[Time skip--]
[Your connection with Tsunade began with dice, then gradually spread into every corner of her life.]
[You taught her to control the dice, and she got you to bet copper coins. You won her candy, and she won your pocket money. Back and forth, the debts grew more and more complicated. She got a little notebook just to keep track, writing in crooked handwriting, "Kaede owes me: dango ×3, candy ×17." You turned to the next page and discovered she'd blotted out everything she owed you.]
[You kept her company as she practiced extracting chakra. The first time Tsunade channeled chakra into her palm, a leaf stuck there without falling. She held up her hand and grinned at you, her mouth stretching from ear to ear—but only for two seconds before the leaf drifted away. She turned and glared at you as if it were your fault.]
[Gradually, whenever you visited the Senju Mansion, the refreshments went from a single serving to two. When the maid brought in tea, she stopped asking, "What would Miss Tsunade's guest like to drink?" and simply set your cup in its usual spot.]
[A major event occurred during this time. Senju Hashirama passed away.]
[Snow fell across Konoha for three days. You went to the Senju Mansion every day, saying nothing, just sitting outside her room.]
[At dusk on the third day, the door opened a crack, and a hand reached out to clutch your sleeve. It held on for a long time.]
[You didn't move or look back. You just let her hold on.]
[By the time her hand let go, night had fallen. A piece of paper was passed through the gap in the door. It showed two stick figures, one taller and one shorter. Beside the shorter one, crooked handwriting spelled out "dummy."]
[You folded the paper and put it in your pocket.]
[After that, she stopped tying her hair into a sprout.]
[In your spare time, you trained by yourself. You worked on increasing the speed of your chakra extraction and refining your control over it. You never once let up on your taijutsu training. It all became part of your daily routine.]
[Tsunade was six, and you were seven. The Ninja Academy held its first official enrollment. The prelude to legend began.]
[The second arc officially began.]
Konoha Ninja Academy.
The entrance was packed with people.
Parents led their children inside. Some held their heads high, while others kept them hunched.
Anyone bringing their child to the very first enrollment probably had some kind of background.
Kitahara Kaede stood at the entrance, looking around.
At seven, he'd already honed his chakra pathways until they flowed with ease.
His ten talent points hadn't been for nothing—while other kids his age were still learning how to extract chakra, he could already draw it out instantly and control it with precision.
He wore ordinary dark blue clothes, his posture relaxed and his expression calm.
"Kaede!"
A voice came from behind him.
Tsunade squeezed through the crowd, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead. She'd clearly run over.
Six-year-old Tsunade.
Her blond hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she wore a light green short-sleeved shirt and open-toed ninja sandals.
Without her sprout hairstyle, she looked much more put-together.
"What are you standing around for? Come on."
She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him through the school gate.
Kaede let himself be pulled along without resisting.
"You're not late today."
"Obviously. How embarrassing would it be to be late on the first day?" Tsunade said without looking back. "Besides, I bet someone's going to make a fool of themselves today, and I want a good seat to watch."
"What are you betting?"
"That you'll treat me to dango."
"You bet that every time."
"Because you lose every time."
Kaede didn't argue.
She was right. He did lose every time.
Part of it was on purpose—a White Moonlight, after all. Letting her win once in a while could raise her affection for him.
But the bigger part... was his luck stat of zero.
The two of them had just entered the school grounds.
"Hey!"
A flash of white darted over from the side and planted himself in front of Tsunade.
The white-haired boy put his hands on his hips and grinned, showing off a row of white teeth.
Jiraiya.
He had spiky white hair, wore white clothes, and had two red streaks painted across his cheeks with some kind of pigment.
His eyes locked directly onto Tsunade, shining far too brightly.
"My name's Jiraiya! I'm going to become the greatest ninja ever!"
His voice was loud enough for half the people at the entrance to hear.
A few parents passing by glanced over, then hurriedly pulled their children away.
Tsunade stopped.
"So what?"
"So—" Jiraiya puffed out his chest, sounding far too confident for a kid. "If you want to write me a love letter, you can give it to me next time. No need to be shy."
Silence fell for a second.
Tsunade looked at him.
Kaede knew that look all too well.
It wasn't anger or embarrassment.
It was sheer confusion.
She simply couldn't understand where he'd gotten all that confidence.
"Is there something wrong with your brain?"
Tsunade dragged Kaede around him without slowing down.
She moved as smoothly as if she were walking around a lamppost.
Jiraiya froze for half a second.
Then he chased after them.
"Hey, hey, hey! Did you hear me? I'm Jiraiya! The future greatest ninja! You should at least remember my name, shouldn't you?!"
"I remember," Tsunade said without looking back. "The one with something wrong with his brain."
"You—"
Jiraiya ran ahead of them and walked backward, pointing at Kaede.
"Who's he? Your brother?"
"What's it to you?"
"You don't even look alike—could he be your boyfriend?"
Tsunade stopped walking.
Kaede stepped aside.
He wasn't dodging. He was making room for Tsunade to swing.
Sure enough—
A punch.
It landed square in the stomach.
Jiraiya doubled over like a shrimp and crouched on the ground, mouth agape, unable to catch his breath.
Tsunade drew back her fist and shook out her fingers.
"I'll say it again. What's it to you?"
"Ow..." He sucked in hissing breaths, but the corners of his mouth were turning up. "You're so strong... That's amazing..."
Tsunade glanced at Kaede, her expression asking, Is there really something wrong with this guy?
Kaede returned a perfectly calm look.
It meant, How should I know?
He didn't really have anything against Jiraiya.
In the original story, the guy chased Tsunade his whole life and never won her over. In the end, he died in Amegakure, and even his body never made it back.
As far as White Moonlights went, Jiraiya wasn't bad either.
But he was playing the true-love route.
Kaede was following the script route.
At their core, they were different kinds of people.
Tsunade tugged him onward, leaving Jiraiya crouching on the ground behind them.
After a few steps, Kaede's attention was suddenly drawn in another direction.
Under a large tree to the left of the entrance,
a black-haired boy stood quietly in the shade.
His skin was pale, and his features were so delicate they seemed almost feminine.
Golden, vertically slit eyes.
Orochimaru.
He wasn't talking to anyone, nor did he seem to have any desire to.
He simply stood there, letting his gaze pass over the new students walking by.
When his eyes landed on Kaede, they paused.
Kaede looked back at him.
Across the stream of people passing between them, their eyes met for an instant.
The corners of Orochimaru's mouth twitched slightly.
It wasn't a smile.
It was more like he'd confirmed that there was someone in the crowd worth a second glance.
Then he looked away and walked through the school gate.
Alone, his figure slight.
Kaede turned his gaze away.
Orochimaru. A pure genius.
No Kekkei Genkai, no family backing—he crushed his peers with talent alone.
"Kaede! What are you looking at?"
Tsunade's voice pulled him back.
She stood farther down the corridor, hands on her hips, impatience written all over her face.
"The classroom's this way. Are you coming or not?"
"Coming."
Kaede caught up with her.
Behind them, Jiraiya finally got to his feet.
"Wait up! Aren't we classmates? Classmates should be kind to each other!"
Tsunade didn't even look back.
"Who said we were classmates?"
"We enrolled together, so we're classmates! You can't deny that!"
"Follow us again and I'll punch you."
Before you continue