"One more!" a blonde woman shouted after downing a whole bottle of sake in one breath.
"One more coming," the bartender answered meekly and served her three more bottles instead of just one.
By the time she was done drinking, it was in the wee hours of the morning. Barely keeping herself standing, she wobbled out of the bar slowly, leaning against walls and fences as she made her way towards the outskirts of the village. She didn't want to return to the Hokage Tower just yet.
Though she could dispel the alcohol flooding her system in a second, she refused to do so. She needed that buzz. She didn't feel strong enough to deal with reality without its help at that moment.
However, the cool air of the morning brought back some clarity and along with it, memories of the previous day started playing at the front of her mind.
"I'm protecting her because she was the one who rescued me! She came to save me after you threw me in prison despite being innocent!"
Maybe because she was drunk or maybe because she was simply at her limit, Tsunade started crying softly as she wobbled down the empty streets all alone. Things weren't supposed to end up like that. She had never imagined that her decision to leave Naruto clueless about the truth would bring about such an outcome. She had just not been able to trust his intelligence and tell him that he was being sent on a mission, instead of letting him believe that he got cast out, and abandoned.
'I should've pressured the Raikage to send Killer Bee to Hozuki Castle instead of Naruto. I should've been more insistent.'
Konoha and Kumo suspected that Kusagakure was preparing for something big and they decided to nip it in the bud because they couldn't afford to let them start another war, not while the Akatsuki threatened to take over the world by acquiring all the tailed beast and doing god knew what with them. In order to catch them red-handed, however, they needed to throw some bait. In this scenario, the only thing that would bait Kusa into acting out was to send them a jinchuuriki, someone with chakra reserves large enough to tempt Kusagakure into opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
But Uzumaki Naruto and Killer Bee were the only two jinchuuriki left and the Raikage considered Bee as his brother in all but blood. Therefore, Naruto was the only option left, as much as he was unfit for an espionage mission.
Tsunade wiped her face with her palms and let out a shuddering breath.
'How am I going to make it up to him?' she thought bitterly.
Naruto's reaction had caught her off-guard but thinking about it again, it was only natural for someone to react like that in his shoes. However, he was Naruto. Naruto never remained mad at his precious people for long and he was extremely quick to forgive. Many things that would be highly offensive if done to other people, Naruto usually accepted them without saying anything - like the way Sakura often used him as a punching bag.
But everyone had a limit and, even with how forgiving and tolerant Naruto was, Tsunade understood that being thrown in jail so cold-heartedly despite being innocent had been the last straw that broke the camel's back.
'I can only hope he has calmed down a little in the meantime.'
She wished that he would at least be willing to let her properly explain the situation and apologize when they met next time. She hoped he would stop being mad and return to the village soon.
Suddenly, two hands burst from the ground and grabbed her by the ankles.
Normally, someone would find it next to impossible to sneak up on her but, as she was drunk and consumed by her thoughts of guilt, Tsunade didn't notice the chakra signature of her stalker until it was too late.
'This is bad!' Tsunade wanted to shout, only to find out she couldn't move her mouth or any part of her body at all.
In the next moment, she was covered by black lines and symbols from head to toe. It was a Cursed Seal. When her attacker grabbed her by the ankles, they also placed a Cursed Seal on her.
Not even a second later, the blade of a tanto glinted in the moonlight as it slashed towards her neck.
An earthly-yellow haze of chakra burst out of Tsunade's body and, with an enraged scream, she broke the Cursed Seal's paralysis with her monstrous brute strength. With the attacker's tanto now only inches away from her neck, Tsunade unexpectedly opened her mouth and caught the blade with her teeth. The attacker was forced to give up on his weapon when she bit on the blade and shattered it as if it was made of graphite, not chakra metal.
In the next moment, Tsunade's fist smashed into her enemy's chest, their body exploding into a fine red mist from her unreal strength.
"To think that my own ANBU would try to kill me one day, and in the middle of the village no less," Tsunade said, having recognized the white porcelain mask of the ANBU operative who used to be part of her personal guard.
"Your ANBU? ANBU is not yours. ANBU don't serve you, it serves the village." Tsunade heard the voice of an old man coming from behind the trees.
As he stepped into the moonlight, his identity became as clear as day. The old and wrinkled face half covered by bandages, the right arm perpetually in a cast and the cane - it was Danzo Shimura.
"Jiraiya did tell me to be wary of you but I've never thought you'd go as far as to try to assassinate the Hokage. Has old age made you go completely senile?" Tsunade said.
"My mind has never been clearer, I assure you of that, Tsunade," Danzo said as he started taking out the bandages and the golden cast around his right arm.
"Only a madman would attempt to commit the highest treason," Tsunade said with a scoff.
"Highest treason? Hardly. I serve Konoha. Everything I do is for the sake of the village." Danzo said cooly.
"Then where the fuck were you when the leader of the Akatsuki invaded the village?" Tsunade screamed at him, finally losing her patience. "My Slug summons were spread over the entire village but I didn't see a glimpse of you anywhere. I died of chakra exhaustion from healing as many people as I could and thousands of other shinobi and kunoichi lost their lives in battle while you were lurking like a coward in some god-forsaken bunker, waiting for the danger to pass. Was that also for the sake of the village, you old hypocrite? And in what way does it even benefit Konoha if I died now when the Akatsuki is trying to take over the world?"
Danzo was not one to let his emotions get the better of him but Tsunade's words made his face stiffen. They had hit a sore spot - Danzo's cowardice in his youth was what had made Tobirama choose Sarutobi Hiruzen as his successor instead of him. To this very day, many decades later, it was still Danzo's biggest regret in life.
"It's because of the precarious future ahead of us that you need to be removed. You allowed the last Uchiha to go rogue and haven't eliminated him or at least recovered his doujutsu even after 3 years passed. You failed in capturing the Three-Tailed Beast. And now, you alienated Konoha's ultimate weapon, the Nine-Tailed jinchuuriki. You are not fit to-"
Danzo's words were cut short as the upper half of his body exploded like a geyser of blood and gore, the aftershocks of Tsunade's punch also mowing down several dozen trees behind him as well.
"I was right to not let my guard down against someone like you," Danzo's voice came from the side, greatly startling Tsunade who had thought him dead.
'How is this possible?! Genjutsu?!' Tsunade thought in disbelief.
But she dismissed that thought right away. It was impossible for anyone to put her under a genjutsu. Her chakra control was too exquisite, she would have noticed the irregularity in her chakra flow instantly.
[Fu, keep your distance and wait for the perfect moment. Torune, you only need to touch her once. Akimichi, engage in close quarters. Everyone else, assist with ninjutsu and shurikenjutsu from mid-range.]
Danzo gave those commands using hand signs rather than words and the black-ops shinobi immediately sprung into action.
⁂
"Old age really must've messed with your mental faculties, if you truly thought you could take me down with only this."
Danzo had not underestimated Tsunade before starting this assassination attempt - he had gathered almost all the ROOT members in the village at that moment just to kill her, over 30 of them, all at tokubetsu Jonin or a higher level. But the reality in front of him was that like out of a nightmare.
In less than five minutes, the Slug Sannin had killed over 15 of his ROOT in such an overly brutal and violent manner that even the slaves that he had brainwashed to serve him appeared to start showing signs of hesitance. Furthermore, 6 out of the 10 Sharingan embedded into his right arm had been closed permanently - Tsunade had already killed Danzo 6 times in less than five minutes.
The Sannin were renowned across the Elemental Nations and Danzo had always had accurate information in regard to Orochimaru and Jiraiya's level of strength but Tsunade had faded into obscurity after the end of the 3rd Shinobi War, choosing to drink and gamble her money away. Danzo had never expected her to have cultivated such a terrifying level of strength. It did not pale in comparison to that of her now-dead teammates at all!
'No, she's even more dangerous,' Danzo thought as he watched how the bloody holes he created in Tsunade's thigh with his Vacuum Bullets wind technique were fully healed in a second.
Tsunade's clothes had been turned to rags from how many times Danzo and his ROOT had slashed, stabbed and hit her with their ninjutsu and weapons but other than that, her body appeared in perfect condition. She was like an undying zombie. An undying zombie that could make huge craters and turn bodies into minced meat with a mere punch.
Suddenly, Danzo let out a loud scream:
"NOW!"
A shadow suddenly appeared on the ground illuminated by the moonlight and momentarily immobilized Tsunade. At the same time, Danzo went through a quick series of hand seals and thick tree roots and vines burst from the ground to wrap tightly around her body.
But Tsunade's physical strength was simply too powerful. Sweat started pouring down the Nara's face like a cascade and Danzo also felt his Mokuton jutsu starting creaking and wailing. It was only a second before she broke completely free that a Yamanaka member of the ROOT also yelled:
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Tsunade's body slumped a bit but the Yamanaka shouted in a warning to his colleagues:
"She's resisting my jutsu, I couldn't catch her fully. You have 20 seconds at most!"
A huge Fuuma shuriken appeared in Danzo's hands and, as he blew air on its blades, he engulfed it with wind chakra before he threw it at Tsunade. The other ROOT shinobi and kunoichi also threw a rain of kunai and shuriken from the distance, not taking the risk of getting close to her and ending up dead when she snapped out of Yamanaka's jutsu.
But the Yamanka's estimations had been grossly exaggerated as Tsunade didn't need even 5 seconds to snap out of his technique and, letting out a loud battle cry, she bulldozed through the Shadow Binding the Mokuton jutsu restraining her before clasping her hands with such strength that the shockwave burst from the clap of her palms was like a hurricane, completely blowing away all the projectiles sent her way, even Danzo's wind-coated Fuuma shuriken.
It was in the split-second after she created that powerful shockwave that someone appeared at her back like a phantom and the darkness of the night was temporarily chased away.
"Raikiri!"
Tsunade looked at the lightning-coated hand coming out of her chest in disbelief.
"K-Kakashi? ...Why?" was the only thing she could say before she stumbled forward and collapsed on her knees.
Not missing out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, two of the still-alive ROOT operative instantly shunshined next to her, their blades glinting in the moonlight as they both beheaded the Slug Sannin at the same time.
In spite of achieving his mission, Danzo felt no elation. The last shockwave that Tsunade created by clapping her palms had reaped the lives of another half a dozen of his ROOT when their projectiles were flung back at them. In less than 10 minutes, a drunk Tsunade had all but obliterated his entire organisation and he had lost 6 of his Sharingan eyes too.
'This was too close. If I hadn't obtained Kakashi's loyalty before this assassination, we would've all died at her hands.'
Until the moment of her death, Tsunade didn't understand why had Kakashi suddenly turned on her and sided with Danzo.
Seeing his shinobi attempting to clean the scene and remove all signs of battle, Danzo said:
"We don't have any time left. The rest of the ROOT can't hold off the ANBU for much longer. We have accomplished our objective. Leave everything as it is. Scatter!"
⁂
'It started raining again,' he thought and put on the hood of his grey cloak as he walked down one of the main streets of the village.
In spite of the fact that it rained day and night, the people around him didn't seem as affected by it as he was. Young couples were sharing umbrellas as they window-shopped, children were running around with no care in the world as they splashed rainwater at each other and old people were standing under the eaves of their homes or on their porches, puffing from their pipes and drinking sake as they gossiped about the latest news with their neighbours and friends.
'It doesn't even feel like a Hidden Village,' he thought as he compared it in his mind with Konoha.
Although Konoha was one of the more relaxed Hidden Villages, it was still a common occurrence to see chunins patrolling the streets and even some ANBU every once in a while. But Amegakure appeared more like a town of civilians.
'I miss my old place.'
As he compared Ame with Konoha, he couldn't lie to himself. He missed his former village. He missed his friends, his favourite ramen shop, Team 7's training ground, his little apartment... and he missed his Baa-chan and Sakura more than all.
But whenever his mind went back to Tsunade and Sakura, anger would come back to him and his homesickness would vanish too.
"Damn it!"
Even two weeks after Konan broke him out of the Hozuki Castle, Naruto could not let go of his anger. On the contrary, due to not having a way to release his pent-up frustration and due to a lack of activity or work to take his mind off his problems, his grudge and his anger only continued to fester and worsen inside of him.
He had never felt like that before in his entire life. He had always been a predominantly happy person, with a sunny disposition, and a penchant for being quick to forgive and forget. So why couldn't he go back to being like he was before? What was the rage smouldering in his veins whenever his mind went back to Konoha? And why were his sweet memories of the village slowly being overrun by memories that he had forgotten he still had?
Memories of other kids joining hands to rough him up in the Academy, memories of random villages spewing vitriolic words at him, memories of Iruka often singling him out in the Academy and using him as a negative example to his classmates, memories of Kakashi giving Sasuke preferential treatment during the month before the last stage of the Chunin Exams and dumping him to a useless jonin who hated his guts, memories of Konoha completely ignoring his incredible feat of defeating Gaara and the fully-manifested Ichibi and not promoting him to the rank of chunin...
...And the torrent of bad memories wouldn't stop at that. Scenes of Jiraiya throwing him off the cliff or purposely enraging him to the point of nigh-madness just to bring out Kyuubi's chakra, memories of Jiraiya ditching him in order to fool around with hookers, the numerous time Sakura punched him for even the slightest inconvenience he caused her, the memory of Kiba often mocking him and putting him down for his dream or the memory of Akamaru taking a piss on his face while he was sleeping etc.
It was as if until then he had looked at the world through a pair of rose-tinted glasses but now that he took them off he couldn't tear his eyes away from the ugliness that he had overlooked before. It was as if a side of his personality that he had forcefully shut down up until that moment was now finally coming to the surface and trying to take over.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Outside of his control, his eyes gained a blood-red colour and the thin birthmarks on his cheeks became darker as his rage facilitated Kyuubi's chakra's infiltration into his system.
'I can't continue like this!' Naruto thought and his steps quickened. 'I have to find something to do or else I'll go crazy.'
And going crazy was the last thing he needed at that moment.
'I can't inconvenience Konan any more than I already do.'
He wasn't exactly the most capable person when it came to matters related to money and the economy but even he understood that Amegakure was currently not in a good spot. He didn't want to make more problems for Konan.
The Land of Rain didn't have a Daimyo to sponsor the Hidden Village in it and the country itself was completely isolated from the outside world. There was no diplomatic contact with their neighbours, not even merchants were allowed to pass Ame's borders.
Under Nagato Uzumaki's rule, the Village Hidden in the Rain had experienced a period of development, peace, and wealth like never before in its entire history. However, Nagato was dead and Konan was no longer part of the Akatsuki either. With Ame completely isolated from their neighbours and with its previous source of income gone (Akatsuki's activities), the village's economical situation was in dire straits.
'Ero-sennin died almost 3 months ago but the destruction left by his battle with Nagato is still here, they haven't repaired anything.'
Thinking of that, Naruto was suddenly struck by an idea:
'What if I helped Konan with repairing that damage?'
It seemed like a good way for him to repay her for what she had done for him.
'After my friends and my village abandoned me, she's the only one who took my side.'
In his darkest hour, Konan had been the only person to come to his rescue. Helping her out was the least he could do to show his gratitude.
Suddenly invigorated by finding a new goal for himself, Naruto's spirits rose as he broke into a shinobi sprint towards the tallest tower located at the centre of the jungle of steel and concrete known as the Hidden Village in the Rain.