"Kakashi-sensei? What...what's wrong with you?" Sakura's voice, filled with confusion and concern, came from the side.
She and Sasuke were both startled by Kakashi's sudden reaction. To them, the scene on the screen was very ordinary, wasn't it?
Just a gentle and virtuous red-haired auntie cooking, and the house looked clean and warm. Nothing special, right? Why was the teacher so excited?
Kakashi didn't answer Sakura's question. He still stared at the screen, muttering in his heart, this is not normal at all... not at all...
Sasuke looked at Kakashi's rare loss of composure, then looked at the warm and somewhat dazzling scene on the screen, and a complex emotion flashed in his dark pupils.
He remained silent, but his slightly clenched fists showed his inner unrest. Those fleeting, yet heartwarming, fragments of time spent with his parents...with that man, buried deep in his memory, pierced his heart like needles. A cold hatred seethed within his chest.
In the dream, Naruto seemed to finally regain consciousness from his initial daze. The clean, bright living room before him... the enticing aroma of food in the air... and the red-haired woman busy in the kitchen... it all felt unbelievably real.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window, warming his face. He could even smell the aroma of meat tinged with soy sauce and sugar, and his stomach growled uncontrollably.
"Where...is this? It smells so good...wasn't I asleep?"
Just as Naruto was lost in thought, the red-haired woman in the kitchen urged again, "Naruto, what are you still standing there for? Go wash your hands! The food's getting cold!"
Her voice was full of energy, commanding like the emperor of the household, yet strangely imbued with a tenderness and doting Naruto had never felt before.
"Mom..."
The word slipped out of Naruto's mouth uncontrollably, like an instinct. He suddenly covered his mouth, his eyes wide.
I, I just called her... Mom?!
Even if he were dumb, he'd have figured it out! Just now, the villagers had warmly greeted him on the street... and now, in this warm home... with this red-haired aunt who felt so familiar...
"So... this... is my dream?!"
"And this red-haired aunt... could... could it be... the mom from my dream?!"
An indescribable wave of sorrow and ecstasy washed over him like a waterfall, instantly overwhelming all his thoughts.
Mom!
He actually... saw his mom... in his dream?! Although he had no idea what his mom looked like, the red-haired aunt before him gave him the feeling... that she was his mom! Definitely his mom! That deep, soul-deep connection, that blood connection, was unmistakable!
Naruto felt his nose suddenly sore, his eyes instantly warmed, and large, burning tears flowed uncontrollably.
How many years had it been? Twelve years.
Countless times in his dreams and fantasies, he'd pictured his parents, longing to be like other children, with a warm home and a father and mother...
And now... this scene he'd longed for for twelve years... actually appeared in his dream.
Even though... it was just a dream... at that moment, Naruto would give anything just to... never wake up from this dream.
"Wow... Yeah! I get it! Mom!"
Naruto nodded with a thick nasal voice, wiping the tears from his face vigorously, but a goofy smile brighter than the sun bloomed on his face. He responded loudly and dashed off to the bathroom.
[Ding! Uzumaki Naruto's emotional fluctuations captured! Emotional value +1500!]
Seeing Naruto's face, so excited that he was almost shaking, Sakura and Sasuke in the audience fell silent again.
Sakura couldn't help but mutter, "It's just a meal... Is this necessary?"
Though she'd been startled by Kakashi's outburst, she still couldn't comprehend Naruto's current emotions. To her, being called to dinner by her mother was perfectly normal.
However, just as she finished her words, Sasuke beside her suddenly spoke coldly, his tone filled with a rage and chill she'd never heard before:
"What do you know!"
"Huh?!"
Sakura was startled by Sasuke's sudden rebuke and looked at him aggrievedly. "Sa-Sasuke-kun... I..." She couldn't understand why Sasuke had suddenly snapped at her. Had she said something wrong?
[Ding! Uchiha Sasuke's emotional fluctuations captured! Emotional value +500!]
[Ding! Haruno Sakura's emotional fluctuations captured! Emotional value +200!]
Sasuke didn't look at Sakura again but turned his gaze back to the screen, looking at the blond idiot who was so excited that tears were streaming down his face because of the words "It's time to eat". Deep in his dark pupils, there seemed to be a glimmer of light that Naruto had revealed in the noodle shop during the day.
Perhaps, of the three people present, he was the only one who best understood Naruto's feelings at that moment. He, too, had once possessed it. And precisely because he had, he understood the pain of loss all the more clearly.
Kakashi looked at his two disciples and sighed deeply again. Sakura had grown up with both parents alive and in a harmonious family, perhaps even occasionally resenting their nagging.
Now, at her age, in the midst of a rebellious phase craving independence and freedom, she naturally couldn't understand. This "ordinary" family routine, which seemed so ordinary to her, she could never truly relate to Naruto or Sasuke.
But wasn't this heartwarming, almost blindingly heartwarming scene also his... Never mind.
On the screen, the dream continued blissfully.
Naruto washed his hands and rushed to the dining table. The sight of the fragrant food filling the table made his mouth water even more.
Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks and dig in, the door gently opened.
"Click."
A tall, straight figure, with short, golden hair as brilliant as his own, and wearing Konoha's classic green Jonin vest, walked in with a gentle smile.
His eyes were the same deep blue as Naruto's, as clear and gentle as the clear sky, and a smile perpetually lingered on his lips, seemingly melting ice and snow.
"Am I late?" the man asked with a smile, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze.
Kushina, standing at the kitchen door, immediately responded with a smile, "Not late, not late. You're back just in time. Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner. Today, to celebrate Naruto becoming a Genin, I made his favorite tonkatsu and fried chicken."
The man smiled and nodded, his gaze turning to the stunned blond boy at the table, his eyes filled with affection and pride.
"Naruto, congratulations! You've finally become a true ninja. Dad is so proud of you."
In the audience, if Kakashi had been shocked and incredulous upon seeing Kushina just now, then now, upon seeing the man who walked in, he was filled with awe.
Kakashi felt as if an invisible hand were gripping his heart, his breath stopping!
"Minato... Minato... Sensei?!"
That's right! The man as dazzling as the sun, known as the "Yellow Flash," who became the Fourth Hokage at a young age, and Kakashi's most beloved teacher—Minato Namikaze!
He actually... appeared in this dream too?
And... as Naruto's father?!
Not only Kushina-senpai... but also Minato-sensei... What... what is going on...?!
[Ding! Emotional fluctuations from Hatake Kakashi captured! Emotion value +1000!!]
And this time, it wasn't just Kakashi. Even Sakura and Sasuke, standing nearby, widened their eyes in disbelief as they took in the man who walked through the door.
"T-That's..." Sakura's voice trembled.
"Fourth Hokage-sama?!" Sasuke muttered incoherently.
As top students at the Konoha Ninja Academy, they were naturally familiar with the village's history, especially the images of successive Hokage. The statues on Hokage Rock. The portraits in textbooks. The heroic legends circulated throughout the village.
The blond man entering Naruto's "home" was unmistakably the legendary hero who single-handedly ended the Third Shinobi World War and ultimately sacrificed his life protecting the village—the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!
"W-why...why...is the father in Naruto's dream...the Fourth Hokage?!"
Sakura felt her brain completely at a loss. "Could it be...could it be that Naruto..."
An absurd thought, yet one that seemed to explain everything, rose uncontrollably in her mind.
[Ding! Haruno Sakura's emotional fluctuations captured! Emotional value +200!]
Kakashi remained silent, his expression grave. Of course he knew why. But this secret...concerned Naruto's life and the stability of Konoha. It must not be revealed to these two children here!
But... this dream... what on earth does it want to do?!
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Early chapter @ patreon.com/Reborn_noob