Chapter 46: History is all Lie

Tsunade had just finished her preparations and stepped out of the house, her resolve firm.

She is walking through the streets of Konoha, her boots pressing against the damp earth as the golden morning sun stretched its fingers over the village. The air smelled fresh from last night's rain, the scent of wet leaves and stone lingering in the air. The village was just beginning to wake—shopkeepers rolling up their shutters, children running down the streets, shinobi heading out for their morning drills.

She had been gone for so long—wandering, running, haunted by ghosts she could never quite outrun. Yet here she was, standing in the place she had once called home.

Not for Konoha. Not for its people.

But for the only family, she had left.

Kushina, Her sister had nearly stumbled into the same abyss Tsunade had once fallen into. It was a painful mirror, one she couldn't turn away from.

She knew that path well—grief, self-destruction, the slow, miserable fade into nothingness. She had tried to drink it away, gamble it away, push it so deep inside that she wouldn't feel it anymore. But the pain never disappeared. It only waited.

And then, there was Naruto.

The unpredictable storm that had shaken her world. His fire, his resilience, his reckless belief in others… it stirred something long buried.

At first, she had dismissed him. Another brat with big dreams. Another fool clinging to hope in a world that had no mercy. But there was something about him, something that refused to be ignored.

He reminded her of everything she had lost.

And everything she could still be.

A part of her had feared returning. That stepping into Konoha again would reopen old wounds, and force her to relive the past she had spent years running from.

She stopped at the entrance of the hospital. The building loomed before her, tall and familiar.

It had once been her domain. A place where she had saved lives, and made a difference.

A place she had abandoned.

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and stepped inside.

The scent of antiseptic hit her immediately.

The soft murmur of nurses filled the halls.

Patients shuffled past, some injured, some ill.

She ignored the stares as she walked through the corridors.

She wasn't here for their approval.

She was here for something greater.

Then left the hospital, to the Hokage office.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside and made her way to the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen sat behind his desk, pipe in hand, his gaze unreadable. The years had aged him and deepened the lines on his face, but the weight of leadership had always been heavier than time itself.

He studied her carefully as she entered, his expression giving nothing away.

"Sensei," she said, standing before him. "I am ready to take the job as head again."

The words were simple, yet their weight was immeasurable.

Hiruzen took a slow drag from his pipe. "Why this decision?" His voice was calm, but beneath it lay something deeper—curiosity, concern… maybe even hope.

Tsunade exhaled.

"Sensei… I spent years trying to outrun my pain. To drown it in sake. To pretend it didn't exist. But pain doesn't disappear just because we refuse to face it."

She turned slightly, glancing at the sunlight filtering through the window. The leaves rustled outside, whispering secrets only the wind could hear.

"Naruto…" she hesitated as if saying his name out loud made it more real. "He reminds me of everything I once was. Everything I still can be."

Hiruzen leaned back slightly, watching her, waiting.

"He refuses to give up," she continued. "No matter how impossible the path seems. He carries his pain, but he doesn't let it define him. He made me realize I don't have to run anymore. That I don't have to let grief dictate the rest of my life."

Her amber eyes burned with something long dormant.

"I want to be part of something again. Not just for myself. But for those who still believe in me."

Hiruzen inhaled deeply, the smoke curling in the air between them.

"Yes," he said simply. "Absolutely. You've always had a place here, Tsunade."

A weight lifted from her chest.

For the first time in years, she felt… lighter.

"Then I start today."

She turned to leave, her footsteps steady.

As the door clicked shut behind her, silence filled the room.

Hiruzen sat motionless, staring at the fading smoke from his pipe.

She had returned.

But why now?

This was more than duty. More than reclaiming an old title.

He had known Tsunade for decades, watched her rise, fall, and now… return.

But there was something beneath the surface.

Something she hadn't said.

And he couldn't understand it.

Because he had never been like her, he didn't lose anything like her.

The door creaked open once more, and a shadow stepped inside.

Danzo.

He moved with his usual quiet precision, his presence like a cold wind slipping through the cracks.

Hiruzen didn't turn to look. He had already felt the shift in the room.

"Hiruzen," Danzo's voice was dry, devoid of warmth. "Why did Tsunade come here?"

Hiruzen took another drag from his pipe.

"She came to take her position as head of the hospital."

Danzo's single eye narrowed. "Why?"

It wasn't curiosity. It was suspicion.

He was searching for something. A weakness. A reason.

Why would a woman so broken, so lost, suddenly return?

Hiruzen exhaled slowly.

"Because Danzo… the ones who have lost everything are often the ones who give the most."

Danzo remained silent.

Hiruzen knew what he was thinking. He was trying to find the angle, the hidden motive.

Tsunade had returned.

But for what purpose?

Neither of them could understand.

Because they had never been like her, as both didn't lose anything but made other lose, which they never understood and never will.

Naruto sat in the academy, arms folded, listening to Iruka's lecture.

"We all know the Third Hokage was the strongest Hokage of all time," Iruka said, his voice steady.

The words were familiar and practiced—a carefully curated history passed down through generations.

History was a fragile thing, shaped by the hands of the victors.

Karin leaned toward Naruto, her voice hushed but firm.

"Nii-san, is this really the true history of Konoha?"

Naruto didn't hesitate.

"No. It's fabricated."

Karin's brows furrowed, but she said nothing.

Sakura and Ino, sitting nearby, had been paying attention. They leaned in closer, curiosity burning in their eyes.

Sakura turned to Naruto. "How do you know?"

Ino nodded. "Yeah, how can you tell what's real and what's not?"

Naruto's gaze didn't waver.

"Because my mom and Tsunade were there. They saw it happen with their own eyes. And Tsunade was here almost from the start and her grandfathers were First and Second Hokage."

Silence.

For all their lives, they had been fed stories—legends carefully constructed to paint the past in a certain light.

But history wasn't just words on a page.

It was the memories of those who had lived it.

And Naruto… he had access to those memories in a way few ever would.

For the first time, Sakura and Ino felt something shift inside them.

A small crack formed in the carefully built façade of their history.

A crack that, one day, might break open entirely.