Chapter 36
MINATO NAMIKAZE
The day was finally here, and Minato could not have imagined that he would one day become the Hokage. That a simple no name orphan boy would grow up to become the Hokage of Konoha.
But the dream was real now, and as he stood in the Hokage office, it was time for the final step of the ceremony. The crowd had gathered outside already as Lord Third called him into the office for one last meeting.
He had been working closely with the man over the last few weeks trying to absorb all he could from his experience as the village prepared to enter a new era under his reign, and he had learned much about the power, responsibilities and duties of a kage.
The title of the Hokage did not simply go the strongest shinobi in the village. No, the title and position of the Hokage was reserved for those who were visionaries, who tried to go beyond the norms, dreamers who wished to change the world.
And he felt proud that he was considered to be amongst these ranks.
"You must be wondering why I have called you here one last time," Hiruzen-sama began as he sat in the Hokage chair, wearing his ceremonial robe as the Sun illuminated the room through the windows.
Unlike before, he had also come to learn more about the man that was Hiruzen Sarutobi, a fearless and visionary leader who had led Konoha through two wars, but beyond the fearless and daunting Hokage was a loving father who grieved at the loss of his son, a man who had sacrificed his own blood for this village.
And as he saw that, the cost and toll of his dream dawned on him, but he promised himself to be a better man than the Third. A better husband, and most importantly a better father.
"Yes, though I believe it must concern something important," he began and the man nodded as he slowly took out the pipe and put it on the desk which now lay empty of all documents and paper, and so forth.
"Yes, it is something rather important," and the man's lips thinned as he reached into a drawer and took out a file, and put it on the table.
Minato did not reach for it, yet he saw the Hokage-sama's expression harden as he stared at the file.
"Do you know what this is, Minato-kun?" he asked, and Minato shook his head as he did not recognize the file.
Over the last few weeks, he had been shown many confidential files and scrolls to prepare himself for his new role, yet this file was not amongst the ones that he had studied.
"This file here is my greatest shame," and the man's words shook him as Minato looked up and saw the eyes of the Third Hokage dull.
"In it lie secrets, missions, details, and debriefs over missions, issues, and personnel that would lower not just my prestige but the prestige of this office as well," and Minato was quiet as he heard those words.
He was not blind to the workings of the shinobi world, nor was he oblivious to its darker underbelly, and he had wondered if ANBU was the only hidden blade that the Hokage employed, and now the secret lay bare.
"Each and every Hokage has had to deal with the darkness that lies underneath the society, and each one has done so in his own way," the Third Hokage began, as he pointed towards the portraits that adored the side wall of the room.
"The Shodaime, was strong enough that he chose to deal with this darkness openly, refusing to stoop down to its level, yet the truth is that the Nidaime-sama carried that burden for his brother as well, dealing with the matters that were needed to be handled under the cover of darkness and subterfuge," and Minato nodded, as he tried to see what the Hokage-sama was trying to say.
"The Nidaime, my own sensei, had half a dozen students and formed the ANBU, but his reign was short and tumultuous, and when I became the Third Hokage, I needed to face this darkness as well," and he had an inkling about who it was that the Third had relied on.
"I had no students of mine own who could share this burden at the time, but what I had were comrades, friends with whom I had faced a dozen battles, friends whom I trusted implicitly," and those friends became his counselors.
"And yet not all people are made strong enough to face the darkness that we try and hide from this world, and of my comrades, there was, but one who could share my burden," and Minato chose to intervene at that moment.
"Lord Danzo," he guessed, and Hiruzen-sama nodded. As he reached for his pipe and put it into his mouth, the embers and smoke flew out of its end as the man closed his eyes.
"This file contains his secrets as much as mine, secrets about how we dealt with the trials and tribulations in our time. I hope that you have no need for such a thing," but Minato doubted that, but he was still not understanding where this was going.
"What do you want me to do, Sandaime-sama?" he asked.
And the man opened his eyes and looked at him as he spoke.
"I do not wish for you to see this file," and Minato frowned for a second, but as he thought of it, it began to make some sense.
"At least not yet," the older Lord Hokage clarified quickly.
"Govern and rule the village as you see fit for some time and understand the true burdens of this job, and when you do understand them all, then come to me, and I shall show this file to you, and let you be my judge," and Minato frowned.
"Do you not think me ready?" he asked, and Sandaime's face softened as he shook his head.
"No, it is not like that," he began softly.
"It is I who is unprepared. I who has ruled over this village for decades and am not ready to be judged just yet," and with that, he leaned back as he pushed the file towards him.
"But you are the Hokage, and I cannot dictate you. The choice is yours, but do consider this my one last request as the Sandaime Hokage," Minato glanced at the file, and a part of him wanted to reach for it and simply be done with it.
His mind raced as he tried to process just what horrors lay inside it to make the Hokage-sama like this. And was he truly ready to face them?
And most importantly, what effect they would have on him?
He slowly reached for the file, as his lips thinned, but in the last moment, rather than picking it up, he pushed it back towards the Sandaime-sama.
"I will do as you say, Sandaime-sama, and put my trust in you," he said, for he was still young, and Sandaime-sama was a titan who had led this village through two wars.
The man deserved at least this much from him as his successor.
"Thank you," the man said as he stood up, as Minato did the same.
"Let us not keep the crowd waiting any longer..."
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A few minutes later, Minato found himself atop the Hokage tower, wearing the new cloak made specially for him. The Third Hokage addressed the village gathered in front of him.
To his side stood Kushina, whose belly had begun to swell slightly, though it was not prominent enough for others to notice. To her side was Rin, and the absence of Obito and Kakashi hit him at that moment.
Her condition had improved greatly over the last week, and she could finally mold her own chakra. However, she would have to retrain her control and other skills to accommodate the larger reserves and bijuu chakra that had now been intermixed with her natural chakra.
And it was all because of the help of the boy who stood beside her. Izuna Uchiha seemed to have hit his growth spurt, and the boy seemed to grow an inch or two every time he saw him, and now the boy was taller than Rin, and with the death of Kakashi, the boy had become a sort of apprentice to him.
The two of them were rather similar, each with their own quirks, and he often found himself getting surprised by the sheer level of skill possessed by the Uchiha boy, who gave him a nod as well as the Third Hokage stood aside and made way for him.
"I GIVE YOU THE YONDAIME HOKAGE...." Minato stepped forward and slightly tilted his hat as the crowd broke into a massive cheer at his appearance as he gave a small wave to them.
"....MINATO NAMIKAZE!"
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And miles away, from atop the Hokage faces, a shadowy figure watched it all before vanishing into thin air without leaving a single trace.
0000
DANZO SHIMURA
Many weeks had passed since he had been betrayed. Yet, Orochimaru had continued to evade him and his retribution as the golden-eyed shinobi hid himself outside the village's premises.
But now he was back, and the Sanin had the audacity to walk into his terrain with no care at all.
The nerve of him. After everything he had done for him, the bastard had betrayed him, bowing out of the race for the Hokage title would have been something else, yet his intentions with endorsing Fugaku for the job made his intentions obvious.
"You have some never walking into these tunnels like this," Danzo asked, as the white-skinned jounin smiled.
"Well, I came here to say goodbye. I have heard that sensei has shut down all your operations," and the reminder of his failure made him ground his teeth.
"He has," Danzo agreed, not mentioning the militia he had kept preserved behind the scenes.
"And it is all because of you," he added, and the golden-eyed sanin simply shrugged.
"You betrayed me. You!" Danzo snarled as he brought up his hand, forming the tiger hand seal.
"Give me one good reason, just one why I should not strike you down right now for your insolence," he challenged, and yet, to his surprise, the Sanin did not beg or cower in fear of the seal he had placed on him.
"Why don't you give that a try?" Danzo could not understand his arrogance and nonchalance. The seal was irremovable unless one was a distinguished Fuinjutsu master. He had taken the design from Tobirama-sensei's own diary, and yet Orochimaru seemed to not care at all.
"Then so be it," and he activated the seal, and yet, to his surprise, nothing happened as his eyes widened in realization.
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"Impossible," he gasped as suddenly it all clicked together.
"That boy," he guessed, and suddenly the white-skinned jounin vanished from infront and appeared behind him, as he felt the cold metal of a kunai pressed against his neck.
And as he glanced back, he saw those golden snake-like eyes looking down at him, and the Orochimaru snarled in a chilling voice.
"Now, why don't you give me one good reason to strike you down just now? " For a second, he feared for his life as he realized that he had lost his greatest leverage against Orochimaru, and the bastard was out of his control.
"You can try," he challenged, pushing chakra into Kagami's Sharingan that lay hidden under the bandages as he prepared himself for the worst.
"I want to, and perhaps it would be one of the biggest favors I could do to this village, but I won't," and the black haired jounin withdrew the kunai, even though Danzo felt a sharp pain from his cheek, as blood began to drip down his face.
"Your life belongs to someone else, and he will not be happy if I end it so quickly," he said, pocketing his kunai and leaving the cave.
"Our time together has come to an end. You no longer hold any control over me," and Danzo ground his teeth as he saw another one of his assets escape his hand.
He had underestimated Izuna Uchiha. He had thought the boy a greenhorn with little to no experience in diplomacy and politicking. Still, the boy had slowly and systematically stripped him of many of his most valuable assets.
First, he had taken over the hospitals, then the orphanages, and lastly he had even robbed him of Orochimaru, allying the sanin to himself.
"Do you really think it will be so easy to walk away from me," at his command, suddenly, half a dozen of his men blocked the Sanin's path as Orochimaru glanced back at him once more.
"Are you really so naive enough to waste valuable men like this?" he asked with a smile. Danzo knew that there was a chance that he could succeed in killing him if he joined his men, but victory was not certain.
He was powerful, but he was old. Orochimaru was a sanin, a resourceful and cunning shinobi who would be a menace to face.
"That seal was not the only leverage I held," he asked.
"I know of your secrets, of your experiments, and so forth," he challenged, and those golden eyes lit up as he chuckled.
"And who was it that compelled me to do all those things?" so that was his plan.
"Hiruzen will never belie..."
"Sensei is no longer the Hokage," Orochimaru cut in, and as the realization clicked together, Danzo ground his teeth as he nodded.
"I see, so you have planned this well," and so he gave his men a final nod as they separated, giving him a path to leave.
"You will regret this one day," he challenged.
"We will see about that..."
0000
And so, a day after his inauguration as Minato sat in his office as the Yondaime Hokage, the familiar figure of Izuna Uchiha, stood infront of him with a grave look on his face.
"What brings you here Izuna-kun?" he asked.
"I am here to report treason...."
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