Kei-Kei Yuki: So a lot been going on with my life lately. My dad's health had hit a low point, thankfully he is recovering now. Though it will be a while before he is back to his normal self and through these tough times, my love for Naruto was somehow restored. Now I know someone of you may be wondering, why the hell did I genderbend Hashirama? Well, it was mainly due to a old fanfic I once read involving a fem!Hashirama and Madara.

It was such a great fanfic that I couldn't stop myself from writing a fem!Hashirama. Plus the idea of my version of a fem!Hashirama is so hilarious I just had to write and share her with the rest of you. So please disregard that shameless note I left in the first chapter when I first started up this story. I was in a very angry place (angry at the ending of Naruto and life), and I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Drabble Thirty-One

Overcoming One's Fear

During the start of this trip, Jiraya had promised to teach Naruko a cool new jutsu, created by the Fourth Hokage himself. Teaching her the steps that she needed to perfect in order to succeed, Naruko concentrated on nothing but her training, and whenever she was stuck, the young kunoichi would take out her fuinjutsu book and began browsing through it.

Even though most of the explanations and hand signs were in an alien language, she decided to ask the pervy sage later if he knew anything about how fuinjutsu worked before getting back to training. So far Naruko was able to pass phase one and two, but before she could pass the final and last phase, they finally encountered the woman who was the main reason for this mission.

"But the Fourth Hokage was a fool for throwing his life away just for the village. The same could be said for the old man as well. Only fools recklessly throw their lives away."

Immediately Naruko regretted tagging along if this was the woman who Jiraya was sent out to find. Nevermind the talk of her becoming the Fifth Hokage, added with her background as the First Lady Hokage's granddaughter, no one disrespected the Third and Fourth Hokage in her presence!

"There's no way I'm allowing this crappy obaa-chan to become the Fifth Hokage! Not over my dead body!" seethingly growled Naruko, having jumped on top of the table, glaring her blue eyes at the sanin.

"Obaa-chan?! Listen here brat, no one calls me that and leaves unscathed. Since you're all fired up, let's take this outside!" Tsunade arrogantly challenged Naruko who, even before Jiraya could interfere, had already hastily accepted. After exiting the tavern, staring at the two angry blondes, Jiraya sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"I knew something like this was going to happen."

After exchanging insults with each other, in a blink of an eye with just a flick of her finger, Naruko was sent tumbling a few feet backward. Though the blonde was not down for the count just yet, rising back up on her feet, the blonde did something which caught both sanins by surprise. Swirls of blue chakra rotated in the palms of her hand, though its form was incomplete, the fact that she managed to get this far was quite the feat itself.

After the whole ordeal with Naruko, Tsunade was finally left on her own to contemplate what happened earlier. Her mind thought back to the answer the feisty pipsqueak had given her. After asking the blonde why the subject for Hokage was so touchy for her, she replied, 'Cause one day I'll make everyone acknowledge my existence. That I'm more than how they judge me, just like Fourth Hokage and the old man. I will protect those who are dear to me. So hear me when I say, someday I will get that position that you so disrespectfully tossed aside. Because that is my dream!' Placing a hand over her heart, Tsunade couldn't help but painfully recall the treasured memories of her dearest loved ones. Memories that she thought were buried away, never to be touched again.

Reaching to take a sip of her sake, Tsunade wanted nothing more than to drown her sorrows, but no matter how much she tried, the image of those radiant and determined blue orbs would not disappear. "Tch, what a troublesome brat." Taking another swig of her sake, Tsunade knew she wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

'Tsu-chan, always remember no matter how many hurdles life may throw your way, never give up hope. There will be dark days ahead waiting for you. So dark that sometimes you'll believe that the darkness will consume you but you must fight. Fight and try to find the light once again, 'cause only then can you truly heal and move on.'

For a brief moment Tsunade recalled the words her grandmother, the First Lady Hokage, ever said to her and looked towards the blonde she was now trying to heal. "You little pipsqueak, don't you dare die on me now!" Now that she finally found the light again after drowning for so long in her own despair, Tsunade was not going to relive another tragedy.

"For such a beautiful lady, your eyes show a lot of sadness, and after hearing your stories from Shizuen-nee, they only confirm the reason behind it. Everyone's got their own tragedy stories that they must live with but no matter how dark things get, don't ever give up! Because the people we love will forever live in our hearts along with the lessons they have taught us. So please don't be sad anymore, 'cause there are still people who care for you." Droplets of tears ran down the blonde sanin's face all because of this feisty little knucklehead who suddenly got all sappy on her.

"You little brat, since when did you get a sweet side?" Tsunade finally felt free from the huge weight that's been buried deep inside her chest. A slight smile made its way to her face, unfastening her necklace and placing it on Naruko.

"I'll try once again to believe. So you better not fail me, brat." Placing a kiss on the girl's forehead, Tsunade finally made her decision. Until the day she'll witness the Hokage hat being placed on that spunky little brat's head, Tsunade was going to protect this little spitfire until that day arrived.

"As the newly appointed Fifth Hokage, I'm not letting you lay a finger on her!"

After finally bringing Tsunade back to the village, hounding on her healing Sasuke along with Rock Lee, but mainly Sasuke, this caused the world-wide famous healer to tease the young kunoichi by saying, "Hmm, so is this Sasuke fellow your boyfriend or something? 'Cause you keep mentioning him a lot."

"B-B-Boyfriend? Sasuke-teme and I?!" Naruko looked highly offended at the thought, face turning green as she began acting like she was about to vomit just from the mere thought of them together.

"No way! Ain't never going to happen! Beside the teme is way too girly for my taste!" protested Naruko, only to be riled up as Tsunade kept teasing her by saying she was secretly hiding romantic feelings for her number one rival. Standing off to the side, Jiraya couldn't help but scoff, recalling when he heard a familiar red-head once say the same thing only to end up marrying a certain Fourth Hokage.

'Ah, I'm not liking this pattern.' For some reason, Jiraya did not like the thought of a certain Uchiha stealing away his god-daughter. Luckily for him, unlike most kunoichi's her age, Naruko was not interested in the Uchiha that way. Leaving him leeway to make sure her focus stays that way.

For Sasuke, things were anything but rainbows and sunshine as he stood before his dead parents. The young Uchiha screamed and ran away from the horrific sight of their pale bodies. Running and running, until he heard a familiar voice call out to him. 'Sasuke!' Standing ahead with her arms outstretched was Naruko in all her bright orange glory.

Without question, he hurled himself into her arms, seeking any type of comfort she could offer him. 'Shh, everything will be okay, teme. I'll always be here for you,' she gently whispered into his ears, fingers combing through his hair, and Sasuke allowed his body to relax while in her arms. Reassuring himself that everything was okay now that she was here.

'Foolish little brother. So weak that you can not even protect a single teammate. Do you really think you can save her?' Itachi's voice whispered to him, eyes jolting open once he felt something cold and wet stain his hands, only to look down to see them dyed in red.

"S-Sasuke..." Hearing Naruko's weak voice, Sasuke pulled away only to see the light of her eyes was dimming, causing him to panic. "Naruko! Naruko!" He kept calling out her name, but this did nothing to save her.

"Sasuke... why couldn't you save me? If only you were stronger then I wouldn't have to die," the Naruko in his never-ending nightmare said to him, before forever closing her eyes. Witnessing the death of Naruko, caused something in Sasuke to break, screaming like a lunatic as he clutched her cold weightless body to his chest.

Sasuke's lungs burned with how much he was screaming when he faintly heard a familiar voice call out to him. It sounded like Naruko, but wasn't she dead? Sasuke asked himself, squinting his eyes as a ray of light burst through the crack of his nightmare. No longer holding Naruko's dead body, he repeatedly heard her calling out to him as the burst of light grew bigger.

"Sasuke-teme! Oi, teme, wake up already! You're making Sakura-chan cry, you bastard!" Feeling something weighing down on his chest, Sasuke's sight was finally restored to him and the first thing he saw was a pair of large cerulean eyes beaming down at him. Only these pairs were still vibrant and full of life, nothing like the lifeless pair in his dream.

Reacting on pure instinct, Sasuke's body launched forward, arms clutched around Naruko in a tight painful grip. Blushing from head to toe, Naruko was not expecting this reaction from the teme. Nor did she feel comfortable with the way his head was buried in her chest and the iron grip he had on her.

"Oi, oi, oi! Teme, let go! You're crushing me! Ah, I can't breathe! Someone get this pervert off me! Help!" Acting like a helpless drama queen, Naruko repeatedly cried for help. Only to spot Tsunade shooting her a smirk, eyes filled with ridiculousness as she playfully teased the blonde by saying,

"Ah, so he is your boyfriend. Naru-chan, you don't have to keep such a secret from me. I think you two make a cute couple."

"Damn it, for the last time he's not my boyfriend! Sakura-chan, please do not misunderstand the situation. Sasuke-teme is still all yours and CAN SOMEBODY GET HIM OFF OF ME ALREADY!" Sadly for Naruko, it took loads of teasing from Tsunade and constant pouting from Sakura before they moved in to save the blonde.

Luckily for Sasuke, he fell into a deep sleep once his arms were pried away, and after a few days, he could not recall his actions that took place when he awoke from his coma.

End of Drabble Thirty-One