DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own.
Thinking
Emphasis
Biju, etc. speaking
Biju, etc. thinking
The Hokage sat at his desk, pouring over the paperwork that he had been doing for hours on end. He looked up to check the time after signing his name on yet another page and groaned. He couldn't believe how long he'd been at it - and aside from the time he spent with Naru - he'd been going through this crap for more than 24 hours easily. He was making real progress, though, and it wasn't like this was the first time he'd gone through these long periods of doing paperwork without sleep since being put in this awful position.
Kami, I'm tired. He was lonely, too. Now that Kakashi considered that more it seemed a little ridiculous, with Naru just down the hallway tucked asleep in bed. I wonder how much longer she'll sleep. More than anything, he just wanted to go down the hall and climb in beside her and hold her.
He missed her, which he told himself was stupid. Is it though? It's taken this long to show me just how lonely I was before. He'd become attached to her so quickly, and he knew he was in love with her. Of course, Kakashi had felt that way about Naruto, too, he thought, but it was different now. Maybe it was simply because she was at least somewhat aware of his feelings, that they played around openly, or just that he wasn't actively hiding how he felt about Naru anymore. Whatever the reason, he only felt increasingly more strongly about the woman down the hall.
Did it make sense that he wanted to keep her by his side forever, no matter what? It had to be a normal feeling! After what happened to Naruto? After what happened to so many of his friends and comrades? It was the only thing he could do, the only way he could feel.
At last, he'd finished his paperwork. Sure there were a few treaties and such he could go through, but he really needed some sleep before he tackled reading the fine print on those. Just as he tucked the last bunch of papers he'd finished into a neat pile, his door opened so hard it put a hole in the wall. "Shikamaru?"
"Lord Hokage. I - I need Neji, Shino, Lee, Kiba, Sai, and Yamato - and I'll need Choji, too, once he's up and around." The Nara looked frantic.
So this is what he looks like with his hair down, ne? Everyone's always wondering.
"I also need to send this to Lord Gaara - and I need it to get there in the fastest way possible. Summoning, bird - anything," Shikamaru continued.
Summoning to a foreign Kage? Is Shikamaru drunk? Actually he kind of looked more than a little off. "What's this all about? And why do you need my ANBU?" Kakashi asked, frowning at the harried man at his door. Damn! He'd been so close to getting out of the freaking office and getting some sleep!
Shikamaru stepped forward and placed a neatly folded piece of paper on the Kage's desk. Kakashi looked up at him questioningly. He could smell the sake coming off of the younger man, and also saw the wild look in his eye. What the hell has gotten into him? Kakashi continued frowning at the Nara and unfolded the paper. His eyes grew wide with shock at the discovery the Nara had made.
Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuuck. Not good, not good! Shikamaru Nara was probably Naruto's best friend, and ridiculously protective of him. Kakashi paled and hadn't realized that he had started sputtering.
"You knew?" Those two quiet words, voiced dangerously low, meant shit was about to hit the fan. Naras may be lazy, but if they get pissed: watch out!
Shadowy mother fuckers. What was Kakashi supposed to say? If he lied to him, he'd know! He'd end up in a shadow strangulation jutsu so fast… Glaring, Kakashi prepared for an attack - from each of them.
Naru woke up wishing that she could just continue sleeping. She'd had the weirdest dream, although it didn't seem like a normal dream. Images, voices, numbers... pages with writing on them, and so much more had seemed to flash in front of her waking eyes, although she must have still been asleep. It had been frightening, really - some of it downright terrifying. Now that she was fully awake and concentrated on getting her heartbeat under control, she realized that she couldn't really remember anything anymore. For some reason, the recognition that she couldn't remember brought tears to her eyes.
What was I so upset about?
The one thing that Naru knew would make her feel better would be checking on Kakashi-sama. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sleeping, but it had to have been a while. Physically, she felt much better - and that usually meant she'd slept quite a bit.
That man had better taken my advice and gotten some sleep! He was going to get sick or fall over or something if he didn't!
She thought of that soft kiss Kakashi had given her. Smiling, she pressed her fingers to her lips again. Yes, she wanted to see him, even though it would be better for his health if he were asleep now. She'd just take a peek to check. Walking down the hall she heard voices, so she thought she'd get him his coffee. But then she realized it had been yelling that she was hearing.
"You knew! You - of all people - knew that Naruto had a sister and didn't tell anyone!"
"Keep your damn voice down, Shikamaru," growled the Hokage.
"Oh fuck you, Hokage-sama!" Shikamaru yelled. "Do you have any idea of how stupid it was for you to keep this from me?! WE. OWE. NARUTO. EVERYTHING! What the fuck's wrong with you?! We owe him everything, Kakashi! We could have been looking for this sister of his for MONTHS! The last of his bloodline! The last fucking Uzumaki on earth! And what have you been fucking doing? Sitting on your ass or dating half the village!"
Shikamaru was on a roll! Kakashi couldn't get a word in edgewise, but he was about to come unglued at that last comment.
"Do you have any idea of how long it could take to find her now? What condition she could be in? Because if you fucking don't, I'm going to start running around this village and every other one screaming, 'NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS A SISTER!' and you'll have a fucking rebellion on your hands, asshole!"
The Hokage rose up from his desk, looking absolutely murderous, Sharingan blazing underneath his headband. He understood that Shikamaru Nara did not understand what was going on: fine. But if that asshat wanted to betray the peace of this village - no this world… The peace Naruto - hell, all of them had fought so hard for - he'd lay the little bastard out. So that's what he decided to do.
The Hatake was snarling like a rabid animal, watching as Shikamaru was standing there panting and glaring after his screaming rant, his fists clenched. If this fucking stripling was going to threaten him, Naru, and his village, Shikamaru was going down! Gods, he was pissed! Just as he was about to either pounce or let out a string of curses at the kid - his body was trying to do both and holding him still for a second, assessing the situation - someone was at the door. Great, if the ANBU knows, or think they know that…
But it wasn't an ANBU. No, it was Naru poking her head through the door, looking wary and absolutely adorable. Her hair was tousled from being in bed, and boy did she look beautiful in just his long sleeve shirt. All Kakashi could see and think of was her, as he drank in her delicious appearance greedily, the stress melting right off him. That all came to an end when he was socked in the gut by Shikamaru Nara, who then jumped over his desk towards his door.
As Kakashi furiously looked up, trying to breathe from his spot on the floor, he watched the woman he loves peek her head back into the room again as that damn Nara grabbed her into his arms, glared at him, and sunshinned them both away.
