Chapter 44 – The search for Tsunade
The following morning we depart from Konoha, starting our search for Tsunade.
The five of us, team 10 and Ino, get on a small horse-led twin-axle caravan.
Ino's presence was unusual but necessary, even without taking into account how she insisted on being included, our team couldn't leave without a ninja who knows the Chakra Transfer Technique.
Without Ino I wouldn't last much more than a couple of weeks due to leaking chakra.
My life is on the clock but although we don’t know the exact location of Tsunade I had a strong lead on where she was headed.
We are about 5 months early…
In the story after the Chunin exams and the death of the third Hokage Naruto and Jiraya set out to find Tsunade to take the office of 5th Hokage and heal the injured Sasuke, Kakashi and Rock Lee.
Itachi’s Genjutsu had mentally damaged Sasuke and Kakashi while Rock Lee had bone fragments lodged in his spine after his defeat against Gaara in the Chunin exams eliminations.
“So who is this Tsunade ninja?” Hinata asks
Ino tilts her head “Don’t you remember from class? She was one of the most important heroes in both the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars”
“That was already long ago, how old is she by now?” Sakura wonders.
“I guess you kids would know her from that. In my time even though she had already left the village we’d still heard stories about the legendary granddaughter of the first Hokage, the Senju princess.”
Anko laughs
“These days the legends we hear are a bit different. She left 10 years ago near the end of the Third War, and since then all we hear is how she goes around getting drunk and spending all her money while looking not a day over 30.”
The Senju clan.
It is certainly a section of history that irks me the wrong way. I let my theories air.
“For one of the founding clans of Konoha they sure fell into obscurity, Tsunade is the last known member. I wonder if it has anything to do with some particular clan-hating elders or a hate-loving red-eyed clan…”
“In part perhaps, but it is known they choose to marry most of their members to outside clans, bonding their cause to the village.
"Over a few decades, their members dwindled but it can also be said Senju blood lives on in every clan of the village and their will of fire creed adopted by the village.”
Maybe I was wrong… To think the Senju would sacrifice their own bloodline purity and clan for the sake of their Konohagakure plan. They have guts, I'll give them that.
“So where are we heading?”
To the Las Vegas of the Fire Country. I'm sad no one else would get that reference.
“Towards Tanzaku Quarters, she might have been there recently or be nearby. We’re not sure so we should ask around in every gambling den we pass on our way there”
It took us almost two weeks, we got confirmation she had just left for Tanzaku Quarters.
Over this time I saved my energy. The less energy I used, the less foreign chakra I’d consume and the longer I'd have to fix myself.
It honestly creeped everyone out a bit. I didn’t eat, didn’t breathe, and my heart was mostly a hole I kept covered.
As a plus, I didn’t need a toilet either, but everyone was understandably in a somber mood.
I spent most of my day sleeping to conserve energy or talking with the girls to ease their worries.
As such I missed most of what they talked about during the trip, stuck in the darkness of sleep, not even allowing my mind to waste energy with dreams.
When I was awake, I still had to consider what I was going to do about Tsunade or try to understand the weirdness behind my wounds.
I don’t know if I can be saved, or how I’d ever convince Tusnade to take the mantle of Hokage.
Do I need to pull “I WILL BE THE HOKAGE” like Naruto did...
I’m already dead so that would at least save her the worry about when I’d die to her 'everyone I love that wants to be the Hokage dies' curse.
If she can heal my heart I would be near immortal after I guess… but the seat of Hokage just sounds like a lot of pain.
It’s a problem for later I guess. To be honest convincing Tsunade is only secondary. I'm fine with just getting myself fixed and leaving it to future Naruto to deal with.
For now, we are almost upon Tsunade.
Meanwhile, in Tankazu Quarter an inexplicable scenario was taking place…
Tsunade the legendary loser, known for her gullibility and horrible luck was on a streak…
A winning streak… She’d triple her earnings just that morning but the more she won the more she wanted to lose. She swapped machines, swapped shops, swapped gambling games but luck seemed stuck to her.
She hated it, after all, the fun of gambling isn’t in winning every gamble. It’s in the unexpected win after a streak of losses. The happiest gamblers are the ones who lose the most before finally making a killing.
For Tsunade, such a streak of wins can only mean grand misfortune awaits her in the future.
She got so fearful of the incoming misfortune she left the gambling section altogether and instead chose to go get drinks that afternoon… and skip town the next day before doom befalls her.
Alas… she was too late.
We arrived at Tanzaku Quarters and asked around for a woman-matching Tsunades description in several gambling spots.
We almost dismissed the info that someone matching her looks had been on a roll that morning but, without any better leads, we chose to follow it and check the pub to at the very least grab something to eat.
Once we made it inside the pub and my eyes fell on her I knew we had the right person.
Shoulder-length blonde with brown eyes. A shiny blue diamond on her forehead and the most unbelievable pair of breasts I’d ever seen hidden behind a grey mesh shirt and her characteristic Senju green kimono.
I knew what I was expecting but seeing her beauty in real life hit differently.
Her table had already over a dozen empty glasses and she had the usual company of Shizune and emergency rations piglet Tonton.
I point to her table and announce it to the party.
"That's her right there"
“That’s Tsunade…
“50???”
“E+?… F… G!!! HOW?”
Ino, Hinata and Sakura’s reactions were amazing to witness.
She was, fortunately, sitting on a large table with more than enough room for us to sit so we approached.