Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.
Note - Regarding last chapter, Sasuke received the Stoat mask to show he wasn't the same as his brother who received the Weasel mask.
After all, a Weasel is weasel-ly recognized, while a Stoat is stoat-ally different.
Feel free to groan...
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Memories Of Others
Chapter 51
Taking The Hat
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Tsunade sagged onto the surprisingly comfortable settee and glanced out of the window. Only her experience let her hide her shock as she recognized the valley and her gaze quickly took in the rest of the room with its distinctive fireplace and half-floor above.
It was Minato's old house, one where she had visited to check over Kushina after Minato had rescued her.
The house where she and her then-fiancee Dan had eaten their final meal together before the mission that had taken Dan away from her, a meal personally cooked by then-Jonin Namikaze Minato.
"…were shinobi I've encountered in the past, all were dead and all were being used and controlled by one of my old students, Nagato of Ame, using his dojutsu. The Rin'negan." Jiraiya stated, causing Tsunade to focus on her team-mate as he explained how he had met them, and how his spies had relayed word of their deaths.
"Obviously your spies were wrong." Tsunade mused, mentally trying to figure out who would have profited from Hanzo remaining in power. For a long moment, she allowed herself to lose the thread of the conversation, trusting her well-trained memory to record it in case she needed to quote from it later, then a familiar word brought her back.
"… Jinchuuriki. Naruto, my spies haven't reported anything regarding the Biju, but I need you to send a clone with a message to as many of the Hidden Villages as you can. They need to know that they have to guard their jinchuuriki." Jiraiya said.
"Taki'll be a problem." Kakashi mused. "They keep their Jinchuuriki outside the village… they don't like her at all, they only keep her around because she's a Jinchuuriki and therefore a powerful weapon."
Jiraiya smirked.
"The I think that soon, they'll regret not taking more care of her." Jiraiya smirked.
Tsunade looked at her team-mate, then started to laugh as she followed his logic and deduced the plan that he had probably developed.
"I'm missing something." Naruto said, causing Tsunade's amusement to deepen.
"I'll make it your first mission after I have the hat." Tsunade promised Jiraiya "For now, though, I think I need to get to the Tower and talk to Sensei again. Coming, Shizune?"
"Of course, Lady Tsunade!"
Tsunade nodded to the others before stepping out through the door and walking towards the path that would take them to the bottom of the Hokage Monument, Shizune half-scurrying along behind her.
"Shizune," She said as she slowed slightly to allow her apprentice (and most trusted friend) to catch up to her, "Do you think I've made the right choice?"
"I think you'll do a great job, my lady." Shizune replied.
"Not what I asked." Tsunade deadpanned. "Please, tell me. Do you think I've chosen correctly?"
Shizune blinked a couple of times as she ordered her thoughts and Tsunade remained silent, refusing to try and hurry her apprentice's response.
"I… think that you have made the right choice, my lady." Shizune finally admitted. "We've been moving from place to place for many years…"
"Running away, you mean." Tsunade snorted. "Sensei was very nice to avoid pointing that out to me… which actually made it more obvious…"
Shizune's diplomatic silence caused Tsunade to chuckle mirthlessly.
"Shizune, do you want to know how he persuaded me to come back?"
"If… you don't mind, my lady…" Shizune managed.
"He asked me if I could recommend either Danzo or Jiraiya as his replacements." Tsunade barked with laughter before sobering. "Then he asked me if I was willing to give myself a chance to heal or if I preferred bleeding to death from my emotional wounds."
"Hiruzen-sama does have a way with words." Shizune admitted.
"The old bastard does indeed." Tsunade grumbled in unwilling admiration. "It'll be interesting to get an in-depth look at how he thinks."
"My lady?"
"He's going to have to fully explain his plans and policies to me so that I can adjust or continue them as I see fit." Tsunade explained as they briefly emerged into a clearing and followed the path out of it again. "I'll finally have a chance to see just what… did we see back there?"
Shizune blinked as Tsunade reversed course and half-jogged back to the clearing.
"What's going on?" She asked the paint-spattered genin on the other side of the clearing.
"It is a most youthful training session!" The one clad in green shouted back as he helped to untie the pink-haired kunoichi from the ropes that had bound her to a tree. "We are half-way around the course and are still going strong!"
"And I'm going to kill Naruto for doing this to me!" The kunoichi snarled as she dropped to the ground and started re-tying the rags of her former clothing in an attempt to retain her modesty.
"You look like you fell victim to one of the traps from the book written by Uchiha Madara!" Shizune stated, trying not to burst out laughing. "The one that uses three lemons and a paperclip!"
"Yosh, that was two traps ago!" The green-clad teenager replied with a wide grin. "Truly, Naruto-kun shows extreme youthfulness in the art of traps! Now, let us move on… yoink!"
Tsunade watched in disbelief as the energetic teen triggered an ankle-noose trap and managed to slice through it with a kunai even before his other foot had fully left the ground.
"What the hell's been going on in the years I've been away?" She muttered as the trio of genin vanished into the forest.
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"Ah, the trap courses." Hiruzen smiled after Tsunade had finished describing what she had seen. "It sounds like Team 9 is being given a run for their money by young Naruto, although he did mention that he was going to be teaching Ino how to set up the courses after she finished the one he had set up for her."
"That's… normal?" Tsunade asked in disbelief and Hiruzen nodded.
"It's a fairly regular thing these days. We have several aspiring trap-masters in amongst our genin. You've already met Naruto and you've still to see Ino's work while Hyuuga Neji is becoming something of an expert in detecting and disassembling traps in his own right. In fact, the Hyuuga clan have recently instituted their own trap-making and trap-breaking courses."
"I see I'm going to have to do a lot of studying." Tsunade sighed and Hiruzen motioned towards the second desk in the office, one which had been set at right-angles to his own.
"For the next few days, that'll be your desk as I bring you up to speed." He said. "Once you take the hat, we'll switch so that this desk will be yours. Remind me to show you how to open the secret drawers."
"Thanks, Sensei." Tsunade smiled as she moved to take the seat behind her desk, then she looked at her assistant. "Shizune, I want you to head to the hospital. Find out what's going on there and report back."
"Yes, my lady." Shizune said with a bow before seeming to vanish.
"So." Hiruzen said, pulling out a sheet of paper. "Here we are, form 451979, Confirmation of Field Promotion In Peacetime. I think that before you become Hokage, you should at least be promoted from Chunin."
Tsunade blinked several times. "I… I'd forgotten that I was still technically a chunin…"
"You did depart just before you could take the Jonin Exam." Hiruzen reminded her. "We both know that skill and rank aren't always the same thing… speaking of which, what rank do you think young Shizune would be if I had her tested?"
"I trained her as well as I could." Tsunade half-sighed, glancing at her apprentice. "I did my best to bring her up to my level as much as possible, so… Tokubetsu Jonin at the very least."
"The I'll have her undergo the testing tomorrow." Hiruzen smiled at his surprised former student. "I'm sure that she'll pass with flying colors. Now, one more thing."
"Yes, Sensei?"
Hiruzen made a small hand-signal and the door opened, revealing a tall blond man.
"I think you may remember is Yamanaka Inoichi." Hiruzen said. "I think you need to get over that phobia of yours if you are to let an old man like me retire."
"Yes, Sensei." Tsunade sighed as she turned to face the obviously-amused clan-head.
"Don't worry." Inoichi said reassuringly. "You're not the first non-Yamanaka clan-member I've helped."
"He's helping the young Uchiha as well." Hiruzen added. "You're in safe hands."
"And don't worry about the cost." Inoichi continued."Konoha's got this one."
"And most of your wage as Hokage can go towards paying off all the debts you've run up." Hiruzen finished with an overly-innocent expression, earning a glare from Tsunade. "We'll do a full debrief after your preliminary session with Inoichi, but for now, did anything happen after I came back?"
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Hiruzen stared in shock at Tsunade.
"You're certain?"
"It was Orochimaru." Tsunade confirmed. "Or… I remember him saying something about looking into cloning just before he fled Konoha. Maybe it was a clone of him… or he sent a clone of him to attack Konoha…"
"That makes a disturbing amount of sense." Hiruzen sighed, then he looked up as the office door opened.
"Lord Hokage." Kakashi said as he led the way into the office, holding the door long enough to allow Naruto and Hinata (who were holding hands) to follow him through. "Team Hiraishin reporting for debriefing."
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"My Lady?" Shizune queried as Tsunade looked round the newly-emptied Hokage Mansion. "We're going to need some furniture."
"Indeed we are, Shizune." Tsunade agreed as she looked through one of the doors to see a large library, its shelves stacked high with scrolls and books. "Looks like they only took the Sarutobi stuff… Shizune, make a note to organize a team to go to the Senju mansion and grab all the furniture that's still usable."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Tsunade carefully closed the door and leaned against the frame.
"I still can't believe that I'm doing this." She sighed. "Am I caught in genjutsu or something?"
"With your chakra control, that would be difficult." Shizune pointed out and Tsunade nodded.
"It'll be odd, not running from the debt collectors… you know, there is one bright point to this."
"My lady?"
Tsunade grinned almost ferally. "You can finally find a good man and have some kids for their 'Aunt Tsunade' to spoil rotten."
Shizune blushed and Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"Already got someone in mind, have you?"
"Lady Tsunade!"
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Tsunade stepped forwards, feeling the official robes weighing heavily on her shoulders as Hiruzen spoke, using the fuuinjutsu inscribed into the balcony and shade-pillars to amplify and project his voice, making it audible to everyone who was watching from below.
"…and as I retire… once more," Hiruzen said, causing a ripple of laughter from the crowd, "I do so in the knowledge that once again, I do so in favor of someone who will perform the task placed upon them with the greatness and determination that Konohagakure deserves. People of Konoha, may I present the Godaime Hokage… Senju Tsunade!"
As her Sensei finished his speech, Tsunade stepped forwards into the almost-solid cheering from the assembled citizens and Shinobi. Glancing sideways, she saw Shizune smiling with pride at her, then she turned her attention back to her Sensei, who had removed the Hat of Kages and was holding it out for her to take.
"I, Senju Tsunade, student of the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, do hereby accept the position of Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure." Tsunade declaimed, the words coming easily to her after the several hours of tutelage under Hiruzen's gaze. "May the Will of Fire burn brightly in the Leaf!"
As she finished, she donned the hat, then raised one clenched fist in the old symbol of victorious triumph.
"Let the Will of Fire burn in us all!" She shouted. "For Konoha!"
"For Konoha!" The massed response came and Tsunade smiled as she looked out over the Village Hidden In The Leaves, the Village that was now hers to lead, hers to guide and hers to protect.
"Dan." She whispered. "I'll fulfill your dream for you. I promise that I'll make you proud."
The cheering grew louder as Hiruzen stepped back, leaving her at the front of the balcony, a symbol of the new dawn for the Leaf.
