Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
June 29, x788.
Currently, Tsunade was leading Retsu and the visitors from Magnolia to the arena where the Chunin Exam Finals would be held. Along the way, many people were happy to see Tsunade, who was acting quite dignified under the admiring gazes of the people.
On top of acting rather dignified, Tsunade was also feeling pretty good about herself. Ever since she left the village so long ago, she never felt respect like this. Not even from her guild members. Unfortunately, there was someone in the group who would not let her bask in this feeling for too long.
"*Sigh* If only you were like this all the time, Tsuna." Retsu said in a forlorn tone. "Then, I would have nothing to worry about. On top of that, Mermaid Heel would have a much better reputation."
Hearing that, Tsunade almost tripped over her next step. Then, she quickly turned to glare at the Fairy Tail wizards who started snickering at Retsu's words.
"What are you brats laughing at?" Tsunade hissed out.
"Hey, Master Tsunade, have you finished paying off your debt to Master Unohana and the guild?" Alfonzo asked with a wide smile on his face. "If not, I could lend you some money. And I promise, the interest rates will be reasonable."
Immediately, Tsunade's angry glare froze on her face. Because she knew exactly what Alfonzo was referring to.
Back when Alfonzo installed the training chambers in the Mermaid Heel guild hall, she had gone out on one of her gambling trips. And she naturally lost all the money she had taken with her. Then, in order to get her money back, she also bet the money that had been put aside by the guild as Alfonzo's payment. However, to no one's surprise, she ended up losing that, too.
And when Retsu found out, she ended up fronting the money for Alfonzo's payment. Then, she put Tsunade through a grueling training regimen to correct her behavior. On top of that, she made Tsunade pay back both her and the guild. And Tsunade has been in debt ever since.
But what really surprised her about that was the fact that Alfonzo even knew about that in the first place. Since, the whole matter with her gambling the money away was never mentioned.
"Huh?" Tsunade exclaimed while putting on a feigned expression of confusion. "I have no idea what you're---"
"She's finished paying back the guild, but she still owes me money." Retsu said, interrupting Tsunade's lie. "But she should be done paying me back soon. So, I don't think there is a need for a loan."
Tsunade's feigned expression of confusion turned pale as soon as Retsu exposed her. Then, she looked at Retsu with an expression that asked: "You know he was just tricking us, right? You don't really think he knew about that, do you?"
Able to read the unasked question in Tsunade's expression, Retsu's smile turned even more gentle.
"Tsuna, you know how intelligent he is, don't you?" Retsu asked. "I suspect he's known ever since then."
Hearing that, Tsunade's expression turned into one filled with shock. Then, she slowly turned her head towards Alfonzo. When she finally made eye contact with him, she recoiled. The look in his eyes was saying: "Yup, I already knew everything."
Immediately, Tsunade's shoulders slumped. She even seemed to get even smaller, as her 5'4" frame seemed to visibly shrink.
["Wow! Her boobs shrunk by at least a cup size."] x 8
Riot, Bedlam, Scylla, Hoyle, Zodiac, Minazuki, Sylphid, the [Armament Spirit] of Wendy's [Soul Armament], and [Dryad], Laki's [Armament Spirit], exclaimed in unison. If they could all interact freely with each other, they would all be exchanging astonished gazes like Riot and Bedlam were doing right now.
"Anyway, we should get going." Alfonzo said while smiling brightly. "If we don't', all the good seats will be gone by the time we get there."
Everyone other than Tsunade nodded their heads in agreement. Then, they all started moving towards the arena again, leaving Tsunade standing there with a despondent expression on her face.
Eventually, Tsunade came back to her senses and looked around. When she realized everyone had left her behind, she stomped her foot in frustration. Then, she hurried to catch up with them.
Not long later, the group reached the arena's entrance. When they did, they found Guy, Tenten, and Rock Lee, whose left arm and leg were wrapped in casts due to the injuries he received during the prelims for the Chunin Exam Finals, speaking to a tall man with long, spiky white hair.
"Huh? Jiraiya is here?" Tsunade muttered when she recognized the tall, white-haired man.
Hearing a familiar voice, the white-haired man, Jiraiya, one of the three legendary ninja of the Leaf, turned his head in its direction.
"Huh? Who called my name?" Jiraiya, a tall man with white hair tied into a pony tail that reached his waist and side bangs that reached his shoulders and framed his face, black eyes, red lines under his eyes that reached down to his jawline, and a wart on the left side of his nose wearing a short sleeved green kimono with matching pants, a black belt, wooden sandals, a red haori with yellow circles on either side, a forehead protector with the word "Study" in the center, and a large scroll hanging at his lower back, asked as he turned around with a big smile on his face.
When Jiraiya noticed that the person who called him was Tsunade, his eyes lit up. Then, he abandoned his conversation with Guy and his disciples, and ran over to Tsunade.
"Tsunade! It's been so long since I've seen you in the village." Jiraiya exclaimed excitedly.
At first, Jiraiya intended to rush over and give Tsunade a hug. However, when he saw her start to frown with her hands clenched into fists, he stopped. He had been beaten up by Tsunade so many times in the past that he already knew what would happen if he actually tried to hug her.
After that, he noticed that Tsunade was not alone. And when he saw Retsu and all the pretty girls and beautiful women from Magnolia, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. A moment later, he was shaken back to his senses when he felt two dangerous gazes fall onto him.
Scanning his surroundings, he saw that Tsunade was glaring at him with a promise of pain, which was expected. However, when he saw that the second gaze was coming from a brown-skinned young man who could not be more than twenty-five, he almost dismissed it. However, his instincts honed over several decades and two wars told him that was a bad idea.
At this point, Guy, Tenten, and Rock Lee caught up to Jiraiya. They had already noticed all the guests and they all wore smiles.
"Alfonzo! My friend! You made it back for the finals!" Guy shouted as he rushed past Jiraiya and wrapped Alfonzo in a hug.
Alfonzo could only smile awkwardly as he patted Guy's back while trying, unsuccessfully, to make him let go. Luckily, Guy's hug did not last too long. Instead, he pulled away and turned to Elicia with a big smile on his face.
"And Elicia, it's good to see you again." Guy said cheerfully. "Alas, I see you did not bring your son with you. I would have loved to meet him."
"It's good to see you, too, Guy." Elicia said with a smile. "And I'm sure Mar'e would have loved to meet you , too."
While Guy engaged Alfonzo and the women from Magnolia that he was acquainted with in conversation and Jiraiya spoke with Tsunade and Shizune,, Lee approached Wendy and started a lively conversation with her. All the while, a slight blush was on Wendy's face. Even so, she chatted happily.
Meanwhile, Tenten stared at Tsunade with a starstruck expression on her face. She, like most kunoichi basically worshipped Tsunade as an idol. However, when she saw Sakura walking with Tsunade, she was confused.
"You're name is Sakura, right?" Tenten asked quietly so that she would not disturb Tsunade and Jiraiya's conversation.
"Yes, that's right." Sakura replied, unsure why Tenten was asking.
"Um… You're here because you know Alfonzo and the others, right?" Tenten asked nervously while stealing glances at Tsunade.
"Well, sort of." Sakura replied while scratching the side of her head. "but I'm Lady Tsunade's apprentice now, as well."
Immediately Tenten's expression froze. Then, that frozen expression turned lifeless. At the same time, she somehow looked at Sakura with envy.
Tenten already knew there was no chance that she would ever become Tsunade's apprentice, as she had absolutely no talent for [Medical Ninjutsu]. Still, that did not stop her from envying Sakura with every fiber of her being.
Meanwhile, Sakura was confused by the look she was getting from Tenten. However, she thought it would be better if she did not ask. At least, that's what her instincts were telling her.
"Anyway, let's continue this conversation inside the arena." Alfonzo said, breaking up the atmosphere. "All the good seats are gonna be gone if we wait too long to go in."
With that, the group headed into the arena while talking along the way. Eventually, they found a group of open seats that was enough to seat all of them over three rows. These seats were positioned in the middle of the stands on the side of the arena opposite the VIP seats.
"Alright, you guys enjoy yourselves." Tsunade said after the group arrived at their seats. "I have to go and talk to Sensei. I doubt I'll be able to come back before the tournament is over."
"I'll be going, too." Jiraiya added. "Sensei has special seats arranged for us. But hopefully, I'll get to see all you lovely--- Urgh! Hey! Tsunade, what was that for? Wait! You don't have to pull me. I can walk on my own."
Before Jiraiya had the chance to lay on his , so-called, charm and provoked Alfonzo to beat him within an inch of his life, Tsunade elbowed him in the stomach before dragging him away.
"Just shut up and come on." Tsunade said impatiently.
Like that, Tsunade and Jiraiya eventually disappeared from everyone's sights.
"That kinda reminded me of the stories Gildarts used to tell about how my mom would stop him from flirting with every woman he saw." Alfonzo said with an amused smile on his face.
"Yeah, same here." Cana replied "At least Ur doesn't have to do stuff like that. I'm just glad that he's changed. Having a reformed man-whore for a dad is much better than having a functioning one."
"But didn't it seem like there was more than just annoyance mixed in to that?" Lucy asked. "Like.. I don't know…"
"Jealousy." Laki said, finishing Lucy's sentence.
"Yeah, that's it." Lucy said while nodding her head.
While the ladies discussed the possibility of Tsunade having feelings for Jiraiya, a young man wearing the standard Leaf Jōnin attire with an unhealthy complexion and dark circles under his eyes, as if he had not slept in a while, appeared in the middle of the arena.
When Alfonzo and Elicia saw this shinobi, they were both surprised. Especially since in the Naruto's canon, he, Hayate Gekko, who proctored the preliminaries of the Chunin Exam Finals, was killed while he was investigating Kabuto's movements before the finals. Yet, he happened to live through the month leading up to the finals in this world.
"Oh, are you guys surprised by his complexion?" Wendy asked after noticing Alfonzo and Elicia's expressions.
When Wendy asked her question, everyone else finally paid attention to the shinobi in the middle of the arena. And when they saw him, they all wore surprised expressions, as well.
"He looks like he hasn't slept in weeks." Rika said.
"He should really check himself into a hospital." Shizuka said seriously. "From what I can sense, his health really isn't too good."
"You're right, Miss Shizuka." Wendy said. "he's had a chronic illness since he was young. However, no one seems to know what it is. But since Master Tsunade is here, she might be able to diagnose it."
Hearing that, everyone nodded in agreement. Tsunade was the, publicly recognized, best doctor on Ishgar, after all.
"In fact, I had to heal him only a few days ago." Wendy continued.
"You didn't just have to heal him, you had to save his life." Carla interjected. "If it wasn't for you, he wouldn't even be alive to participate as a proctor for this part of the exam."
That caused everyone to widen their eyes. Then, they all looked at Wendy for an explanation.
"Well, I guess that's true." Wendy said quietly. "Apparently, he was investigating that guy you told me to keep an eye on, Alfonzo. But he got found out. And that guy, what was his name again? Um…?"
"Kabuto Yakushi." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone.
"Yes, that's it." Wendy replied. "Anyway, after I noticed that they were fighting, I came over and stopped Kabuto just in time. But…"
"Did he get really badly injured by the time you arrived?" Saeko asked.
"Well, yes." Wendy replied. "but that's not what the problem is."
"Huh? Then what happened?" Rika asked curiously.
"I… Um… Kinda destroyed a whole row of shops when I fought him." Wendy said in an embarrassed tone. "I mean, he just kept getting up after I beat him up. So, I had to keep using more and more power. And when I hit him with my full strength, well…"
After hearing that, all the wizards from Fairy Tail only smiled at Wendy warmly. Though, that made her even more embarrassed.
"She really is a Fairy Tail wizard, isn't she?" Cana said with a smile while raising a bottle of liquor in a toast. "She's so well-mannered that it's hard to tell sometimes. But things like this make it obvious."
Wendy's blush deepened after hearing Cana's words.
"*Cough* Ladies and Gentleman, the Chunin Exam Finals *Cough* are about to begin." Hayate, who was standing in the middle of the arena said while amplifying his voice with his magic power. "Now, I ask that all the participants *Cough* come to the ring."