Sixteen Years Ago...

Tsunade Senju clenched her teeth. The paper in her hands crinkling with the sheer force she was exerting on it.

"Hokage?" inquired the Raikage. His eyebrow raised.

Now all the other Kage had their attention on the distressed blonde. The war had just ended merely two days ago, but it was necessary to overview the casualties and the injured. Solemnly and reluctantly, the Kages went over the records provided by the Medical and Logistical Division.

The scroll that Tsunade held exploded into shreds. The pieces of paper slowly drifting around the Hokage.

"Tsunade!" Aa exclaimed. What the heck did she think she was doing? They hadn't made any copies of that scroll so the medical ninja would have to count all the remaining Konoha Shinobi again. Did Tsunade want to make more work for their already war-trodden Shinobi?

"Excuse me." was all she said in response as she strood out of the large tent. Her destination already set in her mind.

"Hokage! Wha-" The Raikage rose up from his chair, but the blonde woman was already gone.

Aa fell back in his seat with a grunt, deciding that the Hokage could do whatever she wanted. The other leaders soon returned, if not a little bemused, to their work as well. Only Gaara noticed a fluttering shred of paper that slowly fell to the floor. His eyes widened. He knew that name.

Haruno Sakura

Tsunade bounded towards the medical tent that she knew held Naruto in. Because if anyone knew it was Naruto. The kid had been sleeping ever since he was carried by Kakashi after his fight with the Uchiha. Any normal person would take a week to recover, but it was Naruto. Tsunade hoped, no, knew he was awake.

She aggressively flicked open the flap of the tent.

"Naruto!"

His dimmed sad blue eyes told her all she needed to know. Kakashi stood to the side of him, a hand placed on Naruto's shoulder.

"Tsunade-sama." The silver-haired jonin began wearily. He knew exactly why she's here.

No.

As quickly as she came, she left, heading towards another medical tent.

"Shizune!" she yelled. She didn't have time to waste.

Shizune opened the flap of her tent just as Tsunade arrived. Her face grim.

No.

"Shizune," she asked, "Where's Sakura? I need to speak with her."

Shizune sighed sadly, knowing this information would break the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama, Sakura's," her breath hitched, "Sakura's gone."

No.

"Whe-" her usually boisterous voice faltered. She wouldn't break down, not yet. "Where is she, Shizune?"

They both knew she wasn't asking for the person anymore.

Tears started to well in Shizune's eyes, "Missing. I sent a search team but..." They couldn't even find her. They couldn't even give her a proper funeral.

"Where?"

"The Ten-Tails battlefield."

The blonde woman was already off. Sprinting towards the location as fast as her still injured body would let her. Tears shimmering behind her.

When she arrived on the forsaken scorched field, her honey colored eyes scanned the area, frantically searching for any hint of her apprentice. Her pink hair, her green chunin vest, even her red forehead protector.

The reasonable side of Tsunade knew that if the Hyuga, keeper of the Byakugan, the eye that could see practically anything, couldn't find the pink-haired girl, then the search was futile.

No.

Still, she had to try.

The more she looked, the more frustrated she became.

Her tears were falling freely now.

Here, alone in the carnage of the war, she wasn't the Hokage, the leader of the village of Konoha. She wasn't a Senju, the proud descendant of the first Hokage. She wasn't even Princess Tsunade, the "greatest" medical ninja to ever live.

She was Tsunade, the proud mentor of Sakura Haruno.

A proud mentor who Sakura Haruno was supposed to surpass. She could have. She would have.

But now, Sakura was dead.

And Tsunade was alive.

Like always.

Nawaki, Dan, Jiraiya, Sakura.

Hadn't she lost enough people?

"You know, Shishou? Do you think people would miss me if I died?" Sakura asked as she helped organize one of the various stacks of reports.

Tsunade glanced up from one of the reports. "Why would you bring that up, Sakura?"

The pink-haired medic hummed, "Well, Ino said something the other day about how our generation was lucky that none of us had died yet. But," Tsunade waited for her apprentice to continue, "with this war. I don't think that luck will last. I was just wondering if I have done enough to be missed or if I'm still that naive little fangirl that everyone would be happy to forget." Her emerald eyes had a far-off look as she gazed outward, towards the recovering village.

"I would miss you."

Shocked emerald eyes met sincere honey-colored ones.

Tsunade grunted in response to her apprentice's surprise, "What? Of course I'm going to miss you. Who's going to bring me my sake?"

Used to her master covering her true emotions behind a tough facade, Sakura knew what Tsunade had just said spoke volumes. Of course, I would miss you. You're like my daughter.

"Not to mention, Naruto would be bawling his eyes out," Tsunade continued, skimming the report simultaneously.

Sakura chuckled, "Thanks, Shishou. You always know how to make me feel better." She returned to her task of reorganization.

"Sakura."

This time the pink-haired medic ninja looked up from her task, "Hmm?"

The Hokage slumped in her chair slightly as the weight of her years of loss and experience fell upon her, "Be careful out there, okay? I don't think I can handle another loss."

The younger medic knew fragments of her master's past. Whispers from shinobi twice her own age, but she had never asked the older women directly out of respect. For Tsunade to show such vulnerability was rare.

"Shishou, you would handle it like you always do. Relying on the people you have left. Building a new future better than the one you had. Helping-"

"Sakura, please." It was a desperate plea.

Sakura paused, knowing that she couldn't make a promise that she couldn't keep. So she settled with "I'll be as careful as I can be." It wasn't really a promise, but it was an assurance that she would try. Sakura grinned, eyes crinkling. "I don't think we need to worry. You taught me after all!"

Tsunade choked at the memory.

The Hokage fell to her knees, tilting her head skyward. The sky wasn't dark and stormy like she was expecting. It was a brilliant blue as if it was mocking her despair. She screamed. At nothing. At everything.

Her curse had done its deed again.

Present Day...

"We are truly indebted to you, Tsunade-sama. Thank you." The mother of the boy she had healed bowed.

The former Hokage waved her thanks off. "No need. I'm glad I could help."

The boy tugged at his mother's sleeves. He had a sparkle in his eye. "Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a medical ninja!"

The mother smiled, "That sounds wonderful, dear." She turned back to the Sannin, "Do you have a place to stay in the Land of Tea? My husband and I will be happy to accommodate you to repay you for the healing of my son."

Normally, the medical ninja would decline. A medic didn't heal others for the sake of receiving something back. But she was getting old, seventy-one this year, despite her youthful appearance. Her back could no longer handle sleeping on the ground like it used to. That was how she found herself in the home of the offering family.

The husband, Dasuke that was his name, poured Tsunade some tea while his wife prepared dinner. "I'm honored that the Fifth Hokage let us offer you a place for the night. But, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you to the Land of Tea?"

The blonde took the steaming cup in her hands, "Well, I've been overseeing the progress of hospitals in the other nations." She took a sip, "This is probably going to be the last trip I can make."

Despite knowing absolutely nothing of the ninja world, the tea maker gasped, "Surely not! You're the best medical ninja in the world. Who's going to take your place?"

Tsunade continued to sip her tea, "My apprentice, Shizune, of course." While Shizune was a great medical ninja, the last Sannin couldn't help but remember an even greater one. One that was sure to master all her techniques and excell at all the things that Shizune was just unable to achieve. She would have gone further than even her or Shizune.

She sighed. She was getting old. It was time.