Chapter 79

"... What's the meaning of this, honey?" a fiery Tsunade asked me as I was rubbing the back of my head while a lot of people were behind me, and most of them were kneeling

'I feel just like Shuzo when I met him at the Land of Rice Fields' I thought as it was my turn to be embarrassed and inquired upon

"You told me that you would fetch Shuzo and... His family, nice to meet you by the way." Tsunade first said as Honoka and Miroku greeted her as well before adding "But who are they?" as she pointed at the Fūma Clan and Iburi Clan that were all kneeling further behind me, not caring about the five children staying close to me yet

"Dad, you're ba- wow, when did I get so many siblings?" Tsugumi declared as she ran out of the house to hug me but stopped midway when she saw the children around me and deduced that she was the oldest child around which made her willing to act more 'mature' in front of them

"They're not mine, but they do not have any parents or guardians so..." I let out before Tsunade replied "It's alright, I do not mind housing more children, our mansion is far too large for us anyway." as she neared the children and lowered herself before greeting each of them with a little pat on the head

"Aww... I'm happy to have new friends living here but I want a little brother or sister! Shisui-nii seems to have a lot of fun just because he's older than me!" Tsugumi said as she started pouting while looking sideways while her arms were crossed

"... Don't worry Tsugumi, we'll be working on it." I said as I heard an "Oh?" before having my right ear pinched by Tsunade who added "Don't say that in front of the kids!" as some of them blushed, Tsugumi included

"I'm just being honest." I replied before embracing Tsunade as I held her by her waist to defuse the situation

As much as Tsunade was easily prone to anger, surely her Uzumaki blood becoming more evident with the years, she was still weak against my hugs which was my go-to technique that worked every single time.

"It's unfair..." she softly muttered which was only heard by me as she buried her head on my chest

"I know, but let's talk more about it later when there's only the two of us, alright dear?" I whispered as I kissed the top of her head before releasing her

"Since I already told you everything you needed to know on our way to Konoha, just follow my clones, they will bring you to your new respective compounds." I declared as both the Iburi and Fūma Clans finally got up from their kneeling position before shouting in unison "Yes, Yuichi-sama!"

'Why do they act as if I was their Yakuza boss?' I thought as they all saluted me before diligently following my clones

'Well, it doesn't matter as long as they listen to me' I thought again before turning towards the five children as I said "I will show you around your new home and the people already living here aside from my beautiful wife, my cute daughter, and myself." with a gentle smile as they all nodded while expressing different kinds of expression

Fū was looking at everything in amazement ever since I freed her from Takigakure, and she also had the chance to eat the food I prepared whenever we ate on the Ancor Vantian, making her less starving-looking while I also groomed her hair to be neck-length, something I learned to do since I was the one taking care of Tsugumi's hair when she was younger, apparently because she loved how mine looked always amazing whatever I did and was envious of it.

Jūgo was nervous from the moment he met Tsunade, surely thinking that he should never get on her bad side or he would face grave consequences.

Guren and Tenzō, on the other hand, were staying calm and serious, they were the two who displayed the best innate talent as a shinobi, and both expressed their wish to work under me and train as much as possible to meet my 'expectation'.

"More people are living in this house?" Yukimi asked as she was delighted to hear about it since she loved meeting more people

"Aside from Shisui Uchiha, my adopted son of the same age as you who I already mentioned before, there are two older girls living here, though they aren't around right now." I exclaimed as we started walking towards the Senju Mansion which was our home with Tsugumi proudly showing the way in front of us

"Yugito is away from Konoha along with her Chūnin teammates and I asked Chizu to be the one leading them... Eh, even though Chizu has her own house she stays more in the mansion than Yugito who's supposed to live here." Tsunade first explained as we both knew that Yugito was hanging out in the Hatake Clan compound most of the time

Sakumo always told me when Yugito wanted to stay with them for the night, and Aiko, Sakumo's wife, even took a liking to the girl, not minding her at all.

"As for Konan, she's training Shisui right now but they should be back soon as she surely sensed you coming back to Konoha." Tsunade added to which I told the kids "Let's leave the presentation for later and continue the visit for now, at least until you've seen the whole place."

After a few hours, and once Konan and Shisui came back from the training ground, it was already time for dinner so I invited Shuzo and his family home.

While Shuzo previously had a house near his sister's, it was no longer possible for him to live in it since it wasn't made for five people, thus, I relocated him to a bigger house that clones of mine built during our way back.

I couldn't have the priestess of the Land of Demon live in a 'tiny' house, even though her title wasn't as relevant as before, she could be considered a noble because of it and should still be treated as such.

Nevertheless, I had to prepare dinner for fifteen people, something that I could do with ease even without clones since I used the shadow arms as extra hands.

If someone entered the kitchen, they would be scared the moment they see dozens of arms flying around and doing their things seemingly independently.

However, these arms weren't independent and needed me to control each one of them, something I could easily do since I was pretty much used to receiving and sending multiple information at once because of my 'Wood Shadow Clones'.

After all, I knew what my clones were doing in real-time, making me more like a hive-mind than a human.

Needless to say that dinner tonight was quite lively, something Tsunade and I honestly enjoyed, even more when we saw how cheerful Tsugumi was the whole time.

As much as my daughter was a cheerful and friendly person, she had a hard time making friends at the Academy, mostly because most of her classmates were scared of her, partly because of her status as the Hokage's daughter but also because she was naturally strong while most of them were... Average, at best, unlike our time at the Academy.

And right now, she finally had the occasion of meeting other children who she hoped wouldn't be scared of her, something that wouldn't happen since Jūgo, Guren, and Fū were all outcasts until I kidn- *cough* accepted them.

Yukimi and Tenzō are both from a Clan who barely knew anything outside of their cave, and both aren't the kind of children to persecute others.

Though their ages ranged from seven to one year old, the growth speed in this world would still allow them to be quite close to each other.

"And here I thought that my life would be calmer now that the war is over." Tsunade exclaimed as she just changed clothes before crawling to the bed as I was already waiting for her

"It's still better to be busy at the house than the hospital, don't you think? At least, I will be here every single day... Well, partly." I said as I embraced Tsunade who rested her head on my neck while hugging me closely

"It will be a great change of pace but it makes me feel old you know..." Tsunade mumbled as I could hear the smirk she had on her face with just her voice

"Pft, I know what you want me to say." I said as I rolled my eyes before adding "I love you even more now that we passed our thirties... Honestly, becoming a mother just made you more charming."

"Hm? I will have to warn many husbands to hide their wives since many children will be born in the next couple of years." Tsunade playfully replied while I ran my fingers through her hair

"I'm not such a pervert, don't compare me to Jiraiya." I replied with a chuckle since my clone who did the office work given to the Hokage received many complaints about a peeping weirdo near the hot springs

"I know, I know." Tsunade said while laughing before adding "Though you did talk about us getting a second child... Did you truly mean it?" as she raised her head to look at me

"I do." I said as I became slightly melancholic when I remembered my talk with Yushiro back at Rōran before adding "And I know that you want it as well, am I wrong?"

Tsunade tightened her hug and looked down before replying "You're right... But I didn't want to bother you with it until, you know, 'that' problem was taken care of."

"In less than two years." I exclaimed as she looked back up with wide-opened eyes

"I just got the Seven-Tails, all I need is to groom its chakra and I will be ready to take care of 'that' threat, just... I will be isolated most of the time, I will still know everything my clones are doing in real-time but the sooner I finish it the better it will be for all of us... However, I promise you that I will come to bed whenever it is time for you to sleep, but I will quietly leave once you fall asleep to make it even quicker." I said as I, unfortunately, had to be the one generating the chakra of the Tailed Beasts and not my clones

"Hm, I'm fine with it... And, call it a wife instinct if you want but I always know if the 'Yuichi' in front of me is truly you or a clone, so you better be the one coming to bed each night." Tsunade said with a teasing tone even though she knew that I wouldn't leave a clone of mine with her for any intimate moment

"Of course dear." I replied as I let out a chuckle before adding "Still, I want both of us to leave for a few days, call it vacations if you want but only in around six months or so, that will be the perfect moment for us." since it would allow our child to be born slightly after I take care of Black Zetsu

"Did you think about a name if it was a girl again?" Tsunade asked but I only smirked as I replied "Honestly, I didn't, but my guts are telling me that he will be a boy, an amazing one, even."

'Even if I have to do some unethical things, I will make sure that the boy being born will be the same Yushiro I met' I thought as I would do some DNA manipulation on the fetus to perfectly match Yushiro's DNA I studied back then and maybe more

"Also, before you seclude yourself, don't forget the promise you made to Konan, that girl has been eagerly waiting for your return since she recovered from her injuries- and no, a clone wouldn't work since she recognizes you as well, she has an amazing instinct too." Tsunade explained as I opened my mouth midway to suggest the exact same thing she just denied

"Hm, I will go then, but I will change my appearance since I do not want any useless drama over it..." I said as I was still struggling whenever it involved Konan

"To be honest, I would love you the same even if I was nineteen years younger than you..." Tsunade said as she gave me a peck on the lips

"Maybe, but look at it the other way... If, for instance, I was sixteen years old and therefore barely an adult, would you accept my love even though you are a thirty-five woman with a child?" I explained my worries to which Tsunade stayed silent for a while

"See, it's not the same depending on which side you are... She's also younger than Kushina who sees me as her father figure! And even if, at some point, I end up accepting her feelings, there's no way I would be able to love her as much as you!" I added as I knew that refusing would only make things worse

Thankfully, Konan wasn't the type to be jealous of Tsunade, meaning that she wouldn't do anything horrible to her or anyone I hold dear... No, instead, she would a hundred percent kill herself, that lovestruck suicidal girl.

Tsunade was also aware of how zealous Konan was, which surely explained why she didn't mind that much in the first place.

"You should maybe listen to what she has to say... You know, when I was taking care of her at the hospital, she told me head-on that she truly loved you from the bottom of her heart but was heavily conflicted over it because of many reasons, though I shouldn't be the one explaining them to you." Tsunade revealed which surprised me

"Just... Why? I mean, you already explained to me how you viewed Kaguya but... Konan's a totally different problem, you can't make me believe that you 'resolved' them the same way?" I asked as we already knew what to do about Kaguya; we actually met a few more times over the years and I would always bring Tsunade with me

After all, I always had the God Tree's branch with me, and by sending chakra in it we could chat with Kaguya in her sealed space for a short period of time.

"They're not the same indeed, but the burden you carry all by yourself is obviously imposing a toll on you, a toll I cannot lessen by myself no matter how much I love you and want to." Tsunade said as she ended up climbing on me, her hands gently brushing my skin from the side of my face down to my lower chest

Needless to say that tonight will be a restless night.