AN: Hi guys! Hope everybody is safe and well, and doing your best during this pandemic. My sleeping habits have gone to shit during this lockdown (I'm in NZ), so have my eating habits, and I'm cycling between youtube/animelab/ao3/disney+/netflix like a madwoman. I miss hugs. I'm gonna make cuddles mandatory when I hang out with literally anybody after this ish is over.

Lol, anyway, thanks for supporting the fic guys, hope you like the chapter :) x

"Orochimaru-sama, it seems this one is not going to survive."

Orochimaru tched. He turned away from his own subject and slunk up behind the ROOT lackey that Shimura Danzō had loaned to him (the one that was almost certainly reporting his every move back to the old warmonger). Peering down at the unfortunate soul strapped to the table, blood oozing from every orifice, Orochimaru had to agree.

"What a pity," he sighed. "Shinobi these days are simply not up to par. Oh well; take note of how much longer he lasts, and then dispose of the body. I shall start again."

Leaving the false ANBU to his task, Orochimaru returned to the subject he had abandoned. "Did you hear that, Yukimura-kun? I know now how much is too much for a shinobi of your calibre; your chances of survival are just that tiny bit higher. Aren't you lucky?"

Yukimura Satoshi, an unremarkable yet hardworking and earnest chūnin of Konohagakure, stared up at the Snake Sannin with brown eyes full of horror and betrayal. If he could talk, Orochimaru supposed he would be blathering all the usual things: how could you, we trusted you, what are you going to do to us, and so on and so forth. Hardly anything original.

Besides, trusting him was their mistake, not his. Jiraiya had been saying for years now that he was get progressively creepier; if anybody bothered to look any further into it, Orochimaru was sure that somebody was bound to notice something.

Maybe that was why Tsunade being back in the village was putting him so on edge. She had her own plethora of problems, but she also knew Orochimaru like nobody else alive. Even Jiraiya, best friend though he liked to proclaim himself, did not quite have the observational skills necessary to see all the little things that made Orochimaru who he was.

"I'm going to have to pull back a little, Yukimura-kun," he told the tied down chūnin regretfully. "Tsunade's going to be keeping a closer eye on me than Sensei does, so sadly, I won't be here to document your entire journey."

Reaching out with careful hands, Orochimaru picked up the large syringe laying on the metal tray at his side. His poor, paralysed subject's eyes filled with horror.

Smiling, not in the least bit sympathetic, Orochimaru injected the bright, bubbling red chakra directly into Yukimura Satoshi's bloodstream.

The resulting screams were horrific; loud and raw, and so agonized that anybody else surely would have killed the man just for the mercy of it. Unfortunately, Orochimaru was not anybody else, and so he continued to smile, watching as his subject's veins turned black around the injection site.

"But at least I'm here for the beginning of it, right, Yukimura-kun?"

"Aaaand, done!"

Kushina threw her pen down, grinning gleefully. God, but finances were the worst!

It was a good thing the Daimyo liked her; rebuilding a village with their diminished forces was next to impossible. If she didn't have such a good relationship with the leader of Hi no Kuni, Kushina didn't think the man would have been quite so generous with his aid. Of course, Konohagakure had always been on good terms with their Daimyo, but his fondness for Kushina herself made things so much smoother than they might have been otherwise.

(Bringing Tsunade-hime back had helped immensely; the man had been utterly delighted when he'd learned about that particular feat).

She stood up, stretching her arms up behind her until her shoulders popped. She'd sent Mikoto and Sasuke home a half hour earlier; seeing as they were both mothers with young children, Kushina had made it a personal policy to be out of the office by seven o'clock at the latest.

Being that it was barely even six, Kushina was feeling pretty damn proud of herself.

"Kakashi-kun~" She called. "May I have my son back, please?"

The young jōnin materialised in front of her, Naruto held securely in his arms. Kushina resisted the urge to coo – it would only embarrass Kakashi, and she wanted to encourage the continued bonding between them. He still hadn't asked about being sent on missions, or re-joining the active ANBU ranks, which relieved Kushina to no end. She'd quietly 'assigned' him as Naruto's personal bodyguard, just so the kid could continue getting a paycheck.

"I think he's getting hungry, Kushina-nee-sama." Kakashi said, solemnly handing the baby over. "I was just about to go and warm a bottle up."

Okay, now that was just too cute.

Kushina reached out with the arm that wasn't cradling her son, ruffling Kakashi's gravity defying grey hair. "You're a good boy," she said, smiling proudly. "I really appreciate all your help, 'Kashi-kun."

His ears turned red.

Chuckling, Kushina allowed him to duck away.

As she was contemplating whether to whip out a boob or ask Kakashi to go ahead and warm up that bottle, there was a knock at the door.

"Hokage-sama, are you still here?" Tomoe Mariko, the ex-ANBU that Kushina had hired as her secretary, poked her little blonde head into the room. "Oh, you are. I have the head teacher of the shinobi academy here, Ma'am, he says he would like to speak with you. Today, if possible."

Kushina knew for a fact that Mariko and the head teacher were both well aware that she was still in the office; her chakra signature was the biggest, brightest one in the village. Restraining it took way more effort than it was worth when she wasn't on a mission.

Figuring that it would be bad manners to send the man away when he'd come in specifically to speak to her, Kushina sighed.

"Here, 'Kashi-kun." She said, kissing Naruto on the head and passing him back to the young jōnin. "Go on and give him his bottle, please. I'll come find you when I'm done here."

"Hai, Kushina-nee-sama." Kakashi nodded, taking the baby and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Collapsing back into her seat, Kushina gestured for Mariko to send her visitor in. It occurred to her that she didn't actually know who was in charge of the academy these days; the head teacher from her own academy days had been killed towards the tail end of the war.

He'd been an ornery old man; stuck in his ways, and more than happy to argue with anybody who tried to tell him different. But he'd also loved his students, and they'd loved him right back.

Kushina could still remember the few visits he'd made to her class back before she made genin; never once had he laughed at her brash declarations about becoming Hokage. He'd even encouraged her, once or twice. For the little girl who'd had her entire life turned on its head, who had moved to a strange village all on her own in order to be made into a jinchūriki…

It had meant a lot, to little Kushina, for an adult to take her seriously.

What was his name, again?

Ha… Haizaki? Higuchi? Hayashi?

A fond smile crept across Kushina's lips. That was it: good old Hayashi-sensei.

"Thank you for seeing me, Hokage-sama."

"Oh, it's no prob… lem…?"

Kushina squinted at the man now standing in her office. What the hell? Had she summoned him back from the dead? Could she do that, because if so, the Shinigami could damn well say goodbye to Kushina's husband.

The man chuckled. "I am Hayashi Naoki, the current Head Teacher at the Academy. Hayashi Tatsuya was my grandfather."

Oh.

Well, that made a bit more sense.

Sorry, Minato. Guess I won't be seeing you for a few more decades.

Despite the ridiculousness of the thought, Kushina felt bereft all over again. Of course she hadn't really believed that she could bring the dead back to life; it was just hitting Kushina for maybe the thousandth time, that the love of her life was gone.

But she had other things to worry about right now.

"It's good to meet you, Hayashi-sensei-the-second." Kushina smiled, reaching out to shake his hand. It was a nice hand; strong, calloused, and covered in the same small scars that most shinobi'd had since childhood. "What brings you to see me this evening?"

His easy-going expression melted into a slightly embarrassed one. It cleared away the lingering image that Kushina had of his grandfather; Naoki's face was softer, and less lined, obviously. He appeared to be a few years younger than Kushina herself, but she thought his stress level was probably about the same, poor thing. Being in charge of turning children into tiny killers couldn't be an easy job.

"I apologise for being presumptuous, Hokage-sama," Naoki started, a slight flush creeping up his tanned face. "But I actually came with a request for you."

"Oh? What can I do for you, Sensei?"

"I was wondering if- if you've got time! If you would mind dropping in to the Academy one day soon? It would really give a lot of the kids a boost, I think, to actually meet Konoha's Red Hot Blooded Habanero."

The grin he gave her was a cheeky thing; Kushina could do nothing except return it, cackling.

"I can totally do that, dattebane! You'll have to talk to Mariko-chan about scheduling though, because I honestly have no idea what I'm doing most days. Tell her to clear me as close to a full day as she can." Kushina's grin softened, becoming a smile tinged with sadness. "Those kids are the future of this village. The least I can do is spend some time with them."

What neither of them said, but Kushina knew with an aching certainty, was that most of those kids were still in mourning. Whether they had lost somebody in the war, or more recently in the Kyūbi attack, almost all of them had been affected somehow.

If Kushina could do anything to brighten their day even just a little, she wouldn't hesitate.

Naoki clasped his hands in front of him, bowing deeply. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. You have no idea how much this will mean to them."

He left, presumably to set a date with Mariko. Kushina stared out the window, trying not to drown in her melancholy.

"Hey, guys?"

With nary a whisper of sound, three men stood before her. They pushed their masks up in unison, looking at her with unbearable sympathy.

Shiranui Genma, Namiashi Raidō, and Tatami Iwashi. They had been Minato's ANBU guard, and after he passed, Kushina couldn't even consider replacing them. Not after all they'd done while serving Minato, and especially not afterwards, when they'd looked at her with such guilt in their eyes.

Silly boys.

If not even Kushina could save him, when she'd been right there- what did they think they could do? There was nobody to blame but that masked prick.

"You're doing your best, Kushina-san." Genma said, speaking around the senbon in his mouth. "You can't fix everything right away."

She knew that, she did.

Still, knowing didn't make it easier, seeing how much more money was coming out of the orphan stipend. How much the budget for the orphanage had increased and it still wasn't enough to keep up with the increased demand. How many of her shinobi were suddenly bound to in-village missions because they'd taken in baby cousins, nieces, nephews. How she was only one of the many newly single parents doing what they could, day by day.

Her guards, her friends, who had been with her almost every hour that Kushina had been in office, wore expressions of such understanding that she simply could not help the way she burst into tears.

'Do something.'

'Me?! You do something!'

Iwashi rolled his eyes. Shiranui and Namiashi were both useless at this sort of thing. He met each of their gazes, making sure they knew just how stupid he found the two of them and their silent conversation, before shifting to Kushina's side of the desk.

It would be better if Mikoto-san were still here, but Iwashi had four sisters. He could be comforting if he wanted to.

Gently, Iwashi smoothed a hand over his Hokage's flaming red hair. She'd doubled over, heaving from the force of her sobs. It hurt his heart something fierce, to see his fiery friend look this way, but honestly, she probably needed it. Starting from the night of the Kyūbi attack till now, Iwashi was sure that Kushina had been neglecting her own emotions. Being widowed and then being put in charge of a recovering-from-a-war-and-a-major-disaster shinobi village wasn't an easy thing.

So he let her cry, not saying a word.

It took a few minutes, but Shiranui and Namiashi finally managed to get their asses into gear as well. Namiashi took position on Kushina's left, leaning against her chair so that her shoulder was pressed to his hip. Shiranui simply plopped to the floor at her feet, leaning against her legs with his own drawn up to his chest.

Eventually, those sobs lessened, turned into slow, deliberate breaths. Iwashi moved his hand to the top of the chair as Kushina unfolded herself, face upturned with her eyes closed. The swelling and tear tracks around her eyes made his stomach clench; Uzumaki Kushina was not a crier. She was headstrong, she was ferocious, she was the strongest woman Iwashi had ever met-

(His mother was the second strongest though, and she cried approximately five times every single day without fail, so).

It was both humbling and terrifying, to bear witness to Kushina's vulnerability, was what Iwashi was getting at.

"Thanks, guys."

She said it so quietly that Iwashi could hardly believe it was Kushina speaking. Still, when she opened her eyes, Iwashi was glad to see that they had lightened somewhat.

"Feeling better, Kushina-san?" He asked, taking a few steps out of her personal space.

His fellow guards, realising that they were still up in their Hokage's grill, subtly (hah. Right) shifted away as well.

Kushina chuckled wetly. "It's fine, stay where you are. I really needed that, 'ttebane."

Collectively shrugging, the three of them relaxed against her. For as long as she needed them, they would be there, holding her up when the weight of the world got to be a little too much.

It was the least they could do for the woman who had given them a second chance.

AN: Thanks for reading everyone, drop a comment with your thoughts! And be safe!

- Kelly