What it takes to be Hokage

Chapter 9

When Naruto woke up far more slowly than what he usually did, he knew that something was wrong, possibly very wrong. Then he became aware of the water and was instantly more alert due to the adrenaline that spiked through his system, because water meant Kurama.

Kurama was a rather undesirable fox to see when one was supposed to be in the middle of a clan war. Yet he could not sense any fighting. Was that because he was here? Or because it had stopped?

He got to his feet, endlessly fascinated with the fact that the water, while liquidy, was never actually wet. He wasn't directly by Kurama's cage but he was close enough. The walk there would help.

The walk there allowed him time to try and sort through his memories. He wasn't sure what had happened and he was even less sure that he wanted to find out because he did remember the burning ecstasy that came with using the Kyuubi's chakra.

. . . and using the fox's power never ended well.

Flashes of rage, infuriation and frustration bubbled to the forefront of his mind but nothing that could actually tell him what he'd done while he'd been under the fox's influence.

His thoughts strayed and froze on the fact that Takashi was dead, that he was gone and that it was all his fault. He had been so fixated on trying not to kill the enemy, on trying to decide what he should do, that he had failed to realise what was truly important. Sacrifice was needed. That's what Hashirama and Madara's entire existence was all about. Just look at the history of his own village.

He was a fool for not seeing it sooner, but then, hadn't he always been a fool?

. . . Hadn't he always been the idiot ninja who was too loud, who didn't know any better?

He didn't even know what to say to that anymore. Did he even really have an answer before?

Funerals. How did the Uzumaki handle funerals?

He'd yet to see one and he wasn't entirely sure he really wanted to see one now.

He had all this power, but he was still so useless, so weak. What would Sasuke say if he saw Naruto now? As the Clan Heir, could he say that he'd already failed his clan? It sure felt like it.

He'd failed the first friend in this world that hadn't known his secret and that was the whole reason Takashi's friendship had meant something so different to him. Madara, Izuna, Hashirama and Tobirama, they were precious to him but Takashi had been something different. Not more, just different. Maybe it was because he hadn't known the truth, had realised that Naruto was hiding something, yet he'd still accepted Naruto, in spite of all his faults.

Madara and Hashirama had seen him as the proof of their dreams first and a friend second. That didn't make their bond any less precious . . . just different.

Now Takashi was dead and it was all Naruto's fault.

Naruto wasn't even supposed to exist in this world. Takashi wasn't supposed to have died. And to make it worse, Naruto could have prevented it all.

He had the power.

All he'd have had to do was reveal Sage Mode. The Uchiha would have recognised him, and the Senju would be quick to follow. The attention would have been focused on him and not each other. Problem was, that placed Hashirama and Tobirama in trouble and that was also likely to only work once. The fighting didn't appear to be stopping anytime soon.

"Stop being so morbid, brat, it's giving me a headache." The deep growl like grumble of the Kyuubi reached him before he even got to the fox's cage.

"I'm allowed to be morbid." Naruto muttered. "I'm just a dobe, a foolish dobe at that. All this training . . . it hasn't changed anything."