Uzumaki Kushina

The next day, at noon.

The Commercial Street was packed with people, and cries from the vendors rose and fell.

Namikaze Minato wore casual clothes, his hands in his pockets. He had deliberately slowed his pace to match the person beside him.

Walking beside him was a girl with a waterfall of scarlet hair—Uzumaki Kushina.

She held two skewers of Three-color Dango, her cheeks bulging like a hamster in the middle of a meal.

As she chewed the soft, sticky rice dumplings, she curiously looked over the shops on either side of the street. Her red hair swayed gently behind her with every movement.

"Slow down. Nobody's going to steal them from you."

Minato turned his head, his gaze settling on the sweet soy sauce at the corner of her mouth.

With effortless ease, he took a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket. Rather than handing it to her, he reached out and gently wiped away the sauce.

Kushina's body stiffened, and her chewing came to a brief halt.

"Y-you're so fussy! We hardly ever get to go out, so of course I'm going to eat my fill!"

She hurriedly turned her head away. Her ears flushed visibly, and to hide her embarrassment, she bit down harder on the dumpling and mumbled through her mouthful.

Passing an accessories shop, Kushina slowed to a stop.

Her gaze lingered on a hair clip displayed prominently in the window.

It was deep red and finely made, but to Kushina, its color was far too similar to her "strange" red hair.

She instinctively touched her hair. A shadow of the childhood teasing she'd endured flickered in her eyes. She started to reach for the clip, then pulled her hand back and pretended nothing had happened as she turned to leave.

"Shopkeeper, I'll take that hair clip."

A warm voice sounded beside her.

Before Kushina could react, a golden flash flickered.

Minato was already standing in front of her with the hair clip in hand.

"I don't—"

"It suits you." Minato cut off her protest. His clear blue eyes, bright in the sunlight, gazed earnestly at her. "Your red hair is beautiful. This will make you look even livelier."

Without waiting for Kushina's permission, he gently brushed aside the loose strands beside her ear and clipped it into place.

"Just as I thought. It looks great." Minato stepped back, smiling with satisfaction.

Kushina touched the hair clip and looked at the boy's smile. Her heart betrayed her with a skipped beat.

But the sweetness didn't last long.

About fifty meters behind them, in the shadows atop a roof, two masked Anbu Ninja silently changed positions. The feeling of being watched clung to them like a shadow.

As the future vessel of the Nine-Tails, Kushina's movements were strictly restricted.

For her, strolling down the street with a friend like this was a rare luxury.

Noticing the eyes on her from behind, Kushina's excitement faded. The blush on her face receded, and a trace of disgust and dejection flashed in her eyes.

"Like I'm some kind of criminal..." she murmured, instinctively trying to put some distance between herself and Minato. She didn't want him to be watched like this because of her.

But as she began to pull her hand away, a warm, firm hand clasped it.

"Don't mind them."

Minato quietly stepped to her far side, shielding her from the spying eyes and the shadows with his own body.

He held her tightly, the warmth of his palm passing through her skin.

"Hokage-sama made a point of telling them not to come too close today, as long as I'm here."

Minato's voice was gentle and assured, carrying a comforting strength. "He said he trusts you in my company."

Kushina froze as she looked at their joined hands.

The boy who had once seemed a little girlish at the Ninja Academy had grown into a dependable shinobi whom even the Hokage trusted. He could even give her a little patch of freedom in this cage full of watchful eyes.

"Hmph..."

Kushina turned her face away, not wanting Minato to see her reddened eyes. She insisted, "W-who said I need you to protect me? I'm strong! If they come over here, I'll knock them flying!"

Despite her words, her fingers quietly curled around Minato's hand, gripping it tightly.

The two were about to turn into a nearby alley, a shortcut to the park.

"Based on my observations, the distance between you is negative. Minato's heart rate also appears to be twenty percent higher than usual, and the capillaries in his face are dilated. From a biological perspective, this is a state of elevated dopamine secretion during courtship."

A flat, emotionless voice suddenly came from the alley entrance.

Minato and Kushina stopped in their tracks as if struck by lightning.

Nishikawa Tetsu was leaning against the wall, holding a bag of freshly purchased experimental materials—several lively frogs.

He looked at the two of them with a teasing expression.

"Tetsu?" Minato asked in surprise, but didn't let go of Kushina's hand. "What are you doing here?"

"Restocking supplies." Nishikawa Tetsu gave the bag of frogs a shake. "And observing Konoha's ecological environment. I didn't expect to run into you two on a date."

"A-a date?!"

Kushina sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She tried to yank her hand free, only to find Minato gripping it even tighter.

Her face turned as red as a ripe tomato. "W-who's on a date with him?! We're just... just going the same way! We're out shopping!"

"The same way?"

Nishikawa Tetsu expressionlessly pointed at the brand-new red hair clip on Kushina's head.

"If I remember correctly, you didn't use to wear hair clips. And besides..."

Nishikawa Tetsu looked at Minato, his gaze lingering for a second on their clasped hands. A mischievous smile tugged at his lips.

"Minato, looks like your speed isn't just useful on the battlefield. You're making pretty good progress in other areas too. At this rate, should I start preparing a gift for the baby's month-old celebration?"

That sort of joke, with its distinctly adult implications, was like a nuclear strike against two innocent teenagers.

Minato's handsome face instantly turned bright red, all the way to his neck. He scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, his gaze wandering. "Uh... Tetsu, don't joke about that. You're getting way ahead of things..."

Kushina, meanwhile, was on the verge of exploding.

Her hair stood on end one strand at a time, and it was as if blazing flames had erupted behind her. She was completely furious.

"NI-SHI-KA-WA TET-SU!"

Her roar rang through the street, startling pigeons from the rooftops.

"You pervert! All you ever think about is dirty stuff! Shut up!"

BAM!

Before Nishikawa Tetsu could react, a fist filled his vision, rapidly growing larger.

It was the furious iron fist of the "Blood Red Pepper."

Nishikawa Tetsu felt a sharp pain in the top of his head. As if he'd been planted like a green onion, he was driven halfway into the ground, leaving only his smoking head above the surface.

"Hmph!"

Kushina pulled back her fist and blew the dust off it. Hands on her hips, red hair flying, she looked like an enraged goddess of war.

"That's what you get for running your mouth! Say something stupid again, and I'll turn you into a specimen and put you in with those frogs!"

With that, her face still red, she grabbed the stunned Minato by the hand. Her strength was astonishing.

"Minato, let's go! Ignore that annoying guy. We're getting ramen!"

Minato stumbled along as she dragged him away. He could only look back at Nishikawa Tetsu, still stuck in the dirt like a radish, and give him an apologetic, helpless smile as he silently mouthed, "Take care."

The two of them went off, bickering. Beneath the setting sun, their shadows stretched long, then eventually merged into one.

The nearby Anbu were all rather impressed by the black-haired kid. He'd dared to provoke the "Blood Red Pepper"—he had guts.

Nishikawa Tetsu struggled to pull himself out of the hole. He brushed the dirt from his head, hissed, and rubbed the bump.

"Yikes... So this is the Uzumaki Clan's constitution? What a punch."

He watched the direction they'd gone, but there was no anger in his eyes. Instead, a faint smile flickered across them.

Seeing the two of them so full of life, laughing and squabbling in a village so full of surveillance and oppression, wasn't a bad thing.

"But she sure looks lively."

Nishikawa Tetsu picked up the bag of frogs from the ground and dusted it off.

"All right, I've had my fill of lovey-dovey nonsense. Time to get back to work."

He turned and headed in the opposite direction, his expression once again calm and inscrutable.