"K-Kushina-sensei?"
Chiba, who had pulled open the sliding door of the Japanese-style wooden house, blinked at the red-haired beauty standing outside. She seemed about to open the door herself, her hand still suspended in midair. He spoke without thinking.
He had only just decided to go find Kushina, yet before he had even stepped outside, the person herself was already standing at the door. It truly caught Chiba off guard.
"Hm? Chiba, you're actually not training?"
Kushina was clearly just as surprised. She looked at Chiba, her hand still hanging in the air, and said exactly that.
Uh...
Chiba's mouth twitched slightly.
By now, he was almost at a loss for words whenever Kushina spoke in that surprised tone, as though it were something utterly strange for him to have free time.
Though he wanted to say that he rested too, upon thinking it over, he really had hardly ever rested. When there were missions, he went on missions. When there were none, he cultivated, cultivated, cultivated; trained, trained, trained. In other people's eyes, he really did seem to never rest.
No wonder Kushina was so surprised.
In fact, it seemed that sometimes—or perhaps most of the time—whenever people saw him heading out or looking idle, they would react with that same surprise, especially during the hours when he would normally be training.
And right now seemed to be one of his usual training periods as well.
After all, he had finished his Forbidden Jutsu training early today and was planning to prepare for the New Year with Kushina.
Although this reaction, as though he would never rest in his life, made him uncomfortable, he truly could not think of anything to say in rebuttal.
"No, actually, I..."
All he could do was offer the explanation he probably ought to