It was morning in Konoha.
The sun had now risen over the horizon. The air lost the fresh and crisp quality it had an hour ago. The streets—now well-lit by the sunlight—were bustling with activity, masking the chirping of the birds, as hawkers sold their goods, including breakfast for people on their way to work.
A few merchant caravans, escorted by ninjas, passed through the streets alongside people walking on foot.
There were also some parents among this crowd, walking their little ninja to the ninja academy. While some kids obediently followed their parents, many others wandered off in different directions.
Kids were tugging their parents toward the hawkers selling enticing foods like taiyaki, sweet rice cakes, and candied fruits. They begged their parents to buy them these treats.
Some of the more clever ones puffed up their cheeks, folded their hands, and looked away, attempting to win their parents over with their adorable antics.
When all their tactics failed, they resorted to threatening to refuse to go to school if they didn't receive their sugary ransom. And this ransom needed to be paid by—well—'Rwight Nyow.'
A certain group of people was standing outside a shop on the street. This group would occasionally garner looks from people passing by on the street.
The shop appeared to be constructed of wood, with a green rooftop. It had a wide entrance, the top of which was adorned with a noren. The wooden tables and stools inside the shop were visible from outside, and even though it was relatively early in the morning, there were a decent number of people inside. The shop gave off a rustic, cozy feel.
Just above the entrance was a fanciful sign—three large white dango stacked on a stick—emblazoned with the word 'Dango' in blue.
This place seems to be particularly popular with mischievous kids tugging at their parents.
The sweet aroma from the shop wafted out into the street. Inside, customers savored their glistening dangos, letting out "Mmm's" and "Ahh's"; all of this could be seen from the street.
Within the group of people, a little girl with long brown hair was staring into the shop with wide eyes and an open mouth. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, with bangs framing her face. She seemed to be having great difficulty holding herself back from running into the shop and snatching a skewer from one of the customers.
She was about to say something but was beaten to the punch by another kid in the group, a boy who appeared to be of similar age.
"Hmph. They are kids after all. They can't control themselves once they see dango. So childish," the boy commented. He had black eyes, beneath which were long, pronounced tear troughs. His jet-black hair framed his face and was pulled back into a low ponytail. He also wore bandages around his forearms and ankles, and was wearing black sandals.
The girl who had been about to speak swallowed her words and remained silent. Her eyebrows creased slightly, and she appeared a bit miffed. The boy didn't notice this.
Both the girl and the boy had a prominent design on the back of their high-collared shirts—the girl's was purple and long-sleeved, while the boy's was black.
The design resembled an uchiwa—a traditional hand-held fan made of bamboo and paper—with a red upper half shaped like a semicircle, while the lower half was white.
"Ahh. I'm so hungry; I would kill for some dango. Izumi, can you please go and get me some dango, you know?" said a gentle voice. While the boy didn't notice the girl—Izumi's—reaction, it doesn't mean no one else did.
The owner of that gentle voice was a beautiful woman who could turn heads, and, by God, they would stay turned until those heads reached the end of the streets—assuming they didn't run into another person with their head turned.
As she spoke, she handed a few coins to Izumi—whose face lit up with a smile.
"Alright, Aunt Kushina. I will be back before you even know it," said Izumi with a smile. But just after she took a step, she hesitated for a moment, then paused and turned back to her. "Umm… Aunt Kushina, how many do I get?" she asked, stealing a glance at Itachi.
"Ha ha! You are so cute, Izumi," said the woman called Kushina, who noticed her glance. She turned to look at their group and pointed at each of them, saying, "We have Mikoto, you, and me." Holding up three fingers, she added, "So, for three people. Naruto is a baby, so he can't eat dango." She nodded toward the small bundle in her arms; a little bit of blonde hair was peeking out from it.
Then a mischievous smile tugged at Kushina's lips as she turned her gaze to the boy with black hair. "Unless… Itachi here wants one. But I guess Itachi isn't a kid. What do we do now?"
Kushina feigned a troubled expression. She gathered a few strands of her beautiful, straight red hair—which reached just below her waist—and tucked them behind her ear. "Itachi? What do you say? Should we have Izumi get one for you as well?" asked Kushina, her violet eyes fixed on him.
Itachi paused for a moment, then, with a dismissive 'Hmph,' turned his head away. Shifting Naruto in her arms for a better grip, Kushina turned back to Izumi. "Since Itachi-san doesn't want one, three should be enough, Izumi."
Izumi opened her mouth to say something, but Kushina was ready for it and stopped her with a "Go!" while beckoning toward the shop. Izumi turned around and set off to carry out her task.
Mikoto beamed as she watched her best friend, Kushina. It had been so long since she had seen her friend smiling genuinely. She was happy to see her teasing nature resurfacing today.
It was not just Mikoto; even Itachi and Izumi noticed the change in Kushina.
'Aunt Kushina seems different today,' thought Itachi. Although he felt annoyed by her for treating him like a kid and… umm… denying him his dango—not like he wanted to eat it—he was still happy with this version of Kushina.
She had always teased him—much to his chagrin. In fact, she was the only one in Konoha who did so and treated him like a child. But today, her teasing nature seemed genuinely joyful, and although it might be troublesome, he would put up with it if it meant they could see her smile reaching her eyes.
After all, she and her family had done a lot for the Uchiha clan—at a great personal cost—especially when no one else would dare to touch them with a stick, simply because of their friendship with his mother, Uchiha Mikoto.
He believed that, even if others disagreed and considered it just one of many reasons, this friendship was the most important one—the one that truly mattered.
Tap Tap.
The sound of footsteps echoed, followed by a cheerful voice announcing, "I'm back, Aunt Mikoto! I've got the dango for us. They smell so good!"
Izumi stopped once she reached them and held out two skewers toward the group with one hand, while her other hand brought her dango close to her face. With her eyes closed, she was savoring the sweet aroma.
'I shouldn't be surprised,' thought Itachi, watching her with amusement. He quickly averted his gaze from the enticing dango, not wanting to give in to his own cravings.
Once everyone had received their dango—except for Itachi, of course—they began walking. Both Mikoto and Kushina started munching on their dango as they walked. Kushina gave exaggerated compliments about the dango, like "Simply scrumptious, you know!" or "Utterly divine, you know!" among ten other things, with an occasional "Itachi-san, you're missing out. Mmm!" thrown in, her voice bright and playful.
Kushina kept a watchful eye on Itachi, who, apart from an occasional twitch on his face, managed to maintain a blank expression to show he didn't care—he wasn't going to give this woman more reasons to tease him. Izumi was lost in her own world, eating the dango. Mikoto, on the other hand, stayed out of this. She was having way too much fun watching her son being teased so playfully, with Itachi unable to do anything about it.
She almost never got to see this side of him—acting his age—since he was usually calm and indifferent, and no one in the Uchiha clan did something even remotely close to this.
CLATTER!
As they were walking, they suddenly heard a loud clatter.
The entire group turned around almost instantly, and Izumi nearly jumped, stumbling in surprise.
As she collected herself and turned back, she saw two people lying on the ground, their hands covering their heads and letting out whimpers of pain.
A look of confusion crossed Izumi's face—mirroring the expressions of Kushina and Itachi—since she couldn't understand how two people could run into each other and drop all their goods in the middle of a quiet street with hardly anyone around.
Mikoto, on the other hand, looked at Kushina with a helpless smile, shaking her head exasperatedly.
"How can they walk into each other when there are hardly any people around? Do they not look in front of them when they walk? Aunt Kushina, are they what we call imbeciles?" Izumi wondered aloud.
Mikoto let out a laugh at Izumi's words. Itachi agreed with Izumi; after all, there was no way that just happened unless they weren't looking ahead. He wished he had awakened his Sharingan—like his best friend Shisui—to see how these men managed to accomplish this feat; and then his thoughts turned to his clan's dōjutsu kekkei genkai.
Kushina, on the other hand, seriously considered Izumi's words for a moment and said, "No, Izumi. That word doesn't even begin to describe them. They are what we call r*tards—"
"KUSHINA!" interrupted Mikoto with wide eyes in shock. "Don't go around teaching kids weird things. Itachi, Izumi, you must not use that word. Kushina was just joking."
Kushina smiled and put on an expression as if she had done something wrong and said, "I'm sorry, Mikoto-senseiii~…" emphasizing on the last word. Mikoto smiled at her friend's antics and shook her head. Then, once again, the group resumed walking.
And in a few minutes they were standing near the Hokage Rock and just outside the ninja academy.
Many parents were standing outside, coaxing their children—who had tears in their eyes—into going for just this one day, and then tomorrow would be a holiday. Some of them were accompanied by their elder siblings—who had Konoha headbands on—looking at their younger siblings' actions with nostalgia. They wanted to protect the innocence of these kids, and the Will of Fire within them burned a bit brighter—especially in Itachi.
Kushina looked toward the faces on Hokage Rock, the fourth one, to be precise. She felt a knot in her stomach, and her eyes misted over. Secretly—away from the gazes of Izumi and Itachi—she wiped away her tears and rearranged her expression. Mikoto slowly took Kushina's hand in hers and gave a gentle squeeze but didn't say anything.
"Alright, Izumi. It's almost time for your first class. Go in," said Kushina, gently ruffling Izumi's hair.
Izumi looked at her and nodded. "Bye, Aunt Kushina, Aunt Mikoto, and… Itachi." She hugged Kushina and then turned toward the school.
"You spoil her too much, Kushina," Mikoto remarked, to which Kushina responded with a smile.
Waving her hand at them, she started toward the school. Once she reached the entrance, she hesitated for a moment and turned back, slowly walking toward them.
She held out a hand toward Itachi and said, "Umm… I've had enough and can't eat anymore. You can eat the rest of it, Itachi."
Without thinking, Itachi took whatever she was offering him. To his surprise, she had given him some of her dango.
Once Itachi accepted it, Izumi turned around and scampered happily away for the school like a little rabbit. Kushina and Mikoto couldn't hold back their giggles, while Itachi looked at them in confusion.
"Aww, Itachi-chaaannnn~ is so clueless," Kushina said as she ruffled his hair. "I will be so angry if you make Izumi cry, Itachi-chaaannnn~." A smile that wasn't quite a smile appeared on her face as she said this.
A chill that had nothing to do with the cool morning breeze crept up Itachi's spine.
Now, Itachi looked completely lost. Unable to make heads or tails of the situation, he gave up thinking. He turned his attention to the skewer in his hand, and with a small smile, brought the dango close to his face and took a whiff of its smell—like Izumi did earlier.
Then he started eating it with relish, completely forgetting his earlier comment about how childish it was to be so captivated by dango, while ignoring the amused smile Kushina was giving him, as if to tease him about his change of heart.
Kushina turned toward the school and saw Izumi going in with the other students, and she seemed to have caught sight of a friend as she ran toward a small group of kids just inside the school.
Kushina stared after her. "Hotaru would have been going to school just like her if he weren't in a coma," Kushina said, letting out a sigh. "Now, he has fallen behind all the other kids his age."
Mikoto heard her friend and, although she felt the same, she wanted to console her. "It will be alright, Kushina. He is the Fourth Hokage's son—Minato's son. He will catch up to them in no time."
Mikoto tried to offer hope to Kushina, but even she couldn't believe her own words. It would likely be very difficult for Hotaru to catch up to even the least capable students in his class when he starts school. After all, these formative years are the most crucial in a ninja's life. On top of that, Hotaru's body will take even more time to heal and return to normal.
Kushina noticed her friend's attempt to cheer her up and gave her a sad smile. Then she finally told Mikoto what had been troubling her since Mikoto informed her that Hotaru had woken up from his coma. "I wonder how Hotaru will fare if he ever goes out on a mission and ends up surrounded by enemy ninja.
"In fact, it will almost certainly happen since he is Minato's son. Many people lost their lives to Minato in the last war, and those who hate him, who couldn't do anything to him at that time, will now turn to Hotaru for revenge."
When Mikoto visited Kushina very early in the morning to break the news, she was beside herself with joy—the first time she had felt happy since losing Minato last year. But this thought had been gnawing at her since Hotaru fell into a coma.
Everything Kushina said was true. However, Mikoto wasn't worried about this at all; in fact, she had never been concerned about Hotaru's safety in the future. She had long been prepared for that and just had to put her plan into action.
With a small proud smile on her face, Mikoto said, "Hey, Kushina, about that…"
"About what?" Kushina asked, her brow furrowing in confusion as a sense of unease settled in.
"Hehe," Mikoto continued with a grin, "I've already taken care of that."
"Taken care of what?" Kushina asked, bewildered. She had an inkling of what her friend was hinting at, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that Mikoto could actually help with Hotaru's situation. She didn't want to get her hopes up only to be disappointed.