That night, Kushina lay quietly in bed.
The bedroom was silent, so quiet she could clearly hear her own heartbeat.
Recalling her recent experiences, she found it difficult to fall asleep.
Kushina knew she was special.
Even among the Uzumaki clan, who were known for their large chakra reserves, she was the most special one.
Compared to other Uzumaki, she had even more chakra, higher quality chakra, and extremely strong suppressive power!
Kushina felt this might be the reason she was chosen to be sent to the Leaf Village.
But she didn't know the specific reason.
She only knew that she would live in the Leaf Village in the future and become a part of it.
Back in her clan, Kushina had heard that the Leaf Village was a staunch ally of the Village Hidden in the Eddies and was also the largest and most prosperous ninja village in the ninja world.
This made her look forward to it, but amidst this anticipation, there was also some anxiety.
She worried about being laughed at for being a country bumpkin, worried about her verbal tic being mocked, and worried about being bullied in this foreign land.
But fortunately... none of these things happened.
Tsunade-nee, who was responsible for taking care of her, was enthusiastic yet gentle. It was said she was the granddaughter of the First Hokage.
Her brother Nawaki, although looking a bit dim-witted, was equally enthusiastic and straightforward.
And that boy named Minato Namikaze... his cooking was really delicious!
Mmh, he was also very gentle!
Great!
It was really great not being rejected!
Kushina closed her eyes, rolled around on the bed wrapped in her quilt, a smile on her lips.
Tomorrow I'm going to school...
Thinking that she might make new friends tomorrow, Kushina was so excited she couldn't sleep. Fortunately, children fall asleep quickly, allowing her to enter dreamland in time.
Early the next morning, Kushina got up early, only to find that Minato was already preparing breakfast.
"Good morning."
Seeing Kushina up, Minato greeted her. "It's still early. You can sleep a bit longer."
"I... I don't have the habit of sleeping in!"
It was the first time the two were alone together. Kushina couldn't help but feel nervous and blurted out something contrary to her heart in a panic.
Actually, she loved sleeping in!
"Is that so."
Seeming to see through her insincerity, Minato chuckled lightly. "Then how about helping me?"
Maybe because she felt needed and found a sense of existence, Kushina's eyes lit up. "Sure, sure! What do you need me to do?"
"Help me boil a few eggs and heat two cartons of milk."
Minato took eggs and milk from the fridge and put a pot of water on the stove. "Put the eggs in after the water boils, take them out after eight minutes. After turning off the heat, just throw the milk cartons into the hot water to warm up."
"No problem, leave it to me!"
Kushina was full of motivation. Seeing Minato kneading something at the cutting board, she curiously leaned over. "What are you doing?"
"Lunch bento."
Minato extended his hand, holding a round rice ball covered in seaweed flakes.
"Today's lunch bento is pork belly rice balls, using the leftover charcoal-grilled pork belly from last night."
"Do you have to prepare so many things every day?"
Kushina found it incredible. She didn't expect Minato to even prepare bentos.
"Actually, most of the time, I leave it to my clones. But today the workload isn't much, so I decided to do it myself on a whim."
Minato smiled. He wasn't stupid.
The downside of Wood Clones was that they had to touch the main body to synchronize information.
But this also meant that without synchronizing information, the fatigue of the Wood Clones wouldn't be transferred to the main body.
So the first thing Minato did every morning was create a Wood Clone to make bentos, then he would wash up leisurely and hum a tune while making breakfast.
After making the bentos, the Wood Clone would consciously go to the yard and turn into a big tree or a wooden stake for the Shadow Clones to train with. A true tool-man.
Soon, breakfast was ready, and heavy, sleepy footsteps came from the living room.
"Yawn—Good morning."
Tsunade yawned as she walked into the kitchen, her gaze pausing on the two for a moment.
For some reason, seeing Kushina standing next to Minato, she suddenly felt an inexplicable annoyance.
"Tch!"
"???"
The two in the kitchen were bewildered.
Did she just click her tongue?
What happened?
Until Tsunade walked into the bathroom pouting, Kushina looked at Minato in confusion. "What's wrong with Tsunade-nee?"
"I don't know..."
Minato shook his head blankly. It was also his first time seeing Tsunade like this. Usually, Tsunade treated him extremely well.
Could it be her period?
Thinking of this, a flash of realization appeared in Minato's eyes.
Yes, that must be it!
After breakfast, Tsunade sent the three to school and personally took Kushina to the teacher's office.
Minato arrived at his classroom. As soon as he entered, girls immediately surrounded him.
"Good morning, Minato-kun~"
"Good morning."
"Ne, ne, Minato, does my new dress look good?"
"It suits you very well..."
Minato greeted them politely. "Listen, everyone. Today a friend of mine will transfer to our class. I hope everyone can get along well."
"Minato-kun's friend? Boy or girl?" Kaoru Koyaba asked subconsciously.
"Girl."
"Ehh—"
Several girls made noises of unclear meaning, seemingly hiding hostility, but no one embarrassed Minato.
"Then let's hope we can get along well~"
"Yeah, after all, she's Minato's friend."
Minato nodded and smiled, sitting by the window in the back row. He casually placed a textbook on the seat next to him, saving a seat for Kushina.
Seeing this, several girls who were eyeing the seat next to him had to give up helplessly.
"Tsk, that kid always loves showing off."
In the first row by the door, Kota looked in Minato's direction, sounding annoyed.
Perhaps because he was too popular with girls, Minato wasn't very popular among the boys. Except for Shinnosuke and a few others, other boys always seemed to harbor hostility when looking at him.
After all, boys get jealous too, and their aggression in this regard is even stronger.
"What can we do? He's strong. Even Shinnosuke isn't his match."
His neighbor, Tetsuo, sounded helpless. In the physical combat classes over the past two months, no one had ever beaten Minato. Therefore, even if people were unhappy, no one dared to provoke him easily.
"Hey! Seio, what do you say?"
Kota nudged the boy wearing large-framed glasses on his right.
The boy pushed up his glasses, the corner of his mouth twitching. "No matter how strong that guy is, he's just one person, right?"
Kota and Tetsuo exchanged glances, and then the three put their heads together, letting out malicious chuckles.
Soon, the class bell rang.
The students in the class returned to their seats. Ikkaku Umino walked into the classroom with Kushina.
Kushina looked past the classmates, nervously searching for Minato. She breathed a sigh of relief only when she saw Minato waving to her from the back row.
Ikkaku Umino spoke, "Eh, let me introduce everyone. This is the new student transferring to our school starting today..."
"I... My name is Kushina Uzumaki, 'ttebane!"
Perhaps because she was too nervous, before Ikkaku could finish, Kushina shouted loudly, blurting out her verbal tic 'ttebane (ya know) in the process.
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