Yo, I'm back with ch 4.
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"You all fail." rang out the voice of a disappointed looking Kakashi Hatake as he surveyed three thoroughly beaten would-be genin sprawled out on the ground in front of him.
It had been around six months since Kakashi had returned from his successful mission to escort the Daimyo. He had arrived home to find a tired Yugao, and a thankfully very much unharmed Naruto.
"The Kitty Lady" as Naruto seemed set on calling her had apparently left quite a positive impression on his son. He practically couldn't stop gushing about how "cool" swords were and how The Kitty Lady was the "awesomest" ninja around, behind Kakashi of course.
The woman in question seemed to have grown fond of his son as well.
The female black ops agent had told Kakashi of Naruto's prospective talent in Kenjustsu, which was something the teen had both been surprised and delighted to hear.
Kakashi's father had trained him in the use of a sword when he was about Naruto's age, so the teen was ecstatic to be able to pass those same teachings onto his own son.
Normally right now he would be overseeing his son's training, but a few days ago he had been informed by the Hokage that he would have the "pleasure" of being given a genin squad to train.
The teen had surprised the old man by not protesting at all. He had just nodded and accepted the news as if he were being told the weather.
When the Hokage had voiced his pleasant surprise at the teens attitude, Kakashi's response made his nonchalant acquiescence quite clear.
"I'll be more than happy to take them, so long as they pass my test."
He had then left without another word leaving a sighing Sarutobi in his wake.
The aged Hokage knew all about the infamous bell test since he had given it to his own genin back in his days as a squad leader, he pitied those poor children as he now understood the jounin's true intentions.
Those intentions being, as evidenced by his declaration to his intended students a moment ago, to fail them and toss them back in the academy so he could focus on training his son.
"Make sure you report to the academy by eight a.m. tomorrow for your remedial training classes." the man said abruptly before executing a sealess shunshin to exit the training ground and head to find his son.
Kakashi quickly found the boy exactly where he had left him a few hours prior.
He was currently locked in a spar with Yugao, his substitute kenjutsu teacher for when Kakashi was away, or when he just felt that Naruto needed a new opponent.
A few feet away from them watching the spar with intense focus was a young man by the name of Hayate Gekko.
He was a year or so younger than Kakashi himself with a slight build and flat brown hair that framed his dull he was something of a kenjutsu prodigy who had helped to teach Yugao everything she knew.
They also may or may not have been a couple. The teenage father honestly wasn't sure, seeing as they were so close yet so awkward around each other.
The brown haired man had started accompanying the purple haired teen to these teaching sessions a few weeks back after Yugao had bragged all about her cute little student.
After the first lesson he had personally asked Kakashi if he could assist in Naruto's training if only to observe and offer tips, which the silver haired Jounin had happily accepted.
Of course he had then done a thorough background check into the younger teen before the next lesson just to make sure he was safe to leave around his son.
He had found nothing suspicious or out of place. The only thing truly of note about the boy was that he had some sort of chronic "non-contagious" lung disease that caused near constant coughing.
He was brought out of his thoughts as he saw Naruto get knocked to the ground and disarmed before having Yugao rest her sword beneath his chin with a request for him to yield.
The boy quickly did so before jumping back up and having noticed his father raced over to give him a hug.
"Dad you're back!" the boy cried happily as the elder Hatake reached down and ruffled his hair.
He then looked up at the older man with a masked smile before bombarding his father with several rapid fire questions
"So did they pass? Are you a Sensei now? Does this mean you can't train me anymore, and if so does that mean Kitty Lady is my all the time teacher now?"
The silver haired jounin swiftly put a hand over the boy's mouth to halt his questioning before responding.
"The answer to those questions in order are as follows, No, No, and No-" he paused before putting his hand to his face dramatically and continuing.
"Unless you secretly want Yugao as your full time teacher because you hate your dear old dad."
Then came the fake tears.
Oh woe is me! My own son abandoned me for a girl! I thought I had at least a few more years before this started."
The young blonde was horrified thinking he had upset his father.
"NO DAD, Honest I think you're the best teacher ever, I was just asking please don't cry."
Meanwhile the other two adults in the training field rolled their eyes at their colleague's horrible acting, and the pure gullibility of his poor son.
"Fantastic." Kakashi chirped all of the previous dramatics gone as he placed his hands on his son's shoulders and steered him back towards where he had been sparring before continuing.
"Now why don't you get back in there and give Yugao another go." Seeing the blonde about to protest he paused before sweetening the deal
"If you manage to land a hit on her I'll cancel chakra theory for the rest of the week."
With the possibility of no boring lessons for a few days dangled in front of him the boy took off like a shot quickly grabbing his practice sword before lunging into battle against his purple haired partner.
Kakashi smirked at his successful ploy before walking over to Hayate and striking up a conversation.
"How's he been doing today? Any issues?" the jounin questioned
The brown haired man paused coughing roughly into his hand and considered his words before answering.
"No issues, he is continuing to improve with every spar."
Kakashi then interrupted.
"I'm sensing a but coming on."
Hayate nodded slightly letting out a light cough before continuing.
"But this is about as far as he is going to be able to go for now."
The elder Hatake nodded sensing where the other teen was going as he continued.
"He is simply too small to improve further. He already has the basics down, the grip, the arm positioning, the footwork, it's all there."
He paused again to cough before turning from Kakashi and focusing back onto the boy in question.
"The only thing he needs now is power and an actual style to learn, both of which will require him to grow more to truly make any progress."
Kakashi sighed in acceptance before responding.
"So what would you suggest we do?" he asked the slightly younger teen genuinely curious of his opinion.
Hayate turned back to the jounin from where he had been watching the spar before answering.
"He should continue to practice at least once a week just to keep what he already knows sharp," he paused as a coughing fit shook his body. "
"But he should wait a few years so he can put on some actual muscle mass before truly continuing his training."
Kakashi inclined his head slightly at the man's words seeing the merit in them.
While Naruto would be disappointed, this would free up a lot of his time so they could begin training in basic taijutsu, and possibly some beginner chakra control exercises.
The single father then turned back to the spar just in time to see his son get knocked to his butt.
He walked over as Yugao pulled the young boy to his feet.
"Looks like no free pass for you buddy, lets go get started on today's lessons."
He nodded to Yugao and offered a quick goodbye before he spirited the blonde boy away with a shunshin leaving a swirl of leaves in their wake.
Now it was Hayate's turn to sigh as he realized Kakashi had left him to tell his friend that her lessons with her favorite pupil were being put on hiatus.
"Maybe I'll take her out to dinner and break the news there to soften the blow." he thought as she approached.
Yeah he only wanted to take her out to help her not be upset, not because he actually wanted to take her to dinner… Certainly not that.
"Hey Hayate you good?" the purple haired Anbu questioned before continuing
"You kinda spaced out there for a sec."
The brown haired man waived off her concern and coughed lightly before responding.
"Yeah, I'm good.. I was actually wondering if you wanted to grab dinner? My treat."
Back in the Hatake apartment Kakashi had just finished informing Naruto of his and Hayate's conversation, and subsequent stopping of his kenjutsu lessons.
Just as the teen had predicted Naruto had moped at first, but when Kakashi told him of his plans for new training the boy's mood shot right back up.
Naruto had been waiting forever for his dad to start teaching him how to channel chakra. All they had done for almost a year now was just talk about it, and Naruto was fairly certain he now knew more on the subject than most academy teachers.
"Does this mean I get to start learning cool jutsu?" the masked blonde asked excitedly
His father smiled down at him, chuckling slightly before answering.
"Not quite squirt, first you learn how to channel it, then how to control it, and finally when you are proficient enough in the first two steps, we get to the cool jutsu." he said, holding up one finger for each step that he listed.
Naruto wasn't deterred by the waiting if anything he seemed more raring to go than before.
"Alright awesome jutsu here I come! Let's do this daddy, I'm ready to train!"
Kakashi caught the boy by his shoulder stopping him as he ran for the door no doubt trying to head back to the training grounds.
"Slow down there buddy, there will be plenty of time for all of that starting tomorrow." he paused, swiping an invisible piece of lint off of his flak vest before continuing.
"There will be no more training for today, this afternoon we are going to be doing something a bit different."
Naruto just stared confusedly at his father as if he had grown a second head.
His dad NEVER let him skip his afternoon lessons, even when he was out on missions he still made sure either Kitty Lady or from the Sarutobi clan went through his work with him. So the blonde couldn't understand what would be so important that he got to skip them today.
The jounin saw his son's bewildered look and continued.
"It has come to my attention that you have never really spent any time around kids your own age, you're always with me, Yugao, or the Sarutobis'. So today I arranged for us to go over and meet with some of my fellow jounin who have kids of their own."
He had expected an excited outburst at his statement so he was surprised to find his son had a small frown adorning his unmasked whiskered cheeks.
"But Dad I don't wanna play around with kids, I wanna train and get strong like you. He paused before clasping his hands beneath his chin and asking as pleadingly as possible.
"Can we please please please just go train, Dad please."
The teenaged Hatake sighed as he stood up from where he was crouched in front of his son and walked to the kitchen.
"There are things more important than strength Naruto." he said softly as a pang of guilt shot through him.
Kakshi had been doing to Naruto exactly what the teen's father had done to him.
From the moment he could hold a kunai his father had started training him for the life of a shinobi. Constant exercises and lessons, no playing or breaks of any kind.
When Kakashi had finally begun to interact with kids his own age he was socially stunted. He had no idea how to interact with them or how to join their games, because he wasn't like them.
He was a soldier. His father had made sure of it, and yes it made him into a great shinobi but it carried a heavy cost as well.
He was now nineteen and still had trouble forming actual relationships with people in his life.
Sure he had a few friends, like Guy and now he supposed he could count Yugao as well, but he kept both of them at arm's length.
Well he at least tried to with Guy, that man had somehow managed to sneak his way past all of the teen's walls, and despite his best efforts he found himself genuinely caring for the man; though he would never admit it.
He couldn't let that happen to Naruto.
While he would still make sure that he became a splendid ninja, he would also make sure he became a good person surrounded by people who cared about him.
When the teen had realized his mistake he immediately rushed to the Hokage's office and asked for advice on how to fix the situation.
The man's advice had been simple and to the point.
"If you want to break the cycle then all you have to do is do it. Naruto isn't even five yet he still has plenty of time to form bonds with those his age. Don't worry so much my boy, you'll end up looking like me." he laughed
The old man had then paused for a moment before giving the teen a sincere smile
"You're being too hard on yourself Kakashi, you're doing a wonderful job, Minato would be proud of you."
Kakashi, unused to such praise since the death of his former sensei, just bowed his head and muttered a quiet thanks before taking his leave.
And now here he was with a bonafide playdate scheduled with the heads of the Nara and Akimichi clans. With the only problem now being his son's reluctance to cooperate.
The silver haired jounin walked back to his son and dropped to a knee so that he could be on the boy's level.
"What's wrong buddy?"
When the child didn't answer he continued now placing a hand on his son's shoulder.
"Naruto you know you can talk to me about anything, so please tell me what's wrong."
The blonde still refused to answer, he wouldn't even meet his father's eye instead choosing to look down at the carpeted floor.
A moment passed and just as Kakashi was going to push again for an answer the younger Hatake spoke up.
"What if they don't like me?" the small boy asked in voice much too quiet for the normally rambunctious blonde.
The jounin was caught off guard by the meek question.
Naruto had never been the type to care about such things before now. Any time he was introduced to someone knew he walked right up to them and started talking with not a care in the world.
Kakashi then realized the difference.
Everyone Naruto had met up until now had been an adult whom Kakashi had already known, the boy had literally never interacted with another child.
No wonder the kid was terrified, he had no idea what to expect.
The elder Hatake thought for a moment before responding.
"Well if they don't like you then it's their loss."
He then grabbed his son's chin and gently lifted his head until their eyes met.
"Not everyone you meet is going to want to be your friend Naruto, but that isn't something that should stop you from trying to make friends.'
He smiled at his son before continuing.
"You are a great kid Naruto. I'm proud to be your dad, and I'm sure that when you meet those other boys today you guys are gonna hit it off and become great friends."
Naruto then interrupted
"But how do you know that?"
The teen then extended his hand and ruffled his son's hair.
"Because I know you buddy. You are funny and kind,-" he paused and wiggled his exposed eyebrow before continuing, "- and almost as cool as your old man."
Naruto chuckled a bit at that before he reached up and hugged his father's neck.
"Thanks Daddy" he mumbled into the jounin's shoulder
Kakashi just squeezed him back before answering
"Anytime."
It was about two hours later when the last Hatakes' strolled up to the gates of the Nara compound to find the head of said clan, Shikaku, and a young boy who looked to be a carbon copy of the man.
Both males had black hair pulled up into a ponytail, black eyes and a perpetually bored look on their faces.
The only difference between the two being their size and the fact that the older man had several scars maring his face.
"Yo Kakashi, glad to see you aren't late" the elder Nara drawled out in a good natured tone.
The man then turned his eyes to the masked face of the younger Hatake.
"And this must be Naruto. Nice to meet you son."
Naruto remembered what his father had told him to say in this situation
"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Nara, thank you for inviting us into your home." the blonde said in a polite voice before finishing his statement with a slight bow.
The scarred jounin quickly waved off the formality and placed a hand on his mini me's shoulder.
"No need for all that kid. This is my son Shikamaru, you and he are the same age."
He then addressed his son.
"Shika, why don't you take Naruto in and show him around while I talk to Kakashi."
The young Nara normally would have responded with some comment about how doing so would be too troublesome, but he remembered the talk his father had given him earlier that day.
His father had sat him down after breakfast and said that they would be having people over later.
"Now Shika I need you to be on your best behavior today when our guests get here."
The boy was surprised at his father's words. Normally this was something his mother would be saying, with his father taking a much more laid back approach to parenting.
For his dad to be getting involved whoever these guests were must be important.
At seeing his son's slight confusion the clan head continued.
"We will be having a man named Kakashi Hatake and his son Naruto over to hang out for a bit."
The man paused for a moment unsure of how to continue. He eventually decided to just be direct about it.
"Kakashi has informed me that his son doesn't really have any experience making friends, and he was hoping that you and Naruto would hit it off."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow before questioning his father in an unsure tone.
"Are you saying that I have to be friends with him?"
The elder Nara shook his head.
"No son I won't make you be friends with someone if you don't want to."
He continued when he saw his son's relieved look.
"What I am saying is that you need to give the boy a chance, and that since this is his first time around kids his own age he may need a little extra help to get comfortable."
He then placed a hand on his son's head and finished with "Do you understand shika?"
The black haired boy nodded.
"Yeah Dad I get it, be nice to the new kid." he said lazily
His father seemed pleased with the answer.
"Good, now go clean your room Choji is going to be coming later as well."
As his father walked away the young boy couldn't help but ask one more question.
"Hey Dad, why are you going out of your way to help this kid and his dad, what's so special about them?"
His father stopped his walking and slightly turned his head back to the boy before responding.
"You don't need to have a reason to do a good thing Shikamaru, remember that." he stated seriously before continuing his exit.
Feeling a bit embarrassed at his father's slight admonishment Shikamaru quickly went to his room and started cleaning as his father had asked, the whole time wondering about their mysterious visitors.
Back in the present Shikamaru motioned for Naruto to follow him as they walked into the center of the compound.
After a few moments of silent walking Shikamaru couldn't help but break the tension.
"Why are you wearing a mask?" the boy blurted out suddenly
Thankfully the blonde boy didn't seem offended as he shrugged before simply saying.
"It's a family thing."
The black haired boy nodded before continuing on with the tour in a more comfortable silence with the ice having been broken.
After about thirty minutes of seeing the sights the tour had reached its end, and now Shikamaru was unsure of how to proceed.
Luckily though he didn't have to as it was at that point that he saw his rotund best friend Choji had arrived.
"Hey Shika, my dad just dropped me off" the brown haired Akimichi greeted his long time friend as he munched on a bag of chips before turning to the masked blonde.
"Hello, My name is Choji. Do you want a chip?" the boy greeted cheerfully before offering one of his salty snacks.
Naruto politely declined the chip before answering just as cheerfully, seemingly put at ease by the larger boy's friendliness.
"I'm Naruto Hatake, It's very nice to meet you Choji."
Shikamaru, seeing that the introductions were out of the way, decided to capitalize on his friend's timely arrival.
"Naruto and I just finished the tour and were trying to figure out what to do next, any ideas?" he questioned his large friend
Choji nodded before offering a suggestion
"How 'bout we "munch, munch" play ninja." he said between mouthfuls
The young Nara nodded while Naruto looked unsure.
The blonde then questioned."How do you play ninja?"
Both of the other boys gawked at the masked boy's ignorance..
How could someone not know how to play ninja, everybody played ninja even some of the older kids.
Shikamaru, not wanting to leave the boy hanging, quickly covered his shock and answered.
"It's basically tag, where the person who is "It" is an enemy ninja who has to then find the good Konoha ninja who are the hiders."
Naruto's eyes lit up upon hearing that. He had played tag with his dad loads of times as part his observation and tracking training.
Plus any game where he got to be a ninja sounded awesome.
"Yeah lets do it" the boy cried excitedly as his nerves left him.
The other boys smiled before chorusing together.
"Not it!"
Naruto grumbled without any real irritation before nodding and telling them to go hide while he counted.
The Akimichi and Nara heirs soon found that while Naruto may have never played ninja before, he was scarily good at it.
Even in unfamiliar territory it never took the blonde more than a minute to find both boys wherever they were hidden, and when it was his turn to hide he seemed to disappear completely to where it ended up taking both boys over half an hour of searching for the blonde to eventually just come out of hiding and give up.
When questioned about this he just shrugged and offered the same vague line about "looking underneath the underneath" that his father always fed to him when he asked the same question.
After a few hours of play they decided to lay down on the grassy hill at the edge of the compound to watch the clouds.
Personally Naruto didn't really see the appeal of it, but Shikamaru said he needed to rest and Choji was fine with whatever as long as he had some snacks.
While they lounged out in the sun Naruto took a moment to think about the two boys with him.
His thoughts first turned to his host, Shikamaru.
The pony tailed boy was nice, kind lazy and funny in a sarcastic kind of way. What stood out most to Naruto though was that he was smart, like really smart.
Personally Naruto thought it wasn't fair that Shikamaru was so smart, because he had told Naruto that he only had lessons once a week, while Naruto had those boring things everyday.
The masked blonde had immediately decided he would be talking to his dad about that.
His eyes then turned to the rotund Akimichi.
To sum Choji up in one word, Naruto would have to use pleasant.
The larger boy literally didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body. The blonde didn't even think he had heard him say the word "no" all day. He was the most easy going kind boy he had ever met.
Though that wasn't really saying much, Naruto realized since he had only ever met two boys his age.
The young Hatake was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he heard the voice of his father from the base of the hill.
"Yo, Naruto! It's time to go home bud."
The whiskered youth looked down and saw Kakashi and Shikaku standing at the bottom of the hill along with another much larger man who he assumed to be Choji's father.
The blonde then stood up and helped the other two boys to their feet as well before the three of them ran down the hill to greet their waiting parents.
At the bottom of the hill Naruto tackled his father in a hug. Kakashi Caught the boy chuckling as he asked,
"So I take it you boys had a good time then?"
The masked boy and his new friends all nodded vigorously before Naruto added,
"Yeah dad it was awesome Choji and Shika are the coolest." he then paused for a moment before looking back and forth between his father and Shikaku and asking,
"Do you think I could come over and play again sometime?"
He then felt warmth spread in his chest when he heard Shikamaru speak up as well.
"Yeah, can he dad? Naruto's cool, and he's like the best ninja player I've ever seen."
Both fathers exchanged relieved smiles as they answered in unison "Of course/I don't see why not."
The boys screamed "Yes" and all high-fived as their proud parents looked on.
Before they could get worked back up into play mode Kakashi grabbed Naruto and hefted him up onto his shoulders as he said his goodbyes to the other men.
As they were leaving Shikaku called out after the father son duo.
"Think about what I said, Kakashi."
The teen answered him with a waived hand over his shoulder, but the older man knew he had heard him.
The walk home was a quiet affair as Naruto battled between his tiredness and his desire to regale his father with all his stories from the day.
Eventually his fatigue won out as he was snoring before they ever made it home.
Upon arriving at their humble abode, Kakashi gently set the sleeping blonde in his bed and planted a soft kiss on his forehead before exiting the room and heading to the kitchen.
Once there he went to the top cabinet above their refrigerator and pulled out an old bottle of sake and a saucer to drink it with.
Normally the teen wasn't one to drink but as he recalled the conversation he had had earlier with the Head of the Nara clan, it seemed appropriate.
After they had watched their boys run off to play earlier Shikaku had invited Kakashi into his office in the main building of the compound.
As the Sharingan user stepped into the office he glanced around. It was of modest size with the walls lined with bookshelves and a large wooden desk in the center with two comfortable looking chairs placed in front of it. A half finished game of shogi sat off to the side of the desk next to a stack of papers Kakshi assumed was clan business.
When Shikaku stepped in he quickly closed the door and placed a tag on the face of it.
After checking that his placement was secure the elder man then pushed his palm against it, and with a muttered "seal" forced his chakra into the small slip of paper.
Kakashi chose this moment to speak up
"A silencing seal eh? So I take it this isn't going to be a polite conversation between adoring fathers." he quipped sarcastically to hide the anticipation in his mind.
Shikaku sighed before taking a seat in front of the desk before gesturing for Kakashi to do the same.
"No, unfortunately not."
He sighed again as Kakashi ignored his offer of a chair before continuing.
"Hokage-Sama has asked me to speak with you about some rather "sensitive" matters."
Kakashi just stared waiting for the man to continue as his thoughts raced as to the possible meaning for the word sensitive.
Kakashi knew the man was the strategic commander of the jounin forces so this conversation could literally be about anything, but the silver haired teen couldn't help but think it would be something.. Personal.
Seeing that the man wasn't going to continue until Kakashi gave some sort of response he reluctantly bit out,
"And why can't The Third speak to me himself, I am in his office multiple times a week."
The scarred man shook his head before answering.
"Too many ears in the Hokage's Tower, you never know who could be listening."
That statement there made things abundantly clear to the teen.
"Danzo" he spoke aloud not as a question but more of a statement.
The black haired man just nodded. Both men were intimately familiar with the old warhawk Danzo, and his brigade of puppets, Root.
"Him and others." Shikaku responded gravely
It was Kakshi's turn to sigh as he finally took the seat across from the Nara clan head.
"Very well, I'm listening."
Shikaku paused for a moment as if choosing where to begin before finally speaking.
"There have been rumblings across the nations. Our spies have been reporting various states of unrest from all of the corners of the map. The mist is on the verge of a bloody civil war, Iwa is building up their forces to unprecedented levels, Kumo has shut its borders from all outsiders, and Suna is slowly starving to death due to a lack of funding."
He paused to take a breath and Kakashi noticed a tightness around the man's eyes that wasn't usually there, it spoke of the great stress the man seemed to be under.
He was brought from his thoughts as the elder continued.
"Each of these things on their own would warrant certain precautions be taken, but all together they spell something far worse." he trailed off as Kakshi picked up his unspoken conclusion
"War." the teen stated in a quiet tone before continuing.
"You think we are on the verge of war." the stated in a lifeless tone as his mind raced.
Shikaku nodded.
"Yes, the Hokage, though he hopes he is wrong believes that war is once again on Konoha's doorstep."
Kakashi barely heard him as his mind worked everything out.
It made sense, Konoha was the weakest it had ever been right now. It had lost its Hokage, who was widely regarded as the most deadly man on the continent, causing it's previous elderly leader to take over, and its forces had been diminished severely by the Nine-tails attack less than five years ago.
If there was ever a time for the wolves to strike it would be now.
Shikaku saw the younger man processing everything he had been told, and he mentally winced as he prepared for the next part before continuing.
"There's more." when he saw Kakashi's lone eye snap to him he spoke again.
"On top of all this Jiraiya recently reported evidence of a mercenary group made up of S-class that has formed with the rumored purpose of going after the tailed beasts."
Kakashi's blood ran cold.
S-class shinobi after the tailed beasts meant S-class shinobi after Naruto.
He immediately jumped to his feet intent on running to check on the boy right then and there but was stopped by a firm grip on his arm.
He halted his movements and offered a venomous glare at the other jounin as the man began to speak.
"Calm down Kakashi, your boy is fine. All we know about this group for now is rumors and hearsay, and even that says that they haven't made a single move against a jinchuriki yet."
He released the younger man once he had calmed down and retook his seat.
Shikaku hadn't expected that violent of a reaction, hopefully Hiruzen knew what he was doing when he decided to fill the teen in.
After taking a moment to slow his breathing Kakashi voiced a question.
"What is being done about this?"
Shikaku answered after a moment of deliberation.
"About the mercenaries, nothing. We simply don't have enough concrete info yet to come up with any sort of plan." He paused and rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand before continuing.
"About the chance of war, as much as we can."
"Academy curriculum is being reevaluated, and border patrols are being increased. We are also starting a campaign to bring able-bodied retired shinobi back into the forces as a reserve of sorts."
He then steepled his fingers over his desk and added "The Hokage has also started sending emissaries to all of Konoha's smaller neighboring countries to foster stronger relationships and potential alliances."
The Copy nin then broke his silence once again.
"While I appreciate the information, I'm assuming that there is a reason that the Hokage had you bring me up to speed on all of this."
The Jounin Commander nodded gravely before answering the teen.
"Yes, the Hokage's reasoning was two-fold. The first and most obvious reason is your son. As the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tails, he will have a large part to play if a war does break out."
The teen immediately started to protest but they died on his lips.
The older man was right, like it or not, as a jinchuriki Naruto was a huge asset to Konoha's military might.
Now that's not to say that Kakshi was writing his son off as a tool for the village to use, far from it.
The teen would fight tooth and nail to keep his son from the front lines and from having to use the poisonous power that belonged to beast containers'.
But to deny his son's strategic importance to the village would be a waste of breath.
Even if Naruto never tapped into the Beast's foul chakra, Jinchurikis' were still in essence super soldiers.
Enormous chakra reserves, near endless stamina, and an increased healing factor were just a few of the abilities the tailed beast containers boasted.
Combine all that with Naruto's genetics and his son had the potential to become a monster in his own right.
He would just have to make sure the boy was prepared for when not if the village called on him.
The elder Hatake was then brought out of his musings as Shikaku continued speaking.
"The second reason is a little more subtle."
Making sure he again had the teen's full attention he continued.
"The hokage is old, and he does not see himself surviving another war." he stated bluntly before continuing.
"But before he goes he wants to make sure that there will be someone there to step up and take his place."
Kakashi, having an inkling of where this was headed, started to object, but was stopped by the Nara's raised hand.
" His preferred choice to take over after him is either of his two remaining students, Jiraiya or Tsunade, but given their own sets of issues he refuses to hedge all of his bets on them."
He then lowered his hand.
"That is where you come in. If remaining sannin prove unfit to lead then Sarutobi wants the hat to fall to you."
Seeing the teen about to argue again he pushed on
"You are the logical choice. Last student of the Late Fourth Hokage, Record holder for most successfully completed anbu missions, and the man who has copied one-thousand jutsu. There is truly no one else who would be more fitting to take on the role."
When he saw the teen considering his words, he continued
"And with you as Hokage you would have full control of how all of Konoha's assets are used in battle including its jinchuriki. Plus if you weren't to take the hat then the only remaining choice would be Danzo, and I think we can both agree that would be terrible for both your son and the village as a whole."
Kakashi agreed with that wholeheartedly. He would die before he let that man get his hooks into Naruto.
"I'm not ready." the teen said in a flat tone.
He was being honest. He knew the kind of level that the Kages fought at and he was not there. He wasn't even close in some aspects.
Shikaku nodded in agreement with his statement.
"No you're not, not yet at least. But this isn't happening tomorrow you have time. Time to train and improve so that if you are called upon you can take up the mantle."
Kakashi just inclined his head slightly to acknowledge that he'd heard the man as he digested everything that had been said.
The black haired shinobi wanted to say more to convince the prodigy, but he could see that the teen was already a bit overwhelmed so he held his tongue.
The men then sat in silence for the next few minutes until Chouza Akimichi arrived and the conversation turned to recent missions and raising children.
Kakashi barely paid attention to the conversation as he continued to process all of the new information he had received until it was time to go home.
Now as he sat alone in his kitchen drinking, the reality of everything he had learned fully set in.
War was coming to Konoha.
Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but it was coming.
And whether he liked it or not his son was going to end up smack dab in the middle of it.
He then upended the bottle and chugged its contents.
He wasn't ready, neither of them were, but he swore on the graves of his father and his sensei that when the time came, they both would be.
No matter what happened, Konoha would survive, and his son along with it.