"SHIZUNE! BRING ME SOME SAKE – NOW!"
"B-but Tsunade-sama, you're at work - !"
"SHIZUNE!" The last warning.
"Y-yes madam!"
As the assistant-hokage rushed off, probably to get some kind of calming tea, not sake, Tsunade closed her eyes and slouched in her chair. Today was just another paperwork-filled day. God, she really needed a break.
Her thoughts were disrupted when the doors of her office slammed open and the number one knuckleheaded shinobi barged inside.
Damn today.
"Ever heard of knocking before, brat? I'm busy, ya know!" Tsunade shouted, slamming her hands on her desk, irritated. (Though, at some point, not knocking and entering through the door was better than not knocking and entering through the window – but Tsunade was annoyed. You should knock before entering!)
"I did knock! You were just slacking off, baa-chan!" Naruto responded.
"Brat!"
"Hag!"
"What did you just say, you impotent little –"
Another interruption, a soft knocking this time. Ah, finally somebody with a little respect.
Shizune entered the room, two cups of tea in her hands. Tea. Not the desired sake. No sake.
"Shizune! I asked for sake, not some sloppy – probably tasteless – tea!"
Naruto hid a snicker as Shizune straightened her back and slammed (yes, slammed) the two cups on the Hokage's desk, "Hokage-sama, I'm not being disrespectful but I have to note that you are not allowed to drink. You are an example for other fellow shinobi and when you start drinking again…!"
Tsunade growled, "Yes, yes, I get the point. Now fill in these documents for me." Ignoring the enraged cry 'Tsunade-sama!' she handed Shizune a pile of paperwork, "They have to be signed before tomorrow, so work hard!" With dignified steps, Shizune left the room, somehow still managing to close the door with a slam.
Tsunade sighted again, "What do you want anyway? I'm not giving you another mission if that is what you came for."
"Did you forget already! I've just returned from a mission, even I have to rest every now and then. Geez, your memory is really failing if you're…" Naruto didn't finish his sentence and looked at her with a mischief smirk on his face. Was he trying to get a scolding or something?
"And I'm here to turn in my mission report – have a good look at it 'cuz it's the work of the future Hokage!" and the blonde boy placed the scroll on her desk. Tsunade suddenly got the feeling he was avoiding her eyes.
But he was challenging me just now, right? …Why do I have the feeling something is off? Tsunade took the scroll and read it, groaning when she saw the sloppy handwriting. She was so not going to read this. No, instead, she would just pretend to read it – like most things, actually – and just watch her favorite (she would never say this out loud) genin. He was standing right in front of her desk anyway and didn't look like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
It was that moment she realized something was wrong. Totally wrong.
Looking at his feet, with downcast eyes, Naruto was scratching his cheek (a habit copied from Iruka-sensei for sure). He didn't make a sound.
"Naruto… Are you… alright?" Tsunade couldn't believe her own words. Did she really say that out loud?
"Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" This statement was accompanied with his trademark smile. Yes, something was definitely wrong.
Maybe it's just me… Or… I should read this report before jumping to conclusions. And with a grim face the blonde Hokage started to read, for real this time.
'How nice. To address the report to me – with Obaa-chan nonetheless! …And here, he's leaving out whole gaps. This handwriting is hard to read too… This is so troublesome – trust Kakashi to teach his student to write sloppy reports. …Is this an 'a' or an 'o'?' Tsunade was not pleased with the piece of paper in her hands. She almost decided to stop reading it when her eye fell on the last sentence. "Mission Failed"
Tsunade's eyes widened in realization when she remembered the kind of mission she had given Naruto. A protection mission. And Naruto had failed.
'Well, shit.'
"He was a small boy – younger than I am, actually." Naruto suddenly said, "I'm talking about the client I mean – the one I was supposed to… to protect…"
Naruto locked eyes with her, his own shining with unshed tears.
"Naruto, what happened?" Tsunade asked – concerned, I have to note - as she stood up and walked towards the blonde boy. Naruto wiped his eyes with his sleeve as the tears finally spilled over his cheeks. Tsunade grasped one of his hands, inspecting them. How could she have not noticed it – his hands were covered in scratches and small cuts! As she berated herself in her head of her own ignorance, there was another knock on the door.
Worst timing ever.
"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama! The Elders wish to speak with you!" Shizune's voice sounded through the door.
In a flash, Tsunade was standing in front of the door, keeping it closed, "I'm busy, tell them I can't come right now!"
"Are you having sake again! I can't believe you!" And with that Shizune broke through the door, her usual calm eyes flaming.
"I TOLD YOU I WAS HAVING BUISSINESS!" Tsunade raged at her assistant.
Shizune looked confused at Naruto, "Naruto-kun? What are you doing here?"
Naruto huffed, looking sheepishly, "Baa-chan was having a meaningful talk with me. Your timing is really bad, Shizune-nee-chan."
Tsunade sent Shizune a meaningful look. The younger woman clasped her hands in front of her and bowed hastily, "I'm sorry! I'll tell the Elders to wait! I'm sorry!"
When Shizune was gone, Tsunade grasped Naruto's arm and dragged him with her, out of the room, away from the Hokage-tower.
"Let's go for a walk and continue our 'meaningful talk', shall we Naruto?" Tsunade said. (When Naruto looked back at this moment, he'd swear that she sounded motherly.)
"So, feel like explaining to me what happened?"
Naruto and Tsunade sat on a bench, shadowed by the trees surrounding them. Naruto was fidgeting, clearly upset – Tsunade wasn't sure if it was because of the story he was about to share of if it was because of his 'little breakdown' in the office. Suddenly, in an impulse, Tsunade wrapped her arm around the small boy and held him close.
Naruto stiffened at first; he then hugged Tsunade and buried his head in her shoulder, sobbing his heart out.
Awkwardly the blonde woman patted him on his back, "… It's alright… It's alright… Don't worry…"
"…Baa…. Baa… Baa-chan!" Naruto wailed. (Yes, wailed. It was a heart wrenching sound Tsunade never wanted to hear ever again. Somehow it reminded her of her brother, Nawaki.)
Tsunade stopped patting and pulled Naruto into a tight hug, letting the broken boy cry on her shoulder. She closed her eyes, refusing to cry because that would mean not being strong for Naruto, right?
When the crying not subsided after a couple of minutes, Tsunade grabbed Naruto's shoulders, forcing him to look at her, "I need to know what happened, br- Naruto."
Naruto hiccupped and started in a shaky voice, "…I couldn't protect him. I couldn't."
"Did he…" the blonde didn't finish her sentence.
Naruto shook his head, "No, not yet… yet… they captured him… captured! He was so small and so…! How can people do this? Why do people do this? Why? …why?"
"I don't know why" 'Liar' "But… would it make you happy if I sent out orders to save that boy?"
Naruto nodded gravely – but there was something, a spark maybe, in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Suddenly he yawned and Tsunade released his shoulders. She took his hands in hers and started healing the cuts, something that she should've done long ago.
"Baa-chan…?" Naruto asked.
"Yes?" was the answer.
"… Thanks."
"You're welcome brat."
And Naruto grinned.
"And Iruka-sensei was soooo mad! But it was sooooo funny! And- And-!"
Tsunade and Naruto were walking back to the Hokage-tower – or Naruto's apartment, wherever that was. Tsunade's arm was still wrapped around Naruto's shoulder but luckily Naruto was feeling a lot better than before. Tired, yes, sad, yes, but despaired, no.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I really have to get back to work. Those Elders aren't the most patient kind of old fools I know."
"Old fools, really?"
"Do you think 'Old wrecks' sounds better then?"
"Maybe. But my comment was because of the 'Old'"
Naruto wriggled away from her grip and darted away from her, "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS OLD HERE, OBAA-CHAN!" he shouted in a playful tone before dashing away with a laugh. Tsunade watched him run with a smile on her face. She stopped walking when he was out of sight.
She turned around, watching the trees before saying, "Jiraiya, for how long have you been watching?"
The wind picked up some leaves and Jiraiya appeared next to her, "Since he came into your office."
"And you didn't do anything, idiot."
"I didn't feel like I had to. You were doing a great job."
"Thank you."
"You know, I think you'd make a fine mother…"
"Say that again and I will kill you."
Owari