The evening was approaching and Anko finally returned from her 'errands' for Tsunade, providing the said woman a very humorous sight. She might have looked pristine but her expression told it all without her even having to open her mouth. From the utterly fed up and aggravated look, Tsunade instantly knew Anko had a very demanding few hours. And if the exasperated frown wasn't any indication, then the way she clutched a bouquet of roses, crumpling them without even noticing, gave Tsunade a pretty neat idea of what happened.

She totally did not peek from behind the curtains when she noticed Anko's and Hiashi's chakra signature stop in front of the Senju Compound... ​​

"So..." Tsunade drawled, comfortably sitting in an armchair in the living room, lowering her book a bit to look at Anko with her sparkling eyes. "When are you getting married?" She teasingly asked, and had to instantly duck as the bouquet of roses flew through the place where her head was just a split second earlier.

"Not. Another. Word!" Anko angrily huffed, squeezing a kunai in her hand, causing Tsunade's mouth to shut with an audible click.

Tsunade's lips stretched into an amused smirk. Oh, she was going to milk this from all it was worth!

...

Anko huffed and puffed, laying on the ground in the courtyard behind her house while Tsunade stood above her, smiling at her in a very irritating way while clicking her tongue in 'tsk, tsk, tsk' gesture. The ruthless woman even added waving her pointing finger at her just for dramatic purposes!

Alas, Anko was far too tired. The only thing she could muster to do was give Tsunade a stink eye but from the still-amused expression, Anko reckoned it was not as scary as she hoped.

"I must say, you have quite a bit of stamina." Tsunade grinned.

"Y-you... did thi...this... on pur-purpose! Haaa~." Anko huffed out, realizing she had been had.

"Of course I did. I had to see what exactly you are capable of if I am to make a proper training schedule for you." Tsunade rolled her eyes at Anko, "You would never go all out against me unless you were angry beyond measure. Our little discussion earlier today told me you would have subconsciously held back." Tsunade shrugged, not saying 'because you look up to me.', in order to not embarrass Anko more. It was quite endearing to see Anko so hung up on what she thought of her... if a bit misguided. A shame she would have to beat that out of the girl. It wouldn't do if she compared herself to Tsunade too much and stunted her growth because of it.

"Ther-..." Anko took a long breath, "THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY TO DO THIS THAN RELENTLESSLY TEASE ME FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT!" She let out at once, needily gasping for more air right after she was finished saying it.

"Small details." Tsunade crouched down and put her hand on Anko's chest, slowly feeding her lungs with medical chakra, reinvigorating her stamina reserves. "Don't worry, a few years of training and you will be ready."

Anko's expression eased up and a grin formed on her face almost instantly. She could almost imagine her sensei's broken body, beaten black, blue, crimson, right under her feet as his life was leaving him...

Anko shuddered from a sudden rush of pleasure due to her imagination.

Tsunade inwardly snorted, 'Well, no wonder she looks up to me that much. Considering how ecstatic her face looked when she imagined beating the crap out of Orochi... What the heck did he teach her anyway? There is definitely something very wrong with that girl.' Tsunade awkwardly thought, 'Maybe that's why Hiashi fell for her so quickly!' A sudden realization dawned on her. 'He is a Hyuuga and they are ALL closet masochists! Growing up while practicing the chakra pokes of excruciating pain would ensure that. Figures Hiashi would look for a sadist to match him.'

Then again, Tsunade couldn't begrudge Anko her personality quirks. She was a ninja and they were supposed to be weird. It was just an unspoken rule of the profession.

"Are you sure I can do it?" Anko asked in a quiet unsure tone, like a child seeking reassurance from her parent.

Tsunade gave the young girl a genuine smile. "I am supposedly the best medic in the world. If I can't break your body enough to make it stronger... strong enough to beat down Orochimaru, then no one can."

"I will do my best." Anko promised, looking at the darkening sky and the rising moon witnessing her resolve.

"Heh~," Tsunade's eyes glinted with untold cruelty, suddenly making Anko feel a massive desire to back out. "Of that, I have no doubt. I will either break you or I will break you and make you stronger. Don't worry. An untold amount of pain is guaranteed. I will use my medical expertise to veeery slowly rip all your muscles apart, heightening your pain tolerance, and then rebuilding them a bit stronger all the while you will study chakra and Jutsu, focusing through the pain, training your concentration."

Anko creased her eyebrows as a droplet of sweat rolled down the side of her face from the intense glee Tsunade was showcasing at the prospect of tearing her apart from inside out. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea? "Er... you know I am a sadist, right? I don't enjoy pain. I enjoy causing it."

"You will learn." Tsunade quipped, making Anko experience a chill rushing up her spine.

Anko was about to open her mouth to protest when the back door to the courtyard suddenly flew open and Naruto rushed outside, "Anko, Anko, Anko! I won against Sasuke today! I..." The excitable ball of orange stopped in his tracks as his brain finally caught up to his eyes, registering the situation.

Anko was on the ground, looking very fearful, while a strange blond woman crouched near her with amusement sparkling in her amber eyes. He honestly had no idea what to think... so his brain went with the first thing it came up with.

The blond one was clearly attacking Anko!

Naruto had to do something! He... pointed at her and screamed, "Oi, what are you doing, Aunty!?" ... Causing Tsunade to almost trip.

"He really is annoying, isn't he?" Tsunade mumbled, glancing at Anko who groaned, the back of her head hitting the ground in a huff.

"Oi! I am not a-" Naruto started screaming bloody murder.

"Naruto, stop pretending. She knows!" Anko screamed louder, knowing that only being louder than him would stop him once he started going with his facade of an idiot.

Naruto quieted down, looking at Tsunade as if studying her with his eyes... before he turned back to Anko, "So... who is she? Your friend? Why did you tell her? Couldn't you at least ask me first? You know I don't like people knowing about my secrets! Is she trustworthy? Are you sure? Do you know her well? Won't she tell som-"

"NARUTO!" Anko interrupted his tirade of questions, knowing he only did that to get a rise out of her. Unfortunately for him, she was far too tired to go and play kunai-tag with him through the village. She sighed, idly rubbing her forehead, lamenting her fate. She just knew Naruto will try to mess with Tsunade but... oh, well. "That's Tsunade Senju. Our... landlady if you will."

Deafening silence spread through the courtyard, strangely contrasting with the orange-clad figure who was giving Tsunade a complicated stare.

Tsunade instantly understood. The boy knew she was a part-Uzumaki and most likely was currently deciding how to behave around her. On one hand, she was a family. On the other, he never even met her and didn't trust her much.

Anko, intimately aware of Naruto's thought process, scrambled to the side of the courtyard, as far away from Tsunade as possible, the second she saw his eyes brightening in a mischievous light.

"No way... isn't she supposed to be like... ancient?"

"Oi, did you just call me old, brat?" Tsunade evenly asked, her eyebrows twitching.

Naruto, reacting to the word 'brat', put his arms on his hips and cheekily swayed from side to side, "I only said the truth! ... Grandma!"

"Oi! Don't call me that, brat! I am barely in my late forties!" Tsunade loudly rebuked, irked.

Naruto just pointed at her and shouted, "Yeah, that's exactly what I mean! By average ninja life expectancy standards, you long overstayed your welcome!"

Needless to say, after that, she had beaten the everlasting crap out of him in an attempt to teach him some manners of talking to a lady, completely ignoring his screams about child abuse and brutal old women... or something.