The meat sizzled on the grill, grease spitting and popping.
With his mouth stuffed full of barbecue, Shin-chan finally went quiet.
He sat beside Jiraiya, cheeks puffed out, chopsticks holding one piece of meat while his eyes were already locked on the next one.
Jiraiya took a sip of alcohol and leaned back in his chair, looking at Tsunade. "So, are you going to watch this Chunin Exam?"
Tsunade flipped a few slices of meat without even looking up. "What's there to watch?"
"I heard this year's going to be pretty big. Suna and a bunch of smaller villages are all sending people." Jiraiya paused. "And the Daimyo's side is sending people too."
"If they come, they come." Tsunade's hand paused for a moment, then kept turning the meat.
"You're not curious who's coming?"
"No."
Jiraiya laughed. "Same as always."
Tsunade ignored him.
Shin-chan had zero interest in any of that.
In his world, there was only the meat on the grill. One piece, two pieces, three pieces—his chopsticks moved fast.
Kushina, sitting nearby, watched him curiously.
As someone from the Uzumaki clan, she had a natural sensitivity to chakra. Ordinary people could only vaguely tell whether someone felt "strong" or "weak," but she could sense more than that.
This little kid's chakra felt warm, like sunlight, the kind that made people want to get closer.
So Kushina leaned over and casually started a conversation. "What do you usually eat?"
Shin-chan chewed his meat and answered through a full mouth, "Rice."
Kushina waited a moment, then realized he wasn't planning to say anything more.
"What kind of rice?"
"Just rice." Shin-chan grabbed another piece of meat. "Whatever Mom makes."
Kushina nodded and tried again. "What do you like to eat?"
"Meat."
"Other than meat?"
"Chocolate sticks."
"Chocolate sticks?" Kushina laughed. "I like sweet things too."
Shin-chan gave an "Mm" and kept eating.
Kushina kept going. "Do you train a lot?"
"Yep."
"What kind of training?"
"Swordsmanship." Shin-chan swallowed his barbecue. "And Fire Style."
Kushina's eyes lit up a little. "Fire Style? You can already use Fire Style at five?"
Shin-chan nodded and stuffed more meat into his mouth.
Kushina waited two seconds and realized he still wasn't going to elaborate.
Most people, after getting that kind of dead-end answer a few times, would give up. But Kushina was different. The more Shin-chan answered like that, the more interesting she found him.
So she suddenly pointed at the forehead protector on her head. "Look. I'm a chūnin."
Shin-chan's chopsticks paused. He looked at the forehead protector, then at her face.
A chūnin?
He thought of Hiroshi. Hiroshi was a chūnin too.
He left early and came home late every day, often exhausted. Sometimes he sighed and complained that missions were hard, and sometimes he worked so late Misae had to reheat dinner for him.
The big sister sitting across from him looked so much younger than his dad, and she was already a chūnin?
Shin-chan's eyes widened a little.
Kushina caught that tiny change and puffed her chest out, her voice carrying a bit of pride.
"That's right. A chūnin. I know a lot of ninjutsu."
She looked at Shin-chan and curled her lips into a grin. "Want to learn from me? If you admit I'm really pretty, I'll teach you."
The table went quiet for a second.
Jiraiya set down his cup and watched, smiling. Tsunade paused with her chopsticks and glanced at Kushina, then at Shin-chan.
Shin-chan swallowed the meat in his mouth.
Kushina watched him, already prepared to tease him no matter what he said.
Then Shin-chan answered, "No."
Kushina's smile froze.
"Why?"
Shin-chan picked up another piece of meat. "Learning jutsu is a pain."
Jiraiya burst out laughing. Even the corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched upward.
Kushina's voice got a little louder. "J-Just because it's a pain?"
"Yep." Shin-chan nodded. "Training is already tiring enough. Learning new stuff would be even more tiring."
He looked at Kushina seriously. "And I already know Fire Style. That's enough."
Kushina opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Minato smiled and tried to smooth things over. "Learning new jutsu isn't necessarily a bad thing. Knowing more might help you protect yourself when you're in danger someday."
Shin-chan looked at him and thought about it.
"Then I'll learn when I'm actually in danger."
Kushina still wasn't satisfied. "Aren't you at least curious what kind of jutsu I know?"
Shin-chan shook his head.
"Sealing jutsu. Really amazing stuff."
He shook his head again.
"Uzumaki clan secret techniques. Most people couldn't learn them even if they wanted to."
Shin-chan stuffed the last piece of meat into his mouth, then looked up at Kushina and said in the most perfunctory voice possible, "Wow, you're amazing."
Jiraiya laughed so hard he bent over. "Kushina, I never thought I'd live to see this."
Kushina glared at him, then looked back at Shin-chan.
By then he had already lowered his head and gone back to turning the meat on the grill, as if that whole conversation had been wiped from his mind.
Kushina took a sip of tea and watched him from the side. His chakra still felt as warm as before, unchanged.
When they finished eating, Shin-chan walked in front, his belly round and full.
But at the doorway, he suddenly stopped.
Rin asked, "What's wrong?"
Shin-chan stood there, head tilted, clearly trying very hard to remember something.
He thought for two seconds.
Then his expression changed.
"Ah." Shin-chan slowly turned around. "The soy sauce."
Rin blinked. "What soy sauce?"
"The soy sauce Mom told me to buy." His voice got smaller and smaller. "I forgot..."
He looked at his empty hands, then at the barbecue restaurant sign, then at the sky.
The sun was already down.
"Oh no, oh no." Shin-chan started spinning in place. "Mom's going to yell at me."
Rin looked at him, not knowing what to say.
Tsunade stood nearby with her arms folded, the corner of her mouth lifting a little.
Shin-chan stopped and looked at her pitifully. "Big Sister Tsunade."
"Don't look at me."
"Could you maybe..."
"No."
Shin-chan's mouth drooped.
Jiraiya smirked beside them. "Kid, you deserve to get yelled at."
Shin-chan pulled out the few coins in his pocket, looked at the sky again, then suddenly turned and ran.
"Shin-chan!" Rin called after him.
"I'm going first. See you tomorrow!"
The red figure disappeared around the corner in a flash.
Tsunade watched the direction he'd run in and suddenly smiled a little.
Jiraiya leaned closer. "What are you smiling about?"
Tsunade wiped the smile off her face and glanced at him.
"What's it to you?"
Jiraiya got shut down and rubbed his nose, not saying anything else.
Meanwhile, in the Nohara kitchen, Misae stood at the stove, looking at the spatula in her hand and then at the darkening sky outside.
"Why isn't Shin-chan back yet? He only went to buy soy sauce." She sighed. "That kid... where did he wander off to this time?"
~~~
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