Naruto - Five Years of Waiting (part 5)
Naruto belongs to Kishimoto (c)
Story by Juan Manuel Suarez (me, of course)
Grammar by Greatkingrat88 (who is awesome, BTW)
The sky was dark, and she could see but a little of the battle. After years of chasing him, the blonde shinobi was finally fighting his old friend. The hateful avenger had decided to take down Konoha, and all shinobi in it, once and for all. He was still fighting with all his strength; it was about training or rivalry no more. They where two faces of the same coin; love against hate, fire versus wind, Senju versus Uchiha. The young medic-nin could do nothing but stare in horror as her old teammates did their best to kill each other, showing no mercy or kindness. She witnessed, terrified, how the friend in which she had always believed stabbed out the right eye of the man she loved. The black-haired warrior screamed in pain, while his foe put him down on his knees.
"So this is the kind of peace that you're looking for, Naruto? A peace where you can be cruel enough to destroy the sharingan, and trample me like a piece of dirt?! You're just like Madara, using the peace as an excuse to be the monster that you really are!" Uchiha Sasuke screamed at his rival, in pain, trying to stop the bleeding from his right eye.
"I'm sorry for this Sasuke. I really am." Naruto grabbed his long-time friend by the hair of his head, and pulled him to his feet. "But you're the reason this war against the Akatsuki became the fourth Great Ninja War. You tried to kidnap the Hachibi, attacked the Kage's summit, tried to kill the Raikage, fought Gaara, fought the Mizukage, and on top of that, you tried to kill Sakura just to prove to me that you had severed all ties to us. Your hatred has corrupted you, and the worst part is that I don't want to do this. But you leave me no choice."
"Wait, no!" The young kunoichi tried to reach to Naruto, knowing and fearing what he was about to do.
"Uchiha Sasuke" He started, his voice trembling with rage and sorrow, trying desperately to hold back the tears running down his face. "You're an S-ranked missing-nin of Konohagakure no sato. You participated in various criminal activities, involving other S-ranked criminals, such as Orochimaru, and the organization known as Akatsuki".
"Please, Naruto, don't do it!" Sakura began to cry, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She wanted to stop the horror she was about to see, but knew she couldn't.
"So, you really are going to do it, Naruto? I guess that the 'I'm looking for peace in the Ninja world' thing is nothing but fancy words after all. You're as cruel as I am."
The last Uchiha mocked his enemy, feeling his body refusing to respond. He was at the mercy of his enemy, but he was not worried. He was sure that the blonde fool would not- could not- do it.
"As a ninja of Konoha, I am obligated to take care of those who attempt to destroy the peace that we are trying to build. For that reason, I must kill you." The tears would not stop pouring out from Naruto's eyes. He was about to destroy the first bond he ever made.
"Please, Naruto! I'm begging you, don't kill him! There must be another way, there must!" She tried desperately to stop her friend. He was about to kill the man she loved, and she could do nothing to stop him.
"Make it quick, before I can gather my strength again." Sasuke said, feeling confident. He knew the blonde well, and he really believed that he would not do it. He had no idea of how wrong he was.
"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan." Naruto said sadly, a river of tears running down his face. He took a kunai from his hip pouch, placed it in the neck of his enemy, and let it slice. "Farewell, Sasuke."
"STOP, NARUTO!" In her bed, Sakura awoke, shaken by the nightmare she just had. This dream had been haunting her ever since she saw Naruto kill Sasuke, and it seemed as if it was determined to keep disturbing her sleep. She had forgiven Naruto a long time ago, but for some reason, the dream kept repeating itself, over and over.
"Why this dream again? I don't get it!" Sakura began to cry. She still carried those affections; feelings for the man that hurt her so badly. "Why, Sakura? He hurt you, he was an ass towards you, and he died as the selfish bastard he was, and yet you love him?"
The pain in Sakura's chest made it impossible for her to go back to sleep again. "Enough. Tomorrow, you'll talk with Ino, and get over it. I just hope that I can find a way to forgive you completely, Naruto."
At another side of the village, it was already morning. Naruto woke up alone in his bed, the scent of his love still in the air. He smiled, remembering all the good things that had happened since yesterday. He yawned, and smiled even wider. He really had the greatest of lives. After a couple of minutes, he got up, put on some pants and followed the sweet smell of food that was coming from his kitchen. He and his girlfriend had bought this apartment right away, after they decided they should live together. It was not far from the Hyuuga estate, and that was most convenient, as she was the future leader of her clan. It was big enough to have a main room, a guest room, a rather big bathroom, a kitchen and the thing he enjoyed the most, a terrace where one could see a great part of Konoha in his greatest view. It was their apartment, and he loved it.
Naruto walked out to the main room, and was quickly drawn to the kitchen by the beautiful image of his girlfriend Hinata. Every morning, she would wake up before her boyfriend would, and she would always cook him breakfast. This morning, Hinata was dressed only in Naruto's regular shinobi's shirt. The dark blue long shirt reached about halfway down her hips, showing off a beautiful pair of legs, and she had her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Naruto was charmed by the image, as he could not remember seeing something more erotic in all his life. He walked up close to Hinata, and grabbed her by the hips, hugging her firmly and kissing her on the neck.
"Naruto! You really scared me, dear." She scolded. "I thought you might like to sleep a little longer, so I didn't wake you up. What woke you?" Ever since they had gotten together those four years ago, and after living together for the past few months, Hinata had become more secure about her relationship with Naruto, replacing her typical shyness with a new sense of self-confidence.
"Nothing in particular, I guess. It's just that something smelled really good." Naruto, talking as if still half asleep, kept hugging his girlfriend tightly, talking softly in her ear, just the way she liked it. He couldn't help himself; she drove him crazy.
"Really? I'm just cooking some eggs and a little coffee for breakfast. Maybe I could cook you some ramen, but I think that you have to wai-" Hinata's words were suddenly interrupted by a passionate kiss. When Naruto let her go, she blushed a little, fanning the flames of Naruto's passion.
"I wasn't talking about food, -ttebayo." Right after Naruto said that, he began kissing her neck and back, while his hands slipped under her shirt.
She giggled. "Cut it out, Naruto, that tickles!" Hinata kept giggling, while her body began to respond to the gentle caress of his warm hands. "Was last night not enough?"
"I can never have enough of you, little sunshine. Besides, something tells me that you want it too." Naruto pinched Hinata's nipples and she moaned a little "See? This part is pretty honest. And your voice betrays you too."
"Naruto, p-please, stop, last n-night we-" giggles- "did it f-four times. Is just too early, and it tickles- ha ha ha ha-!" Hinata was enjoying this little game. Every time Naruto began to touch her, she just gave in. She loved the sweet and gentle touches, and the warm sensation of Naruto's hands all over her body, and the pleasure that came with all that. But it was just too early to make love again, and her hips were still a little numb from all the action last night. It was time to be a little more serious. "Let me go, or no ramen for you this morning!"
"Eeeh?! No ramen?!" Naruto released her almost immediately; just to be sure he could have his portion of home-made ramen. He knew that she was just playing with him, but he would never take the risk of missing the ramen that Hinata cooked for him. Even though he loved the ramen at Ichiraku's, he had become addicted to the ramen that Hinata cooked. "You're a mean girlfriend, -ttebayo."
"You know that there's nothing further from the truth." Hinata kissed his nose softly, with a playful smile on her face. "Breakfast isn't ready yet, so why don't you say hi to everybody while you wait?"
"You're right, time to say hi!" Naruto opened the door that led to the terrace, dressed only in his pants and the bandage around his left shoulder and chest, took a deep breath and yelled: "IT'S MORNING ALREADY, KONOHA! TIME TO GET UP, EVERYBODY!"
It wasn't the first time Naruto did that, and the neighbors weren't surprised. A few of them were anything but happy with it.
"You're making too much noise, kiddo! We already know that, so stop yelling so early in the morning!" Kazuma Hiarashi, a sixty-three year old neighbor, was often upset by the strange behavior of the blonde Shinobi, but his wife would always scold him, since she found Naruto rather charming and funny.
"You old man, could you stop yelling at him? This kid may be the Hokage some day, so we have to show him some respect!" Mrs. Hiarashi and her husband began to argue, like they always did. Even with all their fights over nothing, they were a happy couple; something that their forty years of marriage could prove.
"There's no way that the knucklehead boy becomes Hokage, so we don't have to worry about being polite with him!" Kazuma replied stubbornly.
"HEY, HIARASHI-SAN! I HAVE SOME NEWS FOR YOU!" Naruto, who heard all of the conversation from his terrace, decided that there was about time to let all of Konoha hear the big news, and turned his head just to see Hinata at his side smiling, as if she was saying: "I'm with you, so let's say it". She was right. It was time to speak up, to say it, to let Konoha know their new leader. "I, UZUMAKI NARUTO, WILL BE THE NANADAIME HOKAGE, STARTING NEXT WEEK!"
The surprise on Mr. and Mrs. Hiarashi's faces widened the smiles of Hinata and Naruto even further.
"He what?!"
In the Hokage's office, Shikamaru Nara was speechless. He had been one of the main assistants to Tsunade since he was fifteen years old, and had since been living a life a little more… exciting than he had wanted. He had been involved in many dangerous missions, many complicated issues, a lot of boring paperwork that the fifth Hokage often chose to ignore, and all that contributed to make his life much more troublesome than ever. Even so, he held no regrets in life. But at this moment, his boss was giving him a notice that surprised him more than anything had surprise him in all his life.
"I'm telling you that he will be the new Hokage, starting from his birthday. You seem upset somehow; perhaps you wanted the Hokage position for yourself?"
Tsunade teased Shikamaru just a little. The look on his face was priceless. Shikamaru and Naruto had always been good friends, but since Asuma and Jiraiya's death, they had gotten even closer. Now, Naruto was one of his best friends, and hearing about his becoming the new Hokage took him by surprise.
"Being the Hokage? No thanks. It's way too troublesome, so whoever wants the position can have it. So, Naruto will be the Hokage, huh? I guess I'm a little happy for him." The genuine smile on Shikamaru's face betrayed him. He wasn't just a little happy; he was excited. He always knew that Naruto's vision of the world could lead everybody to an interesting future, and now he would have the power to bring about this new change. So yes, a little happy did not exactly describe just how proud he felt of his friend.
"Perfect, because you know that he'll need reliable people by his side, and you are one of the closest friends that he has right now." Tsunade looked at Shikamaru; like she was teasing him
"You want me to keep working for the Hokage's office? What a drag. Just when I thought that I could free myself of hard work once you retired." Shikamaru answer with his characteristic lack of enthusiasm. He was well known as a lazy Shinobi, and he wasn't ashamed of that fact. "I just hope that he just leaves me the paperwork, and that's it."
"I really don't think that the Uzumaki kid would let you go so easy, son." At that moment, the previous jonin commander was entering for the door. Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru's father, had been one of Tsunade's most reliable men, and his ex-position as the second most important person in Konoha- just below the Hokage and the elders- was proof of the trust that the Fifth Hokage had in him.
"Don't say that, old man." Shikamaru looked his father with a rather annoyed look on his face. "I'm happy for Naruto and all, but I just don't see him picking me to be his right hand or something. I mean, he knows me well enough to know what kind of a lazy man I am."
"You'll never know. He is so slow, there's a tiny possibility that he'll just ignore your laziness!" Tsunade teased. It seemed that she had taken it up as her hobby this morning.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Godaime-sama. I have something else to do, so I'm out."
Shikamaru took a cigarette from out his pocket, and went to the door, placing a hand on his father's shoulder to say goodbye. "I'll see you later, old man." And then he left the Hokage's office.
"That kid doesn't know how important he is to this village, does he?" Tsunade said, once Shikamaru had left the room. "He's just too lazy. But, like father, like son. Isn't that right, Shikaku?"
"Not at all, Godaime-sama." A proud smile appeared on Shikaku's face. "He is much more responsible than I was. After all, he's the one taking care of Asuma's boy."
"You're right. Well, it's time to for the meeting to begin. Shizune, Kakashi, come on in- immediately."
Kurenai Yuhi had not been this surprised in quite a while. Two months ago, a couple of young lovers moved close to where her apartment was. The girl used to be her student, and the boy was one of the shinobi that she had seen grow up. They were nice to her and her kid, and when they moved in close to her, they often came to play with little Kiseki. She had really grown attached to them, like she had grown attached to Shikamaru, the student of her late lover, Asuma Sarutobi. So when she heard the young man yelling out the big news at the top of his lungs, she could only feel happy for him.
"Hey, Naruto! If you're the Hokage, then who will baby-sit Kiseki when I'm on a mission and Shikamaru is busy?!" She shouted back, with a big grin on her face. Naruto often played pranks on her with Kiseki, and the kid loved that, so there was no real reason to be particularly formal towards him.
"Who says I wouldn't?! Once I am in Hokage's room, the kid can come and play with me whenever he wants, -dattebayo!"
Taking care of Kiseki was an amazing thing to Naruto. He first took some interest in the boy after Shikamaru, who was the self-proclaimed "Authentic tutor of Kiseki", asked him for a favour. Kiseki has just two years old back then. Kurenai was out on a mission, and Shikamaru wanted to baby-sit Kiseki, but had work to do. Kiba and Shino, the other students of Kurenai's, were on a tracking mission with Chouji, Hinata was busy training to become a fully capable member of the ANBU, and Shikamaru's work with the Fifth Hokage prevented him from caring for Kiseki the way he wanted to. To him, Kiseki was like a little brother, or a nephew. So Naruto, who had the week off from his Shinobi's duties, offered to take care of the little boy. At first he did it only to help Shikamaru, but as the time passed, he found he was growing attached to Kiseki, as with Konohamaru in the past. Now, he would take every opportunity to help.
"Really? I can go to play with you in the Hokage's office, Naruto-niichan?" A young and cheerful voice came, right behind where Kurenai was standing. Kiseki, a boy of only five years, was probably one of the most loved children in all of Konoha. As the son of Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi, he had all the members of Team Kurenai and Team Asuma all looking after him, and even "Captain Hero" -as some kids would often call Naruto- would gladly play with him.
"Of course you can, Kiseki-chan!" Hinata yelled to the kid from the terrace, following the Naruto, Kurenai and Kiseki's example. "Isn't that right, honey?"
"Hell Yeah, -ttebayo!" Naruto yelled. "You'll be the first guest in my new office, -dattebayo!"
"WILL YOU PLEASE JUST STOP IT WITH THE YELLING AND THE NOISE?!" Another voice was raised against all the yelling the entire neighborhood seemed to be involved in, followed by a rather loud bark. The man that just came had a rather rugged appearance, reminiscent of something feral. He had one red fang mark on each of his cheeks, and was riding on a gigantic white dog "Really, I just came to visit Kurenai-sensei, and I find all of you making a fuss so early in the morning! You're just annoying."
"Don't say that, Kiba-kun. It's just that this is a happy morning." Hinata, who was hiding the lower part of her body behind Naruto- she was in a high place, wearing only a shirt- smiled kindly to her ex-teammate and brother of the heart. "Why don't you come here, and visit us too?"
"Sounds like a plan." Kiba smiled back at her, with his usual playful attitude, and mocked the couple a little. "I'll be in Kurenai-sensei's house while you take a bath and get well dressed. I can tell from here you two stink right now!"
"HEY!" Naruto yelled one more time "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL US THAT WE STINK???"
That was the kind of morning everybody liked. But even in times such as these, there were people who did not share the calm the village enjoyed. And they were hidden in the shadows at this very moment, observing the peaceful life in Konoha with disgust.
"I think that we have plenty of data about him. We'd better hurry and inform our leader about all we have learned. It's time for us to make the move, in order to finish the revolution that Danzo-sama begun. We won't fail you, Danzo-sama."
TO BE CONTINUE...