As the wooden door creaked open, the person who had knocked came into Kakashi's view.
"Kakashi, have you eaten yet?"
The girl named Kurenai Yuhi looked at Kakashi, who had opened the door, with a sweet smile, carrying large bags in her hands.
"Not yet."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Kurenai Yuhi stepped past Kakashi and entered the courtyard, her voice clear and crisp, like that of a young girl.
"I knew you hadn't eaten. Look what I brought you?"
"Your favorite saury... fish."
Her voice came to an abrupt halt, as if a fish swimming in the water had suddenly flopped onto the shore, gasping for air.
Two gazes met in mid-air. Kurenai stared at the beautiful girl on the wooden corridor, who was munching on dried fruit.
Kurenai Yuhi's emotions fluctuated +1.
Chakra +1%.
"This is Uchiha Hikari. Due to special circumstances, she needs to stay with me for a while."
Kakashi introduced Hikari to Kurenai.
"Oh, I see..."
"Hello, my name is Kurenai Yuhi."
Her warm, vermilion eyes fixed on Hikari, who seemed oblivious and continued munching on dried fruit, but the tone in her words, as if facing an opponent, indicated that Kurenai was not as calm as she appeared.
"Hello, my name is Uchiha Hikari."
Hikari tilted her head and looked at Kurenai Yuhi.
"I've never seen you in the Uchiha Clan~"
After only a brief moment of being stunned, Kurenai recovered, chuckling softly as she carried her things into the Hatake house, speaking to Hikari.
"Hikari is a member of the Uchiha Clan who was away and is staying with me due to special circumstances."
Kakashi spoke again, this time emphasizing the 'special circumstances.'
"..."
Kurenai pouted when she heard this; she had understood Kakashi's meaning.
Don't ask too many questions.
Kurenai Yuhi's emotions fluctuated +1.
Chakra +1%.
Damn it!
Kakashi had only left the Hidden Leaf Village for a few days and brought back a little girl!
Kurenai was so angry her teeth ached, wanting to bite that bastard to death who pretended not to see her feelings!
Kakashi looked at Kurenai, who was greeting Hikari with a kind smile, and couldn't help but show a pair of dead-fish eyes.
"Did you bring anything to eat, Kurenai?"
Compared to the insincere Kurenai, Hikari seemed somewhat out of it, instead following closely behind her with a look of eager interest.
She wanted to see what food the other person had brought.
"...It's saury."
Kurenai pouted as she introduced what she had brought to Hikari.
Then she plunged into the kitchen. Hikari seemed not to notice Kurenai's attitude toward her, only thinking that this person who brought delicious food must be very kind.
Watching the two enter the kitchen one after another, Kakashi paid it no mind.
He continued to pick up a leaf, experimenting with Wind Style chakra.
Kurenai's arrival also saved him the trouble of cooking.
In the brief moment he was lost in thought, the leaf in his hand was cut again. Kakashi stared at the leaf in his hand, which was no different from the previous one, and picked another green leaf.
Now he had a full four units of chakra, so he wasn't lacking chakra at all.
It was just a leaf; he could cut as many as he wanted.
And while Kakashi was cutting leaves, in the bright kitchen, Kurenai was chatting with Hikari in a desultory manner.
Perhaps Kakashi's earlier reminder had worked, as Kurenai didn't ask Hikari why she was a member of the Uchiha Clan but wasn't with the Uchiha Clan.
"When did you meet Kakashi, Hikari?"
Processing the fish in her hands, Kurenai looked at Hikari, who was seriously watching how she prepared the saury.
"Two days ago."
???
Hikari's answer made Kurenai grit her teeth slightly.
You good-for-nothing Kakashi, you only met her two days ago and brought her home!
You philanderer!
"Even though you only met two days ago, why were you willing to come home with Kakashi, Hikari?"
Kurenai placed the prepared saury on the cutting board and picked up a knife.
"He was the first ray of light I saw in the darkness."
Hikari spoke truthfully.
It was indeed so; after five hundred years of darkness, the first ray of light she saw was Kakashi.
In every sense, this was true; Hikari was not lying.
Bang!
The kitchen knife in her hand chopped down hard on the cutting board, onto the fish head with its upturned eyes.
With one cut, the body was separated from the head.
"So that's how it is..."
Kurenai said, a hint of sourness in her voice.
A sense of urgency arose in her heart.
She and Kakashi, due to the relationship between Sakumo Hatake and Shinku Yuhi, could barely be considered childhood sweethearts.
Now, her childhood sweetheart had brought back a girl from who knows where!
And she was even living in his house!
This was simply... outrageous!
Damn it!
Were all those stories true?
Childhood sweethearts lose to a sudden arrival?
Kurenai Yuhi's emotions fluctuated +1.
Chakra +1%.
Bang, bang, bang!
The anxious girl's kitchen knife fell rapidly, and the saury, which had died with its eyes open, was instantly chopped into pieces.
"Miss Kurenai?"
"Do you need my help?"
Staring at the dismembered fish, Hikari looked at Kurenai with confusion.
What was she trying to do?
Was Miss Kurenai not skilled with a knife?
If it was just cutting the fish into several pieces with a knife, Hikari would confidently let Kurenai hand that task over to her.
"...Okay."
Looking at the beautiful girl in front of her who was full of questions, Kurenai silently stared at the saury in her hand that had died with its eyes open.
Kurenai Yuhi's emotions fluctuated +1.
Chakra +1%.
So, even if I don't need to be present, as long as emotional fluctuations occur because of me, the buff can be triggered?
Outside the house, Kakashi, whose feet were covered in half-cut leaves, thoughtfully looked at the kitchen, which was emanating light.
Through the clear glass window, the figures of Hikari and Kurenai could be seen.
However, if those two stayed together... Kakashi stroked his chin.
Kakashi thought of this and smiled helplessly.
Perhaps Hikari's appearance had caused Kurenai to misunderstand something... Kakashi had no intention of explaining Hikari to Kurenai.
Hikari's background was too bizarre and was part of a mission, so it was best not to reveal it to others without Hiruzen Sarutobi's confirmation.
The leaf in his hand was cut open once more. After dozens of attempts, this leaf had been cut open more than halfway.
He believed that if he continued, he would be able to cut the entire leaf in half completely by tomorrow.
After cutting the leaf, the next step was to cut the waterfall.
However, Kakashi considered that he didn't have Naruto's abnormal chakra reserves, so he didn't plan to follow the original method of practicing Wind Style chakra. Instead, he chose another method recommended by Hiruzen Sarutobi in a scroll.
Severing the river.
By releasing Wind Style ninjutsu attacks on a flowing river, one could temporarily cut the river.
This method was much simpler than directly using chakra to cut a waterfall.
Why Naruto didn't choose this method in the original story, Kakashi probably thought that teaching Naruto a Wind Style ninjutsu was much harder than using chakra to cut a waterfall.