The Unhappy Tsunade

"Lady Tsunade, what do you think?" Shin Kiyono turned to Tsunade and asked for her opinion.

"Don't worry. The child is out of danger." Tsunade waved a hand, but her eyes passed over the blood on the ground and landed on Houka. "Still, he's already able to use Medical Ninjutsu at such a young age. He's worth cultivating."

Houka turned around and smiled awkwardly. "Um, well, my surname is Uchiha."

Bam!

Tsunade's expression changed in an instant. Without the slightest hesitation, she rapped Houka on the head, sending him stumbling to the side. "Brat, Uchiha or not, stick to playing with fire!"

Houka had no way to fight back. He tumbled across the ground in a miserable heap, and when he got up, his clothes were covered in dust.

Damn you, Tsunade! Houka felt utterly aggrieved. I'll get you back for this one day!

"Teacher Shin Kiyono, you're finally back! That Mizuki was so awful just now. He wouldn't let Houka save Jingxia, and even claimed you'd told him to do it."

"That's right, Mizuki got distracted and stabbed Jingxia, but then he turned around and blamed Jingxia for getting distracted. To keep his lie from being exposed, he even stopped Houka from helping. If it weren't for Asuma, Jingxia might be dead!"

"Teacher Shin Kiyono, Mizuki doesn't deserve to be our classmate. He's a horrible person!"

The students finally came to their senses and crowded around to complain.

"No, I didn't! I, I..." Mizuki trembled as he loudly defended himself. "Teacher Shin Kiyono said not to let anyone touch Jingxia! I, I was only following his orders. I did nothing wrong!" Tears of grievance streamed down his face. It was enough to make anyone who saw him feel sorry for him.

But the kids around him weren't about to let him get away with it. They all pointed at him and berated him.

"Shameless!"

"That's what happened! Don't even think about denying it!"

"Let's see what you have to say when Jingxia wakes up."

"Kick Mizuki out of the Ninja Academy!"

Shin Kiyono frowned. The situation had caught him off guard.

"All right, all right, everyone, quiet down. I'll investigate this thoroughly. Asuma, take the others over there to do some regular training. We'll take care of things here."

"Yes, Teacher Shin Kiyono." Asuma nodded. As the Fire Second Generation, all he had to do was wave, and the others followed. At his call, everyone headed off to the side.

That left only Tsunade, Shin Kiyono, Jingxia, Mizuki, and Houka.

Houka had wanted to leave, but for some reason, he felt as if someone had their eyes on him. He couldn't move. It was a strange feeling, but it felt very real.

Houka didn't need to guess. It had to be Tsunade.

So what if you've got a pair of those? They'll sag eventually!

Houka cursed her as maliciously as he could, but his gaze kept wandering back to Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade!" Another ninja suddenly appeared in the middle of the training ground and knelt before her.

"This is the child." Tsunade lifted her chin to indicate Jingxia.

"Yes!" The ninja was a Medical Ninja. He immediately crouched beside Jingxia and gently placed his chakra-radiating hands over his wound. His movements were exactly like Houka's, but he was using the more advanced Mystical Palm Technique. Beneath the glow of his chakra, Jingxia's injuries healed at a visible pace, and even the scabs began to fall away.

But that wasn't where Houka's attention was focused.

Wow!!! They're really huge!

Houka was extremely grateful that he was only six years old. Otherwise, he would have embarrassed himself on the spot. If that had happened... given Tsunade's personality and his Uchiha surname, he probably wouldn't live to see the same day next year.

I don't wanna, I don't wanna, don't wanna grow up. When I'm grown, I'll get beat up~

A moment later, the ninja stood and nodded to Tsunade, then disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique.

Tsunade turned her head, then lightly kicked Jingxia, who was still lying on the ground pretending to be dead. "Get up already!"

"Yes!" Jingxia jolted upright. "Amazing! I, I'm really all right! I was bleeding so much just now!" Having just returned from the brink of death, Jingxia was so excited that tears filled his eyes.

"It's simple. That Medical Ninja used the Mystical Palm Technique to stimulate your blood-producing cells and replenish the blood you'd lost. But you're still very weak, so be sure to eat well and build up your strength when you get home." Tsunade kept her head turned away, avoiding a direct look at him. After her lover Dan Katō's death, she had developed Hemophobia. Though she still held a position at Konoha Hospital, she mostly instructed other Medical Ninjas and no longer took part in treatment herself.

"Yes, thank you, Lady Tsunade!"

After thanking her earnestly, Jingxia looked at Mizuki, his face suddenly twisting with anger.

"Teacher Shin Kiyono, I actually heard what everyone was saying. Mizuki here—during training, he got distracted and stabbed me. Then he blamed me for getting distracted, and he even stopped Houka from saving me. I, I almost died! Boo-hoo..."

As he spoke, Jingxia was overcome with grief and burst into tears.

Mizuki saw what was happening and panicked. He had to win Teacher Shin Kiyono's sympathy or there was no way he'd get through this, so he too began bawling at the top of his lungs.

"I didn't, I didn't, I didn't!"

Jingxia pointed at him and sobbed, "You did, you did, you did!"

"I didn't, I didn't, I didn't!" Mizuki refused to back down, crying so hard he looked like a tragic heroine.

Houka's eye twitched. Why did this conversation feel like something out of a melodramatic romance?

Just then, Houka suddenly felt his body go light. The next moment, he was soaring through the air as if riding on clouds.

"Shin Kiyono, I'll take this child with me for now. I'll bring him back later." Tsunade had grabbed Houka by the collar like an LV handbag and vanished from the Ninja Academy in an instant.

With a miserable look on his face, Houka glanced around. The place seemed oddly familiar—it was Kage Rock, where Naruto often went in the original story!

And he was standing right on top of Tsunade's great-uncle's head.

What the hell.

Houka felt like his heart was breaking.

"Uchiha brat, what's your name?" Tsunade stood in front of him. The spot was high up, and the wind blew strongly, lifting a few strands of hair beside her ear. Her clothes fluttered in the breeze, outlining her graceful figure.

Houka's gaze wandered once more... Ahem. He was a perfectly respectable six-year-old boy!

Houka shifted his gaze to Konoha below and replied, "My name is Uchiha Houka!"

"Houka? You really have that name. Hmph! Do you know what 'fire' means?" Tsunade turned around and fixed Houka with a pair of sharp, determined eyes.

Houka nervously took two steps back. That was a dangerous question to answer. He might accidentally slip and fall to his death.

"My parents gave me my name. As for what 'fire' means... fire is just fire, isn't it?" Houka decided to play dumb.

I'm as fresh-faced as they come, Tsunade. You wouldn't really hit me, would you? Just thinking about it makes me blush on your behalf, feel embarrassed for you, and feel all shy!

"Kids who haven't even hit puberty really have no worries, huh? Heh, heh, heh." Tsunade suddenly covered her forehead and chuckled, though her voice was full of helplessness.

Houka froze, his mind racing.

Tsunade was one of the Konoha Sannin. The Second Great Ninja War had made her famous throughout the Ninja World, and she was at the height of her reputation. What could have made her feel so helpless?

Was it the deaths of her younger brother, Nawaki Senju, and her lover, Dan Katō?

But that had happened years ago, hadn't it?

Houka blinked, completely perplexed.

By rights, Tsunade was a princess of the Senju Clan. Ah, wait, that's it! The Senju Clan had dwindled after the Second Great Ninja War and had more or less withdrawn from Konoha's history around this time. As a princess of the Senju Clan, of course she'd be in a bad mood!

Then Houka's mood soured too.

With the Senju Clan withdrawing, the other great clans would naturally divide up the power they left behind. As one of Konoha's great clans and the ruling force behind the Police Force, the Uchiha Clan's reputation and power would only grow. How could that comparison not make people resent them?

Houka felt even more aggrieved than Jingxia!

I'm the main character in this melodrama!