Kaito shrugged.
"If she at least dressed more in line with her femininity and stopped acting like a man, maybe I'd give her a chance. Otherwise, I'd rather have her stick a senbōn through my liver".
Kurenai rolled her eyes.
"You sound far too sure of yourself".
Then she started tidying up with the ease of someone who had done this far too many times.
She picked up the towel, shook out the bedsheet after Kaito went to the bathroom. She lined up the books on the shelf.
Every gesture carried that domestic anger of someone who loved another person too much to let them live among their own mess.
Kaito then came out of the bathroom shortly afterward dressed more appropriately and sat down to eat from the pot.
His sister cooked far too deliciously.
As for Kurenai's concern over Kaito being 26 years old. She simply suffered from an extreme case of overprotective-sister syndrome. Kaito had spent years letting her know that he liked living carefree and that she didn't need to worry so much about him.
But Kurenai didn't react at all and continued treating him like a child.
In the end, Kaito gave up.
Kurenai suddenly stopped with one of his socks in her hand. She looked at it, put it in the correct drawer, and then suddenly remained standing there.
"Asuma and I are planning to get married".
Kaito blinked at how sudden the news was.
Kurenai didn't let him speak.
"I want you to be the nakōdo".
Kaito then choked.
"What? Seriously?".
Kaito wasn't surprised by the news of the marriage. He even thought they had taken too long.
But being the nakōdo was something that surprised him.
[A.N: It's like a master of ceremonies]
Kurenai took a moment before telling him the last thing.
"I'd like you and Asuma to work things out".
Kaito then wiped all expression from his face.
"If he still has that cowardly mentality. There's nothing to work out".
Kaito remembered the confrontation he'd had with Asuma.
He had been so furious that he'd nearly cut off one of his arms.
Asuma wanted Kurenai to abandon her career as a ninja just to stay home and be safe.
If she were pregnant, he would understand. But that was the problem. Kurenai wasn't pregnant.
Asuma had even dared to tell him that deep down, he didn't value her the way she valued him.
That was when Kaito lost his mind. If Kurenai hadn't stepped between the two of them. Kaito truly might have killed him on the spot.
Kaito had then recited to him the honor of being born a shinobi, and the honor of dying as one.
Since then, Kaito and Asuma had always maintained a cold and tense relationship.
Kaito took a deep breath.
"I'll do what I can. As for being the nakōdo. Of course I'd love to".
Kurenai turned around and showed a radiant smile.
She hugged him the next moment.
Kaito affectionately kissed the top of her head. His sister deserved to have the happy ending she hadn't been able to have in the story.
And even though they had a tense relationship. Kaito wasn't going to allow Asuma to die.
Feeling the kiss on her head. Kurenai became annoyed.
"You always act like the older one. You have no idea how much that annoys me".
Kaito smiled stiffly.
"You need to grow a few more inches before you can act like me now".
Kurenai grew even more annoyed at his words.
Kaito took advantage of this pleasant moment to drop a bombshell.
"Kurenai. I really like Hinata".
Upon hearing this. The smile on Kurenai's face turned into pure anger.
"What? You? Are you listening to yourself?". Kurenai couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I really do like her. I just wanted you to know".
Kurenai felt a slight headache coming on from this.
"I don't know what the hell you're thinking. You're far too old for her. The Hyūga clan would never accept something like that". Kurenai then reprimanded herself.
"But what am I saying. Even Hinata herself wouldn't accept it. She already has feelings for someone". Kurenai said.
Then she looked at him.
"Listen. I hope this is some kind of joke of yours. Hinata would never be interested in someone like you. You'd better focus on what I asked you to do. Work things out with Asuma".
Kurenai then picked up several things that were still lying around. She washed the dirty dishes in a matter of seconds, leaving Kaito without a chance to get a word in. And finally, she said goodbye.
Seeing her reaction. Kaito blinked.
He'd thought she would get very angry. After all, Hinata was her student. But it was so surreal that she had taken it as one of his tasteless jokes.
In the end, Kaito shrugged.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
To absolutely no one's surprise, Kaito didn't request any missions. Tsunade didn't offer him any either.
Apparently there was no longer a shortage of veterans for missions. Or perhaps Tsunade had decided that keeping him inside the village for a few weeks was probably beneficial for everyone.
Especially for her.
The report requested by the capital had turned out to be exactly as troublesome as she had imagined.
Kaito, meanwhile, had scrupulously kept his promise to have absolutely nothing to do with it.
He didn't even ask about it again. Instead, he returned to his usual occupation.
The bookstore.
Kaito was sitting behind the counter that afternoon, calmly turning a page as he listened to the sound of rain against the windows.
He had discovered quite some time ago that rainy days were excellent for business. Shinobi without missions looked for some way to pass the time, civilians spent more hours indoors and, for reasons he preferred not to investigate too deeply, his adult publications seemed to sell particularly well when the weather was like this.
The bell rang and Kaito looked up.
A chūnin entered, quickly closed his umbrella, and checked both ends of the street before closing the door behind him.
Kaito returned to his book.
"Good afternoon".
The man cleared his throat.
"Afternoon".
There were a few seconds of silence.
"Did the new volume arrive?".
Kaito pointed toward a shelf.
The chūnin immediately disappeared between the aisles. Five minutes later, he returned carrying two volumes against his chest.
He placed them on the counter.
Kaito looked at the books.
Then at the man.
"Two?".
"One's for a friend".
"Oh, okay".
The chūnin paid, and the bell rang again as he left.
Then something else appeared in front of Kaito.
A small translucent window that only he could see. Sometimes it appeared at the end of the day when he closed up. Other times when he completed a sale. He wasn't even sure anymore.
[Sale completed.]
[Volumes sold: 2.]
[Reward obtained: 100 points.]
Kaito stared at the numbers for a moment before closing the window with a thought.
Currently, Shanks's template cost around 1000 points to improve by each percent.
Remembering that once he reached 40% the amount would increase frustrated him a little.
He couldn't expand into other ninja villages because only books sold within the establishment linked to the system counted. In other words, the current one.
He also couldn't bribe someone to buy books, nor could he allow large-quantity sales of the kind resellers usually made.
That was when a great idea occurred to him.
Explore another genre.
Currently, besides adult books, his bookstore had books on ninja history and books for the Academy. All separated into perfectly organized sections.
Kaito thought about bringing light novels into this world. He already had a contract with the printing press in Konoha, a great first step.
Konoha had a large population for a village. Kaito dared to estimate around fifty thousand ninja and civilians based on the number it contributed during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
And only a small percentage of that number had been registered as customers by the system.
Since he had awakened the system very late. Now he had to catch up so he wouldn't embarrass himself in the war.
That was when he developed a plan in his mind. Even planning to kidnap a certain black-haired man so he could draw manga for him.
"Hey! That doesn't sound bad". Kaito said aloud. Drawing the attention of several people inside.