Progress

Tsunade sat comfortably as Jiraiya and Shikaku stood behind her. In front of them were the civilian council, the clan heads and the Daimyo and his escorts.

"So Tsunade-hime, we await you decision."

Tsunade took a long pause before opening her mouth to speak.

"I have decided that I will continue as the Fifth Hokage. I don't see any reason why not to."

Everyone around Danzo visibly recoiled as they felt the weight of the air increase. The man's chakra did display that he was extremely pissed, something that his face bore no actual resemblance to with the exception of a slight frown. His lone eye stared at the face of Tsunade which just held a smile. She was enjoying taunting the man.

"Excellent," the Daimyo said as he clasped his fan. "That settles it then. The matter concerning the Hokage can finally be closed. All this talk about who would be the Hokage has made me tired." He yawned as he said this before pointing to Tsunade who promptly dismissed the meeting.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were about going when they heard a voice.

"I must ask. What made you so sure of taking on the mantle of Hokage?" His question was straightforward.

"Like I would tell you Danzo. I don't like you and I am sure you know that and I promise as Hokage, I will make you go through hell."

"Tsunade, it is best you don't make enemies out of allies." With that said, he smirked before turning tail and leaving them to their thoughts.

"You shouldn't make threats like that Tsunade."

"I know but he just pisses me off to no end. I hate how there's not sufficient information to put him out for good."

"That's a good thing then."

"Why'd you say that?"

"Let's just say that it is best to keep your enemies close to you. It allows you monitor their moves and plan ahead of them."

"I kn- is that Naruto?"

Jiraiya stopped walking as he saw Naruto and Hinata on what appeared to be a stroll.

"Brat," Tsunade called out to him causing him and the white eyed girl to pause.

"What are you doing?" Jiraiya asked with a wide grin on his face.

Naruto looked at the white-haired man with a knowing expression before shrugging. "Just strolling y'know, taking a walk around the village."

"Really?" Tsunade said as she bent down to their level slightly and with a huge smile turned towards Hinata. "And who might the young lady be?"

"My name's H-Hinata Hokage-sama. You are very p-pretty." Hinata had heard tales of Tsunade's fabled beauty but meeting her in person for the first time was a lot different from being told that she was very pretty.

Tsunade's smile seemed to grow and radiate at that comment. "Why thank you, and by the way, you're very cute yourself."

"T-thank you," she replied with a blush and looked away from the blonde. Jiraiya was just about to say something, before Naruto made a little comment.

"Well that's all a disguise," he said as he turned away from Tsunade. "If you knew her real age and appearance, you wouldn't be saying that."

At that moment, Tsunade's beautiful and radiant expression turned into one of pure rage as she turned to look at Naruto before slowly bringing herself to normal height and towering over him. "Where'd you get that from Naruto-kun?" she asked with a fake expression and an all too familiar tone that Naruto knew too well.

He took a step back and tried to arrange the next words that were going to escape his lips.

"Well granny," he started as he looked at his sensei standing beside the woman, "Jiraiya-sensei did mention something like that when we were training and ifthatisallgrannymeandHinatawillbetakingourleaveBYE!" Naruto said the last part so fast and towards the end he had already grabbed Hinata and started running.

Tsunade blinked at the boy and then turned to Jiraiya who was slowly trying to make his way out of her reach but she grabbed him.

"Jiraiya," she said as she held the man in what appeared to be a friendly lock as she slowly walked away. "Tell me why you were informing Naruto of such a delicate situation."

Jiraiya gulped. Clearly he was in for a whole world of hurt.

-Break-

Sasuke stood just outside the ANBU headquarters as he gnawed at the ground with his foot. He had been waiting for Kakashi for almost an hour and he was feeling tempted to go into the headquarters by himself.

"Yo," a voice said as Kakashi flickered in.

Sasuke turned to stare at the white-haired man. He was at a loss for what to say because the sharingan wielding non-Uchiha was an expert on always coming up with things to say.

"Why the glum face?" Kakashi asked as he walked up to the last Uchiha.

"Never mind," he said before turning to face the entrance to the building. "Let's just get this over with."

Kakashi only nodded before turning to the building entrance.

"Aren't we going in?"

"We are not. You're not ANBU yet. Only ANBU are allowed in."

Sasuke nodded before turning to Kakashi again. "I thought the Hokage had signed my acceptance letter."

"She has. You still need to be assessed to see if anything can be done to refute your acceptance. All proceedings."

Sasuke merely 'hmphed' before turning away. It didn't take long before an ANBU flickered in. His mask was modeled after a bird, more specifically a bird of prey.

"Kakashi-san," he said as he walked up to the man.

"Falcon," Kakashi said as he acknowledged the man. "Glad you could make it on such short notice."

"Anything for the village," he said as he looked at Sasuke. "The Last Uchiha huh. As much as Hokage-sama has signed his acceptance letter, I would very much like to see his skills for myself. No offence."

"None taken," Kakashi said before turning to Sasuke. "You're in capable hands." With that he flickered away to attend to more 'pressing' duties.

Falcon turned to Sasuke. "We are going to have a little 'bonding' session," he said to the boy. "If you pass, welcome to the team and if you don't then… let's just forget about that."

Sasuke smirked slightly at the ANBU's antics and soon he found himself chasing after the man as they headed to where Sasuke soon recognized to be the Forest of Death.

-Break-

Sakura stood in front of a building. She had rung the bell a few times and no one had come to answer it. She was considering leaving as she rung it once more and turned away. She stopped when the door creaked open and revealed a woman with mesh clothing.

"My, my. If it isn't Sakura. What can I do you for?"

"Anko-sensei… I need your help."

"Concerning what?" the snake mistress asked the pink-haired kunoichi that was in front of her house.

"I want you to train me."

Anko blinked at Sakura's request before turning to look behind and turning her head to Sakura once again.

"Me?" she asked with a hint of disbelief evident in her tone.

"Yes."

Anko blinked again and shook her head. "What is it that you actually want?"

Sakura sighed. "I want to be able to keep up with the boys in my team, and to do that I need someone who is knowledgeable in the kunoichi arts."

"Why not Kurenai then? She's as much a kunoichi as I am."

"It didn't feel like the right choice, plus she's more genjutsu based. As much as I do have an aptitude for genjutsu… I don't think it is the right choice for me."

Anko just looked at her and decided to speak after some seconds had passed. "And what kind of training would that be?"

"An overall polishing is what I need and maybe-" Sakura stopped talking after she noticed the smile that crept unto Anko's features. Before she could question anything, Anko spoke up.

"Come in. Let me get dressed and then we'll be on our way." She gestured for her to follow.

"Where are we going?"

"It's best to let the surprise reveal itself than to anticipate it."

Sakura nodded and took a seat in the apartment while she waited for Anko to get ready.

-Break-

Sasuke flipped backwards as he dodged a chop. He had been going at it with Falcon for about fifteen minutes. His command was simple. Get a drop on Falcon and land a hit with one swift movement.

"Again." He had been hearing the man's voice over and over again. He was not happy at having failed so many times.

He waited for Falcon to give him the signal that he wasn't watching before concealing himself from view. It took some time before he formulated a plan that he was expecting to work this time.

He wasn't fast enough to use chidori on such a skilled opponent and throwing shuriken was out of the question. Falcon may be able to hear their sound as they weave through the air. He stood at the edge of a branch where the leaves concealed his presence from Falcon. It also helped that he was in the ANBU operative's blind spot.

He slowly took out a kunai and held the kubokiribocho in his left hand before leaping from the branch almost soundlessly.

Falcon flicked his head as he heard the sound of something tearing through wind. He saw Sasuke's blade spinning on its edge as it came at him but no sign of Sasuke. He was about to sidestep as the blade drew closer but he noticed the sword change direction as if it was going upward.

He squinted his eyes and noticed a wire that held the sword by the handle and the circle opening. A sound drew his attention as he stopped a kunai by the handle before turning around to spot Sasuke holding a kunai to his face.

"Well done."

Sasuke smirked and lowered his kunai.

"You show promise… I'd like to polish that. We will begin first thing tomorrow morning with your training."

The Uchiha nodded as he let his sharingan fade away, revealing his black eyes.

-Break-

Anko and Sakura stood facing each other in one of the training grounds.

"What is it that you want to learn?"

"I need to be able to fight or at least be able to handle a kunai."

"That seems fair enough," Anko said as she took a kunai from a pouch. "Come at me."

"Now?"

"Now."

Sakura gulped as she took a kunai from her own pouch and placed herself in an attack stance.