Note: Judai's side of backstory, and another drabble thingie.
Sparkle 3: Get Me
"Excuse my language, Hokage-sama, but WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
Judai could have laughed in that moment alone if not for the shock rolling through his system. The nearby ANBU too were frozen. Then again, it wasn't every day that your civilian best friend-slash-crush was actively chewing out the strongest ninja in the village like he was a child.
"I'd get it if you're running low on available ninja. I'd get it. But not this. Not. This. I can't let this go on." Hikari pointed an angry finger in the Third's direction, and Judai couldn't help but gape at her. "Judai's been serving you for long enough. You can't just ask him for more when he's already done more than enough."
"Hikari—"
"DON'T JUST 'HIKARI' ME, HOKAGE-SAMA." Hikari took a breath. "Judai has suffered long enough, you can't just ask him to sacrifice the rest of his entire life to the war when you couldn't even save his friends."
Judai tried not to freeze this time.
"If you think that ninja should just be killing machines for the rest of their lives, you're wrong, Hokage-sama. I'll take whatever punishment you can dole out. Just let Judai go. He's fought enough. You've made him suffer enough."
The Third didn't even protest when Hikari grabbed Judai's hand to head out the door.
It was the first time since Johan's death that Judai felt so light.