Night fell.
The savory aroma of grilled Pacific saury wafted through the kitchen.
Tsunade finished frying the fish and heated the miso soup, setting out two sets of bowls and chopsticks with ticulous care. She sat at the table, resting her chin on her hand, her gaze fixed on the wall clock.
The second hand ticked away.
Six o'clock. Only the sound of the wind drifted from outside.
Seven o'clock. The soup grew cold, a thin layer of oil forming on the surface. She stood up and brought it back to the stove to reheat it.
Eight o'clock. The fish had gone cold too; she reheated it again.
"Recon missions are often delayed. It's normal," she whispered to herself, carrying the cold al back into the kitchen.
The fourth day.
Tsunade went to the hospital as usual. During a break in her work, she took out a sheet of white paper and began sketching a layout for a courtyard. She planned how much space to leave in the front yard for flowers and how much in the back for vegetables. She even clearly marked the positions for two rocking chairs in the hallway.
As she drew, she found herself laughing softly. A nurse nearby teased her, asking if there was a wedding in her near future. For once, Tsunade didn't snap; she simply blushed and told the nurse she was being nosy.
The fifth day.
She didn't go to the hospital. She stayed ho and waited. She waited from dawn until dusk.
Nawaki prepared dinner and brought it to the table, only to find his sister sitting on the front steps. She was motionless, staring intently in the direction of Kaede's house.
"Sis... let's eat. Sensei is so strong, he'll definitely be fine."
Tsunade didn't budge.
"You eat first. I'm not hungry yet."
Until the sky turned completely black, that familiar figure still had not appeared at the end of the street.
The sixth day.
Evening.
A sudden knock sounded at the door.
Tsunade bolted upright and rushed over, flinging the door open.
"You actually have the nerve to co ba—"
The playful complaint caught in her throat.
Standing at the door was not the man carrying soy sauce and mirin, but an ANBU wearing a white animal mask. He stood perfectly straight, his head lowered.
"Lady Tsunade." The ANBU's voice was heavy. "Lord Hagoromo... has fallen."
The smile froze on Tsunade's face.
Silence reigned for three seconds. Then, she tilted her head, her tone sounding unnervingly light.
"Is this so joke Kaede asked you to play on ?"
"That bastard! I spent all this ti preparing food for nothing, and he thinks he can make a joke like this!"
"Where is he? Tell him to co out! He's hiding around the corner, isn't he?"
As she spoke, she leaned out the door, glancing left and right, trying to find that familiar silhouette in the shadows.
"Once I find him, he's going to regret this!"
The ANBU remained silent. Slowly, he reached into his cloak and pulled sothing out. Holding it with both hands, he offered it to Tsunade.
It was a necklace. The dark green crystal pendant was stained with dark, dried blood.
Tsunade stared at the crystal. Her pupils dilated slowly. She snatched the necklace away, clutching it tightly in her palm. Her lips, which had been rambling monts ago, turned deathly pale. She trembled slightly, unable to make a sound.
A long ti passed.
"Take to him," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I want to see him. I won't believe it until I see him."
...
Hidden Leaf Hospital.
The first basent level.
The corridor of the morgue was deathly still. Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned against the wall, dressed in black without his Hokage hat. A pipe was clenched in his teeth, and he smoked in heavy, brooding silence.
Hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the hall. Tsunade practically ran toward him.
Hiruzen looked up at her, his lips parting as if to speak, but in the end, he said nothing. He turned and pushed open the heavy doors of the morgue, walking toward the center table.
A white sheet covered a human silhouette.
Hiruzen reached out, his fingertips trembling slightly, and pulled back the sheet.
Kaede lay there. His face was ashen and devoid of life. A massive puncture wound tore through his abdon, piercing from the front of his chest through to his back. There was also a fatal blade wound across his chest.
Tsunade stood by the bed, looking down at him. She didn't move. Even her breathing seed to stop.
Slowly, she reached out, her fingertips shaking as she touched his cheek.
Ice cold.
She grabbed his hand. A bone-chilling cold.
She turned his hand over, palm facing up. The old puncture scar—the one he had gained while saving her—was clearly visible there. It couldn't be a fake.
Tsunade's tears fell without warning, splashing in heavy drops onto the back of Kaede's hand. She suddenly lunged forward, gripping his blood-stained collar with both hands.
"You're acting, right?!"
"Get up! Stop playing around! This isn't funny at all!"
Her voice grew sharper and more fragnted, laced with a desperate sob.
"You said you'd take to see the ocean!"
"You promised !"
"You said you'd go anywhere with !"
"Kaede—!"
"Wake up!! Open your eyes and look at !"
Hiruzen stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Tsunade, please..."
Tsunade violently shrugged him off. She turned around, her eyes bloodshot.
"He told it was a normal recon mission! Just a routine check of the border!"
"Why did it turn into this?!"
Hiruzen remained silent for a few seconds. "The mission he took... was not a normal recon mission."
Tsunade froze, tears clinging to her eyelashes as she stared blankly at Hiruzen.
"He chose the mission himself," Hiruzen continued, his voice strained. "A top-secret mission with the highest risk level and the most ambiguous intelligence."
He closed his eyes. "The ANBU reconstructed the battlefield. Alone, he killed one enemy Kage-level combatant and thirteen elites. He took a recon mission... and forcibly turned it into a war of annihilation."
Tsunade's lips trembled, her mind buzzing.
"Why would he take a mission like that... He promised he'd co back safely..."
Hiruzen let out a long sigh. "He asked for a high-paying mission. I thought he was short on money. Given his strength, I didn't stop him."
*Short on money.*
Those words hit Tsunade like a physical blow.
Short on money? He lived simply; his usual mission pay was more than enough for his lifestyle. Why would he be short on money?
The scene in the hospital office suddenly flashed before her eyes. She had leaned on his shoulder, excitedly describing their future.
Solid wood furniture. A house with a courtyard. Flowers in the front, vegetables in the back.
She had said it. Every single detail had been her idea. She had even said that once he returned, they would order that expensive solid wood furniture.
Tsunade's pupils contracted violently. She had no proof that Kaede had risked his life for these things, but in this instant, all the coincidences connected into one fatal line.
He asked the Hokage for a high-paying mission. He lied to her, saying it was just a simple recon. He fought a dozen elites single-handedly.
He did it for the money. For the blueprint she had casually sketched. To give her a ho.
He had traded his life for it.
"It was ..."
Tsunade stopped crying. The tears continued to flow, but she no longer made a sound. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees beside the morgue table.
She looked down at Kitahara Kaede's face, watching him in silence. She reached out and gently brushed the stray hairs away from his forehead.
"You lied to ," she whispered, her voice so soft it was barely audible. "You said you weren't allowed to die before ."
"You big liar."
Hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor. Jiraiya rushed to the door and skidded to a halt.
He saw everything.
He saw Tsunade kneeling beside Kitahara Kaede's body, her entire fra trembling.
He saw Hiruzen leaning silently against the wall.
He looked at that face—the one that would never open its eyes again, the one that would never look at him with that calm, infuriating gaze.
Jiraiya opened his mouth.
He wanted to call Tsunade's na; he wanted to hurl a few curses at Kaede.
But no sound ca out.
The morgue was deathly silent.
Only Tsunade's stifled sobs echoed intermittently against the cold walls.
She clutched Kitahara Kaede's cold hand, palm to palm.
An old scar pressed against her skin.
Her other hand gripped a blood-stained, dark green necklace.
Tsunade buried her face in Kaede's cold chest.
In a muffled voice, she spoke one last ti.
"You still owe so many promises... get up and give them back to ..."
***
Tsunade's house.
Nawaki sat in the living room, waiting for his sister to return.
The food on the table had gone completely cold.
The door pushed open.
Tsunade stood in the doorway, her eyes hollow.
Nawaki stood up and looked at her face; the joke he had prepared died on his lips.
"Sis, why are you—where's Master?"
Tsunade didn't look at him.
It was as if she hadn't even heard him; she walked straight through the living room and toward her bedroom.
*Slam.*
The door closed.
Nawaki stood there, helpless, staring at the closed door.
Through the wood of the door, he could vaguely feel that sothing had utterly shattered.
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