It was early morning in the village of Konohagakure, hardly time for any person to be awake. But, sadly, the Fifth Hokage had been up all night, tending to the troubles of her... beloved village. This 'work' was done, of course, while drinking almost a gallon of sake, sleeping on her desk, and calling Shizune in for more alcohol.
Yup, just an ordinary day in Konoha.
Tsunade was currently seated in the Hokage's chair, crouching over her desk, finishing up the last of her paperwork. Mission scrolls, maps, and lists of names were strewn out across the desk almost covering the entire wooden surface. Not that the desk was the only untidy space in the room. No, the many cabinets of the office were wide open with disorderly papers poking out in all directions, the books, which were supposed to be in their respective bookshelves, littered the floor making it almost impossible to step on the floor without stepping on them. Sake could be smelled in every corner of the room, and the empty bottles were spread out on the ground near the desk.
But, even in this unruly place, the Hokage continued to do her duties.
Amazing, isn't it?
"Shizune!" Tsunade called out. She had just finished signing the last piece of paper, and was stamping it with the Hokage's seal. The stack that she had just finished was to be carried out of the room (by Shizune) and sent to the receivers.
"Shizune!!!" The said woman had still to enter the room. There wasn't even a sound of footsteps, indicating that Shizune was not even on her way.
The Sannin groaned as she reluctantly got out of her comfortably warm seat. "Where is that woman?"
She slowly shuffled away from her desk. Her legs were stiff and asleep and she cursed the way her lower body disobeyed her commands.
Tsunade finally opened the door to the hallway, swinging it open with a loud 'thump' on the wall, as she readied herself to scream at her assistant.
"SHIZU-" She quickly stopped her shouting at the sight in front of her. She quickly regretted all the noise that she had made.
Shizune was sitting down on the couch, her head resting on her shoulder, arms crossed around her waist, sleeping like a baby.
Tsunade didn't blame the girl. They had both been working sunup to sundown for about a week now. They hadn't even gone home to take showers. Her former student worked so hard for her now, that the Godaime sometimes wished that the village was smaller so that there would be less paperwork for Shizune to carry and sort.
The Fifth sighed as she slowly and quietly reentered her own room to start cleaning up the mess that had been made over that past couple of days. She was carrying some of the medical textbooks in her arms, trying to put them back on the bookshelves, when one fell and hit her foot.
A string of curses went flying through her head, but she resisted the urge to shout at the fallen object. As the book had fallen, however, it had opened up to a certain page.
As she bent to pick it up, she accidentally read the title of the page.
'The Workings of the Mind'
As soon as the book was in her arms, she slammed it shut.
It is well known that medical ninja must be intelligent and they need to memorize countless amounts of information, from poisons to anatomy. The point is, your memory must be capable of storing large amounts of medicinal knowledge.
One of the reasons for Tsunade's success may have something to do with her almost photographical mind. Sure, she doesn't remember every single paper she's ever signed, or the number of sake cups she has ever drank from, but she nearly memorized her entire surplus of medical books. (She could even write her own.)
So, it is only natural that she knew the next few words that were written on that page.
After 'The Workings of the Mind',
These words would appear:
'Memory Loss'
You have no idea how much grief these few words give the female Sannin.
Tsunade placed the textbook upon its correct shelf, and sat down in her chair, swiveling her seat around so that it faced the window.
The sun was beginning to show its first few trickles of sunlight as it rose from behind green mountains. Its rays speckled little parts of the village here and there.
The view would have been considered beautiful to the Godaime if she wasn't caught up in a flashback of one day that she regretted so greatly.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Said woman glanced up from her work to see the door slam open and her pink-haired apprentice enter.
"What do you want, Sakura? I have work to do." She said as she refocused on her papers.
"Tsunade-sama, this is important." Sakura's voice was stern and solemn as she crossed the distance between the door and workspace to push Tsunade's documents away.
The Fifth Hokage now knew that something was seriously wrong. For her obedient apprentice to make such a defiant move, she knew that this was as close to an emergency as any could be. Tsunade's eyes rose to face her student's green ones. They were so…sad. The sadness also swam in a pool of desperation that could only be seen by only the most experienced in reading the pink haired girl's emotions.
Her bronze eyes then ventured to her mouth which began to open, "Shishou, I need to talk to you."
Knowing that she could not escape this predicament she replied, "Close the door and sit down."
Sakura sighed, she had cleared one obstacle, but now she had a mountain to clinb. She walked over to the door, closed it quietly, and sat down in one of the cushioned seats in the office near the Hokage's desk
Tsunade rested her elbows on her desk, hands crossed in front of her eyes, as a signal for Sakura to go on.
"Shishou, please, I need you to erase my memories of him."
Not even a single delicate eyebrow rose upon her master's face. No one had moved. Tsunade simply gazed at her student, almost looking past her, through her, trying to find any doubt hidden anywhere. She was searching for any signs that would tell her that this was a sick joke, a lie, anything, except that this was the truth. But, with every probing second, Tsunade became discouraged for none could be found.
She would not ask her student if she was sure; her examination had told her the answer to that question. A creak was heard along with a sigh, as Tsunade arose from her warm seat and strutted toward her bookshelf. After a couple seconds of rummaging around, she finally retrieved a rather large medical textbook entitled 'The Body – Volume 14 (Advanced Version)', blew the dust of its cover, and gave it to Sakura.
"If you want me to do you this favor, you need to read this entire—"
"I've already done that."
Tsunade stared hard at her student, waiting for her to continue her explanation.
"After lessons, I would stay after and read these books. That was the latest one that I read. Its how I know that erasing of memories is possible."
Both were locked into a battle of gazes that neither wanted to lose. As if the winner could make the other understand. The competition was only ended as Tsunade dropped the large manuscript on her desk.
"Very well, Sakura," Tsunade said with a heavy heart, "Sit here."
Sakura abliged and sat down in the chair pointed out for her.
"This will not be painless." Her tone was strict and to the point.
Sakura nodded.
"I will only erase the memories of Sasuke, and if I cannot do that without altering the past as you know it to be, I will replace those moments with ones of you and Team Seven, do you understand?"
Another nod was issued.
"You will remember everyone but him, is this really what you want?"
There was a pause, but another nod was given.
"Then I will s-start."
Tsunade did not have time to contemplate her decision, but started the procedure immediately. The process took hours, as the Hokage searched every last little memory for traces of the dark haired man, removing his face, or the smell of him, or adjusting her emotions and feelings to be for Naruto instead. But, suddenly while replaying last of the recollections, she stopped at one in particular.
The night that he left
She watched as the young Sakura cried behind the retreating back of her love.
"I-I love you with all my heart!"
She had nevery been told about this exchange of words the night he left, so Tsunade watched with astonishment.
He slowly turned, and Tsunade thought she saw a bit of a smile on his face and regret in his eyes.
"You're annoying."
Surprised, Sakura's eyes widened, but reverted back to their saddened state as Sasuke turned his back toward her once again.
"I-If you leave, I'll scream!"
Tsunade watched with tears in her eyes. She wanted to scream and help her apprentice, back her up, anything, but she couldn't. And she knew that on that night, Sakura had had no one to encourage her. She had been alone to face the pain of seeing the one that she loved leave.
"I—"
Sakura stopped, as she felt a prescence behind her and saw Sasuke disappear in front of her.
Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise as she heard the Uchiha whisper, "Thank you." And saw him gently knock out his pink haired teammate, never letting her fall, but placing her upon a bench. She did not see anything more than that, for this was Sakura's memory and her student had not been conscious beyond that point. But, Tsunade sensed that there was more to his last words to her than just simple gratitude.
Tsunade knew she had to erase this memory, and replace it with one of Sakura simply going to bed, and waking up in her room, but she was hesitant. And for once, she doubted her actions. But, this caused a flux in the flow of chakra into Sakura's mind, which reminded the Godaime what she was supposed to be doing. And so she continued her task.
At the end of that day, and near the beginning of the next, the Sannin finished. Sakura awoke hours later, asking where she was. Tsunade, trying to appear normal told her that she had fallen asleep while working and scolded her for working too hard. Telling her that she should go home, Sakura, still dazed, agreed. But not before noticing and wondering why her's and her teacher's cheeks were tear streaked.
Now, as Tsunade stares out into the sunrise, she worries. On the bottom of the same page that held the dreaded words, 'The Workings of the Mind,' were finely printed letters, small but important;
"Do not let the flow of chakra fluctuate."
.