I don't own Naruto, if I did, Jiraiya would have survived
Thanks for the updates and constructive criticism, to be honest I thought it would be a total failure but I guess it can't be that bad, I'll try to use all your suggestions to improve the story. I also realise that I may have made the kyuubi a bit to kind which was pointed out in a review so I hope to fix that soon, but I'll stop bugging you now so you can start reading.
Naruto was lying wide awake in his bed, having suffered through another night of barley any sleep, and to top it off, a loud annoying beeping had started next to his head. The source was immediately silenced by naruto's fist, thus destroying what used to be a perfectly good alarm clock.
So much for having an early night, damn I still can't sleep, I'm starting to think that Sasuke's Tsukuyomi is having a lasting effect on my mind, I'll need to speak to granny about this, but I suppose I should get up.
After a quick breakfast he made his way to the hokage tower, can't hurt to be early, even if it is by an hour, I've got nothing else to do until later anyway maybe she'll see me early.
After a relatively quick walk, he arrived at the tower that he someday hoped to run, little did he know that his dream was closing in and would soon be within his grasp. He slowly made his way into the tower, bumping into the very person he was there to see. Tsunade, to put it plainly, look like shit. She had bags under her eyes, her hair was a mess and she would snap at anyone who dared speak to her. She was not a morning person.
"Umm, hey granny is this a bad time?" Naruto asked, half expecting to be punched through a wall like he so often was, but to his surprise it didn't happen.
"Walk with me brat" Tsunade said, not having the energy to harm the knucklehead, "I thought I said to come at ten"
"Yeah, I sort of need to talk to you about that, I've been having trouble sleeping, I have a suspicion that it might a reaction from a seal I created to dispel genjutsu and sasuke's Tsukuyomi mixing and messing up something in my head. I'm no where near Ero-Sennin's skill in seals so I might have made a mistake" Naruto replied while voicing his theories
"I'm not sure about that one, I'll check on it later this afternoon if you like" She offered only to see the blonde shaking his head
"Sorry, I have something on for this afternoon, we'll have to do it another time" he said while entering the hokage's office. "So how come you called me in, gonna give me some kick ass mission like usual?" he asked while using the nice guy pose he got from Lee, which had been clearly been banned in her office. Oh how badly Tsunade wanted to punch him through the wall, but it had just been fixed…
"No, that's not it" she said with a smirk, catching his attention
"Granny, we agreed that I would never receive a mission under B ranking, I swear if you make me catch that damn cat Tora…" he trailed off after he noticed the vein throbbing in her forehead. Right… not a morning person.
"If you'll shut up I'll explain why you're here, as soon as our guest arrives" she said ending all discussion by calling Shizune to get her some coffee.
20 minutes had passed and they where still waiting on there guest, Naruto being oblivious of who it was starting throwing insults in the general direction he thought he/she would be, not noticing the door open and a man slide in silently to take a seat next to him.
He was about halfway through a rather colour full insult when he heard the hokage clear her throat and stare ate him, flicking her eyes to his left, telling him to look. Naruto obliged and stared into the eyes of the fire daimyo
Oh shit
He started to stutter out an apology about not realising how important there guest was until the daimyo waved it off with a gentle smile, he had always had a soft spot for Naruto, being Minato's son and all.
"Its fine, its fine, I remember your father doing a similar thing, though with less vulgar words I must say. I see a lot of Jiraiya in you, you know. It's sad but makes me happy at the same time to know that both men's legacies are being carried on by someone with your stature.
Naruto muttered out a barely audible 'thank you' while looking away to hide the emotions that those words had stirred. It didn't look very good for a ninja to go all teary eyed in front of somebody of such importance. So when he gained his composure he looked at Tsunade, who immediately began the meeting.
"Naruto, you have been called here to be offered a great honour, the fire daimyo is here to offer his congratulations, support and approval of my offer. I Tsunade of the Sannin and godaime hokage, would like to offer you, Naruto Namikaze known as both the toad sage and the son of a legend, the honour of being my successor to hokage when I stand down. Do you accept?"
Naruto just stared. Was she serious? Or was it a cruel joke? No, granny wouldn't do that to him, and the fire daimyo Is here, so it must be legit. He didn't know how to react, was he supposed to look happy, or was he meant to keep a cool head and act casual? He didn't know, hell he didn't even expect to be offered the job until he was old, since both the hokage's he had known where in there later years. Naruto finally decided with the level tone, though he struggled to keep it even.
"Yes, I Naruto Namikaze, will accept the responsibilities of being your successor, and when the time comes, full responsibilities of protecting the village and it's people. I am willing to lay down my life for Konoha and will do so without a second thought" he said, impressing both people.
He pulled that out of his ass that had to be his most professional response while under scrutiny ever, I'm impressed, Tsunade thought smugly, maybe I wont have to wait too long to retire after all, he really only needs to improve in the area of diplomacy. Hell, he might even be too strong for his own good; he's already getting full of himself.
He was happily lost in thought, imagining how he could rub his new status in all of his friends faces, until the hokage had to clear her throat again, "I know your happy about this Naruto, but concentrate a little longer and then you can go, I will need you represent me at a local wedding to give the hokage's blessing, I'll have you marked down as my successor on your id, so basically, flash around that piece of paper and you can open many doors", she said with a smirk on her face, before realising that they where still in company with royalty.
"But I trust you not to abuse your new power and to only use it when need, I know you're not the kind of person to pull rank on people, but I need to tell you that just in case. An official statement will be made to the public in a few days, until then only tell your close friends. Now get out, I need to iron out some of the minor details with Daimyo Sama" she said while smiling happily at her favourite blonde.
Before Naruto exited the room, he turned around and mouthed 'nice save' to Tsunade while giving her the thumbs up, then rushed out to make an exciting entrance to Ino's party, but first he would go meet up with Shikamaru and play a few games of shogi.
(Later that afternoon, Ino's Pool Party)
"Trust Naruto to be late, it's always him and Shikamaru, I swear they meet up, wait till there an hour late, then time their entrances so it looks like they came at different times" Ino said, rather angrily (both Naruto and Shikamaru sneezed simultaneously), "why do I even invite them?, she asked herself, while looking at the food that was now going cold. She continued her venting until she noticed an expressionless Uchiha entering through the side gate.
"Who invited him?" She asked, confused that he would even turn up, but what she saw next hit her like a ton of bricks. Sakura ran up and hugged him, and from the little knowledge she had of lip reading, was sure that sakura had said:
'Thanks for coming, but what will you do if Naruto turns up?'
Ino turned around before she could see any more. Sakura had invited a traitor to her party, and being the last of such an important clan meant that the civilian council had kissed his ass and forgotten all of his crimes. She felt her blood start to boil, how could she have been so blind as to worship him in her genin days.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice mumble something about troublesome blondes, but her attention was quickly drawn to the noisy entrance that Naruto had committed himself to, only to have it blow up in his face, he attempted to jump the gate while shouting that he was there, only to get his foot caught and end up face planting into the ground.
"Trust Naruto to make sure we get a good laugh" Kiba called out "how's your face?"
The only reply he got was a groan from the last Namikaze, just laying there for a while until he decided to get up. He was sporting a red mark covering the whole left side of his face, which only caused the group to laugh louder at there blonde friends expense.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, but just imagine how dull your lives would be if I wasn't around" he said with a smirk knowing that he had them.
"He has a point" Ino admitted, smiling at him, "but half the time I think he does it on purpose for the attention"
This caused a miniature war of words to start between the two blondes, until they noticed that others where starting to get in the pool.
"Ahh, about time" he said beginning to pull of his shirt until he noticed a certain raven haired Uchiha. They seemed to look at each other at the same time because they locked eyes making the tension around them grow to amazing levels. Everyone seemed to feel the change in atmosphere because they all turned and saw the last of the Namikaze staring down the last Uchiha. The murderous looks they where giving each other meant that they both intended on ending each others clan right now.
To naruto's credit, he wasn't as dopey as he made himself out to be, that was a mask he used for these kinda of confrontations. Sasuke had just seen him make a fool of himself, which means he would relax and assume that Naruto was not prepared for a fight.
Sasuke always had his Sharingan handy, which was lucky for him, but he seemed to forget naruto's sage mode. He was getting overconfident, which he showed my smirking at him. "Do you really want to end up in the hospital again dobe?" he asked, completely sure of himself
His sharingan had activated unconsciously due to the killer glares he had been giving out. This prompted Naruto to dip into the kyuubi's chakra, making his eyes turn crimson, his whisker marks to deepen, his teeth to sharpen and his nails to lengthen.
The realisation hit him hard, Sasuke saw how Naruto's eyes changed, and instantly new he was screwed.
"Hn, I'm not going to waste my time" he said mockingly before walking away, but the Uchiha new he would not have stood a chance fighting Naruto when he was in that state in such a confined area, he would get slaughtered.
Sakura soon chased after him and the party resumed as if nothing had happened, well except for Kiba constantly making remarks like
'Did you see the Uchiha run with his tail between his legs'
"I think he actually shat himself when he saw naruto's eyes"
And "whata pussy, wasn't even man enough to fill his own threats"
Naruto was having a good time speaking to Choji at the food table until he got nudged by Kiba
"Take a look at that" he said with a sly smile
"What are you tal… Oh My God" Naruto said while vaguely noticing the sausage roll he had dropped and the glare Choji gave him for wasting food.
"Is it even possible to be that hot?" he asked, only to have Kiba wiggle his eyebrows suggestively and continue staring. Both men where enjoying the view of Ino getting out of the pool, wearing a purple bikini (surprise surprise) and sitting down on a deck chair next to TenTen, who was also in a bikini, until a voice came up behind them and said
"You know, I really hate perverts" making both guys pale. It was none other than Tsunade herself, but why was she here? Neither guy had a chance to voice there defences because before they new it, they had be smacked across the yard, through the fence and into the neighbours yard, drawing a few screams of surprise.
Naruto and Kiba got up slowly, nursing the backs of their heads while Tsunade approached them.
"Brat, I got the details of the wedding I want you to attend in my place, and if you want to take a leaf out of my book, I would suggest giving taking somebody with you for company. Weddings tend to take a while, so try not to get drunk and embarrass your self"
Naruto sweat dropped while Kiba looked confused. "Come on granny, that happened like, six months ago"
Tsunade saw the confused look Kiba was sporting so she decided to clue him in. "Naruto went to a small party with me, well more of a social gathering between the clan heads. He got blind drunk, threw up on your mother then started hitting on her as if nothing had happened".
Kiba looked at Naruto in utter shock, "Wow, you're the first guy to survive hitting on my mum, let alone throwing up on her" he said before bursting out laughing and slapping Naruto on the back, "C'mon lets go swim" he said while walking back towards Ino's house.
Naruto did the same while grabbing the piece of paper Tsunade had dropped next to him with the wedding details.
'Hmm, it's on Tuesday, I'm really not looking forward to it, maybe Kiba can come, he'll help me have a good laugh" he said to himself before rejoining the group at the pool, forgetting the broken fence and stunned neighbours.
(3 hours later)
"See ya Ino, thanks for the invite I had fun" Naruto said while waving to his friend, he shunshined directly onto his apartment and started his search for food.
"Aah ramen, what would I do without you?" he asked himself while setting it up and waiting the required three minutes. He was about to start eating when he heard a knock on the door.
Who would that be? He thought while opening the door, and to his surprise he saw Ino. She was holding his orange beach towel while sporting a pale blue shirt and white ¾ length pants
"You forgot your towel. So I though I'd bring it to you before I forgot" she said brightly, flashing him one of her heart stopping smiles.
Wow, she has a great smile, how have I never noticed that before? And damn her body looks good.
"Umm, Naruto, you ok? You're staring at me" she said, a little unnerved by his roaming eyes.
"Oh sorry, hey Ino, do you wanna grab something to eat with me? We can even go some place other than ichiraku's" he asked, unsure of what he was doing. Crap I just asked Ino out, what am I doing? Wow her eyes are beautiful, wait, I just asked out Ino.
"Umm, yeah why not, I am pretty hungry. Where do you want to go?"
"How bout that new place that opened up down the road, Choji said the foods great there" Naruto said, utterly shocked Ino had said yes but managed to hide it.
"I didn't know there was a new place opened up, I'll have to trust you on this one" she said with another one of her perfect smiles, while turning around. She started to walk until she realised she had know idea where they were going. "Guess you'll have to lead the way", (another breath taking smile)
"Here I'll lead the way" Naruto said while grabbing her arm so he could turn her in the right direction. The moment he touched her skin, Naruto's heart missed a beat and he felt like he had butterflies in his stomach, which ended when he let go.
What was that, it never felt like that whenever I touched Sakura? Her skin was so smooth and soft
Naruto noticed that the restaurant was in sight, so he led Ino in to it and asked for a table. "Hey, do you have a table for two?" he asked the man who delegated the tables.
"I'm sorry; we don't have any public tables le… Oh I'm sorry Lord Namikaze, I'll escort you to one of our private booths" he said, afraid that he may have offended the famous ninja.
The man led them to a booth in the corner of the restaurant, far away from the tables open for the public. Theses booths were reserved for public figures like clan heads. After they were seated, Naruto and Ino started looking through the menu only to realise just how expensive this place was
"Wow, naruto maybe we should go somewhere else, I don't have enough money on me to pay for the cheapest thing here" Ino said, disappointed that they would have to find someplace else.
"Don't worry about, I'll pay for you as well, I asked you to come along after all" he replied, cringing on the inside when he realised how much this was going to cost him.
Shortly after they ordered there meals, Ino with a small chicken salad and Naruto with sushi, they ate in silence for a while until Naruto broke the ice. "So, how come Sasuke was there?"
"I don't know, I think that Sakura invited him, I don't know what to think of either of them, I mean, Sakura was my best friend but now she's associating her self with a traitor. Sasuke on the other hand, is a criminal yet he wasn't punished. After everything he did, he got off without even a slap on the wrist" she said, sadness evident in her eyes.
Before Naruto could say anything, Neji appeared in his ANBU uniform "Lor.. Naruto, you must come with me at once, I am sorry for interrupting for evening, but it is of the utmost importance"
Naruto groaned before nodding, "sorry Ino, here this should cover the bill, keep whatever change there is for yourself" he said while getting up, "I'll make it up you ok, bye"
With that, both men shunshined away, leaving Ino to finish her meal alone. Sighing, she finished her salad quickly before paying the bill and leaving "I wonder what could be so important to pull Naruto away at this time of night.
(Same time, hokage's office)
"Naruto, you have been called on for a mission of the utmost importance, it is time sensitive and must be completed as soon as possible. You and Neji will make up a two man cell; your orders are to assassinate the earth daimyo along with his wife, spare his child if you must, but do so as you see fit. We received a tip off that they are mobilising forces in our direction, which means their defences wont be as strong. You are to leave absolutely no evidence that it was the leaf that did this. If anything comes back on the village, it will be denied and you two will face the consequences alone. This mission has been ordered to cause panic in earth country, thus forcing the enemy ninja to withdraw"
Naruto and Neji looked at each other then nodded at the hokage. "We understand the risks of this mission" they said together with determination.
"Good, Naruto since this is an ANBU mission; you will be required to dress the part, this was specially made for you" she said while handing over an ANBU uniform consisting of the armour, black cloak and fox mask. "I want you to keep those for any further missions in case your help is needed again"
"Now go, I want you out of the village by dawn". With that simple command, both men disappeared to prepare, they were expecting to be gone for at least a month. This mission would take careful planning and observation.
Granny won't like it if we take too long, but it will take a while just to get there, then we actually have to observe the guard routine and find a way around it, Naruto thought while appearing in his house via Shunshin. He began packing his backpack with all the necessities, mainly ramen, and then sealed it. away into a scroll. He did this with another three bags, not knowing just how much to pack since they weren't given an idea of how long they would be gone. He then proceeded to empty his secret stash of money kept for this specific purpose, all up he had enough to survive for three months.
I doubt I'll need all of this, but its better to be safe than sorry, besides now I don't have to worry about being conservative with my food, he thought happily, knowing he wouldn't be worrying about running out of food any time soon.
After he was done packing, Naruto got changed into his ANBU outfit, "even though I'm not a real ANBU, I feel so cool right now, it almost makes me want to join for real, but I heard getting that tattoo hurts" he said to himself. After he was done preparing, he noticed that the sun would be rising in half an hour
The time flew by without me realising, I need to get to the front gate soon, and with that he flew out of his window and roof jumped his way to his destination, choosing the more public way on the off chance he would be seen by an early rising citizen. He really was a show off.
When he got to the gate, he noticed that Neji was already present, "Ready to go? By the way your name will be fox and mine will be eagle" Neji said, receiving a nod from the hidden face of Naruto.
"Let's get this over with, I hate leaving the village for long periods of time" Naruto said while getting the guards to sign him and Neji out. They left shortly after, determined to get the job done right.
"What will we do about the child? I don't feel right killing an innocent"
"I don't know Fox, we'll just have to see how it plays out"
A/N – Ok just to clear things up, I have no idea how they go about naming the hokage's successor so I just had to wing it on that one, but hey most of the things in this have just been made up on the spot.
Also I'm not very happy with this chapter but I wanted to get something out before I go back to school so this was rushed along. I hadn't planned on finishing it for a couple more days but I realised what the date was and that my free time was coming to an end. I'll try to get chapters published regularly but it'll most likely be either weekly or fortnightly.
Anyway, thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it, as rushed as it was.