"You're so beautiful! With all that falling on you, I'm suffering from blood loss!!"
"You're pretty old yourself. Do you want to fart or what?"
Rolling his eyes, Yan walked into the kitchen, reheated some leftovers, and served them with rice.
"That's all there is. Just eat it. I didn't know you'd be coming here."
Yan placed the dishes and rice on the table. Tsunade, who had practically bounced off the sofa, grabbed the chopsticks and began devouring the food with gusto, prompting a mixture of amazement and mild disgust from Yan.
"Honestly, you don't act like one of the Legendary Sannin at all. Also, you're a Senju—you came into Uchiha territory without worrying about misunderstandings?"
"I'm staying in the same house as you. There's no room for misunderstandings, don't you think?"
Tsunade mumbled with a mouth full of food, raising her eyes provocatively at Yan.
Even though they were of opposite sexes, given the status and massive age difference between them, what misunderstanding could possibly arise?
Most of Tsunade's peers had married long ago and even had children older than Yan.
With her age, she was more than qualified to be a grandmother. What could be misunderstood here?
"…"
You win.
Yan gave up—arguing with a shameless, homeless woman like her only caused himself grief.
"After eating, wash the dishes if you feel like it. If not, or if you don't know how, just leave them in the kitchen. Someone will take care of them tomorrow. There's a brand-new quilt in the left-side cabinet on the second floor. I hope you'll be gone by tomorrow morning."
Little troublemaker. Let's see how you like that.
Tsunade, feeling victorious, smiled smugly.
She was genuinely happy.
Her mood improved instantly, and she resumed eating with renewed effort—until she suddenly paused mid-bite.
Wait a second… Did what I just say prove that I'm old?
"Crack!!"
Age is a sensitive topic for women, a line never to be crossed. Yet Tsunade had just stomped on it herself.
She dug a pit, jumped in, buried herself, and patted the dirt flat with her own hands.
The chopsticks in her hand snapped, a vein popped on her forehead, and she genuinely wanted to slap herself.
What was this woman going crazy about now?
Could she really have snapped her chopsticks from just eating?
That's nuts.
Hearing the commotion, Yan shook his head, walked into his bedroom, and decisively locked the door behind him.
If Tsunade wanted to talk, she could do it tomorrow. He had no interest in being tormented by an emotionally unstable and excessively seasoned woman.
He was still young—going to bed early and rising early was good for his health.
Tsunade, aside from the chopstick-breaking drama, didn't do anything particularly outrageous. After a quick wash, she settled into the guest room.
After several days of running around, sadness, and existential crisis, Tsunade was worn out.
She collapsed onto the floor, her legs entangled with the quilt. She didn't care if the bathrobe revealed anything. She quickly fell into deep sleep.
"AHHH!!"
The next morning, a sharp scream jolted Yan awake, causing him to spring from his bed like he'd been electrocuted.
"???"
Tsunade, startled awake, also wore a confused expression.
She had only been sleeping—who the hell had she offended?
And why was someone screaming this early in the morning?
"What's going on?"
Yan opened his bedroom door and found Izumi standing in front of the guest room with an expression of utter disbelief.
Clearly, the scream had come from her.
Yan never would've expected that someone like Izumi, who was usually soft-spoken, could scream so loudly.
"Captain, why is there a woman in your guest room?
And not just any woman—a seriously hot woman! If you brought her home, you could've at least told me she was staying!"
Izumi was in complete shock. Her entire worldview had just taken a beating.
She hadn't known Yan had returned to Konoha, so she'd come to clean his place as usual.
Upon going upstairs, she noticed the guest room door slightly ajar and opened it out of habit.
What she saw inside blew her mind.
A blonde woman with an insane figure was lying on the floor, quilt kicked aside, bathrobe practically in pieces—everything that could be seen was visible.
Izumi's brain went blank for several seconds before she let out a scream.
She felt like she'd just been corrupted—seeing such a scene first thing in the morning.
From her point of view, this was clearly some woman Yan had brought home to sleep with and stashed in the guest room.
"What do you mean, 'why didn't I send her away'?"
Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Yan mumbled. He hadn't slept well last night.
Neither had Tsunade. Both of them looked like they'd been dragged through the wringer.
"Your little girlfriend's lung capacity is impressive. So this is why you didn't want me staying here—afraid people would get the wrong idea, huh?"
Tsunade, half-asleep and groggy, muttered lazily as she pulled the quilt back over herself and resumed sleeping.
As for Izumi... well, if she saw, she saw. We're all women, no big deal.
As long as Yan didn't take advantage, it was fine.
"I'm not the captain's girlfriend!"
Izumi stood frozen for a few seconds before her brain rebooted. She quickly clarified, her face blushing furiously.
But the only response was Tsunade's slow, rhythmic breathing.
"…You?"
Yan looked at her, shook his head, and started walking back to his room. He still had to deal with Shimura Danzo later—Hyuga people really loved trying to play peacemaker.
"No! Captain, I didn't mean it like that, and I didn't mean to reject you!"
Seeing Yan shake his head and walk away, Izumi panicked, thinking he was upset by her words.
"Are you rejecting me?"
Yan turned around, brows furrowed, expression blank.
"No! It's just... so sudden! I'm just a little nervous."
Izumi's face was so red it looked like it might burst. Her sweaty hands twisted the hem of her shirt repeatedly.
"In any case... I'll think about it carefully. I appreciate the captain's feelings."
She then covered her face and fled in embarrassment.
"…What?"
Wait a second—when did I ever confess anything?
Someone tell me what's going on!
Yan stood frozen in place, rubbing his face. He was utterly confused.
He wasn't hallucinating—maybe sleepy, sure—but his mind was still functioning.
Never mind. Don't think too much about it. Women are strange, even the younger ones.
Tsunade's bizarre behavior was one thing, but now Izumi was acting just as weird.
Yan wasn't dense—he just didn't know how to process this sudden whirlwind of misunderstanding.
"Why are you back?"
Uchiha Hazuki looked suspiciously at her daughter, who had just burst into the house with a red face.
Something wasn't right.
"Mom…"
Izumi's heart was pounding like crazy, her chest tight with nerves.
"???"
What happened? Didn't you leave early to help Yan clean up?
Now you're back so soon and blushing this hard?
Did something exciting happen?
Wait—did Yan come back?
Hazuki's thoughts spun as she gave her daughter a sly smile.
"Seems like something happened between you and Hiko. Care to tell your mother?"
"Nothing happened!!"
Izumi panicked. "Though… the captain did confess... but I haven't said yes yet!"
"Oh! Haven't said yes yet."
Hazuki chuckled. Her daughter had just spilled her secret.
Watching her daughter's flushed expression, she teased:
"Then why not say yes? Don't you talk about Yan all the time?
Or is it the age gap? Or maybe... Itachi?"
Hazuki had known about her daughter's long-time crush on Itachi Uchiha since she was young.
But since joining the police force and becoming Yan's loyal subordinate, she mentioned Itachi less and less—and wasn't as starstruck about him anymore.
If anything, her concern for Yan had gradually increased.
"Mom! What are you even saying!? I'm ignoring you!"
Izumi darted into her room in embarrassment.
Hazuki shook her head, amused.
"Aren't you going to work?"
"Yes!"
Izumi ran back out almost immediately, slapping her face and taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"Mom, I'm heading to the police department now!"
"Go ahead. Don't forget to invite Yan over as a guest."
"Okay! I'll invite him!"
"This girl…"
Watching her daughter leave, Hazuki chuckled and muttered to herself:
"You're not a kid anymore. Why so shy and flustered?
Is it really that hard to make up your mind?"
From her perspective, Yan was a far better choice than Itachi.
Even if Itachi had higher status, she would still side with Yan.
Being the clan heir came with baggage, and she didn't want her daughter caught in that mess.