Hero's Heart

Chapter 6

Following the Dream

"What are you doing here?"

"Huh?"

"Uh, well, it was kind of a test run, but it turned out a lot better than expected. Haha."

"What are you talking about?"

"I recently found the kunai that my dad used. He left them for me, but I never bothered to look through some of the old stuff that the village keeps from previous Hokage. Since I've been training myself to become the greatest Hokage, I thought I could continue the legend of the Yellow Flash."

"Haha, well, it did work." Hinata's face grew red which caused Naruto to switch gears.

"Ah man, I didn't mean to barge in on you on such an awkward time."

"No, no. It's fine. I was just thinking to myself that it would have been nice to leave each other on better terms."

"That's exactly what I was going to say."

Hinata smiled and helped him get out of her closet. Thankfully, he didn't make a lot of noise or else her guards would have found out by now. Once he was out, Hinata sat on her bed and Naruto grabbed a chair and pulled it up near her.

"So what do you want to talk about," she asked with a shaky voice.

"Even though it was only a year, I was wondering if anything interesting happened around here."

"Um, I don't think so. The only thing that I can think of was that the Kazekage visited the village."

"Gaara?"

"Yeah. He was asking for you to join him for a drink, but everyone said that you weren't around so his trip was kind of for naught." At that moment, Hinata could see a change of emotion on Naruto's face. "Naruto-kun, did I say something wrong?"

"It's nothing. It's just… Gaara and I made a promise that we would have a drink together when I became Hokage. It's been almost 3 years since we made that promise and I'm still here… Not Hokage."

"I'm sure it'll happen eventually. So many people realize how strong and important you are to this village. Even Kakashi-sensei sees that and would be more than willing to hand the reigns over to you."

"Thanks Hinata. I just don't think that will be enough. Kakashi-sensei has been an important part of this village his entire life. Me, on the other hand… I used to be the hated Jinchuuriki that no one wanted to be around. That makes things pretty difficult to become Hokage, don't you think?"

"You can't think like that. The past is past, you've said it yourself. We have to move forward in forward to have a peaceful life as a people."

"I know, but…"

Hinata smacked her hands against his face and looked him in the eyes.

"There is no 'but.' You will be Hokage. I promise that, and you'll do amazing things when it happens."

"Hinata-sama?"

"Hinata-sama, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Oh no, you need to get out of here."

"On it. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

In the blink of an eye, Naruto vanished just as the door to her room opened up. Her guards carefully scanned the room and quickly realized that there was nothing suspicious going on. However, one guard checked her closet and saw the mess that was left behind by Naruto's test run. He simply told her to clean up and after that, they left.

Once she cleaned her closet, she lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She still couldn't believe that Naruto confessed to her and she couldn't believe that she was doing something like this. Lying to her own clan… It almost seemed otherworldly, but Hinata felt that this was the right thing to do. Naruto, as a Jinchuuriki, and the Hyuga were always looked at as outsiders by other people so that was something that they had in common. If she couldn't convince the Hyuga that Naruto didn't have evil intentions, he would be able to change it sooner or later. Naruto's never let her down before and this was definitely something he couldn't fail at.

…

"Lord Hokage, let's start off with your comments. In your opinion, how are things going?"

"Nothing seems to be wrong. The other Kage have let me know that their lands have been safe without any major problems."

"What about the group of rogue ninjas?"

"Yes. They have let me know about that."

"Well, are we going to do anything about it?"

"I believe it's best to let the law catch up to these people. Shinobi have already promised not to get involved with little things like this."

"But they claim to be ninjas of their own village."

"That alone makes this our problem. What's going to happen when they come here? I don't think we should wait until it becomes a problem. We should stop it before it happens."

"That's the problem," Kakashi said sharply. "Shinobi can't act like the preventers of bad things. People will believe that we're abusing our power. None of you want that, do you?" He looked around and saw that all of them were shaking their heads. "So, what is the solution?"

"We could at least keep watch over this group. We should find out their intentions first before jumping to conclusions."

"Alright, that sounds like a good plan. Do we have someone we can trust to carry out this plan?"

"Not to sound biased, but I think that person should be from the Hidden Leaf since we're the only ones who haven't been hit by this group. That alone will make our judgement stronger and less potent."

"I agree." The rest of the elders nodded in the agreement.

"So… Who will be sent on this mission?"

At that moment, the door slammed open and someone walked in with a mysterious aura to them.

"I nominate Uzumaki Naruto."

"You're…" Kakashi could easily tell who it was. He stood straight up and was completely shocked to see him in this situation.

"Who are you to interrupt a meeting of the elders…"

Kakashi threw his arm up to cut off the elder from continuing their words.

"And why do you suggest him?"

"Just look around you. He created this new world and is now the strongest shinobi out there. He is the only logical choice for this mission."

"Hm." Kakashi turned to his council people and saw that they were all talking this over. At a glance, it seemed like that suggestion was the best one and after a couple of seconds, they decided to go along with it. Kakashi turned back around to acknowledge the strange man, but he was already gone. "Strange." He sat back down and addressed the council. "We will assign Uzumaki Naruto to this mission. Summon him to the Hokage quarters at dawn."

"Aye." One of the ANBU guards vanished while the council adjourned for the night.

…

Naruto was training in the Final Valley. He created a huge Rasengan and smashed it against the canyon wall. Immediately after that, the ANBU guard appeared before him and told him that the Hokage requested his presence. Naruto nodded his head and finished up his training session before heading over.

Once again, Naruto did another test run, but this time, he was determined to get it right. He closed his eyes and vanished. When he reappeared, he was in the middle of the Hokage's office. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, it worked," he said under his breath.

"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi stood up as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Huh? No, it's Naruto." Naruto could tell that Kakashi lost his cool a bit, but he said nothing about it. He just stood there and waited to hear what he needed to say.

"Right. Sorry about that. Anyway, we have a new mission for you."

"Me? Is there no one else that can do this?"

"We decided that it was best that you do this one. A surprising person nominated you for it and he sounded very convincing." The two of them looked at each other knew who it was. It was Sasuke.

"Okay. What's the mission?"

"We've gotten multiple reports that a rogue group of ninjas have broken away from their villages and are trying to ravage the other villages that stand together. This is important. We need you to figure out their motives before doing anything else. If it turns out that they are hostile, you are authorized the engage, but not before. Is that understood?"

"Of course."

"Good. The latest data tells us that they were leaving the Hidden Mist now. We don't know where they're heading and that's where you come in."

"I got it, Kakashi-sensei. Don't worry. I'll be able to do it." At that moment, Naruto vanished into thin air and Kakashi had the same recollection of his old master. That's when he knew that Naruto was surpassing his superiors by a huge margin.

Before he left, he stopped by Hinata's window to let her know that he was leaving. He told her the conditions of the mission and promised her that he would return. Unfortunately, she wasn't too supportive of this mission.

"Didn't you just get back? Why do you have to leave again?"

"It's to protect the village. You know that I wouldn't leave unless it was absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, but…"

Naruto held her cheek with his hand.

"Don't worry about me. I promise I'll make it back. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, remember," he said with a smile. Hinata did her best to smile back.

"Hey!"

"Gotta go." He vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Hinata-sama, who was that?!"

"No one." She quickly closed her window and collapsed onto the ground. All she was thinking about was that yellow hair, red cloak, and giant scroll on his back. Naruto has become such a great shinobi that she could barely even stand it. Just the thought of him was making her go crazy. However, she knew she had to calm herself down since Naruto never broke a promise to her. That was the one thing she could hold onto, and it was definitely worth it.

End of Chapter 6