Tsunade's Mama Mode

Chapter 5

She opened her eyes at the first sign of daylight.

Tsunade blinked a few times, trying to recompose herself in the few seconds of foggy consciousness that came with a wave of weariness. Taxing her muscles, she went to sit up, yet felt a weight on top of her. Not a heavy one, but one she was not used to. The blonde looked down to her chests only to find a mop of sunshine hair. A small kid was dormant on top of her, hugging her over her shoulders and resting his head on the crook of her neck.

What the hell is going on?

She was pretty sure she hadn't fallen down so bad to be doing that with a kid...he was cute though.

Then the events of the prior day came rushing to her mind. Her arrival to Konoha, meeting the kid, her sensei, and the lost battle in separating the squirt from her. Log all mighty, she had to bathe with him because he just wouldn't let her go.

-o-

So skinny...so small...

Once she got rid of the coat of grim and layers upon layers of dirt she finally got to set her eyes on her last living relative...the last of her family. Tanned skin, sparklingly blue eyes accompanied by whiskers on his cheeks. Blond hair that had a shine of its own. Just seeing his face and other characteristics that composed his person, she knew who his parents were.

Gosh...Kushina, if you saw him...

She just knew that the fiery red-haired would just fall for her son instantly...and would murder the whole village for what they had done to him. But now — now that responsibility had just fallen on her lap. She had no idea of what to do next, Tsunade was just following the motions at this point and was letting her heart guide her.

When Shizune finally arrived at the Senju compound with the food she asked for, the brunette came to the odd scene of her sensei sitting on the couch, a little blond boy sitting on her lap hugging her neck while Tsunade was patting his head with an absent look in her eyes. The apprentice could only chuckle in amusement while clearing her throat to cover the feeling.

Tsunade shook her head and looked at her, raising an eyebrow to show that she was less than happy with their current circumstances.

What followed was a quiet dinner, and the blonde was not impressed that the chibi chose to sit on her lap. She sighed and had to hand-feed him after realizing that he was making a mess of his food, obviously not knowing how to use chopsticks and even going as far as to try to pick the food with his fingers. Her temperament got the better of her and reprimanded the kid, glared even while telling him to not eat like an animal.

"Who the hell taught you to eat like that?!"

"I-I—"

"Hand me those!" with a jank, she took the wooden sticks, collected the rice and put it in front of him. He blinked a few times. "Do I need to open your mouth for you too, brat?" she mumbled in between her teeths with her brows furrowed.

Numb, the little blond opened his mouth, and even though her eyes and voice were aggressive, her motions were delicate and gentle, the rice was put in his tongue and he chewed slowly even though his stomach was screaming for him to just jump at the food, get as much inside him and as fast as he could. But was hypnotized by her warmth and didn't find it in him to move an inch away from her.

It took too long —in Tsunade's opinion— for the little guy to finally eat enough to not feel like he was starving to death. Sadly, she had to live with his sad visage as he looked unsatisfied, but she knew better and that he shouldn't push his stomach so much after a long time of not eating anything. So she endured the look of those puppy eyes with an unreadable expression, though her eyebrows twitched when she caught sight of Shizune's shadow of a smile. She went to bed after, and it didn't take a genius to realize that the brat was following her footsteps not far behind.