Teacher Hoshino, panting, finally managed to carry Naraku to the Hospital. After a simple check-up, a Medical Ninja berated him.
"Why did you bring him so late? If you had delayed any longer, he would have been crippled!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Teacher Hoshino apologized repeatedly, not wanting to waste time arguing. "Please, save this child quickly!"
The Medical Ninja, seeing his good attitude, quickly calmed down and said while treating Naraku, "Although it's serious, he will recover after some time of recuperation. Don't worry, there will be no lasting after-effects."
"Alright, thank you."
Hoshino Akira breathed a sigh of relief and turned to say, "Kakashi, please watch over him here for a moment. I'm going to pay the bill."
"Understood, leave it to me."
Kakashi stood by the Hospital bed, watching the Medical Ninja skillfully apply medicine and bandages to Naraku. Some severe injuries even required Medical Ninjutsu, and a bitter feeling welled up in his heart.
He had originally thought Naraku was often injured because he was bullied by powerful Clan Member, but now it seemed, who else but his father could have beaten Naraku like this at home?
No, does a man who abuses his child even deserve to be called a father?
...Late at night, the system began to weave dreams for the animator as Naraku had requested, mostly taken from Uchiha Shinji's verbal taunts and physical violence towards him. To avoid suspicion, Naraku himself was shown a different dream, one that would make him wake up in a fright.
At the most intense moment of the dream, Naraku suddenly sat up, drenched in a cold sweat as if from a shock, gasping for air. He inwardly grumbled about whether the system had a grudge against him.
Dreaming is one thing, but why make it so terrifying? Tomorrow is the start of school, and he still has a half-meter-thick stack of test papers to do, and his pen is out of ink, so he can't write anything.
The system is too unethical! Strong condemnation!
After his breathing evened out, he noticed that he was in an unfamiliar environment, clean and white, permeated with the smell of disinfectant.
Konoha Hospital?
There's no way Scum Father would have brought him here; as long as he wasn't dead, Scum Father would act as if he hadn't seen anything.
Who could it be then? Could it be Kakashi?
Hiss, it still hurts.
He carefully pressed his lips together, silently curling up. "System, how many popularity points have accumulated?"
"Your popularity points are currently 4122."
Yosh, good progress.
Naraku felt slightly satisfied, completely discarding his earlier resentment towards the system. He threw off the blanket, ready to get out of bed, muttering to himself, "I need to quickly pick up the pottery shards. I still need them later; they might be thrown away if I'm late."
"Alert, Transmigrator, someone is coming."
Naraku endured the pain and quickened his steps. Just as he reached the door and touched the doorknob, the sliding door was opened by someone from the outside, and for a moment, the two of them stared at each other.
"You're awake." Kakashi was the first to break the silence.
"Hatake?" Naraku didn't have time to marvel that it really was Kakashi who had brought him. He immediately put on an act, retreating two steps in panic, avoiding Kakashi's eyes. "I… I'm sorry, I…"
Before he could finish, Kakashi interrupted him, "Does it still hurt?"
"Huh?"
"I asked you," Kakashi said, raising his voice slightly when he saw Naraku's bewildered expression, "do your wounds still hurt?"
"No, it doesn't hurt," Naraku denied his feelings. Kakashi unexpectedly squeezed his palm, and the sharp pain made him instinctively try to pull his hand back. "Ugh…"
"What exactly happened? Where did these injuries come from?" Kakashi stared at Naraku's evasive eyes, forcing him back to the Hospital bed step by step until he had nowhere left to retreat. "Is it your father?"
Naraku opened his mouth, but the words were stuck in his throat, and he lowered his head weakly.
"Please don't ask, Hatake… It's all my fault that it turned out this way…"
Footsteps approached from outside the door. Naraku had already recognized who it was, and his face turned pale.
In a flash, the door was roughly pushed open.
Uchiha Shinji, reeking of alcohol, entered the ward and, without a word, grabbed Naraku's forearm, pulling him out, not even sparing Kakashi a glance.
Hoshino Akira, who had been waiting at the Hospital, chased after them, blocking Uchiha Shinji at the door. "Wait, Mr. Shinji! You can't just leave like this!"
"Huh?" Uchiha Shinji squinted at Hoshino, showing no pleasant expression towards this meddling fellow. "You can get the money from me later."
"This isn't about money!"
"Then I must ask, do I need to report to you when I take my son away?!"
Hoshino Akira argued logically, "Please explain, what happened to Naraku-kun's injuries? The doctor told me some old wounds are several months old! There are also traces of several past fractures! He even has chronic malnutrition!"
Uchiha Shinji was at a loss for words. "This is our family matter, it's none of your business! Who do you think you are?"
Hearing this, Hoshino Akira became even more determined not to let him take his student. "I am this child's homeroom teacher, you should explain to me!"
"The Uchiha never explain!" Shinji immediately became angry out of embarrassment.
It was already shameful enough for Clan Member to know that his child had been carried to the Hospital by someone else. If he was obstructed by a mere common Ninja when taking his child home from the Hospital, he would lose even more face.
"And you cannot bear the wrath of the Uchiha!"
The two men were at daggers drawn, just a spark away from igniting a violent outburst.
If someone didn't intervene, these two would start fighting. Naraku tried to stand between them. "Teacher Hoshino, it was all my own carelessness, it has nothing to do with Father—"
Slap!
"Shut up!"
Uchiha Shinji felt a surge of humiliation and casually slapped Naraku, interrupting his clumsy lie.
Naraku was already weak, and his body involuntarily tilted to one side. Fortunately, Kakashi reacted quickly and caught him in time, otherwise, he might have fallen directly to the ground.
"Hey, are you alright!" Kakashi quickly pushed aside his obstructive long hair and saw Naraku's left cheek was bright red—that bastard hadn't held back at all.
Uchiha Shinji roared, "Let go of him, you Hatake Household brat!"
"Uchiha Shinji!" Hoshino Akira's rage soared even higher. He couldn't believe the other party was abusing a child right in front of him. "You won't take Naraku away today! You don't deserve to be a father!"
This touched a raw nerve for Uchiha Shinji.
He had even sacrificed his wife's life for this good-for-nothing, and now he was being accused by others of not deserving to be a father?!
What do you know! Do you know how much I gave up for him?!
"Enough."
A white-haired man with a heavy presence appeared at the door. The powerful aura from the strong man broke the tense atmosphere in the room, and everyone looked towards the doorway.
Kakashi exclaimed happily, "Father!"
"Lord Sakumo!" Hoshino Akira calmed his anger and greeted him respectfully.
Nice! Sakumo Hatake, you are my god!
Naraku lowered his head and cheered inwardly, even the slap on his face didn't feel so painful anymore.
Sakumo Hatake saw his son kneeling and protecting the poor boy in his arms. He nodded slightly in approval, then looked at Uchiha Shinji with calm eyes.
Uchiha Shinji gritted his back teeth, knowing he was no match for him, and practically squeezed out a few words from his throat, "What do you want?"
"Is this the attitude an Uchiha Chunin should have towards a Jonin?"
"…Lord Sakumo."
Seeing him yield, Sakumo Hatake faintly "hmm"ed and said in an undeniable tone, "I believe Naraku has good talent and I plan to mentor him for a while. What do you think?"
Everyone in the room almost couldn't maintain their expressions.
An Uchiha becoming a disciple of an outsider? This was the first time since the Second Hokage took Uchiha Kagami into the Hokage Guard Platoon!
Even Naraku himself was a bit slow to react. Had he just escaped a Scum Father and reached the pinnacle of his life?
Sakumo was determined to protect Naraku and added another weight to the scale, "I don't think Fugaku would object."
"Hmph."
With even his own Clan Head brought into the discussion, Uchiha Shinji could only swallow his anger, forcibly suppressing the venomous emotions in his heart. He glared at Naraku and left in a huff.