~The Next Day, Council Room~
"I have decided, with a good deal of thought, that I can no longer serve as active Hokage," Sandaime announced to the council. One of the elders hid a smile and Danzo tried to hide his happiness.
"Have you decided on a successor?" Koharu asked. Hiruzen nodded.
"I have been considering two people in particular. The first has respectfully denied the opportunity so that he can focus on his other responsibilities," Hiruzen reported, not looking at me. "The second is Senju Tsunade."
"Tsunade is a drunk," Koharu chuckled. I sat up in my chair, ready to defend the Godaime candidate.
"Tsunade fulfills all requirements and then some. Not only is she widely famous as one of the legendary Sannin, she is also one of the greatest medical nin born. What she lacks in organizational skills will be compensated for by her apprentice, Shizune. Tsunade knows how to get her point across-"
"By threatening and yelling, yes," Homura countered. I sighed.
"Which is the only way to communicate with a number of men. If you haven't noticed, I am not exactly quiet or polite in these council meetings. Consequently, I usually get what I want. All Tsunade needs is to learn the subtleties of politics, something I'm sure you, as Elders, should be able to school her in." Homura and Koharu fell silent, opening the door to Danzo.
"I will not deny that Tsunade is a powerful medical kunoichi. I do, however, question her loyalties towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Even now, she could prove a liability for Konoha."
"Are you implying that my student does not have Konoha's interests at heart?" Hiruzen nearly growled. Danzo glanced at the Sandaime, smirking.
"Her teammate seemed to have Konoha's best interests at heart, Hiruzen," Danzo said with a fake smile. I sighed again.
"Orochimaru was a time bomb. His disloyalty was inevitable the moment his parents' lives ended. He decided to adhere to his already questionable nindo and learn kinjutsu. Tsunade is different. When she loses someone, she tries to find someone to fill the gap they left behind. Nawaki and Dan both died in pursuit of becoming Hokage. Now her trust is in me because I share that ambition," I said, pulling Shodai's necklace out of my shirt. Danzo narrowed his eyes, recognizing it.
"And if you fall?" Koharu asked pointedly. I tucked the necklace back in my shirt as Hiruzen answered for me.
"Yesterday, Naruto successfully defeated both the Shodai and the Nidaime single-handedly. Naruto is easily on level with the Sannin as well as the Kage. He will not be defeated so easily, nor will he abandon Konoha." I blushed slightly.
"I had help with Nidaime-sama," I corrected, one hand on the Raijin no Ken's hilt, now at my waist. "Even with Shodai-sama, I don't think he was expecting me to break out of his wood…"
"You seem very trusting of this twelve year old," Homura said, narrowing his eyes at me. I kept my face smooth as I drew Raijin no Ken. Hiruzen chuckled as the Elders and the clan heads leaned back in surprise.
"Naruto released both Hokage from Orochimaru. Before they left this world, Tobirama-sama entrusted his blade, Raijin no Ken, to Naruto. Can you honestly say that I should have any reason to doubt this jounin?"
"This is not about me," I said, retracting the sword into it's crossguard "This is about deciding the next Hokage. The council, the elders, and myself are here to advise Sandaime-sama. We have no real say in his successor," I said, sitting down. Hiruzen nodded at me, laughing under his breath.
"Now that that is settled, Senju Tsunade will be appointed Godaime Hokage as soon as the Daimyo approves her," Hiruzen ordered. "I think that is all we came here to discuss… Jounin sensei, come to my office. The new chuunin have been chosen. Dismissed!"
I stood from my chair, laughing with Tori about the ridiculousness of the meeting. We parted at the door; Tori left towards the Academy to resume her class, I left for Hiruzen's office. Kakashi caught up with me easily and we walked away from the seething elders.
~In the Hokage's Office~
Hiruzen sat at his desk, a piece of paper held in his hands. He glanced up at us, the assembled jounin sensei, and smiled.
"First, I'd like to say that I haven't seen this many genin made chuunin in one exam in a long time. We have a total of four new chuunin, all of them rookies." The older jounin sensei all sighed in unison, expecting that their teams hadn't made it through.
"Who are the new chuunin?" Kurenai asked Hiruzen, rocking on her heels. Hiruzen chuckled at her enthusiasm before consulting the list.
"The new chuunin are… Nara Shikamaru," Asuma smiled warmly, "Yuki Haku," I grinned, "Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi chuckled under his breath, "and Hyuuga Hinata."
At the last name, Kurenai's face broke into a grin as wide as mine. Stopping in her celebration, she glanced at me, her red eyes smiling.
"When's the wedding?" she demanded, grabbing my shoulder. I held back a wince as Asuma laughed. His laughter died when she turned to him, fist raised. "Do not ruin this for me."
I took the opportunity to pull a Kakashi, vanishing out the window. I Hiraishined to my house, where I knew everyone was waiting for news of the Godaime. Team Seven, Kakashi included, were already there. Tsunade was with Shizune and Jiraiya, taking a leave from his traveling to come to my wedding.
"I'm ba-" I was interrupted by the familiar tackling hug. Breathless, I chuckled. "I guess I won't tell everyone who the Godaime is, or the new chuunin." All at once, the weight vanished and my ears were bombarded with questions. "First things first, the Godaime has been decided if they'll take the position."
"Who is it?" Tsunade asked, oblivious to her sensei's wishes. I looked at her pointedly and she took half a step back. "What?"
"Hiruzen recommended you to be the Godaime Hokage. I agreed completely," I smiled. Tsunade looked reasonably shocked.
"Me? Hokage? I don't think so," she drifted off. I raised an eyebrow. "I mean, one student is one thing, a whole village is another…"
"And you'll be perfect. Don't worry, Hiruzen is still here to help you and I'm sure Shizune will keep you on track. I'll be there if you need me to deal with Koharu and Homura."
"I think I can handle those two," Tsunade coughed.
"Without punching them through a wall?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe you should talk to them," Shizune said, glancing in between Tsunade and me. Jiraiya laughed and Tsunade growled, raising her fist. As Jiraiya blanched, I cleared my throat loudly.
"Tsunade, I do live here. I'd appreciate it if you didn't punch Ero-sennin through a wall. Besides, I didn't even announce the chuunin yet." The room quieted in anticipation and Kakashi sighed.
"You don't need to draw it out, Naruto. Just tell them who got promoted."
"You're no fun," I pouted. Kakashi rolled his eyes and I turned back to the genin. "There were four genin to be made chuunin, all of them rookies: Nara Shikamaru, Yuki Haku, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyuuga Hinata."
Again, I was tackled by Haku, Hina-chan, and Sakura. Following my expectations, Sakura seemed happier for her teammates than she felt angry at her own rank.
"Okay, okay," I said, pulling the kunoichi off of me. "Chuunin is a big deal, that means-"
"We're getting married!" Hina-chan said in a singsong voice. I smiled at her, nodding.
"Exactly. Less importantly, it means that you are now able to be a team leader on missions. Team Seven will still function as a squad but you will get more difficult missions. You will still have a team leader, either Kakashi or another jounin, but it probably won't be me."
"Why not?" Sasuke asked calmly. I smiled sadly.
"Everyone knows who I am; I'm an S-ranking nin in the Bingo Book. I'll be sent on the most dangerous missions, A and S rank. Team Seven will be going on easier missions, B to A rank. The only times you'll see me are on A-ranking missions or in the village. Otherwise, I'm removed from Team Seven. I was only your jounin sensei because Team Seven only had two genin."
"Aww," Haku pouted.
"Don't worry, I shouldn't be sent out for a while. After all, we have a wedding to throw," I smiled at Hina-chan. She grinned back and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, glancing at the midday sun. "Speaking of which, when is the wedding? I never asked."
"Two weeks," Hina-chan answered, smiling. I nodded, thinking about the guest list. "You should probably get the Sand Siblings, we need Gaara and Temari here for the last minute preparations."
"The entire wedding is a little last minute," I pointed out. Hinata-chan smacked my shoulder playfully and chuckled. "Okay, I'll get them tomorrow. I'll give Suna a few days to recover from Hebi-teme."
"Sounds like a plan," Kakashi said, stretching. He glanced around the room, his gaze lingering on Shizune before moving on. I laughed under my breath as Hina-chan smiled knowingly. "Hinata, you should tell your father that you made chuunin."
"I'm sure Kurenai already told him," Hina-chan shrugged, seeing my memory of her jounin sensei's reaction. "If she didn't, it can wait until I get home," she said, hugging my side. I chuckled.
"Who wants lunch?" I asked, walking towards the kitchen door.
Hearing Hina-chan come into the kitchen, I glanced up from the counter. She smiled at me, walking behind me and wrapping her arms around me.
"Love you," I reminded her. She chuckled and hugged me tighter.
"Always and everywhere," she smiled. "Everything will be different now… Orochimaru is dead…. Sasuke doesn't have the seal and still has a family… I hope he and Sakura-chan start going out. They'd be a good fit if they stopped pretending for the other."
"I know. Sakura's getting out of her fan girl attitude. Now we're just waiting on Sasuke to figure out what's in front of him." Hinata-chan sighed, nodding against my shoulder.
"I guess Gaara and Matsuri aren't going to be together this go round… He and Haku-chan will be good for each other once he figures out what to tell her."
"You've been watching them too?" I asked quietly. Hinata-chan nodded into my shoulder again, releasing my as I picked up the plate of sandwiches. I carried them outside and Hina-chan called into the living room.
"Food's outside!" she shouted through the door before following me to the backyard. Setting the plate down, I picked up a sandwich and sat down next to Hina-chan. Lunch was soon over but that didn't force us inside. The sun was warm and partially hiding behind a layer of fluffy clouds. I glanced at them, knowing Shikamaru would be on his familiar hill.
"Anyone up for a swim?" I asked, directed towards Team Seven and Hina-chan. Jiraiya threw a hopeful glance towards Tsunade. I noticed Kakashi throw a more subtle glance towards Shizune and I smiled knowingly.
Sakura, Haku, and Hina-chan immediately agreed, running into the house to grab bathing suits- something always left at my house for emergencies. Even Sasuke nodded, laughing under his breath. He walked at a more sedate pace towards the house, flanked by me.
Changed into my bathing suit, I grabbed towels from one of the closets, laughing as I remembered the first time I showed Kiba and Hina-chan the pool.
When I walked out of the house, the others were already in the pool. I glanced empathetically towards Jiraiya, now sporting a black eye as Tsunade looked on triumphantly.