"Now see here Uzumaki!..."

"That's HOKAGE Uzumaki!...old dude Homura!"

"Well if you want to be called Hokage, then act like one and do something about our economic standing in the world!...do you not hear the incessant grumbling of the citizens?"

"And the professional warriors are also well worn out on doing an endless series of public works projects...many are leaving to become ninja for other Villages...the talent drain is a growing problem that a wanna-be leader like you should recognize"

"I AM a leader!...old lady Koharu...I was selected to be the Hokage fair and square, and I've kept the peace for...uh...I don't know..a bunch of years"

"Naruto..what the two senile..I meant, senior Council members are getting at is true..."

"Aw come on Baa-chan...now you're gonna hop on the bandwagon that's tryin to run me over?"

"Just listen knuckle-head!...other Villages..and not just the major ones..are racing to further their standings in a coming economic World War...trade routes..rights of passage..natural resources...they still need ninjas to secure them as bad elements arise to take them by force, and the power of our ninjas is one area where we shine above the rest..it's our major selling point and always has been, but it's crumbling under your watch"

"We have other things to offer the world...just look at our grand systems for water recycling and purification...it's the best in the world and we've down-sized it and given it to poorer Villages so their people don't have to suffer crappy quality water...and there's how we've harnessed renewable sources for energy and building materials..and aside from all that material stuff..our citizens have peace..."

"And that's all well and good..it really is...and people will always be grateful for what you did during the war and how you helped end it and Sasuke's misguided plans after Kaguya was defeated...but the hard truth of the matter is that the people's attitude recently has become..'what have you done for me lately'"

"You may not like me and my associate Homura, but we've many times over seen the results of soft-hearted leadership like yours..and it always ends up in disaster...all those wonderful things you are so proud of like the wind, sun, and geo-thermal power plants will end up having to be sold to keep our economy afloat, and the power they produce sold back to us at a rate based solely on the mercy, or lack thereof, of the new owners...other Villages without your nice-guy ethos will impinge upon our lands to gain resources for themselves...and at the rate things are going, we won't have a single ninja left to keep it from happening"

"I won't let that happen!"

"Based on what?...good intentions?!"

"I...I'm the leader so I'll figure it out...that's what you guys are suppose to help me do you know...figure this shit out"

"Naruto...we have a solution that..." -Baa-chan hestitates and looks to the side with a strained expression- "...you probably won't like..but that will allow you to live your life while holding on to your ideals"

I wait in silence for her to tell me some obviously bad news, but it's the old guy who speaks

"We feel that the best interests of everyone would be served if you would step down as Hokage so that the title may be conferred onto a more...pragmatic..individual"

I'm thinking that they want Kakashi back as the Hokage again...but he's lovin his life as a dirty book publisher

"And that would be?"

"Sasuke...Naruto, we would like Sasuke to be the next Hokage starting immediately"

"Sasuke?"

"Yes...I'm...sorry Naruto"

"You can of course decide to not heed to our advice...but understand that we..every business owner except Ayame..and at least ninety-five percent of the populace are backing Sasuke"

I look around the small room. The two ancient troublemakers are giving me glares like they are daring me to go against them, and Tsunade baa-chan can't even look at me

"Well then...I guess all there is to do is get my junk out of the Hokage Mansion"

As I walk to the house in the Uchiha District graciously given to me by Sasuke - yeah that's right...Sasuke helped me move my few belongings out of the Mansion...told me how bad he felt and that we'll always be friends (unfortunately not lovers)...and then handed me a key to my new home – I raise my head high and give my usual grin like it's just another ordinary day...but inside I feel like a failure...and outside my feelings are confirmed by the looks of relief on the faces of all who see me walking around without my Hokage clothes on

"These people just don't get it, do they"

Huh?...who was that?...I didn't sense anyone come up behind me, but there some guy is all of a sudden

"Uh...sorry friend, but could you explain"

"They don't get that peace is more than enough and that choosing power...the power of their economies...the power of their military...the power of things they possess as opposed to the relationships they've forged...will always get them into strife and wars"

"Yeah..but I see the Council's point...even if all of Konoha chose peace over prosperity, then that wouldn't change how other Villages act, and for most of them...they want bling instead of quiet lives free from conflicts...which they can have that junk if they want it, but then my people...I meant the people of Konoha..would end up with everything stolen or sold out from under them..so there's no easy answers"

"Oh but there is an easy answer...you see..people are greedy by nature...they never know when enough is enough...when you add the power of chakra to that greed, it causes people to go mad with the lust for more chakra to get more of the things they don't really need and an absurd excess of the things they do need"

"Ok...I don't see that as the case for everybody...but where is the easy answer in all of that?"

"Mother...I meant Kaguya has the answer"

"Kaguya?...man, she was looney-toons"

"No she was not!...she influenced Madara to put people in a state of peace and happiness...then she was going to take all the chakra out of the world so those who came after wouldn't fight over it or use it to fight with"

"Her peace was a forced peace that turned people into mindless dreamers..and her methods to make people peaceful like that got a lot of good people hurt and killed..so if you're going to try to keep convincing me that her and her so called 'peace' don't suck ass, then you'd be better off talking to a brick wall"

"Mother!...suck ass!...how dare you!"

Dude took a swing at my face and I raised an arm to block it, but his fist just went right through me...

and that's when everything surrounding me faded until all that was left was an endless white background with a dull glow to it; and the nutty dude I was talking to morphed into:

"Black Doo Doo!...what's up man!"

"You idiot!..it's Black Zetsu!"

"Whatever"

"Why you..."

"That's enough Black Zetsu...he has been corrupted by chakra and sees not the error of his thinking"

"Kaguya?!...what I just saw...that was a genjutsu"

"An illusion of the mind yes..but not a genjutsu...a genjutsu requires chakra, and while sealed our abilities to use chakra become null and void"

"But...I thought being sealed was like being a bear in hibernation or like being in a coma...basically pretty much good as dead"

"Being sealed is much worse than death...one never sleeps and one can not go to the afterlife to get another chance at living again"

"Mother was sealed for centuries...all alone"

"Oh...that explains the craziness"

"No young Naruto...what is crazy is leaving people to their own devices...that's when death and violence become multiplied a thousand fold...you were part of the system of violence...you've injured and killed people...you justified it by telling yourself that you did those things for your friends and Village and probably didn't once think that those you opposed had the same motivations...it is you and the rest of humanity that have gone crazy"

I thought about that for a good while. Kaguya WAS crazy, that's for sure...but that didn't mean that she couldn't make sense once in a while...it's just like the saying goes: even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I can't refute what she said...or even what Doo Doo said in the illusion. People want things. They want things to make themselves feel happy or secure, and they want to protect those things after they get them. Chakra is a means to get those things and protect them. Yes...it's true that people can go WAY overboard with getting things and protecting what they've got, and a ton of harm and injustice can happen because of that...but Kaguya and her buddy...son...whatever...are trying to sell me only half the goods.

There are greedy people for sure...but there are also people who get things to give to others. There are people who have worked to gain more chakra and to master it...and yes, I've killed with my chakra powers...but I've also saved with them...and I've fought injustice with them...and though I don't know it for sure...I believe I've saved my best friend and the man I love with them. So you know what...

"Screw you two!"

"What?!" -says Doo Doo all mad while his mom or whatever looks shocked

"I said screw you guys!...we people in the world may have a lot of problems, but there is a lot of good that people do..and people change over time and even bad people can turn good and contribute to making the world a better place..and it's a sorry and sad thing that you two only see the wrong in the world...and it's a bunch of crap and just plain evil that you would just roll into a ball like scrap paper and throw into the trash the good impulses that people have by making it so everyone is off in their own la la land and basically dead to the world around them...man, that's not peace..that's death!"

"Now see here young!..."

"Don't interrupt me now, I'm on a roll!...now as far as chakra goes...it's just a tool and is only good or bad depending on the user...but if you take it all away...well I guess that would make for an even playing field amongst the people of the world...but you having all of it?!...and you're fuckin nuts!...I'll fight with every ounce of my being to keep that from happening!"

"You shit you!...you will treat mother with the reverence she deserves or else I'll..."

"No Black Zetsu!...come let us speak in private"

-NXS-

"He is an obstinate fool mother!...why did you trick him into coming with us?"

"Because he is immensely powerful and he wants peace just as much as I do..so I decided to try to convince him to join our side"

"Him and his thick and empty skull will never see the pure wisdom of your plans or the nobility of your intentions"

"Well if he cannot be turned, then when our agent on the outside frees us from this prison..he'll just have to be left forever trapped in here"

"We have an agent on the outside mother?"

"Yes we do...and the wonderful irony of it all is that it's the young fool's good intentions towards the other young fool Sasuke that have ensured the creation of our agent which will in turn ensure our escape and his eternal downfall"