"Don't worry about such small matters. By the way, where's your little follower?"
Kushina took a pair of pink slippers from the shoe cabinet and changed into them, then turned to look at Hayato Ren with some confusion.
"Charmander went back to the Summoning World."
"Oh, then I'll go take a bath first."
"Bath? Do you have clothes at my house?"
"Are you an idiot? I'll just borrow some of your clothes. You wouldn't refuse such a small thing, would you?"
...
Since there were several bathrooms in the house, Hayato Ren didn't need to wait for Kushina to finish bathing before he could take his shower.
After a quick cool shower, Hayato Ren took out a bottle of cola, drinking while reading the legendary "Make-Out Paradise".
This work that ran through the entire Naruto series seemed so crude in Hayato Ren's eyes that it couldn't stir any emotions in his heart, though the serious parts of the plot were somewhat interesting.
Looking at it this way, if Hayato Ren didn't become a ninja in the future, he could become a romance novelist and still make a living.
After an unknown amount of time, a series of "pitter-patter" footsteps broke the quiet atmosphere in the living room.
Hayato Ren turned to look and directly spat out the cola in his mouth.
He saw Kushina's wet red hair draped over her shoulders, her skin freshly washed and exposed with a rosy glow that looked quite alluring.
But this wasn't the key point - the key was that Kushina was only wearing one of Hayato Ren's T-shirts.
Although Hayato Ren's T-shirt completely covered Kushina's upper body, it fell short just above her knees.
Seeing this tantalizing scene, Hayato Ren felt his mouth go dry. He took a big gulp of the cola in his hand, the cool carbonated drink finally suppressing the heat in his heart somewhat.
"What's with that expression? It looks disgusting. Your clothes are so big - I only need to wear one T-shirt."
Kushina sat down boldly next to Hayato Ren, then looked at the "Make-Out Paradise" in his hand.
"What book is that? A novel? Let me see it."
Without waiting for Hayato Ren's response, Kushina snatched "Make-Out Paradise" and began reading it.
"I mean, aren't you underestimating my self-control as a man by doing this?"
Hayato Ren looked at the empty ceiling and complained somewhat helplessly.
"What strange things are you talking about? I don't really understand. This book of yours seems a bit off. I misjudged you - actually having such filthy stuff. I'm confiscating it."
Kushina's expression was initially quite calm, but as she read further, her face suddenly turned bright red. In the end, she even threw the book to the ground, looking at Hayato Ren with embarrassed anger as she scolded him.
"Never mind those strange things. Should we go out to eat later, or what?"
Hayato Ren turned to look at the flushed Kushina and asked.
"Of course I'm eating here at your place. How could I go out dressed like this?"
"So you do realize your current outfit is problematic? Then how could you show up in front of me like this..."
"We're brothers, so we don't need to be so formal."
"Brother, you smell so good..."
Hearing Hayato Ren say this, Kushina immediately raised her arm and asked in confusion.
"No? I just smell like body wash and shampoo, exactly the same as you. Where's this 'good smell' coming from?"
....
After finishing dinner, Hayato Ren brought two lounge chairs up to the rooftop. He and Kushina each took one, lying back to gaze at the bright starry sky.
"When are you planning to go back? It's getting pretty late," Hayato Ren suddenly turned to ask Kushina.
"My clothes just got hung up to dry and won't be ready until tomorrow morning. I'll just stay at your place tonight - it's not like this is the first time anyway."
Since Kushina lived alone, she had considerable freedom. There had been occasions before when she stayed over at Hayato Ren's place after staying out too late.
Back then, Hayato Ren would sleep in his parents' room while Kushina took his room.
In that sense, Kushina could be considered Hayato Ren's childhood friend.
At this moment, Hayato Ren suddenly remembered something and sat up abruptly to look at Kushina.
"Oh no, I just washed all the other blankets yesterday and they're still hanging outside to dry. That means there's only one blanket in the house right now."
"Huh? Why would you do something like that? How annoying..."
"How was I supposed to know you'd be staying over? Why don't you go back to your own place while it's still not too late?"
"No way! Wearing damp clothes would be really uncomfortable. Why don't you make do for tonight? You're so sturdy anyway, one night without a blanket won't hurt you."
"Sis, even though it's summer, you know how cold Konoha nights get. I might catch a cold and miss tomorrow's assembly."
"Don't worry, with Sister Tsunade being one of Konoha's two finest medical ninja, a mere cold is nothing."
...
Kushina placed a long body pillow in the middle of the bed, then looked at Hayato Ren with a warning.
"This is the boundary line. You absolutely cannot cross it, or I'll beat you up badly."
Looking at Kushina waving her small fist, Hayato Ren couldn't help but retort.
"Weren't you the one who said we're brothers? Is this how little you trust your brother?"
"Today, someone couldn't keep their eyes off Teacher Tsunade. And occasionally, you look at me with strange eyes too."
Hearing this, a thin layer of sweat immediately formed on Hayato Ren's forehead.
How is Kushina's perception so sharp? Is this the heritage of being from the Uzumaki Clan? This damned Shinobi World and its obsession with bloodlines.
Seeing Hayato Ren remain silent, Kushina gently kicked him with her foot.
"Alright, go turn off the lights. We need to wake up early tomorrow."
Although the lights had been turned off, the room wasn't completely dark under the illumination of the moonlight outside the window. Hayato Ren could even clearly see Kushina's bright eyes.
After a short while, Kushina suddenly spoke.
"Ren, are you asleep?"
Hayato Ren responded somewhat helplessly.
"I'm not Zhang Fei - I don't have the skill of sleeping with my eyes open."
"Then could you give me some more blankets? Half of my body is exposed here."