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Night had already fallen, and it was well past ten o'clock, yet Tsunade, Kushina, and Konan were all still awake.
"Well, look at that," Tsunade said with a sardonic twist of her lips, eyeing Kushina.
"I guess I hit the nail on the head."
Seeing Kushina's hair—normally a vibrant red—appear faintly tinged with green under the lamplight, Tsunade originally wanted to poke fun at her.
Instead, she found she couldn't. An odd twinge of sourness bubbled up in her own chest, spoiling the joke.
"Where did Shin-nii and Mikoto-neechan run off to?" Konan yawned, half-asleep as she leaned on the table.
"Kushina," Tsunade continued, turning her gaze toward the redhead. "You probably have a clue where they are, right?"
"I have a pretty good idea," Kushina replied dryly, "but they're definitely not coming back tonight. I'm not going to go out searching—what good would that do?"
She gave a heavy sigh and left the room. Even though her body was mostly recovered—thanks to her Uzumaki healing factor—her mood was still plummeting.
"Hey, you heading to bed?" Tsunade called after her.
"What else am I supposed to do if I don't sleep?" Kushina retorted with an eyeroll. "They won't be back till who-knows-when. Might as well wait till tomorrow. Then I'll deal with that jerk."
She stamped off to her bedroom, though it was obvious the spark of jealousy still lingered. Despite that jealousy, she wasn't about to go charging off in the middle of the night.
Tsunade, too, turned in for the night, leaving Konan—barely able to keep her eyes open—to shuffle back to her own room.
In a sense, Konan was the most baffled of all. She had no idea how to interpret any of it.
By the time morning rolled around, Shin finally returned with Mikoto in tow. Waiting for them at home was an agitated Kushina.
Mikoto leaned on Shin's arm for support, looking drained. Unlike Kushina, who had inherited strong Uzumaki healing, Mikoto's recovery took longer.
She was still feeling weak, nearly stumbling with every step. If not for Shin helping her, she likely would have collapsed from fatigue.
"So," Kushina said from where she stood, arms folded and perched atop a chair for height, "you two got everything you wanted out of your big outing?"
Mikoto's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she looked over at Kushina. Despite a pang of guilt, she couldn't muster more than a polite, apologetic nod.
She knew well how close Kushina and Shin were, so it was tough not to feel like some kind of interloper.
Tsunade was standing at the side, eyeing Shin with a mixture of amusement and vexation. It was obvious she had some complicated feelings swirling in her mind.
"Ahem, Kushina, maybe we can keep the conversation civil?" Shin ventured.
"Hmph! Shin, you jerk—I'll make sure you pay for this," Kushina snapped. She balled her fists, shooting him a lethal glare.
With no excuse for his behavior, Shin had little choice but to submit. After all, just the day before, he'd been with Kushina; now, not even a full day later, he'd spent the night with Mikoto.
That was enough to make him come off like a complete scoundrel. Of course Kushina was angry.
"Let's at least get Mikoto back to her room," Shin said, trying to change the subject. "She needs rest."
Her constitution couldn't match Kushina's, so she definitely needed to lie down. Mikoto could hardly stand.
He guided Mikoto to a bedroom, then emerged to face a seething Kushina.
"Grr… you horrible jerk,"
She hurled a punch. He didn't even dodge; her fist stopped just short of his nose.
"Why aren't you trying to dodge?" she demanded.
"I don't feel right dodging. Maybe you should blow off a bit of steam," Shin answered resignedly.
He was genuinely remorseful. Yesterday it was Kushina, today Mikoto… He looked pretty guilty even in his own eyes, so taking a few hits felt like the least he could do.
"Tch, letting you stand there like some punching bag isn't any fun." Kushina lowered her fist and snorted.
"Guess you can't bear to hit me, huh?" Shin teased softly.
"If you keep that smug face up, I'll beat you to a pulp for real," Kushina threatened, brandishing her knuckles in front of him.
He instantly raised his hands in surrender, wisely deciding not to push her buttons further.
Kushina felt a swell of relief—putting him in his place gave her a little satisfaction.
"Wait…Kushina, that's it?" Tsunade interjected. "You're just letting him off? This scumbag basically stuck you with a green—"
Shin shot Tsunade a dark look. Was she stirring the pot on purpose? He was tempted to teach her a lesson right there.
She only returned his glare. She, after all, felt miserable for her own reasons, so fanning the flames at Shin's expense gave her a small twisted relief.
"You're not jealous, are you?" Shin asked, stepping toward her with a sly smile. "Is that why you're stirring things up?"
"Hah! Ridiculous," Tsunade scoffed. "Why would I be jealous? Don't go flattering yourself, brat. I'm not pining after you or anything."
But her voice lacked conviction. Shin leaned closer, nearly brushing her face.
"Your eyes say otherwise. You sure you're not just in denial?" Shin prodded, leaning in so near that their noses almost touched.
"What are you two doing?" Kushina cut in sharply, shoving herself between them. She glowered at Shin. "Acting like I'm invisible? Hello?"
Tsunade's cheeks colored faintly, and she quickly stepped away. Her emotions were all over the place; maybe she really had felt a pang of jealousy.
She might have tried to bury it, but the truth was harder to deny. Shin's power, looks, and presence made him impossibly hard to ignore.
Kushina grabbed Shin's ear and dragged him away. She hadn't settled the score with him for sleeping with Mikoto, and now he was flirting with Tsunade?
She had calmed down, but now her anger flared up again. She had to teach him a lesson.
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