HOKAGE!NARUTO. Well not yet, but close enough. Also loyalty tingles. Also politics.
Excuse me while I ROLL IN GLEE. ♥♥♥♥♥~~
Naruto opens his mouth to contradict her and then grimaces when he realizes he can't. He still feels a little bad for her, no matter how much preening he wants to do. "Maybe in pure power, but you're canny. All those centuries of experience and ow." Pffft, Naruto may be absurdly powerful and have as much charisma as the desert sun has light, but he still kinda needs a lot of lessons on the manners department. Also on the subtlety one. But, y'know, I kinda like to think that Jiraiya and Tsunade taught him a bit of that stuff, and he understands enough to have a good idea of what's going on behind the scenes, but uses his bluntness and apparent idiocy to cut the crap, get everyone to underestimate him, and get away with stuff no one else would manage to get away with. I kinda got these vibes from him here.
"The girl is smarter," the man says, face hard like a challenge thrown.
Naruto gives a mock-wincing laugh. Sakura and Tsunade smile identical, 'you are amusing me, little man, and you will never know why or how' smiles. LOVE. Also XD. Also ouch. But then, Naruto is certainly not conventionally smart...
The jutsu he does know are more devastating. This reminds me that one of these days I've gotta throw a hissy fit at how Kishimoto won't let Naruto learn anything besides Kage Bushin and Rasengan.
And LOL at the way Naruto keeps trying to put his foot in his mouth and Sakura keeps punishing said foot for it.
The man arches an eyebrow at the byplay. "One doesn't lead a village with high ideals alone."
"One can sure as hell try," Naruto counters without having to even think twice, and he stares at him right in the eye because like fuck he is going to bend on that. "And I know it can't always happen that way, but the other ways are going to stay last resort." Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~
"I won't," Sakura replies instead. The man looks at her in surprise, and she smiles, polite and meaningless. "I, after all, have no problem with such methods." ~~eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~
"Anyway, Hokage isn't a tactical or logistics post. Hokage is a leadership. What you move isn't troops and supplies, it's people. I have an academic grasp on people's reactions and emotions -- I can predict them, to some extent. I could figure out ways to manipulate crowd reactions. Naruto gets people, on a visceral level, and what's more, he is good at making them feel understood and special, and at inspiring them. He cares about them all, and they can tell." ~~eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~ *not going to run out of breath anytime soon, no sir* ♥♥♥♥♥ (love this so much.)
"In the abstract, yes. I would fight for any single member of the Leaf. It's my duty, anyone's duty. For Naruto it isn't a duty. He protects them like I would protect my own family. People can feel that. Can trust that." She puts her cup down. "Trust and charisma are essential elements to leadership. I don't have them. Naruto does." (so. much.)
And the ending! *is ded* Yeah, Naruto totally gets it. ...He was doing the foot+mouth thing half on purpose, wasn't he.
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Excuse me while I ROLL IN GLEE. ♥♥♥♥♥~~
Naruto opens his mouth to contradict her and then grimaces when he realizes he can't. He still feels a little bad for her, no matter how much preening he wants to do. "Maybe in pure power, but you're canny. All those centuries of experience and ow."
Pffft, Naruto may be absurdly powerful and have as much charisma as the desert sun has light, but he still kinda needs a lot of lessons on the manners department. Also on the subtlety one. But, y'know, I kinda like to think that Jiraiya and Tsunade taught him a bit of that stuff, and he understands enough to have a good idea of what's going on behind the scenes, but uses his bluntness and apparent idiocy to cut the crap, get everyone to underestimate him, and get away with stuff no one else would manage to get away with. I kinda got these vibes from him here.
"The girl is smarter," the man says, face hard like a challenge thrown.
Naruto gives a mock-wincing laugh. Sakura and Tsunade smile identical, 'you are amusing me, little man, and you will never know why or how' smiles.
LOVE. Also XD. Also ouch. But then, Naruto is certainly not conventionally smart...
The jutsu he does know are more devastating.
This reminds me that one of these days I've gotta throw a hissy fit at how Kishimoto won't let Naruto learn anything besides Kage Bushin and Rasengan.
And LOL at the way Naruto keeps trying to put his foot in his mouth and Sakura keeps punishing said foot for it.
The man arches an eyebrow at the byplay. "One doesn't lead a village with high ideals alone."
"One can sure as hell try," Naruto counters without having to even think twice, and he stares at him right in the eye because like fuck he is going to bend on that. "And I know it can't always happen that way, but the other ways are going to stay last resort."
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~
"I won't," Sakura replies instead. The man looks at her in surprise, and she smiles, polite and meaningless. "I, after all, have no problem with such methods."
~~eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~
"Anyway, Hokage isn't a tactical or logistics post. Hokage is a leadership. What you move isn't troops and supplies, it's people. I have an academic grasp on people's reactions and emotions -- I can predict them, to some extent. I could figure out ways to manipulate crowd reactions. Naruto gets people, on a visceral level, and what's more, he is good at making them feel understood and special, and at inspiring them. He cares about them all, and they can tell."
~~eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~ *not going to run out of breath anytime soon, no sir* ♥♥♥♥♥ (love this so much.)
"In the abstract, yes. I would fight for any single member of the Leaf. It's my duty, anyone's duty. For Naruto it isn't a duty. He protects them like I would protect my own family. People can feel that. Can trust that." She puts her cup down. "Trust and charisma are essential elements to leadership. I don't have them. Naruto does."
(so. much.)
And the ending! *is ded* Yeah, Naruto totally gets it. ...He was doing the foot+mouth thing half on purpose, wasn't he.
This was awesome. ♥