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…
The tea had gone cold.
I continued drinking it anyway.
At this point, pretending to be occupied was preferable to having another conversation with Tsunade.
She had been inspecting the room for the better part of ten minutes, her attention jumping from the shelves to the scrolls, then to the sealed packages stacked near the wall.
For a twelve-year-old, she was surprisingly curious.
Unfortunately, curiosity was exactly what I didn't need.
Tsunade picked up one of the sealed ration packages and turned it over in her hands.
"What are these?"
"Rations," Aiko answered.
"I know that. Why are they sealed like this?"
"So they stay fresh."
Tsunade frowned at the package. "That's it?"
Aiko smiled. "That's it."
I glanced at her, approval in my eyes.
Good answer.
Tsunade looked unconvinced but eventually placed the package back where she'd found it.
"This place is strange."
Hina, who was sorting through a stack of folded cloth nearby, glanced over. "How so?"
"It's too clean."
Hina's lips twitched. "Is that a problem?"
"No." Tsunade looked around again. "Just unexpected."
I kept my attention on my tea.
She wasn't wrong. The Lotus Store was cleaner and more organized than most civilian shops in the district. That was intentional.
"What exactly do you sell?" Tsunade asked.
"Clothing, supplies, food packages, household goods," Hina answered. "A little bit of everything."
Tsunade nodded slowly before pointing toward the shelves. "And you run all of this?"
"I manage the store," Hina replied.
Tsunade's gaze shifted toward Aiko. "And you?"
"I help."
Her eyes moved toward me.
"And him?"
I took another sip and kept silent.
She waited.
I continued drinking.
Eventually, she frowned. "You really don't talk much."
I lowered the cup. "There's nothing to say."
Her expression tightened at that response. I could practically see the irritation forming.
Aiko immediately intervened. "He's always like this."
"That's not entirely true," I said.
Aiko looked at me.
I took another sip. "Sometimes I'm worse."
A small laugh escaped Hina before she could stop it.
Tsunade stared at me for a moment before shaking her head in resignation. "Mito-baa-chan said I should come see you."
I raised an eyebrow. "So?"
"She said you were supposed to be impressive or something."
More sipping.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "You don't talk much, huh?"
I set the cup down and looked at her. "Only when I have something to say."
That earned a very dignified twelve-year-old scowl.
"He's like this with everyone," Aiko immediately chimed in, which was both true and generous.
Hina stepped in with a small tray of sweets. "Here, Tsunade-chan. Something to keep your energy up while you wait for Murakami to warm up to your presence."
Tsunade immediately picked one up. "Thanks, but I don't need him to warm up," she grumbled. "I'm just here because I was told to be here. I thought maybe he'd be more..."
"Tall?" I guessed.
"Talkative."
"Unlikely," I said, reclining a little deeper into my seat like I was retreating from the entire conversation.
She took a bite, then looked at me again. "You're fifteen, right?"
"Yes."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And you're a Genin."
"Yes."
"Then why are you here in the middle of the day?"
I looked at her. "I'm recovering from poison."
"That isn't what I meant."
"I know." I rolled my eyes at her. What kind of answer was she expecting?
Tsunade scoffed and turned to Aiko. "So what do you actually do here?"
Aiko smiled again, textbook perfect. "I help out. It's a good place. Hina runs most of it."
"Oh?" Tsunade glanced toward Hina.
"I like things organized," Hina said breezily. "Murakami's more of a... visionary."
I closed my eyes. There was no escape.
"So you just sit around and sip tea while these two do everything?" Tsunade asked, shooting me a glare.
"Yes," I said, because that was both true and the fastest way to end this line of questioning.
She stared at me and I stared back.
Her expression slowly changed from curiosity to disbelief.
"You're really annoying."
"I've been told." I couldn't resist the smirk that found its way to my lips.
Just then, the stairs creaked.
"Is he dead yet?" Daichi's voice floated in, but he stopped when he saw Tsunade. "Oh."
His eyes moved from her to me, then briefly toward Hina and Aiko. "I didn't know we had a guest."
"Who's the kid?" Daichi asked.
"I'm not a kid," Tsunade snapped.
"Oh good," Daichi said and walked towards the plate of sweet and picked one. "Then you'll understand why I need your dumpling more than you do."
"Tsunade," she said.
Daichi's brows rose slightly. "Tsunade Senju?"
She nodded.
For a brief moment, he simply looked at her, then relaxed and threw the sweet into his mouth.
I watched him carefully then sighed inwardly in relief.
He didn't have the reaction I expected him to have when he knew who she was.
Tsunade noticed his pause too. "What?"
Daichi blinked. "What?"
"You looked at me strangely."
He scratched his cheek. "Did I?"
"Yes."
"Then I apologize."
She narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced but his attention had already moved from her towards me.
…
Soon enough, Tsunade got fed up with everyone and left the store. Although it was a good thing, my instincts told me she would be back.
"You don't seem to like the girl." Hina came and stood beside me as we watched the girl walking away with those cliché wide steps.
"You couldn't be farther from the truth." I replied, watching as she walked out of view. "Rather, I don't like the possibilities she presents for me, the Lotus Pavilion and the future in general."
"Is it that bad?" Aiko asked as she walked up to the window.
"Very."
"Bad enough to worry about?"
I considered that for a moment, dragging a finger along the rim of my empty teacup.
"Let's just say that, in the worst possible timeline, she grows up strong enough to suplex giant snakes and punch beings people in the category of god."
Aiko blinked. "...What?"
"Nothing." I withdrew my hand from the cup. "The poison may still be affecting me."
From behind us, Daichi let out a quiet laugh.
"The poison has been affecting you for hours," he said. "This is the first time I've heard it make you interesting."
I turned my head slowly. "Do you want me to recover and try out the experiment on you?"
Daichi's smile disappeared."No."
"Good."
Hina raised a brow. "You sound like you're exaggerating."
"I wish I was," I muttered, then sighed. "The problem isn't Tsunade herself. Not yet, anyway."
I walked back to the table and sat down. "The problem is that she's a pebble. A small but loud and powerful pebble… rolling down the side of a mountain I've worked very hard to stabilize."
"And you think she'll trigger an avalanche?" Aiko asked.
"No," I shook my head. "I think she is the avalanche. She just doesn't know it yet."
Daichi, who had been reaching for the snack plate, paused and slowly looked at me. "Should I be concerned?"
"You should always be concerned."
"That doesn't answer the question."
"It wasn't meant to."
The silence that followed was brief but thoughtful.
Hina remained by the window, her arms folded within her kimono sleeves as she watched the bustling street below.
"She seemed kind of nice," Aiko finally offered, though she didn't sound convinced.
"She is," I said. "That's the worst part."
Daichi frowned. "Why is that the worst part?"
"Because nice kids with dangerous potential never stay uncomplicated in a world like this."
That seemed to quiet him.
"We should be a little more careful around her from now on," I said. "Nothing dramatic, just don't leave anything important lying around."
Hina raised an eyebrow. "Because she asked about ration seals?"
"Because she noticed them."
"She didn't ask anything suspicious," Hina said.
"And yet I feel more seen than I should."
Try being born into the strongest shinobi clan in the village and growing up under the eyes of Hashirama Senju's legacy and Uzumaki Mito.
Even if she was only twelve, Tsunade wasn't going to be as sheltered or as oblivious as an ordinary child.
Aiko raised her hand. "Should we prepare in case she comes back with her teammates?"
I paused, deadpan. "No. If that happens, we hide the good stuff and pray."
"I thought you said you don't believe in prayer," Hina said.
"I don't," I said and shrugged. "But desperate situations make hypocrites of us all."
"Don't worry too much," Hina said turning away from the window. "We're used to handling disasters."
I gave her a look. "She is the disaster."
"I meant you," she said over her shoulder.
Daichi immediately pointed at me. "I agree with her."
I stared at the both of them, narrowed my eyes, and reached for the tea kettle and poured myself some.
As I brought it to my lip, I couldn't help but wonder.
Am I being too paranoid?
Tsunade was a red flag, that much was true, but that didn't mean she didn't come with her own opportunities.
This opportunity wasn't from her future where she's known as the Slug Princess, strongest sucker puncher, creator of the rebirth seal and all other feats.
No, the opportunity came in her connection to Mito and by extension, the Uzumaki clan.
If I used her well, I could get access to more and in-depth knowledge on Fuinjutsu.
I could learn the principles of Fuinjutsu from then then incorporate it into my own combat system.
I could already imagine how badass it would be.
Though, from what I've gathered about the Uzumaki clan, the entire sea region around their island is covered in Seal Arrays used to fend off hostile forces before they reach inland.
Well, we'll think about this when the time comes.
…
Normal POV
Tsunade stormed out of the Lotus Store with a scowl stamped on her face and her arms stretched outwards with fists clenched.
Her sandals thudded against the walkway, sharp and loud, matching the irritation simmering under her skin.
The wind tugged at her hair, but she barely noticed.
What was that place, anyway?
She couldn't put her finger on it, but it rubbed her wrong.
Not in a bad way…just… unsettling.
It was like everyone in that place knew something she didn't.
Murakami barely said anything, and yet somehow, it felt like he'd said too much.
That bored, sleepy look of his, like he was already three steps ahead and choosing not to care… It made her want to punch something.
Maybe a chair. Maybe him.
And the girls were no help either.
Too nice. Too composed. Like they were trained to smile and deflect without ever saying anything real.
Hina especially, there was something steel-edged behind her polite tone. Tsunade recognized that kind of energy. It was the kind her grandmother carried.
The kind you didn't want to mess with.
She kicked a loose pebble on the street and watched it bounce away.
This was supposed to be a simple errand. Mito-baachan had told her to drop by, observe and maybe get acquainted.
But what exactly had she observed?
A store that looked too polished, a boy too quiet, and a staff too careful.
Tsunade didn't like mysteries she couldn't solve.
And yet, as she turned the corner and left the store behind, she already knew she'd be back. If only to prove she wasn't imagining things and to get one on that cocky brat.