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Lady Tsunade, fifth Hokage of Konohagakure and legendary sannin, faced her cluttered desk with a begrudging gaze. Who expected being Hokage to mean so much administrative work? Her companion, Shizune, created a roster of deadlines on her calendar desk decorated with little drawings of her pig, TonTon, in a variety of silly poses. The cuteness of the design was to keep her morale up as Hokage. Whenever she bemoaned deadlines, she'd see a cute drawing of TonTon.
Funny enough, TonTon has started to annoy me more than usual. Tsunade thought as her creamy eyes rolled off the pink snout.
As the day progressed, her papers cluttered over the sweetly made calendar. The attempt to keep her engaged and focused was futile. Every morning, Shizune would swim her hands past the hills of papers and see what was marked off the day before. It'd earn her not only papercuts but bewilderment at how behind Tsunade was (and how bad at this part of the job she was.)
No wonder she fought Jiraiya tooth and nail about not wanting to be Hokage. No wonder she gave Naruto such a hard time...
Thinking about the then-twelve-year-old harassing her to be Hokage brought a tender smile to her glossed lips. He wore her necklace proudly after beating her in a fight. Hell, he wore it better, and not even she could dare deny it.
"What a goddamn brat!" She laughed to herself in the present.
Some days, Shizune would walk in and see Tsunade smiling to herself just like this. She would make her steps small and retreat, keeping her body close enough in the hallway just to hear. She was worried about Tsunade's levels of stress. Moments of joy were ones she did not want to spoil with extra messages and tasks.
But she could not deny that Tsunade's mood was getting better. The only thing she could think of that had changed in recent days was Naruto's return. And Jiraiya's.
One morning, just like every other, Shizune passed a pile of mail from that day to Tsunade. One by one, they went through it together. Tsunade complaining and throwing things in the trash that were deemed irrelevant. More than once, Shizune caught it mid-air and corrected her that this was indeed important.
But one parcel stuck out from the others instantly. Its paper was uniquely smooth to the touch, like velvet brushing against Tsunade's thumb. It had natural carved ridges to it and a washed pink color from floral dyes. Expensive. With an arched brow, Tsunade turned it over and saw a familial crest sealing the envelope. But it was one she hadn't seen since she left Konoha all those years ago, scarred from the traumas of the second war. She saw that crest on the backs of her comrades, falling to their deaths in battle. The crest of the Sato Clan.
Tsunade's face went deadly serious, and Shizune curiously tilted her head at it as the mood shifted.
"Leave me for a moment, Shizune," Tsunade said, and the woman nodded, though briefly taken aback. She closed the door behind her.
