Welcome to the Family
Summary: Tsunade finds a way to tease her newfound relative and at the same time cut her expenses and labor. All she has to do is find some charges to stick to Yamato and then, send him on his way.
Warning: None
After the Konoha's Invasion
It might have begun as a sake induced idea, but Tsunade was positive that Yamato was perfect for the job of planting trees. Her grandmother, Mito, used to tell her that grandfather Hashirama used to go around Konoha planting trees before Konoha was settled to give the clans shelter and a tactical advantage if the enemy had to go through trees as opposed to an open plain. Tsunade had planted quite a few trees in Konoha the regular way but she was sure Yamato could do a much better and faster job than nature. After all, the trees she planted as a child took very long to grow, and Yamato had the fortunate pleasure to have been created from her grandfather's DNA.
It was practically his job.
"Yes, now, to formulate it as a D-ranked mission." Tsunade thought as she jotted her notes on paper.
Yamato had no idea why he was summoned to the Hokage's office early in the morning, and believed that there was a mission she wanted him to do. Since the chunnin exams, everyone was taking missions as fast as possible to show the rest of the shinobi world that Konoha was still strong because they depended on those outside contracts to bring in revenue. He had absolutely no reason to assume otherwise, until he saw the gleam in her eyes.
"Yamato! I have heard some very bad things about you. Your fellow shinobi has submitted complaints about you that I feel should be addressed."
He watched as Tsunade pick up a stack of paper. That was impossible! There was no way he could have any complaints from his peers or superiors. He was an excellent shinobi, and ANBU members had spotless records.
"Let's see, an anonymous source has filed several complaints about you peeking into the baths by replacing a wooden plank with your own, complete with peephole."
"Tsunade-sama! I would never…"
Yamato knew that charge was false, but the Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade didn't know him at all. There was no way to convince her that that charge was completely false. He would never peek into a bath…not after the last time anyway when he got an eyeful of naked grandmas. It was enough to scar him for a lifetime.
"That's not all." Tsunade flipped past several more sheets of paper. "I see here that you are a repeat offender when it comes to public urination."
Yamato's eye twitched. Yes, he did urinate outside, but not a soul was near him. He couldn't understand where these charges were coming from!
"Next, you have been accused of trespassing into Clan grounds, not paying your bills, and general disorderly conduct. You seem to have become a trouble maker, Yamato. Is there something the matter? As your Hokage, it is my duty to listen to any problem that you may have. Rebelling is simply not the way to get things done."
"Hokage-sama, I did none of the things you accused me of. I do not peek into baths or trespass into any Clan grounds. I've paid all my bills and my conduct as a shinobi of Konoha is impeccable."
Yamato was completely shaken, though he did not show it. There was no way to convince the new Hokage that he was innocent, and if he ever got a hold of the people sending false accusations to the Hokage about him, well, they'd know why he was a valuable member of the ANBU Corps.
Tsunade smiled. "I see you don't protest the urination charge."
"Well, to be honest, I did but there was no one around!"
"But you weren't at a urinal. Therefore, Yamato, I sentence you to one month of tree planting. I want trees in every sector and training areas to replace the ones lost, plus, since you like to replace the bath walls with your own wood, I want to you completely redo all the walls. You are to continue with the repair effort by supplying wood to each construction site. And last, but not least, you are to rebuild the academy tree-houses."
Yamato's eye twitched. She wanted him to plant trees? It didn't take long for him to recognize what this was. "Yes Hokage-sama. I will do as you say, however, in the future, would it be possible to ask for my assistance? I would happily volunteer my time."
"Of course not. Where's the fun in that? Besides, I am Hokage. I have to get my fun somewhere! Did you know, Shizune has banned me from drinking, there is waaay too much paperwork, and my budget isn't big enough to deal with repair work. I figured you could deal with these things faster than a team of shinobi who are on active missions right now."
Yamato sighed. "That's fine Tsunade-sama. I will do whatever you want, just please don't do that ever again."
Tsunade smiled. "I think we should take that as a bonding moment, don't you agree? Especially since we're relatives of a sort, and you are the inheritor, so to speak, of my grandfather's mokuton."
Yamato was silent for a moment. There was only one thing to do but agree. As far as jokes went, it was harmless enough, and they were relatives of a sort since he had her grandfather's DNA. "I agree."
"Excellent. So, your actual job is as follows."
"My actual job?"
"Yes, I do want you to replant some trees in all sectors, but do so on your spare time. Your file states that you can create forests, so it shouldn't take long to visit the places deeply impacted by the invasion. The academy tree-houses need some repairs, but just make sure they are safe enough. If you need to completely rebuild them, then do so. And, I wasn't joking about the baths. Some of the walls are completely shattered. However, I want to thank you for the excellent job you have done with the repair effort. I understand from Inafune Shinichiro that you rebuilt his entire house, and that you did the same for Matsuo Kaede."
"Yes, I did. They were two of the elderly who completely lost their homes. The genin helped them pick through the rubble, and they were waiting on their homes to be built. I merely expedited the situation."
Tsunade smiled. "You know, I had this whole thing planned, even as far as demoting you to genin for a while and giving you these assignments as D-ranked missions. You'll have to thank Shizune who came across my notes and absolutely forbid me from doing as I planned. It wouldn't have gone on your record at all though…"
"I definitely will thank Shizune-san." Yamato shuddered to think about the humiliation he would have felt for a demotion from ANBU Corps to genin. He would never have lived it down, even if it never made it to his permanent record. Shinobi tended to have long memories.
"Hnh. Yes, well, welcome to the family, Yamato-chan!"
Yamato's eye twitched once more especially at the 'chan' that was added to his name. "Yes, Hokage-sama, thank you. I hope to live up to the Shodai Hokage's memory."
Tsunade grinned, making Yamato truly relax for the first time since he stood in her office this morning. "Those are very big footsteps to follow, Yamato-chan! I think you'll be just fine, besides, Grandmother Mito says she had Grandpa planting trees or building something every time she wanted him out of her hair. He usually went with Uncle Tobirama, and that's how the village was built because early Konoha didn't have that many trees."
Yamato smiled. He knew that story never did make it to the history books. It seemed impossible that Konoha was built because Mito wanted some alone time, but it was a nice story that was passed down from family members. Yamato appreciated it much more than Tsunade's botched joke. He didn't even want to contemplate what type of humor his newfound relative had either if she thought nothing of demoting him for her own convenience.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."
"You're welcome, Yamato."
"I'll get started on those trees."
"And Yamato?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"I think my grandparents would have been happy to see the mokuton survive, despite how it originated in you."
Yamato left the office feeling better about possessing the Shodai Hokage's DNA and Tsunade's reaction to him.
After Pain's Invasion
Tsunade frowned as she saw more paperwork on her desk first thing in the morning. It was impossible that the retched things could multiply by themselves overnight. As she settled into a chair, she noticed a letter that was personally addressed to her. It read:
Dear Tsunade-sama,
No demotions are necessary.
Yamato.
Tsunade laughed as she set the letter aside. Yamato had a lot of work to do, as did she. She had no time to be thinking about false charges for her shinobi. It was a nice way to start the day though. If only the rest of the papers on her desk were to tell her, job done, go drink some sake.