Uchiha Naruto: The Sage

Chapter 8

Normality could not be said for the gloomy clouds that reigned over the Village Hidden in Leafs. The Sound and Sand invasion had come and gone. The Konoha had remained standing; she had stepped out of the invasion as the winner. Konoha had battled against two hidden villages and won. Despite the victory, it still felt like a loss to many of the broken hearts in Konoha. A victory had been ensured, but it did not come without a price. Konoha had paid a high price for her victory. A price that she thought she would have never had to pay.

The death of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the professor

The invasion of Sand and Sound might have been a failure to their end. However, Konoha had suffered a great loss. The Sandaime had lived through two great shinobi wars. He was a man of peace, loved and admired by many for his ways. He was the only Hokage to have served two terms and was the only man to have been Hokage for the longest period. The professor was indeed a great man in the eyes of many.

Amongst his achievements were the three legendary shinobi's, the sannin's. He had been their sensei and groomed them into the powerful shinobi they became. Unfortunately, the student he loved most over his other students was the cause of his death. Orochimaru, the snake sannin had been the reason the Sandaime had left the world of the living.

Konoha was mourning at the death of its Hokage because of Orochimaru, a traitor to the village. He was not branded a traitor because of the invasion but because many years ago the snake sannin had been abducting children and experimenting on them. Many mothers lost their children because of Orochimaru's actions. No one held love for the Sannin after his latest stunt. Almost everyone wished they could tear him into piece, kill him and then bring him life and repeat the process until their hearts were satisfied.

Naruto sat alone at the roof of his apartment building. He had not even bothered to attend the Sandaime's funeral. His views on the old man differed from other people's views. The death of the old man did not concern him. Naruto had not attachments to the old man. Death was something that one could cheat or avoid. Madara had cheated death for many years but in the end, he died. Regardless of the circumstances concerning his death, the fact is that he died. Despite that belief, Naruto also believed that death would never claim him before he achieved his goals. It was possible for his grandfather to postpone the due of his death to a later date, it should also be possible for him, Naruto believed.

Things were moving faster than Naruto had thought they would be. Every piece was already on its position; all that was left was for someone to ignite the flames. Although not saddened by the Sandaime's death, Naruto had not been expecting the Sandaime to die at this time. Naruto had thought that the Sandaime would live for a few more years. With the Sandaime alive, it would make things easy for him to act. Despite being manipulative, the Sandaime held a soft spot for Naruto, and Naruto knew how to exploit it. Given the death of the Hokage, a new leader would have to be set. Naruto just hoped that Danzou was not chosen as Hokage or he would be forced to have Zetsu assassinate the old war hawk. If Danzou became Hokage, his movements within the village would be restricted. Danzou would surely try to control him, not that he would succeed in doing that.

No one controlled Naruto, and Naruto danced no ones drumming. Only Madara made him dance, but he was no more.

With so many things happening fast, Naruto was learning that he should not be expecting things from other people to work on his favor. If he was going to get rid of his problems, he had to rely on himself. There would surely be surprises along the way but he just had to be prepared for them. Even if he cannot not be prepared for every surprise, he would just have to deal with them.

Hokage's office

Homura and Koharu, the former teammates of the Sandaime Hokage stood within the office. After the burial of the Sandaime, they had called Jiraiya into the office to make him an offer. Konoha needed a leader, despite the villages not suffering major causalities, there was still some destruction that needed to be corrected. To calm people down after the invasion and the death of Hiruzen they needed to someone strong to be a leader and calm the people's nerves.