Something very… strange was happening, and Tsunade wasn't sure whether to be elated or skeptical.
"Are you feeling okay?" Her blond lover asked from behind her where he rubbed her (usually) aching shoulders.
Tsunade had the unfortunate circumstance of having rather large breasts. And while most men could only see the benefit of being on the large side (benefit for them, since there was no benefit for a woman, at least not biologically), it caused incredible back pain.
Or, at least it usually did.
Currently, however, Tsunade's back and shoulders were fine. More than fine, in fact. She felt great. And not just her shoulders either. It was almost like…
Like she had felt completely energized for an entire week straight, something she didn't experience at her age.
Mid-fifties wasn't exactly ancient, but she had left her youth behind many years ago and wasn't getting any younger, at least internally. With her special transformation technique, her outward appearance would always be that of a beautiful woman in her prime.
But she definitely could feel her age. She felt more lethargic than she used to. It wasn't very noticeable, however, since she came from both the Senju and the Uzumaki.
But ever since that night when… when Naruto…
The thought of it still made her feel phantom sensations from that night…
But ever since then, when her idiot encased himself in pure golden chakra while he was still inside her, she had just felt so... refreshed.
And really, the only thing that made her new, strange situation annoying was the fact that she no longer really needed Naruto to rub her shoulders for her every once in a while, which was one of her favorite things to do…
"Yeah, I'm fine." She assured him, placing her hand over his on her shoulder. "Thank you, I feel a lot better."
He smiled at her, washing away her thoughts of the strange feeling deep within her in a place she couldn't quite pinpoint. Before that smile, all her worries fell away into nothingness.
| Her Liquid Courage |
During their trip to Suna, they had stayed at the many Inns that littered the 'highway' to the Land of Wind. It was easier and safer that way, no matter how powerful they were.
But on the trip back to Konoha, Tsunade found that sleeping underneath the stars with her idiot was her favorite.
They shared a sleeping bag, relishing in the closeness it provided. It was intimate in a way they hadn't experienced much yet in their still new relationship.
And with the stars and the moon as their only witnesses, they fell into the land of dreams within each other's arms, bathed in gentle moonlight.
| Her Liquid Courage |
Luck had a fluctuating relationship with her and her idiot.
For Tsunade, luck enjoyed to spite her. Whatever she bet on, the opposite would happen. She was awful at gambling for that very reason.
For Naruto… Well, Tsunade, to this day, didn't know how he managed to survive for so long with such chaotic luck. She liked to think it was his force of will and determination to fight the world just to prove that he could. But she wasn't foolish enough to believe that and knew it was probably due to sheer stupidity.
Or, 'Dumb Luck.'
His luck got him out of many difficult situations, if just barely sometimes. What made it so stupid and chaotic was that it was the very same luck that got him out of difficult situations that usually got him into them in the first place.
Wrong place, wrong time. Picking a fight with the wrong person, then proceeding to manage to defeat said wrong person. That kind of thing.
It was that luck, Tsunade thought, which was responsible for their current plight.
Bandits. Seriously, of all things, bandits? Not even enemy shinobi or assassins. God damned bandits decided to ambush them on their return to Konoha, interrupting what was supposed to be a nice 'vacation' alone together.
First Kakashi deployed the Nara cock-block, and then Tsunade actually had to work (that was their whole purpose for being in Suna, after all), and now bandits?
Tsunade might actually be pissed if she weren't so utterly exasperated. Why couldn't she and Naruto just be left alone for one goddamn minute?
"I'll make this easy for you, since I'm in such a gracious mood." A large, bulky man who appeared to be the leader, said, stalking around them in what he probably thought was intimidating. Civies thought muscle mass was what made a person strong, when in reality skill and experience was. And big jutsu helped, too. "Cough up all your valuables and I might allow you to pass," he looked at Tsunade with a lecherous grin, "unharmed."
Almost like it was straight out of an old, cliché and very crappy movie, the bandits laughed in unison as they appreciated the beautiful woman beside the 'unimpressive kid.'
Poor bastards never had a chance.
The leader stepped closer to her with a smirk on his ugly, grizzled face, his eyes dipping too low for Tsunade's liking. The only man who was allowed to ogle her was the only man who never would when not making love to her. For this scum to do so, made her blood boil.
"Hey sweetheart, let's say we ditch the kid and I can show you what a real man feels like." He licked his lips suggestively, completely ignorant that he spoke with such disrespect to the Lord Fifth Hokage, Tsunade of the Sannin.
Instead of bursting into righteous feminine fury like she usually would, Tsunade did something that actually surprised Naruto, who had been silently waiting for her to teach these idiots a lesson in respect.
She burst into laughter.
Tsunade laughed, hard, as the bandit leader's expression turned into one of confusion. His fellow bandits went silent, confused as well, waiting for their cues from their leader on how to react. Sheep did what they were told.
"'Kid'? 'Real man'?" She managed to say between gut-wrenching laughter. "Are you as stupid as you are ugly, fool?"
"What was that, bitch?" The leader spat, rage washing over his face like a tidal wave.
"I asked if you were really as stupid as you were ugly." She repeated, her laughter gone, replaced by a smirk of her own.
She took a step forward, challenging the man who dared speak to her in such a way, her smirk deepening when she saw him relent and take a step back. Tsunade was a Sannin and the former Hokage of the greatest shinobi village in the world. Her Killing Intent was great enough to make jonin tremble at the sight of her.
"You think you're better than the man before you?" She asked, nodding towards her lover. "You think you could make me feel better than he can?" She chuckled, her tone devoid of humor. "Please. You're a thousand years away from even being half the man Naruto is," she gave him the dirtiest look she could muster before finishing. "Bitch."
And that's all it took. A single name drop. The name drop. The name no one wanted to hear in the same sentence as 'enemy.' The name everyone on the continent knew.
The name of the Hero of the Fourth. The newest God of Shinobi.
Uzumaki Naruto.
The looks on their faces were priceless.
"I'll make this easy for you, since I'm in such a gracious mood." Tsunade repeated the bandit leader's words, her vindictive smile growing with every passing second. "Leave my sight before you make an enemy of the Hero of the Fourth." She snorted. "Or worse, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure."
They were moving even before she finished her sentence, so terrified of the possibility of Naruto being, well, himself.
While the real Naruto was a kind man who cared even for strangers, the reputation and rumor of Naruto was that of, in simple terms, a godslayer. A man who fought against a god and actually won. A man who saved the world from ultimate subjugation.
A man not to be trifled with.
Honestly, it was completely stupid. The idea that her idiot was some scary badass who would kill you and annihilate your entire country of origin for simply looking at him wrong was perhaps the most idiotic, foolish thing she had ever heard.
Even if he could (and Tsunade had no doubts that he could, in fact, do just that) destroy entire armies if need be, he would never kill a person without a very, very good cause. The idiot forgave the man who destroyed his home and killed his only father-figure.
If Naruto was willing to kill a person, really kill them, then that person deserved to die. They didn't deserve to live anymore. That much was certain.
"Tsunade…" Naruto finally spoke, his eyes watching the fleeing bandits with unknown emotion.
"Hmm?"
"You're badass."
She smiled even as he smashed his lips into hers with hungry passion. His woman was hot, in more ways than one.
| Her Liquid Courage |
When they returned to the village, they were both slightly disappointed.
Being able to touch and feel one another whenever they wanted without worrying anyone would notice was amazing. Something as simple as holding hands while walking out in the open was so intense, so gratifying.
Tsunade was a grown woman, but holding hands with Naruto made her warm inside. Just being around Naruto made her feel warm, safe. It was an amazing feeling.
But she was a coward. She was worried about what people might think of her, of Naruto, if they discovered their relationship. The thought brought dread to her stomach that she hadn't felt in years.
She hated it.
Naruto deserved so much more than a coward. He was such an amazing man who treated her like a queen and made love to not only her body, but to her soul.
He had tasted her soul, her chakra, and she his. They had connected in a way no two human beings had ever been before. They had become one, truly and absolutely, and she still couldn't give him what he deserved, what he earned a hundred times over.
A woman brave enough to stand beside him in the light, where everyone could see. Instead, she lurked in the shadows, cowering away from the truth.
That she, Senju Tsunade, was in love with Uzumaki Naruto.
| Her Liquid Courage |
She needed help. Desperately.
She needed to talk to someone about Naruto and how she was now his lover. She needed advice. Should she come out with it? Should they just keep it a secret? Was she a terrible person for loving someone so much younger than her?
She needed help, and there was really only one person in the whole world she could talk to. One person she trusted with all her secrets. One person she was brave enough to discuss her… love life… with.
"What I'm about to tell you is extremely sensitive and you cannot tell another soul." Tsunade explained, seriously. "I mean it."
Shizune nodded, now nervous about the super-secret topic her master all but dragged her to said master's apartment to discuss.
"Of course. I swear." She said in a hushed tone, wondering what it was. If it got her master this anxious, it had to be something huge.
Tsunade was pacing back and forth in front of the sitting woman, rubbing her hands together nervously as she tried to think of a way to say this… tactfully.
"I'msleepingwiththeidiot!" She suddenly blurted, freezing in one spot, staring at the woman she had taught many years ago.
Shizune blinked in confusion at her old master, looking at her strangely. "Pardon?" She asked.
Tsunade sighed and swallowed, her palms annoyingly sweaty. Why was she so nervous, damn it!? She had discussed things far more embarrassing with this woman in the past!
"I'm… I'm seeing…" she froze. "… Someone…"
Shizune's eyes widened, surprise replacing the earlier confusion.
"You're… you're seeing someone?" She asked cautiously. Tsunade nodded slowly. "As in… you're romantically involved with a man?" She asked carefully, receiving another nod.
A thousand thoughts raced through the black-haired woman's mind, filling the apartment with nothing but silence. And then…
"Oh my god! Are you serious!? That's so wonderful, Tsunade-sama! I can't believe it! I thought you'd never find anyone after… It doesn't matter! I'm so happy! Who is it? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"
Tsunade was overwhelmed by the assault of questions, though Shizune's reaction definitely made her feel a little better.
"Calm down, Shizune. You're talking too fast for me to answer." Tsunade said, finally taking a seat across from the younger woman.
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama. I'm just a bit shocked. I never thought you'd give love another try." Shizune apologized.
Tsunade sighed. "Neither did I. It sort of just… happened." She couldn't really explain how or why she and Naruto fell in love. There had just been a certain… feeling at some point. When, she couldn't really remember. Just that it happened.
"Who is it? What's he like? Do I know him?" Shizune asked happily. Tsunade's smile faded, confusing the black-haired kunoichi. "What is it, Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade was quiet for a few minutes before she finally replied.
"I'm such a coward, Shizune…" She whispered, her voice sounding so defeated.
Shizune frowned. "You are not, Tsunade-sama! You're the bravest woman I have ever known!"
Tsunade smiled sadly, shaking her head.
"No I'm not." She said. "A brave woman doesn't make the man she loves hide their relationship from his friends…"
Shizune narrowed her eyes in confusion but stayed silent. She could tell that her master needed to let this off her chest.
"He's… He's a lot younger than me." Tsunade continued in a soft tone. "The age gap is so extreme that I'm afraid what people will think about us… about me… if they find out." Saying it out loud sounded so much worse, and it felt just as bad too.
"He's done so much, for both the village and me personally, and I can't even give him what he deserves." Her head hung low, ashamed of herself.
"Lady Tsunade…" Shizune tired. When she noticed that her master wasn't going to continue without… help, she stood and left the room, confusing Tsunade until she returned with a bottle of sake and two glasses.
Pouring two cups, Shizune handed one to her master.
"Here." She smiled when Tsunade took the offered glass and downed the dark liquid within. Tsunade handed her the cup and Shizune filled it once more. After two more refills, Tsunade had the courage to discuss her love life with her best friend.
"I shouldn't be so afraid of what other people think…" Tsunade started slowly, the liquid courage kicking in. "I don't really know why I do. It's just… every time I think about people finding out, I feel like I can't breathe…"
Shizune just listened.
"I'm too old and have been through too much to let this get to me so much… I feel like an idiot that I do… But I just can't help it."
Shizune filled her master's cup again and waited for the older woman to swallow the dark liquid.
"I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I needed to talk to someone about it. I… I need your help, Shizune. I need… advice."
Shizune only took a few seconds to process the strange situation she was in before responding. She had never thought she'd need to give her master, the Tsunade, relationship advice…
"Do you love him?" She asked the most important question.
A heartbeat.
"Yes."
"Do you want to be with him?" The second most important.
Tsunade shivered.
"Yes."
Shizune smiled. "Then there's your answer, Lady Tsunade. If you really love this person, you won't let doubt keep you apart."
"But…" Tsunade tried.
"But nothing." Shizune interrupted. "There's nothing for you to doubt." She stood and crossed the small distance between them, kneeling down and placing a hand on her master's knee.
"I've seen you stare down S-ranked shinobi like it was nothing. You are not a weak or cowardly woman." She smirked. "After all, a coward would have run for the hills if they were faced with someone as absurdly powerful as Uchiha Madara. But you didn't. You stood your ground and you fought for the thing you love."
Tsunade smiled, despite the anxiety she felt.
"That's why I know you'll do so again." She chuckled. "Just like Naruto would. You two are a lot…" She blinked.
Tsunade saw the admiration in Shizune's face fall, morphing painfully slow into realization, and then into shock.
Shizune choked.
They were gonna need a whole lot more alcohol.
Her liquid courage.