It was a bright and innocent morning. The trees wore their colors proudly, the creatures slept warmly in their dens and the gentile songs of birds transfixed everything in their path. The glorious sights surrounding the resolute Hokage monument were truly a scene.
It was just another day...
...in the Second Shinobi War.
For months, days just like these have been down trodden with worried glances, anxious waiting, shouts of overbearing denial and the finalized black suit of a mourner. It wasn't supposed to be like this, everyone knew, but there was no stopping the evils of man. There was only contribution.
Tsunade bore unblinkingly into the ground. Nobody did anything to deter her from her stance; everyone knew. They knew the progression of tears and they knew that nothing helped. All they could do was pity and hope to god they they were not next, either again or for the first time.
This was Tsunade's second time. The necklace that encircled her neck and was clenched in a tight fist was a testament. First her unknowing little brother, barely a Genin, and now her beloved. Dan. Dan. Dan.
He was going to be Hokage one day, she truly believed; he was going to change the world and put an end to this eternal hell. He was going to do it. Now, he's just another casualty from that same hell.
She remembered when he had that smile and look his eyes. A sterner, more determined look than her brother's, nonetheless, familiar one. A look that showed currently on her sensei and without a doubt on her grandfather when he created Konaha with Madara. Hell, maybe he had it, too, at one time.
This was her fault. She wasn't there in time to save him, to save both of them. She had gifted the Shodai's necklace to each one, and both ended up the same. This necklace was a travesty of her grandfather's legacy; it was not meant to destroy those who had the same dreams as its original owner. It was supposed to protect and honor them. So then why did it choose her? Were they not good enough, did they not have enough drive or dignity that would have made them worth the effort? Why her?
As she cursed herself and the necklace, she held it tighter. Possibly a promise to damn herself to the morbid crystal or to crush it.
In that moment, she decided that the job of Hokage is a doomed profession, both to those that strive for it and for those that take it.
Moving for the first time in hours, she drew her brow together and set her blood-shot eyes into a glare. She gathered her wits and worked to walk away from the memorial, passing his mother, his sister, his niece.
Screw this godforsaken village. Damn all who dream.
It was just another day.
