That Time of the Month

That night, Kushina lay quietly in bed.

The bedroom was silent, so still that she could even hear her own heartbeat.

As she thought back over everything that had happened recently, she found it hard to fall asleep.

Kushina knew she was special.

Even among the Uzumaki Clan, where everyone had huge reserves of chakra, she was the most exceptional.

Like the others in the Uzumaki Clan, she had more chakra than most people—and hers was even greater in both quantity and quality. She also had an astonishing ability to suppress others' chakra!

Kushina thought that might be why she had been chosen to come to Konoha.

But she didn't know the exact reason.

All she knew was that she would live in Konoha in the future and become one of its people.

Back when she was still with her clan, Kushina had heard that Konoha was Uzushio Village's steadfast ally, as well as the largest and most prosperous ninja village in the Shinobi World.

She had been looking forward to it, but that anticipation came with a touch of anxiety.

She worried people would laugh at her for being a country bumpkin, mock her catchphrase, or bully her in this foreign land.

But fortunately... none of that happened.

Tsunade, the older sister looking after her, was warm and gentle. She was also said to be the First's granddaughter.

Her younger brother, Nawaki, didn't look too bright, but he was just as warm and straightforward.

And that boy named Minato Namikaze... his cooking was really good!

Mm, and he was gentle, too!

This was great!

It was really great not to be excluded!

Kushina closed her eyes, clutched her blanket, and rolled around in bed twice, a faint smile on her lips.

She was going to school tomorrow...

The thought that she might make new friends tomorrow excited Kushina so much that she could barely fall asleep. Fortunately, children got sleepy quickly, and she soon drifted off.

Early the next morning, Kushina got out of bed and discovered that Minato was already making breakfast.

"Good morning."

When he saw Kushina get up, Minato greeted her. "It's still early. You can go back to sleep for a while."

"I... I'm not in the habit of sleeping in!"

It was the first time the two of them had been alone together, and Kushina couldn't help feeling nervous. In her haste, she blurted out a lie.

Actually, she loved sleeping in!

"I see."

As if he could tell she didn't mean it, Minato chuckled. "Then how about you help me with something?"

Perhaps because being needed made her feel useful, Kushina's eyes lit up. "Sure! What do you need me to do?"

"Boil a few eggs and warm up two cartons of milk."

Minato took the eggs and milk from the fridge and set a pot of water on the stove. "Once the water boils, put the eggs in. Take them out after eight minutes. Then turn off the heat and put the milk cartons in the hot water to warm them up."

"No problem! Leave it to me!"

Kushina was full of energy. She saw Minato kneading something at the cutting board and curiously leaned over to take a look. "What are you making?"

"Lunch."

Minato held out a round rice ball covered in crumbled seaweed.

"Today's lunch is pork belly rice balls. I'm using the grilled pork belly left over from last night."

"Do you have to prepare so much every day?"

Kushina couldn't believe it. She hadn't expected Minato to even make his own lunch.

"Most of the time, I have a clone do it. But there isn't much to do today, so I felt like making it myself."

Minato smiled. He wasn't stupid, after all.

The drawback of the Wood Clone was that it had to touch the original to synchronize information.

But that also meant that, before the information was synchronized, the Wood Clone's fatigue wouldn't be passed on to the original.

So the first thing Minato did every morning was make a Wood Clone to prepare lunch. Then he could take his time washing up and make breakfast while humming a tune.

After finishing the lunch, the Wood Clone would head out to the yard on its own and turn into a tree or a wooden post for the Shadow Clones to train on—a genuine tool through and through.

Soon, breakfast was ready, and a weary, heavy tread sounded from the living room.

"Yaaawn—good morning."

Tsunade came into the kitchen, yawning, and paused to glance at the two of them.

For some reason, seeing Kushina standing next to Minato suddenly made Tsunade feel inexplicably annoyed.

"Tch!"

"???"

The two in the kitchen stared at her, bewildered.

Had she just clicked her tongue?

What was going on?

Only after Tsunade entered the bathroom with her lips pursed did Kushina turn to Minato, puzzled. "What's wrong with Tsunade?"

"I don't know..."

Minato shook his head blankly. It was the first time he'd seen Tsunade act like that. She was usually very nice to him.

Could she be on her period?

At the thought, a look of realization flashed through Minato's eyes.

Right, that had to be it!

After breakfast, Tsunade took the three of them to school and personally escorted Kushina to the teachers' office.

Minato had only just entered his classroom when several girls immediately gathered around him.

"Good morning, Minato!"

"Good morning."

"Hey, Minato, do you think my new skirt looks nice?"

"It suits you..."

Minato greeted them politely. "Listen, everyone. A friend of mine is transferring into our class today. I hope you'll all get along."

"Minato's friend? A boy or a girl?" Kaoru Koyaba asked without thinking.

"A girl."

"Ehh—"

The girls let out a chorus of ambiguous sounds that seemed to carry a hint of hostility, but none of them wanted to slight Minato.

"Well, I hope we'll get along~"

"Yeah, she is Minato's friend, after all."

Minato smiled and nodded, then sat by the window in the back row. He set his textbook on the seat beside him, saving a spot for Kushina.

The girls who had been eyeing the seat next to him had no choice but to give up when they saw that.

"Tsk. That guy always knows how to steal the spotlight."

Kotai, seated in the first row by the door, watched Minato and grumbled.

Maybe because he was so popular with the girls, Minato had never been very popular with the boys. Apart from Shinnosuke and a few others, the boys always seemed to look at him with hostility.

After all, boys could get jealous, too—and they could be even more aggressive about it.

"What can you do? The guy's strong. Even Shinnosuke can't beat him."

Tetsuo, seated next to him, sounded resigned. In the two months of Taijutsu sparring classes, no one had ever beaten Minato. So even if some people resented him, no one dared to provoke him lightly.

"Hey, Shio, what do you think?"

Kotai nudged the boy with thick-rimmed glasses on his right.

The boy pushed up his glasses and curled his lips into a smirk. "No matter how strong that guy is, he's still just one person, right?"

Kotai and Tetsuo exchanged a glance. Then the three of them leaned their heads together and let out a sinister chuckle.

Soon, the bell rang.

The students returned to their seats, and Ikkaku Umino led Kushina into the classroom.

Kushina scanned the class nervously, searching for Minato. She didn't relax until she spotted him seated in the back, waving to her.

Ikkaku Umino began, "All right, let me introduce you to everyone. This is the student transferring to our school starting today—"

"I... I'm Kushina Uzumaki, dattebane!"

Perhaps because she was so nervous, Kushina couldn't wait for Ikkaku Umino to finish. She steeled herself and shouted, even adding her catchphrase, "dattebane."