Hokage

Hokage is the title of the leader of the Hidden Leaf, written 火影 and meaning fire shadow. Each of the five great villages names its head the same way with a different element: Kazekage for wind in the Sand, Mizukage for water in the Mist, Raikage for lightning in the Cloud, Tsuchikage for earth in the Stone. Kage on its own means shadow.

The faces get carved into the cliff above Konoha, which is the visual joke the series opens on. Naruto's first scene has him painting graffiti across them in daylight. The Third Hokage runs the village through most of Part I, an old man doing a hard administrative job with a pipe in his hand, and the seat changes hands more than once over the story.

The title carries the argument too. Naruto wants it for attention at first, then for a reason that takes him hundreds of chapters to put into words. Everyone who has held it describes the work in roughly the same terms: the Hokage carries the village, and the village does not always notice. That is a lot of weight to hang on a hat.