Chapter 40
In the Uchiha residence bathroom, steam rose in thick clouds.
"Hey, idiot Naruto, stop splashing water over here!"
"You started it! Take this, Sasuke—Water Release: Splash Technique!"
Two naked little bodies caused chaos inside.
Half an hour later, the two emerged drying their wet hair.
Naruto's clothes were completely filthy after being buried in soil earlier—wearing them to dinner would be inappropriate.
So right now he was wearing one of Uchiha Sasuke's spare cyan yukata.
The two boys were about the same age and height, so it surprisingly fit Naruto well.
But that dazzling blond hair paired with Uchiha-style clothing created a subtle yet adorable contrast.
"Tch, it actually fits pretty well." Sasuke crossed his arms.
Though his words were sharp, a trace of satisfaction flickered in his eyes.
At the dining table, the aroma of food already filled the air.
Uchiha Mikoto untied her apron and carried the final dish over, smiling gently: "Alright, you two little heroes—come eat."
Uchiha Itachi was setting out bowls and chopsticks at the table. Seeing the two come in, he nodded with a warm smile.
This table was loaded with so much delicious food that Naruto's eyes spun.
"Itadakimasu!"
Sasuke and Naruto clapped their hands together and shouted in unison.
Then they launched into a whirlwind of eating—both had used up enormous amounts of energy today.
Chakra didn't appear out of thin air; ninja had to eat too.
"So good! This is super delicious!" Naruto's cheeks bulged, eyes crinkling into crescents.
Uchiha Fugaku sat at the head of the table. Unlike his usual stern clan-head demeanor, he quietly placed a piece of tomato beef stew into Sasuke's bowl.
"Eat slowly—there's plenty more."
After dinner, Mikoto cleared the dishes. Glancing at the darkening sky outside, she spoke to Naruto who was preparing to leave:
"Naruto-kun, it's already so late—why don't you stay over tonight? We'll wash your clothes for you. You can wear them to school tomorrow."
"Eh? Really?" Naruto blinked in surprise.
"Of course." Mikoto gently patted his head: "Sasuke would love for you to stay too. Tonight you can sleep with Sasuke."
"Who… who wants to squeeze in with him!"
Sasuke grumbled.
"Then I guess tonight it'll be Naruto bunking with Itachi?" Uchiha Mikoto knew exactly how to handle her son.
"No way!" Sasuke immediately objected: "Fine… since he's staying, come help tidy up the room."
Naruto naturally had no complaints.
Actually, there were spare guest rooms in the house.
But Uchiha Mikoto also felt it would be good for Naruto to spend more time talking with Sasuke these next few days.
…
After preparing the bedding for the night,
Sasuke suggested: "Let's sleep on the engawa by the entrance tonight."
"When the weather was nice before, Brother often let me sleep like this. It's still under the eaves, but you can see the stars directly outside."
Naruto had never heard of this strange sleeping arrangement, but he was curious and willing to try.
So the two seven-year-olds pushed open the sliding door connecting the bedroom to the courtyard.
They laid their futons side by side on the wooden veranda between bedroom and garden.
A pleasant night breeze blew. The shishi-odoshi in the courtyard made occasional crisp "tok, tok" sounds.
Naruto and Sasuke lay in their respective futons, gazing up at the brilliant starry sky overhead.
"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"That… when you awakened the Sharingan… did it hurt?" Naruto turned his head, looking curiously at Sasuke beside him.
Sasuke was silent for a moment, seemingly reliving the sensation.
"I didn't feel pain at the time." His voice was very soft: "It just felt like something exploded in my head, and then the world became very slow, very clear… but my heart hurt a lot."
He turned over, back facing Naruto, voice becoming somewhat muffled: "I always thought awakening the Sharingan for us Uchiha was something to celebrate. Only today did I realize I was wrong."
"A few years ago when Brother came back from a mission and I saw he had the Sharingan, I was actually happy for him."
"Now that I think about it…"
Naruto looked at Sasuke's back and also turned over. The two lay back-to-back.
"Don't worry—I already told you I've got an immortal watching over me. My life's tough."
"Idiot."
Not long after, two sets of even breathing echoed along the veranda.
Xuanming sat cross-legged nearby.
Tonight staying over at the Uchiha house, Naruto had completely forgotten his usual pre-sleep meditation practice.
Never mind—he'd had a long, exhausting day. Let him sleep early.
"I still feel like tonight's Uchiha household is a bit restless, but I really don't sense anything abnormal."
"How strange."
…
While the two children had fallen asleep,
on the other side of the residence, Uchiha Fugaku stood at Itachi's door and knocked lightly.
"Itachi, come with me."
Uchiha Itachi asked no questions—as though he had anticipated his father's visit. He simply opened the door and stepped out.
Following his father through the quiet corridors, they arrived at a small meditation room in the house.
Dim candlelight flickered.
"Father, you brought me here so late… is it about Sasuke?" Itachi asked respectfully.
"Not only Sasuke."
Uchiha Fugaku stood with his back to Itachi and continued: "In the past I spoke with you about how the Uchiha future had changed."
Uchiha Itachi naturally remembered very clearly—that was around the time Uzumaki Naruto first became friends with Sasuke.
From then on, relations between the Uchiha and the village had gradually improved.
"Today we have personally witnessed the arrival of that new future."
Uchiha Fugaku slowly turned around. His originally black pupils instantly underwent a transformation.
At first three tomoe spun wildly, then connected together, forming a complex, eerie pattern.
Itachi's head snapped up. Shock filled his eyes as he stared at his father's: "Father, you also…"
It was as though he were seeing his father for the first time—never expecting him to have hidden a Mangekyō Sharingan just like Shisui's.
"This is the power I awakened after witnessing my closest friend sacrifice himself to save me during the Third Shinobi World War."
"These eyes… can see various possibilities of the future."
Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō glowed with an eerie red light in the darkness.
"Mangekyō Sharingan… seeing… the future?"
Uchiha Itachi recalled a conversation with his father years ago. He had always thought his father was using exaggerated metaphor
to describe how the Uchiha future had finally begun to improve.
He never imagined his father truly had personally seen the Uchiha future with his own eyes.
Today, after witnessing Sasuke awaken the Sharingan, Fugaku believed the turning point of fate had entered the next phase.
The various worries he once carried no longer needed to burden him.
"I'll let you see it too—what kind of ending we would face if we walked the path of opposition."
Genjutsu · Activated
He projected a portion of the scenes he had once seen with the Mangekyō directly into Uchiha Itachi's mind.
"Itachi, do not resist. Look at one of the 'original futures'."
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