By the time Bai Lin finally strolled over to Training Ground 7, the place was a complete mess.
The ground was riddled with craters of varying depths. Tsunade stood in the middle with her arms crossed, her face so dark it looked ready to drip ink.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, looked as if he'd lost all meaning in life. His clothes were in tatters, his cheeks were so swollen he was almost unrecognizable, and he was muttering something under his breath like a wronged child.
Kushina and the black-haired girl were seriously sparring, while Kushina kept sneaking glances at Tsunade to gauge her mood.
Minato Namikaze had a massive boulder strapped to his back and was doing push-ups on the ground.
"Brother Lin!"
Kushina spotted Bai Lin strolling toward them, and her eyes lit up instantly.
She forgot all about the sparring and started to run over to him.
"Hmm?" Tsunade let out a strange sound.
Kushina halted, then returned to her spot to spar with the black-haired girl.
Bai Lin walked up to the group, glanced at the wreckage on the ground, then at Jiraiya's disheveled state. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Looks like things got pretty lively before I arrived?"
"What happened? Were we attacked?"
"This is all your fault!" Jiraiya immediately stood up and pointed at Bai Lin as he complained to Tsunade. "If you hadn't been late, Tsunade wouldn't have taken her anger out on me!"
"So you did remember to show up!" Tsunade's anger, which had been redirected toward Jiraiya, flared up again in an instant. She turned and charged at Bai Lin. "You're an hour late, and you still have the nerve to make sarcastic remarks! I'll beat you up too!"
Bai Lin's gaze sharpened. He darted aside, reappearing more than ten meters away.
"I know you're in a hurry, but don't be so hasty!"
"Tsunade, before you start swinging, why not hear me out? I mean, listen to my excuse—er, explanation?"
"Save it. Giving an explanation is your job; whether I listen is mine. Whatever you have to say, go explain it to King Yama in hell." Tsunade looked as though she wasn't going to listen to a word, attacking Bai Lin relentlessly.
"Tsunade, if you don't stop, you'll miss out on the gift I prepared for you."
Bai Lin dodged Tsunade's fist with another quick sidestep.
"What gift?" Tsunade stopped. She wanted to hear what excuse he could come up with.
"Don't worry. It's a gift that's sure to make you happy," Bai Lin said confidently.
He led Tsunade to a clearing not far outside the training ground. There was a tree in the middle that blocked the view, so they couldn't see what was happening from the training ground.
Kushina and the black-haired girl stopped training too and followed them.
A table stood in the middle of the clearing, with several items on top.
"Tsunade, I know you were forced to take me as your student, and that must be frustrating. But you don't have to treat me like one. We can just be friends."
"I don't need anyone to teach me the ways of a ninja. I already have my own plans, so don't worry about what you could teach me."
"We were brought together by fate, in a way. The things on the table are gifts I prepared especially for you. I hope you'll be magnanimous and accept them."
Bai Lin pointed at a stack of small rectangular blocks on the table. "I went out of my way to find out what you liked, Tsunade. I never expected you to be into gambling, so I stayed up all night making these little things. Consider them an apology for being late today and making you angry yesterday."
"What are these?" Tsunade asked expressionlessly. "And I don't like gambling."
Where had that rumor come from, that she liked gambling? She used the Transformation Technique every time she went to a casino, didn't she?
"These are mahjong tiles. Here, I'll teach you how to play."
As he spoke, Bai Lin picked up one of the rectangular tiles and explained the markings and numbers on it.
They were very crudely made, carved from wood.
Bai Lin only gave a simple explanation of the rules, but Tsunade's attention had already been captured.
"Sounds a little more interesting than rolling dice," Tsunade said, folding her arms as she tried to sound nonchalant. "So tell me, how exactly do you play?"
Though she stubbornly denied liking gambling, she had always enjoyed games with an element of strategy. As she watched Bai Lin demonstrate, her fingers itched to try, and the frost on her face had long since melted away.
"Going to a casino to gamble for money isn't a good idea. You can play this with a few friends, too. It's all about luck and skill, and win or lose, it's just for fun. It's perfect for passing the time."
"If you're ever bored, Tsunade, come play mahjong with me and unwind."
"Since you're making such a sincere effort, I'll forgive you for what happened today and yesterday!" Tsunade pursed her lips, though she looked eager to try the game.
"Don't rush. There's a second gift." Bai Lin picked up a few sheets of paper from the table.
"What's this?" Tsunade asked again, her tone much gentler this time.
"Tsunade, even though everyone else sees me as your student, I hope we can be friends. You don't have to treat me like a child."
"Fine. It's not as if I have anything to teach you anyway. Do whatever you want," Tsunade said calmly.
At that, the smile in Bai Lin's eyes deepened.
"Your grandfather, Senju Hashirama, was the First. Konoha is basically your home, Tsunade. I know you care about its safety more than anyone and consider all the villagers your family."
"So I combined my ideas with what I know about you and stayed up all night writing this proposal to improve Konoha's medical system."
"It's only an idea, and given what I know about Konoha, there's a good chance it won't be approved. Still, it might be possible to improve it further."
Bai Lin spoke gently.
Neither the mahjong tiles nor the proposal to improve Konoha's medical system had taken much of his time.
He'd made the mahjong tiles himself ages ago, out of boredom. He'd figured that when he grew up, he could open a casino, and mahjong would attract plenty of customers and make him lots and lots of money.
And the proposal to improve Konoha's medical system? What was there to think about? He'd simply taken the plan Tsunade would come up with in the future and made it his own. It was that simple. Bai Lin had written it in less than half an hour.
The proposal was inspired by the death of her younger brother, Nawaki. She believed that a lack of medical support on the battlefield was a major reason so many shinobi died needlessly.
It focused on missions behind enemy lines, where teams operated in enemy territory. It proposed expanding squads to four members and including a medical ninja, so injured shinobi could be treated promptly, casualties could be reduced, and missions could stay on track.
However, because training medical ninjas was difficult and expensive, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't put the plan into action right away. Konoha eventually formed medical teams, and some squads gradually began including medical ninjas, indirectly putting the proposal into practice.
But by then, Tsunade's boyfriend had also died. Tsunade had lost faith in Konoha—or, more precisely, in her teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi—and her fear of blood had led her to consider leaving the village.
A sincere heart was never enough; only clever tactics could win one over.
He'd started planning the day before how to get closer to Tsunade.
He was still so young. Only if she stopped thinking of him as a child could they get along as friends.
First I'll be your big brother, then your little sister, and in the end, you'll be my sweetheart.
That was why he'd deliberately made himself seem annoying to Tsunade the day before: to set up the reversal now.
Why did so many women like bad boys? Because they knew how to create surprises.
Mahjong: giving her what she wanted.
The medical proposal: showing that they were of one mind.
Those two gifts would make Tsunade think Bai Lin had put in a lot of effort and done all this especially for her.