"This is incredible! Minato-sama, your cooking is amazing! *Sob*... this is the best meal I've had in ages."
Yugito said, her voice thick with emotion as she took another bite. "It really is wonderful!"
Ever since she'd gone broke, she'd had no choice but to endure Kushina's cooking day in and day out. Not only did she have to help with the prep work, but the food itself was downright unpalatable. Life had been miserable.
Kushina, of course, was oblivious to these minor grievances. Even if Yugito hated her cooking, as long as Minato wasn't around, she still had to eat whatever Kushina made, right? Of course, Kushina was genuinely trying to improve, but she simply had no talent for it. No matter how hard she tried, her food never came close to Minato's delicious, flavorful dishes.
"If you like it, you should eat more, meow."
Takeshi gave her a pat on the shoulder.
Rin, completely unsuspecting, watched the scene with a happy giggle. Kakashi, meanwhile, remained stern-faced and expressionless. If that cat was being this enthusiastic, there had to be a catch. A kind Takeshi would signal a complete personality overhaul, and Kakashi wasn't buying it.
Jiraiya didn't believe it either. But Yugito was Kumogakure's Jinchuriki. Even if she ate a lot, the worst that would happen was her putting on a few pounds. What was the big deal?
As he ate, Takeshi felt a twinge of discontent. Minato was getting stingier. He'd clearly made over ten million ryo, yet instead of treating everyone to a restaurant, he'd prepared this barbecue feast himself. The food was good, no doubt, but the frugality was just too much. He sighed inwardly.
Everyone else, however, was enjoying themselves immensely. Minato's cooking skills were genuinely impressive, probably better than your average barbecue joint. So, cooking himself wasn't purely about pinching pennies, it was also a show of confidence.
The excellent food and warm company naturally led the conversation down memory lane, and soon they were sharing stories and mourning the friends and comrades lost in the recent wars. Death was an unavoidable part of their lives. Halfway through the meal, Tsunade and the Third Hokage arrived, shamelessly mooching food and drink from the gathering. Since Takeshi wasn't footing the bill, it was more than happy to see them.
Over the next few days, as the village prepared for the succession, Takeshi took Yugito on a culinary tour of Konoha. He spent a fair bit of money, but the results were more than satisfactory. Takeshi was playing the long game.
Yugito was now almost unrecognizable. She had put on so much weight that Takeshi doubted the Third Raikage would even know who she was at first glance. The slim, pretty girl from Kumo was gone. 'The look on his face will be priceless,' Takeshi thought. 'And that means more points.'
Finally, on the fifth day, Tsunade's inauguration ceremony began. The villagers had no objections to her taking office, in fact, they cheered jubilantly. While Tsunade's raw combat power might have been the lowest of the Sannin, her overall abilities, prestige, and reputation were second to none.
Takeshi's presence had certainly helped. By aiding her in the battle in the Eastern Border and then resolving the issues with the Iwa and Suna shinobi, the cat's own reputation had soared.
Who would object to a leader endorsed by such a powerful creature? If Danzo were still alive, he might have raised a fuss, but Takeshi had passed by his grave a while back and noticed the grass was already growing tall. His friends and relatives must have been too busy to weed it, even Danzo's best friend had forgotten him. The thought had almost made Takeshi laugh out loud.
"Starting today, I am the Fourth Hokage who will govern Konohagakure!" Tsunade's declaration was simple and direct, without any of the usual political fanfare. Her confident, spirited demeanor was enough to make the crowd erupt in a tide of enthusiastic cheers.
Watching from the side, Takeshi saw an opportunity. He leaped onto the railing in front of Tsunade and waved a paw at the crowd. 'A gathering this big?' he thought. 'Perfect for harvesting points. Time to swing the sickle.' Even if it yielded nothing, there was no loss. He was leaving soon anyway, so the villagers opinions hardly mattered. Points were the most important thing, besides points, everything else was illusory, including pride.
Tsunade just smiled, lifted the cat, and placed him on her shoulder. Holding the Hokage hat in one hand, she cut a truly cool figure.
Of course... the black cat itself still looked very cute on the outside. But when the villagers thought about its usual personality, they couldn't help but take a deep breath. Even though the cat was powerful now, everyone had suffered plenty at its hands in the past. Now that it was this strong, who knew how much more trouble lay in store for them...
The villagers sighed involuntarily.
Of course, the black cat itself still looked adorable. But when the villagers thought about his personality, they couldn't help but draw a collective deep breath. They respected his power and contributions, but they also remembered the years of suffering he had inflicted upon them.
The lines of dead rats arranged neatly on the street, the shock of opening a window to find a carcass on the sill... At first, no one knew who was responsible, but they had eventually figured it out. So many times they had wanted to throttle the creature, but Rin was always there, bowing and apologizing with such sweetness that it was impossible to stay angry. Now, they simply couldn't beat him. They sighed, wondering what new torments awaited them.
They had no idea Takeshi was planning to leave. If they knew, they probably would have thrown a massive farewell party to celebrate the end of his menace.
"Let's go," Tsunade said, a hint of emotion in her voice. The title of Hokage was something she had hated for years. She never imagined she would one day accept it. She had to admit, it felt pretty good. She headed downstairs to organize her new office.
"Hiruzen," Homura began quietly, "about our roles..."
Koharu finished his thought. "As elders, our duties will remain the same, won't they?" They had discussed this before but hadn't gotten a straight answer from him.
Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe, a faint smile on his lips. He let the silence hang for a moment before answering. "We're old, my friends. Our ways of thinking can't always keep up. Now that the next generation has proven themselves, it's time we started letting go."
"Hiruzen!" Homura said, shocked. He had been so ambiguous before, and now, with Tsunade already in power, he was saying this.
"But Tsunade is still young," Koharu argued, more rationally. "Besides..." She knew Tsunade's stubbornness. If they tried to meddle in everything, Tsunade was just as likely to smash the Hokage Tower to pieces.
"Of course, we can't let go completely," Hiruzen said with a smile. "But I've decided to expand the Council of Elders. The Uchiha, the Hyuga, and other major clans will be invited to participate."
He had agreed to this as one of Tsunade's conditions for taking office. While every village had elders, their power varied. Under his tenure, they had been kept in check, but he knew they would try to assert themselves with a new Hokage. His solution was simple: dilute their power by adding more voices. Promoting a new generation of elders, people like Hiashi Hyuga, would create a buffer and a bridge to Tsunade. It was also a necessary political gesture to the Uchiha, who had finally pledged their full allegiance to Konoha.
Tsunade descended from the tower with Takeshi and Jiraiya. Orochimaru hadn't been there, he was busy dealing with the fallout from Root. Danzo's organization had been born of personal ambition, and while it had been a necessary evil during the war, the Sannin had agreed it no longer had a place. They had decided to merge its remaining members into the Anbu, and Orochimaru was overseeing the transition.
Orochimaru's desire for power was not like theirs. He pursued something they couldn't quite grasp, but that never stopped them from trusting one another. It was like when Jiraiya had taken on Nagato and the others as students, neither Tsunade nor Orochimaru had understood it, but they had let him go. That's what it meant to be comrades.
With Tsunade's inauguration complete, it was time for Takeshi to prepare for his own departure. Since he was taking Yugito along, a few arrangements were necessary. First, he needed to check on a promise from Kushina, a book she was compiling on Uzumaki fuinjutsu. 'Knowing her,' Takeshi mused, 'it's probably a mess.'
He was right. A quick visit confirmed that Kushina's notes were completely unreadable. She had finally given up and asked Minato to prepare a proper version, so it wasn't ready yet. It wasn't a major setback, though. Once the scroll was finished, Minato could have Rin summon a ninja cat from the clan's castle to deliver it.
Finally, Takeshi went to tell Yugito to pack her things. When she heard they were leaving the village, her face lit up. That joy lasted right up until she finished packing her bags, when a sudden gloom fell over her.
"Once we leave Konoha," she said quietly, "there won't be any more food like this, will there?"
It was easy to go from lean times to luxury, but nearly impossible to go back. Her stomach, it seemed, had already been molded into the shape of Konoha.
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