It had been a while since they last met, and Karn suddenly felt that Kushina had grown quite a bit. She was only thirteen, but her clothes already made her a striking sight: fiery red hair reaching her waist, silky black knee-high socks and fair thighs, and the smile that blossomed when she saw Karn.
"Smiling so happily? Looks like you've saved up plenty of money. Take out your Small Orange Wallet."
Karn's tone was gentle, but his words sounded just like a highway robber's.
Kushina's smile vanished as abruptly as a goose having its neck grabbed. She nearly choked on her saliva at Karn's words. How could such lovely lips say something so cold? No, wait-why did she think the boss's lips were lovely?
"Where's your wallet?"
Karn urged her again, holding his hand out in front of Kushina.
"You wasted all my feelings, boss!"
Kushina's little face scrunched up like a green lemon, and she reluctantly took the Small Orange Wallet out of her ninja tool pouch. She usually spent long stretches practicing sealing jutsu and rarely took missions, so she had not saved much money to begin with.
What really made Kushina's blood rush to her head was that Karn actually counted the money right in front of her. After counting it, he even returned the Small Orange Wallet with a cheerful smile and said, "Only enough for half a month's interest. Keep working hard, Kushina."
Looking pitiful, Kushina said, "...Leave me a little. I still need to buy food."
"Stop eating snacks. From now on, I can leave you ten percent to buy snacks."
Bullying her like this seemed a little excessive. Karn thought for a moment, then took out a Chocolate Frog and placed it in Kushina's hand. "Try this. A Chocolate Frog that jumps.