Inauguation of the Tenth Hokage

[Tensei Kaori]

The sun shone brightly, a calming breeze blew, and except for the puddles on the ground there was no sign of last night's rainstorm. It was as if the world had shed all the tears it could and was now ready for a new beginning. Just like Konoha would have to do, ready or not.

It took Kaori a moment to realize that she had dressed in full Konoha Jounin uniform, complete with hitai-ate and flak jacket. Not today, she thought as she pulled out what she was supposed to be wearing already. A few minutes later, Tensei Kaori, the Tenth Hokage as of this morning, stepped out of her apartment and into the sunshine of a new beginning.

* * * * * * * *

In all her years as a ninja of Konoha, she had never felt this nervous. Ever. Yet, as the Advisors and some of Konoha's important shinobi leaders spoke to the gargantuan crowd gathered below, it was all she could do to stand up straight and at least look confident. A cowardly Hokage was no Hokage at all. All of Konoha was gathered below, and as many Sand shinobi as still remained in the village. Even with the amount of casualties, it was still quite an impressive gathering.

"Kaori, you're up." Senichi, her teammate since they first graduated from the Academy together, said as he nudged her out of her thoughts with his elbow and a smile. "Go get 'em." He winked. Kaori didn't think anything at all could put a cloud over his eternally upbeat attitude. But then, he wasn't the one doing what she was about to do. "Thanks," she replied, and stepped out into the blinding sun to the cheers of the onlookers.

"Everyone here," she said in a voice much clearer and stronger than she felt, "has suffered some loss." That cut through the shouting voices like a sword. "Everyone here has reason to be sad, a reason to give up. And to be honest, I don't know if anyone would blame us if we did." Silence. "But," she added fiercely, sweeping her gaze over the watching people, "we are stronger than that. We will stand tall once more; as individuals, as families, friends, and loved ones, but most importantly, we will stand as one - as Hidden Leaf Village. And I will fight to protect this village with my very life. I am the Tenth Hokage!"

With that, as the cheers of her large family strengthened her nervous heart, she turned and made her way to the Hokage's office. It was time to get to work.

[Kiri]

"Nadameru! Nadameru! Are you awake!? Hurry up! We're going to be late! The ceremony is going to start soon!"

Nada glanced up at the sound of her father's voice. "We're not going to be late," she murmured to herself, pulling her hair up and taking a quick glance in the mirror. Not bad, she supposed. It would have to do. She snatched her forehead protector off of her desk and tied it around her neck, as she always did.

"NADAMERU!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

----------------------------------------------

The Homura pair pushed their way into and among the growing crowd. Nadameru noted the time. They were not late. She chose not to mention it.

After a few minutes they found what seemed like a suitable place to stand. Nada took the opportunity to take a look up at those that would be involved in the ceremony. Though she was standing back in the shadows, nearly out of view, Nada could see the soon-to-be Tenth Hokage. She could feel her chest swelling with pride. Her sensei. The woman who had led she and her teammates and taught them so much today became the leader of the whole village. The leader of Konoha.

A hush fell over the crowd as Tensei Kaori stepped forward to address them. Everyone was waiting to hear what encouragement their new Hokage could give. Nada couldn't resist a smile. It was a difficult time, and she was speaking in front of so many people, but the woman looked completely together and confident. It was admirable.

Kaori's words were filled with the fire and passion needed of every Hokage. Nadameru felt her heart fill with hope. Hope. It had been a long time since they had had any. It was a new era of peace for the Hidden Leaf Village.

A deafening cheer rose from the crowd as the speech was concluded, Nada and her father shouting right along with them.

[Kiel]

Buyo Keitaro stood at the very back of the exceptionally large crowd that was watching the inaguration ceremony.

Keitaro had no problem seeing though, his tall, thin stature made him stand at least a head above everyone else. His friends however...

"Kei! I can't see!" A young girl beside him whined.

"Oh, here" he said as he lifted her up onto his shoulders.

"Whee! I can see her! I can see her!" The little girl squeeled.

"Oi, Kei" another shorter person beside him said "Are you gonna be like her someday? A Hokage?"

"N-no way! Being the Hokage is much too great an honor for someone like me. I'm happy just being myself".

Keitaro watched and listened as Tensei Kaori gave her speech. He felt happy knowing that someday soon he'd be a ninja of Konoha.

Kaori-sama was truly inspiring.

[SeraphMazrakiel]

Before morning had broken, Mazrakiel was awake. He was already dressed in his full outfit; a long-sleeved black top with silver trims, his trademark long black pants with silver trims, and a black cape tossed over his right shoulder, which beared the Adarakis symbol: a symbol he wore with pride. Long before his father had awoken, Mazrakiel had eaten breakfast, and was ready to leave.

Mazrakiel had hoped to get to the ceremony early, for he wished to speak with the new Hokage himself. He sat in the living room and looked outside, and as the sun rose over the hills, his father finally woke up. Kagemaru stumbled out of his room, stretched out his arms and yawned slightly, and approached the living room table with great curiosity; no-one was here, and a note lay on the table:

Father,
I’ve left for the inauguration ceremony already. There are matters I wish to take care of. See you there. I’ll undoubtedly be at the front.
~ Mazrakiel

Kagemaru sighed, and smiled.

* * * * * * *

When he arrived at the ceremony, Kagemaru could see no sign of his son amongst the multitude of people that stood there, waiting to hear from their Hokage. He glanced around quickly, but the throng of people was too great to be able to recognize his son easily. He looked through the crowd, and noted many faces he could recognize... but none of them were Mazrakiel.

He may be at the front... thought Kagemaru, but there was no way he was going to get past this many people so easily. At least, not in human form. He hung at the back of the crowd, where no-one could see him, before kneeling to the ground. There was only one way he was going to get through the crowd, he thought to himself... Kagetokeru.

While no-one was looking, he leaned forward and placed his hand on a nearby shadow. His body turned black, and then completely dissolved in a mist, which sunk into the shadow. He smiled, and slinking amongst the shadows of the crowd, he quickly made his way underneath them, before finding himself at the front of the crowd. Kagemaru reverted to his human form and gave a quick look around for his son.

No sign of Mazrakiel.

Before he could look again, Kaori Tensei moved forward, and spoke to the people.

"Everyone here... has suffered some loss..."

Kagemaru thought to himself, "Where are you Mazrakiel? Kaori’s addressing everyone! You’re going to miss it!"

He looked up towards the new Hokage, as her words filled Kagemaru with hope. Losing a wife and a daughter was the most horrible feeling in the world, and he knew all the other villagers were feeling the same. What the village needed now was someone to guide them, and ease their pain... someone to give them strength. And as he stared up at Tensei, he felt hope overtake his broken heart. Kaori, it seemed, was just the person Konoha Village needed.

"We will stand tall once more; as individuals, as families, friends, and loved ones, but most importantly, we will stand as one – as Hidden Leaf Village."

It was then that he spotted Mazrakiel: an unusually darkened shadow, several metres from Kaori. Apart from the advisors and shinobi leaders of Konoha, it seemed Mazrakiel had the best viewing place; just a few arm lengths away from Hokage!

Kagemaru chuckled. "I have to say, that’s one of the best uses of Kagetokeru I’ve ever seen." He hoped Mazrakiel wouldn’t get caught; using the technique to get this close almost made it seem like Mazrakiel was planning to assassinate the new Hokage, and if he was noticed by the shinobi leaders, they may instantly assume he was a spy. Apart from that, he was rather proud of his son.

"I will fight to protect this village with my very life. I am the Tenth Hokage!"

The crowd broke into cheer, as Kaori-sama stood above the crowd. Kagemaru smiled, raised his hands to Hokage, and joined in the cheering.

* * * * * * *

She had turned her back, and was making her way to her office. It was now or never, Maz thought... but he was afraid. He wanted to make a good impression on the new Hokage. He had something he wanted to ask her. He thought to himself, "If I don’t talk to her now, I may not get the chance for a long time."

However, as he went to release his shadow form, the voice of reason took over. "What if she thinks lesser of you for finding out you were hiding so close to her? Stalker!"

"I wasn’t stalking! I just, wanted to talk to her..."

Her figure moved slowly away, closer and closer to her office. All the other officials had left, and all that was there to stop him from talking to her was this voice in the back of his head.

"She doesn’t want to talk to you. She has her duties to tend to now."

Maz couldn’t bring himself to release the shadow form. He felt his heart crunch as it held him in the shadows, Kaori slowly making her way towards her office door.

At the last second, Maz suddenly changed his mind. "I’m never gonna live this down..." In an instant, the shadow form had released, and Mazrakiel gracefully dropped to the ground, landing elegantly, like a cat. He looked up towards the door and yearned to call to her, but words would not come. The only words that came were those running through his head...

"Please, Hokage-sama.... notice me... look this way..."

He hoped she had seen him, but these hopes began to fade as the door began to close behind her...

[UchihaJyounochi]

"Kokoro Iro, you lump of a boy! Will you get your lazy bones out of bed and get ready? We're going to be late at this pace!"

Iro yawned and stretched his arms. To his surprise, he had gotten some sleep, although the little that he had gotten, had been plagued with nightmares. He got out of bed and began to get dressed. Typical green shirt with the Kokoro symbol emblazened on the back, high collar, covering much of his face. His black shorts hung loose down past his knees. Today was a special occasion, it's not often that a new Hokage is innagurated. He put his hair back in to ponytails, dangling over his shoulder.

"And fianlly!" He said with pride as he tied his forehead protector over his eyes.

He leaped out the window to catch up to his parents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the three approached the gathering, he could almost taste the anxiety in the air. Everyone was excited to see what the new Hokage was like. The sun was soothing after what seemed like the sky emptying itself the night before.

He could tell immediately when the Hokage had begun speaking because the crowd immediately became silent. The words hit him, and he could feel the pain building up in his eyes again.

"Everyone here, has suffered some loss."

The image of his older sister flashed in his memory and the tears began to leak out into his forehead protector.

"But, we are stronger than that. We will stand tall once more; as individuals, as families, friends, and loved ones, but most importantly, we will stand as one - as Hidden Leaf Village. And I will fight to protect this village with my very life. I am the Tenth Hokage!"


As she continued, her voice became stronger, and her strength seemed to radiate through the crowd gathered there. Iro himself could feel tears slow, and eventually cease as th speech drew to a close. As the last words faded, the crowd burst into a din that made Iro cover his ears at first. But soon, he too joined in with the rest of the crowd.

[Hatake Hiroshi]

“Hey! Kohana, it's time to get up!” her mother's voice sounded clear and strong through the quiet house.
She sat up in bed and stretched her arms high above her head, yawning and reaching down to touch her toes. Climbing from the bed, she changed into her day clothes and brushed the mats and tangles from her hair. The ends curled up gently after being rid of all the knots.

After applying her makeup and putting on her shoes, she entered into the kitchen at the front of the house, passing the semi-clean living area and makeshift wall on her way. She just moaned and grabbed the bowl of left-over ramen from the refrigerator. She picked up a pair of chopsticks from the counter and plopped down at the table.

“Hurry up, Kohana! You've got five minutes!” her mother said firmly, pulling her hair back into a bun, fastening it in place with a pair of chopsticks.

Kohana watched as her mother exited the kitchen. “What? I just got up!” She stared down at the large bowl of ramen in front of her. She was so hungry and five minutes wasn't enough time to enjoy her breakfast. It was her first decent meal in days and now the opportunity to enjoy it had been taken away.

“Come on, Kohana! Just put the ramen back! You can eat it when we return from the inauguration.” Her mother came back into the kitchen and went to grab the ramen from her, but she shot up, holding the bowl close by as she began to shovel as fast as she could.

Her mother sighed and headed for the front door. “Yanagawa Kohana, you have 10 seconds to get your butt out this front door!”<br>
“Coming, coming!” Kohana mumbled, her mouth full of noodles. Swallowing the wad, she dropped the tan ceramic bowl into the sink and headed for the front door.

***-------------------------------***

Kohana followed her mother as they made their way through the crowd slowly, meeting up with her father in the front.
“You're just in time!” he exclaimed cheerfully, looking over at Kohana. He chuckled as he reached out and dusted a couple small pieces of noodle from her cheek. Smiling, she turned her gaze towards the new Hokage stepping up to speak.

"Everyone here, has suffered some loss."

Kohana stood straight and tall and drew in a deep breath, listening contently as Kaori-sama continued.

"But, we are stronger than that.”

Grabbing hold of her father's arm, she bit her lip, holding back the tears.

“We will stand tall once more; as individuals, as families, friends, and loved ones, but most importantly, we will stand as one - as Hidden Leaf Village.”

She took hold of her mother's arm now, the urge to shout out building up inside of her.

“And I will fight to protect this village with my very life. I am the Tenth Hokage!"

An thunderous roar broke out through the crowd and Kohana, along with her mother and father, joined their voices with the rest of the cheering crowd.

*~~*~~*~~*

Aijou took his position under the overhang of the building along with his squad. They stood guard at the doors into the office and overlooked the balcony. He watched as the villagers gathered in front, crowding close together to hear what comforting words the new Hokage had to offer them.

Kaori-sama was summoned out to speak. As she began her speech, Aijou observed the balcony, checking for anything out of the ordinary.

A nervous feeling arose in his gut and he perked up. The presence of another's chakra was evident and he looked around in search of what it was. He noticed a strange shadow to his right, just shy of being in the broad daylight. He reached up and grabbed the hilt of his katana and readied himself to take action.

He kept an eye on the shadow, fingering the katana nervously. The shadow didn't move, but he could still feel the presence of someone else's chakra. This was definitely something suspicious.

Hokage-sama's speech was ended, and the crowd broke into cheers. Kaori stood there for a second before turning to go into the office.

Aijou stood there continuing to watch the shadow until the Hokage was in her office. He turned to shut the doors, but diverted his eyes for a moment to watch the shadow one last time before closing the door.

[Sorien]

Sorien woke up early. The sun had already risen and was warming the air quickly. He clambered out of bed and had his usual breakfast. Sorien made his way outside, the air was fresh, made more so by the puddles from the previous nights rain, being evaporated. Sorien sat down in the sun, warming up and basking in the mornings sun. "Early to bed, early to rise. Makes a man happy, healthy and wise" He repeated to himself.

The sun felt like a warm silk blanket over his face. "Lovely" He spoke out loud again. "Well, its THAT morning!" Sorien said with a grin. With that he climbed to his feet and leapt onto the neighbouring buildings. "Freedom" He thought to himself. He bounded along the rooftops, amongst the mostly quiet roof-tops until he reached his destination.

There was a very small crowd when Sorien arrived. "Meh...mingling" Sorien said. A smile crossed his face again. He didn't really fancy standing in a crowd with others, so he surveyed the area before his eyes laid upon a large bright green Macrocarpa tree. "Ahhh...awesome" Sorien said outloud again. He bounded his way over to the tree, he scaled it with the greatest ease and speed, it was a trait of his that he always had. He found a flat bed of branches and made himself comfortable. "Perfect view" Sorien said, noticing that he had a direct line down to the podium where the new Hokage would stand momentarily.

Sorien noticed something odd. He smiled and laughed outloud. A dark shadow, near the podium. He knew EXACTLY who it was. "Still trying to acheive that dream eh Mazz?" He uttered to himself. Sorien lay in the tree. Rather quickly a crowd had gathered and the Hokage stood before them. He listened intently to her speech, right through until the end. He applauded when she had finshed. "Quite a rousing speech really", he thought to himself. "Anyway. A new beginning. I'm off to train" Sorien had been filled with vigor with the Hokages speech.

With that, he shot off into the surrounding forest, with the intention of becoming stonger.

[Madoka Satoshi]

Satoshi stood in the crowd while the festivites pressed onward but he wasn't paying attention. However, his face remained straightforward, his head aligned and his gaze was solemn.

Father?

His little sister stood next to him, also seemingly in bad shape.

Why..?Wh..Why did you do it?

A deep sadness started to envelop him. The loss of one so treasured. He'd had the highest respect for his father, he'd learned most all he knew from him. Satoshi also loved him very much...but he was gone now. Gone like the leaves on the wind come autumn. The leaves of the Leaf Village.

Before Satoshi broke down, however, something rang in his head- The voice of an old Chuunin instructor.

"The 25th principle of Shinobi conduct- A shinobi never shows his feelings no matter what the circumstances. Feelings are a weakness that only cloud his judgment and weaken his sense of duty."

So, he didn't breakdown, he remained solemn and he stood in the crowd of people until the end of the Hokage's speech. Then he rustled his sister's hair, and without a word, left to their home.

He passed his mother making a meal, and climbed the stairs to his room where he laid down in his bed and cried himself to sleep.

Father...