A Thousand Years

The Tragedy

"Sensei!" Naruto hollered while running towards the field, he seemed both angry and relieved. He came to a stop right in front of her. "Where have you been?!" He demanded.

"I apologize for my absence, something came up." Nina said smoothly.

He frowned, not seeing to particularly like this answer but thought it best to drop the topic.

'She must have her own reasons...' He thought.

"Whatever, can we start training now?"

"Sir, here's the report." Kushina placed a folder on the Head Council members' desk, whose eyes widened slightly upon seeing her.

Snapping out of his stupor, he blinked and quickly took the folder.

"Thank you. You are dismissed." He said with the slightest tremble in his voice.

She bowed briefly and turned to leave, a smile plastered on her face, she was excited to see her son again, the mission had taken longer than expected and she rarely went on such lengthy ones for fear of leaving Naruto alone. Regardless, she was ready to get back home and greet her son, her mood was bright and cheery as she made her way down the streets and towards her house.

Her smile dropped the instant she opened the door. From the quiet, she could tell that the house was empty.

'Of course. He's out training.'

A big announcement was made that day.

After Naruto had finished training, he was walking home when he saw a large crowd gathered around something. Curious, he wiggled his way to the front of the crowd. There was a single piece of paper hung on the lamppost and on it were the large words:

Legendary Sanin Senju Tsunade to be the Next Hokage!

"The princess is back?"

"Hokage? I know she's strong, but hasn't she been gone for a few years?"

"I can't wait to see her!"

"About time we had a female Hokage."

"She's been gone for so long, then the instant she comes back she's named Hokage?"

"She has Senju Hashirama's blood running through her, she must be a great leader."

There was loud chattering from the crowd, both cheers of excitement and statements of disapproval, through the former seemed to be more prevalent.

Naruto didn't know who this person was, but with a title like 'Legendary Sanin' she was sure to be a great shinobi, he hoped that he would get to see her. The paper also said that the ceremony would be taking place in two weeks.

'I'll definitely go!' He nodded to himself, then turned around and hurriedly slipped back out of the growing crowd.

A few days later, Naruto was aimlessly wandering the market streets when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey, Naruto!" A lively girl with light pink hair waved as she ran towards him.

"Sakura!" Naruto greeted with a smile. He had known her for the longest time, their parents had gone on a number of missions together and had instantly become friends, his mother had told him that both he and Sakura were just a few months old when they were introduced. Ever since then, they had remained close despite the fact that Naruto didn't attend the academy. She was also one of the only people that knew about his training.

"My team's going on a mission tomorrow!" She cheered.

"Another cat?" Naruto asked jokingly.

Sakura's face flushed.