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When Tsukimi returned home, she immediately ran into her grandfather.
She hid the assignment letter behind her back at once and forced a smile onto her face.
“Grandpa, why are you home today?”
The Grand Elder raised an eyebrow and glanced at his granddaughter.
What did she mean, why was he home today?
He had been retired for who knew how many years.
Was he supposed to go out on missions after retiring?
After all, he was one of the old men from Konoha’s founding era.
Everyone from his generation had already passed away.
He was the only one still alive.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had to respectfully call him Grand Elder when they met.
When the village was founded, Hiruzen Sarutobi had still been a little brat.
The Grand Elder immediately noticed the assignment letter hidden behind Tsukimi’s back.
His face darkened, and he held out his hand.
“What are you hiding?
Are you that afraid of Grandpa seeing it?”
Tsukimi laughed awkwardly and reluctantly handed him the assignment letter.
“Of course not, Grandpa.”
The Grand Elder glanced over the contents, and his wrinkled old face creased into a huge smile.
His original plan had been to send his granddaughter into the Police Force first, then slowly look for a chance to get close to Yuto.
He had not expected that idiot Fugaku to assign his granddaughter to the same team as Yuto.
Not only that, but the team also included the Uchiha genius, Shisui Uchiha.
The moment Shisui was mentioned, the Grand Elder felt his teeth itch with anger.
Shisui’s grandfather, Kagami Uchiha, had been an Uchiha, yet he had become Tobirama Senju’s subordinate.
And what kind of person was Tobirama Senju?
The thief who stole the Second Hokage seat.
As one of the two great clans that founded Konoha, the Uchiha had watched three Hokage come and go without a single Uchiha taking the seat.
Even if Lord Madara had defected, one Uchiha should have been allowed to sit in the Hokage’s chair eventually.
The person the Grand Elder had once held the highest hopes for was Kagami Uchiha.
He had never expected Kagami to switch sides and join Tobirama Senju.
Fine, even if he joined Tobirama Senju, he and Hiruzen Sarutobi had both been Tobirama’s subordinates.
So why had Kagami failed to compete for the Hokage position?
Fine, even if he failed to become Hokage, becoming one of the village’s top officials would have been acceptable.
At least he could have influenced the village’s policies toward the Uchiha.
But somehow, he had died for no clear reason instead.
Because of his hatred for Kagami Uchiha, the Grand Elder also disliked Shisui by association.
Dislike was one thing, though.
Shisui’s strength was undeniable.
If his granddaughter could successfully influence Shisui after entering their circle, turning Shisui Uchiha from a dove into a hawk, that would be perfect.
And with Yuto, a hidden hawk, also on the team, the Grand Elder felt the plan was completely workable.
“Tsukimi, you must get along well with your teammates!”
“The burden of reviving the clan now rests on your shoulders!”
Hearing her grandfather’s words, Tsukimi almost wanted to cry.
Getting along with her teammates was already troublesome enough.
Now, for some reason, she had also been given the mission of reviving the clan.
Damn it.
She, Tsukimi Uchiha, was only a two-tomoe chunin.
Why did she have to carry such an important mission?
That night, Tsukimi was so worried that she nearly lost sleep altogether.
She tossed and turned the entire night, unable to settle down.
Even when she did fall asleep, nightmares immediately followed.
In every dream, her teammates abandoned her and went off to act on their own.
The next morning, Tsukimi stared at herself in the mirror with dark circles under her eyes.
Gritting her teeth, she said,
“No.
For the sake of my future sanity, I have to make things clear with that idiot Yuto.”
She hurriedly washed her face, skipped breakfast, and ran straight out of the house.
At the same time, Yuto was sitting at his desk, writing furiously.
Because of his injuries, he had not gone out on patrol for the past two days.
Since he had nothing better to do, he had simply started writing a novel.
Since he apparently would not be dying anytime soon, he might as well make some money and improve his living conditions.
Of course, it was not a proper novel at all.
It was the kind of book children absolutely should not read, created after heavily embellishing the material he had gathered at night.
By that morning, he had already written tens of thousands of words.
Before transmigrating, he had struggled to write even an eight-hundred-word essay.
For some reason, when it came to this messy kind of material, the words poured right out of him.
Things like “the drunken husband” and “the son’s entrance exam” came to him effortlessly, without the slightest pause.
When he heard someone knock on the door, Yuto quickly put down his pen and hurriedly stuffed the finished drafts into a drawer.
He absolutely could not let anyone discover he was writing a novel.
Public humiliation did not come with compensation money.
After looking around and confirming he had left no obvious traces, Yuto finally got up and opened the door.
Before opening it, he had assumed Shisui had come.
These past two days, Shisui had been visiting his house to check on him.
Instead, the person standing outside was Tsukimi Uchiha.
Why was she here?
Yuto had no idea what she wanted, but he could not leave someone standing outside forever, so he quickly said,
“Tsukimi, please come in.”
His words surprised her.
Tsukimi had already prepared herself to be refused at the door.
She had not expected Yuto to seem completely unconcerned about what had happened that night.
That made every word she had prepared get stuck in her throat.
“Eh?
Oh, right.”
Sitting beside the table, Tsukimi felt deeply conflicted.
She had no idea how to explain the situation to Yuto.
Yuto was anxious too.
He still wanted to keep writing his novel.
He could not let the inspiration slip away.
If it did, he might not be able to write anymore.
Unable to wait any longer, he asked,
“Tsukimi, did you need something?”
Tsukimi shook her head in panic and said,
“Nothing!”
“It’s just…
yesterday, the clan head assigned me to the same team as you, so today…”
Yuto had thought it was something important.
As for the team assignment, he had known since yesterday.
When Shisui came to visit him yesterday evening, he had already told Yuto the news.
Yuto was not surprised by it.
After graduating from the Ninja Academy, he had spent most of his time in three-person teams.
He had actually spent less time on two-person teams or solo missions.
“Tsukimi, I already know about that.
You didn’t have to come all the way here just to tell me.”
“If there’s nothing else, then…”
Yuto’s gaze drifted toward his room.
If there was nothing else, hurry up and leave.
Was he supposed to ask her to stay for lunch?
Sensing Yuto’s impatience, Tsukimi clenched her small fists, took a deep breath, and gritted her teeth.
“Yuto, that night, I…”
“I shouldn’t have lost my temper!”
Yuto blinked blankly at her words.
First, he thought back for a moment.
Only then did he remember she was talking about the night she had helped him make dinner.
Had Tsukimi lost her temper?
Now that he thought about it, she probably had.
But he had not taken it to heart at all.
At the time, he had even been secretly happy.
Once Tsukimi left, he would not have to train, and his strength would not increase.
So Yuto shrugged.
“Tsukimi, you don’t need to apologize.
If you hadn’t brought it up, I would have forgotten about it.”
Tsukimi froze.
After all that, she was the only one who had cared about the whole thing?
Damn it.
Yuto, you idiot!
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