One more deviation from canon. Hiruzen is meant to be the Third Hokage until he is killed by Orochimaru roughly 12 years from now. The fact that I’m being asked this is a sign that my actions have affected canon, although in a bad way or a good way is still up in the air.

“Amon, Did you hear me?” Hiruzen asked.

“Huh?!”

“You have been staring at nothing for a second there. Did the question shock you so much?”

“My pupil was expecting a scolding. You have seemed to have caught him flat-footed Hiruzen.”

“I’m sorry Lord Third. I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Are you telling me, that you have never had any dreams about leading the village?”

“I-I don’t know.” Hiruzen looked at me unimpressed. “I just, I just never thought I would even get the chance. I was classmates and rivals with Minato. I studied Fujitsu along with Kushina under Mito and was teammates with Fugaku. To say nothing of working under lord Orochimaru. Hokage was always a dream claimed by another.”

“Hmm, I can see your point. Well, don’t fret too much. I wish to hear your input about the idea.”

“My input, well I mean, you said it yourself, the powers that be in the village don’t exactly like me much.”

“True to a point, but mostly because of your outspoken beliefs you had when you were younger…and still have now. But you were in the capital for eight years, the war front for two, and the Sand for another two. You joined the guardians around thirteen years old. You have spent half your life, outside the village, and now most of the village only knows about you by reputation. Mostly the good, some of the bad.”

“The bad could be explained away with youthful indiscretion.” Sakumo chipped in. “Look at Jiraiya. Now he is known as the Toad Sage, but when he was younger the whole village thought of him as nothing but a pervert.”

“Well, I am glad I could be of use as an example of a successful underdog.” Jiraiya pouted in his seat before he looked at me. “I know for a fact, that if Minato were here, he would recommend you. Even though you threw your support behind Fugaku to become the Fourth Hokage.”

“It was a hard decision between the two, but Minato’s accomplishments during the war and the respect he earned from both those in the village and out, no Minato had a mountains worth of achievements that just couldn’t be ignored.” Hiruzen looked at baby Naruto.“I do wish to ask three questions before we go any further. The same questions I asked Minato when I talked to him. Amon do you believe you would make a good Hokage, Do you believe you are strong enough to protect the village, What does the will of fire mean to you?”

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I stood in the room staring at the three men and the baby. I was not expecting this line of questioning when I entered the room and felt the need to buy time to think. “You asked Minato these questions? Seeing how he must have passed, may I ask what his answers were?” I asked as I walked towards the window. The faces of the Hokage monument could be seen looking down on the whole village.

“You may not, Minato gave me his honest answers and I would like to hear yours.”

“Come on Amon, Don’t cheat.” Sakumo scolded

“Not cheating, just you know, doing some impromptu research during the test.”My mind raced, do I even deserve to be in this room let alone be a candidate? “Well, I feel the need to answer the first unasked question. Do I think my face would look good chiseled into a mountain? That is a resounding yes.”

I took a breath, I could stall no longer. I would just have to answer the questions to the best of my ability. No IGN gamer guide for me. “First question, would I be a good Hokage? Although I will not say if I can see into the future or not, I believe my track record as the head of the medical field base during the war and as the ambassador to the Sand Village in recent years can speak on my behalf. I believe the saying goes, ‘If you wish to see into the future, one just needs to look towards the past,’”.

Jiraiya nodded at that and I could tell he was saving that quote for later. “I do not wish to believe I would be a good Hokage or not. All I can do is use the information I have and make the best decisions I can. It will be up to others to decide if I have done ‘good’ or not.”

“The second question you asked was if I believe I can protect the village. My answer is that I have already protected this village. I have fought, killed, and captured for this village. If you are asking if I could do it alone, then no. I have always had the help of others whenever I have gone to battle. If not in body then in spirit. The Leaf Village’s flat jacket has an interesting addition to it that no other village has on theirs, and that is the symbol of another village on it. No leaf Shinobi fights alone in this village, not even the Hokage.”

I made sure to look Hiruzen in the eye when I answered the next question. Right now the Third Hokage is the longest-raining Hokage and needs to trust me. He will one day sit down in his home and not know all the comings and goings in the village. The difference between being the man everyone goes to, to then being kept in the dark, relying on others to keep what he has protected for decades safe, It would be easier to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage than to try and convince him that I can carry the torch.

“The will of fire is a funeral pyre.”

“A, watch what you say.” Jiraiya snapped. I have never seen the man angry before and I for a brief moment, joined a club that doesn’t have many living members in it.

Jiraiya looked like he wanted to say more but Hiruzen waved him off. “Let him speak. Amon, please explain.”

“This village was made by the combined efforts of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Both were boys when they first met but both had been to more funerals than most will ever go to in a lifetime. They quickly became friends and when the parents discovered the identity of the son's playmate they decided to wait and ambush the other. Both the boys decided to ignore their clan wish’s and secretly worn the other of their father's plan. Both lost their brothers in the following wars and decided that they didn’t want to follow in their father's footsteps. They decided to reach out and grasp the hands of the other. For the chance of a better future, if not for them, then for the ones who will come after.”

I had to take a break and drink a glass of water. Bringing up Madara, the traitor to the village, the man who used the nine tails to attack and attempted to kill the first Hokage. Maybe the timing could be better on that but I have to push through.

“Sadly Madara Uchiha failed. He could never get over his brother's death and held resentment. Both of them make good examples of Hashirama having the will of fire, and Madara, who tried but failed to hold on to it. The promise we all make to fight, grow stronger, keep those close to us safe, and to make it so that others won’t have to face the same tragedies that we face. If we fail, if the future generations must face new threats that we could not foresee, or old threats that still loom. That they will never face them alone.”

“That is what the will of fire means to me, and my answer to your first question is now yes. I now consider myself to be a candidate to become the next Hokage. ”