The streets of Konoha were just as she remembered them. Washed in the moonlight, there was just this air of mystery surrounding the village hidden in the leaves. Her steps echoed in the noisily occupied city, Shizune was not far behind with Tonton in her arms.
When Tsunade first arrived, the ninjas positioned in the gates were insistent in informing the Hokage of her arrival, yet she gave them a deadpan stare and subtlety told them that 'The ANBU were no so useless as to having to rely of two random gatekeepers, no offense'. Of course, she used a combination of not so filtered words and had a snarl on her lips.
Izumo and Kotetsu would never be the same.
"Tsunade-sama, what are we doing here?" Shizune's pleadings were answered with a 'Huh' as the blonde kept putting a foot in front of the other without breaking her pace and the girl could only sigh. Her master had suddenly stood up and announced their return to Konoha after reading a letter and had said no word about it to her student afterward.
The girl was between glad-relieved and aghast-confused. She would follow the woman nonetheless.
Few passerbys spared the duo a look, whispering away between themselves.
"Tsunade-hime is back!" "Tsunade-sama" "Lady Tsunade!"
She gave them not a single look or even spared a glance. She advanced forward with big strides and a single purpose in mind.
If the old man lied just to get me to come…
She knew her sensei wouldn't do that, but the darker part of her was insecure, conspiring with her fears and yelling at her to run away again. However she would not let it be, if there really was a lonely little boy waiting for her, if he was her family…
"What is that?"
Her apprentice's voice shakes her out of her thoughts, looking back at the blackhaired girl she notices that her eyes were pointing to somewhere else, so she followed her line of sight.
"Get out of here you demon!"
A blonde boy is thrown out of a store, he could not be older than five, and by how thin and dirty he is, he's probably been living in the street.
This sight does not bode well for Tsunade.
She, more than anyone, knows what her grandparent dreams were when he founded the village.
For the children to not grow up in fear of dying, for them to not go through hunger or pain.
It was because of this that Konoha's policy when it came to children was so strict and why there were numerous orphanages. It was weird, odd even, to see a child in these conditions inside the walls that her grandfather erected. What was disturbing her further was the looks that the villagers that surrounded the scene were giving the kid.
"Wha-!"
A stone…They fucking threw a stone at him!
Slight crimson liquid ran the child's temple, running down his cheeks and curbing down his small chin. Salty tears formed and his lower lip began to tremble, his pupils shaky in fear in front of the mass of adults that were surrounding him. He curled into a ball, expecting the worst.
She broke.
"What is going on here?"
Her voice was calm, but a threat of violence was passed through her tone. The villagers froze at the feel of the sudden killing intent. Marching on, like a sea being splitted, the people made way for the princess of Konohagakure. Their pupils became dots at seeing her figure while Tsunade strided to the kid, Shizune confused steps following behind as the girl didn't understand how the village that she loved so deeply could do something like that to such a small kid.
Tsunade came to a stop in front of the little blonde. His cerulean eyes looked at her, fear stretched and his muscle tensed — so the sanin retrained her glare, gave him a soft smile and kneeled, finally meeting him in the same eye level.
"And who might you be, little one?"
The child stopped breathing for a brief second. Then launched at her, landing in her bosom and latching to her as if she were life itself.
His cries were deafining, so she hugged him tighter in response.
It was two weeks after his Jiji visited Naruto that he found himself being kicked out of the orphanage.
Not like I need them.
His immature mind uttered childishly, but he learned his lesson after a day of not getting anything to eat and sleeping in a cold park. October had come and with it, the temperature dropped heavily at night. The situation pushing him to the limits and a stomach complaining about not getting anything inside made him look through the trash for anything edible.
He found none.
Putrid fruits and half-eaten smelly food, he came to accept them for the moment as he set his new objective. I have to get to the Hokage tower. He knew which building it was, the tall red one, right in the middle of the village. He arrived two days later and was scared away by the guards.
"Get out of here you demon!" "The Hokage will not see the likes of you"
And then he was at a loss, not knowing what to do. He focused on surviving. Trash bins and benches became the regular. He tried to ask for help with a few store owners, but a broom swing was the usual answer.
He was used to being hungry, but he never ate so little.
He survived, though, if only for a reason.
She will come.
He had an utter and irrevocable faith that his family would come. Tsunade… he remembered her name, like sweet honey to the thirsty, he drank it. He could picture her, right in front of him, telling him that everything would be alright, that she would stay and love him. That they would be family.
And that was usually the part of the dream where he wakes up.
A ragged, dirty shirt and a dusty short couldn't protect him from the cold, and he knew he smelled. That only contributed to the bit of leaving him alone. The morning carried a shivering draft and the hard wooden bench was felt on his back. The sun was hidden behind gray clouds.
It 's tomorrow.
He didn't know much about himself, but his Jiji told him the date of his birthday. For some reason the town was filled with decorations and merchants prepared their stands. He realized this because he was being kicked more often in the past few days. He was smart enough to be aware that they were not celebrating him, he had no dream of such a thing, not after how they have been despising him.
He walked on, bin to bin, looking for lunch. His feet hurt, becoming sensitive and his stomach lurched everytime he smelled something weird and chewed food that just felt wrong.
"Baa-chan…"
His eyes were glazed and his mind drifted off to the subject that was his comfort as of late. She was his Baa-chan —as far as he was concerned—, he knew that she would come and spook all the mean people away, she would hug him and he would never let go.
His stomach grumbled again and he noticed that the night had arrived. He hadn't eaten in all day… yesterday either. A sickly thought made way as he spoke under his breath "Am I gonna die?"
His legs became weak and his knees wobbled. Uncertainty settled, making root with intrusive thoughts being shot in the dark recesses of his mind.
He shook his head and his eyes burned in determination.
I will not die here, not now that she's coming.
A dark laughter he heard in the back of his mind —as if mocking him— , yet he ignored it. I will not cry. He promised. Not when Baa-chan is coming. He would hold it all in until he met her.
By the time he made his decision hours had passed and it was almost midnight…his stomach was still empty. The smell of meat passed through the air and he whiffed it fervently. Looking for the source, he found a midsized bar. Before he realized, his feet moved forward and sooner than he could process what he was doing, his naked foot made contact with the granite cold floor.
Air became still and the glares and yells started, he didn't understand what was going on, only that a kick was made and that it came in contact with his tiny chest. Propelled out of the store, he became surrounded by a crowd. Scared out of his mind, tears started to come when a stone was thrown and hit the side of his face.
He curled into himself, afraid to die, scared to see their looks, petrified out of pain.
He prayed…he prayed for his Baa-chan to come, to take him away, to rescue him, to scare the bullies and to make his pain go away. He prayed with his eyes shut, lips trembling and crying silently.
He begged for his Baa-chan to come.
"What is going on here?"
The menacing voice of a female had the odd effect of soothing his beating heart. Like a warm embrace an aura surrounded him the next instant —while the others could only feel killing intent— he felt safe.
With all the courage he could muster he raised his head slightly, what came into view was the most beautiful person he has ever laid his eyes upon.
Blonde, tall woman, long hair collected into two pigtails and a green haori perched on her shoulders. Her pale skin made contrast with her honeyed eyes and he forgot how to breathe.
"And who might you be, little one?"
His brain came to a stop. All the world forgotten as he was mesmerized by her.
Baa-chan?
He dared to hope, to believe that it was her. That he had not died or that this was some kind of hallucination.
He would not risk it, for her to go away, to go too far from his grasp, so he jumped at her, latched with every ounce of strength his famished body could muster.
And he cried, cried all he didn't and couldn't cry before. He heard her beyond the fog, but no matter what she said, her voice was a lullaby to him.
He went to sleep, finally warm after being cold for so long.
Not a long chapter, not because of lack of inspiration, but simply because I think this is a good place to end the chapter.
Enjoy!