Naruto: From Scratch With a Template System

Chapter 197 197

Back at her house, Rin finally let out a shaky sigh of relief the moment she closed the door behind her.

She slid down against it slowly, her entire face burning bright red.

She still couldn't believe Shiki would actually do something so bold while the others were sitting right there.

She had almost embarrassed herself completely.

Then suddenly...

Knock knock.

The sound at the door nearly made her jump.

The very first thought that flashed through her mind was–

'Is Shiki-sama here…?!'

Badump. Badump.

Her heartbeat accelerated so fast she could practically hear it pounding in her ears.

Even while trembling nervously, Rin hurried over and opened the door. She swallowed hard, squeezed her eyes shut, and stood there stiffly once the door fully opened.

"…What exactly are you doing, Rin?"

A somewhat confused female voice reached her ears.

Rin froze.

That voice…

Slowly opening her eyes, she was greeted by vivid red hair and familiar blue eyes.

So it was Kushina-san…

Rin immediately released a breath of relief.

But almost instantly afterward, disappointment appeared on her face instead.

Kushina, standing at the doorway, looked utterly bewildered.

'One second she opens the door with her eyes closed, then she looks relieved to see me… and now disappointed?' Kushina thought, completely confused.

Still, she asked with concern,

"Are you alright, Rin? I saw you rushing through the streets earlier, so I thought I'd check on you."

Then her eyes brightened slightly.

"And did your mission end already? Did Shiki come back too?"

The moment Shiki's name was mentioned, Rin visibly flinched.

"Y-Yes," Rin answered awkwardly. "Shiki-sama came back too… the mission ended, so we returned today."

"I see…" Kushina stroked her chin thoughtfully and muttered to herself. "No wonder."

Then suddenly, a mischievous grin spread across her face.

"So?" she asked, leaning closer. "How did it go, huh?"

"Eh? W-What do you mean?" Rin stumbled over her words as Kushina suddenly moved right in front of her face before casually pushing past her into the house.

"Don't play dumb with me now, Rin. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

The next second—

Kushina tackled her onto the floor and immediately started tickling her mercilessly.

"Ahaha—K-Kushina-san, stop—!"

"So are you going to tell me or not?"

"I-I'll tell you! Hahaha—I'll tell you, so please stop!"

Only then did Kushina finally release her.

With a defeated expression, Rin led Kushina toward her bedroom and slowly began recounting everything that had happened during the trip—and especially how things had ended.

"Hmmm…"

"So… what do you think, Kushina-san?"

"Hm…"

"Kushina-san…?"

"Hmmm…"

Rin's eye twitched slightly.

Kushina just kept humming to herself, nodding one moment and frowning the next as though she were contemplating some deeply complicated problem.

"K-u-s-h-i-n-a-s-a-n…"

Rin's voice suddenly dropped into a weirdly eerie tone.

"W-What?!" Kushina jumped violently, snapping out of her thoughts.

Seeing Rin calmly staring at her with a smile sent a chill down her spine.

Cold sweat instantly formed on Kushina's back.

She awkwardly scratched her hair and laughed apologetically.

"S-Sorry, sorry! I was just surprised you actually made that much progress. Good job."

"Progress…" Rin muttered.

The calm expression she had been forcing immediately crumbled apart. Her face turned bright red again as she covered it with both hands.

'Looks like she still hasn't told me everything…' Kushina narrowed her eyes suspiciously like a detective closing in on a clue.

"T-That, Kushina-san…" Rin hesitated awkwardly, fingers nervously poking together. "Is there any way to… you know… grow?"

"Huh?" Kushina blinked.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Don't worry so much! You're growing just fine. There's no need to rush becoming an adult!"

She genuinely thought Rin was worried about her age and was anxious because Shiki still looked younger than expected.

'Seriously… what a silly thing to worry about,' Kushina thought.

"T-That's not what I meant…" Rin mumbled in embarrassment.

After hesitating for several seconds, she gestured toward her chest before awkwardly motioning with her hands from small to large.

Kushina froze.

"…Huh?"

Her eyes twitched slightly.

—

Perhaps because of everything that happened during the trip to the Land of Water, Rin Nohara had become completely obsessed with researching breast enhancement methods.

Every single day she dragged Kushina into discussions about ingredients and nutrition before running off to ask Yugito Nii to make "special meals" that supposedly helped growth.

As the person actually cooking those meals, Yugito honestly wanted to say only one thing:

Please give up already.

That sort of thing mostly depended on genetics. Unless someone suffered from malnutrition while growing up, there really wasn't much that could be done afterward.

But Rin absolutely refused to believe it.

As the "weakest member of the group" in that particular category, she spent her days chasing after Kurenai Yūhi, Yugito Nii, and practically every other woman around her, desperately asking what they had eaten before meeting Shiki.

She even dragged Tsunade into the madness, asking her to help survey the chest sizes of Konoha's kunoichi in preparation for a future research topic:

"The Relationship Between Bust Size, Diet, and Exercise."

At the same time, Rin had apparently begun seriously considering medical enhancement techniques.

At this rate, she looked ready to become the future head of Konoha's cosmetic surgery department.

The determination in her eyes honestly bordered on insanity.

Still…

It wasn't entirely her fault.

Comparison really was terrifying.

How was she supposed to stay calm when women like Kurenai Yūhi casually walked around in front of her every day using overwhelming "advantages" to compete for affection?

Eventually, even Tsunade became fed up with the situation.

All she could do was pat Rin's shoulder and comfort her.

"Rin, don't think about it too much."

"A chest is just a normal human organ. As long as you have one, that's enough."

Kurenai Yūhi also tried comforting her.

"That's right! Besides, having a large chest can be really troublesome," Kurenai said seriously. "Running is annoying, exercising is tiring, and sometimes they're so big they block my view whenever I look down."

Rin Nohara: "..."

Tsunade-sama's words were one thing…

But Kurenai Yūhi, you're definitely mocking me right now, aren't you?!

"Anyway," Kurenai continued earnestly, "being smaller has advantages too, so don't stress yourself out so much."

"…Advantages?" Rin asked weakly, lifting her head slightly. "Like what?"

"For example…" Kurenai blinked and thought hard for several seconds. "Your size never changes, so you never have to spend money replacing bras because they suddenly don't fit anymore."

"Wouldn't that save a lot of money?"

Rin Nohara: "..."

Thank you very much, but I don't want to save money like that!

After screaming internally, Rin still didn't give up.

She even secretly approached Shiki one day while he was out buying wine alone.

"Shiki-sama…" Rin fidgeted nervously before finally forcing herself to ask, "Isn't… smaller actually better?"

Perhaps–just perhaps–Shiki-sama didn't really like huge breasts that much…

But...

"No. I like bigger ones."

Shiki answered immediately without even hesitating.

Rin took critical damage.

Still, she stubbornly continued.

"H-Have you ever thought about smaller ones too?"

At this point her dignity was already beyond saving, so she decided to commit completely.

"I still prefer bigger ones," Shiki replied calmly, though he looked somewhat surprised by her sudden boldness.

"N-No, smaller ones have their own charm too!" Rin hurriedly argued, face completely red. "Shiki-sama, I-I can prove that charm to you right n—"

She suddenly froze halfway through speaking after noticing the amused, teasing look in Shiki's eyes.

Only then did she realize they were still standing in public.

Without even waiting for his response, Rin lowered her head and bolted away in panic, practically leaving behind a trail of smoke.

"Hahaha…"

The sound of Shiki laughing behind her only made her flee even faster.

"Interesting…" Shiki murmured with a faint smile as he watched her disappear into the distance.

"Somehow… she's actually pretty cute."

Truthfully, he hadn't cared much about Rin at first.

But after spending time with her lately...

He unexpectedly found her reactions surprisingly adorable.

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