"I'm sorry, Furina, but you only ended up clashing with that masked guy because of me. I can't just sit by and do nothing."
"You... Next time, don't do that again. I respect your choice, but I hope you won't get hurt because of it."
Seeing the unnamed one's face full of apology, Furina couldn't bring herself to say anything more. After all, the other person had acted to help her if she kept nagging, it would make her seem ungrateful.
"By the way, with your current physical condition, you'll need to rest for a while longer to recover fully. During this time, try not to fight at all that way, you'll recover better.
But this world isn't completely peaceful right now. There are still bandits or rogue ninja out there, so for safety's sake, why don't you stick with me for now? Once you're fully recovered, you can explore the world to your heart's content."
As she spoke, Furina adjusted her demeanor as much as possible, trying to make her smile look warmer and more approachable.
Honestly, this kind of thing wasn't something Furina was good at. Normally, who would be worth treating this way? It was only because her sympathy had kicked in right now.
"Okay, then I'll be in your care from now on."
"Leave it to me you can count on me. I'm super reliable."
Seeing the unnamed one agree, Furina felt a bit giddy. It wasn't that hard after all. As expected of her.
While Furina was lost in her delighted thoughts, in a place she didn't notice, a hint of sly joy flashed through the unnamed one's eyes though it was quickly hidden, leaving no chance for Furina to spot it.
"So where are we heading next? To that village you mentioned before?"
"No way. I just told my teacher I was leaving the village for training how could I go back now? To be honest, I came here to find a suitable weapon for future use when needed. But as you saw, the Uchiha weapon recorded in the scroll turned out to be you. Still, the outcome isn't bad I made a new friend."
To avoid any misunderstanding, Furina handed over the scroll with the sealed record as she explained. The unnamed one didn't seem to care much, only glancing at it briefly before putting it away.
"As for the next goal, I want to continue with my original plan, so I'm thinking of heading to the Land of Iron first.
As a samurai nation independent from ninja, their weapon-forging skills should be excellent. It's just that it might be a bit cold there. What do you think?"
"I'm fine with anything. You can decide these things, Furina."
The unnamed one naturally wouldn't refuse Furina's suggestion. Not to mention she didn't know much about the current world even if she did, she wouldn't object. Compared to other matters, she preferred staying with her only friend.
"Then let's go."
"Oh, right since we'll be traveling together for a long time from now on, I can't just keep calling you 'hey' or 'you,' right? Why don't you give yourself a name? It'll make calling you easier, and it can also serve as a farewell to your past."
Just as they were about to set off, Furina suddenly remembered that the unnamed one still had no name. How could that be? Calling her "unnamed" all the time was so impolite.
"A name?"
Hearing this, the unnamed one lowered her head slightly, seeming to think seriously about it. But soon, she looked up at Furina again.
"I've never thought about something like a name, so I don't know what would be good. Why don't you choose one for me? You're my best friend,
and you're the one who saved me from endless darkness. No matter what name you give me, I'll accept it happily."
"This..."
Furina hadn't expected the question to come back to her. The problem was, she was terrible at naming things.
The other person trusted her so much she couldn't just pick something lame like Bob Uchiha right? That would be completely letting her down.
"Sigh..."
Just as Furina was troubled, after a long ordeal, dawn gradually broke. Soon, a ray of sunlight pierced through the darkness and shone on the unnamed one's profile.
Under the sunlight, the unnamed one's already beautiful features looked even more exquisite, gaining an otherworldly air. Perhaps inspired by this, a name suddenly popped into Furina's mind, and she blurted it out without thinking.
"How about Uchiha Hikari? I hope from now on, you can live under the light and let the painful memories of the past fade away."
"Uchiha Hikari? Thank you it's a really nice name. Then from now on, I'll be called Uchiha Hikari."
Facing Furina's expectant gaze, Uchiha Hikari agreed to the name without hesitation. Seeing this, Furina cheered happily, then urged her to get moving and find a place to rest first.
"It's such a good name. And not just the name to me, in that unbearable past life of mine, you were my only light."
Watching Furina's back ahead, Uchiha Hikari didn't voice these words aloud, only keeping them in her heart.
"What are you standing there for, dummy? Let's go." Though she didn't know what Uchiha Hikari was thinking, Furina could see her standing still.
"Oh, oh coming, coming."
Hearing this, Uchiha Hikari quickly caught up. It wasn't a big deal, but she still didn't want the other to guess her thoughts.
No particular reason just didn't want to.
"This time in the Land of Iron, I definitely need to get a proper weapon. When I fought that masked guy earlier, something felt off. Oh, right,
you don't have one either, do you? Then I'll get one for you too while we're at it. That way, in future fights, you can use your Mangekyo a bit less using it too much will cause blindness."
"Mm~"
Listening to the casual concern slipping into Furina's words, Uchiha Hikari nodded lightly but didn't agree outright. It was unclear whether she truly took it in.
"Though you told me not to dwell on the past, how could I really forget? I won't treat myself as a weapon anymore, but I'll still fight to protect you as a friend."
...
"This is... the Land of This? I've never heard of it before."
After checking the map repeatedly, Furina finally confirmed the city ahead. She then called out to Uchiha Hikari to pick up the pace.
It didn't matter exactly where it was what mattered was that they finally had a place to rest properly. She herself was fine surviving in the wild, but given Uchiha Hikari's current condition, proper recovery was best.