Tsunade was drinking. She was laughing happily. She was on a roll! She hasn't had this amount of good luck in a long time. She also knew Jiraiya was far, far away from her and no one whispered to her that Konoha was looking for her.

She could finally pay off some of her debts. Not to mention buy some good sake! With all her winnings, she can hit other places. She felt good. Maybe her luck was finally changing.

(She tried not to think of Jiraiya and Orochimaru. She tried not to think of Dan)

After this, she might train up her apprentice even more. Tsunade hasn't tossed any surprise tests her way lately. It was a shame Shizune was so much more unflappable now than she was a couple years ago.

Tsunade was proud though. Her apprentice was growing up to be a strong, capable woman. She was already a brilliant medic, despite being so young. Shizune seemed ready to handle anything that tossed her away.

That was especially important in their world. You never knew what was going to happen, after all.

Tsunade pushed the thought away. She was too good-of-a-mood to reminisce about war and all that. She should enjoy the moment, after all. She deserved it.

As if the gods themselves knew that Tsunade was actually feeling optimistic for once in her life, of course everything would get ruined.

"Tsunade-sama, someone is looking for you," the owner of the gambling den whispered to her. Tsunade frowned unhappily, looking at her cards longingly. She wanted to wipe all the hopeful look in her opponents' eyes and take their money. She was excited to bleed them all dry.

She sighed. She might as well get this over with. The faster she does, the faster she can return to her games.

Tsunade stood up and walked towards the entrance.

"What do you want?" Tsunade said, crossing her arms with an unimpressed look on her face. "If you want money from me, scram. I have games to play."

"…Are you sure this is her?" a man said, sounding quite doubtful.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and her guard was up. She didn't expect an Uchiha.

"A brat like you is much too young to say that about me," Tsunade huffed, sounding unimpressed. If this was some kind of ploy from her sensei, she was very unamused. Everyone knew the complicated history between her clan and the Uchiha clan.

It was all bogus to Tsunade, but that didn't mean she was blind to the disgruntlement some Uchihas felt towards her growing up. Tsunade believed that if she ended up on a team with an Uchiha, several buildings would no longer be standing.

The Uchiha looked at her curiously. His face looked doubtful, but he sighed. "You're my only hope, lady. You're a Senju, right? Could you possibly explain this?"

The Uchiha brat did several hand signs, before a giant tree sprouted between the wooden boards.

Tsunade resisted the urge to punch the tree. She was too old to deal with this shit. A reminder of her grandfather staring at her right in the face, and from an Uchiha, no less.

She remembered being younger and her grandfather would ask her everyday if she could feel the trees. She couldn't.

It was as if the disappointment of her ancestors decided to haunt her.

Tsunade gave the brat a sharp look. This Uchiha has the Mokuton Jutsu and she wanted answers.

"I woke up with amnesia. I don't know why I have the Mokuton. I just know I should be dead. Nawaki says you're a good healer, so you should be able to help me, right?" the Uchiha asked.

Tsunade felt her heart freeze and Shizune's eyes and mouth widened in shock.

The Uchiha, as if realizing what he said, froze.

"…What did you just say? And if you lie, I'll know," Tsunade said icely. She was fully ready to deliver that promise. She wanted to smash quite a few buildings right now.

The Uchiha glanced between her fists and her face. He had a strange look on his face, as if he was questioning everything in life. There was also a heavy amount of acceptance and fear there too. At least he wasn't underestimating her.

The Uchiha examined her closely. His eyes unnerved Tsunade. It reminded her of the Yamanakas who loved to psychoanalyze people.

"I'll explain everything to you. I'll tell you the truth as well. It's up to you to believe me or not. After that, we'll make a bet," the Uchiha said, reaching out his hand to shake hers.

"What makes you think you have anything I would want? If it ain't money, scram," Tsunade snorted. Then her eyes darkened. "I don't heal. I don't deal with blood anymore."

"I know that's a lie. You might not deal with blood anymore, but you're still a medic and teacher. Nawaki told me a lot about you. He's worried about you," the Uchiha said.

Tsunade's hands were trembling. She turned away from the shinobi. She needed a long, long drink. Figures her bad luck caught up to her, but she didn't expect it to end so horribly.

"We'll talk in my room, and then we'll make a bet," Tsunade said, before gesturing to Shizune to follow.

"My name's Hari," the Uchiha called back to her while she marched away. It wasn't a very Uchiha name.

Tsunade took deep breaths to calm herself. Why did she feel like she was making a deal with the devil?

Nawaki, Nawaki, Nawaki. Her little brother's name tasted so sour on her lips. She knew Hari had a way for her to see her little brother again. For a shinobi and slippery bastard, he could be strangely kind and honest.

He thought by preventing her from seeing Nawaki, he was sparing her pain. Tsunade wanted to laugh at him.

She already lost so much. She lost her lover and her entire clan. She lost Orochimaru. She even lost Jiraiya in a sense. She felt plenty of pain in her life. This brat withholding her brother was simply bringing her more pain, rather than closure.

Hearing words from her brother wasn't the same as seeing her brother and hearing him with her own ears and eyes.

He kept weaseling out of making another bet with her. He even warned her she would lose.

(She already knew that with her bad luck, but she had to try. For Nawaki)

"You aren't a curse. I love you," Tsunade whispered to herself. Those sentences from her little brother stuck with her. She ached for her brother.

According to Hari, he couldn't move on. He was worried about her and his old sensei. Unfortunately for him, Tsunade couldn't start the process of moving on until she could at least see her brother. It was probably her shinobi lifestyle so entrenched into her, but an opportunity to see her little brother would… mean more to her than anything else.

If Hari was telling the truth though, Tsunade might need to track down Orochimaru and smack him into a couple of buildings, before dragging him back to Konoha. If that idiot was part of the reason why her little brother was stuck as a spirit, well, Tsunade had plenty of experience in bashing some sense into her old teammates. Forcefully.

(Nawaki wanted Orochimaru back on the right path. He blamed himself for what happened to Orochimaru. Her little brother was so bright and still so kind. Tsunade wished she could hug her little brother and tell him it was her fault. Nawaki might have left first, but she did too)

Tsunade sighed. She felt like she had a headache with all this planning. Not to mention that Hari kidnapped a jinchuuriki. Were she and Jiraiya technically accomplices?

She couldn't wait to see Jiraiya report to their sensei. At least she wouldn't be alone in her headaches, but she hoped in vain that the old man wouldn't smoke about it.

When Jiraiya finished the seal and was wrapping up, he forcefully grabbed her and dragged her away. He had a dark, serious look in his eyes.

Tsunade decided to throw her friend a bone and didn't fight it. She was more worried, especially since Jiraiya didn't make any pervy remarks.

Jiraiya looked at her with a large frown on his face.

"I heard the rumors about a friendly, saintly Uchiha, but I didn't think you two knew each other," Jiraiya remarked casually. There was an unspoken question of how long.

"He wanted me to examine him about his Mokuton. I was curious about it. It was a while ago," Tsunade said. She phrased it vaguely. It has been quite a few years of her chasing after Hari, but her pride prevented her from ever reaching out to Jiraiya.

(She was afraid he would also tell her to let Nawaki go)

She chose not to mention Hari's amnesia. Patient confidentiality and all and plus, that felt too personal to divulge to someone else. From what Tsunade had learned about the Uchiha, he was prickly to talk about himself. She was polite enough to respect such boundaries.

"Tsunade, he has no scars," Jiraiya stressed.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "He has plenty of scars. I examined him myself."

Jiraiya laughed, but it felt rather empty. It unnerved her. "For a boy who was crushed alive, he doesn't have as nearly as many scars as he should. He even has another working eye."

Tsunade gave Jiraiya a worried look. Her old teammate looked like he aged a few years. It was her fault since she dragged Jiraiya into this mess.

Jiraiya looked at his hands, looking rather defeated.

"You don't recognize him, do you?" Jiraiya asked her quietly.

Tsunade hesitantly shook her head. "No, I don't. Should I?" She, for such a long time, has been chasing after Hari, who felt like a ghost. She apparently had met him before too?

Jiraiya laughed again, but now it just sounded sad. It was so unlike him, since he always felt like he was full of life.

"How could I not recognize my student's dead student? I was there while Minato cried to me for being a failure as a teacher. Uchiha Obito should be dead, but he's apparently alive and has kidnapped Suna Jinchuuriki and no one knew. Where the hell has he been and what has he been doing all these years?"

And with this chapter, this fic should be caught up AO3. I'm soooo sorry I lost this account haha. Thank you so much for your support!