Mito Uzumaki was waiting in the mansion's living room and Natsuo saw her drinking tea and eating some bread.
To Natsuo's senses, Mito Uzumaki, who had an elderly appearance, was like a large bonfire compared to a candle. Natsuo was the candle.
After so many years and much training, Natsuo's spiritual energy had increased in quantity and quality, so he had developed a heightened sense of perception.
Since it was a major distraction to have his chakra sense on at all times in a ninja village, Natsuo only activated it periodically every so often.
He had set a reminder/alarm in his mind palace to activate his chakra sense every so often and keep him alert.
But at this moment, Natsuo took the initiative to turn on his chakra sense and was 'blinded' by Mito Uzumaki's chakra.
Internally, Natsuo sighed at the difference in chakra between the two.
Natsuo currently possessed the chakra of a Chunin, far below the chakra he sensed from Mito. Of course, besides being from the Uzumaki clan, Mito was also the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, making a direct comparison between them unfair.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Mito," Natsuo said as he bowed and turned off his chakra sense.
"Hello"
"Sit down, they'll bring you something to eat before lunch." Mito returned the greeting and ordered a maid to serve Natsuo a plate of snacks.
"Thank you," Natsuo said as he sat down.
Tsunade and Nawaki sat next to them and the group waited for the maids to serve lunch.
Whereas she used to be very relaxed, Tsunade now behaved better with her grandmother present.
Even Nawaki was the same.
Meanwhile, Mito talked to Natsuo and asked about his life.
Since he had nothing to hide, Natsuo had no problem telling his story.
An orphan from the Uchiha clan, he entered the academy at age 6 and in that same year began to learn medical Ninjutsu.
Since then, he has been learning at the Uchiha hospital until recently, when Tsunade took him on as an apprentice.
Soon, a maid approached and announced that lunch was served.
Shortly afterwards, the group was sitting around a table eating the food prepared by the maids.
To Natsuo's relief, he wasn't the center of attention during lunch.
For this reason, he had to thank Nawaki, who began to speak and recounted his experiences on his missions.
"Natsuo, you should graduate, so we can go on missions together," Nawaki said after enthusiastically recounting how he defeated a bandit.
"No," Natsuo shook his head as his mouth chewed.
"It's too dangerous," he said after swallowing.
"Don't be a coward, you're a man," Nawaki said as he ate.
"I am a living man, I don't want to be a dead man," Natsuo replied, unbothered by Nawaki's words.
"..."
The two women continued eating while listening to the two children talk, somewhat happy that Nawaki had someone to socialize with.
"But you're going to be a ninja, at some point you'll have to fight," Nawaki insisted after Natsuo repeatedly refused.
"And I will fight when that time comes," Natsuo replied calmly.
"You're just a coward, don't make excuses," Nawaki finished, a little annoyed after not getting what he wanted after talking so much.
"Nawaki, don't be an idiot!" Tsunade yelled at her younger brother, but Nawaki just pouted and continued eating while ignoring his sister.
"Nawaki, I never taught you to behave like this," Mito said, looking at her grandson.
And with his grandmother's eyes upon him, Nawaki lowered his head and apologized.
"I'm sorry, Grandma"
Sigh*
Mito sighed at Nawaki's behavior and didn't pursue the matter further; after all, they were having lunch and she didn't want to start a conflict.
"I feel sorry for my grandson," said Mito, looking at his granddaughter's disciple.
"Okay, Ms. Mito"
"I'm not offended," Natsuo replied with a smile. Logically, he wasn't going to be offended by a child.
Mito nodded and lunch continued.
As they continued eating and talking, Mito kept a close eye on Natsuo and felt at ease when she didn't sense any negative emotions from the boy.
After all, Natsuo was her granddaughter's disciple, and Mito didn't want her granddaughter to raise a crow only for the crow to try to take out one of her eyes.
Even though Mito knew she shouldn't be prejudiced against Natsuo, she couldn't ignore the fact that the boy was an Uchiha. And Mito had met many Uchiha, very few of whom had made a good impression on her.
Most of the Uchiha were arrogant and violent, reacting quickly to an offense like the one Nawaki committed.
Quite unlike Natsuo, who remained calm in the face of his grandson's comments and did not react like a typical Uchiha.
"...and we almost failed the mission because of that," Nawaki said, complaining about his teammate, who instantly threw away the object to be protected when they were being chased by enemy ninjas.
At that moment, if their master Orochimaru had not appeared, the enemy ninjas would have escaped with the object and they would have failed the mission.
Nawaki thought that he shouldn't have given up so easily and they could have fought a little longer until his master Orochimaru arrived to support them.
"And what do you think, Natsuo? What would you have done in the same situation?" Mito asked Natsuo, seeking to understand the boy's way of thinking.
"I would have done the same," Natsuo said without thinking much.
Upon hearing Natsuo's words, Nawaki looked at him contemptuously, confirming in his mind that Natsuo was a coward.
But since he knew his grandmother and sister would scold him if he said that, he kept those thoughts to himself.
"But you will fail the mission and the village will lose prestige," Nawaki said, repeating what he had heard for so long and now thought the same.
"It doesn't matter that much"
"The lives of my teammates and myself are more important than any mission," Natsuo replied, and his answer pleased Mito, as she could sense that Natsuo firmly believed what he was saying.
'He's not a typical Uchiha,' Mito thought with relief.
"Then it's a good thing you're not a ninja, or the village would suffer great losses if you abandoned all your missions," Nawaki said, this time unable to hold back his words.
"Nawaki!" Tsunade shouted.
Sigh*
Mito sighed, but this time she didn't scold her grandson.
"Although Nawaki is being very harsh, what my grandson said isn't wrong."
"At some point you will find yourself at a crossroads and you will have to decide in a matter of seconds."
"On one hand, you have the lives of your teammates or your morale at stake, and on the other hand, you have the possibility of the village suffering enormous losses if you fail the mission," Mito said, and Tsunade reluctantly agreed.
"I know," Natsuo said as he took a final bite of his food.
"But I would be more concerned that the village would have to rely on a child to get out of a problem."
"That means an adult isn't doing their job properly," Natsuo finished, putting his chopsticks down on the plate and stretching back against the chair while rubbing his stomach.
'Hahh, that was good,' Natsuo thought after enjoying the meal.
Meanwhile, Natsuo's words left both women pondering, while Nawaki didn't understand the meaning of what she heard.
Mito recalled that her husband founded the village so that children wouldn't have to go to war, and she agreed with Natsuo that if a child receives a heavy burden on his shoulders, it's because the adults weren't doing their job.
"You're right, children shouldn't have to carry the village's problems," Mito said.
"But don't worry, there are very powerful ninjas who will protect the village from any problem," Mito said, but for a second, the First Hokage's wife sensed that Natsuo wasn't convinced by her words.
'Doesn't he trust the village?' Mito thought, and for a moment she was worried.
The fact that his granddaughter's student didn't trust the village was a bad sign.
"The adults will take care of any problems, so you don't have to worry," said Mito, attentive to Natsuo's emotions.
"Yes, Grandma," Nawaki said, nodding her head.
'There it is,' Mito thought when she again felt that Natsuo didn't believe her words.
"And you, Natsuo?"
"You must trust that there will always be someone in the village to protect everyone," Mito said.
"Well..." Natsuo thought about his words for a moment before speaking.
"The resources of a village or a country are limited, so there will always be a war from time to time."
"Unless someone has the strength of the First Hokage, the Leaf Village will always be in danger of being attacked by the other villages," Natsuo said, expressing his true opinion and reassuring Mito since she didn't sense any malice within the boy.
But even so, Natsuo's words silenced the room, with the two adults agreeing and Nawaki for the first time thinking about the meaning of war.