Karin hid behind a tree, holding back a giggle as she caught her breath. Bright flames lit up her mind as she opened her inner eye, a smile pulling at her cheeks. Naruto was going straight in the opposite direction, his blinding chakra moving farther away.
He should've known better by now that he wouldn't stand a chance playing hide-and-seek against her, even if he used those shadow clones.
Maybe she was cheating—well, they were both cheating—but like Kurama said, a real ninja never played fair.
Her brow furrowed as more chakra signatures lit up around the edge of her vision, all of them tiny candlelights—her eyes flew open in surprise, the brightest flame of those four, familiarly warm to her senses.
Karin stepped from behind the tree, looking in the direction of that chakra.
Hinata? What was she doing here?
The smile on Karin's face grew wider, her stomach flipping in excitement.
Maybe they could play together?
Brushing away the damp hair matted to her forehead, she broke into a run, the wind lapping at her face as she made her way through the forest.
It didn't take her long to arrive, stepping through some bushes as she came to a stop, only to blink at the sight that welcomed her, smile slipping off her face.
Hinata lay there on all fours, head bowed and looking at the ground while three boys surrounded her, towering over her with mean glares.
"Not good enough. Say it like you mean it," the tallest among them said, the boy next to Hinata, the biggest in the group, leaning down and pushing her head even lower.
"Apologize."
Karin walked closer, an angry heat rising in her chest. "Hey, you! Leave her alone!"
The mean boys startled at her shout, their heads swiveling towards her.
"And what the heck do you want?"
She met the tall boy's glare with her own, jabbing a finger at him. "You should be the ones apologizing here!"
A quiet, tense moment passed as they stared at her, before the last of the trio snorted. "Look at this runt, trying to act cool."
"Yeah, mind your own business," the fat boy said as he walked up next to the tall one, all three of them now facing her.
"Hey, freaky eyes," the leader of the trio glanced at Hinata, who was making no move to pick herself up, too busy staring at Karin in surprise, "is this tomato your friend?"
Karin narrows her eyes, that scalding heat rising all the way to her neck. "They're not freaky, stop being mean to her!"
"Or what?"
The fat boy took a step forward, towering over her by a head, but she fought through the sudden spike of fear, clenching her fists.
There might be three of them, but Kurama had taught her a secret technique to beat any mean boys in one hit.
"Or I'm gonna kick your ass!"
The trio stared at her for a tense, quiet moment, before erupting in laughter. "You? Fight us?"
Karin felt her ears heat up as another round of laughter spread among them, the fat boy looking down at her and cracking his knuckles. "We'll give you a chance to apologize before I smack you a little—
Before he could finish, a sudden rustle of leaves drew their attention to the side, Karin's eyes widening as Naruto popped out from between the bushes, skidding to a halt beside her.
"Ha! I found you!" the doofus paused, taking a better look around and turning to her in confusion. "Eh? What's going on? They wanna play, too?"
This dummy—
Biting back a snarky retort, Karin glanced between the bullies and her cousin, before pointing a finger at them, a devious smile coming to her face.
"These guys were being very mean to us."
Naruto went quiet, the silly look on his face making way for a frown as he briefly met Hinata's gaze. Karin watched eagerly as her cousin stepped forward, scowling at the trio—
"Another runt?" the tall boy said dismissively as he shared an amused look with his friends.
"Hey, wait," the fatty said, "It's that kid everyone hates."
That gave the others pause, the smile slipping off Karin's face as Naruto stood there silently, his shoulders tense.
"What about her?" the tall one said, his attention shifting to her. "They seem to be friends."
"Well yeah, only a tomato would be friends with him," the fatty said with a shrug, before they all erupted with laughter.
She glared at them, another spike of heat rising in her chest, but before she could say anything, Naruto stepped in front of her, fists clenched angrily at his side.
"Hey, you bastards! How about you try picking on someone your size, huh?"
A tense, quiet moment passed, before the trio laughed even harder.
"Like a little turd could do anything," the tall boy said, but Naruto simply brought his hands together in a familiar looking, cross hand-seal.
"Oh yeah?"
His chakra surged, and the boys went still, eyes widening as a cloud of smoke suddenly engulfed the place. As the smoke cleared, Naruto stood there, surrounded by over a dozen shadow clones, smug smiles on their faces.
"Wanna say that again?" the clones chorused, voices blending into an ear-scratching cacophony as they crossed their arms.
"No way…" the fatty said, taking a step back.
"H-Hey, maybe we should leave?"
"Come on, you're scared of this runt? It's just a stupid illusion."
The leader shared a look with his friends, those two nodding uncertainly while Karin watched with a smirk. They were in for a big surprise.
"Yeah, you're right. It's that Academy clone jutsu."
"You're not scaring us with this stupid trick."
The clones grinned, cracking their fists. "Famous last words, buddy."
Another cacophony of voices filled the place as the small army of blonds jumped at the three bullies, dogpiling them in a tangle of limbs. Some of them popped into smoke as the trio punched and kicked wildly, but there were still too many of them.
"Ow! What the heck is this?!"
"They're not illusions at all!"
"Help me, guys!"
A tiny smile came to Karin's face as she listened to the pained cries of the bullies, her gaze moving idly from one clone to another, wondering which was the real one.
"It's over, you bastards! We have the high ground!" Another deafening chorus of voices came from the clones, and it didn't take long until they managed to grab the boys by their hands and arms, pinning them down as they struggled to break free.
"Ow!"
"Geddof, you shits!"
"Stop biting!"
"Not there!" the fatty cried out, only for his voice to get drowned out by loud cheering from the clones.
"Nuts or nothing!" yelled one of the clones, before delivering another thousand years of pain upon the helpless boy.
Karin's smile widened as she kept watching the show, a content feeling settling in her chest.
"Serves them right—
She walked over to Hinata, only to pause as she noticed the pinched look on the girl's face.
"What's wrong, Hinata? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" the girl said quietly as she looked away from the fight. "It's just… I don't really like violence."
Ah… That made sense—
Karin paused, mouth pressing tight.
They were training to become shinobi, though…
Was Hinata going to be fine?
"Let's get out of here." Karin said, extending an arm to her friend with a smile. Hinata grabbed the offered hand and pulled herself up, before taking a tentative look at the human pile of kicking limbs.
"Uhm, what about Naruto?"
"Don't worry. The doofus will be fine—
"Yeah, I'm right here, y'know."
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind, Karin nearly jumping out of her skin as she whirled around, jabbing a finger at her cousin's amused face.
"Don't do that, you ass!" she said, heat creeping up her face. "You scared me!"
"Sorry, sorry," Naruto said, his smile wholly unapologetic.
"Whatever," Karin said with a huff. "Let's go."
"Are we just leaving these guys here?" Naruto pointed a thumb at the screaming human pile as two shadow clones were taking turns slapping one of the bullies on the face, while the rest were cheering them on.
"Yeah, they deserve it." Karin said, and Naruto shrugged before taking a good look at Hinata, his eyes squinting a little.
He'd better not say anything dumb to her, or else—
"You're Hinata, right?" Naruto said with a warm smile, getting a shy nod in return. "I don't think we've talked before, but Karin told me about you, y'know?"
"It-it's fine…"
"That's because you spend all your time playing with the boys during recess," Karin said with a huff. "You should hang out with us, too." She turned to Hinata, giving her friend a smile as they walked away. "And maybe you can come over again. Mom can bake you some cinnamon rolls."
A tiny smile brightened Hinata's face, though it vanished just as fast, her gaze trailing down to her feet. "I'll have to ask Father about it…"
"I'm sure he'll let you. Mom can talk to him."
"That'd be great! I can show her that cool thing with the shadow clones!"
"What thing—no way. I'm so telling mom if you do that again, and you're not getting dessert for a whole week."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Aww, c'mon, Karin, don't be like that. It was super fun."
"For you, maybe." Well, it was a little fun. "You even got that weird, masked ninja to show up."
"Ugh, don't remind me… I got lectured for half an hour…"
"And you didn't learn anything."
"I learned that I shouldn't let them catch me the next time."
Karin let out an exasperated sigh.
This doofus…
But even so, she couldn't stop smiling.
It was nice being here.
Yuzu woke up to the soft chirping of birds, stretching her legs under the covers as she cracked her eyes open, taking a glance at the clock next to her bed. Her eyes fluttered close as she rolled on her back, simply enjoying the softness of her pillow for a while longer.
It was a little too early to begin her day, but she'd had such a good night's rest that she could jump right out of bed and run a lap around the village.
A tiny smile curled her lips at the silly thought. It's only been a few months since they came here, but things were already so much better.
Stifling a yawn, she got out of the bed and headed for the bathroom, only to abruptly stop mid-step as she passed by the mirror. The haze of sleep vanished from her mind as she stared wide-eyed at her reflection.
She leaned closer, looking intently at her face. She lifted a hand, tracing her right cheek, the skin smoother than she remembered. So much smoother and free of those age lines.
Since when?
A knot formed in her throat as she kept staring at her reflection, eyes stinging. How long had it been since she'd last seen this face when looking in the mirror…
An old memory stirred at the back of her mind, a smile coming unbidden to her face as she blinked away the tears. She grabbed the hem of her nightgown, pulling it off in a single, quick motion and throwing it on the nearby chair as her gaze returned to the mirror, taking in her naked form.
Spoiler: Yuzu
Her smile dimmed.
Those ugly scars were still there, littering her body, if a little faded.
She moved her hands to her bosom, cupping the swell of her breasts and giving them a gentle, tentative push. She ignored the brief, pleasant jolt, letting them drop back in place with a slight bounce.
They'd started to sag over the past few years, but now they had regained that youthful perkiness that went away after she'd given birth.
She turned around, looking over her shoulder at her back, gaze trailing down and lingering on her bottom. She brought her hands back to her chest, running them along her sides, an eager feeling bubbling in her stomach at the smooth feeling of her skin.
She pinched her belly lightly, watching as the skin settled back without any wrinkles, though her mood once again soured as her eyes lingered on the mosaic of scars that littered her body.
If only she could get rid of these awful marks…
Sighing quietly to herself, she grabbed her nightgown and made her way to the bath.
She stopped in front of the giant, imposing gate, a smile coming to her lips as she saw the fox curled on the ground as usual, seemingly asleep.
"Hello, Kurama."
The Nine Tails cracked open a large, crimson eye, studying her for a quiet moment as a smirk stretched on his snout.
"You seem in high spirits." Kurama's gruff voice rumbled through the large chamber as he rose upright. "Did something good happen today?"
She met his amused gaze, letting out a quiet huff. Surely, he must have noticed it already? Was he teasing her again?
"I took a good look in the mirror this morning," she said, voice a little haughtier than she intended.
Kurama's smirk widened. "It must've been a sight to behold."
She blinked at the remark, smile turning a little stilted as she felt her face heat up. He was having way too much fun teasing her…
She wasn't sure how to reply, and they lapsed into silence as she stood there, Kurama watching her intently. A sudden flash of self-consciousness made her look away, gaze roaming across his gigantic form and lingering on his lazily swishing tails.
"Thank you," she said after a while, voice barely above a whisper. "You gave me back all those lost years…" she paused, swallowing a sudden knot as she looked him in the eye. "I'll repay this kindness one day."
She wasn't sure if she could, but she would try her best, even if he kept insisting that it was simply a gift.
"Keep being yourself. That's more than enough."
Her brow furrowed slightly. What did he mean by that?
She didn't get to dwell on it much as Kurama pushed an arm through the gate, holding it meaningfully in front of her.
She stared at it for a moment, the smile returning to her face as she raised her own hand and bumped his fist.
A shiver trailed down her spine as a pleasant, familiar warmth flooded her body, wrapping her like a comforting blanket. Her eyes fluttered close, a soft, content sigh escaping her, though they quickly snapped open as a flash of something—an intense, nearly scorching feeling—spilled through, and—
Their link abruptly ended, her mouth curling with a frown as the warm chakra began to settle in her stomach, leaving an odd emptiness in the rest of her body. Kurama pulled his arm back, though that strange feeling lingered at the back of her mind. She tried to place it, yet to no avail.
"You're almost fully recovered. Perhaps one more week and we should be done."
"I see…"
Her frown began to deepen, before she caught herself, pressing her lips in a thin line. Would he stop doing ninshū with her once this was over? He wouldn't have a reason to, would he?
A pang of disappointment sank in her chest.
She'd miss his warm chakra…
"I appreciate what you've been doing for Naruto." His gravelly voice snapped her out of her musings, her jaw working silently for a moment.
"I wouldn't say it's something deserving of praise. I'm just doing what mothers do."
She wasn't doing anything special. She was just being a good mother.
"You already have Karin. I doubt that it's easy raising two children on your own."
She shook her head, a smile coming to her face as she recalled the way that Karin and Naruto were playing together happily just a few minutes ago.
"He grew up to this point without a family… I can't just…" she paused, shaking her head. "I know it's not the same as having his own mother, but I'll try my best."
"I think you're doing great," Kurama said, lowering his head on his arms. "Few mothers can match up to what I've seen of you."
Those intense, blood-red eyes bore into her as a smirk curled his mouth, and she couldn't help averting her gaze as a sudden flash of heat crept all the way up to her ears.
"Thank you, but you shouldn't tease an old woman like this…" She pushed a frown to her lips, though it did nothing to dissuade the fox.
"You're not so old anymore, though." Kurama's smile stretched further. "And you were not even that old to begin with."
She couldn't keep looking him in the eye while he spoke, her ears feeling as if aflame as she averted her gaze. She swallowed dryly, the silence hanging a little awkwardly between them.
"I have a suggestion for Karin, if you're interested."
She smiled in relief at the change in topic. "Of course. What is it about?"
"I think it would be best if Karin trained to become a medic. She could work full time at the hospital and never step outside the village," Kurama said. "And as a medic nin, she wouldn't have to rely on healing through her bloodline ability outside of exceptional situations."
She blinked, nibbling at her lips. "You think they'd let her avoid the typical ninja missions and dangerous work?"
"She is too valuable to risk, and the old monkey knows it well. He would've made the same suggestion eventually, I'm sure."
She nodded along, thinking it over with a frown. It made complete sense, but even so, she couldn't stop herself from worrying. No mother would.
"I'll talk to her about it."
She didn't want to force Karin on a path she didn't like, but this one should keep her safer than anything else. After everything they went through back in Grass, she could only hope that Karin still liked the idea of healing people.
If she didn't… maybe she'd like being an Academy teacher.
"You should also try to get some chakra paper, if you can."
She blinked owlishly at the odd request. "Isn't it too early to worry about their chakra affinities?"
"With how fast they keep improving?" A knowing smile curled Kurama's lips. "Not at all."
Sasuke palmed his last shuriken, eyeing the training dummy as he wound up his arm, muscles loosening just enough before he flicked his wrist like a whip. A staccato of dull thuds reached his ears as the throwing stars sank in the thick wood across the training range.
Left arm. Upper chest. Neck.
A frown curled his lips as he stared at the training dummy, ignoring the high-pitched voices and giggling from the side.
Not good enough…
His brother could hit all of them from mid-air.
Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, he stretched his arms above his head, a painful jolt cutting through that pleasant, burning feeling in his muscles.
It was time for a break.
Rolling his shoulders, he covered a yawn and turned around, briefly catching glimpse of the gaggle of lazy girls as he made his way across the training grounds.
A quiet sigh escaped him. Girls were weird.
A flash of movement from up ahead caught his eye, Karin throwing kunai after kunai at the training dummy across the field, even though most of them kept missing.
Right arm. Left thigh. Lower abdomen. Left shoulder. Upper chest. Liver.
Well, maybe not all of them.
Two out of eight vital points. Not good, but still better than half of the class.
"You're doing better than last week." Hinata's meek voice came from next to Karin as she threw one of her own kunai, hitting the dummy right in the neck.
The Uzumaki girl wiped her forehead with a hand, turning to her friend with a bright smile. "Thanks! I gotta work hard if I want to catch up to you. Those moon eyes make you way too good at this."
Moon eyes? Sasuke watched them from the corner of his eyes. Was she talking about the Byakugan?
"A-Ah, it's not that big of a help. I just happen to have good hand to eye coordination thanks to my training…"
Sasuke couldn't hold back an amused scoff. Too modest.
He walked past them, shaking his head as more high-pitched giggles reached his ears from behind.
"Karin! Hinata! You're still going at it?" Another high-pitched voice called out loudly. "C'mon, take a break and let's talk about something fun."
"We're almost done. Let me finish this set, Ino."
"Fine, fine, but hurry up, Ami has some juicy gossip to share."
"One minute, okay? Now lemme focus!"
Their chatter blended with the background din as Sasuke reached the shade of a large tree, scratching an itch on his neck.
Why couldn't the other girls be normal like those two?
He took a seat on one of the nearby logs, resting his sore arms on his lap as he looked idly over the training grounds—
"Yo, Susuke!"
A loud, cheerful voice came from the left, his gaze snapping to the approaching blond as his mouth curled with a frown. "It's Sasuke, you dolt. Get it right, already."
He glared at his grinning classmate, but Naruto simply laughed it off, sitting down on the empty log to the right. "Sorry, sorry. Your reaction is just way too funny."
Sasuke watched the carefree blond from the corner of his eye, frown deepening. This guy really needed to come up with better jokes.
"I hope you didn't come here just to make your usual dumb jokes. I'm trying to have a quiet break."
"Oi, don't be so prickly! It was just a joke," Naruto said, crossing his arms with an exaggerated huff. "And here I wanted to compliment you for scoring so many points."
Sasuke blinked, studying the blond closely for a moment. Compliment him?
"Then maybe don't make it sound like you're just trying to annoy me."
Naruto scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it's just, you're so easy to tease, y'know?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, gaze drifting to his lap. He wasn't, was he?
"But maa~aan, this throwing stuff is so hard to get right. I've been practicing all week with my shadow clones, and I still can't hit more than two vitals on every set."
Sasuke gave the boy a strange look, brow creasing. Practicing with shadow clones? Couldn't this dumbass find a proper training dummy? Every training ground had at least one.
"Practice more," Sasuke said dryly, and Naruto turned to him with a vulpine smirk.
"What was that, mister three-outta-eight?"
Sasuke met the blond's cheeky look, brow twitching. "I would've easily hit all eight if I had the Sharingan."
"The Sharingan, huh?" Naruto said, voice quieter as he looked in the distance.
"What?"
"Nothing," the blond shook his head with a smile. "I was just thinking how cool those eyes must be."
Of course they were. The Sharingan was the pride of his clan.
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, mouth curling with a faint smirk. "You jealous?"
"No, I mean, it's really awesome how they let someone remember everything they see, since you know, it means they always get to remember the happy memories they make and stuff."
Sasuke went quiet, glancing at his classmate from the corner of his eye, brow furrowing in thought. He never saw anyone at home use the Sharingan like that…
"Really? What even gave you that idea?"
"Uhh," Naruto said, scratching at his cheek sheepishly. "I've heard some stories."
Sasuke's brows climbed up. "Stories? Like what?"
"Well, there's this one about two brothers, Ashura and Indra, who lived a super long time ago, and…"
Jiraiya eyed the unfurled scrolls lying atop the desk, mouth tight. "You're really going through with this, huh?"
Hiruzen folded his hands atop the aged wood, exhaling softly though his nose. "I've thought it through carefully, rest assured. Putting aside the emotional aspect, this could greatly benefit the village in the end."
It's been months already. He was doing nothing but wasting time at this point.
"I don't deny that, but this isn't something you can put back in the box once you take it out."
"There might be risks, but what doesn't have them in this world?"
Jiraiya held his gaze for a quiet moment, before leaning against the wall, crossing his arms with a sigh. "Looks like you've already made up your mind, old man." A wry smile came to his face as he threw a meaningful glance at the thick scrolls. "I assume you want me to take a look at that?"
Hiruzen tapped a finger idly on the closest scroll. "The Nine Tails mentioned a way to stabilize the soul anchor, but I'd rather exhaust all the other options first."
The fox might be on their side, but a Hokage always had to prepare for the worst.
Jiraiya pushed himself off the wall, a frown deepening the age lines on his face as he walked up to the desk. "I wouldn't let him meddle with such a troublesome technique either."
Hiruzen nodded wordlessly, a pregnant pause drawing between them as he fished out his pipe and lit it with a finger. "He'd yet to give me a reason to doubt, but this matter is too delicate to treat lightly." He took a deep, soothing pull from his pipe, exhaling a white plume of smoke. "Paranoia is less bitter than regret."
Jiraiya went quiet, a frown coming to his face as he took a glance at the scrolls, before meeting his gaze again. "I'd say he's been an asset to the village so far, and overall, genuinely helpful."
"And a headache."
Hiruzen puffed his pipe while Jiraiya flashed him a small, commiserating smile. "I've been on the receiving end a couple times, too." The corner of Jiraiya's mouth quirked wryly. "All those decades spent inside a seal must've left him with few options for entertainment."
Hiruzen felt the corner of his mouth twitch around his pipe. Annoying old men must be one hell of a pastime.
"My only hope at this point is that Kushina's return can alleviate that."
A quiet snort escaped Jiraiya. "With how invested he seems in this," he gestured a hand lazily at the desk, "you'd think he has some strange fixation on her."
An amused puff of air escaped through Hiruzen's nose, eyes narrowing slightly at his former student. "Nothing to the degree of whatever is going through your head, I'm sure."
Jiraiya puffed up his chest, smirking proudly. "Of course not. I'm one of a kind when it comes to the finer things in life."
Hiruzen shook his head, a fondly exasperated smile tugging at his mouth. Crude jokes aside, the fox did seem like he might have a score to settle with Kushina, and it wasn't too hard to imagine why.
As his former host, well…
Hopefully, they could sort it out without incident. He had enough headaches already.
"He's been nice to the kid, perhaps too nice," Jiraiya said, ending the brief silence. "It makes me wonder what's going through his head."
"He is older than our recorded history." Hiruzen took a long pull from his pipe, savoring the bittersweet aroma before exhaling a thick plume of smoke. "I can't claim to fully understand his motives, but he's made it clear that he desires freedom by the end of our bargain."
A beat of silence passed as Jiraiya looked out the window, mouth drawn tight. "We've treated them a little too harshly, haven't we?"
"Perhaps Lord First had acted a little rashly when he went after the tailed beasts and handed them out like bargaining chips."
A longer silence stretched between them as Hiruzen puffed his pipe, thoughts circling around in his head. A moment later, he sighed, leaning forward in his seat as he placed down his pipe, hands folding atop his desk. "Once we're done here, there's one more thing I need you to do," he said while Jiraiya nodded wordlessly. "I want you to start spreading some rumors through your spy network."
"About what?"
"About my wayward student."
Jiraiya's eyebrows climbed all the way up to his hairline. "Okay, now I have to know what you're planning."
Hiruzen smiled. Maybe the fox wasn't the only one who took an amount of joy in these things.
Itachi stood quietly in front of the Academy gate, eyes roaming idly across the throng of children while his mind wandered elsewhere.
The resentment among the clan has been steadily growing, perhaps even beyond what his father could hope to manage by himself. If nothing happened to alleviate the pressure, everything would soon boil over and—
"Big brother! You came!"
The familiar voice snapped Itachi out of his dour thoughts, a tiny smile coming to his face as he caught sight of Sasuke running across the yard.
"I did promise I would," Itachi said as Sasuke stopped in front of him, a happy smile lighting up his face.
"Mm-hmm!"
If only these peaceful moments could last forever…
"How was your day, Sasuke?"
His little brother made a displeased noise, face pinched. "The usual lectures, but then we trained with throwing weapons." The frown melted away as he spoke, "I managed three out of eight points for most of my throws." Sasuke looked up at him proudly, and Itachi crouched down with a warm smile.
"Good job, Sasuke," he said, gently poking his little brother in the forehead, watching in amusement as the boy puffed his cheeks.
"I'm not a little kid anymore…" Sasuke mumbled indignantly, and Itachi held back a chuckle.
"Perhaps not, but you'll always be my little brother."
Sasuke looked away, ears coloring a slight red as Itachi rose up to his feet.
They left the Academy in silence, walking quietly for a while before Sasuke looked up at him, an inquisitive gleam in his eyes.
"Do you ever use your Sharingan to remember happy things?" Sasuke asked. "I never saw you, or mom, or dad use it when we're at home."
Itachi slowed down in his walk, looking curiously at his little brother. Where did that even come from?
"Well, it's not that simple."
Sasuke's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"The Sharingan is like a weapon. Wielding it outside of battle can easily make people uncomfortable." Especially among others of their clan. The implicit threat could even make the more scarred shinobi attack on instinct.
"Ah…" Sasuke went quiet, gaze lowering to his feet as he nibbled thoughtfully at his lip.
"What made you ask, though?"
"I talked to a classmate today about the Sharingan."
Itachi hummed thoughtfully. The Nara, perhaps?
"He also told me an old story about our clan."
Itachi blinked, brow creasing ever so slightly. An old story about their clan?
"What kind of story?"
"About two brothers, Indra and Ashura, and how they're the ancestors of the Uchiha and Senju clans."
Indra? Where did a six-year-old even hear about an ancient legend of the Uchiha?
"And who is this classmate of yours?"
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Itachi stared at his little brother, eyebrows climbing up his forehead. The jinchūriki?
"Do you know where he heard that story?"
Sasuke looked away sheepishly. "I didn't ask…"
"It's alright, Sasuke. Let's hurry up home. Mother should be done with dinner soon," Itachi said, gaze wandering up ahead as his brow creased in thought.
This was highly unusual.
Author's Note: Looks like Karin accidentally butterflied away how the NaruHina ship began in canon. Naruto might have to work a little harder to rizz his Hyūga princess
Meanwhile, Kurama isn't missing a single opportunity when it comes to redheads. I wonder how long it'll take for Yuzu to realize that he's interested in her. Something spilled over this time during their ninshū sesh, but sadly, Yuzu doesn't have a frame of reference to identify it.
I have a Patreon, where you can read ahead chapters of my main stories and get early access to any new stories that I publish. Feel free to check it out.