"Hmm hmm... hmm hmm hmm..." Kakashi Hatake hummed an off-key, leisurely tune, carrying a large, overflowing grocery bag filled with fresh vegetables and various ingredients in one hand. He had just emerged from the nearby market and was strolling leisurely toward his home.
In the days following the end of the Konoha Crush plan, Kakashi, an elite Jonin, was initially swamped, dealing with mountains of post-war affairs. It wasn't until recently that he finally broke free from those tedious duties and truly gained some free time for himself.
Since the Third Hokage was severely injured and required long-term rest, the Village was temporarily without a leader, and the issuance of regular Ninja missions had largely been suspended.
Officially, it was announced that the Third Hokage's old injuries had flared up after his fierce battle with Orochimaru, necessitating rest. However, there were also unreliable rumors circulating among the public, claiming that Hokage-sama had been hospitalized by a mysterious woman... Kakashi never believed or spread rumors. What kind of woman could defeat the Hokage like that? He was more inclined to believe it was due to the old injuries.
After all, needing to rest for a while after such a major battle was perfectly normal in the Ninja world—he himself often did the same.
It's been almost half a month since he last saw those three brats... Kakashi slowly walked, picturing his three students in his mind. The rare free time made him suddenly miss Team 7. Since he was free today, maybe he should go see them.
He had intentionally bought extra durable vegetables and ingredients, mainly intending to deliver them to Uzumaki Naruto, the only one of his three students without parents to look after him... Hmm?
Just then, Kakashi's gaze inadvertently swept toward the side of the street and was instantly drawn to a bookstore with an ambiguously pink sign.
"Crash—" The shopping bag in his arms slipped and fell, scattering the ingredients all over the ground. Kakashi himself, completely disregarding his image, was plastered against the display window of that "not-quite-proper" bookstore.
Through the glass, he stared intensely at the book covers inside, letting out a lecherous chuckle filled with the aura of a total pervert.
"Heh heh heh..."
Uzumaki Kushina, who had also just finished shopping at the market, carried a simple shopping basket while calculating what she should cook for Naruto that evening. When she looked up, she couldn't help but freeze in place.
That figure ahead, both familiar and strange... silver-white hair, dead-fish eyes, and the iconic mask.
Aside from being much taller and wearing the Jonin vest, with his overall silhouette appearing more mature and imposing, this was clearly the image of the young Kakashi from her memory.
This was indeed not far off from the Kakashi she had imagined grown up. However, the scene unfolding before her completely overturned her perception.
The boy who, in her memory, had always carried a sense of precociousness and detachment, was now shamelessly plastered against the window of a decidedly improper bookstore, making that kind of... lecherous chuckle filled with the aura of a total pervert?
"Oh?! The latest volume?! And it comes with limited edition bonus items?! I have to buy it immediately!"
Listening to Kakashi's excited muttering and watching him scramble up from the window, turning as if to rush into the bookstore, Kushina's brow unconsciously furrowed slightly.
When did Kakashi's personality change like this? The aloof Genius boy had now become a... repressed, lecherous old man?
The moment Kakashi turned, his movement suddenly froze, as if invisible ice had locked his entire body. Even his normally spiritless dead-fish eyes contracted violently in an instant.
His gaze was firmly locked on a woman standing nearby, who was watching him with a complex expression filled with scrutiny, confusion, and even a hint of "disappointment."
That vibrant red hair, that gentle and beautiful face subtly hinting at heroism... Kakashi only dared to dream of seeing all this in his deepest slumber.
It was the wife of his Sensei, the one who used to prepare him lunch before missions, who would smile and ruffle his hair, but who, once she felt Life Qi, would make even his teacher retreat three steps... "Sensei's wife..."
The title, buried deep in his heart, slipped out uncontrollably. But immediately afterward, Kakashi violently shook his head, forcefully pulling himself out of this absurd illusion.
No... impossible.
On that night more than a decade ago, his teacher and his teacher's wife had truly sacrificed themselves to protect Konoha. This was something he had witnessed firsthand, and it was a wound in his heart that would never heal.
Is she just too similar?... Right. If his teacher and his teacher's wife were still alive, they would be in their thirties now. Yet, this woman, whose appearance was strikingly similar to his teacher's wife, looked several years younger than himself.
"I apologize," Kakashi quickly reined in all outward emotions, returning to his slightly detached demeanor, and nodded in acknowledgment, "I mistook you for someone else and said something strange. Please pay it no mind."
After speaking in a calm tone, he bent down and silently began picking up the ingredients scattered across the ground. Kakashi no longer had any desire to buy a book; he just wanted to leave this place that had stirred up his memories.
"...Are you Kakashi?"
However, just as he was about to turn and leave, the red-haired woman he had dismissed as a "look-alike" called out his name in an incredibly familiar tone.
The step Kakashi was about to take stopped abruptly, as if he had been nailed to the spot.
"You recognized me, didn't you?" Uzumaki Kushina took a step closer, gazing at him gently, "If the features haven't changed, you must be Kakashi, right?"
She gave a smile tinged with nostalgia, "I heard that you are Naruto's squad leader now, is that right?"
Kakashi's reaction exceeded Kushina's expectations. With a "thud," the shopping bag he had just picked up slipped from his hands again. Kakashi abruptly backed up half a step, his hands fumbling to form hand signs across his chest, his movements even carrying a hint of a beginner's clumsiness.
"Release!" he cried out softly, attempting to use the Genjutsu Release sign to break the unbelievable sight before him.
"Honestly..." Kushina sighed, watching his actions, her tone carrying a familiar intimacy, "I'm not a Genjutsu. Is this your first reaction to your long-lost Sensei's wife?"
She shook her head slightly, a touch of nostalgia in her eyes, "You're still the same, you're not cute at all."
She didn't stop Kakashi's attempt to dispel the Genjutsu, merely speaking in the same slightly teasing tone she used when interacting with him as a boy, as if time had never passed.
Kakashi's brow furrowed tightly. The hand signs were complete, but the red-haired woman was still standing there, her expression natural, her gaze warm. It wasn't a Genjutsu... So was it a Transformation Technique? But her mannerisms, her every subtle expression, were imitated too perfectly, so perfectly that it chilled him.
"That's right, I've been revived," Kushina explained proactively, seeing his confusion, "Though it wasn't voluntary. But this is good too; I can finally be by Naruto's side."
"When I see Minato later, I can tell him all about how Naruto has grown up..."
She paused, seeming to realize the complexity of the topic, and lightly waved her hand. "This is quite complicated to explain. Simply put, during that previous attack, someone used a forbidden Jutsu to revive and control me, turning me into a tool to attack Konoha. Although the control later failed, the forbidden Jutsu itself was never undone..."
Seeing Kakashi's still skeptical look, Kushina suddenly remembered something and pointed to his other eye, which was covered by his forehead protector. "Right, don't you have the Sharingan? You should be able to confirm it using that, shouldn't you?"
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