The Hokage Tower.
Inside the office, Tsunade rested her chin on her hands, her eyes vacant as she stared ahead.
’It’s alti again... What should I eat? Co to think of it, Izumo and Mikan’s wedding reception must be in full swing by now. Knowing Hikari, he wouldn’t skimp on the food. I even sent a gift... Should I sneak in and grab a bite?’
Though she couldn’t go in person, the transformation jutsu she had honed over the years existed precisely for monts like this.
As long as she didn’t admit it, who would dare call her out as Tsunade?
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
The sound of knocking interrupted her delightful musings, instantly souring her mood.
Disturbing soone at alti was downright rude. Once this shinobi finished their report, she’d definitely dock their pay.
"Co in!"
Suppressing her irritation, Tsunade called for the person outside to enter.
And then, she spotted a familiar tuft of white hair.
"Kakashi? Weren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye on those three brats from Sunagakure?"
"Hokage-sama!"
Kakashi greeted her first, sensing instinctively that Tsunade was in a foul mood. Workplace Rule No. 1: never give an angry superior a reason to snap.
"Speak!" Tsunade didn’t ntion salary cuts—yet.
As a responsible Hokage, she couldn’t just recklessly deduct her shinobi’s pay.
If she provoked collective outrage, she might face impeachnt.
"The three Suna genin are currently guests at Izumo’s place. Temari even gave a wedding gift."
"And? Get to the point!" Tsunade barely restrained her anger.
Not only had he interrupted her al plans, but he was also dragging things out, trying to make her work overti. Was this how a good subordinate behaved?
Couldn’t he see she was so hungry her bust was shrinking?
If it got any smaller, would he take responsibility?!
Yep, the Hokage was definitely in a bad mood.
Kakashi silently congratulated himself for being polite and avoiding her wrath.
"It’s about Gaara. After Kamizuki Hikari patted his head, he just... fell asleep, like it was nothing."
*Whoosh!*
Tsunade shot to her feet, her eyes locking onto Kakashi. "Are you serious?"
This was no joking matter. Gaara was Sunagakure’s One-Tail Jinchūriki. Though Suna bore the shaful title of "the weakest of the Five Great Villages", it was still far stronger than any minor village.
If the Land of Wind’s daimyo hadn’t repeatedly slashed Suna’s budget, the village wouldn’t have earned such a humiliating label so quickly.
Truly, a rift between lord and retainer only brought harm to both.
Back to the point: Gaara, as the One-Tail Jinchuriki, suffered from the Sand Village’s crude sealing techniques, forcing him to sacrifice sleep to suppress Shukaku and prevent it from taking over his body.
Over ti, this hardened Gaara’s ntal resilience but warped his personality. If he hadn’t t the destined protagonist Naruto, Gaara might have defected from the Sand Village entirely.
Yet Kamizuki Hikari had rely patted Gaara’s head and put him to sleep. Given how quiet it was outside, Shukaku hadn’t erged either.
Which ant Hikari had effortlessly suppressed Shukaku.
Damn, this guy was seriously incredible.
If Naruto’s Nine-Tails ever acted up in the future, they could just throw Hikari at it.
Even if he only suppressed half of Nine-Tails power, combined with the intact seal on Naruto, the fox would stay locked up nice and tight.
"Hokage-sama, I’m certain it’s true. Yamato witnessed it too." Kakashi answered cautiously, tiptoeing around Tsunade’s temper.
Fortunately, the sheer shock of Hikari’s feat distracted her from pay cuts—for now.
"Good. Relay this to Kamizuki Hikari—his new mission is to escort the Suna trio around Konoha. As for Team Ino-Shika-Chō, you can supervise them temporarily."
"That might not be necessary. Hokage-sama, Asuma just returned and took them from Hikari."
Tsunade’s brow furrowed. Her instincts scread that this wasn’t as simple as it seed.
"How did Hikari react?"
Since she couldn’t think of a solution herself, Tsunade wanted to gauge Hikari’s response and plan accordingly.
After hearing so many of his inner thoughts, Tsunade didn’t know where he got his information, but that didn’t stop her from using it to safeguard Konoha’s interests.
"He didn’t react much—just let Asuma take the Ino-Shika-Cho team and left." Kakashi replied.
Tsunade’s headache worsened.
’What the hell is that bastard Hikari thinking?!’
’And Asuma—sneaking out of Konoha without a word when I left, and now that I’m back, he doesn’t even report in. Does he even respect as Hokage?!’
Tsunade seethed internally, but she had to swallow her anger.
Asuma was the Third Hokage’s only son. Now that Hiruzen was dead, as his student, Tsunade couldn’t just execute Asuma shortly after taking office.
What would Konoha think of her? What would the shinobi think? What would the jōnin think?
"Fine. Since Ino-Shika-Cho went with Asuma, let them stay with him. He is their proper sensei after all, far more reliable than Kamizuki Hikari."
"Understood, Tsunade-sama. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave." Kakashi prepared to exit.
Tsunade nodded. "Go rest."
Shinobi weren’t machines. Outside warti, they needed downti to recover after missions.
As Kakashi reached for the door, Tsunade casually asked, "Where are you headed?"
"Well, I gave Izumo a wedding gift earlier. Since I’m free now, I thought I’d go join the banquet." Then, as if struck by a thought, he added, "If you haven’t eaten yet, Hokage-sama, feel free to co with !"
’Really? Is this for real? Can I really stop worrying and just go eat?’
Kakashi’s offer sent Tsunade’s mind spinning, but in the end, she resisted the temptation to freeload.
"You go ahead. I still have work to finish. Maybe later."
Kakashi glanced at Tsunade’s desk—completely barren except for her teacup. Not a single docunt in sight.
"Then I’ll excuse myself, Tsunade-sama."
With that, Kakashi slipped out and shut the door behind him.
Why didn’t he call out her flimsy excuse? Simple—his emotional intelligence was just that high.
Alone again, Tsunade pressed a hand to her growling stomach.
Being Hokage was hard.
Why didn’t the Hokage have a dedicated al service?
She wasn’t asking for a lavish spread—just four dishes and a soup would suffice.
Reforms!
She swore to push for reforms.
The Hokage sacrificed so much for Konoha—how could they treat the Hokage like this?!
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Read 40 advanced Chapters on my P@treon.
/KakuzuTL
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