AN: Chapter title: The Search Concludes Part 1

Weeks had been wasted on travel.

Weeks had been wasted on this meaningless circular route.

Weeks had been wasted just to drag them to this den of gamblers and cheats.

"This place reeks of desperation." He was sure he could smell such a thing. It was almost true. The constant lights and noises were irritating enough but it was nothing compared to the wretches filling the streets. The entire town was awash in the stench of drunks who seemed content to waste away so long as they could indulge their vices. Since their arrival, his face had been set in an all but permanent grimace.

Jiraiya had left the hotel he must've reserved in advance, had given Naruto and Fu free range in the room he had originally intended only for the blonde Jinchuriki. His attempt to get another room for Fu had been a failure. The hotel was completely booked up.

"It's not that bad Naruto." Fu contented herself with bouncing on the bed, both their packs set at the foot of it. She didn't seem eager to leave the room but for reasons different than Naruto. "Isn't it going to be fun meeting someone as legendary as Tsunade?"

"That drunk?" Naruto scoffed. He stayed at the window, said he was looking for Jiraiya's return but it was untrue. The more he looked out over Tanzaku Quarters, the more he was disgusted by it. "I'm still not sure how she's supposed to do anything to make this search for her worth it. Nothing but a waste of my time."

Fu was sure that if Naruto was outside he would've spat on the ground.

Ever since that surge of Killing Intent from Jiraiya, his mood had soured.

She didn't blame him but he made no effort to disguise his changed mood. Jiraiya had eyed him more than once, hadn't done anything yet but it was a near thing. If this was the Hidden Waterfall she didn't know if Naruto would still be breathing for his disrespect.

"…Maybe the stories aren't true?" Fu didn't believe it herself, couldn't make herself even bother with faking it. To her knowledge, they were all true. Tsunade had become a drunk gambler years ago and seemed to view it as her new career. She was seemingly in debt to someone in every town, owed someone in every village one could think of. It was only because of her legendary strength not having faded that she was able to walk free. Bounty hunters still tried their hand at collecting her debts but that rarely ended well for them.

"My Legion has already confirmed everything." Naruto didn't see his red eyes in the window, barely noticed the change when his incisors sharpened to fangs. His hands tightly gripped the windowsill, new claws tearing lines into the wood beneath his fingers. "Whatever she once was, I doubt she's retained even a fraction of her old strength. All she's done for years is drink, gamble, and run. She's pathetic."

Once he had been (re)told where this search would inevitably lead, he had sent new orders to the Sixth Cohort. Reserves had been called forth to continue their duties for the Hidden Leaf but several Centuries worth had marched from the village with all haste to Tanzaku Quarters to begin a new search ahead of his arrival.

Every drunk would be questioned, every visitor. He would find this woman and end this search. His Legion had orders to bring her to him in chains if needed.

His Praetorians had been issued much the same. They had been slowed down by the need to gather them all back together after being dispersed to search the Hidden Grass and surrounding lands. Once they were all assembled, he would summon them at the camp the Legionnaires from the Sixth Cohort had set up outside Tanzaku Quarters.

"If I had known what this would be, I wouldn't have wasted so much of my time on it. My training has been disturbed, my Legion is without my leadership, I was forced to rely on my Legate's Tribunes to maintain order, and I was forced to leave my family unguarded."

Karin still had his gift to her. She hadn't called to him so she must still be safe.

But he hated not being able to see such a thing with his own eyes. He despised that her safety was even at risk to begin with.

"The only good thing to come from all of this was meeting you, Fu." His anger, for the moment, subsided. He could focus on one of the few good things to happen during this trip. In a blink, the red that had dominated his eyes was replaced by blue. He turned from the window to the green-haired Shinobi from the Hidden Waterfall. "You've made a miserable journey bearable and you have my thanks."

"…I don't know what to say." She honestly didn't. No one was ever glad to see her, no one welcomed her. They scorned her as a monster mostly, some only saw her as a tool to discard once a job was done. But Naruto Uzumaki did. She couldn't tell when it happened but she had started enjoying being around him. He could be annoying, he could be arrogant, but she didn't want to be apart from him.

He didn't reject her. She almost felt like she could be herself around him.

"Then say nothing." His words weren't harsh. There was a grin on his face even. "I can find words enough for each of us if needed." He even laughed.

And Fu couldn't help the laugh that spilled from her lips, couldn't fight the smile on her face. She made a show of reaching up to her lips, imitated turning a key in a lock and throwing it away.

"Once we're done with this drunk, you should return to the Hidden Leaf with me. It would delight me to introduce you to Karin, show you where my Legion is headquartered. I'll even introduce you to my Legate, Sasuke Uchiha. His authority is second only to my own within my Empire. I have no doubt you'll find him interesting and give him no shortage of headaches."

"You want me to go back with you?" Fu shouldn't entertain the idea.

She shouldn't.

It would make her a Missing-nin.

It would put a Kill-on-Sight order for her.

It would prove everyone in the Hidden Waterfall Village right. Everyone who had ever doubted her, derided her, questioned her, would be right. The people who hated her ever since she had become the Jinchuriki of the Seven-Tails would be right.

"Why would I not?" Naruto turned completely away from the window, leaned back against it instead. Despite the monumental thing he was offering, the problems it could bring him, he didn't seem to let any of it weigh on him. "I've enjoyed our time together and we are kin as Jinchuriki. I already have Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi, among my Legion. You would be no different."

"That was after an attack, right? They probably all think he's your prisoner. I…I think it would be a little harder for me." A part of Fu, the part that still viewed this as a mission, filed away that information for later. The Hidden Sand had failed to crush the Hidden Leaf and had lost their notoriously bloodthirsty Jinchuriki. And Naruto didn't seem afraid of him, didn't seem worried at all. "Even if I've had a lot of fun with you, this is still a mission. I have to go back to the Hidden Waterfall once it's over."

"No you don't." Again, he spoke as if it wasn't a monumental life-changing choice he was putting before her. "I won't force you to come back with me but I won't allow them to force you to stay either. You have my favor and therefore you have my Legion's. If you require aid, I will give it. If you require blood, I will shed it." The blonde spoke as if he didn't understand what he was offering:

War.

He was willing to wage war against the Hidden Waterfall Village. If she asked him to, he would do such a thing.

'No. This can't be real.' Fu couldn't believe it was all that simple. She just couldn't.

"That sounds nice but…"

"You doubt me. I see it. You should fear nothing. Your enemies will become my enemies, your allies will become mine. All who dare to raise a hand against you will be destroyed. All who lend you aid will be treasured. I will not allow anything else for any who swear to me, who believe in the world I shall create."

Years of being unwanted. Of being scorned. Of being watched. It had shaped her to see every offer as two-faced, be rightfully cautious. She had been tricked before, mocked, ridiculed. All by the same Shinobi who she had tried to consider comrades, that she had tried to consider as allies if nothing else.

Allies that were terrified of her.

Comrades who wouldn't hesitate to knife her in the back.

People who reviled her.

"You know, I see the look on your face." Naruto's voice was closer, orange eyes snapping up from where they had fallen to the bed. He was in front of her, had crossed the room while she had fallen into her thoughts. He dropped down next to her on the bed. He was still relaxed, still acted as if this wasn't an insane offer. "You think I'm lying, trying to deceive you. I would never do such a thing. Not only would I not lie to you but I consider it beneath me. I was lied to all my life myself, treated as if I was a curse by the people of the Hidden Leaf Village. I know what it feels like to have the truth withheld from you, to have it forever out of reach."

"Before I had my Legion, I was desperate for their attention. I sought to be acknowledged in any way. Even if they hated me, despised me, if they noticed me it meant I would have had their attention. They couldn't ignore that I was there. It was stupid of me but I was alone, had no one. It was only later that I found out it was because I was the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi. I could finally understand then that they hated me for the Tailed Beast sealed within." He reached out, gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "We are kin because we understand the pain of that isolation, the coldness of such loneliness."

"It was terrible…" There were too many nights to list where she had cursed it all, cursed the village. She had spent too many nights simply wanting to know why she was being ignored, why she was being treated like she was a monster. Why so many people didn't even consider her worthy of being called a human being. "They hated me. My first memories are people glaring at me, telling me to go away."

"They shun us and yet they dare to demand we fight for them, fight for the village that refuses to embrace us. That we serve them, bark when bidden." Naruto's arm wrapped around her and she let him pull her to his side. She could count on one hand how many people had ever held her like this. "Of all the people who walk these lands, few know what its like to be utterly alone as we do. And unfortunately, we know it intimately."

"All I wanted was a single friend. I didn't even try to be greedy. All I needed was one. I think I have one but…He's supposed to be the next Village Head. He has to think about what's good for everyone before himself, before me."

She hated that she could never come first. That she could never be important enough.

"It is an awful existence." He let out a humorless laugh. "And that is why I refuse to accept it."

His words were spoken with weight, with certainty. She lifted her head off his shoulder enough to catch a glimpse of his face. His blue eyes were burning with not only determination but with absolute faith in himself. There was not a sliver of doubt in him, not a single sign that he couldn't accomplish his goal.

"I have decided to fight for my own glory. I will craft the greatest empire these lands have ever seen in my Uzumaki Empire. I will command the greatest army this world will ever know by the might of my Orange Legion. If the world will dare to stand against me, I will make it bleed for such an insult. If people declare themselves my enemy, I will crush them until they are nothing. Those who call themselves my ally, I will reward a hundred times over. Those who betray me, I will find ways to punish them for their treachery beyond even death."

Passion. Determination. Resolve.

Her orange eyes stared almost mystified at the blonde as he spoke.

He meant every word.

"That's your dream?" A part of her couldn't believe anyone could do it.

"It is no dream. I will see it become true." Naruto spoke with absolute certainty. He turned his eyes to her. "So, will you join me?"

She shouldn't.

She should.

He was insane.

He understood her.

It was treason to leave.

It would be torture to stay.

Even before she opened her mouth, she had her answer.

A black haired woman pulled her white haired elder down the street by a hand. She managed to cut through the crowd blocking her path by way of sheer bullheaded stubbornness. The man allowed himself to be led without question and without complaint. The only reason he didn't abandon the street for the rooftops was because he didn't know where exactly they were going and his guide was too exhausted to lead him any faster than she already was.

"It must be bad if you came to me."

Her silence was as much of an answer as he needed. Unseen by her, he winced.

"How long has she been at it?"

"She's been drinking for four days straight."

"She's going for a record." It was an awful joke. He frowned even as he said it, his dark eyes hard. 'It's worse than usual.' He hadn't expected her to be sober when they met but if she was going on a bender like this? 'How exactly do you expect me to bring her back, sensei?'

It was already a near impossible task with what he thought he was dealing with when he left the Hidden Leaf Village.

If she was this bad he didn't know how he could manage to convince her to do anything, let alone get her to come back to the village.

"She…It hasn't been like this before." Shizune's voice was quiet. It carried her stress, her worry, her exhaustion. He had no idea what she had gone through in the years since he had last seen her. "Coming back to this place every year hasn't helped her."

"She can't help it." Jiraiya understood why Tsunade made this yearly pilgrimage to Tanzaku Quarters, why she all but drowned herself in booze leading up to it. "You know how she is."

"I do." As exhausted as she was, Shizune couldn't hide the frustration in her voice. "She's…"

She bit her lip. She couldn't say such things about Tsunade. She shouldn't even think such things.

She knew why they were here. She knew why Tsunade was so difficult to talk to at the moment.

She should understand her.

She should.

"I've known her longer than you. I know she can be a handful. She was such a brat back when we were all fresh out of the Academy. It was always her way or nothing got done. She ran us ragged as Genin. I thought making Chunin would make her easier to handle but she got even worse. You should've seen her back then." Jiraiya was offering her an out. He was offering her a chance to air her frustrations, let them out to someone who wouldn't judge her.

Someone who could understand her.

"…" Shizune stopped. Jiraiya wouldn't go any further.

"Shizune." It was as if it was fifteen, twenty years ago in a moment. Jiraiya ruffled her hair. "Get some rest."

She couldn't help the way her shoulders shook.

"I…I can't." She hated even admitting it.

Jiraiya moved them off the street in the blink of an eye. He didn't let the shaking woman go. She couldn't look at him, couldn't say anything.

She couldn't give it a voice.

It was betraying her master.

It wouldn't change anything.

Tsunade was too set in her ways.

Tsunade was hurting.

Her master wouldn't change, couldn't. Not even if it would kill her.

"Hey. I'm here now. You don't have to do everything on your own. Not now. Not anymore."

"I…" She shouldn't.

Tsunade cared for her. In her own way. Her master cared for her even when she said things she shouldn't. Even when she held her too tight, drank too much to keep her strength in check. She always healed the bruises, never let them last long. But she never stopped drinking either. She couldn't. Not after all of these years.

Tsunade cared for her. It had to be the case. Her master cared for her.

She couldn't hurt her.

She couldn't betray her.

Her master wasn't always like this. She could be considerate, insightful, compassionate more often than not. She was a great Shinobi even after all these years. She was a mentor she was lucky to have. She was an incredible woman when she wasn't like this.

But Tanzaku Quarters brought out the worst in her. Her drinking, her gambling, was nothing compared to what this place did to her every year.

This place had been what ruined her after all.

It had been the sight of her greatest joy, the day she had held so much hope for the future.

And it had all been ruined when the man behind it had bled to death on that battlefield.

"Shizune." She couldn't see Jiraiya's face, couldn't look at him. The way he looked at her, if he judged her or pitied her, she couldn't risk it. She couldn't. "Please. If it's bad, I need you to talk to me. I need you to tell me what's wrong. I'm here now. If it's too much, I can take you back to the village. I can take you anywhere you need to be right now. Just tell me what you need."

She couldn't.

Tsunade was hurting. She didn't mean to hurt her. She didn't mean what she said.

She wasn't a bad person.

"I…" She couldn't.

'What happened to you Shizune?' Jiraiya didn't know what had happened between the two of them, what could've made Shizune like this. The woman in front of him was holding back her tears. She couldn't even look at him. 'Was this…Could Tsunade do this to someone?'

He didn't want to believe it.

He didn't even want to think about it but…

Tsunade had her demons. They were awful and they could rule her at times. Could she had done something like this? Could she had hurt Shizune this much?

He swallowed down the bile filling his mouth at the idea. Tsunade loved Shizune. She cared for her beyond just a teacher and student. How could she had hurt her like this? How could anyone do this to someone they loved? It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense.

'But Tsunade's not always herself.' It had been too long. Too long of leaving his friend to her grief, too long to doing nothing when he could've done something. Anything.

He wrapped Shizune in his arms. Whatever happened next, for now, he could stay with her. He could speak with Tsunade tomorrow. The day after. Later. Shizune was hurting now, had been hurting for who knows how long, and she needed someone.

He just wished she could rely on someone better than him.

Someone better than the man who had failed his friends, his teammates, his students.

"I'm here for you Shizune. As long as you need me, as long as you want me. I'll be here."

He couldn't see it but her tears were freed when she wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't say it, she couldn't condemn the woman who had done so much for her, but she could take this comfort now.

"Will you-"

"Another." She downed another glass but the face still wasn't going away.

His smile.

His voice.

His blood.

Dan...

He wasn't the only one.

Nawaki...

Both of them had been taken far before their time, should have been given the chance for a long life, to grow old. Unlike her. Unlike the blight she had turned into for all who knew her.

She hated being reminded of what she had lost.

She just wanted it to go away.

The memories, the feelings, all of it.

She wanted everything to go away. She couldn't bear this. Not anymore.

"Will you-"

"Another." The next glass was thrown back, her continuing attempt to drink herself to oblivion proving ineffective. She could still clearly remember everything.

So many bad memories, so much death. All because of her. She was a curse. It was why she needed to stay so far away, keep the plague of death she brought distant. To stay away from the legacy of her grandfather, of her Clan.

"Another." The alcohol burned when it traveled down her throat but it wasn't enough. It didn't pull her from her memories yet, let her live blissfully unaware of the endless death that followed in her wake.

The misery. Her punishment after daring to find joy in his smile. To love him.

"Will you-"

"Another." She needed more. A lot more. She needed to not know her own name by the end of this night. Hopefully she could forget it all by tomorrow morning, forget the man that had promised so much to her.

It was a dim hope. It had never happened before. She could never forget.

"Will you-"

"Another." Maybe this night would be different. She could forget everything, wake up knowing none of the pain, none of the misery, wake up knowing nothing at all. She could hope at least. Hope that she could wipe all the pain of this place from her mind when she utterly ruined it.

"Another." The drinks were coming too slow. The burn wasn't coming fast enough. She needed more, she needed something stronger.

She wasn't drunk enough.

She needed to be far past simply drunk by the time tonightwas said and done.

"Hey, listen to me!" She reached out blindly with her free hand, grabbed the blurred shape behind the bar by an arm. "Screw this small stuff!" She threw the glass away. It broke somewhere. "Hurry up and get me your good stuff. All of it. Right now."

It wasn't a request. She pushed the blurry shape away and didn't have to wait long. Two bottles placed in front of her quickly became one when she grabbed the first in her hand and drank it down.

The burn was new. It kept coming as she tipped the bottle further and further back. It helped everything become fuzzy, let her hardly know what was up and what was down. She kept going, kept downing the bottle. Faces blended together, everything became too hard to think about. She almost couldn't remember why she was drinking so much anymore. She kept drinking, felt the burn in her throat like she was drinking fire, felt the burning warmth spread with a desperately needed numbness following after it. She kept going until not a drop remained. She dropped the bottle next to her and fell onto the counter with it.

She still knew her name was Tsunade but at least some of the misery was gone, drowning under the burn of the alcohol, the haze it brought to the forefront of her mind.

"You brought me to Tanzaku? Don't you feel lucky."

"I'm the luckiest man in the world."

The pain was there at the memory. But it was distant, felt further away than before. It was a start.

She opened the second bottle.

She still had a long way to go.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

AN: 1/3 chapters for this update.