Do you really think that I own Naruto? I don't. I don't even want to.
There was no one awake as Naruto made his way through the streets of Konoha. It was early morning, even for the ninja, and the sun was barely rising as he passed all of the closed merchant stands. It made for a beautiful picture, however.
When he passed into the Hokage Tower, the main guards that were ever present at the entrance saluted him and he nodded his head in recognition before entering. It was only when he was halfway to the stairs that he noticed someone else had started walking at his side.
"Morning, Shikamaru." he smiled.
"Morning - but not a good one-"
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"How you can do this everyday is beyond me. You don't even look like you can make it up the stairs yourself. And you didn't even notice me approaching you."
He moved a hand up to get rid of the sleep in his eyes before turning.
"Eh, I don't really sleep much anyway. It takes me a few to wake up though. All of this is just robotic movement at the moment."
"Surely that doesn't set a good example for those who see you, Hokage-sama."
Naruto scoffed and looked away from the soft mischief in Shikamaru's eyes.
"No one's awake at this hour and if anyone understands my struggles, it's the ANBU. By the time most of the normal forces wake-up, I'm back into pristine leader mode. You should consider yourself honoured to see my - somewhat - bedface."
"Thank you for your generosity, oh great leader."
They both looked at each other and grinned, continuing up yet another flight of stairs.
"So, why'd you need me up so early? It's normally me reminding you of things to do."
"I'm gonna push some projects in the general meeting. I need someone to soundboard and help me work out the kinks so to say. You just so happen to be my willing little helper."
"I wouldn't say willing. You can't really refuse an order from the Hokage to see you."
"Exactly. That makes it willing in my books."
"I should start an uprising against this obvious tyrannical dictator."
Naruto snorted and shook his head.
"Shut up. We've got a couple of hours to ourselves and if I hear any more snark than I already have then I might just pull a Tsunade."
"In what way?"
"The Window Repair company hasn't been to the Hokage Tower in a while. I bet they could do with a boost in income."
Naruto could hear Shikamaru's mouth close.
"Ah."
Naruto smiled.
"Good boy. Now get to work."
\v/
When the general meeting was over, Sakura made a beeline for him.
"Naruto!" she called over the bustling crowd and he put a smile on his face, turning to meet her as she charged towards his desk.
"Sakura. What'd you need?"
"I was thinking. It's been a while since we've had a chat or you've been over. Do you wanna go out this evening or somewhen tomorrow? It'd be good for a small little update."
He looked away, not matching her eyes and instead studying Konoha.
"I'm sorry. Probably not. I'm really busy with all of these regeneration programmes and deterioration projects. Shikamaru already helped me overtime this morning and tomorrow it's gonna be even worse. Maybe some other time though, okay?"
Sakura's face scrunched up and she looked somewhat put out and surprised.
"Oh." she said. "Okay, that's fine. Are you okay with all this work?"
He frowned and looked at her over a wad of papers he was stacking.
"Yes, of course. What would be wrong with me?"
"Nothing!" she frowned in surprise. "I was just checking up on you, that's all."
She seemed to stare at him for a few more seconds, and he continued to stack papers on his desk from the meeting. Soon, everyone had left, and he looked up, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you sure you don't need anything else Sakura? I'd love to talk, but really, we both still have work left to do in the day."
She didn't respond, only blinking at him for a second more before sighing, dropping her shoulders.
"Kay. Just take care of yourself, and come say hello to me when you get the chance. See ya."
"In a bit Sakura."
She left quickly, her pink hair trailing behind her, and Naruto took in a deep breath, running a hand over his face and staring at his documents before breathing a heavy sigh, dropping his hands to his desk.
He looked to the clock. There were still around eight hours to go.
\v/
"Hokage-sama?"
Naruto looked up from his desk, keeping his eyelids up as much as he could and shaking off any of the tiredness he was feeling before.
Shizune was peeking her head through the door, a stack of papers tucked under her arm in one hand, and she was wearing a small frown of concern.
"It's getting quite late. Are you okay?"
He smiled tiredly and nodded his head. He'd kept Shizune as an assistant when he took over from Tsunade, knowing how experienced she was in dealing with extraordinary things. She hadn't failed him yet - though she was always vigilant when it came to matters such as these.
"All good, Shizune. Thanks. Just finishing up some last little bits of paperwork. You're free to go home when you want, it's quite late."
Contrary to what he had said, she opened the door some more, sticking her body through it and lowering the documents in one of her hands onto a spare table by the entrance.
"Are you sure? How many hours have you been working again today?"
His smile dimmed somewhat, but he met her eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
"Probably too much but there's a lot to be done right now Shizune. I'll be out not long after you. You should get home so you're rested - we've got to be up bright and early tomorrow."
There was a long silence and Naruto's smile dropped off his face. They only looked at each other, Shizune standing by the entrance with an expressionless face but slowly approaching and Naruto frowned.
"Shizune?"
"Will you let me do a quick scan on you? It's been a while since you've been to the hospital for a check-up. You said you were too busy to go to the scheduled one a couple weeks ago."
"That doesn't sound necessary right now," Naruto quickly replied. "Please, Shizune. I really don't have the time to spare. You'd be wasting your energy. I'll book it another time soon."
"It'll just take a second, Naruto. And it really doesn't take much energy at all-"
She was nearing the desk and Naruto flinched, suddenly becoming rigid. He didn't move from his spot and when Shizune came closer, his face became oddly blank.
"Shizune!" he let out shortly. "I said that I'm fine. Please, leave me alone. You're free to go."
She flinched backwards, eyes widening somewhat, and Naruto immediately realised his mistake and raised his hands, eyes suddenly switching to tired again, remorse puddling in his stomach.
"Sorry. Sorry." he apologised. "I'm just… I've had a very long day, Shizune. I'd appreciate it if you left me alone for the last couple of hours of work. Get some rest, you've earned it."
Shizune's face was unreadable, and hesitantly, she slowly took a few steps back.
"Okay…" she let out slowly.
She moved quickly, picking the folders she had left by the door back up and opening it silently, only stopping to look back into the room once she was halfway through.
Rather than seeing her out, Naruto was staring at his hands laid on the desk, his face unreadable and eyes distant - apart and thinking of something else.
"... make sure to go to bed soon. See you tomorrow."
He looked up, meeting her eyes and he nodded his head.
"Goodnight, Shizune."
The door shut with a soft click.
\v/
Contrary to the stark apparent differences, Konoha was very similar in the late nights as it was in the early mornings.
The main streets were as eerily silent and there were few people to be seen. There were more ninja, but they stuck to the shadows of the rooftops. Patrolling or going to unknown destinations - or perhaps going to the closest barracks for sleep.
Naruto didn't bother. The rooftops might have been faster but yet another similarity between the morning and the evening was the beauty of Konoha around him, and he liked to take it in with a slow walk.
Soon, though, he came to a stop before his house. A relatively small one bedroom separated hut - for lack of a better word - that was modern, yet in touch with nature, perfectly suited for its use.
He stopped at the pathway that separated it from the nearby houses, aided by the trees that went around the building in a circle, and breathed the night air in for a few seconds before clicking his fingers in a seemingly random pattern.
"Hokage-sama?"
Naruto turned to the kneeling ANBU behind him.
"Who visited?"
It was a small tell but he could feel the residue chakra in the air -and he deactivated the Sage Mode he had momentarily turned on to make sure of it before waiting for an answer from the ANBU.
"One person, Hokage-sama. Hinata Hyuga. They came for no apparent reason other than to chat. Once it was apparent that you were away and at work, they left. They didn't return."
He frowned.
"Would she not have known I was at work to begin with?"
He was always at the Hokage Tower during work hours. It was a job without any holiday.
"You had booked this day off a week prior for exactly this chat, Hokage-sama."
He blinked, eyes zoning out from the kneeling ANBU before him.
"Oh."
It was weird that he hadn't seen Hinata at the general meeting. She was a retired Shinobi now, but an important figure who maintained resident duties within the Hyuga. He had passed it off as a lapse in health, intending to follow-up on it at another date. He hadn't even stopped to figure if it had been something to do with him.
"Are you sure, Fox?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. You had begun making preparations for Shikamaru-san to replace you momentarily for the day whilst you took a rare day-long break."
"What happened?"
The ANBU took a few seconds to reply and Naruto felt as if they were nervously reluctant.
"You stopped the plans a few days ago when you were looking at the scheduled general meeting, Hokage-sama. It appears as if you became distracted by the work involved and… forgot that you had begun to assign someone else to do it for you."
He stared through the ANBU, and in the white porcelain of the mask, he saw a very brief reflection of himself. He was surprised by just how tired he looked.
"Oh." he said again.
For a few moments he was at a loss for words. After a couple of seconds, he refocused back onto the ANBU, meeting their gaze through the mask's eye holes.
"I… I apologise, Fox. It seems I was momentarily confused. Thank you for reminding me. You're free to go, now. I'll be able to manage the security of my house alone for tonight."
Naruto could almost see the ANBU frown under their mask.
"Hokage-sama?"
"Don't worry. I'll set up some seals. You've been on a long shift and you deserve a break."
The ANBU looked uneasy still, and Naruto could tell that no amount of reassuring would change that. He met Fox's eyes one more time and turned back to the entrance of his house, opening the small gate to the pathway.
"Dismissed, Fox."
They had no choice but to bow their head.
"Hokage-sama."
Naruto didn't hear them leave. Instead, he went inside his house, locking the door and activating the defensive seals as he had promised to the ANBU. After a short shower, he turned the lights off and went to his bedroom. There was no time to eat - he'd wait for breakfast the following morning.
Stripping to put on some shorts and a spare shirt, he stopped and looked at himself in the large mirror that served as the entrance to his walk-in closet.
His eyes were unnaturally empty, and had bags underneath them, and despite how fit and healthy he generally was - on top of the innate boosts that he got from the black swirl that still wound around his stomach, he noticed that he was somewhat skinnier than normal.
He blinked, looking into his own cerulean eyes for a few more seconds, dimmed by the darkness, before crawling into his bed and taking a soft sigh.
It was a couple more hours before he fell asleep - restless as always but motionless and staring at the ceiling. And when he finally drifted, it was only only a couple short hours before he had to wake again, repeating the process.
You may have noticed that this one shot heavily resembles 'The Truth', which is one of the one shots that I have released that is not in 'Sinking in a Well'. I'll admit, the beginning of this was originally an attempt at a rewrite, but it transformed from the original purpose of 'The Truth' - and while incredibly similar, holds a different meaning and core message to what I wrote before.
Aside from that small tidbit, there isn't really much to say. I'm proud of this one.
Good night,
- Luerio