Tsunade flipped the report back to the first page for the third ti.
She hadn't processed a single word.
Before coming to the hospital, she had taken a "detour" to check the village entry logs.
Kitahara Kaede had returned to the village yesterday afternoon.
He was here, in the Hidden Leaf.
Tsunade slamd the report face-down on the desk and propped her chin in her hands, her gaze drifting to the blank white wall opposite her.
Should she go find him?
But how?
Just walk up and say—"Hello, I'm Tsunade. I spent over twenty years with you in my dreams. Do you feel it too?"
The scene played out in her mind.
Tsunade felt a wave of goosebumps crawl up her spine.
Absolutely not.
If word of that got out, she'd never be able to hold her head up in the Hidden Leaf for the rest of her life.
She couldn't just approach him directly.
She had to observe first.
Just a glimpse from a distance to confirm what this person actually looked like.
***
The next morning.
Just as the sky began to brighten, Tsunade was perched on a high rooftop two blocks away.
She crossed her arms and let out a long, deep yawn.
She was exhausted.
She had spent yesterday inquiring about his movents, then spent the night tossing and turning until two in the morning. When her alarm went off at four-thirty, she had nearly smashed the clock.
The Hidden Leaf's finest dical ninja, climbing onto a rooftop before dawn just to spy on a Genin going for a run.
Tsunade tried her best not to think about how absurd that sounded.
Before long, a figure appeared at the end of the street.
He wore a grey top, and his running pace was steady.
However, he was too far away for her to make out his face.
Tsunade leaned forward, squinting her eyes to see more clearly.
Still nothing.
After the grey figure had completed a few laps, another person suddenly appeared beside him.
Clad in a green skin-tight suit, the newcor was upside down, sprinting across the ground with his hands.
He had a round, black bowl cut, and his mouth was moving constantly, as if he were counting loudly while he ran.
Tsunade's brow twitched.
What a bizarre way to behave...
The figure in green was incredibly fast, lapsing Kitahara Kaede in just a few circuits.
Occasionally, he would screech to a halt, shout sothing to Kaede, and then vanish again like a gust of wind.
The two continued their run, each in their own style, without interfering with the other.
Tsunade clung to the railing and watched like this for nearly the entire morning.
Once they finished, the one in green gave a thumbs-up at the starting point and bellowed sothing toward Kitahara Kaede.
Across two streets and against a strong wind, she only caught two words—
"Youth!"
Kitahara Kaede nodded and turned into an alley alone.
Tsunade leaped from the rooftop, landing behind a tree on the street corner.
After squatting there all morning, she had reached one conclusion.
This person was a very capable runner.
Beyond that, she had confird nothing.
Tsunade leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes, tilting her head back.
She suddenly found her own behavior difficult to justify.
***
But the next day, she returned.
This ti, she shortened the distance.
She chose a narrow alleyway that Kitahara Kaede inevitably passed through after training, hiding herself in the shadows of the corner.
Footsteps echoed from around the bend.
Tsunade shifted her body, peering over the edge of the wall.
Kitahara Kaede walked into view.
Less than ten ters.
She could finally see him clearly.
Fifteen years old, in the midst of a growth spurt, he was nearly half a head taller than his peers.
His features still possessed the lean quality of a youth, but his jawline had tightened, and the sharp angles of his brow and nose were beginning to erge.
His eyes were a deep color, his expression indifferent and devoid of fluctuation.
He didn't look like a fifteen-year-old.
Tsunade stared at that face, desperately trying to overlay it with the images from her dreams.
It didn't fit.
She rembered the feel of his skin, the warmth, the sound of his voice; she rembered the curve of his smile and the touch of his fingertips as he brushed her hair aside.
But the contours of his face in her mories had always been shrouded in a mist, never quite vivid.
Now, a living, breathing face was right before her.
She couldn't say, "It's him."
But she couldn't say, "It's not him," either.
Kitahara Kaede walked past the alley, his grey silhouette turning onto another street and disappearing into the crowd.
Tsunade remained leaned against the wall, motionless.
Her chest felt tight.
Tighter than yesterday.
Yesterday, she had been frustrated because she couldn't see.
Today, she could see, and it was even more frustrating.
She still couldn't verify it.
Tsunade clenched her fist and turned to leave.
***
In the hospital office.
There were still several reports left to write.
Tsunade picked up her pen and opened the first one.
As the nib touched the paper, it slipped by so strange impulse.
The character for "Kita" (North) landed in the blank space of the report.
Tsunade stared at the character for two seconds.
With a jerk of her hand, she quickly flipped the paper over and slamd it face-down on the desk.
She looked left and right.
The office was empty.
Tsunade pulled the paper out, crumpled it into a ball, stuffed it into the deepest corner of her drawer, and replaced it with a fresh sheet.
After finishing the last report, she set the pen down and leaned back heavily into her chair.
Her hand instinctively moved to her collar.
The blue fluorite pendant rested against her collarbone, ward by her body heat.
Two days.
She had watched from afar, and she had watched from nearby.
Nothing had been proven, and nothing had been ruled out.
She needed to get closer—she needed a legitimate reason to stand before that person and speak to him.
But what reason could she possibly have to start a conversation with a Genin she had zero connection with?
Tsunade twirled her pen, thinking for a long ti, but ca up with nothing.
Then, she rembered sothing else.
A few days ago, she had made plans to visit Kushina.
Since Kushina couldn't leave her house, she was quite bored and invited Tsunade over every now and then.
Tsunade covered her face with her hand.
In her current state, she really did need soone to talk to.
Otherwise, she was going to drive herself insane.
She'd go see Kushina.
***
That sa afternoon.
Kitahara Kaede returned from the training grounds, walking toward his apartnt.
Over the past two days, he had a persistent feeling.
Soone was watching him.
On the first day, he assud it was the ANBU.
It wasn't uncommon for shinobi returning from the front lines to be under routine surveillance for a few days, so he didn't think much of it.
But on the second day, he realized sothing was off.
This gaze was different.
When he accelerated, it withdrew.
When he resud a normal pace, it reappeared.
It was hesitant.
It was as if the person watching him wasn't even sure if they should continue.
There was no killing intent, no hostility.
There was even a certain... reluctance.
It didn't feel like the ANBU, but it didn't feel like an enemy either.
Kitahara Kaede scanned his surroundings with his peripheral vision.
Shops, pedestrians, roadside stalls—everything looked clean.
The person was well-hidden; at the very least, they hadn't left any obvious openings.
But the fact that "soone was watching" was sothing he couldn't be fooled by.
They had followed him for two days without making any follow-up move.
Kitahara Kaede thought about it and decided to ignore them for now.
If the person truly had malicious intent, they wouldn't use this thod.
And if there was no malice—then there was even less reason to care.
He pushed open the door to his apartnt and closed it.
He peeked through a gap in the curtains.
The street was empty.
Kitahara Kaede pulled the curtains shut and sat down at his desk.
After the Chunin exams, what rank of mission should he take?
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