The river reflected the starlight.
Upon the rippling water, the shadows of the young man and woman drifted closer together and farther apart from ti to ti.
Izumi Uchiha gently brushed back her hair and quietly shifted where she sat, moving a little closer to Itachi.
Her heartbeat sped up noticeably.
Fortunately, hidden beneath the night and firelight, Itachi couldn't see the blush on her face.
"How do you know Naruto Uzumaki?"
Itachi glanced at the fish bones scattered all over the ground, then toward Naruto himself, who was currently lying nearby sleeping soundly after stuffing himself full.
Shaking his head slightly, he corrected himself.
"No… I should ask how you brought him into the clan district."
Konoha had strictly forbidden contact between the Nine-Tails jinchūriki and the Uchiha clan.
Though the restriction had recently been lifted, the current state of the Uchiha clan was far too sensitive.
And it wasn't only the villagers.
Even among the clan itself, quite a few people viewed the Nine-Tails jinchūriki with dangerous interest.
"Huh? But Naruto-kun always cos here by himself. Didn't you know?"
Izumi looked at Itachi in surprise.
"I often see Sasuke walking ho together with Naruto-kun after school."
"Sotis Sasuke trains so hard he can barely walk properly anymore, and Naruto-kun ends up carrying him ho."
"Is that so?"
Itachi froze briefly.
Ever since Sasuke entered the Academy, Itachi had stopped paying close attention to his daily life.
Still, whenever he returned ho, he constantly heard Sasuke rambling about how Naruto had done this or that before begging Itachi to train him so he could surpass Naruto.
Were their relationship already that close?
"You really have changed."
Izumi narrowed her eyes with a smile.
"You used to be the kind of older brother who wouldn't let go of his little brother no matter what."
"And now you don't even pay attention to what's happening around him anymore?"
"Oh, speaking of which, I saw Sasuke today too."
"He's completely different from when he was little and hard to deal with."
"Now he's all cool and handso. Exactly like you were back in school."
"And unlike before, he's polite now too. He even called 'big sister.'"
As she spoke, Izumi smiled softly, seemingly recalling the days she attended the Academy alongside Itachi.
Back then, however, Konoha was still trapped in warti.
The children of their generation only attended the Academy for three years.
And Itachi himself graduated early after his use of Shadow Clones to attend school was exposed, becoming a Genin and heading out on missions.
"...By the ti I graduated, you were already a Chūnin."
Izumi sighed emotionally before revealing a trace of regret.
"It's a sha we never got the chance to go on missions together."
"...That doesn't really matter."
"True. There'll always be opportunities in the future."
"Even if not during our ninja careers…"
Izumi suddenly caught herself and awkwardly laughed.
"I an… later in life…"
The shy smile she showed afterward carried the unmistakable feelings of a young girl in love.
Yet looking at her like this—
Pain stabbed sharply through Itachi's heart.
Because just earlier—
The fate of the Uchiha clan had already been decided.
Itachi's silence gradually made the atmosphere awkward.
Izumi unconsciously glanced off into the distance.
It had always been like this.
She had never received a response from Itachi.
But at the sa ti—
He had never rejected her either.
As silence settled between them, the riverside grew quiet.
Only the crackling sounds of burning firewood echoed softly in the night.
Nearby, Naruto continued snoring loudly.
Though beads of sweat were beginning to appear across his forehead more and more rapidly.
Because pretending to sleep beside a bonfire was honestly exhausting.
Seriously, how long am I supposed to keep pretending to sleep in this atmosphere?!
Naruto had actually awakened quite a while ago.
But after overhearing their conversation—and especially after hearing Big Sister Izumi's gentle voice—it was pretty obvious what kind of situation this was.
Though still young, Naruto's rough childhood experiences had already taught him plenty about these kinds of things.
Originally, he planned to quietly help things along by continuing to fake sleep.
After all, listening to romantic conversation sounded pretty interesting too.
But now nobody was talking anymore.
anwhile, he was getting hotter…
And hotter…
And hotter…
Wait.
Why does it actually feel like I'm burning?!
Naruto cracked one eye open slightly and peeked behind himself.
Only to discover a tiny fla stubbornly burning upward along the corner of his clothes, seemingly determined to spread warmth across his entire body.
"WAHHHH! FIRE! FIRE!"
Naruto exploded upward nearly three ters into the air before diving headfirst into the river.
"Naruto-kun!"
Izumi hurried over in alarm.
But before she could even stand up fully, Itachi had already stepped onto the water surface and pulled Naruto back up with one hand.
"T-Thanks, thanks… ahahaha…"
Naruto laughed awkwardly.
Falling into the water itself wasn't embarrassing—he had long since mastered walking on water with chakra.
But ruining soone else's atmosphere like this…
Naruto genuinely felt guilty about that from the bottom of his heart.
However—
While pulling Naruto up, Itachi quietly whispered into his ear:
"Do not get close to the Uchiha."
Because they may try to use the Nine-Tails inside you to recreate the Nine-Tails Incident and completely overthrow Konoha through revolution…
Those words never left Itachi's mouth.
After delivering the warning, he quickly returned to shore.
His cold indifference—as though nothing had happened at all—left Naruto stunned.
Naruto could clearly sense the overwhelming negative emotions radiating from Itachi.
They were so intense they almost hurt his skin.
And those emotions definitely hadn't existed while Itachi sat beside Big Sister Izumi earlier.
But unlike everyone else…
Those emotions weren't directed toward Naruto himself.
"Itachi?"
Izumi also seed to notice sothing and looked at him worriedly.
"Let's go. It's late."
Itachi sharply sensed the number of hidden gazes secretly observing Naruto steadily increasing.
Then he stood and spoke toward Naruto.
"I'll escort you out."
"Oh, no need, no need. I can get back myself."
Naruto waved repeatedly while standing atop the water.
"You should escort Big Sister Izumi instead!"
"See you guys!"
He cheerfully waved at both Itachi and Izumi.
Then—
Bang!
A cloud of smoke exploded outward.
"Shadow Clone?!"
Not only the people secretly observing from the darkness and Izumi herself—
Even Itachi, who once used Shadow Clones to attend school, was left montarily stunned.
When exactly had Naruto switched places with a clone?
anwhile—
The real Naruto was already back ho, stripping off his burnt clothes and preparing for a bath before bed.
Even while grumbling to himself:
"Man… now I've gotta buy new clothes again."
"What a waste…"
"Hm…"
"Maybe I should trade Sasuke so information about his brother secretly dating soone for spending money?"
"He noticed people watching from the shadows, left a clone in the water, then used Flying Thunder God to leave."
Kurama, who observed everything clearly from inside Naruto's inner world, nodded in satisfaction like a parent watching their child score perfect marks on an exam.
Looks like all those nightly lectures from himself and Minato about staying alert at all tis weren't wasted after all.
Especially because—
Konoha recently had not been peaceful.
anwhile, Minato Namikaze—who had been silently observing Kurama's reactions the entire ti—fell into thoughtful silence.
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