The Beginning of a Body Pillow Career

Uzuki Yugao.

According to the original story, after graduating, she would join the Anbu through Konoha-Style Swordsmanship and become a Special Jonin.

Her boyfriend was Gekko Hayate, the one many jokingly referred to as "Hayate died in the Hayate Chronicles."

Now that Orochimaru had taken her as a disciple, even if she had merely come along with someone else, it was still enough to call it a meteoric rise.

Unfortunately, she had been an insignificant supporting character in the original work.

If she had not been pretty, probably nobody would have remembered her.

The amount of Destiny Points depended on two criteria.

First, the character's role in the original work.

Second, the extent to which the character's fate had changed.

A single character could gain at most one hundred Destiny Points from a single Destiny Node.

These two criteria could roughly be worth fifty points each.

Uzuki Yugao had contributed forty-nine points.

That meant the change in her fate was frighteningly great, and she had already embarked on a path completely different from the original work.

Itachi Uchiha had contributed only eighteen points, indicating that even after becoming Orochimaru's disciple, he had not changed his original intentions.

For Konoha, he would still make extreme choices.

Orochimaru took Itachi Uchiha and Uzuki Yugao away, and the Ninja Academy's test for the day came to an end.

Everyone went home to find their mothers.

As soon as Natsume reached the school gate, he saw his guardian—his mother in name—Tsunade.

"Why were you half an hour late today?"

"Lord Orochimaru took in disciples, so the school held a test."

Natsume said, holding her large hand with his little one.

Tsunade froze for two seconds.

She thought of Nawaki again.

After all, Orochimaru's previous disciple had been her younger brother.

Seeing her fall silent, Natsume raised his head, wanting to see her expression, but his view was blocked by two unknown mountains.

What was that saying from his previous life?

When a woman looked down and could not see her toes, she was an unmatched beauty.

He had not expected to experience the reverse of that today.

Natsume thought it over and realized he had said the wrong thing. Just as he was about to comfort her—

Tsunade had already reached out, picked him up, and held him against her soft body.

That allowed Natsume to see her expression as well.

There was a faint sadness on her face.

Sure enough, his words had reminded her of Nawaki.

Yet this longing seemed to have been transferred onto him.

"Don't move. Let me hold you for a while. Just for a moment."

Hearing Tsunade say that, Natsume immediately quieted down and obediently became a body pillow.

After a while, Tsunade loosened her hold, but she did not put him down. She carried him all the way home.

Natsume did not say anything either. With nothing better to do, he stared at her exquisite jawline moving up and down as she walked.

"You stared at me the whole way. What do you think?"

Tsunade lowered her head and looked directly into his eyes.

Her sudden question left Natsume somewhat unsure how to answer.

Tsunade was charmed by his helpless appearance. She hugged him tighter and affectionately rubbed her face against his, saying, "Thank you. I feel much better now."

Her breath brushed against him.

Natsume shivered. It tickled a little.

"I'll go see whether Shizune has finished cooking."

Tsunade put him down and rubbed his head again.

Natsume finally breathed a sigh of relief, sat on the sofa, and turned on the television.

How should he put it?

The programs were extremely mediocre, but they were decent enough for passing the time.

Before long—

Tsunade and Shizune brought out the dishes.

"Thanks for the meal!"

Natsume said, bringing his hands together.

At noon, he ate in the Ninja Academy cafeteria, and the food was not very good.

That morning, he had also eaten rice balls made by Tsunade.

Only dinner could restore his health.

Naturally, he had to eat big mouthfuls of rice and meat.

After dinner, it was time to practice Wood Style Ninjutsu again.

Shizune returned to her room to study medical texts.

Tsunade remained in the living room, watching television while keeping an eye on Natsume outside the window.

She did not want anything to go wrong while he trained.

Natsume flipped through the Ninjutsu Scroll and finally decided that his next technique would be Wood Style: Wood Golem Wall.

It was a defensive ninjutsu.

It could raise a row of wooden pillars from the ground, which would bend and form an arched wall to protect the user.

It also provided three hundred and sixty degrees of protection without blind spots.

"Natsume, do you want an apple?"

Seeing that he had trained for quite a while, Tsunade said, "I'll peel one for you."

"Sure," Natsume answered during a break.

But several minutes passed, and Tsunade still did not come outside.

He wiped away his sweat, ran over to the window, and looked inside. His heart instantly skipped a beat, and he hurriedly turned around and rushed into the living room.

Tsunade was hugging herself, trembling all over.

Natsume quickly noticed blood left on the knife.

He hurriedly wiped it clean.

Ninja were typical glass cannons.

Tsunade was no exception, unless she activated her own ninjutsu.

She had accidentally seen blood and triggered her hemophobia.

Natsume did not know what to do. He could only gently pat her back and say, "Don't be afraid."

Tsunade slowly raised her head. When she saw him, she suddenly pulled him into her arms.

Natsume felt wave after wave pressing against him and was speechless for a long time.

Yet he could not move at all.

After who knew how long, the trembling stopped.

Natsume shifted his slightly numb body and said, "Big sister, go rest."

But Tsunade did not let him go. Instead, she clung to him even tighter.

Apparently, she had not fully recovered from her hemophobia yet.

Natsume sighed inwardly. What else could he do? He could only endure it.

Just then, Tsunade stood up, carried him back to her room, and stuffed him into her bed.

"Huh?"

Natsume did not quite react in time.

What was going on?

Tsunade casually turned off the lights. Without saying anything, she treated Natsume like a body pillow.

Within minutes, steady breathing could be heard.

This is too hard for me.

Natsume felt as though he had become medicinal primer.

Forget it, forget it. Nothing was more important than a patient.

He would make do for one night.

The next morning.

Natsume woke up with an aching back and sore waist.

Tsunade was not very well-behaved in her sleep. One arm was wrapped around him, one leg was tangled with his, and her face was buried in the crook of his neck.

For a short time, it felt as though his whole body was surrounded by the gentle texture of slime.

But holding the same position for so long was freaking exhausting!

"Big sister."

Natsume called out as he looked at Tsunade's beautiful sleeping face.

There was a response.

But he was hugged even tighter.

Not only that, Tsunade rubbed her face against him like a kitten.

"Let me sleep a little longer."

"..."

But Natsume could not bear the weight of a woman, so he could only use his trump card. He wrapped his arms around her neck and said pitifully, "Big sister, I'm hungry."

Tsunade immediately opened her eyes and said, "I'll make you rice balls."

Natsume had escaped alive.

After putting on his coat and washing up, he felt alive again.

Last night had truly been the ultimate torture.

After breakfast, Natsume went to school.

His desk mate, Itachi Uchiha, who never skipped class, did not come today.

The other students were all envious.

It was not that they envied him for skipping class, but that they envied him for receiving Orochimaru's personal instruction.

Naturally, Natsume, who knew the truth, was not envious.

What instruction? Calling it research would not be an exaggeration.

Soon, it was Saturday again—the seventh day of July.

Natsume gave all his Chakra to his Wood Clone, then spent one Destiny Point to send him to meet the famous Akatsuki Organization.

The plan to rescue Karin and her mother had officially begun.

Some people might think it was unscientific for Tsunade to be injured by a fruit knife. Don't ask. The answer was the Welfare Bureau.