Danzo and Love Advice

Building an emotional bond...

Put nicely, this mission was about building a bond.

Put bluntly, it was seduction.

It was a mission that required her to risk her life to carry out.

The only thing that comforted Nonō was that her target, Minato Namikaze, really was an outstanding boy.

His looks, personality, and talent were all impeccable.

Still, Nonō felt that Danzo had overlooked something important...

"Danzo-sama, I have another question about the mission..."

"Go ahead."

"Does building an emotional bond with Minato mean... making him fall for me?" Nonō asked.

"You can think of it that way."

Danzo gave a slight nod. That was exactly what he meant. "Compared with the affection between comrades, a relationship in which you share your whole life is indeed more reliable."

"Then... how do I make him fall for me?"

Nonō tilted her head, confusion written all over her little face.

Though life at the orphanage had made her more mature than other children her age, at the end of the day, she was still just a five-year-old girl.

She had spent her whole life at the orphanage, and had been content just to have enough to eat and warm clothes. She had never had the time to think about anything else.

Then, all of a sudden, Danzo had brought her to Root and told her to build an emotional bond with a boy she didn't know.

To be honest, she was a complete blank slate when it came to this sort of thing.

"You have the gentle grace of a Yamato Nadeshiko, and you're exceptionally pretty. That's why I chose you."

Danzo spoke coolly. "Men all like gentle women, especially women who have eyes only for them."

"But... Danzo-sama," Nonō said timidly. "All the girls in my class are like that."

"How could that be?"

Danzo snorted. "Everyone is an individual, so naturally they all have different personalities."

Nonō nodded. "Yes, but they all act gentle around Minato."

"..."

Danzo fell silent for a moment. "Tell me more."

"Yes."

Nonō gave him a detailed report. "Every time class ends, all the girls gather around Minato and invite him to have lunch with them, walk home together, train, or go on a date. I can't even get a word in."

Was the kid really that popular?

Danzo's cold eyes widened ever so slightly.

He hadn't been bad-looking in his day, either, but he'd never been that popular!

Danzo didn't understand: even handsome guys came in different leagues.

There were plenty of handsome men in the Naruto world.

Among those widely considered the most handsome were Sasuke, Itachi, Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, Kakashi, Yahiko, Nagato, and Sasori...

Danzo couldn't hold a candle to any of them.

"Girls these days really have no restraint..."

Danzo shook his head. "Back in our day, even girls who had just started school had excellent qualities as shinobi."

"Um..."

Nonō opened her mouth. "Actually, they're still quite reserved around everyone else."

"..."

So she meant he wasn't handsome enough?

And she was being pretty tactful about it, too.

Danzo fell silent. He was starting to question his judgment in choosing her.

After a long while, he finally spoke. "So your problem is that there are too many rivals, and you can't get your target's attention?"

Was he changing the subject?

Nonō pressed her lips together. "Yes. I was wondering if Danzo-sama had any experience with this sort of thing..."

Danzo fell silent again.

Why did this child have to bring up the one thing he couldn't answer?

If it had been one of his other subordinates, he might have simply assigned them a mission to assassinate the Raikage.

But Nonō was only a five-year-old girl. She had no parents and no experience with this sort of thing. Even someone as despicable as him felt that taking it out on her over this would be unreasonable.

After all, even he didn't really understand these things.

The subordinates he trusted were all killing machines whose personalities had been erased. They didn't know the meaning of romance, or even the most basic sense of self.

At the thought, Danzo found himself at a loss.

After mulling it over for a long time, he waved a hand. "Until he clearly shows that he likes someone, just keep things as they are for now. You may go."

"Yes!"

After Nonō left, Danzo summoned one of his subordinates.

"Go buy some books about lo... relationships."

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, at Tsunade's house.

Minato cut the lamb he'd just bought into small pieces and marinated it to remove the gamey smell.

Then he made several Wood Clones. They gathered around a large basin of lamb, threading the pieces onto bamboo skewers made with Wood Release.

Tsunade stood nearby, looking curious. "Is that... lamb barbecue?"

"Mm... you could say that."

Minato smiled. He was making Xinjiang-style lamb skewers.

The recipe was simple. Other than removing the gamey smell, all he needed was salt, cumin, and chili.

But he had to be careful with the salt while grilling. Too much would make the meat salty; too little and it wouldn't taste authentic.

"Are we only having lamb?"

"We'll have some grilled vegetables to cut through the richness, too!"

Minato took the vegetables he'd just bought from the refrigerator, then washed and chopped them.

Watching Minato bustle about, Tsunade's gaze softened.

"By the way, I haven't asked you yet. How was your first day of school?"

"It was pretty good."

Minato thought for a moment. "But I'm not very interested in the other classes. If possible, I'd rather spend my time training and send a Wood Clone to school."

"Your Wood Clone, huh..."

Tsunade sighed. So even a child with a personality like Minato's didn't like going to school.

"Let's wait a little longer. You're at an age when you should make friends. You should spend time with them. I met a lot of my friends at school, after all. With your looks and strength, you must be pretty popular there, right?"

Minato smiled helplessly. "Yeah. It's almost a little scary..."

"Heh, I knew it."

Tsunade gave him a teasing smile. "What about you? Is there a girl you like?"

"No."

Minato hurriedly shook his head. He didn't want to become the subject of Tsunade's gossip.

Besides, perhaps because of the original story, he had a natural fondness for Kushina. She was definitely his first choice.

Minato preferred gossiping about other people to having people gossip about him.

"What about you, Sensei? Is there someone you like?"

"No~ I'm pretty popular myself, you know. Too bad no man has managed to make my heart flutter yet..."

As she spoke, Tsunade suddenly remembered the faint flutter she'd felt around Minato a few days earlier. She coughed awkwardly.

"Is that because none of them are your type, Sensei?"

"More or less..."

"What kind of person do you like, then?"

"First of all, he has to be handsome. Then, well~ gentle, maybe? He can't be too weak, either. And of course—"

Tsunade stopped mid-sentence and guiltily turned her head away.

"Of course what?"

Minato paused in chopping the vegetables and glanced over at her in confusion.

"N-nothing, haha~"

Tsunade waved her hand awkwardly, her smile a little forced.

Of course, it would be even better if he could cook...

She really couldn't bring herself to say something that sounded so much like a hint!

As Minato's teacher, with fourteen years between them, she could have said quite openly, "A sunny, handsome, gentle, considerate boy who can cook, like you, would be wonderful. It's just too bad there aren't many like that."

But she had a guilty conscience.

So no matter how she put it, she felt like a pervert committing a crime against a minor...

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