Konoha Village, Hokage Building.
Tsunade looked at Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata with scrutinizing eyes.
From her experience, shinobi who had seen blood tended to show some changes compared to before.
However...
The few in front of her didn't seem to have changed much.
"Alright, Naruto, you three can head back first. Hikari, stay behind!"
"Got it, Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto replied cheerfully, completely oblivious to the expression on Tsunade's face when she heard his way of addressing her. If he knew, he would definitely... keep calling her that.
No helping it—Naruto was just that stubborn.
"Those three—any changes?"
Hikari nodded. "Sasuke doesn't care about ordinary people. Even if you asked him to slaughter a small village at will, he wouldn't object. Naruto is stubborn about things, likes to reason, and has a strong sense of justice. As for Hinata... she's changed the most."
"What about Hinata?" Tsunade asked curiously.
Naruto and Sasuke's situations were nothing new to her.
Among Konoha's countless shinobi, there were those more compassionate than Naruto and those even colder than Sasuke. Such cases weren't rare.
Hinata, on the other hand, used to be such a good girl. Now Tsunade wanted to know what had changed about her.
"Hinata's gotten bolder than before, and her feelings for Naruto have become even more intense!"
"What? She likes Naruto?"
"What's so strange about that?"
"It's extremely strange! Hinata is the daughter of the Hyuga clan's main branch. Don't mess with me!"
"Who's messing with you? Would I lie to you about Hinata's feelings?"
"This is bad!"
Tsunade glared at Hikari somewhat angrily. Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage. Although her relationship with Namikaze Minato was average, she shared some blood ties with Kushina, and the two had gotten along decently back then.
Why did Hinata have to like Naruto of all people?
Was she supposed to let Naruto marry into the Hyuga clan?
No way—that was unthinkable. The Hyuga clan was strict about keeping their bloodline pure and rarely allowed marriage outside the clan. Hinata being from the main branch made it exponentially more difficult.
What a headache!
"Relax. The kids will handle their own fates. Naruto can sort it out himself. Besides, right now it's Hinata who likes him. Whether they end up together is still uncertain!"
Though he said that, Hikari knew full well in his heart that Naruto probably wouldn't be able to resist Hinata's affectionate advances.
What man could resist a woman who loved him deeply? Especially one who was beautiful, fair-skinned, and from a wealthy family? Marrying her would be like reaching the peak of life in no time.
"Let's just hope so. Otherwise, we'll have to sacrifice Jiraiya's already-thin dignity!"
Hearing this, Hikari just wanted to laugh.
"Does Jiraiya even have dignity left?"
His dignity had long been tossed into Konoha's women's bathhouse.
Lately, during his time in the village, he was always hanging around the bathhouses, leaving late and returning early. Who knew what he found so fascinating.
---
"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!"
Sakura was carrying some documents when she spotted Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata coming out of the Hokage Building. She instinctively called out to the two she knew best. Then she saw a flash of white light, and a pair of Byakugan eyes stared straight at her.
"A-ahem... Hinata!" Sakura took a step back, looking a bit awkward at Hinata.
She figured Hinata was upset because she hadn't called her name.
"Sakura."
Hinata placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder, leaning forward slightly, her mouth close to Sakura's ear.
"Stay away from Naruto from now on. Otherwise, I'll kill you."
A pure wave of killing intent surged forth. Sakura was startled, but fortunately she wasn't weak, or she would have lost control right there and embarrassed herself in public.
"Don't worry. Even if I die, I won't like Naruto. If you like him, just take him farther away from me."
"Really? You'd better mean that. We're still comrades from the same village, after all. I don't want to turn against you."
Naruto and Sasuke, standing nearby, exchanged a glance, a strange feeling welling up in their hearts.
'Women in this world are terrifying. Guys are much more reliable.'
The two had no idea they'd just skirted the edge of taboo. Then Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand, ignoring his pleading look, and dragged him away.
"Sasuke-kun, long time no see."
Sakura looked at Sasuke—the more she looked, the more handsome he seemed, and the more she liked him.
Thinking back to Hinata's actions toward Naruto, a bold idea crossed her mind.
Since Hinata could act that way toward Naruto, couldn't she do the same to Sasuke?
Sasuke originally wanted to bolt away, but considering they were still teammates and with Hinata's precedent, he didn't want to face Sakura's potential ambushes. So, his attitude softened a bit.
"Sakura, if you still have business, go upstairs. I'm going to train."
Sakura watched Sasuke's departing back, her eyes filled with infatuation.
'As expected of Sasuke-kun! Even his running form is so cool!'
Only after Sasuke disappeared from sight did Sakura reluctantly turn and head upstairs, clutching the documents as she entered the Hokage's office.
"Sensei, these are the medical materials I've organized recently. Please take a look!"
"Hikari-senpai."
After finishing her report, Sakura politely greeted Hikari.
Although she hadn't trained with Sasuke lately, she knew that Hikari had been teaching him. Since even Sasuke called him "senpai," she, as Sasuke's future wife, naturally had to follow her husband's lead.
"Sakura, how's your training been going lately?" Looking at Sakura, Hikari's gaze unconsciously paused for a moment on her bountiful flatlands before he asked nonchalantly.
His glance was so subtle that Sakura didn't even notice her weak point being critiqued.
"It's going alright. I've improved a bit, but I'm still short of Sensei's standards." In front of Tsunade, Sakura wouldn't get cocky, or the next assignment would teach her what a teacher's tough love really meant.
Fortunately, Tsunade was satisfied with Sakura's progress and wouldn't make things too hard for her.
As a master of medical ninjutsu, Tsunade naturally wanted to find a worthy successor in Konoha to pass down her techniques and the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
With Shizune being a total failure, she could only train Sakura. Luckily, Sakura had real talent in medical ninjutsu, plus outstanding learning ability. Now her chakra control rivaled Shizune's. With the right supplementary knowledge, she could start attempting the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
The Strength of a Hundred Seal was Tsunade's signature technique. It required advanced chakra control and deep medical knowledge. Only with both could one begin training.
Sakura's qualifications meant her talent in medical ninjutsu far surpassed that of Konoha's medical corps.