Drake: "Wait… Who Did I Sleep With This Time?"**
Evening
Hokage Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi flipped through document after document detailing the major clans of Konoha.
After a long while, he raised his head and looked out the window, anxiety clearly showing on his face.
"Why aren't they back yet?"
That afternoon, he had personally sent members of the Sarutobi clan to invite the heads of the major clans.
Now it was nearly nightfall—and not a single clan leader had shown up.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Urgent footsteps echoed.
Sarutobi Marumaru hurried into the office—but he came alone.
"Where are the clan heads?" Hiruzen asked sharply.
"They all went to Drake's residence."
"…What?"
Hiruzen was stunned.
Did Drake contact them first?
"Did you hear what they were discussing?" Hiruzen asked urgently.
"They went to buy the ability to fly," Marumaru replied.
"…Flying ability?"
Hiruzen frowned. "What flying ability?"
"Actual flying!" Marumaru explained enthusiastically.
"Drake can engrave flight onto ninja tools—and even directly onto the body. It's incredible!"
Flying?
Tools?
Engraved onto the body?
Hiruzen's mind went blank.
"Did Drake master Dust Release…? That's impossible!"
"It's not Dust Release," Marumaru corrected quickly.
"It's just… pure flight."
Then he pointed out the window.
"Hokage-sama, look!"
Hiruzen turned his head—and his eyes widened in disbelief.
In the sky above the street, Hiashi Hyūga was flying swiftly through the air.
"…This…"
At that moment, Hiruzen felt his heart sink to rock bottom.
He had planned to unite the clans and politically isolate Drake.
But before he could even act—
the plan had already collapsed.
"Hokage-sama, our clan should buy it too," Marumaru said eagerly.
"I just saw the Uchiha clan engrave flight onto a massive iron plate—tons of people can stand on it!"
"GET OUT!!"
Hiruzen roared.
"…Huh?"
Marumaru was completely confused.
Did he say something wrong?
Every other clan bought it—why not the Sarutobi?
"Wait."
Just as he was about to leave, Hiruzen stopped him.
"Marumaru… did you change your name?"
"Yes!"
"Oh? To what?"
"Sarutobi Konohamaru."
Hiruzen's eyelid twitched violently.
"Sarutobi… Konoha… finished?"
Muttering to himself, Hiruzen felt utterly exhausted.
"…Change it back."
"…Okay."
Marumaru nodded, convinced his clan head had lost his mind.
You told me to change it.
Now you want it changed back?
Step.
Hiruzen walked up to him, face deadly serious.
"Marumaru. I have a very important task for you."
"Yes, sir!"
Marumaru straightened instantly.
Hiruzen lowered his voice and produced four sealed letters.
"Take a few clan members. Deliver these letters to the Four Great Ninja Village Kage."
"…This…"
Marumaru's expression darkened.
Konoha was currently under joint pressure from the other villages—and now he was supposed to deliver secret letters to enemy leaders?
"Hah…"
Hiruzen added calmly, "Once you succeed, I'll transfer you into ANBU—and promote you directly to ANBU Captain."
"I swear to complete the mission!"
Marumaru's eyes burned with determination.
After he left, Hiruzen finally exhaled.
"For the sake of the village… some sacrifices are necessary."
He looked out the window again.
Whoosh.
Another figure flew past in the sky.
"…Flying,"
Hiruzen murmured bitterly.
"What an enviable ability."
Night
Back Mountain
Yūgao Uzuki, dressed in that pink halter dress, flew circles above Drake's head.
Drake lay back against a rock, calmly appreciating the view.
Moments later, Yūgao landed, glowing with excitement.
"Drake! I'm much smoother at flying now!"
She slipped straight into his arms.
"You're still far from good," Drake said with a smile, shaking his head.
"Eh? But I feel pretty skilled already," she said, puzzled.
"Flying alone doesn't improve you," Drake explained patiently.
"You need to perform high-difficulty actions while flying."
Yūgao tilted her head.
"In the air… dodging practice?"
"No, no—that's nowhere near enough."
"Then teach me."
"I will."
Drake stood up, wrapped an arm around her—and they lifted into the air together.
He began guiding her hand-in-hand.
"In the sky, you need to do everything you can do on the ground."
"Let's start with coordination exercises—then move on to digging wells."
"…Ah?!"
Yūgao's face instantly turned bright red.
She realized something important.
Drake was bad.
Very bad.
And she loved it.
Two hours later, after finishing Yūgao's "training,"
Drake flew to Anko Mitarashi's residence.
As expected, Anko was practicing flight in her courtyard.
"Drake!"
She zipped over and landed in front of him.
"Did you come to watch the moon with me?"
"That's right," Drake said with a wicked grin.
"But there's no moon tonight—only stars," Anko said disappointedly.
"Exactly why I came."
He pulled her into the air.
Mid-lesson—
"This is in the air!" Anko cried, half shocked, half thrilled.
She nearly fell at one point.
After a thorough lesson, Anko's understanding of flight improved dramatically.
Next stop: Rin's room.
By the time Drake finally slipped into Happy Hot Bath late at night,
he was exhausted.
In the dark, he entered Minako's room and once again became the Prince of Well-Digging.
To Drake's surprise—
Minako even put up a symbolic struggle this time.
How playful.
The Next Morning
Drake stretched lazily and realized Minako was gone.
Stepping outside, he saw Kushina Uzumaki and the others preparing breakfast.
"Morning, Kushina-senpai!"
"Drake," Kushina said suspiciously,
"did you sleep in the room on the left last night?"
"Yeah. Why?" Drake asked, equally confused.
"Oh—nothing, nothing," Kushina waved it off casually.
Then she added, out of nowhere:
"Go wake Minako up in the room on the right."
Drake:
"...???"
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