The inn's hallway was quiet in the early morning when two figures ran into each other by chance.
Tsunade was hurrying out with her head lowered.
Her steps were much faster than usual.
Her hair was a little messy, and her collar hadn't been properly straightened.
There was an unmistakable note of fluster about her whole bearing.
At the corner, another figure was coming the other way.
Kurenai had a food box in her hands.
Her steps were light, and there was a faint smile on her face.
The two of them nearly collided.
"Lady Tsunade?"
Kurenai stopped short and looked at her in surprise.
Why would the Hokage be here at this hour, in this place?
This was the inn where Sunagakure's people were staying.
Tsunade jerked her head up, her eyes darting around for a moment.
"Ah, Kurenai…"
Her voice came out half an octave higher than usual.
"I… I came to speak to the Kazekage about something. Official business, right. Official business."
Kurenai pressed her lips together and didn't press the matter.
But instinctively, she tucked the food box a little farther behind her back.
Inside was the breakfast she had gotten up early to make.
The rice balls had been shaped neatly, and she had even used strips of seaweed to make little patterns on them.
She didn't know why she felt the need to hide it.
It just suddenly felt awkward for the Hokage to see.
Tsunade didn't notice the small gesture at all.
Her head was full of last night…
Those absurd things that should never have happened, but had happened anyway.
She had already made that mistake once and sworn never to make it again.
But last night she had drunk that damned wine, let that brat talk circles around her again, and then…
Her face burned.
Her heart was beating so hard it felt ready to burst out of her chest.
The only thing she could do was slip away while he was still asleep.
She truly had no face left to show anyone.
"I… I'll be going, then."
As she said it, her feet were already carrying her away.
Her retreating figure was all haste and confusion, nothing like the imposing Hokage she usually was.
Kurenai watched her back and frowned slightly.
Lady Tsunade was acting very strangely today.
Still, she shook her head and stopped thinking about it.
Then she turned and headed toward Teizawa's room.
The food box swayed slightly in her hand.
Without thinking, she hugged it a little closer to herself.
By the far end of the hallway, Tsunade's footsteps had already faded away.
Kurenai stopped in front of Teizawa's door.
She took a breath and knocked softly.
No answer came from inside.
She knocked twice more.
Still nothing.
After hesitating, she pushed the door open.
The room was very quiet, the curtains still drawn tightly shut.
Only a thin line of light squeezed through the gap.
The man on the bed was still asleep, bundled up in the blanket.
One bare shoulder was exposed.
Kurenai stepped inside quietly.
She set the food box on the table, then glanced toward the bed.
He looked deeply asleep, breathing evenly, with the faintest trace of a smile still at the corner of his lips.
Kurenai watched him for a few seconds, and her face flushed slightly.
She quickly looked away, pulled one side of the curtain open a little, then nudged the food box closer to the center of the table.
That way, the moment he woke up, he would see it.
After finishing that, she glanced once more at the man on the bed and prepared to leave.
Then suddenly…
A hand shot out from under the blanket and caught her wrist firmly.
"Ah…"
Kurenai let out a startled cry as she was pulled off balance and tumbled toward the bed.
"Y-you, let go of me!" Kurenai struggled, face bright red, her voice both urgent and soft. "I made breakfast for you!"
Teizawa had already been awake.
He had woken the moment Tsunade turned over.
No matter how quietly that woman moved, she could never fool him.
He had kept his eyes closed, listening to her scramble into her clothes, listening to her stand by the bed for a long moment, listening to her creep out on tiptoe…
He had been half expecting her to turn around and punch him.
Instead, Tsunade had been even more cowardly than he was.
She had run faster than a rabbit.
He had been just about to get up when footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Light. Soft.
Then came the voice of a Sand shinobi offering a respectful greeting…
He had specifically ordered them not to stop Kurenai if she came.
So he had lain back down again,
closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing.
"What breakfast?"
Teizawa lowered his head to look at the woman in his arms, the corners of his lips lifting.
"The thing I want most is you."
Kurenai glared at him.
The look was fierce, but there was no real threat in it.
She wanted to say something else, but before the words could come, he kissed her.
The strength of her struggle weakened little by little.
What had begun as resistance turned into soft, ineffective pushing.
Her hand came to rest on his shoulder, fingers curling there before she even realized it.
The food box sat quietly on the table, while sunlight squeezed through the curtain gap and landed on the dried flower tied to the lid.
A tiny purple blossom, one she had picked by the roadside the day before.
She had tucked it there while wondering whether he would like it.
His hands started roaming again…
Kurenai caught at his wrist, breathing unevenly as she said, "The breakfast… it'll get cold…"
"Then let it."
He lowered his forehead to hers and kissed her again before anything more could be said.
Kurenai was mortified. "You're out of your mind…"
But the rest of her protest was swallowed up.
When she realized there was no stopping where this was heading, Kurenai closed her eyes.
Her lashes trembled.
She didn't know why she was always so weak when it came to him.
She had obviously hated him.
She had obviously sworn she would never come again.
And yet last night, while making breakfast, she had thought about him being here alone in Konoha and somehow found herself unable to stop.
Then, as if possessed, she had picked up the food box and come anyway.
She really was losing her mind.
But beneath all that embarrassment, a strange trembling rose from somewhere deep in her soul.
Like a habit written into her very being.
The morning sunlight gradually shifted across the room, climbing from the floor to the bed, illuminating the hand hanging over the edge.
Long fingers. Distinct knuckles. Nails cut short.
A shinobi's hand.
At that moment it was clenched tightly in the sheet, the knuckles pale.
Time passed.
No one knew how long.
Later, Kurenai lay curled up in Teizawa's arms.
Her hair was in disarray, her face red as a boiled shrimp.
"The breakfast's cold now," she muttered, and there was a trace of grievance in her voice.
Teizawa lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair.
"I'm already full."
"No, no, that won't do. I made it myself. You have to eat it."
"Alright, alright…" Teizawa laughed softly. "We'll warm it up and eat it later."
Kurenai hmphed and said nothing.
After a while, she spoke again in a much smaller voice.
"I put pickled plum in them. You like sour things."
Teizawa froze for a beat, then laughed helplessly.
Kurenai buried her face against his chest and didn't say another word.
Outside, the sunlight was perfect, warm and bright across the two of them.
…
Above Hokage Rock, the air suddenly seemed to congeal.
A vortex turned soundlessly, widening as it spun.
A black figure stepped out from it and landed atop the massive stone head.
The man in the orange mask looked down over Konoha below.
At his feet, the ground cracked open,
and a black-and-white figure rose halfway out of the earth.
"We found the Four-Tails."
Black Zetsu's voice was low and rough, as if he were stating something utterly ordinary.
"It's at the inn where Sunagakure is staying."
White Zetsu sounded far lighter, almost chatty.
"We still haven't found any sign of the Nine-Tails." He looked around as he spoke. "They've hidden it well."
Obito said nothing.
The single right eye visible through the mask narrowed slightly as he looked down over the village.
His gaze passed over layer after layer of rooftops before settling on one spot…
The inn where Sunagakure's delegation was staying.
"The Kazekage auctioned the Four-Tails off to Iwagakure for seventy billion."
Black Zetsu continued in the same flat tone. "Kitsuchi has already sent men back to the village to fetch the money. Obito, we're too late."
Obito let out a cold laugh.
"This Kazekage really doesn't know his place."
The laugh was quiet, but in the night wind it sounded especially clear.
His eyes were still fixed on that cluster of buildings.
Something in his gaze slowly gathered and sharpened.
"Or perhaps…" He paused. "This is the perfect chance to recover the Four-Tails."
White Zetsu blinked.
"But the Four-Tails is still in Sunagakure's hands, isn't it? Iwagakure hasn't paid yet."
Obito didn't answer.
He stood at the highest point of Hokage Rock, his robe snapping in the night wind.
"Five days," he said. "Iwagakure's people will come with the money and take the Four-Tails. And then…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
Then the Four-Tails would leave Konoha, and the road back to Iwagakure would become the perfect hunting ground.
Black Zetsu fell silent for a moment.
"Konoha and Sunagakure won't just stand by."
Obito turned, and the Sharingan behind the mask glowed red in the moonlight.
"Which is why…"
His voice was very light.
"They can't be allowed to interfere."
His gaze moved past Zetsu and settled on a corner of Konoha.
That was where Root's base lay.
Where an old man lived who feared losing a Tailed Beast more than anyone.
White Zetsu tilted his head.
"Danzo?"
Obito did not answer.
His body began to distort, the air around him turning thick and warped.
The vortex reappeared, growing wider and deeper.
"Five days from now…"
His voice came from inside the swirl, low and calm.
"Be ready to recover the Four-Tails."
As the words fell, the vortex shrank abruptly.
The black figure vanished completely into the air.
White Zetsu and Black Zetsu still lingered halfway out of the ground.
White Zetsu looked down at Konoha beneath them.
"It's going to rain," he said.
Black Zetsu gave no reply and slowly sank back underground.
White Zetsu shrugged and followed him down.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]