Chapter 285: Tsunade (2)
—
As per Lady Luck's request, Neji took Tsunade to the top of a mountain– one of the tallest in this world. Despite being so tall though, it wasn't covered in snow but was just a rocky mountain with a peak wide enough to hold one or two houses.
Neji tapped his foot on the ground and in an instant, an oak tree emerged from the ground– created from Wood-Style.
Under the gorgeous night sky glittering with stars, so beautiful that it matched Neji's eyes, Neji placed a carpet beside the tree's root and sat down, pulling Tsunade down on top of him.
"Quite bold," said Tsunade, her eyes yellow again, as she looked at Neji with a soft blush.
"Is it?"
"...What's your relationship with this Lady Luck?"
She didn't answer his question, and rather asked a question of her own.
"Let's just call her my sugar mommy, we can talk about the details later." Neji said, making Tsunade blink and open her mouth.
But before she could speak, her golden eyes changed to red as Lady Luck grinned.
"Hey, look at that, you finally called me mommy."
"I did not." Neji scoffed. "I was simply explaining our relationship. Technically, to me– you are that term I just mentioned?"
"What term?" Lady Luck's eyes glinted as she looked at him with a smile. "I am confused. You should mouth it out again."
"No."
"Call me mommy."
"No."
"Mommy, say mommy!"
"Keep dreaming."
"Tch."
In the end, Lady Luck clicked her tongue, giving him an annoyed look as she leaned back and crossed her arms.
"You know, you are pretty annoying these days."
"Am I, M'lady?" Neji asked with a smirk, pulling her back to him.
"Ye-"
Her words were cut off as Neji grabbed her waist and spun her around, pushing her below him.
"...What are you doing?"
"Making love. Do you find it disrespectful?"
"...."
Neji cracked up seeing her gaze.
"Haah? I hope you'd stop glaring at me like that, little luck. Maybe you shouldn't have called me 'daddy' in the heat of the moment back then, we can't witch the hierarchy after that happened, can we?"
"We can if I can make you lose your mind this time around." Lady Luck gave him a challenging look.
"Really? With this mortal body."
"No, I mean when you finally finish in this world."
"Aha." Neji couldn't help but smirk. "So you admit you are still my little lucky charm for tonight?"
"..."
As Neji looked down at her, she didn't frown this time. Her face flushed bright red, instead.
"Tch…"
"Heh. Anyway, hand control to Tsunade. You suggested we should talk, so don't be the third wheel now."
When he demanded such a thing, Lady Luck's blush vanished and she pouted. Soon her red eyes changed to Tsunade's brownish golden ones. Though the horns still remained in her head, suggesting Lady Luck was still within Tsunade.
"...Can you stop pinning me down now?" said Tsunade, looking at his hands pushing down her wrist against the ground.
Neji wanted to tease her, but he figured he could do that later, so he moved to the side.
"Thank you."
Tsunade carefully got up, tidied her clothes and sat straight.
Neji sat beside her.
A short, awkward silence fell under the tree– as both were unsure where to start the 'explanation'.
Truthfully, Neji wasn't obliged to explain things to anyone. He had no reason to answer her questions.
Tsunade wanted to know how he ended up with the other girls, but he wasn't obliged to answer her.
After all, no other girl had asked him about one another, either.
(Excluding Hanabi, though in Hanabi's case, she had seen the scene with most of the girls Neji slept with– so she didn't count.)
Yet, Neji liked Tsunade quite a bit– enough that he didn't mind fulfilling this commanding demand. Going by her personality, Neji was sure his main five girls would get along with this older woman too.
Especially Kimi and Nejire. Rumi too. She liked physically strong women.
"..."
Suddenly remembering them like this, their angry yet anxious expressions before they were teleported flashed before Neji's eyes.
He felt frustrated suddenly. Not being able to find them was a big part of that frustration, but another part was that he was worried about what state they were in.
Technically, he had spent 153 years in the void and 22 years as Neji Hyuga (because of the memories), but truthfully those times didn't really count and in actuality, he had been separated from his girls for three weeks only.
On the other hand, his girls might have spent decades, or centuries in some cases, depending on their situation. It wasn't a needless worry either, he had already learned how the girls from Arcane Plane had spent an entire 15 years separated from him.
So, what if any of those five lovely girls spent centuries on their own…?
Amongst everyone, it made him worry about Kimi the most. She had some really overpowered time spells. Beside being a decent magic-engineer and alchemist, Space and Time magic were her forte. That's why he had hoped she'd be able to find everyone and reach out to him in a very short time.
Yet she hadn't made any contact with him until now.
He just hoped that the world she ended up in moved in a slower time than his and the other girls– that'd make sense why she hadn't contacted him yet.
If that was not the case…
"...Are you all right?" Tsunade asked suddenly, making Neji blink as he realised he was frowning at the moon. "You look worried."
"Ah…" Neji's voice stretched. "Yes, I was worried."
"Oh."
Neji shook his head as she tilted her head on him.
"Alright. Let's start from here then– the reason I am worried."
Tsunade stared at him with big, gold eyes.
— -
Neji started the story from when he took his girls to Arcane Plane.
How he trained them, with the goal being that they would fight beside him against the invading Gods. He explained how in his Future Sight his girls always died– always, as long as they fought beside him.
So in the end, Neji had to betray their trust and send them away to keep them safe.
He hadn't revealed the plan to them earlier because they'd never agreed to leave him alone in such a scenario. They were stubborn like that. That's why he had to betray them at the last second.
But at the very least, though they were surely enraged at him and would surely slap him a few hundred times when they would meet again, they were alive.
At least, they weren't dead.
Neji explained to Tsunade the Battle of Gods– how he won at the end yet was thrown to the void when the big man meddled within. Neji survived out of pure luck– luck that was handed to him by the very Lady Luck that was inside Tsunade right now.
He told the two women, Tsunade and Lady Luck, that he was and will always be grateful for that.
- ....
The story slowly unfolded as he went into details for some parts while glossing over the other ones. At last, he reached the part where he was fighting Raikage and found out that Konoha was destroyed.
"After that, you saw everything with your own eyes." Neji finished his story. "Fast forward to now, we are sitting under a tree and staring at the stars beside each other."
Neji rested his head on her shoulder after finishing his story.
Tsunade accepted his head and gently started to caress his hair.
"You worked hard."
"Yeah…"
"You did good."
"Thanks."
Tsunade hugged his head gently.
Silence fell on the peak, and both of them started to enjoy the gentle breeze and the sound of nature that was all around them.
How long passed like that?
At one point, Tsunade broke the silence with a gentle voice.
"I feel as if you hid a few things, to be honest."
"I did, sorry. But that's natural." Neji said. "There are secrets that even those five don't know of. I can't reveal it to you without revealing it to them first. I suppose that's my take on the word responsibility."
Rather than looking hurt, Tsunade just smiled.
"So first come first serve? Is that how your love life works?"
She giggled.
"They're the first people in your harem, so they deserve to know first? Is that the logic?"
"I guess." Neji laughed with her. "But you know what harem means? Oh- right, Naruto. Anyway, yes. You can say that."
Neji wouldn't admit it out loud as it would hurt the feelings of some of his girls– but at this point, he had clear favourites amongst his girls.
This so-called "Harem" had three categories in his mind.
The five girls from his previous world. It wouldn't be wrong to call them his [Family].
The group of girls from this world. He could call them his cute, grumpy, spicy and lovely [Cult Priestesses].
The last batch was more-or-less a sorta slave harem. His [Pokémons]. This group consisted of Toga, Nemuri, Kiana, and newly Samui– though Samui was part of his cult too.
Samui being in two groups proved this grouping wasn't really important. For example, he liked Hanabi a lot– and technically she was his family. He liked Temari as well, she was like a friend but one who he shared sweaty times with. So where should he put these two?
In short, it's confusing, so he didn't think much of it. Even inside his head, he kept these three 'groups' quite vague. There was no point in making his harem seem like a strict organisation, that ruined the whole point of being in love and having some fun.
"Mhm… Then I suppose I have to wait for you to find these five girls.I am looking forward to your entire story, Neji Hado" Tsunade said gently, her eyes looking at his.
"...Can I rest on your lap?"
"Sure."
When he requested so suddenly, she didn't seem the slightest taken aback and nodded. She herself then gently pulled his head down to lay on her thighs.
For a long time, the two stared at each other in that position. This time as well, it was Tsunade who broke the silence.
"You have an idea who ended up in this world?"
"I think I do." Neji smiled and looked at the moon. "She is imprisoned up there."
Tsunade looked at him and then at the celestial body.
"The moon?"
"Yes." Neji nodded, not taking his eye off the moon. "I am certain."
"Ah…"
"I can go to the moon right away, trust me. But I am not so sure if I would be able to safely free her." She had no powers at the moment, all sealed away by the Sage of Six Paths, so freeing her that way might just harm her more. "I would have still done so if that was the only way to free her, but fortunately there is an official, safer way." Neji explained.
The moon. She was just there, a few hours away with his flight speed. But he couldn't take the chance, no. He will initiate the Infinite Tsukuyomi to free her in the official way.
Tsunade placed a hand on his forehead, making him turn to her.
"Don't worry, you will succeed," she said with a smile. "I believe in you."
She didn't need to believe in him– he had all the power, confidence, and plan to pull this off. But he wouldn't lie, it felt damn good hearing her say that.
Neji couldn't help but smile at her motherly expression.
"It's weird, the feelings I have for you are so diverse…"
"...Is that so?"
Neji didn't answer verbally, rather he grabbed her waist and twisted their position, pushing her down on the carpet as he loomed over her.
Tsunade didn't shy away from his eyes, her golden eyes that glittered under the moonlight.
"...You want to keep watching the stars?"
He asked slowly, leaning closer to her face.
"Yes," she replied quickly. "But under you, this time."
Then she leashed upward and captured his lips.
-—-
Tsunade didn't know, but of all the feelings Neji was feeling at the moment– split by his «Super Tasking» quirk– this one had to be the sweetest.
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