Not long after the two advisers returned to Konoha, Jiraiya also came back to the village with Minato.
For some reason, that left Kizaru feeling a little lonely.
After returning to the village, the first place Minato went was not home.
It was the Senju compound.
He had even prepared gifts with obvious care. Yet instead of going back first to greet his adoptive father or Kizaru, who had looked after him like an older brother, Minato headed straight for Kushina.
The awkward part was that Kizaru happened to be at the Senju compound that day as well. He had come to look for Tsunade.
At the entrance of the Senju residence, Minato stood there with the gifts in his arms. When he saw Kizaru, his expression stiffened slightly.
"Kizaru-niisan, I'm back! Hahaha…"
His laugh sounded more nervous than cheerful.
Kizaru looked at Minato's blushing face, then at the gifts in his arms. For a moment, he felt as though the child he had raised had already begun looking elsewhere.
He placed his right hand on Minato's head and ruffled that blond hair without mercy.
"Minato, your adoptive father has been waiting at home for you every day."
"Hahaha…" Minato laughed awkwardly and quickly explained, "Kizaru-niisan, I'll go home after I deliver the gifts."
While they were talking, the door finally opened.
Minato was visibly relieved.
"Kizaru!"
Tsunade opened the door with a bright smile. Her eyes landed on Kizaru first, and for a moment, she completely failed to notice Minato standing beside him.
Minato stood there quietly, watching the way Kizaru and Tsunade looked at each other.
His eyes widened a little.
He felt as if he had just discovered something he was not supposed to know.
Jiraiya-sensei… this might be hopeless.
"Minato?" Tsunade finally noticed him after a moment. "You and Jiraiya are back?"
"Tsunade-san!" Minato greeted her with his usual warm smile. "Jiraiya-sensei and I just returned to the village."
Tsunade's gaze fell on the beautifully wrapped gifts in his arms.
She immediately understood.
A teasing smile appeared on her face.
"Are those gifts for me?"
"I…"
Minato opened his mouth, but no answer came out.
"Hahaha!" Tsunade laughed openly. His reaction was too easy to understand. "Kushina is in her room. Go on."
"I… right." Minato scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, but did not try to deny it. "Thank you, Tsunade-san."
He bowed lightly, then entered the residence and walked toward Kushina's room.
"Children grow up faster than adults expect," Tsunade said as she watched him go.
Kizaru stepped forward and naturally rested an arm around her waist.
"Yeah…"
Tsunade glanced at him.
Kizaru and Minato were the same age. Hearing him speak like an adult made her feel both amused and speechless.
"You have no right to say that."
"Ooh~ I can't help it. I've always liked beautiful older women."
As he spoke, Kizaru walked into the house with Tsunade.
"Move your hand. Nawaki and the others are here," Tsunade said after closing the door.
Kizaru withdrew his hand with obvious regret.
"Tsunade, spend New Year's Eve with us this year."
"I still have Nawaki and Kushina," Tsunade replied.
Her heart had already wavered, but she still hesitated.
"Bring them with you. Come to the Shimura residence. I'll invite Orochimaru and Jiraiya too. Everyone can spend the night together."
Kizaru spoke casually, but his plan was already set.
"But…"
Tsunade still felt that things between them were moving a little too quickly.
"We'll just have dinner together. After that, you can play cards and stay up with Keiko-san and the others."
That was the final push.
Tsunade hesitated for a short while before finally nodding.
"Fine. Kushina will probably want to spend New Year's with Minato too."
"Yeah, she definitely will."
Kizaru looked down at Tsunade, who was trying to keep her composure, and smiled teasingly.
Embarrassed, Tsunade struck him lightly with her elbow and quickened her pace toward the inner rooms.
"Slow down. Give Minato and Kushina some time," Kizaru reminded her from behind.
"I'll take Nawaki away."
Tsunade was clearly willing to help Minato and Kushina along.
When Nawaki was suddenly dragged out of the house by Tsunade, he looked completely confused and rather dissatisfied.
Minato, one of his teammates from the Chunin Exams, had come to visit after returning to the village. Yet his sister had pulled him away without explanation.
Wouldn't Minato feel awkward if he was left alone with Kushina?
In the courtyard, Nawaki could not help complaining.
"Nee-san, Minato came to visit me today. Isn't it rude to drag me away and leave him by himself?"
Tsunade crossed her arms and looked at her slow younger brother.
Then she turned her gaze toward Kizaru.
Her meaning was clear.
Explain it to him.
Kizaru smiled and stepped forward.
"Nawaki, your nee-san wants you to buy some ingredients. We need to prepare a proper dinner for Minato tonight."
Nawaki's expression immediately changed.
He clapped his hands as if he had finally understood.
"Oh, I see!"
Then he looked back at Tsunade, whose expression had become difficult to describe.
"Nee-san, I'm going to buy groceries!"
Without waiting for a response, Nawaki ran toward the gate.
"Did you bring money?" Kizaru called after him kindly.
"I did!"
Nawaki did not stop. He rushed out of the compound.
Watching him leave, Kizaru turned back to Tsunade with a smile, as though the matter had been handled perfectly.
Tsunade took a deep breath.
"I asked you to teach him, not trick him."
"Nawaki is pretty cute this way."
"He's almost fourteen. When is he going to understand these things?"
"How about letting him spend some time with Jiraiya?"
"I want him to mature, not become hopeless," Tsunade said sharply.
"Ooh~ Jiraiya would cry if he heard that."
Kizaru chuckled and stepped closer to Tsunade again.
Outside the room, Kizaru and Tsunade continued their familiar teasing.
Inside the room, Minato and Kushina were doing rather well on their own.
"Are all these for me?"
Kushina looked at the three large gift boxes on the table, her eyes shining with excitement.
After coming to Konoha, this was the first time someone her own age had given her a gift.
"I didn't know what you liked, so I bought a few different things," Minato said softly.
"Thank you, Minato!"
Kushina smiled brightly at him.
When their eyes met, however, Kushina suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm.
"You can open them first. If there's anything you don't like, I can…"
Kushina shook her head before he finished.
"This is the first gift I've received from a friend since coming to Konoha. No matter what's inside, I'll treasure it."
"Kushina, you'll make more friends from now on. And one day, everyone will acknowledge you as a shinobi."
Minato's voice was gentle, but his words were firm.
Kushina believed that too.
She nodded with bright determination.
"I'll definitely become Hokage someday!"
"Do your best."
As Kizaru's younger brother, Minato knew better than most how difficult that dream was.
Even so, he chose to support her.
"Yeah! Let's both work hard!"
Kushina smiled and stretched out her right fist.
Minato also raised his hand, clenched it into a fist, and gently bumped it against hers.
"Minato, you're my first friend. You're also the first person who supported my dream. I'll never forget that."
Kushina looked at him seriously as she spoke.
"That's because I like seeing you confident, Kushina," Minato answered honestly. "When you believe in yourself, you look really strong."
"Hehehe!"
Kushina laughed, showing her small canine teeth.
She was truly happy.
Minato smiled as well.
That warm, sunlike smile spread across his face.
With Minato and Jiraiya back in the village, the year slowly approached its end, and the New Year atmosphere in Konoha became stronger by the day.
Through Kizaru's arrangements and invitations, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Nagato's family, and Sasori's family all agreed to spend the night of December thirty-first at the Shimura clan's main residence.
Might Duy and Hatake Sakumo could not attend.
Their wives were both in poor health, and their due dates were close, so the two men had to remain at the hospital to take care of them.
To make it easier for the two families to look after one another, Kizaru and Tsunade arranged for their wives to stay in the same ward.
Might Duy's wife was expected to give birth around January first.
Hatake Sakumo's wife was expected to give birth around January third.
The dates were very close.
Perhaps their children might even be born on the same day.
It was a strange and gentle sort of fate.
On the afternoon of December thirty-first, Kizaru went to the hospital early and accompanied Tsunade as she finished her final workday of the year.
While they were there, the two of them also visited Hatake Sakumo and Might Duy, who were keeping their wives company in the ward.
"I'll have dinner sent over tonight. You don't need to prepare anything," Kizaru said from inside the ward.
"Kizaru, thank you."
Hatake Sakumo did not refuse his kindness. He only thanked him quietly and kept the favor in his heart.
"Sensei, your kindness… I… I…"
Might Duy was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
"I'll train even harder and repay you!"
"Duy, don't force yourself. Taking good care of your wife and your child is already the best repayment."
Kizaru stepped forward, helped Duy straighten up, and smiled.
Might Duy sniffed, wiped away his tears, and gave Kizaru a brilliant smile with his shining white teeth.
"I will protect my youth, my family, and my pride as a man! Sensei, I will never forget this kindness!"
If trust and gratitude could take shape, Might Duy's feelings at that moment would have been impossible to hide.
Hatake Sakumo was the same.
Only, unlike Duy, Sakumo would never express such things loudly.
He was a quiet man.
He would not say much.
He would only prove himself through action.
From the moment Kizaru saved his wife, Hatake Sakumo had already made his decision.
For the rest of his life, he would become the sharpest blade in Kizaru's hand.
When Kizaru became Hokage, Hatake Sakumo and Might Duy would become his two most loyal generals.
Standing beside Kizaru, Tsunade quietly looked at the two men.
A soft emotion rose in her heart.
This troublesome man of mine really is becoming more and more impressive.
One day, he will become the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen.
Tsunade looked up at Kizaru's smiling face, and pride quietly filled her chest.
Someone this remarkable had chosen to stand beside her.
The Shimura clan's main residence was exceptionally lively that day.
Children ran around and played. Adults sat together and talked. Clan members moved back and forth, preparing everything for New Year's Eve.
The entire residence was filled with warmth and noise.
Everyone had a smile on their face.
They welcomed the coming year and looked forward to the future.
Kazuya, Nagato, Yahiko, Konan, and the younger children of the Shimura clan, all close in age, gathered together and played happily.
Kizaru had also invited Yakushi Nono, but the girl wanted to spend New Year's Eve with her friends at the orphanage, so she politely declined.
Kizaru did not mind.
Instead, he had people send plenty of New Year's supplies to the orphanage, so the children there could also have a good New Year.
The older ones, such as Minato, Nawaki, Kushina, Yoshihiko, Tanin, and Yuki, who had already become shinobi, gathered in Kizaru's courtyard.
They sat together, chatting and exchanging stories about their experiences after becoming ninja.
Among them, Yoshihiko, who had been taken in and trained by Danzō, had the most experience.
Compared with the others, he already seemed much more mature.
Shintaro, who had not become a ninja and had instead begun helping the Third Elder with the clan's business, followed Keiko as she arranged the clan members and handled the final preparations for New Year's Eve.
As they grew older, everyone had begun walking a different path.
Even so, the bonds they had formed when they were young had not changed.
Neither had their respect and affection for Kizaru-niisan.
In another courtyard, the adults sat together in small groups and chatted with smiles on their faces.
Sasori's parents, Nagato's parents, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, the three elders, Danzō, and the Shimura clan's shinobi were all gathered there.
Perhaps because the New Year was near, or perhaps because the atmosphere was so lively, Danzō's face was less gloomy than usual.
Even the smile on his face seemed calmer.
"Why hasn't that little monkey come back yet?"
Inside the room, seated to Danzō's right, the eldest elder spoke with the air of a mischievous old man.
"He went to the hospital to pick up Tsunade."
When Danzō said this, his smile faded slightly.
He remembered what he had once said.
Back then, he had mocked that any family unfortunate enough to marry a woman as violent as Tsunade would have no peaceful days left.
In the end, the one who ended up with Tsunade was his own beloved nephew.
For a moment, even Danzō did not know what kind of expression he should make.
Knowing Kizaru's temperament, and knowing that persuasion would be useless, Danzō did not trouble himself by trying to interfere.
By now, he had already accepted it.
Since nothing could be changed, then there was no point struggling against it.
Besides, if he considered it calmly, Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First Hokage and one of Konoha's greatest medical-nin. She had saved countless shinobi, and her standing in the village was extraordinary.
For Kizaru, marrying Tsunade was not a bad thing.
It was an alliance strong enough to steady his path.
With Tsunade beside him, Kizaru's position as heir to the Hokage seat would become even more secure. And when he eventually became Hokage, he would receive far broader support.
After all, the Senju clan had not truly disappeared.
They had only given up their surname, dissolved the clan, and blended into the people of Konoha.
At least one-third of Konoha's civilian shinobi carried Senju blood.
As a clan, the Senju no longer stood at the forefront.
But in blood and spirit, they had spread throughout the village.
In that sense, the Senju had become even larger than before.
"It's good that the little monkey and Tsunade-hime are together. Don't do anything unnecessary, Danzō."
The eldest elder had noticed the slight change in Danzō's expression.
"I support them," Danzō said plainly.
"If you meddle and the little monkey beats you to death, I won't collect your body," the eldest elder said with a laugh.
Danzō's expression darkened.
He glanced at the old man beside him.
"Don't worry. I will outlive you."
"Hahaha! That may not be certain. Perhaps you'll go first."
The eldest elder laughed with great satisfaction.
Danzō was not even fifty years old yet.
This old man was already nearly eighty.
And still, he was happily predicting that Danzō would die before him.
For once, Danzō truly felt that age had not made this elder any gentler.
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