Hiruko and Naori sat in silence eating their respective ramen bowls.
Hiruko was completely absorbed in the deliciousness of his Banshu ramen.
'It's like a sweet heaven.' Hiruko thought his mouth was watering, eyes sparkling as if he and the ramen were the only two in the world.
'Naruto, you're a genius; ramen is amazing. It perfectly complements the sweetness of the broth.' Hiruko thought internally.
Naori, on the other hand, ate slowly, her eyes locked on Hiruko, analyzing his every habit and trait.
"I take it you like sweets," Naori said.
Hiruko zoned out, barely listening, and simply nodded his head as he eyed his beautiful sweet ramen.
Naori, seeing this, decided to wait for Hiruko to finish his ramen before talking again; she knew if she didn't, she would basically be talking to a wall.
—
10 minutes later
Hiruko, finishing his ramen, returned to his usual self as he faced Naori once again.
He wanted more ramen, but he knew Naori wanted to talk, so he reluctantly held back.
Naori, seeing this, smiled and began speaking.
"Hiruko, if you didn't know, I had a brother." Naori said,
At this Hiruko was noticeably surprised this wasn't a piece of information in Naori's original lore.
Naori, seeing this reaction, thought, 'So you don't know everything, huh?' before she continued
"My brother was a peace-loving man who aspired to integrate his clan into the village, wanting peace on both sides. He was amazing, never falling into the curse of Hatred he made me who I am today.," Naori said, reminiscing with a smile on her face.
"And you're telling me why?" Hiruko said though he had an idea
Naori, looking at Hiruko's impatience, chuckled slightly. "So impatient, Hiruko, but let me ask you this instead." She said,
At this Hiruko frowned. 'Can't you just get to the point?' he thought
"How would you fix a clan where hatred is in their very being, in their very eyes?" Naori asked, looking straight into Hiruko's eyes, seriously awaiting his answer.
Hiruko, yawning internally, decided to get this over with; he really wanted some more ramen.
"You Uchiha, so narrow-minded, you never sit and try to really understand your eyes." Hiruko said lazily but firmly.
Naori, on the other hand, hearing this became surprised. 'What's he talking about?' she thought
"The power to manifest power based on the strength of your love—what a blessing." Hiroko said more to himself than Naori.
"Love?" Naori asked, 'Doesn't he mean grief and pain?'
"Sigh, honestly, you guys always take the easy way out. You fear your affection to the point that instead of manifesting power based on the light from the magnitude of that love, you do it because of the darkness from losing it." Hiruko said, slightly annoyed.
Naori, hearing this, spoke up. "That's impossible; love isn't a strong enough fuel—only grief and pain are—and the curse of hatred—" She said, but Hiruko cut her off.
"It's a chain concocted by you guys. Sure, loving is hard and it hurts, but just because a path is laid with thorns doesn't mean it's unwalkable. I mean, think about it: maybe instead of using negative emotions that further your darkness, use positive emotions that expand your light, and what better emotion than love? A concept that's about being more than yourself, being selfless but also selfish." Hiruko said, ending his little tirade.
Naori sat in shock, unable to process the majority of what Hiruko said, but a part of her was interested. She didn't know why, but she was drawn to this concept:
"How do you know this, and what insurance do you have that it will work and be selfish?" Naori said, listing off questions.
"Ugh, this is exhausting. I don't know if it'll work, to be honest, and as for how I know about this, who knows? Maybe it's because I'm not as narrow-minded." Hiruko said, shrugging.
"And what's wrong with being selfish, wanting your love to be protected and cared for, wanting to avenge your love? I mean, who's to say we aren't all selfish too? We attack villages that just want resources and land."
Hiruko said, People never thought about the fact that to the other villages, they were villains, the selfish ones, and they were the selfless fighting Konoha, the ones that had killed their families, destroyed homes and monopolized the fertile land of the Land of Fire.
Wanting to protect the village is, yes, being selfless but also selfish; they are, at the end of the day, just two sides of the same coin.
Where we see it as protecting the village, they see it as destroying their way of life and what they hold dear.
"Anyway, I'm tired, so I'm going to leave this genjutsu you put me in now." Hiruko said lazily.
Naori hearing this, her eyes noticeably widened. "You knew?" she asked, her voice becoming dry.
"Of course I've been in a genjutsu ever since we finished the ramen; isn't that right?"
Hiruko said, slightly smiling, as he glanced at an old notification from the system.
[Warning: The host is in a Genjutsu world. If not stated in the next five seconds that the host wants otherwise, the Will of D skill will automatically be used to attempt a breakout. (The Will of D enhances his willpower, and with enough willpower, one can break out of genjutsu.)
Naori, hearing this, dropped her head slightly. "I'm sorry; I'll end it now." She said she was about to cancel the Genjutsu.
"Nah, I got it." Hiruko said, snapping his finger in the Genjutsu, activating the Will Of D Skill. The snap wasn't needed, but it was cool.
As he did, the Genjutsu world crumbled around him; the fake scenery was gone, replaced by the real one. He could slightly see Teuchi in the back out of the corner of his eye now.
"Impressive Genjutsu Maybe it's because I'm inexperienced with them, but I couldn't find any faults." Hiruko said, genuinely impressed.
"Ho-how did you?" Naori asked, surprised, her two tomoe sharingan spun in her eyes.
Just now she saw no mobilization of Hiruko's chakra, meaning he didn't disrupt his chakra to break out, so how did he get out?
"What can I say in spectacular?" Hiruko said, smiling.
"Why didn't you break out before?" Naori asked, trying to grasp the situation.
"Because we were having a conversation not meant for just anyone's ears." Hiruko said lazily as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
After this comment, both sat in silence for a few moments before Naori realizing the validity and simplicity behind his thoughts couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"You're funny, Hiruko," she said between laughter.
'I didn't even say anything funny.' Hiruko thought internally, frowning.
After a few moments Naori, calming down, stood up, looking at Hiruko as she placed a couple of Ryo to cover their meal.
"I like you, Hiruko. I think we should do this again, and I'll make sure to take your words to heart." Naori said happily, though with a bit of a serious undertone.
She planned to thoroughly investigate what Hiruko said; this could just be the thing that would save her clan.
Hiruko, on the other hand, his frown deepened at her words.
"No tha—" He was about to say something, but Naori cut him off.
"Good, it's a plan," she said, preparing to leave, but once she reached the door, she remembered something, turning around.
She clapped her hand twice, and a shadowy blur jumped from a bush, the bush disappearing in a puff of smoke.
The blur appeared next to Hiruko; it was a woman in her 20s, her hair a dark black, her three tomoe sharingan ready. She stood and bowed, cupped her hands, and extended a scroll towards Naori.
Naori, picking it up, tossed it to Hiruko, who caught it with one hand before bringing it to his face in confusion.
Naori, watching this, smiled before speaking up. "This is an apology gift from the Uchiha; that scroll holds several Jutsu that would be useful to you," Naori said cryptically before leaving.
"Thanks." Hiruko called out reluctantly, not yet processing the words.
'It's better if I look at these at home,' Hiruko thought, about to put the scroll in his kimono, but a figure appeared in front of it; it was Sakumo.
"Master, please let me hold on to that for you," Sakumo said in his usual serious self when it came to his duties of serving Hiruko.
Hiruko, seeing this, could tell Sakumo really wanted him to give him the scroll; usually someone would see this as a sign of nefarious intention, but Hiruko knew Sakumo.
'He must've seen Naori's guard; you're so weird, Sakumo.' Hiruko thought, smiling as Sakumo's weirdly obsessed need to serve him had grown on him.
Hiruko handing Sakumo the scroll hasn't realized just how much he's grown to trust Sakumo.
Sakumo, however, understood them and excitedly with a smile bowed even lower, saying, "Thank you, master, for your trust," before disappearing back into the shadows to watch Hiruko.
Hiruko, walking out of Ichiraku ramen and vowing to return and taste the wonderful ramen, started walking back to the estate.
Though he had to have Sakumo lead him from the shadow in fear he'd get lost.
As Hiruko left, a young Teuchi stood watching his back.
"It's been so many years. When I was a child and just opened the shop with my father, you two came eating and laughing, just like friends that were together for a lifetime. You know, they remind me so much of you two, though they're not there yet, but they will be."
Teuchi said, seemingly to himself, the figures of Hiruko and Naori overlapping with Hashirama and Madara in his head.
Hiruko and his shadows, on the other hand, after about 10 minutes as they were coming up on the estate, paused, and Hiruko stopped walking for a moment.
"Come out, Orochimaru." Hiruko said, smiling slightly.
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S: sorry about the no chapter yesterday I wanted to take extra time and think about the whole Uchiha and love and curse of hatred stuff. And though I don't think I did the best job I still hope you enjoyed the chapter