Nindō: Dominion

The rest of the day passed with a few minor events as Naruto let Shikamaru know about his deal with Tsunade, having him send some Anbu to prepare her new-old residence in what used to be the Senju compound before being completely renovated. He already knew what she would choose between the Hokage residence and the Senju ancestral home before even asking her.

With the priority tasks of the day done, Naruto sent a clone to meet Tsunade during lunch. The only hiccup was the state she was in at that moment. Even within the premises of the village, she had snuck into multiple gambling houses overnight, losing a big chunk of the last of her money. Not only that, but she was also completely wasted when Naruto's clone found her in her messy hotel room.

"That's what I get for trusting her to handle herself …" Naruto mumbled as he looked at the woman who was passed out on the bed with a bottle in her arms and half of her body hanging off of the mattress. "Seriously, for such an old woman to be so far gone that she needs constant supervision…"

"You're an old woman." Tsunade's slurred response indicated that she was still conscious, albeit marginally.

"Get up on the bed. It's time for your healing. You probably lost a couple of years of lifespan overnight." he examined her, not particularly bothered by how revealing her current state was. "I'm going to start confining you once your residence is prepared and you move in."

"I'll see you try, brat," she mumbled before pulling her body back up on the bed. "Now, why are you here?"

"I just told you," Naruto's clone shook his head. "To think that this woman was the Hokage … and actually good at it."

He fixed her clothes and focused his chakra to invoke Yin-Yang Release, directly targeting her Byakugō seal and the transformation jutsu she always used. It was incorporated into the seal, allowing her to maintain it semi-permanently. That was the reason that the only times her transformation reverted was when her chakra was completely exhausted. With practiced precision, Naruto's clone ran his chakra through her body as she reacted with a groan in her semi-conscious state, shuffling around. The chakra from the jutsu perfectly targeted the weakest areas and started reinforcing them, imbuing her with literal life energy while using her transformation as the base. With enough time and healing sessions, the transformation would become her actual state, not even requiring any chakra to maintain.

'When did the original examine her so well that he knows all of the ins and outs of her body? The technique I was given is so precise … it's like he's already tested it on her countless times.'

Enveloped by the Yin-Yang chakra of the Hokage, the semi-conscious woman completely fell asleep, lowering all her defenses.

The clone spent almost two hours treating her before she naturally woke up, feeling completely rejuvenated.

"You should do this more often," the woman said as she got out of bed and stretched her arms. "Not having a hangover after waking up feels amazing …"

"You should feel lucky if the original doesn't decide to put you under house arrest after your stint last night," Naruto's disgruntled clone spoke. "One night, and you're already that much closer to bankruptcy…"

"It's just money," she waved her arm uncaringly. "Now, why are you really here? The meeting is tomorrow."

"Two things," he said. "The healing session, and to ask you if there are any good spots in the Land of Hot Water where I can take my family on vacation."

"Since you wish to enlist my services as a measly tour guide, I believe that remuneration for my efforts should be a valid ask. A million Ryo. I will tell you about the best resort that you could ever imagine. Low traffic and popularity, very high-end services and hospitality. You can even let your kids play outside while enjoying time with your wife."

As her tone grew suggestive by the end, the expression on Naruto's face turned deadpan.

"How about this: you tell me about it, and I will consider not docking your housing expenses from the paycheck you are to receive on the first of the month," he countered, crossing his arms. "You could always choose to stay in a hotel until you get yourself back on your feet."

She responded with a dissatisfied growl. "Fine. But I want my old home back. Grandfather's home. I'm not living in that accursed Hokage residence. Even after being rebuilt from the ground up, I still used to have disgusting visions of those two old farts getting all up in my business."

"I think that's more of a personal problem on your part," he said. "But understood … another loss for the village's earnings. People paid good money every day just to view the God of Shinobi's residence. You should be happy to know that your home has been one of the most popular tourist destinations for the past two or so years."

"Bite me," she was just short of attacking him.

"Anyway, my work here is done." The clone opened his arms and clapped them. "Try not to act too willful while your residence is being prepared. The original is actively looking forward to seeing you fuck up so that he can treat you as a mental patient in need of serious help and put you under a reform program. Just the last bit of goodwill from my part …"

With a solemn nod, the clone popped out of existence, leaving Tsunade confused and a little weirded out.

'Why was this clone acting as if Naruto was a completely separate being? Their memories and experiences are shared …' Despite her issues, certain habits were instinctual to her, a keen sense of observation being one of them. 'Is it because what he's doing related to the Ōtsutsuki that is creating this disconnect between him and his shadow clones? Or maybe something else …'

…

Now that Team 7 had finally returned to the village, someone other than his son was very excited to meet with the Hokage. His disciple.

"Good afternoon, Master!" A young girl with red glasses burst into the Hokage office excitedly. "I'm back …"

Naruto, standing beside his clone, who was seated in his chair, looked at her with a slightly surprised expression. "Sarada," he smiled at her. "I thought you would spend the day resting."

"I wanted to show you my progress," she said with a hint of blush on her face, awkwardly looking away from him.

Naruto chuckled at her expression and approached her. "I missed you as well, my lovely disciple," he patted her head, making her blush intensify. "Follow me. Let's go out for some lunch."

Following his lead, Sarada followed him out of the office, not even noticing the presence of his clone in the Hokage seat. That particular tidbit of information was best kept as suppressed as possible. It was fine if someone knew, but it couldn't be too prominent of a thing. Otherwise, some people would cause unnecessary trouble.

"This isn't the way to Ichiraku," Sarada finally spoke once they took a turn to the opposite side that Ichiraku was on.

"Ramen is more of an evening snack for me, Sarada," Naruto said. "I don't eat it for all three meals of the day."

"I didn't …" She stumbled, making Naruto laugh.

"I get where your confusion comes from," he said, patting her head. "But usually, when I eat lunch outside, it involves seafood."

"I see." Sarada's expression told Naruto that she had committed that information to memory.

Soon, the two reached an upscale restaurant that was halfway between Naruto's home and his office, taking them ten minutes while walking briskly.

"Kirisui Mizu … Master, do you eat here every day? It is such an expensive place." Sarada mumbled when they reached their destination.

"That's a given. Their ingredients have an interesting origin, not to mention coming fresh every morning from Kiri," he said. "I've recently grown to have an appreciation for certain finer things in life."

"Their food is indeed ridiculously good," she nodded, almost salivating. "Mom brought me here as a present for my twelfth birthday … I still can't forget the taste of their shrimp."

Naruto chuckled at her reaction. "Wait till you try their sushi topped with caviar," he said.

"Are you sure I can eat here?" She felt a little conscious.

"Of course," he said, acting offended. "Do you think I'd be cruel enough to invite you out to lunch with me and force you to watch?"

"Of course not," she shook her head. "It's just …"

"Come on," he started walking forward, forcing her to follow him after a moment of hesitation. "Tell me about your mission. Konohamaru already gave me his report, but I want to hear about your experience as well."

A man at the entrance greeted Naruto with immense respect, greeting Sarada similarly. While she was conscious, it forced her to put on an outwardly confident expression that she wasn't very used to. As they were led to their table, she distracted herself by thinking about her mission.

"Well … at first, it didn't seem very complicated … he, um, Jugō-san seemed pretty normal when we ran into him." She looked around, unsure if she could talk about a B-rank mission in such a public setting.

"You can talk freely. This is my usual table, and it has a sound isolation seal," Naruto said.

"We really are ninjas, huh …" Sarada mumbled. "I remember some of the scientists from the Land of Hot Water talking about Konoha's ninjas as if we aren't really ninjas. We don't act stealthily, and most of our techniques and abilities are really flashy. I felt that he had a point …"

"That just means that we are successful ninjas," Naruto said. "As long as people have that perception regarding Konoha's forces, they will expect that from us, allowing our spies to more easily infiltrate enemy nations."

"Do we even have enemy nations?" Sarada asked. "Everyone is at peace now."

***

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