After school, Nawaki spotted a familiar and radiant figure in the crowd and immediately rushed over:"Big sis, are you here to pick me up after school today?"
His sister was a busy woman, always caught up in all sorts of things.
Tsunade nodded, mentally preparing to bring up the subject she had in mind.
"That guy's not with you?"Nawaki glanced around with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"That guy" clearly referred to Tōshirō.
Ever since that man showed up, Nawaki had noticed his sister was always sticking close to him. Sometimes, Nawaki felt like he was just... extra.
"Tōshirō? He's still training right now," Tsunade replied after thinking for a moment. Aside from being with her, Tōshirō spent most of his time training.
"Is he that strong?"
"Kind of."
"How strong, exactly?"
"I don't really know, but he's probably way stronger than me."
Unless it was a life-or-death situation, Tōshirō rarely went all out. Especially in the last three years—even Tsunade herself had never seen him fight at full power.
"You're lying."
Nawaki looked doubtful.
Ever since he started school, his classmates kept saying his sister was some kind of super-powerful legend.
"You'll understand one day," she said.
"Alright then..."
"Let's change the topic," Tsunade said gently. "Nawaki, do you want to stay over at Grandma's house tonight?"
"Huh?"
Nawaki looked confused.
Tsunade smiled and explained:"You know how you've always liked spending time with Grandma?"
"Well, yeah, but that's usually when you're not home. Now that you're finally around, of course I want to spend time with you ins—"
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
"What's wrong?" Tsunade asked, curious.
Nawaki might've been young, but he wasn't dumb. And lately, with someone new living under the same roof, he'd clearly noticed that his sister's attention wasn't as focused on him as before.
Suddenly, Nawaki puffed up in frustration:"I get it now, Sis. You think I'm in the way, don't you?"
"Wha—?! Nawaki, what makes you think that?"
"Ever since that man moved in, I've noticed you've been getting more and more distant. You used to make breakfast just for me—even though it tasted awful, I was always happy to eat it."
Tsunade: ...
"But now... the food is better, sure, but my portion just feels like an afterthought."
Tsunade hurried to explain:"No! You and Tōshirō are both very important to me—really."
"Then why does his breakfast have little hearts on it, but mine doesn't?"
"..."
Nawaki pouted and muttered under his breath:"You're playing favorites..."
"..."
He looked into her eyes seriously."So love does fade away, doesn't it, Sis?"
"Nawaki…"
"I get it now. I hope you two are happy together."
"..."
Tsunade didn't even get a proper word in. She had come fully prepared with what she wanted to say, but now that the moment had come, she couldn't say a single thing.
Later, in a house somewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village...
Tsunade stood awkwardly in front of Mito, smiling sheepishly and feeling guilty."So... that's what happened, Grandma. Nawaki said he wanted to stay with you tonight. Sorry to bother you again."
Nawaki: _
Mito didn't seem to think too much of it. In fact, she was happy to hear her grandson say that:"Really? Nawaki? You said that? That makes me so happy, dear!"
Nawaki threw himself into her arms, hugging her leg tightly with a big grin:"Yup! I love Grandma the most!"
Then he glanced back—specifically at a certain bad sister who ditched her brother the moment she got a man—and added loudly:"Even more than Sis Tsunade!"
Tsunade picked up on the jab and scratched her cheek, embarrassed.
Mito looked between the two of them, amused, and covered her mouth with a laugh."Are you two having a little spat?"
"Not at all! Me and Nawaki are super close, right, Nawaki?" Tsunade said, blinking at him and sending desperate signals with her eyes.
But Nawaki didn't give her any face. He finally found a chance to vent his frustration, and the vinegar jar had completely tipped over."Ever since Sis got a boyfriend, she doesn't care about me anymore…"
Tsunade blushed and protested:"Don't talk nonsense! What do you mean I don't care about you just because I got a boyfriend?!"
"Isn't it true?" Nawaki pouted. "Just so she could be alone with that guy, she got rid of me and dumped me at Grandma's place."
Mito blinked, a little surprised to learn there was more to this. She chuckled with squinted eyes:"Tsunade... is that true?"
"No, no! That guy was the one being all clingy and desperate, begging me to spend the evening with him. He even had snot and tears running down his face! I felt bad for him, so I reluctantly agreed—honest!"
Tsunade was speaking so fast she almost couldn't get her words straight.
Mito picked up on a certain key phrase and gave her a very knowing look:"Alone at night, huh? And what exactly were you two planning to do?"
Tsunade quickly looked away, pretending to examine her own nose, then looked at the floor:"W-We weren't going to do anything…"
Mito chuckled:"If it's nothing, then why did you have to send Nawaki away?"
Tsunade: "…"
What do I do now...? What am I supposed to say...?
Besides, this kind of thing was just too embarrassing to talk about.
In front of Grandma, no less! How was she supposed to explain that?
Just thinking about it made Tsunade's fair, delicate face flush with a deep red.
Seeing Tsunade's face suddenly turn a little red, and combining that with the context, Mito suddenly understood something and let out a light, "Oh."
Following that "Oh," Tsunade responded with one of her own — this one filled with questioning.
Mito continued, "I get it now."
Tsunade blinked, letting out an "Ah?" before asking curiously, "Get what?"
"You and him have finally reached that stage, huh…" Mito looked at the still somewhat confused Tsunade, speaking with the tone of someone who had been there before.
Had she still been at the age of a parent, she might've scolded them, saying it was too early for this kind of thing.
But now, as an "enlightened" grandmother, and having gone through the pain of outliving her child, all she wanted was to see Tsunade get married and have kids before her own legs stepped into the grave. If she could hold a great-grandchild in her arms, she could die without regrets.
As for Nawaki, he was still too young — she didn't think she'd live long enough to see that far ahead.
Given the circumstances, she was actually quite supportive of all this. The two were already living together anyway; it was only a matter of time before that happened.
And so, of course, she hoped they'd hurry up and have a baby.
"All in all, ganbatte!" Mito raised her fist in encouragement. "Do your best!"
At that moment, she seemed decades younger — playful and teasing, like a young girl again.
Tsunade's eyes widened.
Do your best?
Do our best at what, Grandma!?
The more she tried to explain, the worse it would get. Tsunade simply gave up and shut her mouth.
Strictly speaking, her grandma wasn't exactly wrong either. Ugh, what a headache.
Tsunade coughed awkwardly to change the topic. "Grandma, let's not talk about that… Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Mm, go ahead," Mito said, though in her mind she was thinking: What could be more important than you having a child?
"It's about a ninjutsu related to chakra absorption."
"A chakra absorption jutsu?" Mito looked puzzled. "Why are you asking about that?"
Tsunade gave a simple explanation of Tōshirō's idea for developing an S-rank ninjutsu.
Mito smiled knowingly. This girl... she hasn't even married the guy yet and she's already siding with him.
No wonder the clan used to worry that once Tsunade got married, she'd teach all their techniques to her husband.
Tsunade tried to recall the last time she'd heard of it. "I remember the jutsu name started with 'Shiki' something… but I can't recall the rest. Grandma, do you remember?"
Mito nodded slightly. "Yes, I do remember."
Then she added, "Come to think of it, your grandfather's Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu was actually heavily inspired by that technique."
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu?"
Tsunade was familiar with it — just that one jutsu was said to be capable of suppressing the Nine-Tails' power. It was incredibly powerful. Now even more curious about this chakra absorption technique, she asked:
"Grandma, can you teach me that jutsu?"
Tōshirō hadn't officially joined the village, so technically, he was still considered an outsider.
Mito, however, was very generous. "Wait here."
With that, she left Nawaki and Tsunade in the room and headed off, leaving the two siblings to awkwardly stare at each other.
Nawaki turned his face away and huffed in a tsundere-like fashion.
Tsunade knew she was in the wrong and quickly tried to apologize. "Nawaki, you're still mad at me, huh…"
Nawaki puffed out his cheeks in frustration and ignored his sister, who'd chosen a man over her brother.
Tsunade smiled sheepishly, already sensing it would take a long time to mend their relationship. Ugh… this is going to be tough.
Once inseparable siblings were now like distant strangers.
Tsunade felt like she was sitting on needles.
Thankfully, the awkwardness didn't last too long — Mito returned.
Thank goodness… Grandma's finally back…
Tsunade had nearly died from secondhand embarrassment during that time. She quickly stepped forward.
"Sorry to keep you waiting…"
Mito looked back and forth between the siblings and let out a chuckle.
Tsunade smiled awkwardly.
Mito smiled as well, reached into her sleeve, and after a bit of fumbling, pulled out a black scroll tied with a string, handing it over with one hand.
Tsunade's face lit up as she took the scroll with both hands and beamed brightly, acting all cutesy. "Thank you, Grandma! You're the best!"
"You're too old to still be acting like that." Mito dotingly poked Tsunade's nose. As she looked at her granddaughter now, she couldn't help but see her younger self — the fiery temper, the fierce personality — back when only that muscle-headed Hashirama could put up with her tantrums.
"Grandma, can I open it and take a look?"
Her granddaughter's voice pulled Mito from her memories. She smiled. "Of course. That jutsu was always meant for you and your Tōshirō, after all."
"…What do you mean, my Tōshirō…"
Tsunade's face turned bright red. Embarrassed, she untied the string around the scroll and unrolled it for a quick look.
And then — her expression froze.
She rubbed her eyes, thinking she'd seen wrong. "Wait… Why does this kind of jutsu even exist?"
Now she suddenly understood why she hadn't paid much attention to this technique in the past, despite having some vague memory of it.
It was because the jutsu was called:
Shiki Kiss!!! (Corpse Demon Kiss)
(End of Chapter)
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