bookbashuk Chapter 322 Teacher's Wife
Chapter 322 Teacher's Wife
"Hmph... Hmph hmph hmph..."
Kakashi Hatake hummed a tuneless, leisurely tune as he carried a large, bulging shopping bag filled with fresh vegetables and various ingredients in one arm. He had just emerged from the nearby market and was strolling leisurely toward home.
In the days following the end of the Konoha Crush, Kakashi, as an elite Jonin, was extremely busy dealing with a mountain of post-war matters. Only recently has he finally been freed from those tedious official duties and truly had some leisure time to himself.
With the Third Hokage seriously injured and needing long-term rest, the village is temporarily leaderless, and regular ninja missions have been largely suspended.
The official statement was that the Third Hokage's old injuries flared up after a fierce battle with Orochimaru, requiring him to rest. However, some less reliable rumors circulated, claiming that the Hokage was attacked and hospitalized by a mysterious woman…
Kakashi never believed or spread rumors. What kind of woman could beat the Hokage like that? He was more inclined to believe it was due to old injuries.
After all, it's perfectly normal in the ninja world to need to rest for a while after such a great battle—he himself often did that.
It's been almost two weeks since I last saw those three little ones...
Kakashi strolled along leisurely, sketching out the images of the three students in his mind. This rare moment of leisure made him suddenly miss Class 7. Since he had some free time today, he decided to go see them.
He specially bought a lot of vegetables and ingredients that keep well, mainly intending to send them to Naruto Uzumaki, the only one of the three students who doesn't have parents around to take care of him... Hmm?
Just then, Kakashi's gaze inadvertently drifted to the side of the street and was instantly drawn to a bookstore with an ambiguous pink sign.
"Splash—"
The shopping bag in his arms slipped off with a thud, and the groceries inside rolled all over the floor. Kakashi himself, completely disregarding his image, was now sprawled in front of the "not-so-serious" bookstore window display mirror.
Through the glass, he stared intently at the book covers inside, letting out a lewd laugh that exuded the aura of a pervert.
Hehehe...
Kushina Uzumaki, who had just come from the market with a simple shopping basket, was planning what to cook for Naruto that evening. But when she looked up, she froze in place.
Ahead lay a familiar yet unfamiliar figure... silver-white hair, dead fish eyes, and a signature mask.
Aside from growing much taller and wearing a Jonin vest, making his overall appearance more mature and upright, he clearly looked like the young Kakashi from her memories.
This was indeed very similar to the Kakashi she had imagined him to be when he grew up. However, what was happening before her eyes completely overturned her understanding.
The boy who she always remembered as somewhat precocious and aloof was now shamelessly lounging in front of the window of a bookstore that didn't look very respectable, emitting that... lewd laugh that had the air of a complete pervert?
"Oh?! The latest volume?! And it even comes with limited-edition bonuses?! I have to buy it right away!"
Listening to Kakashi's excited self-talk, and watching him hurriedly straighten up from the shop window and rush into the bookstore, Kushina's brows furrowed slightly involuntarily.
When did Kakashi become like this? The aloof genius boy has now turned into... a repressed, lecherous old man?
The moment Kakashi turned around, his movements suddenly froze, as if frozen solid by an invisible frost. Even his usually listless, dead-fish eyes contracted violently in an instant.
His gaze was fixed on a woman not far away, who was looking at him with a complex expression of inquiry, doubt, and even a hint of disappointment.
That vibrant red hair, that gentle and beautiful face that also hinted at a heroic spirit... Kakashi only dared to hope to see all of this in his deepest dreams.
She was the teacher's wife who used to prepare lunchboxes for him before he started his tasks, and who would ruffle his hair with a smile, but who, once she got angry, would make even the teachers avoid her...
"Master's wife..."
The name he held deep in his heart slipped out uncontrollably. But then, Kakashi shook his head violently, forcibly pulling himself out of this absurd illusion.
No...that's impossible.
More than ten years ago, on that night, his teacher and his wife truly sacrificed themselves to protect Konoha. This was something he witnessed with his own eyes, and it remains a wound in his heart that can never heal.
Are they just too similar? ...That makes sense. If my teacher and his wife were still alive, they would be in their thirties by now. But this woman in front of me, who looks remarkably like my teacher's wife, looks even younger than me.
"I'm sorry," Kakashi quickly suppressed all his emotions, reverting to his slightly aloof demeanor, and nodded in apology. "I mistook you for someone else and said some strange things. Please don't take it to heart."
He finished speaking calmly, then bent down and silently began picking up the scattered ingredients. Kakashi no longer had any interest in buying books; he just wanted to leave this place that had stirred up so many memories for him.
"...Are you Kakashi?"
However, just as he was about to turn and leave, the red-haired woman he had identified as the "similar face" called out his name in an incredibly familiar tone.
Kakashi's step, which was about to be taken, suddenly stopped as if nailed to the spot.
"You recognized me, didn't you?" Kushina Uzumaki took a step closer, her gaze softening as she looked at him. "If your features haven't changed, you must be Kakashi, right?"
She gave a slightly nostalgic smile. "I heard that you're Naruto's mentor now, 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 took a step back abruptly, his hands frantically forming hand seals in front of his chest, his movements even showing a touch of novice clumsiness.
"untie!"
He uttered a low shout, attempting to break the incredible sight before him using the dispelling spell seal.
"Really..." Kushina sighed, watching his actions, her tone tinged with familiar intimacy, "I'm not using genjutsu. Is this your first reaction to your long-unseen teacher's wife?"
She shook her head slightly, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes, "You're still the same as ever, not cute at all."
She didn't stop Kakashi from trying to break the illusion; she just spoke in the same slightly teasing tone she used when she was with young Kakashi, as if time had never passed.
Kakashi's brow furrowed deeply. The hand seals were complete, but the red-haired woman before him remained standing there, her expression natural, her gaze warm. It wasn't a genjutsu... so could it be a transformation jutsu? But her demeanor, every subtle expression, was imitated too realistically, so realistically that it chilled him to the bone.
"That's right, I've been resurrected." Kushina explained, seeing his confused look. "Although it wasn't by choice. But it's good this way; I can finally stay by Naruto's side."
"When I see Minato again, I can finally tell him all about what Naruto looks like now..."
She paused, seemingly realizing the complexity of the topic, and gently waved her hand. "It's quite complicated to explain. Simply put, during that previous attack, someone used a forbidden technique to revive and control me, turning me into a tool for attacking Konoha. Although the control eventually wore off, the forbidden technique itself wasn't lifted..."
Seeing Kakashi's still skeptical look, Kushina suddenly remembered something and pointed to his other eye, which was always covered by his headband. "Right, don't you have the Sharingan? Using that to confirm should be enough, right?"