And so, Mikoto and Itachi joined the shopping group.
Mikoto and Kushina walked arm-in-arm, chatting enthusiastically, with Rin joining in from time to time. Kiyosuke and Itachi walked together behind them.
"You've got it rough—having to go shopping with your mom at such a young age."
Kiyosuke couldn't help but feel sympathy for Itachi.
But Itachi smiled and said,
"It's not so bad. A walk is good for Mom, and it's just shopping. For a shinobi, it's really nothing."
One of the shadow clones chuckled.
"That's because you haven't experienced the terror of women shopping. It's etched into their DNA. Just wait till you get a girlfriend—you'll see."
"Speaking of which, Itachi, what kind of girls do you like?"
That question caught Itachi off guard. He shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You'll figure it out eventually."
Kiyosuke laughed heartily.
Itachi tilted his head in curiosity.
"What about you, Kiyosuke-senpai? What kind of girls do you like?"
Hearing this, Kushina, who was chatting with Mikoto and Rin, immediately perked up and asked with a grin,
"Yeah, Kiyosuke, what kind of girls do you like? I've always been curious!"
No, all I see in your eyes is gossip!
Rin thought for a moment and said,
"Probably cute girls? I remember during the Chūnin Exams, Kiyosuke asked a girl from Sunagakure out on a date… though I think it was set for ten years in the future."
"Why ten years later?" Mikoto and Kushina both asked in confusion.
Kiyosuke proudly replied,
"A lot can change in ten years. Girls can change in ways more dramatic than a plain turning into a mountain. I like mature older women!"
You said that without a hint of hesitation!
Kushina's gaze grew deeper as she looked at Kiyosuke. She turned to Rin and said,
"Rin, maybe you should keep your distance from Kiyosuke in the future."
"Eh?"
Mikoto glanced at Kiyosuke, then at her own son, who looked utterly confused. She silently decided to have Itachi stay far away from him.
"Hey! What's with that look? Like I'm some kind of scumbag?" Kiyosuke shouted, noticing Kushina's expression.
"I knew it, Kiyosuke. You've been around Jiraiya-sensei too much—he's rubbing off on you, isn't he? Once my baby's born, you and Jiraiya need to stay far away from him! You'll both be terrible influences!"
"Why?! I just said the type I like!"
"Exactly!"
"Seriously, why?!"
The shadow clones started making a fuss.
"Even if you look down on me, don't lump me in with Jiraiya-sama!"
It did feel like being compared to Jiraiya cost him something important...
"Looks like you've got some self-awareness after all, Kiyosuke. I can't believe you just graduated, and you're already this scheming. You'll definitely grow up to be just like Jiraiya-sensei. No way—Minato needs to stay away from you too."
Damn, am I already on the same level as Jiraiya?
The three women burst out laughing, while Kiyosuke sulked and comforted himself with his shadow clones.
Itachi blinked in awe from the side.
Kiyosuke is amazing…
Wait, his date is set for when he's twenty?
Kiyosuke was feeling pretty drained, but there was nothing he could do.
Kushina and Mikoto started talking about their kids.
"Mikoto, do you think our kids might end up together someday?"
"Who knows? Maybe. But it'd have to be a boy and a girl." Mikoto smiled. "After all, you can't date if you're the same gender."
"As long as there's love, gender doesn't matter," a shadow clone muttered quietly with a grin.
But Mikoto and Kushina were both seasoned kunoichi—of course they heard that. Their expressions darkened.
Kushina slowly turned her head. Her smile grew sharper and more terrifying, even her hair started to float ominously.
"Kiyosuke, what did you just say? I didn't catch that. Could you repeat it?"
"Haha! Just kidding, just kidding!"
Kiyosuke laughed awkwardly and shot a look at the shadow clone. The clone got the message instantly and shut up.
What he said was true, though. Sasuke and the crown prince always acted suspiciously close. Poor Sakura looked like the third wheel half the time.
But if he said that out loud now, he'd probably get beaten half to death by Kushina and the Uchiha clan matriarch working together.
Totally not worth it...
After another few hours of shopping, the bags started piling up—and so did the shadow clones.
They'd try things on, put them back, hesitate, then buy them anyway. Back and forth, nonstop. Kiyosuke felt more exhausted than if he'd trained all day.
Itachi was finally convinced—Kiyosuke was right. Shopping with girls really was terrifying!
"So? Scary, right?"
"Ah… yeah." Itachi didn't know what else to say.
Kiyosuke just patted his shoulder.
"You've got a long road ahead. It won't just be your mom—there'll be female classmates, girlfriends, wives… even daughters, heh."
"Ah… that…"
Even without the Sharingan, Itachi could already see a glimpse of that future. But he smiled and said,
"That's fine too. Being with family sounds pretty nice."
"It really does."
Kiyosuke sighed and followed after Kushina and the others.
...
They had lunch at a yakiniku place. By the afternoon, Kushina was worn out and decided to head back home to rest.
After dropping the bags onto the table, Kiyosuke made a decision:
From now on, he should avoid showing himself in front of Kushina.
After all, Anbu work is supposed to be done in the shadows. It doesn't make sense to be out in the open all the time.
Boring as it might be, that's what a real Anbu should do!
With that in mind...
Kiyosuke said to Rin,
"Rin, I'll be training in the backyard. Call me if anything comes up."
"Oh, okay."
Rin nodded, watching as Kiyosuke walked into the backyard and sat cross-legged. The Sage mark appeared on his face, and soon after, the backyard of Minato's house began to transform.
A large amount of senjutsu chakra began to spread from Kiyosuke, covering the entire area.
Meanwhile, Rin sat on the couch, studying the medical scrolls she had borrowed from the hospital.
...
That evening, Minato came home and saw Rin deeply engrossed in her book. He didn't disturb her and quietly entered the bedroom.
Kushina was still fast asleep. Smiling, he glanced out the window—
Then paused.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining things.
"It looked fine when I left this morning… Did Kiyosuke do this?"
He stepped out of the room and headed to the backyard.
The moment he stepped forward, expecting to find solid ground, his foot sank into thin air.
"Nani?!"
As a user of Flying Thunder God, Minato had extremely sharp reflexes. He quickly adjusted and regained balance.
Looking down at his foot now sunken into the ground, he began to ponder.
He could clearly feel dirt below him—but what was this extra layer?
His once neatly maintained backyard was now a dense forest, shrouded in thick mist. He could no longer see the fence at the back or the street beyond it.
So…
Where the hell did my backyard go?