Subtlety~

Sakura sat on her knees in front of both her parents in the tea room.

The faint scent of fragrant but non bitter tea emanated out from the closed kettle that was on the table in between them.

Picking up the kettle to pour tea into her own and Kizashi's earthen baked clay cups, Mebuki spoke in a soft but strict voice, her voice strained as if holding a lot back.

"How are you doing Sakura..?"

"..."

Hearing a lack of response, Mebuki looked up from her tea cup as a tea stalk floating vertically inside both hers and Kizashi's cups.

It was strange to see a vertically floating tea stalk because it meant good luck, but nothing about this situation screamed good luck to either of them.

'Is Sakura already carrying a child?' Kizashi asked Mebuki as they made brief eye contact.

'..how is that good luck? She's-!'

*slam*

Slamming her hand onto the table, Sakura interrupted the parents' conspiracy theory generating minds as she explained herself in the silence that was getting sniffling for her.

"MOM! IT'S NOT LIKE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!"

Cocking up her eyebrows, Mebuki just looked at Sakura as she brought up her tea cup and blew over the tea a little.

*slurp**slurp*

Slurping over the tea, Mebuki glanced over at Kizashi who nodded with his eyes as she looked back at Sakura and placed her tea cup onto the table with an audible *clack*, something that startled both Kizashi and Sakura since it'd be rare if not impossible for Mebuki to mess up by placing a tea cup on the table forcefully.

A shiver traveled up their spines as they both looked back down onto their respective things, Kizashi on the tea cup while Sakura on her now white from fear knuckles clenched tightly on her knees.

"Look. Sakura. I'm not here to discuss if what ever you were doing is what I think it is you were doing-"

"-Mom! I'm not lying! Megumi was working really hard last night! And I use oil to help relax-"

"-let me finish. Don't interrupt me." Mebuki interrupted with a sharp glare.

"As I was saying. It is not fun to walk into your ten year old child's room only to see them lying in bed, naked with each other."

"Mom!-"

"Oh! Spare me the details my dear daughter. I want to listen to no part of your enchanting stories of how you coincidentally happened to be like that at just the wrong time and I happened to watch you in the wrong place."

"Mom! It's normal for a wife and husband to share a bed! You and dad clearly do! You gave birth to me!"

"Ah! Yes. Normal. I must've been raised in the dark ages. Yes definitely. Expecting my kids to be naked when I walk into their room is normal."

"Again mom! We didn't do anything like that! I just forgot to put his clothes back on! Megumi sets up strict boundaries for us when we are in the-"

"I'm sure he does, which is why he isn't the one sitting here. But you are. I've raised Megumi right but I guess I went wrong with you somewhere, how were you so irresponsible!? Or perhaps you don't even consider me your real-!"

"Mebuki! That's enough!" Kizashi interrupted.

Sakura became teary eyed as she realized what Mebuki was about to say so she just glared at her and got up to walk away when she heard Kizashi say, "Sakura worry not. Your mother is just worried about becoming a grandma so soon, since she probably wants to do more things. In fact I remember when we married, your mother made me-"

"Kizashi! We aren't discussing ourselves! And we were grown up adults!"

"Oh please Mebuki! They've grown up well enough and are married. You don't need to worry about them doing the wrong thing. They haven't till now, and I'm sure they won't do anything wrong going ahead. Accidents happen. They should be excused."

Sakura just gave one last glance toward her mother as the both of them looked away in anger when their eyes met and Sakura walked away.

...

*PUNCH*

*OUCHHHH*

"BY ALL THAT IS HOLY I SUMMON FISHMOLEY!"

Megumi jumped up onto the bed as he shouted the last sentence he was about to write in the chat of a rather long nosed streamer who was about to welcome him into the jungle.

Opening his eyes and glancing around inside his mindscape he found Sakura glaring at him furiously.

"....you know when you said you'd wake me up in special ways…I didn't think…you would uh…be punching me in my stomach."

*Glare**Glare*

Sakura just stared up into Megumi's eyes with fury as he looked at her confused.

"....get me a new home. We're going to move away from here."

"..." Megumi slowly got down from the bed as he scooted closer to Sakura and wrapped his legs around hers and his arms around her waist as he pulled her closer.

"What happened? Why're you crying?" Megumi asked Sakura as he rested his head on her chest and looked up as she stood and he was sitting.

Sakura's eyes started to spill tears as she glared at Megumi but then shivered as Megumi unnaturally cooled his hands and placed it inside her pants.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuu" Sakura stopped crying as she made a muffled scream because of the cold touch that caused her body to suddenly go limp as Megumi pulled her and brought her into his lap and hugged her.

"Talk to me. What happened? Who made my little fancy girl angwy?"

Sakura just continued to glare at him once more as he kept treating her like a child but they gave up when he threatened to lick her tears as he stuck his tongue out and did a weird dance with it.

"....Mom said I don't treat her like my real-"

"Was she angry?"

Sakura just nodded, a little glad that she didn't have to complete that sentence.

"Then don't listen to her. Moms are like that. But what did you do to make her so angry?"

"...Mom walked in to wake us up but I forgot to put your clothes back on after the massage yesterday so…"

"Oh…I see…"

"Megi…Do I really treat mom so-"

"Why are you worried about the things she said in anger! And even if you have any doubts like that, why don't you just treat her better moving forward? In fact, why don't you give her a gift or something?"

"....so you're saying I do treat her poorly."

"Aey yoo! No! I'm saying now you're angry with each other right?"

Sakura didn't say anything and just stared at the floor but Megumi asked her again, "Right?" at which, Sakura slowly nodded.

"Right. Then why don't you just gift each other something? Huh? Maybe something like a new tea set perhaps? Something from my world for mom to enjoy for herself?"

"..."

"Or how about helping around the house a little since you've been skipping on your chores recently? Or maybe do something together with her? I dunno what? Maybe like starting a new clothing store with designs from my world?"

Sakura's eyes widened as she turned around and asked, "Repeat that! Repeat what you just said Megi!"

"Starting a new clothing store?"

"No! Before that!"

"...? Chores? About you missing out on chores? Don't worry I got you covered. I did them all when you weren't here or just tired."

Sakura's eyes widened a little more as if in horror at what Megumi had just said.

"That's why!" Sakura exclaimed all of a sudden causing, "...?" Megumi to just tilt his head confused.

*Smoooooch* giving Megumi a long smooch on his cheeks Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist as she shouted, "Megumi!!! I love youuuu!" and just vanished before he could even respond.

"...? Okay?" Megumi said the air as he looked around but then just shrugged as he went back to lie down in his bed, comfortable to start dreaming about being welcomed into the jungle again.

"Hehehehe~ shnozer."

"....."

"BOOK BOOK BOOK BOOK BOOK!!!!!!!!"

…perhaps Megumi's sleep talking problem had gotten worse with that punch he took while he slept. And possibly even began a gambling problem?

....

Tsunade looked over at her co-actor who was pretending to be a male in spite of being a female as she too looked at Tsunade with full focus and delivered her lines inside the small room they were practicing in.

Since Tsunade had begun practicing her lines a few weeks ago neither of her co-actors could hold a candle to her fierceness apart from this single other actress, who Mebuki had recommended right before the last two days as well and it just so happened to be someone Tsunade knew, at least a little more than the rest of them.

Noticing her partner's lack of responses all of a sudden, her partner nudged Tsunade by poking her a little.

"Are you so into the acting that you're going to wait for a few weeks until the letter gets delivered to you?"

"Huh? What? Ah! No! No! Sorry, I was just a little lost."

"....It's alright, I'm a little tired as well. We could both take a little rest." The co-star said surprising Tsunade when she was a little nice and not as sarcastic.

"...do you even need to rest?" Tsunade asked as they sat down on the mat inside the warm room.

"Of course this higher form of life does not. But I don't want to stress out my prosthetics too much by using them a lot right before the play since they were made in a hurry after I ordered them."

"But aren't they supposed to last for about nine hours of continuous use? I remember reading the report that held the results of the tests."

"Yes, normally it should. But since these were made in a hurry it is only about five hours on these ones."

"Hmm…."

As the two of them looked out of the window of the room into the garden outside the Senju household, a warm silence filled only by the chirping of early morning birds and the sounds of small animals jumping about inside bushes lingered to be heard.

"Tell me Tsunade, do you like Megumi too?"

"Too…!?"

"*sigh* so you do as well."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she hurriedly tried to correct her stance, "No! No! I was just a little shocked at what you said about liking Megumi as well! It's not like I like him or anything!"

Shaking her head a little, the lady spoke "....he rejected me."

Tsunade's eyes shook as she turned her attention back to the garden in front of them, her eyes a little watery but still looking outside with a steady and firm gaze.

"Why're you telling me this?"

"So that you don't make any problems for him."

"..."

"Both he and Sakura are happy together. And both of them like you very much. But I don't think they're open to wanting anyone else in their relationship with each other, and with them."

"..."

"Tsunade I get it. At least a little. Megumi is very likable, especially since he inadvertently ends up taking care of all those around himself in one way or another in subtle ways that people often miss. But…that doesn't mean he loves us the same way he does her, Sakura. You must've seen how they look at each other right?"

"*sob* *sob* * sniffle* *sniffle*" 

Not getting any response the lady continued.

"They're perfect for each other. They won't let go. And there are no gaps for either of us or anyone else to infiltrate."

*sob**sob**sob**sob**sob*

"It's alright…." The lady said as she pulled Tsunade to her chest and hugged her as Tsunade just buried her face into the fleshy feeling built from an elemental clone covering the prosthetic body inside as she let her heart out.

"But...but I loved him so much!"

"I don't even know when! I didn't even realize how! He was the first to make me feel any which way after Dan did! He made me fall in love. And think about him when he was away! Made my heart beat faster! Made my stomach flip! Why!!! Why does it have to be like this!!!!? I… I just wanted to be with someone I loved again finally!!!"

Patting her co-actors head until she had poured her heart out and quietened down after the last fifteen minutes, as she ran her prosthetic fingers through Tsunade's silky hair, the lady said something that made Tsunade's eyes widen a bit and freeze for a second. "Wanna grab food Tsunade? I wanna see if the seals Megumi made for me to taste things are working or not. Perhaps I can grab a cake."

Those words that seemed to not mean much to the lady, reminded Tsunade of her childhood and then cognisant of the situation she was in. It felt like she had a friend for the first time in her life.

"...? You good Tsunade? Do you need some more time here? It's alright if we wai-"

"Uhuh. It's alright. We can go now." Tsunade said standing up and wiping away her tears and face with a little bit of water created by using nature transformation.

"By the way…you can call me Tsuna." Tsunade said feeling a little shy, looking down at the floor as she arranged the hairs that the lady she was with had combed and straightened out.

"Oh…you may have the pleasure of calling me…Caroline."

"....? I thought..?" Tsunade asked, raising her head a little, looking lost.

"You thought my name was GLaDOS? Really? Who had such a weird name? That's just an abbreviation for what I was called inside a story in Megumi's head. Although Caroline is also just a character from the same story I was based off of her and now that I am more human..? I think I prefer being called a more human name." Caroline smiled as she said.

"Oh.." Tsunade muttered out, a little dazzled but then flinched when she felt Caroline grab her hand.

"Come! Let's go! It'll be a girls outing! We've got to be quick as well! I don't want to be late for the play! I want to try out all the things this world has to offer! It gets rather boring living just inside Megumi's head all the time." Caroline explained as she dragged Tsunade away with her out into the streets and the slowly filling up streets for some fresh roadside breakfast vendors.

...

Holding Sakura's hands I walked by Mum and Dad's side as I felt a little tension in the atmosphere between everyone.

"Mom! How's my new dress!? What do you think? Does it look good!?"

Megumi said as he spun around and tried to show off to his mom.

Mebuki glanced at his dress and then smiled softly at him as she said, "I liked the ones you wore earlier better."

"Mom! How do I look?" Sakura asked similarly, showing off.

Mebuki just told her in a monotone voice, "You look like a dango." as she carried on walking ahead.

Both Megumi and Sakura stood stunned as Kizashi hurriedly followed after his seemingly angry wife.

"Psst. I thought you knew why mom was angry with you!"

"I mean…I did. But I don't know how to fix it fully yet."

"Should we go back to change our clothes?"

"Hell no! It's practically freezing! These clothes are way more comfy! I don't need to feel cold in these!!"

"....Alright. Let's go! And make sure you think of a way to get mom laughing again before we leave for home!"

"..okie."

"If you do, I'll surprise you tonight!"

""..! What!?"

"Don't want to spoil any of the fun now. Come on!"

Megumi and Sakura ran through the streets to catch up with their parents as Megumi noticed that the streets were fuller than the last time he was here, and there were more people inside the village from the outside.

Perhaps it was going to be easier to get the word around about their new product than initially expected.

-------------------------

A/N: Pictures in chapter comments.

Thank you for reading!

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