ℕ𝕒𝕣𝕦𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕆𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕤

ᕼOKᗩᘜᗴ'Տ ᗯIᖴᗴ'Տ ᗷIᖇTᕼᗪᗩY ➪ ᑎᗩᖇᑌᕼIᑎᗩᖇYᑌ

The most powerful man in the country sat at his large mahogany desk contemplating the bane of his existence, it literally covered every inch of his beautiful desk in large piles. Paperwork, how he hated it. He always thought becoming Hokage was glamorous, heroic and more importantly a way for everyone to acknowledge him.

Someone should have told him while at school that a lot of the Hokage's work consisted of what was essentially interminable homework. He hated homework! He never did it. If he had known, it was this much paperwork he would have waited longer to become Hokage. He was already acknowledged even before becoming Hokage.

The hat was his dream. He wanted to protect his people, his village, that was the part of the job he loved. He was born to protect even without Kurama but as he had learned while negotiating for the village there was always another side, a downside to every option. A cost with every decision. He sighed as he contemplated the piles again.

As much as he hated the paperwork, he could deal with it, if it did not eat up all his time. For his true enemy was the time he had to spend away from his wife and family. Family, a bond that escaped him during his childhood and teenage years. He picked up the family picture that was at his desk.

His secret dream; the one he kept to himself, the one he was afraid would never come true; he had managed to realize thanks to Hinata. He finally had, what he never had before, a family. The most beautiful family in all the five elemental nations, if he did say so himself.

He smiled proudly at the picture. His prodigious if contentious son, his equally talented, loving and cute daughter and the most wonderful woman in the elemental nations, his wife. He ran his finger over her picture.

His wife was a treasure and he was the luckiest man around. She was kind, beautiful, smart, patient, he could go on and on. But most importantly, she loved him. She had always loved him, mind-blowing as it was. No matter what idiocies or overwork or troubles he got in, she never wavered in her support.

He loved her more than he could ever hope to express, words were never his forte, he was an action kind of guy. But lately he felt he was letting them all down. He tried and tried but kept coming up short. He had not felt such an insurmountable task, since he tried to learn the basic Bunshin jutsu. It was close, tantalizingly close but always lay slightly beyond his grasp.

His job was testing the strength of their bonds and he felt his own inadequacies more than ever. His actions spoke for him as always, but lately they were speaking negatively and were stacking against him. That was not how he felt but the words, to express his regret, like the time, like the basic bunshin constantly escaped him.

He never thought he could love anyone or anything like he loved them, his wife and his children. It was new and sometimes scary for it was blinding and all consuming. A bond that warmed his heart and kept him sane in the midst of any chaos or peril.

Next to his wife he felt at peace and learned what contentment felt like. Her love was a constant he craved like a thirsty desert traveler craved a water laden oasis.

Nothing could compare, and no one would understand, except perhaps his soulmate. The one who recognized him before all others. How could he explain or convey his feelings when there were no words for his feelings, much less to a poor speaker like him.

His life was theirs, for he would not have a life worth living without them. He would function, he doubted he would die by wishing it, but the hellish existence he would endure would be a punishment worse than death.