"This is outrageous! Why didn't you Anbu stop her?!" Utatane Koharu demanded, her wrinkled face etched with anxiety.
"I am deeply sorry, Advisor-sama!" The ANBU Captain replied, gritting his teeth, his body still firmly blocking the corridor leading to the Hokage's office. "But Hokage-sama gave explicit death orders: no matter what happens inside, no one is allowed to enter without his direct command!"
Homura Mitokado's eyes, behind his glasses, looked grave and sharp. He said in a deep voice, "Forget it, Koharu, arguing about this now is pointless. Let's hurry in. If Hiruzen really suffers any mishap in there, then things will be irreversible."
In the corridor of the Hokage Building, which continued to rumble as if an earthquake was occurring, the two Konoha senior Advisors, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu, were trying to forcefully break through the Anbu's obstruction. Their faces showed obvious anger and worry.
As they spoke, the two were about to bypass the ANBU Captain and rush directly towards the Hokage's office, from which violent sounds continuously emanated. The ANBU Captain inwardly groaned, but had no choice but to move again, resolutely blocking the two Advisors.
"But, Advisor-sama! Hokage-sama's orders are very clear! No one is allowed to enter unless he personally summons them!" His voice was firm, though his forehead under the mask was already covered in cold sweat.
"Move aside!" Utatane Koharu said urgently, "As Advisors, our original duty is to carefully consider the Hokage's major decisions, to prevent him from making impulsive actions due to personal feelings! Hiruzen's current decision is too emotional!"
Homura Mitokado nodded in agreement, "That's right, Konoha is currently in the post-war period, and the Hokage, as the Village's leader, absolutely cannot make any mistakes! What's more, Jiraiya, the successor to the next Hokage, is also inside at this moment, which might make the situation even more complicated."
He tried to persuade the Anbu from a more rational perspective. "Although Uzumaki Kushina was the previous Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and has been confirmed dead, now she has only temporarily returned to the world through a forbidden jutsu... But to us, she is still a young junior after all."
"Providing necessary advice and restraint to young people, and preventing her from acting excessively due to emotional loss of control, is also our duty as Advisors!"
The ANBU Captain listened to the two Advisors' righteous words, struggling internally, but the Hokage's orders were above all else. However, under the combined pressure and sharp gaze of the two senior Advisors, he finally, with great difficulty and extreme slowness, moved aside, opening the path.
He watched the two Advisors hurriedly push open the heavy door of the Hokage's office and enter, then the door closed again. Under his mask, cold sweat had already soaked his hair.
The commotion... stopped? He listened; the tremendous noise and vibrations, like a building being torn down, had indeed come to an abrupt halt. Had the discussion begun?
However, this brief calm lasted for less than half a minute.
"Bang!!"
A huge crash! The door of the Hokage's office was violently forced open from the inside, and two figures directly fell onto the corridor floor. Immediately after, the office door quickly slammed shut with a "clank."
The ANBU Captain's heart jumped, and he rushed forward to check. When he saw the faces of the two people on the ground, he immediately gasped, terrified. The ones who had been thrown out were the two Advisors who had just aggressively stormed in: Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu!
However, they no longer had their previous dignity. Both their faces were swollen like pig heads, bruised and purple, their features twisted and deformed. They had completely passed out, their breaths so faint they seemed on the verge of stopping at any moment.
"Quick... someone! Is there a medical Ninja here?!"
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At night, a warm light illuminated Naruto's small apartment. Despite the commotion that afternoon, the two eventually managed to buy the necessary food from another normally operating store without accepting "charity," and specifically went to an Inuzuka clan-run pet store to pick out a soft and comfortable dog bed for Kogane.
Satsuki's sudden emotional outburst, that sorrow and anger caused by him, indeed left Naruto a bit at a loss at the time. But on the way home, and during the time he spent preparing dinner, he gradually calmed down and began to think seriously.
Had he... always underestimated the hardships he had experienced?
He reflected while handling the ingredients in his hands. Because he chose not to care, did he subconsciously belittle the actual harm caused by years of emotional abuse? No... it wasn't like that.
Although the memories were somewhat distant and blurry, he clearly remembered that as a child, when he faced those rejections and malice alone, his heart was indeed filled with unspeakable sadness and low spirits.
Then, at a very young age, he began to train desperately, filling his time with physical exhaustion and the desire to become stronger, leaving no extra energy to feel that pain... until later, when people started to accompany him... Was it from that time that he truly, from the bottom of his heart, stopped caring about those gazes and rumors? So, before that... had he been deceiving himself, using "not caring" to numb his true feelings?
A deeper thought emerged, sending a chill down his spine. Moreover, his soul was essentially mature, capable of processing and digesting those negative emotions in a relatively rational way... But what if... what if he had no memories, just the pure mentality of a child? Could such a self still endure it?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel grateful to Satsuki. Those words she said for him today... He understood, Satsuki didn't want him to easily dismiss the pain of his childhood with simple apologies and atonement.
Naruto also didn't intend to forgive them just like that... But what exactly should he do? Curse back? Fight back? Or... should he think about it more carefully?
In any case, he definitely had to thank Satsuki properly today. And then... he also had to quickly figure out a solution regarding his mother and Edo Tensei.
He carefully plated the finished dishes—brightly colored scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fragrant tomato stew with beef, refreshing and appetizing cold tossed tomatoes... almost all of them were Satsuki's favorite flavors. Of course, there was also a special nutritious meal for Kogane, mixed with warm milk and fruit and vegetable puree.
As he began to carry the dishes to the small table in the living room, Satsuki immediately got up to help.
"Naruto... these dishes..." Satsuki noticed the obvious preference in tonight's dishes and spoke with some hesitation.
"Mm, they're all your favorites." Naruto showed a gentle smile, "Today... thank you very much. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have known what to do then, I might have just stood there foolishly."
"...It's okay." Satsuki lowered her head slightly, her voice very soft. She had been somewhat worried that Naruto might think her behavior that afternoon was too rough and extreme, and would look at her with strange or disapproving eyes.
After all, in her opinion, Naruto was sometimes excessively kind, even to the point where it worried her.
Just as Naruto placed Kogane's milk dish on the small mat in front of it, and the two were about to start their meal—
"Knock knock."
A clear knocking sound suddenly rang out.
Naruto stood up, a little strangely. Someone knocking at this time of day? That was quite uncommon. Who could it be?
Satsuki's heart instantly tightened, and worry flashed across her face. Could it be... those villagers again, coming to apologize or pester him? She really didn't want the annoying scene from the afternoon to disturb Naruto again.
"Coming." Naruto responded, walked to the door, and reached out to open it.
However, standing outside the door was not anyone he had expected.
The next moment, a slightly cold, yet loving and trembling embrace suddenly hugged him tightly!
The instant Naruto opened the door and clearly saw the other person's face, his pupils trembled violently, his mind went blank, and his entire body froze in place.
Uzumaki Kushina hugged her son, found again after being lost, with all her strength, her voice choked with accumulated longing and pain.
"...I always... wanted so, so much to see you."
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