Tsunade hadn't left her house since her talk with Sakura. She had stayed on her couch drinking sake for days. A knock on her door surprised her. She stumbled to the door to find a blonde ninja with a worried expression on his face.

"Naruto," she grumbled, "watchu wan?" She asked, thinking she made perfect sense.

"Geez granny Tsunade. I came to tell you the good news but you look terrible. Let's sit you down," Naruto said, grabbing her arm and leading her back to her living room.

"I ca get mysel thir ya -hic- kno," she stuttered, still thinking she was making sense.

"Granny Tsunade, are you drunk?" He asked, sitting her on the couch.

"I shoul knoc ya out, ya pun," she answered, wobbling her first in the air, "Callin meh granneh al tie."

"Okay, Tsunade. Why don't you take a n- a rest, and I'll come back another time," he said, making her lie back.

"Ahl sleep pun. Buh onleh cuz ah wanna," she said, already passing out.

Naruto looked down at his friend sadly, wondering what had caused this. He went to her bedroom and grabbed her blanket. He loosely tucked her in and kissed for forehead. He whispered goodnight as he walked out the door.

Sakura sat at a table, alone, in the new restaurant. She sighed as she glanced over the menu. She asked the waiter to just bring her a water as she tried to force something to look appetizing.

"Yeah, she passed out drunk, Hina. I'm really worried about her," Sakura heard a familiar voice say in a hushed voice from a couple tables back.

"Do you know what happened?" She heard Hinata ask.

"I don't know. But she clearly hasn't bathed in days. She absolutely wreaked of Sake. She's going to kill herself at this rate Hina. And I have no idea how to help her," he answered.

She heard the thud as Naruto's first slammed down on the table, knocking over his glass. Hinata was assuring everyone it was fine and whispering calming words to her husband as she walked out the door. Sakura knew who he was talking about and her feet instinctively carried her to her sensei's door.

Sakura knew that if she really had passed out drunk, knocking wouldn't make a difference. She tried the door and, sure enough, the knucklehead hadn't locked it. For once she was thankful that he was an idiot and she quietly entered the house.

Sakura walked into the living room and found Tsunade wrapped in her blanket, sleeping on the couch. She sighed as she took in the sight around her. Empty sake bottles littered the floor and the stench of sake permeated the stale air. Knowing Tsunade wouldn't wake up for hours no matter what happened, from past experience, Sakura did the only thing she could think of.

She carried her teacher to the bathroom and removed all of her clothes. She found herself staring at the older woman's body. She really is beautiful, she thought, I can see why Jiraiya-sama focused so much on her. She sighed at the memory of the charismatic man and grabbed a wash cloth from Tsunade's linen closet.

She coated the cloth in soap and washed her sensei's body, starting at her toes and ending at her hairline. She lightly sniffed her hair and had to hold in her groan of disgust. She had to wash her hair three times to get the smell out. She carefully dried her teacher's body and hair before carrying her to her bedroom.

Sakura laid her down on the bed and was walking away when a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked back to see that Tsunade's eyes were open. She knew the older woman was still asleep, once again from experience, and tried to pull away.

"Why can't I help you?" Tsunade drawled out, looking at but past Sakura.

She must be having the Jiraiya dream again, she thought sadly and sat down on the edge of the bed. She sighed and patted Tsunade's hand, remembering this happening shortly after Jiraiya died. She gently kissed Tsunade's forehead.

"Sakura," Tsunade said and the young woman froze, "Why can't I help you, Sakura?"

Sakura looked down to see that her eyes were once again closed, tears now glistening in her long lashes. She's dreaming about me? I must have really hurt her, she thought, her chest tightening.

"I'll endure with you Sakura. I'll endure for you if that's what you want," she drawled, now sobbing.

Sakura didn't know what else to do. So she lay down next to the older woman and pulled her into her arms. Her teacher relaxed in her arms and she felt oddly comfortable. She kissed the top of her head and lie there basking in the first comfort she'd found since Sasuke died, unaware that the next time Tsunade spoke it would change her life forever.

"I love you Sakura," Tsunade said, the drawl thicker, indicating she was falling back into her deeper sleep.

Her entire body tensed. From past experience, she knew Tsunade was only honest in her sleep talking. She tried to tell herself it wasn't the kind of love she had heard in the sleep-thick voice but she knew that was a lie. She eased herself away from Tsunade and went back to the living room.

Trying to distract herself, Sakura cleaned up all the sake bottles and scrubbed the floor with lemon-scented disinfectant, Tsunade's favorite. I shouldn't know her favorite disinfectant, she thought. She groaned as she saw the sun coming up. She quickly finished cleaning Tsunade's house and went home to get ready for work.

It was midday when Tsunade finally woke up. Her head was killing her as she looked around her bedroom. My bedroom? She realized, bolting upright. She groaned and grabbed her head as it began to swim. She closed her eyes and buried her face in her pillow, the smell making her freeze. Sakura was here, she thought, inhaling the scent of cherry blossoms and rose petals.

She looked at her bedside table and, sure enough, the proof was there. A glass of water and two aspirin tablets sat there. Tsunade remembered this routine from her previous binges. After Jiraiya died, she'd gone off the deep end and Sakura was with her every step of the way. She smiled sadly at the young woman's soft heart.

She sat up slowly and, only once the blanket fell, realized she was naked. Well, that's new, she thought. She brought a strand of hair to her nose. She bathed me, Tsunade thought, her cheeks turning red. She quickly downed the aspirin and water before getting dressed and, slowly, walking to her living room.

Her house was absolutely spotless and smelled of lemon. Tears came to her eyes and she went back to her bed. She buried her face in the pillow Sakura had laid on and sobbed. Even when I can't help her, she's still helping me.

Sakura left early at the request of the head nurse and went home. She thought about checking on Tsunade but figured she was already awake. She wasn't ready to deal with that mess yet. She entered her empty house and sighed. She quickly undressed, bathed, and lie down in her bed.

Of course the second she was in bed she was no longer tired. Her mind was full of Tsunade and that broke her heart. Sasuke hasn't even been gone one month yet and already I'm thinking about someone else. My teacher, at that, she thought. Your teacher that loves you, idiot! Sasuke would want you to be happy! Her inner voice corrected. She groaned and covered her face with her pillow, totally unaware of the chaos that was about to ensue.

Hey guys. Sorry about the late update. My mother in law needed help planting a garden. I know the chapters aren't very long but this is my first fan fiction so have a little mercy, please. I hope you enjoy and I plan to return to the regular update schedule. Feel free to leave any feedback and I appreciate you :)

LycanTora Out