Capítulo 5: Chapter 3: Aftermath
Tower Meeting Room: 2 Weeks Later
Hiruzen sighed as he sat among the councils idly noting every ninja there was bandaged up in some way from the fighting, even his old teammates Koharu and Himura had helped. Naruto's traps had brought down a large number of the invaders, but Orochimaru had brought cheap hired help to spam against the village and ran down the traps a great deal making the defenders have to fight at least somewhat. Naruto helped counter this by spamming his Shadow Clones and summoning different Toad warriors to help defend the village. They did take some losses, but the fact still remained that the invasion could have gone much worse for them than it had been if Naruto hadn't been as involved as he was.
Their current total was minor to moderate damage in the outlying areas of the village, 33 dead, a few dozen injured, and none of their own captured. The enemy suffered several hundred dead, several dozen captured including all three of the Kazekage's children, and any and all supplies and intel they had was retrieved and put in the proper areas. They had also ensured all the nobles and dignitaries were kept safe and none of the enemy combatants made it close to them, which would earn them good will in the future with missions.
Right now, the meeting was taking place because Hiruzen honestly was too old to hold the position anymore. He was barely keeping up with Orochimaru and his body wasn't what it used to be with his constant smoking not helping matters at all. The village needed younger blood running it and with Jiraiya definitely not taking the position, that left only one candidate in Hiruzen's mind since Naruto was still a long ways off from being ready to lead the village.
As he looked over the group again, he idly mused that his decision to make a Civilian Council had been an up and down affair. He had created it shortly after retaking the Hokage title because he had fallen behind on the financial and economical affairs of the village and beyond. With him having to focus on the defense of the village, tallying casualties, and repairing the damage done by the Kyubi attack, he didn't have time to focus on the economical areas and catch up and that's where the Civilian Council came in. They'd be helping get the economy and financial areas back and get the reconstruction going smoother… or that's what they were originally doing. Hiruzen had kept them because they were proving useful, but they began to get a bit cocky that they were on a council and holding up the economy, which Hiruzen would handle once his next successor came in and they'd handle the civilians and remind them just why this was a MILITARY village and not a civilian one.
There was also the matter of them blatantly going against his orders to leave Naruto alone entirely and not influence the populace in how they viewed him.
Someone had leaked the information of Naruto being a Jinchūriki to the populace and none of his ninja on the council were stupid enough to do that since Naruto's status being common knowledge put him at risk of being killed or kidnapped and, while Hiruzen didn't like it particularly, Naruto was a deterrent to war since no one would attack a village with a Jinchūriki that could actually hold their own without their Biju's power. While Danzo took it further to mean he was a weapon and nothing more, the rest understood that he was a just a boy and his emotional state was directly linked to his Biju's chakra and this was even further evidenced recently in how Gaara acted since he was emotionally broken and essentially gave his demon free reign to kill and destroy as it pleased since he had no reason to keep it contained. Naruto may have been a key part of village defense, but he was still a living being and needed his emotions to function and keep Kyubi's influence back from his own psyche and even Danzo couldn't refute that his emotion destroying training would be more detrimental to Naruto than anything else except for Naruto being able to kill his emotions until combat was over. Hence why he had tried to alter it to deaden emotions in combat only, though the damage was done for a few of his old subordinates.
Ibiki had helped Naruto, and Danzo a bit by extension, in part in by teaching how to deaden his emotions while in combat since disgust, horror, and some other emotions were not needed when in the heat of the moment. Hence why when everything had settled down, the poor boy had found the nearest bush or trash can and promptly puked his guts up from the various deaths and gruesome kills he had performed and witnessed before regaining his composure. Hiruzen didn't like the current generation having to kill so young, but it was war and unavoidable and thus why being a ninja wasn't for the feint of heart. It wasn't a heroic job as killing, seduction, sex, kidnapping, torture, and more darker aspects were required of you regardless of age or standing, Hiruzen just tried to keep the younger ones out of it as long as possible until it was unavoidable.
Hiruzen at the age of 10 had had to participate in war and knew it changed a person, but age came with experience and maturity to deal with and confront the change as well as handle it. Itachi had been another case and showed maturity and professionalism to a point many thought he was years older and just hadn't aged. Even Danzo was impressed with Itachi since he was an ideal shinobi as he'd be emotionless during work but could use emotions and blend in fully afterwards. It was something Danzo tried to recreate, but his original breaking and stripping of emotions had been too successful and reversing it was impossible now.
Anyway, back to the point, Hiruzen knew it was at least one of the civilians on the council, but with no concrete proof there was no real way to accurately punish them, though he was still going to kick them out once he had everything set up. Besides, they already lost a good chunk of power once the ninja started to change their views of Naruto toward a positive light due to his help and actions preparing for, during, and after the invasion.
After Orochimaru had been scared off, Naruto, himself, and Jiraiya had joined in flushing out the last of the invaders. Afterwards, Naruto had been ordered to rest and relax for a day before he used his clones help in cleaning up and repairing the village, which of course Naruto didn't listen to entirely as he did have a small contingent helping at least clear rubble. Hiruzen knew it was partly to help him keep his mind off of the people he killed and the people they had lost as well as not directly dealing with his now two slaves since Kurenai had officially signed herself over as his slave a few days ago.
She was going to do it sooner, but with the need to secure the village and ensure there were no infiltrators left, she and Naruto had both been too busy and both needed to be there to finalize the action.
Hiruzen, if he were a lesser man, would've been highly jealous of the blonde. Besides him being above such a thing, it seemed like a turnaround reward for the blond after the proverbial hell he endured for years. It also served to give him some extra comfort for the two different forms of survivors guilt he was feeling.
Losing people of the village had hit Naruto hard since he kept going over how he could have added more traps, more clones, or done a better job to save those people. He had attended every funeral and offered his sincerest sympathies and apologies to any that had family. It was only natural for one surviving their first bout of war and seeing people they at least knew in passing hurt or dead.
Luckily none had lashed out or acted coldly towards him and had thanked him for the condolences while telling him his apologies were unnecessary as they knew what to expect when their loved ones became a ninja. It had helped Naruto, if only a little and Hiruzen hoped Jiraiya, the boy's two slaves, and any true friends he had would get him the rest of the way. This would not likely be the last time Naruto lost comrades and fellow citizens and it was better that the boy learn to process and move past the sadness and pain, there was no getting over it, just not letting it dictate your life.
The second bit of survivors remorse came from an unexpected occurrence. Inoichi and Ibiki's therapy sessions with Naruto had the unintended and unexpected side effect of triggering early/latent memories. That was to say, Naruto remembered his parents being impaled by Kyubi the night of his birth. Hiruzen and Jiraiya didn't learn of this til a few days ago when Naruto directly asked them if the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki were his parents. The two, despite their years of training, couldn't hide the surprise that came to their faces, which only confirmed it for Naruto. Naruto then revealed the memories of his birth including a masked man with a Sharingan being the reason Kyubi got free and Hiruzen lost his wife.
Naturally that made the two concerned since they had hoped it wasn't an Uchiha who released Kyubi and caused the whole destruction and mess as it was those rumors that had made the Uchiha Clan so on edge and led to one of Hiruzen's toughest decisions in his entire time as hokage.
Naruto then informed them he had already guessed who his mother was since Konoha had only truly been home to five people of Uzumaki blood besides Naruto himself. It was then just a matter of narrowing it down and with Mito Uzumaki, her daughter, and grandson being dead before Naruto was born, that cut the possibles by 60%. Then it was just a matter of the fact Tsunade Senju, Mito's granddaughter, had left the village before Naruto was born. That left only one possible candidate: Kushina Uzumaki.
His father he had no clue on and deservedly so since there were no pictures of the Fourth Hokage anywhere publicly besides Hiruzen's office and Naruto had been focused on other things or simply didn't pay the pictures any mind when he was there. Once he took a good look at the picture, he saw the resemblance easily: remove his whisker marks, lengthen his hair, and then age him up a bit and he could pass for his father's clone or twin.
The two had apologized for not telling him, but Jiraiya showed him a contract that was made through the toads swearing the two to secrecy unless Naruto reached a certain rank or showed the level of skill that Itachi Uchiha had possessed at such a young age. However, there was nothing in the item about Naruto figuring it out on his own and digging for information, hence why Jiraiya didn't directly tell him the identities but he did give some little tidbits on them that could help guide Naruto to the truth.
Of course, since Naruto had figured out his parentage, Hiruzen gave Naruto everything except for the Uzumaki Compound and Clan account since he couldn't take possession of them until he became the Uzumaki Clan Head. Said position was available to him now, but he'd have to marry before he turned 18 or he forfeited the position until his 21st birthday. The intent was so that if a young heir took the seat they'd be pushed to providing an heir of their own quickly since most younger clan heads wanted to continue their ninja careers. Most clan heads obtained that position after reaching the rank of Jonin, so unless they were aiming for Anbu or Kage status, they were content to settle down in the village unless a state of emergency was declared. Even then, most clan heads of small clans weren't sent in unless shit really hit the fan so that the clan head could possibly provide more heirs to support both the clan and village.
Naruto though, as he didn't want to try and fall in love so quickly when he really had no experience with dating or courting, decided to wait till he turned 19. He could take it at Jonin rank, which he and others believed was realistic if he continued to progress as he did, but he wanted to keep going to add to his skill and résumé to further bolster his chances of becoming Hokage and prepare him for when he had the hat. Sure, each Kage before him was only Jonin rank (technically since Hashirama had created the ranks), but Naruto wanted to know the inner workings of each division so when he had his own soldiers to command and children to guide, he could fully relate to each one since he'd have been a student, Genin, Chunin, Jonin, Anbu, and even an Anbu Captain.
He wanted a variety of experience so he could help others who didn't have, or shouldn't have, those experiences.
Jiraiya and Hiruzen had been impressed because already he was thinking like a Kage. To be Kage was more than simply being the strongest or best, it was fully showing that the village was at least among the top three things on your priority list with family and personal health being the other two. It was that way since how could you run a village if your own home was in shambles? How could you take care of and look out for the populace if you couldn't look after yourself?
The answer: you couldn't.
Anyway, to the point of here and now, Hiruzen cleared his throat to gain attention and fully initiate the meeting, "Thank you all for coming as I know there is much that still needs to be done to get the village fully back up and running after Orochimaru's invasion." Hiruzen stated knowing a few of the ninja there probably wished to go back to bed and rest to recuperate more, "The reason I've called this meeting is because I've decided to pass the title of Hokage to someone else yet again." Hiruzen stated making many raise their eyebrows while Danzo sighed knowing it wasn't his time yet and truth be told he was beginning to question if the title was worth the hassle he'd gone through so far especially since he was getting up there in age and soon he'd be too old to even fully utilize the title.
"Who have you chosen, Lord Hokage? Lord Jiraiya?" Inoichi asked only to receive a negative shake of the head from them both since Jiraiya was leaning against the wall by the door.
"No, I've decided to have Tsunade become Hokage." Hiruzen stated making many raise their eyebrows in surprise.
"Are you sure she can be convinced to return here?" Koharu asked since Tsunade had done her best to not come within 10 miles of Konoha.
"With Naruto's help, I can." Jiraiya stated making many look at him while the civilians scowled slightly.
"Why him?" Himura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well for one, he and Tsunade are clansmen since Naruto is an Uzumaki and Tsunade is a quarter Uzumaki. For another, Naruto seems to have a knack for knocking sense into anyone he fights or argues with, so he might get through to Tsunade where others have failed. Plus, regardless of her becoming Hokage, Naruto will ensure she comes back no matter what it takes so she can fully heal Lady Hinata and Rock Lee." Jiraiya stated making many of the ninja in the room nod especially Hiashi as he'd seen a drastic change in Neji since Naruto fought him and it seemed to be more than just the threat Naruto made towards him as well.
"Speaking of the boy, I believe there is a matter to handle concerning him as well as a few things that were to be asked?" Koharu stated making Hiruzen nod.
"Yes, but we'll only handle the matter right now, he can answer questions after Tsunade has returned so he won't have to go over it again and again with her." Hiruzen stated making her nod, "Cat." Hiruzen called and Yugao in her Anbu gear appeared, "Please go and retrieve Naruto Uzumaki for us. If he's still asleep or otherwise indisposed tell him to be here ASAP." Hiruzen ordered making Yugao nod and leave via shunshin.
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