Kushina turned and walked toward the doors of several guest rooms, her pace light, her red hair dancing in the morning light.
She knocked on the door. "Shizune, breakfast is ready!"
She knocked on several doors in a row, but no one answered.
Taking advantage of this gap, Naruto and the other two brought breakfast to the side room of the main hall, preparing to eat.
Naruto felt like a cat climbing frame that had been spotted and firmly latched onto by two cats at the same time, unable to move.
He cleared his throat, trying to ease the atmosphere. "Um... Karin, why did you suddenly come to my room? And..."
"I missed you..."
Karin interrupted, her eyes widening reproachfully behind her glasses.
"Who knew that as soon as I walked in, I'd see... see her!"
She pointed at Hikari, especially the black jacket Hikari was wearing.
"And she's wearing your clothes, sleeping in your bed!"
Hearing this, Hikari looked down at the jacket she was wearing, then looked up at Naruto. She felt a bit shy, but that was quickly replaced by coldness.
"Naruto lent this to me. As for the bed... I don't know either. We clearly weren't here last night."
"Because my Shadow Clone dispelled and let me know what happened in the Village, I rushed back overnight," Naruto explained.
"The Flying Thunder God formula is in my room. Hikari was already asleep at the time, so I just put her on my bed."
He tried to pull his arms back, but the two of them gripped even tighter.
"Naruto-kun is just too kind! To someone of unknown origin..."
Karin muttered.
"I am not someone of unknown origin."
Hikari's voice was calm but carried weight.
"I am Uchiha Hikari. You, on the other hand, intruded into someone else's room without knocking. Your behavior is rude."
"You!"
Karin was choked with anger, but unable to find a reason to refute, she could only hug Naruto's arm tighter, like a small beast declaring its territory.
Naruto felt his head aching even more. Previously, Karin had been very gentle and submissive in front of him. He didn't expect her true nature from the original work to be exposed as soon as she met another girl.
Naruto had previously worried that he had raised Karin to be too soft. Now it seemed this personality was an ancestral trait of the Uzumaki Clan?
At this time, Shizune, who had returned from reminiscing at Kato Dan's tombstone, also came back. As soon as she and Kushina entered the main hall, they saw the "one-pulling-two" situation and gave a slightly awkward smile. "G-Good morning... This is...?"
Seeing the three still in a stalemate, Kushina couldn't help but burst out laughing. "It seems everyone is very 'close' to Naruto. Alright, alright, let's eat first, or the food will get cold."
After she spoke, Karin and Hikari both loosened their grip a little.
Naruto took the opportunity to forcefully break his arms free from their "pincer hold" and walked to the dining table first. "Right, let's eat first."
Karin and Hikari glanced at each other, snorted simultaneously, and turned their heads away, but neither was slow to follow Naruto to the table.
The round dining table instantly became a new "battlefield."
Naruto sat down in a random spot, and Karin immediately stepped forward, wanting to sit on Naruto's left.
Hikari calmly took a half-step faster and pulled out the chair to Naruto's right.
The two sat down almost at the same time, and then, across Naruto, their gazes clashed in the air again.
Sitting in the middle, Naruto suddenly felt that Ino and Hinata were better after all.
Seeing this setup, a flash of understanding and mischief appeared in Kushina's eyes.
She gave Shizune a look, and Shizune understood, silently sitting in a spot slightly further from the "center of the storm."
"I'm starting." Naruto pressed his hands together, being the first to break the silence, and then immediately buried his head in his food, trying to use the meal to block out the clash of gazes from both sides.
"Naruto-kun, try this Tamagoyaki. I... I saw that Auntie made it look delicious!" Karin picked up a piece of golden egg roll and tried to put it in Naruto's bowl.
Seeing this, Hikari's chopsticks paused, but she didn't follow Karin's lead in giving Naruto food.
Kushina watched with a smile and suddenly spoke, "Hikari-chan, I heard you are a member of the Uchiha? It's quite rare to encounter an Uchiha survivor nowadays."
Her tone was gentle, with just the right amount of curiosity, successfully shifting some of the focus.
Hikari placed the Grilled Fish on the plate in front of her.
She looked at Kushina. Regarding this "resurrected" mother of Naruto, her heart was full of questions, but she maintained her respect. "Yes, Auntie. I am indeed of the Uchiha Clan, but my relationship with the Family wasn't very good."
Kushina's smile widened. "Uchiha... how nostalgic. Auntie had a good friend whose surname was also Uchiha!"
Hikari couldn't help but ask, "Auntie Kushina, were you really... resurrected? How was it done?"
She was wondering if she still had a chance to see her own parents.
Kushina blinked and looked at Naruto. "Well, it's a long story. Naruto should know better than I do."
Naruto looked up from his rice bowl, swallowed his food, and nodded. "Yeah, it's a very special technique. The version I saw requires the caster to prepare a certain amount of the deceased's physical body in advance, but Orochimaru optimized Edo Tensei so that only a portion of body tissue is needed.
After that, a living person's body is used as a vessel for the deceased's Soul. The Soul is called back from the Yellow Springs and bound, allowing it to attach to the vessel and covering the living body with dust to transform into the appearance the deceased had when they were alive.
Calling it resurrection is just bringing the deceased back to the human world in the state of an edo tensei body, a living corpse. It's not a true resurrection in the real sense."
Hikari remained silent after hearing this. One or two hundred years had passed; her parents' graves had long since disappeared. Even if she wanted to resurrect them, she didn't have any of their body tissue.
Breakfast proceeded in an atmosphere of superficial calm.
Seeing that the children had no intention of continuing to speak, Kushina stepped in. She skillfully guided the conversation, asking about Hikari's basic situation and introducing the current changes in Konoha to her.
Shizune spent most of the time eating quietly, observing everyone.
Naruto worked hard to play the roles of "food eliminator" and "conversation buffer," his eating interrupted from time to time by questions from the left or right.
When the last sip of miso soup was finished, Naruto finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright."
Seeing that everyone at the table had finished eating, Kushina stood up and began to clear the dishes.
"Naruto, why don't you take Hikari-chan to get familiar with the surroundings? Karin, you come along too. You're about the same age, so you should interact more."
Her words sounded reasonable, but they sent a chill down Naruto's spine.
Sure enough, Karin immediately responded enthusiastically, "Okay!"
Hikari also put down her chopsticks. "If you would."
Naruto knew that this "familiarizing with the surroundings" trip would probably not be any easier than the breakfast table.
He glanced at the bright sunshine outside the window and sighed silently in his heart.
When on earth would that guy Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki show up?
Lao Pu, I miss your Ōtsutsuki Elbow Strike. Come quickly. When you arrive, I'll treat you to a Flying Thunder God Slash and a True Tree Great Buddha.