Ch. 23

As Sasuke sat cross-legged with his eyes closed on the head of the 3rd Hokage, he felt a familiar presence behind him. "I hope you don't plan on making a habit of stalking me Kakashi."

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he kept reading from his book. "Don't worry, I won't. I just need some information, then I'll be out of your hair." Sasuke kept his eyes closed and let out a semi-annoyed sigh before standing up and turning to Kakashi. "What is it?"

Kakashi decided to cut straight to the point. "Did something happen on the mission? Something between Naruto and Sakura. Naruto seemed a little off." Sasuke smirked. "You're off the mark, Kakashi. Naruto was a little off..." Sasuke looked out over Konoha before he continued. "...but not for the reason you think." After a short pause, Sasuke continued. "As a matter of fact, I think it was our fault..."

Kakashi lifted his head from his book to examine Sasuke, then asked, "How so?"

Sasuke continued to look out over Konoha as he responded, "I think we tried to help him fix things a little too…" Sasuke paused and smirked as he thought of a fitting word. "vehemently..."

Kakashi looked out over Konoha as he thought about what Sasuke said. As he was thinking to himself, Sasuke continued, "We weren't the only ones trying to help him..." Kakashi turned to Sasuke who was still looking out over Konoha. "Before we went on our mission, he told me Kurama had spoken to him as well."

Kakashi was a little surprised at the new development. He knew that Naruto and Kurama had become friends during the war, but for him to also be involved in something this sensitive was a bit of a shock. They must be closer than he originally thought. Kakashi put one hand on his chin as he put his book in his pouch.

Sasuke wore a contemplative expression as he continued. "When all of us kept trying to help him fix their relationship, we pushed him into trying to forgive her, and I just don't think he was ready to. I think he really wanted to forgive her... As a matter of fact, I think he still wants to forgive her... but he's just not ready to right now... He can't just let it go..." Sasuke looked a little pensive, then continued after a short pause, "Unfortunately, I don't think we can do anything to change that."

After a few moments of silence between the two, Sasuke continued. "He actually said he'd talk to her to make sure she knew where they stood. For now, he can only be comrades with her, nothing more."

Kakashi dropped his head and let out a short sigh. He didn't want things to be the way they were, but he understood why things were the way they were.

After a long pause, Kakashi turned back to Sasuke, "Well, at least now I get why he was a little off."

Sasuke smirked as he sat back down, then said, "Good, now you can stop stalking me."

Kakashi smiled under his mask then said, "One last thing." Sasuke shook his head a little before Kakashi continued. "What about you?... Have you considered coming back to the village?"

Sasuke looked out over Konoha before replying. "I'm fine, and I already told you this village isn't on my path. As soon as we've dealt with Hikan, I'm leaving."

Kakashi looked at the Uchiha with a bit of pity. He could tell he wanted to return, but his inability to let go of what could have been along with his guilt for his past crimes were keeping him from coming back.

Kakashi turned around to leave before saying, "Sasuke, you can't just keep living the way you're living. Moving from mountain to mountain with no real home."

Sasuke sat silent for a few seconds, then replied in a silent, solemn voice as he looked out over Konoha, "Maybe not… But it's fun trying…"

Kakashi looked back at him and realized that every single member of Team 7 had issues…MAJOR issues. And it didn't seem like he could help with any of them. He let out a small sigh, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hikan stood in the center of his office. He was standing in front of a camera with a coffin to his right. After a few seconds, the man operating the camera gave a thumbs up and said, "We're live in 3, 2, 1."

Hikan looked into the camera with a solemn expression. "Good morning, citizens of Amegakure."

He was now on every TV across the rain-drenched land. Citizens stopped in the streets to look up at the new face. He was wearing his standard all black combat gear, but he wasn't wearing a mask. His Rinnegan and his Sharingan were clearly visible for all to see.

After a short pause, Hikan continued, "My name is Hikan, and I am a former aid to the one we called Sasuke Uchiha." There were slight murmurs among the people in the village before Hikan continued. "I wish I could be greeting you all under better circumstances, but unfortunately that isn't the case." He paused then let out a small sigh and continued, "I'm going to cut straight to the point. I know that we have all been rallying behind Sasuke Uchiha. After the death of Pain, our village has barely limped on with no real leadership. That all changed with the arrival of Sasuke. We committed ourselves to following him as he promised to lead us into a new era of prosperity where we would crush all who dared to oppose us. He claimed to be able to protect us from all harm, no matter where it came from."

He slightly tilted his body towards the coffin on his right as he continued, "My brothers and sisters, I'm afraid that we've all been deceived. Sasuke Uchiha was being impersonated, by none other than this man." He raised his right hand towards the coffin and opened it as he said in a disgusted voice, "Orochimaru."

Orochimaru's dead body caused gasps to pour across the city as people began to murmur at the new development. As the dissension started to grow in the city streets, Hikan raised a hand to try to calm the people down before he continued. "I know this comes as a shock to us all. As his assistant, I had more access to him than most. It was due to this fact, that I was able to catch Orochimaru releasing the transformation jutsu he had been using to deceive us all."

The people continued to murmur among themselves as Hikan continued. "He tried to lie his way out of it, but as soon as I saw that pale white skin of his, I knew he'd been deceiving us like the snake he was. Fortunately, his shock at being caught gave me the ability to catch him off guard. I managed to kill him with a strike from behind." He motioned towards where he had stabbed Orochimaru showing the deep gash.

"The eyes you now see me with were the same eyes Orochimaru used to deceive us. That is why he was able to display some of the same abilities as Sasuke Uchiha. After he was dead, I transplanted the Sharingan and the Rinnegan he was using to deceive us into my eyes."

He raised his right hand and slowly closed the coffin.

After a moment of silence, he continued. "Now that you know the truth, I place before you two choices... If you, the people, will accept me, I will step up as our new leader. I promise you that through my leadership, the Hidden Rain Village will once again return to it's prime... We will return to the time long before the war. A time when we were respected, feared, and honored... We will once again train our shinobi to their fullest potential... because peace is no reason to grow weak." He paused then continued in a grave voice, "And because sometimes, peace... isn't an option."

After a short pause, he continued in a more optimistic voice. "But I will only do these things if you, the people of Ame, allow me to. If not, then I will step down and our village will continue to limp along with no real leadership, but if you want all of the things I just spoke of. If you want Amegakure to be a great village again, then elect me to be your leader, because I am the answer..."

After a drawn out silence, one citizen yelled out, "Elect Hikan!" As he said it a second time, a few more people joined in, "Elect Hikan!" By the third chant, a quarter of the city had joined in, "Elect Hikan!" Over half of the city was yelling by the fourth cry, and by the fifth cry, Hikan had nearly unanimous approval from the village.

As the people continued to yell for his election, Hikan gave a diplomatic smile then raised a hand for them to stop. After a few moments, the chanting managed to come to a complete stop. Hikan spoke in a soft voice as he opened his arms in an accepting gesture, "You…the people…have spoken." As he continued, he spoke in a firm voice. "As of now, I PROUDLY assume the role of Leader of Amegakure."

As soon as he finished his sentence, the people began to cheer and shout. Hikan let out another diplomatic smile and waited for the people to calm down. After a few moments of cheering their new leader, Hikan once again raised his hand to quiet them down. He continued to wear his diplomatic smile as he spoke into the camera. "It brings me great joy to now be the leader of this magnificent city. You, the people, have elected me with your mouths, but now you must elect me officially. I will prepare a decree making my leadership official. The decree will be sent out this evening and will simply ask if you are for or against my election. We already know the answer, but these things must be done." He smiled, then closed his right hand into a fist and held his arm out in a way that conveyed power before saying, "To a better Amegakure!"

The crowds started cheering and replied with an enthusiastic, "To a better Amegakure!"

Hikan gave one last diplomatic smile, then walked away from the camera waving. The crowds cheered until he was gone, then the TVs went back to the programs they were originally on. The village was now in a buzz after hearing they had a leader who shared their dreams for the future of Amegakure.

Hikan turned to two assistants that were standing in the office and motioned over to Orochimaru's coffin with a look of disgust. "Get that thing out of my sight." The two nodded, then proceeded to carry the coffin out of the room.

Hikan was now standing in the room with the camera man and one other assistant. The camera man was gathering his equipment to leave, but the assistant wasn't particularly busy. Hikan turned to him and said in a confident voice, "Tashisu, you served loyally when Orochimaru was impersonating Sasuke, now I want you to serve as my secretary." The mans eyes slightly widened, and after a short pause he replied in an enthusiastic voice. "I'd be honored."

Hikan smiled, then said, "Good, first things first, we need to start working on the decree I mentioned. The people need to know that they officially have a leader. It'll be good for their morale." The man smiled then said, "Then lets start working on it." Hikan smirked as he said, "Yes… but first…" He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Sake. "A toast." He grabbed two wine glasses and proceeded to pour some Sake for himself and Tashisu. "To a better Amegakure!" Tashisu smiled and replied in a voice that matched Hikan's enthusiasm. "To a better Amegakure!"

As Hikan drank from his glass, he wore a slight smirk. He now had the trust of the village people and things were going according to plan.

Author's Note

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