249: Decision

Chapter 249: Decision 

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"Hey, what's wrong?" Neji said as he hastened after Shizune who walked fast, stomping on her feet as she did. He finally stopped her by grabbing her hand and making her turn around. She was almost crying. "It's not like you didn't know I am sleeping with others. What, you thought I'd be loyal to you just after a night's stand? The hell?"

A worried Shizune had walked in while he was busy with Hanabi. The younger girl was asleep by then, smiling in satisfaction, but with a peek at her and Neji's naked form – with different kinds of liquid spread around the room – Shizune understood the situation. She stormed off right after that.

"It's not that," Shizune grumbled, her eyes red. "It's not about me. It's about Lady Tsunade. But finding you in that situation, I supposed you weren't free enough to help her." She glared at him. "Let go."

He didn't let go. "What happened to Tsunade? Actually never mind, let me see for myself." 

Then his eyes shone brightly as his vision expanded, going over to the Hokage’s office but Tsunade wasn't there. Weird. It was already evening, true, but it wasn't time for the Hokage to leave the office yet. Heck, she rarely left anyway. He checked on the hospital then, but he didn't find her there either. But he found someone else that made him realise the situation. The Toad Sage, Fukasaku, was lying in a hospital bed. 

Huh, so that's what happened. 

Given the twist and turns of this timeline – how Naruto died just yesterday and how Neji made clear that he wasn't Dan – Jiraiya's death must have been a hard hit for Tsunade. With that knowledge as he expected, his eyes found her in a bar of Konoha – drinking away in tears.

"So? Did you find her?" Shizune asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "Sorry. I got too emotional. But… please, you are the closest person to her after me but I don't know how to handle her. Can you go and… help her calm down?"

Neji withdrew his vision and looked at her face. "Have you eaten?" She didn't, he could tell. Her face was painted with dry tears. Given her relationship with Jiraiya was like that of an uncle – coupled with the fact her master was crying her life out – she obviously cried all day.

"I did-" her lie was interrupted.

"Go to my room. It's clean now. Ask a maid, they'll give you whatever you want to eat." Neji said gently. "Don't worry about Tsunade. I will do what I can to help her. Just listen to me and go eat, okay?"

She was initially about to protest, but in the end – after staring at his face with a strange expression – she just nodded. Neji gave her a short hug and watched her enter the Clan compounds soon after. When he made sure she did what he told her to do (smiling when she put a blanket over the sleeping Hanabi) he used one of the Jutsus he's been training recently, the (Evolved) ‹Body Flicker›, and reached the bar Tsunade was in - in seconds.

He walked inside, making many of the still sober customers turn to him. Most of them were flustered since the Hokage (of all people) was in the corner, yelling out 'Refill' every other minute. Though Neji could notice a very few particularly brave civilians eyeing her drunk, flustered, and defenceless form every now and then. Planning something that might just kill them. Neji decided to save their lives for tonight.

When people noticed him – knowing of his deeds in the tailed beast incident and also the hospital – they immediately straightened their backs in respect. Neji ignored them and made way to the bartender, sliding a check of 100k Ryo on the table to be used in the Konoha Bank.

"Clear the bar. You got 50 seconds."

—-

It took the man 57 seconds, but Neji let it slide. The bar was clear now, with only Neji and a drunk Tsunade left.

"R-refill!" Tsunade's quivering, hiccuping, and drunk voice shouted for the third time. "What the fuck? I said refill!!"

Right… now he was alone with her. He was familiar with this cliche, this might as well escalate to Tsunade and him fucking. But no, he won't do it - he had enough self-control. He wasn't here to fuck her, he just wanted to calm her down and then leave.

Neji took out a bottle of expensive booze from his inventory and used the ‹Transformation Jutsu› to change to his short-haired, smaller-build look from his previous world – while wearing a waiter's outfit. He walked over, making a few turns to reach the corner where a fancy table stood, with a Tsunade sitting on the couch. He put the bottle on the table and stood there respectfully.

[Image Here]

Tsunade grabbed the bottle, uncapping it and pouring its content down her throat. The red liquid trailed down her lips, dripping from her sharp jawline and falling to her cleavage. It was a remarkable scene to behold. She finished her drink and wiped her lips, looking up at him.

"More of this," she demanded, tapping the bottle on the table, and he delivered. It came out of thin air, making Tsunade raise an eyebrow. "Nice trick."

She grabbed the bottle and finished it again – this time carelessly spilling some of it on her chest, making her dress become wet and her breasts to become visible somewhat.  

"What- hicc! -are you looking at?" Tsunade looked at him with a narrowed glare. "Also, you look familiar."

Neji smiled. "You are just drunk. Anything else you need?"

"I am not drunk!" She protested, pointing her finger at him – it swayed in the air. "Sit down. I like your voice, entertain me. Also, another of these." She tapped the bottle.

Neji sat down and placed another bottle on the table. It was a Negroni, unlike the previous two bottles of Hub Punch. 

"It's not the same~" Tsunade grabbed the bottle and complained like a little girl. "Give me that!"

Neji smiled. "You can tell apart they're different? Surprising."

"Shut up. I said am not drunk!" Tsunade grumbled and opened the cap of the bottle. "This better taste good." then she poured it down her throat. "Mhm…" she chugged on it, her body visibly relaxing as she finished the drink. "Gaah! N-not bad…"

Her head swayed to the side but she quickly shook it rapidly as a short burst of steam rose from her skull – probably a Ninjutsu – and she was less drunk again.

"More." she demanded, looking at him with a placid look on her face. "I like this."

He gave her another, different one. She looked at him in annoyance but didn't complain. She gulped it down and licked her lips (unintentionally) seductively again.

"You know," this time she didn't ask for a drink outright, even as she tapped the bottle on the table. "Life is… weird. Sometimes it's easy, yet it goes out of control even before you notice it. When that happens… you have no choice but to just accept it. Isn't that… unfair? To be unable to get whatever we wish? To just… lose everything the older we grow."

"I suppose." Neji humoured her with a nod. "Though most of the time, if you have enough power you can get whatever you wish. Power as in godly, celestial ones."

Tsunade hummed with a tilt of her head. "Really? And how do you know that?”

"Me?" Neji implored as a glass of water appeared in his hand. "Well, for example, this is a glass of water. Then boom-" the water colour changed to red as he used a small spell. "It's wine now."

Tsunade stared at the glass for a while before yanking it towards her. "Give me that." she ignored him and drank the entire thing in one go. Geez. "Mhm. It's wine, yes."

"I proved my point but, you know, drinking isn't good for health," Neji said, eyeing her with his shining cosmic blue eyes. "Your real body looks pretty wrecked, not gonna lie."

She stared at him. "You can see that? Neji, izzat you?" she hicced. "Why are you here?"

Neji cancelled the transformation and shrugged at her once the smoke cleared. "I heard master Jiraiya died and you broke down. So I came to visit. You know, the typical.”

"I didn't break down!" She retorted, slamming the table. "It's just… I feel weird, weak, and helpless. So helpless…”

Silence stretched between them before she finally spoke again. “But yes, Jiraiya is dead. He sent his frog mentor and- hicc -we are trying to decipher this coded message that he sent along." she said, lowering her head to look down at the empty glasses. "Can you give me another…?"

Neji smiled and handed her over another bottle, getting a thankful nod from her. She drank her fill again and wiped her lips. By now, the entire top of her dress was wet, and therefore wrapping around her breasts tightly. It was honestly a hot spectacle to behold.

"You can see my true form?" Tsunade asked as she eyed him. "Do you think I am ugly?"

He actually couldn't see her true form, but as far as he could recall she was a wrinkled, old ugly lady underneath all this glamour. "I can see it, yes," he lied. "You are ugly, also yes. Sorry, I can't really find a 110-year-old lookalike hot no matter how I look at it."

Rather than being offended, she laughed loudly. "Haah, you sure are honest. Mhm, you know I would have beat up anyone else if they said the same thing. Like this one time, Jiraiya-" she stopped, her eyes shaking briefly. "Nevermind…"

Silence fell on the table again – and therefore the entire bar as a whole. The yellow lights on the ceiling buzzed, dying out and lighting up again every now and then, and the cold wind of the brewing storm in the sky did nothing to stop it. The atmosphere was cold yet warm, it was one of such moments where romance started.

"Neji," Tsunade broke the silence, staring at him. "Have you… ever lost someone you love?"

"A few." Neji nodded. His parents died. His girls were lost too, even though he was the one to send them away. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was expecting you to say no.” she chuckled. “I thought… am I cursed?" she asked that one clićhe line. "People always die around me. Whenever… they get too close to me, they always die. I- did I do something bad in my previous life? Hey, Neji, can your eyes see if I am cursed?"

Technically, he could sense anything "Dark", and he sensed nothing of that sort from her. So, she probably wasn't cursed.

"Jiraiya was a strong man," Tsunade said even before Neji could answer, because she didn't need an answer – she was just venting. Neji poured a drink for her as she continued. "He was… possibly the strongest amongst us Sannins. But he's no more. His student is also… dead. I can blame you and your maids for that… I can always do that but… it's my fault in the end, isn't it? It's because I am cursed, nobody can be happy around me. Do I… deserve to be the Hokage? Wouldn't destruction come to the village protected by someone like me? Hey, Neji, do I d-deserve anything?"

She complained for minutes that stretched to hours. Neji just hummed and humoured her. She didn't want an answer to her questions, not now, she just wanted to… let out.

Three hours later, Neji was sitting beside her and she was leaning her defenceless body against his. Her head rested on his shoulders and she finally finished complaining. There was a weary, sad look in her eyes when she finished and it stayed that way for minutes.

After a long silence, she shook her head as her sad expression melted. She smiled, less drunk now, and nudged closer to him. "Thanks for listening to me. I didn't know I needed that." she looked up at him, smiling softly as she wrapped her arm around his. "You know, anyone else and they would have taken advantage of the drunk, excited, and defenceless Hokage. But I suppose a popular young man can't be charmed by an ugly old woman like me."

Neji was somewhat annoyed that he couldn't get drunk even after so many glasses. [Will of the Omniverse's Blessing] took the drunk state as a 'debuff' so it was always cancelled. However, seeing Tsunade look at him that way as she drunk-teased him, he felt… weird all of a sudden.

"Mhm? Why aren't you saying anything?" She released his hand and leaned back, falling on her back as she smirked at him. "Am I too old for you?"

[Image Here]

Shit. Old? She was a golden MILF. The old woman underneath was just there - underneath, and he was pretty certain he could revert her true form to her current 'disguise' with a [Major Heal] spell. Just that… it felt wrong if he just took advantage of her now. She wasn't doing this out of her own will, she was just… drunk.

He almost saw Lady Luck's tease coming to him from a mile away, but it didn't come. Right… she apologised earlier, she wanted him to do whatever he wished.

Neji made a decision. No, he wouldn't do this. "Lady Tsunade, you are drunk. Please disperse the alcohol-"

Tsunade didn't listen, she rather interrupted him.

"Or is it that you consider this fake?" To emphasise 'this', she grabbed her breasts and pressed them together. "Or is it that they are too big?" she then pulled her kimono to the side, revealing her 106cm to all their glory. "What is so wrong with me?"

Biting her finger, she gave him a seductive look. It took physical control on Neji's part to resist this. Shit, shit, shit.

Neji took a deep breath and… sighed.

Haah… No. She was just seeing 'Dan' in him at this moment. She already said it, she saw him like a 'Son' – and though Neji didn't mind doing it with her she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if Neji gave in to her provocation. Usually, he wouldn't care – but… no, he needed to set some limits.

With a deep sigh, he leaned over, watching her smile as she closed her eyes in expectation of a kiss that pursed her lips. Instead of kissing though, Neji pressed his fingers on her neck and used [Nirvana's Touch] to increase the effect. Being drunk, the Hokage wasn't able to resist at all as she was forced to lose her consciousness.

"Haah."

Neji brought her to her room in the Hokage mansion and… just left.

[A hidden quest has been completed!]

The rain had started by then, and the Neji who was walking under the rain stopped as the strange message flashed in front of his eyes.

"...I see."

Right, so there was something like that. 

As the sky roared, Neji started walking again. He needed to find his girls.

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