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"Every time I see him like this… It's so embarrassing. It's not a good look."
"It's just the Eight-Tails. Although I scolded Minato, ninjas on the battlefield can't rely on others for protection. What do they call you? The White Fang? How about now? Have you become the Red Fang?"
The Nine-Tails, I understand the disdain for the Eight-Tails. After all, it has one more tail. But what does Kushina mean by disdaining the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki?
When it came to Haori's injury, Kushina usually scolded Minato in front of Minato, and scolded Haori in front of Haori. But that's just what she said. She naturally knew that the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki wasn't an ordinary ninja. Haori and Minato hadn't told her the details of what happened at the time. So, she really thought that Haori had been injured because he couldn't fight back.
Although she was very worried when she first heard the news, after Haori returned to Konoha, she never showed this worry. After all, that wasn't Kushina's personality.
If you were to say that she was scolding someone, she was really scolding. After all, Kushina doesn't have a tsundere personality. From her tone, she wished she had been on the battlefield at the time and could have directly taught Haori how to effectively deal with a tailed beast. But ultimately, she was still showing concern. Haori could tell, of course.
So, he quickly raised his hands in surrender. This was the time when Kushina would sometimes be overprotective. Every time she came to the hospital, she would almost repeat these few sentences.
After returning to Konoha, Haori stayed in the Konoha Hospital, cultivating his mind and body, resting and waiting for his body to slowly recover.
Haori was lying half-way on the bed, and Kushina was sitting on a chair next to him.
As for Kushina's complaints and scolding, Haori had explained himself properly at first. But after a while, he just ignored her.
So, he said, "Kushina-sensei, you don't need to come every day. After all, you're busy with the wedding."
Kushina would come to visit Haori every morning. Sometimes she would come a little earlier, sometimes a little later. Haori couldn't possibly dislike it. But the key point was that every time, she would bring over a large amount of homemade nutritious lunch, under the pretense of helping her disciple recover quickly… If you tasted it, it wouldn't taste homemade. It would taste more like a product from a factory assembly line.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't a food production assembly line. It was a chemical production assembly line.
In any case, since Kushina's nutritious lunch, Haori had been looking forward to dinner every day.
"There's not actually much to do for the wedding. At this time, it's just a simple ceremony. It's all just small stuff. I've handed it all over to Minato."
"Huh?"
Haori was completely dumbfounded. This was the first time he had heard of a bride being a hands-off manager. Who was marrying who? Who was marrying whom?
"Anyway, don't worry about it." Kushina waved her hand, indicating that this was over. To be honest, every time Haori mentioned this, she felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable.
Of course, she felt awkward. Haori's tone of admonition was as if he was going to marry his teacher, not his daughter.
"But, do you really not need to postpone the wedding?" Kushina asked again.
"No, absolutely not. I don't want to cause you any trouble." Haori quickly shook his head.
Kushina had said this more than once.
With Haori's current physical condition, he definitely wouldn't be able to attend Kushina's wedding. So, Kushina wanted to postpone the wedding until Haori recovered and could at least move around… But Haori objected. He couldn't help with anything, so if he was going to cause more trouble, he felt bad for Kushina.
"Anyway, there aren't many people. It's not a big deal. We just need to send out notifications again. But…" But never mind. Kushina didn't want her disciple to feel guilty about this.
"Speaking of which…"
"What?"
Kushina turned her head to look out the window first. After a while, she said, "None of my disciples will be able to attend the wedding."
Disciples… Actually, he and Minato only had two disciples left. The other two, of course, would never be able to attend.
"Kakashi can't come either?" Haori asked.
"Kakashi probably has an ANBU mission…" When you're in the ANBU, you don't have a choice. Besides, Kakashi isn't the kind of person who likes to join in the fun. Especially Kakashi at this time.
"Really…"
Haori didn't know what to say. In that case, as Kushina's only disciple, he really shouldn't be absent.
Should he attend the wedding with injuries? Should he get a wheelchair or a stretcher? That wouldn't make sense. It's a wedding. If he goes as a disabled person, he'll just cause more trouble.
Kushina saw the struggle on Haori's face, then she suddenly burst out laughing.
"What's wrong, Kushina-sensei?" Haori asked, confused.
Kushina remembered Haori from a few years ago. This expression was exactly the same.
"Speaking of which, Haori, you're already taller than me now."
"Really? …No, I'm not."
Haori hadn't really paid attention to his own age, height, or weight. So, he hadn't noticed this.
"Yes, you're 1.7 meters tall. You're a fist taller than me."
As expected of Kushina, using fists as a unit of height measurement.
"I'm a professional ninja. I can estimate that height."
So, professional ninjas can even estimate the height of someone who's lying down. Haori learned something new.
"I remember when I first met you, you were only this tall." Kushina said, gesturing a little above her knees.
This made Haori depressed.
Did sensei store her memories in her cerebellum? That's too exaggerated. He was taller than that when he was three years old.
"Speaking of which, that was a few years ago, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was a few years ago… Haori, you haven't changed much over the years."
"Change? I have changed a bit." Haori wished he had never changed, but he knew that he had changed a lot. But where exactly he had changed, he couldn't tell for the moment.
Haori fell silent for a moment.
"It's getting late. I have to go. I have wedding stuff to do. And being with young people like you makes me feel old."
After sitting there for a while, Kushina was about to leave. If it were her from before, she might not have cared about the wedding. But now, she wouldn't be like that.
People change.
"Remember to eat the lunch I made, Haori."
Kushina's admonition made Haori frown. It was her kindness. He should eat it. But honestly, why did he care so much about Kushina?
Haori didn't know the answer…
But did he really not know?
Actually, this question is very simple to explain, and at the same time, it's very complex to explain.
But this question can't be explained. And this question shouldn't be explained clearly.
It's good like this.
"It's been five years. I'm already fifteen years old. It feels… really awkward."
It's really awkward. Haori's actual age is already a multiple of fifteen. But he's still fifteen. Saying the word "fifteen" out loud feels like he's pretending to be younger.
He's the one who's really old.
Damn it. Why am I thinking about this? It's tiring.
It's not his fault. The word "marriage" always makes people think about birth, old age, sickness, and death. It makes them feel sentimental and nostalgic.
Haori's current task is to focus on recovering. And he should take this time to rest and think. He still has a lot to do. He probably won't get this kind of free time to rest again.
Anyway, he should eat the lunch that Kushina made, then take a nap.
Napping is a good habit.
However, Haori ended up oversimplifying the problem. After eating Kushina's nutritious lunch, the nutrients made it impossible for him to fall asleep peacefully.
Power.Up.
Was there half a pound of eight-year-old old-fashioned pickled cabbage in those nutrients?
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