Summary: The fifth has died and Naruto had become the next Hokage. But with Sasuke now in charge of the sound village and turmoil in the rest of the world, will Naruto be able to keep the village from crumbling? Take place eight years after time skip.
A/N: Hello, this is a new fic I started because I wanted to try writing some a little more epic that contained more of the characters. If I do write this entire fic, it will take a lot of time and effort so I'd appreciate reviews if you want me to continue. This first chapter is more of a prologue chapter reintroducing you to all the characters and the current situation.
So please, read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
The Last Hokage
Prologue
"She's dead," Sakura said solemnly, standing over the cold body of the 5th Hokage. Tears fell down her face as she called the time of death of her mentor, her leader and her friend.
The room was filled with people now, all worried about their benevolent leader. Most were crying, seeing the old ladies cold body lying motionless in her bed. A group of medics worked to cover her body and prepare it to be moved. Sakura wiped tears from eyes as she fell into a chair off to the side of the Hokage's bed, completely exhausted from hours of trying to save the old ladies life.
While it was not something that was totally unexpected, the death of the Hokage would still hit everyone in the village hard. The old women had been having medical problems for much of the last year. She had been Hokage for more then 10 years now, and the combination of stress, exhaustion and injuries she had obtained over the years had finally caught up with her. While her physical appearance still seemed young, she had truly grown old.
As the 5th's body was removed from the room, everyone stayed quite in respect for their leader. This would truly be a sorrowful day.
xx
A great deal of time had passed since the rookie nine had all become Genin. In their first year that had all lived through the chuunin exams, although only one actually became one, an attack on their village by the sand and sound which had lead to the death of the third and the appointment of the fifth, and loads of training and missions. There numbers were reduced by one when Sasuke left the village, seeking power for his revenge. And again was reduced when Naruto left for two and a half years to train with one of the legendary sanin, Jiraya.
During his absence the seven that remained in the village all became chuunin, all becoming much stronger. Upon the return of Naruto, a new enemy threatened the village, the evil organization, Akatsuki. The Akatsuki, wanting the demon contained in Naruto and the rest of the tailed Bijuu, planned on using the demons power to throw the world in havoc in order to gain power for themselves. Many battles occurred between the Akatsuki and the Shinobi of the leaf, leaving many leaf ninja dead as well as destroying much of the Akatsuki's organization.
Sasuke, having left Konoha to go to Orochimaru to gain the power necessary to kill his brother, Itachi, the one who had killed the entire Uchiha clan before defecting to Akatsuki, was also busy in these years. Quickly gaining power from Orochimaru's forbidden techniques, Sasuke quickly surpassed his teacher, but still did not have the strength to get his revenge. Orochimaru, using the opportunity to gain the power of the sharingan, attempted to steal the body of Sasuke so together they would have the power necessary to kill Itachi.
But Sasuke, with his sharingan and superior power, reversed Orochimaru's jutsu at the last moment, stealing Orochimaru's strength. Now having enough power, Sasuke exacted his revenge on Itachi, killing him in cold blood. Shortly after Itachi's demise, the rest of Akatsuki fell and the organization was no more.
With his brother dead and his life goal complete, Sasuke was still not satisfied. Having stolen all of Orochimaru's strength, Sasuke was now in control of the quickly growing nation of the sound. Still containing Orochimaru's ambition to destroy Konoha, Sasuke decided to restore his clan in the village of the sound, making his new village stronger so that one day it may be the strongest in the world.
Many years passed now, everyone in the rookie nine becoming stronger and progressing. Slowly, they all became Jounin, the highest rank for a soldier. Many small skirmishes occurred between the constantly warring nations, but no major threat like Akatsuki appeared.
Now, with all the not so rookie 9 now strong Jounins in there 20's, the fifth has died. With pressure from the sound and the other nations of the world, it is now time for the strongest of Konoha to prove their worth, and keep their village the great specimen it had become throughout the generations.
xx
"So is it decided?"
The room was silent, all the occupants deep in deliberation. The small circular room was lit by only a few candles and lanterns that lined the outside. In the middle of the room sat a wooden circular table, surrounded by thirteen leather high back chairs. Each chair was occupied by one of the elder members of Konoha, some of the oldest and wisest in the village. This was the council.
Right now they were deliberating one of the most important decisions that they ever had to make; who would be the next Hokage of the village. It had only been a couple of days since the fifths death, but even though they all still mourned the old leaders passing, they couldn't waste any time in assigning a new leader.
Currently there were many worthy candidates to fill in the position, but each had fallen through in one way or another. Jiraya, who the council had wanted to be the fifth Hokage as well, had again turned down the offer, not prepared to take on such a responsibility. Kakashi, who was one of the strongest Jounin's, had also turned down the offer. Shikamaru had been another of their top choices, being one of the most intelligent in the village and well as one of the wisest. He too had refused the job, saying being Hokage would be too troublesome. Sakura, an obvious candidate because of her close association with the fifth had declined as well. She wanted to concentrate all her efforts on medicine and the work of Hokage would leave her little time to advance her medical skills further. So now they were down to their last option…
"So Uzumaki Naruto will be the next Hokage," a female member stated. Everyone in the room nodded in agreement. While many of the council members still deemed Naruto too immature to take on such an important position, there was no doubt that he had many of a Hokage's most important characteristics. More then anyone else in the village he loved Konoha, and he was the most passionate about protecting its people. He was also almost undisputedly the strongest ninja currently in the village. Through his training through the years with Jiraya and Kakashi he had mastered many techniques and had surpassed almost everyone else, even all of the previous Hokage's.
On top of all his qualities there was always the fact that he was the one that the fifth had wanted to succeed her. While she too thought many times he would be too immature to take on the duties and he was young but she knew that this was what he wanted more then anything and he would put everything he had into protecting the village's people.
xx
Dark clouds hung low in the sky, a thin mist covering the land. Today was a dreary day. It had been two days since the fifths passing and today was her funeral. Konoha had shut down for the funeral, every member of the village currently attending the service. A sea of people dressed in all black stood in front of the newly created tombstone and grand casket at the foot of mount Hokage.
The service was a touching one, starting with the ones closest to the late Hokage saying a few words, followed by each member of the village placing a single white rose on the fifths casket.
When it was Naruto's turn to place his rose on the casket, he tried his best not to cry, but in the end he couldn't help but let a few tears slide down his face. He remembered all the times he had spent with the Hokage. He remembered to first time he had met her more then 10 years ago when he had convinced her to become the Hokage. He remembered all the times she had helped him and talked to him about missions. All the times recently when they had gone drinking after a hard days work. He just couldn't believe she was gone.
After placing his rose on the casket Naruto walked off to the side, congregating with all the other members of the village. He stood there for a while, deep in his own thoughts. He was interrupted though, by a strange person suddenly appearing before him.
"Uzumaki Naurto, the council requests your presence," the stranger said, turning to leave, beckoning for Naruto to follow.
xx
"A-are you serious?" Naruto asked, barely above a whisper.
Every person in the room nodded, waiting for the young mans response.
Naruto was so shocked that he couldn't even speak; he stood there in front of the council, baffled.
"So then, Mr. Uzumaki, do you accept?" an elder male member asked.
"Of course!" Naruto yelled, snapping out of his initial phase of shock. Some of the council members rubbed their ears now, the shear volume of the blonds response almost blowing out their eardrums.
"Okay then. We, as the council of Konoha, declare you, Uzumaki Naruto, the sixth Hokage."
xx
Even though the restaurant was packed, it still remained deathly quite. Six of the rookie nine sat in a row at the bar, drinking sake and sitting in an awkward silence. Currently, all of team seven was absent; Sasuke for obvious reasons, Sakura had excused herself to go to the hospital and Naruto had mysteriously disappeared during the funeral.
Even though this was the first time they had all been together in a long time, as they were all Jounins and were constantly in missions, there was very little reason to celebrate the occasion. They had all been called back from their missions they were on for the funeral, and most likely they would have to resume them within the next couple days.
"Well this sucks," Kiba groaned, downing another shot. Akamaru whined in agreement at Kiba's feet. Normally Akamaru wouldn't be allowed in the restaurant but the owner had made an exception given the circumstances.
"Thank you captain obvious," Ino said sarcastically, turning to Kiba who had been sitting on her right. Shikamaru groaned from the left of Ino, he knew where this was going to go.
"No need to be such a bitch," Kiba retorted, "Just trying to make things a little less awkward."
"Well, like always, you failed," Ino barked.
Hinata, not being able to take the increased tension on top of everything she was already feeling, started sobbing lightly.
"See what you did, Ino," Kiba muttered bitterly, turning to Hinata who was sitting on his right and putting his arm around her, comforting his troubled friend.
Another long awkward silence ensued, the only sound being Hinata's occasional sob and Kiba's comforting remarks. The silence was only ended when Sakura came barging into the restaurant, completely out of breath.
"You guys, you won't believe what just happened," she huffed out in between ragged breaths.
Everyone turned, their interest peeked.
"N-Naruto was just named the next Hokage."
xx
"I can't believe that brat got named Hokage," Kiba muttered to his teammates. They had finished their get together at the restaurant and were now walking, and wobbling, slowly though the dimly lit streets of the town.
"You shouldn't be calling a 23 year old man, let alone the Hokage, a brat," Shino reprimanded.
"Shino is right, you should respect Naruto, he had to put in a lot of hard to work to become Hokage," Hinata added.
The whole team had changed greatly in the years since they were 15. Kiba was much taller now and very well built. He still sported the same maroon triangle tribal tattoos on his face as well as the sharp fangs, messy brown hair and leaf forehead protector proudly on his head. Now, instead of his old grey jacket or black get up, he wore a green jounin flak jacket with a black shirt underneath and black pants. Akamaru had not gotten much bigger since he had turned six. He looked older, though. His fur was now greyer and his nose was wearing out slightly.
Hinata had also changed drastically. She as well had grown taller and had filled in nicely. She wore her jounin vest over a light purple dress with her forehead protector still around her neck. Her long black hair hung loosely over her shoulders and her white eyes shown as brilliantly as ever.
Shino had changed the least out of all of them. Besides obviously growing taller and stronger he still sported his normal sunglasses, even now at night. He now wore a large green coat, similar to the one he had worn when he had first graduated from the academy. The most drastic change for Shino came with his hair. He had shaven his strange black afro type thing and now had only a small millimeter thick layer of black hair on his head.
"Well even if he is Hokage I'll still always think of Naruto as that little punk that always tried to pull pranks to get attention when we were in the academy," Kiba continued.
"Are you jealous Kiba?" Shino questioned.
"Nah," Kiba replied. "Sure it would be great being the strongest and most respected Shinobi in the village, but in a way I sort of pity him. He's gonna be stuck inside doing work all the time now. I wouldn't be able to stand that! I need to get out and explore! I bet Naruto still thinks all the Hokage does is sit around drinking Sake while everyone does their bidding and worships them."
"Definitely jealous," Shino concluded, crossing his arms and nodding his head for effect.
Hinata giggled as Kiba's face went red as he growled at Shino.
"I'm sure Naruto will do a great job," Hinata added, blushing as she thought of the one she had always had a crush on.
xx
"Hey Shikamaru, aren't you at least a little surprised that they made Naruto Hokage instead of you?" Ino asked as she walked through the dimly lit streets with her two teammates.
"Not really," Shikamaru responded, "The fifth had approached me several times before she died asking me if I would like to succeed her, but I always said no. It would be too troublesome to be Hokage."
"That's so like you, Shikamaru," Chouji said, laughing deeply. "I bet Naruto will be able to get all the ramen he wants now that he's Hokage though…"
Like team eight, team ten had also changed greatly in the past years. Shikamaru had changed the least. He now wore his jounin vest instead of his chuunin one, and he wore a short sleeve black shirt under it. He still had his black hair tied back in a single spike and he still seemed to be half asleep at all times. The only noticeable difference with Shikamaru was he now had a long, deep scar near his right ear.
Chouji, more then anyone else, had gotten much bigger. He now towered over just about everyone else in the town. He had also gained much more girth (calling it fat would still result in a few broken bones as well) and he had broken his fair share of chairs. He now wore more of a samurai outfit then a ninja one, a thick piece of armor on his chest with a dark red shirt underneath.
Ino was arguably one of the more attractive female ninja in the village, and she wasn't afraid to show everyone that. She wore a very skimpy outfit, a small tube top and very short shorts. Her long blond hair hung well below her shoulders, it was obvious from its highly shiny appearance that she could very well spend more time attending to it then training. Sex could be a weapon too.
xx
Naruto stood on the roof of his apartment building, looking down the sleeping village below, his village. A wide smile spread across Naruto's face as the Hokage's robes on his back blew freely in the wind. While Naruto felt a little guilty for being so elated so soon after the previous Hokage's death, he couldn't stop himself from being happy right now.
Naruto turned his head to look behind him, at Mount Hokage. He looked over the five faces on the mountain and felt his smile get wider as he imagined his face carved up there with the rest of them.
Naruto had been through a lot throughout his life, and his body showed that. He still had the same wild blonde hair, vibrant blue eyes and thin whiskers but other then that he was much different. His whole body, particularly his arms sported many, many scars from his years of battle. Being a wind user, he had obtained more scars then average on his arms, the sharp wind chakra often cutting him deep if he lost control of it even for just a second. He was well built now, and under his new Hokage robe he still wore his jounin vest with a black long sleeve shirt under with orange patches on the shoulders.
"So it looks like your dream finally came true, eh, Naruto?"
"Kakashi!" Naruto yelled excitedly, his former instructor having appeared behind him on the roof. "Sakura! Jiraya!" Naruto added, as his pink haired teammate and other mentor appeared as well.
"Congratulations Naruto," They both said in unison. Naruto smiled even wider still, as if that was possible, beaming at his friends.
"Thanks, but it was only a matter of time before this happened, right?" Naruto said, almost immediately regretting his choice of words.
None of the others got mad though, they knew what he meant and they knew he would never disrespect the late fifth.
Jiraya grinned weakly as he looked up to the mountain, to the face of his late teammate. He was now the last remaining sannin, which surprised him, seeing as he was the one that usually made the brashest decisions.
"Well, you've got a lot to live up to Naruto," Jiraya said, still looking at the stern visage of the fifth.
Naruto turned back to the mountains as well, looking at all the faces engraved on it. The first and second, who he had never known. The third, who had been one of the only too believe in him when he was young and everyone else in the village feared him. The fourth--who had given him the cursed Kyubi, and who had been his greatest rival during his training: even if he was no longer alive. And of course the fifth—who was responsible for putting Naruto where he was now and who had brought the village to the flourishing state it was in now.
"Don't worry," Naruto whispered to the faces and to his friends, "I'll be the best Hokage yet."
xx
"Sir, we have an update on the situation in Konoha," a scout said, trying not to tremble in fear in front of his leader.
"What…" a cold void responded.
"Well as you know the fifth has perished," the scout replied, "We have gotten word that one Uzumaki Naruto has become the Hokage of the village."
There was no response to this. The scout shook in fear, worried what might happen if this happened to be bad news for his leader.
"This is interesting indeed," a voice replied from next to the tyrant leader. The man laughed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You have quite a history with him, if I remember right, Sasuke-sama."
"It doesn't matter," Sasuke replied coldly, the dark red of the sharingan in his eyes making the scout flee in fear, "Whether he is the Hokage or a puny frog is, Konoha will still fall."
Review! Tell me what you think! I won't continue this if no one reviews and tells me to!
The main characters I'm most likely going to base the story around are Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino and most likely Shino and Chouji but not as much so. I'm not really a huge fan of Gai's team and I don't like writing any of their characters so most likely they won't be included unless you guys really want them to be.