Disclaimers: See previous installments

Truth be told, Tsunade figured that a large part of it was loneliness. Once she had let Jiraiya and Naruto drag her back to Konoha, as per their deal (just another wager lost), Shizune had been welcomed into the fold as a jounin and dispatched. Which left Tsunade without a protégé or someone to keep her head on straight.

While she was being honest, it would also do Tsunade well to acknowledge that if she and Jiraiya were good about doing what they were supposed to be, then this whole problem with Orochimaru might have never happened. But they had turned their backs to their teammate's growing problems years ago. Perhaps they had been too much like Sarutobi and his idealism or perhaps they both just liked to run away instead of confronting uncomfortable situations and murderous teammates with large aspirations.

Since Tsunade couldn't remember ever being an idealist, there was really only one option to choose.

The young genin seemed petrified and trying to hide it. Well, Tsunade already knew the girl had misplaced priorities, but being afraid of an audience with someone on your side in the midst of war seemed a bit absurd.

"Hokage-sama," Sakura said, mustering up her nerve, "thank you for giving Sasuke-kun another chance." She had never been impressed with the Third Hokage, but she'd also never been face to face with him. Sakura was sure if he'd ever singled her out as the Fifth did, she'd have wanted to throw up just as much. She had yet another growing respect for Naruto-he seemed to be talking to Hokages all the time.

"It was a chance I had to take," Tsunade replied, her chin casually pillowed on one palm. "The Uchiha was the most powerful clan in Konoha before the massacre. Now that there are only two left, we can't afford to let Sasuke's power deflect to the Hidden Sound." She declined to mention Orochimaru's tendency to sacrifice subordinates or what he really wanted the boy for. It was best for Sakura not to know. "Of course, my hunches are usually wrong..." She trailed off and eyed Sakura's expression as horror grew evident on her face. "Which is why we're going with Anko's.

"But, that's not what I want to talk to you about."

"Hokage-sama, what do you want to talk to me about? Whatever it is, there must be someone more qualified than me."

"This war, my place in it, your teammate's place in it and yours."

The old man was speaking, but Naruto only half-heard him. The shock that everyone knew more about him than himself had worn off-other people knew his birthday, other people knew who his father was, other people knew what monster lay dormant within him long before he did-but getting so many answers in such a short period of time made it difficult to listen to what other people wanted to say. What about his questions? What about what he wanted to know?

Iruka, Kakashi, Tsunade, Konohamaru, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Hinata, everyone he'd ever met...how many of them heard him announce that he would become Hokage, be better than anyone who ever came before, knew who his father had been and had not told him? Had not even thought it worth mentioning? How hard could it be to say 'Must run in the family' or 'You'll have to surpass your dad and HE beat the demon-fox?'

And the demon-fox... Why had his own father put that in him? His father, the Hokage, the village hero, was the one who made him so hated? What could have possessed him to do that to his own child? ..Maybe his father hadn't loved him, but if his father put the fox in him, then he wouldn't hate him for the same reason as everyone else. It just didn't make any sense.

Naruto was brought back to his senses with a thwap to the head. He looked at Jiraiya in shock-how could he have forgotten Jiraiya was there so easily? He was a ninja, after all.

"Lost interest so quickly, boy?"

Jaw half dropped and eyes wide, Naruto shook his head. "I don't understand," he murmured.

"I've been told," Jiraiya began again, because if Naruto hadn't tuned him out, he probably would understand, at least a little bit, "that your father's dying wish was that you would be considered the hero that defeated the demon fox. Though he preformed the sealing jutsu and died to do so, he saw you as the hero of the village."

"You may have wondered," Tsunade was saying, "why the Third came out of retirement after the death of the Fourth, rather than appointing a Fifth Hokage then."

Sakura, who had only served as a kunoichi under the Third until his death, had never put much thought into it. That an elderly man would be the village chief seemed to make sense to her. He would be wise and experienced, after all, if not an impressive ninja. It was only after his death that she realized, old or not, he was an amazing ninja. Perhaps he had been Konoha's only chance to defeat Orochimaru...

"There was never really a reason for me to think about it," Sakura admitted. "But the Hokage name is reserved for only the most revered and respected shinobi in the village. He is the hero of the village. I guess after the Fourth died, there were no more heroes."

"No," Tsunade said after a moment. "There are always heroes in a ninja village. Everyone who wears a hitai-ate is a hero or has the potential. Never believe there are no heroes."

"Then why?"

"It's the duty of the Hokage to choose his successor, the one who surpasses him in power and deeds. When the Hokage sees that there someone greater than himself, he steps down to allow the next Hokage to claim his rightful place. The Fourth Hokage chose who he believed should be the Fifth before he died, but he wasn't ready yet." Tsunade's demeanor became distant. "The Third couldn't hold on until the Fifth was ready..."

"But you're the Fifth!"

"No, I'm a placeholder."

As all his comrades knew, Hatake Kakashi was the sort of person who was habitually late, which meant said comrades were habitually waiting for him. Habits, like rules, are often broken, so every now and then someone walking the streets of Konoha might see him casually leaning against a building or stand waiting for someone else.

One of those comrades was Uchiha Sasuke. The boy wasn't Kakashi's equal in skill level or technique, but he had the potential to dwarf his teacher, which counted in his book, so long as he didn't get much more of an inflated ego. When that happened, Kakashi would have to take him down a few more pegs, but until then, he respected his student and would do his best to look after him.

When Kakashi looked at Sasuke, he was reminded a bit too much of himself.

Another of those comrades was Mitarashi Anko. Kakashi didn't know her particularly well himself, but she had quite the reputation among the other jounin, both specialized and otherwise. She was also apparently a good friend of Yuhi Kurenai, who Kakashi was far more familiar with and, well, women always seemed to be gossiping about one another.

After Sasuke's trial, Kakashi made quick time dashing through the village to station himself at the eventual pit stop he was pretty sure he and his new babysitter would be taking. While the Ichiraku noodle bar was the hangout of choice for most kids in Sasuke's generation (with exception of Asuma's team, who had been wrangled into frequenting the Korean barbecue restaurant by Chouji), the older set preferred the tea and sweet shop.

Kakashi set himself and his favorite reading material up just outside the shop, paying enough attention to the passerby to know when Anko and Sasuke arrived, prepared to buy as many sweets as she could carry and however much she could unload on Sasuke. Before that happened however, Asuma and Kurenai approached and Kakashi just couldn't let the opportunity to get under their skin by.

"A date?"

Foiled again, Kurenai grimaced. "Just doing a favor for Anko," she replied, steering herself and Asuma into the shop. Asuma's harsh exhale of smoke seemed to just dare Kakashi to ask why he would do a favor for a woman he barely knew, or better yet, why the favor took two jounin to accomplish. Had it been Gai, Kakashi wouldn't have risen to the bait. Ignoring him got a better reaction than any taunt ever would. But just because it was Asuma, Kakashi's visible eye crinkled happily and the mouth behind the mask opened to make a quip-

"REALLY?" An overly cheerful woman in her mid-twenties latched onto Kurenai. "That's so sweet!"

"Anko," Kurenai deadpanned in greeting, now doubly foiled.

Either she was oblivious or devious, Kakashi really couldn't tell, Anko was cheerfully pointing out her favorite variety of dango to Kurenai, half-singing about how she just had the greatest friends ever.

Sasuke, perhaps for the first time, was looking helplessly towards his teacher.

"How long do I have to put up with this?"

Kakashi laid an affectionate hand on his protégé's shoulder and felt the boy twitch with agitation. Not without sympathy, dealing with Anko and Naruto at once would probably be remarkably difficult for the anti-social adolescent and he intended to pull his team back together the moment he got a green light from the Hokage, Kakashi replied, "Betraying the village does not go unpunished."

Before being dismissed, the Fifth Hokage, or placeholder Hokage or whatever she wanted to call herself, gave Sakura an assignment. The pink-haired girl found it to be a strange one, but it made her stomach flutter with anticipation and her mind completely forget about asking Lee about taijutsu. It also made her worry..the way Tsunade said it made it sound like she was planning on sending Sakura to her death.

"Do everything you'd regret not doing if you died tomorrow. Then come back to see me."

To her surprise, Sakura couldn't think of a bigger possible regret than not figuring out who the Third Hokage was waiting for.

Next-A red ribbon and a real hero