Author: 83doz

Rated: M so read at your own risk.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

2/7/07

Chapter 1:Faces

Today was a big day for Naruto.

It was around 10 o'clock at night and Naruto was standing on the roof of the academy school. Naruto had been 21 for a couple of months now and Tsunade, who he considered to be his mother, had just passed the torch of being a Hokage to him about a year ago. He was wearing a red and white hat and a white robe that came down just to his knees. Naruto's hair was still spiky, but it was a little longer now. There were two long yellow strands that came down from his side reaching the bottom of his neck. He kept these to remind him of his favorite Hokage, the Yondaime. He wore a green jounin vest and a blue pants underneath the white robes. The forehead protector stated that he was from the Hidden Village of Leaf, though everyone already knew that.

Naruto looked up at the Hokage monument. He looked at the Shodai, Nidaime, Sandaime, Yondaime, and Godaime. Naruto paused his stare when he got to the Yondaime. I wonder what he thinks of me now.

He gave himself a smile and returned to what he was doing. Today was his day. The mountain carvers begged him to let them do his face, but he rejected saying that he would do it himself. He also told them not to worry because he would pay them without doing any work. All of the mountain carvers complained to him, stating that a Hokage shouldn't be doing these unimportant jobs. Naruto replied by saying that this was a very important thing for him and that he must to do it himself. With that they reluctantly agreed to let him do it himself.

Naruto did a few hand seals, "Shikan Shouheki (Silence Barrier)." A huge barrier surrounded a large piece of the mountain.

He did a few more hand seals, "Rando Haretsu (Land Explosion)." Huge pieces of rock were destroyed forming his face next to Tsunade's.

Naruto did a few more hand seals, "Yurasu Byouga (Rock Painting)." He looked up his face and smiled indicating that he was pleased with his work. Naruto's face was completely painted white with little red designs. His tongue was sticking out at Tsunade and his eyes were barely opened because he was sticking his tongue out.

"Okay, almost finished. Now I just have to protect it," Naruto said. He did a few hand seals, "Bakku Houka Gokuin (Back Fire Seal)." A red bubble appeared around Naruto's face and disappeared after 15 seconds.

After finishing he looked at his face for another 30 minutes. Finally satisfied he decided that it was time to go home. Naruto didn't live in the small apartment complex anymore. He was living in a medium size house near the Hokage Tower.

Even though he was living by himself the two story house consisted of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dining room, a living room, a kitchen, and an office. As he went in he looked into his office and saw a huge pile of paper on his desk. This was one of the things he never imagine a Hokage doing; paper work. Naruto always imagined the Hokage doing S and A-rank missions. He sighed and decided that he would finish it tomorrow instead knowing full well he would regret it.

The next day came and Naruto was already in his office at the Hokage Tower. One thing that he liked about being Hokage was that Teuchi or Ayame always brought him a bowl of ramen in the morning. Of course Teuchi or Ayame always insisted on giving free bowls for Naruto, but Naruto always paid them. He always paid more than the amount because he knew that they had to travel pretty far to give him the ramen. Naruto had bought them a better and bigger location near Hokage Tower when he became Hokage and their busines bloomed, but it was still a far walk to the Hokage Tower. Morning ramen wasn't his only reason for buying them a new location. He felt that he owed them for feeding him when they also knew of the Kyuubi. They never banished him from their place like other businesses. He knew that because they've accepted him when he was young, they have also lost a lot of business.

"Hey Ayame. Thanks for coming by so early today," Naruto said to her. He looked at Ayame who was a little older now. She was 26 years old, but still very pretty. He always thought that she was pretty long ago and very nice. Now that we're both mature and the age difference didn't affect us as much, maybe…

"No need for thanking me Hokage-sama," she replied interrupting his thoughts. This was one of the things he hated when he became Hokage. Everybody called him Hokage or Hokage-sama and it irritated him. Even his long time friends called him by this name now.

She placed the bowl on his desk and began to leave. Before she got out the door she reached into her pockets. Naruto had placed a wad of cash in her pocket and she didn't even realize it, but she knew he would do something like that.

"We can't take this Hokage-sama. You've already did all that you could for us," Ayame said to him.

"First off, stop calling me Hokage-sama Ayame. You should know by now that I'm still Naruto. You've known my since we were little. Second, don't worry about the money. It's business right? I ordered some ramen and I have to pay for it. I can't make rules and disobey them. If I don't pay for it then it'll be stealing," Naruto told her.

She thanked Naruto and left for the door.

Before she got out she turned around and smiled, "I like you're face on the mountain, but I don't think Tsunade-sama would approve of it."

Naruto smiled back and answered, "Not like she could do anything about it."

Tsunade came into the room about 30 minutes later with a pile books. Tsunade was older, but still looked exactly the same. She was also Naruto's advisor now. He stood up to greet her and he was a little taller than her now. When she entered the room she didn't acknowledge his greeting but instead said in a calm, but serious tone, "Naruto I want you to change your face on the mountain right now."

"No, I like it. I don't want to change it," Naruto replied looking at his paper work.

"Change it Naruto," Tsunade said louder this time, placing the books on the shelf.

"Why are you worried about that? Let's finish this paper work."

"Fine, I'll change it myself," Tsunade turned to the door and was about to leave.

"I wouldn't do that Tsunade-baba. I put a seal on it just for you," Naruto said smiling.

"What!? You put a seal on your face."

"Yes," Naruto still had his smile.

"Fine, I'll just get Jiraiya to remove it," she told him in a victorious voice.

"Go ahead, he won't do it once he finds out how it works."

"What would happen if a child decided to play on your face?" Tsunade asked him, reminding him of his pranks when he was a little child.

"Oh nothing. As long as they don't have the intent of removing my artwork, they can do all that they want to the face. It only activates when a person wants to remove the artwork, like for example you," Naruto told her.

Tsunade was furious. She knew that she was defeated and there wasn't anything that she could do. "If I can't change that face I'll change the one sitting in front of me." She rolled back her sleeves and rushed towards him.

Tsunade rushed forward to hit him, but before she reached him, he had already jumped up to the ceiling. Naruto was hanging upside down looking down at Tsunade. He knew that she wouldn't follow him. Not that she couldn't, but because she choose not too. This was one of the few things he learned that saved him from Tsunade's wrath.

-
Flashback

Naruto and Tsunade were in the academy training room sparring with each other.

"Come on Naruto fight back. All you're doing is dodging," Tsunade said to him.

Yeah, I would if I could, but all I can do is dodge. The reason that Naruto couldn't counter-attack well was because he was dodging all of Tsunade's attack. It is easier to counter-attack after blocking instead of dodging, but blocking was not a choice when fighting Tsunade.

Tsunade was pressing him near the wall now.

I don't have much room left. He jumped back towards the wall and did a couple of flips to the ceiling. He held his defensive stance waiting for Tsunade's attack, but to his surprise she didn't come. Naruto looked down on the floor and saw that Tsunade was still there.

"Come down here now Naruto," Tsunade commanded him.

"Why don't you come up?" Naruto asked her.

"Just come down here," Tsunade yelled at him.

Naruto laughed and remained on the ceiling. Just then he felt the ceiling shook because Tsunade had just hit the wall. His feet lost its grip on the ceiling and he started falling down. Uh oh, Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto figured out why she didn't like to go on the ceiling. She didn't like people looking at her huge breast and when she went on the ceiling it made it seem even bigger because of the gravity. He thought that this was a real stupid reason for not going on the ceiling, but was glad to find out this weakness. This had saved him more than once.

"Come down now Naruto," she commanded him.

"Promise that you won't hurt me."

"Fine, I promise that I won't hurt you," Tsunade answered him.

Naruto jumped down from the ceiling and landed on his feet after she promised.

"Don't you know what kind of example you're giving when the other villages visit the Hidden Leaf? They'll mock us when they see what kind of a person we picked for our Hokage," Tsunade explained to him trying to make him change his mountain face.

"Why are you worrying? They already know who I am. They won't care about my face on some stupid mountain," Naruto told her.

During his year in office, he managed to bring peace to all the major shinobi villages. They all had respect for him, not only because he was strong, but also because he was also righteous.

"That's not the point. They know who you are, but the future Kage's won't," she told him. She knew this was a lie because everyone knew a Kage no matter what village they came from, but she was still trying to make Naruto change his mind.

"You worry to much about the future, Tsunade-baba. They'll already remember me by then anyways. They won't care much about a stupid face on the mountain," he explained to her.

Just then he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Naruto said and the person came in. It was Konohamaru.

"Hey Naruto, there's something at our last battle. I think you should check it out," Konohamaru told him.

The last battle could only mean one thing to Naruto. It was the last time that he and his friends were truly in great danger. It was when they were all facing Akatsuki in a cave near the border of the Country of Fire. Konohamaru and his trio were also involved in this major battle.

Konohamaru was taller now and wore a black vest and a black pants. He carried a long black pole behind his back. His hair was also longer now. He received a medium sized scar right below his left eye when he saved Naruto from the Akatsuki Leader. Konohamaru was one of the few people who still called him Naruto and he liked that. He was a jounin now and very talented just like his grandfather. After the death of his grandfather and uncle, Konohamaru worked very hard to become the best shinobi that he could and it showed. Naruto could see that he lost some of his happiness and goofiness when he lost his grandfather and uncle, but he could see that Konohamaru still cared very much for his friends. After his grandfather and uncle died Naruto looked after him like an older brother and they became even closer because of this.

"Alright let's go then," Naruto told him. He took of his Hokage robe and hat.

"Wait, you have paper work," Tsunade said to him.

"Ummm, you can finish it," Naruto replied. He grabbed his orange jacket and ran out the door.

"Naruto, damn you," Tsunade yelled after him when he left the office.

They were hopping from branch to branch outside of the village when Naruto asked Konohamaru, "So what did you guys find?"

"I don't know. It looks like a small ball of energy. I don't really know what it is," Konohamaru told him.

"Did you guys touch it or do anything to it?" Naruto asked.

"No, not yet. Neji tried using his Byakugan on it, but he couldn't see what it was. Sasuke also used his Sharingan, but it was the same result," Konohamaru responded.

The excitement was getting to Naruto. Even though he was happy that the 5 major shinobi villages were at peace, the missions were getting boring. The thought of something unknown got his blood pumping.

"You're getting excited, aren't you Naruto?" Konohamaru could feel that something was making Naruto excited.

"Yes, if Neji and Sasuke don't know what it is then it must be something big," Naruto answered him.

"Who's all there?" Naruto asked as they were still traveling.

"Well, my teammates are there. The rookie 9, team Gai, and the sand siblings are there. They were the one's that found it," Konohamaru answered.

The whole gang that faced Akatsuki, Naruto thought.

Back in the office at Hokage Tower

Jiraiya opened the door. He was a little bit older now, but overall still looked the same.

"Don't you know it's rude not to knock first," Tsunade told him. She was sitting on the Naruto's chair and going through the pile of papers.

"Aren't we a good assistant? I just came by to see my former student. I saw his face on the mountain," Jiraiya laughed.

"I'm not his assistant, I'm his advisor and his face isn't a laughing matter Jiraiya. Can you change it or unseal it?" Tsunade asked him while still sorting the pile of papers.

"No, I looked at the seal when I passed by and it's pretty advance. It can only be unsealed by the user. If I tried to unseal it, I might get hurt in the process," Jiraiya told her.

"What will happen to you if you unseal it?" Tsunade asked him.

"I don't know. That depends on what Naruto has done to it. It could cause major pain or be almost nothing at all. I don't want to take my chances though," he answered.

Tsunade frowned. Stupid Naruto, putting a high rank seal on his face.

"Anyways, where's our favorite student?" Jiraiya asked her.

"He left to where his real last battle was," Tsunade answered. Jiraiya knew what she was talking about.

"Well, it does seem about that time. Don't you think?" Jiraiya asked her.

Tsunade clenched her chest and closed her eyes. She had on a sad smile. Her eyes was getting misty, but she fought back the tears and said in a small voice more to herself, "Yes, it does."

Naruto and Konohamaru reached the place where they fought the Akatsuki members. It was already dark when they got there. The statue was still there. It had a face with 9 eyes, 8 of which were still glowing. It was wooden and had two arms coming out of the ground with a chain binding it together.

"Hey guys," Naruto said as he got there.

"So you decided to come Hokage-sama," Neji said.

"Damn you guys. I'm going to make a new rule now since you guys won't listen to what I say. You all cannot call me that anymore. Call me Naruto, understand," Naruto said to the group. The group just looked at him.

"Got it?" Naruto said a little louder.

They all nodded. He looked at the tiny sphere to examine it. It was the size of a fist and completely black, but he could tell that the sphere was spinning, much like one of his trademark moves.

"Okay, now that it's settled. What do we have Neji?" Naruto asked him.

"Sorry Naruto, but I can't see it. It seems like some sort of chakra manipulation. It also seems like there is a huge chakra pool in this tiny little sphere," he answered him.

Neji was right; Naruto could feel the chakra pressure from the sphere when he started walking closer to it.

"What do you think Shikamaru?" Naruto asked the young man in the back.

"It's what Neji said. We don't know what it is, but it's something big," Shikamaru answered.

Another cold voice came from behind Naruto, "Even though we're at peace with the other villages I don't think they should know about this."

"I agree with you Gaara," Naruto answered.

Naruto reached towards the spinning chakra sphere.

"What are you doing Naruto?" Sakura asked him in a loud voice.

She was genuinely worried. They started dating about 5 years ago when they were 16. The relationship lasted 2 years and the both decided to break it off. Unlike most couples they were still friends after breaking up. In fact it made their friendship even stronger after finding out that they were better friends as oppose to lovers.

Naruto looked at Sakura, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to see what it is."

"You don't know what will happen. What happens if you die?" Ino asked him in a worried voice.

Naruto laughed, "Well, we won't know if we just stand here now would we."

"This isn't something to laugh about Naruto," Ino replied.

"Let him," Gaara said.

"What do you mean Gaara? He could die you know," Ino answered him. After the fight with Akatsuki everyone felt a little more comfortable around Gaara.

"Look, the only other way that we can find out what it does is have one of you touch it. Naruto and I don't want that, so it'll be one of us. Since Naruto's so interested in it, he can touch it. Most likely nothing will happen."

"But what if something does happen?" Ino asked.

Naruto decided to answer, "If something does happen to me, you guys will tell Tsunade and Jiraiya what happened here. Also she should become Hokage again if something does happen," Naruto told the group. He wanted Konohamaru to become the next Hokage, but felt that he was still a little too young.

"Also Gaara you know what to do," Naruto said. Gaara nodded. He would have to keep the nations together if something wrong happened.

"Okay here we go," Naruto said. He reached out his right hand and touched the sphere. Naruto went completely black and fell down.

It was about an hour before Naruto got up. He looked around and saw that he was still in the same place, though the statue wasn't there anymore or his friends. Naruto was a little weak trying to get up, but managed to do so. After a few minutes he felt that something was wrong with him.

Hey fox, you there? He received no answer. Stupid fox answer me. Again he didn't receive an answer. This confirmed his suspicion; the fox would always threaten him when he called it stupid. He walked out the cave and to his surprise it was daylight. The sun suggested that it was around 12 o'clock.

With nothing else to do he decided that he would head back home and see if his friends were there. Maybe they're giving their report to Tsunade. Maybe they thought I died. But then why didnt they bring my corpse?

It was late at night and he still hasn't reached the Hidden Village of Leaf. He was jumping from branch to branch when he felt two kunais coming at him. Naruto immediately jumped back to avoid the kunais. He felt two chakras trying to circle him, one going to his right while the other going to his left. The two figures jumped towards Naruto at the same time with their kunai trying to stab his chest. He immediately dodged it and chopped the figure to his right on his neck and punched the figure on the left in the stomach. Both of the figures fell down immediately. Examining their forehead protector and he found out that they were from the Hidden Village of Sand.

"Damn you Gaara. I know you want to keep me in top shape, but don't you think that was a little unnecessary? I could feel that they really wanted to kill me," Naruto said out loud cursing Gaara. Even though the nations weren't at war anymore, Gaara would sometimes send shinobis after Naruto just to keep him on his toes. He knew that Gaara didn't really want to kill him, just keep him ready in case one of villages decided to rebel against the peace treaty.

Naruto continued on his path to the Hidden Village of Leaf. It was about another hour when he felt two familiar chakras. He gave himself a smile knowing that Jiraiya had come to visit.

"Hey ero-sennin, Tsunade-baba," Naruto yelled and waved as he came closer to the two figures.

Suddenly he felt the killer intent in both Jiraiya and Tsunade. Jiraiya immediately sent his hair towards Naruto. Naruto was too shocked to dodge and was caught by Jiraiya's hair. Tsunade quickly ran up to Naruto ready to punch him on the face. Focus Naruto or you'll die, Naruto thought and he focused all this chakra to where she was going to connect. The hit sent Naruto 40 feet while Jiraiya's hair was still holding on Naruto. Damn, they're serious. Maybe they had a little too much to drink, Naruto thought.

Tsunade could still feel that the other person was still alive. What!? He took a direct hit from one of my punches to the face. He should be dead, Tsunade thought to herself.

Naruto managed to reach a kunai in his pocket and cut Jiraiya's hair to free himself.

"Doton: Yomi Numa (Swamp of the Underworld)." A huge swamp appeared under Naruto and everything about a ½ mile radius was starting to sink. Naruto was still 40 feet from the two. He jumped on top of a tree and did a few hand seals, "Kage Bunshin." A clone appeared by him. He sent the clone towards Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was watching the enemy come towards him. It seemed that he already knew what my move does. The enemy was getting closer and Jiraiya took a defensive stance. As the enemy came about 15 feet from him, the shinobi disappeared. Before Jiraiya could react, Naruto's clone had punched him in the stomach and Jiraiya fell down to the ground.

Too fast, Tsunade thought. She was 10 feet to Jiraiya's right and saw how fast the enemy was. The shinobi was looking at her now. Tsunade punched the ground and it cracked which caused the shinobi to lose hit footing. Taking this advantage she rushed towards him and punched him in the face once more.

'Pop.' Tsunade's eyes widen. A clone? Just then Naruto gave her a chop to the neck.

Naruto grabbed Tsunade by the waist before she could fall to the ground and gently laid her down. He jumped back to where Jiraiya was at and put Jiraiya's arms under the back of his neck. Did you go on a diet ero-sennin? Funny, I don't smell any sake on him. He shrugged off the thought.

With Jiraiya on his back he jumped to Tsunade and laid him right by her. He looked at the two figures and an evil thought came to his head which made him laugh. Naruto put Jiraiya's arm around Tsunade and did the same thing with Tsunade. He put them real close together. That'll teach them, messing with me. He laughed to himself.

Another thought came to him. They might catch a cold out here. Naruto took a knee and placed his jacket on top of them.

I should be about an hour away from the office. He stood back up and began traveling again.

Naruto reached the front gates and to his surprise no one was there. Maybe everyone's asleep. It is kind of late. He jumped over the walls and quickly ran across the roofs to the Hokage Tower. I have so much paper work to finish.

When he reached the office he was surprise to see that someone was already there. The person was busy looking down at some papers and he was also wearing the Hokage robes.

Jutsu descriptions:

Shikan Shouheki: Silence Barrier- (C-rank) A ninjutsu that cast a barrier around an object. This barrier doesn't do anything except for not letting sound escape from it.

Rando Haretsu: Land Explosion- (C-rank) A ninjutsu that blows up a large piece of land. It is used mainly for shaping land.

Yurasu Byouga: Rock Painting- (C-rank) A ninjutsu that paints rocks.

Bakku Houka Gokuin: Back Fire Seal- (A-rank) A sealing jutsu that seals a particular thing. It keeps the image in this condition until the seal is released. The seal can only be remove by the user. If another person tries to remove the seal then they'll be in for a nasty surprise.

Doton: Yomi Numa: Swamp of the Underworld- (A-rank) A ninjutsu that forms a huge swamp that begins to make everything in it sink. This jutsu is in the manga.

Kage Bunshin: Shadow Clone- (B-rank) Yea the shadow clone.