Chapter II
Naruto's woes
"I just wish i had more time, y'know? With all the work that piles up i rarely see anyone anymore.", Naruto remarked sadly.
"Can't you have your clones do the paperwork for you?", Sakura asked.
"I can't get them to sit and run through all the papers. They always get distracted and run off.", Naruto laughed, scratching his head.
"What do the other kage do? Hasn't anyone thought of a way until now?", Sakura asked.
"I've asked them. Everyone seems to do their own work.", Naruto sighed.
"Well i have to go now. See you Naruto. Goodluck!", Sakura abruptly ended the conversation, obviously not too invested in Naruto's woes. She waved as she split off and ran towards the hospital.
"Yeah, see you.", Naruto said, waving back slowly as he continued walking to his office, Slightly upset that Sakura could care so little.
He opened the door and stared at the pile of papers. Tears began circling in his eyes. Naruto weaved a handsign and created a shadow clone. It looked over at Naruto then at the pile of papers in front of him and began to fidget nervously.
"Please! help me out! I can't do it anymore, y'know!", Naruto pleaded to his shadow clone.
Swallowing saliva in distress the clone walked up to the desk as if by force, sat down and picked up the page on top of the pile and began reading through it strenuously. "No no, don't read through it.", Naruto said, handing it the hokage's seal and pointing at the bottom of the page. "Just press that seal here and move on.", he said. Taking notice how inefficiently paperwork was actually done.
The shadow clone nodded nervously and did as Naruto said before moving on to the next page and doing the same. And again and again. "Good, just keep doing that. I need to go breathe.", Naruto said before walking outside and taking a deep breath. "Man, being the hokage is a pain.", He thought to himself and walked back into his office. The clone had disappeared.
"I thought as much.", He sighed. He created three more clones. They too panicked as soon as they saw the pile of papers. "No no calm down! I don't want you to do these.", he said, waving an arm at them.
"What do you want from us then?", one of the clones asked. Naruto picked up a page from the top of his desk and handed it to the clones. "I want you to visit these addresses and give the families your condolences. They're the families of the jonin that were killed on their last mission. All of their addresses are on the page, split them up between yourselves.", He said. The clones were relieved. They took the page and took off. Naruto sat by his desk and started sorting through all the papers.
The sun fell and he just barely finished his work. He got up from his seat and stretched his back, clearly tired. He picked up his cloak from the rack and left for home. "Another day at the office", he sighed in his mind.
"I'm home!", Naruto said as he took off his shoes, glad to be back with his family at last.
Himawari ran out of the dining room and jumped on Naruto, hugging him tightly. "Welcome home, dad!", she said with briskly youth. Naruto smiled and put Himawari on his shoulders as he walked into the dining room. "Welcome home, dear.", Said Hinata, preparing dinner. Boruto was missing.
"Where's Boruto?", Naruto asked.
"He went out for a walk. He still needs time to cope with everything that's happened.", as Hinata explained, Boruto opened the door and walked in not long after his father.
"I'm home.", he mumbled under his breath in deep dejection.
"Hey Boruto!", Naruto called out as he walked over to him with Himawari on his shoulders and patted him on the head.
"You two go change, dinner's almost ready." Hinata said.
Naruto put Himawari down and went upstairs, washing himself in the shower and putting on his pajamas.
As they began eating, Boruto broke the question, "Any word of Mitsuki yet, dad?".
"It's still too soon, we sent the message just yesterday. It'll take a week for the message just to reach every kage. But Captain Yamato's been informed and he's on the lookout. We'll know soon if Mitsuki goes back to Orochimaru.", Naruto replied.
Boruto dropped his head and continued eating his dinner quietly.
"So how was work, Naruto-kun?", Asked Hinata, changing the subject.
Glad someone had brought it up, Naruto jumped to reply. "Boring as hell! And a lot of it too...", He said heartfeltly
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Take a break every now and then.", Hinata said, concerned.
"I wish i could just leave the paperwork to someone else but apparently how someone brought a cat down from a tree is 'Top secret' and 'For the hokage's eyes only'. ", He mocked. The family continued to speak and joke around until they finished their dinner. Everyone except for Boruto.
Naruto and Hinata cuddled by the TV and Himawari and Boruto went to their rooms. "I'm sorry I'm always away, y'know. I thought being hokage meant I'd spend more time with everyone. Turns out it was the opposite.", Naruto whispered gently, while holding Hinata in his embrace.
"It's okay, Naruto-kun. You always sacrifice yourself for the village and everyone knows it and they love you for it.", Hinata giggled. "They even swore by your name in the market the other day.", she continued laughing while imitating what she had heard.
"Oh, really?", Naruto laughed along with her, pleasantly surprised. "Huh...", he went in deep thought until Hinata said, "Everyone is here for you. You shouldn't do everything by yourself." pressing her head against his chest.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't spend nearly enough time with everyone.", Naruto said has he rested a hand on Hinata's shoulder. " You know what? I'll visit Kakashi-sensei, maybe he'll find a way to keep things going without me for a little bit.", he continued, excited by the decision.
"You do that.", Hinata smiled, seeing the slacking child in Naruto coming out.
An hour passed and it was 7 PM, when Kakashi usually went home. "Alright, I'm off. Cya Hinata!", Naruto said.
"Goodbye, Naruto-kun. Don't stay out too late. It's dangerous.", Hinata called back.
Naruto left laughing. "She's actually worried about me being out at night.", He giggled as he walked. while still wearing his orange sweater and pajamas he walked the streets to Kakashi's house. While some of the villagers turned their heads at the sight of the hokage walking around in such casual attire Naruto felt comfortable around them and didn't feel the need to dress up for them and keep appearances all the time. He genuinely thought of everyone as his family.
He reached Kakashi's house and knocked loudly on the door. "Kakashi-sensei!", Naruto called out. "Kakashi-sensei! It's me, Naruto!", He knocked again, more violently. He always acted childishly around Kakashi. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Sheesh. You're going to break the door one of these days.", Kakashi could be heard grumbling as he approached the door.
"Hey!", Naruto said with excitement as Kakashi opened the door, his ninja vest on the table. "Naruto? Did something happen again?", He asked, his voice scruffy as if he had just awoken. He probably had, spending most of the day at the hot springs. "It's... It's just that... I was wondering if you'd come by my house for lunch? Hinata's made beef stew and we thought we'd invite you over so...", Naruto asked uncomfortably.
It was actually the first time he had invited Kakashi over to his house since Hima's birth. Kakashi was caught off guard and his eyes grew wide in surprise, his expression underneath his mask indiscernible. He certainly wasn't expecting an invitation for lunch. He realized right away that something was out of the ordinary. "I-is everything alright?", He asked, starting to get nervous.
"No no it's just that-", Naruto was about to tell him what he wanted to ask but decided it'd be better to leave it until he came over and continued, "-I realized you've been helping me out so much lately so i thought I should thank you properly. Besides, You're like an uncle to the kids, they want to see you too every now and then."
"Don't you have work to do, Naruto?", Kakashi asked skeptically. He knew Naruto all too well and had already guessed what he might have been planning.
"Yeah, well,uh...It's okay, so don't worry about it. So, will you come?", Naruto answered nervously.
Kakashi thought it through for a moment. "Hmm...Alright, i suppose i couldn't turn down an invitation from the seventh hokage.", He said, a smile imaginable underneath his mask.
"Thanks! It'll be ready by noon, so don't be late!", Naruto said happily as he took off. "Yeah.", Kakashi mumbled at where Naruto was before he ran off. He went back inside awkwardly, thinking what Naruto could have wanted and what he was going to do. He wasn't eager to sit back behind that desk again. Naruto was the hokage now after all...And Kakashi was getting old.
Naruto returned home. and Spent the rest of the night with Hinata, sitting on the couch and chatting until it was time to sleep. Hinata Changed as Naruto brushed his teeth and as he was about to get in bed, he noticed the doll he had of Kakashi that he always placed next to his bed was gone. "Huh? Hinata?", He called out. "Yes?", "Have you seen the pillow i had of kakashi-sensei? I always put it right here.", Naruto asked. "Oh, you mean that giant doll?", She answered with a giggle. "Hima took it a few days ago to play with it. It should be in her room. "Oh, okay.", Naruto said, relieved, as he got in bed. "Goodnight.", He said as he turned off the light. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun.".
Naruto woke just as the sun had begun to rise, still too early since he planned to take the day off but it became a habit. Everyone else was still asleep. "Maybe I'll cook breakfast today." , He thought to himself while looking over to Hinata who was still fast asleep.
"Man oh man", He said, scratching his head as he looked at the fridge with confusion, thinking about what he could make. It had been years since he had cooked. "Sausages? Hmm... no, too heavy for the kids. Cheese maybe? But Hima is allergic... Beans? But for breakfast? No, that won't do either...", He stared undecidedly at the assortment of ingredients. "What does Hinata always make?", He asked himself before realizing he didn't know... "Maybe I'll just make eggs. Yeah, that's good.", He thought to himself as he put out a few eggs. "But just eggs? The kids need to grow. Maybe some sausages wouldn't hurt...", he giggled as he snuck out a few sausages aswell. "Might as well go all out now that I'm making it.", he thought, bringing out the beans too. "And ofcourse some mushrooms to go with the beans...And tomato paste to give it some color. And ofcourse seasonings, and...", he continued, fetching one ingredient after the other and before he knew it the counter was filled with everything he had put out.
"T-this might be a bit much...", he thought to himself as he looked at the enormous pile he had created with all the ingredients. "Oh well, it's not every day i get to cook for everyone.", He thought, rolling up his sleeves. "Alright! Now where's the pan?", he searched one cabinet after another. "Now some oil... and in go the sausages.", he said aloud as he dropped them in whole. "Now where'd i put the mushrooms?", he dug through everything and pulled out the bag of mushrooms. One after the other he began chopping everything up and throwing them in a separate pot or pan, mixing everything he thought would go well with eachother. After half an hour he had just managed to sort everything out and left them to cook but then the whiff of burnt sausages reached his nose. "Oh no, not good!", he thought as he rolled them over in the pan, one side burnt black and the other still raw. As he sorted out the Sausages, he noticed the mushrooms had begun to sizzle too and he jumped over to them, then the eggs and one after the other he ruined everything he was cooking until Hinata walked in, rubbing her eyes, still half asleep. "Naruto-kun?", she said, watching Naruto cooking frantically.
"Hinata! Quick! Watch the beans!", he cried out. "W-what are you doing?", She asked, slowly walking up to him. She gasped when she saw all that Naruto was trying to cook and all the ingredients he had ruined. It was then that sleep completely left her eyes as she ran over and pushed Naruto aside, turning down the heat on everything and shuffling them over, noticing everything was either half burnt or raw. It'd make a disgusting meal. "So much food...wasted...", she said, dejected. "I-I'm sorry, Hinata. It's just.. I-I thought I'd cook for you guys and-", Naruto explained nervously as Hinata looked at him impatiently. She sighed and hugged Naruto.
"Leave this to me, okay? You go and buy everything you wasted. The kids will be up soon.", She said, unable to get mad at Naruto with those puppy eyes he made. As Naruto left for the market feeling defeated, Hinata opened the window with a sigh and began cleaning out all the pots and pans then rinsed them and tried to salvage what she could of the food and make something out of them. Though despite all that she couldn't help but smile at Naruto trying to cook for all of them and laugh at how badly he did it. She smiled and shook her head, before going to wash her face as everything slowly cooked.
The kids eventually woke up and sat by the table downstairs, waiting for breakfast to be ready. Boruto was still gloomy and Himawari barely awake. "I'm home!", Naruto shouted as he flung open the door, walking in barely managing to hold everything he had bought with both hands... and a leg.
Boruto and Himawari both ran over, eyes wide and mouth open in surprise. They thought Naruto had long since left for work. "Dad? What are you doing here?", Boruto asked.
"Quit talking and help me with this, y'know!", He called out.
Boruto and Himawari both ran over and carried as much as they could, taking it to the kitchen. "Welcome home!", Hinata said kindly. "Did you get everything?", She asked. "Yeah!", Naruto replied.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the office,dad?", Boruto asked, still surprised. "I've decided to take a few days off from work... hopefully. I just hope i can find someone to fill in for me.", He explained. Boruto's mood was uplifted by the news. He walked up and grabbed Naruto's hand, pulling him to the table and sitting him down. "Then sit here. Breakfast is almost ready.", He said, pouting but happy inside. "O-okay!", Naruto said joyfully as he sat down. He had realized what a rare occasion it was for him to actually sit down and have breakfast with his family and how the pressure of his job had gotten to him. Himawari ran over and pulled back a chair, sitting next to Naruto, hugging his arm. Boruto sat on the other side of the table and looked at the two of them, then to Hinata. He couldn't help but crack a smile. "Breakfast is ready!", Hinata said joyfully as she placed everything on the table. "Thanks for the meal!", the other three said and began eating.
"So this is what you make for breakfast. It's tasty!", Naruto said with his mouth full. Hinata laughed and nodded. "I wonder when we should enroll Hima for the academy. With her Byakugan already activated she's going to be the envy of everyone.", Boruto said smiling at Himawari as she ate. "She'll graduate in no time.", Naruto added. "Maybe next year. It's still too soon.", Hinata smiled. "Hey, Boruto, do you want to train today? You can show me what you've learned.", Naruto said, turning to Boruto who welcomed the offer. "Sure, old man!", He replied. "Good! You don't have any missions today, do you?", Naruto asked. "As if. Big bro Konohamaru has been looking for a mission for a while but there's nothing to do.", he replied. "Yeah, that's true...", Naruto said.
Hours passed and the sun reached it's height. The hokage's chair was still empty and paperwork kept piling. Hinata had almost finished cooking the meal and the kids were seated at the table as Naruto paced around nervously, occasionally peeking out the window in anticipation. Kakashi was late, as usual. Just as Naruto thought to go and find him someone knocked. Naruto pounced on the door. "Kakashi-Sensei!", He said with joy and excitement. "Hey.", Kakashi greeted him with his calm and casual voice, handing Naruto a box of chocolates as a gift. "Hehee thanks! Come in, come in! Lunch is almost ready", Naruto beckoned with a grin as Kakashi took off his shoes and walked inside. "Right this way.", He guided Kakashi through the hallway and into the dining room where the children were seated and Hinata was preparing the food. When Kakashi saw the sight his heart melted. The warm atmosphere of the family, the affection, and how much everyone had grown... He couldn't help but crack a smile underneath his mask. Such a family was something he never had and to see one of his students grow up so much, he felt like he was visiting his son and grandchildren.
"Hm?", Himawari reared her head, looking at Kakashi with surprise and curiosity. She wasn't used to seeing him and hardly recognized him.
"Old man Kakashi!", Boruto said, jumping off his seat and running up to him.
"Welcome, Kakashi-sensei!", Hinata called out as she prepared the dishes.
"Come on already!", Naruto grabbed Kakashi's hand before he could say anything and sat him at the head of the table.
"Hey, Boruto! Be polite!", Naruto scolded his son for calling Kakashi 'old man'.
"It's fine.", Kakashi laughed. Something he didn't do often. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lolipop. "Here, Hima. I thought you'd like these.", He said as he presented it to her kindly.
"Thank you!", She said as she took it with both hands and began unwrapping it. Kakashi's smile could be seen from his eyes.
"Geez, even your younger sister is more well-mannered than you.", Naruto said light-heartedly as he sat down next to Boruto.
"Like father like son.", Kakashi shrugged.
"Lunch is ready!", Hinata called out as she brought the bowls of beef stew to the table. "Hima, leave the lolipop for after lunch, okay?", She said when she noticed the lolipop in Himawari's mouth. Hima hesitated but with a stern look from her mother she was intimidated enough to put it back in it's wrapping and put it aside.
"It's good to see Naruto's eating well now.", Kakashi said as he looked at the food in front of him.
"When he comes home anyway.", Boruto whispered. Everyone pretended they didn't hear anything but Kakashi looked over to Naruto who was trying to play it off nervously.
Naruto got up and helped Hinata with the rest of the bowls. "Well, let's eat! Thanks for the meal!", he said once everyone had sat down.
"Thanks for the meal.", Kakashi said as he picked up his chopsticks.
"What does he look like under that mask anyway?", Boruto wondered with the same curiosity his dad once had, inconspicuously looking at Kakashi from the corner of his eyes but the others had already begun eating without paying it much attention.
Kakashi noticed Boruto's curiosity and decided to play a little prank on him. He put down his chopsticks and slowly put his hand on his mask. Boruto became more curious the longer it dragged on. Suddenly, Kakashi froze in place. "...Old man Kakashi?", Boruto said after a long pause, turning his head to look at where Kakashi was sitting. Suddenly, with a poof of smoke, that Kakashi disappeared the real one appeared behind Boruto, without his mask. "Looking for me?", he said calmly. "Aaaah!", Boruto yelled, almost falling off his seat. Naruto and Hinata couldn't hold in their laughter anymore and with them, neither could Himawari. "Just like your father.", Kakashi sighed as he sat back down. "So that's what he looks like.", Boruto thought to himself as the others continued laughing and Kakashi began eating his meal.
"Hey, old man Kakashi!", Boruto called out.
"Hm? What is it?", he replied.
"Why do you always hide your face?", he asked.
"Well, it does have it's benifits.", Kakashi replied, unwilling to give a complete explanation.
"I suppose it does.", Boruto thought to himself and pried no further.
Some minutes passed and everyone continued eating their lunch over light hearted conversation. Kakashi was enjoying himself quite a bit but eventually he decided it was time to figure out what the invitation was all about.
"So Naruto, What's going on? Why aren't you at work?", he asked. With that question, the light mood suddenly faded. Naruto sighed, reluctant to ask anything of Kakashi but he knew he had no other choice.
"I suppose you've already figured it out, huh Kakashi-sensei?", he said with a sad tone.
"I could take a guess or two.", Kakashi replied with an expressionless face.
Naruto remained silent. When it came to it, he couldn't bring himself to ask anything after all. He began shaking in frustration and soon that frustration turned to anger. Kakashi looked at him intently. Finally, after a long pause, Naruto broke the silence and said, "What do i do, Kakashi-sensei? ... I can't stand the sight of that desk anymore!". He slammed a hand on the table, shaking the bowls. "I became hokage so i could be around everyone but instead I'm holed up all day like some sort of criminal!", Anger, frustration, and desperation were appearant in his voice. Himawari and Boruto froze and just stared at Naruto, shocked to see for the first time how much he resented his job. The weight of guilt suddenly fell on Boruto especially, who had given his father so much grief over something he had no control on. Hinata looked at both Naruto and the kids with concerned eyes. She was afraid this happy event was about to be ruined.
"I'm sorry", Naruto said as he hugged Himawari and lowered his voice, tears of regret circling in his eyes.
"Naruto-", Kakashi tried to say something but before he could, Naruto interrupted him, "You want to tell me this is my duty? That everyone is relying on me to do it? Well to hell with it! When did i become a paper pusher?!", Naruto said as he stood up and decided to go outside to get some fresh air and cool down. He picked up his hokage mantle which he had hung on the wall. "I'm sorry.", He said and left the house. "Leave him to me.", Kakashi said and went after him.
"Naruto!", Kakashi called out. Naruto was sitting on the porch, holding the mantle in his hand, reading the inscription behind. "Lord seventh... Like hell! More like deskman seventh!", he shouted as he threw it away. The wind carried it and it landed a few meters away. Kakashi stood next to him but said nothing. Remembering the effort Sarada and Sakura put into cleaning it for him, Naruto felt guilty ruining it again so he got up and retrieved it before sitting down on the porch again. "Damn it all.", He mumbled under his breath. Silence took over again. With a gust of wind, the sound of the rustling of leaves could be heard.
"Do you really regret becoming hokage?", Kakashi asked after a long pause, not knowing the answer to his question himself.
Naruto contemplated that question for what felt like an eternity. "No...", he eventually replied. "...But If this is what a Hokage is, then i will change it."
"You'll have to speak with the daimyo but i doubt he will listen.", Kakashi sighed. "It's easier to just accept it for what it is."
"I'll make him listen. In fact, I'll go there right now!", Naruto said with determination as he stood and donned his mantle.
Kakashi sighed. "Naruto you can't just show up at the capital and demand an audience. You'll only make things worse. Ask for-", Kakashi tried to explain but before he could finish, Naruto, who wasn't hearing a word of it, turned and said with a smile, "Watch over things for me here, Kakashi-sensei. I won't be long."
"You're not going to lis-" Again, before he could finish, Naruto cloaked himself with his golden chakra. "Tell everyone I'll be back soon.", Naruto smiled over his shoulder at Kakashi and in an instant disappeared with a flash of golden light.
-III-