Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Kaen Uchiha, The Fifth Hokage, looked at his empty desk with proud eyes. Not even a speck of dust lay there, and most importantly, not a single sheet of paper. After a week of hard work, he caught up to all the work, the Third had left after passing the title of the Hokage and finished all his work. Cracking his stiff neck, Kaen stood up and looked through the window into the village, basking in the sunrise.

"Call for Anko Mitarashi," Kaen said, and an ANBU operative revealed himself from the shadows and nodded before disappearing.

The past week was calm. With Chunin exams over, the other village's members left, along with the nobles from the Land of the Fire, and Konoha returned from its festive mood to normalcy. Aside from planning out the war against Orochimaru, Kaen had only to deal with paperwork. Managing the village's budget, resources, and infrastructure was soul-sucking but not too bad.

"You called for me?" Anko came into Hokage's office faster than Kaen expected.

"You look like shit. When was the last time you slept?" Kaen asked, turning to Anko, who had bags under bags under her eyes. Her hair was messy, and her skin pale.

"I could ask you the same," Anko replied as she inspected Kaen. "If you continue like this, your black hair will soon turn grey if it hasn't already started."

"I never liked black anyway," Kaen dismissed the comment. "How is the interrogation going on with our little redhead."

"That rotten shit won't talk easily," Anko replied, clearly frustrated, but probably not at the captive, but the Orochimaru's reach over her. "I don't think we can do anything worse than Orochimaru didn't do."

"Then I will have to task Inoichi Yamanaka to deal with her."

"We don't have much time anymore?" Anko asked, finding Kaen's proposal quite hasty.

"I can only dedicate three years to this war," Kaen informed her. "You know how slimy Orochimaru is. He will undoubtedly use everything and everyone to reach his goals. We need information about the locations of his hideouts so I can create appropriate teams."

"Sorry, I wasn't much of the help," Anko said, and Kaen detected more than just frustration within her voice. "I thought I could get through to her, but she wouldn't listen to anything I had to say."

"You pushing yourself too much," I replied. "Go and rest. That order from your Hokage."

"Too bad there isn't anyone capable of ordering you," Anko sighed. "Take care of yourself, Kaen, and listen to your advice sometimes."

Kaen only smiled. He was a bit tired, but nothing he couldn't handle. But he guessed it wouldn't be bad if he slept for the whole night soon. Stretching out his sore back, Kaen found that he liked the idea of a soft bed quite a bit. But firstly, he needed to deal with one another thing. Then, he should have all the time in the world to rest as much as he wanted.

…

Sasuke Uchiha was tense. The past week since Naruto left with Jiraiya of the Sannin, he just trained his ass off. Apart from sleeping and eating, he bothered Kakashi-sensei to teach him more jutsu, and when he refused, Sasuke would practice Chidori. He consistently exceeded his limits and was glad that Sakura picked up some medical ninjutsu to heal his damaged hands after pushing himself too far.

There were no missions for him except D-rank, and he refused to weed out a yard again or, worse, catch the demon cat. Kakashi was doing whatever he was doing, leaving only Sasuke and Sakura to train by themselves. But now he was called to the Hokage office, and he was tense to see Kaen-san for the first time since he became the Hokage.

He didn't know why, but it was hard for Sasuke to decide how he should act seeing Kaen. He always respected Kaen for his strength and wisdom, even if he would never admit it, but he guessed he shouldn't be so close to him as he was the Fifth Hokage now and probably didn't have much time to waste on other matters than his duties.

He knew that his guess was correct once he saw Kaen. Beneath the sharp eyes were bags under the bags. Sasuke knew that Kaen wasn't in the right place of mind from how his clothes were wrangled, and worse, Sasuke noticed that Kaen's fingernails were longer than usual. Sasuke has never seen Kaen so deranged.

"You here," Kaen said his voice sounded more hoarse than Sasuke remembered. "Take a seat."

"What is it about?" Sasuke asked, taking a seat before the Fifth Hokage.

"Firstly, let me congratulate you on your performance in the chunin exams," Sasuke could barely tell that Kaen had a proud smile as his facial muscles barely moved. "After some consideration, it was decided that you have proven yourself to be promoted to chunin."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Sasuke didn't care for the promotion, but he guessed it would be nice.

"Not so fast," Kaen said. "You possess great prowess with ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. Your tactical and strategic thinking is quite admirable. But there are ways you must improve. Your leadership is to be desirable. Most importantly, a chunin should be reliable and responsible when fulfilling their assignments and protecting their village's interests. Can you do it?"

Sasuke didn't know what Kaen was getting into it. But he could tell that Kaen wasn't speaking as Sasuke's friend but as a Hokage. His sharp eyes pierced Sasuke like a sharp knife, but Sasuke didn't flinch at his gaze. Yet, it was hard to answer. He felt like he needed to think carefully before saying anything, and he felt unfamiliar pressure setting upon him.

"I will do my best to improve," Sasuke said after gathering his thoughts. "I am ready to take on the role of a chunin."

"Very well, then," Kaen had a crooked smile. "You can leave."

Sasuke left the Hokage's office more tense than he arrived. His initial thoughts of being a chunin disappeared, and he realized the promotion was more severe than he imagined. So, he had to take his new role seriously and not disappoint Kaen's trust in him. He felt a new kind of pressure upon his shoulders as he thought of his position as a chunin.

…

Kaen was more worried about Sasuke's mental strength than anything else. So far, he seemed fine, steadily getting stronger, but who knew what kind of effects Itachi's presence would have on Sasuke. Kaen knew well that Sasuke hid deep fear for Itachi in his heart that pushed him to get stronger, but Kaen was worried that Sasuke's fear would turn into pure hatred, and he would be lost in it.

He will have to keep an eye on Sasuke. But he couldn't keep him under his wing any longer. Sasuke needed to spread his wings and experience the real part of being a shinobi. The brutal part. So, Kaen wrote Sasuke's name in his notes. Now was time to see if the last three would be part of the team going to the Land of the Sound.

"Shino," Kaen looked at his silent student. "You probably already know why you are here. So I won't waste much of our time. You will be promoted to a chunin if you agree."

"If Hokage=sama deems that I am ready to take the promotion, I have no disagreements."

"Good, your skills are good. Your use of ninjutsu and genjutsu is above average, even among the chunin twice your age. But your taijutsu has plenty of room to improve. How is your study on fuinjutsu going?"

"Slow but steady."

"Good," Kaen smiled, satisfied with his student. "But please start improving your communication skills with other shinobi. A chunin is a leader; the most important thing for a leader is communicating with subordinates. If you understand what I mean, you can leave."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Kaen also wrote Shino's name on his notes as he left the Hokage office. Kaen wasn't worried about Shino in the sightless. The boy was more than capable of looking out for himself. Not only did he have a diverse arsenal of jutsu and tricks to use, but his tactical thinking was above most shinobi, too. He was only second to the Shikamaru in his generation.

"Neji Hyuga."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kaen rubbed his eyes slightly to clear the tiredness. He didn't even notice Neji enter his office before he stood before his desk.

"Overconfidence, lack of adaptability, teamwork, communication skills, understanding of the bigger picture," Kaen said while looking straight into Neji's eyes. "Do you know what the things I have listed mean?"

"I would guess it is the things I should improve," Neji replied, not even batting an eye at Kaen's words.

"Close, but more precisely, they are your weaknesses. You might only be below Sasuke in strength in your generation, but the things I have listed will pull you down further and further away from the rest of your generation. But your strength can't be ignored, so I am forced to promote you to chunin. But if you don't work hard to improve the things I have listed, don't even think of becoming a Jonin, as you most likely won't survive long enough."

"I will keep that in mind, Hokage-sama," Neji replied, but it was hard to tell if Neji would even try to improve himself in the manner that Kaen wanted.

Kaen nodded, and Neji left. Kaen hesitated to pick up his pen and write Neji's name in his notes, but after considering for a moment and knowing that Hyuga's skill would be helpful, he wrote it in. Neji seemed to have changed slightly from when Kaen saw him in the chunin exam. He could only hope that Neji would continue to change further.

"Shikamaru Nara," Kaen noted the last one coming to his office. "Sit."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru had a calm façade as he faced Kaen.

"You probably have already deduced why you are here, but whatever you thought was wrong."

"Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru looked at Kaen with confusion.

"I will say it only once, so listen carefully," Kaen locked his eyes with Shikamaru. "Take your promotion to be a chunin, or give up on being a shinobi."

"I don't understand," Shikamaru looked around the office, trying to figure out what was happening.

"I made sure that you would come to me last to see the three who came before you. Do you know what is the difference between them and you?"

"They are stronger than me," Shikamaru answered.

"Strength has nothing to do with. There is something they have that you lack," Kaen replied. "Obsession, Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, and Neji Hyuga have their faults but are obsessed with being the best they can be. They work tirelessly day and night to improve the smallest things about themselves. Can you tell me that you do the same?"

"No."

"That's why I am telling you to give up on being a shinobi or be a chunin and take it seriously," Kaen looked at Shikamaru as he shrank at his gaze. "One day, you will face someone strong enough to kill your friends, sensei, or family. It will be too late to regret not trying to better yourself by then. You will only be able to watch as they die before your eyes as you cannot do anything about it."

"Is that the difference between me and them?"

"More or less, they will have the confidence to face any opponent, but if you go on like you are now, you won't have it," Kaen said. "You probably have heard praises for your decision to give on the match in the chunin exam when you had an advantage. It was a thought-out decision. But would you have to give up if you trained an hour more each day, getting better at your ninjutsu and chakra control?"

"I get it," Shikamaru replied, his voice tinged with determination. "I've been too lazy, too unwilling to push myself."

"I doubt it," Kaen interrupted him. "Most shinobi don't realize it before it is too late, and their comrades had to sacrifice their lives for them. Even the most talented and powerful shinobi have lost their friends, sensei, and family. You can ask any Jonin, and they will tell you that. So, think carefully if you are ready to take the responsibility. Think if you are prepared to put everything you have into every decision you will ever make."

"And if I am not?"

"I could find you a desk duty, where you will spend the rest of your life," Kaen replied. "Think about it for the night. Think why you are even a shinobi in the first place. What is your goal? I only see a kid with no motivation or drive. If you don't have any, give up on being a shinobi, for you will only stand in the way of your friends."

Kaen sighed as he watched Shikamaru leave. These promotions were not just a formality; they were a way to assess the potential and commitment of these young Shinobi. He hoped that his words had lit a fire within Shikamaru, one that would drive him to become the Chunin he had the potential to be. The road ahead will not be forgiving, and Kaen didn't want to sacrifice people's lives for nothing.

"Hokage-sama," An ANBU appeared before Kaen and knelt. "A report just came that two suspicious individuals entered the village."

"What do they look like?"

"Straw hats obstructed their faces, and their figures were covered in black cloaks with red clouds."

A.N. As always, If you want more, up to seven advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852. And if you have any requests for stories, I will only take them on my pa treon.