Konoha Hospital (Bonus Chapter for Reaching 100 Favorites!)

The biting cold wind carried snowflakes as a little boy in tattered yellow clothes paced back and forth in front of a shop.

Naruto raised his hand several times, wanting to knock on the door, but each time he hesitated and pulled it back. He simply stood outside, staring blankly at the shop's door, lost in thought.

"Why is that demon fox here? Just looking at him makes me sick."

"Forget it, why talk about him? Stay away from him. Who knows when he'll turn into a monster again."

"Exactly. Poor little Feng, getting blocked at his own doorstep by that demon fox."

The pedestrians on both sides of the street looked at the unmoving figure with disgust, their mouths constantly spitting cruel remarks.

Naruto clenched his fists as he listened to the hurtful words around him. He was clearly used to hearing them by now, so why did he feel so angry this time?

Naruto wanted to tell them that he was not a monster, but his long years of experience told him it would be useless.

With his head lowered, his face hidden from view, Naruto ignored the venomous words of the passersby and stood quietly in the wind and snow, waiting.

"Ha... I won't do it again, ha... I won't do it again! Let me go, Feng!"

Ino laughed breathlessly as Samu Kokaze pinned her in a snowbank and tickled her. Her little face was red from the cold as she put on a pitiful expression and begged for mercy.

"Hmph... I'll let you off this time. If there's a next time, I definitely won't go easy on you!" Samu Kokaze snorted. Looking at the pitiful Ino lying on the ground, he stood up, pulled her from the snowbank, and brushed the snow from her clothes.

"Hehe..." Ino stuck out her little tongue after getting up and tugged on Samu Kokaze. "Hurry up and go to the hospital. Aunt Muzi will be getting off work soon."

"Aunt Muzi?" Samu Kokaze asked from behind her, puzzled.

"Mm!" Ino nodded seriously and said excitedly, "Aunt Muzi is my mom's friend, and she's really good at medical ninjutsu. Swelling like yours will be healed in no time."

"I see." Samu Kokaze replied from behind her, then said nothing more.

Konoha Hospital was not far from where they had been playing. Before long, Ino led Samu Kokaze inside and, familiar with the route, brought him to the door of an office.

Knock, knock, knock...

Ino clenched her little fist and knocked on the door while shouting, "Aunt Muzi! Are you here?"

Click...

Just as Ino finished speaking, the office door was pushed open from within.

A figure in a white coat came into view, standing at least six feet tall.

Her long, straight legs and voluptuous figure, paired with an intelligent-looking face of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, gave her the air of a mature beauty.

"Little Ino, what brings you to Auntie?"

A slightly husky voice rang out. The woman called Aunt Muzi raised a hand and rubbed Ino's little head, looking at her with pleasant surprise.

"Aunt Muzi, I came to ask for your help. He is..."

"Ah! Is this little guy Ino's boyfriend? I never expected you to bring your boyfriend here to show Aunt Muzi. Auntie is so touched!" Before the blushing, slightly shy Ino could finish, the mature beauty Muzi covered her mouth and spoke in feigned surprise.

"Aunt Muzi!!!" Ino shouted, her entire neck turning red with embarrassment, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Oh my! It seems our little Ino is embarrassed! Does your mother know? It looks like I'll have to visit the flower shop after work and tell her this wonderful news!"

Seeing Ino's bright-red face, Muzi became even more eager to tease her. Resting her chin on her hand, she let her gaze travel back and forth between the two of them.

"Ah! I'm ignoring you!" Ino, flushed from embarrassment, turned her gaze behind her and glared threateningly at Samu Kokaze.

Seeing Ino's face turn red enough to seem as though steam might rise from her head, Samu Kokaze gave a wry smile with his swollen face when her threatening gaze shifted to him. He stepped forward, bowed slightly, and greeted her.

"Aunt Muzi, sorry to trouble you."

"Oh! What a polite little fellow. Are you asking me to talk some sense into Ino's parents? Don't worry, Aunt Muzi agrees!"

Muzi straightened up and patted her bouncing chest, smiling as she spoke.

Samu Kokaze gave a wry smile. "Please stop joking with us."

Muzi looked at little Ino, who had turned her head away and refused to look at her, then at the boy in front of her with a miserable expression. She shook her head in boredom, walked into the office, and beckoned to them.

"Come in! You two little ones really can't take a joke. What did you come to Auntie for?"

Sitting in her office chair with one leg crossed over the other, Muzi displayed her beautiful figure to the fullest as she looked at the two children entering the room and asked.

Seeing that Ino was still too embarrassed and angry to speak, Samu Kokaze could only step forward. "I'm sorry, but could you please treat the injury on my face, Aunt Muzi?"

"Come over and let me see!"

Hearing that, Muzi's expression immediately turned serious, completely unlike before.

"Did you get into a fight? The injury isn't that serious. It'll heal on its own in a couple of days. What, are you worried about your little sweetheart?"

Her seriousness lasted less than a second before Muzi, seated in her office chair, teased Ino again.

"Hmph!" Ino snorted, her face red, and turned away without looking at her.

"Tsk, tsk." Muzi pursed her lips and looked seriously at Samu Kokaze. "I'll let it go this time for little Ino's sake. But if you get hurt fighting again, Aunt Muzi won't treat you next time!"

With that alluring face less than an inch from his own, Samu Kokaze leaned back and nodded with a wry smile.

Samu Kokaze had not planned to explain the injury on his face. No matter what, it had been caused by a fight. Explaining now would probably only leave a worse impression.

From all the subtle probing since they had met, it was clear that this mature woman Ino called Aunt Muzi cared deeply about Ino.

"He wasn't hurt because he got into a fight!"

Just as Samu Kokaze was about to receive treatment, Ino's indignant shout rang out.

The chakra gathering in Muzi's hand paused. She gave Samu Kokaze a half-smiling glance and asked Ino, "Then how did he get that injury on his face? Don't tell me he fell."

As she spoke, she covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Ino!" Samu Kokaze snapped softly, shooting her a slightly reproachful look.

Ino ignored his gaze and shouted emotionally, "Feng only went up to reason with them because he wanted to help a child who was being bullied! He didn't start a fight on purpose!"

"Oh." Muzi drew out the word. Her gaze toward Samu Kokaze softened considerably as she smiled. "Then I misunderstood you two. I'm really sorry. But no matter what, fighting is still wrong. Don't fight again in the future, understand? I don't want to see you come back half beaten to death one day!"

"Uh!" Hearing that, Samu Kokaze nodded with a wry smile in response, while Ino beside him let out another indignant cry.

Muzi chuckled, raised a hand to Samu Kokaze's face, gathered chakra in her palm, and used the Mystical Palm Technique. In only a moment, the swelling on his face visibly receded.

"All done! Another handsome young man. No wonder that handsome face of yours managed to charm my little Ino."

Muzi stood and stretched lazily, making it seem as though the fullness of her chest might burst right out.

"All right, you two little ones, go play by yourselves! Aunt Muzi won't interrupt your date." Muzi laughed softly, rubbed the head of the still-angry Ino, and sent the two of them out of the hospital.