Chapter One
Naruto leaned back in his chair. He looked around the room he now sat in: his office….the Hokage office. He always dreamed of sitting here, in this position. He just never knew the things that would happen to obtain it would be so painful. The young man closed his eyes. At nineteen years old, he was even younger than the Fourth had been when he was in office. He opened his eyes again and looked up at the ceiling. He felt a tug of guilt at his heart. This was not how he wanted to be elected for this position.
A few months ago the unexpected happened. Orochimaru was able to take control of Sasuke's body. Using his new body and power the snake took over Konoha. Many villagers and respectable shinobi were killed in that battle. With luck, the rookie nine…the rookie eight had survived along with a few others. Kakashi-sensei, Ibiki-san, and Anko-san were few of the jounin that survived. They didn't get off as easily as the younger shinobi though. Orochimaru had kept them in the prison dungeons of Konoha and tortured them in every way possible. One would think they would have been better off being fed to Manda like many of the others, such as Gai.
And, Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage….Naruto wasn't in the village when her death came to her. He's not sure he wanted to know exactly what Orochimaru did to her. Among the shinobi that made it out of the village were He, Chouji, Shizune, Genma, Neji and Tenten. Poor Neji and Tenten had just married when the village was attacked too. What a honey moon.
Both Suna and the Akatsuki had a hand in the liberation of Konoha. It was Gaara's suggestion for Naruto to join the Akatsuki and become the median between Suna and Akatsuki's Leader. It kept Naruto safe from a few things. He was too valuable to either side for them to do something stupid. However, the two strong forces would end up bickering more than forming plans to liberate his beloved village. Eventually, Naruto had enough and took action on his own. With the help of Kiba, the two of them formulated a plan that was so cliché that Orochimaru would never had suspected it to happen. The plan worked, and the battle for Konoha begun.
In the end, it was saved, however there was a price to be paid. In the end Sakura and Naruto were faced to fight against Orochimaru, who took great pleasure in showing off the body of their beloved friend. If they had more time, Sakura would've figured a way to separate the two, but time was not an option. In the heat of battle Sasuke, from the darkest depths of his mind was able to take control of his body. It was only for a moment, but it was all he needed. The Uchiha jabbed a kunai through his heart. The blow would cause both him and Orochimaru to die. Before his death, he apologized to Sakura and Naruto, and made Naruto to promise to kill Itachi for him.
Naruto opened his eyes. He felt them tear up from the thought of his best friend dying right there in front of his eyes. Now, here he was, through the decision of the true leaders of the liberation, Ino and Chouji, they elected Naruto as the Sixth Hokage. Now, he was entrusted in bringing the village back to its feet. It was a complicated and time consuming task, but with the help of his friends Naruto knew he would be able to do it. He had to do it.
The young Hokage's attention was brought towards the stack of papers on his desk. He had already gone through hundreds of them already. Reading over them, signing them, dismissing a few, he did. It made his brain hurt and tire. A sound caught his ears and he turned his head to see the door of his office cracking open. "Who is it?"
"Naruto, it's me. Can I come in?"
Sakura. A soft smile came to Naruto's lips. At least he didn't loose both of his best friends. He still had her. "Yea," he replied. "You know you don't have to ask."
The door opened and the pink haired, young woman walked inside. She closed the door behind her. She kept her eyes off of him, and her head lowered with her hands behind her back. Naruto instantly knew something wasn't right.
"I need to talk to you," she said.
He pulled a chair next to his and motioned for her to sit down there. She gave a small nod and did as she was instructed. They sat there in silence for a moment. Sakura's hands were neatly placed in her lap and she continued to look down. Finally, Naruto spoke up. "Sakura, what's wrong?"
She finally looked up at him, her green eyes meeting his. "Remember about Kabuto?" she questioned.
Naruto's fist clenched slightly. How could he forget? For the short time that Sakura was forced to work under Orochimaru, Kabuto had taken the liberty of making Sakura is own personal plaything. When Naruto learned of this, was when he decided that they were taking too long to liberate Konoha. And, that little rat ended up escaping in the end. "Yes," he replied.
"Well…," she nearly choked on her words. "I'm pregnant."
Naruto's eyes widened. All at once hatred, disgust and anger were boiling through his veins. The pen he held in his hand broke from his fist gripping in rage. He held his breath and forced himself to calm down. He had to calm down. He was not going to loose it in front of Sakura, especially when she needed him so much right now.
Finally his expression softened as he looked at her. "Sakura…" He lifted his hand to touch her face, but pulled back afraid to touch her; afraid she would end up pulling away.
"I don't know what do to," she said softly. "I have no right to have an abortion. It's not the baby's fault that this happened." Her hand was placed idly on her stomach. "But, I don't know if I can do this."
"I'll help you, Sakura," Naruto said. "I'll do whatever I can to help both of you. I'll even be that father figure in the baby's life."
Sakura looked up at him, a look of surprise on her face. "Naruto…But, people will ask questions about the pregnancy. What am I supposed to tell them?"
Naruto thought about it for a moment. "Then you'll tell who ever asks about it that the baby is mine."
Another look of shock flew through Sakura's face. "People will still suspect. . ." The other two looks of shock were nothing compared to the one that was going to react towards Naruto's next action. He got down on one knee and took her hand in his.
"Haruno Sakura, would you marry me?"
"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. "I cannot force you to do that! I can't keep you from marrying someone you would fall in love with in the future, and someone to love you back."
"You can't force the willing," Naruto indicated. "Besides, ever since I was twelve the only lady I had my eyes on was you."
"N-naruto," Sakura stammered, guilt rising from her gut as she looked at the man that was completely serious and completely sincere
"No one would have suspicions would they?" he pointed out. "People really will believe you if you tell them that the baby is mine, right?"
"Enn," Sakura nodded. "But, Naruto, I don't want to force you into a loveless marriage. You're. . you're my best friend, Naruto, and I do love you in that sense, but I …"
"It doesn't matter to me," Naruto said truthfully. "I'll sacrifice that if it means protecting you."
She looked at him momentarily. Sakura didn't trust anyone else since she had been violated by Kabuto. Well, she didn't trust anyone other than Naruto, not even Lee. And, even with him dead, Sakura's heart still lied with Sasuke. She lifted her free hand to wipe her eyes of the forming tears. Naruto, you're too good. "Then, Uzumaki Naruto, I will be proud to be your wife."
Naruto's face brightened and a smile went across his face. "Good." He got off his knee and sat back down, still holding onto her hand. "I promise to take care of you and be good husband."
Sakura nodded. She smiled, but there was still guilt tugging at her. She hated having to make Naruto sacrifice so much of his future just for her. "When do you want it done?"
"Well, as soon as possible," he said. "So you know, to lower suspicions. Would you rather a large wedding or a smaller one?"
"I . . . I would rather a smaller one," she admitted. "With just our close friends. But, you're the Hokage, people would want to. . ."
"A small one is fine," he cut her off. She simply smiled and nodded.
"Should I start moving into your house?" she questioned. "That way people won't say anything since the baby will be born early."
He nodded. "I'll set up a room for you," he said, not even suggesting they would share one since he knew it wasn't one of those kind of marriages. Still, he was marrying his dream girl none the less, and he was going to be a father. Nineteen years old, and he was a full time Hokage and a full time family man already. What more could he ask for? "I'll also send for someone to find Jiraiya. He'll do the marriage thing for us."
"I have to get going." Sakura stood up. "Shizune-san still needs help in the hospital. Then I have to work on moving in with you." She looked down at him then leaned over to give him a kiss on his whisker scarred cheek. "Thank you, Naruto. You're the best friend a girl could have."
"Heh, I know," Naruto replied. "I'll see you this evening then?"
She nodded and let go of his hands. "Yes."
"Send that chuunin at my door way on your way out, please."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," she giggled before walking out. He watched her attentively as she left; giving off a sigh once she was gone from his view. The door reopened and a chuunin walked in.
"Yes Hokage-sama?"
"Get Anko up here," he ordered. The chuunin bowed and left the office in search for the jounin. Naruto then pulled out a scroll and started to fill it in with mission details. With in a few minutes the sugar high, ninja busted into his doors without even knocking.
"You raaaaang, Hokage-sama?" A sly smirk was placed on her face. She had long recovered from her injuries that were inflicted during her time of detainment.
Naruto met her smirk with one of his own just as equal. "Bored of sitting around, Anko-san?"
"I need blood," she replied, cracking her knuckles. "What do you have for me?"
Naruto held up the scroll. "A mission."
"Ooo! Really? What kind of mission?"
"The bloody kind," Naruto replied. "Kabuto. I want him hunted down."
Anko's smirk grew to an evil grin. "With pleasure, Hokage-sama."
"I want him here, alive though, Anko," the young Hokage said sternly. "That bitch is mine. But, you're allowed to play with him as long as you want, just as long as he's alive."
"Sometimes you just take the fun out of things," she pouted and took the scroll.
"May I suggest a partner?"
Anko quirked a brow and looked over at him. "I'm not good at working with others, but what is your suggestion?"
"Rock Lee."
Anko paused for a moment. "Gai's student?" Her expression saddened for a moment at the thought of her lost friend. The expression was soon gone though. "Yosha! This should prove interesting then! Will, do, Hokage-sama!"
"I have faith that you'll do this mission satisfactory then?" Naruto smiled. "You're dismissed." He watched as the older woman left with that look of insane blood lust on her face.
Now, it was to get that letter written for Jiraiya.
- - - - -
Author's Note: I hope that you will all come to enjoy this story as it's written. It's based on roleplay that a friend I do. We're working on getting the prequel finished asap. I just had the earnest desire to write this.