Bang, bang, bang…
Winter weather can change in an instant.
Heavy snow started falling before dawn, and by morning the world outside the window had turned completely white.
Today, Gojo Yoru unusually slept in. He didn't get up early to go out and train.
But just as he was enjoying that rare bit of laziness, a thunderous knocking yanked him out of his dream.
At the same time, he could faintly hear a girl shouting—loud enough that the whole little western-style house could hear it.
"Yoru, you bastard! You stood me up—open the door right now!"
Forcing down the urge to dump a bucket of cold water on her, Yoru got up and went downstairs to open the door.
But the moment he opened it, whatever morning irritation he had instantly vanished.
Looking at the girl in front of him, Yoru said with an amused face, "Why are you dressed like that?"
"If you dare laugh, I'll beat you up!" Uzumaki Kushina raised her gloved little pink fist and threatened him fiercely.
Her round little face was bright red—whether from the cold or from embarrassment, who knew.
Her long red hair had been tied up into an adorable bun today, and her heavy winter outfit was also entirely red.
Paired with her little round face, red from the freezing air, she looked like a human, self-propelled tomato.
For a moment, Yoru couldn't tell whether Tsunade was messing with her, or Kushina had chosen this on purpose.
After all, without the canon bullying, Kushina wasn't bothered by the "tomato" nickname. Yoru had even called her Tomato more than once, and openly admitted that tomatoes were one of his favorite foods.
Seeing Yoru's playful, appraising smile, Kushina's eyes darted away for an instant—but she didn't want to lose her "presence" in front of him. So she jutted out her neck and demanded angrily, "You still haven't answered me—why did you stand me up today?"
"Stand you up?" Yoru said, genuinely confused. "Did I ever make plans with you?"
"You jerk! Yesterday you clearly agreed I could train with you—so why weren't you at the usual spot today?" Kushina ground her teeth. "I waited there like an idiot for two hours! I almost turned into an ice statue!"
Yoru: "(⊙ˍ⊙)"
Staring at Kushina—who didn't seem to be lying—Yoru went blank for several seconds before squeezing out, "Are you an idiot?"
"What did you say?!"
Looking at the girl baring her teeth like an angry puppy, Yoru was one hundred percent sure: Naruto inherited her idiot genes.
"Just come in first."
Rubbing his forehead helplessly, Yoru didn't even bother teasing her further. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.
He took a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and tossed them onto the floor, then headed up to the second floor.
"Change shoes and come up."
"Huh?"
Kushina brushed snowflakes off herself, and the moment she put on the slippers, she sensed something was off.
She looked down. They fit perfectly.
Her eyes shifted. Then she opened the shoe cabinet.
When she saw that only two pairs of adult slippers were left inside, the corners of her mouth lifted uncontrollably, and the little grievance in her heart dissolved instantly—
replaced by sweetness, like she'd just eaten honey.
"He even prepared slippers for me, and still never says a word… what a stubborn, awkward guy," Kushina muttered in a deliberately tsundere tone. "Only I can put up with you. Be secretly grateful."
With that, she trotted up to the second floor in a much better mood.
When she reached the living room and saw Yoru boiling water, she felt even happier.
"Sit and wait. I'm going to wash up," Yoru said, then went back into his room.
Kushina sat on the sofa, looking around curiously. The interior design of the house felt fresh and strange to her.
Because her home in the Land of Whirlpools—and the place she was staying now—were both traditional buildings that symbolized status.
In this world, only nobles and people of extremely high social standing had the right to live in—and build—traditional architecture like that.
Ordinary people could only live in ordinary houses.
A small western-style house like this was basically the peak of what "ordinary" people could have.
Which only proved how valuable the Gojo couple's jōnin status had been.
Kushina didn't wait long. Yoru came out of his room quickly.
He poured a cup of hot water and set it in front of her, then sat down across from her and finally said, "From now on, if you don't see me there, just come to my house. Don't wait outside like an idiot."
Then he added with a grin, "Besides, even kids know you don't go out on a snowy day. What were you thinking?"
"I know that," Kushina shot back, giving him a slightly scornful look. "I just didn't expect you—Training Maniac-san—would ever have a day where you slack off."
Yoru's smile froze a little. For once, he looked awkward.
If you put it that way… it really was his fault.
After formally saying goodbye to the past yesterday, Yoru had decided he wasn't going to live that same rigid, robotic life anymore.
So the morning training he'd kept up without fail since he was three—rain or shine—ended today.
And along with that record ended… Kushina's fixed impression of him.
"Ahem."
Yoru cleared his throat, then deliberately shifted the topic with a straight face. "Training doesn't always require going outside. You can train at home too."
After saying that, he stood up again and returned to his room.
A moment later he came back holding several bags.
They were filled with balloons.
"Why are you bringing out so many balloons?" Kushina asked, baffled. "Don't tell me you're going to use balloons to train?"
"Correct."
Yoru's lips curved upward. He looked at Kushina with a meaningful expression. "This vacation, I'm going to teach you a jutsu I developed."
On the first day of his new life, Gojo Yoru did something willful.
He couldn't be bothered to calculate "guide progress" anymore, or wait around to engineer the perfect timing. If he wanted to do something, he would do it—so he decided to teach Kushina the Rasengan.
Whatever accidents it might cause afterward, he didn't care.
Because no matter what happened, it wouldn't harm Yoru.
Months had passed. Uzumaki Mito hadn't sent any Senju who'd integrated into Konoha to warn Yoru off, and Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't sent anyone to stop him from getting close to Kushina.
That meant Yoru had already earned their approval.
Even if he was still under observation, they were already invisible backing behind him.
In front of those two mountains, Shimura Danzō—still not fully grown into his power—would have nothing but envy and greed even if he noticed Yoru, this civilian genius.
So aside from still needing to hide his space–time ability for the time being, Yoru could loosen up on everything else in his training—
including cultivating Uzumaki Kushina.
~~~
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