The Samurai Ninja

Chapter 3: The Vote

By: Zashire

The trip to the Hokage office was slightly longer than usual... okay a lot longer than usual. All thanks to one person.

One Yuuhi Kurenai.

Kurenai had been a kind and friendly person in her childhood before entering the Academy to become a ninja. She was fairly popular when she entered, mainly because of her personality and how dependable she was. Everyone could count on her to get things done – on time. It was a thing that her teachers constantly praised her for. They told her that it was a good quality in a ninja. Sometimes ninja had a time limit to get their missions done in, and if they didn't something horrible could happen. They told her that she would be a great kunoichi if she kept that up because people would be able to entrust her with important things that needed to be transported to somewhere within a given timeframe. She was always grateful for the support.

When she graduated, she was still the bright a cheerful person that she had always been. That is, until she went on her first C-class mission. It had been a dual mission. They had teamed up with another group of genin, and she was overjoyed by it because her best friend was on it. At some point on the mission, they ran into a couple of bandits. After all, it was to be expected on a mission of that ranking. Her friend, Emi, and her had been walking at the back of the group to scout for enemies. Their sensei had been doing if for several hours and decided to let a few of their students try it. Oh, how they regretted that choice later.

The two girls had been talking about a sale that they wanted to go to when they returned to the village, when Emi thought she heard something from behind them. She had passed it off as her imagination and had continued to talk with her best friend. While in the middle of telling Kurenai about the price of a cute dress she saw in a store window, she had stopped talking suddenly, lurched forward, and had fallen face first into the dirt below her.

Kurenai would have caught her, but she had been pushed to the ground by her teammate, Asuma, and had watched as a knife passed by overhead. The other team's sensei had turned around quickly enough to catch the flying piece of metal directly out of the air. He had held onto the offending object and had stared off into the bush from where it had come. Several bandits had immediately jumped out and charged the group of ninja.

They had been quickly taken care of by several punches to the back of their heads, which cause them to go unconscious. Kurenai's sensei had walked out from behind them as the bandits fell to the ground. When Kurenai had found out that her best friend had been killed, she had not been able to stop crying for days. The sensei of both groups had apologized multiple times to their genin, but nothing had been enough to stop her from crying.

The mission had been aborted and they had returned to the village to request that the mission either be reassigned or that they received a new teammate. They had received another teammate.

Their new teammate had been a boy that would not stop picking on Kurenai for what he had believed to be her weakness. He had told her multiple times that real ninja didn't cry over the loss of a comrade. They weren't allowed to show emotions, was what he had told her. It only made her cry even more because she hadn't been able to get the memory of her dead friend out of her head.

When the new member had started to pick on her again, the black haired girl's teammate had been near them. He hadn't taken to the other genin's insults very well. Asuma had walked straight up to the offender and had punched him square in the face.

Kurenai had watched as the boy screamed out in pain because he had a broken nose from the punch that Asuma had delivered him. She had known that Asuma had a crush on her, but she hadn't known that he would go as far as to break someone's nose to defend her reputation. She had smiled at him when he turned around and thanked him for what he did. He had rubbed it off as nothing, but he had received a lot of her appreciation that day.

After the death of her best friend, Kurenai had slowly grown cold to everyone around her. Everyone except for Asuma. She hadn't been quite sure why, but her teammate held a special place in her heart. Everyone had picked up on the fact that she was only soft again when he was around, and they thanked him for it. No one liked dealing with the icicle that Kurenai could be when Asuma wasn't around.

That sort of led to where they were at that moment. Except for the fact that Kurenai seemed to have some hidden maternal instincts that no one knew about until that moment. Her teammates had started to head toward the Hokage tower by rooftop, but stopped when they noticed that she wasn't with them. They looked back to see her still standing there with Naruto in her arms.

Anko sighed and went back to find out what was wrong with her friend. She was shortly followed by her two teammates who were also curious about Kurenai's reaction. When they made it back to Kurenai, they had received a one word reply to their unasked question.

"No."

Anko stared at her blankly for a moment. "No what?" she asked in confusion.

"No, we're not taking the rooftops. What if Naruto falls?" she clarified.

The snake woman stared at her in disbelief. "We'll never make it there if we walk!" she complained in an annoyed voice. "Besides, if you're so worried that he'll fall, why don't you let me, Asuma-kun, or Ibiki-kun take him?"

The purple haired woman received no response and watched as Kurenai passed her and wandered off into the village. She turned to her remaining two teammates who both shared an equal look of disbelief. She gave a sigh.

"Well, someone should go with her," Anko suggested as she watched the retreating form of her friend. Ibiki and Asuma glanced at each other before they gave a stiff nod to their female comrade. She nodded and was about to tell them that she wasn't going, but they beat her to it. Just as she opened her mouth, they took off and were on the roof of a clothing store in less than half a second and were jumping away as quickly as they could, partially to get to the Hokage Tower faster, and partially to avoid Anko's wrath if she caught up with them.

What they left behind was a fuming Anko. She glared daggers at her supposed 'teammates' backs, and was about to scream at them to get their sorry asses back there pronto, but decided against it since it happened to be the middle of the night, and she didn't want to cause a scene after what had just happened. That was the last thing the villagers needed... someone screaming their head off at their friends almost immediately after one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Konoha had just happened.

She sighed again and decided to catch up with her friend to make sure she would be okay getting to the Hokage tower in the middle of the night. Am I getting soft? was her last thought before she left the site just outside the ruined hospital to catch up with a certain red eyed woman.

xxx

"I hope we don't get in too much trouble for this," Asuma sighed as he joined his companion on the rooftops of the partially ruined city. A mad Anko was not a fun Anko... well, that depended on whose perspective it was. In their case, no, it would not be fun. In her case, however, it was a totally different story. After all, she was an apprentice in the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Unit, which did not spell out anything good for any poor soul who managed to piss the crazy woman off.

"All we can do is hope, my friend," Ibiki stated. 'Hope' being the key word in that sentence. Both of them knew that 'hope' and 'Anko' just didn't go together. They were pretty much out of luck at that point. "All we can do is hope."

xxx

When Anko and Kurenai arrived at the Hokage tower, they completely passed up Asuma and Ibiki who were waiting by the door, and wandered in without even a passing glance. The two men had watched their two female teammates, when they came within viewing distance, playing with Naruto, who was still in Kurenai's arms. They both seemed to have a soft spot for the child, which made the other two men look a bit skeptical.

Kurenai, for starters, had never been one to show any feelings of affection toward anyone except for Asuma, which had earned her the title of 'Ice Queen,' pretty much thanks to her cold attitude toward others. Now that she was showing a kind side toward Naruto had them thinking she might have lost her touch, but they found it understandable seeing that she had already shown affectionate signs toward Asuma.

That was nothing compared to what they thought when they saw Anko showing a soft side – one they never thought could have possibly existed in her. She was known for being a sadistic individual that you would never want to have as an interrogator. Like Kurenai, she had a somewhat icy attitude toward people she disliked. Yes, she could be called 'playful'... in some sick, twisted way, but she had never been this kind of playful before.

They both watched as the women passed them, still fondling over how cute Naruto was. When they saw the door fully close behind the two women, they gave each other high fives. They were in the clear! Nobody would be losing their life today!

Their thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Anko reopened the door and threatened in a sickly sweet voice, "How 'bout we finish talking about how you left me at the hospital after this meeting, 'kay?"

She shut the door again, leaving the two men to sulk at their misfortune. Just when they thought they had managed to slip by, Anko struck them down again. They sighed before they figured that it would be best not to make their two teammates wait any longer, and entered the building like men ready for battle.

xxx

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that night. He hadn't missed the evil glint in Danzou's eyes at all. He knew exactly what it was about. Ever since he took over the position of Hokage, Danzou had always been looking for any way possible to remove the older man from office. It looked like he had finally found it. Hiruzen looked up at his student, who was staring out the window, obviously trying to think the whole problem through.

"We'll just have to see how this plays out. There's not much we can do now," the retired Hokage said as he stared down at his desk. Jiraiya, on the other hand, almost flipped when he heard that come from his sensei's mouth.

"What are you talking about!? We can't do that! We already know Danzou is going to try to pull something, and we can't let him slip past us. Besides, you're not one to give up so easily. What are you planning?" Jiraiya asked, beginning to think that his sensei had something up his sleeve.

"We've already sent ninja to go get the clan heads, and have finalized the time at which the meeting will begin. We can't change that." Hiruzen's student slowly nodded in understanding. "We know that Danzou is planning to do something to change the vote on who is Hokage. It is quite obvious that he will propose that he become the Godaime Hokage, correct?" Another nod. "So, to do that, he will need to remove just enough of the clan representatives that support me."

Jiraiya's eyes became wide at the statement as realization hit him. "So you mean when the vote comes to whether naming a new Hokage or reinstating you, he'll have all of the clans that want a new Hokage there, but not as many that want to keep you in office. Then, when they vote to have a new Hokage, it wouldn't matter as long as he was the only one proposed, because then even those who are against him would have to vote for him because he is the only candidate!? Stupid old fart!"

Hiruzen hid a smirk at the name Jiraiya gave Danzou, but managed a nod in response. "That is correct."

"So what do we do?" the Gama Sennin asked in a slightly raised voice. He was getting slightly annoyed at how long his sensei was dragging the matter out.

Hiruzen glanced up at his student. "That what I was getting to. What I propose we do is..."

xxx

Kurenai and Anko made their way up to the Hokage's office, followed by their two teammates, Ibiki and Asuma. It was fairly dark in some parts of the hallways thanks to the Kyuubi attack putting out the electricity. That factor didn't hinder their navigation skills too much since they were ninja and were trained to take on missions at night when it was pitch black and there was no lighting whatsoever. It didn't make it any less annoying, however.

It had been very easy to accidentally trip on something someone had dropped previously thanks to the lack of moving. At least if they were in a forest, they could hear stuff moving. Sadly, they were not, and pulled off tripping on many pencils and pins. It annoyed them to no end.

They finally made it to the office door, all in one piece, and knocked a few times. Asuma was about to comment on how slow his father was when they heard an 'enter' from the other side. That shut the ANBU up nicely. Anko opened the door and walked in, followed by the rest of her teammates. They all winced upon seeing the Yondaime's body spread across the couch.

"Asuma? Kurenai? I thought you were ordered to help out at the hospital," Hiruzen asked in confusion. He finally took notice of Ibiki and Anko. "I thought you two were supposed to be helping out in the village. What's going on?"

Anko beat all of her teammates, and was the first to speak up. "Um, well, it's a long story."

"I have a few moments. Would you care to give me a condensed version, as I would like to know why some of our top ninja seem to be playing 'hookey' when our village has just suffered a major attack by one of the most feared demons of all time," the man responded. He glanced at each of the four ninja before him, and wondered what was going on.

Anko looked at all of her teammates and sighed. They had all been deeply hurt by the loss of their sensei, and she decided to take over the talking part since she assumed that they wouldn't want to talk about what had just happened. "Well, the shortest version I have is this: When Ibiki-kun and I were on our way to the hospital with some injured civilians, we saw Kurenai-chan and Asuma-kun sitting by a wall at the ruined hospital–"

She was cut off went Hiruzen interrupted her. "Ruined hospital?"

"Yes, the Kyuubi landed on it before his body went up in flames, which caused the building to partially collapse," Asuma broke in, answering for Anko. The retired Hokage paled upon receiving the information. He had a small guess at where the conversation was going.

"Please, continue," he requested to Anko. She gave a nod.

"Yes, so anyway, we went over to Kurenai-chan and Asuma-kun to see what they were doing, and that's when we saw–" Anko choked on her own words for a second.

Ibiki saw her distress and continued for her. "Kushina-sensei." Hiruzen's eyes widened ever so slightly. Jiraiya bit his lip. "The entire lower portion of her body had been crushed by the building. She had lost a lot of blood and knew that she was dying. After a few minutes of us getting their, she–" He looked at the floor of the office with a sad expression on his face. Hiruzen and Jiraiya knew what was coming next and almost didn't listen because of how much they didn't want to hear the man in front of them say those words. "Passed away."

Hiruzen looked down at his desk once again. Who would raise Naruto now? He was about to tell his student that he would talk to him later about the matter when he realized that Jiraiya was looking out the window. Now was not the time to discuss that matter. It would be best to let him overcome his grief first. He was about to thank the four ninja for the information when Kurenai cut him off.

"She did, however, tell us an important thing," the red eyed woman stated. Hiruzen's head snapped up. He was all ears for this. The retired Hokage could tell that Jiraiya was listening closely, too. "Kushina-sensei told Asuma and I to take care of her son once she was gone."

Jiraiya turned back to the group and gave a nod to his sensei. They would at least be a good influence to the child as he grew up. The two would also provide Naruto with parental figures, which would do the boy good. He gave a small smile as he looked at the people who would raise who he considered his 'grandson.' Maybe things would turn out alright. He glanced over to the body of his student and thought, Don't worry Minato, yours and Kushina's son is in good hands.

Hiruzen gave a soft smile, despite the sadness he was feeling toward the loss of Kushina. "Very well then. We will discuss the adoption of Naruto after the meeting I will be having with the council momentarily." All of the ninja before him perked up at the mention of a meeting.

"What's this meeting for?" Asuma asked his father, slightly suspicious.

Hiruzen sighed. "It's about who will become the next Hokage." The four ninjas' eyes grew wide.

"But, shouldn't you be Hokage again, Sarutobi-sama? Why do you need to have a vote?" Anko asked out of confusion.

"We must have a vote; otherwise it will not bode well with the council, which brings me to the next issue. Since you are now here, I must say that I will require some of your assistance in this meeting..."

xxx

"Thank you all for coming here on such short notice," Hiruzen said to the clan heads and elders before him. They had all recently gathered in the council meeting room to discuss the topic of who would be the next Hokage. He glanced around the room, and saw several empty seats... just as predicted. "I see that not everyone was able to make it, but we do have enough to hold a meeting." Everyone in the room nodded. "Then let us begin."

Toward the end of the table opposite Hiruzen, a man named Danzou sat, pondering over what had happened. When he had walked into the room, only minutes prior, he'd been smiling somewhat largely. The smirk quickly fell off his face when he looked around at the clan heads that were present. All of the ones that he had planned to be there were present, but there were a few extra... ones that he was almost positive would vote in his old rival's favor. He had started panicking; trying his best to come up with something that would help him win the vote for a new Hokage, but nothing came to mind. His eyes swept over the table again until they made it to one of the extras. Yes, that would work! A plan quickly formulated in his brain and he put it away for later. It would work... very nicely.

"Today, we are here to discuss who should be the village leader. Recently, the Yondaime Hokage sacrificed himself in battle to save our village. Since he is no longer Hokage, we need to find a replacement," the older man explained from the head of the table. All of the members nodded silently in response. "We are left with two options. Either we find a new person to take the title of Godaime Hokage, or I come out of retirement and reinstate myself as the Sandaime Hokage. That is what we will be voting on." As he finished, everyone in the room nodded again.

"This will be a majority vote, and it will be starting now. All for those in favor of naming a new Hokage." Hiruzen watched as the clans of Uchiha, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and Danzou's hands went up. Truth be told, the Ino-Shika-Chou team didn't have anything against the retired Hokage, they just agreed on the fact that he was a little to old to lead the village. They believed that the village needed a new, younger Hokage. None of them knew who, but just something new.

"Very well, and those in favor of reinstating me, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Hokage," Hiruzen continued after counting the hands. He then watched as the Hyuuga, Mitarashi, and Morino clans raised all of their hands. His teammates also raised their hands shortly after. The older man gave a sigh before he raised his own. He was about to announce that he would come out of retirement, but was interrupted by one of the council members.

"Before you conclude the vote, Sarutobi-dono, I believe you should check the members of the council once more. You will find that not one, but two of the members should not be here. Mitarashi Anko-san and Morino Ibiki-san are not clan heads, and therefore have no right to be here," Danzou concluded with an internal smirk. His rival would have no choice but to change the vote now. He focused back on the man at the head of the table and listened intently to his response.

"Before this day, you would be right, Danzou-dono," Hiruzen started. The old war hawk flinched at the mention of 'before that day.' What was the old fool getting at? "But seeing as the former clan heads, Mitarashi Yuki-san and Morino Fuji-san, are no longer with us, these two are now the heads of their clans." Everyone's eyes widened at that statement. None of them had known that the clan heads had been killed in battle. Some of them were slightly hurt because they had been good friends with them, and now they were gone.

Danzou stared at his rival. "Fine, the seats may be hereditary, but that still does not give them the right to be here. They are required to be at least eighteen years old to fully take on the position of clan head." With that, he knew he had it won. There was no way the old fool could possibly get around this one.

The old war hawk would soon realize that the retired Hokage wasn't called 'The Professor' for nothing.

Hiruzen was about to start when all of them heard a low noise. It sounded like something was crying. Less than three seconds after it started, it ended. Everyone stared at each other and looked at the Hokage expectantly. Hiruzen quickly waved it off and continued to respond to Danzou's statement.

"Actually it does. Three years ago, we voted that clan head would be decided by ninja rank rather than age. To be clan head, the person must be at least at the rank of Chuunin or higher. It was decided to be switched because of the death of Hatake Sakumo, remember? Hatake Kakashi was made clan head since he was the only living member of the clan and was Jounin at the time. Mitarashi-san and Morino-san are both at the rank of Jounin and are the next in line to be clan heads, making them eligible to take their clan's seat at this table," Hiruzen explained.

Danzou was racking his brain, but couldn't come up with any kind of rebuttal. He sighed and felt like tearing apart his old rival, but he couldn't do that. He had a reputation to maintain. He looked back up at Hiruzen and gave a stiff nod, admitting 'defeat.' That was the next thing on his list of things to do – change the voting system to be a two third's vote rather than majority rules.

The man at the front of the table nodded back. "Then, by a vote of six to five, I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, will be reinstating myself as the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure." Everyone nodded. Shikaku offered a lazy smile, even though he didn't vote for the man, while his teammates joined the others in their nods. The Sandaime Hokage then said in an authoritative tone, "My first decree as Hokage will be that anyone who knows about the Kyuubi being sealed within Naruto will not be allowed to speak about it to anyone, except for Naruto himself when he gets older and the standing Hokage. Violators of this law will by punished by death." He was expecting some of the council members to be surprised by the news of what had happened to the Kyuubi. Instead, he had been surprised because none of them had reacted badly. They all just gave a nod in agreement. Perhaps more people knew about it than he thought. His theory was proven true when the Nara clan head spoke up.

"Don't be so surprised, Hokage-sama. It wasn't that hard to figure out. When you see a red cloud floating above the entire village and headed toward a certain place, you know something's up. You have only confirmed our suspicions," Shikaku finished off lazily. "What I wonder is what you plan to tell the ninja that saw the cloud but do not know what happened."

Hiruzen sighed before he responded. "I was planning to tell them the truth, but now that I think about it, we would be risking a spy figuring out the information and telling it to an enemy. Do you think it would be best to let the villagers let their minds wander?" he asked to the council as a whole.

Koharu spoke up before anyone else could. "Honestly, yes, I believe that we should let their minds wander. You must remember that no one aside from us and a few medic nin and ANBU know which child was in the cave that night. It won't be a problem because they wouldn't know who it was and nothing they could imagine would be anything compared to what really happened. Do not worry, Hokage-dono, nothing bad will happen."

Hiruzen gave his old teammate a small smile. He could always count on her to give him some helpful advice. He gave a quick nod. "Agreed. I will notify the medic nin and ANBU who were at the cave of this new law. Another thing that I would like to add is that no one should reveal Naruto's true heritage outside of this room. If anyone else finds out, it could mean the boy's life." Everyone nodded in understanding. He would have to lie to the villagers that Kushina and her child had died in battle, but it would all be worth it in the end. It would keep Naruto safe from any enemies of his father. He would also have parents, so it wouldn't really matter in the villager's eyes. "Meeting adjourned."

Everyone quickly filed out to get back to their homes to help their families, all except for Anko, Ibiki, and the Hokage who had recently come out of retirement. As soon as the last person closed the door behind themselves, they all broke out into grins and watched as Anko jumped in the air and cheered.

"You can come out now," Hiruzen spoke to a wall. To anyone else other than the three in the room, it would have looked like the leader that the council had just voted for was going crazy. Thankfully, everyone in the room knew exactly what was going on.

"Sorry about Naruto suddenly crying," Kurenai apologized as Jiraiya unveiled them from the invisibility jutsu that they had been hidden under during the duration of the meeting.

"Yeah, I kinda bumped into Kurenai-chan when I was shifting positions, which caused Naruto to wake up," Asuma said in a guilty voice. Kurenai bopped him on the head.

"It was your fault that we were almost given away!" the red eyed woman shouted at her boyfriend.

"Calm down, everyone," Hiruzen spoke up. "It's quite alright. No harm was done. I just received a few strange looks, but other than that, it was fine." Kurenai nodded, but still glared at her boyfriend out of the corners of her eyes. Asuma gave a sigh. "What matters most is that Danzou did not become the next Hokage. But still, I cannot help but wonder what he did with the clan heads..." He trailed off after a moment. He would be sure to send an ANBU squad out later to see what had happened. "Other than that, excellent job, Anko, Ibiki. You two played your parts very nicely back there."

The Hokage sent them a warm smile, and they returned it as well, though Ibiki's was a bit stiffer. They both thanked him as well. The both of them knew that they would have to take on the full responsibilities of clan head now since they had pulled that little stunt, and they were willing to do it to help their old village leader.

Hiruzen gave a nod. "On a lighter note, I believe that we discussed earlier a matter about Naruto's new parents. Shall we return to my office to fill out the paperwork?" the older man asked with a grin on his face. Kurenai and Asuma both flushed in embarrassment because they had almost forgotten about that. They had all been so preoccupied with watching the meeting that the thought had completely slipped through their minds. Everyone nodded and they all began to file out of the room.

As they walked down the hallway, Jiraiya looked down at the scroll in his pouch... the scroll that contained the body of his former student. Before they had left the Hokage's office to go to the meeting, they had all agreed that it would be best to seal Minato's body away into a scroll so they could give it a proper burial later. They all knew it was somewhat disrespectful to treat his body like that, but they knew it had to be done. None of them wanted to risk someone breaking into the tower in the middle of a crisis and taking away their most famous leader's body.

They all knew that along with the name that the Yondaime carried, he also held a large bounty on his head. If someone had robbed the village of his body, it would not only bring shame to the place, but it would also be a large loss to the village as a whole. The deceased Hokage had been the strongest ninja that the village had ever produced in its entire history. He had earned himself many titles that had caused fear for any countries plotting against them. Just saying his name in some other lands could strike fear in the hearts of many.

Along with his title, he was also known to be a loving and caring man. When he had taken office, he had vowed to protect the village of Konoha and all of its members with his very life. If they had lost his body, it would not only show the other countries that they could even prevent outsiders from defiling their greatest hero's dead body, but it would bring sadness to the village because they couldn't at least give the man a proper burial.

So, they resorted to their last option. Sealing it away for later. It was disrespectful, yes, but it would at least keep his body safe. They had all been sure that no one would mind as long as they gave their hero a proper goodbye at his funeral.

The group of ninja soon made it to the Hokage's office. Asuma was stuck with door duty because no one would let him through as they entered. He sighed as he finally made it in. That just went to show how much respect the ANBU received in Konoha. Absolutely nothing. Well, at least for him while he was with his friends. Everyone else was treated fairly, but not him. He dragged his feet, clearly still moping, as he walked over to a chair in front of his father's desk and plopped down in it. Kurenai and Hiruzen were already seated, while everyone else was over on the few couches that were in the room.

The reinstated Hokage mentally sighed at his son's unruly entrance. Well, it's quite obvious who Naruto won't be picking up his manners from, he thought. He could just picture it like that in the future... a mini version of Asuma, only with a different appearance. That was the last thing they all needed around the place.

He quickly cleared his mind and ran through his desk to find the necessary papers for such a case. "Ah, here they are." Hiruzen stated once he found them. "I honestly don't know why I had them in here. Usually the orphanage is responsible for these kinds of things, but seeing as I am Hokage, I'm sure I will be able to bypass those protocols, especially since Naruto's never been to an orphanage and hopefully never will be." Kurenai and Asuma nodded at this. "Well then, we just need to fill this out."

The man immediately began filling in blanks spots on the document until he came to a certain point. "Has this child even had a birth certificate filled out yet?" the Hokage asked as he looked up. The two shrugged and glanced at each other.

"I'm sure Kushina-sensei had one filled out, but seeing as the hospital has been partially destroyed, there is no telling where it could be right now," Kurenai answered, trying to think it through as much as possible.

Hiruzen mentally groaned. "Very well then. I'm just going to fill this out as much as I can. I'll need you two to run it by the hospital once everything is back to normal to get the rest." Both of the ninja before him nodded. The Hokage then signed his name in several sections, indicating that the village leader had approved of the document and its actions. He turned the documents around to make them face toward Asuma and Kurenai.

"Please sign here," Hiruzen said while pointing to the bottom of the first page. He handed them a small brush and a bottle of ink so they could fill the document out. They both nodded and completed the task quickly before they turned it back to the Hokage. Hiruzen nodded, satisfied. "I believe that is all that can be done for now. I will keep these safe until tomorrow morning." Both nodded. Hiruzen gave a sigh and spoke his next thought. "Since you are already living together in the same apartment, I would like to relocate you."

The two ninja before him perked up at the same time upon hearing that. "To where?" Asuma asked out of curiosity.

"I'm glad you asked. I would like for you to both move into one of the houses in the Sarutobi compound," Hiruzen stated. He then cut them off before they could say anything. "I have several reasons for requesting this. One being that I believe it would be safer for Naruto, at least until everything calms down a bit. I don't know if anyone might be suspicious of what happened tonight. My second reason is that it would be easier for Naruto to grow up in a clan compound than in a one bedroom apartment."

Both of the ninja nodded at his logic. It made sense. "Thank you for the offer Hokage-sama, we'll move in," Kurenai said formally with a nod. Hiruzen quickly shook it off and replied.

"No need for formalities, Kurenai. You can just call me Hiruzen."

Kurenai nodded. "Thank you then, Hiruzen-sama." The Hokage and his son sighed. They were getting nowhere with this. He decided to move on to avoid any headaches.

"Now that everything's settled, I will say one last thing," Hiruzen began. "Naruto will now be known as 'Sarutobi Naruto.' That will stay in effect until he become older. When he is mature enough to handle the information about his heritage, he will have the option to take back the Namikaze name and rebuild his clan since he is the sole survivor now that Minato and Kushina are not with us anymore." The two nodded. It would be sad to see the child one day switch his name, but they both knew that it would be for the benefit of the almost extinct clan.

Hiruzen gave a quick nod. He then raised his voice to let the others know that he was talking to them too. "Now then, seeing as that's over with, I believe it's time everyone returned to their homes to get some rest. A lot has happened tonight, and you all deserve a good night's, well, rest of the night's sleep."

Before anyone could agree, Anko perked up. "But, Hokage-sama, what about the rest of the injured villagers and ninja? Can we at least spend another hour or so helping the–" She cut herself off with a long yawn. Hiruzen shook his head in response.

"No, Anko. I do not mean to sound offensive, but do you really believe that you'll be able to help anyone if you're falling asleep on the job?" the older man asked. She gave another yawn and sleepily shook her head. Hiruzen gave a nod. "Very well then. Please return to your homes and get some sleep. We will start cleaning up the village tomorrow morning. There are plenty of ninja out there who are far more wide awake than you two are, and they can handle getting people to the hospital." They all agreed and started to file out the door. The Hokage stopped Kurenai and Asuma. "As for you two, please go to the Sarutobi clan compound and tell one of the maids that I told you to spend the night. She will give you a room to stay in, and I'm sure that she will be able to find a crib for Naruto."

"But what about the stuff that we have in the apartment?" Asuma asked. Some of his most expensive items had been kept in their small home, and he wasn't willing to give it up like that.

Hiruzen sighed. "We can work that out in the morning. For now, just get some sleep. I will be returning later after I take care of some unfinished business. I assume people will be coming here throughout the night, and I will have to respond. Don't expect me to be back before you go to sleep, okay?" The two nodded and left the room.

The Hokage groaned when he heard the door close because he then realized that he was the last one in the room because his student Jiraiya had left while he had been talking to his son and Kurenai. That was only part of the reason for his distress. The other part was because he had no clue how much paperwork the event that had occurred that evening would drag in. All he knew was that it would be no small amount.

Hiruzen sighed once again and stood up from his chair. He figured that he should get a move on and decided to see how the hospital had been holding up before anyone started to come to the Hokage tower for help. He had to make sure that his villagers were safe. The last thought that he had on his mind before leaving his office was, This is going to be one long night.

xxx

A/N: I wasn't planning to upload this chapter until Saturday or Sunday, but I changed my mind. Hope you liked it!

Zashire