Teaching Relationships

Stumbling down the street, still holding a bottle of sake in her hand, Tsunade almost ran into her assistant Shizune. As she stumbled back and caught her balance, she glowered at the other younger woman.

“What are you doing here?” she slurred.

With a pale blush staining her cheeks, Shizune replied, “I’m meeting someone.”

Tsunade perked up immediately and looked around. When she didn’t see the younger woman’s boyfriend, she leaned down close to her ear. “For who?” she whispered, smiling.

While Shizune tried to move her head away from Tsunade’s alcohol-scented breath, a figure approached behind them. Then just as Shizune was about to answer, a deep male voice spoke up behind her.

“Hello, Shizune.”

Both women turned to stare at the man behind them. Iruka had looked calm enough until he recognized the Hokage, at which point he began to frown. “I’m sorry for interrupting. I didn’t recognize you Tsunade,” he stuttered in apology.

“Oh, no, no. It appears I was the one interrupting. You two enjoy your date.”

Then Tsunade waited until both their faces turned red before turning away and continuing on toward her next bar. Just before she arrived, she saw two of her younger villagers standing at the corner of the street. The two men were talking in hushed voices, and the taller dark-haired one remained very aware of his surroundings. Fortunately, he was not as skilled as Tsunade, even when she had been drinking all night, so she had no trouble getting close enough to hear their conversation without them noticing she was there.

“You need to tell her to be more forward, Naruto. She’s not going to just do it on her own,” The taller man recommended.

“Sasuke, it’s not that simple,” Naruto murmured. “She’s very shy. I don’t want to frighten her. Hell, I’ve barely even gotten her to let me take her shirt off.”

With a condescending smile and chuckle, Sasuke patted his best friend on the shoulder. “That’s exactly why you need to talk to her. It should be simple enough with Hinata. She admires you and would do anything you asked her to. I have more trouble with Ino. It’s easy to tell someone what to do for you. It’s difficult to tell them what to do for themselves.”

“She’s still doing that?”

“Yeah. I tried telling her after the first time you and I talked about it, but she hasn’t changed. It’s nice that she does everything I ask for, but just once I’d like her to ask for something. I’m starting to feel like sex is just me taking advantage of her.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not even having sex, so I doubt I can be of much help. I’m just hoping Hinata will relax on her own.”

“That seems unlikely.”

By then both boys were frowning, and since their conversation seemed to be dwindling, Tsunade moved on. She stumbled toward her tower, no longer wanting to go to the next bar. Not that she wouldn’t drink—she was already thinking about that bottle hidden in the book in her office. But, before she arrived, she was stopped again by seeing some familiar faces. The smaller chubbier ninja was looking up sympathetically at his best friend.

“I was surprised you two got together in the first place. She’s very stubborn, and I don’t know if that’s a good match with you, since you’re so calm,” Chouji offered.

“You can say what you want, but she’s the only girl I don’t despise talking to. I just…”

“You don’t need to explain it to me, Shikamaru. I understand. It’s natural to want to be in control once in awhile. I know I haven’t dated much, but I’ve seen the two of you together. A part of you wants her to back down once in awhile and let you be manly.”

Only two male friends as close as those two could talk that way, Tsunade thought to herself. Then she turned away and continued on toward her tower. By the time she arrived, she was exhausted and distracted by the thoughts of her villagers’ romantic lives. Instead of sitting down in her office to drink, she grabbed the bottle and took off for her bedroom. It seemed like a night of alcohol in bed was in order.


The next afternoon a meeting was called for some of the jounins of the village. Assuming they had a new mission, each of them was quick to arrive. Anko was the first to appear in Tsunade’s office, since she was always eagerly awaiting new missions. Shizune was usually there already, but she had gone out for breakfast with Iruka and was forced to cut things short with a quick kiss and run back to Tsunade’s office. The final two to arrive were Asuma and Kurenai, since they often slowed their pace when in the presence of each other. Usually Tsunade would yell at them for being late, so everyone was nervous when she was still grinning as they strolled into her office side by side.

“Everyone sit down,” Tsunade commanded.

The four quickly found seats – Asuma and Kurenai squeezed onto a small couch, Anko sat in a chair near the corner of Tsunade’s desk, and Shizune sat down shyly in the chair beside Kurenai. Once they all looked comfortable, Tsunade leaned forward on her table eagerly. Shizune was the first to notice that Tsunade’s office didn’t reek of alcohol, which only made her more afraid of what the woman had to say.

“I have a new mission for the four of you. It’s a bit of an experiment.”

The leering look in the Hokage’s eye made everyone a little nervous, even Anko. Still, she was the first to shake it off and ask, “What will we be doing?”

Tsunade grinned wider and shook her head. “I’ll get to that later. I’d like to meet with each of you individually. Shizune, I’d like to speak with you first. The rest of you can wait down the hall until Shizune fetches one of you.”

After a short pause, everyone nodded and left the room except for Shizune and Tsunade. The older blonde stood and pulled a chair close to her desk and then motioned for Shizune to sit down. The younger woman sat cautiously, trying not to look as nervous as she was.

“Shizune, I will not be explaining the mission to you until it is necessary, but I do need to get some information from you. Be completely honest and answer quickly. I have no time for games,” Tsunade said menacingly.

Shizune gulped nervously and nodded.

“How long have you been dating Iruka now?” Tsunade asked suddenly.

When Shizune paused to take a nervous breath, she didn’t miss the furious look in Tsunade’s eyes. Quickly she replied, “Almost a year.”

“And how often do you see each other?”

“Uh…is this…relevant?” Shizune whispered.

With a cold look, Tsunade snapped, “Answer the question!”

“A couple hours maybe once a week?” the nervous young woman squeaked.

“Do you realize that you spend at least 10 times that amount of time with me?”

Although Shizune was still nervous and embarrassed, she couldn’t help but think about Tsunade’s question. The older woman wasn’t wrong—Shizune spent entire days with the Hokage, even when off duty, and she could barely make an hour for Iruka during the week.

“Now, has he ever spent the night at your house?” Tsunade continued.

“Um…” Tsunade’s eyes darkened. “No,” Shizune replied quickly.

“Have you spent the night at his house?”

“No.”

Tsunade frowned. “Even though you both live alone and are adults?” she asked.

Shizune nodded, feeling the blush darken on her cheeks. She suddenly realized what the older woman might be hinting at, and she really hoped she was wrong. Tsunade’s plans were always twisted, and Shizune hoped she wasn’t going to be involved.

“That’s all for now. Go fetch Anko,” Tsunade snapped suddenly.


When Shizune returned a few minutes later, Anko sat down quickly in front of Tsunade and Shizune ran out of the room again. Once the door was closed, Tsunade grinned at the younger, feisty woman in front of her.

“I know we haven’t been able to send you out on missions as much lately since the village has been at peace, but I’m thinking you might enjoy the job I have for you this time. Hopefully it will make up for you missing out missions lately,” Tsunade began.

“What’s my job?” Anko asked eagerly.

“Well, in my wanderings last night, I came to quite a realization. I believe that there is important work to be done right in our own village. It is an unusual mission, but it will use many of your skills, and you might very much enjoy it.”

Anko looked pleased and smirked menacingly, as she so often did. Tsunade had no fear of the younger woman, but she could see why others might.

“Do you think you’d be interested?” Tsunade asked.

“Of course I’m interested! Now, will you explain the details to me?”

“Soon.” Then Tsunade screamed, “Shizune!”

Her young assistant flung open the door immediately and looked into the room. “Yes, ma’am?” she called in.

“Bring Kurenai and Asuma back down here.”

“Yes!”

Shizune returned only moments later with Kurenai and Asuma right behind her. The couple sat down next to Anko, while Shizune left again after Tsunade pointed to the door. Once everyone was settled, Tsunade began again.

“As I was just telling Anko, I have a mission for the three of you. It is an unusual mission, but I think it will fit all of you well, if you are willing to participate.”

“And what does this mission call for exactly?” Kurenai asked.

“I want the three of you to begin a kind of task force along with myself. I want to use your skills as teachers in a different area. Many of the ninja of this village are having difficulties that are distracting them from their jobs. Now, Asuma and Kurenai, if you don’t mind, I’d like to use you as an example.” Once they both nodded, Tsunade continued. “You have been a couple for quite a long time. But you have always kept that from affecting your missions, other than the few times that one of you was in danger. In that case, it is unavoidable, since people behave differently even when their friends are in danger. My problem now is that we have so many couples, especially young couples, which are letting their newer relationships slow down their progress. And it seems to me that in most cases, they are distracted by some underlying issue in their relationship.”

“And what does this have to do with us?” Anko interrupted.

“Well, I believe that if we can educate some of these couples, we can make many of our missions run smoother.”

“And how exactly do you want the three of us to educate them?”

“The four of us,” Tsunade corrected. “And it will change depending on the couple. I just want to know if all of you are interested or not.”

“Yes, of course we are!” Anko snapped.

Kurenai and Asuma locked eyes and then both nodded at the Hokage.

“Good. We will begin tomorrow. I have some couples in mind already,” Tsunade said.