36 (2)

His mother on the other hand was probably the most stunning of the three; she wore an elegant orange Kimono with leaf and floral patterns. Along with a red obi around her waist tied in a large bow behind her back and a small green rope over it. Like Shizune, Tsunade wore a light shape of makeup and had done her hair up in a bun, which was held together by two hair pins, giving her a refine look, making her look every bit the princess people referred to her as. (6)

When they arrived at the Fire Daimyo residence, they were greeted by Kimiko, who was dressed in the traditional attire of a miko that consisted of a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt, wooden sandals and a white ribbon to partially hold her hair in place. At first Naruto had been surprised by the rather simple attire that the Princess was wearing. but he then remembered that Kushina had told him that Kimiko hated royal lifestyle and preferred simpler things.

Upon seeing Kushina, Kimiko immediately raced over to her old childhood friend and hugged her tightly, which Kushina more than happily returned.

Once Kimiko greeted everyone, she led the group into the building and into the dining room, where the Royal family was already seated at the long dining table, which was laid with food that that was fit for a feast.

Both the Fire Daimyo and his wife, wore their traditional robes and attire, while Rurichiyo was dressed in a formal light pink kimono adorned with floral patterns, similar to the one she had worn when they had first met. Her hair was held back by a brown hairband with a red ribbon with two gold-colored embellishments tied on her left side.

Upon greeting the Royal family, Kimiko led the group to their seats; the Fire Daimyo and his wife were seated at the head of the table, with Rurichiyo to their right, Kimiko to their left. Naruto was seated next to Rurichiyo, along with Shizune, while Kushina and his mother sat opposite them next to Princess Kimiko.

Dinner was of course very good, where even Tonton and Kurimaru were enjoying themselves.

When Kurimaru first arrived, the young half wolf was of course weary of the elder Fire Princess and even growled at her a little, showing that he had not forgiven her for throwing him into the pound. But all that changed when Kimiko handed him a rather large sirloin steak.

Needless to say it was obvious that all was forgiven in the young pup's mind, who happily dug into the steak.

As the group continued with their meal, Tsunade and the others praised on how delicious the food was and give their compliments to the chief.

It was then that Madam Shijimi mentioned, to the surprise of everyone, that Kimiko had been the one who had cooked and prepared the meal.

"You cook?" Kushina asked in surprise.

"Of course" the Fire Princess said, smiling. "I have been travelling for some time, and I do need to eat like everyone else. And I thought it would be nice to cook for everyone, since it been a while since I've seen any of you."

"Well you certainly have a talent for it" replied Kushina, taking another bite from her meal. "You'll make a pretty good bride."

"Hohohoho, now Kushina-chan don't be saying things like that, you'll make me blush" Kimiko returned, pretending to be embarrassed and playfully swatting her friend's arm. "But speaking of being a bride, tell me have you taken any steps?"

At this remark, Kushina almost chocked on the piece of meat she had been eating before finally swallowing it, where she then turned to her friend.

"Ahem…eh, no I haven't really found anyone that has interests me" the red head replied with a slight blush. Not feeling exactly comfortable talking about her personally life, or lack of thereof, especially in front of the Fire Daimyo and his family.

"Oh don't be embarrassed Kushina-chan there is nothing wrong with that. Although I should warn you, time is ticking and you're not as young as you once were" said Kimiko in a teasing tone, causing a small tick to appear on Kushina's head, who was slightly irked by the remark.

Knowing what type of game her friend was playing, Kushina decided to fight fire with fire. "Heh, your one to talk, you're not getting any younger yourself Kimi-chan" emphasizing her old nickname. "And is that a grey hair I see?"

To her credit, the elder Fire Princess did not react to the remark and continued to smile, as if nothing was wrong. But if one looked closely they would see a small tick form at the back of her head as well.

For the next few minutes the two women continued their verbal spar with one another, making small teasing comments and remarks about one another's age, weight, height, hair, temperament and other things, all under the guise of a simple friendly conversation.

The rest of the group of course caught on to what was going on between the two women and decided to watch them, finding it to be a great source of entertainment. Although at times Naruto almost thought the two of them would clash swords with one another, given how much they were going at it, even if it was just friendly teasing. There were even times where Naruto could have sworn he saw lightning spark between them. But after a while the two relented on their teasing of one another and soon turned their attention to Naruto and Rurichiyo, much to the dismay of the two blonde's.

"Sooo, Rurichiyo-chan…" said Kimiko with a smile that was far too sweet and in a tone that was equally as sweet. "Tell me, is there anyone that has taken your interest?"

"NO…!" she denied, although it was obvious to everyone that there was someone, given how quickly she denied it and how red her face had now become.

"Oh really?" asked Kimiko with a knowing smirk.

"Yes" Rurichiyo huffed with no small amount of annoyance, "And even if there was someone we liked, we do not see how it is any of your business Aunty." (7)

"Oh come now Rurichiyo-chan don't say that" said Kimiko in the same sweet tone, "There nothing wrong with me being curious about my favourite niece."

"We are your only niece."

"Which makes you even more important to me, so why don't you tell us, we won't tell, that is unless said person is here?" continued Kimiko, who was still smiling evilly at her niece, who then glanced at Naruto, turning an even brighter shade of red.

Seeing the glance Kimiko and Kushina's smiles grew, making them seem all the more sinister in the eyes of the two blonde's.

Shizune, the Fire Daimyo and Madam Shijimi on the other hand just chuckled as Kushina and Kimiko began to torture the two children, finding the scene very amusing.

The only one though that didn't seem to enjoy the line of questioning was of course Tsunade, who maintained a blank façade and calmly drank some sake that was given earlier, doing her best to ignore what was happening. Although every so often her right eyebrow would twitch ever so slightly, indicating her displeasure and it only got worse as Kimiko and Kushina continued their teasing of Rurichiyo and Naruto.

"Oohhhh, could it be that you have a thing for Naruto-kun here?" cooed Kimiko, smiling like a cat who caught the canary.

This comment of course resulted in Naruto almost spitting out the water he had been drinking, resulting in him having a coughing fit.

Rurichiyo on the other hand screamed "AUNT KIMI!" and turned even redder, where most thought that she would blow steam out of her ears at any second.

This reaction of course caused everyone, (minus Tsunade, Naruto and Rurichiyo), to burst out laughing, much to the embarrassment of the two adolescents.

But just when they thought things couldn't get any, Kushina decided to join in, "Ohhh, well she better watch out since Naruto here is quite the player, and she has quite the bit of competition already."

"Really?" asked Kimiko, who seemed rather interested at the news.

"Oh yea, excluding the rather large number of fan girls who are after him. There are several girls that stand out who are quite smitten with him already."

"Oh my, please do go on" encouraged the elder Fire Princess , who was finding the news quite interesting, not to mention entertaining. Given the murderous look Naruto was giving his sensei, while still recovering from nearly choking on his water.

"Well there is Hyuga Hisahi eldest daughter Hinata, the niece of Inuzuka Tsume, Yamanaka Inoichi's daughter Ino, who also happens to be the leader of his little fan club. Then there is a Hyoton user named Haku from Kiri, as well as Hattori Mei, Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzo the Salamander) granddaughter. And we of course can't forget Yugito-chan now can we Naruto?" said Kushina with clear mirth in her eyes, when she saw the angry look Naruto gave her that told her he would get her back for this.

"Oh my" said Kimiko, giggling a little, while thinking about how much fun she could have with this bit of information. She could also see that her niece was rather annoyed with the fact that she had competition for Naruto's affection.

"I told you before Sensei it's not like that, they're just friends."

"Oh really…so does that mean you tongue kiss all your female friends and grope their breast in public?" Kushina retorted with an evil smirk, which only grew when Naruto turned cherry red and started to sputter, as he tried to think of a comeback to her remark.

At the same time Rurichiyo, also turned red again and glanced at Naruto, before she started to shake her head in denial when images of Naruto doing things like that started to appear in her head.

This of course caused a great deal laughter to erupt at the expense of the two young blondes.

Fortunately though, their salvation came when Tsunade, (who was already irked by the fact that another girl, was after her baby boy), decided to change the topic of the conversation.

For the next hour or so, the group talked about different things, such as Tsunade's upcoming inauguration as the Godaime Hokage, her plans for the village, how long the Fire Daimyo and his family would be staying, and other things.

Eventually though the group decided to move outside to the garden porch and enjoy the cool night air, where Naruto and Rurichiyo played in the garden with Kurimaru and Toton, while the adults watched them and drank the sake they had brought.

"He's quite an interesting young man, your son…"Kimiko remarked, watching Naruto run around the garden as Rurichiyo, Tonton and Kurimaru tried to catch him.

"That he is" Tsunade returned with a small smile as she slowly drank the sake in her plate.

"In fact he reminds me a great deal of his father, especially in regards to looks" finished Kimiko with a knowing smile, causing Tsunade to spit out her sake and stare at the younger woman in shock, with a look that screamed "How the hell do you know?".

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Tsunade said quickly as she tried to hide her shock, while at the same time glanced worriedly at the Fire Daimyo and his wife.

Thankfully, neither of them had heard their daughter's comment, where their attention was focused on Shizune and Kushina, whom they were talking to.

"Hoh, hoh, hoh, oh my Tsunade-sama, you truly do have the worse poker face I have ever seen" Kimiko laughed, before turning to look at Naruto, who was still playing.

"To be perfectly honest, it's not terribly difficult to figure out, I met Minato-san many times over the years and the physical resemblance between the two of them is too strong for them not to be related. In fact the only reason I can come up with as to why no-one else has figured it out as well is because most choose to ignore the resemblance, believing it a coincidence. Not that I blame them of course, since the very idea of the Yondaime Hokage and you having a child together is unbelievable to say the least."

"Tell me…" Kimiko asked as she turned to Tsunade, "how is it, that Naruto came to be, surely you and the Yondaime Hokage weren't having an illicit affair, were you?"

Seeing the hunger look in the Fire Princess's eyes, Tsunade knew that the Female Samurai was dying to know the full story behind Naruto's birth.

Feeling uncomfortable with sharing her personal history, Tsunade turned away from the younger woman and began to pour herself more sake. "I'm afraid that is a rather personal matter Kimiko-sama, and I would not feel comfortable telling."

Sadly though for Tsunade, her obvious embarrassment and refusal to tell Kimiko what happened between Minato and her, confirmed what the Fire Princess had already suspected.

"Of course I understand Tsunade-sama…" replied the Fire Princess as she poured herself a new drink. "But does that then mean that the reason you and Minato spelt together is because the both of you got drunk?"

No sooner had Kimiko finished, Tsunade once again spat her sake out in surprise, and gave her the same shocked look as before, causing the younger woman to smile as she took another sip of her own sake.

"I'll take that as a yes" replied the still smiling Kimiko, and upon seeing the dumb confused look on Tsunade's face, the Fire Princess decided to tell the Slug Princess how she figured it out.

"Again it wasn't very difficult to figure out. As I said earlier the idea of you and Minato-san conceiving a child together is unbelievable, given the various different reasons, and yet it still happened. So I asked myself, how did such an unexpected union happen? And I came up with only three possibilities. The first was that you, Minato-san or the both of you together, secretly planned and organized the incident in the hope of not only resurrecting the Senju Clan, but also in the hope of producing a powerful child together. The second possibility was that you secretly artificially inseminated yourself with the Yondaime Hokage's sperm. Both ideas were of course highly unlikely, given how neither of you were the type to do either of those things, which of course left only one possibility. That at some point fourteen years ago (Naruto is nearly thirteen), you and Minato-san met up, and given how much you enjoyed sake, the two of you got drunk and spent the night together resulting in Naruto-san. Your denial and obvious embarrassment when I asked you how Naruto-san was conceived, just confirmed it"

When Kimiko finished, she was amused to find the soon to be Hokage, staring at her with a disbelieving look.

Eventually though, Tsunade recovered from surprise and just shook her head "Damn girl must be part Nara, she's too smart for her own good." But before she could comment on Kimiko figuring out the truth herself, the elder Fire Princess once again spoke.

"You also need not worry about me leaking out the information on who Naruto's father is. I am well aware of the problems it could cause you, your family and Konoha, should the information be learned by certain people. So I will maintain your secret and tell no-one, including my parents, although I am certain they would keep it secret if you explained your reasons for it."

"Thank you" said Tsunade, who was indeed relieved to hear that Kimiko would the keep the identity of Naruto's father hidden. "As for the Daimyo-sama and Shijimi-sama, I do not doubt they would keep it secret, but the fewer people know about who Naruto's father is, the less likely it will leak out."

"I understand, but still you should be proud, he is a fine young man, and he is already quite strong" Kimiko remarked, remembering her fight with Naruto, where he broke her sword sheath. Something that was not easily done, given how her sheath was made out of a special wood from trees that were grown and fed with Chakra. Making their wood very strong, which in turn made the sheath not only hard to replace but expensive to as well. But fortunately, she had a spare sheath made in the event that something happened to the original, hence it mattered little.

"Oh I am…" Tsunade replied with a smile, "And he's only going to get stronger in the future."

Nodding and smiling in agreement, Kimiko then turned to look back at the kids, where she and the others spent the rest of the evening, chatting, drinking and having an all-around good time.

The next day, the whole village was bustling with activity, where crowds of people had gathered at the Hokage's mansion for Tsunade's inauguration as the Godaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.

Inside the mansion in the Council room, which had been done up for the inauguration, a large body of people waited patiently for Tsunade arrived. The audience had been spit up into two groups, each standing at opposite ends of the room, facing one another, allowing for a straight open path from the doorway to the altar, between the two groups.

Among the people in the room was of course Naruto, who had been accompanied by Shizune, Tonton, Kurimaru, and his two sensei's Yamato and Kushina, (who Tsunade finally allowed to leave the hospital and return to duty).

Upon entering the room, Naruto and his group made their way over to the altar, which had been set up for the ceremony, and stood near it, with Konohamaru and Asuma, who had arrived before them.

Being related to the former Hokage and soon to be Godaime Hokage, Naruto, Asuma and Konohamaru, were allowed to stand next to the altar.

After greeting Konohamaru and Asuma, Naruto began to look around the room which was filled with the various Clan heads, both major and minor, and a large number of high ranking Shinobi, like Gai and Kakashi. He also saw several members of the Konoha and Fire Councils, along with several other important looking officials.

As he continued to look around, Naruto also saw Rurichiyo and her family, who nodded politely to him when they saw him.

At the same time, Naruto also notice, that several of the Jounin were giving Princess Kimiko, who was dressed in her normal attire, (minus the hood and mask), nervous looks, indicating that they not only knew her, but feared her. Something that Naruto found perfectly understandable.

Looking around further, Naruto also noticed that some of his friends were here as well, which wasn't entirely surprising either given how each of their father's, (or mother in one case), was a member of the Konoha Council.

The first of his friends that Naruto saw was Ino, who waved over at him, as she stood next to her parents.

Ino's father Inochi, Naruto had of course recognized from the Council meeting from earlier. Although the woman next to him, Naruto did not and figured that she was Ino's mother, who he guessed, was a civilian given her attire.

Ino's mother had light brown eyes without pupils, similar in shape and size to her daughter, and had brown hair which is tied into a bun with a red ribbon in it. She had strands frame both sides of her face, hanging over her ears from behind. She was fair skinned, like her daughter, although had slight wrinkles, which Naruto noticed, near her mouth. Her attire consisted of a dark teal elegant dress, which sported an aquamarine coloured gem below the collar

Standing next to Ino's family were Shikamaru and Choji's families, and upon seeing him, both boys acknowledged him. Although unlike their team-mate they were more subtle about it and simply nodded to him.

Standing behind both boys were their respected parents and although Naruto recognized their fathers, he was again unfamiliar with their mothers. But it wasn't hard to discern which of the two women were Choji and Shikamaru's mothers.

Choji's mother was a full-bodied woman, which made it blatantly obvious that she was his mother. She had short, black hair and eyes which were accentuated by orange markings at each corner. She wore a light shade of lipstick, a pair of red, stud earrings along with a high collared purple blouse which had gold trimmings and a pair of matching pants, and heeled sandals.

Shikamaru's mother was of average height of a woman, she had long brown hair, which was kept in a low ponytail with three strands framing her face. Looking at her, Naruto could see a strong resemblance between her and Shikamaru, which made it easy to tell that she was his mother. She also wore the standard outfit of a Konoha Shinobi with a matching flak jacket and uniform to her husband, which clearly indicated that unlike Ino and Choji's mothers, she was a Kunoichi, or at least a former one.

Looking around to see if he could see anyone else he knew, specifically Sasuke, who he had hoped to talk to, but never had the chance to due to recent events.

Being the last heir to one of the founding Clans of Konoha, Sasuke would have been invited to the ceremony. But there was no sign of the last loyal Uchiha in the room, which sadly was to no great surprise to the Senju heir.

According to what Shizune and Kushina had told him, after leaving the hospital, Sasuke spent most of his time either at home or training in his Clan's private training ground.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do about it now, Naruto decided to continue to look for any of his other friend.

Eventually he saw Shino and his father Shibi, who were standing in darken corner of the room, almost completely out of sight of everyone.

Seeing them, Naruto gave them a polite nod a smile, to which both Aburame responded with a barely registered nod, which was to be expected of the two.

After acknowledging the two Aburame's, Naruto attention turned again, after hearing an excited yelp from Kurimaru.

Turning in the direction Kurimaru was looking at; Naruto saw Kiba and his family, standing near the doorway, with their respected canine partners.

Seeing the family, Naruto smiled and waved at the family, who all waved and smiled back at him, or in Naku's case, blushed and waved.

Shortly after, Naruto turned to the doorway and saw the Hyuga Clan representatives enter the room. Among them were of course the Hyuga Clan head Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata, as well as a young girl, who looked to be around Konohamaru's age, making Naruto guessed she was Hinata's sister. With them as well were two elderly looking Hyuga men, dressed in similar robes to Hiashi, who Naruto figured were members of the Hyuga Council that he had heard about from the Sandaime.

During the Council meeting Naruto had paid little attention to Hiashi, but upon getting a better look of the man. Naruto had to admit he looked every bit the imposing noble figure that people made him out to be.

Upon seeing the man, Naruto remembered the story Neji had told him about how his father and Hiashi had been twin brothers and how Hiashi had sacrificed Neji's father to save his own. Naruto also began to wonder if Hiashi really was the type of man Neji made him out to be, but soon decided to save his final judgment until he actually met and spoke to the man.

After entering the room, the Hyuga Clan representatives made their way near the altar, almost directly opposite Naruto and his group.

Upon seeing the Senju heir, Hinata, who was dressed in an elegant white Kimono with pink flower patters, blushed bright and smiled shyly at him, before turning away, to fight down her blush. Her father on the other hand simply stared at him with a calculating stare, as if trying to figure him out, like some kind math problem, which unnerved Naruto a little. But he eventually decided to ignore the Hyuga Clan head and turned his attention to Hinata's sister, who gave him the same calculating look as her father, although nowhere near as intense.

Like Hinata, her sister was dressed in a matching Kimono; she had the same large white eyes as Hinata. Although unlike Hinata, her physical appearance was more like their father, and possessed the same long dark brown hair as him, which fell to her lower back and was parted in bangs where a single lock of hair fell into her face.

As Naruto watched at the Hyuga representatives, he noticed that the two Hyuga elders staring coldly at him, as if trying to intimidate him in some manner.

Unafraid of the two elderly men, Naruto stared right back at the two men, showing that he not someone who could be easily intimidated.

For the next minute or two, a stare-off began between Naruto and the two Hyuga elders, who after seeing that they could not intimidate Naruto, related and turned away from him.

Seeing this, Naruto smirked at his own small victory; he knew that his defeat of Neji had not gone well with many in the Hyuga Clan, especially with the way he had humiliated them in the Chunin exam. But even so, he didn't really care, with the exception of Hinata, he didn't hold the Hyuga Clan in very high esteem, and if humiliating them a little, brought them down a peg or two, then that was simply a bonus.

As more and more people entered the Council room for the ceremony, Naruto took notice of one particular individual who hobbled into the room with a cane.

This individual was of course easily recognized, since everyone in the room was familiar with the infamous Shimura Danzō, who was more commonly referred as Shinobi no Yami (The Darkness of the Shinobi), due to his militant and archaic views on the role of a Shinobi.

Danzō was as a frail, old looking man, he had black shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged, indicating that he had lost it at some time. He had had an x-shaped scar on his chin, and wore a white shirt, with a black robe over the top of it, covering from his feet to just over his right shoulder, indicating he had also lost his right arm as well at some point in time. But despite his feeble-like appearance, Naruto and others were still weary of him, since in the Shinobi world, appearances were deceptive, and just because he was old, it didn't mean he was weak.

As Danzō made his way to the altar, he caught sight of Naruto and his group and slowly made his way over to this.

Seeing this, Shizune placed her hand on Naruto left shoulder and gripped in tightly in a protective manner.

At the same time, Asuma moved Konohamaru over closer to him, while Kushina moved closer to Naruto. Yamato made no movements, although frowned slightly when he saw the old war hawk and kept his eyes focused on him. Tonton and Kurimaru on the other hand moved in front of Naruto and looked ready to attack the old man, indicating that they consider him a threat.

When Danzō reached them, the old man could clearly see that everyone in the group was on edge.

"What do you want Danzō?" Kushina asked with barely disguised hostility.

Paying the former ANBU captain little heed, Danzō kept is eyes trained solely on Naruto, which made the blonde boy feel uncomfortable. Despite his frail-like appearance and being only of average height, Danzo possessed an intimidating presence that made him seem bigger and more dangerous.

"Senju Naruto, it is a pleasure to finally meet you again, given how we had little chance to speak last time" said Danzō.

"Danzō-san" Naruto replied without any emotion.

"I understand that you were dealing with some rather difficult trauma from your recent battle with Uchiha Itachi, I hope you have recovered?"

Surprised by how Danzō knew of his emotional problems after his fight with Itachi, Naruto struggled to keep from frowning and keep his face blank. "Yes I have fully recovered now, thank you for asking."

"I am pleased to hear that, given recent events, Konoha needs every capable Shinobi it has, not only to rebuild, but to defend it and its people." Danzō then turned around to look at the gathering people. "This is quite an auspicious day, one Hokage steps down and another takes his place, you must be very proud of your mother."

"I am"

"That you should, your mother is finally living up to her noble lineage."

This statement of course caused several of the others to frown, as they had caught the carefully placed insult. But before anyone could make any kind of retort, Danzō continued.

"Also it is possiblethat next time Konoha has this ceremony, it will be Tsunade who is stepping down and it will be you who will take her place."

"That is my intention" Naruto returned, while doing his best to keep his face void of any emotion, so not to give anything away.

"Given your performance at the Chunin exam and the recent invasion, I am certain you will one day, you showed remarkable strength and courage when faced with difficult obstacles."

Still keeping his face blank, Naruto replied, "I simply did what any Shinobi of Konoha would have done, or should do, I defended my village and my home."

"Indeed" remarked Danzō who like Naruto kept his face void of any emotions, letting nothing slip. Although just for a split moment, the blonde boy could have sworn he saw something like approval shining through his eye when he heard Naruto's words. "But still, you've already proven to be a remarkable young man, given your recent victory over the Nibi jinchūriki in the Chunin exam and your victory over the Shukaku jinchūriki in the invasion, which saved many lives."

"Their names are Yugito and Gaara," Naruto said calmly, although there was a hint of anger in his voice, after hearing the way Danzō referred to them. "I believe you can say their names, Danzō-san." He did not shy away from Danzō's sharp gaze, in fact he stared right back at the elderly man, showing his nerve, causing Shizune to tighten her grip on Naruto's shoulder.

The old War Hawk's lips grew so thin they seemed to disappear. "Hn," he grunted, "So I can," and then broke his gaze from Naruto's, and after a minute or two of silence he spoke again.

"I was rather impressed with your fights in the finals, specifically your Futon (Wind Release) skills, you have a great deal of talent in Futon."

"Thanks…" Naruto replied, "I had a good teacher," where he then glanced over at Asuma, who smirked back.

Sparing a minor glance for the son of his former rival, Danzō turned his attention back on Naruto. "Indeed" he said, "But even so, if you are interested in learning how to use your Futon skills to their full extent, I am certain I could help you, as well as other areas."

"Thank you, but I have enough teachers for the time being" Naruto politely refused.

Betraying nothing Danzō, simply nodded, "Very well, but should you change your mind the offer will remain open indefinitely." He then turned to the altar and stared Hokage's hat and robes, which sat on the altar. "Being Hokage is no easy thing, and although your mother has my qualities that would make her a "reasonable"Hokage. One still cannot help but wonder if she is up to the task, especially given her troubling issues in the past and the fact that she left the village."

Again the group caught Danzō's small insults to Tsunade, where most of them glared angrily at the old man, who simply stared back at them.

Shizune and Naruto were especially angry by Danzō words, since those issues, that Danzō had so calmly put it, were the deaths of Nawaki and Dan. People who Tsunade loved, and whose lost still affected her today, it made even more infuriating to them, given how they were related to said people.

Naruto himself was struggling to rein in his temper, where he could feel his blood boiling from within, and wanted nothing more than punch the one-eyed man right in his wrinkled old face. But after a few minutes Naruto calmed himself down and looked directly into Danzō.

"I can assure Danzō-san, my mother's "issues" are as you say, in the past, and therefore can no longer hurt or affect her, and she will more than prove herself worthy of the title. A belief that not only does the Sandaime "and" the Fire Daimyo share, but "also" the Jonin Council, who unanimously agreed that my mother was the "most" suitable candidate on the list to become Hokage."

Naruto was then gratified to see Danzō's left eyebrow twitch slightly, indicating that he had irked the infamous War Hawk.

Naruto was of course not the only one who noticed this, as Kushina, Asuma and Shizune had all seen it as well and smirked. They knew Naruto had hit Danzō's in a sore spot, since he had now been passed over as Hokage for the third time, which no doubt bothered him.

"We shall see" replied Danzō before turning around and hobbling over to the opposite end of them, next to the altar.

"I really don't like that guy" said Naruto once Danzō had left.

"I don't think there's anyone in the village who really likes him" Kushina remarked, "Some may respect him in some manner, but that's about it".

"Most people just fear Danzō, although he loves the village and would do just about anything for it. The problem is that nobody really trusts him" added Asuma. "He also doesn't know how to inspire loyalty in people, that's why he has been passed over so many times to be Hokage, or at least that's what my pop's say."

"Huh, the only way Danzō can get people to follow him, is if he manipulates them or brainwashes them when they're young" said Kushina, before turning to Naruto and smiling. "Nice going with him there brat, I almost thought you were going to punch that one-eyed bastard."

"I almost did, but I didn't want to spoil Kaa-chan's day with me sending one of the Elders into the hospital."

"You did well Naruto-kun" said Shizune, "But still you should be careful, Danzō is a dangerous man, but still I'm surprised by how forward he was when he offered to train you. It's not like him to do something like that, especially since he knows that Tsunade-sama would never allow him to be near you."

"Danzō knows how valuable Naruto is, and he knows that we know he wants him. This is just his way of saying that even though Tsunade-sama has become Hokage, he still hasn't given up on getting Naruto to join his side," answered Kushina.

"Heh" scoffed Naruto, "Like hell I would ever join a creep like him!"

"Don't underestimate Danzō" Shizune warned, "He has ways of getting to people, and is unafraid to use underhanded means to achieve his goals."

"Agreed" joined Yamato, "Even the Sandaime-sama is wary of him."

"Yea, well that doesn't mean I will join him anytime soon, or let him insult Kaa-chan whenever he wants…" returned Naruto. But before he could say anything further, he noticed the crowd's attention turned to the doorway.

When Naruto and the others looked, they saw the Sandaime and his two former team-mates Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu entering the room with Tsunade walking behind them.

When Tsunade entered the room, everyone immediately noticed her new appearance for the ceremony. Instead of her usual hair style, Tsunade had done her hair up in a large bun, with a hair comb and two large hair pins in it. But thing that caught most people attention was the elegant kimono jacket, which she wore over her normal attire, giving her a refine look that seemed fitting not only for a Hokage, but for a member of esteem Senju Clan.

The Kimono was primarily white with red flames-like motifs on the edges and long red frills dangling from her long sleeves with the kanji for "The Will of Fire" written vertically down the back, and closed by a red rope that was tied around her waist. (8)

Naturally everyone had noticed the similarities between Tsunade's Kimono, and the haori that the Yondaime Hokage was known for wearing and figured that this was her way of paying homage to the now deceased Hokage. But actually, the Kimono had been Naruto's idea, who had it made for her and gave it as a gift to wear for the ceremony.

When Tsunade saw the Kimono, she had immediately questioned her son on the design, to which he replied. "Jiji, told me a while back, that each Hokage inherits the Will of Fire from the previous Hokage and since Tou-san was the Yondaime and you're now the Godaime. By having you wear the same kind of flames as Tou-san on your Kimono, it shows that you have now inherited the Will of Fire from him." Later when she told the Sandaime, the old Hokage could not help but laugh and commented on how Naruto was already thinking like a Hokage.

After Naruto had given her the Kimono, Tsunade had been a bit hesitant in wearing it and had considered not wearing it for the ceremony. She still hadn't forgiven Minato for turning their son into a jinchūriki and inadvertently making him a target for the Akatsuki and others.

But after the invasion, she found her anger for the former Hokage lessening, since it had been thanks to the Kyuubi that Naruto was still alive.

After much thought, she decided to wear the Kimono, not only for Naruto's sake, but also as a small sign of respect for the father of her son.

Once Tsunade, the Sandaime and the elders reached the altar, they began the Hokage ceremony, which involved Tsunade swearing an oath to protect the village and its people and uphold the ideals that it was founded upon for as long as she was Hokage. After which she drank the ceremonial tea, where the Sandaime then placed the Hokage's ceremonial necklace around her neck followed by the Hokage's hat. Upon which he then declared her Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf) to audience, who cheered and applauded.

After the ceremony, Tsunade, the Sandaime and the elders made their way up to the rooftop of the Hokage's mansion, where Tsunade then declared herself the Godaime Hokage to the people below, who also cheered loudly to their new Hokage.

A few hours following Tsunade's inauguration has Hokage, Naruto received word from his mother to report to Hokage's office.

When he arrived he was surprised to find Shikamaru and Sai standing at the double doors with Shizune, who now acted as his mother's assistant. Given how the Sandaime secretary seemly resigned the day before. (9)

Upon seeing Naruto, Shizune immediately smiled, "Oh Naruto-kun, you're here, good, they're waiting for you inside."

"They?" asked Naruto, who still didn't know why he had been called here and why Shikamaru and Sai were here, who seemed just as confused. But before any of them could even ask the young Kunoichi. Shizune opened the double doors to the Hokage's office revealing Tsunade, sitting at the Hokage's desk, (still dressed in her ceremonial attire), with the Sandaime and the Fire Daimyo standing on opposite sides of her.

"Hello again, Naruto-kun" greeted the smiling Fire Daimyo.

"Hey Ojii-san (Old man)!" said Naruto before covering his mouth and crying, "oopps!" after realizing he had done.

"NARUTO!" cried an angry Tsunade, as she couldn't believe her son called the Fire Daimyo old man…again.

Shizune on the other had simply groaned and covered her eyes.

Cringing at his mother's angry voice, a now panicking Naruto quickly raised his hands and began to wave them. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, it was an accident, it just slipped out!"

Fortunately though, before Naruto could apologize any further, the group heard the distinctive sound of the Fire Daimyo chuckling. "Hohohoho, worry not Tsunade-san, no harm is done, in fact I have rather missed Naruto-kun calling me that."

Seeing that Fire Daimyo was not angry, Tsunade sighed and glared at her son, who grinned embarrassingly and scratch the back of his head.

The Sandaime although just chuckled, since things were never dull around his surrogate grandson.

Hoping to hurry things along, so that he could go back to his cloud gazing, Shikamaru raised his hand to get Tsunade's attention. "Excuse me, but why exactly did you call us here?"

"Right!" said Tsunade, since thanks to the brief distraction she had almost forgotten the reason she had called the three boys here.

"Well the reason I called you three is here is because…"but before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupt by an ear-splitting "HHYYYAAAAAA!" from the village below, followed by and angry "NNNAAARRRUUUTTTOOO!"

After hearing the scream, everyone immediately turned to the perpetrator, who was grinning ear to ear when he first heard the scream. It was a grin that Shizune, Sarutobi and Tsunade knew all too well, having seen it one too many times after Naruto pulled off a successful prank on someone.

Sighing tiredly, Tsunade simply stared at her son, "What did you do this time Naruto, and who was it?"

"Oh nothing much, just a little payback on Kushina-sensei for last night" a still grinning Naruto shrugged.

Knowing that there would probably be retaliation for this later on, from the female Uzumaki, Tsunade and Shizune groaned and slapped their foreheads. The Sandaime and the Fire Daimyo on the other hand simply chuckled. Shikamaru just shook his head and muttered something about troublesome blondes, while Sai looked bemused, wondering what Naruto did to the former ANBU captain.

After a few more minutes of chuckling from certain people, the occupants of the office eventually got back to the matter at hand, which was the reason for why Naruto, Shikamaru and Sai were called here.

"Now as I was saying, before being interrupted…" where Tsunade glanced at her son, who simply smirked. "The reason why I have called you three here is to present you with these," where she then took out three green flak jackets. "Given how well the three of you performed in not only the Chunin finals, but also in the recent invasion, and adding recommendation of various judges, Kages and your Jonin-sensei's. I am pleased to present the three of you with these flak jackets and the rank of Chunin."

No sooner had Tsunade said this, a loud "ALRIGHT!" erupted from Naruto, who then punched his fists into the air and began cheering.

Seeing how happy and excited Naruto was, the adults in the room couldn't help but smile, where Shizune ruffled his hair and bent down and kissed his head. Much to the embarrassment of the blonde boy, who blushed red and moaned "Nee-chan!" which made the woman laugh.

Smiling at her son, Tsunade knew how much this meant to her son, and it made her extremely proud to be the one to give him his flak jacket as a Chunin.

Normally, they would have waited for a few days to do this, but due to an important announcement that the Fire Daimyo was to make, who would be leaving tomorrow. It was decided that they would give the boys their ranks today.

As Naruto continued to cheer about becoming Chunin, and how he was one step closer to becoming Hokage. Tsunade glanced at Shikamaru, who simply looked board, if not slightly annoyed, (which was typical of a Nara), and Sai, who still had his fake smile on.

The Sandaime had already filled her in on who Sai was and who he really worked for and what his real mission was, and although she was reluctant to make Sai a Chunin. She could not deny the boy's skill and abilities, and if she refused him after being recommended by several judges, Daimyo's and the Mizukage, it would cause too much suspicion.

After receiving their flak jackets from Tsunade, Naruto suddenly remembered something he had heard from Shizune not too long ago.

"Hey Kaa-chan, what happened to all the money that you won from betting on me in the finals?"

At the mention of her winnings, a large cloud of depression hung over the female Hokage. "I lost it all!" she moaned, where she then began to sulk over the amount of money she had lost, causing nearly everyone in the office to develop large sweat drops at the back of their heads.

"How did that happen?" Naruto asked, wondering how his mother could have lost so much money so quickly.

At this question, Tsunade turned and glared at the Sandaime, who seemily developed a coughing fit to disguise his mirth over the whole sorted affair. "It seems that there is a little clause when betting in the finals, that someone forgot to mention…" where she glared at the Sandaime again, who was still "coughing". " The clause states that all beats are finalized and cannot be taken back, even if a schedule match does not happen and if no winner has been decided, the money from the beats goes straight to the village."

"I did warn you not get too carried away Tsunade"

"You could have at least warned me about that, you scam artist!" Tsunade rounded as she glared murderously at her former sensei, and had almost strangled him, when she learned of the clause.

Upon hearing what happened, Naruto and Shizune simply groaned and shook their heads, as Tsunade's bad luck had struck again. Sai and the Fire Daimyo on the other hand seemed amused and smiled at the affair, then again Sai tended to smile most of the time. Shikamaru though simply rolled his eyes, finding it too "troublesome" to care.

Eventually though, the group decided to move on from Tsunade's lost winnings and to other matters.

The female Hokage then told Sai he could go, but asked Shikamaru and Naruto to stay, stating that the Fire Daimyo wanted to talk to them about an important matter.

When Sai left the office the Fire Daimyo then spoke, "Before the two of you leave to celebrate your well-deserved promotions, I would like to make you both an offer."

"What sort of offer?" Shikamaru asked with a slight frown.

"Although I am unsure if you have heard, several years ago there was an incident involving my personal guard, the Shugonin Jūnishi (Twelve Gentlemen Guardian Ninja). Six of the members attempted to overthrown me and replace me with someone they could control. But fortunately they were stopped by the other remaining members. One of whom happens to be your sensei Shikamaru-san," causing the young Nara to raise his eyebrow in surprise. "Sadly though the resulting battle all but destroyed the guard, save for your Sensei, Sarutobi Asuma and one other, and for the past few years I have been attempting to rebuild the group. That is why I would like invite you both to join Shugonin Jūnishi, since I was very impressed with your battles in the finals, and I believe you would make excellent members."

Naturally upon hearing the Fire Daimyo's offer, both boys were shocked; since being a member of the Shugonin Jūnishi was considered a great honour in Hi no Kuni. Even Shizune seemed stunned by the news, where she let out a gasp before and covered her mouth with both hands.

The only ones that didn't seemed surprised by the announcement, were Tsunade and the Sandaime, who already knew what the Fire Daimyo was going to say, given how he had told them earlier on.

When he first told them, like the others, the two Hokages had been shocked, since to become a member of Fire Daimyo's elite personal guard was a rare and prestigious honour that was not given to just anyone. But to be recruited at the tender age of twelve, after only just becoming Chunin, was unheard of, although it showed just how highly the Fire Daimyo thought of the two boys skills.

Tsunade had of course had wanted to deny the Fire Daimyo, saying that Naruto was still too young. Although secretly it was also because of a selfish need to keep her son close, since one of the main reasons she became Hokage was so that she could watch over Naruto and protect him. But before she could say anything to the Fire Daimyo, the Sandaime intervened, knowing what Tsunade was thinking and asked to speak to her privately.

Once they were alone, he then told her of how he too had once tried to stop his son Asuma from joining Shugonin Jūnishi, believing he was not yet ready and that it was better if he stayed in Konoha. Also like her, he did not want his son to leave and wanted to keep him near him. But sadly Asuma lashed out at him for interfering with his life and accused him of wanting to prevent him from stepping out of the Sandaime's shadow. Shortly after, Asuma left to join the Shugonin Jūnishi, and rarely spoke or wrote to his father, causing a great rift between the two of them.

Hoping to prevent Tsunade from making the same mistake he did, Sarutobi told her that Naruto was a Shinobi now and that he old enough to make his own choices and to let him decide what he wanted to do with his life. The Sandaime also went on to say that if she continued to try and keep Naruto close to her, it will eventually cause him to rebel and drive a wedge between them.

Not wanting to have Naruto resent her, and seeing the wisdom in her teacher's words. Tsunade relented and agreed to let Naruto decided if he wanted to accept the Fire Daimyo's offer and to support him if he did.

After the Fire Daimyo made his offer, both boys remained silent for several minutes, as they considered the Daimyo's generous offer.

The offer was of course very tempting for Naruto, since for a long time, he had desired to step out of his family's shadow, and do something that would distinguish himself from them, where people acknowledge him for his own deeds, and not for his family's. Becoming a member of Shugonin Jūnishi would do that for him, since no-one in his family had become a member Shugonin Jūnishi. It would also not interfere with his dream of becoming Hokage, since after a few years he could retire from the group and return to Konoha and work on becoming Hokage.

The down side though was that he would have to move to the capital and away from his family and friends. Although he had only been in Konoha for about eight months, it had already started feeling like home to him and he did not like the idea of leaving. There was also the fact that he still had things to do in Konoha, like mastering his Mokuton powers completing his sword training with Kushina. Not to mention finding the Valley of the Four Winds, which the Shodai had mentioned to him, along with other things he needed to do here.

After a great deal of thought, Naruto eventually came to a decision, "Thanks you for the offer, but my place is here in Konoha, with my family and friends."

"Same here" replied Shikamaru, who liked Naruto felt like his place was here in Konoha, helping to protect his family and friends. Not to mention the fact that the young Nara, thought the whole ordeal in becoming a member of the group would be too "troublesome" to deal with.

"Are you two sure about this?" asked the Sandaime, although both he and Tsunade were secretly delighted with the boys wanting to stay in Konoha. Neither of them wished for the two boys to have any regrets. "You're being offered his a rare and great opportunity, which is not given to everyone."

"Yea we're sure" replied Naruto, where he and Shikamaru nodded.

"Huuuu" sigh the Fire Daimyo, who seemed a little disappointment with the boys answer, but not surprised. "I figured that would be your answer, but I wanted to at least try, regardless though, the offer will remain open for some time. So if either of you should reconsider, there will be no issues in you joining the guard."

Nodding in understanding, both boys thanked the Fire Daimyo and said that they would inform him if they changed their mind.

"Never the less, I suppose this works out best for everyone."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked.

"Oh yes, how silly of me to have for forgetting" said the Fire Daimyo, who seemed amused by his own forgetfulness. "As the Sandaime has no doubt mentioned to you, given the recent invasion many of my advisors and other lords have grown concern that Konoha has become lax in these peaceful times. Even with your appointment as Hokage, there are still those who are skeptical, hence I have decided to have my granddaughter Princess Rurichiyo remain her for a time, as a sign of my continued confidence and support of Konoha."

Stunned by the news, most of the occupants of the office could only gap, although Tsunade soon came around and spoke. "Excuse me Daimyo-sama, but are you sure about this, she is your granddaughter after all."

"Oh, are you saying that you would be unable to protect my granddaughter" the Fire Daimyo asked.

"No, No, of course not" Tsunade replied quickly. "I was just thought you would prefer to have her stay with you and the rest of your family at the capital."

"Well although it is true that both my wife and I would enjoy having our granddaughter near us. Rurichiyo-chan has been rather persistent in wanting to see other places, and given how she already has friends here in Konoha, who can show her around, it works out perfectly. In fact when I mentioned the idea to her, she seemed rather ecstatic by the news."

"Yes, I've no doubt she was" said Tsunade as she turned to her son and gave him a clearly forced smile, making said boy gulp and laugh nervously, where he began to wonder if it wasn't too late to take the Fire Daimyo up on his offer.

The following morning Naruto and his family, the Sandaime and the elders gathered at the main gate with Rurichiyo and her guards Kenryū and Enryū to say good-bye to her Grandparents. Accompany them was also Princess Kimiko, who decided to return with them to the capital for a short time to visit her brother.

As Naruto watched Rurichiyo bid farewell to her Grandparents and Aunt. The blonde boy, along with many other Shinobi nearby, were struggling hard not to laugh at his Jonin sensei Kushina, whose hair had gone from red to bright green and her skin had turned bright orange.

Needless to say the former ANBU captain had been quite shocked when she saw herself in the mirror after stepping out of the shower yesterday. (10)

It was only afterwards that Kushina discovered that Naruto had switched her regular shampoo with green dye and added orange dye to her apartment's water tank, which resulted in her current appearance

As Kushina listened to the various snickering and laugher, the former red head was wishing that she was still in ANBU, just so that she had her mask to hide her embarrassment. Knowing that was impossible right now, Kushina settled with just glaring at her student, who was making a miserable attempt at hiding his own amusement, and swore vengeance.

After a few minutes, Naruto was suddenly pulled into a bone breaking hug by Madam Shijimi, who rambled on about how she was going to miss him and telling him to take of Rurichiyo.

As the Fire Daimyo's wife continued to hug him, the blonde boy could almost feel his spine about ready to snap, making him wonder if Madam Shijimi somehow possessed the same superhuman strength as his mother and him.

Fortunately though before that could happen, the Fire Daimyo arrived to Naruto's rescue and had his wife let him go. After which he then offered his hand, which Naruto politely took and shook.

"It was good to see you again Naruto-kun, I'm certain we will see each other again soon."

"I hope so too, Daimyo-sama" replied Naruto, making sure to addresses the Fire Daimyo by his prober title.

"Please, if you like, you can keep calling me Ojii-san, as I will make a special exception just for you" said the Fire Daimyo with a kind smile.

"Really!" said Naruto in surprise, not noticing the stunned look on everyone else's faces. "Thanks Ojii-OW!" cried Naruto as he felt his mother smack him hard on the back of the head.

"Naruto! You will address the Fire Daimyo by his proper title" scolded Tsunade.

"But he said-"

"It does not matter, you will still address him with respect" retorted the busty woman angrily.

Seeing Tsunade scolding her son, the Fire Daimyo couldn't help but chuckle since the two Senju were always a great source of amusement for him.

After the Fire Daimyo said good-bye to Naruto, Princess Kimiko walked over to him and like her father, offered her hand to Naruto.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Naruto-kun."

"Likewise Kimiko-sama" replied Naruto as he took the elder Fire Princess's hand and shook it, but as he did, he suddenly felt her hand tighten around his, nearly crushing it.

"You will of course take good "care" of my niece?" asked Kimiko, who kindly smiled down at the young Senju heir. But as she smiled down at him, a dark menacing aura began form and hover around her, turning her kind smile into something sinister.

"Of course!" said Naruto quickly, while sweating up a storm, as he got the underlining warning within Kimiko's words. But his nervousness only grew when Kimiko's gripped tightened and moved down closer to him.

"Good, as I would "hate" to hear of something happening to her when I return to visit" replied Kimiko, where when she said this, her dark aura took on the form of a devil, true to her moniker, making her that more intimating.

Not trusting his mouth, Naruto gulped audibly and fervently nodded his head, after which Kimiko let go of Naruto and joined her parents, where he then watched them board their palanquins and begin their journey back to the capital.

As Naruto watched the royal family and their entourage walk away, the blonde boy could not help but wonder what sort of mess he had gotten himself into their time.

Omake:

Stunned by how familiar Rurichiyo was with her "Kidnapper" Naruto turned to the blonde Princess. "Rurichiyo-chan you know this this person?"

"Off course…she's my favourite Auntie, Aunt Kimi" Rurichiyo replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Naruto on the other hand could only stare in disbelief and think "AUNTIE?!" as he looked back and forth between Rurichiyo and her Aunt who was standing over the two.

"Can someone "PLEASE" tell me what the hell is going on?" Naruto cried, not understanding anything.

Sparing a sympatric smile for her son, Tsunade decided to answer his question. "I suppose introductions are in order..." At which point the masked swordsman removed his mask and pulled back his purple cloak, revealing that Rurichiyo's "kidnapper", was indeed a woman.

"Naruto allow me to introduce you to the First Daughter and Princess to the Fire Daimyo, Princess Kimiko (2), who also just so happens to be Princess Rurichiyo's Aunt and Godmother."

But as soon as soon as she had removed her hood and mask, the princess noticed that Tsunade and others were giving her strange looks before finally bursting out laughing.

Both Tsunade and Shizune were on their hands and knees, struggling to stay standing as they were laughing, Naruto and Rurichiyo though were on their ground in tears laughing their asses off with their lungs protesting for oxygen.

"What?" asked Kimiko, failing to understand what was so funny.

"Your…Your…Your…Buhahaha" laughed Naruto, who was holding his gut as he tried to tell Kimiko what they were laughing at, but couldn't finish his sentence, as every time he looked at her, he burst into hysterics.

"Can someone please explain what's so funny?!" asked the now irritated Fire Princess.

"It's…It's…It's…Your Hair!" laughed Tsunade, pointing the woman's head, before finally succumbing to her laugher and falling to the ground, along with Shizune.

"My Hair?!" Kimiko repeated, before using the flat side of her blade as a mirror to look at herself. No longer was her black hair long a silky, thanks to the Lightning in Naruto's last attack, it was now it all spiked up in the shape of a large afro.

Moments later a high pitch screech was heard through the surrounding forest and the village, scaring every animal for miles away, followed by the continued laughter of Tsunade and her family.