Hello to whoever will read this.
Since Naruto and Sasuke will have missions outside the village, we will see what Konoha will do without their new Hokage for a while.
Hope you enjoy.
"Be careful. Bring back Tsunade-sama and lead this village." Sakura said to her teammate and new Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. The blond teen smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up as he gave her a promise that he will return.
"Believe it Sakura-chan!" He said. The pink haired teen hugged him and as her head was buried in his neck she whispered a 'thank you'. Naruto looked at her eyes and agsasted a bang of her pink hair behind her ear. The kunoichi looked back at Shikamaru, who was holding the Hokage's hat. She took it and offered it to Naruto.
"I don't like you wearing the Hat as you search for Tsunade-sama. It will make you a target." Shikamaru protested, Naruto however wore it with pride and winked at him.
"Don't worry Shika. I might be wearing the Hat but the robe is black and orange. Totally different from the white and red of the official robe. No-one will know I'm the real deal." The young Hokage said and Shikamaru facepalmed.
"Naruto let's go! We have a big journey ahead of us." Jiraya declared as he pointed to the horizon heroically. Shikamaru and Sakura sweatdropped. Naruto however declared with the same enthusiasm that he's ready. Sakura and Shikamaru waited to the Gate until they were out of view.
"Those two idiots will either bring her back or die trying." Sakura said with a straight face.
"I'm pretty sure that they will keep trying even if they die." Shikamaru said with an equally straight face.
Shikamaru opened the door to the Hokage's office and immediately saw the stack of paperwork that needed the Hokage's Signature, for now the council's signature will have to suffice.
"Damn you Naruto. You could at least left a clone behind to deal with all this." He said as he scanned them with his eyes trying to finish them as fast as possible. That when he found at the bottom 3 folders. He picked them up.
"All of them are confidential... Why are these folders out in the open?" He opened the fist folder to the first page to see what it this folder was about.
"Succession in the Hyuuga"
Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock.
"What is this?" He asked in disbelief. The genius Nara began reading it. The file had detailed reports of most Hyuuga's schedule, as well as a diagram of who they would follow as their family head. All the elders, who hold the most political power, support Hanabi Hyuuga. The rest of the main family, who are extremely few in numbers support Hinata as the heir. Last but not least the entire brach family support Neji Hyuuga, they have both the numbers and the outside support of other clans.
"What the hell is going on with the Hyuugas. Why does Naruto have a report about them." As he asked himself a knock on the door made him close the folder quickly and stack it underneath the rest papers. As the door opened, Shikamaru saw an unknown ANBU entering holding a folder.
"Sir, I'm the ANBU Commander, Hokage-sama requested Itachi Uchiha's folder. Shikamaru nodded and placed the folder in one of the drawers. As the ANBU turned to leave Shikamaru couldn't hold himself and asked the question that was bothering him.
"Why are we spying on the Hyuugas?" The Hokage's counsel asked, the ANBU Commander stopped and looked back at the black haired teen.
"It's standard procedure. When a clan is compromised and/or has internal conflict that may harm Konoha as a whole, we keep a close eye to make sure we are prepared for any outcome." He said. Shikamaru didn't react to his answer.
"If you finish the reports you will see both probabilities of the outcome and scenarios of what the Hokage should do if any of them become the Head of the Clan." The ANBU's voice betrayed his scolding tone. Shikamaru scratched his chin.
"Did Naruto ordered this?" The Nara clan head asked.
"No, Lord Fifth doesn't know that this procedure is in place. I don't think he had even read the folder before he left. You are the first." Shikamaru pulled the folder out and began reading it again and looked at the ANBU Commander
"Do you have reports on the other clans as well?" The Nara clan head asked, his accusing tone made the ANBU Commander to sit down.
"As the Hokage's counsel, you must ALWAYS put the village above any clan. Lord Third was extremely good at this. He never put his clan above what the village needed. To answer your question, counsel, yes. We have reports from other clans. And No we are not investigating any other clan right now." The ANBU Commander said and left the room.
Shikamaru looked at the folder and sighed.
"This is something Naruto has to deal with." He said putting the folder together with Itachi's and began with the rest paperwork.
Meanwhile, in the hospital area, Sakura was making her first cup of coffe to get her started. She had a full day ahead of her.
'Another normal day' she thought. She drank it all immediately and prepared a second one.
'I should check up on Lee today. I'm sure he's itching to leave the bed.' The pink haired medic nin said chuckling to herself. As she poured the second cup, she saw Tenten waving at her from a distance and then walking towards where Lee was. Sakura, two coffees down and many more to come, began her shift.
Tenten is not an emotional person, however ever since everyone in her team got defeated in the Chunnin Exams and the Attack, she realised just how important these people are to her. As an orphan, she doesn't have a family of her own, just like the rest of her team with Neji being a weird exception.
She smiled as she saw the tent her friend and teammate was staying. She had been coming daily ever since they put Lee here. Not only her, but Guy and Neji too, when they can. Guy always brings a new instrument for Lee to train and yells of proud he is of Lee for not giving up. Even Neji, when he comes, he says how powerful and resilient Lee is and how he will find a way to be a shinobi even with a leg. Both men are trying their best to lift Lee's spirit, and the young green spandex wearing teen is showing them that he hasn't given up...
"If only that was true..." She murmured to herself as she was outside the tent. Ever since the Attack, Lee was becoming less and less sincere about not giving up. Tenten could see the eyes of the teen becoming dull every time his teammates mention about him getting better. Tenten has stopped encouraging him, knowing full well that this continuous support won't help him. She figured the only thing she can do is being there for him as a friend and teammate.
"Good morning Lee" The weapon special said as she opened the tent's door. It may not be much just coming every day, but she's seen just how much more lively Lee has become the last few days.
"Good morning Tenten. What did you bring today?" The teen boy asked and Tenten gave him a smile. Everyday she brings along either a board game or a book for Lee to read and take his mind of things.
"Hehehe... This time Lee... This time I will beat you at cards" She said as she revealed a deck of cards. Lee gave her a smile and accepted the challenge.
'It may not be much but if it helps him I will continue doing it.' The young kunoichi thought as she sat down and put the cards on Lee's bed.
The Sun was up for a couple hours now, but some people weren't rushing to leave the bed and some others couldn't leave it. Kakashi and Yugao were two of these people, with both the purple haired kunoichi and the white haired Jonin unable to move. Kakashi was sleeping on the couch sorounded by his dogs. Pakkun was sleeping on Kakashi's chest while the rest where around the couch. Yugao had her privacy as she was sleeping in the White haired Jonin's bed. The room wasn't anything special, a typical shinobi room. The only thing that had any character in the room where Kakashi's photos of his old team and his students. And of course... At the wall across the bed were Kakashi's Icha Icha collection proudly displayed. Every time she woke up, her eyes immediately fell upon them making her blush and angry.
A knock on the door woke the dogs up, who as trained ninja dogs didn't bark, they took defensive stances around their master and the door leading to Yugao. As the door opened, all the dogs prepared for any intruder.
"Kakashi-senpai, It's me. Are you up?" A familiar voice called. Immediately all the dogs relaxed and Pakkun answered.
"Kakashi is still asleep. Come in wood post." The little dog said as Monkey entered.
"It's nice to see you too Pakkun" He said with a fake smile. The white haired Jonin hearing all the noise, woke up. He saw his former ANBU teammate and gave him an eye smile. Monkey took off his mask and placed it in the table.
"How are you Kakashi-senpai?"
"I'm not an ANBU anymore, you can stop calling me senpai." Kakashi said shifting to see his friend better. Monkey shook his head in disagreement.
"You will always be my senpai. How can I help?" The brown haired man offered. Kakashi pointed towards his bedroom door.
"I will be fine. A few more hours and I will be back to normal. I need you to check up on her." He said making the brown haired man to look towards the door.
"What happened to her? The report says an animal attacked her?" Kakashi eyed him for a moment and then closed his eyes.
"If that's what the report says then that's what happened." He said. The ANBU tried to protest to learn more but Kakashi used his 'captain' voice.
"Tenzo. That's enough." Tenzo looked at him for a minute and then sighed.
"Once an ANBU, Always an ANBU right Kakashi-senpai" He said this time mocking the honorific he always uses. Kakashi didn't react making the brown haired man to stand up and go to his other teammate.
As he opened the door and entered the room he saw Yugao staring at the seeling. He smiled and sat next to her.
"Are you ok?" He simple asked. She looked at him and smiled.
"Yeah. What wrong with that dog loving pervert?" The purple haired woman asked making her captain to laugh for a moment before his face got serious once again.
"Itachi Uchiha attacked Kakashi and Asuma as he was looking for the Hokage." her smile vanished from her face as she heard that name and her eyes showed her anger.
"Did he found Naru-Hokage-sama? she asked. Tenzo took a moment to see her eyes, that showed him how anxious she was about his answer.
"No. Lord Fifth was kept safe." she breathed a sight of relief. That's when the ANBU captain continued.
"Then he came out of hiding and stood in the middle of Main street yelling for Itachi to show up." He finished. Yugao's eyes widened in shock.
"Ha! That's Naruto for ya! He would never back down even if the entire world was after him" Kakashi's voice could be heard from the other room.
"You shut up! You sick pervert!" Yugao yelled, her face turning red. Her eyes unconsciously landed at the books again making her even more red.
"Who keeps these books in a plain view anyway?" She asked angrily.
"Someone who have read them and appreciate their art!" Kakashi answered without a pause. Yugao sighed and looked at her captain.
"Is this really where I will have to stay? Can't I just go home?" She pleaded but Tenjo was adamant.
"The doctors said that you have to have someone look after you while you recover. You can't be staying alone. He offered his house... just endure it." He said using a very paternal tone which made her to nod in agreement.
"I brought some breakfast!" Tenzo said loudly so that even Kakashi could hear him from the other room. The purple haired woman's eyes brighten up instantly. Tenzo smirked and pulled out from a scroll, two full boxes. He placed them in the living room and helped first Yugao to get our of bed and then Kakashi. As all three sat down to eat, they talked about different missions they had. Kakashi told them about the infamous first A mission of his team, which resulted in the death of Zabuza Momochi.
"I still can't believe that this little kid that I helped train, has now become the Hokage. I knew he would become of course, nothing would have stopped him in achieving his goal. It's just... his my little sweet Genin you know?" Kakashi finished his story opening up about his student. Both ANBU smiled.
"All three of them are still my sweet little Genin. I'm very proud of them." The white haired Jonin said finishing his food.
"You have trained them well Kakashi-senpai. Naruto seems not only strong but quite the strategist as well." Tenzo said, which made Kakashi to tell them stories of how unorthodox Naruto's thinking is.
"I've lost count on how many enemies we have defeated using his harem Jutsu." He said holding his nose. Yugao glared at him for a few seconds.
"Poor kids... To have a pervert for a teacher can't be easy. I'm sure poor Sakura has had enough of both you and Naruto." She said and Kakashi faked being stabbed in the heart.
"I will have you know that my, sweetest of all three, Sakura is actually the most perverted of them. One time Naruto used a new SSS technique called Reverse Harem Jutsu and she fell unconscious from her own nosebleed." Saying that Yugao was shocked would be an understatement. Both men laughed at her shocked reaction.
A few hours passed with all three former teammates having a laugh and generally having a good time. Tenzo got up and wore his mask. Before he left he told them that he would be back tomorrow morning, both Yugao and Kakashi nodded and then returned to bickering.
"I swear to God I will burn those books to cinders." The purple haired woman threatened and walked towards the bedroom. Kakashi who had better stamina than her, walked faster to the room and took a defensive stance in front of the Collection.
"Pakkun, Shiba, Akino. Protect the Collection!" The white haired man ordered his dogs. The three dogs entered the room and seeing what was going on left immediately.
"Even they know that these books should be burned." Yugao said trying to reach for one of them. Kakashi hissed and tried to stop her hand. He put more force than he thought and the push Yugao received made her stumble and winched at the pain she felt in her abdomen. She looked down and saw blood coming out. Kakashi immediately tried to apologised and tried to help her but she slapped his hand off her and glared at him. She turned around and went back to bed. Kakashi looked at her without saying a word.
"Yugao... I'm..."
"Can you at least take them out of here? Every time I open my eyes I see them. It's... embarrassing." She said defeated. Kakashi looked back at his Collection and then back at Yugao, who had laid down and closed her eyes to take her mind of the pain.
A noise made her open her eyes to see what the white haired man was doing. She saw him trying to carry every book all at once out of the room. He somehow managed to balance them in one hand as he was trying to close the door. They looked at each other as he was closing the door. Kakashi gave her an apologetic look and closed the door. Yugao closed her eyes once again.
'Perfect' The white hair Jonin thought as he placed the books on the coffe table. He looked at them for a while and then looked back at the closed door and sighed.
"You can't force her to speak. She must do it on her own." Pakkun said from underneath the table. Kakashi tried to pick him up but stopped as he felt his head spinning.
"I'm not sure I'm the best person for her to talk to." He said after the dizziness passed. Pakkun leaped on the couch and licked his hand.
"But you know what she's going through. You can help her leave that abyss just like you did." The dog said. Kakashi looked at him and sighed.
"I'm not so sure I did..." The infamous shinobi sounded defeated.
Meanwhile, in another part of town, shopkeepers had already opened their shops and people were walking the Main Street. One of them was Choji Akimichi, who was window shopping and generally having a relaxing day as he was finishing a bag of sweets.
"Man... I wish Shikamaru could be free to come and relax this beautiful day..." The Akimichi clan heir said as he opened a bag of chips. He saw from a distance a very familiar flower shop.
"Maybe Ino wants to come." He thought out loud and walked towards her shop. When he entered he saw the shop full of roses, lilies and chrysanthemums, the most common flowers that people would put on a grave. She had 3 customers already and Choji tried to go around them so that he wouldn't cut the line.
"Oh perfect! Choji can you help me? Bring me the white rose bouquet from the fridge in the back." Ino asked and Choji immediately went to the back to get it. He brought it to the customer and they thanked them. Ino managed the other two and the shop had a moment of silence.
"So Choji, what's up?" The blonde haired kunoichi asked her friend and teammate.
"Well, I was wondering if you would want to hang out today." The big-boned teen asked with a sweet smile. Ino gave him an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry Choji, not today. I have to keep the shop until the evening and then I must conduct my first Clan meeting. Maybe some other time." The blonde apologied and before Choji could answer another customer came in. Choji found this as a signal to leave her manage her shop. He said her goodbye and left just as another customer came in.
The young teen was walking the upper part of the Main Street eating another bag of chips with BBQ flavour. As he was eating and thinking on what he should do, he saw Kiba with Akamaru and another Inuzuka talking and went to them.
"Hey Kiba, do you want to hang out today?" Akamaru immediately tried to steal the chip that Choji was holding but the teen was fast to react and ate it before the dog could be a threat to his chips.
"Sorry Choji. They just told me that I have clan responsibilities to do. What's up with that? Another time, ok?" The Akimichi teen's smile fell from his face.
"Oh no problem. I understand. You're the Clan Head after all..." the big teen trailed off and said goodbye to Kiba and Akamaru.
"I don't have any clan responsibilities today. I could hang out." A voice from the side of Kiba said in a low volume. Kiba looked at his teammate and raised an eyebrow.
"Then why didn't you told him Shino?" The bug specialist lowered his head.
"He didn't asked me." The quiet teen answered and Kiba snorted.
"You see that's why you don't have more friends. You need to be more open and talkative. Take initiative in a conversation. That's why you don't even have a girlfriend." The tracking specialist said to his friend who didn't answered at first.
"Because you had so many girlfriends... Besides I don't need any girlfriend, I already found the most beautiful girl in the world." Shino answered making Kiba angry at first but hearing what his friend said his curiosity took the better of him.
"Who is she? Do I know her? Is she good looking? Does she has... you know..." Kiba finished making gestures of a woman's body with his hands. Shino didn't dignified Kiba with a respond to his comments he just started leaving.
Choji was now walking towards his Clan's Compound with a smoothie. He entered it and went immediately to his house knowing full well that his father would be there. As he opened the door the smell of fresh made chicken filled his nose.
"I'm home." He said as he took off his shoes. His mother's voice welcoming him back could be heard from the kitchen. He looked at the living room and saw his father reading the newspaper. The big man looked over at him and gave him a sweet smile.
"Welcome home son. How come you've come so early? I thought you will go with your friends." Choza wondered. Choji snorted as he finished his smoothie.
"Shikamaru is always too busy. So I went to Ino but she had clan business, Kiba as well. Everyone is always so busy..." He complained making his father to look him angrily.
"Choji...Why are they so busy?" He asked with a serious tone. Choji saw him getting angry so he though before he answered making sure to not give the wrong answer.
"Because they have responsibilities. I know dad..." He sighed knowing full well that his father was trying to guide the conversation towards him gaining more responsibilities in the clan.
"I just wanted to spend time with my friends. Everything is changing so quickly. A few months ago we all could go out and eat. Now..." He trailed off. Choza sighed as well and gestured for him to sit on the couch, which his son did.
"Choji...Life always moves forward. We can't stop it. We can only adapt to it." The Akimichi Clan head said wisely making his son think what he said. He could see him trying to understand it but it seems that he's still young.
"My son, one day you will become the leader of the Clan. You'll have to take decisions, make people happy, make people angry, you'll have to adapt to what adulthood means. That's what I want to teach you. Unfortunately, your friends have to learn all these now on their own." The red haired man said.
"But I don't want to. I'm happy with you being the clan head. Just as you've always been." Choji disagreed and Choza sighed again
"Choji... We are shinobi. Our future is never set to stone. You saw what happened to your friends. In an afternoon they lost their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. Our only way forward is to adapt to it." Choji listened to what his father had to say and got up from the couch.
"I know dad. And I'm very happy that you are still here. But because you are here, I don't have to rush it. Right?" The teen asked. Choza gave him a warm smile.
"Of course son. I plan to live for a long time. Hahaha" The man laughed loudly and Choji hugged his father tightly and then left the living room to go to his room.
Konohamaru Sarutobi was holding four white roses in his hand and was walking towards the graveyard. As he was traveling the busy streets, he could see kids with their fathers walking or shopping. He could see mothers talking to each other about their kids, while those kids were playing together. The brown haired Sarutobi had a bittersweet smile. He sighed heavily and continued walking. As he entered the graveyard the tone was completely different from the streets. The silence was occasionally broken by someone's wimper or by the calm breeze. He moved slowly towards the graves he wanted to visit.
First, he visited two graves he knew extremely well, his parents graves. He placed one flower on each grave and dusted them off. He looked at the names and a small smile formed in his face.
"Mom, Dad. How are you? It has been a long while, but so much has happened. I think you already know..." He trailed off. The brown haired kid opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to say what he wanted.
"Dad... Grandpa is dead..." He managed to say as a tear fell from his eye.
"You might have seen him already up there. If you have, please tell him that I miss him, so so much... I miss you too as well. I will try my best to make you all three proud." He said and tears began to fall uncontrollably.
"I...I... I will protect them all Just like Grandpa did. Just like Grandpa told me you both did. I will become Hokage and protect this village!" He said wiping the tears off him.
"Before I forget, when you see grandpa, tell him that Naruto became the new Hokage. He will be very happy to hear this. Anyway... Thank you dad and mom, for bringing me into this world. I will do my best. Just watch me!" He finished before he touched the two graves with his hand. After a few minutes he got up and began walking to the next grave. After a while he found it. He saw the name of his teacher written in it and a flower already placed. He put his own as well and spoke to his teacher.
"Ebisu-sensei... Thank you for everything you taught me. You would smile with how the village is trying to move forward. Naruto is doing his best..." He stopped for a second to take a deep breath and then continued.
"I will do the same. You taught me so much that I will never forget." His eyes traveled to different graves.
"Naruto is going to bring Tsunade Senju, back to the village so that she can help the Hospital. So many people died at the attack and yet people are still dying in the hospital. I don't know how to heal but I promise you, I will do my best to help the doctors to save as many people as possible." He finished. Konohamaru bowed at his teacher's grave and thanked him one more time before he left to go to the last grave he wanted to visit. As he walked he could see that Moegi was already there and talking to the grave. As he came closer she turned to see him and he gave her a sweet smile and she smiled back.
"Udon, Konohamaru is here to say hi." She said as she took the flower Konohamaru was holding and placed it next to her own. The brown haired kid looked at the grave of his friend.
"Hey... Sorry I didn't came sooner... It's just too difficult to come here... You know... At least Moegi comes everyday." He said as he looked at his living friend, who smiled at him.
"Anyway..." Konohamaru stopped talking. Moegi placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know what to say to him..." He wimpered. The young kunoichi hugged her friend tightly. Konohamaru burst into tears.
"I miss him so much! I miss them so much! First my parents, then Grandpa after that Ebisu-sensei and now you Udon?! Why?! IT'S NOT FAIR!!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE?!!! UDON!!! EBISU-SENSEI!!! GRANDPA!!! Mom... Dad... Why..." Konohamaru collapsed on the ground crying. His cries filled the silent graveyard and his echo traveled by the wind to the rest of Konoha.
Done. This chapter is called Wounds. Obviously because people still need time to process what happened to them. Some try to move past it by working, others refuse to acknowledge that they need time to mourn, and others... Just did it. You could consider this as filler chapter but I think it helps to flesh out some characters and continue the story. Don't worry, we will return to Naruto and his own mission. But I have to tell you that when the world "opens up" then we will have more of these kinds of chapters. Maybe I will even write a chapter centered around a specific character apart from Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura etc. I like the slice of life stuff. I have a question, would you like for me to write more mature content in the story (mainly Sex scenes)? Let me know what you think of the story. Thank you for reading.