August 31st - nearly 12 years after the attack - Hokage Office
The past eleven, nearly twelve years were not too kind to the old Hokage. The old man aged considerably. No longer was he the God of Shinobi. Now he was nothing more than an old and tired man. A very strong old man, but old nonetheless. He wanted nothing more than to retire.
While he experienced some great things in the last twelve years like the return of his son Asuma or the birth of his grandchild Konohamaru, he also outlived his wife Biwako and lost his student Orochimaru. Not to mention the massacre of the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga incident. He truly regretted that he couldn't prevent both tragedies. He could have saved the lives of over 100 Uchiha's and the lives of an innocent man.
It all began with what he considers his greatest failure, even greater than the suicide of Sakumo Hatake. The death of his successor Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina. It should have been him to perform the Reaper Death Seal. He should have sealed the Kyuubi away, dying like a Hokage, protecting his village. Minato should have lived and prevented the Uchiha massacre. With him alive the hidden cloud village would have never tried to abduct the Hyuga heir. And he would have been around to raise his son Naruto.
Naruto. The name of his surrogate grandson brought a smile to his face. The young Senju heir was the future of this Village. Talented in the shinobi arts, possessing the ability to find allies in the weirdest places and a firm believer of the will of fire. He was sure Naruto would one day take the village to new heights. If only he would be a few years older.
The professor doubted that he would survive long enough to give the head to the blond. And to be honest he shouldn't be the one handing over the position. He served the village as Hokage for nearly 50 years now. But sadly he had no one to take over. He doubted that either Jiraiya or Tsunade would take the mantle of Hokage and both, Kakashi and Asuma, were too young and not strong enough. Yet.
Thinking about the boy he wondered where he was. Tomorrow his graduation class would enter their last year and it was part of the agreement he made with Jiraiya, that he would attend the last year. Even without Naruto, Haku and Kimimaro, this year was one of the most promising classes of all time.
There was the Nara heir Shikamaru. He was as lazy as you would expect from a Nara. But he was a genius. No doubt about it. The heir of the Akamichi, Choji, was a kind and gentle soul and highly protective of his friends. If his future sensei could channel his protectiveness, the boy would make a fine shinobi. There was also Ino from the Yamanaka Clan. She showed herself to be truly talented. But sadly she was infatuated with a certain avenger. They would be the next generation of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho formation.
The Aburame heir Shino was a mystery like the rest of his clan. He was quiet, very observant and was a slightly above average student. He would bet his entire Icha-Icha collection that he held back in the academy like most members of his clan did. It wouldn't surprise him if Shino would be the number one student of the class, if he didn't hold back.
Kiba Inuzuka on the other hand was probably a victim of the academy system. If it were only practical skills, the young Inuzuka would easily be in the middle of the pack. His physical skills being top level and his shurikenjutsu being average. Now his theoretical skills were disappointing to say the least. Out of all children from shinobi clans, Kiba was the second lowest ranked after Shikamaru.
Hinata Hyuga, the heir of the Hyuga Clan. He pities the girl. Such a gentle soul, shy to a fault and all because of the harsh treatment she experienced at the hands of her clan. She didn't fit in and her grasp of the gentle fist was underwhelming, but her academy records mark her as one of the top rated kunoichi of the class.
And then there was the boy. Sasuke Uchiha, this year's highest ranked student. The last Uchiha, survivor of the massacre and younger brother of Itachi. He pitied the boy. Losing his family in just one night must have been terrible to a young boy. He used to be such a sweet child.
The keyword is used. After that night he changed. He became cold to everyone, arrogant because of his talent and brooded the entire day. He wished that he could order the Inoichi to look through his head. What sane person would willingly live alone in the place his parents got murdered? Sasuke lived for one thing and one thing only. To kill his brother no matter was.
He should have never allowed the boy to continue his education at the academy. What Sasuke needed was a long therapy with Inoichi. But sadly he was a fool and listened to the advice of his former teammates. They believed that the Sharingan, the Uchiha bloodline, would be lost, if Sasuke would remain a civilian and would be able to leave the village and join a new village.
They hoped that he would rebuild the Uchiha Clan but to be honest Hiruzen doubts that he would ever father a child. I mean he knows Sasuke was young but the boy had countless girls in his class fawning over him and he didn't care. Maybe he played for the other team?
But still he worries for his surrogate grandson and his friends. Jiraiya stated that he would accompany them but they arrived yet. Did something happen?
A couple of hundred meters outside of Konoha
The 4 people the Hokage worried for were nearly in Konoha. If you were at the gate, you could already see 4 figures approaching. 3 young teens and adults. It was easy to recognise the man as the toad sage Jiraiya. What was a little unusual were the bruises he had on his face.
The first teen was the tallest of the children. He had medium white hair. He braided a small part of his hair on his left side in a braid. His skin was pale, his eyes vibrant green and on his forehead were two crimson dots. He wore dark blue shinobi pants and wore a light blue button up shirt, revealing a little bit of his chest. This was Kimimaro Kaguya.
The second and shortest person was also the only girl in the group. She had long black hair, gathered in a white bun holder, with two bangs framing her face. Her eyes were chocolate brown and her skin was pale. She also polished her nails in green-blue color. Overall she was a pretty young girl. She wore a green-blue haori with white trimmings. Underneath she wore a navy navy blue shirt and leggings in the same color. Over her legs were a skirt like platoon in the color of her haori. This was Haku Yuki.
The last person was taller than the girl but not as tall as the Kaguya. He had spiky, sunkissed hair with two small bangs framing his head. His face was handsome for his age and his sapphire blue eyes could make the legs of girls weak. If anyone looked closely, they would recognise three whisker like lines that nearly faded on his cheeks. There were also three red lines, one on each cheek and one on his chin.
He currently wore a dark green long sleeved shirt with a haori in a lighter shade of green on top. Both clothes were proudly presenting the Senju Clan's crest on top of the Uzumakis on his back. His shinobis pants were in a very dark shade of orange. He also wore two wristbands in the same color of his pants. This young man was the heir of the Senju and Uzumaki clans, Naruto.
"This was the last time Master Jiraiya. I will never ever heal you after you got caught peeping again," unusual hard words from the normally kind Haku.
"But…" "No buts. You are the worst kind of pervert Master," she didn't even let the sannin finish.
"I'm on her side, sensei. We were scheduled to arrive the day before yesterday. If you wouldn't have peeped, Haku wouldn't have needed to heal you and we would already be in Konoha."
"You don't understand brat," Jiraiya admonished his godson, "I didn't peeped. I did some research for my newest book. They just didn't understand the importance of my work," he continued while thinking back to the angry women that chased him. "Besides you are a fan of my work too."
Noticing the angry glare he got from the Yuki, Naruto quickly explained himself "Of your original work. "The tale of Utterly Gutsy Ninja" is a masterpiece. I don't understand why you would choose to write such dirty and terrible books." Haku nodded her head to this.
"Well," chipped in a new voice, "his other work isn't terrible," Kimimaro said with a straight face. Although he was blushing slightly.
Haku's whole world broke down. How could her kind and sweet Kimimaro like those perverted books.
"Oh you are a fan hm? I always knew that you had a good taste," Jiraiya said with a perverted smile. 'You are number one and Naruto is going to be number two. Finally I will have student's who will appreciate my work. There is not a chance in hell, they're going to be as submissive as Minato was.'
"Are they really good?" Naruto asked his friend, "Maybe I should give them a read. I mean I base my opinion of those books on grandma's opinion. I mean if Kimimaro likes them."
"Naruto!" came the shooked voice of Haku. She wouldn't let the boy she had a crush on read those books.
"Take it easy Haku. I mean Kakashi reads them all the time. They have to be good."
"Kakashi isn't exactly a perfect role model," came her reply, before clutching his arm and looking at him with big, begging eyes. "Please don't touch his other books. Please."
Naruto struggled to find a way to say no to just nodding his head, which in turn cheered the girl up. Kimimaro just looked at this scene and once again asked himself, why his friends were so damn weird.
'You're already whipped my boy,' thought the sage while he face palmed. 'But fear not. Your mother scared your father into not reading my books. She isn't as scary so…' He stopped his perverted thoughts. He realised how Haku looked at him, her sweet smile promised pain if he tried to get his student to read his books. 'How can such a sweet girl be as scary as Kushina was, if she wants to?'
Naruto was obvious to the silent conversation his sensei and friend had. He and Kimimaro just looked in awe at the Hokage monument. 'I'm finally home. Watch me become Hokage grandfather, uncle, father. Just believe in me.'
After the group passed the gate, the gatekeeper's didn't cause a fuss at all seeing the sannin, they headed straight towards the Hokage building. They needed to meet up with the old man and Jiraiya already caused them to be late. On their way a lot of the villagers noticed the group, wondering who the three children were. After all they were accompanied by the toad sage. Not to mention that the blond looked a lot like their beloved Yondaime.
The secretary let them through with no problems. Jiraiya could meet with the Hokage whenever he desired so there was no issue. She was stunned to her core however and Naruto could have sworn she mumbled "Lord Minato," when he passed her.
Once the group entered the office, the old Hokage's face lit up. "Jiraiya, Naruto, Haku, Kimimaro! Welcome to Konoha," he greeted them kindly. "You had me worried. I expected you to arrive the day before yesterday."
"Well sensei… there were complications on our journey," the sage nervously began. "You see there was that incident," now this got the Hokage worried. What could have possibly made his student so nervous. But all of his worries disappeared.
"He tried to peep, got caught, was beaten and Haku had to heal him Lord Hokage," the calm and bored voice of the Kaguya explained bluntly. This got Naruto to burst out laughing, Haku to get slightly angry and the Hokage got a deadpan look. 'Really Jiraiya?'
"That would be a very basic outlook on it, sensei. The truth is that I performed research…," he stopped after noticing how the temperature dropped quite a bit. He should stop pissing off the upcoming kunoichi. She can be very accurate with her senbons.
The Hokage chuckled at this scene. 'Never change Jiraiya.' "Are you three exited? Tomorrow you will start the academy. Within a year you will be full fledged shinobi's of the hidden leaf."
"About that grandpa," Naruto started, "can't we just skip that year and just graduate. I mean it's not like Haku, Kimimaro and me need the extra time." His two friends just nodded their heads. Neither one wanted to waste another year in an academy, in which they wouldn't really learn anything.
"I'm sorry my boy," came the calm reply of the professor, "It was part of the deal I made with Jiraiya all this years ago. Besides it will be a good chance of creating bonds with your fellow shinobis. This class will be one of the most talented ones of all time. Children of nearly every clan will graduate with you three next year."
"We understand Lord Hokage. It's just…" "The Uchiha is in that class, right?" Naruto interrupted Haku.
"Yes. Sasuke Uchiha is part of the class. He is the top ranked student of the year."
"Till now. I'm looking forward to challenging him for his spot. I'm going to show how much superior the Senju Clan is," Naruto told them with excitement. The old Senju-Uchiha rivalry is sparking once again.
'This might be good,' the Hokage thought, 'as arrogant as Sasuke is, he respects strength. Maybe if Naruto proves his strength to him, the two can form a bond. After all the two are the last members of their once great clans.'
"Say Lord Hokage?" Haku seeing the Hokage nod at her continued, "Is Kakashi here?" This question got Naruto and Kimimaro excited. The three children adored the masked shinobi as an older brother figure. They looked forward to meeting him once again.
"Sadly Kakashi is currently on a mission and is not expected to be back till next week," seeing the sad faces of Naruto and Haku, the Hokage quickly continued, "but Asuma is in the Village."
Now this cheered them up a bit. They met the young Sarutobi during his time as one of the twelve shinobi guardians. He was a cool guy in their opinion, not as cool as Kakashi, but still cool. It would be nice to meet him again. He after all helped both Haku and Naruto with the initial stage of Wind-transformation.
"Now you will meet him quite often. Tsunade and I decided that it would be best, if you three would live with me in the Sarutobi compound. At least till the Senju compound is fully renovated," the Hokage explained to the children who smiled at him, being pleased with their living conditions.
"Now how about some ramen? I promised you to take you to the best ramens stand in the country, didn't I Naruto?" At this the young boy just smiled and nodded enthusiastically. He was going to eat the best ramen in the world and he couldn't wait. Watch out Konoha, Naruto Senju arrived and life will never be the same.
AN: And that's it for this chapter. So the gang arrived at Konoha and will be living with Sarutobi in the foreseeable future. It would make sense to let them live with the Hokage and his family first. After all they aren't ninjas yet and wouldn't be all alone in a new village.
We also got to know most of the Rookie 9, at least from the perspective of Sarutobi. I hope I somehow nailed their basic characterisation. Unlike Kishimoto, I plan on giving every one of the Konoha 12 the attention they deserved as major supporting characters. Tenten will get more screen time than a pig. I promise you that.
So anyway thanks for reading, drop a review if you like to and stay tuned.