Hey everyone, sorry for the delay with this chapter.
I'll just say that Friday was the celebration of my country's national holidays, so I decided to take the day off to celebrate; however, the next day I was—to put it plainly—indisposed, so I couldn't get any writing done over those two days.
But here is the chapter, without further delay; I hope you enjoy it.
-------------------------------------------------------
Yami arrived home only to be greeted by the strong aroma of food. He could instantly identify the ingredients: pork bone broth, oregano, and meat, among other things.
"I'm home," the young, dark-haired boy said, sounding somewhat aloof.
"Oh, you're here, Yami! Come on, come here," Hikari called out, her head peeking through the doorway leading to the living room—enticing him to do whatever she wanted.
The boy simply took off his shoes and followed her, doing so more out of habit than actual obedience.
He had always had to tag along with the duo to keep their mischief from spiraling out of control.
Naruto had a knack for sneaking around and cheating, while Hikaru possessed a natural talent for seals and logic puzzles. Their own mother had even compared their abilities in those areas to a *jōnin* level.
It might sound like an exaggeration, but it wasn't far from the truth. If they were to become ninjas and form a two-person team, they could easily be one of the best infiltration and sabotage units around—even now. Just imagine what they'd be capable of when they got older.
Of course, one thing didn't cancel out the other; they could do things others couldn't, but that didn't change the fact that they didn't know how to fight and knew almost nothing about *ninjutsu*. Consequently, even a fresh academy graduate could defeat the duo.
The moment Yami stepped through the doorway, he tripped a thin tripwire that triggered a mechanism, causing a bucket of paint to fall toward his head.
Yami reacted instantly, leaping up and catching the bucket before it could tip over and spill paint on him or the floor.
As soon as he landed, several rubber projectiles flew toward his limbs, forcing the dark-haired boy to duck and contort his body to dodge them—all without letting go of the bucket. Naruto and Hikari leapt forward, paper staffs in hand, intending to strike their victim and make the paint spill onto him; however, they hadn't expected Yami—bucket in hand—to spin around and splash the paint right back at them.
The area was splattered, and the sibling duo ended up sitting on the ground, almost completely drenched in paint.
No one said a word; both stared at their paint-covered bodies before looking at each other.
"See? I told you it wouldn't work," Hikari complained.
"At least it was better than your plan, Ogre," Naruto retorted.
He used the nickname "Ogre"—a name he and his companion, who shared the Uchiha clan's fate, had given the redhead because of her bossy, authoritarian attitude.
"What did you say?!" Hikari exclaimed furiously, lunging at Naruto with the intention of thrashing him.
"You heard me, Ogre-woman! Ow! Stop, I give up! I GIVE UP!" the young blond started shouting.
Yami watched the whole scene emotionlessly, already accustomed to such daily occurrences.
"I see you two had fun," a voice said from behind the black-haired boy.
The dynamic duo froze in their tracks when they heard their mother's voice.
Yami slowly turned to see his mother, Miyu, looking at them with a cold gaze and a smile—a combination that spelled trouble.
"Since you like playing with paint so much, the three of you will have to clean it up using your tongues; otherwise, you won't get any food for three days," the blue-haired woman declared.
The duo turned pale, immediately scrambling around frantically as if they didn't know what to do, while Yami simply tried to make himself small and slipped away to the bathroom to find something to clean with.
...
In the end, they didn't have to clean with their tongues, but they did use a scrub brush, a squeegee, sponges, and detergent.
Now, the four of them were at the table eating something that looked like ramen but wasn't.
Naruto complained that it wasn't the "Food of the Gods," but Miyu explained that the "Food of the Gods" was nutritionally unbalanced and would stunt his growth.
Faced with this explanation, he could only nod while grumbling silently.
This was one of the few times the four of them ate together; usually, Shizune or a clan member would prepare lunch for the three children.
Fortunately, Miyu had more and more free time; most of her projects as Hokage were wrapping up or no longer required her direct intervention, allowing her to spend time with her three children.
Now that she had young children to care for, she had to be there to provide emotional support, just like any mother would. Later, when they were older, she could ignore them—the way a mother might—to go off to a brothel in the lawless zone, just as she used to do.
This gave Yami a chance to make his request, though he didn't know how to go about it. As he thought it over, he began to play with his food.
"What's wrong?" Miyu asked, staring intently at the dark-haired boy.
At the sound of his mother's voice, he immediately looked up, but the words got stuck in his throat; he didn't know how to make this kind of request—especially since she had already given him an explanation and an order.
Asking would mean going against what she had said and the agreement they had made, yet Yami felt he couldn't stay in that place—or so he believed.
"I... um, the thing is..." He fumbled for words, all the while swishing his spoon back and forth in the broth.
Naruto and Hikari exchanged glances; it was rare to see their brother acting like this. He always seemed so listless and aloof, but now he was acting fearful—something unusual. If Hikari had a camera handy, she'd be recording this.
"If you act so indecisive, opportunities in life will slip through your fingers like sand. If you don't say what you want to say, I'm going to go to sleep, and you might not get another chance," Miyu said, trying to sound wise.
Yami didn't quite grasp the sand metaphor, but he did hear that he might not get another chance to say what was on his mind, so he gathered his courage and spoke.
"Early graduation week at the academy is coming up soon, and I need my guardian's consent to participate. I know you told me I should stay for the full year, but I don't feel it's really worth it; I think it would be better to just graduate now. So, I'd like to ask if I can take part this time," Yami said, looking uneasy; he kept fidgeting and wouldn't meet Miyu's eyes.
Before saying this, the blue-haired woman could only sigh and shake her head.
The black-haired boy, anticipating his mother's refusal, simply resigned himself to his fate before the verdict was even delivered.
"All right," Miyu said, snapping Yami out of his spiral of self-inflicted torment. He glanced briefly at his mother, who returned his look with a weary expression. "I figured as much. Aside from the fact that I've been monitoring what goes on at the academy, I had hoped you would develop social and leadership skills around the other children—acting as an example and a guide—but..."
She let out a sigh as she finished the sentence.
"I didn't expect you to be so antisocial." Yami couldn't help but feel ashamed at her words, lowering his gaze to look at his legs. "My plan didn't work, so I can give you the chance to graduate—but only on one condition."
At this, the black-haired boy looked back up at his mother.
"What condition?" he asked, sounding a bit uncertain.
"That you stop shutting yourself off so much. Talk to your classmates, get to know them, and make friends; those are skills you'll need to become a Chunin someday. No matter how strong you are, I'll never promote you if you don't develop social and leadership skills. Understood?" Miyu explained.
"Understood," he said, feeling less embarrassed but still not fully lifting his head.
He felt a mix of happiness and sadness. Happiness that he could graduate, finally become a ninja, and grow strong enough to protect his mother and siblings in the future; yet sadness at having disappointed the expectations she had held for him.
From this, a new determination was born: to make the woman beside him proud—the woman who had cared for him for six years and taught him everything he knew. That would be his ninja way.
"Right! I want to become a ninja right now, too!" Naruto shouted excitedly, jumping to his feet and planting one foot on the table. "Idiot," Hikari declared, looking at him as if he were brainless.
"Why are you calling me an idiot?" the blond asked, annoyed.
"How are you going to graduate early if you haven't even entered the Academy yet?" the redhead asked her brother—though he sometimes denied they were related.
At that question, Naruto opened his mouth, but not a single word came out; he didn't know how to answer his sister.
Instead, he was hit by a gust of wind that knocked him face-first onto the floor.
"If you put your foot on the table while we're eating again, I'll shave your head bald until you become a Jonin," threatened Miyu, the one who had cast the Wind Style jutsu.
At the blue-haired girl's words, a shiver ran down his spine; he could tell it wasn't an empty threat.
"You can do that move again, Naruto-nii-san; you look so cool doing it," Hikari asked him, looking utterly charming.
...
Somewhere within the Uchiha clan compound, several members of the extremist faction were ranting about the injustices they felt they were suffering.
"That damned Fugaku," said Uchiha Matsuda, the son of the elder Setsuna.
They had just come from another clan jōnin meeting where grievances against the Hokage—and the village as a whole—had resurfaced.
Unfortunately for them, Fugaku did not subscribe to their extremist views, primarily due to one simple fact: there was no way to defeat Miyu. Even if the entire village united against her, they would only end up dead at her hands; much as he disliked it, Fugaku was right.
"There must be a way to stand up to her," said one of the Uchihas present.
Setsuna, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly snapped his eyes open.
"Perhaps there is," he declared, causing the room to fall silent.
"Father, what do you mean?" Matsuda asked.
"I can't think of anyone who could match that woman in terms of raw power; even if we awakened the mighty Mangekyō Sharingan, we might still lose. Our ancestor Madara pushed his ocular power to its absolute limit, yet he still died at the hands of the First Hokage." He began recounting these events to lay the groundwork for his idea.
"What are you getting at?" questioned another extremist elder sitting beside him.
"We don't need to confront her with force; instead, we should fight on the political front," he explained, capturing everyone's attention. "The main priority is to find a way to have her removed from office or to get her to resign voluntarily. Once that happens, it won't matter who succeeds her, because we'll be able to handle them regardless of who they are."
"I see," another Uchiha said with a nod, though he then looked at the elder. "But we have no way to do that."
Several others nodded in agreement. The idea wasn't bad, but that didn't mean they were actually capable of pulling it off—otherwise, they would have done so already. "We must take things one step at a time and, above all, secure allies," Setsuna remarked, causing his elderly companion's eyes to widen.
"Don't tell me we're going to fully cooperate with that man?" the Uchiha asked.
"That's right; we are going to speak with Danzo and follow his plan," he declared, striking the floor with his cane. "If anyone has a plan to destroy that woman, it has to be him."
Everyone stared, unsure of what to say, until one Uchiha stepped forward.
"I recall talk of replacing the clan leader as part of that war hawk's scheme; I assume that if we join forces with him, we'll have to go through with it. But Fugaku won't step down willingly. How do we intend to oust him?"
In response to the question, the elder Setsuna simply fixed him with a cold stare, revealing his three-tomoe Sharingan and conveying his message without a word.