As he walked just a few steps out of the room, a light fragrance suddenly tickled his nose.
It wasn't exactly familiar... but it definitely wasn't foreign either.
He turned his head in curiosity—only to see Karura now following closely beside him.
"Karura? What's up?"
Karura tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and her cold, porcelain-pale face showed a subtle hint of pink.
Her gaze landed on Rasa's face—one that couldn't be called especially handsome, but was at least above average—then quickly turned away.
"It's nothing. It's just that… we haven't seen each other for half a month. I thought maybe we could grab a meal together."
Only then did Rasa recall that his favorability with Karura had reached 29.
To Karura, they were already good friends.
Rasa hesitated for a moment. Before transmigrating, he had never had a girlfriend or even any female friends.
After work at 9:30 p.m., he'd return to his rented apartment, spend half an hour scrolling through news or videos, play games for about an hour, then shower and do laundry before going to bed at 11:30. A textbook example of a shut-in wage slave.
To be honest, his experience interacting with women was basically zero, so he wasn't sure how to respond.
Although Karura had turned her head away, she was still sneaking peeks at Rasa from the corner of her eye.
When she saw that he hadn't replied and appeared to be hesitating, she frowned for a split second and crossed her arms instinctively.
A faint frost settled on her otherwise cool and beautiful expression. Her typically emotionless voice now carried a hint of grievance:
"What? Has the future Fourth Kazekage started looking down on his old friend already?"
Rasa's face immediately showed an awkward expression as he waved his hands and explained:
"How could that be? I was just thinking about where we should eat."
Seeing Rasa's flustered face, Karura's heart unexpectedly fluttered with joy.
Her expression quickly softened, though her voice returned to its usual cool tone:
"Where to eat, huh? Going to one of the village's restaurants sounds like a hassle."
"If two jōnin like us go out to eat, people will crowd around for sure. Plus, the food there isn't even good."
Having dismissed the idea of eating out, a blush crept onto her cheeks—something even she didn't notice. She turned her head slightly and added:
"I don't think you've ever been to my place, have you? We're such good friends, and yet you've never visited my home. That's not right."
"Let's just go to my place. You can try my cooking."
Hearing a line that could be interpreted in many ways, Rasa knew that at a favorability of 29, nothing serious would happen.
She probably just saw him as a good friend and was being hospitable.
But as a man—especially one who had been single for all 23 years of his life—Rasa couldn't help but glance at Karura's chest, which was even more prominent due to her crossed arms.
His gaze naturally slid toward her exposed underarms—she was wearing a sleeveless outfit. The skin was pale and flawless, smooth as porcelain, not a single hair in sight.
Then his eyes drifted lower, past her dramatically narrow waist, to her long legs.
Finally, they stopped at her toes—peeking out from her standard ninja sandals.
Her toes were perfectly shaped and translucent, the big toe full and round, the others dainty and evenly spaced—clearly an Egyptian foot type.
As he stared at her feet—like little works of art—Rasa couldn't help but imagine how beautiful they must look without the sandals.
Considering the Sand Village's frequent sandstorms, the blistering sun, and the almost total lack of cloudy days, it amazed him that female shinobi from Suna could maintain such fair skin.
After a few more seconds, Rasa finally tore his gaze away with some reluctance, nodded, and walked toward the door.
If this had been back in the modern world, he never would've dared stare at a woman like that for a full ten seconds.
But ever since transmigrating into the Naruto world and gaining a golden finger—after persuading an entire room of elites during that meeting—his personality had started to subtly change.
His once-hidden traits were beginning to surface.
It was a subtle shift, one even Rasa himself hadn't noticed yet.
Kakura followed behind him silently, her graceful stride swaying her pert hips slightly, her cheeks still faintly pink.
She had absolutely noticed Rasa's bold, extended gaze.
If it had been anyone else, her fiery temper would've flared up long ago.
But this was her best male friend, Rasa—her only one, really.
She didn't even have the heart to scold him, much less hit him. She didn't want to ruin their friendship.
And for some reason she couldn't quite name, the attention… made her feel oddly happy.
Yashaka, who had been waiting at the door, immediately lit up when she saw Rasa emerge.
She was just about to say something when she noticed Kakura trailing right behind him.
Seeing this, Yashaka hesitated for a moment.
Her eyes dimmed slightly, but her gaze couldn't help but drift toward Kakura.
After watching her silently for a few seconds, she withdrew her gaze, eyelids growing heavy.
With a faint, self-deprecating smile, she gave up on her original plan to invite Rasa over to her home.
Rasa, of course, had no idea what was going through Yashaka's mind.
He simply greeted her as usual and started heading down the stairs.
Kakura followed closely beside him.
As she passed Yashaka, she cast her a subtle, knowing glance.