(Hashimada) The Adventures of a Hedgehog and Some Idiots

10: Co-hokage?

By sunset, the clan leaders felt pretty accomplished - and drained - from their hard work. The Hidden Leaf was starting to look like a real village - all of the central buildings were constructed (the academy, the police force headquarters, the Hokage's residence, and so on), and all of the villagers had somewhere to stay. They had a temporary working system for protecting the village from intruders, and measures were in place to counter potential uprisings. The votes for Hokage had all been cast and divided among the Sarutobi clan's elder, Toka Senju, and Arata Uchiha. Hashirama and Madara decided that it would be best to have each of them count one third of the votes, then combine all of their counts, as a precaution.

The time had finally come - the votes had been counted and combined. The three who had counted the votes were ready to announce the results, and the village was gathered outside the Hokage's residence to hear the results. The counters stood behind Madara and Hashirama; the two of them were anxiously overlooking the villagers from the roof of the Hokage's residence. Tobirama was also on the rooftop; he whispered to Hashirama, "I have no doubt that you will be Hokage, brother, so you need not worry."

Madara glared at Tobirama. "You may as well shout, I can still hear you. Just remember why you were not chosen to count the votes."

The younger Senju had to restrain himself from throwing the Uchiha off of the rooftop.

Hashirama intervened. "Hey, you two, it'll be fine either way!" He smiled and put an arm around each of them, "No matter what, you'll both be by my side, so what is there to worry about?"

As the Sarutobi elder stepped forth, Tobirama returned to his place behind Madara and Hashirama. The two of them looked over the village - for one of them, this would be the last time they saw the village without the title of Hokage.

The Sarutobi elder cleared his throat and spoke above the commotion. "We have an announcement. Listen up! The votes have been counted, and the first Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves shall be. . ." He squinted at the paper that had the results written on it, "Lord Hashirama Senju!"

There were cheers from below, and Madara sighed in relief. He turned and shook Hashirama's hand, smiling. He said, "Congratulations, Lord Hokage."

Hashirama grinned and said quietly, "Hey, you're not off the hook so easily - you're in this with me, remember?"

He waved down at the villagers, then decided he should probably give some kind of announcement. That seemed like the "Hokage" thing to do, at least. He looked at Madara questioningly, and the Uchiha nodded.

"Thank you!" The commotion started to quiet down as the villagers tried to listen to the Senju. "I can assure you all that I will do everything possible to protect this village as Hokage. However, I know that I can't do it alone. I'll need each of you to promise that you have the Will of Fire."

There were some murmurs - what was the 'Will of Fire'?

"The Will of Fire is the desire to protect this village, along with everyone and everything that it stands for. I have faith that all of you already possess it; however, time will put that to the test. At some point, this village will face threats and question loyalties. I do know one thing for sure, though - so long as we fight as one with the Will of Fire in our hearts, this village will be safe from any enemy." Several villagers smiled and cheered - Hashirama's charisma was already at work.