- Luckily, we're not going to do anything but send a message," the commander grinned, but made a note to clarify the situation in his memory - no other establishment he'd visited had such heavy security.
Accompanied by two shinobi, Yauchi entered the large casino building and, after waving off the staff, took a closer look at the large hall, almost immediately picking out a blonde woman dressed in a colorful kimono with a prominent upper body, who was loudly lamenting her loss at one of the roulette tables.
Even without seeing the photo of the Senju princess, it was impossible not to recognize her, as well as the S-rank kunoichi's momentary pressure of attention. Glimpsing the tense guards keeping watch - Konoha's shinobi uniforms and hitai-te in prominent places made for instant recognition - he moved through the entertaining people until he stopped at the side of the First Hokage's granddaughter.
- Senju-sama," the jonin bowed slightly and froze in anticipation.
Tsunade twitched the corner of her eyes slightly irritated, but didn't react in any way to his name, more focused on the tape measure.
Sighing, the shinobi pulled a small roll from his pouch with the edge of a thick wad of bills peeking out and placed it carefully in front of the kunoichi, a proven way to attract attention without getting hit with small but devastating fists for being too intrusive.
- Senju-sama, a small gift for your valuable time," the man said with a bow.
The ball on the roulette wheel stopped, and the sannin's face twisted further into a grimace of displeasure.
- Fifteen red! - announced the croupier and slid a stack of chips to the blonde across the table. - Madam, your winnings.
Ignoring him, Tsunade turned her head and gave the three jonins a hard stare, making them swallow nervously.
- What do you want? If you're going to persuade me to return to Konoha again, you'd better disappear yourself," the kunoichi said coldly.
- I'm just a simple messenger who was ordered to deliver a message to you and wait for any response," Toshiro bowed respectfully again, holding out the scroll and feeling the cold sweat beading on his back - the last Hokage messengers had been forced to spend weeks in the hospital after trying to persuade the slug princess to return.
Accepting the message, Tsunade unfolded it to its full length and immersed herself in reading, occasionally skeptically or mockingly snickering and even muttering quietly "where have you been before?" but upon reaching the end of the text, the kunoichi's hands shook distinctly. Senju slowly rolled up the scroll and glared at the jonin standing next to her with murderous intent.
- Homura will have to answer for what he said, and if it turns out to be untrue, he'll regret it," she said calmly, but behind that facade she could feel the seething rage ready to spill over onto the perpetrators of the woman's hurt feelings.
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