Thrown into a completely unfamiliar environment, there was nothing more reassuring than being helped out. Especially after being mocked right after her self-introduction, Kushina, who already had a fiery temper, was quickly running out of patience.
Right now, she hadn't developed any real sense of trust with Tsunade or Mito, so if she were being bullied, she probably wouldn't say anything at home.
Fortunately, Minato was there as a bridge.
---
With daily work and training, two months passed in a flash.
Kushina and Minato quickly became best friends. Friendship among children tends to blossom fast.
By now, they were attending and leaving classes together, training together, their bond was strong. No one messed with Kushina anymore.
However, during live combat training, Kushina, still young and lacking precise control over her strength and chakra, accidentally injured several classmates.
As a result, many began calling her "The Red-Hot Habanero" in private and kept their distance. It was all due to the natural talent of the Uzumaki clan, her strength and chakra reserves were far beyond what a seven-year-old should have.
This made her very upset.
Fortunately, she soon found a sparring partner who neither feared nor avoided her.
No one knew how Minato trained, but his strength was in no way inferior to Kushina's innate brute power. Aside from having less chakra than her, he outclassed her in every other aspect.
Thanks to his gentle appearance and his excellent control over chakra and physical force, he had never injured a classmate. He never bullied the weak and often helped those who were picked on, earning him great popularity. Influenced by his kind-hearted parents, he was innately kind.
However, Shin's influence on him was even greater. Even at such a young age, he liked using strategy, analyzing people, and assessing situations.
---
Shin and Tsunade continued to work diligently at Konoha Hospital.
As a kunoichi, Tsunade was supposed to be going on missions. However, aside from the ANBU, whose missions were directly assigned by the Hokage, all other ninja took missions voluntarily during peacetime unless under special circumstances.
She naturally didn't want to go anywhere. Still, the money she earned at the hospital wasn't any less than what she could make doing missions.
Of course, this kind of situation was unique to her, after all, in the entire shinobi world, her medical skills were second only to one and superior to all others.
Inside the largest office at Konoha Hospital, she lay sprawled across the desk, bored out of her mind, occasionally blowing on a small wind chime ornament with her mouth, making it emit soft, pleasant tones.
However, her eyes never left Shin. The more she looked, the more she liked him, and the more she looked, the deeper her feelings grew.
Shin was already used to this and simply flipped through medical records, letting Tsunade watch him as much as she wanted.
She had become increasingly bold and direct, more aggressive and purposeful, and yet he seemed to be getting more and more used to it.
What was even going on? Was he really not planning to leave? It seemed like... maybe... possibly... probably... this wasn't a bad thing after all.
Just then, loud commotion erupted from outside the office, shouting and yelling included.
Tsunade, clearly annoyed at having her mood disrupted, immediately got up, ready to go deal with the noisy troublemakers.
What did they think this was? A hospital, or a street market?
"Sit down. You don't need to handle this. I'll take care of it, you just rest." As Shin spoke, he even draped a nearby blanket over Tsunade.
"Fine." Tsunade settled back down at the desk, her heart filled with sweetness. For the past three months, she had been accompanying him in training every night.
Because of that, every morning he would insist that she rest and not deal with anything work-related.
At first, he wanted her to stay home and sleep in the mornings, not even come to the hospital, but she flat-out refused.
With no other choice, he added a single bed to his office.
But Tsunade almost never used it, she preferred watching him from across the desk.
I'm just going to keep staring at you. Let's see how long you can endure it.
And over the past three months, Shin had shown concern for her in countless small ways.
She was now scheming how to take their relationship one step further. Being cared for by someone you love was sweet, but having that love go unacknowledged was painful.
---
Closing the office door behind him, Shin followed the direction of the noise and soon arrived at the operating room.
"What's going on?" he demanded upon seeing a crowd packed into the surgery room.
A nurse quickly pushed through the crowd and ran up to him. "A critically injured patient was just brought in! But his companions are emotionally unstable and insisting on staying in the operating room. They absolutely refuse to leave."
"How bad are the injuries?" Shin asked with a frown.
"Doesn't look like she's going to make it," the nurse whispered.
Shin walked into the operating room without hesitation, grabbed two of the men by the collar, and tossed them out.
"What the hell are you doing?!" an angry shout rang out. A man stormed up to Shin, but froze when he recognized him. "Shin?"
"Hanma? And I was wondering who it was. Get your people out of here immediately. If you delay treatment, can you take responsibility for the consequences?"
"Since when do you get to talk here?" Hanma growled viciously. "Where's Lady Tsunade? Where's Dr. Shin... No way, you're that doctor?!"
"Idiot," Shin muttered, folding his arms and stepping off to the side, watching coldly.
Fine. Then let's waste some time. After all, it's your man who's dying, not mine. Why should I care?
Medical ethics had nothing to do with him. After all, the reason he started working at the hospital in the first place was just to prove his own worth and to keep on living.
That didn't mean he liked it or was willing.
If it weren't for Tsunade, he would have already quit the hospital by now. Who would willingly continue to suffer once they have the strength to choose otherwise?
After Hanma growled, he realized no one moved. All the medical staff were looking at him like he was a fool.