Take Responsibility for Me

"Right, right! It was all because Lady Tsunade was so powerful. I admired you so much that I could only admit defeat and surrender."

"Chen, Sister Tsunade, are you two all right?" Mikoto and Kushina ran over, looking at them both anxiously.

"Of course he's fine. I'm the one who got a little hurt." Tsunade glared at Hyuga Shin. In their earlier clash, the tremendous force had injured her, but it was only a minor wound.

Chapter 45: Take Responsibility for Me

"Sister Tsunade, you're hurt! It's not serious, is it?" Mikoto asked with concern.

"You big bully! You don't know how to be gentle with women at all. You even hurt Sister Tsunade!" Kushina scolded Hyuga Shin.

"It's all right. Shin was holding back, after all. Otherwise, I'd have suffered a lot more than just a minor injury." Tsunade shook her head and gave Hyuga Shin a meaningful look.

"I don't know how you got that bloodline ability that lets you release golden light, but you'd better not let it become known. It won't do you any good." Tsunade warned Hyuga Shin.

"I know. Only you three know how strong I am. Everyone else will just think I was born unusually strong and am a little more powerful than average." Hyuga Shin nodded.

Hyuga Shin knew exactly what Konoha was like. He knew that Konoha excelled not at fighting other villages, but at fighting among itself. In an internal struggle, it was vicious as a dog.

When it came to turning on its own people, Konoha was unquestionably the best. No other village could compare.

When the story began, could Konoha really still be called the strongest ninja village? Aside from that old man, the Third Hokage, who else could hold Konoha together? The sinister Danzo, or Kakashi, held back by his Sharingan?

The Konoha Sannin had all left the village one after another. Why? Could there really be nothing more to it? Hyuga Shin certainly didn't believe so.

If Hyuga Shin revealed his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities, he'd be inviting endless trouble.

"That's for the best. You two need to help keep Shin's secret, too." Tsunade nodded, then looked at Mikoto and Kushina.

Mikoto smiled without saying anything. She lived with Shin and had been the first to learn how powerful he was. She had seen him crush Uchiha Akito, an elite Jonin, with her own eyes.

"If you promise to do everything I say from now on, I'll keep your secret." Kushina lifted her chin as she spoke.

"Kushina, do you know what happens to girls who don't listen?" Hyuga Shin asked with a wicked grin as he walked toward her.

"W-what happens?"

"This."

Hyuga Shin grabbed Kushina, then gave her bottom three quick smacks.

Feeling the burning sting, Kushina's face flushed bright red.

"Y-you dared to hit me there!" Kushina said angrily.

"What are you going to do about it?" Shin replied, looking smug.

"My mother told me that only a girl's future husband can touch her there. Since you hit me there, you have to take responsibility for me." Kushina said, forcing down her embarrassment.

"Uh..."

"That sounds like a good thing for me, doesn't it?" Hyuga Shin said, stroking his chin.

Mikoto heard him and rolled her eyes. She pinched the soft flesh at his waist between her thumb and forefinger and twisted it hard.

Mikoto was obviously jealous. She was gentle as water, but no girl would be free of jealousy over something like this—unless she didn't care about you at all.

"You really are a womanizer. I don't know what Mikoto sees in you, and now Kushina's getting caught up in you, too." Tsunade said unhappily.

She hadn't even noticed the hint of jealousy in her own words. Tsunade would never admit she might fall for a kid nearly ten years younger than her.

But Mikoto and Kushina exchanged a glance and could clearly see what Tsunade was thinking. Perhaps girls were just more perceptive. Hyuga Shin hadn't picked up on it at all.

"Hey! Have you decided yet?"

"You're sure about this? You know you won't be able to take it back later. Even if you want to leave me someday, I won't let you go." Hyuga Shin stared seriously at Kushina.

"Of course. I, Kushina, never go back on a decision." Kushina looked resolute.

She hadn't known Hyuga Shin for long—only three days, counting today—but she really liked how she felt when she was with him. It was comfortable.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone out of her way to come here today.

"Then from now on, you're my woman, Kushina. I promise I'll never let you down." Hyuga Shin stopped smiling and spoke solemnly.

"Mm!" Now that their relationship had been settled, Kushina grew shy instead.

But Kushina was still the same girl who dared to love and hate without hesitation. Her shyness lasted only a moment before she returned to her usual fiery self.

Yet Kushina's fiery nature wasn't annoying at all. In fact, it was rather cute.

Kushina was really just a little tsundere.

"Mikoto, Kushina, get along with each other from now on, okay? Kushina, you can move into my place." Hyuga Shin took both their hands and placed them together.

Mikoto and Kushina looked at each other, unsure what to say. To claim they didn't mind each other would have been nonsense.

Hyuga Shin knew it, too. They'd have to work things out over time. In the original story, they had been close friends. This time, they really had become "sisters."

Watching them, a complicated look flashed through Tsunade's eyes. She felt as if she were a fifth wheel, and a suffocating ache welled up inside her.

"You two talk. I have something to do, so I'll get going." Tsunade turned and left, clearly unhappy.

"Uh... Tsunade."

"Forget it. Let's head back, too. We can help Kushina move while we're at it." Hyuga Shin said with a helpless smile.

Helping Kushina move didn't cause much of a stir on the surface, but beneath it, undercurrents were already churning.

Both the Konoha High Command and the various clans had turned their attention to Hyuga Shin.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, even personally went to see the Hyuga Clan head and gave him a stern warning.

The Konoha High Command all knew that Kushina was one of the Nine-Tails' vessels, so they were very concerned about the movements of Kushina Uzumaki and Tomoko Uzumaki.

In the original story, there had only been Kushina. Now there was also Tomoko Uzumaki, which meant there were two choices.

That was why Hyuga Shin had been able to let Kushina move in. Otherwise, the Third Hokage would have blown his top and summoned Hyuga Shin to the Anbu for tea.

A gleam flashed in the eyes of the other clan heads. They sent their clan members to get closer to Tomoko Uzumaki. If they could gain the Nine-Tails as an ally, their clan would truly take off.

At the same time, they cursed the Hyuga Clan for being so devious and acting so quickly.

But the other clans' actions angered Hiruzen Sarutobi. He wasn't yet the senile old man he'd become later; he still had some backbone.

He directly ordered that no one was to approach Tomoko Uzumaki with impure motives.

But where there are policies, there are countermeasures. He said they couldn't approach her with bad intentions, but how could he know what was in their hearts?