The Weight of Legacy

Sarutobi exhaled a tired breath. "Come in, Naruto-kun," The Sandaime Hokage called.

The door opened and the two veteran shinobi watched the young academy student come through the door along with Uchiha Sasuke. It became clear to the Hokage that the boy was still feeling the mental strain from the news a few days ago. He looked very tired, his eyes seemed to wander around aimlessly, and his clothes looked disheveled.

"I'll take my leave, Hokage-sama!" Tsume said. As she passed by Naruto and Sasuke, she could have sworn she caught a whiff of a smell unfamiliar to her, but she figured it was nothing. With that, she left the room. Once the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan was gone, the room settled into an uneasy silence.

Hiruzen decided to speak first. "How have you been, Naruto-kun? I understand you weren't in school for a few days. Iruka alerted me, but I told him not to mind. You look as if you've seen better days. I...I can understand why. It was a lot of information for you to process at once," Hiruzen replied.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry for running off and acting all crazy like that. At least...at least, I now know they didn't hate me for no reason. I wonder, why me though? Teme was talking about it to me and I couldn't have been the only baby born on October 10th, yet the Yondaime singled me out. I wonder why," Naruto thought to himself...and that was when both clones caught the slight shift in the Hokage's eyes. It was only there for a moment, but they both inwardly grinned. Ah, another mystery to uncover.

"Maybe he thought a loser like you might be too stupid to go on a rampage," Sasuke said.

"Up yours, Teme," Naruto replied. They both laughed for a second, and then Naruto turned back to the Hokage.

"This changes nothing, Jiji! I'll admit it was a shock, but I've changed my mind! I'm still gonna become the Hokage and take that hat from you!" Naruto boasted. He would be sure to take the head that hat was attached to as well. A nice mount over a fireplace if he said so himself.

Sarutobi laughed at this boast. It seemed Naruto would be just fine. "A good attitude to have, Naruto-kun. Now I wanted to meet with you previously because I would like for you to begin training to utilize the powers and chakra of the Kyuubi no Yoko. It will be a very trying process, but I have faith in your ability to succeed. You see Naruto-kun, there are eight others like you in the world and, though I am ashamed to say, they all have better control over their tailed beasts than you do. Of course, you contain the most powerful, but experience, knowledge, and wisdom lead the battlefield, not just brute strength. In order to contend with these individuals, we must bring you up to speed as well," Hiruzen reasoned.

Oh? Well, this was another surprise. "A-Are we preparing for war?" Naruto asked, a bit scared.

"No, no, my boy. Nothing like that. Just think of it as a village flexing its muscles to the others is all. Competitive boasting if you will. If you're aiming for the title of Hokage, I know you won't back down from the challenge will you?"

"No, he won't. I'm going to make sure he doesn't! The dobe's gotta retain that information in his skull somehow," Sasuke then replied. Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha.

Hiruzen laughed at them both. "Good, good. I'm glad Naruto-kun will have your support Sasuke-kun. Now, you both be on your way. You don't have my hat yet, and thus I have to get some work done," he said. They both left without another word.

The Naruto and Sasuke clones made sure to pass by the lower Administration area. The Naruto clone watched the receptionist, Setsuna, take notice of him. She shivered beneath his gaze. However, he merely waved to her. She...politely waved back. She did not wish to incur his wrath further. Especially since he was still blackmailing her about her affair.

Once the clones left the Hokage Mansion, both smirked evilly. From the Sasuke clone's pocket came an earpiece. "Change of plans. Tonight is just the first of many sleepless nights for Konoha," the clone said before taking out the earpiece.

"Wanna go see the fireworks?" Naruto asked.

"I'll grab the popcorn," Sasuke replied.

....

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