Tsukimi's troubles

When Tsukimi returned home, she came face-to-face with her grandfather.

She immediately hid the Appointment Letter behind her back and forced a smile. "Grandpa, why are you home today?"

The Elder raised an eyebrow and glanced at his granddaughter.

What did she mean, why was he home today? He had been retired for who knew how many years. Surely he wasn't expected to go out on missions after retirement.

After all, he was an old-timer from Konoha's founding days. Everyone else of his generation had passed away, leaving him the only one still alive.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had to address him respectfully as Elder when they met.

When the village was founded, Hiruzen Sarutobi had still been a little brat.

The Elder spotted the mission document hidden behind his granddaughter's back at once. His expression darkened as he held out his hand to Tsukimi. "What are you hiding? That afraid of Grandpa seeing it?"

Tsukimi gave an awkward laugh and reluctantly handed the Appointment Letter to the Elder.

"Of course not, Grandpa."

The Elder glanced at the contents of the mission document, and his wrinkled face bloomed into a chrysanthemum-like smile.

His original plan had been to send his granddaughter into the Konoha Military Police Force first, then slowly find opportunities for her to get close to Yūto.

He hadn't expected that idiot Fugaku to put his granddaughter and Yūto on the same squad.

Not only that, but the squad also included the Uchiha's genius ninja, Shisui Uchiha.

Just the mention of Shisui made the Elder grit his teeth in anger. Shisui's grandfather, Kagami Uchiha, had actually become Tobirama Senju's subordinate despite being an Uchiha.

And who was Tobirama Senju? A thief who had stolen the seat of the Second Hokage!

The Uchiha had been one of the two clans that founded the village, yet not one of the three Hokage had been an Uchiha.

Even if Lord Madara had defected, surely at least one Uchiha should have taken the Hokage's seat.

Originally, Kagami Uchiha had been the one the Elder had the highest hopes for. He hadn't expected him to join Tobirama Senju instead.

Joining Tobirama Senju was one thing, but he and Hiruzen Sarutobi had both been Tobirama Senju's subordinates. How had he failed to win the Hokage's position?

Even failing to win it was one thing. Becoming one of the village's higher-ups would have been fine too, since he could at least have influenced the village's policies toward the Uchiha. Instead, he had died for no apparent reason.

His dislike of Kagami Uchiha had led the Elder to dislike Shisui somewhat as well.

But dislike him or not, there was no denying Shisui's strength.

If his granddaughter could successfully influence Shisui's thinking after getting into their circle, turning Shisui Uchiha from the Dove Faction to the Hawk Faction, nothing could be better.

With Yūto, a hidden member of the Hawk Faction, also on the squad, the Elder thought the plan could work!

"Tsukimi, you must get along well with your squadmates!"

"The burden of restoring our clan rests on your shoulders!"

Hearing her grandfather's words, Tsukimi felt like crying. Getting along with her squadmates was enough trouble already, and now she had somehow been saddled with the task of restoring the clan!

Damn it, I, Uchiha Tsukimi, am just a Chunin with two tomoe! Why do I have to shoulder such an enormous task?

That night, Tsukimi was so worried she nearly lost a whole night's sleep, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Even when she did fall asleep, she immediately had nightmares, all about her squadmates leaving her behind and going off on their own.

The next morning, Tsukimi stared at herself in the mirror with dark circles around her eyes and said through gritted teeth:

"No. If I want a normal life from now on, I have to talk things through with that idiot Yūto!"

After hastily washing her face, Tsukimi ran straight out of the house without even eating breakfast.

At the same time, Yūto was sitting at his desk, writing furiously.

Because of his injuries, he hadn't gone out on patrol for the past two days. Since he had nothing else to do anyway, he had simply started writing a novel.

Since it looked as though he wouldn't die anytime soon, he might as well make some money to improve his life.

Of course, it was nothing remotely respectable. He had heavily embellished the material he had gathered at night and turned it into the sort of novel children shouldn't read.

By that morning, he had already written tens of thousands of words.

Before transmigrating, he had struggled to write even an eight-hundred-word essay. For some reason, when he wrote this sort of nonsense, the words flowed endlessly.

Things like "The drunken husband" and "The son's entrance exam" came effortlessly, without a single hitch.

Hearing a knock at the door, Yūto quickly put down his pen and frantically stuffed his drafts into a drawer.

I absolutely can't let anyone see me writing a novel. Social death doesn't come with compensation!

After looking around and making sure he had left no traces, Yūto finally got up to answer the door.

Before opening it, Yūto had thought it was Shisui, who had visited him at home both of the past two days.

To his surprise, the person standing outside was Uchiha Tsukimi. What's she doing here?

Although he couldn't think of a reason for her visit, Yūto couldn't leave her standing outside forever, so he hurriedly said:

"Tsukimi, please come in."

Yūto's words surprised her a little. Tsukimi had been prepared to be turned away at the door, but Yūto seemed completely unconcerned about what had happened that night, making her swallow everything she had been about to say.

"Huh? Oh, all right!"

Sitting at the table, Tsukimi agonized over how to explain the situation to Yūto.

Yūto was getting anxious too. He was waiting to get back to his novel. He couldn't lose his train of thought, or he wouldn't be able to keep writing!

He really couldn't wait any longer and asked:

"Tsukimi, is there something you need?"

Tsukimi shook her head in a fluster and said:

"Nothing!"

"It's just... the clan leader assigned you and me to the same squad yesterday, so today..."

Yūto had thought it might be something important. He had already learned about the squad assignment yesterday.

When Shisui had visited him the previous evening, he had already told him the news.

Yūto wasn't surprised by it. After all, since graduating from the Ninja Academy, he had spent most of his time in three-person squads. He had spent comparatively little time on missions in two-person squads or alone.

"Tsukimi, I already knew about that. You didn't have to come all this way just to tell me."

"If there's nothing else, then..."

Yūto's gaze drifted toward his room. If there's nothing else, hurry up and leave. Are you waiting for me to invite you to stay for a meal?

Sensing Yūto's impatience, Tsukimi clenched her small fists, took a deep breath, and said through gritted teeth:

"Yūto, that night, I..."

"I shouldn't have lost my temper!"

Yūto blinked blankly at her words. He thought back for a moment before realizing she meant the night she had cooked for him.

Had Tsukimi lost her temper?

It seemed she really had...

But he hadn't taken it to heart at all. He had secretly been delighted at the time. Once Tsukimi left, he wouldn't have to train, and his strength wouldn't improve.

So Yūto shrugged. "Tsukimi, you don't need to apologize. If you hadn't brought it up, I would've forgotten all about it."

Tsukimi froze. After all that, was I the only one who cared about any of this?

Damn it, Yūto, you idiot!