#terrible coping methods

Now, though, it was getting late and Shizune was worried - her teacher hadn’t gotten them a hotel room and she wasn’t sure where they were supposed to sleep. The bar was a hole in the wall, tiny and grimy with the only light source coming from lanterns that were so dirty Shizune was shocked they gave off any light. She’d only managed to find Tsunade by following rumors of the the blonde with a losing streak, which meant that any Konoha shinobi that might be on the lookout for them could also find them.

“Tsunade-sensei!” She tugged on the older woman’s robe, keeping her voice low and casting a nervous look at several of the rougher looking patrons. “Tsunade-sensei! We need to go find a room!”

Hopefully Tsunade could walk to a better part of the city - somewhere with less chance of there being bedbugs and rats in the rooms - and Shizune licked her lips nervously, shifting her weight as she felt more people turning to stare at them .

Her teacher turned to peer down at her and Shizune bit her lip at the glazed look in Tsunade’s eyes - she’d never seen her teacher this drunk, ever, and she was suddenly very, very aware that Tsunade was in no condition to go anywhere without more help than she could provide.

“You have his eyes.” Tsunade said finally, a hint of a slur in her voice, and Shizune tightened her grip. “Reminds me of the fields, in the spring before the planting.”

“Tsunade-sensei, we need to go.” Shizune tried to keep the tremble out of her voice and wished she knew how to speed up metabolism and purge the alcohol from someone’s system. Her teacher might have an unbearable headache, but she wouldn’t be talking about her uncle. Shizune knew that she had her uncle’s - her grandmother’s - eyes and didn’t want to hear it again in a bar full of drunks.

She could handle herself fine against some of them, but she was small and there were a lot of them. A stool scraped behind them and she stiffened as she felt someone - a large someone - come to a stop behind her.

“You look like you could use some help.”

She tilted her head back, never loosening her grip, and looked up at the man - tall, with a long ponytail of white hair - and she gaped at him. What was the White Fang doing in a seedy bar in a port town on the coast? He gave her a slight smile before he glanced at Tsunade, his grin vanishing.

“Princess, what are you doing?” He moved around Shizune, slipping one of Tsunade’s arms over his shoulder and twisting so that somehow, he was giving her teacher a piggyback ride. Shizune felt the fabric slipping from her fingers and latched onto his shirt instead. Tsunade mumbled something into the back of his shirt that made the skin around his eyes tighten, but he didn’t say anything else.

“We’re on a training trip,” Shizune told him, trying not to sound defensive. “We’re allowed.” Sort of. The first four weeks had been a training trip, suggested by the Hokage after Uncle Dan’s death, and Tsunade hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol the whole time. The next two months, however… Shizune was pretty sure were not as allowed and that her teacher would be in trouble if they went back to the village - Jiraiya had already disappeared after all.

Sakumo looked down at her, his left eyebrow nearly disappearing into his hairline, as they left the bar and stepped into the night. The air was much cooler outside, without the heat of bodies and lanterns, trapped by unopened windows, and Shizune took a deep breath, savoring the smell of the salty air - they weren’t on the ocean, but on of the port towns a few miles up river, where the salt water met fresh, creating an interesting smell. Shizune loved it and hoped they get to go see the actual ocean.

“Really?” What are you learning about?“

Shizune felt like the question was some sort of trap, but he did seem interested and she did want to brag (a little) so she talked to him as they walked up the street, telling him about airborne illnesses and the insect borne ones until she realized that she didn’t know where they were going.

"My rooms - you can stay in them tonight and tomorrow, while I’m working, and then after I’m done, the princess and I can have a talk.” Sakumo’s voice had a grim undertone and Shizune almost flinched away. But he was still carry Tsunade carefully and he wasn’t yelling or trying to take them back to the village, where Shizune’s mother floated around the house like a ghost, growing more and more like one everyday, so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad talk.

Sakumo’s hotel was in the nicer part of town - not too nice, because that would draw attention, but not too rough, because that was just asking for trouble - and he let him in by a back door and took them to his room, gently setting Tsunade on the bed as Shizune watched. “Stay here - when she wakes up tell her I want to talk to her.” He gently dropped a hand on Shizune’s head, giving her a soft smile. “If you don’t want to go back to the village, I won’t make you.”

Shizune waited until he left before locking the door and crawling into bed with her teacher, tucking herself into the curve of Tsunade’s body, where she felt safest. A hand curled around her and a soft, whiskey scented whisper reached her. “I’m sorry for tonight.”