You'll Regret It, Tsunade

Back in the village, Qianyu had not even had time to comfort Naruto when a note bearing the Hokage's seal was delivered to him: "Hokage's office. Immediately. Tsunade."

Qianyu pinched the note between his fingers, and last night's events involuntarily flashed through his mind. He took several deep breaths, forcing down those alluring images, straightened his clothes, and headed for the Hokage Building.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door to the Hokage's office, he saw sunlight streaming in through the windows, illuminating the figure behind the desk.

Tsunade sat upright in the broad Hokage's chair, her hands folded atop the desk. Her long blonde hair was meticulously tied behind her head, and the Hokage hat rested at one side. There was not the slightest trace of a hangover on her face, nor any hint of personal emotion.

"Cangshu Qianyu." Her voice was steady, yet carried an invisible pressure. "You've gotten bold. You privately instigated and assisted a fellow village ninja's defection, and even colluded with the S-rank rogue ninja Orochimaru. Do you understand the severity of this?"

Seeing Tsunade completely in work mode, as though nothing had happened last night, the little unease in Qianyu's heart instead faded away. He promptly adjusted his own attitude as well.

"Sasuke Uchiha did not defect. He merely chose a... more extreme path of training. As for Orochimaru, for now, he seems more inclined toward a transaction. At least where Konoha is concerned, he has not shown any direct hostility. I suggest we announce that Sasuke has left the village to carry out a long-term confidential mission."

Tsunade stared at him, seemingly weighing the truth and certainty in his words. "How certain are you? Orochimaru is difficult to read, and his methods are bizarre. With Sasuke in his hands..."

"Lady Tsunade," Qianyu interrupted, "I think the one you should be more worried about now might be Orochimaru. That kid Sasuke... he's stubborn, holds grudges, is highly talented, and he's an Uchiha. Orochimaru treated him like a treasure and lured him away. I think..."

He paused, recalling how Orochimaru had seemed like Sasuke's father in the original story, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "In the future, he may come to understand what hardship really means."

Tsunade was taken aback by his words. Thinking carefully about Sasuke's personality and Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan, it actually did seem to make a little sense. Her tense expression relaxed slightly.

She waved a hand. "Fine. Since you took this matter on, you will be responsible for keeping watch over it from here on. We'll publicly classify it as a long-term confidential mission, as you suggested. But don't let this happen again."

"Understood." Qianyu nodded.

Tsunade did not dwell on the matter further. Instead, she picked up a document from the desk and changed the subject. "Also, regarding the final results of this Chunin Exam. After a comprehensive evaluation, the two being promoted to chunin are you and Shikamaru Nara. Congratulations."

"Oh." Qianyu's response was flat.

Seeing his reaction, Tsunade raised a brow. Then she pulled out another archive scroll and weighed it in her hand, a hint of amusement entering her voice. "That said, our newly promoted Konoha chunin, Lord Cangshu Qianyu—according to ninja archive records, from your graduation from the Academy until now, your number of officially registered missions completed is—zero. You haven't even completed a single basic D-rank mission."

Qianyu choked, then retorted with complete confidence, "Wasn't it because you higher-ups wouldn't let me join a regular squad and only had me follow you for direct special training? How is that my fault?"

"Special training is special training. Missions are missions." Tsunade leaned forward slightly, a smile appearing on her face that gave Qianyu a bad feeling. "As a Konoha ninja, how can you have no mission records? Now that your special training has reached a temporary conclusion and you've been promoted to chunin, it's time to fulfill your duties as a ninja. I'm assigning you your first official mission now!"

She slapped a mission scroll onto the desk.

Qianyu had a bad feeling as he took the scroll and quickly opened it.

Mission Rank: A

Mission Details: Travel to a small village outside Kirigakure in the Land of Water and secretly investigate the reason for the loss of contact with our embedded informant, "Azure Heron."

Time Limit: Submit a preliminary report within thirty days.

Mission Members: Cangshu Qianyu (Captain), Abin (Member).

After reading it, Qianyu's brows furrowed. "Kirigakure? That far away? And we're investigating someone who's gone missing? This won't be easy. Where are my teammates? It's just me and Abin?"

Tsunade leaned back. "That's right. Jonin Abin will be enough as your assistant. He has a legitimate identity, you know his strength, and besides..." She gave Qianyu a meaningful look. "Hasn't he always been by your side?"

Qianyu immediately understood. This was Tsunade's retaliation for letting Sasuke go without permission and getting involved with Orochimaru! Nominally, she had assigned him an assistant, but in reality, she was sending him and Abin to carry out a dangerous, troublesome A-rank mission!

"Damn it..." Qianyu muttered under his breath. "That doesn't count as an assistant at all! Abin has always been with me. This mission is basically a solo assignment!"

Tsunade crossed her arms and lifted her chin slightly. "I am the Hokage, Qianyu."

Those words seemed to carry the force of some immutable law, choking all of Qianyu's protests in his throat. He glared at Tsunade, and she stared right back without yielding. Sparks seemed to crackle in the air.

After several seconds of deadlock, Qianyu abruptly snatched the mission scroll off the desk and ground out, "Fine. You're the Hokage. You have the final say."

He turned and headed for the door. His hand gripped the handle, but then he stopped. Without looking back, his voice carried clearly behind him.

"You'll regret this, Tsunade."

Then he yanked the door open and slammed it shut with a heavy BANG, his footsteps rapidly fading away.

The office returned to silence. Tsunade maintained her arms-crossed posture until the footsteps outside had completely vanished, then slowly let out a breath, her tense shoulders relaxing.

She raised a hand and rubbed at her brow irritably. Her gaze fell upon the desktop where Qianyu had just slapped the mission document, where a trace of his presence seemed to linger.

"Regret it?" she murmured, a complicated emotion flashing through her eyes before resolve swiftly replaced it. "Brat, if I don't teach you a lesson, you'll really become completely lawless... Kirigakure... With your and Abin's strength, there won't be any danger."

But what was with that inexplicable worry and irritation in her heart?

Tsunade shook her head, forcing down her chaotic thoughts before turning her gaze back to the mountain of documents piled on her desk. She was the Hokage. She had many matters to deal with and no time to keep fretting over some brat who did not know his limits.

Meanwhile, Qianyu, who had stormed out after slamming the door, walked through the Hokage Building's corridors with the mission scroll clenched in hand, puffing with anger. Abin appeared silently at his side like a mushroom sprouting from the ground. "Little Dried Fish, what's wrong? Did Lady Tsunade bully you again?"

Qianyu shoved the scroll at him irritably. "See for yourself. Our wonderful mission. We're going to Kirigakure to find someone, just the two of us."

Abin took the scroll, pretended to examine it for a few moments, then excitedly jumped up. "Great, great! We get to go out and have fun!"

Seeing Abin's carefree expression, the anger in Qianyu's heart inexplicably faded by half.

"Fine, then. Let's treat it as a company-funded trip. We need to plan this properly. Abin, go back and pack. We leave early tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Captain!" Abin immediately straightened his back and saluted.