Licking up the Flames

One
April

"You can't just kill him!"

Had she known just what would become of those words, what the results would be, Naruto would... Well, she'd still have probably shared them. She would have just been a little more prepared for the consequences.

Chewing at the plump flesh of her lower lip, Naruto's eyes dart around Tsunade's office, inhaling the scent of fresh sake and stale paperwork. It wouldn't be long till the last remaining Sannin moved out, all that remained of her abdication was a formal announcement that yes, Hatake Kakashi would be the one to take over the converted role of Hokage. It is already widely accepted, word had gotten out somehow, and Tsunade had been in the hospital testing Kakashi's new eye at the time, so the silver haired Jonin hadn't been able to flee for the hills.

Okay, so Naruto is still a little disappointed that she won't be the one to take up the title of Sixth Hokage, but after the war, people assured her she is a sure bet for the Seventh. How strange it is, to be accepted so widely, to be welcomed and loved so thoroughly. Ten years ago, the vast majority of the Leaf hated her, hated Kurama, on sight.

Hell, sometimes even before they caught their first glimpse of her.

'This is a stupid idea,' comes the helpful internal commentary. As groggy as Kurama sounds, he is at the very least awake, an improvement on their return to the Leaf six months ago.

Scratching cautiously at the false arm Tsunade had created for her, Naruto lets her thoughts trail back to the current problem.

Namely, one Uchiha Madara.

One Uchiha Marada who'd survived the war and is still among the living.

A Uchiha Madara that she has accidentally on purpose vouched for.

She hadn't meant to, but, but there'd been enough war, enough fighting and killing.

The Curse of Hatred, as far as she is concerned, is hogwash. She'd beaten Sasuke out of it, so why not take a chance and try and sort out the other living Uchiha while she's at it?

Yeah, everyone in the know no doubt thinks she's crazy, but they always had. You'll never be a ninja, never be Hokage, never be able to bring Sasuke back, never beat the Akatsuki, never beat Kaguya.

Naruto lives to prove others wrong.

So if everyone thought Madara was beyond hopeless, well, Naruto would do what she did best.

Prove them wrong.

After all, Uchiha Madara had been a victim of circumstance, manipulated by Zetsu. No one should be expected to live through the death of all their family, the betrayal of those close to you.

If the people of the Leaf could forgive Sasuke for all that he'd done, for practically helping start the Fourth war -not that many of them knew that come to think of it- then they could at least give Madara a second chance.

And Naruto is all about second chances, regardless of the uphill battles they require.

If there is good to be found in that man, then Naruto wil be the one to find it.

"Alright brat," Tsunade grunts, pulling her soft pink lips away from the hard ring of the bottle neck. The empty bottle neck. "Let's go get your latest pet project."

Nodding and fully aware of how damningly serious this whole thing is, Naruto waits for Tsunade to get to her feet, following after her fellow blonde as she takes off from the Hokage's office.

As they walk, eyes linger on the two of them, Naruto clocking each and every glance with a cautiousness that'd carried over from a childhood of looking over her shoulder. It doesn't matter that these looks are now ones of reverence and gratitude as opposed to the suspicion and hate of the past; like her love for ramen, it is not a habit she can break herself of.

"You will wear a seal that puts you in charge of his chakra, how much he can use, and how close he has to be to use it. Set it to a meter, and he's practically a civilian if he's not in arms length of you. Do you understand Naruto?"

Nodding, the blonde rund a hand through her bangs, scratching at her cheek as an after thought.

"You're leaving me in charge? Like, fully in charge?"

Being the main parole officer for Uchiha Madara sound like a big job. Not that she isn't up for it! But, still, that's a lot of trust to put in her.

"You saved the world brat, if anyone can pull off this crazy idea, it's you. Still, you've got rules to follow. No giving him chakra access in the village for two years, unless it's an absolute emergency. He goes with you on missions, and you're not to give him more than fifty percent while out the village walls. He kills one person in my village and that's it, he's dead."

"What about if it's a spy or assassin?"

Naruto cringes back at the look Tsunade gives her in response, shoulders wilting slightly.

"That'll be your call. I hope you know what you're doing brat. If you were anyone else, this'd never have been okayed."

Nodding, Naruto wipes her sweaty palms on the side of her pants, chasing after Tsunade as she ducks into ANBU HQ.

This is not a smart idea.

It is probably one of the worst risks she's ever taken.

But Naruto is going to give it a go anyway.

So. This one's inspired by the lyrics; 'And everybody wants to know, How it felt to hear you scream, They know you walk like you're a god, They can't believe I made you weak.' prize for anyone who can tell me the song and artist.

But really, I wanted to write something without timetravel; I'm gonna take a guess and say Madara's about twenty two for his prime. I don't know. A five year age gap is nothing really, right?

Tsume
xxx