Well, wow. Part one is over!
As part two deals more with the Naruto side of things, this story will be moved to the crossover section.
This will be the last regular update. I'm currently working on an original book series, but fear not. Chapter forty is finished, and if i haven't gotten any more of this story done, there is a guaranteed update Christmas day. Enjoy!
I don't own Naruto, nor Watchmen.
Tsunade is shocked when she tells her apprentice she's leaving Hidden Leaf for good, and Shizune refuses to follow.
'I can't."
"Why? You said you'd follow me anywhere, once." Her student flushes.
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sensei, but I can't. I'm in a.. a..."
"What? You have a boyfriend?"
Shizune squirms.
"No, not a boyfriend."
"Why, then?" Her dark-haired pupil goes a brighter red, but her voice is steady when she replies.
"I have a girlfriend. Ursula and I are going to live together. Tsunade-sensei, you know how it feels, like with Uncle Dan-" Tsunade glowers at her but she keeps going, like if she says it fast Tsunade won't take it poorly. "-We're thinking about getting married." The Legendary Sucker blinks slowly.
"Very well. You can stay." It's a dismissal, and Shizune nods, bows, and leaves to find her lover.
*******
Jiraiya doesn't take the news of her imminent departure well.
He all but begs her to stays, tells her what she's known all along.
He loves her, wants to heal her, will even stop pursuing her romantically if she only stays.
In the face of his devotion, she scoffs.
She's never taken him seriously. She isn't going to start now.
*******
Sarutobi-sensei, after much badgering, gives in and allows Tsunade to leave the village.
*******
She's so tired of this place, of her life. Just wants to curl up and die quietly, but the proud, dying fire within her will not settle for that.
Life is nothing but a greyed road stretching ahead, no color left.
She wants out.
And maybe, if they hate her, they won't miss her.
It never occurs to her to ask for help.
*******
She's standing before the massive gates of Hidden Leaf, gear packed and ready to go.
Tsunade hesitates. Once she's through those gates, she might never return. It's a big step to take. She tries not to think of the betrayed look on her only teammate's face, the utter resignation on her teacher's.
She's made it to the trees when she stops, sensing a presence.
A meaty hand settles on her shoulder.
"Who the fuck said you could leave?" She tries to shrug the hand off but it only tightens.
"The Third did, as did the Fourth Hokage." She snaps.
"Doubt they really meant it. They just fell for your guilt trip, Boobs, that's all." Edward Blake sneers, leaning towards her. She tenses. She really hates that nickname, but doesn't crush him for his crudity. All these years she's underestimated him, never thought he had it in him, just a screw-up like Jiraiya.
But no, she'd been wrong. He was the one bringing Orochimaru's body back to Hidden Leaf, dead. She'd like to believe he hadn't killed the traitor, but the body had the Comedian's killing style written all over it. Never thought he had it in him.
"This village has taken everything from me! My brother, my lover, my grandfather and his brother after him! How dare you ridicule my loss, what gives you the right--"
He slaps her, hard.
"Grow up, you immature bitch. You're thirty-five years old, and Dan and your brother have been dead for eleven fucking years, so get over it."
"You know nothing of my pain, you shit!" She screams.
"You think I don't know pain." He chuckles, as if this is funny somehow. "What a joke. I thought I was the Comedian here." The so-called Comedian grabs her by a pigtail and reels her in. She'd love to let fly a punch, but the Fourth had been deadly serious when he told her any move against a Leaf-nin would constitute as an act of war, and he would not hesitate to take her down.
"My civilian mother was killed by enemy-nin for just being the Comedian's mother. I lost three brothers and a sister to the Second Secret Ninja War. My pop drunk himself to death, and he treated us all like trash, and you think I don't know pain?" He laughs, shaking his head slowly. "It was a relief for him to kick the bucket! My wife has had to fuck strangers to get information out of them.
"Sally and I had three children together, and two of them died in their cradles. We only have Laurie now, and sometimes this village keeps me so fucking busy that I only see her once a week at best.
"My teammate screws up a mission, and the whole village turns on him. When he couldn't handle the hatred thrown at him, he killed himself.
"You think I don't know pain? Grow up and get over yourself. Life is pain. No one said it was going to be easy. When people die, their pain is over. Dying is a relief. So don't have a tantrum because your life didn't turn out the way you wanted. You're lucky – except for being a sucker, you got it good – looks, smarts, skills, power, money, influence. You could have family and friends, easy, if you actually tried for once. And it ain't enough?
"Didja really think it'd be that easy to leave Hidden Leaf? A ninja's oath is more binding than marriage, your duty is never over, not until you die. You are a tool, and when a tool isn't being used?" He leans closer, right in her face. "It's useless."
Chakra flares from above. Tsunade's gaze darts up to see the form of her once-best friend, Sally (nee Jupiter) Blake. The kunoichi in the trademark yellow dress finishes a long line of handseals.
"That speech take long enough?" The man asks his wife, who grins.
"Perfect timing." Sally praises.
"Boobs, just so you know," Eddie shares with a sigh, "I meant every word of it. We're gonna get you the help you richly deserve. 'Bout time you saw a doctor yourself."
And then Tsunade finds out why the Blakes are considered the deadliest married couple in the ninja world.
Eddie's fist breaks her jaw.
The genjutsu Sally hits her with shortly thereafter puts her in a coma for two weeks.
*******
When she wakes up, there's a long line of shrinks and interrogation specialists ready to break her down and build her back up into the Sannin she used to be.
Major depression, they say, is what leached the color from her life. Nawaki's death shook her, Dan's was too much to handle and the stress triggered an onset of severe melancholia.
There is therapy, and medication.
Jiraiya, once a thorn in her side, is at her side every step of the long journey back to sanity. He's quickly becoming her closest friend.
When she's feeling more like herself – and she hasn't been herself for years, apparently – Sally comes by to apologize. Tsunade forgives her, if a little warily. They probably saved her life, or at least sent her careening down the path of recovery.
"I just have one question-" She says, "Was Eddie telling the truth?"
"Yes." Sally Blake replies. "Every word."
As I minor in Psychology, I like to give characters mental disorders, because sometimes it explains their behavior easily. I have an intimate knowledge of depression, and it seemed to fit with Tsunade's early behavior.
And that's the end of part one!
Part two will focus on Rorschach growing up.
Part Three will focus on Dan as he teams up with Rorschach.
Part Four will deal with Naruto and his generation. This is where the changes will become obvious.
Reviews are greatly appreciated.