Tsunade silently sat in the corner of her hotel room, sake bottle firmly in hand her thoughts were in turmoil, and had been so for the past few days or so. Jiraiya's words still echoed in her mind.
'No mater how many treaties, agreements, alliances and policies we make, they are…a fragile alliance at best, which breaks almost every two decades and more innocents are lost. But this…this is something that can bring peace for far longer than just some signed treaty.'
His argument had merit, it was true that no mater how many peace agreements and signings the villages made between eachother, this spiral of war was never ending.
But…could he do it? Could he truly bring peace to the world? It was…a dream at best, and a delusion at worst.
And even if he could, just how many more people would he have to destroy in order to do so? How many deaths can be justified with this ambition? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?
And what if he failed, would it all have been for nothing? Would all the rivers of blood and tears all be for a simple delusion that would simply throw this chaotic world into an even darker abyss of death and war?
What justification could he have then?
"Just think of it Tsunade…no one will ever again have to go through what you went through with Nawaki and Dan."
Her former teammates words again reached her and she scowled remembering how much both, herself and her parents had cried when Nawaki died and then the feeling of cold solitude when Dan had left. It hadn't been fair and she grew to hate the world for it.
Could she save others from such a thing if she did this?
"Tsunade-sama?" A hesitant voice reached her ears. "What are you doing sitting in the dark?"
Tsunade was snapped out of her thoughts at the second sentence. "Its dark?" She questioned as she blinked noticing that indeed the sun had already gone down bathing the room in its inky blackness. Akina stood at the doorway with some groceries in hand.
"Where's Shizune?" Tsunade questioned as the girl closed the door with her foot.
The young blond shrugged. "Don't know, we were on our way up here when she suddenly handed me everything and mumbled something about leading some debt collectors away."
Tsunade blushed slightly realizing that Shizune had, again, saved her from the debt collectors.
She watched as the blond girl placed the overstuffed bag on the table and began putting things inside of the mini fridge. She had recovered remarkably well from her injuries throughout the last month or so since they found her and these last two weeks Now Shizune often times had to go and find her to make sure she didn't strain herself to much while training.
After a few moments Akina began to notice the tense aura surrounding Tsunade and turned to face her. "Is something wrong?" She asked genuinely curious with even what was considered a hint of worry in her voice.
Tsunade was quiet for a moment before she finally stated. "I spoke to Jiraiya a while back."
The younger girl tensed, her back going ramrod straight as she turned to face her. Her expression was hesitant and worried, since she didn't know exactly what to say she merely kept quiet, waiting for Tsunade to continue.
Seeing that she wouldn't speak Tsunade decided to continue. "He came to offer me a place in Konoha again."
The young girl turned her gaze away from the last Sannin, she leaned over the table "I…see" She said uncertainly. After a moment she seemed to gather herself, her hunched form straightening out as she once again turned to face the slug princess "Will you…will you accept?" She bit her lower lip slightly as she waited for Tsunade's answer.
Tsunade drank some more sake, leaned back in her chair and looked at her dead in the eye. "What will you do if I say I will?"
Guan sat in a tree, holding his broadsword across his chest as he waited, halfheartedly tracing a stone over the edges. Shino sat nearby, focusing his chakra and preparing his Kikaichu for battle.
Guan looked at the young Aburame, as if sizing him up finally after a moment or so he spoke. "I have heard, that you volunteered for this mission young gennin." He stated evenly.
Shino turned his head to face him. "Yes I did."
Guan made a "Hn" sound as he traced the stone over his sword again "Why would a gennin such as yourself volunteer for a mission like this, it would be considered suicidal. So either you are very arrogant or have another reason altogether for doing this."
Shino pushed his sunglasses back into position before speaking. "Indeed I did, but my reasons are my own and are no concern of yours…with all due respect." He added as an afterthought.
Guan smirked. "Indeed it is not. Very well then gennin, keep your secrets. For the battle is about to begin." As he spoke he stood and examined his sword.
Shino looked to the distance and indeed noticed faint movement beyond the tree's. It looks as if they've arrived.
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