Compensation That Hurt

Kushina sat at the table with her head lowered, looking thoroughly contrite.

Perhaps she had few friends at school. No, judging by how she had behaved over the past few years, she had practically none. So after Karn had flattered her with a few kind words and said he would treat her as an equal, Kushina had unwittingly begun to think of him as a friend.

After all, unlike the people at the Ninja Academy, Karn would not mock her physical features at the drop of a hat. Although he had swindled her out of quite a bit of money, Kushina did not seem to have noticed. Besides, Karn was generous with his salesman's compliments. Even some adults could not tell whether they were genuine, let alone a little girl like Kushina.

That was how today's incident had happened. When she saw Kawaki Miwa leave, she had wanted to play a prank on Karn, but the moment he heard her call him "Boss Karn," he realized something was wrong.

Besides, Miwa would never do something as childish as poking only her head inside, so Karn had seen straight through Kushina's Transformation Technique.

"Don't play pranks like that again, Kushina. I'm just an ordinary outsider."

Karn sighed helplessly as he spoke to her. He did resent it a little, since she had given him a fright, but he had not really lost anything, and Kushina had meant no harm.

Still, he could not accept that sort of behavior. And he needed to find an opportunity to learn ninjutsu.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Kushina sounded pitiful as she apologized with her head lowered. As far as she was concerned, she only had a handful of friends. Losing another over this was the last thing she wanted.

Karn did not answer her. Instead, he turned his head aside and murmured, "The floor's damaged, and I'm down a few bullets. It'll all cost money to replace and repair."

Kushina's ears twitched as she kept her head lowered. She quickly understood that she should cover the expense. After all, she had caused the accident.

But she did not know how much she ought to pay, so she took out her little orange wallet, set it on the table, and slowly pushed it toward Karn.

"Never mind. Today was just an accident. You'd better be more careful next time."

Karn's tone softened when he saw the wallet. Hearing that, Kushina thought he had forgiven her. She raised her head with a smile and reached out to take her wallet back.

But Karn was faster. He pocketed the wallet outright, weighing it in his hand as he took it. It had a decent heft.

Karn gestured to Kushina and said, "This will serve as compensation. Neither the floor nor the bullets will be cheap, and that scare left me feeling awful all over. I might even need to go to the hospital for a checkup later."

"D-do you need that much? In there is all the money I just..."

Kushina spoke reluctantly, but after seeing Karn's expression, she swallowed the rest of her words. She could only mourn her little orange wallet, which she had just filled that day.

"Don't dwell on it. After I repair the floor and replenish my special weapons, there should still be a little left. I'll treat you to a meal with that."

It was nearly dinnertime, and Karn did not want to keep dwelling on the matter, so that was what he told Kushina.

"A meal? I want barbecue."

"Not barbecue. I'll treat you once my barbecue restaurant opens. Let's get ramen. You can order whatever you like." Karn turned her down outright. It was not about the money. As a resident of the United States, he had tried every sort of barbecue, and Konoha's barbecue did not interest him in the slightest.

Cheapskate!

Kushina thought, scrunching up her face unhappily. Although she loved ramen, she had lost over a hundred thousand ryo today. Could he not even treat her to barbecue?

But once they reached the ramen shop, Kushina happily ate three large bowls, with plenty of extra toppings. Beside her, Karn kept shaking his head. She ate so many sweets and such enormous meals every day, yet showed no sign of gaining weight. Chakra certainly seemed effective for keeping the pounds off, at least.

Once Kushina was full, she held her stomach, said goodbye to Karn, and headed home.

It was not especially late, but Karn did not linger outside. He headed straight for the food shop. The war had only recently ended, and there might still be plenty of spies from other ninja villages in Konoha. He was better off getting back early.

When Kushina returned to the Senju Clan Compound, the lights were still on at home.

She lived with Grandma Mito, in the largest house in the Senju Clan Compound.

When Kushina came home, she saw that Tsunade's room was still lit. That had been happening often lately. She had heard that Nawaki's injuries were severe enough that they might affect his future as a ninja. So even after finishing her work at Konoha Hospital, Tsunade continued researching and developing Medical Ninjutsu at home, hoping to heal his injuries.

Kushina had visited Nawaki last time. Although he had improved a little, his voice was still much weaker than before. But with Tsunade's medical skill, she would definitely cure him.

Lately, Kushina had been coming home at irregular hours, often training outside, so neither Tsunade nor Mito paid much attention when they heard the door open.

After eating ramen and calming down, Kushina began to mourn her little orange wallet. She pattered upstairs and found the box of chocolate she had bought, hoping to bribe Tsunade.

"One, two, three... someone stole more again? That rotten Tsunade!"

Kushina counted the chocolates and grumbled, puffing out her cheeks. Last time, she had put them in the fridge and even hidden them behind some eggs, but plenty had still gone missing. This time, she had hidden them in her own room, yet another seven or eight pieces were gone.

Still, remembering that she wanted to get some money from Tsunade, Kushina took three chocolates from the box, went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, and carried them together to Tsunade on a tray.

Knock, knock.

"Tsunade, thanks for working so hard this late. I brought you some tea and snacks."

Smiling, Kushina carried the refreshments into Tsunade's room. As soon as she entered, she found there was hardly anywhere to step. Scrolls and documents covered both the bed and the floor. Even Tsunade, seated behind her desk, would have to stand up for Kushina to see her.

"Oh, it's you, Kushina."

Tsunade poked her head out from behind the towering stacks of documents. At first, she had thought Kushina had come to confront her, but when she saw the refreshments, she realized the girl must want another favor.

They had lived together for several years, and Tsunade and Kushina were quite close. They were distantly related, and their tempers and personalities were similar, so naturally they got along well.

"Are you still researching Medical Ninjutsu this late?"

There was no room for the refreshments on the desk, so Kushina set them aside for the moment and helped Tsunade organize the scrolls and documents on the floor.

"It's not that late. I keep feeling like I can develop a healing regeneration technique, but this Medical Ninjutsu isn't quite what I envisioned."

Tsunade shook her head in frustration. She had promised Nawaki that she would cure him. But his injuries mostly involved permanent damage to his bodily functions and some of his nerves. Ordinary Medical Ninjutsu could do little to restore damage like that anymore.