The Senju Fortress dining hall was enormous, traditional, and, for the first time in decades, absolutely noisy. The constant sound of chopsticks hitting rice bowls was almost as loud as the conversation that filled it.
"Naruto, stop trying to steal my tempura! Eat your own!"
"But yours looks crispier!" Naruto shouted, his mouth half-full. "And it's closer to the sauce! It's a scientific fact!"
"Stop making up scientific facts to steal my food, idiot!" Sakura slapped his hand.
"Naruto-kun!"
Naruto turned, a look of a beaten puppy on his face.
Hinata smiled softly, sliding a small plate across the table. "Here's some more, Naruto-kun. Shizune-san prepared extra. She knew you'd be hungry."
"Thanks, Hinata! You're the best!" He lunged for the plate. "See, Sakura! Hinata understands my nutritional needs!"
"Your 'nutritional needs' are going to empty the village's food reserves," Sakura muttered, turning back to her fish.
Karin watched the whole scene from the other side of the table, poking at her rice with a chopstick. She had barely touched her food.
"They eat... a lot," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone. "It's... how can they eat so much and then train so hard? It's unnatural."
Shizune, sitting at the head of the table, let out a tired chuckle. "It's the Uzumaki effect, Karin. You'll get used to it. Now that there are two of them, I think I'll have to triple the residence's food budget."
"Two?" Karin asked, looking up.
"Well, you're an Uzumaki, but you eat like a little bird. Naruto eats for both of you."
"Hey!" Naruto protested. "I'm a growing boy!"
"You're growing more out at the stomach than up," Sakura retorted.
"I'm still not used to this," Karin murmured, looking at her bowl. "It's... too much food. And too much noise. In Kusa... we ate rations. Alone. In silence."
The table went quiet for a second.
Naruto swallowed what was in his mouth. "Well, that's boring. How are you supposed to enjoy your food if you can't fight for the last piece of chicken?"
"Fight?"
"Of course! Food tastes better when you win it from someone else!" Naruto stabbed his chopsticks into a piece of chicken on Sakura's plate.
"NARUTO!"
"SEE! It tastes like victory!" he yelled, chewing quickly.
Karin blinked, and a tiny, almost invisible smile touched her face before she hid it by returning to her rice.
"Shizune-san, this is delicious," Hinata said, trying to restore the peace. "The broth is perfect."
"Thank you, Hinata. At least someone here has manners," Shizune said, glaring at Naruto, who was now trying to drink his soup directly from the bowl.
"Tonton keeps trying to steal my dango!" Sakura complained. "Shizune, your pig is a bad influence!"
"Tonton is a registered ninja! She deserves her snacks!" Shizune replied.
"Let her eat Naruto's!"
"Nobody touches my snacks!"
In the midst of the chaos, Naruto stopped. He had a piece of tempura halfway to his mouth. His gaze had fixed on the other end of the table.
He was looking at the seat of honor. The one no one else used.
It was empty.
A bowl of rice and a glass of tea sat there, untouched. Cold.
The noise of the dinner seemed to fade away for him.
"Grandma Tsunade still isn't here."
The conversation died instantly. Sakura set down her chopsticks. Hinata looked down at her plate.
Shizune sighed, and all the tired joy left her face. "She's in the office. She said she had too much work."
"But..." Sakura frowned. "She's barely eaten today. I saw her at breakfast, but she only had tea. She didn't even touch her rice."
"And she didn't have lunch," Naruto added quietly. "I went to look for her, and she yelled at me to get lost."
"She's overworking herself," Sakura said. "She can't keep this up. She's going to collapse."
"She's... worried," Hinata said softly. Everyone turned to look at her. "She's been too tense lately."
"It's because of Akatsuki," Karin said, not looking up. "And that old man... Danzō..."
"Ever since the Council accepted her 'border security review' proposal... she's been buried in scrolls," Shizune said, rubbing her eyes. "Scouting reports, weapons budgets, requisitions... she doesn't stop."
Naruto stared at the cold rice bowl. The food on his own plate no longer interested him.
"This is stupid."
He stood up. The movement was so sudden his chair screeched against the wooden floor.
"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" Shizune asked, alarm in her voice.
He didn't answer. He took his own, now empty, bowl and Tsunade's untouched one. He walked with determination toward the kitchen.
"Naruto, wait!" Sakura called. "What are you going to do?"
"She said not to bother her!" Shizune insisted, half-rising. "Seriously, she's in a terrible mood! She threatened to use me to test a new medical jutsu if I asked about her lunch again!"
Naruto reappeared a minute later. He wasn't carrying the rice bowls.
He was carrying two steaming bowls of premium instant ramen. The good kind, the one that came with the little piece of dehydrated pork and the sesame oil packet.
"Paperwork can't be done on an empty stomach," he said, with a sly grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's inefficient! Totally!"
"Naruto, I don't think that's a good idea..." Shizune began.
"I'm carrying out an 'S-Rank Emergency Nutrition Intervention'," he interrupted, puffing out his chest. "It's my duty as the Secret Counselor!"
Sakura smiled to herself. Of course. Only he could call bringing noodles to the Hokage a "mission."
"Besides, my appetite is infinite!" Naruto added. "So I'll keep her company so she's not alone! It's a team strategy!"
"Naruto..."
"Don't worry, Shizune-neechan! I have a plan!"
"What plan?"
"I'll get in so fast she won't have time to hit me before she smells the ramen! It's foolproof!"
And before Shizune could protest any further, he bolted from the dining room.
"That idiot..." Sakura muttered.
"He's going to come back with a bump the size of a watermelon," Karin said.
Hinata simply watched the doorway where he had disappeared. "I hope she's hungry, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade's office was dark. Or almost. The only light came from a small desk lamp, illuminating a circle in the chaos of paper. The piles of scrolls and folders seemed to have grown since the morning, casting long shadows that made the room look like a cave.
Naruto didn't knock.
He threw the door open, sliding inside.
Tsunade was there, but she wasn't writing. She was facing away from the door, still, massaging her temples with both hands, her eyes closed.
"Shizune, I told you to leave me alone." Her voice was a low, dangerous growl. "If this is about the kunai budget again, I swear I'm going to ban kunai in this village. We'll fight with rocks."
"Nope! It's me!"
Tsunade spun around, her amber eyes flashing with pure irritation. "Naruto...?"
"And I bring a bribe of much better quality than the kunai budget!"
He held up the two steaming bowls. The aroma of pork broth and sesame instantly filled the stale room.
"Kid..." she said, her voice pure exhaustion. "What part of 'don't bother me' did you not understand? The 'don't' part or the 'bother me' part?"
"The part where you don't eat!" he retorted, walking confidently to the desk. He pushed a pile of boring-looking reports aside with his elbow. "You can't save the world on an empty stomach, Grandma! I brought you dinner!"
He set one bowl right on top of a folder.
"And since my appetite is infinite, I decided to keep you company so you're not alone!" he continued, with his fox-like grin. "It's a strategy to improve morale! The Hokage's morale is vital to the village's security!"
Tsunade stared at him.
She grabbed the chopsticks he offered.
"Fine," she grumbled. "But if you spill a single drop of that greasy broth on the Suna alliance report, I'll use you as a punching bag in tomorrow's training. And I won't hold back."
"Deal!"
Naruto sat on the floor, cross-legged, in front of the desk, like a kid at a picnic. Tsunade leaned back in her Hokage chair and picked up her chopsticks.
They ate.
For a minute, the only sound in the office was Naruto loudly slurping his noodles. Tsunade, this time, didn't scold him for his manners. The warmth of the broth was... good. Better than the cold tea she'd been drinking.
"So," she said finally, breaking the silence. "How's life in my luxury prison? Are you comfortable in the fortress?"
Naruto swallowed a huge bite. "Comfortable? It's awesome! I mean, the food is great. And there's always... noise."
"Noise?"
"Yeah." He lowered his voice a little. "It's the first time I've lived in a house where... well, where there are other people. It's always noisy in the mornings. Sakura and Karin argue about who uses what cleaning jutsu in the bathroom."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah! Sakura says 'Don't leave your test tubes in the sink!' and Karin yells 'They're precision tools, not dirty dishes!'. And then Hinata tries to get Tonton to train with her, and the pig just squeals. And Shizune-neechan yells about the budget."
Naruto smiled, looking at his nearly empty bowl. "It's... great," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper.
"To be honest... sometimes I'm afraid I'll wake up and it'll all be a dream. That I'll still be alone in my stinky old apartment, and that all of this... you, the girls... isn't real."
Tsunade stopped eating. She watched the boy sitting on her floor.
She grabbed a small scrap of paper from a rejected report, crumpled it into a tight ball, and, with a flick of her wrist, threw it.
The paper wad shot across the office and hit Naruto right between the eyes.
"Ow! Hey! What was that for!?" he yelled, rubbing the red spot.
"If it were a dream, you wouldn't have felt that," she said, the shadow of a smile playing on her lips. "Now finish your food."
Naruto rubbed his forehead. The smile returned to his face, genuine this time. "Hey, good shot! I didn't even see you move!"
"You've still got a long way to go, kid. You shouldn't be worrying about that stuff," she said. Her tone turned mischievous, changing the mood in the room. "You should be worrying about much more serious matters."
Naruto looked at her suspiciously. "Like what?"
"Like the fact that I heard you yesterday. In the training bunker."
Naruto froze. "I-in the bunker?"
"Yes. Doing 'field research' on my apprentices' backs," Tsunade said, raising an eyebrow. "Planning a 'beauty contest,' Naruto? In my maximum-security facility?"
Naruto's face turned bright red. He choked on his last noodle.
"WHAT?! N-No! It wasn't like that! It wasn't a beauty contest! It was... it was tactical!"
"Tactical?" she repeated, her voice flat and dangerous.
"Yeah! Exactly! Tactical!" Naruto jumped to his feet. "Karin was super nervous after the update! I had to distract her! Make the moment... less serious! That way she'd relax and get used to her new power better!"
"And comparing her back to Sakura's was the best distraction you could come up with?"
"It was... a psychological distraction! To raise morale!" he sputtered. "It worked! She got so mad at me she forgot to be scared! That's strategy! I read it in one of the pervy sage's research scrolls!"
Tsunade massaged the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. Damn kid. That's a brilliant excuse. And the worst part is... it's probably true. He's really thinking like a leader... in his own twisted, perverted way.
"A risky distraction," Tsunade said, sighing. "Very risky. And you're reading the wrong scrolls. But... I suppose it worked."
She paused, looking at her empty ramen cup. "But stop staring at my kunoichis' backs, understand? Or next time I'll throw something heavier than paper."
"Got it!" Naruto said, relieved to be off the hook.
He finished his ramen with one last, loud slurp. He set the bowl on the floor. The light atmosphere the ramen had created dissipated.
"Grandma..."
Tsunade looked up. His tone had changed.
"Why have you been so busy? Is it just stupid Hokage stuff? Paperwork and things?"
"Yes," she said, too quickly. "Reports, council complaints... the usual. The day-to-day of a Kage."
"You're lying."
It was said without heat, without accusation. Just a fact.
Tsunade looked up, her expression hardening. "What did you say?"
"I said you're lying," Naruto repeated, staring at her. "Karin says your chakra is tense, and Shizune-neechan is more worried than usual. And Sakura heard you yelling at the elders."
He took a step closer to the desk. "It's about Akatsuki, isn't it? You think something's going to go wrong."
"You have nothing to worry about, Naruto. That's my job. I'll handle Akatsuki."
"But you're not. Not alone."
Naruto's voice was low, but it echoed in the silent office.
"I'm scared."
The confession was simple, brutal, and quiet. It hung in the air between them.
Tsunade stared at him. "Scared? You? The kid who faced Gaara and yelled he'd be Hokage."
"I'm not scared for me," he said, looking at his own hands. "I'm scared that because of me, one of them will get hurt."
His fists clenched. "Sakura... you're using her. As bait for Danzō. I feel like... I feel like that should be my job. I'm the one they want."
"That's not something you need to worry about. Sakura is strong."
"I don't care if she's strong!" he snapped. "She's still Sakura! What if he's smarter? What if he doesn't take the bait and just... hurts her?"
He looked down again. "And... I can't get what happened with Sasuke out of my head. He caused the Wave Country mission. I tried to avoid it! With all my strength! And still, the future managed to make Sasuke demand it. Like... like fate is telling me that no matter what I do, bad things are going to happen anyway."
The terror in his eyes was genuine.
"What if I try to save Sakura, and fate manages to get her killed another way? What if, by trying to protect Hinata, she ends up hurt because of me? What if...?"
Tsunade just looked at him. She saw the boy who had beaten Gaara, the idiot who had made her laugh with instant ramen. And now, she saw the terrified child carrying the weight of a future only he knew.
She stood up.
Naruto took a step back, confused. "Grandma...?"
She rounded the desk.
When she was in front of him, she put a hand on his blond hair, ruffling it harder than necessary.
"Sometimes, being a leader, being a Kage... means trusting your pieces, Naruto. Trusting your team. Trusting your family."
Naruto looked at her, his eyes shining. "But how? I trust them... I trust Sakura more than anyone! But still...!"
"Shhh."
Tsunade pulled him toward her.
She hugged him.
It wasn't a soft hug. It was a maternal, firm, enveloping hug, pulling his head to her chest.
Naruto tensed completely, startled, his arms rigid at his sides. "What... Grandma, what are you doing?"
"Shut up and listen," she said, her voice soft, rare, almost unknown. "Stop being a 'Secret Counselor.' Stop being the 'Hokage of the Future.' You're just a thirteen-year-old kid for a minute, got it? So act like one."
Naruto stopped struggling.
"The future isn't written in stone," she whispered, her chin resting on his head. "Neither is the past. The only thing you have is this second. The present. Right here."
She held him a little tighter, cradling his head.
"You live so much in the future you're trying to prevent, and in the past you're trying to fix, that you're losing sight of the present. You're here. In my office. You're safe. They're in the dining room, probably complaining about you. They're safe. I'm here."
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Not to you, and not to them. That's my promise."
Naruto, overwhelmed by the exhaustion of days, the stress of weeks, and the simple, overwhelming comfort of a contact he'd never had, relaxed in her embrace. His clenched fists loosened. His eyes closed.
"Thanks... Tsunade..." he murmured, his voice muffled against the fabric of her blouse.
And just like that, standing in the middle of her office, he fell asleep.
Tsunade felt the moment his body went completely limp, his dead weight leaning against her.
She stood still, listening to the boy's breathing.
When... when did this happen? When did I let this loud-mouthed kid get so far under my skin?
She let out the breath she'd been holding. She continued to hug the sleeping Naruto.
He's worried, too. She looked over his head at the piles of paper. He's in here, playing house with me, worrying about Sakura and Hinata, while I'm moving the pieces of my own plan.
The Itachi ambush? Danzō? The village's security?
He's right to be scared. My plan for Itachi is risky. It's insane. It depends on Karin's chains, Sakura's precision, Hinata's speed. And it depends on him. But what if I fail?
Her gaze fell on the pile of reports.
If I lose him... if Akatsuki takes him, or if Danzō gets his filthy hands on him... after all this... after getting used to his noise... it would be...
She couldn't finish the thought.
She gently stroked his blond hair.
He's become my family. He, Shizune, the girls. I haven't had one in years.
She looked at Naruto's peaceful face.
He's been more alone than I ever was. A thousand times more alone. And still, he keeps smiling. He keeps fighting for others. He keeps bringing me ramen.
Carefully, she slipped one arm under his knees and the other behind his back, and lifted him. She was surprised, as always, at how light he was. He weighs less than a sack of rice. Is Shizune feeding him enough?
Meeting Naruto... is the best and most terrifying thing that's happened to me in decades.
She carried him to the small sofa in her office, the one she used for naps she never took, and laid him down gently.
And I wouldn't change this present for anything.
She grabbed her own green Hokage jacket and spread it over him, covering him.
"You better not, kid," she whispered to the empty room, "tell anyone about this."
She returned to her desk, sat down, and grabbed the next scroll. The lamplight illuminated her face, now harder, more determined.
"Never."
****
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