[1. Morning at Tsunade’s Office – Team Seven Awaits]

The sun had just begun its slow climb over the village rooftops, streaking the Hokage Monument with gold and orange hues that painted the stone faces of past leaders in a fleeting, almost reverent glow.

Inside the Hokage’s office, the air smelled faintly of incense and aged wood, mixed with the faint tang of paper from stacks of mission scrolls piled along the shelves. Tsunade sat behind her desk, one hand cradling a mug of steaming green tea, the other idly tapping a pen against the surface as her eyes drifted toward the wall of maps detailing the Land of Fire’s many borders and outlying settlements.

It was early enough that the village hummed quietly outside: vendors setting up shop, birds calling from the trees, and the distant, rhythmic pounding of a blacksmith at his forge. Tsunade’s gaze flicked to the clock on the wall. Any minute now. She had already sent the summons for the shinobi to join Team Seven here, and the anticipation had a subtle weight, like the calm before a storm she could barely afford to enjoy.

The soft click of footsteps in the hall drew her attention, and her pen paused mid-tap. Even in her habitual composure, there was a glimmer of expectation in her sharp amber eyes. Her hand brushed a scroll aside, leaving it precariously near the edge of the desk, as though ready to be snatched at a moment’s notice.

Outside, the corridor remained still for a breath too long, the faint creak of the wooden floorboards echoing in the empty hallway. Then, the soft scrape of a sandal on stone—light, deliberate—reached the office door.

Tsunade straightened slightly in her chair, the warmth of her tea forgotten. The hand that had been idly brushing her hair back now tightened unconsciously around the mug. The scent of ink and tea mingled with the tension in the room.

The door handle clicked, and slowly, deliberately, the door began to open..