2. Appearances- Tsunade
Most people probably thought she used the jutsu out of vanity. After all, wouldn't it be just like the legendary Sennin to show off her skill by keeping the appearance she'd had since she was eighteen? Especially a shinobi who was legendary as much for her carousing and her gambling losses as for her ninja skills.
Certainly some of it was vanity. She still had trouble keeping the smirk off her face whenever Jiraiya saw her. Ironically, the one Sennin who had aged visibly was the least changed mentally, and he was still the blustering, impulsive, cheerful pervert he had been when they were both genins.
But what the jutsu really gave her (and you'd have to get her supremely drunk to even think about getting her to admit this) was the illusion of time. If she could look in the mirror and still see that face… the exact same face she had when she'd wished her brother a happy birthday and he'd told her of his dream of being Hokage…
…the same figure she'd had when her lover had died, despite her best efforts as a medic-nin…
…the same body that had first learned just how far Orochimaru was willing to go in pursuit of his goals…
…then maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe she could still put things right, somehow. Because the years hadn't passed and she didn't look old yet.
And now, for the first time since she'd left Konohanagure, she was actually trying to deal with her past. She was Hokage now, a responsibility she'd never wanted or expected. Even if a small part of her just might possibly be the tiniest bit proud of it.
And still she looked like she had when she was young, seemingly as timeless and formidable as the portraits on the mountainside. Because she needed to be young and strong to take care of her village.
And that that same youth and strength (and ample endowment) were still enough to cause nosebleeds among the more impressionable males of Konohanagure…
So okay, maybe a little bit of it was vanity.
Comments and suggestions welcome.
-winter-