Heaven was his witness: Nobuhiko really hadn't harbored a single improper thought tonight.
All right, there had been a little at first, but guilt had quickly drowned it out. After that, he had felt nothing but heartache for her, without the slightest stray thought.
"Ah, I really am a good person!" Nobuhiko muttered proudly to himself as he lay in bed.
Morning.
After waking up, Nobuhiko went out to take a look. Finding Tsunade's door tightly shut, he figured she probably wasn't up yet, so he washed up and went out to buy breakfast.
When he returned, her door was still firmly shut.
Thinking Tsunade was still asleep, Nobuhiko set breakfast aside and began reading the Second Hokage's notes.
On the other side of the door.
Tsunade had actually woken up long ago, and she clearly remembered everything that had happened before she fell asleep.
It's over. My lifelong reputation, ruined in a single night.
Only yesterday, she had finally managed to establish her authority in front of that brat, making him afraid to entertain any improper thoughts around her. Then, that very night, she had clung to him and sobbed.
What am I supposed to do now?
At that moment, Tsunade lay sprawled spread-eagled on her bed.
Her vacant eyes stared at the ceiling.
She stared and stared, right up until she grew hungry, but still couldn't think of a solution.
Then Tsunade decided to keep staring.
After she had stared at the ceiling for who knew how much longer, Nobuhiko knocked on her door.
Back before Tsunade grew hungry.
Outside her door, Nobuhiko had long since grown so hungry that his stomach felt stuck to his spine, but Tsunade simply wouldn't wake up.
Suddenly, Nobuhiko remembered that, in Naruto, Tsunade sometimes seemed rather fond of giving up and doing nothing. Whenever she encountered something she didn't want to face, she wanted to bury her head in the sand.
Could she feel too embarrassed to face me and have gone straight into slacker mode? The more Nobuhiko thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Nobuhiko instantly felt a headache coming on.
You're a grown woman, and you're still pulling this?
Nobuhiko waited a little longer before finally confirming that Tsunade really was slacking off.
So he prepared to have a proper talk with her.
Knock, knock.
"Sister Tsunade, are you awake?"
No one answered.
"Still asleep? If you're asleep, I'm coming in."
Nobuhiko sounded a little excited.
Startled, Tsunade immediately sat up in bed. Suddenly noticing that her clothes were still properly on her, she sighed in relief.
"Wait, I just woke up. What is it?"
"Nothing much. I just wanted to ask when you're coming out for breakfast."
"Right away," Tsunade replied guiltily.
A little later, Nobuhiko, sitting on the sofa, couldn't help finding it amusing when he saw Tsunade looking fully dressed yet bleary-eyed.
Pretending she had just woken up, Tsunade yawned. "Is it that late already?"
"Yes, Sister Tsunade. It's very late already."
"I've already put breakfast on to warm up. It'll be ready once you've washed up."
Tsunade felt so ashamed by his words that she wished she could disappear, and scurried off to wash up.
Returning to the table, Tsunade started eating without saying a word, her delicate brows knitted tightly as her toes curled hard inside her shoes.
After finishing, she finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Brat, you have to take what happened last night to your grave, understand? You're not allowed to tell anyone. Got it?"
Watching Tsunade make her fierce-sounding but hollow threat, Nobuhiko wanted to laugh. Still, he loudly promised that he would never tell anyone.
Seeing how obedient Nobuhiko was, Tsunade found him considerably more pleasing to the eye.
"But Sister Tsunade, as a condition for keeping your secret, could I ask to change the request I made last night?"
This brat is annoying again.
"Go on. I'll think about it," Tsunade said, glancing at Nobuhiko.
"The next time you feel as bad as you did last night, could you let me listen? Keeping some things bottled up inside without talking about them can really hurt."
Nobuhiko spoke sincerely.
His words stunned Tsunade. Then she began staring at him, trying to read what he was really thinking from his face.
Unfortunately for Tsunade, she was disappointed. This time, Nobuhiko really was utterly sincere. He truly feared that she would keep certain troubles bottled up until they became too deeply entrenched to resolve.
In the end, Tsunade's staring accomplished nothing. She couldn't make out a thing.
But she also felt that confiding her troubles to a brat twenty-one years younger than herself would be terribly embarrassing for her, Princess Tsunade.
So she said awkwardly, "Why is a brat like you sticking his nose into so much? What good would telling you do? You wouldn't understand anyway."
"Who says I wouldn't understand? You cried so hard last night. You must have thought of a lot of painful things."
"I might not be able to change anything, but I can be a good listener."
"If you keep things bottled up without saying anything, you'll only feel worse and worse. Talking about them can actually make you feel better," Nobuhiko retorted stubbornly, his neck stiff.
"Really?" Tsunade said after a long silence.
Nobuhiko said nothing either, simply looking at her.
Unable to withstand his stare, Tsunade could only threaten him a little.
"You'd better think this through. If you change your request to this, I might not hold back the next time you make me angry. Don't regret it." After saying that, perhaps feeling it still wasn't intimidating enough, she waved her fist at him.
Fuck it, I'm going all in. Any punches that don't kill me will only make me stronger.
Nobuhiko steeled himself with that thought.
"I've made up my mind, Sister Tsunade. I'm changing my request to this!" Nobuhiko said firmly.
"And if you still feel awful after talking, I'll let you hit me lightly a couple of times to vent," Nobuhiko added through gritted teeth.
At those words, Tsunade's eyes grew a little moist, but she remained stubborn.
"Really? Then don't regret it when the time comes."
With that, she returned to her room without looking back.
Nobuhiko felt that his relationship with Tsunade had probably taken another step forward. A little pleased, he decided to celebrate properly that night.
Since Tsunade was heading to the battlefield tomorrow anyway, they needed to have a good meal tonight.
Only when dinnertime came did Nobuhiko call Tsunade out of her room.
Seeing the lavish dinner on the table, Tsunade suddenly felt a little guilty.
She was supposed to be looking after him, yet over the past few days, apart from her guidance in his training, it seemed she had been the one he was looking after all along. If she encountered any troubles in the future, she might even have to confide in him.
Ahhh, stop thinking about it! The more I think about it, the more embarrassing it gets. I'll definitely never have any troubles in the future, Tsunade thought, hypnotizing herself.
"Why such a lavish dinner?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"You'll be eating ration pills on the battlefield tomorrow, Sister Tsunade. Of course we should have a proper meal today," Nobuhiko said guiltily.
He absolutely couldn't let Tsunade realize that he had originally prepared such a lavish spread because he felt their relationship had improved.
At his words, Tsunade also remembered the awful taste of ration pills and agreed that they really ought to have a good meal tonight.
After dinner, seeing Nobuhiko cleaning up alone, Tsunade felt bad and wanted to help.
Nobuhiko hurriedly stopped her, telling her to get some proper rest tonight.
Once Nobuhiko had finished cleaning up, Tsunade wanted to continue explaining his training plan.
Nobuhiko declined again. "Sister Tsunade, I've already read the whole training plan, and there's nothing I don't understand. I'll just follow the plan when I train. You should just get some proper rest tonight."
Watching Tsunade reclining on the sofa with her legs crossed, her little foot twisting back and forth as she looked rather bored, Nobuhiko suddenly had a bold idea.