𝕋𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝟟; 𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤

Cԋαρƚҽɾ Tɯҽɳƚყ-Sҽʋҽɳ - Gσԃαιɱҽ

"As long as one keeps searching, the answers will come."

- Joan Baez

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The council said in a very awkward silence, eyeing each other with familiarity but with grudge and suspicion.

Ever since the passing of the Third Hokage, the Sandaime, it was a touchy subject on telling who would be the next Hokage. Many people turned to Jiraiya, who had been in the village during the attack and had saved many lives, but the Sannin turned the offer down.

Now, this meeting was to discuss who was going to take on the mantle of the Fifth Hokage, the Godaime.

"The meeting shall start," Jiraiya says, walking in on nine o'clock on the dot. For once he was serious, his perverted-self nowhere in sight.

"We should nominate people," a councillor suggested, and Jiraiya recognised her as Kuharu Utatane, one of Hiruzen's teammates.

The last teammate of Hiruzen's team, Homura Mitokado, nodded. "Good idea. Nominations?"

Danzo raised a hand. "Myself. I think I am fit to be Hokage, after all, everything I've done was for the best of Konoha."

People started to whisper, no doubt about Danzo's last stunt with ROOT. If it weren't for Kakashi Hatake and the Third, who knows what would've happened if ROOT continued?

Jiraiya raised his hand. "I suggest another Sannin. The Princess of Konoha herself. Tsunade."

A murmur ran through the council, some nodding at the idea, but some dismissing the nomination quickly.

Kuharu coughed to get everyone's attention. "Why not Kakashi Hatake? He has the most impressive resume, and is the most loyal shinobi there is in Konoha."

"Kakashi?" Jiraya murmured. "Could work."

"He's too young." Danzo protested. "He doesn't know the weight of the title."

Jiraiya's eyes blazed. "Too young? He was thrown into war at the age of five as soon as he was promoted to genin, then chunin at the age of six, mind you, that's the age we Sannin got promoted too. He was the youngest to be promoted to jonin at the age of ten. Also being put into the ANBU at the age of thirteen before being promoted to ANBU captain at the age of fourteen. All while that has happened, he lost his father, sensei, two teammates, who knows how many people he lost in ANBU?"

"Do you think Kakashi Hatake should be the Godaime, then?" Kuharu prompted.

Jiraiya shook his head. "He's fit for the job, yes. But he'd be a much better asset for Konoha if he was an active shinobi. His reputation comes from assassinations and his clean record of missions."

"Very well." Homura nods. "That is reasonable. Now, we have two candidates. There is Tsunade and Danzo."

"I say we vote." Danzo grounds out, eyes flashing with annoyance that there was still someone else.

Jiraiya nods. "Agreed." 

The vote now counted, most of the council had voted for Tsunade, despite the protests that the woman had left the village, much like her teammate, Orochimaru.

"Believe me," Jiraiya stands up, "she will return as the Fifth Hokage."

"Then, you shall go find her." Kuharu orders.

"On one condition." Jiraiya's eyes change into something calculating and distant. "I bring Naruto Uzumaki with me."

The council was silent. Homura clears his throat. "And why would we allow that?"

Jiraiya put up a finger. "He hasn't been trained to control the Bijuu inside of him."

A second finger went up. "He's a target. You saw and heard from the loyal shinobi of Konoha, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, both S-rank missing-nin, came looking for him."

A third finger went up. "Saying that, he will put a target on the village itself. It would be great if Konoha wasn't attacked, especially since we don't have a Hokage."

"True," Kuharu mused, "but you must return within three months. We cannot go without a Hokage."

"Understood." Jiraiya nods. 

"And the Jinchuriki," Homura adds. "He must come back as well. It wouldn't go well with our fellow villages if we lost our only Jinchuriki."

"Hai," Jiraiya replies, stopping the bitterness and attack from leaking into his voice. These councillors only saw Naruto as a tool, not a person. Cold-hearted people.

"The council is dismissed," Kuharu commands. "Jiraiya the Toad Sage will go to find our first candidate for the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade of the Leaf, accompanied by Naruto Uzumaki, the holder of the Kyuubi. If Tsunade doesn't accept being Hokage, the name falls to Danzo Shimura."

The council dissipated quickly, and Jiraiya left without another word. He needed to find Tsunade, and quickly. He also needed to convince the most stubborn woman in the world to become Hokage, which would be a pain. Not to mention, if she doesn't accept, the Hokage spot will be given to Danzo, and Jiraiya shivered at the thought of an angry Kakashi if Danzo becomes Hokage.

Kakashi might become a missing-nin if that happens. Wait...he wouldn't do that right? He's loyal to the village...right? 

The more he thought about it, the more Jiraiya felt fear creep into his thoughts. No. Kakashi wasn't loyal to the village. He was loyal to the Hokage. Thinking back to all those times where Sakumo had dealt with all the shaming which lead to his suicide, and then a tiny small Kakashi finding his own father's body and then having to deal with even more insults, Jiraiya knew that Kakashi still hated the village, albeit if it only was a little bit.

He only stayed because of the Hokage. Lord Fourth, his sensei. Jiraiya remembers the blond man begging the Sannin to tell him how to get Kakashi to stay in Konoha. Kakashi had been thinking about defecting, but Jiraiya and Minato had managed to get him to stay, even if it meant the small thirteen-year-old was to be in ANBU.

Lord Third, once the Yondaime passed. Hiruzen had been smart enough to be honest with the ANBU captain, which lead to Kakashi being his right-handed man, even after Kakashi deemed himself not fit to be shinobi after realising he had plotted against the Third. Jiraiya could almost see Kakashi leaving the village if not for Hiruzen's faith in the young Hatake.

If Danzo was Lord Fifth...

Jiraiya didn't want to think about what would happen to Konoha's greatest ninja.

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Author's Note

Filler...sorry. BTW, thank you guys so much for reading up to here and for all these views! Man, I feel like I've done a lot, and it hasn't even been like a full month yet! I'm so excited to see where this book goes, so stick around to see how I write what happens next.

Please vote and comment!

~ Magica2007