Daily Life

Three weeks later, Shiro and the others returned to the village while training along the way, taking two weeks longer than they had on the trip out. Things would not be so easy from here on, though. After all, if they wanted to keep training leisurely after failing a mission, they had to pay some sort of price.

That was only possible because Shiro's team had members of the Uchiha and Nara clans. If it had been an ordinary civilian team, they might not have been able to apply even if they had completed the mission successfully.

All things considered, Shiro had benefited from Shikaki and Taichi to receive this kind of treatment.

"Go home and rest first. I'll report to the Hokage and pick up tomorrow's mission while I'm there. Get a good rest today. We'll meet at the village gate tomorrow morning."

"Yes!" ×3

"See you tomorrow, Taichi, Shikaki."

"Ahh... see you tomorrow. What a pain."

With that, Shikaki shook his head and headed home.

"Mm. See you tomorrow."

"I'm home."

"Hm? Shiro, you're back? Why did this take so long?"

"Oh, Captain Nakamura guided us in training on the way back, so we were delayed a little. Where's Dad?"

"I see. Then you should thank Captain Nakamura properly. Your father just went out. Do you want something to eat? I can warm some up for you."

"No, I already ate on the way back. Mom, I'm going to change first. I still need to deliver some things to them later."

"You just got back, so rest first. It won't be too late to deliver them tomorrow."

"I can't. I have another mission tomorrow." Shiro spoke as he headed toward his room.

"How can they do this? They won't even let you rest?" Shiro's mother, Keiko, said with a frown.

"Ah, there's nothing to be done. The village has been short on manpower lately. That leisurely training time didn't come for free."

"Then go change. I'll buy some groceries. Don't go out to eat again tonight. Honestly, you make it seem like we're strangers, and you're not even married yet!"

"Yes, yes, Mom, I know. Go buy something delicious."

"You really are something."

Although Keiko complained, she was actually very happy. Her child had grown up to be so mature and capable, and as his mother, she was proud.

He was just a little too mature. Ever since becoming a ninja and earning his own income, he had insisted on becoming financially independent. He often ate outside as well. If Makoto had not stopped him, Shiro would have already moved out.

Thinking of that, Keiko sighed. For a moment, she almost envied other families' foolish children.

But Shiro had his reasons for doing this. It was not that he disliked anything. After all, he already called them Dad and Mom, so there was no reason to fuss over such a small matter. The main reason he did not stay home was that he was not used to the food. Although eating habits in the world of the Hokage resembled those of China, there were still differences.

Eating it once in a while was fine, but Shiro could not stand eating it every day. After all, habits built over more than ten years were not so easily changed.

After sighing, Shiro's mother Keiko went out to buy groceries. It was already afternoon, and if she did not leave now, it would be too late.

"Hey, Shiro's mom, where are you off to?"

On the way to the market, Keiko ran into Nanako from next door. Nanako's child was also a ninja, though he was a year younger than Shiro and had performed slightly better than Shiro during their time at the academy. Because of that, Nanako often compared the two children.

Well, that was until Shiro's cheat arrived. Only then did she finally quiet down.

But Nanako might have wanted to stop, while Keiko did not. What a joke. Her son had finally become amazing—how could she not show him off? Nanako's child was not a girl, so there was no way Keiko needed to go easy on him.

So for a while, whenever Keiko saw Nanako, she relentlessly compared their children. During that period, Nanako would run whenever she saw Keiko.

Recently, though, Keiko had stopped bringing it up so often. First, the gap between them had become too large. One had not even graduated yet, while the other was already a Chunin. The graduation exams had not even begun, so there was no point in comparing them. Put simply, bullying her no longer felt satisfying.

Second, Nanako's son Okita had found himself a girlfriend recently. Whenever Keiko mentioned her son, Nanako would strike back with that!

Things like, "Has your son still not found a girlfriend?" "Sigh, that girl treats me so well." "This child is so thoughtless. All he knows is dating. Doesn't he consider Shiro's feelings? He's still single," and so on.

After all, in a world where someone could fall in love at four or five and love that person for the rest of their life, teenage romance was perfectly normal.

And in a world where romance started that early, if you did not make your move soon enough, you might end up spending your entire life with your best friend, like Kakashi and Guy.

Thus, Shiro, still single to this day, suffered a crushing defeat!

Ahem, back to the point. This was not filler.

Hearing Nanako's greeting, Keiko replied, "Sigh, my boy just got back and already has to go out on another mission. I came to buy some groceries and make him something delicious."

When Nanako heard Keiko mention her son Shiro, her instinctive response was to fire back. "What a coincidence, I'm buying groceries too. My son brought his girlfriend home again."

The moment the words left her mouth, Nanako sensed that something was wrong. Keiko had not shown off her son! Seeing Keiko's face suddenly darken, she gave an awkward laugh and hurried to make amends. "Haha... haha, what a coincidence. How about our families cook together? It's been a long time since our families got together."

Though Keiko and Nanako argued enthusiastically on ordinary days, the two families were actually very close. They had been neighbors for decades, after all.

So Keiko did not refuse. Nanako accompanied her to the market, since she had originally bought food for only one family, and it definitely would not be enough now.

Meanwhile, Shiro had no idea that the evening gathering had already been mixed with a generous serving of lovey-dovey affection. At that moment, he was accompanying Guy during his training. Shiro had already gone to see Kushina, but she was not home. Unfortunately, nearly everyone Shiro knew was out on missions.

Only Guy, who was not yet a ninja, remained. So Shiro came to keep Guy company.

It had to be said that Guy's future achievements were definitely not a coincidence. His dedication to training was downright terrifying.

For a child of nearly five to maintain such intense training without adult supervision was truly rare.

Watching Guy continue training, Shiro sighed. "He's incredible. If I'd had even half his enthusiasm for studying when I was young, getting into Tsinghua University or Peking University would have been easy!" Unfortunately, he had not.

When Guy's training session came to an end, Shiro immediately called out to him. "Guy, stop for a moment. Come over, I need to tell you something."

Guy jogged over and asked, "What is it, Brother Shiro?"

"Stop training for now. Come eat at my house later. Don't rush to refuse. Uncle Duy isn't home, so it's inconvenient for you to prepare food alone."

"I'm so moved, Brother Shiro! Yosh! To repay Brother Shiro's kindness, one hundred frog jumps on the spot!"

"."

Shiro stared speechlessly at Guy, who had already begun doing frog jumps. "Forget it. As long as you're happy."