A week slipped by, and the year ran out with it.
This New Year was nothing like the ones before it, because the Hidden Leaf had won the Third Great Shinobi War. It wasn't an exaggeration to say the entire shinobi world would look up to the Leaf from here on out.
Naturally, the village's shinobi and civilians alike were beside themselves. The celebration that year became the largest anyone could remember.
Bang!
Fireworks bloomed across the night sky, one after another after another.
"So, how does New Year's in Konoha treat you?" Natsuki asked with a grin.
"It's lively," Konan said.
"The Hidden Rain's going to hold one of these too!" Yahiko declared.
There had been two reasons the Rain had never bothered before. The weather, for one — perpetual rain doesn't lend itself to street festivals. And the fact that the village had been dirt poor.
Both problems had since been solved.
"Then we'll come." Nawaki perked up. "I want to see how yours is different."
"When we throw one, you're all invited. Guaranteed."
"Enough talking." Kushina seized Yakushi Nonou by the hand. "There's food out there I've never seen in my life. We're going."
"They brought in dishes from the other villages this year," Konan explained.
The Anbu had run logistics for the whole festival, and as its head, she knew every detail. Featuring foreign cuisine had been deliberate — a way of building appetite, in more than one sense, for the Shinobi Village Alliance.
Konoha was going to be the center of the shinobi world now. It would only grow richer from here.
"Well, that settles it." Kushina beamed. "We're definitely trying all of it."
"We'll come too." Kurenai and Shizune exchanged a look.
"What about you, Tsunade-sensei?" Natsuki turned to her.
"I'd rather drink." Tsunade raised a hand and pointed down the street. "There's an izakaya running Hidden Sand liquor tonight. Coming?"
"When Tsunade-sensei invites me, how could I possibly refuse?"
The two of them took a private room.
"It's drinkable. But it's no Konoha sake." Tsunade set her cup down after the first sip.
"The Sand's short on everything. They don't have the grain for good brewing," Natsuki said easily.
"Now that I'll accept as an excuse." She poured herself another. "So. Did you take control of the Daimyo?"
Natsuki paused for half a beat. "I wouldn't call it control. Cooperation would be more accurate. The Daimyo can't survive without our protection."
"You really don't think like a shinobi." Tsunade fished a piece of chicken out of the dish with her chopsticks.
"Whether I think like one is beside the point." He shook his head. "Getting where I'm going is what matters."
"Then I hope you manage what my grandfather couldn't." She lifted her cup.
"In that case, Tsunade-sensei will have to help me." Natsuki tapped his cup gently against hers.
"With the strength you have now? There's nothing left I can help you with." She drained it in one go.
"You badly underestimate yourself." Natsuki set his own cup down.
"Don't start with the flattery." She waved it off. "If you need something from me down the line, just say it. Directly."
Lazy as she was, Natsuki had done far too much for her and for Nawaki. She wasn't the sort to pretend otherwise.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sensei." He picked up the flask and refilled her cup.
"Don't think I can't tell what's going on behind that face of yours." Tsunade snorted, swaying slightly as she leaned back.
She wasn't stupid. She'd worked out what Natsuki was angling for some time ago.
Especially after that embrace.
"Tsunade-sensei. Are you drunk?" Natsuki blinked at her.
"This little?" She glared. "Bring me ten more flasks and I still won't be drunk."
"As expected of Tsunade-sensei," he said, changing tack immediately.
"Do I still owe you a favor?" Her cheeks had gone faintly pink.
"You do. One left."
"Then out with it already." She raised her cup at him.
"How about a good-luck kiss?" Natsuki's expression didn't shift an inch. "Nawaki told me the story."
Tsunade's hand stopped mid-motion.
A good-luck kiss meant a kiss on the forehead.
She met his eyes. The private room seemed to go very quiet, and something in the air between them changed.
She hesitated. Then, with the alcohol lending her more nerve than she'd have had otherwise, she gave in.
Tsunade stood, a little unsteady, and leaned toward him. She dropped her gaze, bit her lip, gathered herself, and closed the distance slowly.
Her lips came into clearer and clearer focus in Natsuki's vision.
Then he stood, caught her by the waist, and kissed her properly.
Tsunade's eyes flew open.
The warmth of it went straight to her face, and her heart slammed against her ribs. She tried to pull back and found she couldn't — he had her held fast.
A second later, her stomach dropped, because he'd decided to press his luck further still.
She had no experience with any of this whatsoever. All she could do was give ground.
When they finally broke apart, Tsunade took a step back and dropped into her chair, breathing hard, caught somewhere between waking and dreaming.
Before Natsuki could say a word, she was out the door.
Out on the street, she pressed a hand flat against her chest.
The last thirty seconds kept replaying on a loop, and she genuinely could not tell whether she was furious or delighted.
Natsuki thought about it and decided not to follow.
The fact that she hadn't punched him through a wall told him everything he needed to know.
It wouldn't be much longer now.
He paid the bill and stepped out into the night.
"Natsuki-sensei."
Konan appeared at his side.
"Why are you on your own?" he asked.
"That sort of thing doesn't interest me." Her tone was flat.
"Then what does interest you?"
He reached out and pinched her cheek.
"I... don't know." Konan glanced at him, then looked away.
"That's all right." Natsuki smiled. "You'll find something eventually."
"Mm."
"Now that the war's over — are you going back to the Hidden Rain, or staying in Konoha?" he asked, the thought surfacing suddenly.
"I told Yahiko and the others I'd represent the Rain in the Alliance and remain in the Hidden Leaf." The answer came instantly.
"That sounds like something you decided a long time ago." Natsuki paused, then couldn't help laughing.
Konan's composure slipped. She lowered her head and studied the ground with great intensity.
"For what it's worth, I'd rather you stayed." He patted her hair. "I'd hate to lose a head of Anbu this competent."
"Then I'll work harder." Some of the tension went out of her shoulders.
"Come on. Let's walk." Natsuki withdrew his hand.
"Mm." She fell into step beside him, and inwardly, she was glowing.
The night wore on, and the festival wound down.
Natsuki, Konan, Kushina, Nawaki, and the rest regrouped near the end.
"Where'd my sister go?" Nawaki scratched his head.
"Tsunade-sensei had a bit too much and headed home early," Natsuki said.
"Aw. She missed the whole thing." Nawaki looked genuinely disappointed.
"Everyone celebrates differently." Natsuki smiled. "For Tsunade-sensei, drinking is the celebration."
"Yeah, fair." Nawaki stretched. "It's late. Same time next year, everyone."
The group broke up and headed home.
Natsuki shut the door behind him and looked at Yakushi Nonou and Uzumaki Kushina.
He crossed the room and slid an arm around each of them.
"Bath. Now." He was grinning.
"You're thinking about something indecent again." Kushina twisted and bumped him with her hip.
Nonou said nothing at all.
"For that, you're wearing a maid outfit tonight," Natsuki said, glancing at her.
"Why am I being punished? You're clearly the one who deserves it." Kushina turned. "Nonou, back me up here."
"I... I'll wear one too," Nonou said, coloring slightly.
"Whose side are you even on?" Kushina's mouth twisted.
"Hers is obvious." Natsuki's eyes narrowed. "You're in serious trouble tonight."
Kushina's knees went distinctly unreliable, and she felt a sudden strong urge to run.
Natsuki, of course, had no intention of letting her.
In the end, neither of them wore the maid outfits — they stayed in the bath so long that they both passed out from the heat and went straight to sleep.
Morning.
Natsuki climbed out of the warm tangle of blankets. Nonou and Kushina were still dead to the world, so he dressed quietly and left them to it.
He went straight next door, opened the door, and found Tsunade sitting on the sofa, looking distinctly worse for wear.
"Tsunade-sensei. It's not often I catch you awake this early." Natsuki came in smiling.
"Is that a problem?"
The reason she was up at this hour was that she hadn't slept. She'd spent most of the night thinking about that kiss.
She was hardly a girl anymore, but it had been her first, and her heart had refused to settle since.
"I only meant you could sleep in a while longer." Natsuki leaned down.
"What are you doing?" Tsunade recoiled on instinct and hit the back of the sofa.
"You don't look well." He reached out and touched her cheek.
"Show some respect for your elders." Tsunade caught his wrist and pushed it away. "I'm hungry. Go cook."
"Right away, Tsunade-sensei." He straightened up, still smiling, and headed for the kitchen.
It wouldn't do for Nawaki to wander out and see something.
Though the more he thought about it, the more it seemed Nawaki needed a place of his own.
Once the holiday ended, everyone went back to work.
And the year's defining project was, without question, the Shinobi Village Alliance.
After the summit, Natsuki had ordered a building cleared out to serve as its headquarters.
The Hidden Sand arrived first, with Pakura leading the delegation in person.
Natsuki went out to the village gate to meet them, and before long he spotted her in her Kage haori.
"Lord Kazekage. Welcome." Natsuki extended a hand, smiling.
"Thank you." Pakura shook it.
On the way back, her fingers dragged deliberately across his palm.
"Who's the Sand stationing here permanently?" Natsuki scanned her escort — and found a familiar face. Chiyo's son. Rasa.
"Rasa," Pakura said.
"Lord Hokage." Rasa stepped forward and inclined his head.
There was a distinct reluctance in his voice.
Partly because Natsuki had taken him prisoner once already. And partly because a permanent posting in Konoha meant permanent exile from the Sand's center of power.
But Pakura's justification had been airtight. As one of the Five Elders, she needed someone with real weight behind him to handle Alliance business in her stead. Rasa was the obvious pick.
Even Chiyo hadn't been able to argue it. The Alliance genuinely was that important, and it genuinely did decide the Sand's future.
Natsuki smiled.
He understood exactly what Pakura was doing. She was asking him to keep an eye on Rasa — which kept Rasa out of trouble and made it that much easier for her to lock down the Hidden Sand completely.
"This way."
He led them to the Alliance building and gave them the tour.
Six floors. One for each of the five great villages, with the sixth shared among all the minor ones. The structure ran much like a village itself: the Hidden Leaf issued missions, and the other villages completed them for payment.
"The Sand is on the fifth floor," Natsuki said, offhand.
Something in Pakura's chest gave a small, pleased lurch.
Functionally, the floor made no difference. But with the Leaf occupying the sixth, where a village sat in the stack was a fairly transparent measure of how much Natsuki valued it.
By strength and standing alone, the Hidden Sand had no business being on the fifth floor.
Which meant it was because of her.
If she didn't have a village to run, she'd have taken a permanent Konoha posting herself in a heartbeat.
"The dormitories are behind this building," Natsuki added. "Grab any Anbu and they'll show you over."
"Is there an office for me?" The thought struck her suddenly.
"The entire floor belongs to the Sand. Take whichever one you want."
"The one at the very back." Pakura considered it briefly. "I won't be in Konoha often."
"Fine by me." Natsuki had a fairly good idea of her reasoning.
"Rasa, divide the rest among yourselves," Pakura instructed.
"Yes, Lord Kazekage."
"Lord Hokage." She turned back to him, and a smile surfaced. "Would you care to see my office?"
"I'd be honored."
The two of them stepped inside, and the door clicked shut behind them.
"Impatient, aren't you?" Natsuki raised a hand and swatted her backside.
"You haven't come to see me in a week." Pakura bit her lip.
"That's a fair complaint." He smoothed a hand over her hair. "How would you like me to make it up to you?"
Pakura turned without answering and walked toward the desk, and the way she leaned against it made the answer perfectly clear.
Natsuki followed.