Sakura did not know what the Hokage had to do with Tsunade exactly, but as she ran ahead of the two strangers she found her master standing against the doorway to their bedroom, a somber look on her face as she took a deep inhale at the bit of her old tobacco pipe. It was never a good sign when she took to smoking rather than drinking, and Sakura gulped nervously.

"Shishou, I—"

"I heard. He'll come, even if I try to kick him out; he's a moron in that way." She huffed, smoke billowing before her face. The annoyance in her tone wasn't unfamiliar to Sakura, but just how did Tsunade know these people? "Take whoever it is he's brought to the healing quarters, and do not disturb us. We may be some time."

The man had slid open the door, the boy on his arm. Sakura, though frazzled and confused, did as she was told, striding confidently to their sides to offer her arm to him instead. As she slowly walked him to their back room where intensive healing was performed, she racked her brain for what she knew of the world. Admittedly, it was very little.

The Kage of the Five Great Nations were descended from emperors—well, not literally. It was the title that, hundreds of years ago now, had changed. From what she understood, it had been a gruesome affair with many lives lost, but its effects had been massive: no longer were heirs decided by bloodlines, but by carefully picked successors. It had quelled only matters within, as skirmishes and all-out wars between the nations were still not uncommon, but...

Tsunade had nothing to do with Fire Country. Why the hell would she have been named as its next Kage?

She shook her head as if to shake away the thoughts themselves. With her heart still gripped with worry, she put on her best smile and situated her patient on the futon there.

The boy watched her adamantly as she took his socked foot and placed it gingerly on a spare cushion. She took two of her fingers and channeled chakra through to their tips, hovering over his ankle. It must have been an old break exacerbated by travel, because it seemed to have healed already—but in the exact wrong place.

"Is that how you heal?" he asked as he leaned back, propping himself up with his hands.

"No," she answered, his question snapping her from he daze. She moved her fingers up the length of his calf and back down again. "This is for examination. I can feel where your pain is and see swelling, tears, breaks, those sorts of things. And it looks like it's broken, actually."

He made a small sound of wonder, as if the concept of chakra was still relatively new to him. It was quiet for only a few short seconds before he started up again.

"So...Jiraiya said the lady here is the best healer in the world."

"That's right," she said with a hum. She reached for a vial in the open cabinet and slid the cork from it with her thumb. With a pair of tweezers she took a ball of cotton, coating it in an even layer. She sucked in a breath, remembering Tsunade's lessons to always explain as she went to lessen any anxiety a patient may be feeling. "This is just a topical agent that'll make you numb."

"What for?"

"I'm going to re-align the bone, and it's gonna hurt." She didn't think he needed to know that she essentially needed to re-break the damn thing, so she kept her overview vague. "But right after that I'll use healing chakra to set it in place, and that should relieve any lingering pain."

He gulped, but there was a resolve about him she admired. He did not flinch away or try to insist on some other method, indicative of his character. "I'm Naruto, by the way, you know?"

"Sakura," she replied with a polite dip of her head. She dabbed at his shin all the way down to his toes, then placed the supplies out of the way. "And I guess Jiraiya is the, um, sage who brought you here?"

"Yup. It took us a week to walk all the way here."

For his chattiness she was grateful, for that meant he was easily distracted. Fussy patients obsessed with what she was doing were her least favorite to deal with. "All the way from Fire Country?"

"From the palace, yup."

She slowed in her ministrations, fighting the urge to look up at him in wonder. So not just a city boy, but someone the seat of royalty itself? "I can't believe you didn't at least come on horseback."

She took his ankle in her hands, trying to channel as much healing chakra as she could manage to supplement the numbing agent. It was tricky to manage pain while setting bones or doing other procedures, but she would never reach the top if she didn't try.

"Yeah, well," he said, "Ero-sennin is all about the journey, not the destination, you know? Except, between you and me, he couldn't shut up about all the things he'd do when he finally saw Tsunade again."

Are all city folk so crass?! She fought a shiver, giving one last monitoring sweep over his bones to be sure she had the proper angle.

"Are they—old friends? She's never talked about anyone like him," she said through her pursed lips. "Not even once."

"Well," Naruto hummed, "he talks about her all the time—shit!"

She'd set the bone right at that moment. To Naruto's credit, he did not jerk forth as hard as she'd expected. His hands were hovering over hers as if poised to yank her hands away, but he'd stopped himself and quickly pulled them back.

"They grew up together," he explained in a strained voice as he blinked the pooling moisture from his eyes. "Or something, you know? I don't really get it."

As she sent healing chakra there to speed along his body's natural process, she fought a full-on frown. Of course she knew Tsunade had kept secrets and was a deeply private woman, but something like this seemed so substantial. Grew up in Fire Country? Close enough to royalty to be named as its next ruler?

Sakura had expected to have ample time there in her thoughts as she set Naruto's ankle, but to her shock it was already perfectly healed. It would've taken her at least a few minutes to accomplish such a task on her own, and as eager as she was to improve, even she had to admit it wouldn't have happened that fast. But if he could self-heal, why hadn't he done it before, instead of letting Jiraiya carry him? Maybe it'd been unconsciously done; he hadn't exerted any effort to it at all, she was certain. She would need to bug Tsunade to see if she'd ever come across anyone whose passive self-healing abilities were that good.

But now that they sat in silence, she could hear Jiraiya's deep voice as he struggled to keep it quiet. Her intrigue was growing by the second, and she strained her ears to see if she could make out any of their conversation. When she saw Naruto doing the same, she quietly got to her knees.

"There's a thin spot in the wall here," she whispered as she crawled beneath one of the desks. She pressed her ear against the smooth, cool wood, and sure enough, she could hear their conversation as if she were right there in the room with them.

She beckoned Naruto, who slid towards her with not very much grace. She pulled him in by the shoulders, their faces so close that she could see the pores on his skin. Briefly she worried she was using this as an excuse to be close to a boy, but then Jiraiya was speaking again.

"After Namikaze's death, it seems he did not ever decide on another successor. It may not have been among his priorities—"

"Then why the hell are you here?" Tsunade snapped.

"Because when the council convened, yours was the only name upon which they could all agree."

There was a rough slam, the unmistakable sound of Tsunade's fist colliding with the tea table. "My cousin is perfectly suitable—"

"Hashirama is sworn as the head of the clan. You know as well as I that he was stripped of his chance at the throne when he took such a position."

"He has sons and daughters. Hell, Sarutobi has his own family—what of Asuma, and that brat they named after the royal city?"

"Sarutobi-sensei's death..." The man seemed pensive, weighing carefully the weight of his next words. "I've reason to believe it was not of natural causes."

Sensei? This man had been taught by someone as prestigious as the Hokage? And he suspected murder...!

Tsunade's voice was sharp when she responded after a very loaded silence. "Then you'd rather put me in harm's way."

"You're resilient," he answered with what seemed like sincerity. "Especially to poisons. Orochimaru found barely-perceptible traces of an unknown substance in the old man's blood. When you return and take the title, I must ask that you take a look at the autopsy results, as well."

"That snake," she spat. "He's a brilliant enough mind to get to the bottom of it without my help."

"Not if he's sabotaging things from the inside."

Beside her, Naruto had gone so still that he almost stopped breathing. But she had never heard any of these names, and she whispered lowly, "Who is that?"

"The Master of Sciences," he answered, furrowing his brows. "Or the High Alchemist. I don't know the titles very well, you know?"

So he was someone of a high rank. Sakura bit at the inside of her cheek as they listened on.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade was saying, "you can't be serious."

"I am," he said quietly. "There are rumors...sick things are being said of him and his apprentices. It is why I returned to palace life last spring after so many years away. You know I wouldn't have gone home if I didn't think it was serious."

"Yet Hiruzen is dead and you seem to know nothing more than what you suspected a year ago!"

"Princess—"

There was a sudden crash followed by a thump, the wall to which Sakura's and Naruto's ears were pressed shaking with marked force. They both flinched back, the suddenness of the gesture causing him to lose his footing. Before he could fall and thud loudly onto his back—potentially giving away their eavesdropping—she caught him by the collar, holding him there suspended in midair with nothing but her natural strength.

In the other room, Tsunade's voice was low in warning but right against the wall; she must have pushed Jiraiya there as a threat.

"Do not call me that." A chasm of a silence stretched among all four of them, Sakura breathing evenly through her nose as Naruto stared on, wide-eyed. "You know I'd sooner die than go back to that life."

"Indeed, I know," he answered quietly, his tone wildly different than before. Sakura had the sudden image of him caressing her face for how tender he'd become. "I would not ask this of you if it weren't of dire importance."

"If I accept," she whispered, so quiet that Sakura wasn't sure if she was hearing right, "you can't just run off whenever you want. I—I'll need you there."

"You have my word."

Her chuckle was humorless. "Whatever that's worth."

"Thank you. Truly." There was a shuffling as they likely stood from whatever threatening pose in which she'd cornered him. "His burial is late in the week. Even if we hurry, I do not think we will return in time for you to conduct your own autopsy."

Tsunade gave that familiar click of her tongue. "I'll have much to arrange for my absence here. We'll be lucky if we leave within the month."

If the adults had known of Sakura's and Naruto's sneaking, they did not comment on it. The two of them had locked their pinky fingers in swearing to keep their intel secret, and she hurried to slide back the door and begin preparing tea over the hearth. When Tsunade emerged from their bedchamber, she had a look of determination on her face as she said,

"On your feet! We're moving, and there's plenty to be done about it!"

The next few days were a flurry of activity, so much so that Sakura hadn't had time to even think about the things shishou had kept from her all this time. The Lady had wasted no time in putting her to work double her usual load, and even with Naruto commanded to help—no amount of pleading looks he'd given Jiraiya could have broken through Tsunade's resolve—her days were packed full.

Shizune, an older disciple currently on sabbatical, would return to the healing home empty. It was Sakura's job to ensure that the herbs and crops of the season were properly harvested, dried, stored, or otherwise sorted into elixirs and remedies for her return. It would lessen the burden and ensure the village dwellers would not go without, at least not for long.

Most of their nights were spent by the hearth, Jiraiya refilling Tsunade's small, porcelain cups with alcohol at her request, while Sakura and Naruto sat by listening to their stories or their bickering or their laughter that almost always got so out of hand that she was worried they might pass out.

Sakura did her best in instructing her new friend to be gentle with certain plants, but she learned quickly that it was best to simply direct him to the more resistant ones instead. He took little pleasure in herb gathering and in grinding down the greens and blooms and roots, and she often would have him chop wood instead as she conducted the processes she'd grown close to perfecting over the years. Precise chakra control was always the key to both healing and in creating medicines, potions, and pills, and though she knew Tsunade was exceptional, she'd forgotten just how difficult it all was for a novice.

Naruto, for how much chakra he seemed to have in reserve, was still a beginner at even directing chakra the proper direction, let alone wielding it with any precision. One morning as they stood in the fields, the hems of their pants wet with dew, he grew so frustrated with clipping the leaves from plants that he stepped back, cupping his palms one over the other. All around them the grasses and leafy stems began to sway in an unnatural breeze, all billowing towards him. She watched with great interest as the wind spun in the empty space between his hands, lighting up as if lit aflame by his chakra, so blue it was like its own miniature sky. Then, so quickly she barely saw it, he thrust it forward, the ball of wind careening for a few yards before it fizzled out. In its wake lay shredded stems and chopped blooms, and though Sakura should've been horrified, she was far too intrigued.

"You know ninjutsu?!"

He flinched, clearly expecting a scolding, but turned to her slowly instead. "Only a few," he said, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his head. "Sorry about the herbs. I thought it'd work better than that..."

"What was it?"

His face lit up, the subject clearly of great interest to him (especially in contrast to how little he liked herb gathering). "Rasengan! Namikaze-Hokage-sama—that was the one who died the year we were born, you know?—created it himself!"

Sakura hadn't been aware there'd been two Hokage casualties in less than twenty years, but she played along. "Then how do you know it?"

"Ero-sennin was his teacher."

"Huh?!" she gaped. She'd heard a few stray comments Jiraiya had sent Tsunade's way, and if Naruto's behavior was any indication of the old man's influence, he was not a dignified person. " So he was taught by one and instructed another?"

Naruto's only response was to smile. "I'm gonna be one someday, too, you know?"

"Hokage?" No wonder he was doing whatever shishou said! Trying to get on her good side...not that it was a bad idea, of course. She hummed, wondering if ninjutsu was something else her master was keeping from her. "All I have are my fists," she mused quietly.

"Your fists, huh?" he wondered, smirking. "Did the old lady teach you taijutsu?"

"She did."

A grin spread over his face; on anyone else, it may have been wicked. But there was a sparkle in his eyes like a just-stoked fire as he asked,

"Wanna spar?"

Sakura had rarely disobeyed Tsunade. Her work ethic had been instilled in her since before she could remember, and without any children her age to play around or sneak off with, there weren't many reasons or opportunities to do anything but what she was told.

But standing before her now was a handsome boy who wasn't afraid of hard work, and was slowly untucking his shirt from his cinched pants—when she caught sight of one of his hipbones, she blushed and glanced away. He took an offensive stance, that smile never faltering.

"Come on!"

She readied her own stance, unsure of what to do. Usually when practicing with Tsunade, the old lady would stand there and deflect blows as Sakura tried her best to hit her. But something told her Naruto would do more than duck and dodge and bob and weave, and she swallowed.

He ran at her, his speed not anything she couldn't handle. With his right hand he threw a punch, something she dodged much too slowly. At the last second she blocked with her forearm, already sending chakra there to prevent both pain and bruising. He was relentless, sending his left fist at her instead. It collided with her shoulder, but that was her chance! She grabbed his wrist, pivoting to twist his arm behind him before he vanished, one of the logs he'd chopped that very same morning in his place.

He'd even learned something as tricky as the Substitution Technique?!

The real one rushed her again, but she'd heard his noisy approach. She turned, running straight at him to meet him in closer combat. There was a flurry of punches and swipes and jabs both landed and dodged, and she pushed chakra—just a small bit, for now—through her limbs to amplify her strength. When he realized she was beginning to beat him back towards the treeline, he kicked off the ground into a graceless backflip to create much-needed distance. He opted for kicks now, a poor move; she grabbed hold of his ankle and gave a mighty yell, pulling him clean off the ground and tossing him with little care into the woods. Confident in her ability to heal any wounds she'd give him, she didn't want to leave any room for him to underestimate her.

He tumbled, rolling into a tree. She stood and watched, and just before she rushed to his side to ask if he was all right, he hoisted himself up and launched back into an assault. Her lungs began to burn from the force of her effort, both of them glowing with a fine sheen of sweat on their smiling faces. Whenever he'd gained an advantage, she sent more and more of her chakra to her limbs and fists, pushing him back again.

When he accidentally backed up against a tree, she saw the fear in his eyes as she threw her most colossal punch yet. He ducked just in time, her fist colliding instead with the tree with so much power that it splintered in an instant, the top half shooting back through the forest at lightning speed. A rain of leaves and pollen fell upon them, and so stunned was Sakura at the sheer magnitude of her own strength that she stared, dumbfounded.

But Naruto was an opportunist, it seemed, and from where he sat crouched he sent a sweeping kick at her ankles. She fell to the ground, scrambling to rise to her feet—but by the time she did, he'd already been pulling in the chakra necessary for his Rasengan, the fallen leaves swirling rapidly there between his hands. Her eyes went wide, and before she could even think to dodge he'd lobbed it her way, blowing her back as quickly as she'd sent that tree flying. She slammed into another treetrunk, the air knocked clean from her lungs.

She slumped over, her reflexes dulled from having been hit by such a powerful technique. As she heaved in breath after breath she sent healing chakra all through her body, easing the pain in seconds. Naruto, though, was panicked, and all but flew to her side to help her stand. and otherwise fuss over her.

"I'm okay!" she insisted. He seemed to relax at that, smiling down sheepishly as he extended his hand to her. "But damn, you're good."

"So are you!"

Blushing at his compliment—and that widening smile on his handsome face—she took his hand. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and tugged her to her feet; when she stumbled from her weak legs, he caught her by the shoulders to steady her.

"N—no," she said, remembering herself as she pushed back and smoothed her fringe from her forehead. "Not compared to you!"

"You just need practice, you know? That strength of yours is incredible!" He threw a flurry mock-punches at the air. "I wish I could do something like that!"

"But your jutsu are so cool," she sighed. Of course she knew such feats of strength were possible, but she pursed her lips at the idea that perhaps her skill in fighting was better than her skill in healing, unsure how she felt about that.

"Ero-sennin can figure out your nature," he offered. "When we get back home, you'll have plenty of time to learn how to do all sorts of stuff then, you know?"

"You really think he'll help?"

"Well, he's not the best teacher," he said, "but if we bug him enough, he's bound to agree!"

When, after nearly three weeks since their guests' arrival, Tsunade called for a deep cleaning of the entire house, Sakura groaned inwardly while Naruto had outwardly cheered. She stared at him incredulously, but quickly learning that he was a downright pro when it came to sanitizing a space.

"I'm a stablehand," he explained as he expertly pushed a rag along the wood floor. "Once a year I get to clean the entire courtyard for an equestrian ceremony they put on. They ask me because I'm the only one who can make it spotless, you know!"

Sakura didn't think that sounded much like a privilege, but she admired his optimism. It fit, too, the things he'd said. It matched his informal speech and the rough calluses on his hands, the simple, inexpensive clothes he wore, and though it wouldn't be difficult for a teenage boy to get muscles like his in one short year of training with a master, it would make more sense if his sturdiness had been gained over time.

Things went on in this way: waking, working, and sometimes disobeying to spar or otherwise admire each other's techniques. Eating was followed by more work and more work still, both of the master-student pairs bonding with the other all the while. Each night was spent talking and laughing, the four of them often falling asleep there in the main room without meaning to.

The night before they were set to leave was similar at first, as Sakura and Naruto sat by the hearth playing a game he'd taught her with Tsunade's deck of wooden cards. She was just finished plotting her winning moves when Jiraiya entered through the main door and slid off his sandals, a whisper of cold air from the open door filling the room all around them.

When he called her name, both she and Naruto looked up at him. He simply jerked his head towards the door, his solemness so uncharacteristic that it was a little scary. Sensing her unease, he cracked a convincing smile and said,

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to win this round for you, and all the ones until you return."

Return from where? She stood, Naruto watching her all the while as she made her way to the door. Jiraiya had taken her jacket from its hook and dropped it around her shoulders, giving her a hearty pat on the back.

"You'll find her in the woods. Good luck!"

Then he slid the door shut, and she stood there alone in the dark on the simple veranda. Even with summer only about a month away, the mountainous night air chilled her through to her bones—or maybe it was simply the sudden anxiety that'd formed like a lump in her throat.

Just what the hell did Tsunade want? She hadn't said anything about any unfinished tasks or meeting her anywhere, and she stepped down the few stairs and onto the path. A few pigs grunted as she passed, others twitching in their comfortable sleep as they lie on their sides. She was careful as she stepped over them and into the backyard, for she had not even had the sense to slip on her sandals.

The moon was new overhead, the sky blanketed with stars nowhere near bright enough to light her path. But she was used to dark nights, and the Shikkotsu Forest was more a second home to her than anything. She swallowed, dredging up her courage as she stepped past the first few trees, her arms outstretched to ghost along their trunks for guidance and support.

"Shishou?" she called quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace. Bugs buzzed and chirped here or there, a nocturnal bird calling out a somber tune with every few beats of her heart. And though she expected it, she did not hear any of the melancholy croaking of toads in the nearby ponds. She furrowed her brows as she pushed on, feeling for her master's chakra.

She found her standing at a small outcropping deep in the woods, her arms folded beneath her breasts as she stared up at the hole in the tree cover and into the stars there. She did not move even as Sakura approached and stood quietly at her side. It was for some time that they stood and listened, and her anxiety slowly morphed into a prickling fear as she understood that the bugs gradually silenced themselves, the birdsong disappearing into nothing but that heavy silence.

When all that remained was the rustling of the leaves, Tsunade stepped forward into the clearing. It was covered in grass and moss, the late spring wildflowers blooming wildly in blues and pinks and yellows amid a green so bright it was almost unnatural.

"Sakura," began her master, not looking back. "Come."

When Sakura obeyed, Tsunade put the pad of her own thumb between the sharp edges of her canine teeth, her student watching in mild horror as she bit down hard enough to draw blood. Some healing techniques required the user's blood, and she'd seen her fair share of it in treating injuries of varying degrees of severity, but somehow she understood that this was different—her master was far too serious, her expression stony as she knelt down.

"Lady of the Woods, I beseech you," Tsunade murmured, her body aglow with the force of her chakra. Sakura stood back, mesmerised as even her hair responded as if caught in an upward breeze. The air was heavy as if electrified, and then without warning Tsunade slammed her open palm onto the forest floor, the splatter of her blood fanning out in a perfect circle. It was shot through with all sorts of kanji in a style so ancient Sakura barely recognized it, the pattern spreading all around Tsunade until it disappeared into the darkness. Her voice rose, the echo bouncing off the nearby trees before being swallowed by the mystical meadow:

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Sakura's blood went cold, a hum radiating from the earth the moment the words left her shishou's tongue. The chill of the air fell away, the moss beneath their feet warm as if it'd sat all day in the midsummer sun. Across the clearing and through the ring of trees at its opposite edge came a glow, just the faintest pulse of it, green and fading away the moment she'd spotted it. But then it came once more, just a bit brighter and bigger. Tsunade motioned for Sakura to sink to her knees, and before she could open her mouth to ask just what the hell was going on, the glow was right before her. She blinked at its suddenness, and when she again opened her eyes, she gasped.

A slug, its slick coating shimmering in its own powerful glow, sat there in the clearing, dwarfing both master and student as they stood (well, as Sakura stood) before it. A blue stripe ran down either side of its undulating body, and she stared in wonder as—right where a drop of mucus fell from its form to the ground—a flower grew and budded and bloomed within seconds. Then, it withered and died.

Sakura was sure she'd forgotten how to breathe.

"The Lady Katsuyu," Tsunade said, bowing so deeply her yin seal touched the mossy ground.

Even through her shock Sakura was smart enough to follow suit, dropping immediately and doing the same.

"Lady Tsunade," answered the slug, her voice chiming like a thousand tiny bells. "Long has it been since you've requested an audience with my main body. Tell me what it is that ails you and I should see it healed at once."

"It's not an ailment," Tsunade began, her tone respectful like Sakura had never before heard it. "I've brought my disciple for the forging of a new contract."

A contract? What did that even mean?

The stalks of the slug's eyes shifted, moving to stare down at the very disciple in question.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "The Little Miss; how she's grown! I knew, Tsunade-sama, that your worries were misplaced."

What worries? How did this slug already know her?

As she spoke, a bead formed on her side, swelling slightly before sliding down with a light plop to the moss. A tiny version—though only tiny compared to the main body—of Lady Katsuyu inched towards the kneeling Sakura, looking up at her. One of the short tentacles on her face extended outward, but Sakura looked on curiously.

"She means to shake hands," Tsunade said with a light laugh. "Show your respects."

Of course she did as she was told, taking the slimy appendage in her hand. She furrowed her brows but did not recoil in disgust, aware she was in the presence of a powerful entity.

"Shishou," she began meekly, "what is going on?"

They sat there in the quiet, constant thrum of the slug's mystical chakra. She waited, watching as her master pressed her lips into a thin line, taking in a deep, steadying breath before finally she answered.

"I've kept many things from you—for that, I offer you my apologies. But everything I've hidden was with your own safety in mind. I never intended to go back to the Leaf, and when Jiraiya arrived I was torn. If I left you here, I worried what might find you in my absence; if I were to bring you along, I think about what you might find in the royal city."

"I still don't understand—"

"You were but a babe," she said quickly, "when I found you lying in the dirt on the outskirts of the palace."

Sakura stilled, the edges of her vision going black for the sudden rush of adrenaline and anxiety within her. She was vaguely aware of that same green glow enveloping her hand where the slug held onto her.

Me? From Fire Country? From the royal city ?! "Then—who am I?"

"I wish that I knew." She took in another great breath, reaching out to take Sakura's free hand in hers. "If it weren't for your chakra signature, this relentless thing refusing to be snuffed out, I would've sworn you were dead. It was an extraordinary happenstance: I was a young woman fed up with life in the Leaf, and had chosen that night to escape from the confines and expectations of my clan. You were my sign, Sakura, that I'd made the right choice.

"I healed you as best I could, but it is to the Lady Katsuyu that your life is owed. In time I'm sure you will learn much. She is gracious, and has agreed to offer you her services once again should you agree to her terms."

"Her terms," she repeated dumbly, glancing down to where she still held onto the smaller Katsuyu.

"Little Miss," said the great slug, her glow sparkling with the force of her words as if she were life itself, "my creed is this: without question, heal those in need of ailments both without and within. Without question, bring down those who seek to bring harm and destruction to even a single creature who breathes the air of this world."

She stared, so overwhelmed she could only think of one thing to say. "But that's—I mean..." She bowed again, deeper than she had even before. "Forgive me, ma'am, but that is already how Tsunade-sama taught me to live."

"Then the matter is settled," she declared jovially. "I return to you your hand, this contract having been sealed in the presence of a most trusted witness. Take my teachings into the world, and if ever you've lost your way, I will answer the combined call of your voice and your blood."

The small slug withdrew, bowing slightly as she slid back to her main body where she was reabsorbed as easily as she'd taken form. Tsunade gave another bow, saying her thanks to the Lady as Sakura tried to gather her thoughts. But there were far too many, and so she merely sat there quietly, waiting to be addressed once more. The ethereal green light faded, Katsuyu retreating somewhere deep in the forest Sakura, only minutes ago, was so sure she'd known. There in the dark, Tsunade turned to her.

"In the end, I've decided to keep you at my side is what's best. And if ever I'm not there, you can rely on the Lady Katsuyu."

It was only right to show gratitude for something like this, no matter how many more questions she had now. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama, I—"

"Do not mistake me," she snapped then. "If these events hadn't happened, I would have happily taken such a secret to my grave. But the palace...it's home to both many secrets and prying eyes. Keep your wits about you, girl, as its people are crafty and often unkind. Do not trust easily, and keep Naruto close—it is good to have friends. And..." She paused as if trying to recall a pre-written speech, and took Sakura's hands in hers. She stood, pulling the both of them to their feet, then clasped her disciple's shoulders tightly.

"Both the empress and her slaves return to the same dirt. You are now the disciple of a Hokage, but you mustn't lose sight of your compassion." She touched her palm to Sakura's cheek, and a sad smile appeared on her face as she pressed her thumb against the center of her forehead. "And no matter what the past or the future hold, you must always remember at least this one thing: I love you. Dearly."