Chapter 4:

An Endangered Dream

In hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised him to be summoned to Tsunade's presence. It had taken only three days for the whole of Konoha and part of Suna to find out about Sasuke's confession. Of course, the former Hokage would know, and of course, she would have something to say about the matter, even if Sasuke had not asked for her opinion. And he could have ignored the call, but the ANBU who had transmitted the message weren't inclined to allow him to do so, and Sasuke wouldn't have been able to get away without starting a fight.

He followed the masked shinobi in silence, resigned to listen to whatever it was the woman had to say. He hated the fact that he would have to explain himself to yet another person who was not Naruto. His talk with Sakura had been needed, he had accepted it had been good for him, had lifted a weight from his shoulders to make things clear with her, but he was reaching his limit of invasions to his private life.

He glared at the ANBU for a second when they stopped in front of a bar, then remembered who had summoned him and hurried to get into the establishment. The place was empty, except for the blonde woman sitting at the back, emptying what looked like her third bottle of sake and surrounded by another two dozen.

"Tsunade-sama," the three ANBU greeted in unison as they set a knee on the floor, while Sasuke stood awkwardly behind them.

"Tch, took you long enough," Tsunade placed the bottle on the table and waved her hand at her guards, "leave us."

"Tsunade-sama, it is not safe-" the leader, the one with a boar mask started.

"Please," she snorted, "if he decided to kill me, you wouldn't be able to stop him anyway."

"But-"

"You are dismissed." Something in her tone of voice convinced the ANBU this time and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Once they were gone, Tsunade focused her stare on him, and the silence in the room became almost palpable. Sasuke had never been alone with her before, they had never held a conversation, and as far as he remembered their only direct interaction had been when she had healed him from Itachi's Tsukuyomi. But Sasuke didn't need to be close to her to understand what lied behind her eyes. She was wary of him, and even if she didn't hate him, which wouldn't surprise him given the history between the Uchiha and the Senju, she would very much prefer to keep him in a cell.

"If this is about Sakura-"

"Please," she snorted, informing him of how wrong he was. "Sakura can take care of her own business," she said, smiling proudly. "I think your face is proof enough."

Sasuke barely managed to stop himself from widening his eyes. He hadn't seen the point in having something as small as a bruise healed, but had used a partial henge to avoid raising questions. Had she realised just by looking at him or had Sakura told her teacher something?

"Then what is this about?"

Tsunade rested her chin on one hand and reached with the other for her sake. "This is about the brat, obviously."

"I think Naruto can take care of his own business."

"I disagree." Tsunade's eyes hardened. "The brat might be the strongest shinobi alive, but that doesn't make him any less naive. He's too kind-hearted for his own good."

Sasuke tensed at the implications of her words. He would not deny his past mistakes, nor would he feel offended because people didn't trust him. But of what they still deemed him capable of doing, hurting Naruto, in such a way, was completely out of the realm of possibility.

"I would not-" he didn't know how to finish. "I am completely serious about this."

"And I'm not questioning your feelings, Uchiha."

That left Sasuke out of words. The woman was saying she believed he wasn't lying. If that was the case, however, Sasuke was starting to worry about the true motive of their conversation.

Tsunade must have sensed his confusion because she directed him an indulging stare before continuing: "The next couple of years will be decisive for the brat's career. Everything he does during that time will determine whether he will become Hokage or not."

Sasuke actually rolled his eyes at that. "I already had this conversation. Shikamaru told me about the villagers' reaction and I assured him I would be careful not to damage their relationship with the dobe."

The older woman stared at him with something akin to pity, which made Sasuke swallow in anticipation.

"I'm afraid it is more complicated than that, Uchiha." She stopped as if to consider her next words. "Naruto will need the recognition and acceptance of civilians and shinobi to become Hokage but that's not all there is behind it." Tsunade shifted her eyes from Sasuke to the bottle of sake in front of her. "The villagers are not happy with you, but as soon as they understand how important you are for the brat, they will come to terms with it. The real problem is-"

"The Council," Sasuke said bitterly.

"The Council and the Daimyo," Tsunade agreed. "They like what Naruto represents, the faith the people and other villages have in him." Tsunade took a new bottle of sake, started fiddling with it. "They also fear the influence you have on him, never mind it was chasing after you that brought him this far."

"What I told him is-" Sasuke's mouth had gone dry. Something as wicked as that had never crossed his mind. "I don't have ulterior motives," he said, staring at the wooden walls.

"Brat," Tsunade's tone sounded almost sad, "you should know better than anyone that what matters to them is what they believe."

Sasuke shivered. "They won't let him become Hokage if I'm close."

"Not that he would mind, though, if that were to keep you in Konoha during more than a week."

Sasuke observed the woman, trying to determine whether she was already drunk. He doubted Naruto would renounce to his life's dream when it was just a step away from him just because he wanted Sasuke to stay in Konoha. That would make no sense. That would be stupid. That would be... exactly the kind of thing Naruto always did.

Sasuke sat down mechanically. Tsunade took the chance to slide another bottle of sake across the table, towards Sasuke. He took it, tentatively at first, then drank it in one go.

"He has to become Hokage," Sasuke said in a whisper. The dobe was the only one he could trust to make a change in the shinobi world.

Tsunade nodded and passed him another bottle from her apparently infinite stock, raising her own. "For the brat."

Sasuke raised his bottle in reply and drank. He swore the lump in his throat was due to the strong alcohol and not the decision he had just made.