Kurogami House
Kurogami's POV
I've had my share of strange dreams before.
Some involved me battling Barney in a lightsaber deathmatch in the middle of London, others had me flying through space as a Viltrumite in the Mass Effect universe—blowing things up and picking up hot alien chicks for my massive harem to rebuild the empire.
But this dream… was different.
I only remembered fragments—most of it was vague.
But those eyes… yeah, they were probably how I'd imagined Mom's Mangekyō to look.
Was that dream real? Or just something my overactive five-year-old mind conjured up after reading her book?
Either way, I decided to do the most responsible thing possible.
Ignore it.
Yep. Totally ignoring a dream that seemed sad and unsettling. Less time for cryptic visions, more time to start my day.
I got out of bed, headed to the shower to wash my face, then did my usual morning routine: stretches, a few jumping jacks, push-ups, and one last stretch.
"New life, new me. But my morning wake-up call will never change!"
Heading downstairs, I smelled something cooking. In the kitchen, Mom—still in her white pajamas—was at the stove. She glanced over, sensing me, and smiled.
"Morning, Kuro!"
"Morning, Mom."
"Breakfast will be ready in five minutes," she said.
I smirked. "Since when is it ever five minutes?"
She shot me a knowing grin. "Five minutes in mom time. You'll never understand."
I grunted. Mom-time was like when a woman says she'll be out of the shower in ten minutes or ready to go in thirty—it's nonsense. You double the time and pray you're right.
Pulling up a chair at the counter, I watched her cook. It was always fascinating. She moved like she was waging war—every ingredient either an ally or an enemy. It made me wonder if she was once a terrible chef, or just extremely meticulous.
Fifteen minutes later, she finally brought the food over.
"So mom-time is multiplied by three. Good to know."
She smiled and shrugged. "As long as the food's ready in a reasonable time and it tastes good, I see no reason for snide remarks, young man."
I wisely dropped the subject before my training mysteriously became "extra intense."
Breakfast was steamed rice, fried eggs, miso soup, and green tea. Nice as usual.
I dug in. "Mom, the food's excellent—like always."
She smiled at the compliment. "I'm glad you enjoy it, Kuku. Remember, a good breakfast can set the tone for the rest of the day."
"Were you always a good cook?" I asked.
She laughed. "Oh, heavens no. My father was a great cook, Mikoto too. But me? The younger me in a kitchen was basically attempted poisoning."
I eyed my plate. "Was it really that bad?"
"Yep. During the Second Ninja War, I got stuck on cooking duty once. I'd barely been in a kitchen before, and my first attempt was so awful that people suggested using it as poison against the enemy. Some even did. Prisoners confessed everything before we even called the Yamanaka Clan—just from eating my cooking."
I stared at her, horrified. Cooking so bad it counted as an interrogation technique.
"So… what changed?"
"Your father."
I raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess—he didn't enjoy your cooking like everyone else?"
Her expression softened. "He didn't believe it could be that bad and insisted I cook for him. I warned him, but he still wanted to try it."
"What happened after he tasted it?"
She sipped her tea. "He passed out."
My jaw dropped. Holy crap—how bad must it be to knock out an Ōtsutsuki or whatever my dad is?
"And after that?" I asked.
"He trained me. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen—he taught me recipes, ingredient handling, and I started to treat cooking like the battlefield. I started seeing it as a fight to be won."
Yep. Definitely the Azula of the Naruto world only her can see cooking like a battle.
"Well, I'm glad you got better—or I'd be learning poison resistance right now."
She smirked. "Who says you won't?"
I froze"...Why!?"
"If you ever get a girlfriend—or multiple, Sage forbid—and they're bad at cooking, you'll need to eat it with a smile. To build that resistance, you'll train on my old cooking."
I stared at her. Yep—crazy. Note to self: avoid marrying Uchiha women. High instability rates. Go for the nice girls.
"Ouch!"
I rubbed my head and looked up to see her holding the Slipper of Doom, Sharingan active.
"Kuku… you weren't thinking bad thoughts about me, were you?"
Knowing lying won't work I decided to go another route.
"Nope. Just thinking all women are crazy, and Uchiha women are even crazier."
Mom just looks at me like I committed sin against god while she a priestess of that god.
"Kurogami! What did you say!?"
I smirked. "I have no regrets."
Her smile turned dangerous. "After I'm done, 'Regret' will be your middle name."
"Worth it."
Another slipper flew. Breakfast continued in peace after that.
Five Hours Later
Normally, training starts at nine in the morning and ends at one in the afternoon.
But thanks to my "marvelous mouth" during breakfast, Mom graciously extended it by an extra hour… to "show her love."
My body now feels like an Akimichi using Lightning Release jumped on me several times.
Mom, meanwhile, wasn't even breathing hard. She handed me a large bottle. "Here's the medicine your dad made. Drink up."
I looked at the thing—it could have held several bottles' worth inside. I took a swig letting the medicine heal me, reflecting on the last five hours.
We went over Strong Fist taijutsu again, then started Uchiha-style taijutsu. Warm-up laps, push-ups, crunches… followed by learning the Kai technique and how to detect genjutsu up to Chūnin level. Then came chakra control drills—leaf sticking and tree walking.
After all that, I can now say with confidence: my mom is the Spartan of the Uchiha. I doubt Sasuke or Itachi got this level of training at five years old.
Not sure if I'm blessed… or cursed.
She handed me a piece of chakra paper.
"Is this…?"
"Yep. Put your chakra into it and see your nature."
I focused, and the paper split into three equal parts—one burned to ash, one crumbled into dust, and the last wrinkled.
Mom examined it. "Hmm. Strong affinity for fire, earth, and lightning. That's good—you'll have options if you face a bad matchup. I can teach you my lightning techniques. For earth jutsu, we have a few in the study, but very few A- or S-rank. Might have to borrow some."
"…Borrow?"
She smirked. "The Stone Village will be generous—especially if they know it's for my baby boy."
Yeah, nothing says "generosity" like a massive Susanoo setting a quarter of your village on fire.
"But where'd the earth affinity come from? Your side, or Dad's?"
She ruffled my hair. "Definitely your father. The earth loved him. He could find rare gems and minerals so easily, I sometimes thought the earth was his mother."
So… he used earth jutsu to impress Mom? Noted. I'll definitely use that trick on girls later.
"Oh that cool. Did you ever leave any notes about how he did that? I may as well learn it if I ever need money quickly or god forbid we end up poor."
She waved it off. "Ending up poor would be nearly impossible for us. We'd need someone insanely arrogant and clueless about money to destroy what we've built. As for that technique—your father said I couldn't learn it even with deep earth affinity. But he believed you could, when you're older."
I sighed. "Figures. Everything about Dad is 'later.'"
"Patience, Kuku. You'll understand why when the time's right."
We sat by the pond for a while, letting me enjoy my thirty minute break. Eventually, she asked, "So, what jutsu did you take from the study last night?"
"Phoenix Flower, Dragon Fire, and a scroll on flame chakra control."
She hummed in approval. "Good—no flashy nonsense. Why those three?"
"Phoenix Flower for crowd control and rapid fire. Dragon Fire for a stronger hit, and because I read it can be used with wires. The scroll… well, I assume I have fire affinity, so why not improve it?"
She nodded. "I've mastered Phoenix Flower, so I can give tips. For Dragon Fire, I'll show you how to boost power and variety. As for the chakra control scroll, stick to it until you're ready for advanced work."
I lay back on the grass, ready to ask about her Sharingan notes.
"Mom."
"Yes?"
"In the study, there's that small shelf…"
She smirked. "Let me guess—you tried to pull a book and couldn't. The seal warned you, didn't it?"
"I'm not upset about that. If something's too dangerous or beyond my level, I'm not stupid enough to risk it."
She nodded in approval. "Good. Pace yourself."
"But… if I brought friends over, and they tried to grab something?"
"If it's harmless, nothing happens. But if it's dangerous—say, a B-rank jutsu—best case, the seal shocks them as a warning. Worst case…" She coughed. "…they'd suffer an A- to S-rank genjutsu nightmare for two hours. Plenty of time for security—or me—to deal with them."
I sighed. "Any way to prevent that for my friends?"
"They'd need a study pass. Those allow up to C-rank. Anything higher, you'd have to approve for them first."
Fair enough. Never know who might try to steal my family secrets.
I took a deep breath. "That wasn't what I really wanted to talk about. I read your Sharingan notes."
The air seemed to cool. Her eyes softened. "Oh? And what did you think?"
"I think it's sad."
She tilted her head. "Sad? Why?"
"Because it seems that to achieve power like that, the cost is… emotional. Each tomoe adds more burden, maybe even threatens your sanity. It's not the Sharingan that's cursed—it's the world around it. A power born from emotion could come from love, joy… but instead, the world feeds the Uchiha loss and grief. It tempts us, tells us the price upfront, and still forces our hand. It's a cycle—loss, power, more loss."
I met her eyes. "That's why it's sad. A world that drowns you just to see if you'll sink or not."
She was silent for a long time. Then she pulled me into her lap, and I felt a tear drop onto my head.
"Mom… how did you awaken yours?"
She took a deep breath. "…I was betrayed."
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Hello everyone, draconic author here. Just wanted to inform you that I'm taking little over a week break. Chapters update should start once again on September 1st. The time will mostly be spent recharging my dragon brain full of creativity power once again and stacking up chapters on my patreon. Support me if you or can't I still appreciate the attention to my story and those who like reading it. However, I would like some comments or reviews about the story so far. Maybe a power stone thrown at my window? Your thoughts are important to me to reflect on my strength and weaknesses in my current and future stories and improve my writing. So leave some opinions I'd appreciate it in the end. Anyway cya later and blessings of the dragon be with you.