Nawaki nearly jogged all the way to the door, his heart brimming with excitement. Orochimaru walked closely behind, followed by Kawaki and the others at a slight distance.
Stopping in front of the door, Nawaki straightened his clothes and softly cleared his throat before tapping lightly on the door.
Knock knock knock~
"Misaki, it's me," Nawaki called out gently, his voice clearly reaching inside the room.
"Misaki-nee, your husband's here," Kushina teased, raising her eyebrows at Misaki before turning her gaze back toward the door, eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Misaki understood her best friend's playful jab and responded with a mock scolding.
"Come in," she finally replied after a short pause.
With a creaking sound, the door swung open, revealing Nawaki dressed as the groom standing before Misaki. The usual immaturity and playfulness he often showed around her were gone today. Right now, he looked composed and handsome.
"You look absolutely stunning today."
The moment he stepped inside, Nawaki's eyes locked onto Misaki, completely captivated. If it weren't for Pakura and a few others being present, he might have lost his composure entirely.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Before Misaki could reply, Pakura scoffed, pulling Nawaki out of his daze.
"Hehe~" Embarrassed, Nawaki gave Pakura an awkward smile while scratching his head sheepishly.
"Dork," Misaki mumbled under her breath but still stretched out her right hand willingly.
"What're you waiting for? Move already."
Just then, Kawaki arrived, pushed past Orochimaru who was watching the scene unfold, and smacked Nawaki on the back of the head without hesitation.
"Ow!" Stumbling forward from the hit, Nawaki stumbled straight toward Misaki. He didn't even need to turn around—he recognized that familiar strength and sound instantly. There was no mistaking it: his mischievous brother-in-law had struck again.
With everyone watching intently, Nawaki steadied himself and naturally took Misaki's hand into his own.
"Let's go home together." Their eyes met, and the air between them was thick with love.
"Okay." Misaki answered firmly, standing up as Nawaki gently pulled her up.
Just as the pair prepared to walk out hand in hand, another interruption came their way.
"A kiss! A kiss!" Kushina started the teasing chant, taking Nawaki and Misaki completely by surprise.
"A kiss~" Minato quickly caught on, joining in enthusiastically alongside Kushina.
The cheers grew louder until the guests crowding the doorway blocked their path completely.
"Looks like we're stuck for now," Nawaki said with a helpless half-smile, glancing over his shoulder.
"I won't forget this," Misaki shot Kushina a glare but received only a cheeky face in response.
Kushina lived for the moment and gave no thought to what would happen later.
"All right then." With a calm little smile, Misaki closed her eyes, ready for Nawaki's kiss. However, it didn't take long for the rosy color spreading across her fair face to betray her slight embarrassment.
As the cheers rose louder, Nawaki slowly lowered his head and finally kissed Misaki on the lips. Feeling her soft lips press against his, Misaki gently parted hers, and the two deepened the kiss slowly. After what felt like minutes, they finally parted, neither wanting to let go.
"Can you let us out now?"
Nawaki steadied his breath and turned toward the door.
Misaki blushed, her head lowered slightly, too shy to make eye contact.
"Uncle, is Auntie's mouth sweet enough?"
Instead of an answer, Nawaki was suddenly faced with Ginji, clearly acting on someone's prompting.
"What an excellent question!"
Kushina was as always—the ultimate queen of stirring up trouble.
Misaki shot her a glare. Children don't know any better, but are you really that immature too?
"What nonsense are you spouting? Just open the way for your uncle."
Trying to brush past with the authority of an elder, Nawaki tried to save face.
"No can do, Uncle. Uncle Orochimaru told me to ask."
Ginji looked completely innocent, even glancing upward at Orochimaru behind him.
But Nawaki hadn't expected this—since when had his teacher become so mischievous?
If it were Brother-in-law who had ordered Ginji to ask, it would've made perfect sense.
This wasn't like Orochimaru-sensei at all!
"Don't listen to him—he's just repeating what his father told him to say."
Orochimaru remained calm and unshaken under everyone's stares.
He spoke so calmly it sounded like he had nothing to do with it.
That said, shoving Ginji toward Kawaki definitely hurt his credibility.
Pakura watched her husband trying to shift the blame, barely suppressing her laughter.
"So you're just dumping all the blame on me?"
Kawaki stared at Orochimaru speechlessly. Did his dignity mean nothing?
As for secretly ordering Ginji in the first place? That was practically standard behavior from Kawaki's perspective.
After all, Orochimaru would be a father someday, well, after all.
"Alright, enough with the two of you squabbling like little girls."
"Tsunade won't take sides anyway," Nawaki muttered, since neither of them deserved pity.
"I..."
The light in Nawaki's eyes dimmed—he'd been too naive again.
Was she, Onee-chan, trying to help him out?
Please. Tsunade wasn't known for being kind-hearted.
Hmph.
"Sweet? Very sweet indeed."
Now catching on, Nawaki replied with a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"You don't seem very sincere about it."
"Disingenuous words?"
Kawaki smirked slightly, naturally slipping into provocation mode.
No one even blinked. It fit his reputation perfectly—Mr. Scheming himself.
"My oh my, what a great brother-in-law you are."
Ohhh...!
*Read from Naruto: Starting From Pursuing Tsunade* – Be sure to bookmark it: (m.
"These are all genuine feelings of mine. Truer than gold."
This time, Nawaki didn't hold back anything—he was unusually resolute.
"Awwww..."
They say the more you fight back, the more fun it becomes.
Unfortunately, before Kawaki could escalate things further, Misaki spoke up in a soft voice.
"Brother-in-law... please let us out now."
"The time is almost right."
Noticing Misaki was still shy, Kawaki immediately felt awkward continuing.
Teasing Nawaki didn't bother him at all—but picking on such a gentle sister-in-law? That would cross a line.
"Right, right, right—we should definitely go out now."
"If we miss the lucky hour, Grandma won't be pleased."
Kawaki came up with a valid excuse, and it was actually spot on.
This time, even Kushina, who had been planning to tease more, fell silent. She didn't want to incur Mito's wrath.
As Kawaki stepped aside, everyone followed suit, making space and clearing a path to the door.
"Let's go."
Misaki gently squeezed Nawaki's hand and whispered softly.
"Oh right."
Nawaki finally snapped back to reality and held Misaki's hand as they walked out the door.
While walking, he couldn't help but think—if he had known earlier that Misaki's words held so much sway, why bother struggling so hard?
Everyone followed the newlyweds outside.
At last, Kushina got to walk beside Minato, while Ginji made his way over to Pakura.
"You're really acting like a teacher?"
Kawaki intentionally walked up next to Orochimaru, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"And you're really acting like a brother-in-law?"
Orochimaru wasn't one to be easily pushed around either, shooting Kawaki half a glare.
"You're both equally bad. How about I set up a ring for you two?"
Tsunade broke into a wide smile from the sidelines, while Pakura, holding a child's hand in each of hers, was also visibly delighted.
Sometimes men really were like little kids.
…
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