Gene Therapy

Disclaimer: Naruto and all derivations thereof belong to Kishimoto Masashi.

Chapter 1: Seeds of Destruction

Memories flashed through Tsunade's mind. Her little brother and his cherubic smile, "I'll become like Grandpa and one day receive the Hokage name!" Naruto giving her a determined glare, "…I'm not like you…I will definitely earn the Hokage name". Dan, with that serious look on his face that made everyone stop and listen to what he had to say. "Since my sister died…Only this feeling has held me up…That's why I'll become Hokage…One who protects everyone." She could see them standing side by side proudly proclaiming "Because Hokage is my dream!"

Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to lift her head and look Orochimaru in the face. "The dream that those two bet their life on…Having those dreams come true was also my wish," Tsunade paused sensing Orochimaru's confusion, but he remained silent.

"All things that have shape eventually decay…you've said that…" she continued with tears streaming down her face. "But…only this feeling will remain eternal!" she proclaimed with the benevolent faces of Dan and Nawaki emblazoned in her mind.

Eyes narrowed, golden irises flashing, Orochimaru hissed "So, the deal is off…No choice then…We'll have to force you to do it."

Tears wiped from her eyes, Tsunade straightened and met him with a glare that would have made Naruto proud and then exploded into action. She launched into the air and brought down a falling axe kick that could decapitate an Elephant. Orochimaru and Kabuto jumped to the top of a nearby wall, dodging the blow with no time to spare, the ground where they once stood cracking apart and imploding into a crater ten meters wide.

"Let's do it, Kabuto!" Orochimaru crowed as they swayed upon the trembling wall.

"I told you …this medicine is going to be beyond bitter," the bespectacled young man replied.

"Bring it on, Orochimaru!" Tsunade screamed, her glare boring into him as her fingers flashed through signs.

'Now this is interesting' thought the Snake, 'her style is to close with the enemy for hand to hand. What is she up to?' And then the tiled roof of the wall exploded as tree trunks as thick as a man's leg burst from it, their points as sharp as lances, ripping through Orochimaru's body like needles through rotted cloth. Great gouts of scarlet blood splattering everywhere as he staggered under blows that were tearing him to pieces.

Kabuto, a hair quicker than his ill master, back flipped out of the storm of wood and shrapnel, escaping with a few lacerations to land on a nearby tree. He watched in amazement as his master struggled to pull off his body shedding technique. His crippled arms unable to assist in pulling himself out of his mouth, his attempted escape was sluggish at best as he wriggled out. Not fast enough. He was only halfway out as several more branches slammed through his torso, immobilizing him long enough for another to punch through his head, splitting it open like a pumpkin thrown against a jagged rock.

It was done, the fight over in seconds. 'We underestimated her' Kabuto thought, stunned that they'd made such a rookie mistake. 'We should have known better. She's one of the Three, no matter how many years she's spent in retirement.'

Tsunade turned her head to him, pulling away from one last lingering glance at the blood soaked corpse of her old teammate.

Kabuto's eyes narrowed, 'She's definitely uncomfortable, but nowhere near the wreck she portrayed herself earlier at the sight of blood. We've been played.'

"Well fought Lady Tsunade. You've won the day and I leave the field to you. It seems I now have a village to run." He flickered away thinking 'and red clouds in my future.'

A few minutes later Jiraiya jumped down from a nearby wall his face slack with amazement. Shizune and Naruto followed, the later gasping in surprise and moving forward to say something, before being pulled back and talked to in a quiet voice by the latter.

After one last long, sad look at the broken serpentine monstrosity that had been his friend Jiraiya turned away and looked to his other teammate who stood deep in thought as she looked off in the distance.

"How…how did you do it Tsunade? I know you didn't inherit that bloodline", he asked perplexed. "And what about the blood? You're taking this rather well."

Tsunade shook herself out of her thoughts and looked over at him. "About a year ago we had a run in with a bounty hunter. Shizune was nearly killed and I barely got us out of there alive. It was overcome my fear or let her die..."

The scene came flooding back with all its horror and all the fear she'd felt. The fear of blood and the fear of failure. Shizune giving a hacking blood flecked cough. Her black robes riddled with round holes and soaked in blood. Tsunade pushed it back down. Balling the fear up and burying it deep inside just like she did that day.

"Huh...I always knew your debts would get you in trouble someday", Jiraiya sighed. "That bounty hunter must have been something to give you problems, but it looks like he's done us a service of sorts. ...That doesn't explain the wood though," he questioned.

Tsunade looked back at the body of Orochimaru. "He sowed the seeds of his destruction long ago with his inhumanity and greed, and ensured it here with his arrogance."

Jiraiya started in surprise. "He sowed the seeds...are you saying what I think you are?"

"Yes," she answered with a hint of shame in her voice. "After Orochimaru fled Konoha, the Third ordered me to investigate his medical experiments and try to figure out what techniques he was working on, and whether or not he'd been successful. It quickly became obvious what he was after...my grandfather's Mokuton techniques." She shook her head in disgust, recalling the small bodies twisted in the agony of their last moments, their faces frozen in fear as they died.

She continued, "I came across the genome sequence of my grandfather during my investigation, and of course the sequence of the lone survivor. It was a simple thing to compare it to mine. As a direct descendant, I was significantly more compatible then Tenzo. The Mokuton bloodline relies upon several recessive genes, all of which you need to posses two copies of to express the ability. I had single copies of some of the genes in question, two for one gene in particular, and none for another. It wasn't difficult to whip up a retroviral cocktail to splice the rest into my genome."

Jiraiya whistled in appreciation, "You sure do like to roll the dice Princess! That was dangerous."

"I had a fever and some shakes, but not near as bad as Tenzou," she said. "I'm the best doctor there is and I had the advantage of being a blood relative. My family has always had strong chakras and skill with nature transformation."

She had a troubled look in her eyes when as she said "I justified using such tainted research by telling myself that the death of those children shouldn't go in vain...but I'm afraid that I was just being selfish."

Jiraiya snorted dismissively, "Pfft...You're being too hard on yourself Princess. You didn't want those kids to die, and you would have stopped it if you could. But we're ninja. And when we see a chance to become stronger we take it. You did nothing wrong."

"Thanks Jiraiya, I knew I could rely on you to buck me up," she replied, giving him a small smile of gratitude.

"I am a charming devil aren't I" he preened, "Still, I'm impressed. It looks like you've got the ability down as well as Tenzo and he's been racking up some serious combat experience."

"I had over ten years Jiraiya", Tsunade said dryly. "And I copied my grandfather's scrolls before I left. I'm one of the Three, even studying halfheartedly it was inevitable I'd become at least this skilled. Even the average shinobi who's mastered one nature chakra would be well prepared to master an advanced nature bloodline if he was gifted with one out of the blue."

"Hey! Are we done with all the big words and the gloom and doom yet? I hardly understood half that conversation," Naruto busted into the conversation with a pout.

"You got revenge for the Third Hokage! We should celebrate! ...Right after I win my bet!" he said with a cheeky grin. One hand seal later and there was a shadow clone to his left. With its help to mold chakra, Naruto soon had a tight, whirling blue ball of chakra in his palm. One which he used to disintegrate a piece of rubble with glee. "Look at that!" he shouted.

Jiraiya slapped him on the back and gave him an approving "That's my boy!"

Tsunade stared at the boy in shock, 'I can't believe this hyperactive knucklehead thought of such a clever work around of the control problem.' She couldn't help but smile at his exuberance though, 'he really does remind me of Nawaki.'

'I suppose this is a sign… the dream of my beloved, my brother, and my forefathers is my dream now and I can't let them down. ' she thought as she made her decision. "Well" she said as she lifted her necklace off, "a bets a bet." She placed the necklace on him, bent down and kissed his forehead. "Become a good man; continue working hard, and one day you'll definitely become the Sixth Hokage."

Blushing red, he stuttered, "You...You got it!" as he put his hands behind his head and smiled toothily.

Jiraiya's smile grew large as he asked, "Sixth Hokage? Does that mean we have a Fifth?"

"Yup! And you better refer to me with respect now" she answered with sassy grin.

"Hey! If your Hokage now you're in charge of promotions right? You gotta make me a chunin when we get back!" Naruto demanded.

He rambled on excitedly "I just mastered a super-awesome A class technique and I can already summon the boss toad, Gamabunta! I'm totally ready to go on the big time missions. The road to Hokage is paved with A and S class missions!" He finished with a satisfied grin, nodding his head as he imagined his future inauguration in front of an adoring crowd.

Tsunade burst out laughing, taking glee in bursting his bubble. "Ha! You go on S class missions! Don't be ridiculous, you're just a kid. You've got heart, but C class missions with an occasional B while under supervision is the level you're at right now."

Naruto's face reddened once more, this time in anger. "What!" He shouted, pointing at her. "I fought Garaa and Shukaku during the invasion, and Orochimaru in the Forest of Death! Those got to be S class, and hell, my first mission outside of Konoha ended up with my team fighting Momochi Zabuza to the death!"

"Ah huh", Tsunade replied skeptically, cocking an eyebrow at him. "And who killed him? You? Or your Jonin sensei?"

Naruto's grin slid a bit off his face as he looked at the ground sheepishly. "Well, I guess Kakashi sensei did most of the work."

"That's what I thought." She said with satisfaction, and then paused, her face becoming speculative. "He must have had a nice bounty on his head, probably 50 million or so. Must have been nice to split a score like that at your age."

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, who was just finishing sealing Orochimaru in a scroll, and asked. "How much is this degenerate worth? Last I checked it was a cool 100 million Ryo."

"That was before the attack on the village." Jiraiya answered. "It was doubled after that. You can pay back your debts now ten times over!" He added with satisfaction.

"Yatta!" she screamed with girlish glee, silly grin plastered over face as she kicked up her heels "We're hitting the pachinko parlor tonight!"

Shizune looked on the whole display with dismay. "She never learns does she", she whispered to Ton Ton who bweed in sympathy.

"Bounty?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face. "We didn't split any bounty."

Tsunade looked at the boy with surprise, "Kakashi kept the money all to himself? You'd think with a prize like the Kubikiribocho he'd be a little more generous."

Naruto shook his head and crossed his arms. "As far as I know no one collected a bounty. We just buried Zabuza and Haku and used his sword as headstone."

Tsunade's mouth dropped open, and she worked it a couple of times before spluttering "He…he used the sword of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist as a headstone and just buried the master! That's…that's almost criminal negligence!"

Naruto cocked his head, with a puzzled look on his face. "Eh? What were we supposed to do with them?"

"The Kubikiribocho is a national treasure of the Village Hidden in the Mist, any ninja would love to wield it. I can't believe Kakashi just left it." Tsunade answered, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Jiraiya chose that moment to interject. "Knowing Kakashi, he probably didn't want to lug that big thing around with him, let alone fight with it regularly. Not everyone is as strong as you Princess," he said pointedly.

"That lazy ass, if he trained more he wouldn't have got beaten into a coma. After I get back to Konoha and fix him up I'm going to whip him back into shape," she exclaimed, causing Jiraiya to wince in sympathy for Kakashi.

"Hey! Don't talk about Kakashi sensei like that! He's awesome. I don't see what was so great about that big dumb sword anyways." Naruto said defensively, a scowl marring his face.

"If that blade gets chipped in battle it will drink the blood of its victims and regenerate using the iron in their blood." Tsunade answered, causing Naruto to look a little green around the gills. "All of the Seven Swords have special powers, and all are wielded by powerful ninja. Even if Kakashi wasn't interested in the bounty, he should have brought the sword and the body back to the village. You never know what kind of techniques and secrets you can learn from a corpse." She lectured.

"He didn't seem to have any secret powers, he was just really strong." Naruto objected. "Now Haku, he…" Naruto stopped. 'Shit. I shouldn't have said that. She's going to want to do something weird to his body', he thought in dismay.

"He what?" Tsunade asked with interest, picking up on the boy's discomfort. 'Naruto must think he had something we could use'

Naruto got a mulish look on his face and dug in his heels, "I'm not telling. You're just going to dig up his body and desecrate his corpse. He may have been an enemy but he was a really nice guy who helped me develop my ninja way. He doesn't deserve that."

"Now that's not true Naruto", Tsunade chided with a hurt look. "I treat the dead with respect" she insisted, though she added 'unless they were jerks' to herself. "Any study I do will be a lot less invasive if I know what I'm looking for before hand. Are you going to make me ask Kakashi the details when we get back?" she pouted.

Naruto wasn't really convinced, but he knew she was going to get the answer eventually. "He…he could make ice and control it. Flying needles and mirrors he could move through."

Tsunade gave him a warm smile as she said, "We'll that's an advanced nature bloodline, all I'll need from your friend is a couple of joints from a pinkie finger. That's not so bad is it?"

Jiraiya's face took on a worried cast "You're not thinking of doing something reckless are you Princess? The Mokuton bloodline is one thing, the Hyoton bloodline another." He looked over to Shizune for support.

She nodded her head and answered with a concerned frown, "Jiraiya is right Lady Tsunade, your body won't be as well suited to a foreign bloodline as it was to your grandfather's. You might end up like those poor children."

"Don't be such a mother hen Shizune," Tsunade said dismissively. "It's not as if I won't do extensive research before trying anything out. I don't see what the problem is, it's Water and Wind right? I've already got half those genes already. And it's not as if no one's had two advanced nature bloodline before, the new Mizukage has two."

"Hmm" Shizune hummed in disapproval, but as she often did her master just ignored her.

Tsunade turned back to Naruto, "Where are they buried Naruto?" she asked.

He paused, picturing the scene in his mind. Fresh graves, the newly turned earth and the poignancy of loss. "Off to the left side of the new, big bridge to Wave Country if you're coming towards it from the Fire Country side"

Tsunade frowned at the news, "That's two days out of our way to get there and another two back. Jiraiya, take one of your frogs and head down there. Pick up the sword and a bone sample from Naruto's friend and try to make it to Konoha by my inauguration ceremony. I'm going to make it as flashy as possible." She smirked. "Our enemies and friends need to know that Konoha is in capable hands." 'I won't let Dan or Nawaki down, I'm going to be a Hokage my Grandfather would be proud of', she thought fiercely.

"Sure thing Tsunade, it'll be cutting it fine, but I'll make it in time." Jiraiya answered as he pitched the scroll containing Orochimaru to her. "Keep an eye on the brat for me; he's a magnate for a trouble." He said as he ruffled the boy's golden hair.

Naruto smacked the hand away with irritation, and glared at his master. "Look who's talking you Old Perv! On just this mission you fell for Itachi's sexy distraction, stole my money, and got poisoned by the Old Lady here!"

Narrowing her eyes at him, "Who's an old lady!" Tsunade growled, leaking killing intent for good measure.

Naruto started, shivering from the hostility. It felt like her eyes were cutting into him like a knife. "Uh…well, let's change the subject! You better treat Haku well or I'll kick your ass you Old Perv! Don't think I won't find out." Naruto finished, gesturing theatrically at Jiraiya.

"Yeah, yeah. I promise I won't treat him roughly." A few hand seals later and a cloud of gray smoke, and Jiraiya was standing on an orange frog about the size of a two story house. "See you at the party Princess!" He shouted, and then the toad was off, bounding into the distance in huge leaps that ate up a hundred meters at a time.

Tsunade flipped the corpse laden scroll to Shizune who juggled it and Ton Ton before managing to shove it into her pack. "Let's go Shizune, Naruto…I've got a village to govern and patients to heal," and with a smile they were on their way.

The great gates of Konoha were coming into view bathed in the soft light of morning, they and the wall they belonged to towering over the flat countryside and magnificently framed by the Hokage Mountain dominating the background. That at least hadn't changed. The couple of Chunin at the gate though had. One had a long shock of hair hanging done over the right side of his face. 'I wonder if he lost the eye' Tsunade thought idly before brushing it off as the vagaries of fashion. His partner's face was decorated with a bandage that stretched across his face and over the bridge of his nose.

Tsunade had slipped away from the group before dawn, wanting to enter the village by herself and get to make her own assessment of it, without being shepherded around and given the tour. She smiled as she thought of how Shizune must have panicked upon waking and finding her gone. 'She probably thought I decided to run off after all'.

The men at the gate certainly noticed her. Eyes flicking up and down her form, mostly down. 'Pigs' she thought with distaste. They didn't seem to recognize her, but it had been a long time since she left. 'They must have been only genin then', she thought. They would have had little chance to interact with her unless they ended up in critical condition.

Izumo got to his feet, outwardly showing a smile but inwardly concerned, while Kotetsu casually putting himself in a position to back him up. 'I don't recognize her…though I feel I should. There's something about her and it's not just her beauty. She's obviously strong. No headband though, that's not good' he worried. "Good morning Miss, please present affiliation, name and reason for visit."

Tsunade smirked at the question and at the concern he was hiding. "Affiliation?" She asked with dry sarcasm, "The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Name? Senju Tsunade. Reason for visit? Cash in on Orochimaru's bounty and attend my inauguration as Hokage"

The way the boy's mouth dropped open at her name and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull at her reason warmed her heart. "Would you like see the body for confirmation? I have to warn you, it's not in the best of condition, I wouldn't want viscera to leak all over you guard post" she teased.

The guard spluttered, "That…that won't be necessary Lady Tsunade. I recognize you now; it's just been a long time. Would you like me to escort you to the Hokage tower?' he asked. Of course it was a mere formality, she could have been someone using the transformation technique after all, and who knew what could really be in that scroll. A visitor like her had to have an eye kept on her until some one higher up who had known Tsunade could vouch that it was really her.

'All well and good' Tsunade thought, 'but…"I prefer not". And with that she flickered away in a swirl of leaves.

She reappeared on top of the Hokage tower a second later. It had taken a fair amount of chakra, the gate was a few miles away and at least fifty meters lower in elevation. The gate chunin wouldn't be able to trace her. She leaned on the railing and looked out over the bustling village. The damage from the recent fighting was clear, but repairs were already well under way and people still moved to and fro on their day's errands. They weren't letting the bad times get them down. 'Well, time for the bad times to end, Tsunade's back in town' she thought confidently.

Two ANBU members flickered into being on either side of her. She turned her head to the young woman on the right with purple hair, "We'll Yuago-chan you've certainly become a fine ninja. ANBU and a fifteen second response time. Pretty good, but I'd like to see that under ten. Someone like me could have already went on a rampage."

Yuago started in surprise "Lady Tsunade?" she gasped.

"Please don't be so reckless Lady Tsunade" the cat masked captain to her left implored "You're lucky one of the rookies wasn't on station. It would be embarrassing for you to be attacked by your own ANBU ahead of your own inauguration."

"Embarrassing for them maybe" she said mischievously. Tsunade straightened up and ran a hand through her blonde hair. "The village has changed quite a bit Otomatsu, there's been hard times of late. But starting today, the village is my responsibility as the Fifth Hokage and I won't let my forefathers down. Summon the Elders, the Jonin Commander and the ANBU Head for an immediate meeting. Time to get down to business," she declared.

"As you command" they answered, and they flickered away in a puff of smoke.

Half an hour later as she was doing a quick survey of the Hokage's office, Shizune burst into the office huffing and puffing, Ton Ton bweeing in her arms. "Lady Tsunade! How could you?" she protested. "Leaving us behind like that was just cruel."

Tsunade just brushed off her disapproval, "Ah, Shizune. Just in time. Looks like a lot of paper work has been piling up. Get to work on it," she commanded.

Shizune gaped at her "What…but these are on your desk for a reason. I'm not qualified nor authorized to make these decisions," she objected.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Sarutobi sensei must have spoiled the bureaucrats during his second term. When he was young he made the big decisions, delegated the rest to assistants and spent most of his time training us and going on the most important missions." Memories of those halcyon days surfaced in her mind, of the team out on the training field beneath a blue sky, learning something exciting and new, but she quickly quashed them. Thoughts of sensei and Orochimaru were just too tinged with melancholy these days. With a half shake of her head she continued, "I plan to do the same thing. I've got too many important things to do than stay in the office. Operations at the hospital, research on the Hyoton genome, training a new apprentice, getting back into fighting trim and carrying out some S class to make a statement that the Leaf village is still on its game."

"But you don't have a new apprentice!" Shizune challenged, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I'm sure I can find someone suitable." Tsunade replied nonchalantly, smiling at the indignant squeak that Shizune responded with. "If you really need your hand held Shizune, I can leave a shadow clone with you. One soldier pill will keep it going for three or four days."

Shizune scowled, offended by the implication that she was behaving like a petulant child "Those are expensive! You shouldn't waste them so flagrantly just to get out of work."

"I'll still get the experience once it dispels. This isn't avoiding work, it's working smart to get twice as much done." Tsunade lectured. "Now get that stuff sorted out, I have a meeting with the Elders in five minutes and I'd like to know what needs addressing immediately once I'm done" and with that Tsunade strode out of the room leaving Shizune to look at the paper strewn desk disconsolately. She looked down in despair at Ton Ton who nuzzled her in sympathy, "It's just not fair, she's using my sense of responsibility against me."

Two long days later, after all the meetings, Shinzune scoldings, and examinations at the hospital, Tsunade finally stood once again on top of the Hokage tower in front of a thronging crowd. Jiraiya stood on her left, cutting an over dramatic pose such that you'd think he was celebrating his own coronation. He'd been true to his word and arrived in the nick of time just an hour ago, mission successful. 'Well, time to make a good impression,' she thought with a little smirk.

She bent down and clapped her hands together and then picked up Zabuza's oversized carving knife from where it had been leaning against the lower railing and slung it over her left shoulder. It was crackling with electric blue light as she channeled lightning chakra down the blade. Then she stepped up on the first rung of the railing and vaulted over it, landing on a rapidly growing block of wood that had sprouted from where she had stood. Knees slightly bent, she rode it all the way down as it twisted down to five meters above the square in front of the stunned crowd.

And then she spoke, clear and loud and with ringing conviction. "I am Senju Tsunade and the blood of my grandfather runs strong in my veins. But it is not his blood upon which the foundation of the Leaf Village rests, but upon his ideals. The Will of Fire burns in the heart of every Konoha shinobi and inspires us to fight and sacrifice for the village, for our comrades and for the next generation. This fire, once banked in my own heart has been rekindled into a raging inferno... The village attacked and Sarutobi sensei assassinated, how could these events not inspire horror in me and cause me to reflect on all that I and my loved ones have sacrificed for this village. To reflect and to judge their efforts worthy and to hope that one day my efforts may be judged the same. I will spare no effort to guide this village towards peace and prosperity and to protect it from those that wish it harm. Anyone who thinks they can attack Konoha and get away with it, be warned… you will suffer the same fate as Orochimaru. Dead by my hand," she said, ending her speech with a hard edge.

The finality of that statement echoed in the silence that followed and then the crowd erupted in cheers. She could see Naruto in the front row jumping up and down like some kind of demented orange spider monkey, his pink haired team mate half heartedly trying to hold him down, while wearing her own beaming grin. 'Sakura, was it? She might have potential if she puts her nose to the grind stone,' Tsunade contemplated. She waved the crowd to silence and with a cocky grin announced "I'm glad you approve, so let's celebrate! It's time to hit the bar!" And as she hopped of the board and put action to words, she could hear Shizune wailing in protest from the top of the tower.

Akatsuki Bingo Book, 2nd edition, page 14

Senju, Tsunade

Village – Konoha

Rank – Kage

Age – 51 (Appearance 24)

Blood Type – B

Sensei – Sarutobi, Hiruzen

Nature Chakra Affinity – Water

Nature Chakra Learned – Lightning

Nature Chakra Affinity (Gene Spliced) – Earth, Wood

Abilities of Note – Superhuman strength, she can kill most shinobi with one blow. Unrivaled medical ninjutsu, she can heal almost anything and is famed for her antidotes. She has achieved significant mastery of Mokuton ninjutsu.

Summoning Contract – Slugs

Tools of Note – Kubikiribocho

Miscellaneous – The 1st Hokage could bend tailed beasts to his will. Whether Tsunade can replicate this technique is unknown, however the Nine Tails jinchuruki has been seen wearing her grandfather's fabled necklace which lends credence to this possibility. This makes her uniquely threatening to our organization.