I do not own Naruto, unfortunately.
Subtle
October 8th was the date when the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze was selected. His charming personality, loyalty to the leaf as well as his heroism in the last great shinobi war were reasons for his selection. On top of the Hokage Tower is where the Yondaime stood, behind him the Sandaime Hokage as well as the "Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku". Below them people were drinking, cheering, celebrating the Will of Fire passing on from an aged hero to a new legend.
"A fine day to celebrate your inauguration, wouldn't you say Jiraiya?" Hiruzen Sarutobi, former Hokage, asked his disciple known as Jiraiya. Who happened to actually teach the Yondaime. "A fine day indeed, the women will be drunk and active tonight." Jiraiya said leechursly with a blush accompanying it. Hiruzen shook his head at his perverted actions, which at this point didn't surprise him. "Minato-kun how do you feel?" The wizened man asked, curious on what his successor was thinking.
The man in question was silent for a moment, taking in the sight of the village that he held dear. The sun was setting, giving the trees an ethereal orange glow. Showering the village hidden in the leaves with rays of light from the fading sun. "I feel…" he paused for a moment to get his thoughts straightened out. "I feel like I have a lot of work to do'' Minato finished with a smile.
"Of course you do! You're the Hokage but that's for later, tonight we celebrate! And maybe you will get lucky with that redheaded wife of yours." Jirayia said with a grin only a pervert would know. "Sensei you know Kushina-chan is due any day now, and I doubt she would be in the mood for any 'extracurricular activities' if you catch what I'm saying" Minato finished with his own lecherous grin and blush.
"You never know till you ask, so come on let's get you some saki in you so when you ask your not beating around the bush"
"Sensei you know I'm not good with alcohol"
"That's the point! So come on already you got babies to kiss, peoples hand to shake and…" continued to speak while walking off the balcony of the Hokage tower. Leaving only the battle hardened Sandaime standing there. He had seen some of the ideas Minato had, he liked them. Looking at his desk he had seen papers detailing some of the newly instated rules of the Hokage. He picked up the pile of papers ruffled through the titles.
Civilian Council Power Redistribution
Civilians will have no say in shinobi matters whatsoever. They will run the civilian judicial, executive and legislative branches but will still report to the Hokage. When shinobi matters are discussed they must leave the room for they are not allowed to know what happens unless the Hokage tells them they can stay and listen. They will not object to anything said by the Hokage in any way, if so it will be seen as treason and will be thrown off the council immediately. This is a dictatorship not a democracy. The Hokage will take the advice from the civilian council and use it at his discretion.
He found this interesting, maybe Minato was right about the civilian council. Only time would tell. Hiruzen thought to himself as he kept looking through the ideas. Most of them promising, some he smiled and shook his head. He had tried those in the past only to meet defeat. Ahh to be young, dumb and stupid again. He shook his head and kept looking for the one he truly wanted to read.
Academy Overhaul
The Academy will now help its students out more, most of our shinobi forces come from clans and very few non-clan related shinobi make it out of the academy since it does not give the proper support these students need therefore the following shall be implemented.
First Year: Cover the basics of history, math, science, and survival. Teach how to hunt, forage and survive in the wilderness for long stretches of time. Cover basics of chakra control such as leaf spinning exercise or if the students have too little chakra will perform chakra expanding exercise such as the rock hold. Basic physical and mental conditioning as well as all students must participate in a fuinjutsu aptitude test. If one has the desire and the aptitude they can continue taking fuinjutsu classes the next four years.
Second Year: Focus on weapon handling, such as shurkin, kunai and a weapon of their choice. Options range from Katana, tanto, bo-staff, Kama, Manriki-Kusari, Kusarigama, Yawara and Ono. Chunin instructors will have basic knowledge of all of these weapons. This year we will focus on strategies, tactical decisions in the field as well as how to lead troops.
Third Year: Focus on chakra and physical conditioning. Chakra exercise will include tree and water walking. As well as chakra expansion exercises if needed such as wall hanging and chakra enhanced running. Will start in elemental manipulation IF THE REQUIREMENTS ARE FILLED, has large enough chakra reserves, has an elemental affinity, mature enough to handle elemental manipulation, has the chakra control to handle it and the teacher believes that they are loyal to the village. If one does not fill these requirements they can start on other forms of ninjutsu, such as iyro-genjutsu if chakra control is met. All students will learn Kage Shurkin no Jutsu and Kage Kunai no Jutsu. They will also start with Taijutsu, they will pick a style if the clan or family does not already have one. These include boxing, grappling, karata, Aikido, and if no taijutsu aptitude is shown they will continue improving with kenjutsu.
Fourth Year: This will be the culmination of everything learned so far. Students who learned elemental manipulation will learn one or two jutsu from their element. Teamwork will be heavily involved this year. Teams will be switched and moved around to see who works the best with who. Tactics will be tested, physical limits will be pushed, chakra usage and control will be pushed. For the final exam they must pass a written test, a physical test, an action and teamwork test. As well as use two jutsu other than a bushin or a variant of the bushin, kawarmi, henge, kage shuriken and kunai jutsu. These include iryojutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu and even kinjutsu if allowed to use it. Clan jutsus are allowed in the portion of the test. If one has taken fuinjutsu all four years, they must pass a fuinjutsu test that I and Jiriya will personally make in order to become a journeyman seal maker.
To say the Sandaime was shocked was an understatement. This was a monumental task at hand, he would have to have chunin trained to teach, an incentive to teach the next generation other than to pass on the will of fire but he could see the merits of this. It might take years to garner results but the wait would be worth it if he could pull this off. He had complete faith in his successor and he would be there for him to guide him.
October 10th at 11:34pm
Hiruzen Sarutobi was tired. No that didn't quite describe it. He was exhausted, pushed further than he ever thought he could be pushed. He had taken the mantle of Hokage back after one of the darkest days in Konoha's history, a day that will forever live in infamy. He did not know how it happened, but a few hours ago the seal on the most powerful biju was undone and the Kyuubi no Kitsune was released upon the village. The damage to the village was vast, the western wall was completely dismantled and hundreds of people lost their lives just from a step of the beast. For a whole hour Konoha united to stop the beast rampaging and push it beyond its walls. Hiruzen used Enma and pushed it out while Jiryia summoned Gambunta the battle toads to fend of the walking cataclysm. Enraged that mere mortals, humans, pushed it back the Kyuubi was seated to release a Bijudama until Konoah no Kiroi Senko teleported the beast away before it could release the amassed chakra. Denoting safety away from the village, Hiruzen and his pupil rushed over to explode before it was too late.
They came to see Minato and his wife Kushina saying their last words to the boy on an altar, their beloved son. The Shinigami was hovering above them, glowing with power that even the Kyuubi seemed to struggle against and in an instant it was over, the beast gone. They rushed over, the duo holding their son, listening to a legends last words was honor, be it a friend or foe this was the end of something great. "Let Konoah know of his burden, they will see him as a hero. He will be strong." Minato rasped out coughing on his own blood. Knowing nothing could be done, Hiruzen nooded dumbly as if this moment was but a nightmare, waiting for him to wake up. Jiryia asked "What's the boy's name?" This time Minato's Wife answered. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki, my precious maelstrom. Jiraiya you shoulda known the name of your godson, ttebane!" Jiraiya just nodded, holding his mourning till after he knew Konoha and his godson were safe. And just like that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were gone from this world. As if the boy knew something was wrong he started to cry, and the men that accompanied him didn't stop him. They knew he deserved to mourn his parents.
In the world of the present Hiruzen Sarutobi stood on the balcony ready to give the populous of Konoha a speech that would shape the world. "This is the darkest day Konoha has everseen, countless lives have been lost. Families torn asunder, friendships ripped apart and the leaves of the mighty tree of Konoha have fallen. We are here because of the Yondaime sacrifice, he is the reason the village will live to see the light of day, he is the reason the WILL OF FIRE STILL LIVES!" he finished by yelling to the heavens, almost in spite of what they brought upon him. "He used his dying breath to seal away the Kyuubi into an infant, into the savior of this village. He carries the burden so that we can live in peace. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and he is a HERO!" again letting his emotions get the best of him he yelled out but this time there was no resounding cheer. He was met with silence, people scared and hurt tended not to believe in reason. Akin to a dam breaking, the people of Konoha were angry. They feared what they didn't know so they cast away their love for the Hokage's who led them through countless battles and war. They gave into their primal instinct of fear and started yelling at the Hokage to kill the boy, end the demon. Most of these shouts were from civilians but some came from shinobi who took their pain out on a boy less than a few hours old. 'Minato, you put too much faith in the people. I hope your son is as strong as you said' he thought to himself.
When people started throwing rocks at him and Naruto that was when they crossed the line. "ENOUGH" leveling everyone, friendly or not with a dose of killing intent enough to stop a Kage in their tracks. " I will not tolerate anyone speaking this way to young Naruto, to speak of his burden to anyone is a crime punishable by death to you, your family and the persons you were talking to. Any attacks or attempts to harm the boy will be punishable by ending your family lineage, extended family and all. That is my first decree as Hokage." With that said he turned around and headed into his office, sat down and proceeded to rock the young blond to sleep. With the whisker marks on his cheeks it would be almost impossible to blend in. He hasn't even had time to mourn his wife yet. Since the Sarutobi estate was on the western side of the village it was one of the first areas to be destroyed. He saw his wife underneath the rubble crushed to death and gave her a burial before he even thought about doing anything else. This would be trying times, he just hoped that this body of his could hold out.
This first pebble was thrown, what waves shall arise from the ripples.
I will try to regularly update every month. Criticism or ideas are welcome of course and if your curious about something just ask me and I'll be sure to respond to you.