Naruto took a detour to the Hokage's Office, climbing to the top floor.
The Hokage's guards were nowhere to be seen, so Naruto didn't hesitate and directly pushed open the door to the Hokage's Office.
With a creak, the door opened, and before he even stepped inside, he saw the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, sound asleep on her desk. If he looked closely, he could even see a droplet of drool glistening at the corner of her mouth.
The window behind the Hokage's desk was wide open, and the white curtains fluttered in the stifling breeze.
Naruto stood there for a while, but instead of waking Tsunade, he found three chairs, lined them up, and lay down on them, making himself comfortable.
Huu huu~
The office was filled with the sound of steady breathing.
The clock on the wall ticked on for forty minutes before two sets of footsteps suddenly approached from outside. Three seconds later, the office door was pushed open.
Standing at the doorway were Konoha's two gatekeepers, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, their arms laden with documents. They froze at the sight of both Tsunade and Naruto fast asleep, one slumped over the desk and the other sprawled across the chairs.
The two exchanged a look and then glanced back to make sure they hadn't walked into the wrong room.
'What was with this lazy atmosphere?'
"Godaime-sama! Why are you sleeping again?" Kotetsu, who had a bandage wrapped around his face, exclaimed, nearly dropping the stack of thick documents in his arms.
"Ah?" Tsunade mumbled as she groggily woke up, the right side of her face imprinted with ink from a book, with a droplet of drool still hanging at the corner of her mouth.
Kotetsu and Izumo were Chunin who usually guarded the village gates and also served as proctors for the Chunin Exams. Before Tsunade returned to the village, they were like bricks that were moved wherever they were needed.
The village gate didn't require constant guarding, especially not at night, or during significant events, so these two important but not so important people are needed to guard the gate just to maintain decorum.
After Tsunade came to power, she naturally needed her own aides, so she began training the duo as her right-hand men.
As for the two previous Hokage's guards, Raido and Aoba, after serving as the guards of the Sandaime and Yondaime Hokage respectively, they were gradually being reassigned now that the new guards were being trained.
During this transition between the old and new guards, while Kotetsu and Izumo were still getting familiar with their new roles, they were under the guidance of the previous guards.
When there was nothing to do, they guarded the gates. When there was something to be done, they ran errands for Tsunade.
An hour earlier, Tsunade had sent them to fetch some documents, and when they returned, they were greeted with this ridiculous scene. They were so stunned that it felt like a vein was going to burst.
Tsunade was clearly napping and slacking off, and somehow, Naruto had slipped in and joined her.
"Oh, it's you guys." Tsunade's calm demeanor showed no sign of guilt for being caught slacking off, "You're back so quickly. Sorry, I accidentally dozed off."
Looking at Tsunade's habitual slacking off and shameless appearance, the duo gatekeepers were very upset. Kotetsu then placed the half-human-height stack of documents on Tsunade's desk.
He sighed helplessly and pointed at Naruto, who was still sleeping on the arranged chairs, and asked.
"Godaime-sama, why is he here?"
Tsunade glanced at Naruto, who was sleeping soundly in the chair, and said calmly, "I called him here. You two can leave first."
"Yes."
With a click, the office door closed, and Kotetsu and Izumo respectfully exited the Hokage's office. After running their errand, they had to get back to guarding the gate.
Once they were gone, Tsunade frowned, got up, and walked over to the sleeping Naruto, casually lifting him off the chairs.
"Huh?" Naruto groggily opened his eyes and saw Tsunade's angry face, "You little brat, don't you know better than to sleep wherever you want?"
"I have something I need to ask you, Tsunade-sama." Naruto's survival instincts kicked in.
"Huh?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes, staring at him for a moment before tossing him back onto the chairs.
She then walked to the window, where the scorching sunlight and lush green forest were reflected in her pupils. With her back to Naruto, she asked, "What do you want from me?"
Upon hearing this, Naruto stood up from the chair, walked to the front of the desk, and stopped about three meters away from Tsunade.
He got straight to the point, "I heard that the higher-ups want to train me to be a perfect Jinchuriki. Is that true?"
"Where did you hear that from?"
"That's not important."
"If the leak of high-level intelligence is not important, then what else is important?" Tsunade turned her head slightly, her face wrapped in the white sunlight looking serious.
Naruto suddenly felt thirsty and didn't reply immediately. He casually picked up the tea cup from the desk and poured himself some tea.
"In this village, even if a dog dies, I'll be the last one to find out."
"Tsunade-sama, how could you think that I could learn of high-level intelligence unless the higher-ups wanted me to know? Or perhaps, this information was from a specific higher-up trying to test my attitude?"
"Isn't that right, Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade turned fully to face Naruto, rolling her eyes. Dropping all pretense, she bluntly said, "The higher-up you're talking about is me."
"Well, I'm truly honored." Naruto said, "Tsunade-sama, you must have a reason for doing this. Even though I don't understand it, I'm still deeply impressed."
"Stop complaining." Tsunade retorted, not mincing words, "Details of high-level meetings shouldn't be leaked easily, but there's some wiggle room. Anyway, the point got across."
"Anyway, those are what you figured it out on your own. They have nothing to do with me."
"That's really inconvenient." Naruto complained.
"That's what a Hokage is like, brat. Do you think this position is so comfortable?" Tsunade plopped back into her soft chair.
"Thank you for your hard work, Tsunade-sama." Naruto said, timing his flattery just right.
"Don't give me that." Tsunade gave him a disdainful look, "How much truth actually comes out of your mouth?"
"Tsunade-sama is the most beautiful woman in Konoha."
"Well! That's probably the only truthful thing you've said." Tsunade seemed very pleased with this and looked at Naruto with a smile, "Well then…"
"Due to various complicated reasons and coincidences, now that you have learned of this information, what's your stance?"
"Is it important?" Naruto asked.
"Of course it's important." Tsunade sat at her desk and reached for the teapot.
Her chest was so tightly pressed that it looked like it might pop out, making the scene rather intense. Naruto couldn't hold it anymore, so he stood up and picked up the teapot to pour tea for Tsunade.
"Thank you." Tsunade took a big gulp, set down the cup, and continued, "I'm against it. Such outdated and rigid plans won't get past me."
After a pause, Tsunade lifted a finger slightly, her gaze locking onto Naruto's face.
"So, I need to be sure your stance matches mine."
"I will always stand on your side, Tsunade-sama." Naruto said without hesitation, "Your stance is mine, no exceptions."
"That mouth of yours is your only redeeming feature." Tsunade leaned back into her chair and asked, "Do you want to hear a more complicated explanation or a simple one?"
Naruto thought carefully for a moment and then answered.
"I'd like to hear both."