"It's okay, Shizune. They only have you. You have to be strong. Everything will be fine."
The woman had been encouraging herself 5 minutes ago, sitting on a closed toilet in the bathroom of her apartment with a small long object in her hand. Shizune had closed her eyes, caught her breath and held back the tears that were ready to overflow at any moment.
With one last heavy breath, she finally opened her eyes, a brief trickle dripping from her eyelids.
Shizune tidied up the 5 pregnancy tests that showed two red lines and put them in her bag as soon as she left the bathroom.
When she was completely tidy, she left her apartment and hurried to the office. The distance wasn't too far as she had chosen a place that was strategic enough to reach the Hokage building and the hospital—two different places for her to pursue her career.
It was already 8 in the morning and she walked a little fast so as not to be late.
When she arrived, she checked in as usual with a device that recorded her fingerprints, then checked the schedule and documents in the assistant's room, and finally went to meet her boss.
"Here are the documents on the trade agreement with Sunagakure, then the military cooperation with Tetsu no Kuni, and the latest research report from the Konoha Research and Technology Department." Shizune placed the stack of documents on the desk of the Rokudaime Hokage—which was already full of other documents and monitors—one by one.
"Kakashi- sama?" Shizune called to him when she noticed that her boss was 'not there'. Only then did Hatake return fully to Kakashi.
"Yes? Oh-yes, thank you, Shizune." Hatake replied confusedly without having time to protest against the honorific at the end of his name.
Shizune frowned. "Is something bothering you?"
"Hm? No, nothing. Don't worry," Kakashi moved from Shizune's pair of irises to her stomach. A moment, just a moment, before he returned to Shizune's eyes. "What about you?"
Shizune opened her mouth, but closed it in less than 2 seconds. She wanted to say something, but it didn't feel like the right time, not in this place. So she just answered, "I-I'm fine."
The man sitting in front of her let out an exasperated sigh and threw his back roughly against the head of the chair.
"Who are you having dinner with today?" Kakashi asked.
Shizune checked his schedule to double check, even though she had already remembered. "You're not eating with anyone today. The Council of Elders changed their schedule because they were sick..."
"I mean you." Kakashi interrupted.
"Sorry?"
"Who will you have lunch with today? Where? What are you going to eat?"
The woman with the short black hair thought for a moment before deciding. "Um, alone...? I'm in the hospital this afternoon, so I'll go to a curry restaurant, takeaway, and just eat there."
"No, let's just eat at the restaurant. I'll come with you."
Shizune raised both eyebrows. "Eh? Ah, yes, all right."
"And..." the man trailed off. "It's not that I forbid you, but in my opinion, you should reduce your work at the hospital."
"Is there a problem? Shikamaru asked for leave again?" Shizune asked with a worried look on her face.
Her Hokage shook his head. "No, it's not that. Sakura is back from her leave, so I think at least you don't have to overwork yourself. It's not good for you and the ba—ah, no, don't think about it. Sorry, forget it." The man was really confusing.
Kakashi ignored Shizune. His eyes went to the document in his hand. He tried not to make eye contact with the woman standing in front of him.
"You can come back, Shizune. And... I've set up a couch in this room if you need it."
Unintentionally, Shizune bit her lower lip and squeezed the hem of her kimono. She felt her boss's attitude changing lately, or rather after the night she didn't remember at all. Shizune didn't know how to behave and react to him, especially after the fact that she was pregnant with his baby by 5 test packs.
"Alright. I'll excuse myself."