Chapter Text
The Senju compound's forest was a place of ancient shadows. Monumental trees intertwined their branches like petrified claws, filtering the sunlight in patterns that moved like liquid across the ground. Sakura had noticed something strange since entering: there were no birdsongs, no insects buzzing. Only silence—the kind that precedes a storm or a massacre.
The wind whistled through the ancient cedars of the Senju grove, carrying the scent of wet earth and iron. Sakura stepped into a puddle of still water, watching her face distort in the reflection—pink hair now streaked with mud, emerald eyes dull. Tsunade walked three steps ahead, her boots crunching on dry branches.
The forest seemed to belong to another world, yet it breathed the secrets of the Senju Clan. As she followed the blonde teenager, Sakura gazed at the ancient trees, their trunks bearing the scars of forgotten battles.
Stepping on a dry branch – the crack echoed like a gunshot in the sepulchral silence. No birds, no insects. Just the smell of wet earth and scrap metal.
- Can't you walk faster, brat?! - The Senju's voice cut through the air like a kunai.
Tsunade continued walking in an unknown direction, being stared at by empty, cold green eyes.
The blonde teenager and the pink-haired child stopped in their tracks when they reached the end of a forest within the Senju Clan's secluded compound.
The two of them were in a place farther away from the houses of the Senju compound, near the outskirts of the walls that separated it from the rest of Konoha. It was a vast, forested place, with giant trees that seemed to transform every inch of land into an otherworldly aspect. Because of the large trees, which cast shadows everywhere, the forest created a mysterious and somber air.
However, it wasn't the surreal beauty that caught Sakura's attention. Quite the opposite, unfortunately.
Lying beneath the bright green grass of a secluded part of the Senjus' private forest was a small, gray-haired dog on the ground.
The image itself was already something to draw attention to in a forest that Sakura noticed, since she set foot in it, that there were no animals.
Strange and alarming.
The pink-haired child kept her face impassive, but her green eyes scanned the terrain ahead and tried to analyze the scene before her: a gray, bloodied mutt, its hind legs crushed by a bear trap and a hunting arrow stuck in its abdomen. The animal sobbed, its black eyes fixed on Sakura as if she were an angel of death— and, in a way, she was.
In the middle of the clearing, a small dog lay in agony. Its hind legs were crushed at impossible angles, the arrow pierced its abdomen grotesquely, and dark blood stained the green moss.
The scene was mediocre for anyone who had experienced war. However, what struck Sakura most were its eyes—black as night, but filled with a light that had not yet faded. The dog tried to crawl away, dragging its entrails across the ground.
Away from them.
Tsunade stopped abruptly in front of the dog, making Sakura have to endure the sight from a closer distance.
— You walk like a lame cow, worm.
Sakura ignored the insult. Her eyes remained fixed on the fallen figure in the center of the circle of light—a small gray dog, no bigger than her two fists combined.
The animal was still alive.
And that was the worst-case scenario.
His green eyes never tired of observing and his mind repeated his analysis without pause in his head.
Its crushed hind legs resembled trampled flowers. A hunting arrow pierced its abdomen, each breath making the metal tip glint in the sun.
When the dog raised its head, Sakura saw her own eyes reflected in those black orbs—not fear, not pain.
Hope.
The strange thing about the image was that the dog was dying and his fur, which should have been a clean gray, was progressing with each passing second to a deep crimson hue.
It seemed the little dog had been caught in a cruel trap. His cries were low and agonized. Eyes as black as night stared at her. His cries only grew louder, a desperate, unstoppable cry for help. His agony was so intense that Sakura wanted to end his misery and was about to grab a kunai and throw it at his head, ending his suffering, when she was stopped by the Senju's cold voice at her side.
— Don't you dare.
- Why? It’s better to get this over with, - Sakura complained, her fingers already clenching. around the kunai holster
Tsunade laughed. The sound made the dog shiver.
- It's just a waste of time to let him live but a few minutes, the dog is no longer useful - Sakura countered, after all, the poor puppy had his two hind legs twisted grotesquely by the bear trap and an arrow pierced his belly.
The blood continued to turn the green grass into a red hue.
Sakura drew her kunai, calculating the angle for a clean strike.
Tsunade intercepted his wrist with one fluid motion.
— Give me your hand.
Before Sakura could react, a blade appeared in the Senju's hand and sliced deeply into her forearm. Blood gushed out, a red line opening up her forearm like a miniature river. Sakura didn't scream. The pain was an old friend.
Honey eyes that shone golden from the reflection of the sun's rays watched her, waiting for some reaction to the sudden injury, but were met by impassive emeralds that looked at her defiantly.
With an irritated snort, a green glow appeared in the Senju heiress's hand and she began to rub it over the wound she had caused, slowly healing the wound previously inflicted.
Sakura held back the pain she was feeling, not wanting to let it show to that witch's unhappiness.
- I won't explain anything beyond this demonstration. Didn't the Hokage say you survived the war for a long time? In a war, you won't have time to ask or sit comfortably waiting for someone to explain something in detail. Now heal this dog like I healed your arm, Shitty Brat.
Sakura held back the anger inside her, wanting to show that she couldn't replicate it or pretend to take so long to learn how to use iron ninjutsu.
If she proved herself unfit for such a skill, she could escape a fate tied to the Senju slut or doctor.
- Oh, before I forget — Tsunade began, leaning against a large tree to touch her nails that need to be fixed again — If you can't replicate the iron ninjutsu like I did now, we will repeat this process every day with the animals that live here until you learn.
- This is absurd — Sakura couldn't believe something so.
- Really? I don't care, Sewer Rat, - Tsunade continued, examining her nails. - The Hokage thinks you're a prodigy, so show that old man you're a prodigy. That way, we can make our time together end sooner than he expects, Worm!
Sakura glared at her in irritation.
- In war, - Tsunade began, - you learn to heal by seeing blood. Your own or someone else's.
Without giving the pink-haired child a break to think about the healing process with chakra, the Senju heiress walked towards her and cut her again.
Blood gushed from the deep cut in his forearm, running between his fingers and dripping onto the foliage at his feet.
- Heal
Sakura gritted her teeth. Green chakra spat from her fingers like a wounded animal—hesitant, jagged. It took three tries before the skin began to close.
Tsunade didn't praise. She just pointed at the dog.
- Now
Sakura hesitated. In the war, she had killed men, women, and child soldiers. But a small dog... She remembered the kittens that now lived in her apartment—the only creatures who didn't fear her touch.
The first touch was a shock. The fur was soft with the warmth of small life, the heart racing beneath her hands. Sakura closed her eyes and saw:
- The black cat with heterochromatic eyes licking your face after your return to Konoha.
- The Uchiha soldier holding her guts with one hand while the other squeezed hers.
Her fingers trembled as they touched the soft fur. The dog whimpered but didn't bite—as if it knew she was there to help.
The poor dog looked at her with his black eyes full of suffering, Sakura didn't know why, but in war, she killed human beings without feeling anything, she closed her eyes to her wounded companions without an ounce of mercy.
However, one small dog made her hesitate.
With resignation, she pretended to close her eyes in concentration and thought about taking her time doing this, but the dog whimpered without pause and its gray fur was already turning completely red with crimson blood.
The green chakra surged, hesitantly at first, then flowing like a river.
Her hands glowed a light, translucent green. Sakura focused on healing the most serious wound, running her chakra through the small animal's fine pathways.
Tendons rebuilt themselves. Organs began to regenerate.
Drawing the arrow with one hand in a light pull, the arrow fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Leaving the other to do the rest of the work, Sakura healed the small animal after almost an hour.
The pink-haired child didn't care if the Senju heiress was surprised that Sakura could replicate the "first time" perfectly. After all, the blonde girl wouldn't tell anyone, as Tsunade Senju only wanted the same from Sakura.
Cut any ties that united them.
Once the healing procedure was complete, the little dog barked a little excitedly and licked his hand in gratitude, a small smile shining on his face.
Sakura could take him to her house, already imagining that the kittens would like to have more company.
Tsunade laughed - a sound that made the birds (who were now returning) flee again.
- Good job,
The kunai came without warning. Sakura reacted instinctively, snatching it from the air.
- ..?!
The blonde girl positioned herself behind Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder.
The voice was cold and devoid of any emotion as it whispered in her ear.
— To be a doctor on the front lines of a war, you need to know how to take life too. Not all your patients survive, and there will be those you have to decide whether they live or die.
- I cured him, his life is no longer in danger — Sakura kept her voice
Blood splattered across her face, and her eyes widened at the sight of a kunai piercing the small dog's belly, tearing it mercilessly. Sakura wasn't quick enough to stop Tsunade from stabbing the animal's newly healed abdomen.
- Really? It's not what it looks like, Worm.- Tsunade ran her hand over her torn belly, which was dripping blood without pause, placing it on top of Sakura's kunai-holding hand. -As you said before… it's a waste of time to let him suffer for a few more minutes. The dog is no longer useful.
A gigantic rage took over the pink-haired child, but Sakura held her tight like an iron chain holding a wild animal wanting blood.
Her pink hair was pulled with monstrous force, making her stand close to the blood-stained face and those black eyes that looked at her with betrayal and a plea for help in their depths.
- If you can't bear something as small as this pitiful scene, give up now or finish the job. In the business of practicing iron ninjutsu in warfare, we don't need a little child who will hesitate to do his job.
With her hair still being pulled tightly and her face staring into those cold brown eyes, Sakura raised the kunai and delivered a blow that would end that poor animal's miserable life.
No more pain or suffering than you have ever felt.
Sorry, puppy.
- There! Although it's a great shame that a Sewer Rat like you likes to keep pretending to endure more than this. It seems I'll have to stay with you longer than I thought, Worm." Tsunade released the child. "Go to the library later and get all the books on the animal system there, especially on dogs, birds, cats, and deer. We'll have plenty of practice starting tomorrow.
- You said we wouldn't kill any more animals if I could use iron ninjutsu — Sakura glared at the busty teenager with anger in her emerald eyes.
Being watched with such a sharp gaze, the only expression the Senju heiress showed was a simple smile.
Cold and making the hairs on the pink-haired child's arms stand on end.
- I lied…
Tsunade's finger slid like an icy dagger under Sakura's chin, dragging a trickle of fresh blood from the dog's corpse. When it pressed against the girl's pursed lips, the red oozed like a secret.
poisonous.
With their faces close, he whispered…
- The world isn't just cruel, Haruno…" his lips almost touching the child's ear. - …it's like a mirror. It will shatter you into shards if it's fragile. It will cut anyone who dares touch it if it's sharp enough. Today, you chose to be a tool in the hands of the Third Hokage. Tomorrow…
His canine tooth flashed in a predatory smile as he walked away, leaving the mark of his bloodied fingers imprinted on Sakura's face like a cursed tattoo.
- ...maybe I'll learn to be the hand that holds the
Sakura's breathing was ragged from the pressure she felt from the future head of the Senju Clan in front of her.
- Learn something quick, Sewer Rat, if you want to survive, you need to learn to play by the rules to
Sakura took a deep breath and stared into those cold, empty brown eyes like the ones
your.
- No need to kill animals to teach me that, Bitch!
- Oh! Now you have a dirty mouth, Worm? - Tsunade smiled in disgust, taking the child's face in her hands, her sharp nails causing small wounds. - That animal you had so much pity and mercy for belonged to the Inuzukas who sent it to spy and obtain information about the Senju Complex.
- What?
The wind dies abruptly, as if the Senju forest is holding its breath.
Tsunade laughed and let go—a sound that split the silence like an axe driven into rotten wood. Her teeth gleamed in the twilight, too sharp for a human smile.
Tsunade holds the bloody kunai she used to kill the dog, slowly twirling it playfully between her fingers before stabbing it into the ground between the pink-haired child's feet. The blade vibrates like a warning.
- You slit hundreds of throats. You dodged sharp kunai in the darkness.
He smelled the shit of death on so many battlefields that mushrooms must have sprouted in his brain by now.
She pulls Sakura by her hair, bringing their faces closer.
- But this war? This war is within the walls of Konoha. Here, the blows are whispers. The poison comes in the cup they offer you on their knees. Your worst enemy will use my name to say "Good morning" to you before having you skinned alive in a forgotten basement in the IT Department.
Sakura grits her teeth tightly. Tsunade spits on the ground, her spit mixing with the animal blood.
- Want a free lesson, Sewer Rat? The shinobi you killed at the border screamed their hatred. The one who's going to kill you here... will scream - Konoha shinobi no ore no tamashÿ! - as he thrusts his tanto into your back."
The blonde teenager plucks the kunai from the ground and shoves it into Sakura's holster.
Tsunade, this time grabbing Sakura's chin hard enough to leave bruises, speaks sarcastically and in morbid amusement.
— Dear war orphan, do you think enemies wear different uniforms? That they raise flags painted with "we are the villains"?
With her free hand, Tsunade rips off Sakura's hitai-ate and rubs it on the dog's corpse, staining the Konoha symbol with still-warm blood.
- You know the war that tears down borders, burns villages and buries soldiers with colorful .. But there is another war, Mouse.
Tsunade raised her bloodied hand with the sash, letting the crimson flow between her fingers like threads of inevitable fate.
- This isn't fought with kunai or jutsu. It's a war of sharp smiles and poisoned vows, where enemies use the same symbol as you... where the knife comes from behind, but the blow is always frontal.
His blood-stained finger traced the outline of the hitai-ate, further staining the metal.
- On the border, you killed soldiers. Here…- He presses the bloodied metal against the girl's chest. - …you'll kill ghosts. The ones who wear the same face as you on the streets. The ones who offer you poisoned candy at funerals. The ones who write your name on "training casualty" lists."
The onset of dusk tinges the Senju forest with amber and iron. The dog's body still spasms on the ground, nerves dancing a posthumous waltz. Tsunade approaches the corpse and picks up the broken collar it possesses, tossing it near Sakura's feet.
Without giving time to respond, the Senju heiress steps on the cracked collar – the small symbol in intricate detail shatters under her boot like glass.
- Do you know this mark? - Tsunade, holding up the shards of metal. - The Inuzuka put it on the collars of certain dogs in their Clan. They call it the Blood of the Dead.
Officially, it is the seal that shows that these dogs are part of the Clan and are in training as spy dogs for the Inuzuka Reconnaissance Division.
The wind whistles through the cedars, carrying the smell of copper and wet earth.
- Do you know how many of these I've broken and killed? Each one is worth a funeral without a body.
His kunai stuck in the ground vibrates – the same sound as an alarm wire being cut.
- These are just some of the rules of the game you didn't even know you were playing. When the Hokage sent you to war, he gave you a target. When he took you under my wing…- Tsunade kicks the corpse, - …he marked you for death."
She crushes the fragments in her palm until they bleed, then opens her hand over the corpse. Her blood mixes with the animal's.
- Want to know another interesting fact? Unofficially? It's what they put on the spy dogs of the Inuzuka Clan's Private Reconnaissance and Espionage Division.
They sniff out a lot of information. Like the death of your Uchiha friend. The one with the pretty eyes who taught you genjutsu before she turned to ash.
Sakura freezes. The wind carries the burning smell she swore she'd forgotten.
Tsunade smiled like a very sharp knife about to be used to kill.
- Oh, you thought I didn't know? I'm the chief commander of the medics who lived on the front lines in the war, and I have a lot of connections. Everyone in ANBU knows the story of the war child who watered the Uchihas with tainted water. Until the day someone decided it would be better to... prune the garden.
With a kick, she flips the dog's body over—under its fur, the imprint of a small seal. The same pattern Sakura had seen on the charred bodies of some members of the Inuzuka Clan.
Tsunade hummed.
- Do you know the difference between you and this corpse, Haruno? He's already dead.- You... are just a miserable Rat who smells like a fresh grave.
With slow steps that put more pressure on Sakura, the blonde teenager's hand closes around her neck—not to strangle her, but to turn her face toward the wall separating the Senju Compound from the Village. The lights of Konoha glint in that distance and darkness like teeth in a smile.
- I'll give you a gift. When the Hokage sends you to 'train' with the Hyÿga, remember: their white ribbons are great for hiding hanging marks. When the Yamanaka invite you for 'tea,' pay attention to how heavy the cup is... there's always a folded piece of paper under the saucer or a poison that will kill you or make you reveal your secrets," Tsunade said in a sweet voice in Sakura's ear.
The Senju heiress, her hand still stained with dog blood, smeared with blood on Sakura's palm – bright red beneath the near darkness of the forest.
- Or die of thirst. Those are the rules of my garden.
Sakura tries to back away, but Tsunade holds her wrists with an iron grip, similar to a bandage tape – the same kind used to tie up corpses before cremation.
- Oh, naive Rat... You already have more enemies than scars on your body. The Hyÿga Clan already hates your future surgical prodigy. The Inuzuka will spit on the ground when you pass. And the Naras? - Tsunade chuckles softly. "Ah, the Naras would love to put your skilled little hands to work for them... until you become too useful."
With a sharp tug, he releases the child's wrists—leaving red marks on Sakura's wrists like guilt bracelets.
— Outside, the enemies wear different colors. Inside, they bleed the same red as you. Which do you think is more dangerous?
- I didn't ask for this! — Sakura
Tsunade, brings her face closer again, placing her lips against the girl's ear, in a Judas kiss.
- The Third Hokage didn't save you, Rat. He marked you for death. You want to know the truth? The Hokage gave you to me not to teach you... but to mark you.
Like this dog. Like the other three apprentices who came before you. "Where are they?" Sakura asked hoarsely.
Tsunade smiled predatorily.
- The first, a Hyuuga, hanged himself with his own bandages. The second drank acid, thinking it was medicine. Poor Nara. Stupid, isn't he? - Tsunade laughed, her eyes glinting dangerously. - The third? The Aburame, she"—Tsunade caressed Sakura's cheek, smearing blood—"had an 'accident' during chakra training. But… you... you're different, Rat. You already have scars.
The wind dies suddenly. Tsunade stands and examines the dog's corpse. Without ceremony, she steps on its hind legs, causing blood to flow in thick streams that stain the ground in sinuous patterns. When she speaks, her voice cuts through the air like a blade through raw flesh.
- On the border, you faced honest enemies, those who came head-on with shining kunai and war cries. - Tsunade smashes the animal's paw against the ground, bones cracking like dry firewood. - But here... war is fought with smiles and poisons served in porcelain cups. Where the Hyuuga poison cups with one hand while offering flowers with the other. Where the Inuzuka sniff out your weaknesses before you even know them.
Tsunade leans in until her hot breath hits Sakura's face, smelling of liquor and death. Eyes narrow.
- I don't have enemies like you — Sakura tries to keep her jaw
Tsunade lets out a laugh that makes the dog's corpse shiver, as if it could still feel fear.
- Innocent. You really think so, Rat? - He grabs Sakura by the chin, forcing her to look at the dead dog drowning in its own blood. - Look here, you're the child soldier who returned when grown men became crow food. The nameless orphan who makes clan heirs look like spoiled brats.- Every breath you take is an insult. Every victory, a declaration of war. The Hyÿga want your bones to study. The Inuzuka sniff out your flesh to hunt.
And the Hokage? He'd rather you lived just to see how many stabs you can take before you collapse and to bind me to this Village.
Silence echoed through the forest.
Sakura's silence wasn't empty—it was the kind of stillness that precedes a storm. Her fingers twitched involuntarily, scratching grooves in the blood-soaked earth. When Tsunade spoke again, each word was a nail hammered into her ideological coffin.
Tsunade spoke with a smile that showed too many teeth.
- Our lovely Hokage threw you into my clutches like meat to the wolves, Rat. Do you know why?
Tsunade kicked the dog's corpse, sending it rolling to Sakura's feet with a wet thud.
- Because I'm one of the few people in Konoha who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in every way... and the only one he can't completely control.
Sakura looked up with a look that could set forests on fire.
— It wasn't like I could refuse this fucking forced learning, Senju!
The wind stopped. Even the insects stopped their buzzing.
Tsunade stepped forward until she was a hand's breadth away from Sakura, her hot breath hitting her face.
- Oh, but you could have. You could have run away. You could have killed yourself. You could have let yourself die in the war like so many others. - His hand closed around Sakura's neck, not to strangle, but to feel her pulse racing beneath his fingers. - But you came back. You survived. And now…" his voice dropped to a venomous whisper. - … now you are my cross, just as I am yours.
The two stared at each other.
- So, Foolish Rat. You breathe, and that already makes you the enemy of half the Clans. - The Senju presses two fingers against Sakura's chest, right where her heart is beating fast.
From inside her obi, the Senju heiress pulls out a small scroll—the academy graduation list for Sakura's year. Twenty-nine names are crossed out in red. Hers is the only one circled in black.
- Your only true allies are here,- he lets the parchment fall to the ground, - ...dead. The rest? Just enemies who haven't yet shown their claws.
Sakura glared at her, wanting to scream. But the words wouldn't come out, and her throat felt closed.
- Do you know the difference between you and your dead comrades? They were disposable soldiers... you're an experiment now. And me? - Tsunade ignites the scroll with a signal-free fire jutsu. - ...I'm the damned scientist who will teach you how to survive your own autopsy.
As the flames lick her fingers, Tsunade extinguishes them on Sakura's clothes – leaving a black hand- shaped mark on the girl's heart.
The dead dog's blood runs through the forest, still warm. Sakura clenches her fists.
- So the great Hokage gave me to you as a bone to an angry dog?
To break me between your teeth while keeping your hands clean? Sakura asked, her voice hoarse as rusty metal.
The pink-haired child looks up, green eyes burning like pure alcohol. For the first time, you can see something other than hatred in them—understanding and revulsion.
Tsunade has a sharp smile.
- Oh, finally awake, Rat? Yes, you're my current chain that I have to keep hanging around. My punishment for rebellion.
Sakura crushes the trashy feeling she's feeling, leaving blood marks on her chest.
- And you accepted? The great Tsunade Senju, reduced to babysitting orphans?
The air turns electric. Tsunade steps forward, but Sakura doesn't back down - their noses almost touch.
Silence. The wind lifts the dead leaves in nervous swirls.
Tsunade laughed abruptly, a harsh sound.
She grabs Sakura by the chin, examining her face like a goldsmith assesses a rough stone.
- Listen well, Rat: I didn’t choose you. But now that you’ve opened your eyes… — her fingernail draws a red line on Sakura’s jugular—“let’s see how many teeth you have under those pretty lips. Any advice? Be smart, Rat. I don’t want you here, you don’t want me here. But while we’re stuck in this… shit, I'm going to turn you into the sharpest weapon I've ever seen, just to see the blood that will flow when you try to turn against him.
Sakura grabbed Tsunade's wrist, nails digging into flesh.
- So pathetic that you only think about revenge? I'm not your puppet, Senju. If you train me, you'll regret it.
Tsunade lets out a laugh that doesn't reach her eyes and pushes Sakura away with a push that makes her roll on the bloody floor.
- Careful, Senju. Even sewer rats bite when cornered.
For a moment that lasted forever, the two measured each other. Then Tsunade let out an almost respectful snort.
The wind died. Even the insects fell silent, as if the Senju forest held its breath. Tsunade swooped down like a vulture over her prey, her blond hair forming a cage of pale light around her face. When she whispered, her breath smelled of liquor and mint—a wicked contrast to the words that dripped like venom.
When Tsunade spoke, her voice was as smooth as silk on a blade.
- How lucky you are, Worm. I'll give you the only gift my great-uncle left me before he died.
His lips touched Sakura's ear for a moment - it could have been a kiss or preparation for a bite.
- Never trust Not even me. Especially not me. Every smile they give you will be a trap. Every outstretched hand will carry a knife.
If you want to survive…—her red-painted nail traced a line on Sakura's neck, not cutting, but the mark turned fiery red—...turn your heart to stone and your mind to steel. Peace is a lie told by cowards. War? War is the only truth that never betrays us.
The silence between them was so thick that Sakura could hear the blood dripping from the dog's corpse. Tsunade approached like a gathering storm—inevitable, lethal in her presence.
Tsunade grabbed Sakura's chin hard enough to leave bruises.
- You want to take my advice, worm? Then swallow it raw like you did the rotten meat in war. - His teeth gleamed in the twilight, very white, very sharp.
- Here's the truth no one told you: allies are just enemies who haven't stabbed you yet. Bonds are golden chains. And peace? That's what the weak call defeat.
Sakura dug her nails into Tsunade's wrists until she drew blood.
- You'll learn to smile while ripping out entrails. You'll kiss hands that dream of strangling you. You'll cry fake tears at the funerals of enemies you've killed.
Sakura spat in Tsunade's face and laughed mockingly.
Spit dripped down Tsunade's face like poison on marble. Her golden eyes darkened to near black—not with anger, but with something far more dangerous: predatory amusement.
- Ah, .. the rat bares its teeth — Tsunade's voice was as soft as the slide of a knife between ribs.
His hand closed around Sakura's neck with calculated force—enough to suffocate, not kill.
When Sakura laughed, it was the hoarse laugh of someone who no longer had anything to lose.
— And what are you going to teach me? How to be a spoiled little princess in war?
The silence that followed was heavier than any blow. Tsunade smiled—slow, deliberate—before running her finger over her own stained face. The gesture was almost affectionate. Until she rubbed the liquid onto Sakura's lips with brutal force.
- No, little assassin. I'll teach you to be worse than me,- Tsunade whispered.
Her knee connected with surgical precision with Sakura's stomach. The girl doubled over, spitting bile and blood. Before she could catch her breath, Tsunade grabbed her hair, pulling her face close to the decaying corpse.
- In real war…- With her other hand, Tsunade plunged her fingers into the dead dog's open wound, extracting a handful of still-warm viscera, - …we don't spit on our enemies.
He crushed his insides against Sakura's mouth, forcing the taste of fresh death onto her lips.
- We swallowed them
Sakura choked, chunks of meat stuck between her teeth.
- ... are... crazy!
Tsunade chuckled as she wiped her hands on her pink hair.
- No, dear. I'm the only sane person in this madhouse called Konoha. - Suddenly, he grabbed Sakura's neck, forcing her to look up at the darkening sky. - Look. The sun is setting. The crows are beginning to sing. And you...
Her fingernail traced a shallow cut on Sakura's neck, letting blood run in a thin stream over the Konoha symbol on the fallen hitai-ate.
- ...is just another piece on the board, thinking it's a
- I hate you!- Sakura screamed in the Senju heiress's face.
The Senju's golden brown eyes darkened like gold in consumed flames.
- Dear Mouse, do you think this is hate?
Her knee met Sakura's stomach with surgical precision again. The pink-haired girl doubled over, spitting blood. Tsunade grabbed her hair, pulling her face closer to the corpse.
—Look. This is hate. The stench of flesh that refuses to die, even when all is lost.
Sakura's teeth are clenched.
- .. will... not... break... me...
Tsunade laughed—a wet, hoarse sound that echoed through the trees like the cry of a sick crow.
- Oh, little mouse, I don't want to break
With a swift movement, he thrust two fingers into Sakura's mouth, pulling out her tongue. The blade appeared in his other hand like magic.
- I want to polish you. Turn that insolent tongue into a weapon. Your every word will be a knife. Your every sigh, poison.
The blade danced near the exposed tongue, not cutting, just threatening.
Sakura had emerald eyes burning with pure hatred.
- .. your... worst...
Tsunade whispered, her lips almost touching Sakura's.
—That's not the worst of it, dear. The worst will come when you realize I'm right.
When the only lips you'll kiss are those of traitors. When you realize that every hug hides a knife.
She released Sakura abruptly. The girl fell to her knees, choking on the taste of metal and hatred.
- Smell it. Remember it. Memorize it. This is the scent of the real Konoha. Not the Hokage's pretty speeches, but the rotting flesh behind the walls.
- I know the smell of death better than you, Vixen! - Sakura spat blood in Tsunade's face.
Tsunade slammed her head against the ground, not hard enough to seriously hurt, but to make the message clear.
- You know the scent of enemies. Now you'll learn the scent of friends and allies.
In one fell swoop, he ripped open Sakura's sleeve, exposing her thin, battle-scarred arm. With his fingernail, he created a new cut—not deep, but enough to draw blood.
- This will be your most important lesson: everyone you love will betray Everyone you trust will let you down. And when that day comes...
He placed his bloody finger on Sakura's lips, sealing the words like a pact.
—...you'll be thankful I taught you to be cruel.
- And you're going to teach me this? A spoiled, busty teenager?
Tsunade smiled—slowly, dangerously—before rubbing the blood into Sakura's face like war paint.
Sakura hated that touch and the silence to her question.
- And you? Are you my enemy or my executioner?
Tsunade laughed - a sound that made the forest vibrate eerily.
- Dear Mouse, I am the mirror that will show you who you really And I guarantee, you will hate the reflection.
Tsunade, turning her back, gives one last order.
- Tomorrow, 5 a.m. We'll learn to smell strychnine in the mint tea the Yamanakas love to serve. Wear something washable... there will be blood, Rat.
- I'm not stupid enough to drink poison from someone like that, Bitch. - Sakura spat the blood that lingered in her mouth onto the ancient Senju soil. As if mocking her story.
- It's good that you're smart. - Tsunade's voice held something between irony and a strange tone of approval. - I'll be generous and give you one last piece of advice today. It's the same one my great-uncle gave me when I was still a child.
She leaned in slowly, bringing her lips to the young woman's ear, as if delivering an ancient secret, a burden veiled by time. Her whisper, however, carried the weight of an inevitable prophecy.
- If you wish to win and survive, learn to wage wars alone. Today's ally may be tomorrow's traitor. And if you seek peace... then may your blade always be sharpened for war.
Emeralds and golden browns faced each other in an endless battle.
- Blood for That's the only language the world understands. Welcome to the war that doesn't end when the truces are signed... to the war that never sleeps.
As she left, the Senju kicked the dog's body towards Sakura.
Her footsteps echo through the dead forest. Sakura sinks to her knees, her hands pressed against the burn mark on her chest.
A few meters away, the dog's corpse continues to bleed.
Sakura stood up with a sudden movement, spitting blood and hatred onto the ground. His eyes burn with unspoken promises—none of them loyalty.
The animals that were hiding in the forest smelled the acrid scent of two predators sharing the same cage.
Those words weren't just advice—they were an omen. Like marks carved in stone, they would become embedded in both their destinies, echoing through the years. In time, they would cease to be merely a warning and become a silent oath, an unspoken pact.
It was a verdict.
Like a spell whispered in the darkness, they entwined their minds, seeping into flesh and destiny. There was no redemption for those who understood their meaning.
In time, they would become not just a warning, but a sentence. When loyalty proved elusive and trust was merely a bond about to break, they would remember. And as they looked at the chaos around them, they would know: they were alone, as they always had been, as they always would be.
Because that whisper had become a mantra.
And a mantra whispered too often… turns into a curse.