"Rin, are you planning to abandon me?", Before Kakashi could even respond, Kushina hugged Nohara Rin tightly, rubbing her face against hers with an exaggeratedly pitiful expression.
"Kushina-nee, I'm already someone who's died," Rin said helplessly, "Besides, there's really nothing left in this world for me to hold on to anymore."
"Uuuu! Then stay and keep me company, okay? After all these years, Konoha must be completely different now. Let's go take a look together!", Kushina said in a willful tone.
"Kushina-nee…", Faced with Kushina's childlike insistence, Rin could only give in helplessly and decided to stay for a while longer.
"Then, Kushina-nee, does your house have space for another person to stay?", Rin asked curiously.
She definitely couldn't go back to her old home. After all, she'd been dead for more than ten years. The place was probably uninhabitable by now, and if anyone found her there, it would expose her secret.
"Uh… I don't know about that, I'm living with Naruto," Kushina said, scratching her head awkwardly.
Rin: "…"
"Then live at the Senju Clan's ancestral compound," Tsunade said, "There are plenty of houses there, not many people, and it's less likely anyone will notice."
Rin was stunned for a moment, then quickly bowed gratefully toward Tsunade.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."
That impromptu meeting ended shortly after.
Kushina couldn't wait to leave the conference room and went straight to find Naruto, who was waiting outside.
It had been so many years since mother and son last met — naturally, they had endless things to talk about.
Everyone else who saw the scene didn't have the heart to interrupt.
Uchiha Mikoto returned to her desk and went back to her unfinished work.
Jiraiya had originally wanted to ask Naruto whether he still wanted to continue training under him, but seeing the warm reunion between mother and son, he decided to bring it up another day.
Tsunade turned to Rin. "Let's go. I'll take you to the Senju compound."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
Rin was a bit nervous.
Living together with someone like Tsunade, even back when she was alive, was something she wouldn't have dared to even imagine.
Kakashi then said to Rin, "Rin, once you've settled in, I'll take you around Konoha."
Now that Naruto was back, Team 7 would soon start operating again.
And Sasuke had been unusually insistent these past few days about leaving the village for some reason.
"Mm, Kakashi, take care of your own work first," Rin said with a gentle smile.
Kakashi nodded, then vanished with a Body Flicker.
"Why aren't you spending more time with Naruto? Why are you following us?", Tsunade asked, glancing back at Kushina, who was still holding Naruto's hand and trailing after them.
Kushina scratched her hair sheepishly, "It's just that I haven't been to your place in forever, Tsunade-nee. I kinda miss the old house. Figured I'd take Naruto to see it too."
Before she became the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, Kushina had lived at the Senju compound for a long time. Later, when Tsunade left the village, Kushina used the inheritance from the Uzumaki Clan to move elsewhere.
"Can the two of you use the Transformation Technique?", Tsunade asked Kushina and Rin.
"Yes, yes, we can!", Kushina said brightly, nodding.
Rin also nodded.
Even though reincarnated bodies couldn't use their full strength, simple techniques like Transformation were still possible.
Right after saying that, Kushina quickly formed hand seals. Her smooth red hair turned into shining blonde.
Once she was done, she hugged Naruto again, pressing her nose against his and laughing, "How's this? Don't we look even more like mother and son now?"
"Aren't you already mother and son?", Tsunade muttered, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"Oh yeah, that's true," Kushina said with an innocent grin.
Naruto couldn't help but think his mom was completely different from Aunt Rin.
While Kushina was lively and full of energy, Rin merely wiped off the faint marks on her face and lengthened her hair a little.
She was far less flashy than Kushina had ever been in Konoha, just a small change was enough to make her unrecognizable.
After the two finished transforming, Tsunade led them out of the Hokage building toward the Senju compound.
No one on the way recognized who they were.
"Didn't expect this place to still look the same," Kushina said emotionally as she looked around.
From the time she'd moved out until now, decades had passed, yet it hadn't changed much at all.
"Hardly anyone comes around here, so it's normal it hasn't changed," Tsunade replied.
She had always disliked noisy places.
Over the years, many people had asked to buy the surrounding land for commercial use, but she wasn't short on money, and she barely gambled anymore, so she never sold it.
"That's true, huh?"
Kushina suddenly showed a surprised expression, pointing at three detached houses beside Tsunade's residence, "Are those three houses occupied?"
They looked very different from the others nearby, clearly cleaned and maintained with care.
Tsunade patted Aoba's shoulder, "This brat lives there."
"Oh, I see. Then who owns the other two?", Kushina asked curiously, "Who else would live around here?"
"Well…", Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"Sensei, why are you looking at me like that?", Aoba asked, suddenly feeling guilty. From a certain point of view, did this count as… hiding beauties in a golden house?
"Heh!"
Tsunade gave a cold little laugh, then said to Kushina, "You'll see when the time comes. But you might recognize one of the owners, she's also from the Uzumaki Clan."
"There are other survivors from the Uzumaki Clan?", Kushina's face instantly lit up with excitement.
Tsunade then pointed at Aoba again, "Actually, this brat is also of Uzumaki blood."
"Eh?", Kushina froze, staring at Aoba's snowy white hair, "No way, really?"
She completely forgot that her own son was blond, a trait he inherited from Minato.
Aoba didn't respond, simply releasing the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Seeing those familiar chains, Kushina's doubt vanished instantly. She walked over to Aoba, carefully examining his hair.
"Damn it, how come you've got white hair when you're from the Uzumaki Clan?"
Without changing expression, Tsunade quietly pulled Kushina back a step. Away from her perverted disciple.
"Because he also has Senju blood. And Naruto's blond hair comes from Minato, doesn't it?"
"Oh yeah, that's true."
Kushina blinked, then turned to Naruto again, her eyes full of expectation, "Naruto, can you use the Adamantine Sealing Chains?"
"Uh… that, well…", Naruto scratched his head awkwardly, "I've been training in taijutsu with Guy-sensei since I was little. Sealing jutsu's too hard, I couldn't really get the hang of it."
Kushina suddenly blinked mischievously, "You've been training taijutsu with who?"