Naruto - Five years of waiting (part 3)

Naruto belongs to kishimoto ©

Story by Juan Manuel Suarez (me of course)
Grammar by greatkingrat88 (thanks a lot man, you're awesome)

The old stone monument was a trademark to Konoha. It had been there throughout the years; withstanding age, wars, catastrophes and above all, a particular blonde knucklehead shinobi and his pranks. The monument to the Hokage was the most impressive image in the whole village, and could be seen from almost anywhere in Konoha.

That sunny afternoon, a young medic Genin was admiring the monument, looking particularly, the face of the current village leader, the Legendary Sannin Tsunade. She had been a great support for the young kunoichi through the years: She was the one who convince her parents to let her become in a Medic Ninja, when the tradition of her clan was to raise warriors; she was the one who assigned her to Team 5 and put Sakura Haruno, one of the most talented, most remarkable Medic-nin in all Konoha, as her jonin-sensei. The young kunoichi was deeply grateful to the fifth Hokage.

"I finally found you, Maho-chan. Why did you leave so fast? You had me worried."
A soft and familiar voice came right behind Maho. She had been training with her sensei for almost six months now, and she could recognize Sakura's voice easily.

"Sorry, Sakura-sensei, but I can't help but feel shy around Naruto-taicho. When I was still in the academy, they always talked about the way he saved the village and became a hero. Everybody wants to be close to him, and I'm no exception. It's just that he is such a genius-"

Maho's comment was suddenly interrupted. Her sensei has laughing with energy that she had never seen. Sure, Sakura-sensei always was happy, but she has never seen her in such a jolly mood.

After a couple of minutes, her fit of laughter died down, and Sakura finally calmed herself and looked again to her student. She spoke again, chuckling a little.

"Naruto, a genius! You're really funny sometimes, Maho-chan. Listen, do you think that Naruto is a genius because of his abilities?" Maho nodded. "Well, the truth is that when we were kids, he was anything but a good ninja. He was the dead last in our class! Actually, I remember that time when we were supposed to do a regular clone, which was a request for us to pass the genin exams. Naruto failed so badly, and it was so funny!"

Sakura started to laugh again, remembering that old anecdote of her best friend. Her student couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had the privilege of having seen Naruto in action a couple of times. He seemed just too amazing; so surprisingly fast, so strong, using a considerable number of powerful jutsu with ease, and he had more chakra than anybody she knew. So, how could he be the worst student in his class?

Sakura sensed her student's confusion, so she calmed herself again. While she kept chuckling, she proceeded to explain: "He was such a terrible ninja back then, and yet he somehow became what he is now. It was nothing to do with his lineage, or some kind of mystic force within him, although it helps a little. He became a strong ninja because he never gave up, and never went back on his word. He trains more than anyone, pushing himself to his limits just to be able to become strong enough to protect all his friends. If you think he's a genius, then you're underestimating him. You really should follow his example, to become a great ninja some day, Maho-chan"

Sakura's inspiring words made Maho's determination grow. "Sure thing, Sakura-sensei. I'll become strong, like you and Naruto-taicho".

At that moment, at another place not so far away from where Sakura and Maho were, a young ninja was receiving the best news in all his life. He had waited for this moment so long, and no words could describe how he felt in that moment. Joy, happiness, grief, uncertainty, doubt, bliss- all these emotions washed over him like a tsunami ravaging a shoreline. He did not know what to say, what to do.

"You haven't said a word for at least five minutes now. Is it that hard to digest, Naruto?" Tsunade asked playfully, while Shizune snorted a little. The blonde jonin was still speechless. "Naruto, I know perfectly well that the news of my life shortened is restraining your usual goofiness, but please, don't stop yourself from being happy. I have plenty of time to live, so please tell us, what do you think, Naruto-no-Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade's words were like an electric current passing trough his spine. It was the first time someone had called him Hokage. In one week's time, that would become his position in the village. His dream would come true, and everybody would be calling him 'Hokage-sama' in no time. The thought just made him all the more excited.

"W-w-will you just excuse me for a second? If you hear some unusual noises, then please just ignore them." Naruto managed, quickly walking out of the room, closing the door behind him. The strange behaviour that Naruto just exhibited made Shizune a little puzzled.

"Tsunade-sama, that was a bit strange, don't you think? Naruto-kun just heard about his designation as the new Hokage, but he also just knew about your sickness, so he must be feeling mixed emotions. You think that he will be fine? I should check hi-"

Shizune's speech was suddenly interrupted by a stream of very loud cries coming from just outside the office. Shizune, alarmed, was about to go outside, but Tsunade stopped her, and asked her to listen carefully to the stream of words:

"YAATTAAA! I DID IT! FINALLY, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS OF TRAINING, MISSIONS AND STUFF, I DID IT, -DATTEBAYO! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THEY ACTUALLY CONVINCED THE COUNCIL TO ACCEPT ME AS THE NEW HOKAGE! OH, NOW THAT I THING ABOUT IT, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE FACES OF THE TWO OLD BAGS WHEN THEY HEARD ABOUT IT, -TTEBAYO! I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL HER ABOUT THIS! SHE'LL BE SO HAPPY! I NEED TO TELL EVERYBODY, -TTEBAYO!" Naruto's voice seemed more and more spirited, as he kept shouting at the top of his lungs.

"See, Shizune? There was nothing to be worried about. He's just fine, as always." Tsunade chuckled, while Shizune sigh in rest about her preoccupations about Naruto. As usual, there was nothing to be worried about.

It took all of five minutes for Naruto to calm down. When Naruto finally managed to do so, he came back to the office with a serious look on his face. He tried to conceal his joy, failing miserably. He coughed a little, and then said:

"How did you manage to convince the council? I mean, I know perfectly well that the Elders just hate me, so they wouldn't let me be the new Hokage even if I were the only choice."

Tsunade's grin did not hide her pride of having beaten the Elders. "Well, it wasn't easy, you know. I've been trying to convince them oh so many times to make them accept my decisions, but today we got tired of the traditional methods, so Kakashi attended to the meeting with a different plan."

Naruto knew perfectly well what she was talking about, and became proud that his old Team Sensei and his like-grandmother Village Leader would go as far as to do something like that, just to be sure that Konoha would be in good hands.

"So, Kakashi-sensei actually used THAT jutsu? Well, there's no wonder you managed to keep them under control- I never thought that you two would do something like using a forbidden jutsu against the old bags!"

"He just restrain them a little" Tsunade emphasized "The justu just prevent that them intimidate Daimyo-sama and manipulated his decision like Danzou did before. He didn't manipulated them or anything like that, so don't worry"

"...I see" Naruto nodded "But you know, when I become the Hokage, I will reform the council. I'll make sure that they'll be loyal and reliable, so there will be no problems with them anymore. But why don't we leave this for later? I have something to do right now."

Naruto smiled, walking out of the office again, intending to share the big news with everybody. Suddenly, he remembered something, and stopped abruptly.

"That's right; I was going to ask you about Team Aki. They haven't come back yet?"

Even though Naruto asked about the entire Team, Tsunade knew that he was more interested in that particular girl. "Oh don't worry, Naruto. They came back this noon, so at this moment, they should be with Kakashi, giving their report as we speak. The report itself wouldn't take too long for them, so she should be in her house in an hour or so. You should do something while you wait, like telling everybody the big news." Tsunade suggested to Naruto, as he walked out of the office.

"Nah, I think that the Hokage thing can wait `till tomorrow. Today, I'll just tell her. And while her team talks with Kakashi-sensei, I'll make a little visit to that pervert!"

Tsunade smiled sweetly upon hearing that.

"And you couldn't find any more evidence?" In the ANBU main headquarters, a report meeting was taking place. Team Aki, the most effective ANBU team in all Konoha, was presenting its last mission report.

"Sorry, sir. All the evidence had been carefully hidden or destroyed, so we just have the data that we recollected in the interrogation, Kakashi-senpai." The Team's leader spoke calmly to their direct superior. As Tsunade's first official, Kakashi was the commander of the ANBU, so he was the highest authority to Team Aki.

"Well, is not surprising. The remaining members of the Root are not stupid. We just have to be careful and continue this investigation in highest secrecy. We have to find their actual leader. Good job, Team Aki. You may take off your masks."

The four shinobi quickly stood up, and removed their ANBU masks. Four well known faces appeared in front of the Kakashi; faces that he had known since they were all just children.

"So we are dismissed, Kakashi-sensei?" The Medic of the team, Ino Yamanaka, spoke. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail. She had been suggested to enter the ANBU by her father, who was part of the Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Department, and her clan's skill had become really useful to Team Aki in information gathering.

"I think that we are free to go now, Ino-san. Will you go with me to the hospital? I want to talk with Sakura-san before she gets sent on another mission." Rock Lee, the self-proclamed "Green beast of Konoha" was now the main force of the Team Aki. As always, his polite way of speaking singled him out. But he was another person when he was in a mission. He lived up to his nickname in battle, so he became a place in the ANBU squad and quickly gain a reputation that opened a place to him in the best ANBU team that Konoha had to offer.

"Lee-kun, Ino-chan, please, we must wait to be dismissed by Kakashi-senpai." A young, beautiful girl spoke, in a shy voice. Her long black hair hung down below her waist. Her purple eyes, her white skin, and her lovely face- she was nothing short of stunning. However, her beauty was nothing compared to her skill. Hinata Hyuuga was heiress to the most powerful clan in Konoha, and her Kekkei Genkai was perfect for scouting the area in a mission. She was the tracker of the Team Aki, but even so, she was known for another thing that had nothing to do with the ANBU, or the Hyuuga clan.

"I don't know Hinata-chan, but you must be more excited about going home. I mean, you haven't seen him for at least three weeks because of yours and his missions. But he's finally back and I think that he has big news." Kakashi joked, while the young Hyuuga heir blushed heavily. "And I'm not the one to dismiss you, so why don't you ask to your Captain?"

Everybody looked to the black haired young man. At first, he had not been well liked, since he had been part of the ANBU faction called "Root", and worked under Danzo, the man who contested the Third Hokage in his youth. Everybody had distrusted him because of his strange behaviour and his fake smile, and he had a hard time understanding people. But when he became part of the Team Kakashi, he started to feel close to the rest, and began to bond with his teammates, and made some friends for the first time in his life. Even though there was no way of telling, Sai was actually really happy. He stared at everybody with his typical poker face, then smiled without life, and said, as calmly as always "You all have things to do, so you are dismissed."

Team Aki smiled kindly to their Captain, right before speaking in unison:

"Hai, Sai-taicho." and then disappear.

"You as well must have something to do, Sai." Kakashi said to Sai, while he drew from his pocket the third volume of his favorite novel, Icha Icha Paradise.

"Not really, Kakashi-senpai. But I would like to have a drink with you, if you're free."
Sai said, hanging his mask on his belt.

"Sorry, Sai, but I have something to do right now. Maybe next time. Well, see you later. All of you have this week off." Kakashi said, just before jumping out the window, walking away. Even though he had claimed that he was busy, the only reason he would not go with Sai, was because he was going to the memorial of the fallen. Since he was fourteen, he had always spent most of his free time at that memorial. But once there, he saw someone who did not often show in that place.

"Yo, Naruto."

After Naruto left Tsunade's office, he had gone straight to Ichiraku's Ramen bar. It took all his mental discipline not to shout at the top of his lungs that, as of next week, he would be the next Hokage. After finishing his meal, he then went to the Yamanaka florist shop, and bought a couple of daffodils. He walked around the village with a smile twice as big as usual. If somebody would ask him why he looked so happy, he just said:

"Because today is a great day, -dattebayo."

That was true. Not only had Tsunade told him about his new position in Konoha, he also was happy because he was going to meet with his girlfriend after almost three weeks of waiting. Of course, the fact that Tsunade-baachan's days were numbered was a bit of a dampener on his mood, but he still remained in high spirits. After a long walk through the village, he finally arrived at the place he had been going to. The memorial of the fallen shinobi. It held all the names of the ninja that had been killed in action. He was there to talk with his late teacher, godfather and friend, Jiraiya. He had been there for a while when his old sensei come. When Naruto saw Kakashi, his typical smile appeared in his face.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't think you'd come here so early. I was planning on leaving before you came here."

Kakashi looked at his ex-student. A lot of time had passed since they were on the same team. Since he became the right hand of the Fifth Hokage, he had not carried out as many missions as he used to. Naruto, on the other hand, had done so many missions that he held the record for most missions completed in one year. The young blonde had certainly become a strong ninja. Kakashi knew that Naruto had become even stronger than the three Sannin ever were, and Kakashi was very proud of him. He knew exactly why Naruto was here.

"You came here to tell Jiraiya-sama the big news, didn't you?"

"Yeah! I wanna tell him that I finally did it, and this is the only place where I can do that. But anyway, I heard what you did today in the council meeting. You uses that jutsu in the Elders, so they don't comebetween me and my new position as the new Hokage! That was great, -ttebayo! I never thought that you would use Danzo's jutsu in front of the Daimyo of the land of Fire."

Four years ago, not long after the last summit of the five Kage, Danzo, leader of Root, fought Kakashi on grounds of treason against Konoha. After Kakashi had defeated Danzo, he took the sharingan eye that Danzo had stolen, and then put it in his own sharingan eye. The result was a new and more powerful sharingan, and he had since learned how to use Danzo's power, which could control people's minds without their notice. The fact that Kakashi obtained that ability was an S-ranked secret, and very few knew of it. Only Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Shizune and Tsunade knew about it, and he intended to keep it that way.

"Would you please keep it down? We don't want everybody to know about it. But yes, I used it in the meeting, so the Elders wouldn't intervene with your succession."

Even through his mask, Naruto could tell that Kakashi was smiling. That smile… Naruto always felt curious about Kakashi's smile. Actually, he felt more than just curious about Kakashi's face. Back to the time of the Team 7, they had attempted de-mask him more than once, but Kakashi was just too good, and they had hardly been any competition to him. But that was no longer the case. Naruto was now an extraordinary shinobi, so if he really tried, maybe he could de-mask--

"Don't even think about it, Naruto." Kakashi's only visible eye sent him a cold glance, met by the hopeful eyes of Naruto. "You were thinking about trying to de-mask me again, weren't you?"

Naruto coughed a little and looked somewhere else, while Kakashi chuckled.
"So, have you finished here?" Kakashi pointed at the memorial, and Naruto shook his head.

"Not yet. You interrupted me while I was talking to him."

Naruto put the flowers in front of the memorial, and started to talk.

"Hey ero-sennin, I finally did it. I promised you that I would become the next Hokage, and I did it. Tsunade no baa-chan told me that as of next week, I will be the Nanadaime Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Isn't that great? I know that you're watching over me from wherever you are, so please, watch me become the best Hokage this world has ever known, -dattebayo."

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. He knew that Naruto was the best candidate to be the next Hokage, and that he would do a great job. What Naruto just said sounded almost like a premonition. His own thoughts made him chuckle a little.

"Well, seems to me that you finished, right? Then why don't you go to her? I'm sure that you two have a lot of catching up to do, since you haven't seen each other much lately."

Naruto's face reddened and Kakashi laughed. It was the second time in the day that his words had made someone blush, and being able to cause that effect precisely in those two---

"You're right, Kakashi-sensei. She must be waiting, and I'm really anxious to see her. So, see you later!" Naruto ran in the direction of the village, while Kakashi stayed in his spot, watching his ex-student leave.

"It doesn't matter how much you grow up, Naruto. You always will be the noisy, troublesome boy that you were the first day we met." He pulled out his favourite novel. "Well, it seems that it's just you and me again, Icha Icha."

When Naruto finally arrived at his destination, it was already dark. He stood outside the front door of the big house, knocked on the door and waited for an answer, with a huge grin on his face. He had not visited this house for almost three weeks now- his last mission had taken a little more time than he had wanted.
The two of them had been together for almost four years now. Naruto loved her so much that he wanted to spend every single moment with her; so much it ached to be away from her. Yes, it was true that since two months ago, they had been living together in his apartment, but Naruto understood why she kept coming to her father's house after every single mission; she loved it when he came to pick her up from her father's house. Their apartment was a little lonely when one of them was not there, so she liked to spend her time in the old house when Naruto was not around, and wait for him to pick her up. And Naruto liked it as well, because he enjoyed the company of her family.

Finally someone opened the door. Naruto was faced with a young jonin of only sixteen years, and her soft smile.

"Naruto-niichan is good to see you again! I heard that you were on a mission with team Ebisu, but it took you really long time to finish it. Was it that difficult?"

Hanabi Hyuuga welcomed him as warmly as always, and she invited him to come on in. Because of the traditional ways of her clan, Hanabi was polite, calm and collected with most people, but when Naruto, Hinata or that noisy friend of her were around, she enjoyed a more playful behaviour.

"Well, it wasn't really difficult. It just was an escort mission, but we found a couple of obstacles on the road that delayed us. That aside, it was kind of boring."

As they walked to the main living room, Naruto and Hanabi talked away. Two men, a twenty-two year old jonin, and an older man were enjoying their tea there.

"Ah, Naruto, good night." Hiashi Hyuuga, head of the Hyuuga clan, was drinking a cup of tea with his nephew Neji, who greeted him with a nod.

"Hiashi-sama, Neji, sorry for the intrusion. I just came back for a mission this afternoon. So, you were training together?" Naruto and Hanabi sat down next to the tea table with the two men, and started to chat away, while he waited for the real reason he was there that night.

"You're late, Naruto-kun. I was starting to think that you wouldn't be coming to pick me up." Hinata said, hugging him gently around the neck.

"Are you nuts, Hinata-chan? I would never do something like that!"
Naruto kissed Hinata gently on the cheek, while she took a seat by his side. Everyone else looked at them with a smile on their faces, even the stern Hiashi. The two looked really happy together.

"Hey." Neji interrupted the tender moment, "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you forgot that Hiashi-sama is present in the room, too."

Naruto and Hinata look at Hiashi, who once again kept his characteristic stone face. Hinata was the first who speak.

"S-S-Sorry father, we didn't mean to be rude"

A hint of a smile crossed Hiashi's face.

"Don't worry, Hinata dear. I gave my blessings to your relationship with Naruto a long time ago, so it doesn't matter. But I have to remind you that, as the Hyuuga heiress, you have to mind your manners, Hinata." Then, he glared at Naruto. "And you should keep your hands were I can see them, Naruto."

Naruto gulped. "As you say, Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi's expression softened a little. "Well, then how was your mission, Hinata? I really want to know."

"Truthfully, Hinata-sama," Neji finally spoke "I understand that since you now are an ANBU, you are not allowed to tell us all the details. But at least tell us what kind of mission was."

Hinata smiled kindly. "Well, let's say that it was a mission against the enemies of Konoha..."

And soon, Hiashi, Hinata, Hanabi, Neji and Naruto begun to talk like the family they were now.

After half an hour or so of idle conversation, Naruto and Hinata decided that it was about time for them to go home. When they were far enough of the Hyuuga estate, Naruto grabbed Hinata firmly by the hips and kissed her with all the passion of a man who had been away from his love for the last three weeks. He really had missed her.

"N-Naruto, you're w-way to enthusiastic today. Wow, it's been a while since you kissed me that way. Did s-something good happen?" Hinata stammered a little, while her face was a deep shade of red by the sudden kiss that Naruto gave her. In the past, she would have fainted from that, but since they had been a couple for a long time now, she wasn't the same shy girl that she used to be.

"Don't blame me, honey. We haven't spent much time together lately, so I really missed you. But besides that, yeah, something really good happened. Guess who will be the nanadaime Hokage starting next week!" Naruto said to his girlfriend with his typical enthusiasm, smiling. The smile that saves her, that makes her want to become stronger, become confident, and become someone that he could love.

But in this moment, that smile was the less important thing. Her eyes were really opened for the surprise. She knew that being the Hokage was the ultimate goal in Naruto's life, so she couldn't help but start to cry in happiness.

"S-So you finally did it? You really did it?!" Naruto nodded. "Naruto, you did it! You are going to be Hokage! Tell me, when did Tsunade-sama tell you? How did she manage to convince the council? Is this really happening?! OH MY GOD, YOU DID IT! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"

The tears would not stop coming, while Hinata hugged and kissed her boyfriend with all the love in the world. Naruto hugged her tightly, feeling like the luckiest man in the world.

"Hey, calm down. You don't have to cry, this is good news!" His arms were wrapped around Hinata's body. She kept hugging him, crying tears of joy.

"It's not like I can't help it. It's just that I'm so proud of you, Naruto!" He put his lips on her forehead, hugging her tightly still.

"You know what? This is a night to celebrate: celebrate my new position, celebrate our reunion and start to celebrate my coming birthday. Though I would like to celebrate with all my friends, telling them the big news, I would like it a million times better to celebrate tonight with the girl I love. You know what that means, don't you, little sunshine?"

Hinata's face turned beet red again. She looked up to her boyfriend's face with a gentle, and yet at the same time seductive smile, understanding perfectly what he meant. "As you order, Hokage-sama."

TO BE CONTINUE...