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The Doctor was thrilled. He had an excuse, one that even Amy would buy, to wear a fez on this trip. They were headed back in time to the heyday of the Silk Road, and since they would be in the Middle East, the Doctor had every right to wear the proper headgear.
As usually happens, however, the TARDIS had landed somewhere other than where the Doctor had intended, and when he opened the door to take a look outside, he quickly realized that they were most definitely not in a Silk Road trading center.
He sniffed the air, the licked his finger and held it out to the wind. "Japan," he nodded to himself, "Mid-fifteen hundreds? No… late fifteen hundreds. Timing's a bit off, but at least we did land somewhere along the Silk Road." He turned and called, "We're going to have to try again, Pond!"
"Where are we this time?" Amy called back resignedly.
"Japan, somewhere around 1550!" A sharp cry pulled the Doctor's attention back towards the street in front of him. A child was pinned beneath a cart that had tipped over. Without a second thought, he ran over to help the villagers tip it back onto its wheels before crouching down to examine the boy.
"Are you alright?" he asked, scanning the boy's legs with his screwdriver.
"Yes," the boy lied through his teeth, wincing when he tried to move his right foot away from the strange man with the even stranger metal device.
"No, you're not," the Doctor said sharply, "Don't be all honorable and noble about this, it wasn't your fault and you're injured. Tell me where it hurts; I'm the Doctor, I can make it better."
The boy gave him a shocked look as the villagers milled around them, uncertain whether to stay and help the boy or go make sure their own children were alright and safe from this mad foreigner. After several long moments, the boy finally gave in.
"My ankle," he admitted, "My right ankle."
The Doctor immediately went to work with the sonic, keeping the green beam of light on the boy's ankle as he flipped through several different scanning and healing settings. Six tense minutes later, the Doctor had diagnosed and healed the broken ankle and the boy stood painlessly, much to the amazement of the villagers.
Smiling broadly, the boy bowed deeply to the Doctor. "My eternal gratitude, sir. I was fearing for my future as a samurai, but the gods were kind and sent such a gifted healer as yourself to save me."
"Happy to help," the Doctor bowed back respectfully. "What's your name, boy?"
"I am Matsudaria Takechiyo, son of the daimyo of Mikawa, Matsudaria Hirotada, and grandson of the samurai lord, Mizuno Tadamasa. And may I ask who you are, sir?"
"I'm the Doctor," he gave Takechiyo an appraising look. "And you know what? I can read the stars as well as heal people. And the stars have told me that you, Tokugawa Ieyasu, you are going to have a long and prosperous future as one of those samurai you admire so much."
"Thank you, Honorable Doctor!" Takechiyo's eyes shined with excitement. "Tokugawa Ieyasu?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, you'll understand someday," the Doctor grinned. "I'd best be off, now. Say hello to Imagawa Sessai for me!" Takechiyo and the villagers watched with confusion and awe as the strange Doctor sauntered off into a large blue box, which disappeared with a grinding, whooshing noise.
Fifty years later, the boy who had once been Matsudaria Takechiyo, and several other names in recent years, surveyed the bloody battlefield that, mere hours before, had been teeming with thousands of men and horses. Lives had been lost, so many lives, but now, he stood tall and victorious over it all. He was the ruler of Japan now, his samurai had bested those of his opponents, and now he was the unquestioned head daimyo of the land. All that remained now was to convince Emperor Go-Yozei to bestow the title of shogun.
He smiled to himself. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. It certainly had a nice ring to it.
That strange Doctor who had helped him all those years ago had been right. He had had a long and prosperous life so far, and he wasn't done yet. And though he would never admit it, in his heart Ieyasu considered his greatest achievement not to be the bloody victories he had won over other daimyos or how he had made the small village of Edo an economic center or anything else. No, in Ieyasu's eyes, his greatest achievement was convincing the scribes and elders throughout the land to change the kanji for 'doctor' into something that ensured that the man who had saved him would never be forgotten, magical box, odd red hat and all.