A/N - A one-shot I've been dwelling on for a while now. I love the older sister / mother-little brother / son relationship that Tsunade and Naruto share. She was probably the second person ever to give a kiss to Naruto. The first being Sasuke ... And I guess that kiss was stolen. Nothing too extreme in this fic. Just a bit of fluffiness. I always funk up the formatting, so if you see a row of underscores, that's my version of a rule or page break. Sorry. Repost: Just a bit of editing (though I'm pretty sure there's still something wrong in here).
Disclaimer - Me no own.
Thanks to - Once again, my Beta. waves flag Yay!
Posy
If Tsunade had known exactly how much paperwork would have come with the title of Hokage, she probably would have thought a little harder about accepting the role.
She sighed and stared, with a mounting sense of dismay at the colossal amount of documents she had to either sign, authorise, file or distribute and wondered whether it would be too much to ask for just one - maybe even half a day off...
Somewhere to her left, at a desk behind a stack of mission reports, Shizune sniffed quietly.
Excellent, Tsunade thought dryly. The perfect time to catch a cold.
At least she had Jiraiya doing - Wait a minute. What was that man doing?
She leaned backwards in her seat, shifting a heap of scrolls to find her fellow Sannin fast asleep, head cushioned on the latest copy of Play-nin.
There was a pause.
Then Tsunade twitched, very slightly.
The weather, Naruto decided, was a bit off.
The sky should have been blue, not a depressing shade of off-whitish-grey that threatened a continuous drizzle for the next few days. It should have been blue - like his eyes. Blue, like the Chakra he could see just beyond his vision when he concentrated. Yeah. Blue like Chakra.
The scroll on which was written the Gen Jutsu he was meant to be learning mocked him as it lazed on the worn carpet. Naruto kicked at it gently and it rolled closed.
Bored... No, not bored. Just the urgent desire to do something - what was the word again - Restless. That's right. Restless.
So.
What to do?
Naruto crossed the room, zipping up his orange jacket as he went. Visit Sasuke? Nah, he wasn't in the mood to be glared at all day. Sakura, maybe? She'd probably tell him to get lost while she practiced fluttering her eyelashes for "Sasuke-kun", or something. Iruka? He always welcomed Naruto... But he'd already dropped by Iruka's the day before, and didn't he have a class on right now?
"Mou," Naruto pouted, his face screwing up in annoyance, reducing his eyes to squinty slits. Then he remembered someone he remembered he hadn't visited in a long time.
Slightly more enthusiastic, the blond shinobi grabbed a raincoat and set off for the Hokage's office.
Jiraiya had tried not to look too disappointed as Tsunade destroyed his copy of that month's Play-nin and proceeded to harangue him without mercy.
Something about being an old, lazy, perverted idiot. Well, it wasn't as if you could help being who you were. But a quiet Godaime was much more tolerable than a raving one, and if he did what he was told, the somewhat pissed off kunoichi might actually shut up.
It was now five minutes or so later. The ringing had finally faded from Jiraiya's ears, and it looked like things were going well, when the window exploded.
Another reason Naruto disliked rain: It was wet. Wet meant cold, and more importantly, slippery. Which was why it shouldn't have come as a surprise when, just a couple of meters from the window of the Hokage's office, he stumbled, a tile dislodging beneath his sandal and he pitched forward in a wordless cry, crashing through the glass, skidding on and across a desk, scattering scrolls and documents before landing on the floor.
As the papers found places on the carpet around Naruto, he heard a strangled groan, which may have been Shizune.
"It took me all morning to sort that out!"
Was that her forehead hitting the table?
Naruto's chain of thought was snapped short there, because the expression Tsunade wore as she death-glared at him over the desk was enough to make a Jounin wet his pants and burst into tears.
"Um." The orange-clad shinobi squeaked. "Whoops?"
Tsunade reached over, lifted him by the scruff of his white collar -
"Ah... Ahhahhh, Obaachan! I just wanted to say hi-"
"You. Are. Annoying, Uzumaki Naruto. You will get out. You will stay out! I don't want you in my sight!"
- and she quite literally threw him out of the broken window.
Jiraiya cocked a disapproving eyebrow. "You don't think that was just a bit harsh?"
"Shut up and date Old Man!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
Kiba couldn't help reaching into his jacket pocket again to make sure the packet of medicinal herbs was still dry. Being made to go out a third time in the rain today wasn't a very appealing thought.
Akamaru didn't seem to mind. The white dog ran on up ahead, through every last puddle he could find, a yapping, dripping, muddy mess.
At least he was having fun.
It was at the bridge that Kiba saw something large and yellow perched on the wide red handrail. Something large, yellow and very unhappy.
"Naruto?"
The person in question jumped in surprise, arms flailing wildly as he desperately tried not to fall into the river.
Dropping his green umbrella, Kiba dove forward, seized the back of the yellow raincoat and yanked hard.
"Itaiiiiii!" Naruto's head hit the bridge with an audible thump and he lay there, clutching his injury and moaning. "Ki-ba! Whatcha do that for?"
"I just saved you from having to swim home,"
"It hurts!"
"Then don't sit on the handrail if you don't plan on making such graceful exits into the water." Kiba was beginning to understand why the usually silent Sasuke actually complained about the blond boy. "What's the matter, anyway? You seemed… Depressed?"
He winced as Naruto sat up, the unfamiliar expression settling on his face once more.
"I made Tsunade-baachan angry," he muttered dolefully.
"Well, you could at least mope out of the rain, you'll catch you death in this." Kiba picked up his umbrella and held it over the both of them as Akamaru climbed into Naruto's lap, leaving muddy paw prints all over the orange pants. When the usually loud ninja didn't cheer up, Kiba started to get worried. "It wasn't that bad was it? I mean, you play stupid pranks all the time,"
This provoked a bit of indignation on Naruto's part. "My pranks aren't stupid, they're funny! And people fall for them! Besides, this wasn't a prank. I wanted to visit Obaachan to see how she was, and it was wet on the roof, so I slipped and fell through the window. I think I messed up her papers and she was really annoyed. She threw me out the window and told me to stay out of her sight."
Back to brooding.
She threw him out the window…?
Kiba shook his head and sighed. "So it was a misunderstanding. Maybe she's just having a bad day. I'm sure she didn't mean it like that,"
"But she's mad at me,"
"Then go apologise,"
"But… She said she didn't want to see me,"
Why on Earth was Kiba suddenly reminded of his team mate Hinata? "Get her something," he suggested. "Like a peace offering."
Naruto considered this, giving Akamaru that squinty-eyed-Uzumaki-thinking-look. At last, he asked, "Girls like flowers, right?"
"Er… Yeeess…" Kiba was an unfortunate sufferer of hay fever.
"All right!" Naruto leapt to his feet with renewed, rain-soaked vigour. "I'll buy her flowers to say sorry, then!" He even hugged Akamaru in his excitement. "Thanks, Kiba! See ya, Akamaru!"
He released the dog and hurried off, raincoat flapping crazily as he went.
Kiba reached into his pocket once more. Yes. Wet. He should have been thoroughly irritated at that. But somehow, watching Naruto skip through the rain, no longer miserable, Kiba found that he didn't really mind.
The bell over the glass door jingled as Naruto stepped into the Yamanaka flower store and shook the water out of his blond locks.
"Ah! Naruto-kun!" It was Rock Lee. The green-clad shinobi had his gangly, bandaged arms around a huge boxed bouquet of pink and red roses. "Have you seen Sakura-san?"
Naruto shook his head. "Are those for her?"
Incredibly, Lee managed to balance the ridiculously large arrangement on his knee and give Naruto his "Nice-guy" pose, beaming from beneath his bowl-cut.
"Yes! Sakura-san brought me all those flowers while I was in hospital; I have to repay her somehow. I know these are not worthy of her, but it's a start! If she does not accept these thirty-six roses, I will buy her sixty-nine! And do push-ups! If I do a thousand push-ups and give her sixty-nine roses, then Sakura-san will like me! But if she does not accept the sixty-nine roses, then I'll do two thousand push-ups and..."
The bell jingled cheerfully as Rock Lee left, still rambling.
"Oh, the Springtime of Eternal Youth," Ino quoted dryly from behind the counter. "Can I help you, Naruto?" She almost looked suspicious.
The boy glanced around at the displays of flowers, balloons and stuffed toys, seeming lost. "Ah..." He chuckled nervously, bringing his arms up to clasp his hands behind his head. "I'm here to buy flowers for someone,"
Ino imagined a sweat drop of impossible proportions hovering over her head. "No. Really?" She deadpanned.
"Yep," oblivious to her scathing sarcasm, Naruto wondered across to a row of ceramic pots, leaned over to peer at a cluster of striped carnations and Ino was suddenly struck by the wild thought that he might bite off the heads of the flowers and swallow them whole.
It made her smile.
"Hmm. Pink is boring," he announced. "Red's too angry. White's too sad."
Naruto paced all over the store, dismissing every bud, bloom and blossom he laid eyes on, until - "Wai! These are perfect!" He pointed at a bunch of day lilies.
Ino's expression would have kicked Sasuke's ass right out of the record books for World's Most Blank Glare. Was Naruto aware of how much those costed? "Who are you buying those for, anyway? Not Sakura too?"
The orange-clad ninja sobered slightly. "I made Tsunade-baachan angry earlier, so I'm buying her flowers to say sorry. I don't want her to be mad at me."
Something in the way he said this melted Ino's cold composure a little. So he was a moron at times. But he was a sweet moron.
She wrapped the flowers, allowed him to tie on a tag, charged only half-price, then watched as he carried them out of the store carefully, as though they were sacred.
Hmph. Ino thought vaguely. Day lilies. What is it with that guy and the colour orange, anyway?
Outside, the rain had ceased.
Inserting the ribbon between his teeth, Naruto perched, cat-like on a random roof and considered the quickest route to the Hokage's office. Quick - and safe. He had no desire for the same thing to happen twice.
Visually marking out his path, he launched himself into a swift game of leapfrog with Konoha's rooftops, and it was over the gap between two apartment blocks that disaster struck. He frightened a crow, which took flight, beating its wings in Naruto's face, and disconcerted, he underestimated the distance, sprung too early and missed the ledge.
Out of reflex, he forced Chakra into his hands and feet, attaching himself to a windowsill, but not before letting out a cry of alarm.
The bunch of lilies tumbled down into the street below, landing in a basket dangling off a yoke, which sat on the shoulders of a young woman.
Oh, crap.
Panicked, Naruto scrambled down the side of the building and darted after the girl. "Hey! Wait!" Quickly, before she turned the corner - he put on a burst of speed, tearing past a couple of startled Academy students, a mother soothing her child, hurtled around the corner - and crashed into something solid.
Something solid that completely flipped over, causing the four people seated there to yell in surprise. There was a heavy thud, tinkling of breaking glass, toppling furniture and colourful cursing. Somewhere amongst the ruckus, a chair broke, and Naruto suddenly found himself sitting on top of -
"Hinata?"
"N-Naruto-kun!" She gasped, looking like she was about to faint.
Before Naruto could even muster the decency to blush at this, he was grabbed firmly by the shoulder, swung off the scarlet-faced Hyuuga and abruptly became the receiver of three equally pissed-off looks.
Neji, Byakugan blazing out of habit, vanilla ice cream in his long, raven hair. Ten Ten, half a brunette bun escaping from its elastic and chocolate cake down the front of her top. And Shino. What on Earth was he doing at a café eating sweets anyway?
"You're sitting in my custard tart," He informed Naruto.
Oh. So that was what the gooey stuff was. Carefully, deliberately, Naruto shifted the heel of his palm to get it out of the plate and wondered whether there was an official record for the Most Homicidal Glares Earned in a Single Day, because he was pretty sure he'd broken it.
Fifteen minutes later, a bit bruised from his fall and smelling like Hinata's mango jelly pudding, Naruto knew that there was no point in continuing his search for the flowers. Seated on a street corner, he gloomily mulled over his options.
He was out of money, so he couldn't buy another bouquet; he could always hunt in someone's garden and "borrow" a couple of flowers, but that would probably only cause more trouble.
He was wondering whether he could con some cash out of Sasuke through a card game (the Uchiha sucked at Black Jack), when a pair of sandalled feet belonging to that very person stepped into Naruto's view of the ground.
Yes, Naruto recognised Sasuke's feet. You would too if you were kicked in the face enough times with them.
"I've been looking for you," The dark-haired boy sounded thoroughly irritated. "You should have learnt by now to be more careful - or at least to quit being such a klutz."
Too tired and depressed to even attempt a comeback, Naruto looked up.
Into the golden petals of a day lily.
"H-how...?"
The Uchiha frowned with vicious determination at the ground to his left, his cheeks tinted with what might have been a blush, or, more probably, sunburn. "I happen to like boiled chestnuts and I'm friends with the girl who sells them. She found this in one of her baskets and asked me to return it to you." He lifted the tag attached to the ribbon tied around the bouquet, water stained and creased, which read the names of the intended receiver and giver of the flowers.
What were the odds? Having Sasuke find and return the lilies, then actually speak more than five words at a time. Next, Ino would be dating Chouji...
Of the original six, there were only four lilies remaining, one with a painful bend in its stalk and crushed petals, but the blond shinobi wasn't about to complain. If his saviour hadn't been Sasuke, Naruto would have glomped them.
However, this was Sasuke, and no matter what the occasion, you strictly do not glomp your arch rival.
At least, not in public, anyway.
Naruto could think of at least three people he wanted to shout a nice big bowl of ramen for as soon as he could. He grinned broadly in appreciation, and this annoyed Sasuke a great deal, so the Uchiha thrust the flowers at Naruto, crammed his hands in his pockets and strode off wordlessly, as fast as he could, so he wouldn't be forced to fight the irresistible temptation to smile as well.
Naruto glanced up at the looming grey clouds and hoped that Sasuke would get home before it started to rain again. Then for the third time that day, he began to make his way to the Hokage's office.
But this time, he would keep both feet on the ground.
The office door was closed. Locked.
Naruto rubbed at his head, nonplussed. Where was everyone?
Movement caught his eye and he turned to see Shizune emerge from behind a pair of doors, carrying a tray on which sat a teapot and a couple of saké bottles.
"Hey, Shizune!" Naruto waved. "Where's Obaachan?"
"She's in a very important meeting right now," the dark-haired kunoichi replied, eyeing the battered-looking bunch of lilies. "Do you want me to take a message?"
He shook his head, wanting to give Tsunade the flowers and apology himself. There was no way he would allow anyone else to do so after the day's crazed events.
So he would wait, he decided, planting himself cross-legged on the floor beside the office door. He'd camp outside there all night if he had to, but Tsunade would be out soon, right?
Besides, he wasn't tired.
Not at all.
Three-and-a-half hours later, the meeting was adjourned and Tsunade and Shizune trudged wearily back to the Godaime's office, to find a snoring, orange lump curled upon the floor beside the door.
"Ah, Kami!" Shizune exclaimed. "He's still here! I thought he would go home."
Tsunade hushed her companion, and knelt down beside the kitsune-boy, noting his worn state. He was still damp with rain, sticky and smelling of sugar. There were bruises forming on his shin, just below his orange pants leg, and his cheek was grazed, perhaps from the incident that morning. His hand clutched four wilting flame-coloured lilies, one of which was so crushed, it looked like crumpled orange-brown-yellow paper on a broken green chopstick.
The tag was bent, and after somehow being dipped in something wet, the ink had run, but the spidery-looking characters were still legible, Naruto's untidy kanji making out the words: To Tsunade-baachan, from Naruto. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry.
It was, altogether, the most beautiful thing the Godaime had seen in a very long time.
As Shizune disappeared to find a vase, Tsunade gathered the sleeping boy in her arms, and took him into her office, cradling him as she sat by the newly repaired window and watched the rain gurgling with mirth as it came down.
She smiled.
Baka, she thought fondly.