Chapter 36: The Excited Naruto, The Now-Famous Byakuya
"Mom…?"
Naruto froze.
Then his eyes drifted to the woman's vivid red hair.
His own clan name—Uzumaki.
And that weird verbal tic she had… the exact same one he always used.
Suddenly, a bold guess exploded in his mind.
"You… you…
Could you actually be… my mom?!"
"Of course~"
Kushina smiled brightly and pulled Naruto into a tight hug.
"Naruto… I'm so sorry for showing up so late.
I've wanted… I've wanted to see you for so long…"
"Mom…"
...
"This chakra…"
The moment Naruto and Kushina embraced,
inside Naruto, the Nine-Tails' eyes snapped wide open.
"Kushina!
It's her!
It's definitely her!
But wasn't she supposed to be dead?!"
The fox was utterly baffled,
face full of giant question marks.
...
"So that's how it was~"
After listening to Kushina explain the years she had been "gone" and various other things from the past,
a huge, sunny grin spread across Naruto's face.
"So my dad was the Fourth Hokage!
So that's why everyone called me demon fox!
Haha~
I get it now.
I finally get everything!"
With that, he thrust a thumb triumphantly into the air.
"I've decided!
I'm gonna keep this a secret for now.
And one day, when I become Hokage…
that's when I'll tell everyone!"
"That's wonderful~"
Kushina nodded with a gentle smile.
"But Mom…"
Naruto suddenly looked at her with worry.
"Is it really okay that you came back to life so suddenly?"
"It's fine~"
Kushina gave him her brightest smile.
"Although Minato left some little tricks inside the seal on the Nine-Tails in your body…
so that when certain conditions are met, you can see me.
But to be able to appear in front of you like a real person, even just once…
even if I had to die again right now, I wouldn't have any regrets~"
"Peh peh peh!
Don't say ominous stuff like that!"
Naruto hurriedly slapped both hands over Kushina's mouth.
"Oh, right!"
Suddenly remembering something, he dashed to the bedside, grabbed his little wallet, and turned back with sparkling eyes.
"Mom!
You've never eaten Ichiraku Ramen before, right?
Come on!
I'm treating you!"
Watching her son so full of excitement, Kushina simply smiled without saying anything.
The truth was… back in the day, she used to go to Ichiraku with Minato all the time.
...
After the meal, Naruto dragged Kushina around the village for a stroll.
To protect Naruto's safety and keep her identity hidden,
Kushina wore a disguise the whole time.
After all, the wife of the Fourth Hokage was still quite famous.
"Mom!
Look over there! Look!"
Naruto pointed excitedly toward a certain bookstore not far away.
"The owner of that shop…
he was my very first friend!
Back when nobody would play with me,
he was the only one who didn't avoid me.
The way he looked at me was always so kind!"
"Oh?"
Kushina blinked, then turned toward the bookstore with great interest.
She was very curious about her son's first friend.
"Not only that—
he even taught me a ninjutsu!
A super special move called Rasengan!
He said he invented it himself!"
"Rasengan!?"
Kushina was shocked.
"What do you mean he invented it?
That's clearly something your father created!"
"Huh!?"
Naruto blinked in confusion.
"But he's the same age as me. There's no way he learned it from Dad, right?"
"Looks like this boy is an extremely brilliant genius shinobi."
Kushina nodded with a smile.
"He might end up being a powerful rival on your path to becoming Hokage~"
"No way!
He already gave up on being a shinobi!"
"?"
Now Kushina was even more intrigued by this Byakuya.
"Let's go in and take a look then~"
"Okay!
I want to introduce you to him too!"
With that, Naruto happily pulled Kushina into the bookstore.
"Byakuya!
Byakuya!"
Naruto burst in full of energy.
Then he spotted Byakuya sitting behind the counter, reading a book.
"Byakuya!
Look!
This is my mom!"
"Hello, Byakuya~"
Kushina gave him a friendly smile.
"Hm?"
Byakuya looked up with a perfectly acted "surprised" expression, then asked in confusion,
"Naruto.
Weren't you an orphan?"
"Uh… um…"
Naruto glanced around nervously, saw that the shop was empty today,
then scurried over and whispered,
"It's a secret!
The Holy Master of the Black-Robed Organization… revived my mom!"
"Black-Robed Organization?"
Byakuya actually froze for real this time.
Because this was the very first time he'd heard the name other people had given to his own Spirit Pavilion.
He really hadn't expected…
they'd come up with something like that.
It was…
very detective-novel-like.
"It's classified information!"
Naruto suddenly remembered that Byakuya wouldn't know about it.
"I don't know much about that organization either.
But they're definitely a super-duper good organization!"
"Oh?"
Byakuya smiled faintly.
He wondered what kind of face this guy would make when he found out the Holy Master was actually standing right in front of him.
"Alright~
I'm gonna show my mom around some more.
We'll treat you to dinner tonight!"
Naruto waved cheerfully at Byakuya, then led Kushina out of the shop.
"Naruto's whole aura is completely different from before~"
Watching the boy's retreating back, Byakuya couldn't help but smile.
This really is a win-win-win situation for everyone.
I made a ton of plot points this time~
Thinking about that,
Byakuya let out a small sigh.
Because Hinata had shone so brightly,
he had become famous right along with her.
Now the entire shinobi world knew that Konoha had produced a young ninjutsu genius…
who was also a "master instructor" capable of turning a dead-last student into a Kage-level powerhouse in an instant!
As a result,
many of Konoha's major clans had come knocking, asking Byakuya to tutor their children.
But how could Byakuya possibly waste time on something that barely earned him any plot points?
So he turned every single invitation down.
Yet those people just wouldn't give up.
They seemed to think their persistence showed sincerity.
It annoyed him to no end.
So…
he decided to hold a lecture.
He would "explain" in detail exactly how Hinata had "become strong."
He'd give them a good, thorough… education.
And rake in another big wave of plot points while he was at it!