Tsunade's daughter (A Naruto original fanfiction)

Chapter Thirty-Two: Uzumaki Naruto and Akira

"Mai? Are you okay?" Shizune asked her cousin as she noticed the visible change in Mai's attitude. 

Mai was beginning to get lost in her thoughts again but she was snapped back to reality as soon as she heard her cousin's voice. 

"Yes, I was just thinking about.... You know." Mai lied. She didn't want to reveal the real reason for her concern yet.

"Oh, I see. But you shouldn't worry too much about that for now." 

"Yeah, I guess you're right Shizu." 

Mai waited for them to arrive anxiously, trying to hide it as best she could. She gulped down her drink in one go.

Her mother noticed that something was off too but she didn't say anything about it. 

Here they are, Mai thought.

"Mai, Tsunade, what a relief, we've finally found you." 

"Looks like everybody is looking for us." Mai muttered solemnly. 

"... I guess you could say that." Jiraiya answered, a bit taken aback by Mai's reaction. He wanted to hug her and tell her how he had missed her. But the situation was too serious for that kind of behavior right now. 

"Alright, let's get straight to the point. Mai, remember the promise you made twelve years ago? The time has now come."

"I know." 

"What do you mean you know?" 

Mai closed her eyes. She didn't even turn to face them. She was hard as steel. 

"We met Orochimaru and that guy Kabuto earlier. And he admitted that he had killed the Sandaime-Sama. And I had an intuition that he wasn't lying."

"Nani?!" A female voice exclaimed. 

A voice Mai had never heard. But she guessed it was Akira's. 

"I see. So he was indeed the one who destroyed the castle." 

"Hai. That's where we met him." 

"Wait! What promise are you talking about you two? What does that mean?" Tsunade chimed in, obviously not too happy. 

Jiraiya stared at the woman he had always loved, knowing she would never accept Mai's decision. Hence his not telling her. That had been a secret between himself and Mai. And now he feared the woman's reaction. 

Mai was staring down at the table, looking as calm as she could be. 

"I'll become the next Hokage." She said plainly. 

"What! You can't be serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Tsunade was getting angry and Mai could feel it. That was something unavoidable.

"You? The next Hokage? And you have been hiding that away from me during all this time!"

Mai didn't answer anything. She had nothing more to add. She knew that conversation wouldn't lead them anywhere. 

Tsunade could now feel her blood boil. Even if she had drunk she was still lucid. She punched the table with her fist, without breaking it fortunately. But it was enough to make everyone start. Except Mai. 

"And why couldn't she become Hokage?!" A male voice said angrily. 

This time it was Naruto's. 

Tsunade looked at the blond child with disdain before giving him a mocking look. 

"Hokage is just some shitty thing that's totally useless. Look, the Sandaime sacrificed his life in vain. And so did the Yondaime."