Lady Tsunade | Hoekage’s debt

Tsunade was very willing to believe in the attainability of dreams while her little brother Nawaki and her lover Dan were still alive, and that by supporting and encouraging those dreams, she might be able to help achieve them. When both died gruesomely shortly after receiving her support, Tsunade lost faith in the idea of dreaming for anything, believing that the mere pursuit of it would be doomed from the outset and retiring from the life of a ninja with the intention to spend the rest of her life away from her village in the company of her dear disciple Shizune, Dan's own niece. Tsunade becomes especially critical of those wanting to be Hokage, as both Dan and Nawaki died trying to attain the title and the past Hokage (including her grandfather Hashirama, her great-uncle Tobirama, and her former teacher Hiruzen) have all died prematurely and, as Tsunade argues, pointlessly because they held the position; she concludes that to be Hokage is a fool's job.[15]

Tsunade's Hemophobia Tsunade's traumatic loss develops hemophobia. Tsunade is forced to reconsider her cynicism upon meeting Naruto Uzumaki, who demonstrates two things to her: just because a goal seems impossible does not mean it actually is, as Naruto is able to master the Rasengan unprecedentedly quickly despite seemingly lacking any natural talent; and just because the dreamer dies does not mean the dream itself does, as Nawaki and Dan's desire to become Hokage lives on in Naruto. Because Naruto is so very much an exception to how she thought the world worked, Tsunade puts her faith in dreams once again, a desire so strong that she overcomes her fear of blood.[16] She becomes Hokage herself, partly so that she can live Nawaki and Dan's dream for them, but also so that she can pave the way for Naruto inevitably holding the title. Becoming close to Naruto, he became the only person she allowed to refer to her as "Grandma", knowing it was out of affection. Later, when Tsunade is approached by Sakura Haruno, who asks to be her disciple and be taught medical ninjutsu, Tsunade heartily agrees not only because she senses Sakura's potential but because she realizes Sakura has something she wants to protect (Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto himself), just like she wanted to protect Nawaki and Dan. As a result, Tsunade spends the next years juggling between her roles as a village leader and as a mentor with great devotion, despite the constant stress the former position puts on her.

As Hokage, Tsunade is committed to protecting Konoha and its villagers, willing to give her life for her village and allies if necessary.[17] Just as she once did, she supports all other dreams that she can; for example, when Rock Lee tells her he dreams of being a ninja despite knowing he may die trying, she does not argue his decision and, in the anime, does all that she can to ensure he survives. She does this because Nawaki and Dan loved Konoha and so she keeps their dreams alive by doing so, but also because Konoha's continued survival honours all those who gave their lives creating it and keeping it safe. Although her reasons are somewhat different, the outcome is nevertheless consistent with the Will of Fire. Tsunade is similarly optimistic about the next generation of Konoha's ninja, especially Naruto and Sakura, convinced that the village's future will be in good hands because of them. Demonstrations of her faith include but are not limited to: congratulating Shikamaru Nara for his failed mission because at least none of his teammates died;[18] and not labelling Sasuke a missing-nin because she trusts that Naruto can someday convince him to return to Konoha. She in fact becomes angry when others lack this same faith in their peers, believing it is better to let them try and then fail than to assume their failure is inevitable and thus prevent them from trying.[19]

Tsunade's Love Even as a child, Tsunade had a love for gambling. Despite her many noble qualities, Tsunade is not without her faults and vices. She is blunt and short-tempered, prone to striking Naruto for his immaturity or her old friend Jiraiya for his perversion; she is widely feared because of this tendency.[20] Her own behaviour isn't much better than theirs, as she drinks constantly, sometimes sleeps on the job, and tries as much as she can to have other people do her work for her. One of her favourite vices is gambling, which she acquired from Hashirama. Despite how often and how irresponsibly she gambles, Tsunade has notoriously bad luck, causing those who have made huge profits off of her to mockingly call her "The Legendary Sucker" (伝説のカモ, Densetsu no Kamo).[21] Tsunade is fully aware of how unlucky she is, and so whenever she hits a winning streak she takes it as a bad omen and prepares for the worst;[22] she has at times tried using her bad luck to her advantage, betting on outcomes she doesn't want so that her unluckiness will prevent them from happening.[23] Hashirama finds Tsunade's many bad habits highly amusing on a personal level, but when he is told that Tsunade is Hokage, he immediately worries about what misfortunes she could have brought upon Konoha.[7]

Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi Dream Tsunade dreams of being with her loved ones. Tsunade has complex relationships with her fellow Sannin. From their first meeting, Jiraiya assumed that there was a mutual attraction between him and Tsunade, a statement that only served to annoy and anger her. Despite his many advances over the years and the genuine affection between each other, she never reciprocated his romantic feelings, only ever loving Dan, even decades after his death. Jiraiya wasn't discouraged by this and claimed that her repeated rejections had not only made him stronger, but they've provided excellent material for his Icha Icha series of books. Though he concluded that to be happy wasn't his fate. she doubted he believed his own words and she commented that he did not need to put on a brave front when he returned from Amegakure.[23] When Jiraiya ended up dying during that same mission, Tsunade privately mourned for the loss of her dear friend and teammate.[9] In contrast to her affectionate friendship with Jiraiya, Tsunade is permanently at odds with their former teammate and friend Orochimaru due to to a long history of betrayal and distrust, from the danger he was to their home and team to his deal to bring Dan and Nawaki reincarnated, a result that would make her happy but at the same would go against all they stood for, which she eventually realised. Even after Orochimaru contributed in their victory in the Fourth Shinobi World War, she still remains wary of her old teammate. This resentment influenced her thoughts of anyone directly related to him, and she was furious at Naruto, in his capacity as the Seventh Hokage, for allowing Orochimaru's child, Mitsuki, to immigrate into Konohagakure. Mitsuki's heritage alone led Tsunade to develop a prejudiced view that he is as dangerous as his parent.[24] As revealed in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, however, Tsunade's greatest desire was to be with her lost loved ones while supporting Dan as he lived out his dream of being Hokage, showing she still misses her time with the other Sannin, even Orochimaru.[25]