I don't own naruto, would I be writing fanfiction if I did?

speach

thoughts

letters/notes etc

Demon/inner personality speaking

Demon/inner personality thinking

Was it really worth it? He had put his life on the line to bring him back for her, but didn't receive a single thank you. Even now while he recovered from wounds that would have killed him if it wasn't for the fox, he hadn't been visited once by Sakura. He could be dead for all she new. All her time was devoted to making sure the Uchiha was comfortable and well in his ward.

"Once a fangirl, always a fangirl I guess" Naruto grumbled to himself while observing the many get well cards and bouquets of flowers that he had received from all but one of his close friends, that friend being Sakura of course.

I guess hoping she'd fall for me instead of him when I fulfilled my promise to her was too much, kami why can't I catch a break?

He had defeated many enemies, saved the village more than once, mastered sage mode and became one of the most powerful shinobi of his generation, yet he couldn't win the heart of the girl he had loved since his academy days. Naruto was now 19 years old, and had been urged more than once to give up on Sakura and start dating like normal people, mainly by Kiba, who had stated quite plainly, "Dude, you're the village hero… just about every chick wants to do you, why hang on Sakura when its never gonna happen?"

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a small tapping on his door which soon opened to reveal none other then some of his closest friends from his genin days consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka.

"Troublesome as always Naruto, I'm pretty sure this room is reserved especially for you since your in here every fortnight" the lazy Nara said with a slight smirk on his face, causing a light chuckle from said blonde, which quickly turned into a grimace of pain when his lungs felt like they caught fire. This reminded him just how bad his injuries where, but it's to be expected with Sasuke's powerful lightning techniques. This didn't go unnoticed by his three guests, but Ino was the one to take initiative and get him a glass of water from the sink across the room.

They chatted for a while longer, Ino not really participating as she was in shock from how heavily bandaged he was. The number one hyperactive ninja looked truly fragile because of the bandages covering him from head to foot and the brace that supported his damaged shoulder. How could this happen to Naruto? He was always so strong and never got held down for long, but for once he looks truly weak. It doesn't feel right to have to strain to hear his usually loud voice that has been reduced to a mere croak. Every movement, no matter how miniscule it is seems to knock the shit out of him. It's taken him 5 minutes just to sit up straight. How could someone so strong be reduced to this? What has Sasuke become?

"So how are you? its been pretty quiet lately without you" Choji asked while munching on a bag of chips as usual but before he could answer, Choji continued "I bet Sakura's pretty happy that you got Sasuke back, but I haven't seen her around, I still remember that disaster of a mission to get him back the first time and the promise you made… where is she?"

"She hasn't even visited me yet. Not even a thank you. The least she could do is send a damn card, I lost over 5 years of my life trying to get Sasuke back for her, and when I succeed I'm tossed aside because I have no further use to her.

"Naruto calm down, I'm sure she's busy that's all, when she has time she's bound to find her way here" Ino reassured him, but to no avail.

"No. I saw what happened before I passed out at the gate, after the chuunin guards called for her and Tsunade, she went straight to Sasuke without even looking at me, it was like I was invisible to her and Sasuke was the only thing there.

(Flash Back)

It had been a fairly warm day, but ominous rain clouds seem to foretell that there would be coming events that marred the nice weather.

Said event was approaching slowly in the form of a blonde shinobi carrying a raven haired man on his back. The blonde looked awfully familiar until one of them saw his torn battle cloak blow in the wind. The cloak was a very distinctive one; a few smaller villages even had standing orders to its ninja to flee if this particular cloak is seen on the battlefield. This cloak meant that you are about to fight both a toad sage and the son of the legendary Yondaime Hokage. The entire cloak was red except for the hem at the bottom, that bit had black flames.

"Hey is that…?" one of the chuunin on guard began before being cut off by his partner

"It is, I'll go tell Lady Hokage while you stop them from going any further, Naruto looks dead on his feet, and that wouldn't be helped by having to carry the unconscious Uchiha on his back for who knows how long" and with that the chuunin took of at full speed jumping across rooftops at an amazing rate. Minutes later the Godaime Hokage appeared via Shunshin, followed closely by her ANBU guard and her pink haired apprentice.

"SASUKE!" Sakura screamed while running to the body of said Uchiha, who had been put down before Naruto collapsed from his injuries. "What did Naruto do to him, why is he like this? How could he hurt Sasuke-kun like this?" Sakura was crying out,

Immediately reverting back into a fangirl at the site of her beloved Sasuke, but Tsunade was far to busy checking on her favourite knucklehead ninja to reply.

"He has severe internal bleeding, 3 broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, multiple stab and slashing wounds and a fractured skull" Tsunade said grimly, while drowning out Sakura's pleading her to help Sasuke. "They both need to get to the Hospital now, the Uchiha should be fine in the intensive care unit (ICU) but Naruto needs to be in surgery ASAP.

Quite a commotion was made on the way to Konoha's hospital, many ninja and civilians shocked to see the limp body of there pillar of strength being carried through the city as it was far to dangerous the Shunshin while in his condition. To the villagers of Konoha, ninja and civilian alike, it looked bad. Naruto had come to be Konoha's hero by fighting of the Shukaku as a genin and defeating the self proclaimed ninja god Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki against unimaginable odds. He had earned the trust and respect of the village as there savior and seeing him so weak and helpless sent shock waves to the very outskirts of Konohagakure.

Naruto had been fading in and out of consciousness due to the kyuubi's continued efforts to restore his chakra and heal his wounds. The demon was making slow progress due to the extensive damage to his internal organs, anyone else would have been dead long ago, but Naruto's sheer willpower had driven him to live long enough to make it to the village. Now his fate was entrusted to one of the legendary sannin and one of the few people he felt he could call family, the godaime hokage, Tsunade.

(End Flashback)

The room was silent for a few minutes before Ino spoke up.

"I think we should go, I have some things I want to discuss with forehead, just to get the story straight. Besides I'm sure that Naruto is sick of us by now" she said with a warm smile directed at Naruto which caused something to stir inside of him, it was a strange feeling that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Happiness perhaps, he had forgotten what that felt like.

He watched them leave with a genuine smile on his face, he wasn't sure why he felt happy like he did, but he wasn't going to question it. Kami it had been so long since he smiled for real.

(3 Days Later)

Naruto was not a patient man and it showed with his constant fidgeting in his bed. He just couldn't seem to get comfortable because no matter how he slept, he would wake up sore. Let's see, if I can find the strength to get up then I should be able to slip out of the hospital without being seen. All I need to do is pull rank as a sage and they have to let me go. Yeah that's a great idea now just to get up. Naruto's little scheme came to an abrupt holt when Tsunade barged her way into his little room and started making demands. "Strip!"

"W-what?" Naruto stammered, going beetroot red, "why?" he said this time with more conviction. "I said to strip brat, I need to run a full physical on you now, and then again on your discharge" she said while unleashing a small wave of killer intent.

"B-but granny, cant we just skip the stripping part and say I'm getting better, we both know the fox is taking care of it" Naruto said, quite certain that his clever comment had saved him, but alas I did not.

(About an hour later)

"That wasn't so bad now, was it brat?" Tsunade asked while eating a small sandwich from the hospital cafeteria. "I guess not, but I kinda hoped you let me go today or tomorrow" he replied, disappointment evident in his voice. "C'mon Naruto we already discussed this, I'm not going to let you go for at least another week, even then your not going on missions for another month".

Naruto just stared blankly at the hokage, this is a joke right? She can't take me off mission rotation for a whole month; I'll go crazy from boredom.

"That's a joke right? You wouldn't do that to me granny" he said with a hint of panic in his voice. "I'm sorry Naruto, but it's for the best" she said, realising how much she would need him in the coming month, Konoha had been receiving mission requests left, right and center, the majority of them requesting Naruto be assigned to them, but taking him off active duty so he could recover was the best thing for him.

"Aww, please granny, what if I just do the easy ones?" he begged, attempting to use his puppy dog eyes. How could Tsunade refuse that face? "Fine brat, but you'll only be doing things like guarding the village gate" she said after giving in, and instantly she saw his face light up. "Maybe a ninja will try to get through, then I can kick his ass" he said excitedly while ignoring Tsunade mumbling about how she doubted it. "You never did grow up did you?" she said while he continued to daydream about absolutely destroying some ninja in a fight, which to be honest, is what will happen to most ninja if they fight Naruto. There was even a rumour that Naruto had beaten an enemy ninja in less that 5 seconds, but Naruto admitted that that was exaggerated, not that he complained because it was doing wonders for his reputation in other villages.

(4 days later)

It had been a few days since his physical exam and lunch with Tsunade, so Naruto was officially bored. He even summoned a few toads to talk to, but got the sense beaten into him by Tsunade because his chakra coils hadn't fully repaired yet, not that beating him was doing his injuries any good either. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the door open to reveal the very person he had just been thinking about.

"Hey brat, guess what I'm going to let you go later this afternoon on the condition that you live like a civilian for a week, that means no training, to chakra use, no rooftop jumping and so on" she said, expecting him to blow up when it sunk in, and blow up he did. After a good 10 minutes of listening to his rants, Tsunade bonked him on the head. "Shut up, would you rather stay here then?" she said trying to contain her anger, "No granny, when can I leave?" he said also trying to contain his anger. "In a few hours, I'll send somebody to help you if you want" she offered. "No that's ok, I'll get home alright, and with that Tsunade went to sign his discharge papers for later that afternoon.

Later that afternoon, Naruto was nothing short of ecstatic. He had been cooped up in that hospital for far too long and it felt good to stretch his legs while the sun was on his face. He still had a noticeable limp, but other than that he felt fine. Then it hit him, he couldn't go missions for a month.

Being the last Namikaze did have its benefits after all, inheriting his fathers house and all of his clans funds while having a big say in village affairs, just to name a few. When he got to the mansion he called home, a smile instantly appeared on his face, oh how he loved his house. Once inside, he took a seat on his couch and went over his draft for the next icha icha book, having taken over writing the series after Jiraiya's death but he replaced the smut with proper romance, though he did still have sex in the book, just not as much. After all, being the apprentice of a self proclaimed super pervert was bound to affect him somewhat.

Naruto had made sure that all royalties from the book was given to the hokage to spend on what she saw fit, Naruto had too much money anyway. After reading and re-reading the draft, he decided it was ready he put it down, hoping he didn't forget to send it to his publisher. Again.

Sighing to himself, he got up and headed in the direction of his guest bathroom, it was much closer than the one connected to his room. When he got there he stripped and started the water in the shower, letting it get warm before he stepped under it. The warm water soon went hot making Naruto sigh in appreciation, the water was doing wonders for his sore muscles and washed away the feeling that the hospital always left on him. A good 20 minutes later he exited the shower and went to find some food in his barren fridge, but what he saw next was surprising, he walked into the kitchen to see bags upon bags of groceries waiting to be put away, and a note sitting neatly on top. He picked it up and started to read:

Hey brat,

I decided to drop off some food seeing you have none, don't say I never do anything for you as all the expenses are payed for and yes there is ramen so don't panic.

Tsunade

He started putting away the groceries while daydreaming about inventing a new flavor of ramen that surpassed all others, until he heard a knock at his door. When he opened it he saw the last person he had expected, before him stood Ino Yamanaka, who never visited him unless she was with Shikamaru or Choji.

"Hey Ino, what's up?" he asked, still slightly shocked. "Nothing much, I was in the neighborhood and thought I drop in and see if you wanted to come to a little gathering I'm organizing. It'll just be close friends for a late lunch and pool party, so you in?" she asked, though she already new he'd come, Naruto never this kind of thing. "Sure thing Ino, sounds fun, when is it?" "At my place this Saturday, make sure you bring something to dry off with and so on, it's a pool party after all" she said while smiling, drawing a small chuckle from Naruto "Don't worry, I wont forget" he called out as she left.

(Same time, Hokage Tower)

"I would like to name Naruto Namikaze as my successor for hokage, he has proved to be a strong leader with the ability to improve morale in almost any situation, as well as being one of, if not the strongest shinobi of his generation, he may even rival his father Minato Namikaze in strength. He has done so much for this village, and in turn has earned the respect of both the ninja and civilians not only our village, but in other lands as well" Tsunade said with conviction, not at all intimidated by the fact that she was speaking to the fire daimyo himself. "Hmm, I do agree with you, he is very strong and in my opinion has surpassed his father, but are you sure that he is ready for such a responsibility at his age? He is still in his teens after all." The daimyo replied but before Tsunade could reply, he continued. "I would like very much for him to be named as your successor and you are welcome to do so at any time, but I request that you train him in the art of leading a village before handing over the reigns, I suggest

you have him represent you at social events and accompany you whenever you have diplomatic matters to attend to. When you think he is ready for full leadership, then you can step down and name him the new hokage, does that sound fair?" he asked, "Yes, I was actually going to suggest something similar, I will show him the ropes until I think he is ready." Tsunade replied, happy she was soon to be rid of the tedious paper work, and that Naruto would realise his dream.

"I'll have him summoned tomorrow, will you be available?" she asked "Of course, it's tradition for the daimyo to be present when a successor is name anyway, is it not?" he asked with a rare smile, "Oh of course, how could I have forgotten" she replied.

(2 hours later, Shikamaru's house)

"GODAMNIT I SWEAR YOUR CHEATING" Naruto shouted after losing his fifth straight game of shogi against Shikamaru. "Or you're just bad at shogi" Shikamaru suggested, "Temari, come and see if he's cheating, he'd never lie to you" Naruto called out, and after a few moments, Temari came out from the kitchen wearing an apron, "now now Naruto, I'm trying to prepare dinner, Shika are you cheating or not?", "No honey, Naruto just needs to practice is all, it actually took me more than 10 moves to beat him this time" he said while smirking at said blonde, This comment drew a giggle from Temari before she said, "wow, you really do suck, maybe you two should find a game that's more even between you" she suggested, knowing they wouldn't. "Not until I beat Shika at shogi, and mark my words, I will" he said playfully. "So will you be staying for dinner?" Shikamaru asked "Nahh I'm ok, I haven't had a chance to go to ichiraku's yet, so I think I'll head over there after one more game" he replied while resetting the board.

After leaving Shikamaru's house, Naruto made a beeline for ichiraku's, but was intercepted by an ANBU he immediately recognised as Neji Hyuuga. "Lord Namikaze, it has been requested by the hokage that you meet her in the hokage's office at 10 am tomorrow morning, I don't know the details so don't even bother asking Naruto" he said. "Ok Neji, your one of my best friends, I don't expect you to call me 'Lord Namikaze' even while your on duty, it doesn't feel write, but thanks for the message, hey wanna get some ramen?" he asked, "Hn, sure I'll meet you ichiraku's, my shift finished in 20 minutes" he said while leaving to continue is shift.

Once Naruto got to his favourite stand, he was greeted warmly by Teuchi and his daughter Ayame "hey old man, hey Ayame-chan, how you guys been?" he questioned while ordering miso ramen. After a few minutes of small talk Neji appeared and ordered the same as Naruto. "I Sasuke did quite a number on you in your last fight; I apologize for not visiting, but being an ANBU captain gives me little free time, which I try to spend with TenTen" he explained while hoping he hadn't hurt his friends feelings, "heh, I don't blame you Neji, I would've done the same thing" he said while smiling at his long time friend. "So how are your endeavours of winning Sakura's heart coming along" he said cheekily, knowing that Sakura was yet to accept his offers of a date, but the pain that flashed across the blondes face before being hidden by a goofy smile told the Hyuuga prodigy that something had happened. "What happened between you two?" he asked, "and don't say 'nothing' because I am an expert of reading body language, and I saw how you reacted when I said her name before. "Well what happened is…"

(30 mins later)

After an in depth discussion with Neji, Naruto felt a lot better about what had happened, he understood that Sakura had loved Sasuke for her entire childhood, so it was only natural that she would pick him over Naruto, but that didn't mean that Naruto wasn't hurt. His chest would pang whenever he though about the two people that along with himself and Kakashi, completed team 7.

Heh maybe I'll meet a nice girl at Ino's party on Saturday, Kiba might be able to hook me up with one, he's become a bit of a ladies man while I was gone if the rumours are true. Naruto laughed to himself at that thought, Kiba had always been a good friend, even while in the academy they had pulled dozens of pranks together.

I wonder why granny wants to see me tomorrow, hopefully she'll give me a mission, after all I've been feeling fine lately, im not even waking up sore anymore, looks like your doing your job kyuubi, keep it up.

"Heh, I'm yet to receive a thank you kit, after all the things I do for you" the kyuubi reminded him, after agreeing to enter a partnership with Naruto, they found that they could communicate with each other through Naruto's thoughts, though Naruto could block him out any time, he usually kept it open.

"Yeah yeah, thanks, happy?"

"Yes, say why are you passing our house?"

"Hn? Crap, thanks for distracting me fox" he though playfully, knowing it would annoy the beast to no end, "What was that brat? It's not my fault you zone out whenever where in contact, you really should work on that" the demon replied a hint of annoyance, much to Naruto's pleasure.

"Sure whatever, anyway I need to go to sleep when we get inside, I gotta be up early tomorrow, night"

"Night brat"

A/N - Ok this is my first fanfiction so I'd like to know how i went, please review so i can improve and fix any mistakes