Hoo, it was fortunate that Kushina was already asleep. A figure suddenly appeared beside Kushina's bed, silently.
It was Lin Yu, who had used his Mangekyo Sharingan from the Land of Rain. After escaping Jiraiya, Lin Yu found a place to test his other ocular jutsu: Unsealing Teleportation!
The name was a bit misleading, but it was quite practical. With no cooldown and no distance limitations, he teleported directly from the Land of Rain to Konoha. Lin Yu could still faintly sense a teleportation coordinate in the direction of the Land of Rain, and he could teleport back at any time by relying on this sense.
Lin Yu felt much more at ease. He didn't look at Kushina, whose sleeping posture was somewhat comical. After gently pulling the blanket up for her, he quietly opened the door and snuck out. He still needed to report to the Gatekeepers, which was such a hassle!
Never mind, it was better to leave such matters to Orochimaru! It was true, having Orochimaru as a backup made excuses for everything. No matter what he did, he could always blame it on Orochimaru. It was a shame Orochimaru wouldn't stay in Konoha for long. Lin Yu felt he needed to develop a second "scapegoat."
Danzō wouldn't work! How could such a trivial matter trouble Danzō, the king of scapegoats? Lin Yu could only feel at ease shifting the blame for bad deeds that ruined his image onto Danzō!
Never mind, it was time for bed. Tomorrow, he still had to visit Might Duy's house...
The next morning, Kushina woke up groggily, washed up, and went downstairs to the living room. Her beautiful eyes looked blankly at the busy figure in the kitchen. After a brief pause, she said, "It's Brother Lin Yu."
Then, she suddenly snapped back to reality, her slender legs striding forward to hug Lin Yu's waist from behind, and said sweetly, "Brother Lin Yu, you're back! When did you return? How come I didn't know?"
Lin Yu helplessly took off his apron, turned around, and gently pinched Kushina's little nose. "You little pig were sleeping so soundly, how would you know I was back?"
"Hmph, you're the pig! Am I eating your family's rice... oh, I guess I am, puff-ha-ha!" Kushina was still a bit groggy after waking up, coupled with her usually not-so-bright mind, she made herself laugh.
Lin Yu also chuckled. Being with Kushina was always filled with laughter. "Alright, come out and eat breakfast quickly, then hurry to school."
Kushina pouted, slightly displeased. "Today is the weekend, and the Ninja Academy is on holiday, you stinky Lin Yu, you don't care about me at all!"
Lin Yu was a bit confused. Did the Ninja Academy have weekends? He wasn't too sure about that. He remembered there seemed to be in Boruto, but that was in a time of peace. This was the most intense period of war; they couldn't be compared.
Never mind, weekend it is. He wouldn't go find Might Duy today. Having just acquired a large sum of money, he wanted to take Kushina shopping and have a good meal!
Lin Yu rubbed Kushina's little dazed head and said gently, "Then, as an apology, I'll take Kushina out shopping and have a big meal today, how about that?"
Kushina's beautiful eyes instantly lit up at this. Then she pouted regretfully, "Ah, I wish I hadn't made plans with Senior Mikoto today. Brother Lin Yu finally has a day to spend with me alone."
Upon hearing Mikoto, Lin Yu immediately thought of Uchiha Mikoto. Although in the original story, Uchiha Mikoto was Kushina's good friend, that was when they were older. He hadn't expected them to become friends while in the Ninja Academy. Lin Yu pretended to be confused, "Mikoto? Is she Kushina's friend? Then I really must meet her."
Kushina was about to say Uchiha Mikoto's name, but then she remembered the clan's bad reputation outside, how arrogant and extreme their members were. Her little head pondered for a moment, and she said with sincerity, "Mikoto is a very gentle and considerate girl. Even though she is from the Uchiha clan, I don't feel any of the Uchiha's arrogance from her at all. She... she is my best friend!"
Towards the end, Kushina became a little anxious. She was afraid Lin Yu might have prejudices against the Uchiha, which could affect his opinion of Uchiha Mikoto. This wouldn't do. Mikoto was her only friend at school, and she didn't want to lose her.
Lin Yu was a bit helpless, and he gave a wry smile. "How could you think I have prejudices against the Uchiha? Although most of them are indeed arrogant and unfriendly to outsiders, they've never bothered me. I don't believe in hearsay and label people randomly."
Besides, he had a task to invite Uchiha Mikoto for a meal. Even if her temper was bad, just like that arrogant Uchiha Madara, who looked down on everyone, Lin Yu would still have to grit his teeth and invite her. Let alone Uchiha Mikoto, an anomaly of the Uchiha clan.
Gentle and considerate, knowledgeable and reasonable, good at cooking, and domestic. She was simply the ideal candidate for a wife. However, Lin Yu wasn't a playboy who couldn't resist a beautiful woman. Konan was an accident; that was called raising her...
"Hoo, that's good then. Mikoto and I planned to have lunch together. Stinky Lin Yu, I won't be back for lunch." Kushina patted her chest, relieved, and said to Lin Yu with a slightly regretful expression.
"Eh? Kushina, that's not fair! You're using my money to treat someone else to a meal, and leaving me to sit alone at home. Can you bear to do that?" Lin Yu teased with a smile.
Kushina's small face turned red, and she gritted her teeth. "Then you come too. But we have to eat somewhere cheaper. You don't earn money easily, and our savings aren't much..."
Kushina squeezed her very clean yellow bag, which didn't look very thick. Her small face showed a hint of loneliness and shame. She wanted to help Lin Yu earn money, but she still had to go to school. Lin Yu was the same age as her, yet she was raised by Lin Yu.
Lin Yu thought Kushina was worried about not having enough money to affect their future living. He lowered his head and whispered in Kushina's ear.
Kushina looked at the face so close to hers. Her fair earlobes were tinged with pink. Blushing, she whispered to Lin Yu. Then, forgetting her shyness, her rosy lips slowly parted, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
It wasn't until Lin Yu took out two heavy chests from a sealing scroll and handed them to her that Kushina, her small face dazed, looked at Lin Yu and said, "So, am I a rich woman now?"
"Yes!" Lin Yu nodded heavily, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Kushina. You've suffered so much following me all these years."
"No, you're wrong!" Kushina's eyes immediately turned red, and tears flowed down like a river. She cried, "It's my fault for dragging you down. I can't help you with anything, and I still have you to feed me, boo-hoo."
"How could that be? Didn't Kushina manage my money for so long? If you hadn't managed it, I might have become proficient in smoking and drinking by now."
"You dare!" Kushina's eyes widened, looking very much like a furious young wife. She pouted and said, "Hmph, you can forget about all that. From now on, all your money will be with me, and you have to get my permission to buy anything!"
Saying this, Kushina reached out and felt around Lin Yu's body, pouting. "Is there any more? Hand it all over!"
Lin Yu looked helplessly at the little money-grubber Kushina. She searched his body and found two more sealing scrolls. Her beautiful eyes stared intently at Lin Yu, as if Lin Yu would become bad if he had money. Of course, Lin Yu had hidden the scrolls containing Hanzo's corpse and some special items well, so Kushina didn't find them.
"There's really none left this time, Madam Kushina. Won't you leave a little for this humble servant? This servant has earned so much money; even if I don't have merit, I've at least endured hardship." Lin Yu said with exaggerated, slightly wronged acting.
"Hmph, you can only keep a tiny bit. Men get into trouble when they have money, I have to keep an eye on you. But, did you earn all this money out there? And without any cost?" Kushina felt a sense of unreality, still finding it hard to believe.
"I promise, from now on, I'll only keep a tiny bit, and the rest will be kept by Kushina."
Lin Yu thought to himself that keeping a tiny bit for himself should be enough. He didn't have any expenses at the moment. As for the future, once the organization recruited enough people, Kushina wouldn't be able to escape; he'd let her be the financial manager!
"Shh! This is our secret, okay? When Kushina grows up, I'll tell you this method of getting things for free!" Lin Yu smiled mysteriously at Kushina.
"Then it's a deal!"