It was only 8 am in Konoha.
During summer time, the ever-blazing yellow star had settled high up in the vast blue sky haughtily even though it was only 8 am in the morning, and it seemed that the pompous king of afternoon was also in bad mood, as it tried to set aflame all that was stood on earth with its imperious glare.
As if sensing the mood of their king, the usual loitering clouds and the gentle breeze of summer were no where to be found, setting the already hot temperature skyrocketed to its zenith. Only the cicada was undaunted by the sun's burning scowl as they were striking furiously a loud orchestra to sound their protest against the unjust king of the sky.
But even then, the high humidity and the hottest temperature in the entire year still persisted to linger in the atmosphere, it was so scorching that it wasn't exaggerating to say that Konoha had been turned into the biggest open air sauna in the history of elemental nations.
And thus, the air inside the Hokage office had also became unbearable. The hot draft had managed to pierce into the room even though he had closed every windows and vents existed in it. The air-con had also been set into its max, but even then, the temperature in the office was still raising steadily.
His head was swirly and swimmy from the heat, somnolence and exhaustion; the manifestation of pulling an all-nighter from the night before. The hat atop his head, which had been embroidered with a big kanji of 'fire', had started to become very heavy, and his eyelids were felt even heavier. His vision was rapidly deteriorating into a blur each second passed, the only image he could see know was the unfocused lofty towers of paperwork filling both sides of the humongous mahogany desk and the faceless person talking rapidly about something. He really needed a sleep, a long beauty sleep.
His head swayed to left and right every now and then, but still maintained its steadiness...
BANG!
Naruto sprang up on his seat. "Wha- what happened!?" he sprouted out frantically, looking to left and right before looking back at the person in front of him. The Hokage hat on his head was hanging slightly askew to one side as a result.
Kurenai, the perpetrator who had slammed her hand against the desk, glared at her superior in annoyance. Clenching her teeth, she uttered through them "Hokage-sama, did you hear what I said before?"
"O-of course, it's something about..." his mind was running through memory lane in frenzy, the withering glare from his secretary also did not help his predicament "It's... about... an ambassador from somewhere, right?" seeing her glare dwindled slightly, he let out an audible sigh of relief and nodded to himself "Yeah, of course I paid attention to you, hahaha... send him in as soon as he arrives"
"He?" Kurenai raised her elegant eyebrow imperceptibly. She seemed like want to continue but decided against it at the last moment, so instead she nodded "Okay, I'll send the Kumo ambassador in as soon as she arrives"
Naruto nodded, and she turned around to make a bee-line toward the exit.
With a soft click, the door was shut close.
He just sat there primly as the silence filled his office, looking at the door attentively, before in largo shifting his astute blue eyes to the towering stacks of paperwork at both sides. His face only projected complete calmness when his focus glazed over them. After a while, a phlegmatic smile that spoke maturity appeared upon his lips and he returned his eyes to looking forward, at the door, then at one particular window on his right. He nodded as if agreeing with himself of something, his placid smile was still plastered on his lips. This was the job of a Hokage, the life of a Hokage, the destiny of a Hokage, and he'd accepted that.
He bolt out of his seat, at full throttle and not even half a second later, aiming at that particular window.
Such was also the life of a Hokage, after all.
'Screw paperwork, screw ambassador! I'm outta here!!!'
He abruptly opened the window, and winched as a sudden blast of torrid air hit him full force, freezing him momentarily. A while later, shrugging off the heat, he gripped each sides of the window's frame and set his right foot on the lower frame. He was about to jump out, but decided to cast one last smug face at the door...
And he did just that, turning to the door's direction with an annoying smirk bloomed oh so magnificently on his face.
He froze. He stopped dead on track like a deer caught on spotlight as he realized the two women that stood at the door, looking at him incredulously. The glare from a pair of red eyes, whose belonged to his secretary, was what set him back on motion, but it was the other woman that completely caught his attention; someone familiar from his past, and he could not help but felt a little bittersweet at her sudden reappearance right before his eyes.
Everything about her was just like the last time he saw her; her cat-like, long french braid that was a corollary from impeccably weaving her pale blonde hair, the playfulness with a hue of melancholy lit up in her otherwise stoic sable eyes when she noticed him, her lips that had been faintly enameled with violet shifted into one of a rueful smile; the same smile she gave him in his memory. The only difference from the overlapping image of her was that she wore a black mesh shirt and tight short with a maroon tactical gear hugging her torso in lieu of a casual aqua-dyed one piece.
And just like that, time seemed to stop moving, everything around him was turning into a black and white world, with he and she as the only resident and ruler in that ephemeral perfect world.
As if in a trance, he removed himself from the window's frame, eyes were still locking at hers. Her movement held the grace of a feline and meticulousness of an artful kunoichi as she walked toward him, whom he followed like a subservient marionette. They ambled until they stood in front of each other. They just lingered there, looking into each other with a small wistful smile settled on their lips, before they took another step forward and interweaved themselves into an embrace.
A radiant yet sorrowful embrace that seemed to express their intense longing for each other. Bittersweet.
Rooted at the door and watching the entire spectacle was Kurenai, with her delicate lips parted slightly and her ruby eyes widened, an elegant daze settled in her expression. She was simply nonplussed. No matter how cold and level-headed she was, she was still a woman, and like any other woman, she fancied those cheesy romance novels, especially those that divulged around forbidden tragic romance. Now in front of her was a couple, melting into each other arm like a star-crossed lover, one was a Hokage and the other was a foreign kunoichi from a rival village. The rosy hue that grazed her pale complexion was a statement at how palpable their passion was, which felt even hotter than the summer's air.
However, as soon as Kurenai snapped out of her reverie, logical thinking flooded in to beat her fantasy, a frown made its way to mar her aesthetic visage. She realized that the Kumo kunoichi couldn't possibly be her superior's inamorata, she was sure of that fact, but... seeing them like that, she just couldn't help but thinking...
The beauty shook her head lightly, banishing the thought. If what she was thinking were true, there were going so much trouble not only for her and Naruto, but also for Konoha. She sighed, before blaming her ridiculous thought at the summer heat. Taking one last glance at the two, she silently glided out of the office, with the feeling of apprehension, and surprisingly a touch of jealousy, still lingered unresolved in her chest.
As the door softly closed, the Hokage slitted open his eye, then scrutinized around suspiciously through it.
"Psst, is she gone?" he whispered
The blond kunoichi stirred against his chest for a while, before her eyes flickered open lazily like a cat "I think so, I don't sense her presence anymore. Why don't you check it by yourself, you're the Hokage"
"She doesn't get the title Genjutsu Mistress for nothing, and I still suck at genjutsu, that's mainly why she was picked as my secretary by Tsunade besides her serious persona"
Abruptly, she released herself away from him, an indignant glare replaced all other expression that might had been on her face "So, you're only using me to take care of your secretary. Is that how you treat me after all this time?"
"That's where you wrong. Because it is you we're talking here, I need to send her away for a while, and that's the only excuse I could think of otherwise she would never to let me get away no matter what the reason. She's getting immune to my excuses lately"
"Hnn, it's probably you just being a lazy bastard"
"What're you talking about? Take my job for a week, let's see if you can still say something like that... and since when were you trying to become teme the second!?" Naruto then snorted lightly, a wry smile formed out of his lips. This kind of banter with her was awakening a feeling of deja vu deep inside him, it felt kind of pleasant with a tinge of poignant somewhat. "You seem to be doing very well, Yugito"
At first, she didn't reply. Her eyes held a hint of melancholia when she caught his dry yet soft tone "And you haven't change at all, Naruto"
"Yeah, you seem to doing well..." he leered pointedly at her chest area, giggling perversely, observing the ripe and toned bust with the amount of concentration and attentiveness of a Kage, the qualities that always disappeared when he did his real work; paperwork "Very well in fact... fufufu..."
POKE!
"AKKKHHH!!! My eyes!!! My eyes!!!"
Yugito shook her head and sighed, watching him rolling on the ground and clutching his eyes in the while "You really haven't changed at all, Naruto"
"My eyes!!! My eyes!!!" was his eloquent reply.
Ignoring the Hokage, she padded to the mini fridge near the humongous mahogany desk. With a flick, she opened it effortlessly and took out a bottle of fresh milk. The fond smile upon her lips was unearthly enough to break any man's heart as she swooned at the sight of the sparkling, transparent carafe of milk, which gloriously turned sour at the sight of the Hokage who still was rolling pathetically on the ground.
"Hey, stop acting like an obnoxious brat, will you? It's not like it's a big deal" the kunoichi scowled
"What did you mean it's not a big deal?! Were you trying to blind me?!!" his beautiful blue eyes was now etched with red. His focus flickered to the unopened bottle in her hand, before it snapped back to her, incredulity was written all over his face "Not only you tried to blind me, you also stole from my office on top of that?!! Even selfishness has a limit!"
"Then why's there a fresh milk in your fridge if it's not specifically reserved for me? You don't even like this stuff"
"You egomaniacal woman. Who said I don't like it, it's going to be my morning snack before you decided to take it" holding out his hand, he demanded "Give it back"
"Feh..." she stuck her tongue out childishly and deviantly opened the bottle's lid at the same time, before downing the milk in one go "Ahhhh... delicious" the expression of pure satisfaction turned into mischievous affection when her aqua eyes settled at him, charming her impish complexion with sultry mien
"Too bad you can't have it now, it's empty already" she was dangling the empty bottle in front him teasingly.
"Grrr... looks like I have to go wherever I have to settle things with you!"
Her cheshire smirk widened "Go wherever you want?" she gasped mockingly "Like my breast...? she cupped her bust "Or perhaps... my butt?" she groped her butt.
"Just what are you looking for in my gorgeous body?"
Naruto scowled deepened at her teasing, though if someone looked closely, one could say that the Hokage enjoyed their repartee.
"But it's to be expected, we're talking about a delicious fresh milk here..." Yugito nodded, before smirking playfully "How bout this? I'll promise to love you forever and ever if you give me that stuff every time I see you, quiet an interesting bargain right?"
The awkward silence that fell over them was utterly smothering.
The gentle humming of the cicada was reverberating around in the office ringing incessantly to fill in the void. The symphony that was felt fierce and passionate before, was now sounded gentle and drifting, if not a tad heart wrenching, as if to mock further their situation, in adagio tormenting the both of them from breaking the silence promise between the two of them.
Now that their sense of duty and the harshness of reality washed over them like dark wave, as swift as it was created, their brittle perfect world shattered, leaving only a lingering, distant and undescribable feeling of what could had been between them if he wasn't a Hokage and she wasn't a shinobi from his rival village.
Only that, and nothing else.
"What if I say I agree with it?" his low voice answered, but then, he shook his head as if to awaken himself up, and he snorted "You shouldn't joke about things like that you know, who knows what might happen"
"Yeah..." she replied in an equally weak tone. Her eyes didn't meet him the entire time
"Haahhh...!!!" Naruto sighed loudly, and just like that, his usual friendly expression came back. Smirking slightly, he questioned lightly, the anxiety that wavered his voice before vanished like it wasn't even there "So... why're you here? I'm hoping to meet the representative from Kumo, right now? And I never peg you as someone who would do such menial task"
"Oh... yeah..." she stuttered a bit at first, before she regained her playful persona "Hey, what are you implying? Actually, I volunteered for this, I just wanted you to meet "Yuuya" once more"
The name straightened him immediately.
Not waiting for his reply, Yugito's eyes began to flicker furiously as if she was in dream. And then the flicker stop. Her eyes was closed for another minute.
When she opened her eyes, all the vestiges that shown her as a battle-hardened kunoichi disappeared. What left of her was a gentle and Kind-hearted nature woman.
She looked around, confused and a bit lost, like this was the first time she'd been in his office, her eyes perked up as she noticed him, a beautiful smile followed soon, blessing her enchanting visage tenderly and sweetly.
"Naruto..." she began "My beloved, Naruto..."
And he could only froze
"Yu-yuuya..."