Saints and Suffering: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 30- First Weekend

t was a cool and crisp morning in Konoha. The first nips of winter could be felt in the air, however, the sun was intensifying and quickly burning off the early chill.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked out across the village from his one-time office atop the Hokage Tower. The view was all too familiar, and none too welcome.

He was loathe to be here. By all means, he should be retired and this office should belong to Minato. He shouldn't be sitting in this seat once again.

Hiruzen gazed at the clouds rolling by. They drifted without care, and the sky between them was a shameless blue.

It was days like this that he wished for bad weather. Something to fit his mood.

He had spent the previous night gallivanting with the recent immigrant Yama, and it had been fun and cathartic. Hiruzen was an old and tired shinobi, and he had found somewhat of a kindred spirit in Yama.

Yama was nothing like his former teammates or Danzo. They were all too ready to plot and scheme. They might be old, but their brains were still firing on all cylinders, a hundred miles a minute. He wondered where they got the energy at their age.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, oh how dearly he craved rest. His first taste of retirement had been sweet, but it was now all ashes in his mouth. His successor had been incapacitated, and he had to stand up to hold the burden aloft once more.

He didn't even have the proper time to mourn his wife before the great beast of Konoha started making demands of him once again.

He was glad to serve Konoha. He loved it more than life itself. But sometimes, he wanted a break. Could anyone fault him that?

Konoha had lost their fourth Hokage, the man who single-handedly ended the Third Great Shinobi War, and they'd lost their last line of defense, the nine-tails jinchuuriki.

The village was in shambles, great swathes of destruction wrought by the Kyuubi had laid them low.

The casualties were numerous, and the long lasting detrimental effects incalculable.

And here was the sky;

bright, blue, and beautiful.

Mocking him.

A voice broke him from his reverie.

  "Hokage-sama, you called for me?"

Hiruzen shook himself of his emotions and sharpened his frame of mind back into the leader the Konoha needed, no longer allowing the whimsy of a dotard frolic within his thoughts.

He gazed at the source of the voice.

It was Shikaku Nara, the current jonin commander.

Although the man was quite young, and reports had warned the Sandaime of his laziness, his capability was second to none.

The man had a razor wit, and Hiruzen found him invaluable during his transition out of retirement.

The rumors might have spoken of his laziness, but Hiruzen saw little of it.

The young man knew when it was time to work, and was ceaseless in his efforts to keep Konoha afloat.

The third Hokage spoke.

  "Do we have any updates on the Yondaime?"

Shikaku frowned.

  "He is still at the safe house. We haven't been able to rouse him from his coma.

  Otherwise, we think his condition is stable. We don't have any pressing fears, but we don't know how to proceed."

Hiruzen sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.