A group of students of the ninja academy made a semi-circle around the Elder. His big blue eyes expressed a mix of nostalgia and sadness; he once was there with other kids hearing about the old times of Konoha. The old man draw the attention to the statues at the side of mountain; from left to right had, in order, the Hokage's who lead the village. The last two were depredated with painting, as both had little love from the public in the last years (or decades).

"Do you know who the first man in the statue is?"

"It's Hashirama-sama!"all the kids replied in chorus."

"Correct. Many years ago he founded this village to end all the wars between clans. Family against family fought each other when this man step in and put an end to this useless bloodshed. His dream was not only for Konoha; but also for the world to understand each other. However, one man didn't like this one bit. Kakuzo of the five heads, used to profit from wars, so one day he attacked innocent people to attract the Hokage for a duel. Both fought for three days until Hashirama finally collapsed. But it wasn't in vain; many farmers could retreat to a safe place until reinforcements arrived from the village" (author note: I don't know how Hashirama really died, take this as my headcanon for this fic)

"Tobirama followed the dream and virtues of his brother. One day him and his companions, were deep in enemy territory. In order to save his friends, he used himself as bait to distract the enemy."

"The third Hokage fought the legendary sennin: Orochimaru. This powerfull ninja revived Hashirama and Tobirama to fight against their will to destroy Konoha. Having the safety of the village in mind, Hiruzen sacrificed himself to stop Orochimaru from winning."

"The fourth saved the village from the nine tails, like Hiruzen would repeat years later, he give his life in other to protect what was dear for him."

"The fifth, Tsunade. Fought and died trying to defeat Pain; that day the village almost died, but the courage of his inhabitants led to the survival of Konoha."

The elder gaze with his blue eyes the children and asked what they had in common.

"They died for the village" answered the children.

"Correct. However they had something more; all of them had the will of fire! The determination of protecting it's loves ones, even when facing death, it's what keeps our family…. Our village united. They passed the fire of life and determination to the next generation!"

For those children, Hokage didn't meant so much as what meant for the elder when he was a kid. The current Hokage was very old even before those kids were born. This title was something distant for them; something related for old people.

The Elder made a joyful smiled and continued:

"Do you know who is the sixth? Hint, is the best Hokage ever!"

"It's Naruto?"

The elder made an insincere smile.

"But sir- one girl asked- Didn't Naruto failed to defeat the King of Snakes?"

The conversation ended as the Hokage Konohamaru arrived to rescue the embarrassed sensei and the offended old man, who just happens to be Naruto.

…

Konohamaru stick his cane between his arm and his rib to catch a Cigar.

"Long time no see my friend. It's how many time now, twelve years since you left the village?"

"Yeah… It's comforting to see that these kids don't know who I'm- He nodded to the depredated statue of him and Konohamaru at the mountain- But it seems that the adults still didn't forget about me an is giving you a hard time."

Konohamaru puffed his cigar- the smoke floated to the skies.

"I stopped ordering a cleaning for some time. It is useless to censor the bitter opinion of the people. Either way, you used to do the same thing when you were younger, remember?"

"I used to do that because I wanted my legacy to be bigger than them. How things changes, now we are the boring old man without touch with the newer generation."

Konohamaru was bitter and vented his indignation in a rant:

"This generation is helpless; I would gladly exchange 1 Rock Lee for 100 of them. They keep complaining because of our inaction in the Water country. This is the problem with this people, they had never seen the village being destroyed, and they had never seen war; so they believe it's just to force an entry of these childish ninjas with these

"technological gadgets" to the Mist village and get him."

"About Rock Lee, how is he?"

Konohamaru deviated his look from Naruto his look:

"He isn't well. Age has taken a toll on him; his family has sent him to an asylum"

"I guess I should make a visit."

Meanwhile Naruto picked a note inside his kimono:

"I received this letter, I think the time is comming."

Konohamaru imposed a confident posture and dismissed it:

"Don't take this seriously, it's the mist village wanting to put us under fire. Some days ago, the Mizukage sent to every kage, a desperate letter claiming that some kunoichi deserted the village, and they had nothing to do with her future actions. Later, accordingly to the investigations of our ANBU in the Mist, the local government spread a hoax claiming that she joined our village."

"I guess so…"

Konohamaru continued:

"The mist has been running from him for decades; everyone is. Luckily the Mizukage is very wise, if it wasn't for this, everybody would be at an all-out war way early; it gives me shivers to thing how many people would have to die because of this mad man."

Naruto just replied:

"I know he is coming"

Konohamaru was sad for his friend, 40 years ago he missed his chance. The Hokage could guess what prevented him for finishing the job, but he never had the heart to ask.

"You don't have to do this"

"It's a promise."

The cigar was still in the half when Konohamaru disposed it with a finger flick. Both shared the same dream as kid; both worked together to rebuild Konoha from the ground; both had seen their legacy being destroyed by the merciless passing of time.

"Anyway, since I left the village 12 years ago, I had been writing my memoirs- Naruto gave the manuscripts to Konohamaru- I guess it's up to you to finish it."

…

After the meeting with the Hokage, Naruto re-visited some of his old friends. He tried to visited the Ishiraku Ramem, however the owner had sold the place, a cafeteria took his place. His last visit was at the heroes memorial where he learned the value of friendship with his sensei; there he "talked" with Kakashi and Hiruzen, as if they could guide him in his last battle.

He made a last look where Kakashi had tied him. "In the world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Kakashi was wrong, Naruto thought. For the first time in years, he cried.