12 Tsunade-I

Tsunade followed Jiraiya as they entered the village right before the sun started dipping below the horizon. Looking at the place invoked some bittersweet memories within her. She didn't want to return. She still cursed herself for not covering her tracks. Jiraiya had found her too easily.

One thing was new about the village though. A massive tree in the east district cleared the skyline. There was no way that the tree was natural. Remembering the urgency in her sensei's letter, her heartbeat sped up. He hadn't mentioned anything concrete because it was sensitive information. He did say that it was about her family, and there was no way that she could ignore it. Now she could see why.

"You go on ahead to sensei's office. I have a little thing to check," said her teammate as he ran towards the direction of the tree. There was no hot spring that way, and his face did not have that damned perverted expression on it, so he must be heading towards the tree.

She was of half a mind to ignore what he said and follow him. But her sensei was waiting, so she put off the mystery for now and headed towards the Hokage's office. He'd tell her anyway.

"Come, Shizune," she said as she continued towards her destination.

The moment they made their presence known in front of the building, everyone stilled and began speaking in hushed whispers. Jiraiya might have been comfortable going through the window, but she wasn't.

"Ah, you're here. Welcome back to the village, Tsunade, Shizune," her sensei welcomed her as she walked in.

"Sensei. What happened?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

He sighed and looked at Shizune.

"Shizune, I'll ask her to fill you in later. For now, please go and get settled," he said.

From his tone alone, she could say that whatever it was, it was really bad news.

"We're not here to stay, Sensei," she said.

"You'll change your mind, Tsunade. Shizune, go and set things up," he said firmly.

Shizune looked between the two of them and Tsunade nodded curtly. She then immediately scurried out of the room.

"Read this," he said and tossed a scroll.

Tsunade caught it and began reading.

It was an after-action report. The more she read, the more her blood boiled. As if giving his life for the village was not enough, they couldn't even let him rest in peace. She began cursing the existence of Orochimaru and Danzo in her mind. It looked like the crippled fuck was already dead. That was good. If she ever got her hands on the slippery snake, she'd wring his neck.

She clutched the scroll hard and threw it at the wall in her rage.

Normally, her strength would dictate that the scroll would put a hole in the wall. Instead, to her surprise, it crashed on the wall with a loud boom. But there was no visible damage.

She looked at him, an unasked question on her lips.

"New barriers… Never mind that, did you read the whole thing?" he asked.

She nodded wordlessly, not trusting her mouth to keep quiet. If she started screaming, she'd work herself into a frenzy and it'd end with her decapitating anyone associated with Danzo. She clenched her hands and stood silently.

"I failed. I have no excuse. I failed. Plain and simple. Failed to stop my student's depravities. Failed to keep my friend in check. Failed to see my sensei's legacy unmolested. Failed my successor. Lately, failure is all that I've managed to achieve," he said, lacking the spark he usually had.

"As Hokage, and as your sensei, I ask for your forgiveness," he said.

"It's not your fault," she ground out after a few seconds. "He was my teammate too."

"Come. It's better if you see it for yourself," he said as he got up and led her outside.

"Why wasn't I told about Tenzo before?" she questioned as they flickered towards the tree at speeds unattainable by most shinobi.

"I did, Tsunade. I sent multiple missives, asking you to come and meet him," he said.

"Never got one," she spat.

He was silent for a second before his face twisted with an unreadable expression.

"Danzo," he finally said, as if that word explained everything. And it did.

That one word was enough to set her off. The light pole underneath her crumpled into the ground as she leapt off it.

Someone shrieked at that. Probably a civilian. She reined herself with the utmost difficulty and proceeded to the tree.

Within seconds they passed the perimeter guard and jumped down the massive hole in the ground where the tree sprouted from. It was an underground base, and the tree was growing from the basement.

She could see Jiraiya down there, along with a pink-haired kid, two toads, and oddly enough, a polar bear.

The moment she landed on the spot, her breath hitched for a moment.

A young man wearing the Anbu uniform sans the mask was sitting cross-legged at the base of the tree. His eyes were closed as he seemed to be deep in meditation. Several smaller plants were growing around him.

At that moment, two images flashed in her mind. The first one was of her grandfather, doing the exact same thing. She remembered once when she was but a snot-nosed brat, she was trying to get him to play a card game with her. He was sitting in the courtyard just like this. The trees around him sang as they swayed mesmerizingly in the wind, in an unseen rhythm.

The other image was of her father, smiling at her before he went off to war. That was the last she had ever seen of him.

There was no mistaking it. This was Tenzo. He looked more like her father than her grandfather. It was ironic that he was wearing a happuri like her granduncle.

Was she even capable of talking to someone who resembled her family so much? It hurt for her to even look at him. Fury overtook her once more as she glanced at the big tree. The center of the tree had the wooden face of her grandfather jutting out of it. It looked like he was at peace. But he was nothing but. The vile fuckers had desecrated his legacy.

"What's the verdict?" asked the Hokage.

"There's an abundance of natural energy around the tree. It's nothing harmful. Just a tree full of life. It will promote more growth in the region. No risk of anyone turning to stone. The secrets of senjutsu are protected by the sage regions, after all. And now some newcomers," grouched the toad called Fukasaku as it looked at the polar bear near the end of the sentence.

"We live a hard life, Great Sage," said the bear solemnly.

"Don't mind Pa. There doesn't seem to be any issue with it. But you don't want anyone trying something and turning into stone. Please keep people away from it for now. Once Tenzo learns his version of senjutsu, he can take control of the tree," said Shima.

"Are you confident enough to do so, Tenzo?" asked the Hokage as the young man stood up.

"I'm not sure. But I feel an inkling of something from the tree. It was as if I was missing something critical, and I found it at last. I will keep trying my best," he said.

"My grandfather was able to learn it on his own. He always said that it was second nature to him because of the Mokuton. What else embodies nature better than trees?" said Tsunade at last, breaking her silence.

"Ah, Lady Tsunade. Welcome to the village," said Tenzo, looking apprehensive of what she would say.

Tsunade looked at him for a few seconds and sighed. She was angry, but taking it out on him would be unfair. She'd rather clobber Orochimaru instead. And treat whoever killed the senile old cripple to a round of sake.

"Tenzo. I want to have a long talk with you when I've cooled down. Unfortunately, grandpa didn't leave behind any notes on his senjutsu," she said.

"Understood, ma'am," he said.

"Tsunade girl is not wrong. The Mokuton will aid you in learning senjutsu unlike anything else. We can't bring out our oils outside of Myoboku. Unless you want to sign our contract, we can't take you there as well. It would still be different, as I know that your brand of senjutsu will be different than ours. You won't be adopting any animalistic characteristics at any rate," said Pa.

"That is totally unfair," grumbled Jiraiya.

"Instead of complaining, just get better, Jiraiya boy," said Pa as he whacked Jiraiya's shin with the staff.

Tsunade ignored the byplay and thought hard about Tenzo. He now held her grandfather's legacy. Even if he was not a Senju, if people saw the Mokuton, they'd assume that he was the second coming of her grandfather. That would make him a target.

She looked at the likeness of her grandfather on the tree once more as she came to a decision. Nobody who had his abilities was allowed to be weak.

"I'll see if Katsuyu can help you. She would be more familiar with this specific conundrum. She lives in a sage region that's a forest," she said at last.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught her sensei nodding at her in approval.

"Good job, dear. Katsuyu can definitely help. Meanwhile, don't train without any of us supervising you, Tenzo. Now, we need to get going. We'll see you tomorrow," said Ma as the two toads shuffled next to each other, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Talk of all this has made me feel left out. When are you going to start teaching me, Shirokuma?" said a voice from the side, and Tsunade turned towards the source of it.

It was the pink-haired kid. He was wearing the standard jonin uniform with a sword strapped on his back. He was rolling up a scroll as he seemed to be done with whatever he was doing.

"You need to grow some more, Ichigo. Your body is physically not ready yet. Training for senjutsu in Shiroi Tsundora at this stage would freeze your balls off," said the bear with a chuckle.

"You've been saying that for quite a while now. Give me a definitive timeframe," grumbled the boy.

"The Elder will tell you when you're ready. Be patient. Anyway, I'm done here. Call me tomorrow. It has been an interesting experience, discussing senjutsu with the Two Great Sage Toads," said the bear as it too disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You might be a fuinjutsu genius, brat. But senjutsu is a different beast altogether," said Jiraiya.

"Just you wait and watch old man," said the boy with a smirk.

"Who're you calling old?" exclaimed Jiraiya as he brandished a fist at the kid.

"You. And didn't Pa just say that you have… hmm, what is it? A skill issue, yes!" said the kid, riling up Jiraiya even further.

"I'll show you a skill issue," said Jiraiya as he lunged at the kid and wrapped his arm around the boy's neck. He then began grinding his fist atop the pink head.

"Stop acting like a child, Jiraiya. Ichigo, what's the status of the barrier?" her sensei asked, putting an end to their antics.

The kid straightened up as Jiraiya let go of him. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it backwards as he glared at Jiraiya.

"Barrier's up and running, sir. We can maintain it indefinitely until Tenzo can take control of the tree," he said.

"Good. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Ichigo, come with me. Tenzo, you are dismissed for the day. Take proper rest. Don't be trying anything without supervision."

"Yes, Lord Third," saluted Tenzo as he made a hand seal and dragged back the smaller trees into the ground. He then left the place, as Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Ichigo followed the Third Hokage back to his office.

##################

Tsunade whistled as the genjutsu around them disappeared. She had just seen a scene-by-scene replay of the fight against Danzo.

"Are you sure you don't have any Senju in you? Or some Uzumaki, for that matter. Sure have the hair and the skills for it," she said.

The kid was like an unholy mixture of her granduncle and her grandfather. He displayed the cunning and ruthlessness of her granduncle in that fight. Yet, there was some small amount of goofiness that was more at home with her grandfather.

"Nope," he said with a pop. "No clan blood here. Or at least, not yet."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Ichigo currently is under probationary status for starting his own clan," said her sensei.

Tsunade arched her eyebrows in surprise and then snorted in amusement.

"Not like there's going to be any opposition now, is it? Danzo-" she spat on the floor at saying his name and continued "-is dead, and his two cronies are all but politically dead, you won't be having any issues. Speaking of, you have the other two on a tight leash, right sensei?"

"Yes. We are still investigating their involvement. But rest assured, they don't have any power anymore. This brings us neatly to the topic at hand. Tsunade, I didn't bring you here only to show you the tree and talk about the ramification of Shin Uchiha's cells," said her sensei gravely.

After they had returned from the site of the battle, she had been briefed about this Shin Uchiha character and what his cells were capable of. From a medical standpoint, it was revolutionary. She could use the data to make better prosthetics that would not be rejected by the user. Medicines that had zero rejection rates. It had various miraculous applications in her field. She would need to be careful though. She won't go down the same path Orochimaru did

But working on some dead person's cells felt too close to what had been done to her grandfather, so she was a bit reluctant. Her sensei had told her that there was to be no messing around with bloodline injections and the like. As if she was going to be doing that anyway.

Moreover, she couldn't realistically go and do whatever she wanted. Her hemophobia would not allow her. It won't stop her from crafting theory and looking down at a microscope, so she could help that way.

Given what they just spoke about, she could see where this conversation was going.

"No," she said before her sensei could even ask.

"Will you accept the role of the Fifth Hokage?" he asked nonetheless.

"I just said no," she said.

"The reason being?" he asked.

If it were anything else, she would have gone on a lengthy spiel about loss and how the position only invited tragedy. But this was her sensei. The man had lost his two teachers, his wife, his child, and his successor to the damn job. He loved the shinobi of the village, and he had to send too many of them to die in wars.

"You know why," she shouted.

"I can't ask anyone else, Tsunade."

"Ask the pervert to do it," she said as she turned around and glared at Jiraiya.

"I know nothing about administration. Even if I did, I would not be good at it. My skills lie elsewhere," said the damn pervert at once.

"You trained a Hokage, you moron. Who are you trying to fool?" she spat.

"I only trained him in combat. The rest was all him," said Jiraiya forlornly.

"Then you-" she would have continued more if not for the overbearing presence of her sensei pressing down on the room.

It didn't affect her as much as it used to. It was still a good way to stop the argument.

"Tsunade, will you not listen to my reasons?" he asked, easing up on the pressure. From the corner of her eyes, she caught Ichigo wiping the sweat off his brow.

"What are your reasons?" she asked slowly.

"We have intel that Orochimaru plans on invading the village during the upcoming chunin exams. His plans might change due to what happened, but I am not counting on it," he said.

"So? I can help you kill the snake and be on my way after that. Why do I have to take up the responsibility?" she asked tersely.

"I am tired, Tsunade. I retired a decade ago. I was not supposed to be back in the office. But we had no other options. My age shows. I have made several mistakes. Danzo was one, which was corrected. Orochimaru is another, which needs correction. If need be, I would give my life to seal his soul," he said, to immediate clamoring.

"Sensei-" started Jiraiya, but was stopped by a raised palm.

"Yes, we now know that his soul doesn't only reside in his body. But you'd find that the Shinigami's belly is more effective than just killing his current container," said her sensei.

"Wait what?" asked Tsunade.

"Ichigo here designed a seal to counter an issue of the Kurama clan. We decided to modify it and try it out on Anko's curse seal. Imagine my surprise when Anko wakes up after the procedure and starts ranting about a piece of Orochimaru's soul embedded in the cursed seal," he said as he glanced at Ichigo.

"And how did she even manage to escape that?" asked Tsunade.

The Hokage looked at Ichigo and gestured for him to explain.

"I had all sorts of contingencies on the seal to give the person the advantage. Yakumo, the original recipient of the seal, had to fight off a malicious split personality that could use genjutsu to affect reality. So, I had to rig the fight in her favor. I didn't remove that bit when we were repurposing the seal for Anko. Sure came in handy," replied the boy nonchalantly.

"I call bullshit on you not having any Uzumaki blood. I've seen enough of what my grandmother could do. I can say this with certainty," she said after a moment of silence.

"Anyway, that is the worst-case scenario. I'd rather live if I could. What I was saying though, is that I am tired Tsunade. I can't keep doing this. I want to sit at home and look after my grandchild. I have been neglecting him. I want to train him. I want to sit with my son for a drink. I want to pester him to get married and give me another grandchild. I want to rest till the end of my days. I can't be doing this in perpetuity. I am getting weaker. If not my students, then whom else can I trust to hold the fort till the next Hokage is ready?" he said.

The room was silent after that proclamation.

"I don't expect you to do it for long. I know that both of you don't like the mantle, and won't be happy with it in the long run. All I ask of you is to hold on till the next generation is ready," he said.

Tsunade glanced at the pink-haired brat in the room once more. It was no coincidence that he was in the room for this discussion.

She sighed as she wiped her face with her palm in frustration.

"I don't want this. I don't like this," she said stubbornly.

"You won't be alone, Tsunade. I will guide you. I will teach you just like I taught you all those years ago. I will back you despite your recent absence. I was the one who signed off on it, after all. You have enough wartime feats to garner respect from the forces. I won't even talk about the lineage. Your clout as a Sannin is unmatched as it is."

"I can't do it, sensei. I can't even see a drop of blood without freezing up," she spat in annoyance.

"Your grandfather built this village on the principle of cooperation. The Yamanaka have the means to help you with that. What use is having all these specialists around and not asking for help? I'll speak to Inoichi. I'll help you-"

Before he could finish that, a loud noise came from behind as the doors were thrown open and a small figure barreled into the room.

"Old Man! It works! It works!" shouted a yellow-haired brat clad in orange garbs.

"I did it, I did it! I can walk on water now. You promised to take me to Ichiraku if I did it by tonight," he shouted.

She snorted in derision at something so trivial. Walking on water was nothing. What was this brat getting all fired up over?

Apparently, the noise she made had broken the kid out of his celebration as he finally took a look around the room. Only to balk after seeing Ichigo.

"Ack, it's Sa-Sakura's brother," he said, cowering.

Ichigo, on the other hand, had drawn a kunai at some point and was slowly filing his nails with it.

"Are you still disturbing Sakura with dates, hmm?" he asked menacingly.

"No no. Never again. I can learn, despite what others say," he said as he waved his arms around wildly.

"Good," he said as he slowly returned his kunai to his pouch.

"Is it true that you taught her the Shadow Clone jutsu?" the blonde brat asked.

"Yes, I did," answered Ichigo.

"Cool! She told me the trick to training with it," he exclaimed.

"Good for you. Train well kid. Tell you what, if you have any doubts, and if your lazy sensei isn't doing anything about it, come to me. Snitch on him to me. I'll pay you with ramen," said Ichigo.

"Awesome! I'll do it," he shouted in exuberance.

"Congratulations on winning our bet, Naruto. How many clones did it take?" asked her sensei.

"Just thirty," was the exuberant reply.

Tsunade blinked in surprise and looked at the kid in shock, wondering how his brain had not melted. She then observed him closely and realized who this was. She needed to keep her brain sharp. If she has to fight Orochimaru, she can't afford to be lazing around anymore.

The healing factor would facilitate the clone method for sure. Grandma Mito had told her what the Kyuubi Jinchuriki could do. Which would make him the son of the Kushina brat, who practically adopted Grandma Mito as her own grandmother. Yet another point of loss for Tsunade.

In a weird way, the kid resembled Nawaki so much that her heart clenched. But she didn't want another Nawaki in her hands. The kid was safe away from her. If he got close, he would die.

"Stop shouting, brat," she said as she flicked the kid on the forehead without applying her considerable strength.

"Why'd you do that for?" he shouted once more, rubbing his forehead.

"Naruto, why don't you go ahead to Ichiraku? I'll join you soon," her sensei said as the brat glared at her.

"Sure, old man. But you're not welcome though, lady. No ramen for you," he exclaimed as he made his way out of the room in a hurry.

"We'll shelve this discussion for tomorrow, Tsunade. I do want you to think about it carefully. You're not alone," said her Sensei, pointedly looking at the door, reminding her once more of her distant connection to the brat. Not to mention a lookalike of her father running around with her grandfather's abilities.

"Let's go have some food. Jiraiya, you're coming with. I won't hear any excuses. Ichigo, will you join us?" he asked. Jiraiya didn't say anything and looked forlornly at the picture of Minato.

"Sure, Lord Third. Only if it's your treat though, as Naruto mentioned," the young jonin said.

"Why not. Let's go," the old man said with a fond chuckle as they began walking out.

As they stepped out of the building, Ichigo stopped in his tracks and turned sideways.

"Say, Lady Hokage to be, care to quickly meet some up-and-coming kunoichi? One of them is even a huge fan of yours. Who knows, you might even find someone capable of following in your footsteps. For example, a pink-haired kunoichi with an exceptional mind, and near-perfect chakra control," he said.

Tsunade followed his gaze and saw what looked like four genin camped out near the building, looking at her curiously. One of them had pink hair like Ichigo. The pink-haired one had her hand clamped around the mouth of another, who seemed to be on the verge of jumping toward Tsunade.

"Tsunade. Did you get my missive which said that Ichigo had returned the Raijin no Ken to the village? It was your granduncle's creation after all. Surely, you could indulge in a harmless request," said her sensei.

She sighed, noticing that she had been doing a lot of that ever since she came back to the village.

"Sure, I'll do it. I figured out your type, you siscon brat. Don't get too familiar," she looked at the girls once again and sighed. "Lead me to them."

Upon seeing them approach the group, the black-haired one with her hair tied into buns almost screamed. Only to get silenced by Ichigo's sister once again. A new apprentice huh? Maybe she would test the girl later on. Put the claims of the annoying brat to the test.

##################

After the impromptu meet and greet, the group of three headed towards the ramen shop at a sedate pace. Ichigo had decided to go home after his sister had revealed that she had packed some takeout for him.

"Why didn't you make Hatake or the Haruno brat the Hokage?" she voiced her doubts.

"Eventually, that's what I plan to do. Kakashi is not mentally there yet. He might never be, I cannot say for sure. Ichigo is a very strong candidate. One I want you to nurture in politics if you decide to take the office," he said, pushing his agenda yet again.

"You can do that now too. Just stick around for a couple of years and then make him the Kage. You don't need me to hold the fort till then," she said.

Jiraiya was listening to all this, curiosity ripe on his face.

"But I do, Tsunade. Ichigo has the qualities, sure, but there are also some possible complications at this stage. He needs to grow up some more," he said.

"How so?" she asked.

"You know the loss of family. If something similar happened to Ichigo, he would not tread the same path as you. He would not care for Konoha. He would burn down the world to get his revenge if need be. So, he needs firm guidance before he can become the Hokage," he said.

"You really think so?" asked Jiraiya.

"He is a loyal shinobi, there is no doubt about that. But in that regard, he is very much like the Uchiha. When it comes to him, family and friends come first. That's one of the main reasons I am in favor of him establishing his clan. The more ties he has here, the lesser the chances of him going ballistic."

"Has he done anything that indicates such a thing?" she asked.

"Back when he was a chunin, his team got ambushed in the Land of Water by some Iwa nin. His sensei almost got killed. Ichigo immediately went off the rails and erased the Iwa nin, and the surrounding hamlet out of existence. That's how he got his first bounty," he said.

"That's not really out of the norm. Almost all strong shinobi are like that," she snorted.

"I know. But you can tell a lot about someone by how they react. Not everyone jumps immediately to an escalation of the highest order. He didn't say a single word. Just looked at his incapacitated sensei and teammates, and immediately decided to eliminate anything that could be a problem in the vicinity. I can't fault him for that. I even respect that, as long as it is in enemy territory. But I fear that if something similar happened inside the village, and someone killed his entire family, he'd do the same. As a Hokage, he should learn proportionate force," he said.

"Fair enough," she replied. She didn't see anything wrong with what the brat had done. Her sensei sometimes worried about a lot of things. She guessed that half of that lay at Orochimaru's feet and the other half lay at Danzo's. With trusted subordinates like that going rogue, anyone would second guess their every choice.

##################

OMAKE: Senju?

(Initially, this was supposed to be a part of this chapter. But I scrapped it because I didn't want him to have any link to any other clans, even if it is not by blood. Also, I didn't want to go into the whole mysterious disappearance of the Senju Clan)

Non-Canon Omake, not meant to be taken seriously:

"Haruno, eh? I had a civilian cousin who married someone called Haruno," she said thoughtfully, remembering her long-lost family.

"Wait what?" asked Ichigo, flabbergasted.

"Don't be so surprised, boy. Half the village is filled with Senju spawn. Many might not be combatants, but they are what they are," she said.

"Half is a gross overestimation," her sensei said with a chuckle.

"Whatever," she mumbled.

"Yeah, we aren't brushing past this. Does this mean that I'm a Senju?" asked the flustered jonin.

"As if," snorted Tsunade. "You don't bear the name. And it's not like a Kekkei Genkai is tying down our clan members. All we had was vitality and a vast skill set. Vitality, which everyone put to good use into popping out kids."

"Then how is your clan almost extinct? And I don't have any of the chakra advantage your clan is supposed to have," he said.

"The men went out and fought in wars and died. The women married into other clans and civilians. Everyone wanted a Senju partner. And we were not too restrictive with who we married. Our blood is alive, the name is not. As for you, firstly, I have to check the records to see if your grandma was my cousin. Tch, brat, if you ever call me grand-anything, I'm punting you through a wall. Secondly, you are a jonin, are you not? Where is the lack of chakra?"

"I had to work for it. Didn't have so much at the start," he replied defiantly.

Her sensei began laughing, cutting off the argument as a result.

"Your grandmother was not a Senju, Ichigo," he said, causing the brat to sigh in relief. Her sensei then continued after chuckling once more. "Your grandaunt, on the other hand, was one."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes. Miho Senju married your granduncle. They even had a kid who grew up to be a jonin in his adulthood. Unfortunately, all of them perished during the Kyuubi's attack," he said somberly.

"Oh damn," the brat said somberly. He then turned around towards Tsunade and glared at her.

"You almost gave me a scare. I want to start a new clan, not get absorbed into another," he said.

"What's so bad about that?" Tsunade said in a forlorn tone upon hearing about her cousin. Typical, more dead family. And she thought that the day could not have any more bad news.

##################

A.N: Hiruzen knows what buttons to press. How did Naruto barge in on a super-secret meeting backed by the new state-of-the-art barriers, hmm?

For those that missed it, I added a Shinobi Files Entry for Yakumo. You can find it in the auxiliary chapters.

If you want to talk to me on discord, please find the invite in the auxiliary chapter.