The idea of a date surfaced in her mind, and she couldn't push it away anymore.
Tsunade felt her cheeks quickly heating up. Her steps felt light as air, each one like floating across clouds.
Actually, as time went by, she had already confirmed that she had fallen in love with this idiot standing before her.
At first, when she met him at the Academy, she had only wanted to provoke him because Tobirama's influence made her look down on the Uchiha clan.
But seeing his indifferent reaction to her provocations, she grew serious.
If he fought back or showed fear, that would have been fine. After all, she wasn't unreasonable—bullying someone once was enough.
But how could you ignore me completely?
Then I'll make sure you properly acknowledge my existence.
Later on, once she saw a trace of impatience appear on his delicate features.
What the hell do you think you're doing?
Shouldn't you be angry?
Do you find me childish?
Then the provocateur herself became furious, almost involuntarily throwing a punch at Kagura.
But she suddenly felt everything flip upside down. When she came to her senses, she found herself lying flat on the ground.
Beside her, both Orochimaru and Jiraiya also lay defeated.
In that moment, she was truly stunned.
Don't you know who I am?
Princess Tsunade—the most famous figure in Konoha Village.
Even Hashirama Senju, that legendary near-godlike figure, had often been subjected to her urinating on his head when she was a child.
How dare some kid hit me?
Plus, as a descendant of the Senju clan, she was considered a prodigy among the new generation of students.
Yet she was utterly defeated by an unknown brat from the Uchiha clan?
Proud as she was, she didn't tell her family what happened, but the incident did spark her determination to challenge Kagura.
After that encounter, Kagura seemed to abandon certain boundaries entirely.
Every time she verbally provoked him afterward, he beat her up without hesitation.
Even Orochimaru, who stood silently saying nothing nearby, didn't escape unscathed.
Thus, during their three years studying together at the Academy, they tangled with each other for three years.
Fortunately, perhaps due to friendship forged through fighting, or maybe simply growing up, Kagura realized hitting girls was inappropriate.
Over time, the fighting tapered off and turned into a weird kind of friendship between them.
Eventually graduation came, and again she lost during the final exam—yet once more, that guy topped the class.
Hearing about their squad assignments at first made her believe her path with him had come to an end.
Precisely because of that, she insisted so strongly that Kagura should celebrate with them.
Unexpectedly, they met again the next day during the class evaluation exam.
No one could imagine how elated she suddenly felt when she saw Kagura that day.
It was precisely at that moment she realized—she probably had fallen in love with that annoying guy.
During the next evaluation exam, he actually defeated Sarutobi-sensei!
That's Sarutobi-sensei who's destined to become the Hokage!
Uh... though that last move looked *really* bad.
Later, without anyone even realizing it, he had quietly become the natural leader of the team.
Even she herself didn't notice how easily she had accepted his leadership—despite always thinking of herself as so strong-willed.
Then, just a few days ago during a mission, seeing Kagura take down enemies like a true Shinigami—he completely won her over.
Just looking at his back alone was enough to make him look incredibly cool!
Noticing the unusual vibe coming from Tsunade behind him, Kagura turned his head to glance at her.
When he saw Tsunade's blushing face, he instantly understood what was going on.
Come on, he wasn't some 8-year-old kid who'd scream about not wanting to play with girls.
Although in his past life he'd only been a NEET, even if he hadn't actually "seen pigs run," he'd definitely "eaten the pork."
As an adult with an actual age of over thirty, reading a little girl's mind was easy as pie.
As for how he felt about Tsunade—he actually did quite like her.
Initially, he'd deliberately avoided Tsunade because he didn't want to get dragged into troubles and attention from certain people due to their respective backgrounds.
But after confirming he was assigned to Team 7, he decided to let go of his initial resistance.
Besides, who exactly was Tsunade?
Putting aside her powerful political background within Konoha.
She would grow into a woman with a devilish figure, maintaining youthfulness even in old age, even being able to arbitrarily change her physical appearance—a perfect blend of youthful innocence and seductive maturity.
Who could possibly resist that?
But asking a man whose actual mental age was thirty to seduce an 8-year-old girl—he really couldn't bring himself to do it...
After much deliberation, he settled on the "Three No Policy":
No initiative, no rejection, no responsibility.
Umm, the "no responsibility" here isn't what you're thinking.
It meant he wouldn't worry about the complications arising from their backgrounds anymore. Let the future Hokage (village leader) deal with those headaches.
After noticing Tsunade's uneasiness, Kagura remained calm and continued showing her around the village.
In truth, when a man determines to please a woman, it's actually quite simple.
With plenty of money in hand, they started enjoying their rare holiday time together.
Effortlessly moving with Tsunade between various shops, occasionally buying her small gifts she liked.
Then taking her to try different food stalls, tasting delicacies unknown in Konoha.
Under Kagura's deliberate guidance, Tsunade gradually lost her initial nervousness and began to enjoy this rare "date".
Tch, taking a woman shopping? It's not like any of us didn't get trained by our moms back in the day.
Now they were walking down the street each holding a dorayaki in one hand and a mysterious red bean rice dumpling in the other.
Biting fiercely into her dorayaki, Tsunade mumbled indistinctly:
"Mmph...
This dorayaki tastes nothing like the ones back in Konoha—the filling's made of candied flower petals instead of red bean paste.
Though unique, I still prefer dorayaki with sweet red bean filling."
Kagura took a bite of the dumpling in her hand, savoring its soft and chewy texture.
After swallowing her food, Tsunade stole a glance at him and murmured shyly,
"Still... I like the food you make the most."
"Then after we return, just bring Orochimaru and Jiraiya over to your place. I'll cook for all of you."
As she spoke, she quickly finished off the remaining dumplings and tossed the bamboo stick into the nearby trash bin.
Tsunade's face lit up with joy, but then she muttered in a voice barely audible to herself,
"But... I wish you'd cook just for me..."
"What? Did you say something just now?"
Kagura asked in confusion, as he truly hadn't heard clearly.
Tsunade quickly turned her head to the side and replied loudly,
"I didn't say anything. You must've misheard."
Rubbing his ear, Kagura was about to speak when two girls passed by them one after the other.
The girl behind called out,
"Hey! Fuso! Wait for me!"
At the sound of that name, Kagura stopped dead in his tracks, stunned.
Seeing Kagura frozen still, Tsunade looked at him in puzzlement and asked,
"What's wrong?"
It was only then that Kagura finally recalled from his memory who that name belonged to.
He quickly looked back at the girl walking ahead.
She looked a year or two older than them. She was wearing the typical female outfit worn around here.
But what caught his eye most was that signature fiery red hair marking her as a member of the Uzumaki Clan.
That's her!
A spark lit up his eyes as Kagura immediately turned and hurried after her.
Luckily, the girl wasn't moving particularly fast. After quickening his pace a few steps, he soon caught up right behind her.
He hurriedly called out to her,
"Pardon me, are you Uzumaki Fuso?"
Hearing her name, the girl stopped and turned around to look at Kagura.
Yet upon seeing Kagura's appearance, she couldn't recall ever knowing someone like him.
She asked in confusion,
"Uh, yes, that's me. May I ask who you are?"
Upon hearing the girl confirm her identity, Kagura's face broke into a delighted smile.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!