Inoicho looked out the window of his shop and frowned. There sat the future Hokage of Konoha sulking on the crub across from his shop just looking at his shop. He had not gotten much out of Ino when she had come home in tears. And what little she did tell him only came after he was prepared to go and murder Naruto for hurting his little girl. That was two days ago, and Naruto had not moved from that spot since.

Shikamaru slowly walked up and sat down beside his old teammate, "It's all too troublesome."

Naruto kept his gaze on Ino's window, "Yeah."

"What do you plan on doing?"

Naruto sighed, "I would pick Ino in a second if she would let me talk to her."

Shikamaru sighed, "I thought so much. Both of us have had managed to find extremely bossy and stubborn women."

"Temari?"

"I thought I was going to die when she told her brothers. Women are far too troublesome. I think you lucked out."

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru, "You really are a lazy bum."

Shikamaru stood to his feet, "Well this bum has to go pick up someone at the village gate."

"Give Temari my greetings."

Shikamaru waved it off as he continued to walk down the road. Kakashi appeared beside Naruto, "Hokage-sama the Mizukage and his daughter have arrived. They are waiting for you at the tower."

Naruto continued to look at Ino's window.

"Naruto, she's made her choice."

Naruto bowed his head as he stood and Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. The two then vanished

----

Ino was surprised to see Naruto and Kakashi vanish as she watched from her bedroom window. I knew he would give up. This is for your own good Naruto-kun. I want you to be happy.

Ino made her way downstairs towards the shop to get ready for another days work. She took one last breathe and plastered the best smile she could muster on her face. She was not surprised to see Sakura leaning against the counter when she got down there, "I figured you would come by forehead. Want me to come up with an arrangement for Naruto-sama to give to his new fiance?"

Sakura had to hold herself back from bashing her head into the counter, "Cut the act Ino-pig. I came to talk. And don't tell me you're fine."

Ino chuckled, "Of course I'm not fine. I just found out the man I love is promised to another woman."

"Then what's with the smile?"

Ino sighed, "I'm just trying to support Naruto as the new Hokage. And the best way I can do that right now is pretend like I'm not dying inside."

Sakura stared at Ino as if she had just said the dumbest thing ever, "You think this is helping?"

Ino shrugged, "I don't know. Haven't seen Naruto-ku-"

Sakura pounded her palms on the counter, "That's just it! You're trying your best not to think of him that way anymore, and Naruto hasn't moved from the same damn spot in two day. Hell the representatives from the Mist will be here soon." Ino just stared at Sakura as if waiting for the point. Sakura let out a frustrated growl. She grabbed Ino's wrist, "You're taking the day off."

Ino tried to break free of Sakura's grasp, " But the shop."

Inoichi opened the door as Sakura continued to drag her bestfriend out the door. He then smiled as he stood in the door waving, "See you two later! I can handle the shop for today!"

---

Tsunade sat behind her desk with Naruto standing at one side and Jiriaya on the other. Across from the desk stood a elderly man clothed in robes that much resembled the Hokage robes. Beside him stood a Blueish green haired female about 17 years old.

Tsunade stood and smiled, "Mizukage-sama welcome to our village."

Mizukage looked around the office, "You have a nice village here Hokage. The people seem happy with their leader."

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, we have had rough years, but I hope that this transition of power will prove the beginning of a time of piece."

Mizukage glanced at Naruto, "Quite. With a shinobi like this one acting as Hokage, I would not be surprised if the others were hesitant to cause any war. I have heard that he was that source of that surge of chakra we felt several months back. That kind of power can serve as a wonderful weapon."

Naruto sneered slightly at the thought of being considered a weapon. He smiled on the outside though, "Thank you for the compliment Mizukage-sama."

Mizukage seemed surprise, "Such a respectful tone. I was told that you were a little more......verbose than you appear."

Naruto nodded, "I have changed a lot in the last few years."

Mizukage motioned to his daughter at his side, "Allow me to introduce my daughter Mayuri. Say hello child."

The girl blushed slightly and bowed to Naruto, "Hello Naruto-sama."

Naruto frowned. He was a professional at reading through masked emotions. He had down so for so many years. He looked into Mayuri's eyes and could see that she too was hesitant to fulfill this treaty. There was a knock on the door.

"It seems the final party has arrived," stated Tsuande. The door opened to reveal Shikamaru standing beside not only Temari but her two brothers. Tsunade smirked, All of Shikamaru's pieces are here now. Time to start. "Mizukage, I believe you know the current Kazekage and his two siblings."

Mizukage frowned as he kept his hateful gaze on Gaara, "Yes, I know who they are, but I must ask why they are here."

Jiriaya was the one to answer, "The Sand have been a long-time ally of The Leaf. We could not enter a treaty without them being here. To be our ally is to also be theirs."

Naruto was surprised at the presence of The Sand Trio. He had never guessed Shikamaru had gone to great more than just Temari. He realized then that something was going on. It was well known through his travels that The Mist and The Sand were not on the best of terms.

Gaara stepped towards Naruto. Naruto caught the very faint smile of one of his closest friends. Gaara then turned stern, "Why do you seem troubled? Is this not what you want? Was this not your goal?"

"It's not his goal, it's his dream!" came a shout from the still open door. There stood Ino as Sakura quickly took her place behind Tsunade's chair.

Naruto stared at Ino trying to maintain his attitude in front of so many people, Ino-chan....

Ino then looked at Naruto, "Naruto-sama, I want you to know that I will always be there to support you."

Gaara seemed to ignore Ino's reply, "I ask again. Is this what you want?"

The Mizukage was growing tired of the stalling and interruptions, "It doesn't matter what he wants! He's the new Hokage. It's in the treaty and to ignore it would be an act of war." He was stopped when a pool of sand began to crawl up his leg.

Gaara glanced at the Mizukage, "Uzumaki is one of my most trusted friends, and I will not stand by and allow some treaty to prevent him from fulfilling his desires."

Mizukage was barely controling his anger at this point, "You should watch your words child. I may feel the need to attack your village with the assistance of our new allies."

"No you won't," corrected Naruto.

"What?"

Naruto smiled glancing at Ino, "If it comes down to choosing between becoming Hokage and being with Ino-chan, I choose Ino-chan without a second thought."

Ino stood motionless, He chose me?

"You can't do that!" yelled the Mizukage. "If you change your mind just so you can keep your little harlot of a-" Mizukage was stopped by the killer intent leaking from Naruto.

"What did you call her?"

"Y-You heard me. I know you can't use chakra right now. Our intellegence already told us that. Now, you're going to marry my daughter then you're going to command you shinobi to help my village destroy The Sand."

Shikamaru sighed, "I think that's enough don't you Hokage-sama?"

"What do you mean enough," commanded the Mizukage. "I would watch what you say before you end up on the front line of the battle."

Tsunade smirked, "Your intelligence must not have improved much since this treaty was written. They were unable to see the one thing that you could do to break the contract."

"What do you mean?" asked the Mizukage as he pulled the treaty towards him and began to read it over.

Shikumaru sighed, "Everyone in this room will all witness that you just insinuated that you would be going to war with our allies."

"Of course, I did," stated the Mizukage.

Tsunade's smirk turned to a smile, "I must admit I had doubts in your plan Shikamaru. Bringing the Kazekage here was a risk but it worked. I thank you for your cooperation."

Gaara smirked, "I would do anything to assure Uzumaki is the next leader fo this village, and that he lives a happy life. I owe him for teaching me the importance of friends and those precious to me."

Mizukage was growing impatient, "What is all this?"

Shikamaru sighed again, "After several hours of looking at the treaty, I realized that there was no direct way to get out of it without Naruto giving up becoming Hokage. However, the 4th was not as unwise as he seems. He knew that the relationship between The Mist and The Sand was volatile. So, he included a clause stating that any act of aggression by The Mist towards any of our allies would void the treaty."

Naruto slowly processed what was being said, "That means-"

Ino smiled as she ran across the room embracing Naruto, "That means you can be the Hokage, and we can still be together!"

Naruto hugged Ino tight smiled as his two greatest dreams were being realized. The Mizukage growled, "I will not stand for this! If you will not join me, I will attack The Leaf as well." He suddenly found himself surrounded by Anbu.

Tsunade stared at Mizukage, "I would choose my next words very carefully."

Mizakage looked around taking his daughter wrist, "We will be leaving. But this is not the end."

Naruto smirked, "You know since I am Hokage now I get to change rules from the previous Hokages. Like how the Tsunade forbid me form ever removing my limiters again. What you felt a few months ago was nothing compared to what I can do when I really let loose."

The Mizukage paled as he and his daughter both vanished in a cloud of mist. Naruto smiled as his friends began to gather and congratulate him on his promotion. After so many year, he was the new Hokage; Ino was by his side; and he had a group of friends willing to risk a war just to help him out. Life was finally looking up.

The End

A/N: Okay, this story ended up being a lot bigger than I ever imagined. I want to thank all the reviewers, especially those who always seem to find my story no matter what anime it's about. I want to thank everyone for being patient for me towards the end when it took several months to get a chapter done. I have come to realize that I honest need a break from doing this all together. So this will be my last story for at least a long time. I may never come back, only time will tell. But I still appreciate all the readers and thank you all.