Tsunade picked up the food container Shizune had set down and spoon-fed Naoki Senju little by little. Naoki Senju was probably the first person to have Konoha's princess, Princess Tsunade, feed him herself.
Yet Naoki Senju did not find this special honor particularly enjoyable. He had no idea whether Tsunade was taking revenge for being taken advantage of earlier, but she kept shoveling food into his mouth without caring whether he had time to chew and swallow.
"Open up. What did you mean when you said the Senju Clan was wiped out? Do you know who did it, or who was behind it?"
"Mmph, mmph!"
His mouth stuffed with rice, Naoki Senju struggled to make a couple of muffled noises. Someone who had yet to recover really had no human rights.
Only then did Tsunade notice that Naoki Senju, who had been gravely injured because of her, was actually on the verge of suffocating. But this was her first time taking care of someone, and some clumsiness was inevitable. Seeing that Naoki did not appreciate her efforts, she angrily set the food container on his legs.
"If you don't like how I feed you, do it yourself."
Naoki Senju finally swallowed the rice in his mouth, but he could barely even sit up at the moment. How could he possibly feed himself? Besides, although Tsunade was no good at looking after people, how rare was such a precious opportunity to have a peerless beauty like Princess Tsunade feed him herself? How could he let it slip by?
So Naoki Senju took the opportunity to change the subject.
"Lady Tsunade, I don't know why the clan was wiped out, but ninja were involved that night!"
Tsunade's heart tightened. No longer concerned with teaching this ungrateful younger cousin a lesson, she pressed him urgently.
"What else? Tell me everything."
"Yes. Ever since I learned that my original surname was Senju, I often pestered Father to teach me ninjutsu. But he always refused to teach me any, citing Grandpa Tobirama's instructions. That also proves Father knew ninjutsu. But on the night of the massacre, the gravely wounded Father only had time to arrange for two personal guards to take me out of the city. Father, though..."
The Land of Fire's daimyo's capital, ninja, a clan massacre...
Tsunade's expression fell. The Twelve Guardian Ninja were stationed in the Land of Fire's daimyo's capital, all of them outstanding elite jonin. In other words, the only ninja who could enter the daimyo's capital were Konoha ninja...
Teacher, could everything behind this really have been...
"Did your father... did Uncle leave you any instructions?"
"Father told me not to lose myself in hatred, not to think only of revenge, and certainly not to enter the ninja world. But I think that although the ninja world is dangerous, deliberately distancing yourself from it is no good either. That would be courting death. Just like this time-if we'd had enough strength to protect ourselves, we wouldn't have been at anyone's mercy!"
Tsunade gazed at Naoki Senju. His eyes were resolute, with what seemed like flames burning within them, yet he was as calm as still water. Especially with that distinctive silvery-white hair, this little fellow was the spitting image of her second grandfather.
"What you said... makes a lot of sense. From now on, stay with me and learn ninjutsu. You don't need to call me Lady Tsunade anymore, either. Just call me Big Sister."
Naoki Senju was ecstatic. As long as he clung tightly to Tsunade's thigh, he would no longer have to fear that old dog Danzo killing him to silence him. He was ninety percent certain that the people who had massacred the clan inside the daimyo's capital had to be Danzo's Root!
But whether the Third had been involved was harder to say. That was also why Naoki had made Tsunade his first target. If the Third had had a hand in it too, just as with the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Naoki did not have an older brother like Itachi to protect him. Going to Konoha would be no different from suicide.
"Sister Tsunade, I'm still hungry."
Naoki's radiant smile made Tsunade pause. He really... looks so much like Nawaki.
"All right. You need to eat your fill to get better quickly."
Tsunade picked up the food container again. Though she fed him much more slowly this time, Naoki still finished the meal in a mixture of pain and pleasure.
After lunch, Tsunade also massaged Naoki to clear his meridians. Although the Mystical Palm Technique was highly effective, it essentially healed by increasing cellular activity and accelerating cell division. Since cells could only divide a limited number of times, the recipient's lifespan would inevitably be shortened. Avoiding the Mystical Palm Technique whenever rest and recuperation would suffice was another of Tsunade's medical principles.
"Get some proper rest. Once your injuries have healed, I'll teach you to mold chakra. In the meantime, Shizune will teach you some basic knowledge about ninja and ninjutsu."
Carrying the food container, Tsunade headed downstairs rather impatiently. Even thinking with his knees, Naoki Senju knew that she must have been unable to restrain herself any longer and wanted to do a little "small-time gambling."
Not long after Tsunade left, a little pink pig poked her way inside furtively. After confirming that Naoki Senju was alone in the room, she turned back and gave two "oink, oink" calls. Then Shizune, her cheeks still slightly flushed, came inside as well. Seeing Naoki Senju sitting on the tatami, she still seemed somewhat at a loss as she bowed in greeting.
"Hello. Do you know where Lady Tsunade is right now?"
Looking at the pretty Shizune before him, Naoki Senju instantly felt that getting injured this time had been worth it. Buy one, get one free! His smile grew even gentler.
"No need to be so polite. Sister Tsunade should be at a gambling house right now."
"I knew it!"
Shizune stamped her foot in anger. The moment she took her eyes off Tsunade, she'd run off to a gambling house. Then she noticed how Naoki Senju had addressed her, and froze in astonishment. Sister Tsunade?
He wasn't just from the same clan, but Lady Tsunade's younger brother?
"Lord Naoki, I'll go find Lady Tsunade, then."
After bowing once more, Shizune picked up Tonton and tried to slip away. Really, Lady Tsunade! How could you lay hands on your younger brother?
"Wait. Your name is Shizune, right, Big Sister?"
"Yes. Is there something you need, Lord Naoki?"
"You don't need to keep calling me 'Lord.' I should be younger than you, Sister Shizune. Having you call me 'Lord' all the time is making me embarrassed."
Lady Tsunade! How could you do something like this!
Looking at Naoki Senju's handsome yet slightly boyish face, Shizune felt increasingly embarrassed. Yet his gentle, refined manner was like a spring breeze, making her feel thoroughly at ease.
"Once Sister Tsunade enters a gambling house, all we can do is wait for her to come out on her own. There's no need to look for her. Why not teach me about ninja instead? I'll be learning ninjutsu once my injuries heal."
Shizune gave Naoki a somewhat surprised look. How did he know Lady Tsunade's habits? Hadn't they only met yesterday?
As though he had seen through Shizune's confusion, Naoki Senju explained gently.
"Sister Tsunade's title of Legendary Sucker is known to everyone. I only managed to track her down in the Land of Waves by following information from the various gambling houses."
Having suffered greatly from Tsunade's "torment," Shizune could not help smiling. Perhaps Lady Tsunade herself was the only person who still did not know that her reputation as a sucker had already spread throughout the world.
"Sister Shizune, come sit here. Weren't you going to teach me about ninja?"
In a daze, Shizune was coaxed into sitting beside Naoki Senju. Why did she not remember agreeing to teach him about ninja?
But how could Naoki Senju let Shizune slip away when she had delivered herself right to his mouth? As the saying went, there were no ugly women in Naruto. Even Shizune, a supporting character, was beautiful enough to utterly eclipse the so-called once-in-three-thousand-years and once-in-four-thousand-years beauties of his previous life.