Ch458. Teresa

"I..."

It was hard for Samui to decide what she should do. The lingering loyalty to the Raikage was making her hesitate a lot. One doesn't get raised with a particular mindset and then can throw it away at a moment's notice.

Only the fact she was utterly pissed at A made her ignore some of her urges born of ingrained loyalty.

"What do you want me to do?" In the end, she coolly asked with determination shining in her eyes.

More reasons for denying it flashed through her mind than reasons for accepting. She didn't desire the power of a leadership position. In fact, Samui was pretty content in her current rank and with her current responsibilities.

But she knew that was all gonna change now that she was under Ringo's 'tutelage' anyway.

She had no idea what changes would come to Kumo but as a conquered village, Samui did not imagine a very good outcome.

The problem was... even if she disregarded her inner voice screaming at her to do her best for her village... she still had acquaintances and friends there. Her hotheaded brother was part of Kumo too. And Samui did not want the 'choice' that was forced upon her to affect him.

She was aware that if a relative deserted, the entire family would be under heavy scrutiny, suffering from passive harassment like inability to move up in ranks due to suspicion. It's how the system worked. Just one more way to prevent those with family to desert the village in the face of a suicide mission or the like.

And while Samui had no idea if this rule would persist despite A's dethroning, if she became the Raikage, she would be able to make sure her brother and friends were safe.

It was not a grand reason.

Nor was it a proper one.

But it was a reason that made her choose this path.

Rei chuckled at Samui's determination. She acted as if he was going to ask her to do some grand task or something...

"You will fight one of Tsunade's... hmm, how to call it? Experiment? Nah. One of Tsunade's current patients. Yeah, that sounds about right." Rei mused aloud, making the uninformed spectators confused.

Sarutobi, however, looked at Tsunade with shock and disgust, "I had no idea you could have fallen so low to imitate Orochimaru." He said in deep disappointment.

Naturally, that made the three Senjus in the room cringe and look at him in accusatory disbelief, their gazes reminding Sarutobi he was not in any position to judge anybody when it came to morals.

Tsunade didn't care for Sarutobi's accusations and just mentally gave her 'patient' a heads-up before she activated a teleportation seal on her...

And in the room, a silver-eyed woman with pale blonde hair dropping down her shoulders appeared. She wore light armor and on her back was a big Claymore sword.

Ringo raised her eyebrow at Tsunade, "Teresa is already fit enough to fight? It's been only a week at best since you started treating her..."

Ringo was a bit unhappy that she was not informed of this. Claymores were swordswomen like her and the prospect of fighting the 'strongest' Claymore was mouthwatering to Ringo.

"Who do you think I am?" Tsunade rolled her eyes at the redhead, "She is well enough to face off against a jonin, not a brute like you." She scoffed.

Despite her temperamental nature, Tsunade took the well-being of her patients very seriously. As if she would allow Ringo to spar with Teresa anytime soon! The only person who can abuse her patients is her!

Teresa ignored the conversation about her and the looks she was getting from the people around and her eyes sparkled when she noticed Rei.

She walked toward him, and excitedly exclaimed, "Are you going to play with me again?"

Rei chuckled and shook his head, much to Teresa's disappointment. She was like a child and during the past week, she spent most of her time with Rei since Tsunade dumped her care onto him because of how busy she was with the Chunin Exams.

Caring for a woman who remembered almost nothing was a bit similar to caring about a curious child. Fortunately for Rei, after training both Ringo and Mei..., especially Mei... he knew how to handle overly excitable and curious children.

He had used her state to create several 'games', which were basically rehabilitation training in disguise, becoming Teresa's new favorite person for playing with her.

Honestly, during the course of the week, some of her memories returned and she started settling back down into her old personality a bit, but it was still a work in progress and the woman had her bouts of childishness here and there.

"No, Teresa. I-" Rei started patting the woman's head, only to notice a few people in the room give him weird looks, causing him to stop talking and frown.

He thought about what was the problem only to notice the position he was currently in...

He was giving head pats to a seemingly impressionable beautiful woman that acted like a child.

A realization suddenly hit him and he scowled while turning toward those ingrates as he exclaimed in exasperated outrage, "It's not like that!"

"We understand." Tobirama wisely nodded, trying to assure Rei, "Your fetishes are safe with us."

"Un." Hashirama resolutely nodded too. "To each their own, grandson-in-law. As long as your wives don't mind..."

'My granddaughter is in the service of a pervert.' Onoki thought, shooting horrified looks at Rei.

"Tsunade? A little help here?" Rei turned to the most capable person to explain the situation, only to find her grinning at him. The second he saw her expression, Rei knew he fucked up.

"Should I tell them how you motivated her with candy?" Tsunade playfully asked, causing Rei to groan as the intensity of the accusatory looks he was receiving doubled.

Well, of course, he was motivating her with candy! She had the mentality of a child due to her memory loss! What else was he supposed to use!

Rei gave Tsunade a half-hearted glare, but the woman was not quite done yet.

"Or perhaps mention about how you slept with her at night?" Tsunade 'innocently' asked.

He also told her a story about Claymores before sleep to jump-start her memory. That one doesn't count!

Also...

"That's not what happened and you know it, Tsunade Senju. I distinctly remember you being in the bed too." Rei gruffly said, crossing his arms on his chest as he gave her a pointed look.

But Tsunade had the best answer for that already prepared.

"Oh, yeah, I do remember. That was kinky." She dreamily sighed, dragging Rei's reputation down even more as the imagination of those around ran wild.

Rei realized she was doing this on purpose, and not just to slightly tease him. He deeply sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He tiredly asked.

To which Tsunade just shrugged, "You forgot a promise."

"Ah." Rei wryly smiled, having no rebuke for that.

To be honest, Rei didn't mind this small revenge of hers. He didn't care what most of the people in the room thought about him. His wives and Temari knew Tsunade enough to realize what she was doing and if Hashirama and Tobirama took this banter seriously, he would know. With their personality, it would be impossible for them to not have an outburst.

Suddenly, Rei felt his sleeve being pulled and he turned to the right, coming face to face with Teresa who tilted her head, "So... a game?"

Rei chuckled and pointed at Samui, "She will play with you."

Of course, that only earned him a disbelieving look from the cool blonde. When she heard she would have to fight somebody, she didn't expect it to be a woman who acted as if she was a child!