"Brat, I've been holding back on you this whole time!"
Tsunade slammed her fist into a nearby cliff. A web of cracks spread from the point of impact, and rubble flew as a huge, deep crater appeared in the rock face.
"I wasn't trying to kill you, either."
A small, pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb formed in Naruto Uzumaki's palm. He flicked his wrist, tossing it into the distance. A moment later, a ball of fire erupted, and the earth trembled violently.
Tsunade stared, stunned, at the fiery explosion. "..."
With her years of battlefield experience, she recognized it instantly. A Tailed Beast Bomb. Was this brat the village's jinchuriki? That would explain his massive chakra reserves; he didn't seem to worry about the cost of his jutsu at all.
As they each showed their power, it became clear that Tsunade was more than just a notch below. The gap in their strength was surprisingly large.
"Tch!" Tsunade tilted her head up disdainfully, watching the young genin frown in thought. "Brat, what are you thinking about!"
Naruto hesitated before answering. "Look, if you're this weak, why do they still want to nominate you to be the Fifth Hokage?"
"..." Tsunade secretly gritted her teeth. "What's your name?" she said loudly. "Because after I become the Fifth Hokage, you'll be a genin for life!"
The thought of using the rules of the system to bully this little brat was genuinely tempting. It almost made her want to go back and take the position of Fifth Hokage right now. This kid's words were just that infuriating.
"So shameless..." Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You can't even beat a village genin. How can you have the nerve to take the position of Hokage?"
Tsunade was both embarrassed and angry, her face flushing red. "Being Hokage isn't just about strength! Besides, Jiraiya and my great-grandfather begged me to take the job!"
"They were just being polite, and you actually took them seriously?"
"I'm going to kill you!"
"You can't beat me."
"You just wait..."
"Wait until when?" Naruto looked at her pretty, youthful face. "Even though you look young, you're actually an old woman, forty or fifty years old. I'm younger than you, I'll live longer than you, and I'm stronger than you..."
"Then why don't they let you be Hokage?" Tsunade saw the little guy fall silent at her question and immediately seized on his sore spot. "Isn't it because you, you little brat, aren't qualified?"
"I could use my power to force people into making me Hokage, but I don't want to disappoint the Pervy Sage..." Naruto lowered his head and said softly, "He's unreliable in every way, his strength is just so-so, and he doesn't obey a single one of the three ninja prohibitions. He likes to go to the pleasure district to drink, he likes to hit on pretty women on the street, and he likes to hide in the hot springs to peep... But, he is a good person."
Besides that, Naruto's subconscious also recognized that Tsunade was capable of being Hokage, which is why he hadn't spoken out against Jiraiya's opinion. Of course, he also didn't realize just how many complications he had added with the words he'd just spoken.
Tsunade was speechless. "..."
The beginning of his speech sounded fine, but the more she listened, the more wrong it felt. Tsunade hadn't even realized Jiraiya had so many flaws. Of course, she had to admit the kid's last sentence made sense. Jiraiya had many flaws, but he was indeed a good person.
The question was, was this little brat Jiraiya's biggest fan or his biggest critic?
Naruto didn't notice the complex expression on the female ninja's face and continued, "Besides, I'm still young. I have plenty of time to wait for you to die... When that time comes, I'll look down at your corpse as I become Konoha's new Hokage."
Tsunade could only stare. "..."
The only reason this brat was still alive must be because he was so strong that anyone who wanted to kill him couldn't beat him. How could such an annoying kid exist? Damn it, he was so annoying.
Thinking again about the brat's incredibly confident attitude when talking about becoming Hokage, Tsunade couldn't suppress her anger. "Brat, what do you think the Hokage is? Is it something you can become just because you want to?"
"A position," Naruto replied, looking at Tsunade in surprise before lowering his head. "A position that will allow me to achieve my ideals. I will change this sick ninja world so that ninjas no longer fall into the chaos of war. The first step is to become the village's Hokage."
Tsunade looked at the young genin in surprise. She wanted to retort, but she saw the determination in his eyes. He unconsciously radiated the aura of a natural leader. To this day, besides a chance encounter with a young Tobirama Senju, Tsunade had never seen it in anyone else.
"...Such big words," Tsunade couldn't help but sigh. "Your ideal, you little brat, is really... unimaginable. It makes becoming Hokage sound like nothing special..."
Most ninjas dreamed of becoming Hokage to protect their village and their companions. No one had ever said they wanted to change the entire ninja world. What a grand ideal. To change this world of constant conflict… besides Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, no one else had ever dared to think it.
Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze might have thought about it, but they never found the answer, and ultimately entrusted that ideal to Naruto. Tsunade herself had thought about it once, during the war. She longed for someone who could change the ninja world, but she knew her own strength wasn't enough. Their thinking, after all, was bound by the education of Konoha.
Naruto smiled confidently. "My dad is the Fourth Hokage. To surpass him, it's not as simple as just becoming Hokage."
"You're the Fourth Hokage's son?" Tsunade's eyes instantly became serious.
Looking at Naruto, she remembered that talented young man, the Hokage in whom both she and Jiraiya had once placed so much hope.
Back then, Konoha was in grave danger, and the Fourth Hokage's rise to power had eased the tension. Everyone thought he would take Konoha to new heights, but his existence was like a flash in the pan, leaving people with nothing but nostalgia.
"That's not something to be proud of."
"No, it is," Tsunade said, shaking her head and explaining seriously. "Minato was the Hokage with the most hope of surpassing my great-grandfather, and I don't mean in terms of strength. I also once thought that someone could end the years of ninja wars, could change the fate of ninjas who could die in battle at any moment."
"Back when Minato was still Jiraiya's subordinate, his dream was the same as yours… until he married his wife..."
Naruto Uzumaki: "..."
Was she implying his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, was some kind of femme fatale? This was getting awkward. After all, the old saying "parents are in true love, the child is an accident" wasn't something you said out loud.
"Don't be like your father. You have to keep walking your own path..." The blonde kunoichi suddenly wrapped her arm around the back of the boy's neck, pulling his head down close to her face. Her red lips parted slightly as she whispered softly in his ear, "Hey, brat… I want to entrust my old dream to you. Is that okay?"
Naruto couldn't stand the hot breath from Tsunade's mouth and broke free from her embrace, staring into her eyes. In them, he saw anticipation and longing. The boy reached out, held a strand of her blonde hair, and agreed. "Okay."
"Brat, what's your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
After the young genin said his name, he could clearly feel Tsunade's hot breath. The woman's tongue gently extended from between her red lips and touched his face. Her tongue was very smooth and moist.
Tsunade then lay down on the grass. She seemed to have let go of a heavy burden in her heart and just waved her hand. "Alright, let me sleep here for a while. It's been a long time since I've been this tired..."
"...Yeah." Naruto nodded unconsciously.
A warm chakra tail extended from his back and slowly wrapped around Tsunade, cushioning her from the ground.
-----
Bonus:
Nine-Tails: I told you to talk-no-jutsu her, not hit on her.
Naruto: I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense.
Nine-Tails: You're already using my tail as a mattress for her!
Naruto: She's old, after all...
Nine-Tails: You know she's old?
Naruto: Yeah, I'm just respecting my elders. Don't get the wrong idea, Kurama...
Nine-Tails: She's only forty or fifty. I'm over a thousand years old, and I've never seen you respect me...