As Reika guided both Kuro and Xero into the inn, her usual calm seemed to have shattered. Her posed, graceful demeanor now bristled with irritation, and even her walk was brisk and heavy, every step a wordless reprimand. She practically shoved them into the modest room—simple wooden furniture surrounded by traditional tatami mats—before she spun on her heel to face them.

  The usually rexed, thoughtful expression on her face was repced by a hard-edged gre, and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Her blue-green eyes, normally warm and steady, now narrowed dangerously at Kuro and Xero. Kuro had never seen her quite this angry after he came to this world, and as her gaze seared into him, he could feel a slight shiver run down his spine.

  “I knew Xero was reckless,” she began, her voice low arained, but the tension was unmistakable. “But you, Kuro? I didn’t expect you to join him in his stupidity.”

  Kuro, at that moment, couldn’t help the nervous chuckle that escaped him. It was his typical way of easing tension, or at least trying to. Rubbing the back of his neck, he offered her a sheepish grin, hoping it might soften her wrath just a little. “Hey, sometimes an adrenaline rush gets the best of me… sis.”

  The moment that st word slipped out, he knew he’d made a mistake. Reika’s expression shifted, her brows pulling together, and her jaw ched tightly. Her eyes sharpened, and the iy in them seemed to deepen, as if he’d hit a nerve he hadn’t realized existed.

  “Don’t call me ‘sis, I ain’t your sister!’” she snapped, her tone as cold as steel. The words were sharp and final, cutting through any lingering traces of lightheartedness in the room.

  Kuro’s grin faded immediately. There was a slight pause as he tried to process her response, something uneasy lingering in the sileween them.James doesn’t know why she didn’t like the idea of calling her sis. While her irritation was clear, something about her response hi something more, a tension he couldn’t quite name. But he wasn’t about to push further—at least nht now. Instead, he let the subject drop, mentally filing it away for aime.

  He g Xero, who had positioned himself on his feet already, looking perfectly rexed, even carefree. It was almost surreal—Kuro himself bore a few scratches and bruises from their test scuffle with one of the Leaf Vilge’s most formidable young ninjas, but Xero didn’t seem to have a single mark on him. Not even the slightest scratch or bruise marred his skin, and his clothing looked just as fresh and as when they’d arrived. It was as if he has high speed healing ability.

  Kuro’s brows furrowed as he eyed Xero, and he couldn’t help but wonder, *Just how resilient is this guy? Does he have some kind of rapid healing ability?*

  Notig Kuro’s curious look, Xero raised an eyebrow, smirking faintly. “What? Surprised?”

  Kuro shook his head in disbelief, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “You’re not even a little hurt?”

  Xered nontly, brushing an invisible speck of dust from his shoulder. “Pai bother me much,” he said, his tone almost dismissive, as though the very cept of pain was a fn invenience he barely aowledged.

  Reika, who had been watg the exge with a sharp eye, sighed heavily, folding her arms across her chest once again. “You’re both lucky I didn’t leave you there,” she said, her voice tinged with exasperation. “We could have been marked as criminals for starting a brawl in their vilge.”

  Xero, with a glint of defian his eyes, straightened a her gaze without fling. “Why didn’t you step in, then? You could’ve helped.”

  For a moment, her eyes fshed with something fierce, and she uncrossed her arms, fists g as she took a step closer to him. Her voice came out sharper than ever, a barely-tained fury. “Are you insane? Fighting a Hyuga in the middle of the Hidden Leaf Vilge? And not just any Hyuga, but Neji? You would have signed us up for disaster. I ’t believe you thought that was a good idea!”

  Kuro nodded quickly, his eyes wide, trying to defuse the growing tension. “Reika’s right. We ’t just pick fights wherever we go,” he said, shooting a look at Xero. “This isn’t our territory. We’re on borrowed ground here, and we have to remember that es with sequences.”

  Xero scoffed, a wry smirk tugging at his lips as he crossed his arms in defiance. “You two worry too much,” he muttered.

  But even Xero couldn’t ighe iy in Reika’s gaze as she stared him down, her expression cold. A moment passed, and though he looked as though he was about tue, he finally muttered, “Fine,” under his breath, dropping his gaze to the floor.

  Kuro chuckled, more out of nervoushan anything else, but a small part of him was genuinely amused. Despite Xero’s brashness arong attitude, he seemed to respect Reika’s authority enough to back down, even if relutly. It was strahis urio, each of them vastly different from the others, was starting to feel oddly like a family. Dysfunal, certainly, but still a family of sorts.

  *"Well, well, well," Kuro drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Look who the cat dragged in, all shiny and new. You could’ve been a human pancake, Xero, but here you are, as fresh as a spring m. Maybe the Leaf Vilge should worship you as a god of luck or something."*

  *Xero smirked, a knowing glint in his eye. "Or maybe they're just scared of my overwhelming awesomeness," he replied, his tone equally sarcastic. It was a silent agreemeween them, a shared chuckle at the absurdity of the situation.*

  "Boys, boys, boys..." Reika sighed dramatically, a pyful roll of her eyes. She couldn't help but smile, a fond amusement in her gaze. "Of course, I'm stuck with you lot."

  Kuro chuckled, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Hey, at least we're eaining, right?" He g Reika, notig a fleeting moment of something... almost like mencholy. "What's got you down, sis? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "Sis again, huh?" Reika muttered, her eyebrow twitg. "You know, I'm not actually your sister, right? I'm just a normal, everyday person who happens to be stuck with a couple of rown children." She paused, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Though, I suppose you two could use a bit of m."

  Kuro and Xero exged amused gnces. "Hey, reciate the maternal instincts," Kuro teased. "But don't worry, we're not that helpless."

  Reika rolled her eyes. "We'll see about that." She turned away, a small smile pying on her lips. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't deny the warmth she felt for her unusual panions. After all, who else could tolerate their antid still e baore?

  A flicker of curiosity sparked in Kuro. He wao ask, to probe, but something about Reika’s demeanor held him back. He decided he’d wait, let the topic rest until aime when she might be more open to it. But the thought lingered in his mind, iwining with the growing resped fondness he felt for both her and Xero.

  In the end, as the three of them settled down in the quiet room, Kuro felt a strange sense of te. Yes, they might be a chaotic group, proo impulsive fights and cshes of personality, but for better or worse, they had each other’s backs. And in the uable world they lived in, maybe that was all that really mattered.

  —

  As the afternoon sun began to dip lower, casting a warm e glow over the Hidden Leaf Vilge, Kuro slipped away from the inn, sav the freedom after the day’s tensiorolled through the vilge, letting the energy of the bustling streets and warm chatter lift his spirits. Vendors called out to passersby, families and friends mingled, and nterns swayed gently in the breeze above. It was all so inviting, so… alive. Ba Earth, Kuro was aced to a world ed by self-serving agendas. He’d battled tless foes, each more vile tha. In trast, this new world offered a strange sense of relief. Perhaps the system intended a respite, a vacation of sorts. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he was secretly excited to be here, in the heart of the Land of Fire

  But Kuro had a destination in mind—one he’d heard legends about from the anime which repeated several times. After asking a few locals for dires, he finally spotted it: a small ramen shop with a wooden sign hanging above the entrahe sign was simple, almost uated, yet somehow more famous than half the noble s in the vilge. *Ichiraku Ramen,* it read, and Kuro felt a little thrill at the sight of it.

  *This pce… the legendary ramen spot! The ohe Leaf’s shinobi are always talking about! The broth, the noodles, the secret spices...* Kuro thought, his stomach already growling in anticipation. He’d heard that just one bowl could make you fet all your worries.