Chapter 5: Sasuke
In the end, nearly half the tomato scrambled eggs disappeared into the little girl's stomach. Naruto watched with amusement as Tsuki ate in small, careful bites. She approached food with such seriousness, occasionally closing her eyes slightly when tasting particularly delicious portions, like a contented cat.
Naruto had zero resistance to this unconscious cuteness.
When the last bite vanished, Tsuki stared at the empty bento box, suddenly realizing what she'd done.
No way... I said I'd only taste a little...
After carefully packing the empty container into his backpack, Naruto heard a mosquito-like whisper from behind.
"Um..."
Tsuki kept her head down, voice soft and sweet. "Sorry... I think I ate too much. If you're still hungry... would you like to come eat at my house?"
Naruto paused slightly, then his expression relaxed. So she wasn't the type of tsundere who'd stubbornly persist to the bitter end.
The saying goes "tsunderes ruin lives," but truly problematic cases usually occurred when someone stayed "tsun" too long—so long they never got a chance to show their "dere" side.
This little girl carried the Uchiha clan's inherent pride, yet could express genuine remorse when appropriate and even invite others home for dinner as compensation.
She must have received excellent family upbringing.
A wave of indescribable regret suddenly washed over Naruto. In the original Naruto series... there had never been an Uchiha girl named "Tsuki."
The implication was obvious.
In approximately three years, after Naruto entered the Ninja Academy, a tragedy would shock the entire ninja world—the Uchiha Massacre.
Examining this tragedy's roots revealed a complex web of forces, but three main culprits stood out.
Shimura Danzo. Uchiha Itachi. Uchiha Obito.
However, the Uchiha's destruction wasn't accomplished overnight. It resembled carefully arranged dominoes, with the first piece falling on the night of Naruto's birth.
The Nine-Tails incident.
Uchiha Obito attacked Konoha, releasing the Nine-Tails and causing Naruto's mother Uzumaki Kushina's sacrifice. His father, Namikaze Minato, fulfilled his Hokage duties by sealing half the Nine-Tails within newborn Naruto to prevent the village's "nuclear weapon" from falling into enemy hands... but the Uchiha Massacre's key point wasn't this.
What truly drove the Uchiha clan toward extinction were those giant Sharingan visible in the Nine-Tails' eyes.
Every Konoha ninja who participated that night saw them clearly. The leadership's suspicion that the Uchiha orchestrated the attack wasn't entirely unreasonable.
But... they hadn't actually wronged the Uchiha clan.
No one could have imagined that the Uchiha controlling the Nine-Tails was Obito, supposedly "dead" for years.
To guard against the Uchiha, Konoha's leadership relocated the entire clan to the village outskirts under strict surveillance. The proud Uchiha couldn't tolerate such humiliating treatment.
Under power's temptation, the Uchiha clan gradually split internally. At clan meetings, hawk faction voices grew increasingly loud, advocating seizing Konoha's government through force to change their circumstances.
Then the traitor appeared.
Uchiha Itachi—clan head Fugaku's eldest son and simultaneously Konoha's spy within the Uchiha. He leaked all information about the clan's coup plans to village leadership.
Learning this, the Third Hokage and Danzo disagreed on approach. The Third favored negotiation, hoping to resolve conflicts through dialogue, while Danzo insisted on eliminating the threat by completely destroying the Uchiha.
Subsequently, Danzo began his machinations.
He feared Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan—the "Kotoamatsukami" that could rewrite someone's will. During a secret ambush, Danzo stole one of Shisui's eyes.
Realizing he could no longer use Kotoamatsukami to prevent the coup with only one Mangekyou remaining, Shisui despaired. He entrusted his remaining eye to Itachi, then chose to leap from a cliff, hoping his death would weaken the Uchiha's position.
After losing his best friend Shisui, Uchiha Itachi—forever caught between village and family—actually accepted Danzo's proposal.
The very person who'd indirectly caused Shisui's death had now become his collaborator.
The massacre began.
Regardless of gender or age, even infants in swaddling clothes—none were spared. Blood stained the Uchiha compound, with only young Sasuke surviving.
Why... had Itachi completely ignored the Third Hokage's preferred diplomatic approach?
The entire incident's logic couldn't withstand scrutiny. Itachi simultaneously claimed to "protect Konoha" while personally slaughtering his entire clan, proclaimed "deep love for his brother" while using Tsukuyomi to inflict endless suffering upon Sasuke.
This twisted behavior probably explained why Uchiha Itachi's reputation had undergone such reversals online.
Kishimoto attempted to portray Itachi as a "guardian bearing darkness," using "necessary evil" to beautify this massacre. But Naruto only felt revulsion.
Did noble goals truly justify completely abandoning moral boundaries?
Taking a step back—even if the Uchiha had actually staged their coup, could their fate have been worse? Complete genocide of every clan member? Not even sparing infants?
Naruto shook his head, unwilling to think further. He couldn't understand Itachi's mindset or this so-called "Hokage thinking." His current self had abandoned dreams of becoming Hokage.
Naruto gazed at the black-haired little girl before him. Would this child also die that night?
The thought of Tsuki being slaughtered in the name of "greater good" made his heart churn uneasily.
No... I need to find a way to do something.
The system showed no signs of activation yet—he could only rely on himself for now. Perhaps... he could go tattletale to the old Third Hokage?
Something like claiming he'd formed an "irreplaceable bond," and if anything happened to her, he might become despondent or even abandon being a ninja entirely...
Though that admittedly sounded like threatening the Hokage.
Naruto knew this concern might be excessive, but he couldn't help it—that was just who he was. He couldn't stand by and watch tragedy unfold before his eyes.
Of course, this was kindness, not sainthood. That bastard Obito... he definitely wouldn't let him get away with it.
"Thank you, Tsuki. But that's okay—I'm already completely satisfied. Actually, more than the food itself, having someone willing to eat with me makes me happier."
Naruto responded to Tsuki's invitation. "Besides, seeing you enjoy it so much is the best compliment I could ask for. You're the first person to appreciate my cooking."
Hmm... why is she blushing again? Well, whatever—the shy expression is adorable. But with the sky darkening, it's time to head back and rest.
"Thanks for keeping me company today." He stood up, brushing grass from his pants. "I'll come find you again to play, Uchiha Tsuki."
Hearing this, Tsuki immediately raised her head, correcting him with a tone carrying several notes of pride.
"If you absolutely insist on finding me to play, then I'll reluctantly keep you company!" She paused, then added, "Also, my name isn't Uchiha Tsuki—it's Uchiha Satsuki."
...Satsuki?
Naruto's smile suddenly froze.
That name... why did it sound so familiar? It resembled his future best friend and rival's name—Uchiha Sasuke.
Satsuki keenly noticed Naruto's strange expression. After hesitating a moment, she explained.
"Mm... I guess this name combination is a bit odd, right? Actually, Father originally planned to name me Uchiha Sasuke... but when I was born a girl, he changed 'suke' to 'tsuki'..."
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