Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Losing Naruto ❯ Asking the Hokage for help ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

It was a terrible morning in Konoha, and the Godaime couldn‘t relax for a moment. She had just gotten back from making the official announcement about the Rokudaime, and was thoroughly exhausted. Most people took it well, with the exception of a few disgruntled villagers, which didn’t worry Tsunade. She had a sneaky feeling that the blonde haired runt could grow on anyone, given enough time.

The reason she was tired, was because she hadn’t gotten hardly any sleep the night before. All in all, the party wasn’t that big of a disaster. Tsunade knew it could have been worse, considering the dangerous amount of hormones that were in one house for an extended period of time. What bothered her though, was that it wasn’t just any house.

It was my house!

Damn disrespectful brats, all of them!

Tsunade noticed she was becoming rather disgruntled this morning, but couldn’t help it. After kicking all the kids out, she had been forced to handle clean-up herself. Which was a nightmare. Of course, she did have Gai and Iruka helping her out, which she appreciated. That is, until Gai started admiring the youthfulness of a trashed house, and Iruka started scolding him like a teacher.

Of course, they were also kicked out.

She sighed, letting her head fall on the desk with a small ‘thud’. Her hands were laying across the desk, on either side of her head. She vaguely wondered if it was even morning anymore, since her office was a bit bright for morning sun-rays. She exhaled slowly as her face was warmed considerably by the sunlit desk she was resting it upon.

This morning just wasn’t getting any better.

And to make matters worse…

The Hokage lifted her head slightly to glare at the mountains of paperwork on top of her desk, wishing it would all just disappear. It sometimes wasn’t fair.

I must have the worst luck in the world.

As if on cue, a loud ringing voice echoed through the hallway outside Tsunade’s office.

“TSUNADE-BABA!!!”

“Geez…w hat perfect timing.” Tsunade mumbled amidst the mountains of paperwork on her desk. She didn’t have the strength, the will, or the patience to deal with that right now. Yet, as much as she didn’t want to let the annoying little brat in, she knew she didn’t have much of a choice. Naruto wouldn’t just leave, and it’s better to get it over with.

“LET ME IN, GRANNY!!” Tsunade heard a small scuffling noise beyond the door, and then a muffled yell, finally Naruto’s voice rang through the halls once again.

“Hey! get your hands off me, HEY! You know who you’re dealin’ with?! I’m the future Hokage, so unless you wanna get your ass kicked off ANBU and get D rank missions for the rest of your life, I suggest you-”

“NARUTO! Get in here, now!”

Another scuffling noise, then she heard something bang against the door. After a moment, Naruto walked in, looking smug as ever. The two ANBU who were guarding the door were glaring at his back. Tsunade stood from her chair, walked to the door, pulled Naruto in and slammed it loudly.

“Heh, we showed them, huh?”

Tsunade sighed, closing her eyes in exasperation. “Listen, runt! You can’t go abusing your powers before you even have them. Being the Hokage is a lot of responsibility, you have to know weather or not the decisions you make are for-”

“That reminds me!!” Naruto cut in, losing his smug expression in favor of a determined one.

A pale eyebrow twitched.

“HEY!” She smacked him over the head. “Don’t interrupt!”

Naruto pouted, rubbing the red bump on his head where Tsunade hit him. He mumbled under his breath for a second, before crossing his arms and glaring at the Hokage.

“I gotta ask you for a favor!”

Tsunade blinked a few times, staring at the blonde in shock.

“A favor?” She asked in disbelief, watching him closely.

“Yeah! Umm…look, the thing is…I wanted you to…”

“Just get to the point.” She sighed, crossing her arms and staring at him with a bored expression.

“Ok,” a short pause. “I want you to cancel the order for Sakura to go to Suna, and I want you to do it now!”

She watched him.

Silence.

A full minute went by.

“Excuse me?”

“Argh! I SAID I want you to-”

“I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!”

Naruto winced at the sheer magnitude of her booming voice, watching the windows in her office rattle dangerously.

“What I want to know is, who the hell you think you are, telling ME what to do! It sounded like an order, not a favor! Now explain yourself! And make it quick!” Tsunade took a deep calming breath, watching the boy in front of her shake just a bit in fear.

Well...good to know I still have a little control over him.

“Ehh…alright, just listen. Please?” Tsunade was shocked to hear the somber tone in his voice. He was very seldom serious, and he sounded like he had a lot on his mind.

Well, guess it couldn’t hurt. Damn…

I have a feeling I’m gonna need sake after this.

“Alright kid, you’ve got my attention.” She inwardly smiled when his face brightened. “Come on.” She motioned for him to sit in the chair in front of her large desk, which he frowned at.

“Hey granny…I’m the next Hokage so I might as well practice sitting in MY chair, eh?”

He took one look at her glare, and quickly sat down in the smaller chair she had offered him.

“Yeah, yeah…” Naruto trailed off, mumbling under his breath.

“What was that?!” She growled, curling her hand into a tight fist, and raising it over his head slowly.

“Eh! Oh, um, nothing. Nothing at all, heh” He answered quickly, making an innocent face that just didn’t look right on the blonde.

Tsunade grunted, and sat down in the chair opposite him. She watched him for a moment, waiting for him to speak. And for another moment. And another. Finally, she cleared her throat, and watched him snap out of his thoughts.

“Oh right, listen, Tsunade-baba! You can’t let Sakura go to Suna, she - well, she belongs here, with us! She’s a Konoha shinobi!”

“I know how you feel,” She sighed, putting her elbow on the table, and resting her chin in her palm.

“You…do?” He asked in disbelief, brows furrowing in confusion.

“Of course! I don’t want to lose Sakura either, she’s one of the best medic-nin we have here. But Suna is in need of someone with Sakura’s experience, and we need to honor the peace treaty we made.”

“Forget that!” Naruto yelled, standing up from his chair. Tsunade’s eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter! Sakura is my friend, and I’ll be damned if I lose her over some political crap! Don‘t you even care about her? She was your student!”

“ENOUGH!“ She yelled, making the blonde before her stiffen slightly.

“Sit. Down. Now.” The Hokage ground out, both hands now laying flat on the desk. She waited a few moments for him to calm down, watched him reluctantly take his seat, then continued.

“Can I ask you a question?” She asked calmly, betraying the rising frustration she was feeling at the moment.

“What is it?”

“Do you know what it means to be Hokage?”

“What?” He asked incredulously.

“Answer the question!”

He winced, and gulped slowly before answering.

“It means…” He exhaled slowly, then continued. “It means that you protect the village at all costs. You give your life in order to make sure those in the village are safe. You sacrifice anything and everything for the good of the people.”

“Yes, good. Now listen very closely.” Her voice was dangerously low. Tsunade hoped to make him understand.

“When you are Hokage, you will have to do things you may not want to do, but you have to - for the sake of your village. Now, the Sand, as you know, is a extremely powerful ally. By sending Sakura, we are strengthening those bonds. Understand?”

Naruto frowned, slumping in his chair.

“Furthermore, this puts them in our debt. If we need a favor in the future, it wouldn’t be easy for them to say no. As the future Hokage, you need to understand these things!” She winced when she saw him tense at the severity of her tone. But it couldn’t helped.

He needs to learn these things.

She was about to continue, when she saw his head slowly rise. She watched him for a moment. When she saw the look on his face, she was shocked to see sadness, confusion, and a little bit of anger mixed on his features.

Was I that hard on the kid? Geez…

“Could you…please stop?” He asked weakly, further shocking Tsunade. “This…I don’t need a lesson right now, granny. I know this is gonna make you mad, and you can yell at me and hit me, I don’t really care,”

Tsunade continued to watch him, his eyes were on the desk, not making eye contact. She noticed his hands shaking, desperately clutching the arms of the chair. Her brows furrowed when she saw his fingers turning white under the pressure. The rest of his body was completely still.

“But right now,” He began, his voice rising with an unmistakable hint of determination. “I could care less about being the damn Hokage!”

His voice almost broke. Tsunade held in a gasp, watching him closely.

“Alliances, villages, people…none of it really matters right now! If-if she leaves, I don’t know what I’ll do.” Naruto laughed mirthlessly, closing his eyes for a moment. “Can you believe it, Tsunade-baba? After all my life, dreaming of being the Hokage, and now - it just doesn’t seem that important. All that matters to me right now is getting her to stay. Crazy, huh?”

He finally looked her in the eyes, smiling sadly, and she continued to watch him from the other side of the desk. She could see the raw emotion in his eyes, those blue, almost watery orbs watched her closely. As if searching for an answer she couldn’t give. They shared a few moments of silence, sitting in the large, sunlit room. Particles of dust were visible in the rays of light that shone through the parted curtains.

Nobody moved.

Nothing was said.

After a few minutes passed, Tsunade decided to break the silence. At that point it was almost suffocating.

“Brat…Sakura is old enough to make her own decisions,” She raised a hand when he began to interrupt, and watched him close his mouth reluctantly. “And as much as we don’t agree with it, it’s not our place to tell her what to do. I‘m sorry, but there is nothing I can do.”

A moment.

“I - I understand.”

He…what?

She watched him, and could swear she saw his spirit break in that moment. As much as he got on her nerves, she had come to care for him deeply. That energy, the positive attitude, his perpetual smile. She came to expect that loud, excited behavior from him. The broken boy before her was something she wasn’t sure she wanted to witness.

Since when did he give up?

I really shouldn’t do this…

Damnit.

The kid really has softened me.

Decision made, she sighed deeply, watching him for another moment before standing up from her chair, and walking over to him. She rested a hand on his shoulder, and watched him stiffen slightly, before relaxing. She brought his chin up in her hand, forcing him to make eye contact.

“For whatever reason, I’ve decided to give you a chance.” His expression brightened, a small smile crept onto his face. “I’m not taking the order back, so don’t get ahead of yourself!”

He pouted.

“Then…how are you planning on helping me?” He asked timidly, finally standing up to watch her curiously.

“Sakura doesn’t leave until the day after tomorrow. The transfer will not be final until then. At that point, she will officially be a Sand-nin, and you even I won’t have the power to bring her back. Of course, she hasn’t left yet. But even if she were to change her mind, it would ultimately be up to me. At this point, she has no say in the matter. Now, if she-”

“Cut to the chase, Tsunade-baba!!”

“BRAT!” She yelled, hitting him over the head. “Show some respect! And don‘t interrupt!”

“Gah, you have serious problems, old woman..”

Tsunade growled. “Do you want my help or not?”

He quickly straightened, watching her expectantly. The Hokage rolled her eyes, shaking her head tiredly.

So exhausting..

“Now, if she somehow-” She put emphasis on the word ‘somehow’ hoping the boy wasn’t as dense as some people thought. “-were to decide not to go to Suna, I might consider pulling back the order, before it is in the Kazekage’s hands. “

Naruto watched her with a blank expression on his face.

A few moments passed.

He can’t possibly be this dense…

Can he?

“So…” Naruto began slowly, brows furrowed in deep concentration. “We’re just gonna wait, and see if somehow she changes her mind. THAT’S your plan?!”

She stared at him in shock.

He is that dense.

“It doesn’t make any sense, Tsunade-baba! Now you’re really getting old! How are we - HEY!”

The furious Hokage was holding him by his green chuunin vest, lifting him easily off the ground. He whimpered slightly, kicking his feet, and flailing his arms.

“Let…me…go..” He growled out, struggling to free himself from her grasp. “…you…old…BAG!”

And that was it.

“Hey…HEY! TSUNADE-BABAAA!!”

She pulled him close, taking in his fearful expression. He was dangling helplessly in the air, but stopped suddenly when he heard her voice, low and deadly.

“Figure. It. Out. BRAT!”

She watched him for a second longer, before throwing the window open. His expression changed from one of curiosity to one of fear, watching her in disbelief as she lifted him a bit higher. With a final step towards the window, she sent him flying into the Konoha streets.

Closing the window, she sighed deeply, grabbing her sake out from underneath her desk.

I knew I was going to need this…

Taking a small sip, she closed her eyes for a moment.

“Good luck, Naruto.” She smiled, deciding to finally tackle the mountain of paperwork. For some reason, she felt a little bit better now.

Maybe things will be ok after all.

And…

Looks like the future Rokudaime might be in love.

Tsunade laughed softly, shaking her head. Her easy smile dissolved into a small frown as she turned slightly to look out the window, staring at nothing in particular.

Here’s hoping Sakura makes the right decision.

Besides, Tsunade reflected with a small laugh, Suna really is bad this time of year.