Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. I make no profit from this at all.

Thanks to all four of the people who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate the feedback. So, Thanks guys. And now…

The Lessons a Hokage Needs to Know

Chapter Six-Or the Art of talking and speaking (preferably politely)

"You would think that they would have some security lock on this door or something." Naruto mumbled while looking at the door with a critical eye before shaking his head to clear out the question. Even after two months it still amazed him that almost anybody could get into this room if they wanted to. He sighed and pulled at the door's handle with a resigned groan. Another day of putting away folders here he came.
Shizune blinked as she came down the stairs to retrieve Naruto. The room sure had changed! Where once there had been box upon box of dusty files, and unidentifiable pieces of furniture buried beneath who knew what, had been transformed into a spacious area complete with reading tables and wooden chairs, shelves that had things listed in alphabetical order, and a very comfortable maroon carpet. Shizune took one more look around the room and blinked. Stared, and blinked again. "I didn't know that there was more than one room down here." She muttered.

Naruto's head popped up from around a corner. "Huh?" He sighed when he saw who had made the noise. "Oh, it's just you Shizune." He put down the books he was holding on a chair and grinned at the woman cheekily. "So, like it Shizune-San?" Shizune continued staring at the doors set into the back wall, then turned to Naruto.

"Do you know what's down there Naruto?"

"Eh?" he followed her stare until he saw what she was looking at. "Oh, that? All that's down there is some meeting rooms. I cleaned those out days ago. You wouldn't believe the dust that had accumulated. I bet some of it had been there since before the first Hokage was even born." He shuddered and rubbed at his arms unconsciously, as if he was still remembering being covered head to toe in dirt. Shizune looked at him speculatively. Naruto shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. Surprisingly it was neither of them that broke this deadlock.

"Shizune-San? Uzumaki-San?" one of Tsunade's secretaries poked his head down the basement stairs.

Both Naruto and Shizune looked up. "Yes?" The secretary squinted in the bright light and tilted his head to shield his eyes slightly. Shizune could understand why he did it. Without all the dust on the light fixtures, the room was actually brighter than it had been in years. She cleared her throat. "Yes?" she asked in a slightly more insistent tone. The secretary snapped his head around from where he had been staring at the room and the doors on the back wall with a slightly dumbstruck expression, and addressed the pair again.

"Um, well, the village elders have called a meeting and they have asked that you, Lady Hokage and Uzumaki-San be present."

"What?" Shizune's voice took on a slightly panicky tone and she grabbed Naruto's shirt and started physically hauling him up the stairs.

Shizune was throwing questions (ranging from when was the meeting called, to did everyone have sandals on) at the poor secretary so fast that he didn't have time to answer them before she asked the next one.

Naruto shot the poor man a sympathetic look. The secretary just sent him one right back. Naruto found out why, when fifteen seconds later he was literally rammed into the doors to the Hokage's office.

Naruto rubbed at his chest, playing up the pain that he had felt for maybe fifteen seconds (before the Kyuubi's chakra kicked in and healed him) to get the most out of the situation that he could. Shizune kept glancing at him guiltily, Tsunade, however, wasn't buying it. She looked at him with an arched eyebrow from behind her desk. "Naruto, stop it, we both know you're not hurt." Naruto sighed and dropped the charade before asking the question that had been on his mind since he had been dragged up the stairs. "So why do the elders want to see me anyway?"

Tsunade looked him over and then gestured for him to sit down. "Another provision of the deal that we finally struck to get you down as a candidate for Hokage was for periodic reviews of how you were progressing in your lessons." She looked at Shizune and sighed. "We just weren't expecting them to call one this soon."

Naruto looked morosely at his hands as they fidgeted with the ends of his jacket. "So what your saying is if I don't please these old geezers," This time it was Shizune who sent him a look, one full of a promise of chalk and an hour-long stint with a chalkboard. Naruto hastily backtracked. "I mean…if I don't meet the expectations of the respected elders I won't be Hokage?"

Tsunade could only nod her head. "Precisely."

Both women looked at each other mystified when the blonde's only response to this piece of news was to drop his head and mutter "Of course, why not?" under his breath.

Naruto looked around at the circle of people seated before him. He recognized some of the clan symbols: The red face markings of the Inuzuka, the white circle of the Haruno, the Byakugan of the Hyuuga was also in stark prominence. There was a smattering of others too: a Nara elder here and a Yamanaka representative there, maybe a few from clans that he had never even encountered before. In essence, he was looking at the one group of people in the whole of Kohona who had, and still could, make his life completely unbearable. The elders.

As a force they were more devastating than any Justu any single person had ever thrown at him, and they were making him more uncomfortable than any single killing-intent that he had ever had the misfortune to feel. And they were all looking at him with swift calculating eyes. Naruto Gulped. This was not going to be pleasant.

A throat cleared to his right and a robe clad elder gestured for the Hokage and her assistant to sit down on the only two seats left. Both did so, and Naruto was left standing in the middle of and impossible situation. Pleasing people who were unappeasable by their very natures. Naruto gulped again, the sound of rustling papers being passed around the only noise present. A voice spoke up, this time issuing from somewhere to his left. It was a female Hyuuga elder.

"So, Naruto Uzumaki for some time now this council has known of your desire to be Hokage," There was a general shared chuckle at the understatement. The word desire didn't even begin to describe his dream; burning flame of passion probably came closest. "And we have seen fit, after many discussions with the Godaime Hokage," There was a rustle of clothing "And others with whom you associate, to give you the chance to prove yourself worthy of that honor. As such there are a few things that we are requiring that you do. The first is that you will have lessons provided by worthy instructors; the second is that we reserve the right to call you in and hear about your progress, just like this first meeting; and the third is formal meetings with all the clans of Kohona. Do you understand?" Naruto's face went through four different contortions before he looked again at the people assembled before him.

"Formal meetings?" Naruto resisted the urge to gulp once more.

The room nodded as one. Another elder spoke up, Naruto couldn't be one-hundred percent sure, but he thought that this one was a Yamanaka. "We took a very long time to consider this, and figured that given your somewhat, ahem," the elder coughed into his hand. "Notorious reputation in the village that this would be the best solution." The elder looked at him with frank blue gaze. "The plain truth is that for all you've done for this village most of the population is still wary about appointing you as the Rokudaime. These meetings with the clans and other functions will go a long way toward allaying people's fears."

Naruto gave a muted sigh as he considered what the elders were saying. Why him?

"So is there anything else that both of you forgot to tell me?" Naruto was almost beyond drained by that meeting with the elders and yet hestill managed to muster up some indignation at the two ladies before him. Shizune appeared sheepish. Tsunade, however, just put a finger to the middle of his forehead and pushed him forcefully back against the wall.

"And here I thought that Naruto Uzumaki didn't break a promise?" She said in a sweet-mocking voice. (It was actually adding insult to injury considering she knew about the Sasuke situation.) "Don't tell me you're going to give up on being Hokage just because of one or two tiny stipulations."

Naruto almost groaned. He just didn't have the energy for this. But a challenge was a challenge any way it was stated. And he didn't back away from challenges. He drew a lungful of breath

"No way Tsunade-Sama! I'll be the best Hokage that Kohona has ever seen, no matter what I have to do to get there!"

Tsunade gave him what he supposed was intended to be an innocent smile that somehow managed to look sinister on her face anyway. "Great! The first meeting with the clans will be a week from Friday."

And Naruto, drained as he was, couldn't even gather the energy needed to respond as Tsunade walked back to her office, cackling away, with Shizune walking beside her.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" Naruto pushed himself from the wall he had been leaning against and turned to face the person addressing him. He was met with the lavender eyes of the Female Hyuuga that had spoken to him earlier. He had to resist the urge to gulp again.

While he had been allowed (very, very reluctantly at first) to date Hinata, and while most of the Hyuuga (both main house and branch members) had grown to, if not like him, then at least tolerate, his presence, he still hadn't had too many run-ins with the Hyuuga clan elders (more like he avoided them if at all possible). But most, he knew, did not appreciate the hold that they perceived he had over the clan's heir. Which is why he was thrown off guard when this one actually bowed to him.

"Eh?" He stared at her with a shocked expression, and she sighed and moved the conversation onward.

"I was wondering if I could have the honor of your presence at lunch today. I was thinking that the two of us could go to a restaurant? How about the one that you seem to like so much. Ichiraku's?"

And of course, in classic Naruto fashion, the mere mention of anything ramen related perked him right up.

Ayame glanced curiously between the two of them as she set down two bowls of pork ramen (for Naruto) and one bowl of chicken (for the purple clad Hyuuga) and whispered to Naruto conspiratorially "What's with the old lady?"

Naruto emerged from his noodles and shrugged.

The Hyuuga just looked at them both with an amused expression. "This old lady can hear you, you know."

Both of the younger adults looked up guiltily. Naruto flashed her a nervous smile. The elder couldn't help but laugh a little. "It's all right. I don't bite. In fact…" She leaned in closer to Naruto, who backed up on his seat unconsciously. "I wanted to speak with you Naruto. You see, I had a rather interesting talk with Hiashi-Sama this morning. I gather that you both talked for a while yesterday?" She didn't wait for a reply. "He mentioned a few parts of your conversation that intrigued me. In all honesty, they shocked me greatly." Naruto's eyes widened and the color drained from his face.

"He..." Naruto's voice squeaked, and he had to clear it before continuing. "He mentioned our conversation to you? All of it?" By now Naruto was at the edge of his seat. The elder only continued to look amused.

"Yes he did. And I wanted to let you know that we won't stop you." Naruto looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"Eh?" She shook her head.

"We, the elders, won't stop you. Hiashi-Sama mentioned that you were worried about it, but we won't stop you. We concede defeat, as it were. You'll get no more hindrance from us where your relationship considering Hinata-Hime is concerned."

Naruto searched her face for a full minute while ramen broth continued to drip onto his pants from the noodles clutched in his chopsticks. After not seeing any dishonesty or deception on her face he jumped out of his seat and deafened anybody within a two block radius with his shouts of joy. "Yes!! Awesome!! Woohoo!!"

The Next Day-Early Morning

Naruto looked up from the book that Tsunade had just thrust into his hands (one of the ones that he had been putting away the day before) and gave the Hokage a skeptical glance. "You want me to what?"

"Read it."

Naruto looked at her confused. "Why?"

"Because I said so." Tsunade shrugged indifferently.

"But…but…." Naruto looked at the title of the book again. "But it's a thesaurus!"

Tsunade threw him a puzzling glance. "So?"

"So?! I don't need to read a thesaurus!"

"Oh yes you do."

Naruto slapped the book down on her desk. "Why?!"

"Because I said so! That's why!"

By now both the Hokage and the Jounin were nose to nose on separate sides of the desk daring each other to make a move. Which is how Shizune found them when she walked into the room.

"Oh dear." She sighed before walking over to Naruto and pushing a few more books into his hand (which caused him to stop staring at Tsunade), and then walking over to the Hokage and pushed her into her chair.

Naruto was carefully examining the books that Shizune had given him. He looked at her incredulously. "And what am I supposed to do with these?!"

Tsunade let out an unholy snicker. "Read them, of course."

By this time Naruto's eyes had taken on an interesting shade of red. "But why?!!"

Shizune, who recognized Tsunade's taunting for what it was, just shot her teacher a resentful look that only served to make Tsunade drag out a bottle of sake and gesture to her to take over the situation.

"Naruto" She turned her attention back to the distressed blond. "We would like you to read these books in preparation for the meetings that you have to attend starting next Friday."

Naruto looked at the title of one of the other books (this one a dictionary) and just let out a soft but desperate "Why?"

Shizune put her hands on the young mans shoulders and looked at him with (what for her would be) a teasing, yet slightly mournful, expression. "Because the way you talk is atrocious."

Shizune could just be so blunt sometimes.

Later That Same Day

Sakura was practically dragging kakashi down the street in her haste to get him to look at what she had seen.

"Sakura, SAKURA, SAKURA" Finally sakura let go of her team leader's shirt and pointed toward what was distressing her so much.

"Kakashi Sensei, look!" Kakashi examined the scene and had to admit that it was pretty unusual. Naruto Uzumaki, the Naruto Uzumaki, the genin who had failed the academy graduation test three times, and who had one of the lowest, if not the lowest score of any academy graduate, ever, and the one person he knew who had declared a total war on books, was reading.

Kakashi looked at sakura with what could be construed as a puzzled expression. "So?"

Sakura's eyes bugged out of her face. "But he's reading!" She waved her arms around in the air for extra emphasis. "A book!" She stated in case he hadn't seen the scene right.

Kakashi imitated a shrug. "Yeah, So?"

Sakura just let out a strangled sounding "Arrgh!!"

Naruto tried reading the line again for the fourth time and frowned. 'To perfect the art of verbosity, one must be able to quickly grasp and sum up the train and flow of the subject matter, and be able to effectively turn the conversation in their favor at a moments notice' Naruto made a face and dropped the book onto the counter with defeated movement.

'Damn, this is hard to get.' Naruto pushed that book aside and started sifting through the others that were piled on the counter next to him. He looked at the titles with distaste. The Novice Book of Riddles, Speaking for Dummies (AN: Sorry, couldn't resist ) Unlocking the Mysteries of Conversation, a Dictionary, a Thesaurus, and a few more obscure books that he knew were going to be a pain to read.

Naruto resisted the urge to bang his head against the tabletop, but only just, by reminding himself that it would only give him a headache. As he picked up the first book Shizune's instructions once again rang through his head.

"Naruto, you are to read these books before next Friday." She looked at him sternly. "And we will be quizzing you on them, so don't think you can just blow it off! Also," She added as he moved slowly toward the door with the huge stack of books balanced precariously between his hands and his chin. "We want you to practice your conversation skills daily."

Naruto gave her a disbelieving look. "You mean I have to talk like this all the time?!" He put down the mass and flipped to the first page of the book on the immediate top of the stack and jammed his finger at the confusing first line to make his point.

"Yes."

As he struggled to re-gather the reading material Naruto decided that she had been way too cheerful when saying that.

It was almost full dark by now, but Naruto was still buried in his book. And by this time he had attracted quite the crowd of wondering people.

"How long has he been like this?" Ayame set the bowl down in front of Neji Hyuuga and took a quick look around the stand. The place was rather fuller tonight than was usual. She could only guess as to why.

"He's been here since around twelve-thirty and hasn't stopped reading since."

Someone came up around to the other side of Naruto and grabbed one of the books in the pile. "Sayings for the everyday speaker?" Tenten picked up another of the books, read that one's title too before putting it down and shifting through all of them with a growing expression of curiosity and awe. She turned to Ino, who had just sat down on the stool next to Naruto and was ordering some tea. She waved a book under Ino's nose. "They're all like that! They're all about conversation!"

Ino turned to look at the books. "Really?" She started going through the pile too. "Well so they are. I wonder why he's reading them." She glanced towards the apparently engrossed blond. "One thing is for sure, it is pretty unusual."

"Unusual is not the word." Neji (who had been listening in) muttered.

Tenten made a non-committal noise and took a look around at all the diners. "I wonder where Sakura is. I would have expected her to be here."

Ayame shrugged as she brought the bun wearing ninja a drink. "I haven't seen her all day."

Tsunade and Shizune (and the various ANBU captains and village elders that they were in a meeting with) looked up as the Hokage's office door hit the wall with enough force to knock one of them off of their hinges.

"What is this all about?!" A sputtering elder chocked out before standing up out of his chair. "I demand to know why we have been interrupted!"

A steaming Sakura ignored them all completely as she marched up to the Hokage's desk and practically screamed at her mentor. "I want to know what's going on with Naruto!" And just in case Tsunade hadn't gotten her point Sakura threw her precious bottle of alcohol so that it hit the opposite wall (barely missing concussing at least two people in the process).

Tsunade looked at her sake dripping down the wall with a mournful expression, before turning to her guests. "I think that will be all for now everyone. We will continue this meeting tomorrow."

Everyone except Shizune starts gathering their things and exited. Soon the only three people in the room are a silent Tsunade, an anxious Shizune and a livid Sakura.

Tsunade proceeded into the conversation cautiously. "So, what is it I can do for you Sakura?"

Sakura barely restrained herself from punching a hole in the desk that she was standing before. "I want to know what's been going on with Naruto! Why does he spend so much time here lately?! What the heck is going on!!?" Sakura was practically foaming at the mouth by now.

Tsunade exchanged an alarmed look with her assistant before turning to the pink-haired Kunoichi. "Sakura, I…"

The rest of Tsunade's words were drowned out when a shockwave rocked the building and blew in the glass of the windows.

And that's that. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. KG.