"Cough—cough! Sister, it's me! Nawaki! Your brother! Cough—hic!"
Nawaki, who was currently embedded in the wall like a human relief carving, struggled to pry himself loose before tumbling to the ground.
Tsunade squinted at the boy claiming to be her brother. At first glance... huh? Something was very wrong. She rubbed her eyes and looked a second time, and her entire mind went numb.
This kid with the bowl cut and the green jumpsuit was Nawaki?!
It wasn't just Tsunade; even Orochimaru's face betrayed a rare expression of utter disgust and bewilderment. He actually took a half-step back as if instinctively trying to flee from the sight.
He, Orochimaru, might not claim to be the most fashionable man in Konoha, but he was easily in the top three. Why on earth would his disciple wear something so... eyesearing?! And that haircut—was he trying to look like a literal mushroom head?
Tatsuma felt a phantom pain behind his eyes. Every time he tried to focus on Nawaki, his vision instinctively blurred as if his brain were refusing to process the image.
Only Minato remained steady, offering his usual warm, gentle smile. "Matching Duy-gege's look, I see."
"Haha! I knew I could count on you, Minato! You recognized it at a glance! Duy-gege designed this look specifically for me. Proof that the marks of youth and passion always resonate!"
Nawaki struck a pose with one hand on his hip and his other thumb thrust out toward Minato, flashing a brilliant, "Leaf-style" sparkle from his teeth.
"Duy... as in, that Might Duy?" Orochimaru murmured.
Murderous intent began to coalesce in his eyes. He turned to leave, but fortunately, Tsunade grabbed him by the collar. She didn't dare let him go in this state; if she did, the news of Orochimaru "slaughtering a fellow villager" would be all over the headlines by sunset.
Just then, a flash of vibrant red hair appeared nearby. Minato's attention shifted instantly, his eyes lighting up.
Kushina looked at Nawaki, who was still busy striking poses. "Tsunade-nee, please do something about Nawaki. Looking at him is ruining my appetite."
Tsunade nodded grimly. She lunged forward and snatched Nawaki by the scruff of his neck. Ignoring his thrashing protests, she dragged him toward the heart of the compound, shouting at the top of her lungs:
"Grandma! Are you really going to let Nawaki stay like this?! How is he supposed to show his face in public?!"
Tatsuma gave Minato a sharp jab in the ribs to snap him out of his daze, then hurried after them, eager to see the drama unfold.
After a short distance, Uzumaki Mito walked out of the house, offering a kind, maternal smile and a nod to the group. Tsunade dragged Nawaki up to her and gestured wildly at the boy.
"Grandma, look at him!"
Mito gently patted Tsunade's hand, signaling her to let the boy go. Once Nawaki was free, Mito pulled him behind her like a protective hen and said softly:
"Doesn't he look spirited? He looks exactly like your grandfather did when he was a boy."
Hearing her grandmother claim that this walking eyesore looked like the First Hokage, Tsunade's first instinct was to reject it. In her memories, her grandfather—while perhaps not as "cool" as her Grand-uncle Tobirama—certainly didn't have a bowl cut!
"Impossible! There's no way my grandfather had a bowl cut!"
Seeing her granddaughter's denial, Mito didn't argue. She simply beckoned them inside. Tsunade marched in, and Tatsuma, ever the spectator, followed right on her heels.
Mito went into the study and retrieved a tarnished tin box. Inside was a stack of old photographs. She flipped through them for a long while before finally pulling out a faded, cracked, and slightly discolored picture.
"Here. This is what your grandfather looked like as a child. This was the photo sent over before the formal marriage proposal."
The photo was old, but the subject was clear. It was a boy who looked remarkably like Nawaki, sporting a bowl cut and holding up a peace sign. He was grinning so widely his eyes were mere slits, showing off a full set of teeth.
"This... how is this possible?! And even if it is him, he only looks about Tatsuma's age. How could he be at the 'marriage proposal' age?!"
Tsunade was still shaking her head in disbelief. Mito looked at the photo, her expression nostalgic. "Back then, we didn't have many chances to take photos. The one I sent over in return had been taken several years prior as well."
Tatsuma pointed to a section of the photo where the color had flaked away in a pattern resembling shattered glass. "Why does the photo look like it was crumpled up?"
Mito blinked, then let out a soft chuckle. "Well, back then, I thought Hashirama looked a bit silly and didn't seem to take me seriously, so... I may have balled it up in a fit of pique."
She then pulled out another photo. It was a young girl with twin buns, sitting slightly sideways with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She looked incredibly dignified and elegant. The edges of the photo were slightly worn, perfectly matching the placement of where Mito's fingers usually held it.
"This is the one I gave your grandfather... many years ago..."
Tsunade looked at the teenage girl in the photo and then at her grandmother now. It was a poignant moment, but then she realized something. "So... Grandma, even you didn't like Grandfather looking like that, right?!"
"Eh?..."
Mito blinked as the realization hit her. She looked at Nawaki, who was peeking over her shoulder at the picture. Suddenly... the boy who had looked like a "spirited youth" from her memories turned back into a simple-minded dork.
It was the filter of memory—the weight of the past—that had tricked her into thinking Nawaki's new look was actually acceptable!
"You have a point," Mito admitted. "Nawaki's current appearance might make it difficult to win a girl's heart..."
"And the outfit is a disaster," Orochimaru added in a cold, ominous tone.
Nawaki, realizing his only protector had switched sides, felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
Gulp.
He instinctively began to back away, one hand protecting his hair and the other guarding his chest. "Wait... what are you doing?! Stay back! This is the bond of youth between me and Duy-gege! It's the memory of our sweat under the setting sun! You... you... NOOOO!"
Later that evening, a "restored" Nawaki sat at the dinner table, wearing his old clothes and sporting a haircut that looked like it had been performed by a pack of angry wolves. He sat there grumbling under his breath about "stolen youth" and the "theft of the fruits of my passion."
Suddenly, he looked up at Tatsuma and Minato, his eyes narrowing with malice. "Grandma! Sister! Look at Tatsuma and Minato! Their hair is way too long, too! Shave them! They need to be short! Better yet, shave them bald!"
Tatsuma proudly gave his "bird's nest" hair a little shake. "I have a natural perm. It only expands; it doesn't get longer!"
His hair still stopped at his brow, but its volume had tripled, making him look like he was wearing a tumbleweed. One of the few perks of a natural perm was that it rarely blocked the line of sight.
Minato touched his own lengthened locks. "Bald wouldn't be bad. There are no barbers on the front lines; a buzz cut would last longer."
Seeing that neither of them was intimidated, Nawaki's face fell. He stood up, puffing out his chest. "Don't think you're so great just because you've been to the war! I've been training like crazy! I bet I've already caught up to you!"
The group was momentarily speechless at Nawaki's bizarre leap in logic. Still... compared to his previous cringeworthy speech patterns, this was almost... normal?
Tatsuma looked Nawaki up and down. He didn't want to break the kid's heart. If they were comparing stats, Tatsuma's progress over the last three months was roughly equivalent to two of the current Nawaki. The Combat Transcendence talent provided too much of a boost; even Minato couldn't keep pace with Tatsuma's growth rate in a war zone.
Of course, the price for that growth was the increasingly tragic fate of his left shoulder.
"Dammit! What's with that look?! Come on! Let's spar right now!"
Tatsuma's pitying gaze was the final straw. Nawaki tried to drag him outside. Tsunade's face darkened, and she slammed her hand onto the table.
BOOM!
"EAT!"
"Yes, Sister!" Nawaki immediately scrambled back into his seat and behaved himself.
After dinner, Nawaki immediately resumed his badgering. Tatsuma suddenly remembered Nawaki's canon fate—dying at the age of twelve on the battlefield. That was only a year away.
Tatsuma looked at Minato and said, "Minato, why don't you spar with him first? I want to practice making some explosive tags."
"Sure. Nawaki, shall we?"
"Let's do it!"
They were both combat veterans now. Even if Tatsuma was the one Nawaki really wanted to hit, beating up Minato first was a fine consolation prize!
Tatsuma ducked into the study. Using blank scrolls, he produced about a dozen low-yield Explosive Tags. By "low-yield," he meant simply omitting a few of the chakra-containment seals in the formula.
Once he was finished, he headed to their usual training field. Nawaki and Minato were in the middle of a heated exchange—or rather, Nawaki was fighting with everything he had, while Minato was clearly suppressing his reflexes, merely dodging and parrying with ease.
Tatsuma wandered around the perimeter, casually setting his explosive traps. No one stopped him, though everyone noticed. Orochimaru, in particular, watched with a glint of approval. He knew Tatsuma was going to teach Nawaki a lesson; a boy who only knew how to charge forward desperately needed to learn the value of caution.
Once the traps were set, Tatsuma gave Minato a look. Their synergy was so high that Minato understood immediately. With a palm strike and a quick shove, he pushed Nawaki back and pointed toward Tatsuma.
"Tatsuma is ready. I'm going to take a break."
Nawaki stood there huffing and puffing, but he nodded proudly. "Minato, your stamina is lacking! You need the grueling forge of passion to gain... endurance like me!"
A bone-dry Minato stood next to a Nawaki who looked like he'd been pulled out of a river. The discrepancy between their appearances and Nawaki's words was staggering.
"As expected of you, Nawaki," Tatsuma remarked. "To understand the importance of 'endurance' at such a young age."
Tatsuma's praise made the others wince. Tsunade began to wonder if Jiraiya had corrupted her student during their time together; she made a mental note to settle that debt with interest later.
Tatsuma didn't waste any more time. "However... you won't even be able to touch my sleeve."
"Impossible!"
"Then come and find out." Tatsuma struck a classic martial arts pose, beckoning with one hand. "Come get some!"
"You asked for it!"
Nawaki charged in.
BOOM!
Nawaki went flying.