Chapter 249: Can You Cut Ties?
Kitahara Kaede walked up to Tsunade’s desk.
"I came here today to explain about Pakura, and a few other things."
Tsunade had expected him to beat around the bush or conjure up some grand, dignified excuse. She hadn’t expected him to be so blunt the moment he opened his mouth. Her cold expression nearly faltered.
"Fine," Tsunade said, crossing her arms in an interrogative stance. "Go ahead. I’d love to hear what you have to say."
Kaede could hear the simmering anger in her voice.
"Pakura from the sand, just like you, she received another set of memories."
"Pakura the hero of Sunagakure?"
Tsunade’s expression shifted visibly at the mention of the name.
The hero of Sunagakure, the master of the Scorch Release. Pakura had mysteriously vanished during a mission months ago, and everyone had assumed she was dead. And yet... that woman from Amegakure who had been laughing and shopping for clothes with Kitahara Kaede in the commercial district was actually Pakura?!
"Yes, that Pakura from Sunagakure," Kaede confirmed. "Beyond the experiences of growing up with you, I later... gained another set of memories. Those memories took place in Sunagakure and the Land of Water; they involved Pakura and... Terumi Mei of Kirigakure."
"Now, they remember those things, just as you do. And the impact it has had on them is no less than what you’ve felt."
Tsunade sat motionless.
No wonder...
During that dinner at Kushina’s house, Minato had casually mentioned a clash between Pakura and Terumi Mei at the border. At that moment, Kaede had choked on his soup, coughing until his face turned bright red. Then, just as Amegakure and Konoha formed their alliance, the woman calling herself "Pakura" had appeared in Konoha, staying right by his side. And then there was the sudden alliance request from Kirigakure, specifically naming Kaede as the only person they wanted to visit.
So that was it.
She had assumed he was simply philandering or chasing after new flames, but behind it all lay a truth so absurd and bizarre. Yet, this didn’t make Tsunade feel any better.
She had cherished twenty years of companionship, twenty years as childhood sweethearts. Every time she woke from a nightmare, she saw that pale, cold face in the morgue. She had believed that unique memory was a secret shared only between her and Kitahara Kaede. It was her most precious, and most painful, treasure.
But now, Kaede was telling her that two other women possessed a similarly inseparable past.
Then what was she? What were her pain and her longing?
A deathly silence fell over the office. Kaede didn’t offer a single word of defense; he simply stood there quietly.
Tsunade stared at him for a long time.
"So..." her voice was slightly dry, "you remember all the memories?"
"I do."
"And their feelings for you as well?"
Kaede remained silent for a moment. "...Yes."
*Slam!*
Tsunade punched the desk, sending the documents flying. Her chest heaved with emotion; she desperately wanted to flip the desk and punch this bastard through the wall. But in the end, she restrained herself. Anger solved nothing.
She forced the words out through gritted teeth. "Since you understand everything now, I’ll only ask you one thing."
"Pakura and Terumi Mei..."
"Can you cut ties with them?"
Kaede didn’t answer immediately. He had asked himself this same question on the way here. There were many ways to phrase an answer. He could blame everything on those mysterious memories. If he made the story poignant enough, Tsunade’s nature might lead her to soften temporarily.
But when he looked into her eyes—eyes filled with pain and struggle—he thought of Pakura. She had accepted his arrangements and infiltrated Amegakure alone without asking a single question. He thought of Terumi Mei, who had done many mad and irrational things just to keep him in Kirigakure, and the image of her sobbing on the docks, terrified of losing him again.
These events, these emotions, had become so intertwined that they couldn’t be solved by a simple "I’ll cut ties." Moreover, if he were honest with himself, was he truly... unmoved by them?
Kaede looked at Tsunade, a bitter taste in his mouth. If he nodded now, the bottomless rift between them might be filled instantly.
But that would be a lie.
"...I can’t."
"Heh... wonderful." Tsunade smiled, though the look was more painful than a cry. "You’re certainly... honest."
Kaede ignored the thorns in her voice. "Pakura was an informant I planted in Amegakure. She did many dangerous things for me; I can’t just discard her once the job is done."
Tsunade remained silent.
Kaede braced himself and continued. "As for Terumi Mei... that’s even more complicated. In those memories, she killed me once. That became her psychological demon, and she still hasn’t moved past it. When I went to Kirigakure this time, I intended to clear things up, but... it only made her more extreme and insecure. I’m not blameless in how things turned out."
Tsunade was furious, yet she couldn’t find a single word to lash out with. If Kaede were just a bastard blinded by lust, she could have punched him and cut him out of her life cleanly. But he acknowledged every "emotional debt" with absolute clarity and intended to take responsibility for all of them.
But she was Tsunade! Why should she have to compete with two other women for one man?
Yet... if she truly never saw Kitahara Kaede again... could she actually do it? Everything that had happened recently, the longing that returned in the middle of the night... those feelings were real. Moreover, the fact that this bastard was willing to tell her the whole truth today, rather than continuing to deceive her, gave her enough room to make a choice.
Tsunade suddenly spun her chair around, facing the window.
"...Let me think about it," she said, her voice tinged with exhaustion.
Kaede looked at her profile, his heart still hanging in mid-air. But the fact that she hadn’t kicked him out immediately was already far better than the best outcome he had anticipated.
The clock on the wall struck twelve-thirty. Kaede checked the time. "Then... I have to go."
*Swish!*
The chair spun back violently. Tsunade looked at him with utter disbelief, as if she had just heard the biggest joke in the world.
"What did you say?!" She leaned on the desk and stood up, the anger she had barely suppressed erupting once again. "After dumping all this chaotic mess on me, you’re telling me you’re leaving?! Kitahara Kaede, where the hell are you going now?!"
"Amegakure."
Tsunade actually laughed out of sheer rage. "Ha! Amegakure! You just returned from the tender embrace of that woman in Kirigakure, and now you’re rushing off to find your soulmate in Amegakure? What, is the next one crying and begging for you to come comfort her?!"
The words were harsh, but Kaede knew Tsunade was at her breaking point. He patiently explained.
"The High Command in Amegakure was attacked, and Nagato’s eyes were stolen. Nagato is the Child of Prophecy that Lord Jiraiya always mentions. His eyes are of immense importance; this incident could potentially affect the entire Shinobi World. Lord Minato has already issued an emergency mission. I must go immediately."
At the mention of "Jiraiya" and the "Child of Prophecy," the mockery on Tsunade’s face slowly froze. She had heard Jiraiya speak of the Rinnegan. If those legendary eyes fell into the hands of an unknown party, it truly wouldn’t be a simple attack.
With public duty and private turmoil swirling together, she felt a suffocating pressure in her chest, not even knowing where to direct her anger.
"Get out!" Tsunade pointed toward the office door, finding it irritating to even look at him. "Get out and handle your ’world-shaking’ business!"
Kaede spoke softly. "...I’m sorry."
He gave her one last deep look and turned to leave. The door closed behind him. In the hallway, the sound of his hurried footsteps grew distant and then disappeared completely.
Tsunade stood there for a while, as if all her strength had been drained. She walked quickly to the window. Below, the figure stepped out of the hospital gates without a moment’s hesitation, heading straight toward the village exit.
Tsunade subconsciously touched the blue necklace at her collar. A breeze blew through the window, making her eyes sting.
"What a... bastard..."