Successor

Naruto slowly regained consciousness. The moment he opened his eyes, he was blinded by the brightness, and his hand instinctively rose to shield them. As he gradually adjusted to the light, he looked up and saw the ceiling. He sniffed and caught the scent of disinfectant.

"Great... I'm in the hospital," Naruto muttered to himself. He tried to sit up, but felt a weight on his chest. Looking down, he saw a mass of deep-blue hair. Hinata was curled up on top of him, her head resting on his chest, drool still running from her mouth.

He chuckled softly and gently shook Hinata, trying to wake her.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around, only to find Naruto staring at her.

"So comfy." Hinata buried her face in his chest.

"How long have you been here?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't want to sleep alone, so... I sneaked into the hospital at night so I could sleep while hugging you." Hinata blushed slightly, and Naruto chuckled.

"How is everyone?"

"Everyone we know is fine, but there were casualties among the others." Hinata explained, lowering her gaze.

"I see," Naruto said. He gently took her chin and softly kissed her lips. Naruto leaned against the wall while Hinata straddled him, her arms around his neck.

"Oh yeah... this is the good stuff. Naruto tries to comfort his beloved through a passionate kiss, his hands feeling her soft skin. A moment later, his hands begin to slide downward..." Jiraiya said loudly as he scribbled frantically in his notebook.

"This kid will be even more impressive than his father someday," Jiraiya said as he wrote, a drop of blood falling from his nose.

"What are you doing?" Jiraiya looked up and saw Hinata wearing a very sweet yet perfectly polite smile.

"Have mercy..." Jiraiya begged.

"In your dreams," Hinata said, her Byakugan flashing.

"Secret Technique - Thousand Years of Death." Hinata reinforced her fingers with chakra and thrust them straight into Jiraiya's butt, sending him flying into Naruto's room and crashing into the wall.

Naruto watched his grandmaster fly into his room. Jiraiya slammed into the wall and fell to the floor, weeping loudly as smoke rose from his butt.

Hinata walked toward him, and he shrank back in fear. She quickly found his notebook, tossed it into the air, and reduced it to ashes with a small Fire Release technique. Kurenai Yuhi had taught her this particular Fire Release technique, and she had burned every copy of Make-Out Paradise she could find.

"No, no, no, no!" Jiraiya cried as he watched his precious work turn to ashes.

Naruto merely chuckled as he watched his grandmaster's ridiculous antics. Jiraiya was now standing, rubbing his butt.

"How are you, kid?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm fine. I just ran out of chakra," Naruto replied.

"Okay, okay," Jiraiya said, lowering his head in shame.

"Did you see my war fan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I have it here." Jiraiya took out a scroll from behind him and unsealed Naruto's war fan.

"Just picking this thing up drained a fifth of my chakra. How do you use it?" Jiraiya asked in confusion as he placed the war fan beside Naruto's bed.

"That war fan was made by the Sage of Six Paths. Only his descendants can use it without suffering a massive chakra drain," Naruto explained. Jiraiya nodded. "There are only two people left in this world who can use these weapons... my grandmother and me."

"Oh, Sarutobi told me to bring you two to his office once you woke up," Jiraiya said.

## Hokage Building ##

They arrived at the Hokage Building and walked through the doors, only to see the old Hokage giggling like a madman with blood running from his nose while several Shadow Clones handled his paperwork.

Hinata suddenly rushed over, snatched the Hokage's little yellow book, and destroyed it with the same Fire Release technique.

"Are all men like this?" Hinata demanded loudly. The Hokage sighed.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" the Hokage asked.

"I'm great," Naruto answered.

"Now, let's talk business." The Hokage sat behind his desk.

"Did you get the scroll I brought? I sealed Gaara and the others inside it," Naruto said.

"Yes, they are waiting for negotiations with the Sand Village," the Hokage explained.

"What did the Sand Village say?" Jiraiya asked.

"It is up to their council now. Since the Kazekage died during the invasion, they suffered a very heavy blow," the Hokage explained.

"What demands did the council make?" Naruto asked.

"Economic reparations for Konoha, and we get to keep Gaara and the others," the Hokage said. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Now they would have two tailed beasts, just like the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village.

"We should repair Gaara's seal," Naruto said. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"We can discuss that later, but I have other concerns right now." The Hokage took out a file and handed it to Naruto.

"What is this?"

"A report on Sasuke Uchiha's performance during the invasion," the Hokage explained.

Invasion Report:

Name: Sasuke Uchiha

Team Affiliation: Team Seven, led by Kakashi

Rank: Genin

Assigned Team: Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno

Description: Sasuke demonstrated a high level of skill and responsibility. He took charge of a genin team, provided crucial assistance in evacuating civilians, and defeated several chunin from the Sand Village and Hidden Sound Village.

Recommendation: Promotion to chunin.

"Then what?" Naruto asked, somewhat confused.

"I want to hear your and Hinata's opinions," the Hokage explained.

"Why us?" Naruto asked.

"You are his friends. You know him better than anyone," the Hokage said.

Naruto sighed.

"Sasuke is strong enough to become a chunin. But if he gets promoted, he may become even more arrogant. On the other hand, not promoting him will only make him angrier, because he'll think the village is holding him back. With the power Orochimaru offers, he might run away."

"What do you think, Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"I agree with you. He's too focused on revenge. Promoting him and giving him a strong mentor would solve those problems."

"Well, I'm too old, and this invasion proved it. I'm not as strong as I used to be, and I can't lead this village anymore, so I chose a successor," the Hokage explained.

"Are you giving the hat to this old pervert?" Naruto asked casually. Jiraiya smacked him on the head.

"I'm not an old pervert... I'm a super old pervert," Jiraiya said.

The Hokage coughed, interrupting them.

"I could have asked him, but he would refuse," the Hokage said. Jiraiya nodded.

"I asked Jiraiya to bring you here because..."

"You want me to become Hokage?" Naruto asked with an incredulous expression.