Tsunade's Change

Moonlight spilled down, bleaching the courtyard white. A thin layer of frost covered the ground, crunching faintly beneath each step.

The distant wall cast a long shadow under the moonlight. At its far end stood an old tree, stripped of leaves, its bare branches reaching toward the sky like a withered hand.

Tsunade stood beneath the eaves of the Senju ancestral home, looking at the courtyard, empty once more.

She had been standing there for a long time.

The clansmen who shared her blood had left. After dinner, Shizune had gone inside to pack, settling Tonton in a corner. Every so often, she peeked out to look at Tsunade, but didn't disturb her.

Tsunade closed her eyes to the world around her and let herself grow still, using her inner sight to sense the changes within her.

When she was young, she had always felt that the Senju Clan's reputation, and that of her grandfather Senju Hashirama, was a stumbling block on her path to adulthood. Their renown overshadowed her efforts, making every accomplishment of hers seem like a matter of course.

She had desperately wanted to escape those reputations. So she had never cared about the Senju Clan's division and decline. She had believed that without the Senju Clan, even if she couldn't measure up to her grandfather Senju Hashirama, she could still become a legendary ninja on par with her granduncle Senju Tobirama.

But reality had slapped Tsunade hard in the face. Without the Senju Clan, she couldn't even protect the lives of her younger brother and the man she loved.

Watching her brother and her beloved die before her eyes had made Tsunade afraid. She feared ninjas, Konoha, everything. Then she watched her grandmother, who had always doted on her, leave her too after the Nine-Tails was extracted. Tsunade completely lost control. She began to fear blood, and to fear her identity as a ninja.

Tsunade had always thought that someone like her was already a disgrace to the Senju Clan, until...

It happened after Jiraiya received her promise that she would return to the village.

"Lady Tsunade." Shizune's voice came from behind her. "I'll wait for you in the town ahead. I'll leave a signal, so you can find me whenever you come out of Shikkotsu Forest."

Tsunade turned and looked at Shizune, who was holding Tonton in her arms. It was the first gift Tsunade had ever given her, and Shizune had always taken good care of it.

The girl had followed her for many years, accompanying her away from Konoha and her home since she was a little girl who knew nothing. Tsunade herself had been a hopeless mess, drinking and gambling every day and never properly taking care of the child.

But Shizune had never complained. Perhaps, after becoming an orphan, she had abandoned the very idea of complaining. After all, a child who struggled just to survive had no opportunity to gripe, and no one to listen to her complaints.

Her parents had died when she was young. When Tsunade learned she was Dan Katō's niece, she took her in. At first, it was only for Dan Katō's sake. For his sake, she taught Shizune ninjutsu and how to conduct herself.

Tsunade had never formally said that she was taking Shizune as her student. She knew that at first, she had only done it to maintain some connection to Dan Katō—they hadn't even officially become a couple.

"Shizune, come here."

Shizune walked over and stood in front of Tsunade. She looked at her in confusion. Usually, Tsunade would simply summon her way out of there. Why was today different?

"You've studied under me for all these years." Tsunade looked at Shizune, whom she had always thought carried Dan Katō's shadow. Only today did she truly see her: Shizune was simply Shizune. There was no one else's shadow in her. "I've never let you sign the summoning scroll for Katsuyu."

Shizune froze, then lowered her head. "Lady Tsunade, you must have had a reason for not letting me sign."

"It wasn't that I didn't want you to." Tsunade sighed. She knew Shizune understood, but still offered the only explanation she could. "I couldn't."

She reached out and stroked Shizune's head. Without her noticing, the little girl she had once been had grown into a graceful young woman.

"You know about my hemophobia. It never got better all these years, and signing requires blood. I was a little reluctant. And besides, everyone in the Ninja World knows my summoning beast is Katsuyu. Once you signed the summoning scroll, ninjas from other villages would recognize Katsuyu and know our relationship. I've made plenty of enemies in other villages over the years. I was afraid they'd target you..."

Tears welled up in Shizune's eyes. She had always thought Tsunade saw her as a way to hold on to Dan Katō, but after hearing Tsunade explain, she realized that she truly did matter to her. "Lady Tsunade, you never told me any of this..."

"I didn't want to tell you before." Tsunade wiped Shizune's tears away. "But I've thought it through now. I've overcome my hemophobia. You're my student, and you deserve to earn Katsuyu's recognition. Besides, you've been by my side all these years. Anyone could figure out our relationship with a little digging. Having Katsuyu will actually make you safer."

As she spoke, Tsunade summoned Katsuyu.

"Lady Tsunade, do you need support in a battle?" Katsuyu asked in her usual gentle voice as soon as she appeared.

"It's not a battle. I want Shizune to sign the summoning scroll too, so she can become your summoner." Tsunade explained it to Katsuyu. She usually couldn't be bothered to carry luggage, so she kept many of her things in Shikkotsu Forest and retrieved them whenever she needed them.

"So Lady Shizune is going to become my summoner too. Congratulations!" Katsuyu often saw Shizune and knew what kind of person she was, so she was quite happy to welcome her as a summoner.

Using the Summoning Technique, Katsuyu brought out the summoning scroll Tsunade had stored in Shikkotsu Forest and placed it in front of her.

Tsunade stroked the scroll and slowly unfurled it. Senju Hashirama's, Senju Nawaki's, and her own names were already written on it. The scroll was old, its paper yellowed, but the writing remained clear.

"Sign it." Tsunade turned the scroll toward Shizune.

Shizune took it, her hands trembling. She crouched and spread the scroll on the ground, bit her finger, and used her blood to write her name: Kato Shizune.

The characters came out crooked, but they stood out clearly to Shizune.

Tsunade looked at those two characters, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.

"Lady Shizune, we're partners from now on." Seeing Shizune overcome with joy, Katsuyu was happy for her too.

Flustered by Katsuyu's words, Shizune hurriedly bowed. "Lady Katsuyu, I look forward to working with you."

"All right." Tsunade rolled up the scroll and handed it to Katsuyu. "In a moment, could you use the Reverse Summoning Technique to bring Shizune and me to Shikkotsu Forest? I need to meditate for a few days. Shizune can learn some cooperative summoning techniques from you while we're there."

"Of course." Katsuyu nodded, then vanished in a puff of white smoke.

In an instant, Tsunade and Shizune also vanished in puffs of white smoke.

Shikkotsu Forest—one of the Three Great Sage Regions. Tsunade and Shizune appeared in a clearing in the forest.

A gigantic slug watched them quietly. She was larger than any other summoning beast, her body white with blue markings, her antennae swaying slowly in the air.

Katsuyu Sage, the matriarch of Shikkotsu Forest, was one of the founders of the Three Great Sage Regions, on par with the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku and the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave.

"Lady Tsunade, is your hemophobia cured?"

"Yes." Tsunade nodded and walked up to Katsuyu. "I need to train here for a while. I'll leave Shizune in your care. Please look after her."

Katsuyu lowered her head and touched Shizune's forehead with an antenna.

"I've watched this child grow up too. She's kindhearted and suited to becoming a medical ninja. Don't worry. Leave her to me."

Shizune bowed nervously. "Please take care of me."

After talking for a little while, Katsuyu took Shizune away, while Tsunade used another part of Katsuyu to travel to the base where she kept her belongings.

Once she reached the base, she found a flat rock to sit on, closed her eyes, and began recalling the contents of the inheritance Uchiha Naro had passed on to her.

Tsunade didn't pore over it like Orochimaru, reading every word over and over to understand it in detail. After reading it only two or three times, she started trying to sense the Cloud Canopy above her head.

The Cloud Canopy wasn't still. It thickened or thinned as Fortune rose or fell, and slowly expanded as one's cultivation deepened.

But that happened passively, naturally. Training in Uchiha Naro's Method of National Fortune was like holding the key: one could actively manipulate it, making it pulse, fluctuate, and revolve in a specific way, actively drawing together the Fortune connected to oneself and gathering it within the Cloud Canopy.

Tsunade let her consciousness sink into the void, sensing the thin layer of Cloud Canopy.

In truth, Tsunade's talent and comprehension were far greater than Orochimaru's and Jiraiya's.

Orochimaru was the kind of person who reached the pinnacle through diligence and persistence. Jiraiya was the kind of person who became strong through the talent of an ordinary man. Tsunade, on the other hand, was a true genius—the granddaughter of Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Mito. From the day she was born, she stood at a height most people could never reach in their entire lives.

But she had one fatal flaw: she had always chosen a rebellious path—or rather, she had deliberately abandoned the broad, bright road to take remote byways just to prove herself.

Perhaps it was because she had gotten everything too easily. The sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan that Uzumaki Mito brought with her, the many ninjutsu and forbidden techniques developed by Senju Tobirama—those things were all within easy reach for her.

And the ninjutsu other people had to give their all to learn, she could master after seeing it once. The medical techniques others needed years to master, she could become proficient in within months.

Things that came too easily weren't cherished. Heights reached too easily held no allure.

So, for all those years, she had resisted. She had resisted the path her family had set out for her, refusing to learn the many profound techniques at her disposal and instead studying medical ninjutsu, all to prove her own talent.

In terms of results, she had indeed achieved what she'd set out to do at first: she had become a renowned medical ninja in the Ninja World.

But she had lost so much too.

She had lost the power to protect her brother and the man she loved. She had lost the chance to change Konoha. She had lost the powerful deterrence of the Senju Clan's military strength. No matter how formidable her medical ninjutsu was, in this world where strength ruled, she still couldn't command much influence. She had lost...

Now she had finally recognized herself and accepted once more the things she had once scorned...

Much faster than Orochimaru, she soon felt the difference her bloodline made: she sensed the Cloud Canopy.

Tsunade's Fortune was far more abundant than Orochimaru's. It was right above her head, very close. It was quiet, barely moving, like a pool of stagnant water.

"Pulse..." Tsunade silently repeated the mantra from the inheritance. "The Cloud Canopy is like a drum. Its beat gives rise to Fortune..."

She tried to nudge the Cloud Canopy with her mind.

It didn't move.

She tried again. Still nothing.

Tsunade didn't rush. She knew she had only just begun; there was no hurrying this. The more impatient you were with cultivation, the slower it went. She took a deep breath, slowed and steadied it, and let her consciousness grow soft and flexible. Don't shove with brute force. Guide it with finesse.

Once, twice, three times...

After an unknown length of time, the Cloud Canopy finally trembled slightly. It was like a drum being tapped gently, sending out a ripple.

The corner of Tsunade's mouth lifted slightly.

Keep going.

The Cloud Canopy's pulse grew more pronounced, its faint tremor turning into a rhythmic rise and fall. Tsunade could feel something gathering from the void, following the clouds of light and settling on the Cloud Canopy, making it gradually grow denser.

That something was Fortune.

The Senju bloodline, the legacy of Shikkotsu Forest, the fame of the Sannin... These things had always belonged to her, but she had never willingly embraced them. Now they were gathering above her head, bit by bit.

Immersed in the sensation, Tsunade lost track of time.

From then on, Tsunade trained in Shikkotsu Forest every day, sitting on that rock and practicing the Method of National Fortune Uchiha Naro had passed on to her.

She tried different rhythms: some fast, some slow, some light, some heavy. She practiced making the Cloud Canopy ripple like waves on water, spreading outward in overlapping layers. She tried making it rotate, turning bit by bit, as slowly as a snail.

During this process, Tsunade also sensed the Fortune that flickered like a candle in the wind—the Senju Clan's Fortune.

In Tsunade's view, after all these years, she should be the only one left in the Senju Clan. She had never looked after or cared for the other Senju who had branched off, and she figured they must have long forgotten they had once belonged to the Senju Clan.

By Uchiha Naro's theory of Fortune, the Senju Clan's Fortune should have long since dissipated and disappeared. In that case, her Cloud Canopy should no longer be able to absorb the Senju Clan's Fortune.

But to Tsunade's surprise, as she trained, she actually absorbed the Senju Clan's Fortune. There wasn't much, but it kept coming.

Following that Fortune, she used the Art of Qi Observation to look around. To her surprise, she saw several streams of Fortune sustaining the Senju Clan's presence. Among those streams were Senju who had branched off, people she had never paid attention to before, as well as people she had never imagined...

So there were others in Konoha besides her who had never forgotten the Senju.

Tsunade knew what she wanted now!

The memories passed quickly. In just a few breaths, Tsunade took a deep breath and brought her thoughts back to the present.

"Shizune, go to Konoha Hospital." Tsunade's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Shizune.

Shizune, who was tidying up inside, froze. "Konoha Hospital?"

"That's right." Tsunade nodded. "Tell whoever's in charge at the hospital to come here for a meeting tomorrow morning."

"But... Sensei, you've been gone for so many years. The hospital may have a different director now."

"No." Tsunade said with certainty. "The Third wouldn't do that."

Shizune nodded, stopped what she was doing, and got up to leave.

"Oh, right." Tsunade added just before Shizune went out, "When you deliver the message, make it clear... The director of Konoha Hospital, Tsunade, is calling them to a meeting at the Senju Compound."

Shizune paused, then smiled. "Yes, Sensei."

She hurried away.

Tsunade watched Shizune's retreating figure. The Cloud Canopy above her head was slowly growing larger and denser. Her decision to restore the Senju bloodline to its rightful place was drawing together the Fortune that had been scattered for so long.

She was the director of Konoha Hospital. She hadn't used that title all these years because she had been disappointed in certain people. Now she would take it up again, because she had become utterly disappointed in certain people.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sensed the Cloud Canopy above her head. It was rotating slowly, as if dozing. But every rotation drew a little Fortune from the void—not much, but steadily.

Like a trickle becoming a river.

"Grandpa, Nawaki." She softly made a promise in the Senju Compound. "Just watch. I'll lead the Senju Clan and Konoha back to glory."

"Sensei, this is bad!" Just as Tsunade was sensing her Fortune, Shizune, who had only just left, suddenly rushed back. "Sensei, something terrible's happened. Just now..."