"Lord Kazekage."
"Lady Pakura."
Yuji led Pakura out of the Kazekage building, the two of them strolling through the village without any particular destination. Along the way they encountered various villagers who greeted them warmly.
Normally, as his guard, escorting the Kazekage was the most routine thing in the world for Pakura. But for some reason today, the gazes of everyone they passed felt unusually intense, making her want to find a hole to disappear into.
"Something wrong?" Yuji noticed her unusual behavior and smiled.
"Nothing," Pakura replied, her face still flushed, the words coming out somewhat stiffly.
"Do you remember this place? The first time we met. I remember your family elders were with you, and I had just returned from the ninja academy."
They arrived at an intersection. Yuji pointed toward a spot not far away.
"I did not know then that the little girl was you. I just saw her dressed so neatly, unlike an ordinary child, so I looked over a few times."
This had prompted a warning look from Pakura's elder at the time.
The man who had later come to know Yuji, who had frequently tried to prevent Pakura from associating with children from common backgrounds, had been that same person.
"Come to think of it, it has been a long time since I last saw him," Yuji said with a smile.
"Who?" Pakura looked at him.
"The old man who was worried you would pick up bad habits from us common children," Yuji said with a laugh.
Later, after he had become a senior village figure, that elder's attitude toward him had changed considerably.
"That was my uncle. He has passed away," Pakura said quietly.
"He had no ill feelings toward you. It was purely out of protectiveness. The village situation was not good when we passed through then. You know how things were during the Third Kazekage's era. The class distinctions within the village were still very clearly defined at that time."
"I did not mean anything by it. I just suddenly thought of him," Yuji said.
"He did not die of illness, did he?" Yuji asked.
"No. It was during the Third Great Ninja War."
"When I and Yashamaru and the others were stationed at the coastal border, guarding against Hidden Mist Village attacks, he was worried about me and followed along on one of the missions."
"He sacrificed himself to protect me," Pakura said, her voice carrying a quiet pain.
Yuji said nothing for a moment. At that time he had been fighting on the Konoha front himself, managing countless affairs simultaneously. He could not possibly have known every detail of what was happening elsewhere in the village.
What he knew now was that Pakura's family consisted only of herself and her father. Her uncle had apparently never married, always treating Pakura as his own child, which was why his protectiveness toward her had been so fierce.
"Although I am now the Kazekage and your teacher, in reality I have always thought of you more like a younger sister. Like family," Yuji said, shifting the subject.
"So as family, I feel I have an obligation to concern myself with your personal matters."
Pakura went very still.
"Among the people you know in the village, around your own age, is there anyone you have feelings for? I remember there were quite a few people who graduated from the academy around your time. There must be at least a few worth considering. If there is someone you admire, tell me. I will act as your matchmaker. Even if marriage is not the immediate goal, at least having someone to share feelings with would be a start."
"There is no need to keep putting all your focus on getting stronger and completing missions. Village affairs are stable now. With me and Lady Chiyo's people managing things, you do not need to exhaust yourself. Rather than spending all your time on work, why not enrich your personal life and develop deeper feelings and connections?"
He said all of this in a calm tone, though inwardly he was feeling somewhat nervous as he walked.
After saying this, he noticed Pakura had stopped walking beside him.
He maintained his composure, turning to look at her.
"Something wrong?"
Pakura's face was deeply flushed, her breathing slightly uneven.
"Nothing. It is nothing."
"I do not have any thoughts about relationships right now," Pakura said, the words coming out in a stammer.
Although she said it plainly enough, the loss beneath those words was even more audible than the words themselves.
Seeing this, Yuji understood immediately. He now knew exactly why Chiyo and Shimizu had assigned Pakura the role of personal guard. They had placed her here because they wanted her to be close to him.
"Do you truly have no feelings for anyone? I want to hear the truth," Yuji said, looking at her directly.
"I... I... I..."
The imposing and somewhat cold and formidable Pakura, faced with increasingly direct questioning, began to lose her composure entirely, her words coming out incoherently.
"Yes. There is someone," Pakura finally said, her tongue feeling like it had tied itself in knots, each word coming out unclear.
"Who?" Yuji asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Pakura felt as though the air around her had been completely cut off.
"I cannot breathe," Pakura said hastily, turning to leave.
"I just remembered I have something to attend to. Please allow me to take the rest of the day off, Lord Kazekage."
Just like in the past, whenever a topic touched on something sensitive, Pakura would lose her composure and look for an escape route.
But this time Yuji was not going to let her have her way.
He stepped forward directly, positioning himself in her line of sight and meeting her gaze.
"The person you have feelings for. Is it me?" he asked directly.
"I... I... I..."
"Lord Kazekage is different from me. Your heart is entirely focused on the village's development and future."
"My feelings... toward you..."
"Besides. I am not worthy of you."
The two of them had grown up together since childhood, so Pakura understood him in certain ways that others did not. She knew that given his personality, he had never cared about marriage or starting a family. And she believed his feelings toward her were very pure, the kind one had for family, not romantic love.
Thinking this, Pakura's discomfort showed through in her voice, which became extremely quiet.
Although she knew that she and Yuji were an impossible pairing, deep down she could not help the feelings that had developed over all these years. Until now she had always believed that as a ninja she was second to none. Given enough time she would certainly become a legendary figure in the ninja world.
But there was only one person, a man she had known since childhood, toward whom she felt something she could not simply set aside.
"There is nothing wrong with admiration existing between people."
"I will speak with Lady Chiyo about this matter," Pakura said, recovering some of her composure.
She was not the same person she had been as a child. And today, Yuji taking her out for a walk and suddenly raising this topic implied something. It was obvious enough. She was not stupid.
"What did you say?" Yuji suddenly laughed.
"I am asking you all of this simply to confirm your feelings, to make sure you genuinely care for me, so I do not end up being delusional and making a mistake."
Yuji raised his hand and lightly tapped Pakura on the forehead.
"Ah?"
This sudden intimate gesture made Pakura's eyes go wide, completely stunned.
"To be honest, I do not have any particular romantic inclinations right now, and I have never made plans in that area. But I am getting older and it is probably time to think about it."
Yuji pretended to rub his chin thoughtfully.
"I have been considering this, and outside of you, there really is no one else who would make me feel anything in that direction. No one who would stir something in me."
"I do not like being dishonest either. From the beginning I treated you like a younger sister. But now we have both grown up, our personalities have matured and settled. I feel it may be time to give each other a chance. At minimum, to try getting to know each other in a different way. To see what we are actually like together."
"Whether we are compatible, or perhaps not."
From the way he spoke, it was clear he was suggesting taking their relationship somewhere new. But while the meaning was clearly romantic, his manner of expressing it sounded more like a carefully reasoned proposal, almost like a calculated arrangement rather than a confession of love.
"If after trying, our feelings still feel more like family than anything else, then it simply means we are not suited for each other in that way. But at least we will have tried, and we will have no regrets about a missed opportunity."
"What do you think? Should we try?"
He addressed this serious matter to Pakura with genuine seriousness and sincerity.
However, after he finished speaking, he noticed Pakura's eyes had gone somewhat unfocused. Her face was not only deeply flushed but her skin temperature had visibly risen.
"Hmm?" Yuji raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Are you alright?"
He reached out and placed a hand on Pakura's shoulder.
Pakura, who had been standing rigid as a board, suddenly went completely limp, collapsing to the ground like someone who had been struck by heatstroke.
"Ah."
Yuji groaned quietly, his expression helpless.