The next day.
Morning.
Little Naruto stretched hard, giving a long, exaggerated yawn.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Sunlight spilled in through the window. He squinted at it, a trace of loneliness creeping into his expression.
"Was it… a dream?"
Last night, he'd dreamed of something strange.
In the dream, he was lying against a broad, warm back.
Soft, steady, and somehow reassuring.
It was a kind of warmth he had never known in four whole years.
For a moment, he didn't even want to wake up.
He wanted to pull the blanket over his head and fall back asleep, just to stay there a little longer.
Three minutes later.
After struggling internally for quite a while, Naruto finally made up his mind and sat up.
Tap.
The instant his feet touched the floor, his bright blue eyes shrank sharply.
He stared at the whiskers reflected in front of him and muttered,
"Oh… so I'm still dreaming. Then I'll just go back to sleep…"
Another three minutes passed.
Naruto suddenly threw off the blanket.
He jumped out of bed and stared at the room—spotless, neat, completely different from before.
His face trembled slightly.
"N-no… this isn't a dream…"
"And ramen! And milk! There's milk too!"
Gurgle—
His stomach growled loudly.
The hunger hit instantly. The moment he saw the milk, he dashed over.
He popped open the bottle and tilted his head back.
Glug, glug.
"Huh? Why does this taste better than mine…?"
Confused, four-year-old Naruto finished the whole bottle in one go—
then even licked the rim clean.
"This is so good… I have to let Uncle Ichiraku try it too!"
Clutching the two remaining cartons of milk, he went tat tat tat down the stairs.
Outside the window.
Kakashi flipped a page in a newly published book. His peripheral vision swept past the scene, his expression unchanged.
But the fingers holding the book tightened slightly.
"…So no one ever told this kid that expired milk shouldn't be drunk."
A hard-to-describe emotion quietly spread in his chest.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
"Ahhh! Get away! Stop chasing me!"
"Awoo—woof!"
"Damn it, Uchiha Kai! Just you wait till I grow up—I'll—ahhh! Not there! That place is off-limits!"
Inside Konoha.
In what should've been a peaceful, relaxed atmosphere following the Cloud Village peace talks—
a scene began to draw everyone's attention.
At the front: a small boy in Uchiha attire, legs pumping as he ran for his life.
Behind him: a pack of Shiba Inu, legs pumping even harder.
Catch up—chomp!
The villagers lining the street couldn't help but laugh and comment.
"Oh look, that Uchiha kid's getting chased by dogs again."
"Heh, who'd have thought a prestigious clan like the Uchiha could be so… down-to-earth?"
"Yeah, look at him—he's completely overheated."
"Guess Uchiha kids aren't that different from normal folks after all, hahaha!"
Sure enough, children chasing cats and being chased by dogs were premium entertainment for the village's middle-aged and elderly crowd.
And in the midst of it all, the villagers' hostility toward the Uchiha seemed to slowly ease.
Some even started giving directions.
"Run faster! Watch out for that trash can!"
"Oof, careful! Wall ahead!"
"Go, go, go! Number Two Dog's catching up!"
During the chase, a boy in a green jumpsuit spotted the scene—and his eyes lit up.
"As expected of the Uchiha clan! To think they'd come up with such a training method!"
"This is youth! Let us burn with youth together!"
With that, the small figure charged straight into the dog pack—
and took the lead.
Passing Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke: "You passed me???"
Pure childlike competitiveness exploded instantly.
Seeing someone overtake him, Sasuke's temper flared.
"I'll show you what a real genius looks like!"
He stomped hard and launched himself forward in a clean, powerful leap.
He even had time to glance back, shooting the green-clad boy a proud look—
as if to say: This is the pride of the Uchiha!
He clearly saw the boy's pupils widen, panic spreading across his face.
The boy opened his mouth, trying to say something.
"Hmph! See? I barely tried and he's already scared!"
Sasuke's pride swelled—
and then—
Bang!
Thud!
Smack!
"Ow!" ×2
Two cries rang out almost simultaneously.
Only then did Lee's voice finally come out:
"C-careful! Someone—"
A black-haired and a blond four-year-old collided by fate itself.
And then—
they started yelling at each other.
"You! You! You! How do you run like that?!"
"Are you blind?! Can't you see all these dogs?!"
"Ahhh! My milk! You—damn brat! Pay for my milk!"
"Hmph! I'm not paying! You haven't paid for my clothes yet!"
"Fan-clan clothes? Uchiha?! So you're one of those naturally evil Uchiha brats!"
"Hmph! You yellow-haired fox freak!"
The two stood in the middle of the street, pointing at each other's noses and shouting.
Nearby, Lee desperately tried to mediate, arms flailing—
and failed.
In the end, it devolved into a three-way brawl.
On the outskirts, seven Shiba Inu exchanged looks and silently took half a step back.
City gate on fire, fish in the pond suffer.
Unfortunately, before they could retreat any further, they were dragged back in.
Three kids. Seven dogs. Total chaos.
Uchiha compound, meeting hall.
Fugaku was in the middle of discussing the matter of Konoha handing over Hyuga Hizashi's body and the ceasefire with Cloud Village.
He poured himself a cup of tea and waved his hand.
"Relax. As long as the Uchiha remain calm, this matter—"
Suddenly, a panicked shout came from outside.
"Clan Head! Clan Head!"
A clansman rushed in, breathless.
"Clan Head, you'd better come take a look—Young Master Sasuke is outside and he's… fighting!"
Clang.
"Sasuke?!"
Fugaku stiffened, his brow twitching.
"This is a sensitive period. Any disturbance involving the Uchiha will be magnified tenfold!"
"He—!"
Suppressing his anger and worry, he clenched the teacup and asked,
"Who is he fighting? Did he win?"
"Uh… no… n-not exactly…"
The clansman hesitated, then said with a strange expression,
"He's fighting seven dogs… and a green weirdo… and a blond kid."
"Oh, as long as it's not another major clan, that's fine—he—
…Wait. What did you just say?!"
Fugaku shot to his feet.
"Dogs? Seven of them?!"
"And a weirdo in strange clothes and a blond kid?!"
Realizing what that meant, he slammed the teacup upside-down onto the table.
"Enough—this unfilial brat!"
Tea spilled across the tabletop, dripping down.
Drip.
Drip.
Some of it even soaked into his trousers.
But Fugaku didn't care anymore.
Right now, he only wanted to rush over and stuff Sasuke into that teacup.
On the wall.
"…Did I cause trouble?"
Hearing the commotion, Kai casually tossed Pakkun away and carefully inched closer to the wall.
He slowed his breathing.
Flattened himself against the stone—
and desperately activated Weak Sense of Presence to its maximum.
If Sasuke got beaten, he thought calmly,
then they can't beat me too, right?
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL