Thank you all for reviewing! Heh… sorry this took so long. But I have negative free time right now. Seriouslllllyllyly. Our band is preparing for the most important concert we have EVER done, not since we've been there, EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL- First Lady Michelle Obama is coming to our graduation (god knows why she picked our awful school) and it's just been hectic. And AP exams and AP physics mind fuck and air conditioner breaking and… ah hell. I'm panicking just typing this. I'm also completely exhausted and really don't know if this is something that should even be posted or not, but… it's happening. Well, I know you people don't care about me and just want to read :) Can't blame you. So, anyway… This one takes place just after Sandaime's funeral. Meant to include Naruto being mad about Kakashi just training Sasuke for the finals, but… it didn't happen. Enjoy!

Naruto had always found it strange that it seemed to rain when everybody was sad. It was like the skies felt the same emotions as the people and whenever they cried, so did it. l

Only fitting, then, that it would rain so hard on the day of the Hokage's funeral.

Naruto thought back to before everything had just went wrong. Before he'd fought Neji, before that bastard Orochimaru had hurt Sasuke in the Forest of Death, before before before they'd even gone to take those stupid Chuunin Exams. It felt like a lifetime ago.

I'll be the Fifth Hokage! Believe it!

The words sounded ridiculously naive now.

The Fifth Hokage? Really?

Naruto remembered how Orochimaru had just brutally crushed him. Not just him, but Sasuke, too. Orochimaru could've just swallowed him and the others of Team Seven whole with that gigantic snake of his without a struggle. And Naruto was quite aware of the fact that he'd already be dead if it weren't for Kyuubi's Chakra.

But, the Third had fought him off.

Naruto had somehow never pictured the old Hokage as actually being a capable fighter. He'd always seen him sitting in the missions room, or walking around the village, or talking with civilians and ninja alike- never had Naruto even once seen him with a weapon in hand. The fact that all Kages weren't just leaders, they were the strongest ninja in their village had just slipped his mind.

And Naruto just couldn't see himself ever fighting as well as the Hokage had. The Third had fought Orochimaru off and even taken all his techniques with him when he died. He had singlehandedly taken on the most monstrous foe Naruto had ever faced, that had made Sasuke tremble in fear and laughed at them all as if they were nothing more than insects for him to step on.

The taste his promise to be Fifth Hokage left in his mouth was sickening, now. Bitter and sick.

Naruto closed his eyes at a flash of lightning. Sasuke, his hand glowing as he ran to take down Gaara-

He opened them again and wrapped his arms around himself with a shudder.

"Naruto?"

Naruto raised his head at the familiar voice, shifting to look over his shoulder at Kakashi. The jounin was standing in the doorway, still clad in all black, his silver hair weighed down with water. His uncovered eye was watching him in a mild concern, but there was something about that charcoal gray iris that just seemed very, very tired; tired and world weary. Naruto could only look at it for a moment before it made him the obvious grief made him feel even sadder, so he quickly turned back away to look out the window once again.

He heard Kakashi approach from behind before stopping abruptly. There was an awkward silence, and then Kakashi cleared his throat and spoke up again. "Ah… well, I'll be in my room if you need… something. There's ramen in the fridge."

Naruto nodded slightly, still gazing out dully at the grey sky. After a moment passed in which Kakashi was silent, he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Kakashi-niisan?"

No reply.

Confused, Naruto sat up a bit straighter and looked behind him to only find that Kakashi was gone. As usual, his movements were so silent that, on a better day, when perhaps the sun was shining and people were happy and the Hokage wasn't dead, he would've run after Kakashi and begged him to teach him how to be so quiet and stealthy. Now, though, even the thought of doing that drained his energy. He simply didn't care. Kakashi could be as quiet as he wanted to be; he could be as silent as a ghost for all Naruto cared.

He suddenly felt very, very embarrassed to think about how he'd acted a month ago, a week ago, just a few days ago. Back then, all that seemed important was getting stronger so he could show up Sasuke, impress Sakura, and make everyone else acknowledge him. Become Hokage so no one could glare at him and say he was worth nothing.

His insides twisted and he bit his lip. Naruto had to bury his head in his knees to stifle a tiny cry. What had the title of Hokage really meant to him? Had it really just been nothing more than the idea of people looking up to him and acknowledging him?

Being Hokage wasn't supposed to be about him, though. It was supposed to be about the village. It was supposed to be about protecting every single person in the village. No, more than that- caring for them.

Naruto felt the heat rise in his cheeks as he thought back to his earlier, incessant proclamations of becoming the Fifth Hokage. He had never once given that promise with the welfare of Konoha in mind. He'd always given it picturing himself, picturing himself in the ceremonial robes and hat with his face up there on the Hokage Mountain, waving at adoring villagers who chanted his name and believed in him and saw him as a person, not a monster…

He had never once pictured himself actually protecting the village.

No wonder people rolled their eyes at him and scoffed when he shouted out a promise to be the next Hokage. Someone like him didn't deserve the position. Someone who only thought of how they would look as Hokage, not of how they could help the village, did not deserve the position.

As if he could protect anybody. He thought of Kakashi, with his fist of lightening and aqueous dragon. Of Iruka, with the wall of earth and stone he'd conjured up out of nowhere on their first day of the Academy, of the way he'd opened up a chasm in the ground with little more than a seal and a great gulp of air. Of Sasuke… Sasuke, who was his age, yet could breathe fire.

And then of himself. What could he do? He could multiply himself into a hundred, walk up trees and across water, and summon giant toads. And he knew full well that summoning Gamabunta would be impossible if it weren't or the creature sealed away inside of him.

If Kakashi, Iruka, and Sasuke weren't fit for the position of Hokage, how could he ever be?

And Naruto had never wanted to advance because of the things Kyuubi made it possible for him to accomplish. He wanted to become Hokage in spite of Kyuubi, not because of it.

Naruto had to fight to swallow the lump in his throat this time. He'd been such an idiot. What kind of Hokage would he make? The Hokage was not just a fancy title. He protected the village, and not only was Naruto absolutely and certainly incapable of that, he hadn't even thought of keeping all those people safe until today.

Slowly, Naruto stood. He moved through the dark and bland hallway, void of anything suggesting a personal touch, his footsteps seeming loud and obtrusive in the otherwise silent home. He walked back to Kakashi's bedroom to find that the door was cracked open, and when he nudged the door open, he found the silver-haired jounin sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bed and gazing down at a picture, his expression unreadable. The picture was the one that Naruto recognized as the only one in the house, the one of Kakashi and his own genin team. He remembered being in awe of how tiny Kakashi was in the picture when he'd first seen it, and the man had simply scratched his temple awkwardly at his exclamations of amazement and told him it was no big deal.

Naruto cleared his throat, then wondered why he had bothered. Kakashi had surely heard him enter; heck, he wouldn't have been surprised if the jounin had known he was coming from when he had first moved off the sill. Still, even at the sound, Kakashi didn't move to greet him or even look at him. He simply kept staring down at the picture, seeming almost forlorn, as he spoke up in a soft, world weary tone that only intensified the aura of grief that seemed to hang over the entire house and the village. "Yes, Naruto?"

Naruto hesitantly made his way further into the room, his gaze jumping from the photo to Kakashi. He walked forward to sit on the edge of his bed. "I, um… well, it's not really the best time, but… I'm sorry."

Kakashi blinked. He slowly raised his head to actually look at Naruto, dark eye narrowed in confusion. "Excuse me?"

He shrugged slightly, now aimlessly tracing small patterns on the shuriken themed blanket, just for something to look at other than that uncomfortable, piercing gaze. "I was thinking, and, well… about all those times I said I would be the next Hokage… I was just stupid. I wasn't thinking about the village, just myself… I'm sorry."

"…Well, I don't think anyone could blame you. The village hasn't exactly given you many reasons for you to care about it."

Naruto frowned. Kakashi didn't sound surprised or judgmental; in fact, his voice just seemed a little bit dead, but nor did he seem to agree with his sentiments. "Well… I mean, yeah… but that's not the point. The Third… he didn't care about anybody liking him or acknowledging him. He just cared about keeping everyone in Konoha safe."

"Hmm." Kakashi slowly, almost regretfully, lowered the picture before shifting to face him. "So, what you're saying is, when you fought Gaara in the forest, you did it to make people like you?"

Naruto blinked. "What? No. But I-"

"You did it to impress Sakura-chan, show Sasuke up, right?"

"No! I thought he was going to kill them!"

"Oh. I see. So, you did it to protect them."

Naruto scowled at the man's backwards logic, glaring down at the blanket. "I know what you're trying to say, Kakashi-niisan, but it's not relevant. When I fought Gaara, it wasn't about becoming Hokage or anything like that- it was just to keep my friends safe."

"Just them? Or Konoha, too?"

Naruto raised his head in surprise at the question. Kakashi was looking at him out of the corner of his eye, absentmindedly stroking the picture frame in his lap. As usual, the man was regarding him with an unreadable expression, one that betrayed nothing of his true emotions but made him feel as if the lazy charcoal eye were scrutinizing him in a way that almost made him uncomfortable. He shifted uneasily. "…What are you talking about?"

"If Gaara had let Sasuke and Sakura go- improbable, I know, but hear me out- let them go, but went on to attack Konoha, what would you have done? Would you have let him?"

"Of course not!"

"And why not?"

Naruto shrugged as if it were obvious. "Sasuke and Sakura-chan… they're important, but they're not the only people I care about. There's Iruka-sensei, and everyone else that graduated with us, and Bushy Brows, and you, and the Ho- um… I wouldn't have let Gaara come destroy Konoha. No way. …But that's all aside the point. Sandaime-"

"Sandaime didn't fight for the village because he was friends with every single person in it. He did it because he believe in what this village stands for."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. What Kakashi was saying was suddenly sounding very familiar to the few times the Hokage had spoken with is class in the Academy. He'd talked about a Will of Fire… of protecting the people he cared about no matter what it took, of standing together as a team and fighting for each other, of striving to keep Konoha and the ideals it was built upon alive.

At the time, Naruto remembered some members of his class laughing- him being among them- while others had stared up in awe. Iruka-sensei had blushed and stammered at him and the others to stop laughing while the Hokage had just smiled and told him it was okay… that they would understand someday.

"You know what I'm talking about, Naruto?"

He nodded slowly. "…He talked about it, once or twice. The 'Will of Fire' right?"

Kakashi smiled. "Yeah. And… I see it in you, too. You could make a fine Hokage someday."

"But, you don't understand- when I fought Gaara, it wasn't to protect the village. I mean, I do care about it, but… I did it to keep my friends safe."

Kakashi frowned for a moment, then chuckled quietly. He gave a slow nod and glanced over at Naruto, who just grew confused by the odd look in the man's eye. "…You know, Naruto, you remind me a lot of a boy I once knew. His dream was to become Hokage, too. He said it all the time, just like you- that he was going to become the next Hokage, and that we'd better believe it. He was last in his class at the Academy, loved to play pranks on everyone, and swore he'd come Hokage so everyone would acknowledge him as more than just the loser."

"…Kakashi-niisan, why are you describing me?"

Kakashi chuckled, propping his chin up on his knee. "Yeah, I suppose he's a lot like you- that's rather the point. He's not you, though. …He's a friend of mine from many years ago. Before you were born."

Naruto frowned. "Well, it's pretty obvious he didn't become Hokage."

"No, he didn't. He died before he could."

That made the blond stiffen. His tired expression twisted into one of shock while he sat up a little straighter, eyes going wide. "He died?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "Yes. He died protecting someone he, for some reason, considered a friend. And, you know what? The Third Hokage, and the man who would become the Fourth Hokage, both told his parents and even his entire clan that he would've been an amazing leader of our village. He died to protect his friends, just like you were willing to do when you fought Gaara. He was called a hero- ended up in the history books and everything. His friends were always at the forefront of his mind, not the village. And that's really what a Hokage is, Naruto. That's what Sandaime, Nidaime, even all the way back to Ichidaime, believed. They wanted to make us, shinobi, something more than a tool. After all, we're all the more powerful when we're fighting for something we love rather than just doing as we're ordered. That's what being a Konoha ninja really is… what being a Hokage is."

Kakashi paused, already soft voice trailing off into nothing. After a moment, his visible eye curved up into a smile, but it seemed force. He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "Maa… sorry. My sensei was Yondaime. He had quite a lot to say on the subject, and I find myself quoting him without even realizing it. But, Naruto, whoever you want to believe, me or him- it makes no difference. There are many people unsuited to be Hokage, and not just because of lack of skill; you are not one of them. So you made a mistake in wanting to be Hokage just be acknowledged; whatever, you were young and naive and had every reason to think that way. …I think Sandaime himself would be proud that you've come this far. I know I am."

Kakashi's eye crinkle was still forced, but it was a bit less painful to look at than before. Naruto stared at him for a moment, then released the breath he hadn't released he'd been holding, letting go of the hard knot of pain in his chest as he did so. He really didn't know how Kakashi was so good at making him feel better- even better than Iruka. But he wasn't going to complain.

After a moment passed in companionable silence, Naruto glanced at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye and cleared his throat. "Hey, Niisan?"

"Mmm?"

"…About that friend of yours, the one who you said was so much like me. Can you tell me more about him? He sounds cool."

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "Oh, really. What if I'd compared him to Sasuke instead of you? Would you still think he's cool?"

"Hey! I didn't say that because you compared him to me, Niisan!" Naruto protested, blue eyes widening. "I'm being serious!"

"Maa, maa, I know. I'm just teasing." Kakashi's eye curved up again before he gave a thoughtful sigh, seeming a bit distant, lost in memories. "Hmm… ah, I know. He would've done anything for a date with the pretty, bold girl he knew from the Academy, he couldn't put up with the moody, angst-filled kid on the team, and… oh, yes! He absolutely loved ramen."