A Thousand Years

The Tragedy

"No!" She yelled, hitting him upside the head. "We're gonna find some bandits that have been causing trouble in the village. It's a C class too, Kakashi-sensei says we're the first team that was given a C class mission! All the others are still on D class ones." She stated proudly, hands on her hips.

Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"Bandits? Awww, why do you guys get to go on cool mission?" He complained. "I wanna go on missions like that!"

Sakura shrugged.

"I guess there's a reason people go to the academy to train. Having one person teach you is what they used to do back before the hidden villages were created, an academy with a bunch of teachers and stuff is so much better! Plus we get to do all types of missions!" She giggled excitedly, though Naruto didn't seem to share her opinions.

"Hey! My sensei is great! I wouldn't want to be on a team even if I could!" He huffed defensively, crossing his arms.

Sakura smiled at his gesture.

"Sure you wouldn't, anyways, let's go get some food!" She changed the subject before he could interrupt her. Dragging him by the arm, the two began deciding on what they wanted to eat.

The entire village was gathered by the Hokage Tower and it was impossibly loud with all the talking, cheering, and laughter mixed into one unanimous, incoherent noise. It was just past four in the afternoon and the next Hokage was about to be officially recognized, Naruto stood next to Sakura, Sasuke, Inami, and Kai, all of whom were longtime friends of his.

"Hey, have you guys seen this lady before?" Kai asked curiously.

"No, but i hear she's really old!" Inami giggled, earning her a punch on the arm from Sakura.

"She's one of the Legendary Sanin and I think she'll be a great leader." The pink haired girl stated.

"We don't even know her, why should an outsider get to be Hokage?" Sasuke had his eyes shut and his arms crossed.

"She's not an outsider though." Inami said matter-of-factly. "She's the First's granddaughter and she's lived here longer than we've been alive!"

Sasuke only responded with an indignant 'hm'.

The noise around them suddenly quieted, causing the children to glance around in confusion.

"Look!" Naruto whispered loudly, pointing to the balcony of the tower.

Two figures stood there, one of whom Naruto recognized as the chief elder, an old, hunched man whose wisdom was as remarkable as his age, and the other being a blonde woman who looked to be around thirty, Naruto's eyes widened when he realized that she was none other than the soon to be Hokage.

"Senju Tsunade, do you accept the burden of the position of Hokage? Will you take the future of Konoha as your own and accept the duty of protecting the people of our great village?" The aged voice of the old man boomed over the crowd.

Not a single sound could be heard among the villagers, they all stared up at the figures in anticipation.

"I accept." The woman spoke in a powerful voice.

"Then from this day forth, may Konoha rest easy with you at its head!"

Cheers and shouting shattered the silence as the villagers broke into applause.

An enormous celebration immediately took place afterwards, there was food, drink, and stands filled with everything from sparkers to charms.

Naruto and his friends squeezed their way through the people and finally made it to a row of stands selling all types of food.