"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Naruto asked as he gently helped Tsunade up and had her wrap her arm around his shoulder to support her.
"Did you eat that damn Ōtsutsuki or something?" She asked while raising her arm, which was covered up to the elbow in black. "This is a kekkei mōra technique. How are you using it without the necessary bloodline?"
"You aren't that far from the truth," Naruto said. "These Truth-Seeking Balls are a marvelous ability, really."
"At least free my fingers," she said. "You've already proven your point."
Naruto nodded, and both the black materials on her arms and legs morphed into softer forms that wrapped around her skin like socks and gloves.
"Commendable control …" Tsunade noticed how the material seemed more like a silk glove than a suppression technique.
"You learn a thing or two when you come into contact with higher powers," he said as he led her back to the clearing. "Now, sit and let me finish cleaning this place up before we go back to Konoha."
"You can't force me into politics, Naruto," she said. "Nor can you spend all your time monitoring me to make sure I don't run away."
"At least listen to the benefits," Naruto said. "I know how you work. If you don't want to make much of an effort, fine. All you need to do is to show your face and look intimidating. In return, I'll reinstate your honorary founder position at the hospital so that you can get a monthly dividend from the earnings. You also have the choice to live in your grandfather's old house. That was the only property of the Senju that was preserved as a heritage location, while the rest of the compound has already been torn down and developed. You could also live in the old Hokage Residence since I prefer living a little further from my office. Both of those options are available to you. As for the cherry on top, now that I have access to certain abilities that I didn't have in the past, I will also treat you every week to help recover your lost vitality."
Tsunade was silent throughout the time Naruto spoke and merely continued looking forward blankly. As a few seconds passed, she raised her arm and examined the glove that had been forced upon her.
"To think it was Naruto of all people who could make me feel even more helpless than Madara Uchiha …" She mumbled to herself before turning to look at him.
"Why do you really need me, Naruto?" She asked him. "I doubt that my strength is going to help you fight off anything that is a real threat. So why?"
"Truthfully? Because you're one of the only people in the older generation whom I trust. Kakashi sensei is another, but you know how unreliable he really is. He is much more of an in-field shinobi than a manager. You, on the other hand, are a leader. You are a leader whom I can trust to guide me when I end up deciding on something extreme."
"Trust, huh?" She laughed self-deprecatingly. "Were you serious when you said that you plan to take over the world?"
"If the need arises," Naruto said. "The Ōtsutsuki clan isn't a threat that can simply be taken care of by manpower. For the time being, Sasuke and I are the only people who have even some hope of contending against them."
"So you just need me to keep you from veering into the track of becoming Danzo?" She asked.
"Something like that, yes," Naruto nodded. "So you agree, right? I knew that you simply needed a firm hand to guide you on the correct path."
"I'll break your firm hand if you use that phrase again," Tsunade snapped at him. "Now get rid of these damned restraints. I feel all messed up with my chakra suppressed like that."
"I'll do that when we get back to the village. Black doesn't go well with your colors, though … Maybe if you take off that green haori."
"I'm more than twice your age, brat. Stop hitting on me," she snapped at him.
"You don't look a day older than thirty, Granny," Naruto responded with a cheeky smile as he continued trimming the grass. Once finished, he approached the memorial and used Yin-Yang Release to make both the slightly dusty paper bouquet and the book look as pristine as ever. He then used a cloth to wipe away the grime that had collected on the rock and meticulously cleaned the carving as well.
"You really respected him," Tsunade said.
"Of course. He may have only taught me the Rasengan and Summoning in terms of jutsu, but he also helped me find my Nindō. While I have changed over the years, his teachings have shaped me to be the person that I am today."
"You don't feel any resentment? Toward how he never even met you when you were young?"
"If I wanted to resent, I could resent a lot of things. I could've resented my parents for sealing the Kyūbi into me in the first place. I could've resented the third for not paying enough attention to me. And I could also resent Pervy Sage for not meeting me despite being my godfather. I could have screamed at him the meaning of the term godfather — someone who is supposed to take care of the child in case something happens to the parents. But that would just turn me into a bitter and hateful person, don't you think? I understand that the death of the Fourth was a big event, and the other four countries would be at Konoha's throat the moment they sensed the smallest moment of weakness. Pervy Sage and Old Third were the only real pillars of the country at that time. The Uchiha were a hair's breadth away from rebelling. Danzo was more of a parasite than anything. You were nowhere to be seen, and it was already good that Orochimaru wasn't acting against the village. They did their best. And I appreciate them for that."
"…you truly have grown up, Naruto," she said before sighing. "Fine, you will have my full support no matter what you wish to do. It seems that it's time for me to settle down as well."
"Thank you," Naruto nodded. "In exchange, I will help you revitalize your body so that you don't end up dead in a year or two. I need you alive at least for the duration of my tenure and until I make Sarada the Hokage."
"I don't need your help," the woman willfully refused.
"The only choice you have is between the residence of the Senju Clan Head or the Hokage residence," Naruto said. "And if you act too willfully, I don't mind leaving that collar on you long-term so that you don't end up running away randomly."
"How dare you disrespect me in such a manner? I am the esteemed Fifth Hokage of the village and your elder!" Tsunade blushed in embarrassment and lashed out.
"And I am the current Hokage. You are my subordinate. I respect you very much, Granny Tsunade, but you have to stop acting like a willful brat. I don't want you randomly dropping dead because of your indulgent nature."
"It's too humiliating. I can't have this on me at all times," she refused with a slightly weak yet still feisty tone.
"Then I'll turn it into a necklace." Following his words, the collar turned into a black necklace with a black pendant that hung over her deep cleavage. "Now we have matching ones." Naruto fished out the one that she'd given him from beneath.
"You still wear that?" Her expression got a little complicated as she saw the necklace he was wearing.
"Not usually. I knew I was coming to get you, so I decided to wear it as a bargaining tactic. Thankfully, it wasn't needed."
"As if you haven't humiliated me enough, can't you at least pretend that you wore it for the meaning behind it?"
"That should be given," Naruto said before raising the green pendant for her to look at. "See how polished and maintained this looks? You don't get that by leaving something in a drawer for years."
"I stand corrected," she said. "But still, what purpose does this serve? There is no way in hell that I am allowing you to suppress my chakra any longer than necessary."
"It serves as a tracking tool," he said. "I will remove the suppression once I am confident that you won't try to run away meaninglessly. At that point, this necklace will serve as nothing more than a simple tracking tool."
She nodded stiffly, speechless at the level of distrust that Naruto was showing at the moment. Not only that, his behavior was downright controlling if one considered how she was suppressed at the moment.
As for Naruto, he was simply polishing the memorial with a chakra-infused cloth.
'Don't worry, Pervy Sage. I'll fulfill your wish of bringing Tsunade out of her self-destructive streak. After all, she's just depressed, and the only way she knows to express herself is through anger.' After the experiences with Cronai, Naruto knew more about Tsunade than she knew about herself.
As he stepped back after finishing the final touch-up of the memorial, he turned to Tsunade. "We can leave now."
"Get rid of these," she raised her arms and gestured down to her legs with her chin. "I am not walking into the village like this."
"Fine," Naruto said. "As long as I can track you."
Suddenly, the Sannin felt her entire body being reinvigorated as her chakra finally started circulating freely through her. While the suppression hadn't broken her transformation jutsu, it had made even things as simple as breathing a slight hassle for her.
***
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