Relationship between Master and Student

Tsunade smiled as she and Sakura walked away from the training grounds. The young woman next to her had grown so much since they first began working together. Tsunade was incredibly proud – not that she often let Sakura know that.

"There's honestly not much more I can teach you, Sakura. You can barely call me your mentor now."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Would you take on another apprentice?"

"I think you were enough work." The Hokage grinned.

"Hey." Sakura pouted.

Laughing, Tsunade shook her head. "I'm just kidding you, girl."

Sakura shrugged. "I was a hell of a lot of work."

Tsunade hummed. "You weren't that bad."

"Even on the fighting front?" Sakura frowned.

"Perfect chakra control goes a long way."

"But there was the whole closing my eyes thing," Sakura grumbled. "I was horrible."

Tsunade sighed. "The only thing that did bug me was that you put yourself down."

"What? No, I never do that." Sakura grinned before sticking her tongue out.

"You still do it now."

Pushing the blonde on the arm, Sakura laughed. "Shut up."

Nudging her back, Tsunade grinned. "One thing I do enjoy about you is the banter."

Sakura snorted. "Nothing skill-wise? You just like that I'm the only person with enough backbone to bitch about you to your face?"

"Yes," the Sannin replied, wholly serious. "As well as the fact that you enjoy sake just as much as I do now."

"That's not something to be proud of, Shishou!" Sakura frowned.

"And winding you up is very fun."

Pouting, Sakura mumbled, "still nothing skill-wise there."

"OK OK..." Tsunade smiled and placed a hand on the Sakura's shoulder. "You're a decent medic."

"Decent?" Frowning, Sakura pulled away and stomped off in front.

"Did I say decent? I meant amazing!" Tsunade called after her.

"Now you're just winding me up!" Sakura shouted back.

"Yes." Tsunade smiled.

Pausing, Sakura turned around and frowned.

"What?" The Hokage grinned.

Sakura continued to frown and Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Are you seeking my approval? Do you respect me that much?"

"Of course," Sakura replied.

The Sannin stopped smiling and studied her apprentice. "That's cute."

Sakura pouted. "Do you not respect me back?"

"Not with that face."

"Your fault." Sakura's pout increased.

Tsunade shrugged. "I have known you since you were twelve."

"And?" Sakura frowned. "You're sixty, but surely you have some respect for someone of a younger age."

"Hey." Tsunade frowned. "No age dropping."

"Sorry, Grandma, I forgot it was a sensitive subject."

"Watch it, girl."

"What? Are you just mad because I'm only twenty-one and so close to overtaking you?" Sakura challenged.

"You're not there yet... As I say, you're a decent medic and your fighting skills... Well, they're average."

"Average?" Sakura frowned.

Taking a step forward, she punched her mentor in the stomach and the Sannin flew backwards, landing on the path a few meters away.

Sakura stood there, ready for a fight, offended and full of confidence. "Come on! I've got to be better than average and I'm a bloody good medic."

Laughing, Tsunade sat up. "Yes you are."

Sakura opened her mouth before closing it again. "Huh?"

Tsunade smiled. "I love winding you up to the point where you actually say something good about yourself too."

Walking forward, Sakura held out her hand to her mentor.

Accepting it, the Hokage stood up. "If it's my approval of your skills you're after, you've got it... After all, you are trained by me."

Sakura smiled. "So you do respect me?"

"Yes, as much as someone can respect a twenty-one year old medical ninja with pink hair." Tsunade smirked.

"Whatever," Sakura grumbled. "Are we going to the bar then?"

"Of course." Tsunade grinned.

"Then as my superior, you should get the tab today." Sakura smiled sweetly.

"As your elder," Tsunade countered, "you should buy the drinks for me."

"You're not that old."

"You punched me, you pay."

Sakura shook her head. "You punch me all the time and spontaneously throw things at me."

"Only when I get the urge." The Sannin grinned. "And when you deserve it."

"Fine. We could split the bill half and half?" Sakura suggested.

"Possibly." Tsunade shrugged. "Let's go to a different pub today."

"OK." Sakura smiled. "Which one?"

"I hear Shizune is out at one close by."

"But she'll stop us from drinking as much..." Sakura thought about it for a moment. "You want to leave the bill with Shizune-san, don't you?"

Tsunade smiled. "What a brilliant idea, Sakura."

Sakura laughed. "You're terrible, Shishou."

"Maybe, but you love me for it."

Sakura shook her head. "No, your drinking and gambling obsession whilst working is certainly not something to admire."

"I get you free boos. Don't complain."

Silently agreeing, Sakura walked side by side with her mentor.

If they couldn't get Shizune to buy their drinks, surely someone would offer to buy them – Tsunade was the Hokage after all. Occasionally, some guy would offer to buy Sakura a drink too.

Between them, mentor and apprentice had performed healing miracles, fighting wonders... and obtained a hell of a lot of free alcohol.

Author Notes:

I decided to upload this next because I found it funny that my other three are still on the front page of Sakura and Tsunade stories... Does nobody else upload them?

The next one is unlikely to be a Sakura and Tsunade story and unlikely to be so short. For my tenth upload, I'd like to upload something longer :D.

I'm not sure where this idea came from. It's older than my previous stories and at multiple points I wasn't sure where to end it. It's definitely not one of my favourites. But anyway...

Thanks for reading! :)