Naruto has been training to improve himself even more vigorously since Shikaoi told them about the other timeline. Naruto found that he still wants to be Hokage so that everyone would acknowledge him, but he was now unsure of what that would mean.
Naruto would never quit, and he never knows when to give up. Shikaoi had joked that he didn't know the meaning of the word as it was in Naruto's blood.
The Hokage was strong sure, but they also made lots of mistakes that Naruto wasn't yet sure he could completely forget about from the first to the fourth Hokage, and the fifth Hokage is some old hag who didn't even want to be Hokage unless Naruto could recreate the scenario from that other timeline.
All the Hokage had contributed to the state of the village and the third and fourth Hokage was the reason the villagers hate and ignore him.
The third Hokage, the old man he called Jiji, had known all along and hadn't done anything to help him, and the fourth Hokage, his dad, had sealed the nine-tailed fox inside him.
The third Hokage had also let that Danzo guy trick Sasuke's brother into killing Sasuke's family, and left Sasuke, his brother in all but blood, to be consumed by the path that leads to vengeance. He would have let Sasuke get lost in the darkness and that's something Naruto would not stand for because Sasuke was one of the few people who acknowledged him. The Teme even let him move into his home and Naruto would forever be grateful to the slightly older boy for saving him from the crushing loneliness.
'Loneliness… I was always alone back then,' he thought morosely.
Loneliness was the only thing he knew back then, but now he has Shikaoi, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Choji, Iruka sensei, and Kakashi sensei.
Naruto still can't believe that Kakashi sensei would have been his older brother if things hadn't gone the way they had.
Naruto didn't even want to think about his father's other 'living' student, because it hurt to even think about that betrayal.
'Betrayal…' thought Naruto, 'it seems like there was a lot of it going around back then.'
Naruto wasn't sure anymore what it means to be Hokage. It seems as though the path would require sacrifices that Naruto knew he would not enjoy making, and choices that can contribute to the continuation of the cycle of hatred.
He wished he could be as strong as his counterpart, able to inspire peace and persuade even the most prickly of enemies into the greatest of allies.
Naruto's eyes subconsciously darted to the other jinchuriki.
'Garaa is like me… or who I could've been,' Naruto thought.
Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage had always stemmed from the loneliness of his early childhood. He had only known that the title of Hokage carried a lot of respect. Back then he hadn't been aware of all the responsibilities.
Naruto may not know if he still wants to be Hokage, but what he does know is that he wants to be strong enough to protect his precious people and the village that his dad had sacrificed his life and Naruto's to save. In a way, Minato Namikaze had sacrificed his son to save the village, and he had falsely believed that Naruto would be seen as a hero, like the character in 'pervy sage's book, the one Naruto was named after, but unfortunately, Naruto has a long way to go before he was hailed as a hero.
'Pervy sage… I have a godfather and I've never met him,' Naruto inwardly narrowed his eyes at the thought.
Surprisingly, Shikaoi had approached Naruto a week after their genin exam and had thanked Naruto for protecting the village, and Naruto had been wary when he realized what Shikaoi had meant, but both he, and later Sasuke, had accepted him.
They didn't see him as the 'dead last' or a 'failure,' they saw him as Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki 'the number one unpredictable knuckle-headed ninja,' and Naruto knew that it was time to prove to himself and everyone that he has gotten stronger.
As the proctor called for the start of the match, Naruto got into a ready stance eager to show off the things he had learned alongside his teammates — his best friends — his brothers.
"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit, and I don't run!" Naruto exclaimed and in a puff of smoke Kiba soon found himself surrounded by fifty Narutos.
"Huh," said Shikaoi gaining the attention of the hidden leaf spectators closest to him, "Naruto is going easy on Kiba."
Kurenai sensei blinked in disbelief, 'fifty shadow clones are going easy? But, that kid is the dead last of his year,' she thought.
'Not the dead last anymore are you Naruto? Show them what you are made of,' Shikaoi thought sharing a smirk with the Uchiha he had been leaning against as the two genin of team seven leaned against the railing in anticipation of their blond teammate's fight.