Cardinal Flux
1. "Your decision, Sandaime?"
The old man draws deeply on his pipe, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again to fixate on his ex-teammates and ex-best friend.
"I'm not that old, I've got some years left in me. Six months, I'll give you my selection for Yondaime Hokage then."
He waves them off in a dismissive manner that belies the indecision churning his insides.
There are two prime candidates for the job: his favorite student and his idiot student's genius apprentice.
He can't bring himself to make a firm decision on either of them.
His student is bright, experienced, and the quintessential leader Konoha needs, but something lingers in the glow of his golden eyes and the edge of his serpentine tongue unspoken that gives him pause and keeps him from believing in him fully.
His student's student is also bright and leadership material but his youth counts against him - yes, he has battle aptitude, but does he know politics? Can he govern?
Sandaime doesn't know, and guessing is not an option.
...
2. "Did you know about this, Hiruzen?"
The Sandaime Hokage shakes his head slowly as his eyes trail over the words human laboratory experiments.
He's horrified - he never thought his star pupil would stoop so lowly - but he's spared the anguish of deciding on a punishment.
In the massive battle against the Kyuubi no Kitsune Orochimaru fought all-out and won.
At the cost of his life.
Sarutobi is sure a forbidden jutsu was employed. Likely something he'd been testing in that damned hidden lab.
He can't decide if he's more upset with how his student lived his life or more proud of how he ended it.
Even if his sacrifice was unintentional. (And he's almost sure it was.)
...
3. "From this moment forward, I am the Yondaime Hokage!"
Below, the cheering crowd of Konoha's citizens is deafening and old Sarutobi strains to hear his white-haired student over the noise.
"Danzo's throwing quite the hissy fit."
The former Hokage smiles wanly.
"He's as old as I am - old as dirt. Minato's ready. He'll get over it."
...
4. "Kumogakure no Sato is threatening to declare war."
Three years into his term as Hokage, and Minato is already faced with the looming prospect of war.
He's seen war, survived it, and has no wishes for a repeat.
"What are their demands?"
"The corpse of Hyuuga Hiashi."
There's a migraine coming, he can feel it. He will avoid provoking a war and he will not sacrifice one of his people.
"Make preparations for a negotiation. Pull all members of the Hyuuga clan from mission rosters. None of them leaves Fire Country until this is settled."
Plans are laid out to send a non-Hyuuga ambassador to Kumogakure when the crisis is inadvertently avoided.
Suspiciously, a ROOT member from the Hyuuga clan branch house has died recently and Danzo quickly sends over his body as a peace offering.
Kumogakure cannot tell the difference between one Hyuuga and another.
...
5. "The Uchiha are planning a coup d'etat. They plan to strike at the end of the harvest season."
The young Uchiha genius is bowed deeply before the five of them - Minato, Danzo, Koharu, Sarutobi, and Homura - and the room goes deathly silent.
Homura and Koharu look stricken but offer no solutions. Minato pinches the bridge of his nose before looking to Sarutobi.
"We could try for a negotiation..."
Danzo interrupts. "There isn't time for a negotiation! The end of the harvest season, that's in five weeks!"
Still kneeling on the floor, Itachi shakes his head before he quietly interjects.
"They have long given up hope of reconciling. They speak only of mutiny."
It's exactly what Danzo is waiting to hear.
"Hear that? They won't agree to some simplistic peace treaty. The best defense is a good offense - get them before they get us."
All around faces grow even more grim as the weight of the old warmonger's words sink in. The Yondaime looks to the informant.
"How many are involved?"
"Nearly everyone."
...
Tsunade, Maito Gai, Mitarashi Anko, and Hatake Kakashi are dispatched to handle the situation.
Only Itachi and his little brother are spared. Mitarashi Anko does not survive the skirmish.
The official records state that the clan suffered an internal power struggle and extincted itself in battle.
...
6. "Uchiha Madara is still alive."
Ever the bearer of bad news, Uchiha Itachi once again dutifully reports in to the council and the collective intake of breath is audible.
The tension in the room, palpable.
It's as terrible a discovery as the coup was, if not worse. Only the Shodaime could handle Madara and even he hadn't survived battle with him.
It takes everyone two nights to come to a decision: Jiraiya, Tsunade, Danzo, and Minato himself will launch a preemptive strike with Uchiha Itachi leading them to the Uchiha traitor.
Tsunade, Minato, and Itachi survive, just barely. Madara unfortunately does as well, fleeing once again into obscurity.
...
7. Minato does not survive Madara's vengeful return.
Neither does Madara.
Tsunade is reluctantly inducted as the Godaime Hokage.
...
8. Tsunade's reign as Hokage is the second shortest in history - only second to the Niidaime's four year term - and she goes down in a blaze of glory fighting a multi-bodied enemy known as Pein and his blue-haired companion.
A third of Konoha is destroyed in the battle and a fifth of the population, both shinobi and civilian, lose their lives.
Sarutobi Hiruzen dies peacefully in his sleep in the aftermath. It's long past his time, all three of his students and their students have predeceased him, and he has no regrets.
In a rush, Hatake Kakashi is declared Rokudaime Hokage.
...
9. Legendary ninja rise under the copy-nin's rule: the Orange Hurricane, Itachi of the Black Fire, the Soul-Stealing Seductress, Sasuke of the Phoenix Flame...
The list goes on and on and his era is known as the most peaceful and prosperous period for the village, ever.
It is a well-kept secret that his infamous Sharingan eye has gone absolutely blind.
...
10. Kakashi retires at the ripe age of 55, the second Hokage in history to not die in-office.
Thirty years after narrowly escaping genocide and after a near century of having fallen from glory, the clan of Sharingan users is restored and redeemed.
A hundred and eleven years after it's founding, Konoha has it's first Uchiha Hokage.
A / N : Kind of a spin-off of something else I'm working on. In case you were wondering, the Soul-Stealing Seductress is Ino.