2 Days after Land of Snow mission
The sky was painted with splashes of pink and orange. The sun was ready to take its daily slumber while the moon prepared to rise. Konohagakure was bustling as its citizens prepared for dinner and waited for night to come. However, in the Hokage office, the Godaime Hokage was preparing anything but dinner.
'How has it been two months already…I feel like we just ended the last meeting…' Tsunade thought as she downed a cup of her sake. Sheets of paper were scattered all over her table while others were stacked to the side. 'I swear they keep on growing every time I turn around…' she thought as she eyed the paperwork on her table.
A knock was heard before the door opened. Her assistant came in with a clipboard as she immediately narrowed her eyes on the sake in her hands. Seeing her gaze, Tsunade spoke, "oh give me a break, Shizune. I've been working nonstop and you know how troublesome tonight's gonna get."
Shizune opened her mouth to say something but it turned into a sigh. She couldn't fault the Hokage, what she had to do next was indeed very troublesome. "Well, you should enjoy that last cup. Everyone's arrived for the meeting."
As ordered, Tsunade drank her cup of sake until the last drop and slammed it down on the desk. Shizune could hear the wood of the desk creaking with the slam. Tsunade slapped both of her cheeks and shook off any lingering drunken feeling she had. "Alright, let's do this…" she said to herself. She stood up and walked to the door. As she was about to exit her office, she stopped and turned to Shizune. "Must I really do this?" She pouted.
"Yes." Was the swift answer she was given. With a sigh, she took the clipboard which Shizune handed her and made her way down the Hokage tower. The Hokage office was at the uppermost level of the Hokage tower. Currently, she was headed two levels down. After going down a few sets of stairs and passing several hallways, Tsunade finally made it to her destination.
In front of her was a set of two large wooden doors. They were made of the same wood used for the Hokage office door but they were much bigger. With a push, the doors opened to a large room with a high ceiling. The occupants of the room stopped buzzing and their attention was turned to her. At once, they all stood and bowed in respect to her. "Good evening, Hokage-sama."
"Man, that was a good movie…" Naruto said as team 7 exited the cinema.
"Of course you'll say it was good. We were literally the characters in the movie," Shikamaru said lazily with his hands behind his head.
"No… It was actually a good movie, us being in it notwithstanding" Naruto reasoned. The rest of team 7 looked at him in a deadpan. Naruto chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Ok, maybe a little bit of it was because we were in it…" Seeing his team still giving the same look, he faltered. "Fine… most of it was because we were in it…"
The rest of team 7 laughed and soon, Naruto joined in with them before they made their way to a restaurant that wasn't Ichiraku's to eat.
Tsunade sat on her high chair at the end of the long table in the middle of the room. It was still unusual to her to be sat at the head of a table filled with people of such high ranks. Usually, she would be amongst them, not above them. Her gaze panned across the room as she took in the occupants of the room. The Konoha Council sat in front of her.
The Konoha Council was created with the intention of aiding the Hokage. It was a concept proposed by the Shodai Hokage before it was eventually implemented during the reign of the Nidaime Hokage. As the village increased in size, power, population and activity, the workload also started getting greater. It would be extremely difficult and inefficient for only one person to manage everything. Hence, the council was established to help the Hokage with running the village.
Sitting on her left, were the clan heads. Closest to her sat Shikaku Nara followed by Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi - the famous Ino-Shika-Cho. Shikaku mainly helped the Hokage with managing the local shinobi forces in times of peace. However, his real value to the village comes in times of war. Shikaku, like his father, was highly intelligent and an amazing strategist. Inoichi helped the Hokage run the T and I department. The Yamanaka's mind jutsu are best suited for interrogation and as such most of the Yamanaka clan were assigned to help in T and I. Choza Akimichi helped in running the village's food trade and demolition corps. The Akimichi clan has a long history of farming and travelling across the continent as merchants. Hence, they were the best to depend on when it came to food and agriculture. Furthermore, their expansion jutsu were great for demolition.
In the chair beside Choza, sat Hiashi Hyuga. Hiashi Hyuga was the best negotiator in Konoha. His Byakugan allowed him to detect lies. From the way a person's heart rate increases ever so slightly to a change in a person's breathing pattern, everyone had a sign that showed they were lying. His sharp vision allowed him to detect lies and also to make sure others played into his hand and not the other way. He was usually sent on diplomatic missions or to discuss trade deals before it was handed over to the Hokage to be confirmed.
The next clan head was Shibi Aburame. The Aburame clan were smaller compared to the other clans but that did not mean they were less important. The Aburame clan were responsible for many of the poisons created in Konoha. Their extensive knowledge on insects helped them develop poisons based on the insect venom. They were also an excellent tracker clan which usually worked alongside the Inuzuka and Hyuga. Therefore, there were many Aburame clan members in Konoha's hunter-nin department.
Lastly, there was Tsume Inuzuka. Tsume was in charge of Konoha's hunter-nin department. The hunter-nin were a group of shinobi who tracked down and killed missing-nins declared by the Hokage. They were to only seek shinobi that the Hokage declared as missing. The Inuzuka were amazing trackers due to their keen sense of smell and sight and their nin-dogs. They also ran all of Konoha's veterinary clinics.
The six clans were not the only clans to have received a seat on the Konoha Council. There were in fact four other clans excluding the Senju which Tsunade was currently representing. The other four clans were Sarutobi, Namikaze, Uzumaki and Uchiha. When someone is named Hokage, their clan is given a seat on the council. Hence, the Sarutobi and Namikaze clans were given a place on the council for the Sandaime and Yondaime Hokage. However, those seats were currently unoccupied. Following the death of the Sandaime, the only heir to the clan head was Asuma Sarutobi. However, he has refused to join the council as he was more interested in his shinobi career than politics. As for the Namikaze clan, the only heir had barely started his shinobi career.
The Uzumaki Clan were given a seat on the council as Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the Shodai, was an advisor to the first two Hokage. After her death, Kushina Uzumaki was the next and only heir due to the destruction of Uzushiogakure. She did not accept the offer to be on the council with similar reasons to Asuma. She wanted to focus on being a shinobi and did not have much interest in the village's politics. Finally, the last heir of the Uzumaki clan posed the same problem as the Namikaze clan - maybe because they were the same person.
As one of the two founding clans, the Uchiha were naturally given a seat in the clan. The only two heirs left were quite unsuitable for the seat. That in itself is an understatement. One was a mass murderer and one of Konoha's most wanted men. While the other was barely starting puberty and had major family issues. Or rather, issues from having no family.
"Good evening everyone. Let's start this meeting," Tsunade said.
The rustling of leaves could be heard in the darkness that was illuminated by the moon. Four shadows could be seen making their way through the dense forest that surrounded Konoha. "Target is 10 miles away," stated one of them. The others nodded in acknowledgement as they increased their pace.
"…and that's the end of it, Hokage-sama," Tsume stated before she sat back down.
"So, in the past two months, we've only found two bases and we can't increase our search numbers," Tsunade clarified. She got a nod from Tsume which caused her to sigh. She turned her attention to a member who sat on the right side of the table. This man wore a burgundy formal yukata with a white obi to tie it together. He had a properly trimmed beard and his hair was white and thin. He was Daisuke Aoki, the financial manager for the Daimyō of the Land of Fire.
During the founding of the village, a deal was struck with the shinobi clans and the Daimyō of the Land of Fire. The Daimyō would give some land for the formation of the village and some funding. In exchange, the village is to provide protection for the land and for the Daimyō's themselves. As such, shinobi have become the primary fighting force for the Land of Fire and the Land of Fire's samurai have taken the back seat. Furthermore, twelve shinobi are specially chosen from all around the Land of Fire to serve as the Daimyo's personal guard. At first glance, this may seem like an unfair trade; however, with a major village, the land exponentially grew economically.
Daisuke's job was to keep track of the funds that the Daimyō gives to the village and to record back to the Daimyō where said funds go. Daisuke was one of two representatives from the Daimyō. The other being Fumiko Watanabe. Fumiko was the Daimyo's personal assistant. She was the main messenger between the Hokage and the Daimyō. She wore a simple green kimono that was similar to Shizune's with a white haori with a flower design over it. She had her brown hair tied up into a bun with a red stick that matched the colour of her Obi. She was much younger than Daisuke at only thirty or so years of age.
"Daisuke-san, how much of the Daimyo's funds do we have left?" Tsunade asked the 50-year-old man.
Daisuke flipped through his notes before he spoke, "you have about 20% left, Hokage-dono. Most of your funds have been going to the repair of the village."
'Tsk. We can't afford to have more teams looking for Oto bases. The mission funds are already going to salary and maintenance. The Daimyo's funds are going towards infrastructure repairs and upgrades. While our trade profits are going towards the shinobi departments…' Tsunade thought much to her displeasure. "Thank you, Daisuke-san."
Looking at the clock, Tsunade realised that they had been in a meeting for nearly two hours. "Are there any more issues to address?" She asked. She looked around to see that nobody was going to speak and was about to end it when…
"Hokage-sama…" Her attention was pulled to an old lady who sat to her right. Koharu Utatane was one of the village elders. The other two village elders were Homura Mitokado and Danzo Shimura. The village elders were retired and experienced shinobi. They acted as the main advisors to the Hokage. Whereas the council would meet every other month unless there was an emergency, the elders were constantly there to advise the Hokage. The elders had somewhat of a strained relationship with Tsunade especially during her more youthful days. They were unhappy with her leaving the village but luckily Hiruzen stepped in. "It is to our knowledge that you have recently promoted several genin to chunin," she simply stated.
"And what of it? They were all capable shinobi." Tsunade said with a level voice. However, internally she was scowling. She had a feeling that the discussion was brought up because who was promoted rather than why.
"If I may ask Hokage-dono, who was promoted?" Fumiko asked curiously.
"Four genin were promoted due to the Chunin Exams. Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki." As Tsunade said this, she took in the reactions of those present. Shibi and Shikaku held a glint of pride in their eyes which was understandable considering their sons were part of the four. The rest of the clan heads did not show much outward emotions but none seem to disagree with their promotion to chunin. Daisuke was stoic but Fumiko's eyes lit up which Tsunade had no clue as to why. The elders did not show much emotion too until the last name was mentioned. 'I knew it…'
"Oh, the young Uchiha has been promoted? And a Nara too. Shikaku-san, do you believe Shikamaru is a promising member of your clan?" Fumiko asked with an excited edge to her voice.
"Of course. He is my son after all. But why do you ask Fumiko-san?" Shikaku said with a smile.
Fumiko scribbled some notes before looking up, "we will continue the conversation later, Shikaku-san. I'm sorry for the interruption, Hokage-dono."
Tsunade had an idea as to what Fumiko was thinking but didn't want to jinx it by saying it out loud. "It's alright, Fumiko-san." She said before she turned to the elder. "So what is wrong with the Chunin promotions, elder? Don't tell me you have a problem with one of the shinobi. Or more specifically one Uzumaki…" Tsunade said as she narrowed her eyes on the elder.
"Yes we do, Hokage-sama," answered Homura clearly.
"And what's wrong with his promotion, elders? Out of all four names that I have mentioned, Naruto Uzumaki was the most deserving of a promotion."
"The jinchuriki's promotion was not consulted with the council. He-" Before Koharu could continue, Tsunade cut her off.
"I don't see why his promotion in particular has to be consulted. I have the authority to promote who I see fit," Tsunade said before she flared her chakra. "And a reminder elder, he has a name - Naruto Uzumaki and you shall call him as such." She took pleasure in seeing Homura and Koharu flinch slightly.
"But as the jinchuriki of the village, he needs to stay in the village as much as possible. He would be at risk outside. Even the previous jinchurikis, Mito-sama and Kushina were only allowed out of the village with the council's permission," Homura stated.
"So you're saying, it is more beneficial and safer for him to stay in the village?"
"Yes." He bluntly replied.
Meanwhile
Sasuke was walking the streets of the Uchiha district, on his way home from team 7's meeting before Kakashi needed to leave the village for a solo mission. He would have gone on a mission almost immediately after the Land of Snow debacle but it was compulsory for those chunin and below to take a minimum of a week break. Only jonin and anbu were allowed to have back to back missions. 'Stupid rule…' Sasuke thought before he paused in his walk.
"Oi, whoever you are, show yourselves!" He demanded. Four strange shinobi made themselves seen as they dropped down in front of Sasuke. They were some of the weirdest people - if they could even be called that - he had ever seen. One had two heads, another had six arms. The other two seemed normal but you could never know considering how their partners look. One was a boy bigger than Choji while the other was a red headed girl. However, one thing they had in common was their attire and he could recognise it easily. He had only ever seen one shinobi wear a large thick purple rope tied to the front in a bow…Orochimaru.
"Who are you guys?" He asked in a bored voice that Kakashi would've been proud of.
The boy with six arms smirked before rushing at him. Sasuke jumped back to dodge when the two-headed boy appeared behind him with a strike ready for his head. Sasuke spun in midair and kicked him in the side sending him into a wall. As soon as he landed, he rushed towards the boy with six arms. Before he could fully reach him, the last boy out of the group came from his blindside with a punch ready to send him flying. Sasuke ducked under the punch before grabbing both boys arms. He spun in place before flinging them towards the other two members who were going to attack him.
They all crashed into one another before disappearing in a puff of smoke moments later. "Is that the best you could do?" Sasuke asked lazily as he gazed over his shoulder to see the four of them.
"Quit your yapping, weakling," the two-headed boy sneered. "I'm going to play with your bones like it's a xylophone!" The two-headed boy rushed towards him. He was in front of Sasuke in a blink but he was ready. Sasuke ducked under the punch that was aimed at his face and wrapped ninja wire around his opponent's arm. He jumped over his opponent, pulling his arm with him. He placed the wire in between his teeth and was about to light on fire when the wire was cut by the boy with six arms.
Immediately after the wire was cut, he felt a kick to his side. He didn't show any outward reaction to the pain he felt. He corrected himself midair and was already going through a set of hand seals. As soon as he landed, he looked up to see the fat boy ready with a punch. " Katon: Gokakyu n- ack," before he could launch the fireball, he felt a searing pain on his shoulder. As a result, he was on the receiving end of a very heavy punch to the stomach which caused him to spit out blood. He was then kicked away. He was sent flying through a wall of a nearby shop.
He groaned as he stood up from the debris of the wall he went through. 'What happened. I haven't felt like that since…the forest of death…' he thought as he held onto the part of his shoulder that was stinging with pain. He could see from the corner of his eye, his curse mark was glowing.
"Pathetic," his attention turned towards the two headed boy. "I don't see what Orochimaru-sama sees in you. Kimimaro would've been better than some weakling like you," he spat out.
'Weakling…' Sasuke was scowling at him. The boy continued, ignoring his scowl, "Orochimaru-sama has bestowed you immense power and you reject it. You will never be strong if you stay in a place like this. It seems like you've forgotten your goals."
"Come to Orochimaru-sama. He will give you power!" The redhead said. "If you come to him, you will have the power to reach your goal… Itachi Uchiha."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he thought about the proposal. Has being in Konoha made him weaker? No. But has it made him strong enough to face Itachi? No. Seeing his contemplation, the two headed boy spoke, "That mark of yours is a source of power. But this village stops you from using it. If you come with us, Orochimaru-sama will teach how to harness it to its full potential. You will become even stronger than that brother of yours. Think about it, we will see you when the moon rises again." And with their statement said, they disappeared as fast as they appeared.
"Are you doubting my actions, elder? Naruto Uzumaki will remain a chunin of this village with all the same rights as any other shinobi," Tsunade said sternly.
"But Hokage-sama, you must-" Koharu's attempt to plead was cut off, not by Tsunade but surprisingly by Shibi Aburame.
"Elder, I don't see any wrong with Uzumaki-san continuing his shinobi career like any others. I think my fellow clan heads will agree with this," he said calmly with the other clan heads nodding their heads in agreement.
Seeing the clan heads on her side, Tsunade pressed on. "I will not have Naruto cooped up in the village. If you think it is safe, did the sound invasion not tell you anything? We did not know that there were enemy shinobi among us until the last few days leading up to the Chunin exam finals. Furthermore, do you know who was the one who first realised this? Naruto Uzumaki. He reported to the Sandaime about Kabuto Yakushi and guess what? He hit the nail on the head."
She could see that the elders were slowly losing the argument by the realisation in their eyes. "You have never thought of taking time to get to know Naruto better so let me tell you why he out of all people deserves to be a chunin, hell even a jonin or maybe Hokage one day. On the day of the sound invasion, he and the young Uchiha took on the sand jinchuriki together and won. He himself played major roles at every key point in the village. His clones were there to help jonin Kurenai Yuhi and the academy instructors defend the academy students against a platoon of Oto-nin. He was there with Jiraiya to defend the walls. He was there with the anbu teams getting casualties out as they took out the enemy-nin. He was there at the hospital to help the wounded and guard it."
The eyes of the council members lit up with amazement as they heard Naruto's accomplishments. Shikaku had read some of the reports on Naruto and was impressed. Now, he was even more impressed when he heard about things he had never read before.
Tsunade continued again. She didn't want to ever have this conversation again and is going to put an end to it immediately. "He fought against Orochimaru, Konoha's most wanted missing-nin, not once but twice and came out alive in both. He fought him alone in the forest of death while he fought Orochimaru and Kabuto with Jiraiya by his side. I, myself, am witness to that. He is more than capable of being chunin and given a few years, he might even match the same power levels of a sannin. So don't you dare doubt my decision on this! For him to not deserve this promotion like you said is nothing more than ignorance!"
Tsunade enjoyed the looks on their faces. They knew that they had nothing to argue and had lost. They were not under control of Konoha's "weapon" and she would make sure of it. Danzo did not show much reaction compared to the other two but she could see a slight frown.
She knew how Danzo was, and the only way he was to get his hands on Naruto was over her dead body. "If there's nothing else, the meeting is dismissed!" She announced as she watched the elders pick up their papers and scurry away as fast as possible while Danzo disappeared in a shunshin. You could only shunshin out of the council chambers but not shunshin in to stop any enemy-nin. After the rest of the council got over their initial shock from Tsunade's outburst, they also started to take their leave after paying their respects to her.
She watched as Fumiko went to talk to Shikaku while Daisuke kept to himself. The rest of the clan heads mingled amongst themselves as they all slowly left the room. She sighed and she placed her head in her hands as a figure appeared beside her. She need not look to know who it was.
"I've never liked them… I don't know why we still keep them around. Thanks for standing up to Naruto, god knows I was on the edge of my patience."
"Don't thank me, Jiraiya. Naruto needs all the help he can get with what's to come in his future. Besides, he's the reason why I'm here. As to why we can't just get rid of them, there are no other shinobi with their level of experience. Others are either dead or retired young due to injury. And the Daimyō agrees with this so I can't just get rid of them."
Jiraiya only stayed silent. He knew this and sadly he had no power to change it. The only way he could would lead to treason. "If you have nothing else but to stand there, then go home. I need some sake after that…" she groaned as she made her way to the exit.
"Mind if I join you?" He got a shrug in return and took that as a yes. He too felt that he needed some sake after what he had learned before coming back to Konoha.
Quite an explainy chapter, for the lack of a better word, but it is what it is. So yeah, there's no civilian council and I decided on having Daimyo representatives. Logically, it's only right for the Daimyo to have people within Konoha.
Till the next one everyone. Stay safe, don't do too many stupid things, and keep healthy!
