Tsunade

  Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage. This alone granted her prestige and recognition, but she was also lucky enough to be placed under the tutelage of the God of Shinobi, the Third Hokage. With a high level of skill to start her off, plus the blood she carried, Tsunade had something else to boast about – she was the heir of the First Hokage’s necklace, an item worth enormous amounts of money. Continuing the heritage of it, she passed it to her little brother, Nawaki for his birthday. Nawaki, filled with joy, proclaimed that he would eventually become the Hokage. However, tragedy struck when Tsunade approached the scene of a raid one dark evening. Outside, Orochimaru and Jiraiya sat. Cold-heartedly, Orochimaru advised her that it would probably be better in the long run if Tsunade didn’t see Nawaki’s corpse. The necklace was returned to her.

Tsunade      Several years later, Tsunade had grown up considerably and become an expert in the medical field, knowing several special Ninjutsu healing techniques as well as a variety of offensive moves, poisons and treatments. It was at a meeting that she proposed to the Third Hokage that the traditional 3-man cell be altered and carry a medic. It was also at this meeting that she met a young man who shared her views, named Dan. The two discussed their points with each other, slowly becoming friends and in time, lovers. Dan revealed his dream was to become Hokage, for the reason of supporting the ideals of a medic on the team. Tsunade presented him with the necklace. Only once more, on a mission, it brought nothing but bad luck. Dan was fatally wounded. Tsunade came to his aid, but too late. Despite her attempt to heal him, Dan died. Tsunade wept looking at the hands she had placed on his bloody chest. The necklace had claimed another victim and Tsunade was scarred deeper than ever.

     Blaming the rejection of the proposal to be the factor in Dan’s death and once again taking back her necklace, Tsunade parted ways with Leaf and wandered, forsaking the ways of the ninja and living a life of gambling, drinking and along the way, acquiring a young apprentice and pet – Dan's young niece Shizune as her aide and a pig with an astounding sense of smell, Tonton. Tsunade abused her powers of bodily manipulation by frequently changing her physical appearance to look like previous ages – sometimes a teenager, a mature lady, or somewhere in between. At 50 years old when she is introduced, she is indistinguishable from a woman 20 years younger than herself. However, the methods she used were not Genjutsu at all – her body physically alters to the condition she chooses to hold it in. By changing how she looks, Tsunade would often loan money from gambling and then use her abilities to make herself harder to track down. Despite this, Tsunade soon gained a reputation, for her desire to gamble was far greater than her success rate while doing so. Often losing huge amounts of money, Tsunade built up the nickname “The legendary sucker”.

Tsunade      After the crippling attack led by Orochimaru on Leaf, the council approached Jiraiya and asked him to accept the position of Hokage. Jiraiya refused, but offered them a replacement in the form of Tsunade, who he promised to bring back with him. At the same time, the Third Hokage had given a parting shot to Orochimaru by stripping the soul from his arms and left Orochimaru in need of a physician. It was in a village overlooked by Tanzaku Castle that Tsunade met the first of her old team. Orochimaru explained the situation to her, clearly stating that he had killed the Third Hokage and his arms were in their current status because of that. However, Orochimaru left her a cruel offer. If she would restore his arms, he would bring back Nawaki and Dan, which he was unable to do without his arms working. Tsunade demanded to know what he would do after – Orochimaru told her he would finish the job on Leaf. The two agreed that the deal would only go ahead if Orochimaru would leave their home alone. Orochimaru gave her a week to decide; also suggesting she secured two corpses as sacrifices.

     Shortly after, Jiraiya and Naruto caught up with her and Shizune. Jiraiya presented her with the position of Hokage, but Tsunade rejected it outright, even going so far as to insult it. Her words angered Naruto and they stepped outside, where Tsunade claimed she would beat Naruto with just one finger. During the fight, she became distracted as Naruto’s image reflected the visage of Nawaki. Thrown off for a moment, Naruto used the advantage and attempted to use the Rasengan on her. However, Naruto had still not learned it completely and as promised, a single flick was all it took to floor him. It was then that Tsunade made a wager with Naruto – if he could fully perform the Rasengan in a week, she would give him her monstrously expensive necklace, an heirloom of the First Hokage. Despite how cool she appeared during the bet, Tsunade was being tormented inside, with the offers from Orochimaru and Jiraiya, one good and one bad. Like a devil and angel on each shoulder, Tsunade thought it over for a week. On the sixth evening, Jiraiya joined her for a friendly drink. At this point, Tsunade slipped a tasteless drug with no scent into Jiraiya’s cup. A short time later, she set off to the meeting place with Orochimaru…

Tsunade      Arriving at the rendezvous point with him, Orochimaru stood waiting. As Tsunade reached out to take Orochimaru’s hands, Kabuto attacked her. Orochimaru then uttered that he expected a betrayal… and thanked Kabuto for the warning. Kabuto, being a medic himself, recognised Tsunade was not using any healing technique but a killing one instead. Tsunade then proclaimed that she knew Orochimaru too well and he would not fulfil his promise to stay away from Leaf. Also, bringing back her brother and boyfriend in such a cruel manner only for Orochimaru to then destroy their home would be spitting on their graves. Enraged, Tsunade then chased after the pair, destroying everything in her path with her inhuman strength. In an open field, Kabuto engaged her in combat, taking advantage of her phobia of blood by cutting himself and using a pill to stop clotting. Despite her handicap, Tsunade still fought against him, managing to scramble his nerves briefly but being cut up, on one occasion only surviving a near-fatal slice thanks to her chest padding a blow.

Tsunade
     While Kabuto was laying into Tsunade, he was interrupted by the arrival of Naruto, Jiraiya and Shizune. Jiraiya went for Orochimaru and battled him directly, still drugged and hampered while Naruto set himself on Kabuto. A fierce battle between them forced Naruto to use his trump card – an improvised Rasengan. However, as Kabuto was thrown backwards, he got in a quick move and shredded up Naruto’s internal chakra pathways and heart, disabling the Kyuubi’s tremendous healing power. As Naruto sunk down, Tsunade shook off her fear of blood for a moment and put everything she had into keeping Naruto alive, facing the nightmare of seeing her loved ones die again. However, Naruto weakly managed to reach up and touch her necklace, confirming he won the bet.

Tsunade      At this point, Naruto’s Rasengan had caught Orochimaru’s eye, who panicked and lunged at him with his sword protruding from his jaws. Tsunade took the hit instead, right through the chest. Again, she suffered horrendous wounds protecting Naruto from Orochimaru, being showered with blood. But still, she would not move – instead doing the opposite, standing tall and stopping her shaking. With renewed determination, she accepted Jiraiya’s offer and claimed her place as Fifth Hokage. Against Shizune’s pleading, Tsunade then used a special technique: with mass amounts of chakra that she had accumulated and stored in the diamond shape on her forehead, she suddenly released it and caused her body to generate all the vital organs she had lost or taken damage to, instantly putting her body back into prime condition, although as Shizune added, the number of times a cell divides is limited, ultimately shortening Tsunade’s lifespan as her tissues grow back. Taking a smear of her own blood, Tsunade then began making hand seals, prompting Kabuto to return to Orochimaru’s side and Jiraiya to prepare himself too.

Tsunade      The Legendary Three then each summoned their respective assistants, also the rulers over all other summoned animals of their kind – the slug, Katsuyu; the anaconda, Manda and the toad, Gamabunta. Manda proved to be an exceptionally deadly opponent, taking on both Katsuyu and Gamabunta at once as well as evading an incredible blast of fire from Gamabunta and Jiraiya. However, as Manda prepared to take a chunk out of Gamabunta, Tsunade pinned his mouth to the ground with Gamabunta’s dagger and turned on Orochimaru. As he and Kabuto retreated, Tsunade and the rest went back to the place where their first meeting happened. Once again, Naruto’s mouth caused them to step outside and he found himself awaiting the killer finger-flick. Instead, he felt Tsunade’s lips on his forehead and won her respect. With the necklace finally on a suitable owner that survived the curse, Tsunade returned with Naruto and Jiraiya as Hokage, but to trouble.

Tsunade      One of her first acts was to check on people in the hospital, including Sasuke and Rock Lee. Lee’s case was very sensitive, saying that even with her skills, the operation to correct the damage he received while performing the Reverse Lotus was risky… with a 50% chance of him surviving it. Tsunade’s next act was when she found out another patient had gone AWOL – Uchiha Sasuke. With most of the Jounin and Chuunin unavailable, Tsunade assembled a small group led by Shikamaru and sent them after Sasuke. It was while they were away that she began the operation on Lee, who survived and immediately ran after the other Genin, mistakenly taking Tsunade’s bottle of alcohol with him instead of his medicine. As an additional precaution, Tsunade called in a debt from Sand, enlisting the aid of the Sand Siblings, Gaara, Kankurou and Temari in the mission. Despite their best efforts, Sasuke would not return and in deep sorrow, Tsunade was approached by Sakura, who enrolled as her understudy. For the next two and a half years, Tsunade instructed Sakura on medical techniques as well as passing on the secrets of her amazing physical strength.

Tsunade      Tsunade’s current challenge lies in a man named Danzou, a powerful and shady man who was the political rival of the Third Hokage. His radical ideals caused friction with Tsunade, especially with the shadowy “Root ANBU” at his disposal and ambitious political agenda. As well as pressure from the council, Tsunade looks to be the most defiant Hokage yet.