What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish

Chapter 2

- Three and a half years later -

Three years passed in a flash for Naruto, Tsubaki and surprisingly, Tsunade. The vibrant ball of energy had brought so much light to every person he met. Tsubaki and Tsunade had started teaching Naruto to read after he complained that he couldn't understand of his "Tu-chan's" books a year ago. Naruto struggled to learn, but what two-and-a-half-year-old wouldn't? Now, Naruto is often seen carrying around a wooden kunai and reading books like "Intro to Fuinjutsu - by Uzumaki Mito" and "The Coolest Battles of Shinobi History - by Rimuru Satoru". For his third birthday, Jiraiya had given Naruto "The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja", which inspired Naruto to profess himself a ninja and ask for a kunai. The next time Jiraiya showed up, he gave Naruto a box of wooden Kunai. Aside from his reading, Naruto loved spending time outside on the training grounds of the Namikaze estate with his "Ba-chan", Tsunade.

After the first year, Tsunade had decided that she would give life in Konoha one more chance. Her attachment to the hyperactive toddler only grew and earned smiles, laughs and guffaws from all those that witnessed the unique relationship. Jiraiya and Hiruzen were ecstatic to see the light return to Tsunade's honey-suckle eyes and a smile to return to her face. The time she spent with her "brat" was filled with laughter, Naruto playing shinobi and Aunt Shizune trying to keep Tsunade from throwing Naruto over the Hokage mountain.

After a year or so, Tsunade decided to return to Konoha hospital when she wasn't spending time with her last living relative. She was appalled to find out how much the standard of care had fallen. She then got the Third Hokage to approve remedial training for all certified nurses and doctors at the hospital. She led the physical and medical retraining and became feared for her quick temper whenever she saw a negligent mistake.

One day, she brought Naruto to a training session and introduced him as Naruto Uzumaki. The little blondie was running around in between groups of medics who were practicing their areo-ninjutsu. He would fake his own injury and yell for the medics. Somehow, he found the fake blood packs and was covered in the fake blood. The medics fell in love with the little blonde ball of sunshine and started treating his "wounds". Tsunade walked up to a group of female medics and doctors cooing over what looked like a mummified bundle of bandages. The only indicator that it was Naruto was the blonde hair that was peeking out over the tops of the bandages.

The mummy training incident incited the hospital staff to nominate Naruto as their mascot. This, in turn, was how Naruto fell in love with training. He started showing up regularly for the morning workouts. Shizune, now officially confirmed as Tsunade's apprentice, would walk him through basic physical exercises. His endless energy basically guaranteed that Shizune was the one that left training tired. Once Shizune was tired out, Naruto encouraged the other medical personnel to help them finish their workouts. This was the brilliant start to Naruto's public persona.

Today, Naruto was extra excited because he was invited to a birthday party for the first time. Despite Naruto getting to meet Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hokage-GiGi, the weird old mummy guy, Hiashi and Fugaku, he has yet to meet and play with anyone his age. That is why today was an ultra-special, super important occasion to Naruto and he was pestering Tsubaki and Tsunade to make sure everything was perfect. "Ok, Ba-chan. I have these nice clothes, a present and I think I know what to say to Hiashi-Sama when I get there. Am I forgetting anything?"

"What do you say to Hiashi-Sama when he greets you?" asked Tsunade with a coy smile and light in her eyes.

"Good afternoon Hyuuga-Sama, I am grateful for your invitation." replied a self-assured Naruto.

"Good, and then what do you do with the gift?"

"I give them gift to Hiashi-Sama and say that this is a gift to celebrate Hinata-San's third birthday?" answered a slightly less confident knucklehead.

"That will do. Just have fun Naruto and make some friends your age. Alright, let's get going" said Tsunade as she shuffled the youngster out of the house and compound.

Walking through the village, many of the villagers would point at Tsunade and ask things like "Is that Tsunade-Sama's child?". This made Tsunade remember her little brother Nowaki, whom Naruto reminder her so much of. Naruto looked up and noticed Tsunade's slight frown and asked her, "what's wrong Ba-Chan?" Tsunade shook off her thoughts and Naruto's question and simply answered him with a smile and ruffle of the hair.

After all the looks, greetings and whispers Tsunade was glad to arrive at the Hyuuga compound. The two gate guards noticed Tsunade walking up and rushed off to get Hiashi. As they walked through the gate, they saw Hiashi and Hitomi waiting for them. Hitomi was a beautiful woman with dark blue-black hair and pale white eyes that had a lavender tint to them. She was teammates with Kushina and as soon as Hiashi had told her about Naruto she had been waiting to meet her friend's hidden son. She smiled as she saw the young blonde approach.

Naruto walked up with a laughably rigged posture and said, "Good afternoon, Hyuuga-Sama. I brought a gift for Hinata-Chan's birthday! Dattebayo!"

Hiashi cocked an eyebrow at the youngster. Which for a Hyuuga was the equivalent to a hearty laugh and smack on the back by an Akimichi. The vibrant nature of his greeting stood in stark contrast to the typical Hyuuga etiquette. After Hiashi composed himself, he returned the greeting by bowing his head slightly to Tsunade.

"Good evening, Tsunade-Sama and Uzumaki-San. I am grateful you could join us to commemorate Hinata's third birthday."

Truth be told, Hiashi wasn't one to throw a party for such a paltry reason, but Hitomi had been bothering him about getting to meet Naruto and this was as good an excuse as any. "I apologize but I have to head to the Hokage tower. The delegate from Kumo will be wrapping up with the signing of the treaty and we have agreed to house him as a show of good faith."

Tsunade waved him off and said, "I am surprised you would let him stay here. Have a safe trip and we can share some sake when you get back."

As Hiashi walked out of the compound with his brother and personal guard, Hitomi ushered the duo into the compound's courtyard where laughing and talking could be heard from the front gate. Naruto noticed how big and fancy the Hyuuga compound was compared to his parent's house. It was modeled after an old Japanese architecture that was simple, yet elegant. As he approached the courtyard with Tsunade just a step behind him, Naruto spotted the birthday girl. She was a small little thing with dark blue hair cut in a Hime-style, mousey face and a small build. She was wearing a formal lavender kimono that made her look like a proper little noble toddler. Naruto walked up to her and kicked off the conversation with a giga-watt smile.

"Good evening Hinata-San. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Thanks for inviting me to your birthday party. I brought a present for you!"

The girl was stunned by his outgoing behavior and immediately blushed, looked down to the ground and kept touching her index fingers together. After a moment, she looked up slightly and replied with, "Thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday. It is nice to meet you Uzumaki-San. My name is Hyuuga Hinata. Please put your present over there with the others." She pointed to a pile of presents and smiled shyly. She was then pulled away from the conversation by another Hyuuga that looked slightly older than her and had a much more rigid posture and face.

After Tsunade took Naruto to get some food, they sat down at a table with a man with two diagonal scars on the right side of his face that had his hair done up in a spiky ponytail. He was sitting next to a similar and smaller version of himself. They both had an extremely lackadaisical posture that seemed to say, "please don't be too troublesome." As Naruto sat down, the older of the two perked up and met eyes with Tsunade. Their silent conversation confirmed that this was Minato's son, whom Shukaku had been waiting eagerly to meet. He was the fourth Hokage's jonin commander and was very close to Minato and Kushina. In fact, he was one of the only people that knew when and where they were going to have the baby. The events of that night had plagued his nightmares. There was just a piece of that puzzle that Shukaku couldn't figure out. They had taken so many precautions, how did it all go wrong? Shukaku was pulled from his reflections by the loud and proud greeting of Naruto.

Shukaku put on a smile and answered the vibrant blonde with, "Good evening, Naruto, my name is Shukaku Nara, and this is my son Shikamaru." Shikamaru had noticed his dad perk up and the immediate drift of his father's train of thought. He looked to his dad and then offered his hand to Naruto. The two sat next to each other and talked while Naruto ate. Let it be known that all Tsubaki's attempts to teach Naruto table manners had not yet taken effect. After Naruto finished eating, he and Shikamaru went off to play with a group of kids.

As the evening progressed, Naruto had met a bunch of the clan heads' children, not that he knew they were clan heirs. His vibrant nature and boisterous personality rapidly got him nominated as the leader of the group's games. They played ninja, tag, hide and seek and even a ninja game that involved the kids trying to throw wooden kunai through holes of different sizes. During these games, he met Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi and a feral looking boy named Kiba. Eventually, Hinata and Neji had come and joined the group to play.

The adults had been looking on with smiles on their faces. Tsunade, with sake in hand, wore a proud smile and a wistful look in her eyes. A group of three males stood casually next to each other while watching the children play. In this group was Shukaku and his friends Chouza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka. Chouza is a big, burly man with long red and spiky hair. He towered over his two friends as he wore a formal black kimono with the Akimichi clan crest emblazoned over his heart and on his back. Inoichi Yamanaka is a slender man with a narrow face, emerald eyes and sandy blonde hair. He had a faraway look in his eyes as he watched the children.

Inoichi broke the comfortable silence with, "He is a natural leader, just like Minato."

Chouza chuckled and drank some of his beer, "Indeed he is. He is the spitting image of Minato. Although I see a bit of Kushina in him. Especially in that wild personality of his."

Shukaku chimed in with, "Maybe more than a little bit of her personality. I think it may get to be a bit troublesome."

The group turned as they heard a full-blown feminine laugh from behind them. They turned and greeted Tsunade who simply nodded and said, "You have no idea." They continued a friendly conversation while watching the children's antics.

As the evening drew to a close, Hitomi had invited Naruto to stay the night. She said that Naruto could stay in Hinata's room. Neji would be there as well so nothing untoward would happen. C'mon, who could ever think about two 3-year-olds doing anything of that nature. Formalities be damned, she couldn't get enough of Naruto and the effect he was having on Hinata. After Hinata's initial wave of anxiety, the blonde had done more to get her out of her shell in 4 hours than the whole Hyuuga clan had done in 3 years. A drunken Tsunade had accepted her offer and headed back to the Namikaze estate to let Tsubaki know.

They had bathed the kids and placed them in Hinata's room with some extra futons. The kids had fallen asleep almost immediately. As the whole estate went to sleep, aside from the patrols, Naruto's dreams began taking an ominous turn. He started to roll and shift around on his mat until he woke up and went to look for some water.

As he was returning from the bathroom, he noticed that Hinata's door was open. He couldn't shake the ominous feeling from earlier, so he was on guard. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his wooden kunai and creeped to the door. When he entered, he saw a man in all black tying up Hinata and Neji slumped against the wall, bleeding from his head. After a moments panic, Naruto screamed as loud as he could, "Get away from Hinata-Chan!" As he screamed his eyes flickered red and he jumped at the startled intruder. The man would regret not taking him seriously as a wooden kunai ended up lodged in his eye. The man then grabbed Naruto and said, "Die brat! Damn you!" He chucked Naruto through two walls into the Hyuuga's courtyard where he slammed into the fountain and passed out with blood coming from his head. The man then grabbed Hinata and began to run but was surrounded by a group of Hyuuga guards and Hiashi.

Hayashi scowled and stated in an ice cold tone, "You will put my daughter down and come with us or your life is forfeit." As he finished saying this, Hitomi slid through the group of guards with a speed and grace of water and then began to strike the man rapidly from his blind spot. 'Eight Trigrams - Protection of the 64 palms,' she intoned with an icy chill as the man began to crumple to the ground. The girl he was carrying over his left shoulder had stopped him from reacting in time. As he fell, he dropped the struggling Hinata. He lay face down in the dirt, in too much pain for him to use the suicide syringe he had brought for this exact reason. He began struggling with his tongue to get to the cyanide capsule he had lodged in one of his teeth.

Hiashi, with his Byakugan activated saw this, dashed to the man and flipped him over. He paralyzed the man's jaw, forced his mouth open and removed the capsule. He pointed to two of his guards and told them to take this man to T and I. He pointed to his brother, Hizashi, and another branch member and had them go tell the Hokage. It was at this point that Hitomi processed Naruto's crumpled form on the fountain.

She cried out in fear as she sprinted over to Naruto's body. The scream also drew Hiashi's attention, and he sent another Hyuuga to go and inform Tsunade that they will be taking Naruto to the hospital. Hiashi gently pushed aside his wife and daughter that were kneeling over an unconscious Naruto and scooped him up. His heart was overflowing with gratitude and apprehension as he raced across the rooftops with an unconscious Naruto.

-Aftermath of Hyuuga Incident-

Naruto woke up with a massive headache feeling like his whole body was aching. He tried moving his left arm but was unable to. Something big, soft and attached to something heavier was stopping him from moving. As he opened his eyes and cleared his blurry vision, he saw his Ba-Chan was slumped over the bed with his arm secured between her two voluminous mounds. He looked over and saw the flowers and "get well" cards from the Hyuugas and medical staff. The sun was beginning to light up the village and peak through the curtains. He noticed that Tsunade was beginning to stir thanks to his movement and the beam of sunlight that found its way into her eyes. As she came to, she cleared the saliva from her chin and began to cry as her eyes met Naruto's.

Naruto freed his arm and patted her head, "It's ok, Ba-chan. I'm ok."

She cleared her tears and her honey-suckle eyes shimmered as the light bounced off the wet orbs, "You scared me, brat. You were out for a whole day." After a bit, Naruto asked about Hinata. Tsunade smiled and said, "She is fine, little hero. You saved her."

Naruto's giga-watt smile lit up the room and he let out a deep breath. A nurse popped into the room and saw this. She waved over the rest of the nurses on the floor. Tsunade turned around and noticed 6 nurses peeking through the door at the heartwarming scene.

"What are you looking at? Get to it!" Tsunade playfully yelled as the nurse began her checkup and the rest of them scattered. After scanning Naruto with a diagnostic jutsu, the nurse couldn't believe it. Yesterday, Naruto had 3 broken ribs, a broken arm, a cracked vertebrae and a concussion. Now, aside from some residual injuries, the kid was fine. She asked Tsunade to check her work, just to make sure she didn't do it wrong. Tsunade confirmed her findings and told the nurse that the kid may have a healing factor and that she would conduct the tests herself. It was at this point the Third Hokage entered, and Naruto's confusion turned into another brilliant smile.

"Good morning, Hokage-GiGi! I am all better now!"

Hiruzen turned to Tsunade for confirmation and got a slight nod in response and a look in her eyes that said, "We will talk about it later." He then turned back to Naruto and asked, "Good morning, Naruto-Kun. You gave us quite a scare. Are you sure you are feeling alright?"

"Hai, GiGi! I am totally fine, especially since Hinata-Chan is okay. What happened to that bad guy?"

Hiruzen chuckled at the boy's exuberance, "Yes, Naruto-Kun, Hinata-Chan is fine. The bad guy was arrested, and we are ... talking to him now. Don't you worry about that, just get better."

"Hai, GiGi! I want to get stronger GiGi, that man hurt me, and he would have hurt Hinata-chan. Please, GiGi! Train me, please!"

Hiruzen's smile fell, and he said, "You are still young, Naruto-Kun. Why don't you enjoy being a kid for now?"

"No, GiGi! I want to get strong so I can protect my friends and take that hat from you! Please, GiGi. Just a little bit of training, I really want to be able to protect my friends. Besides, I can train and have friends and spend time with you an Ba-Chan. Please, GiGi."

The smile returned to Hiruzen's face, and he said, "OK, Naruto-Kun. Just a little bit of training. However, I still want you to be a kid and spend time with your friends."

"Hai, GiGi! I promise!" replied an ecstatic Naruto.

Later that day in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen was talking with Hiashi, Hizashi, Hitomi, his advisors and Tsunade. It turns out that the man was the "Head Ninja" of Kumo, the same man that was the ambassador for the peace treaty that was just signed. He had been tasked with kidnapping an unsealed Byakugan and returning with it to Kumo. If he were caught, he was to immediately commit suicide so that his death could be blamed on Konoha. However, the quick actions of Hitomi and Hiashi stopped him from being able to end his life. Now, he was interrogated via the mind-walking of the Yamanaka clan while he was kept asleep by a sleep seal that Jiraiya made for suicide-risk T and I prisoners.

Danzo opened the conversation, "Hiruzen, this cannot be allowed to stand. This is a violation of the 'treaty' we just signed. It is clear that the treaty was just a manipulation by the third Raikage to trap us. Their own ambassador is the one tasked with kidnapping the Hyuuga girl for Kami's sake. We should take this as an act of war!"

Hiruzen frowned, he knew he would get this reaction from his old rival. "Relax, Danzo. It is not that I disagree with you, but we have just recovered from the Kyuubi's attack. We cannot afford to go to war at this time."

Koharu nodded and said, "War would not be beneficial. We are simply not in the right state to commit to a war with Kumo. However, we have a valuable political card here, Hokage-Sama. We cannot afford to fold this hand either."

Danzo cut back in, "Is it true that the boy managed to wound the enemy shinobi with a wooden kunai?

"Yes, Danzo. Naruto was able to catch the kidnapper by surprise and lodged his wooden kunai in the man's left eye as he was tying up Hinata." replied an amused Hiruzen.

Danzo nodded his head and simply said, "Impressive, for one so young."

As the room agreed with Danzo's statement, Hitomi spoke up, "Hokage-Sama, if I may speak freely?" Hiruzen nodded and Hitomi squeezed Hiashi's hand as she continued, "The Hyuuga and the Uzumaki are the clans affected. They attempted to kidnap our heir and, in the process, they harmed the sole heir of two clans." Murmurs of confirmation came from everybody, and Tsunade's face adopted a look of cold fury. "However, it would seem that revenge may be out of our reach. So how about the next best thing?" she asked looks of confusion erupted from everyone. Then Hitomi saw a twinkle in the Hokage's eye, "Yes, Hokage-Sama. How about public humiliation? That is what that proud bastard of a Raikage would hate the most."

Hiruzen chuckled and he took a hit of his pipe, "Ah, Hitomi-chan. Remind me to never get on your bad side. What does everyone think? I think we could talk to Daimyo-Sama and get his help on this."

"Hai, Hokage-Sama." They chorused. There was a slight frown on Danzo's face but that lifted when he heard the next bit of news.

"Young Naruto woke up today and asked me for a favor that I am a bit hesitant to grant. He asked me to be trained in the shinobi arts so that he could get strong enough to protect his friends." Hiruzen said a bit resignedly.

Danzo replied immediately, "Hokage-Sama, I volunteer to train the boy. You know that I have plenty of experience training shinobi from a younger age. I believe that I can get him trained."

"I have no doubt that you can, old friend. However, I do not want any of that emotional conditioning nonsense."

Hiashi cut in at this point, "Hokage-Sama, the Hyuuga clan owe Uzumaki-San a debt. I believe that training is the least we could do to repay him."

Tsunade then broke into the conversation, "I want a piece of him too. That kid has enormous potential, and he is already joining the medical staff for their morning training. Hell, the brat can keep up with most of my doctors."

Hiruzen outright laughed at the immediate explosion of interest in his successor's son, "OK, OK. They say it takes a village to raise a child. The way I see it, young Naruto claimed his right to be my successor. I see that potential in him. However, I don't want to rob young Naruto of his childhood. We can create a schedule so that each of you can begin training him. Danzo, I am serious. None of your old root training and emotional programming. I will be keeping my eyes on the child's progress. I want you to teach him, in an appropriate manner, about the darkness of the shinobi world. We will handle showing him the leaf that bathes in the sun, and you have my permission to give him a glimpse of the roots of the great tree."

Tsunade was bothered by this. She couldn't deny Danzo's effectiveness, but his methods were known to be brutal and damaging. "Sensei, I know Danzo has a lot to teach. I would be lying if I said I weren't concerned about his methods; however, I will be watching him closely. My stipulation is that all training is to be done in the Namikaze training grounds. This will keep Naruto protected from prying eyes that would wonder why one boy is getting so much attention."

"Agreed" said Hiruzen as he once again saw consensus around the room. "We will come up with a suitable schedule. I trust that Tsubaki has begun instruction of basic knowledge already. So, each of you will get one day a week to train Naruto. Since this is a group effort, what you teach will be known to the others. I will conduct annual progress reports with the boy. Anything else that need be discussed?" With that the meeting came to a close and Hiruzen sent a letter to the Fire Daimyo.

-Kumo's Bad Day-

A, the Third Raikage of Kumo, was a proud man. His pride was the only thing that could eclipse his strength. So, when he was visited unannounced by the Lightning Daimyo, who came with a party of 100 samurai and one prisoner, he was in a rather foul mood. The mood soured further when A caught a look at the prisoner's face from his city's gates. The vein that immediately popped on the man's head was so pronounced that you could see his heartbeat through its pulsing. Behind him, his son and named successor, also named Ai, could be seen. He picked up on his father's foul mood and took a step back and stood in silence. When one's father was on the biju subjugation squad and had fought the 8-tails one on one and had subdued it with only a wound to his chest, one knows not to be around when said father is angry. Killer B, the third Raikage's adoptive son and vessel of the 8-tailed Oxtopus, also backed up and gave his adoptive father room.

As the Lightning Daimyo's entourage approached, A noticed the serious look of the entourage. The samurai took a ready stance when they saw the black lightning dancing off the third Raikage. The Lightning Daimyo had his men stand down since he was familiar with the antics of A. The Daimyo motioned with his hand and the prisoner was brought forward. The previous "Head Ninja" of A's shinobi force wore a downcast look and sported an eye-patch.

He bowed his head, spoke out of turn and said, "I ... I am sorry, Raikage-Sama…"

It was at that point that the black lightning exploded from A's body, he bounded forward and severed the man's head from his body. As the body fell lifelessly to the ground, the Daimyo looked aghast at the behavior in the presence of a Daimyo. The blood that spouted from the headless man splashed near the Daimyo's feet.

The Lightning Daimyo said, "Well, A, I had come to discuss the diplomatic ramifications of you creating a treaty, signing it and violating it on the same night it was signed. Now, though, that seems unnecessary. I, hereby, decree that any and all financial assistance from the Land of Lightning, as well as mission requests and funding, are suspended until the third Raikage, A, has been removed from office and replaced. I also expect a formal and public apology to Konoha to be made for violating the 5 Nations Rules of Neutrality. I will await the newly appointed Kage in the capitol. That is all." The Lightning Daimyo ascended back into his carriage and the whole entourage turned back to the Lightning capitol.

A deafening and palpable silence hung over the crowd as the Lightning Daimyo departed. The Third Raikage looked frozen, as if he had locked up. His faces started turning blue and a slight twitching could be seen from his body. In his rage, his lightning chakra had gone out of control and caused his heart to start beating irrhythmically. If anyone dared to approach him, they may have noticed. Instead, they all waited for the Third Raikage to explode.

Then they kept waiting, nobody wanting to make the first move and draw upon the wrath of A. However, after nearly 30 minutes, A's son approached and put an arm on his dad's shoulder. "Dad, we will work this..." he never got to finish his sentence because the slight pressure from Ai's massive fist was the only force needed to push his now dead father over. Everyone gasped as the Third Raikage fell, face first, dead on the paved road leading into Kumo.

The carnage that followed left the land of lightning in a state of upheaval for the next 3 months. Eventually, Ai, the son of the Third Raikage, was named the Fourth Raikage of Kumo. The 3 months without missions and support from the land of lightning had caused a depression that would affect Kumo for nearly the next decade. Ai handled the public apology to Konoha as his first act as Raikage. Ai made it his mission to restore Kumo to its former glory. He had the largest shinobi force in the elemental nations. Now all he had to do was restore the faith that his father lost. It was because of all this that Ai adopted a mentality that all international dealings will be on the "up and up." At least as "up and up" as shinobi affairs can be.

Once news hit Konoha of Kumo's reaction to their humiliation, Sarutobi took all his advisors, the Hyuuga clan representatives, Tsunade and Jiraiya out for a night of drinking that cost him nearly half a year of his salary. Sarutobi, while happy and very, very hungover, vowed to never again offer Jiraiya and Tsunade an all-expense paid drinking night.

As Sarutobi was waking up, Tsunade was also coming to her senses. She had long since moved into the Namikaze estate, the Senju estate was so empty and brought up so many painful memories. That is why, when Tsunade woke up in HER bed in the Namikaze estate looking at a long mane of white hair covering a naked man that was snoring with his face down in the pillow, Tsunade then grabbed Jiraiya and chucked him out the window of her room. The racket she made and the hell she raised woke up the whole estate.

Tsubaki and Naruto walked up on a ranting Tsunade. Her tirade continued until Naruto spoke up and calmed her down. Maybe it was the cute and innocent toddler, or maybe it was her completely nude state, but she eventually did calm down.