After leaving the meeting room, Tsunade, contrary to what Hiruzen believed, didn't actually go anywhere. She was waiting for him, just outside the Hokage tower.
She knew Azula was already moving, already setting things in motion, but she didn't know what exactly the plan was and she didn't want to.
Azula said she knew how to proceed, and Tsunade trusted that because whatever her girlfriend did, it would go beyond expectations. That was just how she worked.
Still, none of that stopped Tsunade from wanting to catch her teacher. One last deep talk before things between them maybe started to crack.
But it wasn't Hiruzen who first came out.
A few minutes later, Danzō stepped through the door with that gloomy look he always wore, like the world owed him a debt it was refusing to pay.
And then the moment he saw her, he smiled.
Tsunade found it creepy.
Actually repulsive, which was saying something because Danzō was technically a contender for handsome middle-aged man in Konoha. But that smile of his was just disgusting to her.
She kept her face straight though, gave him a nod, and he kept walking like nothing happened.
She watched him go and thought, 'I still can't believe it. All that, the schemes, the eyes, the bodies, just for more power and for the Hokage seat. Is it really that important to people?'
She wanted power too, always had, but there was a line.
Gouging eyes out of skulls, experimenting on kids, destroying families for a pair of eyeballs, standing there watching your childhood friend die and doing nothing, if that was the price, she didn't want it, and she wouldn't try to empathize with someone who would.
•••
After that little episode, she ended up waiting over an hour while Hiruzen stayed inside with Hōmura and Koharu.
Didn't bother her though. She had her manga, and standing or sitting made no real difference, she was a ninja who specialized in body arts. She could stand all day and just stretch it off like nothing happened.
Eventually, knowing the situation was urgent and they actually needed to act, Hiruzen finally came out with the other two.
He spotted her right away and made that surprised face of his. The one Tsunade always found a little funny, like a monkey who walked into the wrong room and wasn't sure how to back out gracefully.
He nodded to Koharu and Hōmura, dismissed them with the gesture, then walked over to her.
"I didn't expect you to be outside. Is there something?"
The idea that she was waiting for him didn't even cross his mind. Tsunade didn't wait and never had.
When she wanted to talk, she walked right in, it didn't matter if there were thousands watching or if what she had to say would embarrass you in front of everyone.
She'd do it anyway.
Which is why her answer caught him completely off guard.
"I was waiting for you, sensei." She tucked the manga back into her pouch as she said it.
Hiruzen blinked. "Waiting for me?"
He didn't even try to hide the surprise. "That's... very unlike you."
Tsunade thought about it for a second. "If you say so. Guess this is what they call maturing?"
She'd noticed it herself lately, ever since her 'secret' relationship with Azula had started, she'd gotten less bold, less casual about everything and quieter, maybe. But weirdly enough, she kind of liked it.
Hiruzen let out a long sigh. "Indeed. You've grown up so fast I didn't see it coming. I must be getting old."
Then he added, "Do you want to walk?"
The Hokage tower was basically three buildings connected: the Main Tower with the Hokage's office, war room, and meeting halls; the administrative complex; and finally the Hokage Mansion.
Walking back to the Mansion would've taken only a few seconds, which meant no time to actually talk. And since Tsunade hadn't waited for him there, it was obvious she wanted something less formal.
A walk around Konoha seemed like the best option, so he offered it, and she nodded, figuring she could use the stretch anyway.
"You do admit you're getting old though," she said, not letting him slip past that one. "So if you know it, why not just retire? Enjoy your family. I'm sure that'd actually be fun for once."
Hiruzen's expression shifted to disappointment. "So that's your goal? I can understand you not supporting me because Azula is your close friend, but I expected neutrality, Tsunade. Not this."
Lately it felt like everyone was against him. The whole world, really.
Tsunade almost shook her head but paused.
"You could say I support her, just not the way you think." She met his eyes. "No offense, sensei, but if it weren't for me holding her back, the Hokage chair would already be hers. And she would've taken it the brutal way, because here's something you might not fully grasp, Azula has a grudge against you. A small one."
"Do you even know what it means when she holds a grudge?" A faint, almost fond memory crossed her face before she waved it off. "No. You don't. And trust me, keep it in your imagination. It's better that way."
Her voice softened.
"I'm here because I want to settle this peacefully between you and her." She looked at him, and something in her tone reached past all his defenses. "Please, sensei, don't be blinded by power like the rest of them. My teacher is more than that."
Hiruzen looked at Tsunade and saw nothing. No lie, no scheme, no pretense.
Just that sincere, dazed smile the Senju were known for, the kind that made you want to believe in something again.
'She's almost like the Shodaime.'
Tsunade didn't know what was going through his head. If she had, she might've actually been proud. Getting compared to her grandpa in a positive way was a first.
But she wasn't here to boost his morale or even truly convince him. She came to deliver a message from her heart, simple as that. Didn't want to watch the person who taught her walk the opposite path.
Now the choice was his. She walked away, leaving him with that reluctant, distant smile of his, heading in the direction of the Police Force, probably to see Azula.
What neither of them knew was that Azula wasn't at the Police Force waiting for Tsunade.
She was waiting for Hiruzen, and she had a surprise for him.
A surprise for a man who was still strolling through the village, thinking he had time to make up his mind. Thinking the decision was still his to make.
He walked past the market, past the kids chasing each other between stalls, past the old couple arguing about what to cook for dinner.
Despite the war that just ended, despite the tension still in certain corners, the village was alive.
And honestly, he couldn't deny Konoha was probably at its most prosperous point since his taking control. 'They'd' beaten two great villages, killed one Kage, defeated another and the new generation were monsters.
Even an idiot could see the village was set for the next few decades. So of course the people were happy. Why wouldn't they be?
But that happiness sat heavy on Hiruzen's shoulders.
'If I hand the seat to Azula... would she let it stay like this?'
He knew the Uchiha and how the Sharingan worked, the stronger the eyes got, the stronger the emotions became, along came more stubbornness and extremism.
And when she awakens her Mangekyō one day... what then?