Temari wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the floor and disappear.
She had borrowed that book from Sen.
Sen had borrowed it from Yukata.
Yukata had borrowed it from Matsuri.
Matsuri had borrowed it from...
In short, the book had apparently made the rounds.
Temari had only taken it for reference.
She definitely hadn't read it seriously. She definitely hadn't practiced anything from it. She definitely hadn't...
Teizawa handed the book back and patted her on the head.
"Continue."
Temari blinked.
"Huh?"
"Keep teaching." Teizawa walked over to the sofa, sat down with one leg crossed over the other, and folded his hands behind his head. "I'll observe."
The atmosphere in the living room grew even stranger.
Temari stood there holding the book, unable to decide whether she should continue or stop.
The six students kneeling in a row kept their heads lowered. Not one of them dared look up.
Teizawa leaned back against the sofa.
His eyes were closed, and the faintest hint of a smile lingered on his lips.
After a long silence, Amaru's voice emerged cautiously from the row, timid yet somehow perfectly justified.
"Master, are you really going to observe?"
"Mm."
"Then could you sit farther away?"
"Why?"
"Because it's embarrassing with you sitting here."
Amaru's voice grew softer and softer.
"The things Temari-onee-san is teaching us... We can't talk about them with you watching..."
Teizawa opened his eyes.
He looked at Amaru's flushed little face, then glanced at the others.
Every one of them wore an expression that practically screamed, Please leave.
Even Temari was no exception.
He laughed, rose to his feet, and headed toward the bedroom.
"Fine. I'm leaving."
When he reached the bedroom door, he stopped without turning around.
"Oh, and one more thing..."
"What?"
All seven asked at once.
"Once the lesson's over, come to my room one at a time and tell me what you learned."
Teizawa opened the door.
"I'll be checking your progress."
The door closed softly behind him, plunging the living room into dead silence once more.
The seven of them stared at one another.
The book slipped from Temari's hand and landed on the floor with a soft thud.
Hinata buried her face even deeper against her knees.
Amaru tilted her head and asked with complete innocence, "Temari-onee-san, what does he mean by 'checking our progress'?"
No one answered her.
Outside, moonlight flowed like water beneath the gentle night sky.
The lights in the living room remained on.
Not one of the seven people kneeling there moved.
...
Early the following morning, sunlight squeezed through a gap in the curtains and drew a thin golden line across the floor.
Teizawa opened his eyes and discovered that he was surrounded by a tangle of warm bodies.
Temari rested her head on his left shoulder. Her long blond hair spilled across his chest, its ends curling into tiny rings.
Hinata was nestled in the crook of his right arm, sleeping as peacefully as a quiet kitten. Her nostrils fluttered slightly with each soft breath.
Karin lay on her back near his feet, one leg draped over his calf. Her long red hair spread across the pillow like unfurled silk.
Amaru's sleeping position was even more ridiculous.
She lay sideways across the foot of the bed, her head resting on Karin's stomach and her legs thrown over Sen's waist. Her body formed a crooked starfish.
Sen and Yukata were squeezed against the outermost edge of the bed, sleeping back-to-back.
Matsuri was wedged between them, curled into a tiny ball.
Teizawa carefully pulled his arm out from beneath Temari's head.
He gently brushed her loose blond hair aside, then drew Hinata's blanket higher to cover her exposed shoulder.
Next, he carefully moved Karin's foot from his leg.
Supporting Amaru's head with one hand, he lifted it from Karin's stomach and lowered it onto a pillow.
Finally, he slipped through the narrow gap between Sen, Yukata, and Matsuri.
He moved as quietly as a thief.
The entire process took several minutes.
Every motion was painstakingly careful, for fear of waking even one of them.
Standing beside the bed, Teizawa gazed down at the chaotic jumble of sleeping figures, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
Temari's lessons had certainly been effective.
Whether it was Yukata and Sen, who had been with him from the beginning, or Hinata, Karin, and Amaru, who had arrived later, every one of them was almost frighteningly well-behaved.
Or was this simply some peculiar tradition inherited from that island nation?
Unquestioningly obeying the head of the household?
He didn't know, nor did he care to investigate too deeply.
As long as it worked.
Teizawa turned and left the bedroom.
His bare feet made the wooden floor creak softly beneath him.
After washing up and changing, he draped his dark-gold Kazekage robes over his shoulders and secured his forehead protector across his brow.
The man reflected in the mirror looked alert and energetic, his features carrying a stern, heroic air.
He appeared completely different from the shameless rogue who had spent the previous night surrounded by seven women.
Today was an important day.
The Kage of the other villages should already have dispatched their elite forces.
They had agreed to rendezvous near Amegakure.
Teizawa picked up the intelligence scroll from the table and checked the meeting place one final time.
An abandoned mine thirty li east of Amegakure.
The terrain there was open, easily defended, and difficult to assault. More importantly, it lay beyond Amegakure's sensory perimeter.
Powerful shinobi from every major village would personally attend.
Nothing like this had happened in the shinobi world for decades.
If he could, Teizawa would have recorded the entire event and uploaded it to one of the short-video platforms from his previous life.
He already had the perfect title:
On-Site Footage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages' First Joint Military Operation.
It would easily have earned more than a million likes.
When he stepped out of the bedroom, the hallway was empty.
Upon entering the living room, he found breakfast waiting on the table: rice balls, miso soup, and pickled radish, all still steaming.
A note written in Temari's handwriting had been left beneath one of the dishes.
Breakfast is ready. Remember to eat. Be careful on the road.
Teizawa smiled.
He picked up a rice ball and took a bite. It was still warm.
When had Temari prepared breakfast?
She had clearly still been asleep just moments ago...
How thoughtful!
After finishing breakfast, Teizawa left the house.
Sunagakure was quiet in the early morning.
Only the occasional footstep echoed through its streets and alleys.
Several early-rising shinobi spotted him and hurriedly bowed.
Teizawa acknowledged them with a nod before striding toward the village gates.
Temari, Kankurō, Gaara, and Deidara had already been waiting there for some time with an ANBU detachment and the village's elite forces.
Temari sat astride a horse, dressed in dark combat gear.
Her blond hair was tied into a ponytail, giving her a valiant, commanding appearance.
When she saw Teizawa approaching, her gaze lingered on his face for a moment before she looked away, the tips of her ears turning faintly red.
At the sight of her ponytail, Teizawa's thoughts drifted toward the previous night's antics.
He had to admit, Temari was putting a remarkable amount of effort into having a child.
Unfortunately, these things ultimately came down to luck.
Kurotsuchi had been the perfect example. She had become pregnant almost entirely by chance.
Temari and Teizawa had been together for quite some time, yet there had still been no change.
Temari herself had begun to wonder about it.
If Teizawa hadn't known from the original story that Temari was perfectly capable of having children, even he might have wondered whether there was a problem.
Still, she had certainly gone to extraordinary lengths to make it happen, indulging nearly every suggestion he made...
Ahem.
He was letting his thoughts wander too far.
Teizawa collected himself and turned his attention to the others.
(End of Chapter)
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