Naruto sat at his desk, staring absent-mindedly at the door. A large stack of paperwork sat to the left of him, begging for various stamps and signatures of approval. Every couple of minutes, his computer would let out a small ding, notifying him of another email yet to be read. He continued to stare at the door when Shikamaru stepped hastily inside.
"Naruto, have you read over that treaty from the Land of Tea?"
"Hello, Shikamaru. How are you this afternoon?"
"I'll take that as a 'no', then."
"You would be correct."
Shikamaru let out an irritated sigh. For the past couple of weeks he noticed he had an increasingly difficult time motivating Naruto to do his work. Not as if Naruto had a whole lot of motivation to begin with. "Naruto, I know this isn't exactly exciting, but you're the Hokage. Like it or not, this is the job, and as your advisor—"
"Shikamaru, can I talk to you?"
"About the treaty? Because it's pretty simple, you—"
"Not as an advisor, but as a friend."
He let out a bated chuckle. "So, we're friends now?"
"I'm serious."
Shikamaru sighed and expectantly muttered, "What a drag," under his breath as he plopped down on the edge of his desk. The last thing he needed was Naruto's personal problems looming in the air in addition to his work. "What is it?"
"I'm having a bit of a dilemma."
"Of what nature?"
"You're probably not going to like this."
"Naruto, it's you. How bad can it possibly be?"
Naruto leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. Squinting an eye in thought as he bounced his legs, he briefly doubted whether or not to continue with the conversation; he hadn't thought that hard on whether or not it truly was a good idea to include even his closest confidant in such a sensitive matter. But he'd already begun. No turning back now. He was pulled out of his thought by Shikamaru barking, "Well, out with it. I don't have all day, y'know." Naruto sighed reluctantly. "I think I want to ask Hinata for a divorce." Shikamaru groaned, muttering, "Oh god," under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of all the things! Knowing Naruto, he hoped it would be something insignificant and found he would have no such luck. "Why?"
"I just don't think Hinata and I are right for each other. We're just so…different."
"You're figuring this out now?"
"Well, I mean I've always known we were different. In the beginning it was kind of cute the way she would stammer and blush and go along with what I wanted. But now…" Naruto stopped for a moment, resting his chin in his hand. As he looked out the window, he thought of all the years he's spent with Hinata. Although relatively stable yet uneventful, they were filled with a sort of calm nostalgia. It shocked him to think how long his feelings laid dormant; he had been, or thought he had been, happy with Hinata for years, as her serene presence and motherly nurturing helped to smooth the more boisterous parts of his personality. He exhaled heavily before returning to his thought.
"Now it's just tiring. It's almost as if she just…projects what she thinks I want her to be. I never know whether she's really happy, not like she would tell me if she wasn't. As stupid as it sounds, I almost wish she would disagree with me just for the sake of fighting."
"That's who she is, Naruto. That's who she's always been. You can't change her."
"I know that. I don't want to change her."
"Everyone wanted you two together, so what's the problem now?"
"I think that's the thing, Shikamaru!" Naruto groaned, exasperated. "Everyone else wanted us together."
Shikamaru continued to stare at him, dead-eyed with exhaustion, and offering none of the hopeful and supportive advice Naruto had deluded himself into thinking he would give him. "Hinata is incredibly kind, and I've always liked her…but we're not right for each other. I think somewhere deep down in my heart I've known that, but…I've been so damn caught up in my feelings. I don't know." Naruto dropped his head from his hands onto his desk with a loud thud, causing the lighter contents of his desk to shake in their place. Arms sprawled haphazardly across his neck, he let out a pained moan. Shikamaru looked on disapprovingly. It was evident that this wouldn't resolve itself, no matter how much he wanted it to. He was never one for confrontation; it was too much effort. Naruto wasn't usually the one to lack the confidence needed to make difficult decisions. But divorce was a whole other matter. He shifted on the edge of the desk and sighed.
"If I were you, I wouldn't do it."
Without lifting his head Naruto lazily waved his hand as he muttered into the desk. "I've really thought this through Shikamaru, and I really don't know if I can—"
"Look, Naruto," Shikamaru growled. "Do you think I always love Temari?"
"…Do you not?"
"Of course I don't."
"Wha…Then what's the purpose of even being married?!"
"Because love isn't always immediate, Naruto. Temari is brash and naggy and scary with a hell of a temper. But we come down from that. I realize I love her. I realize it's just a rough patch. And I realize she can also be gentle and loving and kind. That's all this is. Just a rough patch."
Naruto anxiously tapped his fingers against the desk, staring absentmindedly past Shikamaru. His mind focused relentlessly on that string of words—just a rough patch—until the sounds blended together and lost their meaning, muddled into one droning, jumbled mess. He looked up to his friend with tired, uncertain eyes.
"Don't ask Hinata for a divorce."
Maybe he was right. Maybe it was just a rough patch. Maybe he did really love her. But the nervousness in his heart pounded too loud to ignore. If he ignored it for this long, could he not just continue to do so? After all they were a picturesque family: beautiful couple, beautiful house, beautiful children. It would be a shame to throw that away on a whim.
"Plus, I don't think it would go over too well with the council. You're the Hokage, for heaven's sake. How well do you think the village would respond if their role model suddenly and without warning divorced his wife? With whom he has two small children, mind you."
Shikamaru looked on as Naruto looked almost disappointed at his advice.
"I don't want to reconcile with being miserable, Shikamaru,"
"It's just a rough patch. That's all it is."
The two men sat together quietly, each waiting for the other to say something. It took Shikamaru sliding off the edge of the desk and smoothing the creases in his clothes. Each step of his feet reverberated in the office as he made his way to the door, resting his hand on the knob as he looked lazily over his shoulder.
"Now, I don't want to discuss this anymore. I'm going to go grab lunch. When I come back in an hour that treaty had better be read and signed."
Naruto nodded in acknowledgment as Shikamaru exited through the door. Encapsulated by the lonely silence of his office, he pulled himself up straight at his desk as her searched for the treaty. It had taken him days to read more than a paragraph of provisions, but now as his mind raced, he was unable to absorb the gist of even one sentence. Though he read and re-read, his brain refused to process anything else in an attempt to dull his confusion. Just a rough patch. Just a rough patch. Just a rough patch.
