[The Next Day]
[Naruto's Home]
Naruto opened his eyes, stretched lazily, and comfortably sat up.
Ever since Uzumaki appeared, his days had been getting better day by day.
Someone looked after him, someone taught him, making a warmth rise from deep within Naruto's heart.
And Uzumaki also told him about his mother's appearance. As well as his own identity.
Although the time they spent together wasn't long, Naruto had already gotten used to Uzumaki's presence.
'Uzumaki…'
'Uzumaki…'
Naruto called Uzumaki a few times in his mind, and after finding that Uzumaki didn't respond, he obediently got up and washed up.
He knew that Uzumaki usually would only respond after a while.
After washing up, Naruto hummed a song while taking little sausages and eggs from the fridge, then went to the stove.
He first placed the eggs to the side, then cut slits into the little sausages.
While Naruto was cutting the sausages, one rolled slightly, and Naruto accidentally sliced his own hand.
Blood immediately gushed out, and Naruto pinched his finger, looking a bit at a loss.
It wasn't because the cut hurt that he was at a loss.
It was because when he usually got injured, Uzumaki would definitely scold him.
'Uzumaki, are you sleeping?'
'Uzumaki, where exactly are you?'
Naruto's expression was a bit flustered and uneasy. At this moment, he felt a bit itchy on his hand.
Looking down, he saw that the wound on his hand had already disappeared.
Only, Naruto's heart wasn't in this at all. He just kept calling Uzumaki again and again in his heart.
Suddenly, an impatient voice came, ["So noisy, brat. She had something to do and left. She'll be back soon."]
Naruto jumped in fright and looked around to the left and right, but couldn't find who had spoken.
His face was a bit confused, then he suddenly recalled the Nine Tails he had seen before.
'Nine Tails, was that you speaking?', Naruto asked cautiously.
["Mm…"], Kurama snorted.
Naruto asked hopefully, 'Can you tell me when Uzumaki will be back?'
Kurama really couldn't stand Naruto acting like that.
["Uzumaki has her own things to handle. Stop calling her. She'll come back naturally once she's done."]
Although the Nine Tails' tone was fierce, Naruto's unsettled heart finally calmed down.
'I understand.'
Naruto took a deep breath and silently encouraged himself, 'Even if Uzumaki isn't here, I still have to do what I'm supposed to do.'
He cleaned up the blood stains on the cutting board. Then he re-prepped the little sausages.
Whether frying sausages or frying eggs, he did it quite decently.
It's just that with Uzumaki not around, Naruto was still a bit distracted. He burnt two of the sausages and the eggs were slightly overdone too.
Naruto forced himself to concentrate, prepared the bento, and then, full of thoughts, went off to school.
Rengoku's shadow clone had always been hiding in Naruto's shadow. Seeing Naruto's wound heal quickly, he knew Kurama had intervened.
And Naruto must have spoken with the tsundere fox, otherwise, Naruto couldn't have recovered emotionally so fast.
Seeing this, Rengoku also gave up on conversing with Naruto.
———
[Uchiha Clan Grounds]
Sasuke groggily got up. Last night the clan had been quite noisy, so he hadn't slept well.
He got up later than usual today.
After washing up, he went into the dining hall. Usually, at this time, his father and mother should be at the table eating.
But today, why was there one more person?
Sasuke rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Nii-san?", Sasuke cheered loudly.
Itachi stood up and caught Sasuke, who had thrown himself over.
Sasuke hugged Itachi, grinning from ear to ear, "Great, great, Nii-san is back!"
"All right, let's eat first," A gentle smile also appeared on Itachi's face.
Seeing this scene, Fugaku's eyes held some emotion, 'Thankfully there was Rengoku, otherwise…'
Mikoto's eyes were full of gentle smiles. The two brothers being healthy was what a mother most wanted to see.
"Nii-san, where have you been recently?"
"Went to the Land of Earth."
"Nii-san, look, look, I awakened my Sharingan!"
"Good. Senpai already told me."
"Nii-san, now that you're back, don't leave again, okay?"
"Nii-san, accompany me to train this afternoon, okay?"
"Nii-san, I have a teacher and junior sister now!"
Seeing Sasuke not even eating and bombarding Itachi like a machine gun, Mikoto reached out and twisted Sasuke's ear.
"What time do you think it is? Eat your food first before talking, you hear?"
"Ah, ow, ow…", Sasuke immediately hugged his ear and begged for mercy.
"Sorry, mother, I was wrong, I was wrong…"
Only then did Mikoto angrily return to her seat.
Itachi gently patted Sasuke's shoulder, "I'll be around these two days. Go to class today, come find me when you get back."
"Mm, I got it, Nii-san," Sasuke quickly sat down, finished his meal, then picked up the bento Mikoto had prepared for him and ran outside.
"Nii-san, wait for me to come back!"
Itachi nodded with a gentle expression, "Go on."
Although Sasuke had already eaten and run off, Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi were still at the table.
The atmosphere between Fugaku and Itachi was a bit subtle, both were eating in silence.
Mikoto spoke to Itachi, "Go see Izumi later."
Itachi responded, "Yes, mother."
At this moment, Mikoto elbowed Fugaku.
Fugaku also put down his chopsticks, "They've moved to the entrance of South Street now."
Mikoto added, "Hazuki (Izumi's mother) opened a flower shop, it just opened recently."
Itachi looked at Mikoto in surprise. Mikoto gave him a glance, meaning it was all Fugaku's doing.
"Thank you, Father," As Itachi spoke, the tense atmosphere instantly lightened quite a bit.
Fugaku also took the initiative to speak, "I'm preparing to retire and hand over the clan leader position to Rengoku."
Itachi was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Senpai is indeed more suitable for this position."
Fugaku laughed and scolded, "So you also think I'm an unqualified clan leader, is that it?"
Itachi was taken aback. This was the first time Fugaku had spoken to him in this tone.
When he came back to his senses and saw Fugaku still smiling, something in his heart suddenly unraveled, "It's not that Father is unqualified. It's that Senpai is too suitable."
After hearing that, Fugaku laughed heartily, "Yes, Rengoku is too suitable."
———
Sasuke, holding his bento, ran to the clan gate. Karin was already waiting for him.
"Sorry, Karin, I'm late."
Seeing Sasuke so cheerful, Karin asked in confusion, "Sasuke, why are you so happy?"
Sasuke coughed, maintaining his dignity as a senior, but the smile on his face still couldn't be wiped off, "My brother is back."
Karin still remembered that it was Itachi who picked her up, so she had some impression, "Teacher is back too?"
Sasuke shook his head, "No, but should be soon."
"What exactly happened last night? Many houses in the clan were destroyed."
"I don't know either. Father didn't tell me. Let's go to school first. When I get back, I'll ask my brother."
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