Murakami's POV
Just as I was pondering my options, a faint ping of the anchor on my desk snapped me back.
A pale-blue glow shimmered from it, and a translucent message floated above.
I stared at it before letting out a loud sigh.
"Again?" I muttered, rubbing my temples like I could massage away the migraine that was about to begin. "That gremlin's really pushing her luck."
The seal hadn't even finished its low hum before the main entrance creaked and groaned open.
And just like prophecy, Tsunade stormed in like she paid rent here, which she absolutely did not.
She walked in without so much as a nod and flopped unceremoniously into one of the chairs in the hall like it was her birthright.
I didn't need a fortune-telling seal to know that today was already ruined.
"You know…I could sue you for trespassing on private property." I said as I leveled a neutral stare at her.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" She asked and I could see genuine confusion in her eyes.
"It means you entered my property without proper authorization." I answered. "That's against the law."
"What law? My grandfather built Konoha, doesn't that mean it's his personal property?" She asked back with a smirk to which I was left speechless.
So now she's playing that card, huh?
I could argue otherwise and say the Uchiha and other clans had a hand in building konoha, but as the more mature one, I'm gonna be the bigger man and let her off.
Not like I could do anything in the first place so…
"So? What brings you here?" I asked as I leaned forward, my fingers crossed under my jaw.
"How should I know?" She shrugged. "Hiruzen-sensei said we should practice by ourselves. Orochimaru went off to practice and that pervert left to do whatever he knows."
"Practicing?"
"Heh." She scoffed disdainfully. "I wish."
"That still doesn't answer my question," I said. "What brings you here? Surely you don't require our service, right? You're Konoha's princess afterall and this lowly store can't possibly entertain your fancy."
"Humph. Grandma said I was being too noisy and should go hang out with my friends."
There was a moment of silence as I allowed her to conclude. There should definitely be more to be said…right?
However seeing as she too was silent, I had to speak. "I don't see your friends here though."
She glared at me and then harrumphed and looked away.
Wha-
"You're my friend, aren't you?" she snapped without looking at me, arms crossed and cheeks puffed in that dramatic pouty way only a twelve-year-old with destructive chakra reserves could pull off without being ridiculous.
I blinked. Very slowly, I might add.
There was something oddly genuine in her voice, enough to throw off my rhythm for half a second… Just half.
Ugh. Emotional manipulation via pout. The most dangerous jutsu of them all.
"I see," I said flatly. "So when grandma kicks you out and your teammates are unavailable, you come to the last safe bunker standing."
She turned to glare at me. "You make it sound like I'm desperate."
"You are desperate. You just barged into my store uninvited to complain about being abandoned by your teammates."
"It's not complaining, it's venting! And they didn't abandon me."
"It's trespassing."
"It's friendship!"
I stared at her.
She stared back.
"I should start charging you for my time."
"Go ahead. I'll just send the bill to Grandma."
I leaned back into my seat, letting out a long, exaggerated exhale. "Fine. Fine. What do you want to do then, oh great princess of Konoha?"
Her eyes lit up slightly at that, and she leaned forward with a grin.
"You're working on something, right? Some cool new seal thingy?"
"No."
"You're lying."
I sighed again. "Tsunade, chakra physics is not a plaything. These seals could explode. Or burn. Or implode. Or tear open a rift in the space-time continuum and drop you into the pre-Rikudō era where you'd get eaten by giant wolves."
Her eyes widened in mild horror and disbelief.
"...You're making that up."
"Am I?"
She squinted, clearly unsure.
I turned my gaze to the cuboid anchor, still glowing faintly from the earlier ping, and leaned forward just a bit to obscure her vision from it.
"I'm working on something…sensitive," I finally said, choosing my words carefully.
Tsunade's eyes immediately lit up like I'd waved a C-rank mission in front of a bored genin. "I knew it!"
"Don't get excited," I cut in quickly, waving her off before she got any wild ideas. "It's complicated. I've hit a wall. And what I need… it's not something I can just figure out by trial and error."
She tilted her head in curiosity. "Like what?"
I gave her a long look, then leaned back in my chair while moving the cube into my sleeve. "More advanced knowledge on seals. Something far beyond what's privy to me in Konoha library."
Tsunade's face practically sparked with enthusiasm. "Then let's ask Grandma!"
"Huh?" She surely didn't just suggest that, did she?
"My grandma!" she repeated, already halfway out of the chair like she was ready to sprint out the door. "She's a seal master, right? You said you need advanced stuff. She knows everything! And she likes me, so we can just go ask her!"
Oh no.
"No." I said it instantly. Firmly, almost reflexively.
She froze, blinking in confusion. "What? Why?"
"No," I repeated, standing my ground with the unyielding stubbornness of a mountain goat.
I wasn't about to be swayed into getting in contact with someone like Mito and ruining my future.
"But she's perfect for this!"
"Yes," I admitted. "Which is exactly why it's a bad idea."
She stared at me for a good while. "That doesn't even make sense."
I rubbed my temples again, slower this time, more deliberately, as if I could physically knead the tension out of my skull.
"Tsunade… do you know what it means to ask Mito Uzumaki for help with Fuinjutsu?"
She paused. "Uh… she says I should pay attention when she explains things?"
Not exactly. But I didn't say that out loud. Instead, I caught the light in her eyes filled with hope, excitement and eagerness.
She was genuinely offering, genuinely trying to help. That kind of sincerity was rare… especially towards someone who had made it clear didn't like her.
It was also extremely hard to say no to considering there was no reasonable excuse.
I let out a long and heavy sigh.
This could go a dozen ways, all of them complicated. The best case? Mito brushes me off. The worst? She gets interested.
"…Fine," I muttered under my breath.
Tsunade didn't seem to hear me clearly, her expression fell and she said. "Whatever, forget I asked."
"I said fine!" I snapped louder.
She whooped in victory and I immediately regretted my decision.
…
The morning sun was still climbing lazily when we left the store.
I'd draped myself in a traditional black kimono, the kind with wide sleeves and subtle silver lining at the hem. It was not flashy, but formal enough to hide everything that needed hiding.
My hands were tucked into the sleeves, posture calm, composed… like a wandering monk.
Beside me, Tsunade was the complete opposite, bouncing slightly as she walked, clad in her usual short-sleeved top and green skirt, with her blonde hair tied up high and proud like a flag declaring war on peace and quiet.
She practically radiated energy, and the moment we stepped onto the main road, all eyes turned to us.
And by us, I mean her.
The Princess of Konoha.
And the guy walking beside her, wrapped in black, with zero clan crest and a face nobody could place.
The gazes were sharp, curious, calculating, a few outright suspicious. Passerbys paused and bowed while greeting as we passed
I regretted everything.
How did I let myself get roped into this? Why am I here, flanked by a walking attention magnet? Did I get excited and forget who I was walking with?
Despite the questions raging in my head, I kept my expression neutral, eyes half-lidded and steps even.
Stoic and calm.
Pretending I wasn't mentally setting fire to every thought that led to this decision.
Tsunade, meanwhile, seemed far less bothered.
She glanced toward me once, perhaps checking whether I was still following, before pointing toward the western side of the village.
"This whole area is mostly Senju land," she said. Her tone was casual, but there was a certain familiarity behind it. To Tsunade, this wasn't just another district of Konoha, it was home in a way most people probably couldn't understand.
She pointed toward a large compound in the distance. "That one's ours."
I followed her finger. The building was large enough that calling it a house felt generous.
"That's your house?"
She looked at me and smirked. "Yeah?"
I stared at it for a moment. "…Why does a house have so many walls?"
Tsunade snorted. "It's a clan compound."
I gave her a flat look. She was probably the only one that can say something like that with a straight face.
She grinned briefly, then looked away.
For a moment, we continued walking in silence.
That had become the usual rhythm between us over the past month.
She'd come to visit, sometimes with an excuse and sometimes without one. We'd talk, argue, sit in silence and more often than not, she'd eventually leave after deciding I was being annoying.
Somewhere along the way, she'd stopped treating me like an unusual nuisance she needed to understand.
Not that I'd call us friends.
That would probably be giving her too much credit.
Still, she seemed comfortable enough now to walk beside me without constantly watching for whatever strange thing I might do next.
"This is the west side of the village," she said after a while. I recognized this place.
This was were more of konoha noble house were situated.
"Most of the older Senju families still live around here." She pointed farther down the road.
"Grandma says this whole area used to be bigger."
I glanced at her. "And?"
"And then she starts telling stories."She made a face. "Next thing I know, I've been sitting there for an hour."
A small smile almost escaped me. "Sounds difficult."
"You don't know the half of it." She folded her arms and continued walking. "My house is still bigger than yours, though."
"Obviously."
"By a lot."
"Are you trying to start something?"
She glanced at me, the corner of her mouth lifting. "No"
Hmm. Good.
"…Maybe."
I sighed. This was going to be a long walk.
Tsunade seemed satisfied with herself and looked ahead again.
Then, after a moment, she added, "My little brother's annoying too."
I turned my head slightly and made a curious face. "You have a brother?"
"Yeah. Nawaki." She said his name with the particular mixture of irritation and affection only an older sibling could manage.
"Mom says he's going to be like Grandpa one day."
"And you disagree?"
"He cries too much."
I nodded solemnly. "A terrible flaw."
"Exactly."
For some reason, that made her laugh.
I looked away before she could notice the faint smile threatening to form on my own face.
Tsunade wasn't nearly as unbearable as she'd been a month ago.
That was probably the most dangerous realization I'd made about her.
Still, I kept walking beside her, calm as ever, while Tsunade Senju showed me the village through eyes that had grown up believing half of it was simply hers to know.
…
Normal POV
Within the central building of the Senju estate, Mito Uzumaki sat still as a statue, hands poised over an ink-washed scroll spread wide across a wooden table.
Faint lines of chakra curled around her fingers like threads of silk, weaving into a seal pattern on the scroll with practiced grace.
Her expression was calm and refined, her focus absolute as she drew.
Then her brow twitched.
Her head lifted, gaze sharp as it turned toward the compound's outer edge. A familiar chakra signature had just crossed into the ward's detection range, flaring like a small sun.
Tsunade-chan? So soon?
She had sent her granddaughter off less than an hour ago so she could have some peace and quiet, and for the girl to return so quickly, there had to be…
Just then, her eyes narrowed slightly.
No…she was not alone.
There was a second presence beside her.
At first, it was easy to miss, very muted, controlled and wrapped in layers of suppression that would have slipped beneath most sensory radars, but not hers.
A simple probe revealed who it was and her brows relaxed. "…Murakami, huh?" she muttered, lips barely moving as her fingers ceased their sealwork.
It was a chakra signature she had encountered only a few times, but its intent was too distinctive to forget.
Calm and measured, like that of a scholar listening and weighing every detail, yet beneath that composure was a sharpness unmistakably of a shinobi.
Like a string drawn taut, it felt ready to strike without hesitation at the slightest provocation.
The corner of her mouth curled up ever so slightly.
'Now what,' she wondered, 'would Konoha's most elusive young enigma want with the Senju matriarch?'
She didn't believe for even a moment that someone like Murakami had simply been convinced by Tsunade to spend the day with her and had conveniently ended up here.
Setting the thought aside for now, she rose from the scroll table. A faint flicker of chakra passed through the room as she deactivated the surrounding seal, and with the same graceful composure she carried in everything she did, she made her way toward the courtyard.
_-_-_-_-_-_-
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