Chapter 21: Growth

After taking a bath due to the sweat she accumulated from her training, Tsunade came and joined her family at the table for dinner.

She looked around the table to see everyone had made it home except for Tobirama.

Sitting at the head of the table was Hashirama, who was looking much older than he did a few years ago. He had started declining greatly in health a little after Tsunade's 4th birthday, but while this might have been the time that the original would have died, this time around he had a Tsunade who had mastered most of Konoha's medical knowledge.

And while she may not have been able to help him that much due to the inexperience she had three years ago, after returning from Uzushi, Tobirama made sure to have her help at the hospital where she learned how to quickly help the wounded and better treat illnesses. So when Hashirama finally did get sick, she was able to heal him to a considerable extent. Though, she felt as if something else was wrong, yet she was unable to pinpoint it.

However, even with the best medical ninjutsu in the world, she was not confident in it being able to heal him. Although she did have a theory that if she could utilize her Yang chakra in a similar way to elemental chakra, she may be able to permanently cure him.

But even with her extremely high levels of chakra control, splitting her Yin and Yang to their individual states so that she could mold it proved to be a worthless endeavor. She hypothesised that it was due Yin and Yang being inseparable and a necessity to one another, so forcefully separating them and using them individually would be going against the natural order which is why it was so hard.

Still, she would continue researching it in order to learn if it could help her in curing him.

She then turned towards the people that sat beside him and opposite to herself, her parents Ayako and Haru.

While her mother remained at home and had retired as a kunoichi to take care of her, her father returned to active duty as an ANBU under Tobirama.

Side note, Tsunade found out that the current iteration of the ANBU: Black Ops were quite different from their future counterparts. For one, they were extremely unknown in the village, with most not even knowing there was a separate group of shinobi other than the known 4 ranks. However they also seemed extremely more capable as she had overheard arguments between Tobirama and Hashirama over Tobirama sending them on missions to eliminate remnants of the Warring States Period from other villages, and while they may have grown old due to the passage of time, even an old shinobi is still a dangerous one. They were a terrifying force, which is why every other village attempted to copy the concept after seeing Konoha's success.

Tsunade's attention returned to the table when she saw Mito begin to place everyone's food on the table.

Tsunade had noticed something that seemingly everyone in the family knew, but nobody commented on: Mito was the glue that held the family together. No matter what the situation was, she would always do her best to help every member of the family with whatever they needed. If Hashirama needed a beating after doing something stupid, she would do it. If Ayano and Haru were having an argument, mito would do her very best to mediate the situation. And if Tobirama was having trouble with border disputes or problems inside the village, she would give him the best advice she could to help him find a solution.

It was thanks to Mito that Tsunade was able to properly grasp Fuinjutsu and even able to master more of the Uzumaki Sealing Techinique. While she couldn't say she was on the same level as some of the more experienced Uzumaki members yet, she could be regarded as a master anywhere else in the world.

She then saw the final member of the family, as Tobirama finally came into the house. He quickly took off his Hokage hat and robe before joining them for dinner, as he sat opposite Hashirama.

He may be the one who had it the hardest over the past 3 years, with him first having to deal with his brothers declining health and keeping the Senju Clan running, to him having to monitor the other villages since they began to gather armies and constantly make aggresive moves at the border, yet not enough to provoke a war. He knew they were simply waiting on any news of Hashirama's death to began any major actions, which was another reason (on top of the personal ones) for why Tsunade was trying her best to keep him alive alive as long as possible.

He never showed any form of complaint or weakness to her though, always making time for her no matter what he had to sacrifice, which simply showcased the amount of care he had for her.

However, Tsunade was dazed as she heard the question that Tobirama had just asked her.

"Are you ready to attend the Academy tomorrow, Tsuna?"

Truth be told, she had almost forgotten about the academy with her usual training and breaks, however that did not mean she wasn't excited for it. Simply the chance to meet other characters she saw in the anime in real life was an absolute dream for her. However, one thing she had forced herself to learn after her time at the hospital was that everyone in this world was real. They were not two dimensional characters in an anime, but living, breathing, people who felt complex emotions just like she did. She was simply ready to meet them as she could see how they differed from their counterparts, as well as how they would grow differently.

Her thoughts then trailed back to the question as she looked at Tobirama and said "Yeah grandpa, I'm ready."

Tobirama then smiled as he looked toward Haru and Ayako before speaking "Make sure she is at the academy at around 8 tomorrow morning. And don't be late!" he said the last part to only Haru at which everybody laughed.

The family of 6 then finished their meals with everyone heading to their respective rooms.

Tsunade simply smiled "It's finally time." she thought to herself before going to sleep in her bed, prepared for the next day.

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