Unbroken Bonds

10: Tsunade and Jiraiya

"Okaasan?" The words left a breathless Yuna's mouth as she finally caught a glimpse of her mother for the first time in years. After looking for months Jiraiya and Yuna had finally found the legendary sannin, Yuna wondered how exactly her mother looked the same as she did when she was a child, how has the woman not aged one bit? 

"TSUNADE!!" Jiraiya yelled in the middle of the restaurant, Yuna's eyes watched as her mother's gaze lifted from the sake bottle she was grasping and her eyes met Yuna's shocked ones. 

Astonishment, confusion, and sadness filtered through her face as Tsunade stared at her daughter. Yuna felt as if everything in the world had faded away, the noisy resturant becoming silent, the lights dimming, all that our protagonist could see was her mother highlighted by a spotlight. Yuna stood still, fists clenched as her mother stood up, and walked up to Yuna. The sanin wasn't much taller than her child was, last time Yuna had been this close to her mother she had not even become up to her knees.

"Okaasan" the word slipped past Yuna's mouth as she continued to stare, her mother was alive. Any and all hatred she had held for her faded away as tears started to glint her dark eyes.

"Yuna?" The sanin's voice croaked, her tone implying she was questioning whether the young woman standing in front of her was even really there. Yuna pondered on whether her mother was also feeling the same onslaught of emotions. Did Tsunade regret abandoning her daughter? Did she even want her there? It had been over ten years since Yuna had seen her mother, her worst fear was being rejected now. 

"Mama..." tears of her own started to fall as the woman rushed at her daughter, pulling her into a hug before Yuna felt as if she was six years old again and collapsed into her parent's chest tears streaming down her face at the scent of her mother's ambery perfume.

"I-er-um, I uh, hate to interrupt this touching reunion but I'd rather not let the entire world know where we're at currently. It just does not feel the safest." Jiraiya whispered to the two Senju women turned to face him. Jiraiya then realized that he had struck a nerve, big time. If looks could kill he would be twelve-feet underground.

"JIRAIYA!!" Tsunade punched him in the face, sending him flying out the door of the restaurant and into the streets outside. Once the perverted sanin was out of sight, the two women turned to each other a laugh escaped Yuna's throat as she gazed up at her mother.

"Let's eat, we can catch up, alone, later." Yuna nodded as her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her to the table, where a younger dark haired woman sat her face was hidden as she was sighing deeply when Yuna sat down. A couple minutes later, a bloody faced Jiraiya joined them.

Yuna watched as Jiraiya grabbed the bottle of sake from her shaking hands, before he sent his daughter a glare for even attempting to drink alcohol.

"Papa!!" Yuna stuck her tongue out at him, knowing that referring to him as her father always got him to give in to whatever her heart desired. Jiraiya never had children, but he thought of Yuna as his own daughter, it had never ceased to amaze her how easily she could get him to fold whenever she called him papa or otousan. He sluggishly handed younger girl the bottle of sake, sharing a look with her mother. Yuna giggled as her mother nodded at her to go on, this was her first sip of alcohol ever. When she took that sip, she felt a burning sensation in her throat before the bottle was once taken away from her but this time from her mother. 

"Yuna, you are too young to drink!" She slapped her head, causing her to wince and let out a sigh as she stared at her parent's irritated expression.

"But mama, you just let me take a sip?!" Yuna stated, confusion littering her face as her mother's expression got more irritated.