Everyone Has A Dark Side [NejixOC]

Bath House

"Who does this new Hokage think she is?" The woman carrying two grocery bags asked her friend. "They don't even give Lady Tsunade time to wake up and they're already welcoming her in."

"I heard she's just eighteen. No child should be in charge. Look at the Sand and how their leadership is going," the second frowned, shaking her head. "Apparently she left the village and became a missing-nin for years. Why would someone like that come back and be Hokage? It screams 'I hate Konohagakure'."

"What a disgrace. She shouldn't have even bothered coming back here." The two laughed together as they continued on. I sighed, stepping out of the alley, walking in the opposite direction on my way to my office. As soon as I had heard their first criticisms of me I ducked into the nearest alley so I could listen. If what they thought reflected the rest of the village – I would be in deep trouble. I slunk up the stairs of the building. Placed my key in the lock and turned. Shizune was not here. I closed the door behind myself as I headed straight for my desk. I smiled. Shizune had categorized everything. I sat down, going through the smaller pile of requests that just needed my approval to continue. I moved onto a mission report that had been marked with a red flag. I opened it, taking a long sip of my coffee. Anko had gone missing from her squad. The others were still monitoring movements and watching for a chance to track her. Damn it. If Anko had been kidnapped then Orochimaru and his cronies must have something to do with Madara now.

I dropped the folder back onto the top of that pile before I dug into assigning missions. I opened the first folder, a yellow sticky note with five names attached to it. I started laughing, checking a few of the others. She had actually suggested shinobi for every unassigned mission. I picked up the pen, going through each of her recommendations.

A knock sounded at my door. "Come in." The door opened, Shizune walking in with Tonton. "Thank you for doing this. Should hopefully get closer to being caught up by tonight."

She walked over to my desk, Tonton at her heels, and examined the piles. "I'll take these to get distributed out." She picked up the pile of requests and started for the door.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked, leaning back into my chair slightly. She turned to face me, nodding with her usual smile. "Should someone else have been the new Hokage?" Her smile instantly disappeared.

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" She snapped, walking up to the edge of the desk and smashed the papers down. "I have never seen someone risk their life like you did to save an unallied village. When Lady Tsunade and I first met you, you were thirteen and showed as much skill and experience as an Anbu squad leader. You are probably one of the most deserving people of this title."

I swallowed hard. Shizune had never gone off on me with so much anger before. "On my way here I overheard two women speaking about how I shouldn't even be back in the village, and it's a disgrace to have me as their Hokage."

Her ears were turning bright red. "Once they see what you're capable of they'll come to their senses."

I gave her an unamused glare. "Unless there's another big attack on the village before the war begins – there's no way. What if they refuse to follow my orders? I am 'just a child' after all." Shizune's eyes flashed to the seal on my chest.

"You have not been a child for a very long time." She barely whispered.

"You should get those distributed. We have almost everyone in homes now and businesses are reopening but there's still a lot of work to do." I smiled, returning to assigning. Shizune gave me a sad nod, picking the papers up again and walked out the door. There was silence for a moment before there was a knock. "Come in." The door opened and three shinobi who worked in records filed in with piled of papers in their arms. Fuck. "Place it anywhere for now." I sighed. There goes my possibility of catching up today. I plowed my way through the forms until the door opened again not long after. Thankfully I had managed to get through most of what Shizune had organized yesterday.