Chapter 374: Their Cohabitation Seems to Have Been Exposed
"Huh? You're living together?!"
Chōchō Akimichi's face lit up with surprise, her body trembling with excitement. She even dropped the dango in her hand out of sheer shock.
"Mm..."
Sarada responded with a voice as quiet as a mosquito's hum. Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she lowered her head with a tiny nod.
"No way... Sarada, this is just like something out of a drama! I'm so jealous. When will I get the chance to live with someone like that…" Chōchō walked alongside Sarada, her tone full of envy. "But living together must be inconvenient in a lot of ways, right, Sarada?"
Sarada shook her head and replied, "Not at all. Really, not at all…"
Whether it was doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, or waking her up in the morning, Shuyu had been taking care of everything for her, without exception.
"That's so nice. I never imagined that cold-looking Shuyu could be like this. But… is his cooking actually okay? Guys usually aren't great at cooking, right?"
Speaking of cooking reminded Sarada of that Amaterasu omelet.
It's not like he has the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan or anything—he really shouldn't be wasting his ocular power like that. But... it was delicious.
Remembering how Shuyu obediently listened to her scolding that day, Sarada couldn't help but smile.
"Ah! You're remembering something funny, aren't you? Come on, tell me, Sarada!"
"No."
An Amaterasu omelet? Just mentioning that would completely ruin Shuyu's image.
"Tell me~."
...
"Do you think Sarada's really okay living alone?"
Hinata looked at Hanabi, who had come to comfort her, concern in her eyes.
Ever since Naruto disappeared, Hanabi had frequently come by to check on her sister. And because Hinata firmly believed Naruto would one day return, she managed to walk out of the shadow of his absence rather quickly.
But the same couldn't be said for Sarada's family—Sasuke and Sakura had vanished alongside Naruto, leaving Sarada alone in the Shinobi World. That was just too cruel for her.
"If that's the case, why not have Sarada come live with us? Boruto is always busy with his Hokage duties and rarely comes home anyway."
Hanabi suggested.
Besides, this way, Hinata would also have some company.
With Himawari's death, Naruto's disappearance, and Boruto buried in his work as Hokage, Hinata had been left all alone. Hanabi had become the only one visiting her regularly.
"Mm."
Hinata nodded, her gaze falling on the family photo on the table. In the end, Boruto had become the very thing she once despised—someone so obsessed with the Hokage role that he lost sight of everything else.
However, Hinata understood—Boruto only wanted to build a better Hidden Leaf Village for Naruto to return to.
...
"Still, I think Sarada's definitely going to marry Shuyu in the future."
"Wha-wha-wha… M-m-marry?!"
Sarada reacted with visible panic.
"Yeah, why not? The Uchiha clan has so few members left. You and Shuyu are both Uchiha, so you don't need to worry about the clan's continuation."
Chōchō said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Just then—
Hinata and Hanabi knocked on Sarada's new place, but the one who opened the door wasn't Sarada—it was Shuyu, wearing an apron.
"Huh? Shuyu, what are you doing here?"
Hanabi was slightly taken aback by Shuyu's attire but quickly grasped the reason for his presence.
"I'm here to take care of Sarada," Shuyu replied, stepping aside politely. "Please, come in."
Neither Hinata nor Hanabi found Shuyu's statement odd. They assumed "taking care" meant he stopped by to help now and then—not that he was staying overnight.
"It's so clean in here."
Hanabi looked around the spotless interior with surprise.
"Did you two need something?"
Shuyu asked, puzzled by the unexpected visit.
"We were worried about Sarada and wanted to check on her. We were thinking she could move in with us..."
Hinata began, but before she could finish, the door suddenly opened.
"I'm back." Sarada walked in, having just returned from grocery shopping, with Chōchō following behind. "Aunt Hinata? Sister Hanabi? What are you doing here?"
"We were worried about you," Hanabi said with a gentle smile. "But seeing you like this, I'm relieved."
"They want you to move in with Hinata," Shuyu informed Sarada.
"Huh?"
Sarada didn't quite catch on at first.
"No way! Absolutely not!"
Surprisingly, it was Chōchō who voiced strong opposition—despite this being none of her business...
"Chōchō, this doesn't really concern you, does it?"
Hanabi looked at her suspiciously.
"No! It does concern me! Because…" Chōchō glanced at Sarada, then declared, "Sarada's happiness is my business! I'm the president of the 'Sarada Must Be Happy' Support Association!"
"Huh? What kind of weird support group is that? Is that even real?"
"Well, technically I'm the only member right now…" Chōchō muttered. "But the goal of making Sarada happy will never change!"
"So how does moving in with her aunt affect her happiness?"
Hanabi's eyes narrowed as she shot a sharp glance at Chōchō.
"Uh…"
Chōchō suddenly hesitated. After all, if she brought up the whole cohabiting thing, the adults would definitely object.
"Maybe it's because what Sarada really needs right now is support from her clan."
Shuyu suddenly spoke. In his time, clan bonds had been much closer and more personal.
Shuyu really is a dependable guy, Chōchō thought to herself as she nodded and said, "That's right! What Sarada needs right now is the support of her fellow clan members!"
Speaking of clans—currently, in all of the Hidden Leaf, or rather, the entire Shinobi World—Sarada's only remaining clan members were Shunhi and Shuyu.
"Support from fellow clansmen, huh…" Hanabi looked at Sarada, then at Shuyu. "Are we talking about support from the clan, or from Shuyu?"
"Huh?"
Surprisingly, it was Hinata, the person directly involved, who looked the most confused—she still hadn't grasped the situation.
Ever since marrying Naruto, Hinata's romantic intuition had drastically declined—probably because she had focused all her attention on Naruto for so long.
"Well then, if that's the case, Shuyu, you'd better take good care of Sarada."
"Of course."
Shuyu nodded. He didn't need Hanabi to tell him that—it was already a given.
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