no need for thanks

chap 3

Tsunade pov/after the fight with sasuke but before naruto leaves on the 3 year trip

I stormed down the hall of the Hokage tower heading to the office; I had run out of sake and Shizune had stopped me before I could leave to get more, sending me back to the office. It was the day before Naruto was planning to leave with Jiraiya to train. I was worried above all things but knew it would do nothing to try and talk him out of it. I walked into the office slamming the door behind me. I hated worrying but there was nothing I could do about it which made me angry. I walked around the desk and jumped but not surprised to see the blonde brat sitting behind it seemingly hiding. The first time this had happened I had almost thrown a punch at him thinking he was playing another one of his tricks. But I stopped myself seeing that the boy was on the verge of tears.

At the time I was confused as to why he kept showing up in the Hokage office even when he didn't need to be here but after Naruto left one time Shikamaru was walking in. Shikamaru filled me in and had said that the 3rd had always let Naruto in and comforted the kid, Shikamaru figured that the place had become somewhat of a place of safety for Naruto. When hearing this I felt bad for Naruto, I myself had forgotten that he was still just a boy.

After I did my best to comfort him, anytime he would pop up out of nowhere I made everyone leave so we could talk. Soon Naruto became more comfortable with me talking about things. And now here he was again hiding behind the paperwork cursed desk hiding from the world that's labeling him a hero. "O-oh hey baa-Chan, I thought you were out" he said looking up at me after wiping his eyes. "Are you ok brat, it hasn't been too long since your last visit" I said sitting down in the chair.

"Oh it's nothing, just a little jittery about leaving for so long ya know" he said giving an empty laugh not even trying to be happy. I sat the paper I was looking at down and sat on the floor in front of him. "Look kid, we've been having these bootleg therapy sessions for a while now, I've gotten pretty good at telling if you're bothered, so please Naruto what's going on up there?" I asked, pointing to his head. He looked at me a little wide eyed but gave a quivering smile, "w-well can't hide much from you can I baa-Chan..." he said, his voice cracking.

He took a deep breath putting his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "I don't really know why but...I'm scared," he said after a long pause. He let out a strangled sigh, his hands moving to his hair pulling on it a little. "I'm not supposed to be scared but I am, I can't get the worry out of my head about leaving" he said, his voice cracking and wavering. The sight broke my heart; at this moment I'm seeing a side of Naruto that only the people he trusts the most get to see and sometimes I wish I could only see the smiling happy Naruto. He let out a strangled sob and I broke, I moved forward taking his hands from his hair stopping him from pulling it. I wrapped him in a crushing hug, letting him cry into my shoulder while he hugged me back.

It was rare to see him cry and I wasn't about to let him go through it alone. "It's ok to be scared, you will always feel fear even if the tables are in your favor but what you can't do is let it win" I said to him. He cried harder, clinging to me like a life source, "I'm here for you, you're not alone" i said. "Wherever you are with that old fool, he and I will be there to help you and if you're alone let your strength and hope guide you Naruto, you are strong and I believe in you no matter what happens". We both sat there on the floor hugging each other for I don't know how long, I don't even know when I had started crying myself but I did.

He seemed to calm down as the trembling had stopped and the strangled gasping ceased. We split and sat there on the floor in silence while I wiped my own eyes from the few stray tears that had escaped. "Don't ever make me cry again brat!" I yelled half heartedly and I got him to give a small chuckle. "I promise I won't do it on purpose baa-Chan" he said, raising one hand promising. "Good," I said with a small smile. "Thank you..." he said, getting up from the floor holding out a hand for me. I sighed, "no need for thank you's kid" I said, taking his hand.

I sat back down at the desk and sighed at all the papers, "these damned papers, i swear this desk is cursed with never ending paperwork" I said. I turned when I heard Naruto laugh, "I don't know baa-Chan it seems more like a blessing to me, I mean it brings such nice people into my life" I was surprised by his response. "Well I owe you some sake for listening to my problems baa-Chan but now I gotta get ready for tomorrow its getting pretty late" he said putting his arms over his head walking towards the window. I laughed, "like I've said before you don't owe me anything and be careful on your way home" I said as Naruto gave a wave before jumping out the window. At that moment I came to a realization that this desk is meant to be for Naruto. It wasn't about the paperwork on the desk, it's not because it's a good hiding spot. Because this desk to Naruto makes it worth giving hope into the village that hurt and shunned him. This desk became an anchor for Naruto and brought people into Naruto's life that he deems as his precious people. If someone taints the bliss that this desk brings for him they would have to bring it up with me and if not me kami help the poor soul that has to deal with Naruto. The next day I found a small basket of sake on my desk, I laughed at the dopy drawing of Naruto that was left on the card saying goodbye. 

word count: 1,113