"Let's not..." Tōshirō declined—not because he was afraid Tsunade's cooking would taste bad, but purely out of concern for her.
Tsunade's brows drooped slightly, as if a bit hurt. "I can't?"
Tōshirō didn't think much before replying with a hum: "You've already been tired out from your mission, and you still made an effort to cook for me earlier. Tonight, let me cook for you instead."
"..."
"Is there anything in particular you'd like to eat tonight? I'll make it for you."
Tsunade stayed silent for a while, then said, "Actually... I still want to be the one to cook tonight."
Tōshirō didn't understand—why was she insisting on cooking dinner?
Was relying on someone else really that bad?
Tsunade placed both hands behind her back, pressing her thumbs and index fingers together: "Lately, ever since I found out we'd be living together…"
Tōshirō made a small sound of acknowledgment.
"I imagined going grocery shopping with you… cooking for you. I've really been looking forward to it."
Tōshirō: "..."
"I want to make lots and lots of beautiful memories with you. So… can I be the one to cook tonight?"
Tōshirō: "..."
"Of course, I know my cooking is terrible, and you might not like it. But I'll try really hard… at the very least, I'll make something edible."
Tsunade tilted her small face up, her blinking eyes filled with uncertainty: "With ingredients like crab and lobster, if I just steam them plain, without adding anything, the taste shouldn't turn out too bad. If I cook like that, it probably won't be inedible."
Tōshirō looked down and met her clear, shining eyes: "Your gaze is totally cheating. If we classified it using jutsu ranks, that would definitely be S-rank."
A pure, innocent smile spread across Tsunade's face. "Then it's settled."
Tōshirō chuckled: "If you want to be my live-in chef, why would I stop you from doing me such a favor? Anyway, just do your best—from now on, I'm entrusting you with all my meals."
Tōshirō's smug tone after scoring a benefit made Tsunade feel a bit inexplicably irritated. She immediately put back on her usual proud and sassy demeanor: "Stop flattering yourself. Who said I'm your personal cook? I just wanted someone to practice my cooking on, that's all."
Tōshirō raised his eyebrows teasingly: "Oh~ practice, huh?"
"What, got a problem with that?"
"If it's just for practice, then even without me, you could do it on your own, right?" Tōshirō quite enjoyed this kind of back-and-forth with Tsunade.
"Ugh~" Tsunade knew she couldn't out-talk him, so she shoved the basket full of fresh vegetables into his hands: "You're so annoying. Since you're waiting to eat tonight, at least help carry something."
Tōshirō took the basket and muttered a few reluctant-sounding words like "Yeah, yeah," paired with a shrug.
"Just this once. I'm never cooking for you again." Tsunade felt like she was being completely manipulated by Tōshirō.
They bought a whole basket of vegetables, and just as Tōshirō was about to head back with Tsunade, someone suddenly called out to him.
Tōshirō looked over and saw a young man about the same age as him, with narrow eyes and short gray hair.
Tōshirō recognized the person—Uchiha Yatsushiro, someone from his own clan. Because they were close in age, they had had occasional brief interactions within the clan.
"Yo, Tōshirō…"
Although he greeted Tōshirō, his gaze subtly and constantly drifted toward Tsunade standing beside him.
Normally, Yatsushiro wouldn't go out of his way to say hi to Tōshirō on the street. But he had recently heard something that made it impossible not to.
Fugaku had been speaking with the police force captain at the Uchiha station, with others nearby. Their conversation had been overheard.
When it was revealed that Tōshirō had successfully wooed the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the entire clan was dumbfounded.
In just a short while, the news had spread like wildfire—swift as a tornado—through the entire Uchiha clan. From the elders down to the children, everyone knew, and it quickly became their favorite topic of gossip after meals.
It was precisely because of this that Uchiha Yatsushiro, upon seeing Tōshirō and Tsunade shopping together, made a point to say hello—he wanted to confirm it for himself.
After all, they were from the same clan, and some courtesy was expected. Tōshirō nodded in acknowledgment.
Seeing the two of them had bought a whole load of groceries, Yatsushiro joked, "You bought so much stuff—can you even finish it all?"
Tōshirō smiled, "No worries. If we can't finish it, I'll freeze the leftovers. Extends the shelf life."
Yatsushiro paused for a moment and chuckled. "That's true—your ability really is convenient."
After that, he didn't continue with small talk. He stepped forward, grabbed Tōshirō's arm, sneaked a glance at Tsunade, then lowered his voice and asked discreetly, "Tōshirō, I heard you and her… got into that kind of relationship?"
Tōshirō was a bit slow to react, but soon realized what Yatsushiro was referring to. He thought to himself, Wow, this kind of news spreads fast. "Who told you that?"
Yatsushiro replied in a serious tone, "The rumor started from Fugaku's mouth…"
Tōshirō muttered under his breath, "That damn Fugaku, going around spouting nonsense."
"So it's not true?"
"Oh, no—it's basically true."
Tōshirō answered casually, which gave Yatsushiro quite a shock. Having the rumor confirmed, he couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
He hadn't expected the rumor to be real!
Tōshirō really had gotten together with the First Hokage's granddaughter.
After a long silence, Yatsushiro managed to squeeze out a sentence from between his teeth: "You're seriously impressive."
They were the same age, and Yatsushiro had never really accepted Tōshirō before—but now, he had to admit defeat.
Tōshirō casually asked, "So, how many people in the clan know about me and Tsunade?"
"Uh… pretty much everyone. The whole clan is talking about you."
Tōshirō: "…"
Word had spread from one to another, ten to a hundred. He hadn't even been at Tsunade's place that long, and now the entire clan knew.
Don't be fooled by the Uchiha clan's reputation as Konoha's largest—it wasn't all that big in terms of population. At most, there were only two to three hundred people, and most of them lived close together, like neighbors on the same street. So whenever big news came out, it spread through the clan in no time.
"Well~ whatever. If they know, they know."
Just as his tone implied, he didn't care much about the relationship going public.
He wasn't going to follow Hiruzen Sarutobi's example of keeping things under wraps, saying it might have a "bad influence."
First, he had the strength to back himself up.
Second, he now had a solid reason to always be teamed with Tsunade on missions.
Third, he needed to guard against the higher-ups pulling a "use-and-discard" move. Now that the whole clan knew about his relationship with Tsunade, the upper ranks would have to think twice before messing with him—his backing had become stronger.
After parting ways with Yatsushiro, Tsunade walked beside Tōshirō, unable to hide her curiosity. "What were you two talking about just now?"
"Nothing much—just that he found out about you and me."
Tsunade was surprised. Tōshirō explained, "To put it simply, it seems like everyone in the Uchiha clan knows about our relationship."
Tsunade was shocked. "That fast?"
"Isn't it normal?" Tōshirō said nonchalantly. "Soon enough, the whole village will know. I bet a bunch of people will have a lot to say about it—especially those young guys who are into you. I can already imagine the scene."
"You're still laughing? Aren't you afraid of getting ganged up on?"
"That just shows how popular you are in the village. They don't want a fat sheep like you to fall into the hands of a big bad wolf like me."
"Okay, but what does that have to do with me being popular in the village?"
"It's got everything to do with it."
"What kind of connection?"
"Satisfaction."
"..."
"Alright, let's drop the subject. We should head back. After walking around with you for so long, I'm starving and exhausted."
(End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [One Piece: General Blue]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Battle Through the Heavens: Heavenly comprehension]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Soul Land 2: Golden Dragon King]."
"If you want early access to nearly 35+ chapters , join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"