After the two of them walked out of the orphanage, Nagasawa thought that Nono would deliberately avoid places where there were many people as she was too shy.
Unexpectedly, Nono walked confidently, and she seemed very calm and natural.
Only then did Nagasawa remember that Nono was not a little girl. She used to be the elite of Root. How could she become an undercover spy in another country if she was shy?
The reason why Nono was shy was because the one beside her was him.
That was a privilege for him.
The two of them walked to Konoha's main street while holding hands. They didn't go to any stall or shop. They just walked on the street as they pleased.
Their lovey-dovey demeanor and the Miko outfit that Nono wore attracted the attention of many pedestrians on the street.
It was January at this time. Although it was the afternoon and the sun shone brightly, the occasional cold wind still made people shiver.
Nagasawa and Nono were both Shinobi. Such a slight cold was nothing to them. Nagasawa was even wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He didn't even have a coat.
When the men on the street saw Nono's clothes, their eyes lit up. It was as if they had found a new world. Then, they remembered something and sighed.
The young girls passing by looked at Nono with envy for having such a handsome partner.
"Look, I told you that you are shining brightly today. They are all praising how beautiful you are."
The whispers of the pedestrians on the street naturally could not be hidden from the sharp Nagasawa.
Nono lowered his head a little shyly and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She said softly, "Some people didn't think too highly of me, though."
"They are just jealous of you, jealous of your beauty and of how cute you are." Nagasawa shook his head.
"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" Nono asked with some uncertainty.
To be honest, Nono did not realize that she was beautiful or cute. Before leaving Root, she was too immersed in various kinds of infiltration skills and practicing Medical Ninjutsu.
Adolescence stuff had never occurred to her.
That was still the case even after she left Root because she became the caretaker of the orphanage and had been saving war orphans.
"You are," Nagasawa replied without hesitation.
"How certain are you?"
"It is like a bear that has been starving for a few days that will definitely pounce on prey once that bear finds one."
Nono laughed at Nagasawa's weird metaphor, but she finally regained her confidence.
No matter how she looked in others' eyes, at least in Nagasawa's eyes, she was gorgeous and cute.
This was enough. Nono did not care how others looked at her.
"Nagasawa, Nono?"
At this time, a familiar voice entered Nagasawa's ears.
Nagasawa looked over, and an eye-catching red-haired girl entered his line of sight. It was Kushina.
Next to Kushina was a young woman wearing a dark purple blouse with a red-plum skirt and a light-yellow apron worn over her blouse.
Although Nagasawa had never met before, he could guess who it was. After all, Kushina's circle of friends was not very big.
It should be Uchiha Mikoto, the wife of the current Uchiha Clan's leader Fugaku Uchiha, and also the mother of Itachi and Sasuke.
The two of them were carrying a bag in their hands, looking like best friends shopping together.
Sure enough, Nagasawa sensed Kakashi's presence on the top of the nearby buildings.
This week, it was Kakashi's turn to carry out the escort mission.
Nagasawa held Nono's hand and walked in front of Kushina. He smiled and said, "What a coincidence."
At first, Kushina didn't notice, but she was shocked after seeing Nagasawa and Nono were so close that they held hands.
Nagasawa was speechless and complained, "What is it? Why do you look like you just see a house getting uprooted by a tornado?"
"..."
"Nagasawa, you actually found someone. Is that not shocking enough? I have to go and tell Minato." Kushina was still shocked.
She prepared her Chakra to burst at the fastest speed she could get and rush towards the Hokage building.
Nagasawa quickly pulled her back and then pointed at Mikoto Uchiha, who was standing in a daze, before saying,
"I don't care, but are you going to leave her here alone?"
Kushina realized that Mikoto was there with her and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, this news is so shocking that I almost forgot about you."
Uchiha Mikoto: "... "
Although she was speechless, she knew that was just how Kushina was, so she didn't say anything and just nodded.
"Is it really that surprising?" Nagasawa was speechless. Why was he dating a girl sound so shocking to her?
"There were so many girls chasing you at the Academy, but you ignored them. After graduation, I've never seen you walking with a girl. I almost suspected that you wanted to steal Minato from me."
Kushina said with a lingering fear. After all, Minato and Nagasawa were already friends in the first year of the Academy before she came along.
Kushina really thought that she and Nagasawa might fight over Minato one day.
Kushina's words made Nagasawa imagine some wild stuff that he almost vomited.
During their Academy days, he didn't think talking to those brats would do him any good. It would only delay his refining of Chakra and progress.
Later on, he was also busy building up strength, so he didn't have time for a romance life.
He treated Kushina as a friend, but she treated him as a love rival?
"Yakushi-san, you look so beautiful in that outfit. I almost didn't recognize you for a second." Kushina turned to Nono and praised her.
When it was Nagasawa's birthday, the two of them got to know each other briefly and eventually knew each other's names.
"No, Kushina-sama, your red hair is the most beautiful." Nono also smiled and returned the compliment.
"Kushina-sama? It's too stiff. Besides, the Hokage is my husband, I don't hold any position in the village, so just call me Kushina." Kushina said casually.
Nono thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then you can call me Nono."
"Well, Nono, how did you know Nagasawa? Tell me." Kushina completely ignored Nagasawa and gossiped about him in front of him.
"Cough cough!" Nagasawa cleared his throat to show his presence.
Was she seriously about to talk about him with him in front of her?
"Tell me, I'm really curious. If you want, I'll share my story with Minato in exchange." Kushina completely ignored Nagasawa.
Still, Mikoto couldn't stand it anymore and pulled Kushina.
"Kushina, you should drop it."
Kushina then gave up, but soon she asked Nagasawa if they wanted to go shopping with them.
Nagasawa politely refused.
As if he could stand another second with Kushina, who knew what she was going to say.