Naruto:Making Of A Hokage

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To say Naruto was uneasy would be an understatement. Words could not describe the level of nervousness and grim acceptance with which he traveled back home. While his wounds were mostly healed save for the pain in his abdomen and the lingering soreness on his arm, the sense of foreboding made him visually sick.

The gate stood tall in the distance in an almost threatening manner. It was strange how before the gates had been so welcoming, they stirred up feeling of happiness and positive memories. Now they only served to count down the time until he had to face everyone and explain how it was that Neji and Kiba died.

Back then, during their death, he had been occupied with ensuring the mission went smoothly. No one in their right mind would blame him for their deaths, but it did little to ease his sense of guilt, however irrational it may be. The quick drum of his heartbeat rang on his ears to an almost deafening level as he swallowed a lump in his throat and realized, not for the first time, that the feeling of guilt was there to stay.

There was no rational way for him to calm down, he had pointed out several reasons that prevented him from being there when his teammates died to himself but they served no purpose. No one would put the blame on him, he knew it for a fact, but the fear was still there. The same fear he had felt many years ago back when he was all alone and hated by the village. A fear of being an outcast.

A stray thought suddenly passed through his mind, 'What if everyone hates me when they find out?'

All the color drained from his face and his steps slowed down considerably. Jiraiya, Tayuya, and the clone carrying an unconscious Lee continued to walk without having noticed him slowing down.

"Stop being a coward and move... Stop acting like such an idiot," he growled at himself as he picked up the pace, the gates of Konoha getting closer and closer with every passing second.

After traveling together for three years Jiraiya had gotten to know Naruto very well. From his usual quirks and mannerisms to small involuntary twitches on his hands whenever he lied. A good master should pick these things up in order to know what worked with the student and what didn't. Usually it never went beyond offering advice on jutsu or taijutsu but the Toad Sage didn't believe a master should just teach how to fight but offer all of his experiences and advice.

Yes, he knew Naruto like the back of his hand.

That's why, while not surprised, he was deeply concerned about his student's current behavior. Konoha was only mere minutes away now, he could already see the ninja on the gate and the villagers walking on the streets, which was probably the cause for Naruto's somber attitude.

To be honest, Jiraiya had never seen this behavior even when the two of them had witnessed some harsh scenes during their travels. From a family losing a loved one, to a group of mercenaries slaughtering dozens of people. But not once had Naruto looked so defeated. His shoulders were slumped, he dragged his feet, and his clouded blue eyes showed no hint of the spark that was usually there. It was the same look he had seen he had seen on the faces of various ninja during the war.

But the thing that worried him the most was the Kyuubi's seal.

The seal had changed once again. Whatever the old Uzumaki had done to it the first time had made it look painfully sloppy to the point where he thought that it may have been a rush job. Now he knew that the old man had had something in mind when changing the seal, it was obvious by the fact that it changed into something much more clean. Minato's seal was back to its normal self but had various markings around it, the seal looked simple yet odd at the same time.