Tsunade was in love. The pink haired kunoichi had captured her heart somewhere along the way. Since the realization had dawned on her, she'd drowned herself in Sake and self loathing. Why does nothing ever come easy for me? Tsunade watched every day as Sakura continued to wait at the gates of Konoha for her beloved.
Tsunade wasn't usually shy or hesitant. Whenever she was around Sakura, however, her demeanor completely changed. Thankfully for her, everyone attributed this to the pride a teacher feels for her disciple. She alone knew otherwise.
She had pardoned Sasuke for his crimes at the request of Naruto and Sakura. Not wanting to see either of them hurting and respecting his assistance in the Fourth Great War, she had obliged. Now, watching Sakura wait for him with eyes filled with sorrow, she wished she hadn't.
She stood silently behind Sakura. She knew the girl was aware of her presence. She stood in silence, not sure what else to do. She sighed and draped an arm around the girl's shoulders. Sasuke was due back that day but she didn't let that slip to the girl, just in case. She could almost hear her heart crack when she heard a soft sniffle.
Tsunade was about to say something when she noticed a hawk black as night flying towards the Hokage tower. She knew from previous messages that it was Sasuke's bird. Prepared to kill the last Uchiha if he hurt Sakura again, she rushed to Kakashi's office. She didn't even knock as she walked into the room, calmly closing the door behind her.
Kakashi held the scroll in his hands, a strange look on his face. Scrawled across the front of the scroll was a name very familiar to her. The name of a blonde ninja who had swayed even her cold heart.
Tsunade stood in the corner of Kakashi's office as they both waited for the man to arrive. When he finally did, he looked frantic. Kakashi offered the scroll to him and he begrudgingly took it. Upon opening it they learned that it was a summoning scroll. Naruto discharged his Chakra into the scroll, not sure what to expect. What was inside shocked them all.
In Naruto's palm lay Sasuke's eyes. He fell to his knees in shock. Everything happened very fast after that. Kakashi dispatched a team of Anbu to Sasuke's last known location, Naruto let out a howl of pain she was sure could be heard throughout the entire village, and Tsunade knelt beside him and pulled him into her arms before she knew what she was doing. She was still holding him when his wife walked in. Taking in the sight before her, Hinata dropped to her knees beside her husband, her pregnant belly resting on Naruto's thigh.
"Naruto, what happened?" she asked, pulling her husband's head against her chest.
"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted, throwing his head back.
Tears sprang into Hinata's eyes as it all sunk in. Tsunade watched as Hinata held her husband tightly, letting him cling to her and sob. That was when she remembered Sakura.
"Hinata-chan, stay with Naruto. I have to find Sakura," she said, looking down at the younger woman.
Hinata nodded and Tsunade left the room. She knew she'd be the one to implant the eyes after everything calmed down. She groaned when she thought about Sakura's reaction to that little tidbit. She wanted to cry when she found Sakura still at the gate, waiting. She slowly approached the girl.
"He's not coming right? That's the message the bird held," she said sadly, tugging at Tsunade's heart strings.
"Sakura-" she started before realizing she couldn't say it, couldn't destroy the girl. She must have read it on Tsunade's face.
"No, Tsunade-sama. No, it's not possible," Sakura said, obviously about to lose control.
Tsunade pulled Sakura into her arms. The younger woman fought against the hold. She felt her ribs crack as a punch connected. She barely winced, not letting her go. She felt bone after bone break as punches connected. Still, she held the woman as tightly as she could. The pain was becoming close to unbearable but she couldn't release the woman.
After Sakura finally calmed down, Tsunade let her go and sank to the ground, unable to stay on her feet. Sakura fell to her knees beside her and Tsunade just stared at her. The younger woman finally looked back at her when she began coughing up blood.
Sakura looked down at her teacher and couldn't bring herself to move. She saw blood slowly dripping down the older woman's face. Why did I do that? And why didn't she just let me go? Why would she endure like this? For me?
"Tsunade-sama," Sakura said sadly, finally able to move her arms to begin repairing the damage she'd caused.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Tsunade said, trying not to let the pain show on her face.
Sakura felt tears threatening her eyes as she thoroughly examined Tsunade's injuries. Her ribs had fractured, puncturing both of her lungs. Her right shoulder was in pieces, her left arm was broken in four places, her right leg was broken in three places, and her collar bone was broken. She began healing as much as she could.
"I'm going to heal as much as I can and then take you to the hospital, Tsunade-sama. Why did you endure this? Why didn't you just let me go?" Sakura asked, tears falling from her eyes.
"Because you needed…to not be…let go, " Tsunade answered, slipping from consciousness.
Tsunade awoke in a hospital bed. The fluorescent lights filled the room with a yellow glow and a soft hum. She stared up at the ceiling as the memories filled her mind. She'd never seen the pink haired girl lose control like that. She was gritting her teeth to hold in tears when Sakura walked through the door.
"Tsunade-sama, we managed to repair the punctured organs and set all of your breaks. We regularly lend you Chakra so your wounds are recovering quite nicely. You gave us quite a scare," Sakura said, her eyes flat.
"How long-" Tsunade started, her pain interrupting her sentence.
"You've been out for a week. They found his body and are burying him in a few days. His eyes are being implanted into Naruto now. He's pretty torn up," she said, looking through Tsunade's chart.
Tsunade grabbed the younger woman's wrist in her firm grip and glared at her. The pain coursing through her body would not allow her to speak. She willed her eyes to transmit her silent message.
You don't have to pretend with me. That was the message Sakura interpreted from her teacher's furious gaze. Still, she couldn't allow herself to grieve around others. She learned that from what she did to Tsunade. She would grieve later, alone, somewhere far away.
"Alright. Everything checks out, Tsunade-sama. I'm sorry to have disturbed your rest," Sakura said with a small bow before leaving the room.
Tsunade felt absolutely destroyed. She had never seen the young woman be so cold. No, she thought, cold is the wrong word. That went beyond cold. That was completely emotionless. She stared at the ceiling, thinking about Sakura's feelings for Sasuke.
Sakura leaned on the door to Tsunade's room, relief flooding through her. They weren't sure she was ever going to wake up and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she killed her sensei. She almost couldn't live with what she had done. She put a hand to her mouth to hold in the scream that was threatening to escape.
"Because you needed…to not be…let go." She heard in her mind as if on repeat. She dropped her hand to her side and quickly left the building, explaining it away as an errand. She made her way to the woods, to her secret spot. She threw her head back and screamed until her lungs were empty. She sank to the ground and sobbed into her hands.
She thought about Sasuke, Tsunade, Naruto, and her pain. She couldn't grieve with the people she cared about, for fear she would hurt them. She lay down on the soft grass and curled into a ball. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to continue like this and she screamed once more, letting all of her anguish drift away in the soft breeze.