"Big brother!"
Naruto spotted Natsume and dragged the reluctant Sasuke over.
"This is my new friend, Sasuke—a really talented genius!"
"I'm not your friend!"
Sasuke interjected grumpily, "You're just a stepping stone on my ninja path. I'll kick you aside one day!"
"You two get along well."
Natsume couldn't help but laugh.
Without the trauma of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Sasuke was still a normal kid.
Because of his lifelong bond with Naruto, he enrolled early, but lost every sparring match so far.
Over time, he naturally grew dissatisfied.
"Sasuke, let me introduce you."
Naruto understood his personality and just ignored his words.
"No need."
Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and lifted his chin. "He's my brother's friend; I probably knew him before you did."
Boys—even the smallest things become a competition.
"Where's your brother? Why isn't he picking you up?"
Natsume glanced around. It was already after school, but he hadn't seen Itachi.
"He's really busy now. My mom always picks me up."
Sasuke's expression dimmed. Compared to his mom, he preferred his brother.
At that moment, a bearded ninja appeared in front of them.
Natsume was puzzled until Naruto shouted, "Uncle Sarutobi!"
"I'm Sarutobi Seinosuke."
Sarutobi Seinosuke smiled, "You're Natsume, right? The old man at home always talks about you."
Old man? Another Sarutobi…
Could he be Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son—the mysterious father of Konohamaru?
Natsume was stunned.
Naruto added, "He's Grandpa Hokage's son, and my current Wind Style teacher."
Makes sense.
Having his own son teach the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is perfectly logical.
Because of Natsume, Naruto enrolled early and showed talent in Wind Style.
Currently, Danzo Shimura is the strongest Wind Style user in Konoha.
But Hiruzen wouldn't approve of that.
Kakashi specializes in Sharingan and Lightning Style, not a good fit either.
So, it was given to Sarutobi Seinosuke.
"See you, big brother."
Naruto left with Seinosuke.
Only Sasuke was left.
Natsume stayed, seeing Mikoto and wanting to say hello.
"Aunt Mikoto."
"Natsume? Long time no see."
Mikoto was surprised, "How's Lady Tsunade?"
"She's doing well. No worries about food or clothes."
Natsume's answer made Mikoto laugh.
"That's a funny way to put it."
She patted Sasuke's head, "I have to go make dinner. Let's talk next time."
Natsume watched them leave, then went home.
…
A new day.
Morning Sage Mode training, afternoon at Gunma Casino.
After replenishing chakra, Natsume ran to a nearby grove.
He wanted to train his eyes.
His sparring partner was, of course, Hinae.
She was quite strong now.
With her huge chakra reserves and sealing jutsu training, she was at least special jonin level.
"Come on, attack me."
Natsume activated his Sharingan, three tomoe spinning.
For just eye training, there was no need for the Mangekyo.
"Careful."
Hinae immediately threw six shuriken, fast and with varied trajectories, dazzling to the eye.
But in Natsume's eyes, they were slow.
He dodged easily and raised his hand, "Use Shadow Clone Jutsu."
A single Hina wasn't enough of a challenge.
But with nine at once, even Natsume would have a hard time.
An afternoon passed; he was covered in battle scars.
Luckily, with Hinae, who wasn't a medical ninja but had natural healing talent, minor injuries were no problem.
…
Night
At the barbecue shop.
Natsume was packing a late-night meal for Hinata.
He ran into an old acquaintance.
Shitō Akimichi.
Back during the Konoha-Cloud war, their team had saved this jonin.
"Natsume!"
Shitō Akimichi's chubby face broke into a goofy smile, "Let me pay."
"Uncle Shito."
Natsume quickly shook his head, "No need to trouble you."
"Nonsense! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have the chance to eat barbecue now."
Shito turned to the owner, "Put it on my tab!"
"Alright!"
The Akimichi clan are regulars here, so the owner smiled, "That'll be 120,000 ryo."
"…?"
Shito nearly fell over.
"I'll take care of it."
Noticing his expression, Natsume quickly paid.
Jonin are supposed to be rich, but in reality, not so much.
After all, an S-rank mission pays just over a million ryo.
But there aren't that many S-rank missions to do.
As for the 120,000 ryo, it was because Hinata's appetite had grown again.
"No way!"
Shito quickly waved his hand, "I'll pay!"
Although it hurt, it was a life debt.
"Uncle Shito, if you really want to thank me, how about teaching me a jutsu?"
Natsume suddenly had an idea.
"No problem!"
Shito patted his chest, "What do you want to learn?"
"Partial Expansion Jutsu."
Natsume wanted to say Multi-Size Jutsu, but that was a clan secret, so he settled for the simpler version.
Shito hesitated.
Technically, even the simplified version shouldn't be taught.
But Natsume had saved him, and he was Tsunade's student—no way he'd betray Konoha.
Besides, the Akimichi clan's core secret is the special food pills, their forbidden medicine.
Just learning Partial Expansion doesn't mean much.
"Alright."
Shito nodded, "When do you have time?"
"How about tomorrow at 1 pm, at Training Field 4?"
Natsume breathed a sigh of relief.
Partial Expansion Jutsu enlarges a part of the body.
How big depends on chakra control.
Natsume wanted to combine it with Sage Mode, which would be extremely powerful.
[Because of your actions, Tsunade's fate has changed. You gain 6 Fate points.]
[Because of your actions, Hinata's fate has changed. You gain 6 Fate points.]
[Because of your actions, Karin's fate has changed. You gain 6 Fate points.]
Natsume's eyes widened.
Is this for real?
These actions can change fate?
And three sixes in a row.
To this, Natsume could only say: Nice job!
After saying goodbye to Shito, he returned home, then used Reverse Summoning to appear before Hinata.
Since he visited every night, Hinata was used to it now.
She was no longer startled like before.
"Natsume-nii."
Hinata gave a cute, slightly shy smile, full of joy.
Seeing Natsume was now the thing she looked forward to most every day.
Because her days were so hard.
Training, training, and more training—plus her father Hiashi's disappointed look and Neji's cold attitude.
"Barbecue tonight."
Natsume patted her head, "I'll buy you chicken legs tomorrow."
For some reason, Hinata's favorite food was chicken legs.
If this were his previous life, she'd be crazy for KFC's Crazy Thursday.
"So tasty…"
Hinata said as she ate, "I—I'll pay you back for the food someday."
She meant the cost of the late-night snacks.
Natsume was stunned.
He remembered that Hinata was the real rich girl here.
And Tsunade's riches were fake.
Tsunade still hadn't paid off all her debts.
Plus, Tsunade didn't like gambling in Gunma Casino—she thought it wasn't exciting enough, always going to others instead.
Natsume wanted to be a kept man, but as a man, he had to have some skills.
Raising Hinata? No problem!
PS: Bonus chapter at 100 PS