Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't feel upset about it.
AN: Greetings from Colombia, English-spoken fans of the Naruto series. This project is one I wrote in Spanish, my true language. I tried to translate it for you, so I hope that you understand me if you find several mistakes in my wording, grammar and other things like that. Obviously, I used my vague knowledge and combined it with the help of a Bilingual Dictionary.
If you have notions of Spanish, don't compare this English version with the original because it will not have the same sense or expressions… (Original title: Aconsejando a la juventud, literally 'Advising the youth'). The original version is just a bit longer, so this is a bad exemplar (well, I'm not very sure about my translation capacities).
Thanks for the opportunity… read and enjoy! (And don't forget the reviews).
AN ADVICE FOR YOUTH
By Stefy Taijiya
Everything lapsed with normality in the office of the Fifth Hokage. The soft spring breeze was straining by the window, the birds were singing and the sun was shining. It was the typical perfect day, but the Sannin couldn't enjoy that peace. She envied the villagers because they can make whatever they want without having to be tied to a mountain of documents.
"Did I make something bad to deserve this?" she muttered.
Suddenly, Shizune entered, bringing another pile more of papers, all them clever to be read carefully and then signed.
"Don't forget tonight's celebration" the young assistant said, waiting to find a distant semblance on the woman's face.
Tsunade acted as if she were unable to hear. Then, she started with her tedious work of approving solicitudes, assigning missions, actualizing the data, signing alliances with other shinobi villages and keeping the order...
She remembered one of her last springs when she was younger. Her boyfriend, Dan, was near, and they both were observing the dream of the First Hokage materialized: the Leaf Hidden Village. Dan whispered sweet love words and she constantly blushed and smiled. Those days were full of happiness and she never imagined that it would disappear sooner or later.
The beautiful day started to vanish minute to minute and the brilliant star was losing the intensity of its irradiations. Tsunade finished with the last fair step, when the sky began to be tinted of orange and the clouds fainted away in a beautiful show. How better to enjoy it that with some swigs?
"Shizune, bring me a bottle of liquor!" she asked.
"B-but Tsunade-sama…" She replied. "You should stop drinking alcohol"
"I said BRING ME A BOTTLE OF LIQUOR" She repeated with a dangerous aura around her. "NOW!"
The dark-haired woman obeyed and satisfied her moody boss, offering to the Sannin a white bottle that contained a burning and transparent liquid: sake.
"See you later!" Tsunade screamed leaving a confused Shizune back.
With a self-satisfaction smile, the Hokage walked in the village streets. She surprised about the crowd of romantic teenagers declaring their love to the rest of the world, most of them were kissing up without any shame.
"The times have changed radically!" she laughed to herself.
Tsunade decided to give them freedom, so she started to look for a place wherein she could drink her dear sake. She discarded the Heroes' Memorial immediately. It was too mournful for her. The only site remaining was the little bridge near to the Hospital.
The waning moon was in the top of sky and the stars were following it, illuminating that beautiful night. The old woman was ready to open the bottle when she realized that she wasn't alone.
A seventeen-year-old chuunin was contemplating the mild stream and at the same time throwing to it the delicate petals of a flower. He knew that the petals would go to an unknown place, but he didn't care about it. His big black eyes denoted a deep sadness and he sighed constantly, making game with the far lament of the owls hidden amongst the trees.
Touched for that vision, the sannin approached with a kind smile in her face.
"Good evening, Lee!" she greeted him. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Tsunade-sama… I was doing… nothing…"
The blonde noticed the humble bouquet that was resting in one of the bandaged hands of Lee… it was losing its splendor.
"So, tell me… whom do you want to give that?" she blinked at him. "To Sakura, don't you?"
She grasped about Lee's feelings toward Sakura a long time ago and that was possible because the young boy always demonstrated attention to her, especially when the kunoichi was depressed.
"You're right, Tsunade-sama" he answered kind of disconsolate. "But the feelings of Sakura-san will never change even I give this to her"
The Fifth shook her head, disapproving the bushy-eyebrows young. She'd never seen him losing his heart since he was fourteen.
"Is this the same Rock Lee who endangered his life, knowing he probably would die?"
He raised his sight, very surprised about those words.
"So, are you giving up just for a refusal?" the blonde continued protesting. "I thought you'd never relinquish to your dreams"
"No, I haven't, I just…" he pulled up the last petal of the white rose he was holding. "Well, she'll never see me as I see her. I think she has a crush on Naruto. Besides, he's better than me, talking about the physical…"
"It was a bad decision to send Gai on a mission today. Now I have to cheer up Lee" Tsunade said to herself.
"Naruto is a great person, but you shouldn't feel less than him" she said with firmness. "Even if you don't believe this, Sakura always talks about you"
"Um… I guess she complains about all the stupid things I do for catch her attention"
"No, that's not true. My pupil considers you as an unconditional friend, someone who she can trust" she grinned again after observing Lee's expression. "I've heard all you have done for her, including the rescue from that ninjas of the Sound Village".
"Sakura-san… she still remembers that" he whispered with a smile.
The medical ninja joined his sudden happiness and then caress his black hair in a maternal gesture. That scene lasted not much more than five minutes because she saw another petal falling onto the cold water surface.
"But she said I'm just a friend, not something else"
"And you're going to let Sakura go? What about fighting for her?"
"But…"
"Do you love her?!" she interrupted with abruptness. Lee nodded, totally scared about the Sannin's bad temperament. "Then, win over her!"
"I've tried everything, but it doesn't works"
Tsunade meditated these words carefully. The boy said the truth: convincing Sakura was too complicated for someone like him.
"Rock Lee, you're not as handsome as so that she fixes on you" When he listened to this, immediately got down and adopted a glum look. "But you're sensible, polite, keen, and those are the only things that are worth. I could help you if want".
"Are you talking seriously?" He exclaimed with little tears sliding from his eyes. The Hokage guffawed.
"Your attitude isn't bad, just don't accelerate yourself when you're dating her, I mean, don't pressure Sakura with a romantic date" she started to explain while Lee was writing all in a notebook. "You both should go out only as friends".
"No romantic dates… I got it!"
"Following point: the nice guy pose" continued. He got more interested in the conversation. "It's a good show of optimism, but don't use it always, ok? There are other ways of bringing support".
"Could you give me an example?" Lee asked as if he were an Academy student.
"A hug, a caress…" But the Sannin remembered the bad character of the kunoichi. "Well… in an adequate moment".
Lee visualized himself hugging the girl of his dreams and she whispering something like: "You're so cute… I definitely want to be your girlfriend!"
"Earth calling Lee!" Tsunade spoke up after noticing Lee's distraction. "And for finish…"
A dramatic silence reigned between them and the only sound able to hear was the hoot of the persistent owls.
"You have to still being you and never resign yourself… maybe your dream could come true".
And when the last word was pronounced, some footsteps echoed on the bridge's planks. A lonely girl was walking to nowhere with disappointment in her face.
"Tsunade-sama, what should I do now? It's… it's her!" He stuttered completely nervous.
"Just relax!" was the solution found. "Good luck!"
The woman disappeared from Lee's sight in a few seconds, so he had no alternative except speaking to his beloved. The young girl seemed kind of sad, like she hadn't found someone who accompanied her in that joyful night.
"Fancy meeting you…!" She said pretending to look blissful. "Hey, I didn't see you in the park… what happened?"
"Uh, I'm alone, so I…" He blushed intensely as Sakura distinguished the maltreated bouquet. "I wanted you to come with me, Sakura-san".
"No…" She mumbled. The dark-haired boy clenched his fists and tried to seem not affected. Then, she ended the phrase with a grin. "No worry about that, Lee-kun. I'm alone too".
Hidden behind a near shrub, the Fifth Hokage was observing and listening to every detail and gesture of the chat. She got disturbed because her temporal student was very trustful of himself. Even a mental image of Lee being punched appeared in her mind.
However, and for her surprise, the pink-haired girl didn't protest.
"What the hell is happening?" She wondered herself as Lee was bringing near his face to Sakura in a very bold move. "Now he's a dead man".
"Sakura-san, this night and the next I'll love you, because as well I have a million of dreams…"
"… Seeing you happy with or without me is one of my sincere wishes" completed Tsunade internally. "How does he know that words?" She had already heard them, thirty years ago, from Dan's mouth. Was he helping the boy from the other world?
Tsunade realized why that day was so special: it was Hanami, the cherry blossom holiday celebrated in the first days of spring. All the people go out with someone they love much to contemplate nature in its purest and most beautiful form. That was the reason of why Shizune had mentioned it to her with care: because she knew that Hanami will make the Sannin remember Dan.
"It was a month after meeting him" she whispered. "We had some chemistry, but he felt insecure; therefore, he decided to confess his feelings toward me in Hanami's night"
Had the times changed radically after all? Why a couple of teenagers like Lee and Sakura reflected her the past? The situation of the dark-haired boy was too different from Dan's one.
"Love is something that exists and will exist until the end of the times" She answered to herself, seeing how Lee was kissing her beloved and she gaping at him. "Love… is something hard to explain".
She raised her sight to sky, where he probably was watching and taking care of her. Some tears dropped to the ground. Meanwhile, both teenagers took their hands, he with a triumph smile and she with bewilderment in her heart.
"For your dreams, Lee!" murmured Tsunade lifting up the sake bottle. She drank a sip and then added with a tearful voice: "And for yours too, my dear Dan".
And she comprehended that she would never find an answer for that strange and confusing incident. He was death, and her life, not caring if it was miserable or not, would continue to assuring the future of the villagers, precisely his dream.
Never fall down. Never lose your hopes. Everything can come true.
Time skip is inevitable and also the complex feeling of love. Dead or alive, the people's will doesn't succumb and it is manifested in persons who you know or in unexpected situations.