First I am so sorry for the wait. seriously just kick me up the butt sometimes and I'll Post more often.
Second I'm on my final year of study! But a dissertation looms AHHH! Also found out I'm Dyslexic, so fun times.
Anyway so sorry to keep you all waiting and thank you for waiting.
I may have taken on a slightly different style since starting University (though my grammar appears to have stayed the same), but I do hope that you are still enjoying this story. I am eager to hear what you think of it and ideas for what you think might be happening next.
Please enjoy it, lol.
Thank you to my Beta Spaded Ace18.
Thank you for the all the follow, favorites, alerts and reviews.
Naruto = flash back
'Naruto' is thoughts/thinking
"Naruto" signing/sign language
"Naruto" speaking.
"Naruto" Demon
"Naruto" is demon enhanced.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto just some DVDs and games.
Chapter 48 – (I want to start naming my chapters but can't always think what to name them)
Tsunade stepped out onto the balcony; she rested her arms against the railing staring out at the town in front of her. She glanced back at Shizune, hugging Tonton tightly in her sleep. She could hear Jiraiya snoring away, but see Naruto.
"You're up late, Lady Tsunade." Naruto's voice came from the rooftop next to her.
"May I ask you a question Naruto?" She didn't turn, a little annoyed that she hadn't placed him.
"Of course." He came to the edge and settled, his feet hanging down.
"He doesn't register how smart you are, does he?"
"No I don't think so. I suppose he expected something a lot different. I mean how often is it you get to teach a genius? Once in a lifetime, right? I mean to go from the Fourth, well nothing could really compare with that now could it? But then again I'm glad people don't see me as a genius, I don't get treated like Sasuke or Neji were, and I came out a lot better off in that sense. I guess cause it wasn't in my file, and I'm so quiet he just assumed, it's funny the amount of times I've seen surprise come over his face. I also think he forgets like I said you don't get one genius after another." Naruto shrugged.
"It was your idea to make me Hokage wasn't it?"
"Well they would have got round to naming you eventually, I just gave them a valid reason as to why they should." Naruto smirked, his eyes drifting back up to the sky.
"Why do you think I'll be any good at it?" she turned to him.
"I just turned twelve. There is no way that I am the strongest person in the village. I mean what would have happened if I had had to fight Orochimaru. I don't have the knowledge or skill to beat him, I'm still a child, still driven by emotions. Granted I know how the village is run and things but I can't protect it like I need to. I will always rely on others for that." He paused. "I don't think he realized that by making me Hokage he turned my home into a prison. As Hokage I can't leave the village, but as a jinchuriki I would never be freely able to leave my home either. Either way I would never be able to grow as an individual or as a shinobi. Besides there are certain matters I can't address."
"Such as?"
"Well the Chuunin exams for one thing, I took part in them therefore I would have a biased opinion on who should be promoted." Naruto shrugged. "The council would prefer a non-demon to be Hokage. Also the civilians won't take kindly to me being Hokage." He stopped. "But I would struggle to send my friends out on missions. I don't want to lose another friend." He looked away. "With you in the village we could get people trained in the basics of medical Jutsus, and those that want to can train to become a full-fledged medic ninja. If we have one on every team, the probability of fatalities is halved dramatically."
"You've really thought everything through haven't you?"
"Even if you didn't take the title just having you in the village would help out a lot. Besides I've got a teaching test to take."
"I feel like you want to learn everything?"
"I want to learn as much as I can. The more I see and experience the more I gain from it. I don't want to be stuck in the village my entire life. I want to be able to travel and view different places and experience how other villages live." Naruto exhaled.
"I will let you have a chance to grow as you want, but I will require your assistance while I am healing all of your comrades."
"Thank you." He yawned.
She turned looking at him, really looking at this boy before her. "What if I have an idea?"
Naruto looked up seeing the spark in her eye. "I'm listening." Naruto smirked dropping down to her balcony.
(Line)
Naruto stood beside Jiraiya as Tsunade stood on top of the Hokage building. It was a small group of people that watched as she looked out over village, reminiscing over the last time she was here, how much the village had changed.
"From today the village is my responsibility." She smiled.
"I am amazed you were able to persuade her…" Homaru stated before he was interrupted by the booming voice of Jiraiya.
"Hah! A handsome devil like me only needs charm to persuade anyone!" Jiraiya laughed.
"And yet you were the idiot about to die from being poisoned. I know we need to announce the succession to the village, but there are lives Lady Tsunade needs to save beforehand." Naruto turned from an annoyed Jiraiya to the two council members. "Once these people are out of the woods then we can get on with the ceremony."
"Aye Lord Hokage."
"Won't have to call me that for much longer." Naruto smiled as Tsunade walked over to him.
"So who are these people you want me to heal Naruto?"
"Do I not exist?" Jiraiya mumbled.
-No- they both called over their shoulder.
"Kakashi Sensei, Sasuke, Lee and Hikaru. And Ume. She got hurt pretty bad during the invasion." He looked up seeing Shikamaru and his father Shikaku walking into the tower; he frowned understanding why they were there.
Shikamaru noticed Naruto's frown, he paused in his step as his father conversed with the adults Naruto was with. He leant forwards.
"I'm not going to let them ignore you. I won't take it unless you get the promotion too."
"Don't throw your career away for me."
"You're stepping down as Hokage right? That's why she is here. You can't look at the Chuunin exam as you are part of them, which means someone else already did."
"Don't turn it down. Lady Tsunade is here to heal our friend, that's more important than a promotion to me anyway." He turned back to the adults, "Lady Tsunade we really need to see to these patients."
"Don't worry Naruto; I'll heal them if I can."
"Naruto never wanted the Hokage title; he's found the right person for the job. She'll bring our village up to standard." Shikaku stated, seeing his son's frown.
"But by stepping down that means he won't get a chance to progress, and Naruto could have made this village better than it was before. Do we really need a woman to be in charge?"
"Never underestimate women. Even the roughest woman is tender to the guy she loves. Besides without women there would be no men, men aren't good without women. You'll understand when you're older. Take Naruto's advices don't turn it down if they give you that vest." Shikaku turned and walked away.
(Line)
"Hey Neji! Neji Lady Tsunade just walked into village with Naruto. Apparently she's going to take over as Hokage."
Neji turned watching as eight birds flew overhead. 'That means Naruto is stepping down.' He glanced over at his friend.
"Can we go check her out?" Tenten asked.
(Line)
Shikamaru sighed as his friends giggled, he was wearing a new Chuunin vest and his team were celebrating. Even Asuma was happy for him.
"But they didn't give one to Naruto." He sighed.
"Naruto's time will come."
"No it won't. They won't give him the promotion. The council members went behind his back. You should have seen his face when he realized why I was there." Shikamaru sighed. "It was like he knew he wouldn't get it though. And with him stepping down as Hokage…"
Asuma paused, "He never wanted to be Hokage, I don't know why my father made that decision. Naruto stepping down just means that he gets to grow and develop as a shinobi. So many of us know he deserves to be a Chuunin, we won't let them destroy his career." He patted Shikamaru on the shoulder. "Besides Naruto, seems to know what he's doing. You know he placed a bet on you becoming a Chuunin.
"That little blonde haired fiend!" Shikamaru snapped.
(Line)
"Hey Sakura." She turned from staring at Sasuke in the bed to Naruto as he walked in the room followed by two females. "This is Lady Tsunade and Shizune; they are here to heal our friends." Naruto hesitated as he walked over to the pink haired girl.
"Don't worry I'll take it from here." Tsunade placed her hand on his forehead, it glowed with green chakra. "He'll wake up soon." She turned to Sakura.
(Line)
Hinata watched as Kiba and Akamaru tried out a new technique while Shino complained that he couldn't hunt bugs with all the noise going on.
"Hey Hinata, is it true that Naruto is going to resign as Hokage?" Kiba asked as he landed next to her.
"Yes, it's never what he wanted."
"But he was always spouting off about being Hokage."
"His grandfather was Hokage. Anyone that bad mouthed the Hokage was bad mouthing his grandfather." Shino stated.
"Yes. He was sticking up for his grandfather. It was never his dream to be Hokage." Hinata smiled stroking Akamaru's belly. "He has a different dream."
(Line)
Naruto turned awkwardly from the two as Sakura hugged a waking Sasuke. He watched them as Sasuke slowly looked around the room; he turned leaving as Sasuke's eyes wandered onto his receding back. Tsunade watched him thoughtfully, she was intrigued by his behavior, it was the first time he had seemed out of place since she had met him. She smiled back at the two children in the room, following Naruto as he led her to Kakashi's room.
"Gai is in here, but I think it would be best if we left Lee until last, I think he will be the one to take up most of your time. He's lucky he's dead to be honest." Naruto paused. "But you can fix him; you're the only person who could possibly fix him."
"Naruto…."
"Just be prepared for him, he's not a quitter. He got where he is today through hard work, I expect you to work your hardest to fix him."
"You know some people can't be fixed."
"But everybody deserves to be given the chance to be fixed." Naruto opened the door.
They walked into the room and Naruto moved to the side of the bed staring down at Kakashi, Tsunade stepped over to the other side; she placed her hand on Kakashi's head and looked up at Naruto. He glanced up as she flicked her eyes down to her hand. He tilted his head to the side then watched her hand as she pushed chakra into it. Kakashi's eyes fluttered open and he very quickly sat up.
"I thought you were a genius, defeated by two enemies." Tsunade scolded.
"Hey Scarecrow." Naruto said tentatively holding out Kakashi's headband.
"I'm sorry for worrying you." Kakashi adjusted the headband over his eye.
"You can't beat a rabbit; you're just a silly scarecrow." Naruto's lips quirked.
"He was after you." Kakashi sat up closer to Naruto.
"I know. It's being handled." Naruto smirked. "Trust me."
"I do."
"Then don't put yourself in unnecessary danger for me. I can't lose another precious person." Naruto stepped away from the bed. "Gai did you want to let Lee know that we will be visiting him shortly." Naruto acknowledged Gai jumping around in the background.
"You are a confusing person Naruto." Tsunade said after the door was closed.
"We've just started to get to know one another; we started off on the wrong foot." Naruto explained.
"And your team mates?" Tsunade probed.
"Aren't my team mates. They never wanted me on their team and they aren't willing to see me as anything but their idiot team mate. Besides I have better team mates." Naruto smirked opening the door to Ume's room.
Tsunade paused in the doorway as Naruto greeted Riku who was sat on the end of Ume's bed and Takeru who was sat on the chair next to the bed. Naruto walked round the bed dodging Riku's half-hearted hug and laughing as he fell into Ume's outstretched arms.
"My blonde." She crowed sticking her tongue out.
The room laughed happily. Tsunade watched the sparkle in Naruto's eyes as he relaxed around these people. She could see how at home he felt around them, how they respected and admired him. She smiled and coughed bring the attention back to her. Takeru stood up tipping his chair back in his haste.
"Its okay, no need to stand. I'm just here to check on Ume was it?" she turned to Naruto who nodded.
"That's Lady Tsunade she's going to take over as Hokage for me. But first she's going to heal everybody."
"So we get you back?" Riku asked.
"No more clones on missions?" Takeru asked picking up his chair.
"Warm hugs and real smiles."
"Whenever you need them. You're my team."
"Good because you make a terrible Hokage." Riku smirked. "You wouldn't send us out of missions that were above C rank that's just mean." He pouted, as several pillows were thrown at him.
Tsunade smiled and stepped over towards Ume, Naruto smiled at Ume as she reached for his and Takeru's hand. Tsunade's hand glowed green, she checked and rechecked what she found, she pulled her hands away and pulled up a chair.
"Okay, where's Ume's chart. I need to check something through first." Tsunade quickly read through the file. "When did you notice the change?"
"What change?" Takeru asked sitting up closer to Ume.
"Naruto, push gently with your chakra let it flow over her." Tsunade instructed.
Ume smiled at Naruto and became very still as he closed his eyes and concentrated.
She was warm, her chakra pushed back with a tingling sensation at first then it got hotter and wilder more alive and flickering like a flame, Naruto recognized the heat. His eyes snapped open.
"You chakra feels like mine, wild and alive, like a fire burning constantly."
"Chakra shouldn't feel like that." Tsunade explained.
"It should be calm and restful like a lake undisturbed. You say you have purple fire, can I see it. I promise it will only be brief." She saw the fear cross their faces; they didn't want their team mate to get hurt.
Ume let go of Takeru's hand and moved Naruto's hand to her leg, she started to perform the basic seals for a fire Jutsu, a small one. Tsunade concentrated on her hands watching as the flames appeared turning purple instantly. Naruto squeezed Ume's leg and the flames receded. It looked like it was a joint effort to get the flames to stop.
"I believe your chakra is still active, and that you don't have enough control over this unique ability, because it is constantly active it drains you more quickly and easily, which is why you find yourself in the hospital more often. What you need to do is try to calm your chakra down; Naruto should be able to help you with that. While that is happening I will heal some of the burns that your chakra is leaving behind. I would like to look in more depth at this ability, check archives to see if we have had someone present with similar abilities. Until you can control this I would not use your chakra."
"But we just got Naruto back and you're saying we're going to lose Ume!" Riku started to get angry.
"No what she's saying is that we need to help Ume train and gain control of her ability so that we don't end up losing her. We're doing this together. The four of us." Takeru said holding Riku back.
"Okay, we're not losing another team mate." Riku nodded.
Tsunade stood behind Ume, her hands glowing green as Naruto and Ume held hands. He whispered to her as slowly his chakra signature lowered and guided her to lowering her own. Tsunade felt the flame ebb and smolder, healing the burns to Ume's chakra system as the flame returned to the normal smooth flow of chakra. She lowered Ume down onto the bed as she drifted off to sleep.
"She'll sleep for a while, she was hurt a lot more than she let on. Don't push her to hard just yet." Tsunade smiled.
"Thank you Lady Tsunade." Takeru bowed.
"It's what I do. So where's Rock Lee's room?"
"Wait there's one more person before Lee." Naruto jumped from his place on the bed.
(Line)
Tsunade opened the door. The room was dark but she could make out a figure in the bed, her eyes were drawn to the figure curled up next to him though, she looked back at Naruto who nodded stepping into the room, and waiting by the door. Tsunade walked over and ran a hand from the soft blonde hair rousing the child that most probably hadn't left this room since the occupant of the bed had been placed there. Sleepy blue eyes fluttered open a storm of color rushed across his eyes before settling to a calm cerulean.
"Hello Naruto." Tsunade smiled. "Are you the real one?" She asked.
He looked up at her tilting his head slowly to the side, before his gaze returned to Hikaru lying in the bed. "You are going to fix him right" he nodded.
"I will try my best but Naruto he might not be able to wake up."
"No! He has to wake up. He has to." Naruto's voice broke.
"Okay, let's see what he did shall we."
She stepped away from the boy on the bed and looked at Hikaru. His blonde hair was shaggy and in his eyes, his slightly tanned skin seemed extremely pale, he was still wearing that bracelet on his wrist. She placed her hands on his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing, it was shallow but he was still breathing so he was there somewhere. Her hands began to glow green.
Naruto watched her carefully as he sorted through the memories that his clones had given him, he ran through the talk with Tsunade the night before and watched as she healed his friends and allies. But one thought was stuck in his mind. Hikaru was not meant to wake up. Whatever damage had been done it was more than likely it was permeant. He needed Hikaru to wake up.
Tsunade's olive eyes looked up at Hikaru's face olive eyes staring back at her.
"Welcome back."
"Hikaru."
Hikaru turned his attention from Tsunade to the tearful face of Naruto.
"Hey, sorry I was gone so long. I got a little stuck." He smiled.
Naruto launched himself into his arms. He felt Naruto's body shaking as the boy cried. He shushed him holding him close and trying to calm him down. He made eye contact with Tsunade and thanked her. She nodded and left the two. The Naruto clone followed her out of the room. She fell back against the wall her breathing harsh as she remembered the last time she had seen Hikaru.
"Lady Tsunade." Shizune called.
Tsunade turned her dazed eyes to her assistant and the clone of Naruto.
"Rock Lee's room is this way." The clone walked past her down the corridor where Gai had stuck his head out of the doorway frantically looking for them.
"Are you okay?" Shizune asked in a whisper.
"Yeah just a little surprised is all." Tsunade replied, composing herself.
(Line)
Owl and Fox stopped outside the window of Turtle's room; they could see Naruto being held in Turtle's arms. They waited as Naruto's cries subsided before entering the room.
"Lord Hokage, Turtle, nice to see you back with the living." Owl reported.
"Mission report Lord Hokage?" Fox asked.
Naruto wiped his eyes and settled back against Hikaru. He nodded, his gaze landing on the two children clinging to his ANBU.
Thanks for reading.
Review if you like or don't like. (The more people explain what they like and don't the like the more inclined I am to write).