If Dan Katō had been a little more vigilant.
If Nawaki had checked before using the explosive tag.
Maybe...
But there were never that many maybes. This was now the only timeline.
Someone who valued feelings had lost someone important; a Medical Ninja had developed Hemophobia; Tsunade had become a wreck who drowned her sorrows in alcohol.
Clothes could be mended, but wounds were hard to heal.
"Phew..."
Tsunade took a deep breath, suppressing the grief creeping through her limbs, and looked at the three rookie Ninja before her. They were watching her quietly.
They were all so young, with bright futures ahead of them. The Uzumaki Forehead Protectors on their foreheads represented their resolve to throw themselves into danger for the village at any time.
Yet when she saw the traces of childishness still on their faces, Tsunade felt an unreal sense of dissonance.
She did not understand why, after so many years, the Ninja village system her Grandfather had created for peace remained no different from before.
What had Sarutobi Hiruzen governed? What had Shimura Danzō done?
She did not know...
Tsunade clenched her fists and gave Uchiha Chi and the other two a complicated look.
She could not change anything, but at the very least... she wanted these three temporary students before her to live safely until they were old enough to freely savor fine wine.
This was one of the obsessions she kept buried in her heart.
"Rather than hoping you become immensely powerful Ninja in the future, I personally hope that you can do your best to ensure your own survival in dangerous emergencies."
"From that comes the second question."
Tsunade raised an index finger seriously. Her finger was fair and slender, impeccably manicured, like an ivory work of art beneath the sunlight.
"When you