Summary: "When you begin to notice a wound, that's when it begins to heal. If a patient can feel pain, you'll understand that it means they're on the path to recovery."
"So this pain..." Naruto absently grabbed at his chest. "Will go?"
"Maybe." Tsunade shrugged. "Maybe it'll leave an aching scar. It's impossible to save everyone, but I can teach you how to try. Today, I'm going to teach you Iryo Ninjutsu. I'm going to teach you how-"
The corners of her mouth quirked up, but it looked more grim than anything else.
"-To heal a wound."
-"I believe that Tsunade-hime had fixed a wound that no Bijuu or Med-Nin ever could."-
Medic!Naruto Byakugo!Naruto Finally-someone-teaches-him-right!Naruto
(Or, Tsunade is forced back into Konoha and told to take an apprentice after a... let's call it a 'meeting' with the Elders. Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino... those are the suitable candidates. But Tsunade won't go for 'suitable', she's going for a challenge- someone who will be exceptional. She absolutely does not know how her presence and her words would affect the Konoha Rookie 9.)
...Sincerely,
Sandaime Hokage
Sarutobi Hiruzen
The letter crumbles under Tsunade's fingers as she growls, the elaborate fabric tearing under her ruby red nails.
"Fucking..."
Shizune must not have registered the KI flowing fiercely out of her Shishou's figure as she pipes up, "What does it say, Tsunade-sama?"
"What does it say?" The woman barks, viciously scrunching the scroll into a makeshift ball before hurling it with all her strength. "What does it say?!"
The scroll promptly catches on fire- the dry fabric not bearing the sudden pressure and friction.
Tsunade grinds her molars as Shizune jumps back in shock.
"Fuck! We're going back to Konoha." She bites out with so much vitriol that Shizune daren't ask for the reason. Recalling the contents of the letter, Tsunade aggressively makes her way back to their temporary lodging, the ground fissuring under the raw power of her aggravation.
'You are a vital part of our forces.' Fuck that.
'It would be extremely beneficial to Konoha if you returned.' Fuck that. 'It is a shame that our Iryo Ninjutsu has deteriorated as so.' That can also be fucked.
'It would be horrible if one would die because of your lack of action.' Fuck that also. 'I don't take you as one to turn the other cheek to people's sufferings.' Fuck that too.
As she exits the building of her recent stay, she slammed the door so violently that her surroundings shook, dust clouding off the walls. 'As the granddaughter of the Shodaime, lover of a renowned Jonin and brother of a loyal shinobi, I'd expect to see you soon.'
'It burdens me greatly to have to go to this length, but unfortunately, Tsunade, I will proclaim you Nuke-Nin if you do not return immediately.'
Fuck. That.
-A week later-
"Disappointing."
Tsunade slams the papers down onto Sarutobi's desk. "I literally didn't even need to start picking them out. They're all completely hopeless. You call these potential candidates? You think I would stoop. To. That. Level. Of. Inanity? You think I, a Sannin that had survived generations of warfare, would deign to take on any of those idiots as an apprentice?"
"Now, now Tsunade," The Hokage rubs his temple as if she was the one being irrational. Well, good, she guesses. He deserved that headache. "They're only children. Talk to them directly in class, it will serve both as an inspiration and a drive. Perhaps you will see their potential then."
There was a moment of bewildered silence.
"...Children?" She spits, not caring for etiquette. Sarutobi had dared to use Dan and Nawaki to bait her back- dared to guilt trip her into coming back to this blasted place and now they're forcing her to take on a student- forcing her to mentor one of those... who was it? The civilian fangirl... the shy Hyuuga heiress... or the Yamanaka heiress fangirl? She could very much see herself accidentally crippling one of them out of irritation.
"Children... You say." Tsunade laughs derisively. "If they're old enough to be responsible for people's lives then I'm pretty sure they're old enough to stop acting like brainless brats and nauseatingly stalkerish fangirls."
The harshness of the Academy had lowered to discouraging levels, simple skills like tree walking techniques weren't even taught. That school might as well be a civilian one- or worse in how it feeds their ego. Then on the flip side, child soldiers were a thing and still are a thing. Danzo runs amok with ROOT, using methods that she very much does not want to know about to torture children. To desensitise them. To dehumanise them.
And what? Does the 'Hokage' give a shit?
Sarutobi could try and deny Danzo's many nefarious deeds but in the end he was selling himself out as either a fool or a mealy-mouth. And neither were traits that any leader worth respect should have.
Tsunade had been here for a mere week and she could see the dark edge to this Village. She wonders whether or not Danzo would still be alive if he hadn't been Sarutobi's childhood friend. Favouritism. It was a stain on the robes of the Hokage.
Danzo might as well have instigated the Uchiha Massacre from behind the scenes, leaving with no more than a slap on the wrist... on that note, she could actually imagine that happening.