A group of oneshots
I don't own Naruto
Chapter 2
-Men-
Konohagakure was in a bad place. On the bright side, Pein had finally been defeated. But sadly, Lady Tsunade, the 5th Hokage was lying on the ground. Her green eyes were closed and her skin was abnormally pale. The purple, diamond-like mark on her forehead was gone. Around here, dozens of medics and scared younger children crowded around her. Inside, however, there was only calm.
Tsunade found herself looking a serene and misty forest. The last thing she remembered was seeing a possessed Naruto drawing closer to the final Pein's Chibaku Tensei. Tsunade sighed as she slid down a strangely smooth tree trunk. She noticed fireflies, the only insect she didn't dislike. Butterflies were too proud for her taste. Tsunade knew none of this could be real, but she pushed that thought out of her mind. She wanted to be here. She needed to be here. And then, Tsunade began to cry.
"Do men simply exist to make me suffer?" She asked herself. She closed her eyes and all of the males in her life appeared before her. Her grandfather, her teacher, her teammates, her brother, her lover...Naruto... All of them were dead. All of them except for Naruto. But at the same time, Naruto was dead. His body was no longer his. It was that damn fox's. She opened her eyes to see that the scene had changed.
Tsunade was now in a palace-like building leaning back on the wall. There was a large group of people all surrounding something on the floor. Tsunade knew what, where, and when this was, but got up and walked over anyway. There, on the floor and covered in blankets was Senju Hashirama: her grandfather. His hair was dark and falling out and his eyes empty. Her uncle, the newly proclaimed 2nd Hokage, stroked his brother's head. Nawaki, still a baby, began crying.
Nawaki Tsunade thought as her mind wandered to that field. As her mind wandered, the scene before changed. Now Nawaki was on the ground, eyes closed. Although she didn't know it, Nawaki here looked just like she did outside. The only difference was that her baby brother was dead and she wasn't. Tsunade walked over to her brother's corpse and she saw herself trying desperately to save him. Tears spilled from her eyes as if they were some kind of medicine that would bring her brother back to life.
"You know, uncle always said life wasn't fair," Tsunade stated. Nawaki's head turned and his brown eyes opened. He looked at her.
"And you'd hope your life was as fair as unfair could be. Oh yeah, this." Tsunade said as she gingerly held up the emerald jewel hanging from her brother's neck. She looked at it with empty eyes.
"Maybe you really are cursed. My life's been a real piece of shit since I've gotten you. Uncle died. Orochimaru left. Minato died. The old man died. And then there were those three years that you were with Naruto. I hoped so bad that he broke that curse. Everyone had only lived a month, but he kept going for three years. So you decided to take him from me didn't you. Just to spite me?" Tsunade continued. She blinked and when she opened her eyes, the scene had changed yet again.
Now Tsunade was looking Naruto. His blue eyes were wide open even though he too was dead. There was a nine-tailed fox looking at her with blood crusting up its red fur. Naruto's blood was flowing from a huge hole in his stomach. Apparently the fox had decided to have a meal. And there, hanging from its neck was a green shard. Blinded by anger, Tsunade slammed her fist into the ground. A hole opened up around her and she fell through.
When she landed, Tsunade was in a graveyard. In front of her was Orochimaru's grave. The memory of Pein telling her that she was the final Sannin resonated in her head as she looked at the tombstone.
"I wish I knew what the hell you were thinking sometimes, you know that?" Tsunade said as he hand brushed over the tombstone. Beside Orochimaru's was the 3rd Hokage's.
"You too. How could you be so blind? But then, you weren't really blind were you? You just wanted so strongly believed that he was good." Tsunade turned back to look at Orochimaru's grave.
"Why can't I hate you?" She asked the slab of rock. She stood up and then began walking further into the graveyard. She stopped by Jiraiya's. She said nothing, but her eyes were watering. She hugged the tombstone and felt it hug back. It's arms were solid and warm. After a few more seconds, Tsunade let go and the sensation left instantly. Beside Jiraiya's was Minato's.
"I remember when Jiraiya would bring you the clubs with us. Always bragging about how you'd become the next Hokage. It was so stupid. Kushina was a lucky girl. I wish I could've had you for a husband. And they saw humans aren't perfect." A lump caught in her throat at the next grave. Naruto's.
"You little mother-fucker! You were supposed to beat the curse!" Tsunade said loudly. She then stood and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"WHAT KIND OF MEN JUST LEAVE A WOMAN ON HER OWN?!?!?!?!" She asked as tears began streaming down her eyes. She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders shook with sobs.
"You're supposed to take care of a woman; give her whatever she wants. Men are supposed to keep a woman happy. You all fail as men...but I love you all so much...why did you guys leave me?" Tsunade said between sobs. As she cried, Orochimaru came and sat beside her. Her grandfather stroked the top of her head while Nawaki squeezed her in his arms. Jiraiya was sitting beside her while the 3rd massaged her shoulders. Dan lifted up her chin and smiled at her with Naruto by his side. Minato was on the other side of Dan, looking nearly identical to his son.
Tsunade looked at the three for what seemed like hours before a small breeze blew over her. And just like that, all of their warm touches and their smiling faces were gone. Tsunade began sobbing again, wishing that she could be somewhere else. But she already was. There was nowhere else to go.