Less Talk, Open Your Mouth

Konoha Hospital, hospital room.

The window was half open, and the breeze pushed the gauzy curtain into an arc.

Tsunade sat beside the bed, chin resting on its edge as she stared at Kitahara Kaede's face.

She hadn't moved from her spot since he'd been brought to the hospital.

When the nurse came to change his bandages, Tsunade watched her hands the entire time.

She watched every step closely: unwrapping the bandages, applying the ointment, and wrapping them up again.

Under her stare, the nurse's hands trembled. She nearly smeared the ointment crookedly.

Jiraiya had come by once.

His right arm was in a sling, and he carried a bag of apples in his left hand as he leaned against the doorframe.

"The doctor said it's just chakra exhaustion. He'll be fine after a few days' rest."

Tsunade didn't move.

Jiraiya scratched his head and set the apples on the bedside table.

"...I'll come by again tomorrow."

Tsunade gave a quiet hum.

The door closed.

The room was left with only the cicadas chirping outside and his faint breathing.

Tsunade buried her face in her arms and stayed that way for a long time.

When she finally looked up, her eyes were a little red.

When had it started?

Getting used to having him by her side.

Getting used to him knowing what she was thinking.

Getting used to him taking one look at her when she said, "I'm fine," and knowing she was putting on a brave face.

And getting used to him getting hurt.

That time at the Ninja Academy, a Kunai had pierced his palm, and blood had run between his fingers. He'd said it was nothing.

What about this time? After Chidori pierced his chest, he collapsed on the spot.

She'd rushed over and turned him onto his back, pressing two fingers to his neck—and her hand had been shaking.

His pulse was so weak that she'd nearly mistaken it for her own heartbeat.

In that instant, her mind had gone completely blank.

He was always like this.

Always rushing ahead of her.

By the time she realized what was happening, he was already hurt.

Then he'd say, with that almost absurdly calm expression of his, It's fine.

Tsunade clenched her fingers.

She reached out and brushed the stray hair from his forehead.

Her fingertips paused slightly when they touched his forehead.

It was cold.

She didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she let it fall onto the back of his hand.

Without even noticing, she slowly curled her fingers around his hand, clasping it in her palm.

Tightly.

"You always say you're fine."

Her voice was very soft, meant for her ears alone.

"But when you're lying on the ground, completely motionless, is that really fine?"

No one answered.

She lowered her head and rested her forehead against the back of his hand.

"I'll get stronger."

"Strong enough that you won't have to shield me anymore..."

She didn't know when she'd fallen asleep.

When she woke again, it was dark outside.

Only the small lamp by the bed was lit.

Her neck ached badly.

Tsunade frowned and rubbed the back of her neck, sitting up groggily.

Then she met someone's gaze.

Kitahara Kaede's eyes were open.

She didn't know how long he'd been awake. He was simply lying on his side, watching her.

Tsunade froze for a second.

Her mind hadn't caught up yet, but her eyes had already begun to sting.

"You're awake?"

Kitahara Kaede nodded.

Tsunade stared at him for two seconds, making sure he was really awake and really looking at her.

A flood of words surged inside her—she wanted to ask if he was in pain, ask why he'd rushed in without saying anything, and call him a liar.

There was too much, all jumbled together. In the end, she couldn't say a thing.

Kitahara Kaede tilted his head and glanced at her reddened eyes.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"What's wrong?"

Tsunade didn't react.

"Did someone die?"

"..."

Tsunade grabbed him by the collar.

She hadn't held back.

Kitahara Kaede's head was yanked off the pillow, pulling at the wound in his side. He sucked in a sharp breath.

But the hint of a smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

Tsunade saw it.

"You're still smiling."

Every word was forced through clenched teeth.

"Your chakra was so depleted your heartbeat nearly stopped, and you're still smiling? You collapsed and lay there without moving, and you didn't even answer when I called—"

Her voice broke for a moment.

She was still gripping his collar, but her hold loosened.

"Do you have any idea how I..."

The rest wouldn't come out.

Kitahara Kaede looked at her.

I'm sorry rose to his throat, but he couldn't say it—not because he didn't want to apologize, but because those two words felt too insignificant.

A couple of seconds passed in silence.

Tsunade let go, and his head fell back onto the pillow.

She didn't look at him. Her head was bowed.

"You're not going in alone next time."

"Okay."

"Don't run off without telling me."

"Okay."

"Keep your word."

"I will."

Silence settled for a few seconds.

Tsunade took a deep breath and forced back the moisture in her eyes.

By the time she looked up, she'd composed herself. Her mouth was drawn into a tight line, and she was back to her usual fierce self.

"Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Jiraiya brought apples."

She turned and picked up the bag from the bedside table.

She took one out, peeled it, cut it into small pieces, speared one, and held it to his mouth.

Kitahara Kaede opened his mouth and took a bite.

"Is it good?"

"Yeah."

The corner of Tsunade's mouth lifted, then quickly fell.

As she offered him the second piece, Kitahara Kaede spoke.

"Tsunade."

"Hm?"

"...Thanks."

Tsunade's hand paused.

"For what?"

She speared a third piece and held it out to him, her voice tense.

"Less talk. Open your mouth."

Kitahara Kaede bit down on the apple.

A line of text appeared in his mind—

[Simulation Mission Complete: Land of Birds Escort Battle]

[Rating: S]

[Reward: Permanent 5% increase to physical attributes]

He ran through it in his head: chakra extraction +5%, ninjutsu effectiveness +5%, physical attributes +5%. Three permanent boosts.

Improved physical attributes meant greater cellular activity, which would also increase the amount of chakra he could extract.

What a haul.

Chewing his apple, he glanced to the side without thinking.

Then he noticed that Tsunade's hand had stopped moving.

The apple was suspended in midair, still uneaten.

She was frozen, her gaze fixed on his hand.

More precisely, she was staring at the back of his right hand.

Kitahara Kaede didn't think much of it. His mouth was a little dry, and he opened his mouth to speak—

"Tsun—"

A piece of apple was shoved into his mouth.

Caught off guard, he found his mouth stuffed full. The rest of his words caught in his throat, and he could only stare at her.

Tsunade snatched her hand back, her voice an octave higher than usual.

"Just eat!"

Kitahara Kaede tried to say something around the apple.

"Don't talk!"

She slapped the small knife down on the table and turned away from him.

The back of her neck was red all the way down to her collar.

Kitahara Kaede looked completely baffled.

He hadn't done anything. His mouth was just dry, and he'd wanted to ask her to pour him a glass of water.

But at that moment, it seemed like nothing he said would be appropriate.

He slowly finished chewing the apple, swallowed, and watched her crimson neck and rigid back.

Suddenly, he felt a little like laughing.

The corner of his mouth curved.

Tsunade seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. "What's so funny?"

"I'm not laughing."

"You are."

"I'm really not."

"...Try laughing again. I dare you."

He wisely kept his mouth shut.

The night breeze drifted in through the window, and the gauzy curtain swayed.

What Kitahara Kaede didn't know was that in the few dozen seconds Tsunade stood with her back to him, her mind had turned into a complete mess.

She was thinking about something.

--When had her hand slipped out of his?

Before she fell asleep, she had clearly been holding his hand.

When she woke up, her hand was already resting on her own knee.

What had happened in between?

Had she let go unconsciously while turning over?

Or... had he moved her hand away after he woke up?

If he had moved it away—

Then he'd been awake for at least a little while.

He'd been awake while she was still asleep.

Her hand had still been holding his.

He'd seen it.

Then he'd put her hand back.

Tsunade's face grew even hotter.

No, there was another possibility.

What if he hadn't moved it?

What if he'd woken up and left everything as it was?

Just let her hold his hand until she woke up on her own?

Then that look he'd given her just now, his head turned toward her—

How long had he been looking?

Tsunade's ears were practically burning.

She had to stop thinking about it.

If she kept going, she'd lose her mind.

She desperately tried to fill her head with white noise, counting the cicadas outside the window, counting her heartbeats—

The more she counted, the faster they went.

It didn't work.

Tsunade bit her lip.

Only after a long while did she turn back.

Most of the redness had faded from her face, but the tips of her ears were still pink.

She sat down in the chair, two inches farther from the edge of the bed.

She placed both hands neatly on her knees.

Kitahara Kaede glanced at her hands on her knees, then at the pink tips of her ears.

He didn't say a word.

He turned his head back and looked at the ceiling.

Quiet and still.

The faint curve of his lips never went away.

Three days later.

The sun shone brightly outside Konoha Hospital.

Most of Kitahara Kaede's chakra had recovered. His left arm was still wrapped in bandages, but the doctor had already signed his discharge papers.

As soon as they stepped outside, Jiraiya came to meet them. He'd had his bandages removed the day before. His right arm still wasn't quite back to normal, but he'd mostly regained his energy.

"You're out? I came by around the time I figured you'd be discharged." Jiraiya leaned closer and lowered his voice. "The mission's been reclassified as A-Rank, so does that mean we completed an A-Rank mission?"

"What did you do to earn that?" Tsunade didn't look back.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone! I pinned all three of them!"

"And then you stood there gasping for five minutes."

"That was a tactical breather!"

Kitahara Kaede walked between them without joining in.

People on the street called out to sell their wares, and children ran past, playing at stepping on each other's shadows.

"You three."

The voice came from ahead.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood beneath an old locust tree by the roadside, an unlit pipe between his fingers.

He looked at Kitahara Kaede's bandages, then at Jiraiya's right arm. His gaze lingered on Tsunade's face for a moment.

The matter in the Land of Birds had already been handed over to the Anbu. The mission had been reclassified as A-Rank.

There was no need to tell the three children that.

But he remembered hesitating on the day he'd assigned the mission. They'd been held up on a C-Rank mission for two months; it wasn't as if he hadn't sensed something was wrong.

The three children had almost never made it back.

He held himself responsible.

"Come on." He tucked his pipe into his sleeve.

"Where to?" Tsunade asked.

"To eat. You've been eating hospital food for three days. You deserve something good."

Jiraiya's eyes lit up. "Are you treating us, sensei?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Ask one more time and I won't."