An unannounced transfer of leadership left Naruto mentally stunned, he couldn't believe he was chosen for such a task. Tsunade finished packing and didn't want to waste any more of her vacation time in her office or the village of Konoha.
Naruto was chasing Tsunade, who was speed walking out of the village. "Baa-chan! What am I supposed to do?" screamed the boy, trying to keep up with her ridiculously fast pace.
She didn't stop, but instead quickened her getaway, "Just sort the documents, assign any given missions, and handle the reports as you see fit! Oh and, learn how to haggle for mission prices!" were the last words Naruto could hear. The Godaime was too far away for him to keep up with.
He sighed and turned around to walk back to the village. Upon reaching the gate, the guards called out his name, "Hey, Naruto! How's it going?"
The boy didn't know how to reply; they wouldn't believe him if he told them about his current position. "Uhh... not bad actually. But since I'm here, give me today's visitor's list."
The two guards exchanged looks of doubt, "Why?"
Naruto knew they wouldn't believe his being the Hokage, "I'll report it to Tsunade for you."
The guard put the sheets in a folder and handed it to Naruto, "Don't lose it, or she'll kill you."
Naruto smiled and walked away. "No ceremony, no announcement, not even any proof... who the hell gives the Hokage title to a teenage kid like me, without giving him anything to prove it?"
Naruto passed the Hyuga estate, smiling. He was one step closer to being able to face Hiashi, one step closer to becoming a worthy boyfriend for Hinata. He passed the hospital; he was now responsible for the lives of all the people in Konoha, they were entrusted to him, given to him for safekeeping. He passed the academy; he knew he had to keep studying, for he only knew the basics of the Hokage's job.
The boy sighed and rubbed the sweat from his brows, "What to do..." thought Naruto, "It's already getting dark, I still have a lot to learn, and now I have to do Tsunade's job. The real Hokage wasn't able to keep up with the load, what's a kid like me supposed to do?"
Kiyoshi was leaning against a lamppost, watching as Naruto passed by, lost in thought, "I can only guess what just happened."
Naruto stopped and slowly turned his head to look at Kiyoshi with a blank expression, "You won't believe me even if I told you."
"Try me."
"I'm the replacement Hokage."
"Congratulations."
Naruto couldn't stand teen's calm. He grabbed Kiyoshi by the collar, "Do you know what this means?" screamed the whiskered boy.
"It means you're responsible for pretty much everything around here. Keeping order, operating mission-works and reporting everything to the elders."
Naruto couldn't stand it; his list of duties kept increasing every few minutes. He moaned in discomfort, "Why me?"
Kiyoshi released himself from Naruto's grip, "Because you wanted the job."
"But I'm not ready!" complained Naruto.
"You had plenty of time to get prepared, and don't worry, you'll be fine."
Kiyoshi put his arm around the petrified Naruto and escorted him back to the Hokage office.
Hinata couldn't help but feel the need to go find Naruto. She decided to sneak out like she has done for a while now.
As the girl started putting her shoes on, Hiashi burst into the room, "Going somewhere?"
Hinata froze in mid-motion, rendering her in an uncomfortable position of the shoe covering half her foot. "No..."
"Oh really?"
Hinata didn't have anything on her side; she was obviously getting prepared to leave, and it was getting dark outside. The only thing she could do is hope that Hiashi wouldn't ask her about her boyfriend, but luck wasn't on her side today.
"Who is he?"
"Who is who?"
Hiashi sighed, "I'm tired of playing these games, tell me who your boyfriend is, and tell me where you got your new style from."
Hinata's fears had come out into the open, she stubbornly crossed her arms, "I won't tell you."
Her father sighed, "Why not?" asked Hiashi, coming over and sitting down beside her.
The reaction was not what the girl was expecting, this reaction was more humane. "I don't want you or him to get hurt."
"Please, Hinata, stop this foolishness and tell me who he is," implored Hiashi.
Hinata definitely didn't know this side of Hiashi; he was so much different than he was several months back. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise me something."
"What?"
"Promise me that you won't fight him, and that you won't forbid him from seeing me."
Hiashi shook his head, "You know I can't do that."
"Fine! Just promise me that you won't fight him out of anger!"
Hiashi thought about it, and understood where she came from with this demand. "I promise."
Hinata sighed in relief; she didn't want her father to fight Naruto over her love. Now came the harder part of the conversation, she had to give Naruto's name to Hiashi in hopes that he wouldn't toss it at the wall. "His name... is..."
It was already night, the last of the sunset-colored clouds were fading into cool and lifeless shades of dark-blue. Jiraiya calmly walked through the forest, coming up to the gates of Konoha.
The guard waved at him, "Hey Jiraiya-sama! How was your travel?"
The hermit came up to the guard to sign his name on the visitor's list. "Not bad, I had plenty of rest, and I'm itching for another mission."
"Haha, tough luck there. We haven't had any good missions in a while now," grinned the guard, "Welcome back though."
"Thanks," replied the frog hermit, and walked into Konoha, heading towards the Hokage building. "I wonder how Tsunade is holding up."
Kiyoshi pushed Naruto into the office, "You're the replacement and that's final!"
Naruto whined through tears, "But I don't want to!"
Kiyoshi forced Naruto down on a chair and started slapping him, "Wake up! This is what you wanted!" Naruto stopped whining and looked around the office; his longhaired friend was right, he did want to become Hokage. Kiyoshi carried on, "Accepting the responsibility is a part of the Hokage's job!"
Naruto looked down in shame, "How am I going to do this? I'm just a teen, I still need to study, and that..." he pointed at a huge pile of papers on the desk, "That was too big for Tsunade to handle! How am I going to do this?"
Kiyoshi stepped back, crossed his arms, and grinned, "same way you studied in the library."
Naruto looked up, this time smiling at the cheery idea. "Good call, this won't take too long."
"Great, is there anything else you need from me? I want to go home."
Naruto thought about it; there was one thing, and it would cause many problems for him in the long run. "Yeah, I have one problem, but I don't know how you'll be able to help me out with it."
"What is it?"
"I have no way of proving the fact that I'm the temporary Hokage."
Kiyoshi grinned, "I have two things to say to you."
"What?"
"First of all, treat this as a lesson. Don't tell anyone that you're the Hokage."
"What?" screamed Naruto, jumping up from his seat.
"Just hear me out," said Kiyoshi, holding his palms out in a calming fashion. Naruto sat back down. "This will teach you to hold back your pride."
"I don't get it."
"The original reason you had for wanting to become Hokage, was selfish. You wanted to prove yourself to everyone," explained Kiyoshi. Naruto nodded in agreement. "If you have nothing to prove to anyone, then you won't need to tell anyone that you've become the Hokage."
Naruto saw Kiyoshi's point, "So what am I supposed to do?"
Kiyoshi burst out laughing at the question, "Naruto! You're an excellent ninja in the making! Disguise yourself and use this situation to its full potential!"
Naruto chuckled, but then remembered, "What was the other thing you wanted to tell me?"
"Second of all, turn around."
Naruto turned around, and what he saw made his eyes water, "Wow..."
"Good job, but you still need to earn it," said Kiyoshi, watching Naruto put on the Hokage's white long-coat, sized for his anatomy.
Footsteps could be heard down the hallway, Kiyoshi sharply turned his head in Naruto's direction.
"I'm on it," nodded Naruto, putting his arms together and forming seals.
Jiraiya barged in without knocking, "Hey, Tsunade...chan... Who the hell are you?" asked the frog hermit, pointing his index finger at Kiyoshi.
Kiyoshi looked back at Naruto, who had disguised himself as Tsunade in the nick on time, and sat down in the classic 'serious Tsunade' pose.
"You're dismissed, Kiyoshi," said the disguised Naruto, watched the teen walk out and close the door after himself. "Jiraiya... how many times have I told you to knock?"
The frog hermit grinned, "And here I thought I would get a warm welcome."
"Don't think you aren't, I haven't punched you yet."
Jiraiya shuddered at the thought of flying through numerous walls and falling several stories down. "Alright, I can see you're busy, so I'll leave you alone. I just came by to tell you that I'm back, just call me if you need anything."
"Go write your porno, you still have plenty of time to rest."
The pointless conversation went on for several more minutes. Naruto could barely hold a straight face; this was way too amusing. Eventually Jiraiya left and Naruto broke down laughing. "I could get used to this... thought the boy.