Tsunade's Ultimate Desire P1

It was early in the morning within the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The genin were out and about dealing with their own personal lives, the chunnin were teaching academy students lessons vital to becoming excellent shinobi, and the jounin ended up stuck with dozens of missions to complete to make up for the village’s financial disarray.

Stamping a sheet of paper on her desk, Tsunade handed this document to jounin Kakashi Hatake, who was wearing his typical attire of a dark green jounin's vest and a blue jumpsuit underneath it.

Obviously tired, Kakashi sighed loudly, "Thank you, Milady. If I may ask, can this be my last mission for the day?" Wearing a stern expression on her face, Tsunade stared coldly at Kakashi, her eyes telling all she needed to say. With a small bead of sweat sliding down his face, Kakashi nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I didn’t think so. Sorry for wasting your time, Milady." Kneeling down to the floor, Kakashi made a small hand-sign and suddenly vanished.

Tsunade sat in her office looking at the stack of papers before her; the pile seemed almost endless.

"Ugh! I need a break!" Tsunade shouted. "I'm sick of all this paperwork! I just need some time to blow off some steam and have some fun!"

Tsunade placed her arms on her desk and buried her face in her arms; she was exhausted. Since becoming the Hokage of the village, Tsunade had been busy every single day of the week.

"Why did I take this job again?" she asked herself. "I know I love this village, but I'm getting tired of all this extra work! I wish I never became Hokage!"

At that exact moment, Tsunade heard a voice speaking to her; it was a male voice that sounded like it belonged to a wise, elderly being.

"You have many desires within you,” the mysterious voice spoke. “If you so request, I may grant your greatest desire."

Rubbing her forehead with her right palm, Tsunade felt her left eye twitching in anger. "Great! Now I'm hearing voices!" she muttered to herself. All of a sudden, mist appeared from out of nowhere and began to conglomerate into a physical being. Caught completely off guard, Tsunade leapt up and jumped into a fighting stance, knocking down one of her mountains of paperwork in the process.

After 30 seconds of gathering in the Hokage’s office, the mist finished merging and had now taken the shape of a hooded man wearing a pure white cloak. The unknown man’s face was covered in the shadow of his hood, but Tsunade managed to see silver hairs on the lower half of his face that probably belonged to a beard. Raising his sleeve-covered hand, the mysterious man extended his arm long enough so that his hand was visible and made a peaceful gesture towards Tsunade.

"I assure you I am no threat,” the man said in a soft tone of voice. “I had to take a physical form, otherwise, you would’ve shrugged me off as mere imagination." Gasping, Tsunade knew that this man was the one who spoke to her through her mind.

"H-How did you get in here?" Tsunade asked.

"I traveled through the medium of your soul, Tsunade," the man replied.

"And how do you know my name?!" she asked in both fear and amazement.

"That isn't important at the moment. What is important is that I'm here to grant you a little reprieve of your duties."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"I shall grant you your deepest desire so that you may have some 'fun' in your life."

"Really..." Tsuande responded, becoming intrigued by the sudden offer.

Nodding, the man continued. "Yes, really." Letting out a small chuckle, the man brought a sleeved hand to his chest; although Tsunade could not see his face to confirm it, she had the sneaking suspicion that the man was smiling beneath his hood. "Please, forgive my rudeness; I never gave you my name. Throughout my lifetime, I have been called dozens, if not hundreds, of titles, but you may refer to me as Neku...Neku Venaiko."

Warily, Tsunade nervously laughed in response. "Alright, Neku, what is this ‘offer’ as you put it?"

Pausing for a moment, Neku stiffened for a split second before answering.

"As I have already told you, Lady Hokage, I can grant your utmost desire. Before I grant it though, let me ask you this: What do you think is your greatest desire?"

Hearing this, Tsunade’s eyes widened slightly but she responded nonetheless. "If you are really as powerful as you claim, then you know it well." Becoming completely silent for only a brief moment, Tsunade continued, "My greatest desire...is to be free."

Chuckling again, Neku replied, "Perhaps, but then again, perhaps not. Your heart is conflicted in numerous areas and you yourself do not know what it is you wish." Taking in a deep breath, Neku continued, "Regardless, if you still wish to take this offer, than by all means…"

Extending his left hand enough so that his hand was revealed, he placed it in front of him, awaiting Tsunade's hand to shake it in return; while eyeing the stranger’s hand, Tsunade noticed that the back of Neku's hand had the Roman numeral for 13 on it. Warily, Tsunade stepped forward and smiled.

"Deal!" she said in a stern voice; Tsunade shook Neku's hand and the deal was complete.