In the stillness of the morning, quick light steps envelop the quiet hall of the Hokage Tower. The construction of the building had just ended yesterday and his office will be transferred here starting today. Since he became the Hokage eight months ago, his house back in the Senju Compound served as his temporary office while the tower was being built.
It's not his first day as the Hokage but it sure feels like one.
Funny enough, he woke up late this morning. He didn't even have the time to eat breakfast, in fear that Tobirama would scold him again for being late. Tobirama had personally supervised the transfer of the office. He'd made all the necessary preparations beforehand and all Hashirama had to do was to get there in time.
Hashirama finally reaches the door of his office, extending each hand to the doorknobs. He lets out one deep breath as if to brace himself before opening it.
"You're late, anija," scolds his younger brother, glowering beside the desk with his arms crossed against his chest.
Hashirama knows that looking at the wall clock on the left side of the room is the wrong thing to do at this moment. Of course he does it anyway.
"But Tobirama, it's not even—!" He's not even five minutes late!
Tobirama's eyes narrow further, a fair warning that Hashirama really needs to stop being in denial. He's late, all things, considered, and Hashirama knows very well not to argue.
"Sorry, Tobirama," is what he says instead, scratching the back of his neck and laughing it off like the usual. His laugh comes out as an awkward one though. "I overslept."
Tobirama remains unmoving, standing beside the huge desk on the other side of the room. Hashirama silently crosses the room and sits on the chair by the desk.
Tobirama wasted no time further and started to brief Hashirama about his duties for the day. "Get to work," he says, palm landing on top of one of the piles of papers sitting on the left-hand side of the desk. There's a bunch of neatly arranged scrolls beside the mountains of documents. Hashirama winces at the sight. "You may start with these. Toka will bring in the rest later," the younger adds.
With one last glance at Hashirama—again, a warning—he leaves the room.
Wasting no time, Hashirama starts with the paperwork. He's never really liked this part of his role as the Hokage—it's tedious and boring, to put it simply—but now, he feels a certain sense of eagerness, excitement even. This village was his long-time dream and he's willing to do anything for the welfare of the people living in it. A mere bunch of paperwork is never going to change that fact.
He hears a knock on the door about twenty minutes later.
"It's Toka, Hashirama-sama," comes a woman's voice on the other side of the room.
"Come in," Hashirama replies.
A female Senju of not more than twenty years old appears makes her way inside the room.
Toka is also a Senju and a close friend of the two brother. She's also Hashirama's official secretary (the unofficial one being Tobirama).
She puts a tray of food on Hashirama's desk. "Tobirama-sama asked me to bring this to you. He says he knows that you didn't eat your breakfast."
A small smile forms on Hashirama's lips. His younger brother can be stern and irritable, but he is thoughtful.
"Thank you, Toka."
The woman nods. "I'll be back with the rest of the scrolls."
Hashirama eats his breakfast first and by the time he's finished, Toka returns with the scrolls and places them on his desk.
"I'll just be in the next room if you need anything," she says, bringing the now empty tray of food with her as she leaves the office once again.
The day went by swiftly without Hashirama noticing. Perhaps he's been too engrossed on the task at hand, only having a short break at noon, during which he ate lunch with Tobirama and Toka. The sun's still yet to set and Hashirama was already able to accomplish everything he was scheduled to do for that day.
He's preparing to leave when Toka went to his office.
"See you tomorrow, Hashirama-sama."
The Hokage smiles at her. "Thank you for today, Toka. See you."
"Will you be heading home, too?"
"Ah, I think I'll walk around the village first," he replies. "I'd like to see how the people are doing."
Toka smiles back and nods, then proceeds on her tracks.
Just like what he said, Hashirama didn't go straight home after he left his office. In his very own little tour around the village, he passed by the buildings being constructed. The Academy and the hospital are almost done by now. Hopefully at the start of Spring, which is only three months away from now, the Academy will be finished and they could finally conduct their classes there instead of the open grounds near the site.
Before they started building the infrastructures, Hashirama had volunteered to do all of it himself using his Wood Release. It's actually not a bad idea because by doing so, they could save a lot of time and effort. Of course it would be too chakra-exhausting on his part, but he wouldn't mind that at all. He's got a lot of reserves and he could always take a break from time to time. However, Tobirama reasoned out that it'd be better if the people do the construction instead. In this way, they will develop a sort of a bond which might be a key factor in establishing cooperation between the villagers.
Hashirama walks past various establishments, several houses and compounds, and the bustling marketplace. As he walks along the streets, people would greet him here and there and he would greet him back. His heart flutters, confidently knowing that he has the love and respect of these people as their Hokage.
He glances at the Hokage Rock and sees the sculpture of his face. It's almost done by now. This 'face on a rock thing' was of course his own idea. Yes, it's a bit tacky (Tobirama says so), and kind of narcissistic (if one doesn't know what it truly means), but he hopes that the people would appreciate what he really wants to convey through it—that the Hokage watches the whole village and he will keep them safe.
He continued walking until he reached the top of the cliff overlooking the village. The sun had finally set and the evening sky is taking over, bringing with it a pleasant cool breeze.
This has become his habit now, going here when something is troubling him. The solitude that the place offers helps to calm his mind.
What is it that troubles him, however, he couldn't really pinpoint.
It has been eight months since Konoha was established. His clansmen doesn't have to fight in a war anymore and the same goes for the people of other clans who have allied with them.
Like every change, it had not been easy especially during the first few months. After all, they were at war ever since they can recall. Families, friends, clansmen, everyone had loved ones who died fighting other clans.
It goes without saying that it wasn't easy to convince the other clan heads to agree with his beliefs. It would've been impossible, if not for the help of Tobirama, Toka, their clan members, and of course, the Uchiha clan who found the village alongside their clan. And now finally, they have peace.
To say that Hashirama was happy is truly an understatement.
So it's a complete wonder why he'd feel discontented sometimes. Going back, this started more or less two months ago. No matter how joyful he'd be, it would always feel like something is missing, something very important.
The moment he became aware of it, he thought maybe it's because of the rapid changes happening around him, that perhaps he's not just accustomed to peace yet, having been fighting in a war for more than half of his life. But as days go by, that feeling never went away, even growing stronger and stronger.
He keeps all these thoughts to himself, even from his own brother. Loving and thoughtful as he is, Tobirama might not be able to understand him. Another reason is that the younger one has his own things to handle, too, and Hashirama doesn't want to be a greater burden.
In each and every day that passes, that feeling of emptiness only makes itself known that sometimes Hashirama feels as though there's a gaping hole deep inside him.
Engrossed in his own thoughts, it was already late when he went home.
"Where have you been, anija?" Tobirama welcomes him with this question. He's an excellent sensory shinobi, surpassing even Hashirama at that skill, but he's still young and the range of his sensory abilities is yet to improve. Hashirama finds him sitting on the couch in the living room, several scrolls splayed on the low center table in front of him—it's already late in the night but he's still working.
"I roamed around the village and lost track of time," Hashirama answers honestly, leaving the part when he went to the cliff.
Tobirama isn't completely convinced, however. "That's odd," he ponders out loud. "I looked for you everywhere but I didn't find you."
Hashirama momentarily freezes but is quick to put an act and grins rather awkwardly. "Sorry."
Fortunately for him, Tobirama decides not to delve deeper into it. "Anyway, the head of Uzumaki clan wishes to have an audience with us tomorrow. They'll arrive in the morning so I scheduled the meeting in the afternoon. Is that alright with you?"
Hashirama contorts his eyebrows, somewhat perplexed to hear the news. Sure, a clan that reaches out to talk with them is always a good news as they can be a potential ally. Hearing which clan has reached out to them this time is the shocking part.
"The Uzumaki clan? Aren't they our cousin clan?" he asks, joining Tobirama on the couch.
"They are. Why'd you ask?"
"Well, they might be our relatives, strictly speaking, but they distanced themselves away from other clans since like, ten, fifteen years ago? I remember when father told us about them when we were kids, but I haven't even met their clan leader before. I wonder what he's like."
"Ashina-sama is their leader. He's a kind and peace-loving elderly. At least that's from what I gathered."
Hashirama sighs. "I hope he is."
"I've already prepared everything. He and his envoy will be staying with us for the duration of their visit." As expected, Tobirama is the more responsible one among the two.
Tobirama slumps his back onto the backrest. He shuts his eyes and lets out a long sigh, seemingly trying to make the fatigue go away.
"You should go to sleep now, Tobirama," Hashirama says. His younger brother has had an exhausting day, getting up very early in the morning and still working up until now.
"I'll go to sleep once I finish those," the younger replies, and as if on cue, he suddenly yawns. Hashirama chuckles.
There's a pout on Tobirama's lips as Hashirama helps him roll the opened scrolls and bring them back to where he keeps them. "You should eat your dinner," Tobirama reminds him. "We are to personally welcome the Uzumakis early tomorrow morning. You can't be late," he says before retreating to his bedroom.
Hashirama replies with an 'okay'. He goes to the dining area and as he eats his dinner in silence, he can't help but wonder what business the Uzumaki clan might have with them.
It'd be good if they would offer an alliance, he thinks.
-End of Chapter 1-
A/N: Huge thanks to apmcoma, for enlightening me that Mito's father's canon name is Ashina Uzumaki. We'll proceed with his canon name :)