Chapter 214: Calming the Storm
The izakaya was noisy, filled with the usual late-night chatter of off-duty shinobi and tired merchants. Smoke hung heavy in the air, smelling of grilled fish, cheap sake, and lingering sweat.
In a secluded corner booth, Tsunade Senju sat alone, surrounded by a small mountain of empty sake bottles.
Uchiha Akira entered quietly, his presence immediately cutting through the low hum of the bar. He navigated the crowded room and sat down opposite her without invitation.
Tsunade acted as if she hadn't seen him. Her movements were deliberately slow, almost insolent, as she reached for the large sake bottle and poured herself another generous cup.
"What are you doing here?" Tsunade's voice was cold, flat, devoid of its usual boisterous energy. It was the dangerous quiet before a storm.
"I came to see you," Akira replied simply, his voice calm.
Tch. Tsunade scoffed, a harsh, dismissive sound. She tilted her head back, downing the strong, unfiltered liquor in one gulp. The familiar burning liquid seared her throat, but even its potent sting couldn't suppress the nameless, acidic anger churning in her heart.
"See me?" She slammed the empty ceramic cup down onto the wooden table, making it rattle precariously.
"I wouldn't dare presume such an honor, Hokage-sama." The title dripped with sarcasm.
"The great Fifth Hokage is far too busy with his myriad of crucial tasks," she continued, her voice rising slightly, "and, of course, entertaining his lovely little confidante back in the office."
She finally looked at him, her amber eyes narrowed into slits, filled with a sharp, resentful glare. "It's best you don't waste your precious time here, bothering with the likes of me."
This sour, biting tone... Uchiha Akira felt a little helpless. It was so transparent.
Kurenai was right, he thought, recalling the Jōnin's quiet warning earlier. This woman isn't just angry about work. She's jealous.
"Tsunade," he said, keeping his voice level, "are you still angry about what happened in the office earlier?"
"Angry?" Tsunade laughed. It was a loud, sharp, exaggerated sound, completely devoid of humor. It drew annoyed glances from the surrounding patrons, who quieted down, sensing trouble.
"What right do I have to be angry?" she sneered, leaning forward, her voice dropping into a dangerously silky tone.
"Who Uchiha Akira wants to be with... where he wants to flirt... that's his freedom, isn't it? The Hokage-sama's privilege. Does it have a single penny's worth of relevance to me, Tsunade?"
Uchiha Akira looked at her, at this legendary Sannin acting like a spurned, prickly teenager. He found it... somewhat amusing, despite the undercurrent of real hurt.
He decided not to dwell on the romantic subtext. Not yet.
He pulled the official document, stamped with the Hokage's seal, from within his robes and pushed it across the table towards her.
"Regardless of your personal feelings, the work continues. I've already approved the new, increased budget for the Medical Department. Everything you requested."
Tsunade merely glanced down at it out of the corner of her eye. Then, with a deliberate, unceremonious shove, she pushed the document back towards him.
"No need."
Her voice was flat again. "I've just thought it through. I'm not taking the position of Medical Department head after all."
She looked away, staring pointedly at the wall. "You should find someone more capable. Someone less... distracting."
The faint smile that had been playing on Akira's lips slowly faded. His eyes grew colder.
"Tsunade," he said, his voice losing its amusement, "have you made enough of a scene?"
"Me?! Making a scene?!"
Those three words were like lighting the fuse of a powder keg that had been simmering all evening.
Tsunade slammed her hand down flat on the table.
"BOOM!"
The thick, solid wood table didn't just crack. It exploded into a shower of splinters under the sheer, focused force of her chakra-enhanced strength! Sake cups flew, bottles shattered.
The izakaya instantly fell into a dead, terrified silence.
All the patrons stared, wide-eyed with horror, at the blonde woman who had suddenly, violently gone berserk. No one dared to even breathe.
"UCHIHA AKIRA!" Tsunade roared, pointing a trembling finger directly at his nose. Her ample chest heaved violently with rage, and a fierce, almost uncontrollable fire burned in her beautiful, now bloodshot eyes.
"You explain yourself clearly! Who exactly is being unreasonable here?!"
"I've been drowning in paperwork! Buried in budget requests! Dealing with incompetent fools and trivial administrative matters for your damn Medical Department! I haven't even had a single bite to eat all day!"
Her voice cracked with genuine frustration and exhaustion. "And you?! You're comfortably sitting back in your luxurious office, having a romantic time! Playing house with other women!"
She leaned in, her voice dropping to a furious snarl. "Uchiha Akira, has your conscience been completely eaten by dogs?!"
Akira didn't flinch. He simply stood up amidst the wreckage. He reached into his robes, pulled out a thick wad of cash, and casually tossed it onto the miraculously still-standing bar counter.
"Owner," he called out calmly to the terrified man hiding behind the counter. "The bill. And the damages are on me."
With that, before Tsunade could even react, Akira's figure blurred. Using speed that seemed impossible for his size, he instantly appeared directly in front of her.
He grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Tsunade yelped, startled by his sudden move. She struggled violently, trying to wrench her arm free.
"You're coming with me," Akira's tone brooked absolutely no argument. It was the voice of the Hokage, absolute and final.
He pulled Tsunade, stumbling and resisting, and headed firmly towards the exit of the now-silent izakaya.
"I'm not going! Let go of me! Uchiha Akira, you bastard! You scoundrel! You arrogant prick!"
Tsunade's furious curses echoed throughout the entire street as he dragged her out, immediately attracting countless curious and shocked onlookers.
Great, Akira thought, shaking his head helplessly as villagers started pointing and whispering. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.
He could only use that.
Amenominaka!
[Inorin's Note: Amenominaka is Akira's personalized space-time ninjutsu in this fanfic, allowing instant teleportation without seals or markers.]
The next second, their figures flickered, distorted for a fraction of an instant, and then simply vanished from the spot.
Only the stunned, gossiping Konoha villagers remained, staring at the empty space where the Hokage and the legendary Sannin had just been...
Tsunade only felt her vision blur violently, the world dissolving into a nauseating spin of color and light.
One moment, she was on the bustling, familiar street of Konoha, cursing Akira's name.
The next, she found herself standing in a vast, empty, desolate plain under a dark, starless sky. The air was cold and thin.
The strong, disorienting sense of spatial displacement, coupled with the significant amount of high-proof alcohol she had consumed, made Tsunade feel incredibly dizzy and nauseous. She stumbled, putting a hand to her head.
"No one will disturb us here," Uchiha Akira's calm voice cut through the silence. He stood a few meters before her, completely unaffected by the teleportation.
"Whatever dissatisfaction you have, Tsunade. Whatever resentment, whatever anger..."
His purple Rinnegan seemed to glow faintly in the dim light. "You can vent it all out now. On me."
Tsunade looked at him. She looked at his calm, composed, infuriatingly unaffected demeanor.
The last vestiges of her control snapped. The anger in her heart burned even fiercer, hotter than the sake.
"Good!" she snarled, her voice a low growl.
"YOU SAID IT!"
Tsunade roared, her eyes now completely bloodshot. The chakra within her body erupted like a volcano, a visible, pale blue aura flaring around her, kicking up dust and pebbles!
Chakra-Enhanced Strength! Full power!
The ground beneath Tsunade's feet cracked open with a roar!
She didn't hesitate. She shot towards Uchiha Akira like a cannonball!
Her pale fist, clenched so tight her knuckles were white, was now enveloped in a terrifying, visible aura of destructive power!
This single punch carried enough force to instantly flatten a small mountain!
"BOOM—!"
It wasn't the sound of impact. It was the sound of the air itself exploding. A visible shockwave detonated in a ring, centered on the two of them!
The surrounding ground instantly sank, collapsing inward, creating a crater more than ten meters deep!
The entire earth trembled violently under the force of her unrestrained rage!
Tsunade stood there, her fist still buried in Akira's open palm, which had stopped the blow dead.
Although she had long known, intellectually, that Uchiha Akira was as strong as a monster... each time she experienced his power firsthand, she would still feel a profound, bone-deep shock.
But at this moment, that shock was quickly, violently replaced by an even stronger sense of burning humiliation!
He didn't even flinch! He didn't even brace himself! He stopped my full power with one hand!
He didn't even consider her a real opponent!
"Is that all the strength you have?" Akira asked, his voice still infuriatingly calm.
"DON'T YOU DARE GET COCKY!"
Tsunade felt immensely, utterly humiliated. She completely lost her reason.
She roared frantically, ripping her trapped fist free. She clenched her other hand into a fist, and her legs kicked out like a whirlwind sweeping fallen leaves!
Heavenly Foot of Pain!
[Inorin's Note: Heavenly Foot of Pain (Tsūtenkyaku) is an A-rank Taijutsu utilizing Chakra-Enhanced Strength, where the user delivers an axe kick of devastating power.]
For a moment, fists and feet combined! A hurricane of chakra-enhanced strikes rained down on Uchiha Akira!
A furious, unrestrained Tsunade was easily enough to make most Kage-level experts retreat, to simply run for their lives!
But in front of Uchiha Akira's peak, beyond-Kage strength... it wasn't nearly enough.
Block. Parry. Deflect. Sidestep.
All of Tsunade's furious, mountain-shattering attacks were easily, almost casually, parried or dodged by Akira, one by one. He moved with impossible grace, his feet barely seeming to touch the ground.
"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!"
Tsunade roared frantically in her heart, her attacks becoming faster, fiercer, but also... more chaotic. Less precise. Fueled only by rage.
Bang!
After a long while of this one-sided assault.
Uchiha Akira seemed to finally lose patience with her tantrum. He seized a minute opening in her wild barrage and instantly closed the distance.
Akira's movements were extremely fast, almost faster than her eyes could track. Tsunade didn't see them clearly.
She only felt her wrist suddenly tighten in an iron grip. An irresistible force surged through her arm, locking her joints.
Before she could react, Akira twisted her hand back, painfully pinning both of her hands behind her in one smooth, practiced motion.
Then, he pulled her forcefully, stumbling, off-balance, into his embrace.
"Ah!"
Tsunade cried out in surprise, losing her balance completely. She was forcibly pressed hard against his broad, unyielding chest, unable to move, her arms trapped behind her.
"Let go of me! You bastard!"
Tsunade struggled violently, slamming her back, her shoulders, even trying to headbutt him, against his chest.
But it was futile. It was like struggling against a mountain.
"Are you done venting now?"
Akira's voice was low, right beside her ear. He lowered his head, his lips almost brushing against her earlobe as he whispered.
His warm breath brushed against Tsunade's sensitive skin, making her entire body tremble violently for a completely different reason.
Her struggling movements also stopped instantly. Abruptly.
A strange, tingling, electric sensation, like lightning, spread from her earlobe throughout her entire body, making her knees weak.
Uchiha Akira looked down at the woman in his arms, who had suddenly, completely quieted down. He smiled slightly. Predictable.
Akira slowly released Tsunade's trapped hands. Then, before she could pull away, he wrapped his now-free arm securely around her slender waist, turning her to face him, holding her close.
Their eyes met. Inches apart.
Tsunade's face still held the flush of exertion and lingering anger, but in her eyes, there was now a new hint of panic, confusion, and deep embarrassment.
Uchiha Akira gazed down at her, at the fire still simmering in her amber eyes, at her flushed cheeks, at her kissable lips.
Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his head.
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