3.PANIC IN THE COUNCIL

KONOHAGAKURE,

HOKAGE TOWER,

AFTERNOON...

The Third Hokage was very busy battling his mortal enemy 'The paperwork', trying to finish it as soon as possible because tonight, he had planned to congratulate Naruto and take him to Ichiraku's Ramen to celebrate his succesful enrollment in the shinobi academy in the morning.

He was evaluating the reports on Iwagakure's recent movements in the northern borders of Land of Fire when he was interrupted.

"Knock! Knock!"

The Hokage sighed  and said, "Enter!".

A chunin came in and handed over a document/missive. The Hokage took it and motioned for the chunin to sit down while he opened and analysed it.

He had a feeling that the council is going to make a fuss over the enrollment of Naruto in the shinobi academy, sooner or later.

He had thought that they are going to raise this issue in the next monthly council meeting but what he didn't expected was that they will raise this issue so soon, infact right after Naruto's enrollment in academy in the morning.

They have called for an emergency council meeting, which can be assembled only on the Hokage's order, on top of that, they have the gall to demand a meeting from him, the Hokage of all people. It looks like he had become too soft on them for far too long and it had made them forgot that konohagakure is a military dictatorship, not a democracy, with the Hokage as it's absolute authority and they, the council are APPOINTED by the H.O.K.A.G.E to help him/her in steadily governing the village, not the other way around. And tonight, he is going to remind them of their place in this village, in his village. So he agreed and gave it back to the chunin, who took it and left the Hokage chamber, leaving the aged Hokage to his own thoughts.

NARUTO UZUMAKI,

SIX YEARS OLD,

APARTMENT OF NARUTO,

EVENING.....

The sun has just starting to set, blanketing the sky of konohagakure in a beautiful hue of oranges and yellows.

People were slowly lighting the lights of their shops and houses causing the streets of the village to buzz anew, merchants were getting there shops ready for customers and parents are making preparations for dinner for their children. Like always it was a normal evening.

But to Naruto, it was his happiest, why you ask, because today he has taken his first step towards fulfilling his dream of becoming the Hokage and earning Konohagakure's acknowledgment.

He had practiced the whole time with the shinobi gears for the last five hours, since it was given to him in the morning by the white-haired academy instructor, not to mention with a smile.

So he was very sweaty and hungry.

After coming back to home, he took a quick shower and then decided to visit Ichiraku's Ramen to celebrate his accomplishments and sated his hunger, but he has been stuck for quite some time, unable to choose between pork ramen or miso ramen, when a sound jerked him awake from his musing.

"Knock! Knock!"

"Huh...! Who could it be who decided to came to my house this late in the evening?", he thought naturally, since no one likes to visit him for some reason except Hokage jiji who at this time of hour is generally busy dealing with that stupid paperwork. He still had no idea why Hokage jiji didn't just make someone else do it. Afterall, he is the incharge of the whole village and everyone loved, admired and respected him. So, it goes without saying that one would think that people would lineup with the files to fill out the Hokage's paperwork for him. At least they would when he becomes the Hokage.

"Coming!" answered Naruto and opened the door.

He was surprised by the unexpected arrival of the Third Hokage so he exclaimed,"Jijiji! What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you happy to see me?" said the Third Hokage with a hurt look.

Horrifying Naruto replied, " No... No... I am very happy... just surprised... that's all... so?"

"So?" questioned Hiruzen.

"Agrr...You know what I mean." said Naruto.

"I came to pick you up to go to Ichiraku's Ramen to celebrate your enrollment in the shinobi academy, afterall, isn't it a duty of the predecessor to celebrate the success of his successor?" said Hiruzen.

"You bet!" exclaimed Naruto with over enthusiasm.

They then visited Ichiraku's Ramen and Naruto ordered six bowls of miso and pork ramen giving a significant dent to Hiruzen's wallet. They were in the middle of conversation when an anbu arrived to inform him of commencement of the council meeting which he ignored.

THREE HOURS LATER....

After saying goodbye to each other, Hiruzen and Naruto then departed towards his home and as soon as the Hokage reached his quarter, he was fast asleep ignoring the council meeting and those who were waiting for him for the past three hours there, altogether, leaving the messanger Anbu Deer from the council dumbfounded and confused. The bewildered Anbu could only think of one thing, "What the fuck?!"

MEETING HALL,

COUNCIL CHAMBERS.....

The Leaf Council is made up of four parts, namely, The Shinobi Council, The Civilian Council and The Go-Ikenban and The Hokage of the Village.

The Shinobi Council consisted of the ninjas who ran Konoha; the Head of the prominent clans, the ANBU commander, the Chief Medical Officer, the Intelligence Director, the Internal Security Chief, the Communications Chief, the Torture & Interrogation Division Head, the Ninja Academy Headmaster, and the so forth. They generally gave advise and give their opinions to the Hokage on matters pertaining to the running of the village's military forces and dealing with the threats to the village.

The Civilian Council consisted of the prominent civilians, wealthy merchants, business personalities, Masters of the various guilds, heads of several institutions like Orphanages, NGOs, Civilian's rights, etc; politicians from Fire Council and so on, with the Civilian Council Head appointed directly by the Hokage of the village. The Civilian council generally had sway over all of the non-military related issues, like Economy, Trade, Agriculture, and local administration, etc; and by Law, the Civilian Council was not allowed to interfere in the military matters, but in recent times they had trespassed their authority and has started poking around the military matters, violating all laws.

Why because the Third Hokage, after the death of the Fourth Hokage, had handed over the reigns of general administration of the village to this council, as the Shinobi Council and the Go-Ikenban was up to its neck in its efforts to maintain the safety of their village and deal with their enemies.

And by the time the Third Hokage and the Shinobi Council had managed to ensure Konoha's safety from foreign threats, the Civilian Council had managed to firmly established itself into the military infrastructure of the village with the help and support of the Go-Ikenban. The Go-Ikenban did this because it gave them a greater hold and more influence in the decisions concerning the village. And the Hokage had found it difficult to dislodge them from this position lest he risk internal discord and civil unrest within the villagers which would have been disastrous for Konohagakure in those difficult times. Since then, the Civilian Council has become a thorn for the Konohagakure hierarchy and a headache for his mind.

The Go-Ikenban consists of the three elders of the village, Homura Mitokado, Utatane Koharu, and Danzo Shimura. It exists to help the Hokage govern the village and to make sure all decisions are made with the best interest of Konoha and its inhabitants in mind. They have decades' worth of experience and knowledge and hold a social position similar to that of the Hokage. They exert great influence over the governing of Konoha and have garnered wide support from the village's shinobi and are regarded with the same respect as that of the Hokage. It was up to them to nominate a new Hokage, if the previous one died.

Although as the Hokage, he had always had the final say in the matter, the councillors are there to give their opinions and advice, thus making sure the decisions made are fair and take into account all possibilities and viewpoints with the village's best interests kept in mind.

But recently, the civilian council, too accustomed to his gentle diplomatic maneuvers has starting crossing their boundaries. And tonight, he is going to teach them a lesson to remind them that they were subservient to the Hokage's power and the Hokage's will is absolute in this village.

For the past three hours, the council has been in wait for the Hokage's arrival to commence the emergency meeting and they're getting more and more anxious, irritated and also a little worried with each passing second since it was unnatural for their Hokage to be this late. They could have understood if it would have been Kakashi Hatake, the Anbu captain, but they didn't expected this from the one who is known as 'The Professor of Konohagakure' throughout the Shinobi World.

And much to their ire, the messenger Anbu they have sent to fetch the Hokage two hours ago hasn't also responded.

"Do you think something happened to Lord Hokage?" said one of the Civilian Council member in concern.

Just when someone was going to retort the councillor's question, the doors of the Council Chambers are flung wide open by the messenger Anbu Deer.

The councillors hasn't expected Deer to return without their Hokage.

"Where is Lord Hokage, Deer?" questioned one of the civilian councillor.

"Uhmmm..." the Anbu started and scratched his head sheepishly before continuing,"Lord Hokage is fast asleep in his quarter."

As they heard Deer's answer, the councillors too found themselves dumbfounded and confused.

"Repeat yourself," the Civilian Council Head, the one who organised this emergency council meeting snapped at Deer, who seemed distinctly uncomfortable at being put on the spotlight.

"Lord Hokage is fast asleep in his quarter and I have no idea as to how this situation came to be. He didn't sent any response at all and completely ignored my very existence as well as the Council meeting, entirely." replied Deer.

The councillors murmured between themselves unable to find any significant reasons for the unnatural behaviour of Hokage, even two of the Go-Ikenban found themselves staggered at Hokage's behaviour. All, except two people understood the message behind this, namely Danzo Shimura and Shikaku Nara.

"Troublesome!" said you-know-who.

"Huh! Did you figured something out Shikaku?" said a very confused Inoichi Yamanaka, knowing very well that if anyone could find something out, its going to be his friend.

"Yes! Lord Hokage simply gave a message to us, especially the Civilian Council to remind them and us of our place in this village according to it's Laws. In recent days some of us has started crossing our boundaries and violating these laws, like this time. We all are aware that the only one who has the authority to commence an unscheduled emergency council meeting in this village is Lord Hokage himself. But it was the Civilian Council Head who organised this meeting, not Lord Hokage, brazenly violating all the Laws of Konohagakure. And as per those Laws, this gathering is illegal and we should have ignored this meeting altogether but we didn't. So Lord Third taught us a lesson." finished Shikaku.

"Hmmm.... I see." said Inoichi.

"Shikaku sama, so what is going to happen to me?" asked a very concerned Civilian Council Head.

"By Laws you will be trialled and then punished and probably removed from this Council." replied Shikaku.

"What.... but-t.... but....there must be some other way." said the Civilian Council Head in panic.

"I don't know, you aren't the only one who will face trial since we all attended this illegal gathering...."he trailed off.

Horrifying realisation dawned upon the attendents of the meeting hall and they immediately adjourned the meeting not wanting to degrade their position any further then they already have.

KONOHAGAKURE,

NEXT DAY.....

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M LATE! I SLEPT IN TODAY OF ALL DAYS!" An spiky haired blond with deep blue eyes ran through the streets in a blur. He was running fast enough to put a bullet train to shame. He wore white shorts with blue stripes and a black t-shirt that had a red spiral in the centre with blue sandals.

"Gotta get there, gotta hurry." He said to himself. He saw a long, five-story tan building in the distance. As he neared the building, large metallic letters that shone silvery-white were visible along the long stone wall. Rows of windows were both above and below it. It read 'The Konoha Shinobi Academy'. He ran through the building towards his class room. Class 1/A, Room no 109.

Today was his first day attending the shinobi academy. "I can't wait! I'm gonna learn all those awesome jutsus like Hokage jiji, then I'll kick his ass and become Hokage myself!" He thought to himself.

After crossing a few blocks, Naruto was facing the double doors of the his classroom. Naruto smiled, the room was straight across from him, a few blocks away from the entrance.

Coincidentally, Naruto pulled open the door as soon as his name was called for attendance, to see the class already full with kids and three teachers, one of which seemed to be taking attendence, "Uzuma-"

"PRESENT!" he loudly busted in the dark blue, heavy, surprisingly thin, wood door. The teacher cleared his throat. "Glad you decided to come today, why don't you take a seat over there?" Pointing to an empty seat by the window in the second row, the instructor said annoyed, which Naruto noted. Naruto nodded, trying to catch his breath as he dragged himself over to the desk.

Once seated the boy looked over the teacher. He wore the chuunin shinobi vest over a tan shirt and black pants. He had black hair and brown eyes. And Naruto knew that the instructor doesn't like him that's why he is annoyed with him. "Why can't Hokage jiji just appointed me to the class of that white-haired academy instructor(Mizuki) who had smiled at him during the shinobi gear distribution. He was so nice to me." thought Naruto.

((((((A/N: Frankly speaking the only reason I could think of why Mizuki, despite being under the suspicion of Treason for murdering his own comrade to complete the mission, was given to teach a class full of clan heirs and village jinchuriki with Iruka was because Naruto probably requested it, deceived by Mizuki's smiling face. Otherwise, I don't see any reasons for the Hokage in giving someone like Mizuki the task of teaching the class of the next generation of clan heirs and village jinchuriki.))))

"Alright, as I said before, you all can call me Sato-sensei. You all know that you're here to learn the basics of the shinobi arts; in other words your foundation in becoming a strong shinobi. So make sure you do your best here, so that you can excel as a legendary shinobi." He said scanning the class of little kids. "Lets begin by introducing ourselves." He smiled as about most of the class perked up at that. "I'll call you out one by one." He said.

Sato looked to the blond at the corner of the classroom by the window, annoyed and said, "We'll start with you."

The boy in question smiled largely finding himself at the centre of attention. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. My hobby is training, I like to train with my new shinobi gears, and I'm gonna become the next Hokage!" He said energetically, at which the whole class gazed at him stunningly at his bold declaration thinking that he must be pretty good.

"NEXT! Hinata Hugya!" He looked to a girl behind him. She had dark blue, almost black hair, pearly white eyes that shone lavender in just the right light, and a thick white coat with black shorts on. She flushed red at the attention. "I-I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuuga, I like t-t-to d-draw and collect f-flowers, a-and I w-wanted to b-become a st-strong h-heiress of my c-clan." She stuttered out, looking redder than a tomato.

"NEXT! Sasuke Uchiha!" He motioned to the person below Naruto in the first row. It was a dark blue almost black haired boy, whose hair looked like a duck-butt. He had black eyes, and a blue shirt with the Uchiha crest at it's back that covered his neck with white shorts. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My hobby is training. I dream on becoming as strong as my big brother Itachi, and earn the recognition of my father and clan."

Sato nodded. 

"Good to see he's following an excellent roll model. I hope he too is like Itachi. Konohagakure needs strong shinobi just like his brother to thrive again, since the Nine-Tails attack." he thought and then looked at Naruto with hate.

"NEXT! Shiro Takatora!" He looked to the boy in the second row, right next to Naruto. His dark-brown hair fell over his black eyes, and reached his shoulders. He wore a black t-shirt with loose, black camouflaged pants. "Well, I am Shiro Takatora, I want to become a good shinobi and support my family." He finished.

"NEXT! Ino Yamanaka!" Sato looked to the girl in the third row. She was pale blond with sky-blue eyes. She had blond hair with two clips holding the bangs. She wore a light yellow jacket jacked over a white shirt and yellow pants with black sandals. "I'm Ino Yamanaka. I like to hang out with my friend Sakura and I really like flowers of different kinds. I want to become an awesome Shinobi just like my dad." She stated. Sato nodded at her.

"NEXT! Sakura Haruno!" said Sato.

A pink haired girl next to Ino stood up suddenly, looking timid. She wore a cherry red short dress with dark-blue caprices under them. She had a pink ribbon tied around her head trying in vain to hide her big forehead. "I'm Sakura Haruno, I like to hang out with my best friend Ino, and my hobby is reading books. I want to become a good shinobi so I could help others." she said.

"NEXT! Ami Yamahiro." said Sato.

"I am Ami Yamahiro. My hobbies included trying to make new friends, papercraft...…" finished Ami.

"So far no fangirl. Good!" Sato thought with happiness because he doesn't want to deal with them. They are just a shame to the Kunoichis.

(A/N: At this point the students has just entered the academy so there are no fan girls and sasuke is just a pretty face, not the rookie of the year candidate. Nobody laughed at Naruto's decalaration of being Hokage because they didn't knew that Naruto has poor skills at this point of time and they were astonished at his boldness. Sato just didn't know that how soon a hoard of fan girls are going to emerge from his classroom, one which will make his sufferings legendary.)

From then on, all the students stood up one after another, announcing there dreams and hobbies. Sato was a little irked at how they are completely ignorant of the harsh realities of the shinobi life.

"NEXT ! Choji Akimichi!" said Sato.

He was a big boned boy in the second row closer to the wall, with light brown hair, and eyes. He had two swirls on his cheeks, and was eating a bag of potato chips. He wore a yellow shirt with a dark-green vest over it and dark-green shorts. "My name is Choji Akamichi, I like to eat, my hobby is trying different foods, I hate starvation, and I dream to become the strongest Akimichi in the world." He said eating more chips as he finished. Sato nodded.

"NEXT! Shikamaru Nara.....(no response) ...SHIKAMARU!" He yelled to the sleeping boy behind Choji who abruptly shot up looking bored and irritated with slumping shoulders and a scowl on his face. His short brown hair was in a high ponytail, which looked like a pineapple. He yawned before answering. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, I like watching clouds, I hate troublesome things, my hobby is sleeping, and my dream is to become an average shinobi and live my life peacefully." He finished, not at all displaying any type of enthusiasm.

Sato nodded. "Not something one would expect from the son of the Jounin Commander of Konohagakure but he is a Nara so I guess its not surprising, although I need to motivate him from time to time." He thought.

He motioned to the person beside Choji, skipping the girl who already introduced herself. He had short dark brown unruly hair, black goggles, and a white coat that covered half his face. "I'm Shino Aburame, my hobby is collecting and studying bugs, I like finding rare bugs. My dream is finding various new species of bug." He said.

Sato nodded. ''So gross.... those Aburame pricks.... now I have to deal with this one, an Aburame Clan heir.... just great, my luck." He thought to himself.

He gestured to the boy behind him. The boy had on a gray hoodie, short brown messy hair, and a small white dog at the top of his head. His eyes were brown and he had two red tattoo marks on his cheeks, they where in the shape of triangles.

"I am Kiba Inuzuka, and this is my partner Akamaru, right boy!" He gestured to the white dog that barked excitingly. "I like dogs and hate cats, I also hate those who mistreat dogs, and I dream to be one of the greatest shinobi in Konoha and the best dog breeder."

Sota nodded. "A bug user, a dog user, a Hyuuga, an Uchiha, an Akamichi, a Nara, and a Yamanaka all in the same class. Six of Konoha's greatest clans. This will defiantly be an interesting year." He finished, seeing no other major clan in the room, since the history of the clan that once the entire world feared so much that they banded together to just destroy them, has been completely erased from the curriculum of Konohagakure.

After a few more introductions from the remaining students in the class, Sato gave some instructions to everyone and then started the class.

"Good, now that were done with introductions, lets move onto our first lesson!" He said while turning to the board with the chalk in hand.

MEANWHILE, WITH THE HOKAGE.....

He has just finished the meeting. The councillors has apologised for violating the laws and paid a hefty sum as punishment. They had agreed to let Naruto join the academy more like he had bullied them to agreement but they had gave a condition that if Naruto is ever found unstable, he will be removed from the academy entirely.

This wouldn't have been possible if he hasn't blackmailed the Civilian Council Head in helping him convince them in his endeavour. But the fact of the matter is Naruto can become a shinobi and possibly, find some friends in the academy. He can only hope for the good, but deep down he knew that the Civilian Council is just waiting for a chance to remove him from the academy, altogether. Their hate for the Nine-Tails and by proxy, Naruto has never lessened.

And then there is also the threat of Danzo. He has managed to stop him from getting his hands on Naruto to turn him into an emotionless weapon. But he knew, from personal association of course, just how crafty his old friend could be.

Both Danzo and the Civilian Council are lurking in the shadows waiting for a chance to have their way.

So from now on, he had to tread very carefully if he doesn't want any harm done to young Naruto. He is also very excited to find out if Naruto inherited his parents' talents or not in the shinobi arts.