Konoha, January 1, 63
It was still gray in the morning.
The closer it got to noon, the brighter it became.
Konoha, the Land of Fire, the New Naruto Building.
Today was the New Year, but there was no festive atmosphere. The new Naruto's inauguration ceremony sounded like it would be very lively.
But in fact,
In Konoha,
Except for the wedding ceremony, all the ceremonies were solemn.
Hatake Kakashi stood under the bright lights and took the Naruto hat from the third generation Naruto.
He put it on the podium. Then he took the Naruto cloak from the teacher and put it on carefully. The white cloak fluttered in the breeze.
Kakashi could imagine the red flames dancing under the cloak's feet.
Like his heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump.
It wasn't the first time Kakashi wore the Naruto cloak. He stole the teacher's cloak when no one was around. A few days ago, he asked the tailor to change the size.
Yesterday, during the rehearsals,
This morning, the General Staff Department specially designed where the wind blew from. In theory, he had already lost interest in the Naruto cloak.
You shouldn't be nervous when you're used to it.
But when it came to this,
Kakashi was still nervous. He felt that his breathing was rapid.
His brain was congested.
The capillaries on his fingertips were about to burst.
He could imagine that his ears were red.
"Kakashi,
Do your best. "
But fortunately, his ears were still working.
He could hear the whole of Konoha cheering for him. He could hear the teacher encouraging him. He thought that the teacher would pat him on the shoulder as rehearsed, but the teacher suddenly grabbed his right hand and raised it above his head … Maybe a few minutes passed, or maybe only a few seconds. Kakashi didn't know if the teacher noticed his stiffness, or if he was worried about what would happen if his unlucky disciple screwed up. He didn't even know how he stepped forward, how he stood in front of the microphone, how he faced the camera, and how he spoke to the world for the first time as the fifth generation of Konoha, Naruto.
Or, not the whole world.
Newspapers cost half a dollar, radios cost close to a thousand, and televisions cost thousands to tens of thousands. For a ninja, even the most expensive TV was not too expensive. In Konoha, apart from the old folks who couldn't accept new things, the big families who stuck to the old rules, and the busy Naruto, had already started a life of watching TV and playing games on the sofa after dinner every day. But Konoha wasn't the only one with real life.
Children born in peacetime, especially those who had never left the walls of Konoha, had a hard time understanding the destruction of land and population caused by war. It wasn't until they had been out in the field many times that they could occasionally peek into the real world. After all, most places that need ninjas to do missions can afford the high task fee.
In short, the Third Shinobi World War ended fifteen years ago. In the past fifteen years, there had only been small-scale conflicts and bandit raids. But according to the statistics of National capital officials, it wasn't until the end of last year that no one in the Land of Fire froze or starved to death due to lack of food and clothing.
And this was in the Land of Fire where the land was fertile and the climate was suitable. And this was after Sensei led Konoha to take over the Land of Fire for eight years. Really, Naruto probably couldn't imagine that the majestic Golden Flash and his companions had to fight with ninjas from other villages in order to bring back a few carts of food and medicine for Konoha.
The leader of the Four Generations of Konoha, Naruto, may have lived a life that everyone hated the most. In places where the Anbu of Konoha couldn't monitor, he was cursed for being dirty, cunning, insidious, cruel, cold-blooded, hypocritical … But Kakashi felt that Sensei probably didn't care about such trivial things.
As Sensei said, Naruto was no longer responsible for receiving missions, distributing missions, and leading the whole village to fight. He was now the military and political leader of the Land of Fire.
If it was said that Konoha had some scruples when he was young, but now it was Konoha's own child who was the leader — the Fifth Generation Naruto, Hatake Kakashi. No matter how unreliable he was, how much he liked to watch "Intimate Paradise", how much he liked to spray hair gel and pick his ears, in fact, what he needed to do was to be the leader of the Land of Fire.
There was a lot of pressure.
Sensei had been emphasizing to him that before becoming Naruto, Golden Flash was just a vanguard, but in the end, he still did a great job. The Anbu Great Demon King, from being a candidate for Naruto to becoming Naruto, took a full year to adapt.
Kakashi said that he wouldn't be as stupid as Sensei, who only knew the pain after bumping into bumps all over his body. But it wasn't abnormal for the new Naruto to make a few mistakes, right? For example, during the inaugural speech, he forgot his lines because he was thinking too much, he couldn't speak clearly because he forgot his lines, and he couldn't follow the background music because he couldn't speak clearly because he couldn't follow the background music …
But if he really did make a mistake, Kakashi wasn't nervous. He thanked his chief of staff, Genma. After the last rehearsal mistake yesterday, he finally thought that if he couldn't do it, he could let him wear a mask and lip-sync to the recording. It wasn't much more difficult than lip-syncing a concert star. He thanked his father for giving him a mask when he was growing his teeth as a child so that he could go to school obediently!
"Thank you for your hard work, Fifth Generation Leader."
"Everyone, work hard." Kakashi jumped off the stage amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of people, leaving the audience with the handsome back of "Fifth Generation Leader Naruto", and ended his performance.
"Very handsome, Fifth Generation Leader."
"Thank you." The ninjas and representatives on the square on the first floor of the Naruto Tower began to leave one by one. The ordinary Konoha citizens gathered outside the Naruto Tower could finally celebrate the New Year in peace.
"Konoha is safe and sound, Fifth Generation Leader."
"Uh, Sensei, to cause trouble while almost everyone in Konoha is here, that person is either suicidal or crazy." After that was the meeting of Konoha's higher-ups. Kakashi decided to take a breather backstage before the meeting. But when he saw the soft high-back sofa and Fatty Big Sea in Asuma's hands, he didn't dare to relax for even a second. Because in addition to hearing Sensei speak to him respectfully, he also saw the former Naruto of Konoha saluting him!
Watergate approached Kakashi and saluted him again. "All of Konoha's bases are safe and sound, Fifth Generation Leader."
"Sensei, what are you doing?" Kakashi suddenly trembled, but still stood still. "Don't be like this, don't joke like this. You know, I … "
"In any case, you won't be obedient." Genma pushed the door open and came in, followed by Shisui and Momochi Zaichi. "Four Generations, we're here — lip-synching, are you scolding me?"
Watergate ignored the grinning Genma and the suspicious Shisui and Momochi Zaichi. He motioned for the expressionless Asuma to close the door. "Kakashi, you did well just now. Stand properly during the meeting later. Don't show any fear."
"Okay, okay, okay, I won't show any fear." Kakashi saw that Genma was still secretly laughing and felt a little awkward. He wanted to squat on the ground like he always did, raise his face and give Sensei an innocent look, and then say something witty to gloss things over. For example, if I don't show any fear, I'll just leak air, okay?
But a few minutes ago, he was still acting like Naruto. It was too awkward to change his expression immediately.
Watergate was very satisfied with Kakashi's serious look. He pushed away the iron folder Genma secretly handed to him, and also refused the chair Shisui silently brought over. He crossed his arms and continued to look at Kakashi.
This time, Kakashi persisted for a long time before he turned his head away. "Why should I let you speak to me respectfully? Why should I let you salute me?"
"Why? Because you're the current Naruto of Konoha. "Watergate understood Kakashi's meaning, just like how the child couldn't bear to see him kneel to the king.
"In all these years, I've never heard Sandaime speak to you with any respect." Kakashi didn't have anything to pretend with in the room full of his own people. "Since when has a senior bowed to a junior? Konoha doesn't have such a rule."
"From today onwards, there will be." Watergate glanced at Genma and Shisui, who also understood the awkwardness. "Shikaku, Hiroyuki, Fugaku, and Hinata and I aren't as close as Zhiwei and Dingzhuo. We've known each other since childhood and fought side by side. When I became Naruto, they were promoted almost at the same time. They're all young people, and they've often discussed the need for changes in Konoha. They should've been my supporters. But later, they leaned towards the conservative Sandaime. Why do you think? "
"…" Kakashi didn't know how to answer. Should he just say, "Sensei, you're weak?"
Watergate didn't expect Kakashi to answer. "At the high-level meeting after the inauguration ceremony, everyone collectively declared their loyalty to the new Naruto, but Sandaime didn't get up from his seat. I didn't think anything was wrong. If Sandaime had stood up, I would've been even more embarrassed than you were.
。 But later, when I fell out with Sandaime at National capital, I gradually realized the problem. I was just being tough with Sandaime for once, and Fugaku and the others turned to support me. Why? "
"…" Kakashi wanted to say that the winner takes all, but he was afraid of answering wrong.
"Indeed, Sandaime never said that I was a marionette placed in front of the stage. He even encouraged and educated me, but he really did it." Watergate sighed. "At the first high-level meeting of the Four Generations, Naruto, without me noticing, he announced to everyone in Konoha that Bo Fung Watergate wasn't ready to truly become Naruto."
"…"
"A naive and childish Four Generations, and Sandaime, who has made some mistakes but is wholeheartedly devoted to the public. I also choose Sandaime."
"…"
"Modesty is a virtue. Respecting the old and loving the young is also a virtue. But Naruto doesn't need it." Watergate glanced at Asuma, Genma, Shisui, and Zabuza again. "Some people will say that I can't blame anyone. It's because I wasn't prepared. But being prepared really means that you're familiar with all kinds of little tricks. You're good at dealing with human affairs. How can you still smile when you're scheming against someone in your heart?! "
"…"
"If I had received support as soon as I took office, and everyone was united, the result would've been better than now."
"…"
"Do you understand?"
Genma, Asuma, Zabuza, and Shisui looked at each other and shook their heads. Then, they lined up in a row and faced Kakashi, who was also shaking his head. They bowed 45 degrees and said in unison, "Hello, Fifth Daime-sama. Is Fifth Daime-sama late today?"
"Ah, I accidentally got lost on the road of life again." Kakashi finally squatted down and laughed.
"…"
"… You guys." Watergate wanted to lose his temper, but he couldn't. "The three of them are fine. Zabuza, why are you joining in the fun?"
"Because he doesn't have eyebrows." Sarutobi and Asuma still didn't like the work in Naruto's office, but work also depended on who they were with.
"By the way, Zabuza, I haven't asked you before. Were you born without eyebrows or did you shave them?" Genma peeked at Watergate and asked. He was really curious.
"I shave them." Shisui didn't dare to look at Naruto and directly answered, "I saw him shave his eyebrows when he was shaving in the locker room of the Black Ops."
"But why did he shave his eyebrows?" Asuma stroked his beard. "I, Eero, no, Kazekage, don't seem to have eyebrows either."
"I, Eero, probably because of Ichibi? Not necessarily. " Kakashi didn't dare to look at his teacher, but it was really exciting to do bad things under his teacher's nose. "I'll ask Eero later. Hey, Zabuza, you still haven't told me why you shave your eyebrows."
"My eyebrows don't look good."
"Isn't it to become stronger?"
"…"
"Okay, let's go to the meeting." Bo Fung Watergate took a deep breath. He felt that he should take out a quick-acting heart pill first. It was hard to say who was more difficult to deal with between the naughty boys and Tsunade. "Anyway, my family is troublesome … Forget it, you guys take care of each other for the rest of your lives."
"Of course, of course." Kakashi carefully patted Watergate's shoulder.
"Relax." Genma pulled Watergate's sleeve. "Don't look so sad after retirement. I haven't heard you tell a cold joke in a long time."
"Cold joke? When I think of Metke sitting in the conference room, I … "Watergate rubbed his forehead.
"Yamato is actually not an honest child." Shisui added.
"Uchiha Itachi is the big problem." Zabuza silently complained.
"It's okay, they're all field agents." Asuma hurriedly comforted the Four Generations, who gasped. Zabuza had a heart condition, so he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. But smiling more is definitely better than frowning all the time. At least it's good for everyone's health.
Asuma observed them all the way. When he saw them come out of the backstage, the atmosphere in the Naruto building seemed to lighten up.
Except for the old man.
Sarutobi looked at his youngest son from afar with a straight face. It wasn't until Asuma entered the conference room with everyone that he smiled.
"You're not going to the meeting." Mito Pyloritis leaned on the railing of the stairs and chewed Oden. "Where's Xiaochun?"
"She went home for lunch." Sarutobi carried a flowerpot downstairs. "I'm also going home for lunch. Aren't you coming?"
"I'm waiting for my son. He has 20 minutes to change shifts." Mito Pyloritis nodded. "Hey, are you still going to the Ninja Academy after the New Year?"
"No, Watergate has been eyeing the position of the honorary principal of the Ninja Academy for a long time." Sarutobi also nodded. "When he was still the principal, I didn't let him work part-time. Now that he's gone, we can't have two principals."
"That's true." Mito Pyloritis watched old Naruto walk away, and then continued to enjoy the wonderful replays on the big screen in the square. Kakashi, as the absolute protagonist, never showed off his ability. Bo Fung Watergate was a lot dimmer, and Sarutobi was even less colorful. The camera either flashed past or half of his old face was blocked by the flowerpot.
"Times have changed after all." When the first and second generations taught them how to fight, who would have thought that in just a few decades, they would no longer use soap to wash clothes and use washing machines. They could take the elevator when they couldn't walk upstairs. They could even turn on the air conditioner when they couldn't stand the hot weather. They didn't even need to put nails out to control public opinion. Also, medical scrolls, pills, and anything else could be produced by machines instead of people.
This was technology, something that Orochimaru would rather study. Orochimaru didn't only study the Art of Immortality. "Jiraiya, why are you alone? Where's Orochimaru?"
"He's in a meeting." In the leisure level, Jiraiya was eating lunch. He added two thick pieces of roast beef and a small bottle of sake to the classic fried noodles in the cafeteria.
"What a sumptuous meal." Mito Pyloritis threw away the oden skewer. "Why don't you go in with us?"
"There's no place for me. I'm not considered a senior." Jiraiya took a big bite of the roast meat. "And I don't know what to talk about sitting there. I might as well eat and wait for Naruto. Let me tell you, Naruto has started dating Hinata's girl."
"Haha, it's nothing new." Mito Pyloritis pushed up his glasses. "It'll be news when you and Tsunade go on a date."
Jiraiya put down his chopsticks, put his chin on the table, and pointed. "Look, it's time to change shifts."
Konoha, January 1, 63, 1: 00 p.m.
Special handover time on a special day.
"Sasuke, do you want to eat together?"
"I'll go home and tell my mom first. Otherwise, she'll keep waiting."
"Okay." Naruto waved at Sasuke. Without passing by Jiraiya downstairs, he jumped out of the skylight with Aromatic Phosphorus and Hozuki Shuiyue. Today was New Year's Day. Thanks to the fact that it was noon in Kakashi, there were very few people who actually made lunch. So, whether it was the cafeteria or Ichinoku, if they didn't hurry, they would have to wait.
Sasuke also went home without hesitation. He and Naruto had been doing diplomatic missions together for the past few days. He felt that he wasn't suitable for such things, but having a fixed team was better than nothing. "Mom, mom, brother is still in a meeting. He won't be back for lunch. I have a party with Naruto. Mom? Mother? Aren't you home? "
Doubts and questions, familiar and unfamiliar
…
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