And there's chapter 3! And more timely this time! Now let's continue TsunTsun's Bizarre Adventure
Inside the box was the plushie he gave her. She remembered thinking it was going to be something awful or perverted like a skimpy bikini. She also remembered how pleasantly surprised she was to see a cute, stuffed toad with a crown surrounded by her favorite sweets. She smiled fondly at the gift.
Tsunade couldn't help but wonder if she thought too little of him at times.
Maybe this toad prince is gonna have a better chance to lay in the same bed as you.
With love, your Idiot,
Jiraiya.
Yeah... her expectations were just where she needed them to be.
She brought the toad up to her face and looked into its black, fathomless eyes. It stared back silently, its perpetual, stitched-on smile almost mocking her.
How many years had it been?
The thought rang in her head for a few moments before she rushed to the mirror near the study table.
For anyone else, travelling back in time would mean a massive difference in looks. For Tsunade, though, things more or less looked the same.
The same face stared back at her from the mirror, framed by an untidy mess of the same pale blonde hair. It was the same face that had been staring back at her for the past three decades. Despite its similarities, this face was less weary.
The most obvious difference was her forehead, which was absent of her Byakugou seal.
Well, that does leave quite the age window.
Fortunately for her, there was another way for her to reduce that window.
Lowering her eyes she detailed her breasts. Yeah, she still had those mounds that made her famous among the Konoha male population. Even some of the female population revered her for them.
Judging by their size, her age could be anywhere between 15 and 20.
'Am I really going along with this?'
Logically, this could be anything from a genjutsu to a hallucination, but here she was, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure-not to mention one of the strongest kunoichi in the world, standing in front of the mirror, groping her breasts to tell the time.
It was…outlandish, to say the least. More ridiculous than even Jiraiya's shitty "books."
Absent-mindedly, she caught sight of the cute toad plushie in the mirror.
But it was hard to dismiss this all. Not when everything was so real and genuine. From her grandma's food, to the house and even that dumb frog.
As someone who drank more than just a little bit, she was familiar with the feeling of walking around while not sure where in the hell she was going or if anything was real.
But this? This definitely felt real.
A phantom thought ran through her mind. 'Anywhere from 15 to 20...he might be alive!'
The door almost tore off the hinges as Tsunade burst out, the wood of the floor creaking with the sudden force.
Stopping outside the door of the room neighbouring hers, Tsunade took a deep breath before turning the door handle. She prayed she arrived in time.
The room was neat and tidy, almost eerily so. It looked as if it had never been lived in, which told her everything she needed to know. She had to be at least 17.
For a brief moment, the unfairness of it all felt so overwhelming that she almost felt like laughing. Even when she somehow travelled back in time, her shit luck stopped her from actually saving him.
She squashed the urge to slam the door, carefully shutting it behind her instead. She didn't want to feel Mito's anger again over door slamming on top of all this.
Even after decades spent dealing with grief, it still stung. She really felt like punching one of the Senju forest trees right now.
She pushed those feelings down-she was an adult now, which meant she had to keep her emotions and reactions in check. Once upon a time, she could get angry, punch, and kick, and her parents and grandparents would fix everything. Things were different now. They had been different for a long time.
Steeling herself with a deep breath, she entered the room once again. Nawaki's room was clean and neat, much more so than it had been when he was alive. His clothes weren't strewn about, the bed was made, and the books were neatly stacked on the shelf. The action figures—as he so furiously called his dolls—were all placed on top of the desk, the same one that never seemed to be organized.
The image of Nawaki jumping on his bed at age 8 was etched into her kid had energy for ages.
Slowly, she walked over to his desk and crouched down, inspecting those so-called "action figures". Tiny ninjas stood on the desk, striking various action poses. She especially remembered the time they gave him the Hashirama figure. That toy wouldn't leave Nawaki's hands for at least a year after that. He was so excited about becoming a ninja as strong and respected as their grandfather…
She turned away from the row of tiny ninjas and knelt in front of the bed. With her superhuman strength, she easily lifted the bed up with one hand and examined one of the beds wooden panels that looked a lot like one of the many ninja tricks she had learned in her early teens.
Their grandmother was quite strict about food in the bedroom, as well as some other things. So, she and Nawaki had to resort to some cunning measures to protect some of the precious belongings. Precious belongings usually meaning chocolate, toys, Uncle Tobirama's scrolls, or…
A pair of magazines slid from between the wooden panels and fell on her lap. The covers displaying women in different states of undress. It wasn't hard to guess who could be behind that one. There was no lack of perverts in Konoha but only one would be this brazen. A tick mark appeared on her forehead.
Jiraiya...
Her thoughts of bloody revenge were interrupted when something else slid down and landed on the ground: A hat, but not just any hat. A red Kage hat with the fire kanji prominently drawn in the front. She'd seen and worn a similar one many times during her reign. This one, though, was special.
Memories of Nawaki doing poses with it, shouting things about how "Nawaki the Amazing Hokage" would save the day in front of her bedroom mirror dissolved her anger. She ran her hand over the velvety fabric of the hat, still not worn out even after all this time. He must have taken especially good care of it.
How long has it been since she paid her respects to him?
His grave, his room, this house, and even this hat, were all lost when Konoha was after she spent a good time in coma, just to wake up with little time to prepare for a war.
But that hasn't happened yet, now has it? At least if her theory was correct
And that meant…
Suddenly, she was on her feet with her heart beating in her throat.
She needed to go outside and see for herself.
After leaving a written note on the fridge to Mito saying she would be back soon, she left the house. The same pathway that led the way from the Senju Gardens to the entrance of the compound covered in acacia trees formed a beautiful, natural arch that covered the path.
The whole Senju compound was densely forested, one that rivaled even the forest surrounding Konohagakure itself, so it was often called the Senju forest rather than compound. Massive trees of different kinds stood strong, and their foliage wove together so tightly that only scattered beams of light reached the ground. And even that ground was treacherous to those who weren't familiar with the place. Giving way to ponds, marshes, and even a few cenotes, people had to be careful while walking in the dark.
Of course, the farther one ventured from the lights of the mansions and houses, the more dangerous the forest became, and the louder the calls of many species of insects and birds that inhabited it grew.
Some of the trees around the mansion had lanterns fixed into their lower branches—unthinkable in the old war times,when security was paramount. Once the village was formed, the attitudes changed, which meant people no longer felt the need to shroud their houses in darkness.
Tsunade walked across the compound with a slow practiced ease. The trees became smaller, and the foliage thinned until something could be seen ahead in the distance.
She could immediately make out the pale gate of the Senju compound, standing in stark contrast to the darkness of the forest. The massive beams stood on each side, connected by an intricate roof, built from a much darker wood with reddish highlights. Flags with the Senju crest adorned the entrance, flying against the gentle wind. They made it clear which clan these lands belonged to. A symbol of a Vajra against a white field adorned the banners.
The clan with a thousand skills.
The cacophony of birds, insects, and who knows what else quieted as Tsunade reached the gate at the end of the hilled pathway. One final ring of tall oak trees near the gate was the last thing separating the tranquility of the compound from Konoha's busy streets.
The view greeting her was something she never thought to ever see again. It was Konoha the same way she remembered from her early childhood and teenagehood.
Between the attack of the Nine Tails and Pain's destruction, Konoha had changed a considerable amount. Or, at least, the distribution changed. The streets were planned more carefully rather than the ones that were made on the go as the village population grew and grew with time.
She knew a lot about that since she had to spend a long time looking at those maps before giving the approval for construction. Fucking paperwork…
She was essentially on autopilot as she found herself marveling at the view of a Konoha that only lived on her memories.
Well at least it used to...
The old Konoha was a mess in the best way possible. Houses were laid out haphazardly, often stacked on top of each other. Entire neighbourhoods were built in layers. Massive trees poked out between the houses, all of them built around the vegetation.
This was the Konoha of her childhood. And even with all the chaos she could only smile, those where the streets she knew like the back of her hand.
Over the years, it would slowly boom into a proper metropolis, helped by Konoha's beneficial position at the end of the Second Great Ninja War. Despite all that growth, the village definitely lost something along the way:the sense of wonder and hope that came with the dawning of a new era, the excitement of a new way of living—almost blissfully ignorant of what lay before. Back when it felt like this was the first step for a generation of children that could grow up like the kids they were supposed to be, not trained soldiers to be thrown into the front line.
There was a constant feeling that peace—true peace—was achievable someday. Civilians felt genuinely safe in their village.
The First War had come and gone, but one war wasn't enough to break the spirit of Konoha. People still wholeheartedly believed in the Will of Fire, and those leeches masquerading as politicians hadn't managed to bastardize it to serve their own needs. Clans weren't at each other's throats, trying to solidify their political standings.
And of course, the Akatsuki hadn't begun to work against the villages.
Were those kids even alive yet?
She shook herself out of her reminiscing when she saw a familiar mop of white spiky hair. Between his tall frame, rather striking hair color, and everything else, he always did stick out from the crowd. Her heart raced as her breath hitched. Her eyes couldn't believe what she was seeing.
For such a long time, her mind had been stuck on that day. That scene on the bench, the sunset as he walked away. Her mind incessantly replayed it over and over again; the last moments before he slipped away.
She had known. Deep down, she had known, but she still let herself believe like a stupid child that he'd keep his promises. And there he was, back again like he promised he'd be. She was so damn mad at him and yet all she wanted to do was cry for the umpteenth time today, hug him and tell him he was an idiot. To hold him in her hands, feel him breathe, convince herself that he was real and alive, and to never let him go ever again.
She had to convince herself to keep living for the sake of the village back then. But right now, everything was so hazy and confusing, and she was probably in the past. She almost felt like a child, the only thing on her mind being the desire to tell that moron that she loved him more than anything.
During her frantic inner monologue, Jiraiya must have spotted her too, since he was getting closer with his characteristic mile wide smile adorning his face. Her body moved on its own as she ran to be closer to him. Before she knew it, they collided and suddenly, his warmth was all around her as he held her close, and she could happily drown in it.
"Hi!" said Tsunade, meeting his eyes once she took her face off his chest.
"I'm gonna have to start doing more dangerous missions if you're gonna greet me like that afterwards, Hime." His pupils were blown wide and a blush covered his face and the smile he held before was replaced by a smaller, more genuine one. It was a smile full of nothing but pure adoration.
"Don't joke about that, Baka." She let out a lighthearted laugh before crushing him in a hug once again.
He was alive.
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Power and Mar out