Naruto: Starting with Tsunade-san

Tsunade: "(⊙⊙) Uh… uh, that's right. Gambling is a way for me to remember my grandfather, and I won't allow you to use it to make dirty money!"

"Sorry."

Tōshirō lowered his head, adopting a posture of sincerity, his eyes fixed on the ground.

Tsunade placed her right hand over her chest. "Since you realize your mistake, I'll forgive you this time."

A sly glint flashed through Tōshirō's eyes. He couldn't help but think how adorable and amusing Tsunade looked in her awkward indignation.

"Want to ride on my bike?"

Tōshirō patted the rear seat and offered, "Consider it part of my apology."

"No need."

Tsunade, realizing the bike could carry a passenger, declined out of pride.

But after walking for a while, she started to regret her decision. Like flipping a switch, her mind changed instantly.

"Wait..."

Tsunade halted, prompting Tōshirō to stop the bike as well.

She avoided his gaze, her eyes drifting toward the backseat. Holding her left arm with her right hand, she muttered hesitantly, "After walking this far, my legs feel a bit sore. To avoid slowing us down, and since your bike's rear seat looks like it can carry someone, I thought..."

"You thought what?"

"Let me sit on it."

"(—_-)"

"What's with that look? I told you, it's just to keep us on schedule!"

"Alright, hop on." Tōshirō reluctantly agreed. "Do you need me to teach you how to sit?"

"Of course not! Something like this, I can figure out at a glance!"

Tsunade happily perched sideways on the backseat, issuing a command: "Ikuzo!"

Tōshirō teased, "You seem pretty excited about this."

"I'm not!" Tsunade denied flatly, then urged, "Hurry up! Stop dawdling—we have a mission to complete."

With a few grumbles of "Got it," Tōshirō stepped on the pedals. As the bike moved, Tsunade, unfamiliar with the motion, nearly lost her balance. Luckily, her ninja training kept her from falling.

The wind whipped past, catching her golden hair and making it dance. Though the breeze was cold, Tsunade's cheeks flushed deeply, as if this was a real date in her mind.

Recently, Tsunade had noticed that whenever she was alone with Tōshirō, her face would heat up for no apparent reason.

The bike sped along, and to steady herself, Tsunade gripped the edges of the rear seat. However, sitting sideways like this wasn't very comfortable.

She stared at Tōshirō's back, her thoughts wandering. If I held onto him instead, maybe rested my cheek on his back… that'd probably be much more comfortable.

Wait, what was she thinking?

Tsunade's face turned crimson, practically steaming.

While she was lost in thought, there was suddenly a clattering sound as the bike hit a downhill slope. The jolt sent Tsunade briefly into the air. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed something—Tōshirō's waist.

Realizing what she had done, she felt a wave of awkwardness wash over her.

"Ah!"

She let out a soft yelp, quickly releasing her grip and lowering her gaze to the ground, saying nothing.

The atmosphere grew tense and awkward, the silence thick enough to cut with a kunai. Finally, Tōshirō broke it. "Tsunade, do you want to learn how to ride a bike?"

"Me?"

"I've been pedaling for ages. My legs are starting to ache—it's your turn to take over."

He wasn't lying.

"Ah… yeah, that makes sense. If we take turns, we won't have to rest along the way, and we can finish the mission faster."

Tsunade's lips curved into a faint, mischievous smile.

Her knack for finding perfectly reasonable excuses for her actions amused Tōshirō endlessly.

He explained how to operate the bike, thinking that with her skills, she'd get the hang of it quickly. To his surprise, Tsunade turned out to be utterly clueless about riding, no matter how hard she tried.

Tōshirōteased, "Hey, can you actually do this?"

Tsunade, blushing but still haughty, retorted, "Stop nagging! This time, I'll definitely get it. Get on the bike!"

Tōshirō hesitated, clearly doubtful about her unlicensed and wobbly riding skills.

Under her sharp, threatening gaze, he reluctantly climbed onto the bike and sat behind her.

"Alright, I'm starting!"

With that declaration, Tsunade pressed her feet against the pedals and began riding. But it was no different from before—unsteady and on the verge of toppling over.

Tōshirō couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

Tsunade, clearly irritated, decided to apply brute force. Using her monstrous strength, she slammed her feet on the pedals. The bike suddenly surged forward at an alarming speed.

"Wait! It's too fast! I want to get off!"

Tōshirō was horrified. To avoid being thrown off, he instinctively wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

Tsunade ignored his protests, a sly glint flashing in her eyes—this was exactly what she had been aiming for.

That idiot Tōshirō... does he really think I can't figure out how to ride a simple tool like this with my balance skills?

The truth was, she had been faking her incompetence the whole time. Her plan was simple: deliberately provoke Tōshirōinto holding onto her during the ride.

From her previous "accident," Tsunade had discovered that a bike could be used for this kind of play.

Because of her excessive force, the ride didn't last long. Soon, the bike came to an abrupt stop, now nothing more than a wreck.

Tsunade frowned slightly at the broken bike on the ground, thinking it would've been nice if it had lasted a bit longer.

Tōshirō stared at the destroyed remains of his precious creation, feeling as though his heart was bleeding. "You idiot! You owe me a bike!"

Tsunade scoffed, "Oh, please. How's it my fault your bike was so flimsy? It just proves that ninjas shouldn't rely on external tools."

Then she changed her tone, narrowing her eyes. "And another thing—did you take advantage of me earlier?"

Crossing her arms defensively over her chest, she glared at him with the expression of someone looking at a pervert.

"Take advantage of you?"

"That's right! You shamelessly grabbed my waist just now. Isn't that taking advantage?"

Tōshirō looked confused. "Taking advantage how?"

"Tch, 'Tōshirō the Blue Pervert'—it's short for Tōshirō + pervert!"

"Stop giving me weird nicknames!"

"Someone like you, who takes advantage of people whenever possible, deserves a nickname like that," Tsunade declared righteously.

Tōshirō protested, "You were riding like a maniac! If I hadn't held onto your waist, I'd have been thrown off completely!"

Tsunade, taking the moral high ground, snapped back, "Well, who told you to mock me in the first place?"

Tōshirō sighed deeply, looking skyward. Truly, Confucius was right: Women and small-minded people are the hardest to deal with.

Near a coastal territory in the Land of Fire stood an impressive mansion.

This estate belonged to a relative of the Land of Fire's daimyo, who served as the lord of this region.

Tsunade knelt on one knee before the lord, a gesture of respect rather than hierarchy. She had intended to bring Tōshirō along, but he had claimed his legs were too stiff to kneel and instead had gone to enjoy himself at a maid café.

Left with no choice, Tsunade met with the lord alone. After a brief discussion, she was escorted to a room.

Shortly after, two servants opened the doors, and Tsunade stepped inside. Before long, her gaze fell upon a mutated human corpse, a victim of sea monster contamination.

The body was slick and shiny, its skin a dark, murky green with a pale belly and a high, scaly ridge running down its back.

The creature was humanoid in form but fish-like in appearance, with protruding eyes, gills along its neck, and webbed hands and feet.

(End of Chapter)

────────────────────────────────────

"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [One Piece: General Blue]."

"Power stones if you like them"

"If you want an early access join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"