Tsunade, Would You Accept Me Devoting My Life to You?

Tsunade and Kushina finally snapped out of it, their faces flushing when they realized Uchiha Nagi hadn't eaten a single piece of meat.

Even the Princess of Konoha, who had been through so much, reacted the same way.

"Um, well... Nagi, you're really good at grilling. Did you learn from someone?"

"That's right, Sleepyhead! The meat you grilled is delicious!" Kushina quickly nodded in agreement.

"No one taught me. Maybe I was born with it."

Uchiha Nagi thought of Uchiha Eri's rather mediocre cooking. If he said he'd learned from her, she might let something slip later, so he could only credit his natural talent.

Tsunade nodded, then called over the actual server and ordered a lot more meat.

While they waited,

"Sleepyhead, I think you grill even better than the servers here who do it for a living," Kushina remarked, looking around.

"He really does," Tsunade agreed with certainty. Unlike Kushina, she had been to this barbecue restaurant many times.

But never before had she eaten until she looked like this.

"Wow! Sleepyhead, you're amazing! If you worked here as a server, business would definitely pick up!" Kushina said, her voice full of admiration.

"Then they'd be employing a child," Uchiha Nagi quipped, then hesitated.

It seemed there weren't any rules against employing children here. Besides, a barbecue restaurant would usually stay open until the early hours of the morning.

And after finishing his daily training, he could probably come here to work.

"That way, I could ease some of Eri's burden."

Uchiha Nagi thought to himself. He was very uncomfortable with having a thirteen-year-old girl take care of everything for him.

He hadn't had a choice before, but now that he'd seen a possibility, he naturally wanted to seize it.

However, if he went alone to ask the owner of this restaurant, it probably wouldn't work. So...

Uchiha Nagi looked up and stared earnestly at Tsunade. "Tsunade, could I ask you for a favor?"

"Hm? Go ahead." Tsunade looked a little puzzled, but didn't refuse.

"I want to work at this restaurant, but at my age, I probably wouldn't get hired. Could you talk to the owner for me?"

Kushina was taken aback. She'd only said it casually, but Uchiha Nagi had actually taken her seriously—and was going to act on it right away?

"Um, I was just saying that offhand."

Tsunade frowned as she looked at Uchiha Nagi's earnest expression. Although it felt strange for her to say this to an Uchiha, she still spoke up.

"Nagi, you're still young. Your priorities right now should be studying and training."

"I've already worked it out. If I only take night shifts, it won't interfere with my studies or training," Uchiha Nagi replied.

Tsunade watched Uchiha Nagi silently for a while, as if she'd realized something.

"Nagi, can you tell me about your family?"

His maturity seemed to go beyond his years, and Tsunade didn't think he'd do anything to his own detriment. If so, there could only be one explanation.

Uchiha Nagi needed the job to help support his household.

Uchiha Nagi fell silent for quite a while. He didn't really want to talk about his situation, but it seemed Tsunade definitely wouldn't help him if he didn't.

In the end, Uchiha Nagi told them that both his parents had died when he was five, and that he had only his older sister, a Genin who worked hard on missions to keep them afloat.

Kushina stared at Uchiha Nagi in shock, never imagining he'd been through something like that.

And despite those circumstances, he'd still become so strong...

For some reason, Kushina found herself admiring Uchiha Nagi.

Tsunade was watching Uchiha Nagi, too.

"If I'm not mistaken, you still haven't told your sister about the problem with your body."

Uchiha Nagi was at a loss for words.

His silence told Tsunade and Kushina all they needed to know.

Tsunade rubbed the back of her head. She understood why Uchiha Nagi had acted as he did, though she didn't agree with it.

But if she put herself in his shoes, she might not have handled things any better.

"Then how about this? Come back to the hospital the day after tomorrow, once you've finished school." After thinking it over, Tsunade made up her mind.

Uchiha Nagi paused. How had the conversation circled back to his problem?

"Tsunade, is there a way to help Sleepyhead?" Kushina asked, sounding excited.

"There is, but it might not solve the problem, so you shouldn't get your hopes up too much just yet," Tsunade replied.

"Whatever the outcome, I'm very grateful for your help, Tsunade."

Uchiha Nagi thanked her earnestly. He could more or less guess what Tsunade had in mind.

They could be fairly certain that he had a problem with his mind. The most direct way to address something like that in Konoha was probably through the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques.

However, their techniques didn't specialize in medical treatment, which was why Tsunade had told him not to get his hopes up.

"Well, you really are different from those other Uchiha."

Tsunade said it bluntly. As she looked at Uchiha Nagi, she could tell his thanks were sincere.

And after spending the day with him, she hadn't sensed any of the "arrogance" she'd felt from other Uchiha in the past.

Uchiha Nagi had no comment. Of course he was different from those people who valued Uchiha glory more than their own lives.

That much was fine. After all, everyone had a different attitude toward life.

But some Uchiha hadn't done a thing, yet treated the Uchiha's former glory as their own. That was going too far.

Honestly, Uchiha Nagi felt those people didn't deserve to be called the glory of the Uchiha at all. They were a disgrace to the Uchiha instead.

"Also, I agree to you working here. With your skill, you shouldn't have any trouble getting hired," Tsunade said again.

Uchiha Nagi parted his lips, staring at Tsunade in a daze.

"What, cat got your tongue? Just so we're clear, even though I agree, you'll have to manage your studies and training yourself. You can't let them suffer because of this."

Tsunade found Uchiha Nagi's expression rather amusing. She picked up the tea on the table and teased him as she drank.

Uchiha Nagi was silent for a long moment before looking at Tsunade earnestly and speaking one word at a time.

"Tsunade, would you accept me devoting my life to you?"

"Pfft!"

Tsunade sprayed out all the tea she'd just drunk and began coughing violently.

Kushina stared at Uchiha Nagi in shock, too.

"Sleepyhead, you're not joking, are you?!"