Yanbai could not quite explain what felt wrong.
It did not seem as though Senju Nawaki and Kushina Uzumaki had given up on themselves, or that two wounded people had simply come together to comfort each other.
After all, Kushina had been very serious about their relationship ever since she got together with Nawaki.
Senju Nawaki trained under Yanbai and diligently carried out every task Yanbai assigned him.
In her spare time, Kushina often appeared in Yanbai's office, keeping Nawaki company while he studied and reminding him to eat on time.
With Kushina around, Senju Nawaki seemed very happy, at least to an outside observer.
Yet Yanbai always felt that Nawaki was... not quite content to settle down.
Senju Nawaki treated Kushina rather indifferently, like a lofty head of the household who took her kindness toward him for granted.
Of course, Senju Nawaki was no longer as thoughtless as he had been as a child. When holidays or celebrations gave him an excuse, he would buy Kushina little gifts.
It was just... to Yanbai, Senju Nawaki seemed halfhearted compared with Kushina's earnest devotion.
Senju Nawaki did not even know what Kushina liked or disliked eating, and he often bought her gifts that she either disliked or could not use.
Kushina could only force herself to accept the gifts with a smile, reassuring herself that Nawaki was simply oblivious and meant no harm.
Several times, Yanbai wanted to ask Kushina whether she ought to reconsider her relationship with Nawaki.
But every time, Yanbai stopped before speaking. What exactly am I doing? Why am I meddling in the younger generation's affairs? Is my food not delicious enough? Or do I have too little work to do as Hokage?
With that thought, Yanbai put the younger generation's love lives out of his mind.