Uzumaki Yoshide strode through the streets of Konoha, flanked as he so often was by Kozumu, who was serving as his bodyguard for the day.

Seeing a clan head approaching, most of the people in the streets got out of his way. Some stopped to bow to and greet him, which usually prompted either a cheerful or polite response from the regent of the Uzumaki Clan.

Rounding a corner, the only indication that the pair of Uzumaki had stepped into the Inuzuka district was the greatly increased number of ninken present.

Yoshide continued to walk through the Inuzuka district until he reached a gate. The Inuzuka employed a hybrid system for their land. Roughly one third of the land was laid out in the common open style district where non-Inuzuka could live and work, paying rent to the clan. The majority of the land however was kept behind walls and gates.

So at the gate, Yoshide had to go through what had after more than a decade as clan regent become an all too familiar routine. Every clan had roughly the same security checks for visiting diplomats and clan heads.

First, Inuzuka guards took his I.D., confirmed his identity, and confirmed that he was on the list of village figures invited to a meeting by their clan head, Inuzuka Tsume.

Then, they confirmed that he was allowed to bring a bodyguard, and took Kozumu's I.D. as well.

Then they did a basic pat down of both Yoshide and Kozumu, "looking" for weapons. Of course, both Shinobi had several weapons on them, just not plainly hidden. If the Inuzuka had actually been thorough in their search they would have found many weapons, but for fellow Konoha clans the village standard was just a cursory search, more an act than a real attempt to find anything.

Then, the guards reminded Kozumu that he was only allowed to bring 2 weapons to the meeting, and that both must be visible at all times, so Yoshide's bodyguard revealed his katana and a short sword, both of which remained in their sheaths.

Finally, the Inuzuka guards tried to dispel any genjutsu or henge that might be in use. Of course Yoshide and Kozumu were using no such techniques. This was all just an elaborate ceremony from a long dead age.

With all their checks done, the guards opened the gates, and Yoshide and Kozumu were escorted to the building where the meeting was to be held. There they went through the entire routine a second time with a new set of guards before they were finally escorted inside and shown to the meeting room.

The Uzumaki were not the first to arrive, and the room was about half full. Yoshide took his seat at the table, while Kozumu leaned against the wall behind his charge, mimicking the behavior of the other bodyguards.

Taking the tea that was offered to him, Kozumu took out a small packet and poured the contents into the tea, canceling out any poisons that might be present in exchange for having a slight negative impact on the taste.

Yoshide had not actually been worried about poison, this was just the standard diplomatic ceremony.

These customs for diplomatic meetings between clans originated in the warring states period, where even clans that were nominally allied to each other would use these kinds of meetings as cover for assassination attempts and kidnappings.

In the modern village era such rituals were no longer needed among Konoha's clans but the routines were kept in place, if only to allow clans to practice for the rare occasion when they did host foreign clans and would need to really follow these procedures.

Over the next several minutes the room filled up, culminating when in her capacity as host the Lady of the Inuzuka was the last to arrive, sitting at the table's head.

Besides Tsume and Yoshide many other clan heads were present, including Aburame Shibi, Akimichi Choza, Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, Uchiha Mikoto, and Yamanaka Inoichi, among others. Also present was the Sandaime Hokage's youngest son, Sarutobi Asuma.

Opening the meeting, Tsume demonstrated just why the Inuzuka were not known as diplomats.

"No offense to you Asuma, but your old man needs to give up the hat, he's going senile and it's starting to have a negative impact. Every one here loves Hokage-sama, but it's clear that he never should have come out of retirement after the Yondaime's death. He's ceded more and more of his power, and not to us, but to the civilians and elders. We need a fresh face, a Godime Hokage, to restore the authority of the office and the clans."

Thankfully, having been around Inuzuka clan members long enough to become accustomed to their brash and brunt way of speaking that lacked any sense of tact, Asuma took no offense.

The Sarutobi clan felt that their long time head needed to retire as well. In fact, just recently the Sarutobi elders had been able to convince Hiruzen to step down as clan head. Discussions about who would be the next permanent head of the Sarutobi clan were ongoing, but Asuma had been sent to this meeting with the authority to speak as if he was the clan head.

With Asuma and the Sarutobi seemingly in agreement about dethroning their long time leader, the other clan heads breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone in the room agreed that it was best not only for the clans, but for Hiruzen himself, if he retired.

Aburame Shibi was the next to speak:

"It would be best if we decided on a successor who would go forward and volunteer to take over for Sandaime-sama. That's because he has long expressed his desire to name a successor, and if we choose that person it will prevent disagreeable figures from having any influence on the selection process."

The village elders and a couple of Konoha's more contrarian clans did not need to be named for everyone to understand what Shibi meant, so the discussion then turned to possible candidates.

While both were certainly good enough to become Hokage, both Hyuuga Hiahsi and Nara Shikaku were dismissed out of hand, much to the Nara clan head's relief.

Hiashi would be considered too controversial, as the Hyuuga had just as many enemies in the village as they did friends, and it was generally agreed that Shikaku was best suited to continue as the jonin commander.

Kakashi's name was brought up, but Shibi spoke up to point out that while Kakashi might be a good candidate for the Rokudaime, he was too busy restoring his own clan to be able to serve as Godaime.

Additionally, while his sensei Namikaze Minato might have been made Hokage at 24, younger than Kakakashi's current age, there had been extenuating circumstances around his appointment. Kakashi himself quashed any thoughts of him taking over, stating that he had no interest in the position.

Having come to the meeting with a preferred candidate in mind, Yoshide was the next to speak: "I think the village could use the return of a Senju Hokage."

All eyes turned to the one clan head who had not yet spoken: Senju Tsunade.

"Fuck you." She spat out, "It's already your fault that I moved back to Konoha Yoshide, it's your fault I had to become a clan head. Now you want me to become Hokage? No. Fuck you."

"Lady Tsunade," Yoshide began, offering a mock bow. "I accept that you can blame me for getting you to return to the village all those years ago, but I think that if anything is to blame for you remaining here permanently and becoming a clan head, that would be your love of fine spirits. Blame the sake."

Many snickers and chuckles were heard around the room as Tsunade stewed in anger. Rumor had it that on the night before she had wanted to leave the village, Jiraya had shown up to her hotel room with several bottles of of the last Senju's liquor of choice. Both sanin got incredibly drunk and Jiraya's wildest dreams came true when they ended up in bed together, not that he had any memory of what had transpired.

9 months later Tsunade had given birth to twins, securing a future for the Senju clan. Now 51, her children were 8 year old academy students, and she remained in the village running the hospital.

Trying to get the assembled clan heads to stop laughing at her expense, Tsunade offered her own nomination. "If any one would make an ideal candidate to be Hokage, it would by my husband."

Now all eyes turned to the Toad Sage, who was leaning against the wall acting as Tsunade's bodyguard since the two of them were the only adults in the Senju clan.

"No." Jiraya spoke. "For one thing, while it's true that I'm in Konoha a lot more than I used to be now that I'm married with children, I still have to leave fairly often to maintain my spy network."

Then, making eye contact with his wife, Jiraya said "Hime, you've been running the village hospital since you moved back. You're a far better administrator than anyone in this room. I can think of no better candidate to be the next Hokage than you."

"Yeah, well if you can withdraw your name for your spy network why can't I withdraw mine due to my duties at the hospital?"

"That would be because there is no one else currently capable of doing Jiraya's job, Senju-sama. But there is someone capable of doing yours." Yoshide said, "With me today as my bodyguard is Uzumaki Kozumu, who is married to your apprentice. Do you not think that Uzumaki Shizune is capable of running the hospital?"

It was a trap, but even though she knew she was falling into it, Tsunade's pride in her apprentice and the woman she had become would not let her lie. "Of course she is capable. Shizune is currently the deputy administrator, and I know she could easily step into the head role. But that doesn't mean that I agree to becoming Hokage."

"It'd be a drag for him, but becoming Hokage does mean you could boss around Jiraya-sama both at home and at work." Shikaku's joke was met with laughs from everyone in the room except the toad sage, who now looked very nervous. Meanwhile, Tsunade's expression clearly showed that she would consider that a perk of the job.

Akimichi Choza spoke next: "Senju-sama, you have impeccable qualifications. Your grandfather was the first Hokage, you are related to the second Hokage, and are the student of the third Hokage. No one in the village would dare to question your qualifications, except for maybe the discontent faction within the Uchiha Clan."

Mikoto nodded in confirmation, the portion of her clan that opposed her and Itachi would not like another Senju Hokage, but the majority of the clan would support Tsunade.

Asuma was the final one to make an appeal.

"I love my father, but he needs to retire. My brother and sister-in-law recently died on a mission and my father is grieving. He should be there with our family, with his now orphaned grandson. Not cooped up in the tower. He wants to retire but he's selfless, the Will of Fire burns strong in him, he will not make time for his own family while the whole village needs him."

Asuma then bowed. "Please, Senju-sama. My father did a lot of good for you as a sensei. I know he's proud of you, but I can't imagine he'd be more proud than seeing you take the hat from him."

Tsunade's silence was interpreted as a positive sign by everyone else in the room, and the meeting was quickly adjourned. Tsunade was the first to leave, but as he followed her out Jiraya turned around and mouthed "Good job, I'll take it from here" to the assembled clan heads. They'd done their part, now they just needed to wait for Tsunade to make up her mind.

-Several Weeks Later-

"Enter"

At the command, Yuhi Kurenai walked into the Hokage's office and almost immediately felt out of place. As expected, seated at the desk in front of her was the new Hokage, Senju Tsunade, and it wasn't surprising that her husband, Jiraya, was also there.

But all the clan heads in the room caught Kurenai off guard.

Kakashi and Asuma were of course colleagues of hers, and she had good relationships with Shibi and Yoshide seeing as she was the sensei of their children. Shikaku was the jonin commander and thus her boss, and where he went of course Inoichi and Choza would go as well.

Still, while individually there was nothing strange about her interacting with any of these particular clan heads, all of them gathered in one place made Kurenai feel very out of place.

Realizing that her emotions were reflected in her facial expression, Kurenai spoke. "Forgive me, Lady Hokage, I was unaware that this was a formal meeting." she offered, bowing.

"You were not informed that this is a formal meeting because this is most certainly not a formal meeting, at least not that kind of formal." Tsunade responded.

"Kakashi and I are here in our capacity as jonin sensei, not as the heads of the Hatake and Sarutobi clans" Asuma added, knowing it would bring some relief to his not-so-secret girlfriend.

Indeed, Kurenai did look relieved to hear that news. As the Yuhi were vassals of the Sarutobi, when Asuma acted as the head of his clan she essentially had to behave in a subservient and submissive manner to him. This had definitely led to some playful bedroom fun for the couple since he was named head of the Sarutobi Clan two weeks prior, but it was not a way she wanted to behave in front of the first female Hokage.

But seeing as this was not a formal meeting Kurenai had no such obligation, and instead walked up to Asuma and leaned against the wall next to him, close enough for there to be a sensation of physical contact but not so close as to give away the fact that they were together. Though unbeknownst to her every one in the room had already realized they were in a relationship, and figured that given the pressure on clan heads to marry and produce heirs, the new head of clan Sarutobi would be proposing soon.

With everyone in the room, Tsunade began the discussion.

"Sarutobi-sensei had been in the process of preparing to host an international chunin exam two months from now. However, given the transition from him to me, I have decided to postpone the exams by 4 months. In response, Suna has announced that they will host an international exam in the originally agreed upon two months time. Thus, I've decided that the exams we have six months from now will be domestic exams. No foreign shinobi."

Kurenai now understood why she was in this particular meeting. Aburame Shino, her student, was the heir of the Aburame Clan. There was pressure on him to do well in the exams, and on her to make sure he was ready for them. Similarly, Asuma and Kakashi taught the heirs of the other clans represented in the meeting.

Confirming her though process, Jiraya spoke next. "Obviously there are pros and cons to this change for the clan heir genin. The international exams present a much bigger stage on which to show off, but they are also more difficult, and it is not uncommon for only one or two participants to get promoted given that the international panel of judges have different values and criteria for what constitutes a chunin."

"On the other hand," Tsuande took over "domestic exams will result in a much smaller opportunity to show off, but are more likely to result in promotion. The village couldn't survive if only one or two genin were promoted each exam as is common on the international level. Thus, roughly half of all those who take domestic exams earn promotion. Plus there is an additional four months to prepare for the domestic exams. I was hoping to hear the thoughts of the clan heads whose heirs are impacted by this change, and thought it prudent to invite their jonin-sensei as well."

"Indeed." Shibi said, turning to Kurenai as he did. "Yuhi-san, I would hear your opinion of Shino's readiness for the exams."

"Shino is progressing nicely, and I am confident that he and his teammates will be ready to participate in two months time, though in an international exam on that time frame it might just be to gain experience as opposed to pushing for promotion. On the other hand, with an additional 4 months to prepare and the more relaxed standards I'm quite confident that Shino could gain promotion on his first attempt."

Shibi nodded in response, clearly thinking.

Yoshide desperately wanted to speak up and ask about Karin, but as much as he loved his daughter she was not next in line to lead the Uzumaki. Yoshide was only invited to this meeting to speak about Naruto, he would quietly approach Kurenai about his daughter after the meeting ended.

Meanwhile, the heads of the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka Clans, raised as brothers in all but blood, shared a look with each other. Based on Inoichi's expression, it was highly likely that he was facilitating a telepathic conversation between the three of them via his clan's shindenshin jutsu.

Choza was the one who broke from the unspoken conversation first, turning to Asuma and asking how he would react if the three clans opted to choose the domestic route.

Asuma in turn responded that he would have no objections. Like Kurenai he felt his students would be ready to enter an international exam in two months time and hold their own, but he was not as confident of their ability to gain promotion.

Shikaku then stated that the three clans would opt for the domestic exams in six months, rather than foreign international exams in two months.

This prompted Shibi to speak up again, saying that the Aburame would opt for the domestic exam as well, as long as Kurenai thought her other students would be ready. To which Kurenai responded that while neither were advanced as Shino, both Karin and Kiba would be more than ready come the domestic exams.

Finally, all eyes turned to the representative of the one clan whose heir's exam fate had yet to be determined.

"It's a complicated and delicate situation." Yoshide said.

"On one hand the clan could certainly use the extra prestige brought about by an international exam. On the other hand, I believe it is considered a major faux pas for a village to send their jinchuuriki to another village's exam."

All the other clan heads nodded, yes sending a jinchuuriki to another village's exam was definitely considered dangerous and rude.

"Then there are the reports from Lord Jiraya's spy network." The only person not privy to this information already, Kurenai perked up her head.

"If indeed Orochimaru is trying to acquire both an Uchiha and an Uzumaki then Team 7 is an optimal target for him, and the chaos of a chunin exam might be the ideal opportunity for him. While still not totally safe, it would make more sense then to have Team 7 participate in a domestic exam where the village has more control and can respond quicker should the snake try something."

Yoshide then looked back at Tsunade, "I know Sasuke is not the official Uchiha heir, but given the issue of Orochimaru have you discussed these options with Lady Mikoto?"

"Yes." Tsunade confirmed. "She noted that the Uchiha have a long standing tradition of preferring International exams, but that it doesn't go against any rule to go the domestic route and that many Uchiha have done just that. Ultimately, she will defer to Kakashi's judgment on when he thinks the team is ready."

That admission made Kakashi the center of attention.

"Well, I'd been targeting the exams two months from now and am confident that the team will be ready by then, but given all the reasons you provided to wait for the domestic exams, it's quite possible that is the best option."

"We will wait for the domestic exams as well." Yoshide said. "If Team 7 is as ready as Kakashi says they are than this extra time should just serve as icing on the cake."

"All right, so it's agreed then. All three teams with clan heirs on them will wait until the domestic exams." Tsunade said, "I'll be consulting with the jonin of other genin teams over the next two weeks. It's likely we'll send one or two teams to Suna just to be polite, but I think I'd like to hold back most of our genin to give Teams 7, 8, and 10 more competition."

With that, the meeting was dismissed and the attendees began to disperse. Kurenai followed Asuma out of the room and down the hall, intent of finding some privacy so that the Yuhi could "prove her loyalty as a vassal" of Asuma's. Something that was sure to be a pleasurable experience for both of them.

AN1: Just in case it's not clear, during the time skip between the two parts of this chapter Tsunade becomes Hokage and Asuma becomes head of the Sarutobi clan. I would not consider this a coup. Hiruzen never wanted to become Hokage for a second time and I envision that he has long been trying to convince someone to take the hat from him. In my interpretation this meeting is more about ensuring that someone that the assembled Clan Heads approve of steps up to the plate. Hiruzen is willing to relinquish the position, just not able as he cannot find a willing candidate that he approves of. It's still absolutely collusion, but not a coup. Tsunade approaches Hirzuen saying she wants to be Hokage and he is all too happy to step aside.

AN2: It has always confused me that Konoha is able to rally thousands of chunin and jonin to fight the 4th Shinobi war while leaving Genin at home, and yet we only ever see what...10 genin get promoted at most from a chunin exam, and that was one where there wasn't a tournament final. I've attempted to resolve that quandary here by the introduction of domestic exams. No international judges means it would theoretically be easier to promote more genin to chunin.