly. But tonight was a possible bump in the road of Naruto's life, his Road to Ninja, as Naruto himself had told the Hokage.

Acting swiftly and nimbly Kakashi, or Dog, his ANBU call-sign and Monkey, his partner at the time, jumped down and barricaded Naruto against a wall, with their backs to him, both armed with their kunai drawn. Many civilians would have been scared away by this act of defensive aggression, but not tonight, not with this crowd, the charged both ANBU agents and out of the twenty or so that did, only four were left alive, the rest were dead, but in a way were it looked as though they had been knocked out, for Naruto's sake.

The little child was actually curled up in a ball rocking slowly, sobbing and whimpering, so much so that it tore Kakashi's heart out to see this child, in so much physical and mental agony.

Crouching down he gently asked, "Naruto?" His voice was barely a whisper, but in the now 'empty' alley it echoed as though Kakashi had just spoken regularly. But none the less the small boy stopped rocking and looked up at the tall masked man, only three people had ever called him by his first name, and only five even knew it. Kakashi knew this from eavesdropping the boys frantic sobbing one time. He knew that Jiraiya had made a wise choice when he left the small frog/toad wallet on Naruto's bedside two years ago.

"Yes, Mr. ANBU?" Naruto asked meekly, which again tugged at Kakashi's heart, the lively young child had vanished, replaced by this scarred shell of a human.

"I'm here to take you to the hospital, we really should get those cuts looked at, just to be safe."

"Are you going to hurt me if I don't?"

Kakashi physically shifted back on his heels, shocked to believe that Naruto though that everyone bar the three 'friends' he had was out to hurt him.

"No, Naruto, I would never hurt you, I would however stop you from just going to your apartment, and the Hokage would kill me if I let one of his young friends get injured without helping them."

Kakashi calmly lowered his hand out to the child before him who slowly looked back at the floor, considering his options, until his hand shot up and curled around Kakashi's.

"Thank you Mr. ANBU."

-*-Flashback end-*-

With that Kakashi forced the group out of his head, and the council regained consciousness, slowly one by one, except for Konohamaru and the Daimyo, each bowed their heads in regret, even those who were from shinobi clans realised that at some point during Naruto childhood, they could have offered help, but had refused out of pride.

"Will that be all for this session, my Lord?" Kakashi asked the Daimyo wearily.

Well then, that's chapter 2, it will be a two parter, but not consecutively, the next chapter will probably focus on Sakura and Hinata, I may have them discuss what Hinata did and said when she tried to stop Pain. Anyway thank you for reading, and please review, it helps me more than you'd think.