46: The Bathing Incident

"How could this happen?" Ye Yuexin muttered under his breath.

But Might Guy heard him.

Then, brimming with passionate enthusiasm, he said, "The mission we completed when we took down Taiyuan Zeng was already rated A+. And the one you completed when you took down Tugang—he seems to have been quite famous in Iwagakure, so that mission has now been rated S."

"Finally, our people at the main base seized the opportunity to visit the Rock Ninja's main base again and discovered that no one was left inside."

"So this time, we can say we completed the mission to destroy the Rock Ninja's border defense headquarters, too. That mission was rated S overall."

"On top of the A-rank mission that was upgraded after your first mission, your record now has two A-rank missions and two S-rank missions. So Lord Third Hokage promoted you straight to Elite Chunin, skipping the ranks in between."

"This is youth! I never expected you to catch up with us seniors so quickly, Yuexin. I've decided to double my training from now on. I won't let you geniuses beat me that easily!"

In the end, Might Guy was off hyping himself up.

Ye Yuexin no longer had the energy to listen.

This had gotten out of hand. He wasn't ready to become a Chunin yet.

If he became a Chunin this suddenly, would he lose the "Konoha Genin" halo?

Might Guy and the others didn't stay in the hospital room for long. After Kurenai Yuhi saw that they showed no sign of leaving, she started shooing them out.

Once they were both gone, Ye Yuexin opened the lunch box Ebisu had brought.

To his surprise, it held two meals. One of them was clearly meant for a patient.

How thoughtful.

Ye Yuexin and Kurenai Yuhi began eating breakfast together.

After breakfast, Ye Yuexin started checking his injuries.

Even when he watched the anime, he'd felt that medical ninjutsu in the Naruto world was downright unfair.

Now that he'd experienced it firsthand, he realized it really was incredible.

The wound in his lower abdomen had gone all the way through, and he'd probably suffered internal bleeding.

Yet it had nearly healed already. When he lifted his shirt, the wound had long since scabbed over.

He could move around a little without any trouble.

The injuries on his arm and thigh had healed even more completely. Tender new flesh had already grown over them.

Ye Yuexin felt ready to leave the hospital right then and there.

To be honest, he really didn't like staying in hospitals. So, despite Kurenai Yuhi trying to stop him, he still went ahead and completed the discharge paperwork.

"Damn, I forgot to open the windows."

The moment he entered his little home, he was met by a strange smell.

It was the stuffy odor of a room that hadn't been aired out in too long.

Kurenai Yuhi hurried over to the window and opened it.

The air slowly freshened as it circulated.

"You're still such a neat freak, Yuexin. I'll leave the room to you from now on, okay~?"

Kurenai Yuhi glanced around the room and smiled at Ye Yuexin. Her alluring, mature charm was on full display again.

Ye Yuexin cared a lot about his living space, so he kept the room tidy. At least he wasn't embarrassed by a mess.

"Sorry for the trouble, Kurenai. Thanks for bringing me home," Ye Yuexin said with a smile, ignoring her teasing remark.

"You're too formal, Yuexin."

As she spoke, Kurenai Yuhi headed toward a small room.

Anko used to live in that little room.

Even now, she still came over to stay for a few days whenever she felt like it.

Kurenai Yuhi used to hang out with Anko in that room, too.

Ye Yuexin had just sat down on the sofa when he saw Kurenai Yuhi come out carrying Anko's clothes.

"What are you doing?" Ye Yuexin asked, taken aback.

He'd thought she'd gone to rest in Anko's room.

From the look of her, she clearly hadn't gotten much rest.

"Taking a bath, of course~ You know, between the mission and everything else, I haven't bathed in four days. I feel awful."

Kurenai Yuhi looked at Ye Yuexin, who seemed confused.

Of course he knew. He just wanted to ask why she said it so casually.

"No, I mean, aren't you going to go home and bathe?"

"I'd be alone at home anyway. Besides, you're still injured, Yuexin. When I'm not on a mission, I can help Anko look after you."

Help Anko look after him? She actually had the nerve to say that.

He'd be grateful if Anko didn't need him to look after her.

With that, Kurenai Yuhi went into the bathroom. Ye Yuexin was just getting up to grab some water when the bathroom door suddenly opened.

Kurenai Yuhi poked her head out. "Do you need a bath? The doctor said your abdominal wound is mostly healed, but it might still be hard for you to manage. Want me to help you wash?"

"Cough, cough, cough!" Ye Yuexin choked on the water.

"No, no. You go ahead. I'll just wash up myself afterward." To be honest, he'd almost lost his composure just then.

That was temptation in its purest form.

But I'm too small. Yes, he meant himself.

"Are you embarrassed, Yuexin? You've already seen my body, so why are you still so shy?"

"Enough, stop talking. That's not the same thing! Hurry up and take your bath."

"Hmph." The bathroom door slammed shut.

It seemed Kurenai Yuhi was at the age where she was becoming curious about the opposite sex's body.

For Ye Yuexin, though, being this age meant nothing but awkwardness.

After calming himself down, Ye Yuexin quickly took out the waist pouch he'd brought back from the hospital.

He let out a long sigh of relief when he checked what was inside.

Everything was still there.

Might Guy must have brought it back for him.

He'd also returned all three of Ye Yuexin's throwing knives, which put his mind at ease.

Since he was recovering now, Ye Yuexin decided to use the time to improve his abilities as much as he could.

Not because he wanted to become powerful, but so he wouldn't end up in a situation like this again, unable to escape even when he tried.

Ye Yuexin put the scrolls away for the moment, intending to look through them after Kurenai Yuhi left.

He waited outside for a while.

Then Kurenai Yuhi came out.

With the dust washed from her body, she looked as delicate as a flower emerging from the water.

Her half-dry hair fell casually over her partly bare shoulders.

She was captivating, especially with Kurenai Yuhi's mature demeanor and features. Ye Yuexin found her very alluring.

"I'm done. You can go wash now. Just put your dirty clothes on the bath stand, and I'll wash them all together later."

Kurenai Yuhi was wearing Anko's pajamas.

"Oh, okay." Ye Yuexin hurried into the bathroom.

The room still smelled strongly of flowers.

It was the scent of Anko's body wash, though it somehow smelled a little different to Ye Yuexin.

Still, he was finally able to take a bath, which was a good thing.

Ye Yuexin had gone almost a whole week without bathing.

He hadn't felt much earlier, but as soon as he entered the bathroom, he too felt uncomfortable all over.

So he immediately began taking off his clothes.

Just as he was about to put them on the bath stand,

he suddenly caught sight of a small triangular, pale pink object.

Three strawberries were printed on it.

Damn, it was a pair of panties.

They were sitting right on top of the clothes Kurenai Yuhi had taken off.

Even little kids these days know how to use seduction? Isn't this practically asking someone to commit a crime?

Ye Yuexin quickly covered them with his own clothes.

He admitted his heart had sped up a little just then.

But at his age, none of that mattered.

Besides, Ye Yuexin wasn't some pervert. Why would he be interested in that sort of thing?

But just as he was about to bathe, he suddenly thought of something.

Anko didn't wear underwear. They were still young, after all, and hadn't started menstruating yet.

(This wasn't something Ye Yuexin had learned by spying. They'd lived together for so long, and they usually hung their laundry up together.)

If Kurenai Yuhi's underwear was here, didn't that mean she wasn't wearing any now?

At once, all sorts of thoughts and vivid images filled his mind.

It wasn't really his fault. His adult soul had a bit of a perverted streak.

What man hadn't watched Japanese martial arts movies?

Damn it! What am I thinking? Ye Yuexin shook his head.

He shoved all those random thoughts out of his mind.

He felt like something was wrong with him. Why was he thinking about things so inappropriate for his age?

But what could he do? He had the soul of an adult.

The harder he tried not to think about something, the more it kept popping into his mind. Ye Yuexin's bath left him feeling rather hot and bothered.

After his bath, even Ye Yuexin, thick-skinned as he was, came out blushing.

Then he hurried to his room.

He hung up the underwear he'd washed along the way.

He wasn't so shameless. He waited until Kurenai Yuhi had finished washing the clothes before he finally managed to settle down a little.