Sword Shadow Chapter 21 - What Lies Ahead
The large wooden gates loomed into view of the travelling group. Tsunade's breath hitched as she confronted the very village she swore never to return to. Naruto put on a burst of speed as he made a mad dash towards the Nara estate before saying his good byes to the Tsunade and Shizune, promising to have them over for dinner as soon as they were all settled in.
Shizune was ecstatic to be returning to her village since it meant that her days of a nomadic existence were finally over. While she had not spent much time within the ninja village, she knew that within these walls was a place she could call home and even though she didn't show it outwardly, she was glad that Tsunade would finally settle down in the place that she belonged.
News of Tsunade's return to Konoha spread like wildfire. The presence of two of the only loyal Sannin walking through the main gates of the village tended to have that effect. Within mere moments of their arrival, an ANBU guard greeted them and escorted them to the Hokage tower.
Once inside the tower, the Sannin were shown towards the council meeting room where an emergency meeting was called for. Danzo, the elders and several of the clan heads were summoned and they all arrived moments after they received news of Tsunade's return.
Tsunade's return brought Shikaku immeasurable relief since this meant he could finally abdicate his administrative role of doing paperwork and handing out missions in the absence of a true Hokage - he was commander of the Jonin forces and looked at as an obvious replacement while the void was yet to be filled.
When Jiraya had said he was taking Naruto on a trip to find Konoha their next Hokage, Shikaku knew he was referring to the Toad Sage's buxom teammate. The decision was bold - Tsunade loathed the village for taking away from her the ones she loved above all else. He didn't know why Naruto was needed on this quest but acquiesced to the request nonetheless. Who was he to say no the arguably the strongest man in the village, if not the entire shinobi world?
When Naruto had reached home and told him that Tsunade had returned to Konoha, it was Shikaku who had summoned the Shinobi Council immediately. This was his chance to pass on the responsibilities he had been generously bestowed with after the passing of the Third Hokage onto someone else - and who better than Tsunade herself. The sooner we formally get Tsunade introduced as the Godaime, the sooner I can join Shika while he is cloud watching.
The council room was occupied with all the most important shinobi in Konoha within moments. Since news that Tsunade had arrived had already reached them, they were not surprised to see her in the room. What surprised them was the fact that she currently occupied the chair reserved for the Hokage without nary a concern about the looks she was getting.
"You wanted a new Hokage? Well here she is" Jiraya said proudly, pointing to Tsunade who revealed nothing on her face.
A few of the clans heads shook their head in approval but all eyes panned to Danzo. It was well known that Danzo was eyeing the pointed hat of the Hokage for a long time now and most of the people assembled in the room felt he would take umbrage at being passed for the opportunity yet again.
Danzo, who sat directly opposite the table from Tsunade, was flanked by the elders of the village, the previous teammates of the Third Hokage. If Tsunade's poker face earlier was admirable, Danzo's was damn near impenetrable. After a few seconds of silence, the bandaged leader of the clandestine group Root finally spoke.
"I know what most of you are thinking. But I am very well aware of the fact that I am in no position to lead this village given my circumstance" he spoke to the group in general, referring to his general physical condition.
Locking eyes with the would-be leader of the village he swore to protect and covertly continued to do so, Danzo spoke clearly so that his intentions were clear. "Tsunade, I will not hamper your ascension to the position of Hokage. I love Konoha very much and with your leadership, we can bring it back to its former glory. A great tree needs strong roots and vibrant leaves to stay truly great."
A few eyebrows went up at Danzo's last statement. Was he confirming the existence of the group that was officially disbanded by the Third Hokage? To her credit, Tsunade accepted his support with a simple nod of her head.
"All those in favor of Tsunade becoming the Godaime Hokage?" bellowed Jiraya, clearly thrilled about the lack of resistance his former teammate faced in the whole process.
A chorus of 'Aye' filled the room and with that the leadership of the village had acknowledged that Tsunade would become the next leader of arguably the strongest hidden village in the continent.
Cloud watching here I come.
_
Tsunade wasn't officially Hokage but she sat in the office taking stock of the situation post the invasion and the disappearance of Sasuke. These were the two most concerning issues at hand. How did Suna and Oto team up and lead an invasion into Konoha without Jiraya and his network of spies not hearing a word of it?
Was Sasuke kidnapped or did he leave voluntarily? And in either case, who took him out? Why hadn't the village patrol tracked him down? Did a Genin, no matter how skilled, get past an entire Chunin patrol squad by himself? All these matters raised more questions than answers and that was a concern.
Konoha showed very few signs of being the absolute power in the ninja world that it was once famed for. Sure it churned out high quality of ninjas fairly consistently but how many of them had the fortunate benefit of a bloodline to assist them. Kakashi inherited his Sharingan, Itachi was a true master and from the reports she read, Neji was a prodigy in the making as well. But all of them had a doujutsu that went a long way in their claim to fame.
Hell, Kakashi was notoriously known as Kakashi of the Sharingan and his was a gift from a deceased teammate - not even truly a blood line but made famous for his exploits because of it.
How many ninja can we produce that don't need the proverbial leg up to help defend the borders in times of crisis?
Guy was the only one that truly came to mind. Asuma and Anko were not quite at that level was most certainly a concern and she would need to look into improving the crop of ninja not from a ninja family. The Uchiha Massacre was proof that you could lose an entire crop of talented ninjas in the blink of an eye.
The ninja program in Konoha needed a serious revamp. She would start by bringing the current crop of ninjas up to scratch and that would have to include herself. Her fight with Orochimaru had told her that much - she had neglected to keep up her abilities as a ninja. She barely managed to get through a fight against a handicapped Orochimaru even with Jiraya by her side.
Sure her medic abilities were top notch as she constantly maintained those by rendering her services while she wandered around the Elemental Countries. That was the only positive she could see - as the Hokage, she could institute the medic training program that she always wanted.
Next time a war came about, Konoha would have a body of talented medic nins that would support the fighting forces and reduce the losses in battle. How sorely she wished this program was instituted earlier. But she could not afford to dwell on past loses any more. She was the future leader of this village and she would bring it back to the glory days of her grandparents.
Hi Everyone,
I have had a major writer's block because I couldn't even figure out how I wanted to end Part 1 of Sword Shadow. In the end I decided to get it out of the way by writing a very short chapter. My initial plans for this chapter will now have to be captured as the first chapter of Part 2.
Right now I am not sure if I want to start Part 2 as a separate story or as a continuation of this one. What are everyone's suggestions? Do you prefer to continue having one link to go through the entire story - in which case it would probably end up being a HUGE story. Or several shorter stories around the size of this one.
I have it planned as a trilogy where Part 2 will be a completely novel idea where you will see Naruto moulding into the Sword Shadow but having said that, I cant imagine it would be terribly long. Part 3 will bring the saga to completion. So let me know your thoughts. I apologize for the delay. I have no good excuse except that I stumbled across a fanfic titled 'Sealed Kunai' - amazing read, do read it if you haven't already. After so much time, all I have managed to give you guys is a very short chapter with not a lot of real progress.
So at this stage I want to thank all the people who have stuck with me since I began this journey. It has been revelatory for me and truly humbling. I especially want to thank everyone for bearing through my very pretentious first few chapters - which is the first thing I will be correcting before I begin Part 2.
WotS