Hey guys, sorry it's been a few days. It's been an extremely busy weekend. Enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or places in the Naruto world. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Meeting

I sat in the oval shaped Hokage's office waiting for Tsunade to arrive. I knew she was extremely busy, with the upcoming war and all, so I had already planned on her being late. It was our first meeting since I had been released to Shikamaru's care and it was time to discuss what was going to happen soon across the shinobi nations. What would I tell her? That Kabuto and the resurrected Akatsuki were probably attacking Turtle Island by now? That soon she would meet with the other Kage and assemble the Allied Shinobi Force to its fullest extent? That Tobi was really Obito and Madara would be resurrected soon along with Kaguya? There was so much information that needed to be explained and in so little time.

The door creaked open and I watched Tsunade enter into the room. Her face showed signs of strain and fatigue that weren't there before. Her shoulders hung heavy with stress. Never the less, she covered the space between the door and her desk with a briskness that hinted at her urgent desire for knowledge. Tsunade sat in her chair and fixed me with a soul-searching gaze.

"I'm sorry that I am late, Ren, things have been rather difficult lately, which I am sure you have knowledge of," she said levelly. I nodded in understanding.

"What would you like to know Tsunade-sama?" I questioned. I would help her in any way possible. The warmth and mercy that this village has shown me thus far motivated me to spill every last detail of information. It was as if there was a small fire had started to burn deep in my gut.

Her face was grim. "I would like to know what will happen in the next few days," she started, "I know I can handle making war time decisions in the future, but these next few days are completely blank for me. I can predict nothing."

I inhaled and exhaled a long deep breath, collecting my thoughts. "Well, for starters, Kabuto and the Akatsuki have formed an alliance. They have also created a giant army of White Zetsus."

She closed her eyes at the news. "How many strong are they?"

My heart sunk deep into my stomach. The news was hard for me to relay, knowing how much trouble it would cause her spirit.

"There are 100,000 artificial beings, Kabuto and Tobi," I listed off, "but the worst out of their army are the resurrected ninja that they have summoned from beyond the grave."

Tsunade's face fell into her hands, "And what of the resurrected?"

"Kabuto has resurrected all of the past Kage, important ninja from the Leaf, the ninja swordsmen of the mist, and all of the deceased Akatsuki."

Her eyes widened between her fingers, "A-all of the Kage?" she stammered, "and which of the Leaf ninja?"

"They will have obtained Asuma-sensei, the Hyuuga leader's twin, and Dan," I said quietly. I knew this information about Dan would pain her the most. Tsunade buried her face deeper into her hands and there was a long, heavy silence. The desk space beneath her was attacked by the slow drip of tears. A quiet sniffle sounded from within her hands. Sympathy filled my chest. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to hear that your lover is going to be misused by the enemy.

"Tsunade-sama, I will leave you to mull this new information over. Summon me when you are ready to hear more," I said quietly, standing up from my chair. Her face appeared above her hands, wet and tinged with pink. She shook her head quickly.

"No," she whispered, "I am the Hokage, I need to know more for the sake of my village."

I closed my eyes at her word and sat back down quietly. "What else would you like to know?"

She shifted her gaze to the side and thought for a moment, choosing her question. "Will everything be ok?"

I sighed at her question. It was a childish question, one I would not have expected from her. It was a question that came from a place of raw despair that searched for the faintest glimmer of hope.

"Tsunade," I began, taking a wiser tone, "Nothing with hever be 'okay' but you and many ninja that hold the future to this village with survive. Other nations will survive as well, but there will be countless hardships and losses along the way. However, life will go on, so have hope Lady Hokage."

She stared at me, almost as though she were looking right through me. Her lips were parted, speechless. I reached over and touched one of her hands that now rested in front of her on the desk, clasped together as though to bring some comfort to her. Our eyes locked together, and a grim look began to spread across her face. Her moth set in a hard line of newfound determination to face whatever was coming. Her eyes closed and her head nodded in my direction. The old, fiery Tsunade was starting to come back and I smiled inwardly.

"Thank you, Ren," she said, "you may leave now."

I turned to walk out, when a thought struck me. I wanted to become a ninja and had almost forgot about mentioning my progress!

"Wait Lady Tsunade!" I exclaimed, "I wanted to know what it would take for me to advance to genin."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise, and a smirk began to move her lips. "Well Ren, how far have you come in this small amount of time?"

My heart beat wildly. "I learned shuriken and kunai throwing, and have started to master my chakra control enough to run up trees!" I reported happily. "I even created a clone yesterday!"

Her jaw dropped slightly in surprise. "Well show me!" she commanded.

I clasped my hands into the shadow clone hand sign. I directed my chakra into my hands and into my brain to transfer thought and sign into action just as Shikamaru had taught me. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

Ten poofs of smoke appeared throughout the room and Tsunade stared wildly around at my clones. She poked the one closest to her.

"My goodness, Ren, they are fully formed clones!"

I grinned with pride. I had trained for ten hours yesterday, just trying to get to this point in my training. Though I was extremely tired today from my hard work, I couldn't help but take pride in my accomplishments.

Her face relaxed into the role of Hokage. "Well Ren, if you can come to me in two days' time showing me ten more clones, your shuriken jutsu, your taijutsu capabilities, chakra control by walking on water, and a specialty jutsu, then I will promote you directly to genin," she bargained. A specialty jutsu? That was going to be difficult. Would she want a nature release type? Or just a more advanced ninjutsu than what I could already produce? I would have to discuss with Shikamaru, he would know.

My eyes fixed her with the most determined look I could muster. "I will be here, Lady Tsunade. If you bet on me, it's one you will win for once!" I promised. The blue eyes she possessed widened at my determination until her mouth broke out into a wide and somewhat haughty smirk.

"Well then, Ren, if you have the Will of Fire within you, I am sure you will succeed," her voice rang smoothly, "I will place that bet."

My smile grew wide at the agreement. I would show her! She will be sorry for doubting me!

"See you in two days, Hokage-sama." I grinned, and then stepped out the door.

So, I am super excited to see how Ren will do when it comes to making genin, I just wish she had some time to go through the whole process of the chuunin exams. Oh well, the war will begin soon and there is a lot that I have planned for her. So stay tuned! Thanks for the read, feel free to review even though you probably won't as usual.

-Mayori-chan