AN: Chapter title: Promotions and Celebrations Part 4
It was with no surprise that, after they had stepped inside the building where this meeting was to take place, there were told to wait. It was already an odd thing to have such a meeting away from the Hokage Office or from one of the other government buildings but such a thing seemingly needed to be done. They had been ushered into a waiting room by a brown haired and black eyed Jonin, were told to expect a visit from the Hokage himself within the next half hour or so.
He had been delayed already by an unexpected arrival earlier today. They were assured it wouldn't take more than an hour. Possibly two.
"More waiting, how exciting." Naruto shook his head as he dropped into his seat, let his head fall back against it. He let out a deep sigh. "I and my Legion work tirelessly to save this village and I've been rewarded with yet more waiting."
His Legate noticed that he was back to himself, whatever had caused an almost daze to settle on him had been temporary.
Sasuke patted him on the shoulder as he walked past him, dropping into a seat across from him. While just as bored at this constant waiting as Naruto, the Uchiha could manage from experience. Before that night, he had become used to waiting on his father to be done in meeting, waiting on his mother as she spoke with the rest of the clan. Waiting for all but that man. He had been the only one…
"Legate."
He didn't know when his Sharingan had activated, when he had been lost to his memories enough that Caesar turned his gaze to him.
"Sasuke?"
He shook his head.
"It is truly an unfitting reward for the aid you've rendered this village Caesar." His Sharingan swept over the room at large. "Isn't this strange."
"What?" Naruto lifted his head up enough for one blue eye to glance at Sasuke. "Is something the matter Legate?"
"This room is surrounded by Chakra…no. That's wrong." The Uchiha rose from his seat, turned around to kneel in front of the chair he had just been sitting in, examined it with the black and red Dojutsu he was one of the few possessors of. "This entire room seems to be saturated in Chakra, as if it was made from it."
"Interesting." Naruto's focus returned to the ceiling above him. His eyes closed. "Have fun with your mystery Legate."
"I'm afraid it's not that much of a mystery Caesar." Sasuke laughed after a moment, rose back to his feet. "I should've guessed this place was strange, the Praetorians reported no buildings even existed here a day ago. This entire building must've been created by the Hokage."
Unbidden, a memory from years ago came to the front of Caesar's mind. A day spent in the office of the Hokage, hours slipping away while asking a thousand and one questions. An answer, even if joking, coming from the aged Hokage for each and every one of them. He didn't know what he was feeling at the smile in his memories, at the simple delight of speaking to the old man.
A part of him didn't want to know.
His eyes opened to stare at the ceiling instead of allowing his mind to drift any further.
"You would be wrong to believe that. While great, he lacks this ability." Naruto spoke without looking at his Legate. "This was someone else."
"How curious." Sasuke spared a glance to his Caesar before he returned to his seat. "I take it even you don't know who could do this Caesar?"
"For now." Naruto laughed. "Whoever it is, we'll uncover their identity at some other point." The blonde's eyes were focused on the ceiling, the earpiece he wore toggled on at the push of a button. "Praetorians, there is a change to my order. I believe she needs a guiding hand, escort her to my office. We'll talk there."
After hearing his order affirmed, Naruto toggled off the earpiece and pried it off. It was slipped into the pocket of his Flak Jacket.
His Legate noticed such a thing but said nothing. He merely shifted to Caesar's personal channel before tapping his earpiece, the pattern of static the disruptions produced keying in the Legionnaires on duty to direct information to him alone for now. As long as nothing requiring his direct input came through, he would leave Caesar unbothered.
For as much as they believed they would have another bout of waiting between the meeting with the Hokage, the brown haired Jonin returned after less than thirty minutes had passed.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, follow me. The Hokage is ready to see you." The brown haired Jonin said nothing else once he opened the door.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as a memory came to him.
"Naruto Uzumaki. The Hokage will have you present yourself to him in his office tomorrow morning."
"It's him." Naruto's words were for Sasuke alone.
"How fortunate." Sasuke looked to the Jonin ahead of them, his hand shifted to the blade across his back. A simple look from Naruto stopped him from drawing the weapon.
"Yes, fortunate." Naruto looked to the Jonin with red eyes. His grin returned, showed his fangs. "We'll have to speak to him later."
After all, a Caesar was never one to forget disrespect. No matter how major or how minor, none were forgotten. Be it an advisor to the Hokage or even a mere messenger, he would never allow one to get away with such a disrespectful act as to dare to command a Caesar.
The Jonin led them to a door guarded by a pair of armed samurai.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." The Jonin stepped aside. "The Hokage is expecting them to join this meeting."
"They'll need to surrender their weapons." One of the samurai singled to a pair down the hall. "They'll have them returned once they leave."
Sasuke turned to Naruto, a nod the only answer his Caesar gave. He surrendered the sword at his side, the knife going across his back, even surrendered his weapon pouch to the awaiting arms of one of the samurai that had approached the two of them. Naruto did the same, his weapons surrendered to another samurai.
"Your hidden weapons as well Legate." Sasuke's only response to the command was to raise an eyebrow before he seemed to acquiesce. From beneath the vambraces he wore on his arms, he undid the cloth bracelets holding a collection of weapons sealed inside, handed them off to the samurai. From directly beneath the armor on his arms he drew out a pair of short and narrow blades, crafted to be concealed between the leather and armor plate. Another set of weapons had been hidden beneath the cloths hanging from his waist, a tightly bound bundle of senbon, a number of balls of explosive tags, and a pair of miniaturized Fuma Shuriken he had likely intended to wield in lieu of kunai.
"Is that really it?" Naruto seemed surprised. While Sasuke had been busy, he had added the same pair of narrow blades hidden in the vambraces he wore. As Caesar, he didn't carry many concealed weapons. He was confident in his ability to crush his enemies either armed or unarmed. "I thought you carried more."
"Not today for a simple celebration." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Ah, I forgot actually." He dropped a knee, drew free a blade from beneath the greave he wore there, quickly did the same for the other leg. He tossed them onto the pile in the samurai's arms. "That should be all."
Naruto chuckled.
"Remind me to have you teach my Praetorians how to properly search a visitor. I don't think they would've gotten half of your weapons." Naruto stepped through the open door once the samurai outside had deemed them as unarmed as a Shinobi could get, Sasuke following behind him.
"I prefer having them keep any guest under guard. At a point, no search would be thorough enough for a skilled enough Shinobi." Sasuke noticed the moment his Sharingan deactivated, frowned at the suddenly restricted flow of his Chakra. He spared a glance to the nearly invisible scribble running along the floor of the room, likely some type of Charka Sealing Formula. It wouldn't last against concentrated effort but it would keep someone from being discreet in any techniques.
In the blink of an eye, his Sharingan returned.
Naruto took in the table in front of him as Sasuke examined the room, the Hokage and the Daimyo seated at opposite ends of a long table. A pair of samurai stood behind the Daimyo as a guard while half of the table was taken up by six black and red robed attendants. The Hokage had neither guards nor attendants, had seemingly been content to enter the meeting room alone. Dozens of scrolls were placed in front of both, small piles of other documents stretched down the table, and it seemed like the Daimyo had done nothing but fan himself so far.
"Ah, is this the boy you were telling me about Sarutobi?" Naruto instantly disliked the Daimyo with his very first words, with the airy tone he spoke with, the fact that he seemed more occupied with fanning himself than anything else.
He wished he could spare a glance to Sasuke but such a thing wasn't exactly possible with the Uchiha behind him.
"Yes Kaien." Hiruzen's smile didn't reach his eyes, seemed to be little more than painted on. He held up his hand, gestured to the two to take the two seats next to him. Naruto did so and took the closest seat to the Hokage, Sasuke taking the second seat. "May I introduce you to Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, two of the recently promoted Chunin, Sasuke earned such though his skills and Naruto for his exemplary service during the recent attack on the village."
The Daimyo, Kaien, stared at Naruto, confusion on his face as he tried to place the face.
"This boy is the one…with all the clones?" He looked to the elderly Hokage, his question earning a patient nod as an answer. A smile quickly came to the Daimyo's face. "Ah! Excellent! You've done a great thing for my village child."
Naruto's eye twitched. The Daimyo didn't seem to notice, continued speaking.
Sasuke made to draw yet another blade hidden up his sleeve. One of the few weapons he hadn't surrendered to the samurai. He spared a glance to Naruto before he did so.
Naruto stopped him from killing the man with a small shake of his head.
Caesar forced himself to grin instead, wear a smile as he spoke with the man down the table from him.
"You honor me with such words." His smile was as paper thin as the Hokage's. "As a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, I serve the Hokage and the Land of Fire with all my heart."
"It's a good thing too. All those clones of yours performed amazing from what I've heard. And I'm sure the village has saved plenty of money while the repairs happen. That invasion was just simply awful." The Daimyo frowned, looked to one of his attendants. "Who was it again? The Rock one, right? Or was it the Hidden Water?"
Naruto would guess the man was incorrectly referring to the Hidden Stone, one of the Leaf's greatest enemies during both the Second and the Third Shinobi World War, and the Hidden Waterfall, an uneasy foe and ally to any of the Five Great Shinobi Countries thanks to the unusual strength of their Shinobi.
"The Hidden Sand and Hidden Sound Kaien-dono." The attendant answered promptly if nothing else.
"Ah, yes. Those two. I forgot they sounded the same. Even if it was supposed to help me remember." The Daimyo continued to fan himself, let out a miserable sigh as he dropped his hand. "It's terribly hot in this room." He shifted in his seat, tugged at the heavy ceremonial robes he must've not been that use to wearing. "I heard the attack was repelled within the day. I want you all to know that I made sure to hurry here once I heard such a thing had happened. Once it was deemed safe of course."
"It is no doubt your presence here is aiding the morale of not only the Hidden Leaf but the entirety of the Land of Fire Kaien-dono." It took a glance from the two Chunin to know that the Hokage didn't mean a single thing he just said.
"Yes, in such a difficult time, it helps to know not only is the Hokage working hard but the Daimyo as well." Sasuke had clearly decided to play along, the same empty smile crossing his face as the Hokage's. "If my father was here, he would no doubt commend you for arriving during such a dangerous time Kaien-dono."
"OH! That's why I thought I knew you. You're the only Uchiha now." The Daimyo returned to fanning himself. His vacant smile was turned towards Sasuke. "What's that like?"
Naruto's hand landed on his shoulder before Sasuke could do something terrible.
"Sasuke-kun has endured a great tragedy Kaien-dono but has continued to loyally serve the village." Hiruzen answered for him, Naruto's crushing grip on his shoulder stopping the Uchiha from doing something awful during the meeting. His red and black eyes were still focused on the Daimyo, the man seemingly heedless of the danger his words had placed him in.
Behind him, his two samurai tightened their holds on the swords they wielded.
Sasuke glanced to them, seemed to consider if he could cross the distance between him and them before they could draw their swords.
"Your father was a nice man. He always personally provided me an escort from the village back to the capital." Kaien leaned back in his seat. He turned to his attendants. "When do we plan to leave again?"
"We've projected to remain here for a few weeks Kaien-dono. Although it could always be earlier if you wish."
"Then I think we should leave in a few days. That should be plenty of time to get everything organized." The Daimyo smiled, turned his attention to Hiruzen. "Don't you agree Hokage? You can free up Uchiha-kun's schedule and he can escort me back to the capital with the rest of your Shinobi."
Sasuke shot a near panicked look to not only Hiruzen but Naruto.
Hiruzen gave him a look.
"I'm sure we can manage such a thing given time." Hiruzen's look silently commanded Sasuke not to protest, that the two of them, three more than likely since the aged Hokage knew Naruto would involve himself in such a thing, would talk about it in detail later. "Speaking of your return to the capital, I have several squads for you to consider."
"Don't bore me with the details." Kaien frowned, waved his hand to stop the Hokage from saying anymore. "Just make sure Uchiha-kun is with them, one of my father's old Twelve Guardian Ninja too. I'm sure the two of them will be more than enough for my protection. I have dozens of samurai already after all."
"Of course." Hiruzen set down the scroll he had intended to hand over to the Daimyo. "Moving on then, I believe you wanted a more accurate summary of Naruto-kun's clones?" Hiruzen once more looked to Naruto, the new Chunin recognizing what he was being told.
"It would be my pleasure." Naruto's smile remained wide, became slightly more true than false. If nothing else, the chance to speak of his glorious Legion had been presented, perhaps made this all worthwhile. "I have given the command to have no less than two thousand of my clones" He clearly spoke the word with distaste but such a thing eluded the Daimyo. "to serve in any capacity the Hokage deems as necessary." His smile became that much truer after a moment, Naruto turning to the Daimyo. "In fact, I'd be willing to provide another thousand of my clones to the village. It is only right after all. It would befit the duty of a Shinobi that I do all I can to help the Hidden Leaf prosper in these difficult times."
Sasuke only rose an eyebrow at such a statement from his Caesar. As Legate, he knew it was more than possible to provide such a number of Legionnaires to the village without consequence. Caesar could promise another thousand on top of it and the only drawback his Legion would suffer would be from the increased paperwork the two of them would have to deal with.
"Another thousand? That's a lot." The Daimyo looked to his attendants, received nothing but nods. "How many Shinobi would that be doing the same jobs they'll be doing?"
"Impossible to say." Hiruzen smoothly stopped anyone from answering that question. "While Naruto-kun's clones are more than capable of the basic duties I've assigned them, they lack many of the abilities expected in even Genin-level Shinobi." A simple stern look from the Hokage stopped Naruto from immediately countering such a claim as he clearly wished to do. "Besides, placing them outside of the Land of Fire will place too great a strain on Naruto-kun."
"Really?" The Daimyo looked to the Chunin with shock. "I thought they could go wherever. I heard they were in the Land of Water right now, after that dreadful business with that mob killing Gato-kun."
Naruto ignored the look sent his way by the Hokage.
"You would be right. Such a distance is everchanging and dependent on a number of factors. As I grow in strength, my clones grow in strength as well." Naruto spared a look to the aged Hokage, entered a silent staring contest with the leader of the village.
Sasuke could tell they would be at it for a while, could understand the disrespect Caesar was bearing already with simply dealing with the Daimyo.
"Anything within the Land of Fire is of course within such a distance Kaien-dono. If you still desire me for a guard when you leave, I'm sure you could send your samurai on ahead and I'll have no less than a hundred of C-" Sasuke's pause went nearly unnoticed. "Naruto's clones with me as a more than adequate replacement."
"That sounds nice." The Daimyo laughed. "Maybe I'll save enough on samurai to have a proper celebration at last." He returned to fanning himself. "We'll have to see." He looked to Hiruzen. "I haven't received much news from my fellow Daimyo since the they were held prisoner. Are they alright? They weren't hurt, correct?"
"I ensured they were unharmed." Hiruzen once more made to grab a scroll. "The entirety of the invasion has been taken down in detail." He waved towards one of the untouched piles of scrolls in front of the Daimyo.
"Reading all of this would take forever." The Daimyo earned a look of near disbelief from Naruto and Sasuke, the Hokage seemingly use to everything that meeting with Kaien entailed. "Could one of you summarize for me? I'd try to read through these tonight but I have so much to do here I don't think I'll be able too."
"Of course." Sasuke's smile was wearing thin even with the Sharingan's ability to copy it from the Hokage. "While we were initially surprised by the attack, the Hokage had expected someone would've used the Chunin Exams as an excuse so the village was prepared for an attack on our borders. We didn't expect for the attack to be so blatant with its origin point at the stadium but the Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf were still quick to respond. The enemy made insignificant gains before Naruto was able to create enough clones to turn the tide in full. By the time the Hokage had finished his battle with the Kazekage, the village's border guard had returned and helped fully crush the invaders. The Hidden Sand ordered a full retreat and the Hidden Sound made one last failed attack before ordering the same. Once the Hokage thoroughly beat the Kazekage and Naruto beat the Hidden Sand's secret weapon, we believe the spirit of the invaders was all but crushed."
"Ah, that's good to hear." The Daimyo leaned back in his seat. "What did you do Uchiha-kun?"
"I escorted some of my weaker peers to the nearest shelter, Clan Heirs like Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Since Naruto and I both believed an invasion was possible. I made sure to stick by at least one of them during the Chunin Exams while he kept an eye on the Hidden Sand's participants. After that, I helped fight off the invaders while Naruto defeated his opponent." Sasuke wasn't exactly lying but still wasn't exactly telling the truth as the Hokage and Naruto continued their silent staring match. So far, it seemed the two would keep at it for the rest of the meeting.
"You two are certainly exceptional at this Shinobi business." The Daimyo smiled. "Perhaps one of you will have Hokage in his future?"
Naruto broke his staring contest with Hiruzen.
He didn't bother with faking a smile as he turned to the Daimyo, saw no reason to continue this farce.
"I'm afraid I'm simply not Hokage material." Naruto's face was utterly blank, the Daimyo staring at him with some worry, his face growing pale in what had to be fear as the recently promoted Chunin stared him down. His blue eyes were burning away to red, a weight seemed to settle on them all. "I've decided to aim for something else."
"S-Surely it's not out the question." The Daimyo tugged at his collar, found his fan slipping from his hand and landing on the table with a clatter. "I-I think we've spent enough time here. I'll be sure to speak with you about all of this later Hokage. I think I've worked enough today."
He shakily rose from his seat, his attendants hurried to his side and the door was opened for him.
He stopped before he left.
"Oh, before I forget, I think Uchiha-kun should escort me around the village tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be more than an adequate guard in such a safe place as the Hidden leaf." The Daimyo smiled. "He's such a rarity now I think it'll do good for the village to see him out and about with me."
"I'm sure he'll have no issues leaving with you right now Kaien-dono." Hiruzen smiled, his silent look to Sasuke when the Daimyo wasn't looking enough to drag him out of his seat.
"I'll be happy to walk you to your residence." Beneath the copied smile, Sasuke wished for literally anything else. "Where are you staying Kaien-dono?"
"With the Hokage of course." Kaien headed out the door, Sasuke following after him. His attendants and his samurai left the room after him, left the building as the man headed off to bed for an early nap.
Naruto waited for the door to close behind the last of the Daimyo's entourage before he turned to the Hokage.
"Jiji, he's an idiot. Perhaps the greatest idiot I've ever met."
"He is certainly not his father."
With that fool of a Daimyo now gone, Naruto dropped any false pleasantries, nearly outright glared at the Hokage.
"You called my Legion clones, why?" Hiruzen had seemingly expected such a question, even the near hostility Naruto had asked it with.
He merely rose an eyebrow.
"Would you prefer that a man you call a fool know everything about your army?" Hiruzen's words made sense Naruto couldn't deny, earned a nod from the one who called himself Caesar. "I thought as such." Hiruzen leaned back in his seat, seemed to allow the weight of his position to draw out a tired sigh. "I was glad you and Sasuke-kun managed to understand my intentions so quickly. The last thing I need is that boy believing he has an army at his beck and call, he'll become nothing but a warmonger in less than a year if he ever learns of what your army is truly capable of."
"I suppose this is preferable." Naruto crossed his arms, acted rather like his age at the moment. "I'm going to guess he thinks they're just Shadow Clones?"
"He's seen me use them before so yes, that is likely what he believes." Hiruzen spared a glance to Naruto. "You consider them that different from Shadow Clones, Naruto-kun?"
"Of course." Naruto spoke as it if was obvious. "They are my brothers in arms, those who believe in me and my dream. They are far more than mere mindless clones. My Legion is united through that belief, through the faith they hold in me to achieve the dream of my magnificent Uzumaki Empire."
For a moment, it looked as if Hiruzen would press the issue, press for an answer on what the Uzumaki Empire truly was.
But it was only for a moment.
Naruto frowned as he glanced towards the unopened scrolls, the unattended documents, that remained at the opposite end of the table.
"Why do you suffer the presence of such a fool Jiji?" Naruto waved towards the other end of the table. "He can't even be bothered to read, how can you expect him to act, to be decisive on anything but whatever manages to catch his fickle attention?"
Surprisingly, Hiruzen simply chuckled at the question, earned a curious stare from Naruto.
"Is the situation so dire all you can do is laugh?" Naruto seemed to ask such a question with worry, with concern for the Hokage.
"No, no. I'm rather glad to say that was simply because I can't help but laugh." Hiruzen continued to chuckle, Naruto only able to stare at him in turn. "You would be surprised just how often I've been asked that question since Kaien inherited the position from his far more capable father, Jushiro." The Hokage's laughter gradually tapered off, the humor in his eyes replaced with something else, something darker.
He looked to Naruto.
"Naruto-kun, what do you know about the Twelve Guardian Ninja? Kaien mentioned them but how much do you yourself know about them?" The questioned earned a near blank look from the Uzumaki. After a moment, he seemed to remember where he had heard the name before.
"They're the personal guard of the Fire Daimyo." Naruto couldn't help it, looked to the door behind him. "He has an elite guard?"
"His father did." Hiruzen corrected Naruto's rather sensible assumption. "While Jushiro saw the benefits to such an organization, Kaien has rarely summoned even half of the Twelve Guardian Ninja to the capital since the attempted rebellion."
"There was an attempted rebellion?" The fact that Naruto seemed genuinely surprised at the news was something Hiruzen took some pride in. With how chaotic things had been after the Fourth's death, he had deemed it best to do all he could to suppress the information behind the deaths of so many in such an elite group and it seemed his efforts had borne fruit.
"Yes. It is something I'm not surprised you don't know much about. No textbooks recorded it, no newspapers reported on it, and, to many, it seemed to have just been a sudden string of misfortune. I made the decision to suppress a majority of the information that caused the deaths of all but two of the Twelve Guardian Ninja so soon after the Kyubi's attack on the village and the loss of the Fourth Hokage and so many veteran Shinobi. In such a perilous time, I deemed it appropriate to have the information restricted, set it to a need-to-know basis." He frowned at the memories, at the chaos he had feared would sweep through the village, the war that could have possibly engulfed the Land of Fire if such a divisive ideology had been allowed to spread. "With the Daimyo and myself possessing roles of leadership, some believed resources were split unevenly, believed a single leader would be more practical for the Land of Fire, believed that the Hidden Leaf itself should be destroyed and all should be loyal to the Daimyo."
"Of those carrying such a mindset, the Twelve Guardian Ninja were split in half. Six of them believed the Daimyo alone should rule and six of them believed that the status quo should remain. What had started out as a simple disagreement, as a mere difference in views, soon progressed into action. And that action was my attempted assassination. It never occurred, only was planned. Those responsible, those who believed the Daimyo alone should rule, were discovered by the others. A battle began, allies turned into enemies, and the results were the near complete eradication of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Of those present, the only men to walk away from the battle that day were my son and another man he fought besides, a Ninja Monk named Chiriku. I spoke with Kaien, and more importantly his father's advisors, and the decision was made to quietly disband the group."
"Kaien was of course fed a lie." Hiruzen waved his hand. "I believe he was told some invading force ambushed them, they were fought off but a majority of his bodyguards died. I believe he was far too distracted to even notice, one of his advisors gave him a few girls from Shukuba Town to keep him occupied."
"My opinion of the man somehow fall's lower." Naruto leaned back in his seat. "It seems as if all of the Twelve Guardian Ninja were correct, if some more correct than other." At a simple look from the Hokage, Naruto elaborated. "From what I've seen, the Daimyo is an incompetent moron. I have little patience for him and I've just met him, I can only imagine how much you've suffered Jiji." A look of almost sympathy crossed Naruto's face. It was quickly gone, as Naruto continued. "If the Daimyo is even half as incompetent as I believe him to be, then he is little more than a leech to be removed. The Land of Fire would no doubt run smoother with a sole leader, one who maintain not only military power but the experience of when to use it. One such as yourself Jiji."
Naruto's words brought out a tired smile from the aged Hokage, a short laugh.
"How many times I've heard that. Oh, how many times I've heard such a thing." Hiruzen shook his head. "The Fourth likely heard the same after me, the Second before me, the First before him." He had no doubt of such a thing, spoke with a simple certainty. "The Daimyo has no doubt heard such a thing as well, his father most assuredly heard the same, his father's father the same."
Naruto was curious to where this was going.
"Such a mindset would only plunge the Land of Fire into a civil war if it was allowed to spread, would perhaps plunge all the world into the Fourth Shinobi World War." Hiruzen rubbed at his tired eyes. "How I wish I could find everyone who bears such a mindset and beat some fucking sense into them."
Naruto's eyes widened at the utterly unexpected profanity from the Third Hokage.
Hiruzen dimly noticed such a thing. For a moment at best. He believed he was just using Naruto's presence to vent to another living, breathing person.
"Of all the inane, nonsensical, and no less than completely idiotic ideas I've suffered to listen to over the years, that one has always managed to infuriate me the most."
"Jiji, I have to admit, I don't understand why you disagree. From what I've just seen, that man deserves nothing. He is more of a detriment to the Land of Fire than anything else. He should be removed."
"And what of those who view my age alone as a detriment to the office I hold? Those who viewed the age of the Fourth Hokage as a detriment despite his showing in the Third Shinobi World War proving not only his power but his tactical mind? What of those who believed the Second Hokage was little more than the second choice when the First died in battle, inherited a doomed position during the First Shinobi World War. All of those against them thought that the Hokage itself was a detriment to the Land of Fire, that all within this country should be subservient to the Daimyo above all else. Others believe the establishment of a Hidden Village was to the detriment of the country and created a target for foreign adversaries, others would say that all citizens should be drafted into a samurai army under the command of the Daimyo, another group would say that samurai should be abolished and replaced by an all Shinobi force. And there's countless more moronic mindsets that I've dealt with ever since I accepted the damn burden this office seems to be, that I saw all those who served in this office go through again and again. Everyone believes that they have an idea that must be implemented for the best, that for the goal of a time of great prosperity for the Land of Fire it must be followed."
"For as much as a fool as the Daimyo is, I, like my predecessors have before me, will make no move to seize power. The Daimyo and the Hokage are two who must always appear to stand together, who must serve as bulwark against enemies arrayed all around us. I had a great relationship with Kaien's father Jushiro, his passing deeply impacted not only the Land of Fire but caused me no shortage of grief. He was a dear friend who, like many, I wish was still among the living. While his son is nothing like his father, he is not someone needlessly cruel, one who indulges in nothing but his base urges. Yes, he is far from stellar at this but he has at least surrounded himself with sound advisors, those who served his father, those who served under those who served his father."
Naruto didn't have an immediate reply to Sarutobi, merely stared at the Hokage as he spoke.
"I will freely admit to not enjoying Kaien's company, would prefer if he was more like his father, but I will be the first to defend his position, be it with words or by action. He is the Fire Daimyo. The only way he will not be such is if he cedes the position to another or dies. The same way I intend to pass on the title of Hokage to my successor, whoever that may be. I will expect whoever it is to pursue the same idea, understand why at times when the Daimyo is weak it is critical we lend support, why the two of us must stand together."
"I see…" Naruto rose from his seat. He bowed his head to the Hokage. "Jiji, I think we should talk more later but, for now, I have a lot to think about." He headed to the door.
Hiruzen watched him leave.
He didn't dare to hope much that this one conversation had changed Naruto but perhaps it had been a start. Perhaps this Caesar business would end before it could get any worse.
Perhaps.