The girl standing outside had smooth, thick red hair that fell all the way to her waist.
The tips of her hair swayed gently in the breeze like flames dancing in the wind.
Her Konoha forehead protector was worn neatly across her forehead.
A strand of red hair had been pinned beside her left temple with a small black hair clip, conveniently covering part of the forehead protector.
The girl had a small, soft oval-shaped face.
She wore a light beige cropped top decorated with purple stripes along the collar and hem, paired with a simple dark-green pleated skirt.
Under the afternoon sunlight, her slender, well-proportioned arms beneath her short sleeves and her smooth, fair thighs beneath the pleated skirt almost seemed to glow.
When the door opened and a young man’s face appeared, the girl’s lively eyes blinked softly.
A complicated mixture of concern and delight flashed through them.
“Thank goodness! I knocked on the right door!”
“Good afternoon, Rei~”
The girl gave him a slightly innocent smile.
Her large, bright black eyes curved into crescent moons as she tightened her grip on the basket she was carrying.
“Kushina… classmate?”
Shiranui Rei’s gaze traveled over the girl before finally settling on the basket in her hand.
If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the kind of vegetable basket every housewife in Konoha seemed to have.
They were sold everywhere in the market and were both practical and inexpensive.
A vegetable basket was, of course, meant for carrying vegetables.
Rei took a quick glance inside.
A bag of white powder, a small bottle of oil, a pork bone with meat still attached, several shiitake mushrooms, and a few eggs.
“Kushina, did you just go grocery shopping?”
Shiranui Rei had no idea why she had suddenly come to visit him.
Seeing that she seemed somewhat nervous, he took the initiative to start a conversation.
Going grocery shopping in the afternoon…
Well, for a shinobi, it wasn’t particularly strange.
After all, shinobi had relatively flexible working hours.
Sometimes they returned to the village after completing a mission in the morning, so going grocery shopping in the afternoon and cooking themselves a meal to reward their hard work was perfectly reasonable.
“Eh?”
“Um, I bought these for you, Rei!”
Kushina seemed to have only just remembered why she had come.
She quickly lifted the basket in her hand, her oval face showing a hint of nervousness.
At the same time, her lively eyes darted over Shiranui Rei as though searching for something.
“Huh? For me?”
Shiranui Rei pointed at his own face with his right index finger and blinked in confusion.
“Well, it’s like this…”
Seeing the bewildered look on the young man’s face, Kushina hurriedly put the basket down again and began explaining in a fluster.
“I bought these ingredients because I wanted to make dinner for you, Rei!”
For some reason, as she said this, Kushina’s fair face began to flush red.
Her eyes, which had previously met his so naturally, also started drifting toward the floor.
“Uh, this…”
The confusion and bewilderment on Shiranui Rei’s face didn’t diminish after Kushina explained.
If anything, they only became more pronounced because of what she had said and the way she was acting.
She had bought groceries and come all the way to his house to cook for him?
Had he heard that correctly?
When had their relationship become this close?
“Um, well, why don’t you come in first, Kushina?”
Leaving a guest awkwardly standing outside the door was certainly no way to treat someone.
Although Shiranui Rei still hadn’t figured out what was going on, he invited the girl inside.
“Excuse me!”
Kushina breathed a sigh of relief and walked into Shiranui Rei’s home with a bright smile, carrying the basket.
“This girl… is she a little airheaded?”
Looking at Kushina’s smile, Shiranui Rei smiled helplessly.
He seemed to have been infected by that pure, untainted smile.
As the girl passed by him and entered the house, a fresh, pleasant fragrance naturally brushed across his face.
His attention was soon drawn to Kushina’s next movement.
After placing the basket on the floor by the entrance, Kushina stood on one leg, bending the other backward at the knee.
Then she extended the arm on the same side backward as well, deftly using her fingers to slip off her ninja sandal, revealing her pale, pearl-like toes.
After sliding her little foot into the pair of beige women’s slippers on the floor, Kushina repeated the same motion and removed the other ninja sandal.
Seeing this, Shiranui Rei looked away as well.
After clearing his throat, he reached out and closed the door before leading Kushina into the living room.
“Kushina, it looks like the kitchen at your house hasn’t been used in a long time?”
Kushina lightly touched her chin with one hand as she looked toward the kitchen.
The stove and sink were spotless.
The brand-new cooking utensils were neatly arranged, but there were hardly any signs that they had ever actually been used.
“Well, that’s true, but let’s not focus on that right now.”
The corner of Shiranui Rei’s mouth twitched.
He hurriedly interrupted her before she could lead the conversation any further.
“Kushina, why did you suddenly think of coming over to make dinner for me? We don’t exactly…”
We don’t exactly have that kind of relationship, do we!?
The rest of the sentence sounded a little too blunt and hurtful, so Rei, whose emotional intelligence was still intact, decided not to say it aloud.
Faced with the young man’s confusion, Kushina proceeded to do something even more unexpected.
The red-haired girl leaned forward.
A strand of red hair beside her cheek even brushed against his face.
Then a fair, delicate palm, slightly smaller than his own hand, gradually filled his vision until…
It gently rested on top of his head.
The fourteen-year-old girl’s youthful face was filled with a mixture of shy blush and gentle concern.
She whispered, “Um, Tsunade-nee said that you accidentally ate a fruit that might have been poisonous, Rei. She said it might have caused some… problems with your mental state?”
“Rei, you have to stay strong! You’ll be fine after eating some delicious ramen!”
She withdrew her hand after gently rubbing his hair and clenched both fists in front of her chest, cheering him on.
The sweet fragrance that unreasonably invaded his nose, combined with her adorable, fair cheeks and delicate neck so close to him, made Shiranui Rei’s throat bob unconsciously.
However, the information contained in Kushina’s words made his expression darken.
Sure, Rei was happy to receive this kind of special treatment from her.
But that tone, as though she were caring for someone with a mental disorder…
Rei did not appreciate that part!
…
“Eh?!”
Five minutes later, after patiently listening to Shiranui Rei’s explanation, Kushina let out an embarrassed cry.
She tightly gripped the hem of her clothes with both hands.
Her originally fair face was now completely red, making her look like a plump, delicious little tomato.
“Rei, you’re not sick?!”
“…Yeah.”
Shiranui Rei helplessly nodded again.
He finally understood what had happened.
If he traced the matter back to its source, it all came down to the relationship between Tsunade and Kushina.
Back then, Mito Uzumaki had married Hashirama Senju, and their granddaughter was Tsunade.
Several years ago, Uzushiogakure had been destroyed.
As one of the surviving members of the Uzumaki clan and the next jinchuriki, Kushina had been escorted to Konoha, where she lived together with Mito Uzumaki.
As one of the few remaining members of the Uzumaki clan, Kushina was cherished by Mito like her own granddaughter.
Naturally, Kushina and Tsunade had also grown very close, with Kushina usually calling her “big sister” directly.
And perhaps after examining him that morning, Tsunade had said something to Kushina after returning home, causing the latter to believe that Rei had become sick from eating the fruit.
Kushina still remembered how Rei had saved her from the Cloud shinobi last time.
Out of gratitude, she had deliberately come to his home to take care of him.