Naruto gave a weary sigh. Tapping his stack of papers on his flat desk, fixing them neatly together as he set them down. Done with today's work, he sank his back into his chair. Stretching his arms up, resting them behind his head as he leaned back. The young man with the short blond hair gave another sigh as he sat in his office, lit orange by the descending sun, peeking in through his window. He'd spent all day in here, as he did many days. As he rested from the days work, he couldn't help but reminiscence of his childhood. It was bitter nostalgia, recalling his youth. How alone he felt, the misery and the ridicule. But the blond little runt with the blue eyes kept shouting "I'll be Hokage!" and he was right.
He felt his Hokage coat hanging off the back of his chair, and eyed his hat he left on his desk. He was really it. All those years of wanting to feel important, to feel wanted, and he was finally there. Everything he overcame, and all that he lost. He tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling, he mumbled "I wish you could see me now... Pervy Sage." His eyes drifted off, trailing down the ceiling back down to his desk, stopping on the two photos. One in particular drew his attention as he leaned forward on his seat, gently lifting up the frame and holding it closer.
The old photo of him as child, along with his team. Team Seven. He smiled at the picture, himself making a face at Sasuke. Sasuke looking as though he couldn't be bothered to be present for the picture. The only two looking joyful were Kakashi and Sakura. Himself and Sasuke were always at it like a dog and another dog he thought. That much still hasn't really changed in their adulthood. They could get along sure, but they still wanted to outdo one another. He set the photo back down, and turned his attention to the other. He did not lift the second, simply eyeing it from a far. It was of his family, all four together. His daughter in his arms, his son in his mother's. They all were smiling, and looked happy.
But Naruto was hardly a good father figure. How many times did he make his daughter cry he wondered. How much did his son resent him for it? Of course he loved them, he loved them with all his heart. They couldn't understand his responsibility as Hokage, he had to love the entire village as much as them. That's what Naruto told himself, to lighten the guilt in his heart. It wasn't as if he could just stop being Hokage for a day, his job was constant and important, as he wanted it to be. There was always something, something he could fine.
So he didn't have to go home, he thought. As the dark thought crawled into his mind his eyes fell on the photo of his wife. Her dark hair, pale skin, and bright smile. She loved him dearly, he knew. She was a good wife, never complained, and did her chores dutifully. Like a doll Naruto thought. He didn't dislike her, but in his heart he just couldn't. Naruto sat up before he could finish the thought. Shaking them from his head. That was his wife, mother of his children, and he loved her. At least he told himself that as he rose off his seat, grabbing his coat and swinging it on, lifting his hat and dropping it on his head as he headed out the door. He wouldn't spend another night in the office, he'd go home and sleep in bed with his wife, and eat breakfast with his family. He nodded to himself, as if confirming his own ideas with his own mind.
Descending down the building was always quiet, as he was usually the last to leave. He pushed the doors open and stepped out into the street of his village. All of it painted a fiery orange thanks to the sun about depart. Naruto gazed into the sun as it slowly set. He couldn't help but think of his own son, Boruto. How much he had upset his son since becoming Hokage. He looked up to the mountain side, with the previous Hokage's faces carved into them. His own still stained by the markings his son left. He shook his head, with a faint chuckle. Baruto was indeed his own son. As he turned heel to leave, he glanced over at the academy. Seeing children at play he couldn't help but remember his childhood again. Eyeing the swing he use to sit alone at. His youth was quiet the lonely one, but he was not one to dwell on it. He was thankful for the friends he had made, thankful for Iruka for showing him compassion and love when no one else did.
He was thankful for his rival, Sasuke. For if not him, Naruto might of not pushed himself as hard as he did. He might of not achieved his dream. He was ridiculed by many as a kid, but Sasuke, Sasuke was who he envied. It didn't matter how many times someone like Kiba called him a loser, when someone as skilled as Sasuke did, it meant something. Sasuke was who he wanted to beat, because beating him would prove them all wrong. Every step he took, he was racing against Sasuke. Sasuke was his motivation. What was he to Sasuke? If Naruto asked he was sure Sasuke would say something along the lines of "An annoyance." as he usually did in their youth.
He looked down at his arm, the arm he lost in their final battle. Sasuke had lost his as well, in a way, that was proof of their 'tie'. That he was equal to Sasuke, regardless of what anyway said, even Sasuke himself. Naruto sighed as he walked, realizing he was thinking of his friend a lot lately. As he opened the door to his home, he wondered if 'friend' was the right word to use to describe their bond. He somehow felt it was more, something... different.