Chapter 20: Godaime Hokage

“Tsunade! You can’t take him as your apprentice!” Koharu almost yelled at the new Godaime Hokage. Beside her was Homura nodding in agreement while Hiruzen sat next to his student. Amused.

“Of course I can. I did in fact.” the blonde woman replied with a glare and a frown. She never liked people telling her what to do, especially when she was the boss. Like now.

“What Koharu meant is that you shouldn’t.” Homura tried to diffuse the situation.

Both elders had been shocked to see Warudo Riku next to Shizune behind Tsunade half an hour earlier when Hiruzen put the hat on her head in front of the whole village.

“I don’t see why not. And don’t tell me it’s because of what the villagers think of him, please. My family name alone is enough to shake off any bad press because of his situation.”

“Tsunade-” Koharu tried again.

“Look. That kid? He’s a genius. A real one that you only see once in a generation if not more. We can’t leave him alone or we’re going to lose him and we can’t miss on such potential. We already wasted enough of them between Orochimaru, Kakashi and Itachi. No more. So if a bit of bad publicity is the price to pay for such an excellent asset then so be it.”

“... Genius?” inquired a confused Homura.

Both elders had watched the finals of course and saw Riku as a good and talented shinobi but nothing that demonstrated he was a prodigy of the likes of the names Tsunade had given. Noticing they had no clue about Riku at all, the Hokage opened her drawer, picked a very thick file and tossed it across her desk. Curious, Koharu picked it up and opened it, Homura getting closer to have a look too. After a few minutes and reading pages after pages, they looked at her.

“Is this accurate?” she asked with all the seriousness she was known for.

“Ye-.”

Tsunade’s answer was drowned by the door of her office bursting open revealing the topic of their conversation.

‘Speak of the devil…’ she thought.

“Sandaime-sa-. Oh! …Eh! Sensei, Elders. Sorry for the interruption but I need to speak with Sandaime-sama urgently.”

“Can it wait?” inquired Tsunade, not wanting to deal with her sensei’s teammate alone.

“Eh… Maybe? Depends. Is the topic more important than Sandaime-sama being able to use two arms again?”

““““WHAT?!””””

The united shout of the whole room was so loud that Riku recoiled a bit.

“You found a way to heal Hiruzen’s arm?” asked Koharu.

“Not exactly. It’s three ideas to test to give him an arm again but I’m sure one of them will work and I need him to do it because well… he’s the one missing an arm.”

“Come here.” Tsunade ordered. “close the door.”

Riku obeyed and slowly advanced forward up to his sensei’s desk.

“Are you going to spout ideas worth an S-rank label in terms of secrets?” she inquired.

“Eh… Probably?”

The blonde woman held his gaze for a moment and sighed. She dismissed the Anbu and activated the lock down protocol of the office by pumping chakra onto the seal under the desk.

“Take a chair and go ahead.”

“Wouldn’t the elders need-”

“We’re fine.”  cut in Koharu.

“We may not be that young but we’re not so old that we need to sit after standing for a few minutes.”

“Alright then.”

He pulled a chair from the side of the room and sat next to Tsunade. The elders were giving him the creeps.

“Soooo. First idea is to create a partial Kage Bunshin or rather create a chakra construct of the same type but of your arm. That will be difficult and it may not be fully functional but it’s worth a shot. I mean… it’s not like you’re an active shinobi anymore so for day to day life it should be enough.”

“That’s… a very good idea. Unfortunately I would need an actual left arm to clone.”

“There are plenty around, especially at the morgue to get you some… inspiration. Chakra construct is just that, a construct. It’s up to you to shape it the way you want. The difficult part would be-”

“To connect it to the stump and make it functional.” Tsunade interjected but followed his train of thoughts.

“Yes but since it would be a chakra construct similar to a shadow clone it would have a chakra pathway so we may use that to connect Sandaime-sama’s own with the… clone. Afterward it may be just a question of extensive chakra control to make the arm move. Not only that but since the construct would be directly linked to the original chakra pathway it would be perpetually infused with chakra and thus never dispelled by lack of it. It may be even possible to make the construct more durable so it wouldn’t dispel in one hit like a regular shadow clone.”

Tsunade pondered about that. Connecting a real chakra network to a constructed one was really an idea from out there but should it be possible the hardest part would be over and everything else would be technically possible.

“Or.. Hum… I mean… I just thought about it, but graft you a dead guy’s left arm? Disgusting but that may work better?”

“Let’s… hear your other ideas and put this one to the side for now, Hm?” said Hiruzen did not appeal to this idea.

“My second idea was simply a puppet arm.”

“Good idea but unfortunately that’s a secret art from Suna.” Homura commented.

“We could always ask for a scroll in the negotiation for the new treaty? Or not. Sarutobi-sama is not called the ‘professor’ for nothing.” Riku reminded them, then turned to Hiruzen. “It’s obvious puppets are used via chakra strings, I’m sure you have the knowledge and experience to adapt it for your needs by engineering something new. At worst it’s a good project to pass the time now that you’re officially retired.”

“Hmm. That it is. It’s been a while since I created a new jutsu. And a non-elemental one at that.”

“My third idea is Chakra shape and elemental manipulation. You use your chakra to shape it like an arm and make it so it’s of the Earth element? It’s more tangible than the others. That would be insanely difficult though. Then lastly. Seals. For all my previous ideas. To facilitate the connections between you and the… prosthetic? Bypassing the damaged tissues by using seals as a bridge over those areas and connecting the two parts together. Some ideas would take more time than others but with the help of shadow clones…”

Koharu frowned hearing the last part, not understanding how the shadow clone could help.

“Why shadow clones?”

“Page 8 of the file.” Tsunade told her and the elderly woman opened it to have a look, Homura still looking over her shoulders. After reading the whole page both their eyes nearly popped out of their orbits.

“This is insane!”

“Do you realize-”

“““Yes!”””

“Why do you think we’re keeping quiet about this? That knowledge would do more harm than good if widely known. It could backfire horribly against us.” commented Hiruzen.

“So far, I intend to make a list of very loyal and trusted shinobi to share that secret but that takes time. The chakra requirement is… awful to say the least. Honestly, apart from myself, Jiraiya and the two Uzumaki in the village and maybe, it’s a small maybe, Riku. I don’t see who else.” Tsunade added.

“ME?!”

“Riku, why are you surprised about it?” his sensei said in a deadpanned tone. “You can make four Shadow clones, almost five, at thirteen.”

“That amount of chakra at your age is rarely seen.” agreed Koharu.

“I… don’t know? Compared to others…”

“Which others?”

“Izumo-senpai and Kotetsu-senpai and… Oh.”

Realization finally hit him. Right until now, he had only compared himself to the people around him. Meaning adults for the most part. And the only other people of his age worth comparing himself to had been Naruto and Karin. Both Uzumaki with massive chakra reserves.

“Finally realized it, huh? I guess you do have some moments of stupidity.” Hiruzen teased with a chuckle.

“Nobody is perfect.” Riku answered with a shrug, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Anyway, that’s it with my ideas. I’ll try to look into the seals’ side of things but I’m already busy with finding a way to send back the Shodai and Nidaime back to the pure lands…”

“It’s fine we have plenty of ventures to explore. All thanks to you.”

“In that case. I’ll take my leave. And sorry for the interruption.”

He gave everyone a bow and exited the office but not before Tsunade called out to him.

“Don’t forget about the quiz tonight!”

“I didn’t and I won’t, sensei!” was his answer just as he closed the door.

Looking at the elders, Tsunade had a smug smile on her face.

“Fine! You were right! Happy?!” Koharu exclaimed.

“Very.”

“We still need to present him in a good light. Unfortunately his ideas and findings can’t be made public which doesn’t help.”

“Let the people talk for now, Homura. And give him time. Konoha wasn’t built in a day. At the rate he’s growing he will come up with many things that will be made public.”

___________________________________________________________________

After leaving the office, Riku wanted to go see Karin, unfortunately she was with Shizune at the hospital. He had introduced the Uzumaki to his senpai and sensei when he got permission from the latter to invite her for dinner a few days earlier. The opportunity of meeting Tsunade who is the best medic in the world and a distant blood relative was all it took for Riku to be forgiven for ‘ditching’ Karin to live at the Senju Compound. She had been pissed beyond all hell and Riku was reminded of his new sensei a bit when she was pissed herself. Thankfully his invitation calmed her down quickly and before Karin could become violent and try to beat the shit out of him. That was a new side of the redhead that he had discovered and wasn’t yet sure if he liked it or not.

Nevertheless, dinner went well and Tsunade admitted that Karin had some talent in the medical field, especially in research with the many questions and ideas she had. As such she decided to take her as a student but not an apprentice until she changed her mind and metaphorically tossed her at Shizune. Her eldest apprentice had been surprised at that and unsure. Tsunada had good arguments for Karin becoming her apprentice. She didn’t have time to take another and more importantly because it was time for Shizune to strike it on her own and was perfectly capable of being a teacher herself. She did promise to teach Karin from time to time though but nothing more. Karin has been a tad disappointed but learning directly under Shizune was the second best thing. She also did get the promise to become Tsunade’s apprentice at a later time once Riku’s training was advanced enough, which prompted the redhead to urge him to work hard and fast.

For his part Riku was stuck in the village, reading the two dozen medical books that Tsunade had given him. The thinest of them was at least 400 pages. Thankfully, for him, he had shadow clones and with a very carefully made schedule used them to his full potential without dealing with the nasty effect of memory recollection. At best he got a headache a few times but that was it. During his free time, he was theorizing on how to create a seal that would put to rest the Hokages brought back by Orochimaru. Neither Hiruzen nor Tsunade gave him access to the Edo Tensei or the nidaime notes on it, thinking that such knowledge was too dangerous. When they explained in detail that the jutsu used a living sacrifice to summon the soul of the dead by help of the dead’s genetic material and that as a result they recovered a copy of their dead body and got invincibility and unlimited chakra. Thankfully, depending on the chakra reserves of the sacrifice, their own reserves would be limited in consequences. Riku thanked Kami for small mercies and also understood why the Edo Tensei’s knowledge was a tightly kept secret. That left him a bit in a bind but he had enough to think about some things.

That was what he decided to work on when he got home. He created three clones and gave them the task to make dinner, despite being hours away. Today he wanted to make something special. He knew that she didn’t care about fancy food; chicken breasts and sake was her favorite and it was a very mundane dish but since today was her official debut as the Godaime Hokage it was imperative, in his mind, that the celebrations were one to remember. He had decided on making a recipe called ‘Peking Duck’ and it took more than three hours to make. That didn’t leave much room for errors.

One of the clones brought him some tea and put it on the living room’s table where Riku sat. He had already begun to scribble notes on the few ideas he had to the current Kage problem at hand.

‘Okay… Soooo. From what I read of yang and yin… Why is it always said ‘Yin and yang’  by the way? Nevermind, not important. Yang is more or less life and Yin is the shape yet yang is physical energy and yin spiritual energy. That’s confusing but I already tackled that problem when I recreate the shuriken clone jutsu. So I have a sacrifice, a body, yang and I have a soul, a yin. The way I see it, the straightforward way to resolve the problem is to disconnect the two because getting rid of the yan would only push the yin to reconstruct it. Or not? Does the reconstruction process of the body come from something else?... Another type of chakra? No, that’s stupid. Yin and yang are the fundamental of all types of chakras. Elemental and medical, if there was another wouldn’t it be known by now? Anyway, back to disconnected yang and yin (yeah that sounds better).  A seal that would block the use of one type of chakra by the other? Would that release the soul back to the pure lands? No, probably not. That's a bad idea for this problem. Perhaps absorbing the yang chakra into a seal? With nowhere else to go, the yan may go back to the after life? Or create another body which will be full of yang. Ugh. I’m going in circles… What else? Take control of them from Orochimaru and force them to release the jutsu themselves? Is there even a release to that jutsu? Probably, the Nidaime came up with it and with how horrifying that jutsu is, I doubt he would not have created a way to get rid of his creations. Or maybe he didn’t, he was a moron after all. Maybe he staked his victims somewhere? Used Space-time ninjutsu or fuinjutsu to send them to another dimension? I’m drifting away from the topic again! What was the idea already? Ah! Yes, take control. Now that’s interesting, how did Orochimaru get control in the first place? Is it inherent to the jut…”

“Aaaah!”

Riku yelled and instinctively moved away from his position to the back of the living room, ready to fight and defend himself. All because something poked him in the cheek. His sense on alert, he noticed Tsunade laughing her ass off , sitting right next to his previous location.

“Sensei! That’s not funny!” he whined and relaxed his stance.

“It sure is! Your reaction was priceless!” she replied, still laughing.

“Why did you do that in the first place? And why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in your office?” he asked and went back to his seat.

“Because you needed a break and because the day is over.” she answered him with an amused smile.

Riku blinked and looked outside. The sun would be completely gone in a few minutes.

“Oh.” he said in realization. He had spent the whole day thinking about his problem and didn’t see the time fly. It had felt like an hour at best in his estimate.

“Yes. Now, be careful when you lose yourself in your thoughts it’s-”

“Dangerous if I do that in an unsecure location and even then I still should keep some awareness of my surroundings. Sorry.”  he replied sheepishly.

“Good but knowing is not enough. Practice it.”

“I’ll use a clone to ambush me when I do that from now on.”

“Hmm smart. Now It’s only you and me tonight-”

“Eh? Isn’t Shizune-senpai-”

“One of the doctors got sick and Shizune took his night shift. Of course Karin is with her.”

“I have you all for me then?” he grinned and raised his fist, channeling medical chakra in it. Tsunade’s amused face turned into a frown. She knew what he was thinking of.

“You’re not using that jutsu on me again! I forbid you! It’s dangerous!”

“Butt!”

“No buts ! My breasts are already too big as they are.”

“Oh, no! I was talking about your posterior! To see if that-”

This time he wasn’t flicked on the forehead. No. Tsunade used her hand like a claw and gripped his head in an iron vice.

“I’m sorry, sensei!” he quickly said and  she released him.

“Why is my student a pervert!” she lamented.

“I’m not! I mean beyond the normal behavior of a healthy teenage boy I don’t go out of my way to… you know… I’m really curious if my jutsu works on other parts of the body and I kind of wanted to balance your body again.”

“You don’t balance shit, got it?” she glared.

“Yeah, yeah. Not without your permission, sensei. I got it.”

“Now, pick your wallet, we’re going out.”

“Out? For what?”

“Eat of course!” she said, rolling her eyes.

“B-but. I’ve been working on dinner since this morning! To celebrate you becoming Hokage!”

“This morning?! What did you cook? A feast?” she asked in surprise and curiosity. She was fond of Riku’s cuisine after only a week and a few days.

“Come on! Let me show you!” he said enthusiastically as he got up.

He took her by the hand and pulled her up on her feet then dragged her away to the kitchen.

“You still have your quiz-”

“After dinner. Not like it would take long anyway.”

“Confident are you?”

“100%/. And I mean by that, it will be my score.”

“Oh? Want to make a bet on it?”

“Sensei, with your luck if you bet that I won’t score a 100. I will score a 100 by simple divine intervention. It would defeat the whole point of me studying.” he replied with a deadpan voice.

“Fair enough.”