Torao Senju
"Please...huff..huff...can we take a break?" Torao was close to passing out from exhaustion keeping up with Tsunade was far more difficult than he had presumed. And what's worse he's been walking for hours having to match her pace.
"You know, with the chakra control you displayed back then, I thought you'd actually have what it takes to not be dead weight. Guess I was wrong. Take a break if you want, I'm going ahead. We're almost at the camp, I'm not going to wait any longer. Hey, maybe I'll get lucky and you'll meet a pack of wolves, I'll come collect the necklace later." Tsunade said with a grin. She continued her walk but once she crossed a reasonable distance, she slowed down the pace.
Torao had not noticed it but after a few seconds of catching his breath, he steeled his resolve and began pushing onwards. He was at least a dozen feet behind her still but he willed the exhaustion out of him, though likely not for long.
Tsunade couldn't help but smirk at the young boy's determination. Eventually, the boy caught up to her pace, he would occasionally fall behind but he'd make it back.
"Say, what's your dream kid?"
"My dream?"
"Yea, for the future. What do you wanna be?"
"Oh...I...have no dream. Not anymore."
Tsunade looked at the boy puzzled, a moment later she showed signs of clarity and with a slight smirk commented,
"Oh that's right! You were going to be a shinobi right? Not looking forward to that anymore, huh? What kind of shinobi did you want to be?"
"I wanted to be a medical ninja"
The answer had caught her off-guard. A look of shock and confusion plastered her otherwise playful face, which in turn had the young boy bewildered.
"What?" he asked.
"Why?" She replied.
"Why what?" He threw back.
"Why "a medic", brat? Seems like a waste of boyish imaginations. I'd have expected you to be the type that dreamt of being like Jiraiya the Gallant or Sarutobi "The professor". But you just want to nurse people?"
The mockery had elicited a reaction out of the boy, his face puffed up first and then as if he were a pressure cooker ready to blow the whistle, he exploded.
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW? Medics are awesome too! Have you heard of the Great Lady Tsunade? For a leaf ninja, you're a dullard aren't you? You probably have never even seen her since you're so scared of blood. Lady Tsunade has saved countless lives in the battlefield AND she kicks ass too! She's the best. She's way better than that porno author Jiraiya and one day she'll be even more famous than the FIRST HOKAGE! Okay? Now you shut up"
The outburst had left Tsunade speechless for a good 10 seconds before she erupted in laughter. Her arms clutched her stomach and she almost fell to the ground with the way her knees were shaking.
"What's so funny?! Also shut up! What if someone hears you?"
"Man, I swear, that was the funniest thing I've heard since this war started. How do you even know of Tsunade?"
"What kind of question is that? She's one of the legendary sannin, everyone knows of her. I used to buy books about Shinobi when dad took me to town. The stories with the Sannin were the best. With their large summons! Though personally, I like the toad summons more since they can wield swords."
"Wait wait before you go on a rant, explain to me why you want to be a medic. Is it because you want to be like Tsunade?"
"Well I only want to be a good medic like Tsunade, the other stuff don't really matter to me. I've always been interested in medicine. I was helping out the doctor in our village when I was 3. He helped me learn a lot and he gave me ideas on learning chakra too."
"Hmmm. Fascinating creature you are."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Tsunade continued to walk without saying anything. Her mind filled with conflicting thoughts. But her thoughts came to a stop and she looked to her right. She felt something approaching at beyond average speeds.
"A shinobi. Boy! Stay down."
"What-"
"Down!"
Torao lied down with his head in hands, confusion written all over his face.
A lone shinobi jumped down from the structure above, he had only noticed the company after he landed. A quick flash of surprise and he was prepared to battle.
"Earth style: Earth Wall" Tsunade performed the hand seal and slammed the ground, a sturdy wall of earth raised from beneath in front of Torao.
"You should be protecting yourself girl" The Iwa ninja sneered at her.
Tsunade wasted no time, pumping chakra into her calves, she moved. Her single step covered the long distance between the two and as her rear foot touched the ground, she brought a powerful underhook to the body of her opponent. The very first blow sent the man crashing straight to the rock structure right behind him. She followed the strike with a small dash forward and a rear roundhouse kick to the face of the man lodged in the rock. Without sparing a glance, she turned around and made her way back to the boy.
"Let's go kid."
"It's over? So fast?"
"Yea he wasn't that good. The camp is nearby, we need to get there. If we spotted an enemy here, there could be more. I'll need to warn them"
Torao only heard a few of what she was saying. His eyes were glued to the fate of the Iwa man that was a threat to them a second ago, "What the…? You did that?...holy shit", Suddenly, he realized the strength of the person next to him.
"I thought...but you said you're scared of blood. How can you?"
"Look kid, we need to go ok?"
"Y-yea. Ok."
"Lady Tsunade!" A voice called from above.
Tsunade spared a glance to the place from where the Iwa nin had popped up from, there was a konoha shinobi. "Tetsu" She raised her arm as a sign of acknowledgement.
The shinobi appeared right in front of the woman in the next second with a shunshin. He looked behind him and then turned back.
"You dealt with the escapee, thank you."
"A captive? Were we under attack?"
"We still are"
"I see. We'll return immediately then"
"Yes lady...who is this?"
"A stray I picked up"
"Well hello" Tetsu extended his hand.
Torao moved away and kept his most convincing glare.
"Careful, he might bite" Tsunade remarked with her playful smile.
"I see. Stray indeed. I'll go on ahead then. We'll need your assistance with our current situation"
"Understood, I'll be right behind you"
The man disappeared in the next instant and as Tsunade turned to speak to the boy next to her,
"YOU'RE TSUNADE?!"
END