Tsunade continued to speak regardless-
"I've planted a seal in the area so that there can be no space interference for now. I planted the seals on these small shogi for each one of you so that you don't *cough* *cough*-"
Shizune quickly wiped her tears and started using the mystical palm on Tsunade's lungs, trying to keep her blood from filling them up and drowning her.
Tsunade smiled but continued speaking.
"As I was saying, each of you can take one piece seal so that a small area around you can't be interfered with. It'll give you enough time to run away if something like it happens again."
Tsunade then turned towards Yamato.
"Shizune will guide you to my sealing notes once you have time to return to Konoha."
Yamato's eyes firmed and he nodded.
Tsunade's eyes then moved towards the genin.
"You're the last Uchiha left...the Senju clan were sworn enemies of the Uchiha at one point. So we have several ways the Uchiha used the Sharingan and even some common counters to them."
Sasuke gulped. He wasn't particularly close with Tsuande and had only heard about her through her legends. It had set her up to be at an almost unreachable stage in his mind.
But seeing her like this shattered something within him.
In the end, he couldn't understand how to feel, so he simply nodded.
Tsunade then turned to Sakura.
"You have decent chakra control. It would be nice if you could become a medical shinobi. Ask Shizune to train you if you think it is something you might want to pursue."
Sakura nodded, her hands clamping around her mouth to prevent any sounds from escaping her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.
Tsunade was the role model for several Kunoichi growing up after all.
Tsunade finally turned towards Naruto.
"You can have this…it's my grandfathers. You do know who Hashirama was…right?" Tsunade asked with a humorous undertone. It seemed even she had realised just how dumb Naruto was in the short duration of their trip.
Naruto wanted to complain about it, of course, he knew Hashirama! His face was on the goddamn Hokage rock! It was a face he used to paint often! But he just couldn't bring the words to put his stance in front of the dying Tsunade.
So he just nodded and caught the crystal necklace Tsunade tossed in his direction while trying hard not to tear up at the fact that the first thing he received from someone in the form of a gift was someone dying.
"I hope you become someone as great as them…maybe even become the Hokage…but I fear for Konoha if you do…"
Naruto's sorrow-filled face scrunched up and he barely managed to hold himself back from cursing at Tsunade when Yamato held his shoulder.
Tsunade only smiled lightly as her eyes finally stopped on Tachibana who was still looking at her with shock.
"Give us some time alone." Tsunade said causing everyone to freeze for a moment.
"Tsunade-sama!!!" Shizune shouted feeling outraged, she wanted to spend every last moment with who she had come to think of as her mother.
But Tsunade only smiled when she looked at her, "Not going to let this old lady do what she wants even on her death bed Shizune? I'm not gambling am I?"
Shizune's tears started to leak from her eyes as she forced eye contact with Tsunade for a few seconds.
She quickly sniffled away her pain as she nodded before using the mystic palm with a significant amount of chakra for a few seconds to expand Tsunade's life for a few seconds more before she stood up and left.
Everyone else looked at Tachibana and then at Tsunade before they too followed Shizune without a word of protest.
"...why don't you come closer…it's getting harder to speak when you're so far…" Tsunade whispered in pain.
Tachibana's legs carried him to Tsunade before he collapsed beside her.
There was silence for a few seconds before he opened his mouth again.
"....why?"
Tsunade looked at Tachibana for a few seconds before speaking with a smile.
"It wasn't your fault…I would've had to put up the seal to stop anyone from interfering with the space around us regardless."
Tachibana fell silent again.
Tsunade didn't need words to see that Tachibana wasn't convinced. After all, if a person wanted to blame themselves for something, they didn't need to be fully logical.
But Tachibana wasn't very wrong in his thought process too.
If Tsuande hadn't had to waste time getting him to safety, she could've directly started with applying the seal so that only a few of the explosive tag grenades could've made it to this side.
That would've made it much easier for them to manage and Tsunade could've lived even if she might've been cooked for a few seconds.
As such Tachibana asked her another question-
"Aren't you afraid of death?"
"Are you?" Tsunade asked with a warm smile.
Tachibana didn't respond but his eyes were clear, he was deathly afraid of death.
Dying once had sent him to this hellish place.
He didn't want to know what would happen if it happened another time.
Tsunade's eyes started to go out of focus as she looked back up at the burning canopy above them.
"...I don't know what happens after death….maybe we get erased. In that case, I wouldn't even know anything so it doesn't bother me. Perhaps I'll go to Pure Land because I helped spread the glory of Konoha…but given what I've learned recently perhaps I have a special spot reserved for me in hell. Who knows…"
Tsunade's eyes landed back on Tachibana.
"Tell me…what do you think of my village?"
"...It isn't a very nice place…but it is…sort of…a home…to me, and to the several people that live within its confines." Tachibana responded with clear hesitation.
Yet when Tsunade looked into Tachibana's eyes, scanning for any signs of lies or deceit, but she could find none. "I see…" Tsunade said, a smile forming on her face.
"What's the deal with that God of yours…? Could you ask him to give me access to booze and gambling on the other side?"
Tachibana kept looking at Tsunade with a blank expression which extended the silence after her words into an awkward stretch.
Tsunade almost laughed but with her body being held together by chakra duct tape she controlled herself.
"Fine…fine…humour this as my dying wish…" Tsunade said and looked right into Tachibana's eyes with a focused gaze. "What is your aim?"
Tachibana's hands trembled a little, as he mumbled-
"Like grandmother, like daughter…why are the two of you so sharp?"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed, as she asked, "What do you mean?"
Tachibana only shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough. And as for my aim? Well…I saw my own death in the future…I'm just trying to avoid that particular future…"
Tsunade's eyes remained narrowed as she looked at Tachibana with confusion but eventually, with her time quickly running out she was forced to put aside her grievances at his short answer.
"So you're just afraid of death?" Tsuande joked, *coughing* up another mouthful of blood as she did.
Tachibana opened his mouth to speak-
"I just want to die when I want to die…and not by accident."
For the first time, Tsunade laughed as if Tachibana had told her a funny joke.
But it quickly devolved into her *coughing* up more blood.