Many jōnin could be seen gathered, ready for what was to come.
It had already been announced that the next jōnin meeting would be to decide who would be the next Hokage, and an air of uncertainty filled the room.
Some had specific candidates in mind; some hoped it would be someone from the older generation, believing they could lead Konoha in times of crisis, while others favored someone from the newer generation, perhaps someone the age of Figaku or Hiashi.
"Silence," Minato declared, looking around to ensure everyone remained quiet. "As you know, my stay here isn't permanent, so I have to return to the Pure Land, even if I don't want to."
This visibly agitated some of them.
"During my time here, I was able to address the village's most pressing problems and finish some projects I couldn't complete in my lifetime so that no one would stop them. I'll leave the less problematic or less urgent situations in the village to the next Hokage," Minato explained, describing what he'd been doing this week.
Upon hearing Minato's last sentence, I chuckled inwardly.
The truth is, Minato dedicated more time to finishing his ongoing projects, at least the shorter ones, and providing funds for house repairs and the hospital—nothing more.
That might count as more urgent issues, but considering I was the one who built at least half the houses, and he only gave me money as an intermediary for the hospital, it's not like I did much.
At least he paid me for A and B rank missions, so I'll just keep quiet this time. But that doesn't mean that if I become Hokage, he won't leave me with the most problematic ones.
"With all that said, I propose Miyu Senju as the Fifth Hokage," Minato said simply with a smile, causing some to gasp.
I simply shook my head, as this wasn't the proper procedure, but his intention to make me the next Hokage was more than just common sense.
From a certain point of view, this isn't very different from favoritism, but perhaps it's not so bad to be as direct as possible.
Given the sudden turn of events, Shikaku stepped forward, coughing.
"The Nara, Yamana, and Akimichi clans support Miyu as the next Hokage," he declared as Inoichi and Choza nodded in agreement.
Fugaku stepped forward.
"The Uchiha clan also supports Lady Miyu as the next Hokage," he said.
Hiashi followed.
"The Hyuga clan also accepts Lady Miyu as the Fifth Hokage," he added.
At that moment, the ANBU commander, wearing a lion mask, also stepped forward.
"The ANBU also support the decision that Miyu will be the next Hokage," he announced.
Only then Shizune, who was there as a representative of Konoha's medical corps since Tsunade was too busy to attend, also stepped forward.
"The entire Konoha medical corps also accepts Miyu as the Fifth Hokage," she said somewhat timidly.
I just stood there watching as she received more support than I expected.
I saw Minato smile at this, Hiruzen just sigh, and Danzo clench his staff in anger, not to mention the pair of earthworms who were red with rage, since they knew what would happen to them and I would gain the power. But there was a problem: they had no way to object, because if they did, they feared I would do something to them, either directly or indirectly.
"Does anyone object to Miyu becoming the Fifth Hokage?" Minato asked, seeing that no one was saying anything.
"Heh, who would dare suffer the consequences of angering the Princess of Konoha?" Choza said humorously, making some people nod.
"Only someone who wouldn't fear death or worse," Inoichi played along.
"At this point, I don't know if I can even call her a princess anymore," Shikaku added.
"At this point, I don't know if I can even call her a princess anymore," Shikaku added.
"Is there anyone who objects?" The conversation between the three was quite quiet, but since nobody was saying anything, practically everyone heard it.
Minato simply smiled at me.
"Anything to say?" he asked.
"Is there still time to back out?" I said somewhat sarcastically.
"Obviously not," Minato replied, looking at everyone. "Unanimously, and as the outgoing Hokage, I hereby declare Miyu Senju the next Hokage; the succession ceremony will be held in three days."
With that, the meeting ended—one of the shortest I've ever attended.
...
"It was a pleasure, Hokage-sama," the jonin said, leaving the office and leaving Minato and me alone.
"That was the last one. You're not expecting anyone else to say goodbye, are you?" I asked.
"No, but I have people I want to see before I go," Minato said sadly.
I immediately understood what he meant. I got up from the couch, took Minato by the shoulders, and, concentrating, we teleported to the front of a hospital room.
"You go ahead; I'll leave you alone with her for a few moments," I said as I went to another room.
As soon as I entered, I saw a nurse rocking a sleeping baby Naruto in his crib.
"Mrs. Miyu, what can I do for him?" the nurse asked.
"I'm taking Naruto from now on; you can go," I ordered, since, as the owner of the hospital, I'm the highest-ranking official here.
The nurse bowed and left the maternity ward.
I looked at the thing with blond hair and fox whiskers.
"Just to think that Minato's gone, but he leaves me this thing that's like a clone. Who would've thought my dead comrades would be reflected in the babies I'd end up taking care of?" I said to myself as I left the room with Naruto in my arms, careful not to wake him.
When I entered the room where I'd left Minato, I saw him holding Kushina's hand.
"Nothing?" I asked him.
"Nothing," he replied with a sigh.
Minato had been here before, but he couldn't stay long, as he had to attend to his Hokage duties.
I hoped that talking to Kushina would elicit some kind of reaction from her, but unfortunately, that didn't happen.
"He'll wake up eventually; Tsunade and I will take care of it," I reassured him, while Minato just gave a sad smile.
At that moment, he looked in the direction I was, specifically at Naruto.
I immediately handed the thing to Minato—and yes, I'm going to keep calling it the thing until I get tired of it.
"Shikaku told me about what happened at the meeting when they discussed who would take care of Naruto, so I have to thank him," he said.
"Relax, I'm his godmother; it's something I have to do, but the only thing that bothers me is that now I'll have to take care of three brats all by myself like an absent single mother," I added, trying to sound sympathetic.
"I think it's about time you got a partner," Minato teased.
"Why leave her alone, abandoned, just because I had my Hokage duties? If I want to de-stress, I lock myself in a dark room or go to the Hall of Joy," I retorted. Just so you know, the Hall of Joy is where the prostitutes who raised Daiki hang out.
"I don't think I needed to know so much," I said nervously, Minato bringing me back to the point.
"Then don't open your mouth about things that don't concern you," I snapped.
"My mistake," Minato apologized, looking at Kushina. "Well, I'm ready."
At that, I just nodded, left the thing next to her comatose mother, and grabbed Minato's shoulder to teleport us to the outskirts of the village.
"Last words, since we probably won't see each other for a long time," I said, dropping a hint.
"Are you implying you'll revive me again?" he asked, sounding worried.
"Only if I have to invade Iwa again," I replied.
"Hahaha," Minato laughed at that. "No, I don't think there's anything left for us to say to each other."
"Then it's not goodbye; it's see you later." With that, I canceled the Edo Tensei, and Minato's body began to crumble until only the criminal's corpse, almost covered in dust, remained.
I just stared at it, feeling somewhat empty, since another friend was gone. First Kosuke, then Minato, and Kushina are in limbo, not dead, but not very alive as they are now.
I just sighed, quickly buried the criminal, and left.
...
Three days had passed since Minato returned to the Pure Land, and this was the day I was to be named the Fifth Hokage... BY FORCE.
Well, not by force, but if it wasn't me, it was Hiruzen or Danzo who would have forced me to take the position... BY FORCE.
I could only sigh at this, and then there was Naruto, still breastfeeding.
I looked at the thing that forced me to start consuming pheromones again to produce breast milk, since it's the most nutritious thing for babies.
I would have ended up doing it for Hikari anyway, but I have no problem blaming Minato's son.
Meanwhile, I saw Yami playing with a plastic sword; he was killing, if you can even call it that, his stuffed animals.
He acts and plays like a baby, but I feel like it shouldn't be a coincidence that the toy sword kept grazing his stuffed animals' necks.
Knock, knock.
"Come in," I said simply, only to see the old monkey enter the room.
"I hope I'm not interrupting you, Miyu," he announced, only to see me breastfeeding Naruto.
"What do you think?" he replied curtly. Hiruzen just gave me an apologetic look and entered as well.
"I didn't mean to bother you, but when you take the Hokage mantle, you'll be very busy, and I won't be able to do this," he said as he sat down not far from where I was.
"Now that you're in, you can say whatever you want; there are still a few minutes before the ceremony starts," I said.
"Well, first of all, I'd like to apologize for all the trouble I've caused you," he said sincerely. "After so long in power, one becomes somewhat paranoid and always thinks that what one does is right, even if sometimes it isn't."
"You can get to the point if this is just to get my forgiveness," I suggested, but the old monkey gestured with his hand to stop me.
"I don't want your forgiveness, and I feel I don't deserve it either. I just wanted to tell you how I saw things when I was still Hokage," he interrupted, then looked at Yami. "The Will of Fire shouldn't be what it is now, and I discovered that during my year of rest, along with everything you told me. In a way, I failed the people, especially by being manipulated without my consent—excuse me—and by not stopping anyone."
I just listened.
"To sum it up, I want you to know that I fully support your leadership and won't judge anything you do, since you yourself have said that old people like us aren't capable of making good decisions, and after reflecting for a while, I think you're right," Hiruzen finished, giving me a tired smile.
After hearing that, I just sighed.
No matter how many mistakes the old monkey made, I can't hate him, since he never acted maliciously or with the intention of truly harming anyone. His actions or inactions may have caused harm, and that doesn't excuse his crimes, but it doesn't change the fact that Hiruzen was never evil.
"You're going to have to prove you can atone for your mistakes from now on." Hearing what I said, the old monkey smiled.
"I'll do whatever it takes to prove it," said the old Hokage.
"Prove it by carrying this thing," I said as I quickly handed Naruto the old monkey and straightened my clothes.
All ready and checking the time, I carried Yami to the roof of Hokage Rock.
"Get ready, old man, because I'm going to squeeze you as hard as I can, making you wish you'd just retired," I said as I climbed onto the roof.
I don't completely forgive Hiruzen for everything he's done, but if he lets me do whatever I want to him in exchange for a possible pardon, who am I to stop him?
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That concludes the first part of the story.
Due to several issues I'll mention shortly, I'll be taking a one-month break. These issues include:
1. I hadn't planned to make Miyu Hokage so soon, but given the way the story was progressing, it wouldn't have made sense not to make her Hokage at this point. Therefore, I need to change the story I had planned, so I'll need time to do so.
2. Following on from the previous point, I need time to change the story I had already planned and see if the ending needs to change or if it stays as before so I can adjust the changes I make.
3. This month, along with the beginning of next month, I'm swamped with academic work, and I feel I'll need to pause one of the two fanfics I'm writing to have more time, as it takes me a while to write the chapters anyway.
4. I had planned to do this from the beginning, which was to take some time off when I reached the halfway point of the story.
This month will serve two purposes, besides allowing me to dedicate more time to my studies, since the semester is ending soon. These purposes are to refine the ideas for the fic and read any suggestions you might have for improving the story; if your suggestions are good and make sense, I might incorporate them.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed it, and it's very likely that there will be a time skip in the next chapter, mainly because I'm too lazy to write the Hokage ceremony. Even Kishimoto didn't do it for Naruto, so I'm not going to either. Cheers.