Chapter 37 Sasuke and Naruto (Part 2)
Uncle Ichiraku understood Kakashi's gaze and wisely shut his mouth, but his heart remained unsettled for a long time.
He had always witnessed Naruto's plight in the village since childhood. If this child was truly the Fourth Hokage's son, then it was truly hellish.
"Um, Brother Kakashi, Uncle Ichiraku, you know my father, right? Where is he now?" Naruto raised his head, his eyes already brimming with tears, looking like they might fall at any moment. Uncle Ichiraku
took a deep breath. He seemed to have gotten himself into serious trouble. No matter what the inside story of Naruto's matter was, it was something a small-time ramen vendor like him couldn't get involved in.
"Naruto, I can't tell you your father's identity for now, but I can tell you that your father is a great ninja," Kakashi said at this moment.
"I..." Naruto stared blankly at the two of them.
Kakashi patted Naruto's head and said, "I didn't let you know your father's identity to protect you. Your father has many powerful, unimaginable enemies. You haven't even finished the Ninja Academy yet; we can't let you get involved in the conflicts of the previous generation."
"So, after I become stronger, you'll tell me who he is, right?" Naruto quickly regained his composure, wiping away his tears as he asked.
"Yes," Kakashi nodded.
"You can't lie to me!" Naruto looked up at Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at the youthful face before him, so similar to his teacher and teacher's wife, and was momentarily stunned.
"Hey! Brother Kakashi!" Naruto grumbled, dissatisfied.
"Okay, I promise you. Hurry up and finish eating, then go to your house to pack your things. From now on, you'll live with me," Kakashi said.
"Yes!" Naruto shouted casually, then quickly finished his ramen.
"I'm done! Thank you for the treat!"
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, watching this scene from inside his crystal ball, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Kakashi had some sense of propriety and knew that now was not the right time to reveal Naruto's identity.
...
On the other side.
In Uchiha Touhuan's study, Fugaku took his leave after dropping Sasuke off, leaving only Sasuke and Uchiha Touhuan in the study.
After seeing Fugaku off, Uchiha Touhuan sat down and wrote furiously, while Sasuke remained somewhat uneasy in the study.
"Find a place to sit and wait for me to finish these things," Uchiha Touhuan said without looking up.
It was clear that Fugaku usually placed great importance on Sasuke's etiquette training; although Uchiha Touhuan said this, Sasuke simply found a cushion and knelt down properly.
After a while, Uchiha Touhuan finished writing the last character, then looked up and asked, "How many characters do you know?"
"My brother and mother taught me to read, and I know most of them," Sasuke replied.
"That's good. You don't need to start teaching me from scratch," Uchiha Touhuan said, handing Sasuke a small booklet he had just finished writing.
"Your task for today is to memorize the first three pages. I'll explain the meaning to you after you've memorized them."
After hearing Uchiha Touhuan's words, Sasuke glanced down at the booklet his new teacher had given him. "At the beginning of life, is man inherently good?" Uchiha Sasuke turned to the first page and read the first sentence word by word.
Indeed, to properly teach Sasuke, Uchiha Touhuan had rewritten some Confucian classics he remembered from his previous life, removing elements that didn't fit the ninja world.
For Sasuke at this age, teaching him powerful ninjutsu would be impossible due to his insufficient chakra. It was better to first correct his values, at least to reduce his exposure to the poisonous influence of the ninja academy's training methods for killing machines, and then teach him to rationally view and think about the world, so he wouldn't become like his brother.
And this Confucian system from his previous life, regardless of other aspects, was at least adequate in terms of moral shaping.
Although Sasuke didn't understand why his teacher wasn't teaching him ninjutsu but instead making him memorize texts, he still obediently began to memorize.
...
After eating ramen, Kakashi followed Naruto back to his apartment, which was less than thirty square meters.
As soon as they entered the room, Naruto casually showed Kakashi his "treasures," including but not limited to a cabinet full of instant noodles and expired milk in the refrigerator.
Kakashi picked up a carton of milk from the refrigerator, glanced at the expiration date, and frowned. It was three months past its expiration date.
"Naruto, don't you ever notice anything wrong with the taste when you drink this?" Kakashi asked.
"Huh? No, the milk I drink always tastes the same," Naruto replied, startled by Kakashi's question.
Hearing this, Kakashi roughly understood what was going on. He went to the wardrobe not far from the refrigerator, opened the door, and saw that it was full of somewhat worn-out clothes. He wanted to slap himself a few times.
[I've really been a jerk all these years.]
"Forget it, don't bother packing. I'll take you to buy some new ones tomorrow," Kakashi said with a sigh as he watched Naruto pack boxes of instant noodles into a bag.
"At least let me take these ramen noodles! They're my treasures!" Naruto cried out anxiously. He didn't care about anything else, these ramen noodles were something he'd saved up for a long time.
Just then, Kakashi noticed a red scarf in the corner of the wardrobe. He remembered that his master's wife had been knitting this very scarf during her pregnancy. He picked it out, closed the wardrobe door, and then grabbed Naruto by the collar, heading out. "Children shouldn't eat so much ramen, it'll stunt their growth."
Naruto struggled with his little arms and legs, but in front of Kakashi, he could only watch helplessly as his treasures slowly disappeared.
...
Sasuke's little brain was quite clever; he memorized everything Uchiha Touhuan had made him memorize in less than an hour.
Uchiha Touhuan checked a few sentences, and after confirming that the boy had indeed memorized it, he began to explain the meaning of these wise sayings to him sentence by sentence.
Sasuke listened attentively, and time passed slowly.
"Alright, that's all for today." Uchiha Touhuan put down his book after finishing the material Sasuke had memorized that day. "It's getting late, go back to sleep."
"Um, teacher, aren't you going to teach me ninjutsu?" Sasuke asked softly.
"Ninjutsu?" Uchiha Touhuan nodded. "Then come with me."
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(End of Chapter)