The hallway was silent as Keiko walked towards Tsunade's office. Just a few days before, Keiko figured out that Tsunade was her mother. Keiko didn't understand. If Tsunade was really her mother, why did she abandon Keiko when she was little? Keiko wanted to understand. She needed to understand. Every time she thought about Tsunade being her mother, it brought tears to her eyes.
"It's not true! It can't be true! Tsunade can't be my mother! She would have never let me go when I was little! She's not that kind of person!" Keiko thought to herself as she fought back the tears. The door to Tsunade's office opened up. Keiko looked up in time to see Tsunade stepping out of her office. Keiko wanted to talk to Tsunade, but she couldn't. She couldn't face Tsunade about how she was feeling right now. Tsunade was about to ask Keiko a question, when Keiko turned around and ran away from Tsunade as fast as she could. She couldn't face Tsunade. Not now.
Keiko ran. She ran as far away from Tsunade's office as she could. Tears were streaming down Keiko's face. She couldn't see where she was going. Then she ran into someone. Keiko rubbed some of the tears out of her eyes to see who she ran into. It was her father Jiraiya. Keiko could barely talk to him; she was too upset about the current situation with Tsunade.
"Keiko, why are you crying?" Jiraiya asked softly. Keiko never cried. He was worried about her. Keiko couldn't talk. All she did was shake her head. Jiraiya hugged Keiko to comfort her. To his surprise Keiko hugged him back. Keiko never hugged Jiraiya. "Keiko lets go home. I need to talk to you about Tsunade."
"Fine," Keiko mumbled. Jiraiya let her go from the hug and started to walk towards his house. To his surprise, Keiko never let go of his vest. Jiraiya put his arm around Keiko's shoulder and Keiko rested her head against his side. Jiraiya knew she was upset about Tsunade, he didn't realize she was this upset about it.
The both soon arrived at their place of residence. Jiraiya let Keiko enter the house first and he followed her in afterwards. Keiko went into the living room and sat on the couch. Jiraiya came and sat beside her. Jiraiya knew what he wanted to say to Keiko, except he wasn't sure how she would take it.
"Keiko", Jiraiya started out nervously, "Tsunade loves you very much. You not accepting her as your mother hurts her a lot. She wants to be your mother. Keiko, she regrets giving you up all those years ago. She is ready to take you back into her life. Keiko, please, can you give Tsunade a chance?" Jiraiya was worried about how Keiko would respond. Jiraiya wanted to accept Tsunade as her mother. He knew that Tsunade made a bad choice, giving up Keiko when she was little. He just hoped Keiko would forgive Tsunade.
"Fine, I want to talk to her first," was Keiko's monotone response. Keiko really didn't want to talk to Tsunade, but she would to make her father happy. Keiko loved Jiraiya, and she didn't like to upset him. So, after their little talk, they headed off towards Tsunade's office.
When they got to Tsunade's office, Jiraiya told Keiko he would wait outside for her, but she couldn't come back to him until she talked to Tsunade. Keiko told Jiraiya that he would have to wait a while. Jiraiya let Keiko into Tsunade's office and told Tsunade that Keiko needed to talk to her. Tsunade was fine with that and allowed Keiko to enter her office. Then Jiraiya left.
"Hey Keiko, I've been meaning to talk to you as well." Tsunade was unsure about how to start the conversation. "Keiko, I know you've been upset about finding out I'm your mother. And you probably want to know why I gave you up don't you?" Keiko didn't respond, she was in her own little world. Tsunade sighed. She thought she better start at the beginning.
"Keiko, I abandoned you because I had a drinking and gambling problem. I know I still have those problems, but when you were little, it was much worse. I got in lots of trouble with my gambling debts and I had a horrible temper when I was drunk. I didn't want you to get hurt. I've had threats on my and your life because of my gambling debts. So, I gave you up. I hope you understand." If Keiko did understand, she gave no sign of it.
"Well, now, I am ready to take you back into my life as your mother. Keiko, I regretted giving you up, but I would like to have you back. Keiko, I missed you. You do not understand how many times I wanted to return and take you back, but I couldn't face you. I thought that you would hate me for what I did, and I guess you do now." Keiko was still silent. Tsunade moved closer to Keiko, and she saw that Keiko was crying. Tsunade reached out and took Keiko in her arms and held her. This made Keiko cry even harder. "Keiko, what's wrong?" Tsunade asked with a shaky voice.
Keiko was really hard to understand while she was crying, but she did her best to let Tsunade know how she was feeling. "I missed you. I don't hate you for leaving me. I'm just happy you're back. The thing is, I'm not really sure what to think right now." Tsunade was fine with that response. Tsunade hugged Keiko even harder and she started to cry herself. Tsunade was happy that Keiko accepted her as her mother, but she knew it would take a while for Keiko to get used to the fact the Tsunade was her mother. Tsunade was fine with that, she got her daughter back, and Keiko got her mother back.