"Lady Tsunade, you wanted to see me?"
"Sit."
Unlike the Coordination Commissioner, who had been given nothing but an empty title, Tsunade had received a formal written appointment from the Hokage Office.
As the deputy commander of the Frontline Support Battalion, personally appointed by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Slug Princess had already pulled ahead of Yamada Soji, who was still crammed in with Team Five, when it came to living conditions!
Although Her Highness herself didn't care much about such trivial details, as soon as Soji sat down, he could clearly feel the gap between their social standings from the furnishings inside the room and the way the whole place was arranged...
Human instinct made him feel a pang of envy, while the poor meals he usually got and his adolescent craving for sugar made him eye the candied fruit on the table hungrily.
So Soji reached out on impulse, only to force himself to straighten up halfway through the motion.
...Under normal circumstances, it was extremely rare for a boy his age to indulge his desires so freely!
But when facing the Third Hokage's star pupil, Soji deliberately chose to show a "more genuine" version of himself.
"It's all right. I don't really like sweets anyway. It's actually easier when someone helps me finish them."
As an excellent ninja, Tsunade had exceptionally keen senses. She saw the boy's embarrassment at a glance and took the opportunity to push the fruit plate toward Soji.
"No... Lady Tsunade, I think we should discuss business first."
Yamada-kun first gave her an embarrassed, sheepish smile...
But in the end, he firmly shook his head and declined, deliberately putting on the air of a "little grown-up" as he changed the subject.
That blustering attitude somehow made Tsunade, who had just turned eighteen that year, feel