Chapter 241: Mission

"I think Nawaki might just be going through a phase," Takuya said, shaking his head. "He'll probably forget all about it soon. That's why Minato and I want to head out on a mission for a while."

"Yeah, we just need a task to keep us busy," Minato added. "But it's tough to find the right mission, so we were hoping you could help us pick one."

When Tsunade heard this, she immediately perked up. The thought of Takuya and Minato helping out made her feel relieved—because if no one did anything, she'd be the one left with the headache of dealing with her brother's romantic misadventures.

"Not a problem," she said. "I'll head to the Hokage's office and talk to the old man about it. You're looking for something that'll take a bit of time, right?"

There were plenty of long missions, the most classic example being border patrol. Those could last for up to a year or more, and most shinobi weren't exactly eager to be stuck on guard duty that long.

Takuya quickly waved his hand, "Let's not go that far. One or two months will do the trick. I'm not planning to waste half my life on the border."

"Got it. Leave it to me," Tsunade said, bounding up from the couch and heading to the bathroom, not even bothering to put on shoes. Takuya watched, sighing as he rubbed his forehead. He could already feel the stress creeping in.

As soon as she was done getting ready, Tsunade rushed to the Hokage's office and burst through the door, nearly giving the Third Hokage a heart attack.

"Tsunade, for heaven's sake," Hiruzen muttered, recovering from the shock. "You're the head of the logistics department now. You need to start acting with a bit more decorum."

Tsunade waved him off, eyes bright with urgency. "This is important! I need the mission files, and I need them now. Something's come up with Nawaki, and I need to get him out of the village for a while."

Hiruzen blinked, confused. "Wait, what? Why the sudden rush? Is this because I suggested he become a jōnin instructor?"

Tsunade didn't wait for him to piece it together. She dove right into the stack of mission scrolls, flipping through them until the Third Hokage finally caught up, pressing his hand down on the pile to stop her.

"Hold on! Tsunade, what's going on? At least give me a reasonable explanation."

Tsunade sighed, looking him straight in the eye. "Nawaki's got a crush."

"And?"

"The girl is from the Hyūga clan."

"..."

The room fell into a heavy silence.

"On second thought," Hiruzen cleared his throat, "I think it might be a good idea to get him out of here for a bit. I'll help you find a mission. How about border patrol? That could take a good year. By the time he gets back, maybe she'll be married off already."

"..."

The Hokage's enthusiasm surprised even Tsunade. His eagerness to push her brother out of the village left her momentarily stunned.

Nawaki having a crush was supposed to be good news for the Senju clan's future. But when the object of that affection turned out to be a Hyūga, things got a lot more complicated.

Hiruzen, not one to miss an opportunity to avoid future headaches, was more than willing to send Nawaki off on a mission. He started flipping through scrolls with a fervor, hoping to find the perfect way to get him out of the village for a while.

"Here we go," Hiruzen said after a moment, pulling out a scroll. "Guarding the border for a couple of months. It's not too long, not too short. Should be just enough to let him cool off."

Guard duty again? Tsunade could already picture the whining from Takuya. She quickly changed the plan to a more palatable option: guarding the shipping lanes. It would still take about two months, but at least it wasn't the border.

After securing the mission, Tsunade rushed out of the office, task in hand.

Watching her go, Hiruzen rubbed his temples. "Of all the girls in the village, you just had to go and like a Hyūga, didn't you, Nawaki? Don't you realize how impossible it is to marry into that clan?"

If only Hashirama or Tobirama were still around. With those two, the Hyūga wouldn't dare cause trouble. But now? Even if Hiruzen's own son had feelings for a Hyūga, he wouldn't dare entertain the thought.

When Tsunade returned with the mission scroll, she handed it off to Takuya and Minato. "Here's the mission. You leave tomorrow. I took care of the paperwork, now you just need to get Nawaki on board."

"Great. I'll go pack. You handle Nawaki." Minato grinned and, in an instant, disappeared using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Minato's gotten way too good at that," Takuya said with a sigh, watching him vanish.

"Don't blame anyone but yourself," Tsunade teased. "I gave you the same opportunity to learn it, but you couldn't figure it out. It's your fault."

"Yeah, but you used to bully Minato all the time," Takuya said with a smirk. "You'd better watch out—one day, he'll come for revenge."

Minato had always joked about how he'd get back at Takuya one day, especially now that his Flying Thunder God Technique was near perfect.

"Minato? Revenge?" Takuya yawned, waving his hand dismissively. "Flying Thunder God isn't everything."

He wasn't worried in the slightest. Minato might be able to teleport, but against Takuya's Sharingan—especially his Mangekyō—it was a different story. Minato's tricks didn't scare him.

If Minato ever tried to challenge him, Takuya would just laugh. At the end of the day, no matter how far Minato's technique advanced, he was still just a little brother in comparison.

Of course, Minato was incredibly skilled. Ever since he mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, Nawaki had stopped sparring with him entirely. Before, the two would train together constantly, but now? Nawaki was always on the losing end.

"Want to train?" Minato would ask.

"Nope," Nawaki would reply, pretending not to hear.

Nawaki had grown tired of chasing after someone who could blink in and out of existence at will. It was like trying to fight a ghost.

At times, Nawaki would even grumble about how Tobirama had created such an "unfair" jutsu. What he didn't realize was that without it, Tobirama might've never defeated Uchiha Izuna in the first place.

"You're all talk," Tsunade shot back at Takuya, shaking her head. "One day, you'll see how much trouble Minato's technique can cause. Mark my words, he's going to surpass you."

Takuya didn't even flinch. "Bedroom door's locked. If you want to sleep, go home. Breakfast is in the kitchen. Clean up after yourself, and if I come back to a mess, you can forget about freeloading here again."

Leaving Tsunade with that stern warning, Takuya left to find Nawaki.

As lazy as Tsunade was, Nawaki wasn't much better. Every time Takuya visited his house, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Kicking aside a stray soda can, Takuya found Nawaki passed out, snoring. Typical.

Nawaki jerked awake, instinctively grabbing his kunai when Takuya kicked the bed. "What the hell? It's so early..."

Once Nawaki realized it was just Takuya, he dropped the kunai and collapsed back onto his bed, ready to go back to sleep.

"You've got a mission," Takuya announced. "Get up, pack your stuff. We leave tomorrow."

Hearing the word "mission," Nawaki snapped fully awake, scrambling to get dressed. "Wait, a mission from the Hokage? I didn't hear anything about that yesterday."

Takuya shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe they just want to get us out of the village for a while, seeing as we keep avoiding the whole jōnin instructor thing."

Better to let the Third Hokage take the blame, Takuya thought with a grin. After all, if Danzo was busy flirting with Orochimaru in the shadows, someone else had to be the scapegoat.