My god it's been four months.
Oh holy shiznicks! PLEASE READ THIS FIRST!
I'm so frigging sorry, people. So, so, sorry. I didn't expect school to be an a-hole to me, after I posted the last chapter. No need to elaborate.
And you might see some changes in my writing... Sorry. It might look like I'm dragging the story, but I tell you, this is necessary. It's been a long time till I've update, right? We've got a week break. So yeah. I'm doing this right now.
This is a dry run. Tell me if I have to take it down and revise it, 'kay?
Here's the chapter that closes my story, BCFireShadow thanks you very much.
Chapter 25- Convincing Thyself and Enlightenment
Uzumaki Naruto. A name embedded on many books, scrolls, a face, not only carved on the Hokage monument but recognized over the world, was a man who never backed down on his word.
He became a genin through his hard work, saved a village through his determination, fought and defeated a lot of evil people and even made them go to the good side. Others recognized him for his relentless, never-give-up attitude and others had also asked him, even though it was of the hardest of times, what made him going.
What made him turn away from all those hate, from all those anger.
And he replied one thing.
"To protect my precious people."
And people admired him for that.
He also had a great dream, a dream that he always wanted to pursue. All the people that surrounded him knew that one, single dream, he wanted to get in his career of shinobi life.
To be Hokage.
The first time he was offered that, it was jokingly made by Hiruzen, the Sandaime, in a time when they were both eating at the Ichiraku Ramen stand. Naruto was happy and willing to take the seat and get the 'cool robes', but the Sandaime just explained something to him in return.
"A Hokage is not decided like that, Naruto-kun. First, a Hokage should be a ninja. Are you a ninja? You aren't, right? Well... Yet. Next, that ninja should at least be a jounin or some person powerful enough. The third is that he should be a good person, someone every person in Konoha should copy. The last one is the most important. Can you do that?"
"I will, one day!" Naruto proudly said, noodles dangling in his mouth. "But what's the last one? Maybe I could get that down now!"
Hiruzen smiled at the nine-year old child. "The last one is really simple. That man should possess a great love for the country, for Konoha, one that is willing to put his life on the line, one who possesses the Will of Fire." When he didn't hear any reply, he looked at his surrogate grandson, who was just gawking at him.
"What?"
"All I got was 'blah something important but I can't understand, something... Something then love Konoha with a tire of fire."
Hiruzen was silent, then he pursed his lips. " ...Tire of fire." He repeated.
"Well, you could make it the tire of flame, but that's stupid..." The blonde mumbled, ordering another bowl of ramen to the chef. "Has a nice ring to it, like some crazy stunt guy for the movies."
"Again, tire of fire?"
"Yeah, but you said that. How can you love Konoha with a wheel of fire?"
After that time, he didn't get a joke about getting the Hokage position in a while, but he was still interested in the 'Will of Fire' thing, and made it his personal goal, as evidenced by his daily shouting to be the Hokage. His catchphrase, that he made was so well-thought out that he patted himself on the back for it.
'I'm going to be Hokage, dattebayo!"
Thinking of that word was dang hard that's why he always used it. Dattebayo then became a verbal tic known by a lot of people, another reason why he became known.
Anyway, the second time he was offered of that position, he was giddy... But it was a joke still, made by that crazy Obaa-chan Tsunade, the Godaime. It was actually a jab to his intelligence.
'You want to be Hokage? Then be Hokage, but you've got to have this. You got to be smart, you got to be tactical, you've got to think before you speak. Have you fulfilled those requirements? No, right? Then wait till you do your own choices.
He actually admitted to himself he was dumb that time when he didn't react.
Then the third... He was forced to.
He couldn't believe it, yeah, he was going to be Hokage after all those years of fighting, proving others he could do it, he... Supposed he wanted to celebrate, but he didn't. Who was he kidding? He was offered the title of his dead sensei.
And that experience made him not like the Hokage position...if he was offered of it, otherwise he was okay. But then again, he faced a lot of challenges-more so than his predecessors, he got his whole village decimated, his people massacred, his best friend who was beaten and looked like he was hanging on a sliver of thread just to deliver him the news, and the worst was, for all the times he had to go to a meeting, he wasn't there to defend Konoha.
It made him devastated.
And so, Uzumaki Naruto, Savior of the World, the Chosen One, the partner of the Kyuubi no Yoko and many other titles, went back, went to change the past, time travelled to his childhood, and took a new name.
Odayakana Konran.
He made a great promise to himself to change the past, and alternate the future. He also made a promise to lay low- he just couldn't change everything in his timeline, or even protect his former friends, even take the limelight of his past self- they needed to grow, after all- but maybe fate was really making him do some things he never even thought he would ever experience.
He gets tangled into this...jumbled piece of shit. That he or maybe the current timeline did as he arrived.
He became an Oinin, met Iruka, Anko, Ibiki, Inoichi, befriended his former team and the other teams, Kakashi, got interrogated by the other senseis Kurenai and Asuma because he looked too suspicious, but hey, Naruto still got to get to be friends with Wave, he and Sakura improved...
Then Sasuke got into a coma, which DIDN'T happen originally, he entered into his Kyuubi mode triggered by Naruto's transformation, and bam, got to a fight.
Kabuto replaced Sasuke in the team which didn't really settle too good with him, making him annoyed. He steered away, helped in the T&I, met Sai, go back to his team and started a war.
A one-day civil war against Danzo and Orochimaru's forces, that left the village devastated because of the passing away of the Sandaime.
And the fourth time he was offered the position of Hokage, it was given by the late Sandaime himself. His last words, for Naruto, Asuma, and Jiraiya to hear.
'I trust you the village, I know you could do it.'
It was a week after the one-day war when Jiraiya finally decided they needed to hold a meeting. The village had been slowly recuperating, the damaged infrastructure slowl being rebuilt. Thankfully there were no casualties; the extents of the injuries were usually a blow to the head, or injured limbs.
Civilians had been safely evacuated at that time, adding a great relief to the villagers. Those who had been drained of chakra to the point of exhaustion where being treated as well, and nobody passed away.
Except for the Kami no Shinobi, Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
All of them had given their own respects to the man, and almost everyone attended the funeral. Rain poured down hard during the ceremony like the sky was mourning as well. But, as Konoha villagers prided themselves to be, they never backed down, they never stayed sad. Instead, they kept on going, actually celebrating Hiruzen's life, and that they were alive as well.
Not all of them rejoiced that much though.
An example was Odayakana Konran, who was currently sitting on top of the Hokage monument.
Konran sighed once more, gazing at the village. He ran a hand through his hair, not knowing anymore what to do. He was in the mood for eating Ramen, but something compelled him to sit down for a while and take a break.
"I'm going to be Hokage." He thought out loud to himself, trying to convince himself. "I'll watch over my village, just like the old man wanted me to."
But no matter how many times he told himself that statement, he didn't feel like his spirits were getting better. Actually, he felt worse. 'Am I actually backing out from being Hokage? Wasn't it my dream to be one when I was little? Isn't my mission to go back and protect my village? What am I doing?'
He snorted, feeling quite pathetic. "Alright, get your thoughts straight, Odayakana. I'm not dealing with insolent whining, you've got to face the village." He didn't notice that someone was walking behind him until a tap to shoulder registered to his mind. "I-wha-huh?"
Iruka smiled, laughing. "Well, so this is where you went to. I haven't seen you in a while." He then gained a worried look. "What are you so worried for? You barely registered that I was here, from your reaction. And were you talking to yourself?"
Konran looked down, sighing. He mumbled something that his former teammate couldn't have heard him if he wasn't a Oinin once. Iruka's eyes widened and he shot up in surprise.
"You- you are-!" He exclaimed. He grinned wide and shook the blonde's hand. "Wow! Congrats!"
"Yeah. No pressure, huh?" Konran whispered, looking at the village. "I didn't even want it."
The chuunin scrunched his eyebrows. "You don't want it? Why? I thought being Hokage was every ninja's dream." He faltered at the last second. "Well.. Except me, haha."
The blond-red haired man just tilted his head. "I'm not ready." He said, not knowing himself if he was truthful or not.
"You're not ready." Iruka repeated slowly. 'Kami you're messing with my head, Very funny.' "You, Odayakana Konran, are not ready. To be Hokage."
Konran sent an amused glance at the brown-haired man. "Hai, that's what I just said."
"But! But-!" Iruka made a distressed look, and he was tugging his ponytail repeatedly to show how much he was stressing everything out. "But-! You guided a village once! You're a freaking good leader! T&I worships you, Oinins and ANBUs alike put you up in a high pedestal, and the jounins have nothing on you! Heck, I feel you're even better than the Sannin put together!"
Konran grew red at the praise. "I'm pretty sure you're biased, Iruka.. Especially at the last part. And my village got razed to the ground, remember? Not exactly Hokage material."
"It's a sign of second chance, Konran. You could never change your past, but you could do it for the future, you know?" Iruka thought aloud, poking Konran. He put up a hand. "How could you be so doubtful of yourself? I know you, Konran. I've known you for five years. And I know, that you could lead Konoha. It'll be a piece of cake for you! You'll even make the past Hokages look bad!"
"You're going to get haunted by those past Hokages, Iruka. Telling the truth isn't nice." The man accused of tutted, and both shared a laugh. The violet-eyed man suddenly turned serious once again, pouting. "Well, yeah. I have dreamed of leading a village… but Konoha? ('Again? And what, fail once more?' he thought to himself) I just don't know, Iruka. I didn't even plan to become," he then put two fingers up, " a 'famous' ninja, in your words. I planned to be a hunter ninja and that's it."
"Yet that's not what happened." The chuunin pointed out, smiling.
"And I got angry at the ANBU and Oinin Division because I was irritated at their moves! They looked so weak and lenient!" Konran glowered. "If I was my sensei, I would have made their lives hell because of my training. But I didn't, so I thought, whatever. Then the next thing I knew they were practically begging me to teach them!"
Iruka laughed. "Which you didn't really plan?"
"Darn straight, I didn't." he ranted, raising his hands in the air. "I never wanted to be in T&I even! I hated interrogating people against their will!"
That caught the other man's attention. "You didn't want to be in T&I? Wow, I wouldn't notice at all. You were good at it; I thought you were a pro."
"EXACTLY MY POINT." Konran emphasized. He looked annoyed until he heard Iruka snickering. "What the hell are you laughing at, Umino?"
"Oi." Iruka looked affronted. "No need to go to last name basis. I was laughing because, well, that's what's happening to you, right? You don't want to become Hokage, yet here you are. You always had an answer for those kind of situations- tell me, how do you do that?"
The Hokage candidate shrugged. "I wing it?"
That did it for Iruka. He slapped the man in the back reassuringly. "All the more! You can be the first Hokage before twenty to wing the position better than anyone else!" He then remembered the Sandaime. "Okay, maybe not the youngest though, but who cares?" He then looked at Konran square in the eye.
"I know you could do it, Konran. Promise."
He wasn't really assured.
"Hey, Konran, finally you actually join the meetings! How's it going?" Choza Akimichi greeted, patting the man's back. "Sorry for the loss once again. I know you're close to the Sandaime, just like Asuma and Naruto were."
The village had no Hokage - they didn't have any leader yet, officially. Jiraiya and the other top jounins took it up on themselves to maintain the order in the village, and now they were having this meeting.
"Hm." Konran acknowledged, nodding. "It's okay. As for why I'm here, I just felt that I needed to join."
"Needed to join, or forced to join, eh, Konran-kun?" A voice from his back called, making him roll his eyes. "I think... Oh, right, it was Jiraiya-sama who forced you, didn't he?"
"Jiraiya-sama forced him to?" Inoichi's voice piped up, making the three look at him. He was already on his designated chair on the conference table. "What? I overheard."
"Listening in conversations is impolite, Inoichi-san. Don't forget." The Hyuuga clan head suddenly said, his face in a smirking expression. "People might take you for a know-it-all."
"Whatever, Hyuuga." The Yamanaka clan head scoffed, annoyed. "You also butted in our conversation, you hypocrite a**hole."
"I didn't, in your words, 'butt in' in your conservation, on the contrary, I actually supplied information regarding to your impolite behavior. I stopped you from spreading that vice of yours to your own daughter."" Hiashi said in a light tone, enjoying the tick that was forming on the man's forehead.
"You admit being an asshole?"
"Nope. I just left that out to see if you have another vice of yours. But sadly, you didn't, that really makes you a bad father. I, at least, raised my daughters to be good children."
"You mean, made them fight each other and made poor, timid and caring Hinata fight her younger sister?" Tsume growled from her seat, seeing the extent of the hypocrisy of the man. "Yeah." It was no secret she disliked the clan head.
"That was years ago, I've changed." Hiashi growled, irritated.
Meanwhile the clan heads were arguing, Jiraiya had walked in, a face of curiosity on his face. He always heard clan heads argue, but now their reason of fighting were just random. He looked at the calmest person in the room and spotted Konran gazing at all of the chaos.
"Wha-?"
"It's a normal occurrence." The blonde-red haired man remarked beside him as he noticed the confused look the Gama Sannin was supporting. "They're just arguing over trivial matters, don't worry." He smiled airily. "Yep. Normal."
"You seem pretty calm, with everything that will happen afterwards."
The blonde-red haired man scoffed. "'Calm? I'm just reining my emotions. I feel, when I get elected, the dam will break."
"The dam will break? We better have a tougher Hokage than a crybaby like you. If Sarutobi-sensei entrusted the village to you, why the hell would you cry, for Kami's sake?" Jiraiya frowned as Konran rolled his eyes. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, kid. I have to know who I'm leaving the village to."
Konran slightly flinched at his former mentor's tone, not used to being at the receiving end of an order from him. He was lucky that the Sannin didn't see him flinch. His voice suddenly grew steady, his confidence in accepting the position growing. "The old man knew I was capable of many things, so don't you doubt me. And I'm pretty sure I could lead this village. Better than you."
Jiraiya smirked. "Well, I'll put you through a test. Care to make the conference hall quiet?"
"Easy as pie. You should have given me a harder task. " Konran reassured, patting the man's shoulder. "Oi, shut up or you would experience again what I made you experience last two years!" He yelled, making everybody stop in shock as he glared at them.
"Sorry." Inoichi mumbled. The others muttered their assent as well. Jiraiya looked amused.
Shikaku looked up from his sleeping position, noticing that the noise was gone. "What the- that's a miracle, it's quiet." He looked around and saw Konran raising an eyebrow at him. "Oh. Figures. Hey, Konran, what brings you here? I thought you hated meetings as much as I do?"
"Yeah, I do." He scratched his head sheepishly. "But it's not like I wanted to be here. This man made me to." He explained, gesturing towards Jiraiya. "And he told me to shut up the council."
"Which I'm grateful for." The white-haired man just blinked, not expecting the man to actually control the council. 'Hm. Maybe he IS fit for the position.'
"Huh. There's actually a person who can persuade you to get into a meeting." Shikaku drawled, enjoying the face Konran was sporting.
"Ahem, I'm okay with the meeting, not going to a meeting, stop assuming I was forced into this, just like what Anko had said."
"Same thing, same thing." The Nara clan head looked at the Gamma Sannin. "I thought all the jounins will be here, Jiraiya-sama? I just see the usuals."
"Wow. The usuals. We feel special." Inoichi griped in a depressed state.
"Hm." Shikaku grunted.
"They'll be here in a sec. I just made them explain some things to their teams, that's all."
"What do you mean you guys have a meeting again? Can't we just have, I don't know, a normal day where we actually help the village and all? Or even go to a mission?" Kiba ranted till a certain girl got annoyed.
"Oh will you shut up, Kiba! They're the jounins, and it's not like we have any place to stop them from going to those meetings!" Sakura shouted, bopping his head. "You've been ranting non-stop it's getting really irritating."
"Finally, somebody who sees reason." Asuma sighed in relief. Kakashi just rolled his eye. He hasn't known the nature of Haruno Sakura.
"Wait for it..."
"Yeah, they may have ditched us and yeah, we may not have been bonding or whatever you call it, but they're jounins, were genins." And Kurenai and Asuma sweatdropped at the so-called peacemaker.
"I agree with Kiba. It is annoying." Naruto said, giving his two cents. "We haven't had a day of mission! We couldn't even get a D-Rank, for Kami's sake! I want to do something awesome!"
"Awesome?" Hinata repeated, poking her fingers. "Naruto-kun, why not go to a Chuunin then? Iruka-sensei maybe?"
The whiskered genin suddenly grinned at the idea, laughing. "You're right, Hinata-chan! We should've gone to Iruka-sensei! At least he can give us missions, unlike these useless guys!" He hugged the timid girl tight, making Hinata red and go slack.
"Oh Kami Hinata!" Naruto yelled in worry. "What's happening? I don't know what to do! She passed out! Did she eat breakfast?" He asked Kurenai, who only nodded in response.
"She ate breakfast, I assure you."
"Then what-?"
"You are a Baka, Naruto." Ino mumbled, irritated. "I thought Forehead was joking, but no..."
"We aren't useless people, thank you very much." Asuma bit back, lighting another cigarette, recalling Naruto's earlier statement about them. "We help the village everyday, by defending it."
"From what." Kiba grunted, getting another bop to the head, now the courtesy of Shino. "Oi, what the hell man?!"
"It was escalating quickly. I had to do my part to ensure your rashness won't spread." Shino quipped, his glasses to the direction of the team leaders. "It's protocol. They have to answer to the higher ups, just like us, we have to answer to them."
"Yeah, yeah, I know the protocol and stuff like that. I'm not stupid, unlike Naruto."
Naruto glared at the Inuzuka. "Akamaru, tell your owner, 'I studied a lot of books because I was forced to, and I'm not stupid, just really dense." Akamaru nodded and began barking at his partner, but Kiba wasn't listening.
"What's the big idea, moron? I heard what you said!"
"Sorry. I thought you weren't listening, dog breath." He smirked when Kiba seethed in anger. "Heh. So, Sakura-chan, how's Hinata-chan?"
"Great." The pink- haired girl 'reported'. "She's stable, maybe she was just dizzy." She joked.
"She's sick?" Naruto repeated, horrified. "Wha-what are the symptoms? Is she a severe case?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, watching the conversation. "Can this conversation be more stupid than this?"
"It can." Kakashi answered, hearing him. "Like the fact that they actually forgot that we were here and we are supposed to go to the meeting." Shikamaru sighed, seeing his point.
The Akimichi just fished another bag of chips beside him, not wanting to join the conversation. "You could go now, you know." Choji remarked, looking at the jounins. "Since they're busy, why not go to wherever you need to be?"
The red-eyed jounin nodded. "Right. Let's not waste time." The three of them vanished in a shunshin unnoticed.
"She's getting redder!" Naruto yelled.
Seriously, Naruto.
"What the hell took you so long, Hatake, Sarutobi, Kurenai-san?" Konran berated. "The meeting was supposed to start thirty minutes ago! Especially you, Asuma."
"Sorry. Got caught up with the moment." Asuma said.
"That must be some moment, hun." Anko commented, smirking at the annoyed face the smoker made. "You took a while."
"We all took a while." Kurenai butted in.
"The genins-" Kakashi tried to answer, but was stopped as a hand was placed on his shoulder and he felt himself turn around. Konran just rolled his eyes and tilted his head towards Jiraiya.
"Okay, come on, we have to start this meeting as soon as possible." he ordered, making the Sannin nod. Meanwhile the others went on having a meeting, Anko went to the side of Kurenai who was sitting on a couch near the wall.
"Ko-kun finally attended a meeting! Isn't that fun?" the purple-haired lady happily said, ecstatic. She clapped her hands and her best friend immediately saw a dango in her hand. "It's the first time! I'm so proud."
"Still not getting used to him being called Ko-kun by you of all people." Kurenai said, dead panning. She raised an even ow. "Really? He doesn't like meetings? I thought he was that type of guy, you know… the one that actually hosts it or something?"
"Yeah." The dango-obsessed woman nodded. "That's what I thought at first. But he's not like that! Anyway, just wanted to ask, do you think the others are scared at Konran?"
Both women gazed at the impassive face Konran was sporting, while the other members of the council either sweated from his presence, held them up straighter than they have seen them, or were trying to listen even if they didn't want to. Jiraiya seemed to be glancing at the other man a few times, stopping in a few minutes.
"But it's not really scared per se, but maybe it's because they're intimidated by his authority?" The Genjutsu expert hesitated, not knowing as well. "I don't know. He seems to give that nice leader vibe."
"Yeah."
"How did we start from Hinata having a sickness then arrived to visiting the Uchiha?" Kiba suddenly questioned as they were walking towards the hospital.
"Dunno." Ino muttered. She looked at the pink-haired girl beside her. "How did we anyway?"
"We needed to go to the hospital. That's it. I didn't say we were going to Sasuke-kun. And it's not because of Hinata or Naruto." Sakura looked at her left where Naruto was with Hinata, who was looking like a good impersonation of a tomato. They had excused Hinata's redness as a prank towards Naruto, which the blonde readily accepted.
"Huh." Shikamaru looked inside the hospital room where Sasuke was. "Is his room 812? Like, eight hundred twelve?"
"Yeah, we're sure, that's what the nurses told me, since the hospital room Sasuke-kun was in was wrecked because of the snake incident, remember? It was originally 204 but now it's 812." Sakura said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Nobody's in there." Choji observed, looking across the room. "And there's an unconscious nurse right there, and the window and a part of the wall is broken."
Kiba went in in alarm, as well as Naruto. They both looked at each other and nodded, going around the room.
"Sasuke's scent trails off outside the window." Kiba reported.
Naruto gently slapped the nurse awake into consciousness, chafing his wrists and shook her. The nurse blinked her eyes blearily and looked at Naruto.
"Huh...? Why am I on the floor?" She mumbled, still disoriented. Her eyes suddenly flashed awake in shock, and soon she was running around the room like somebody who was shocked by lightning.
"What the..."
"Okay..." Some of the jounins drawled after the boring protocol of 'what this meeting is all about, why are you all here, the purpose of all of you coming, how you did great in the battle, who the bad guys were, who contributed the most, and how the village's condition afterwards'.
Seriously, it was like SONA(State of the Nation Address) that was always made by the daimyo, but now it was just made by Jiraiya. The ANBUs and Hunter-nins who were present as well (those who hadn't accepted a mission yet, or gotten one) was quiet, respectful.
"Man, that was tiring. Do we really have to go through all of that?" The Gama Sannin complained himself, looking at the ceiling. "This is the reason why I never wanted to be Hokage, Sarutobi-sensei!" He yelled as if the third Hokage could hear him.
A newly-promoted jounin suddenly voiced her concern. "Jiraiya-sama? You aren't going to be Hokage? But what was all that talk about? Do we have a Hokage?"
"Be quiet, we haven't even started yet." Somebody whispered back, slapping the other one's head.
"Yes, we haven't started yet and you're already complaining." Hiashi agreed, his hand resting on his cheek. "Please, Jiraiya-sama, get on with the proceedings."
"Thank you." Jiraiya smiled, nodding. "Okay, I'm the Gama Sannin and a great author of a great series-"
"Icha-Icha." Someone coughed, but the white-haired man ignored it.
"-but the thing is, I'm not really responsible to be Hokage. I can't resume the Hokage mantle, why do you think I always turn down the position? I like to roam around the world-"
"That's just an excuse to not make the paperwork."
"-and meet new people, I have a secret spy organization that is the best among the rest. People never know that I'm actually changing information between people, especially if I just go into a quaint, little village. There are other people more worthy than me to take the position-"
"That's not me."
"Could you all just be QUIET! I'm trying to make my speech epic here!" Jiraiya rubbed his temples, but he saw truth to the words that was spoken. He was glad that he wasn't offered the position.
"So, get to the point, Jiraiya- sama." Tsume growled. "I left a lot of things to my daughter to watch over the clan, but I'm not really convinced she could handle it the whole day, you know. Especially these times, the shop needs work."
Inoichi nodded as well, as the others did. "We're not impatient, we just want to go back and help our families. Some ninjas really thrashed the park, so we have to get back to work. Some of my transactions with the other clients have been on hold since the attack, we can't tend to the flowers if we keep having these meetings."
"So, who's the Hokage?"
Jiraiya smiled. "You have to guess." From the surprised blinks around him, except from two people, he shook his head in agreement. "Yes, as you may all know, the people close to me are just my former team, and almost all of you are just acquaintances."
"The person that was chosen is here. It's to see if that man is really worthy, because the man that was chosen by the Sandaime himself wasn't really somebody who I'm close with, just like all of you. If you think he is worthy, then tell me. You only get to have one guess, so choose- who do you think did the Sandaime choose and who is the most worthy in the room?"
"She's j-joking! The teme doesn't even know how to fly!" Naruto said in a doubtful tone, combing his hair. "Gray creature? Hands that made him fly like he was using wings? How could that even happen?"
They had made a decision to leave the hospital, knowing they couldn't do anything, yet. With no Hokage, missions outside the village couldn't really be approved yet.
"She was telling the truth." Ino commented, writing something on her diary. "I saw the look in her eyes, she was telling the truth. She's not even crazy at all. That was a traumatic event for her, especially for a normal nurse who doesn't have ninja skills."
"You can read people now?" Kiba asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Wow, you're actually useful when Sasuke's not here, you mighty fan girl." He grinned.
Ino swept her bang to the side, clipping it. She sighed, and laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty astounded at myself too. Dad was happy for me to improve on my skills. Now I see what's the improvement if I actually do something good."
"For Sasuke-kun to do that... That's not like him at all!" Sakura exclaimed, distraught. " He would never abandon us!"
"Keep telling yourself that." Shikamaru said. "But maybe there was something that happened to him. Hypnotism, or memories jumbled, or he just went crazy and made stuff out from what he can remember. But there's one thing for certain- he went to Orochimaru."
"We should really tell somebody from the higher-ups." Choji said, worried. "I may not like Sasuke too much, but he's still a comrade."
"Who do we know from the higher-ups, anyway?" Kiba asked. "Someone not a jounin?"
A lightbulb suddenly appeared on top of Naruto's head. "Ah! Ero-Sennin! That guy is higher than any jounin around here! Even though he's some crazy ecchi guy..." He then rambled on, the others not knowing who 'Ero-Sennin' was and looked at the greatest stalker of Naruto.
Hinata eep'ed, looking at all of them. "I-I think i-it's Jiraiya- sama he's talking about..."
Shikamaru's eye twitched. "So he knows someone as high as him..." He muttered.
"You call him as the perverted Sannin? That's-so-f***ing great! Holy sh*t that's funny!" Kiba laughed, rolling on the ground. Akamaru just copied his partner's actions and rolled on the ground as well.
"But they're in a meeting, right?" Sakura questioned, not sure if what they were going to do was right. "For all we know, we might be bombarding in a very important talk. It's not our place."
"Place, place, the teme's flying somewhere with hand wings, we need to tell them! We might even get lucky, they'll be having a new Hokage and we could save him already!" Naruto looked on positively, shaking Shikamaru repeatedly. "Come on, get your lazy butt up, Shikamaru!"
Shikamaru's eye twitched once again. "Mendokuse..."
"Genjutsu, guys. It must've been genjutsu." Naruto repeatedly said. He gazed down at the black-haired teen in front of him that was sprawled on the ground in front of the Uchiha manor. "He's just here, sleeping."
Ino's eyebrows furrowed, poking her former/not really former crush. 'Weird. If the nurse was under a genjutsu, what was it for, then? There had to be a reason on why she had a genjutsu put on her.' Outwardly she said, "I don't know, Naruto... If it was a genjutsu, who cast it? Since Sasuke-kun seems to be knocked out cold right now, then it can't be him."
"Maybe it was him?" Shikamaru speculated, leaning on the wall. He watched as Naruto and Chouji lifted the Uchiha on the bed, who was still unconscious. "Some type of protection, maybe? He must've felt confused."
The others didn't understand, based on their facial reactions. The Nara sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. "What I meant about that... Mendokuse, this is so troublesome to explain- he just came from a coma, then through a battle. That must have been his last memory, so he lashed out."
"But cast a genjutsu?" Kiba piped up, pointing towards the bed-ridden teen. "I hate him, but I do know he sucks at making illusions. Pink-haired girl is the one that excels in it."
Sakura rolled her eyes at the canine-like teen, but nodded otherwise. "True. Sasuke-kun wa never the best one in making illusions." She puffed out her chest in pride. "I am."
"Blah, blah. Details, details." Ino waved off. "So, some defense mechie then? I guess that makes sense."
"Not really." Naruto voiced out. "How the hell did the teme arrive here? Maybe the nurse was right, with Sasuke making gray hand wings and flying right here." He kicked the other boy lightly. "Oi, teme. We need answers."
"That's not going to wake him up, Naruto." Choji remarked, holding out a bag of chips towards the blonde teen. He was just going to say, "Maybe he just needs rest", when the Uchiha groaned, sat up and blinked, looking at them all.
A few minutes of silence, Sakura was the first to speak.
"Hey, there... Sasuke-kun."
The raven-haired teen pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
"Kakashi?" "Asuma?" "Tsunade-sama?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "As much as I would like the hime to be the one, she isn't here that's why she couldn't be Hokage. I said, in this room." Jiraiya then looked at the clan heads. "Who do you think's going to be the Hokage? Shikaku, you first."
Shikaku blinked, not expecting he was first among the rest to be called. "Huh? Why not Choza be first? He's an A."
"But you're supreme commander of Konoha, so go, and guess."
Shikaku scanned his eyes across the room, looking for the possibilities, his face still on the table. He had previously noticed that Asuma wasn't called, meaning he knew who the one chosen was. The Hunter-ninjas and the ANBUs seemed to be quiet as well.
'Who is the best to hold this position.' He looked around, and spotted a man who was a hiding behind the crowd, almost unseen. He looked at the possibilities for him being Hokage, and checked that it was a high score. He smirked, already knowing his answer. If it wasn't him, then who was the candidate?
"I vote Odayakana Konran as my guess for the Hokage position." He said with the utmost conviction that he could muster, making Jiraiya smile. The clan heads just widened their eyes (though they weren't really that surprised, they were actually going to guess him) and the Oinins and ANBU just shook their heads in agreement.
"I agree." The ANBU with a Lizard mask agreed, the commander of ANBU as well as the representative of the large group. "I have been subjected to Odayakana-san's… uniqueness, and I agree at everything Shikaku-san had said." Even though the answer of the man was in monotone, Jiraiya could detect a smile in his words.
"Boss would be fine there." A hunter ninja representative piped up beside the ANBU, ('Huh, it seems like Oinins are much more laid back than ANBU' Jiraiya thought) nodding. "If there's anybody more than worthy of the Sannin, it's Konran-sama." His masked face tilted towards 'boss'.
"I told you not to call me that anymore." The man in question grumbled to himself.
Jiraiya smiled, gazing at Konran. 'Huh, to have the Supreme Commander of Konoha, ANBU Commander and Oinin Head Representative's votes speaks a great deal about this guy.' He watched as Konran wave off the embarrassment the three were giving him as gasps filled the room. 'He's not that bad actually. Maybe I could trust Konoha with this man?'
"Are you still having doubts, Jiraiya-sama?" Asuma suddenly talked beside him, getting his attention. "Look, I may not be the best guy to tell you how trustworthy this guy is, but Konran is… the best my dad chose him for a reason, even though I'm upset I'll be getting orders from him."
"I could sense some jealousy there, Asuma." He noticed.
"Yeah. Inoichi had told me already I'm already forming a sibling bond with that overly-perfect guy, so what gives, right?" the smoker scoffed, kicking imaginary dirt. "But as pseudo-brother, I put my trust in him."
The Gama Sannin decided to end the mutterings around the room that instant. He lifted the current subject of the talk in the room, whom he idly noticed was rolling his eyes. "Here's your new Hokage, chosen by the Old Man himself! Let's give a round of booze for Odayakana Konran!" He gaily exclaimed.
"A round of applause…" Iruka corrected, whispering.
"What do you mean, 'who are you' teme?" Naruto growled out, annoyed. "I swear, if you're making this stuff up I swear I'm not going easy on you on our next spar, b***ard."
"I don't know you, you, or you." Sasuke nodded to everybody. "Well, except for Sakura and Naruto there." He pointed towards his teammates. "Since they're my teammates. After that? No. So, where's my mom? Dad? Where's Itachi?" He tried to stand up, but a hand pushed his head down and he found his body unresponsive. His eyes only registered a pink-haired girl's face.
"Shut up for a while, Sasuke-kun." Sakura commanded. Her hands glowed as she touched the sides of his head. "I... I can't get anything. He seems to have amnesia though."
"Great observation forehead." Ino snapped, rolling her eyes. "We got the clue when he didn't know us from the start."
"I really, really don't know who the hell you all are, but since my teammates are here, I guess I have to trust them this time. Where's Kakashi-sensei?"
"Huh?" Sakura blinked at her crush. Never in her life did she ever think that Sasuke would ever refer Kakashi as 'Sensei'.
"He's in a meeting." Ino quipped.
The others just kept quiet, aghast at what the Uchiha had said.
"He... He doesn't know us?" Kiba repeated, looking at the two girls who were currently checking on the Uchiha. "Well, not to be a mood-breaker, but I think this is a good thing."
"A good thing, how?" Naruto growled, annoyed. The orange-clad teen just crossed his arms and kicked the dirt. "He doesn't know you anymore, and I think the only people he does know are his currently non-living family, or at least us."
"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata scolded, not liking what her crush had said. "T-That's a bad thing to describe his parents!" The blonde just sent a sincere smile towards her.
"Yeah, even you, Kiba." Choji remarked. "How is this a happy moment? Team Seven's last member that had been replaced by... Kabuto just woken up with no memory at all."
"Sorry." The Inuzuka rolled his eyes. He lifted Akamaru to his head, trying to gesture out what he really meant. "I mean, now he can't be a jerk, he doesn't even remember us. And he seems nice- maybe he was like this before... You know?"
"Maybe." Shino agreed, speaking for the first time.
"What I don't get is that why could he remember his parents not being... Not here." Shikamaru snickered at the whiskered-cheeked boy. "If he had amnesia till that day, shouldn't he be.. I don't know, like a seven-year old, 'ttebayo?"
Shikamaru nodded his assent, slightly surprised that Naruto of all people picked up on it. 'Maybe him hanging out with Konran-sensei and Kakashi-sensei and the three smart teammates helped him with that?'
His musings was taken back though when Naruto continued on what he was saying. "Though he was still a jerk when he was seven... So maybe nothing much had changed." Naruto scratched his cheek, grinning. "Yeah, maybe that's it." Shikamaru and Kiba laughed.
"I-I don't think it's like that t-though." Hinata shook her head. "Maybe whoever had helped him go here w-while knocking out t-the poor nurse was also the reason why he could remember simple things like this."
"There are some memories that had been taken out, like him knowing us." Shino suddenly said, startling them in the process. A kikaichu landed on his index finger. "My bugs say there are certain memories that had been retained as well, like his family being still alive."
"And how'd you know that?" Kiba asked his teammate, ruffling his hair. "I thought your bugs don't invade thoughts?"
"They don't." Shino said simply. "But Ino-san's ability does- that is what they have been doing. Sasuke-san has been put in deep sleep for a while, if you want to know."
"I don't."
'Funny. I always have thought, that if I was going to be declared as a Hokage, things will be much more fun.' Konran mused, sighing. 'Guess not, I just feel like I'm being forced too much. But why? I've had this talk with Iruka already.'
As he stared at the scene in front of his eyes, he sighed once more. Everybody was gawking at him, congratulating him, saying their gratitude and spreading stories about how he was 'worthy' in getting the title. Frankly, he didn't care. He just wanted to check up on his team.
"Right." He finally said. "Can I go now? I have to check up on my team."
"What, no speech on how you're actually enthralled of being proposed of the position of Hokage?" Hiashi asked, drumming his fingers on the table. "Because that is the usual thing that newly-appointed Hokages do when they're elected."
'I didn't want the position, anyway.' He really wanted to answer that. He wanted to say that his term in the future, which was his past, was actually enough for him. 'But if I did, people might get the wrong impression.'
Instead, he plastered on a smile. "Nah." He rubbed the back of his head 'nervously'. "When I'm okay, when it sinks in me. I know I've been offered the place, but to take on the seat already... Not yet."
"Why not?" He heard Anko's voice from the back. "We know you're fit to be Hokage. Just say a speech and resume the mantle, no big deal."
'Oh, Anko-san, if only you knew.'
Kakashi just eyed him. "Aren't you going to celebrate? I think it'd be nice for you to celebrate, Konran. Besides, you can't just ignore a dying man's wish."
That was it. 'A dying man's wish.' That was what Konran was dreading- the fact that the position being offered to him was a dying man's wish. But he didn't want to be Hokage. He had plans-he had already laid out the things that he would do to prevent this, to prevent that. But if he became Hokage, it will be ruined.
"I'll... Think about it first?" He pathetically mumbled.
Shikaku narrowed his eyes at the man's suspicious behavior, as well as Inoichi and Ibiki and Iruka. Being part of the T&I, (Inoichi and Ibiki were partners with Konran for a long time; Shikaku had once seen the man interrogating some guests) they knew that Konran was not acting like himself. He seemed to be jumpy as well. Iruka however did not say or do anything- he believed that the others could help Konran out of his ruffled stupor.
"Konran?" The Nara clan head called. "Let's go outside- I need to talk to you for a while."the man in question just snapped his head up, and searched the man's eyes. He suddenly knew what the man was trying to say, and sighed, going towards the door.
"Me too." Inoichi stood up as well, following them. Ibiki and Iruka soundlessly slipped out of the room, unnoticed by the others but Jiraiya.
'So the candidate's not yet prepared.' He mused, bringing out a pad. 'Well, if this is going to continue, then might as well do something productive... Like thinking for a new chapter for my Icha Icha.'
Meanwhile, Naruto had walked outside the hospital room, annoyed. 'Great, my best friend doesn't know me that much- he only remembers me partially because I was declared his teammate, great.' He grumbled sitting down. He kicked the imaginary dirt until he suddenly remembered the place of a certain meeting.
'It's not going to bother them right? And Konran-sensei's going to be a Hokage dattebayo!' He grinned happily going outside, through the roof. 'And I know Konran-sensei's not sure in becoming Hokage... I'll encourage him! I'll tell him the job is awesome!'
And with that thought, he ran towards the meeting hall, intent on convincing his idol that being Hokage is the awesomest job even he would be envious for him about.
"Konran, tell me what's bothering you." Shikaku said, leaning on the wall. Inoichi opted to stand beside the other blonde man, gazing at him as well.
Konran ruffled his hair. "I- I don't know." That was a lie. He knew why he was being like this- he didn't want to become Hokage, he had enough once. "Pressure, maybe?"
Inoichi laughed. "You, you, Odayakana Konran, pressured? Of all the times that you could've been pressured, you choose right now?" He looked straight to the violet orbs of the taller man, who immediately averted his gaze. "Look at me, Konran."
Konran just shook his head, mumbling some things the duo can't understand.
"Konran. Be a man and tell us what's wrong." The Supreme Commander ordered, putting a hand on his shoulder. 'Why do I even care for him, anyway? We're not close.' Shikaku mused in his mind, appalled at his current actions. 'I thought Kakashi would have been the one here- it seems the man is much more socially-awkward than ever.'
When the blonde-red haired man didn't answer, Inoichi applied pressure to his voice. "Konran, don't be a kid. Tell us what's wrong. Shouldn't you be happy that you're Hokage now? Wasn't that one of your dreams? Now you could continue on being a leader of the village, just like how you were before you came to Konoha, being a high jounin there."
Konran snapped his head up, and now the two could see that his eyes were glistening, like he wanted to cry. The duo faltered at their interrogation, not seeing this side of the legendary Odayakana Konran.
"It's not that guys." The tall man slid down on the wall, sitting. "I don't want to be Hokage."
"You don't what?" Inoichi repeated, not believing what the man he actually looked up to had said. "You're being offered the position of Hokage! Something almost all ninjas want to be!"
"Hear him out first." Ibiki suddenly said, but the three didn't react, being used to Ibiki's behavior. Behind him was Iruka, who looked at his best friend and smiled sadly.
"There are reasons on why he acts like this, Inoichi-san, Shikaku-san." The scar-nosed chuunin spoke softly.
Ibiki knelt down and stared at him. "Are you okay, kid?"
Konran just shook his head.
"Very mature." Inoichi commented.
"How old is he, anyway?" Shikaku asked his former teammate.
"Twenty-five." The blonde replied, earning a yelp of anger from the man they were currently talking about. The Yamanaka flinched as he felt the aura of the other man. "I think?"
"I'm nineteen Kami dang it!" Konran yelled, vein throbbing. "Why does everybody keep forgetting that? Do I look so old to you people?!" He bit out, grumbling.
Ibiki smiled, seeing this side of the normally calm man once- when he was wailing in front of the Sandaime. "You just act so mature they forget that, Konran." He not-so-gently said.
"Yeah." Iruka agreed, laughing. "I even had to remind myself you're younger than me, Konran! It just doesn't seem that way!"
"You're nineteen?" Shikaku blinked, an incredulous look on his face. "Minato was the youngest Hokage- I think he was twenty-eight that time- but you're being offered the position at nineteen?" He rubbed his temples with his index and thumb finger. "No wonder you're pressured. You're barely twenty."
"But very accomplished." Inoichi added his cent. "All the more you should be proud of yourself, Konran! You're accomplishing something no one has ever done before in the world!"
'Not really. Gaara had been fif-sixteen when he was elected Kazekage.' The man thought to himself, smiling inwardly. 'Really. It's funny, actually.' Hearing the older Yamanaka's pep-talk made his spirits lift up.
Ibiki just stood up. "Well, I just went outside to check on you. It's your decision if you want to be Hokage or not." Then he proceeded to walk inside the conference.
"Right. We've talked about this, remember? I know you could do it. But if you don't want the position, it's okay." The former hunter ninja reassured.
"You heard the man." Shikaku yawned, the lazy look in his eyes back once again. "It's your choice. We can't just push others to become Hokage, right?"
He watched as the blonde-red haired man bite his lip and stand up. "That's what I'm afraid of, Shikaku." He looked at the other man in a desperate look. "I don't know what to do. The old man's- ('the Sandaime?' Shikaku thought)- last wish to me is to become the Hokage. He trusted me, he knew I could do it. B-But, I can't!"
Shikaku was suddenly glad that the conference hall was soundproof, and there was no one near the hall because he was quite sure Konran didn't need anymore attention. Inoichi on the other hand, was suddenly realizing that his equal/idol was breaking down.
"You can." He motivated. "You can, Konran. The Sandaime was never rash with decisions, and I'm sure that he made you Hokage because he knew you could do it. And for the long time I've known you, you've always inspired others, you've always been the best. A lot of people look up to you because of you. Even I know that you could do it!"
"Ino's old man is right, Konran-sensei!" A boisterous voice was abruptly heard, making them look towards the veranda. A silly smile plastered to his face, Naruto decided to show up in the right moment. "You're an awesome person, and you're the best for the place! I'd rather have you than Ero-Sennin or Kaka-sensei." He noticed the other person beside his sensei. "Hi, Iruka-sensei."
"Naruto? What are you doing here?" the orange-clad ninja's former mentor queried.
"Giving my moral support!" Naruto simply said, grinning.
Konran cracked a smile. "So I'm just a third choice then?" He joked, earning a pout from the younger boy. "Nah, nah. I'm just joking, Naruto."
Naruto jumped inside looking at the others in the room. "Oh hey, Shika's dad, Ino's dad." He greeted, grinning. "Konran-sensei bothering you?"
Konran rolled his eyes and sputtered. "Me, bother them?" He incredulously pointed towards him and the amused duo. "You're crazy, Naruto. I taught you better than that."
"I know." The younger blonde cheekily said.
"Naruto!" Iruka reprimanded, earning a sheepish look from the younger blonde's face.
"Seems like you're the only one that can talk to this big guy." Inoichi patted the jounin's head. "Tell him, Naruto. Tell him how accepting the Hokage position is the best thing that can happen to him."
"Ehhh." Naruto scrunched his face. Honestly, he wasn't really prepared. He just wanted to tell the guy in front of him if he didn't want the Hokage position, he could have always passed it to him.
"First, I love to be Hokage. Second, people who become Hokage are the best in the village. Third, you'll be my idol! And becoming the idol of Uzumaki Naruto is the best thing that can happen to you, sensei!" He ticked his fingers more. "Fourth, people will know you more and respect you more. Fifth, they'll know you. Sixth, it'd be awesome to be the student of the Hokage! That means I'm one step closer to becoming one! Seventh, the villagers will know you more, not only the villagers. Eighth, you could make your own rules!"
"Like?" Shikaku curiously asked, amused at the younger boy's antics.
"Free ramen day!" Naruto absolutely shouted, happy.
"Seriously, Naruto?" Iruka deadpanned. "Poor Teuchi-san and Ayame-san."
"Ninth, your face will be on the Hokage monument!"
"Which you will defile." Konran butted in, making the Orange-clad ninja blush.
"Yeah, but that's not the point!" He yelled. "Tenth, because you're a good guy. And good guys get to know more people, and inspire new people! Second to the last, you've got the Will of Fire!"
'The Will of Fire.' The four of them repeated in their minds. Konran was startled at those words, like he have never heard it for a long time. A smile grew on his face, and he started chuckling.'And I haven't alright. Why have I ever doubted myself? I've always wanted to serve my village till the end. I'm not backing down anymore. That's a promise- on my nindo, my ninja way.' Konran smiled.
"And what's the last one?" Iruka asked, smiling.
"You protect your precious people." Naruto grinned. "A friend of mine told me that only one becomes truly strong if you have someone to protect."
Konran smiled. Haku."Of all the people that will get me back on my feet, it would be you, naturally." He laughed, hugging his younger counterpart. "Thanks, me."
"Huh?" The four listeners chorused, especially Naruto. "What me?"
Konran didn't answer but smiled once again, ruffled his hair and shunshined inside the room.
"That was nice of you, Naruto." Iruka gratefully thanked the boy. "He had been thinking about the position for the whole week, and the ony person that could only get through his thick-headed skull was you. You have a nice way of telling people that they're the best, you know."
"I do, 'ttebayo?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, unaware.
"Yeah." Shikaku nodded. "He looked like he was about to cry earlier. Thank you, kid. Maybe you just gave a Konoha a new and great leader."
They were quiet when Inoichi suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, Naruto, what are you doing here? I thought you were having some get-together with the other teams?"
"Yeah. We were." Naruto nodded, annoyed. "But instead we had to check up on the teme."
"Teme?" Shikaku echoed.
"Sasuke," Naruto cleared up, pointing towards the hospital. "Decided to escape the hospital and appear in their clan place. The jerk flew with his hands, that teme."
"Flew with his hands? What do you mean?"
"Dunno. I haven't stayed that long to know, Sakura-chan and Ino were gushing over him, I thought I'd leave them for a while and give Konran-Sensei some pep words." The blonde smiled. "Hey, is Ero-Sennin there? That's Jiraiya though..."
The Nara clan head snorted at the nickname Naruto had given the Sannin. "Kami..."
"...and then I promised Aniki that I'll be telling him what had happened in the Wave mission." Sasuke finished. Choji raised his hand like they were in class, making Sasuke frown. "I... Uh, Choji.. Is that your name? I can't remember."
Sakura just marvelled on how much Sasuke-kun was different, but it was a good different.
"Yes, I'm Choji." The Akimichi nodded. "We were your classmates, but maybe you just forgot, being switched in many classes since you were little."
"I know. Crazy right? But I'm an Uchiha- and I have to cope with it." The pink- haired teammate of his just eyed him like his speech was weird. "What are you staring at, Sakura?"
"You're... Polite."
"Of course I'm polite." Sasuke just looked at her, affronted. "What, were you expecting me to be a selfish jerk or something?"
"Yeah. You were pretty much to me." Kiba drawled out, sprawled out on the floor.
"Well. Maybe I wasn't myself that time. I apologize."
"No. You're not yourself now." Kiba whispered, but otherwise nodded and 'accepted' the apology. "Say man, how'd you arrive here anyway? We were going to visit you in the hospital- well, I wasn't going to but Pinky there persuaded us to-" at this, Sakura levelled a glare towards the Inuzuka- "and you weren't there. Care to explain that?"
Sasuke looked troubled. "I don't know. I felt woozy, and I felt someone inject something in my arm. I panicked and... And..."
"And?" Ino pressed on.
"I can't remember. It was like my mind blanked or something, I can't remember anything."
Shikamaru sighed. "Dang. Well, I guess we're not going to get anything if this guy doesn't remember what happened to him." He stood up and stretched. "Let's do something fun."
The others stared at him, even Sasuke. "You, Shikamaru, want to do something fun?" Sakura exclaimed.
"Yeah." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Watch clouds."
The others fell anime-style.
"Thanks guys... I thought nobody would trust me to become a Hokage." Konran smiled, shaking his head. The other ninjas (chuunins, some jounins, hunter ninja head and ANBU commander) had already left, leaving those people who were the closest to Konran in the room. "I give you all my thanks... And what's the next part?"
"Initiation." Hiashi drawled.
"Great." He groaned back.
Kakashi just looked at his co-sensei amusedly. "Well, I haven't seen you as open as ever, Konran. Trying to lift yourself from your age?"
Gai laughed, hooking his arm around his best friend. "Konran-san might be applying for the power of a youth, isn't he? That'd be very nice, and it may spark a new string of constellation to join us to become a galaxy, my friend!"
Asuma just tilted his head, processing what the bowl-haircut headed man had just said. "Y-you want to recruit more members to your Youth cult? How dare you, Maito! How dare you!" He accused, his lighted cigarette pointed towards the man. "And starting with the leader, huh?" He suddenly appeared in front of Konran, leading him away slowly. "Just wait, he's converting you, Konran. I know he is."
Konran smirked, pushing the man off gently(more like shoved) and tilted his head. "Not really, I don't need that Fountain/Power of Youth thing." He waved off. "I'm just nineteen, I'm living my life."
"YOU'RE NINETEEN!" The others yelled, especially Kakashi. Iruka just rolled his eyes and stayed quiet as usual. Konran just hit him on the back of his head, making the Copy ninja fall down.
"What are you yelling at, you fucking one-eyed bastard! Think I'm older than nineteen?!" He asked, an evil aura circling him. The other ninjas yelped in fear, and Shikaku could only bang his head on the table in annoyance.
'Seriously, I thought Konran was this quiet guy, now he seems like an upgraded version of that kid Naruto.' He thought to himself while his head throbbed. 'Wait, an upgraded version.. What am I thinking? Am I really thinking about that? But what about he said earlier, "thanks me,". What did that mean? I know his father...' He looked at Konran who had a smile on his face and was now apologizing towards the silver-haired man beside him. 'Are Naruto and him related? They look very the same. No, you're just overthinking things again, Shikaku.'
"Yes, I'm nineteen." Konran narrowed his eyes. "You've got a problem with it?"
"None, Konran-kun." Anko smiled slyly. "I just didn't think that our new Hokage will be single and ready to mingle with m- ack!" Kurenai slapped a hand over her friend's mouth.
"Sorry about Anko, Konran-san. She doesn't think about whatever she says, anyway." She looked at the tall man in an apologizing gaze. Anko tried to struggle but the red-eyed woman did not lose her iron grip on her.
"It's okay." Konran smiled. He felt someone looking at him and turned to see Iruka standing beside him. "Iruka?" He turned around, sensing that the scar-nosed man wanted to tell him something.
"Are you okay now? Like, really okay?"
Konran blinked. "Uh?" He intelligently said back. "Where's Naruto?"
"Went back to his friends." Iruka answered shortly. "I know how you think, Konran. We've been through many things, and I'm the person who knows you the longest. From the talk earlier- are you okay?"
Konran lowered his gaze. 'Of course Iruka would know. Just like how he knew a lot of things in the past.' He sadly smiled at the other man. "Fifty-fifty, Iruka." He answered sincerely. "I'm just doing this because, well, a lot are depending on me. And I think I'm doing the right choice. I want to help Konoha, and help I will. And maybe this can boost my self-confidence."
"And your inflated ego?" Iruka joked.
The blonde-red haired man scoffed. "Me? Ego? Where in the blue blazes of hell did you here that?"
"I didn't hear it." The Chuunin replied back, smiling. "I experienced it, remember the time you had to do a dare with the other Oinins and the ANBUs? When you won it you just smiled like an uptight jerk you are." He wasn't one to speak those words, but Iruka knew Konran was his best friend. He could be free if he wanted to.
"Uptight jerk? Kami, where are you learning these things!" Konran flailed his hands, but brought them down. "But still, I just made my decision for the old man. It was his last wish." He looked down at his hands uncomfortably.
Iruka smiled. 'He's showing his true age... He's finally loosening up, isn't he? He's not afraid anymore, not afraid to lose people more. To be a leader of a village like Konohagakure no Sato is no easy task. Whatever happened in his past had scarred him deeply, but at least he's healing.'
"I know you're going to be a great leader. You're the best man I've ever seen to unite hunters and ANBUs, and made himself be respected through the highest groups of Konoha. And I know you're going to love being Hokage."
"Even with the stress?"
"Even with the stress."
"Well then!" Jiraiya appeared in front of them suddenly, surprising Iruka. Konran just rolled his eyes, annoyed at the man's appearance. A hand was clapped onto his shoulder and he was turned around.
"Let the initiation begin!"
"I guess this is for the better, isn't it?" Sakura smiled at the others, closing the Uchiha clan door. "He seems to be so happy and carefree- his grudge to kill a certain person seems to be buried in the deepest recedes of his mind.
"Maybe?" Ino uncertainly coughed. "I-I don't know guys. When I entered Sasuke-kun's mind, it seemed... Different."
"Different how?" Kiba asked, scratching his head.
"A brain sends signals towards a person's body through their nerves." Ino explained slowly, looking sideways. "I found a large black door where the "control room" is located, and I couldn't go inside." Now Shikamaru and the others were looking at her with troubled expressions. "Just... Just like.."
"A barrier?" They all turned around to see a serious-looking Naruto who had his arms crossed over his chest. "Was there a seal? A paper, or something that looks like it was painted on the wall?"
Ino was intimidated at the look Naruto was making, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, I think. I don't know. Sasuke's mind was a dark place, I couldn't really see anything. It would have been nice to conjure a flashlight, but I'm not that experienced yet."
"How do you know there would be one, Naruto?" Sakura asked her teammate, curious.
Naruto gave out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Eheh. I'm studying seals, right? I would know that, 'ttebayo." He vaguely thought of the Nine-Tailed Fox in his mind, frowning. "Do we have to keep this from the higher-ups?"
Shikamaru bit his lip, not knowing himself. "We'll keep this later on... And tell it to the Hokage, if there is a newly-appointed one." Naruto just smiled, thinking that yes, Konran was a trustworthy one indeed.
Choji just offered some chips to his friend. "Here. Maybe you're hungry."
Naruto grinned, taking out a handful. "Thanks. Who's up for Ramen guys?"
"... And your responsibilities include looking over the matters of the village, making sure the ninjas and civilians stay in line, to hand out missions, to do the necessary paperwork for the village..."
Everybody was currently seated, and even the Elders were present, though they looked like they were fuming.
Konran's short attention span had reached its limit, and now he was considering on turning himself into a gust of wind and just float away. Or maybe make a Kage Bunshin to replace him somewhere, or even burn the paper that his former mentor was holding. He tapped his foot on the floor repeatedly, trying to show he was listening.
'Konran! What the hell are you doing! Why are you acting like this!' Kurama suddenly growled in his mind, making him sit up in attention. 'You aren't supposed to agree with this plan. What are you thinking?!'
'Kurama, lower your voice.' Konran ordered, his violet eyes narrowing. 'And I'm acting like this because I'm back in the game, Kurama. I've never felt like me than ever before.'
'That's what we're trying to avoid, didn't you remember?' The youkai's voice turned deeper in annoyance. 'You CAN'T be yourself. Especially right now- the Sandaime is dead and there's no one to defend you if ever you, since you are a stupid little ningen, slip up.'
'Relax. Chill.' The blonde-red haired man smirked, though he just sighed as he heard "Part Ten, the responsibilities in the Civilian Branch". 'And I'm not slipping up. I'm trying to let go of my past, because I'm trying to change it, aren't I? I went back to change the past not to become this gloomy person who is more poised than Hiashi, but to be someone that will help my younger counterpart cope with a better life and avoid losing others.'
'Great plan. See where that went with Hiruzen.' Kurama growled, still annoyed.
'That's a low blow and you know it.' Konran chided, now testing himself if he could read lips. 'And Kurama? I have a plan, trust me. And as I've said, I'm doing this for the old man. He trusted me.'
'Just make sure that plan of yours will not slip up, we still don't know whatever happened to that Sai kid and Orochimaru plus Kabuto. They were the greatest enemies you face, along with Obito and Madara.'
'Don't forget Kagura. Or even Sasuke. Though I don't really see Sasuke as my enemy though.'
He sat up straight when he recognized the parts, "... And Odayakana Konran, do you accept being a Hokage? To do all appointed duties the leader of this village has to do, and to do it sincerely as well?" Jiraiya read, then looked up. He offered his hand in part of the agreement.
Konran stood up and accepted the hand. He smiled. He knew his answer.
"I-"
Muahahaha. Really. I leave all of you hanging for almost four months and this is what I do? Ain't I a jerk? But seriously, I think this is my ending for this story, To Change the Past.
I know maybe this chapter was not so exciting, and certainly not my best (bwahaha, when have I made a great chapter :P) but I wanted to tackle that, Konran is still Naruto, and no one can change that fact. I wanted to show the deep bond that he had already created with Iruka, I waned him to show that he was still a kid, deep inside, still unsure of things to do, and I wanted him to be a badass Naruto. He's going to change the past, Naruto/Konran-style.
And as you can see, Naruto's much more intelligent, but it's still him. Sakura's not some useless person anymore. (That's what I viewed her when she was little, honestly) Sasuke has amnesia, but looks like a good guy. But you never know.
The Chuunin exams will resume, I assure you. *excited for the Sand Siblings appearance*
I thank all of you, whoever who sticked up with me till the end, those who have me on favorite, alerted, reviewed, viewed and recognized my fanfic. It gives me bright smiles that all of you read my simple story.
I don't know guys... Can I continue my story? Probably. I will, if I have time. And if I can type my Percy Jackson fanfic and Hetalia fanfiction stories...
And to those who are still here, reading my A/N!
Sneak Peek to TCtP: Making the Right Choice
"Jiraiya, it seems like you have forgotten a certain part of the initiation ceremony."
"I haven't, Koharu." Jiraiya replied in a nice tone, though it looked like the Sannin was trying not to rip out the elder's head.
"Jiraiya..." Homura warned.
The Sannin looked at Konran with apologizing eyes, who in turn just quirked an eyebrow. Jiraiya sighed, looking at the audience. Here comes the part that he would hate the most right now. "Does anybody have any rejections? Objections? Violent reactions?"
"We do." Koharu stood up, making Tsume, who was sitting across her, glare. Koharu pointed a crooked finger towards the Hokage-candidate.
"The Sandaime was mistaken- That boy is not fit to be our leader. He cannot be Hokage!"
Bye, peeps. BCFireShadow out.