Uchiha Naruto: The Sage

The Sage Chapter 8

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.