5 Chapter 5: From now on, you're mine!

Araki felt a bit uncomfortable seeing the scene before him. He had never encountered such a situation.

Kushina, not far in front of him, was smiling and staring at him. Coupled with her still youthful and innocent cheeks, she exuded a sense of naivety and purity.

"It's time to go to school!"

Seeing Araki's silence, Kushina waved her hand again, speaking in a calm and patient tone, without any hint of impatience.

"You... you... were waiting for me?"

Araki stammered deliberately, creating an appearance of someone who had difficulty speaking fluently, maintaining the persona he had built here.

About three years ago, he came to Konoha as a transmigrator. He didn't receive any special gifts from the transmigration, nor did he have any system support. He didn't even have the memories of the original host. He only knew his name was Araki.

In such a situation, he wasn't pretending to be foolish. It was because he couldn't understand the language and couldn't speak, due to the unfamiliar linguistic environment. He could only act as if he had been mentally affected.

As time passed and after a period of adaptation, Araki gradually mastered the language and writing here. However, he realized that maintaining the current effect was also good.

At this point in time, even though Araki was facing the nearly nine-year-old Kushina Uzumaki, he didn't dare to be careless. After all, the ninja world was very mature at a young age. Not only could children have puppy love, but they could also be sent to the battlefield.

Araki was not clear about Kushina's true purpose for living here.

It could be as simple as it appeared on the surface, just renting a place here to take advantage of him...

Or there could be some special mission to test him...

These things were still unclear.

Regardless of the reason...

Araki felt the need to be cautious and careful. The world of ninjas was filled with more conspiracies and tricks than he had imagined.

"Yeah!"

Kushina nodded in response, her two pigtails swaying and emitting a unique cute aura.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you yesterday. I'm a transfer student from another village. Today, I have to report to the ninja school. We're classmates and roommates, so naturally, we should go together!"

Kushina spoke with a radiant smile on her face, deliberately creating a warm and intimate atmosphere to bring them closer.

There was a certain element of sympathy in her eyes.

In her view, Araki was someone with a closed-off personality who needed her warmth to open the door to his heart.

After all, she lived in Araki's house, and if she could heal the pain in his heart, it would be a way to repay him.

"..."

Araki fell silent for a moment. In fact, he knew they were classmates, and Minato was in his class. It wouldn't take much deduction to figure that out.

He had thought that Kushina didn't know these details, so he could use that as a reason to go separately.

But what he didn't expect was...

Kushina actually voluntarily mentioned that they were in the same class.

It seemed that Minato had shared quite a bit of information with Kushina.

However...

At this moment.

Kushina probably still didn't know that she was going to become the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails!

Araki quickly pondered many things in that instant. He vividly remembered that when he watched Naruto, Kushina had mentioned her past and said that she didn't know anything about the Nine-Tails before coming to Konoha.

It wasn't until the moment when the deadline for the Uzumaki clan's sealing technique was approaching and Minato was about to run out of time that they had a long conversation overnight and sealed the Nine-Tails inside Kushina's body.

At this moment, it's quite dangerous. Setting aside whether Kushina has any other special missions, even if everything appears as it seems on the surface, it won't be long before Kushina becomes the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.

If Araki gets too close to Kushina, it won't be a good thing for him.

But now they're already roommates.

If he suddenly acts distant, it will attract attention.

He needs to find the right balance!

"Alright!"

Kushina didn't know that Araki had contemplated many things about her during his silence. She thought that Araki's mental issue had caused his vacant state and her smile became even more gentle, her voice softer.

"Don't worry, with me around, no one will bully you!"

Kushina patted her still-flat chest to reassure him. From her tone, she had a demeanor akin to an older sister.

When she was bored, she imagined a child with a withdrawn personality like Araki facing bullying from peers at the ninja school. Perhaps because of this, Araki would go out to train at night, trying to improve his strength to protect himself.

"???"

A bunch of question marks floated above Araki's head. He had no idea what Kushina was thinking. But he could clearly sense that Kushina's words were sincere and not an act.

"Why... why?"

Araki asked in confusion. He knew that in this world, there was no hatred without reason, and no love without reason. Unexpected displays of goodwill always had underlying motives.

If he didn't know the exact reason...

He felt uneasy.

"Because we're friends!"

When Kushina smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons, complementing her twin-tailed hairstyle, making her look quite adorable.

She waved her fair little hand in front of Araki.

"We shook hands, right!"

"After shaking hands, you became my friend!"

"You're the first friend I made after coming to Konoha!"

"Of course, I won't let anyone bully you!"

"Friends help each other, right? You provided me a place to stay, and I'll protect you. From now on, you're mine!"

Kushina continued speaking one sentence after another, seemingly afraid that Araki wouldn't understand. Each word was spoken slowly and enunciated clearly. Her radiant eyes were fixed on Araki, without any flickering or hesitation. The initially created warmth gradually transformed into genuine enthusiasm.

"..."

Araki was moved when he heard the earlier words. After coming to the ninja world, he had closed off his social interactions. Even when the language barrier decreased later on, he didn't have the inclination to make friends.

But...

Now suddenly, there was a roommate who happened to be the famous Kushina Uzumaki from Naruto.

And she claimed they were friends!

That was fine...

But the following words started to sound more and more absurd.

Although children often speak without filter, he wasn't truly a child in essence. Why did these words sound somewhat suspicious to him...