The sun shone brightly on Naruto's favourite restaurant and the cloth that hung from the roof and separated the clients from the usually busy road fluttered in the wind.
The weather in Konoha was getting colder, and while the sun still warmed everyone in its path, the cool air pushed and shoved them out of the streets sooner than anyone wanted.
Only the most determined stayed outside in the chilly weather for a prolonged time.
Two of those people were Naruto and Sasuke.
They were sitting at Ichiraku after a tiring day at the academy, ignoring the wind and eating their respective ramen, while the ghosts of the Uchiha clan were not that far behind them.
The street that would usually be buzzing with activity and quick passerby, regardless of the weather, emptied in seconds of their arrival. The ghostly presence alone lowered the temperature around it and made anyone that walked by shiver and cover themselves tightly with whatever they had on at the moment.
Shisui was talking to Mikoto about everything and nothing, sometimes receiving a glint in her eyes in response, but no actual words or movement. While the Uchiha matriarch was still mostly stuck in her own world, now, from time to time, she seemed to regain a moment of consciousness with awareness shining brightly in her black eyes, giving them hope that maybe someday she will fully get out of whatever haze she was in.
The third year of the academy turned out to be not as easy as Naruto thought it would be.
The transformation technique they learnt at the beginning of the year, she could do with her hands tied behind her back, no issue whatsoever, but with time… The sheer amount of new studying material, as well as the introduction of more complex techniques like Kawarimi or Bunshin—that she was just awful at—brought along some troubles. It definitely showed her how much she still had to do to become a ninja like no other.
Naruto wiggled in her seat and swung her feet, slightly hitting the underneath of the table.
She couldn't help but be excited at the thought.
After all, she was getting closer and closer to graduation and becoming a real shinobi and nothing was going to stop her. Not even that dumb clone technique, she slurped on her noodles, digging deeper into her bowl and splashing the broth around her.
"Naruto, stop eating like a pig," Sasuke raised his voice, straining himself to stay calm and collected at the sight of her manners.
She grinned widely at him with the noodles dangling from her mouth.
"Sorry Sasuke, it's just that we are getting so close to graduation! What do you think we will learn in fourth grade? I heard that they go on some camping trip or something." Naruto's loud voice carried in the wind as she leaned towards the Uchiha boy in her excitement. "Do you think we will have sealing classes? Also, I'm getting so close to understanding the ones based on the fire element. They are just so weird you wouldn't believe it!"
She pointed her chopsticks at him in a swift motion when saying that, splashing some of the broth on his face.
Sasuke scowled at the feeling of the oily liquid on his cheek and gave Naruto a dirty eye, only receiving a sheepish laugh in response. He took the tissue laying on the table and wiped the oil away with disgust.
"You know that's not going to happen, Naruto. Fuuinjutsu is a sacred art. Not only that, it's something our future sensei can teach us the basics of as well, so nobody is going to waste the class time on it."
Naruto pouted at his answer but continued on her rant.
"But it's so useful, and it's not like there are no materials on it whatsoever! It's not even that hard. You saw what I did with my hair and everything!" She shouted with a frown and grasped the strands of her blonde hair as if to remind the boy of what happened not that many months ago.
After the talk with the Hokage and the villagers' very visible reactions, she couldn't bear to keep the red hair colour for long. She stuck with it for a few more days, but that was it.
Naruto sighed at the memory and turned back to her ramen. She couldn't let it get cold.
In her haste to finish the food of gods, she missed a grimace settling over Sasuke's face.
He mindlessly stirred his noodles clockwise, boring his eyes into the soup, while his grip tightened on the chopsticks. The atmosphere around them slowly turned dark and heavy, reflecting the look that was taking over his face.
Shisui glanced in their direction, the sudden change in the air pulling him out of his own monologue to his aunt, who retracted back to her inside shell.
"What do you think we will learn then, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, returning her attention to the world around her. She turned towards him with a smile, but it quickly fell after seeing the boy's bad frame of mind.
"I-Itachi...He was a chunin at our age," his stare hardened and the chopsticks in his hand seemed close to breaking.
She swallowed hard at his words, the mention of the Uchiha killer further thickening the atmosphere and turning it solid, while the pained howls of the boy's clan rang in her ears.
Naruto looked back at her ramen for a brief moment and mulled over his words in her head.
Was that how he thought of everything that was happening? Constantly comparing himself to the man that destroyed his life?
In a way, she wanted to bite her tongue at her careless words and thoughtlessness, but at the same time… Did it really matter, if Sasuke was going to think this way about anything that she said?
She could hear Teuchi quietly excusing himself and going to the backroom.
Her stare hardened, and she hit the table with her fists, pulling the boy next to her out of his dark haze with a flinch.
"Sasuke," she straightened and looked him in the eyes, her own becoming like a deep sea, unlike their usual sky blue colour. "Stop thinking and worrying about that jerk! We will become stronger like no one else and beat his stupid ass to the moon and back 'ttebayo!"—she pressed her lips into a thin line, her decision set in stone—"He will beg you for forgiveness after what we put him through!"
She quickly reached for his hand and squeezed it with all her might, giving him a small, sure smile. Her sudden movement and words made him widen his eyes and his cheeks flushed a deep red at all the contact. He quickly turned his face back to the ramen bowl, not wanting her to see his reaction, and she barely caught him muttering a quiet "We?" already too busy devouring her own food to pay any closer attention to him.
The rest of the meal passed in a pleasant, if not a bit awkward, silence. Sasuke didn't say much and still seemed to be deeply in shock after her words. They parted not long after, standing outside Ichiraku in the middle of the street.
Naruto pointed her finger at the boy with a wide grin, her other hand on her hip.
"Don't forget to show up at my place tomorrow! I'll be waiting!" She said with a short laugh, readying herself to go her own way but stopping at a thought that crossed her mind. "Gifts are welcome, Uchiha!"
Sasuke slowly nodded his head at her words, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes searched for hers and he waved in a small goodbye from his spot when he found them.
He took a short, last glance at the blonde before turning away and walking towards his clan grounds with the Uchiha ghosts in tow.
Shisui stared after them. The ghosts' forms looming over the younger brother of his favourite cousin.
The boy that now seemed to feel very intensely about his sibling.
The last time he had seen him, Sasuke was still a little runt, tinier than now, that adored his brother as if he were the Rikudou himself.
And yet here he was, unable to say his name without a shudder, not even uttering anything about Itachi being his brother, and overwhelming despair clinging to him at the smallest memory of his existence.
It was obvious to him that something happened and judging by the murder of ghosts trailing the boy's every step and no Itachi in sight; he had an inkling of what it was.
But it was just-just so hard to believe, he concentrated his sight on the road ahead of him, floating next to Naruto on their way back to her apartment.
Itachi, just like him, wanted peace, wanted to avoid the bloodshed. So why? Why would he do it?
If he were alive, would it have changed anything? Would they still be here? He clenched his fists at the thought.
He looked at Naruto, oblivious of his wondering and a jump to her every step.
Spending time with her usually eased the pain coursing through his form and calmed the wild memories that kept on trying to take over his mind, but this time, it only intensified them. The sound of crashing waves ripped through his earbuds and the swish of the wind cut at his body, leaving him teary-eyed.
The door to Naruto's tiny apartment flickered in and out of his sight and he struggled to listen to the blonde girl's ramblings about the upcoming party. His throat felt tight, and he wanted to cough out the water that broke into his mouth, crushing his insides with tenacity under its weight.
He took a shaky breath in, clenching his fists so hard he could feel his fingers going numb and a tingling sensation going through him, greyish-blue shimmers breaking his form around the arms and hands. He couldn't let himself get carried away, even if all the thoughts relentlessly assaulted his mind.
He barely registered walking inside and stopping before the entrance to the kitchen.
Naruto was already turning on the kettle and humming something under her breath. The vibrant red of the ramen package in her hands brought a foul taste to his mouth.
He looked up at the ceiling, the sound of water pummeling at his brain joining the whistling and swishing coming from the room across from him.
"When did you plan to tell me?" His voice sounded hollow and bounced off the walls, unlike his own.
Naruto quickly lifted her head at his words, still partly inside one of the shelves where she was searching for something, and bumped her head on the wood with an ouch. She rubbed the back of it, a frown etched on her face and fully turned towards him.
"What are you talking about?"
"Itachi," he licked his lips in annoyance and bore his eyes into her from his spot.
His ghost form melted with the wall behind, the greyish colours mashing and blurring together. With only his eyes remaining strong and vibrant. Their colour turned pitch black, with glimmers of red shining through the void that sucked in any other hue.
She tilted her head for a second and furrowed her brows; the realization hitting her later than he would want. The frown on her face deepened, and she put her hands on her hips.
"You never asked and I don't know, I just… I thought you knew about it."
Shisui stopped the shout that tried to slip out and clenched his fists at her words. How was he supposed to know?
He turned away and walked deeper into the living room, trying to breathe in and out and calm his nerves. He could hear Naruto's quick steps behind him, the boiled water in the kettle forgotten by both of them.
"Did...Did Itachi really…" The words stayed stuck in his throat and even though his mouth opened a few more times to continue, no sound came out.
"Yes," she whispered, fiddling with her shirt and glancing at his back, strands of hair falling over her eyes.
His breath hitched, and he pulled his hair, while his legs took him everywhere and nowhere around the tiny room.
"That's-That's impossible! He would never do that. Something had to happen and make him do it! There's no way," he uttered, his voice quavering and heavy with tension. "He loved his family, especially Sasuke. He would have never hurt him like this!"
His pace quickened, and he rubbed his face with needless force as if to wake up from the nightmare he found himself in.
The waves in his ears got louder and his eyes widened. He inhaled the air deeply, his chest expanding and begging for more, and his hands grasped at his knees, looking for support.
A blast of pain shot through his body, bending him further, his nails digging into his skin.
"Shisui! Calm down!" Naruto's muffled voice breached through his foggy mind and he looked up to her with blurry eyes.
"There-there had to be something more to it," he muttered with a shaky breath, fixing her with his bloody red eye, while his hand shot to grasp hers. It passed through her, leaving her with goosebumps on her skin and shivers going down her spine from the freezing liquid-like form and the darkness etched into it.
He could see her eyes widening, scared of his sudden move but also what surprised him, the overpowering amounts of worry about him. The blue of her eyes looked heavy with it, and yet he didn't feel judged by them. Instead, it gave him the comfort needed to calm down.
Shisui took back his hand, lingering for the tiniest of moments before fully moving back as his eyes returned to their usual black colour.
They stood in their spots for a little while, the silence engulfing both of them. Shisui slowly stood back and brought himself back to reality, his shaky breathing the only sound in the tiny room, while Naruto fidgeted near the kitchen's entry, the tension seeping into her.
The kettle's whistling became more apparent to them, with the room growing quieter and the blonde girl disappeared into the room, the gathered tears in the corner of her eyes being the last thing he saw.
Shisui ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, looking over the tiny living room before floating into the kitchen after the girl.
She was already sitting with her legs crossed on the cheap, folded chair, stirring her ramen. He could tell by her shoulders tensing that she knew he was there with her but chose to say nothing. Her face was riddled with worry and stress as she bit her lip, her body unable to stay still and fidgeting away. She seemed to want to say something, slightly opening her mouth and then closing it once again.
He floated close to the table and stood in front of her, not really sitting down since he couldn't interact with objects, anyway.
"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," she said, glancing at his reactions and putting away her chopsticks to fiddle with her fingers instead.
"It's okay," he stared right back at her, his posture relaxing and shaking off the last bits of tension that clung to him, the sound of crashing waves and the wind going back into hiding deep inside his mind. "It's not like I told you much either."
She looked up at him, relief shining in her eyes and shoulders sloping down. She paid no mind to the cooling ramen next to her and stood from her chair, her hand resting on its frame.
"Do you… Do you think you can still go? You don't have to if you don't want to," she added after a second, flailing her hands and raising her voice in a high-pitch.
"I probably shouldn't be alone right now and a talk with Uzumaki-san might make me feel better too," he said, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Can't miss out on your birthday party either."
Naruto's face glowed with a big shy smile, her eyes crinkling and sparkling at his answer. The room lit up from her happiness and Shisui found himself having to look away from her bright smile, his own unconsciously widening as well. His worries and thoughts from not that long ago stopped bearing hard on his mind as he was filled with overflowing warmth.
A small, soft smile bloomed on his face, the idea that he can still try and enjoy the day shining through everything else in his mind.
The trip to the clearing was short and silent, both of their movements done automatically.
They didn't talk much during it, Shisui needing a moment to think, while Naruto didn't want to bother him after what happened. She wanted to say something a few times, ask if everything was okay and if he's sure about coming with her, but decided against it every time.
She adjusted the rubber band of her orange birthday hat, the tightness of it leaving red marks on her skin.
There was no point in thinking about it, he said what he said and she wasn't going to ask him anymore. She threw the long ribbon decoration in her hand on the tree branches above in a smooth motion, her mother's loud voice ringing in her ears.
But what if he wasn't feeling well? A heavy weight settled at the pit of her stomach and she shot a glance in Shisui's direction, just to be sure.
He was rubbing his face and standing at the edge of the clearing. The exhaustion was visibly hitting him hard and Naruto bit her lip at that sight. His form stopped being as ash grey and he didn't blend with his surroundings anymore, though, and that eased some of her worries.
"Naruto! Get down here, it's enough already!" A short yell came from the ground below. Her mother looked small from the spot in the tree she was in, the leaves obstructing some of her view.
"I'm going, I'm going!" The blond girl scratched her head with a laugh and went down from her spot, her hands grabbing the branches tightly, unmoved by the rough texture of the bark.
"Who's gonna take it all down later?" Kushina ranted in a fake angry tone, the glimmer in her eyes and the barely hidden twitch in the corner of her lips betraying her true feelings on the matter.
Naruto grinned with all her might and ran up to her mother, catching herself at the last second not to jump at her, her hair hitting her in the face from the sudden stop and the grass parting away from her rough and brutal step on it.
Her first birthday with her mother.
She used to imagine what it would be like, not to spend that day alone but with her parents in a cosy, warm house full of laughter. She knew that old man Hokage always tried to make some time for her on her birthday but his duty didn't easily allow him to do so, and with time, as she grew older, he limited himself to just sending her gifts packed with a neatly written card.
So now, even just a sheer thought of this being real and happening made her eyes water and hands tremble. Her mother being dead and in the form of a ghost wasn't going to destroy it for her.
"Naruto, remember when I told you about the more advanced seals? The ones that need different sets of components?" Kushina said with a thoughtful expression on her face and her arms crossed behind her back. "I think it's time for you to learn some of them."
The blonde girl stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening and mouth opening and closing like a fish taken out of the water. Her eyes trailed towards her mother's face as to make sure she heard it correctly and were met with a small knowing smile.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Shisui perking up as well, his eyebrows raised high.
"B-but you said that I have to wait till the fourth year to start on them!" She couldn't help but flail her hands from the excitement, a sudden surge of new energy overwhelming her and pulsing underneath her skin.
"I think you are ready," she said softly, her smile widening as she gazed at the excitement gushing out of Naruto. "Of course, if you don't feel this way, we can—"
"No! No! I'm ready!" She cried out, barely stopping herself from grabbing her mother and sticking to jumping in her spot.
A short burst of laughter left Kushina at the sight, causing her to cover her mouth with her hand and turn her head to the side to hide her reaction.
"Alright, alright!" She waved her hand down, telling Naruto to sit down and looked towards the Uchiha teen. "Shisui-kun, come join us."
Her words seemed to have surprised him, making him jolt slightly, unsure of what to do.
He stood in his spot for a bit, her mother patiently waiting for him with her hand reaching towards him, before he slowly started moving, his steps sluggish and his feet merging with the bleak, slimy grass around him.
The closer he got, the more Naruto could see how badly he was actually holding up and she clenched her fists at the sight.
He sat down next to her with a hollow thump, sending her a small, tired smile that was more of a slight lift of the corners of his lips than an actual smile, before looking towards Kushina to prepare for the new lecture.
Her mother nodded, closing her eyes to think, before speaking up, "The sealing technique that I would like to teach you requires a bit of groundwork beforehand. For now, you will be preparing it in a single-use scroll and eventually, when you will have more knowledge about advanced sealing, you will learn how to construct the sealing matrix in the air."
Naruto could feel her eyes bulging out at her mother's words, the idea of creating seals out of nothing like that sounded surreal and unimaginable to her. Every time she thought she knew everything there was to seals, something new showed up, destroying the concept she had in her head and confirming to her that sealing was a truly unlimited art with endless possibilities. She could feel her hands tremble at the thought, the excitement coursing through her.
"It was one of the first more complex seals that my mother taught me," Kushina said wistfully, her eyes glazing over for a moment. "It's a small barrier seal, quite durable, its only downside being the radius, as it can only protect the user."
The blonde felt a loud squeal leaving her mouth, all the enthusiasm erupting out of her like a volcano after her mother's mention of it being a barrier seal.
She quickly scrambled herself to cover her lips, shooting glances at everyone around her, but the damage was already done with Kushina giggling away at her reaction and even Shisui letting out a short chuckle.
Kushina wiped the tears that gathered in her eyes from the laughter, gasping for breath with a huge beaming smile on her face, and looked at the girl that was growing so fast in front of her eyes.
"Happy birthday Naruto."
The practice took the rest of the day. Her skin tingled after using up most of her chakra on seal after seal, and the air around her shimmered with light blue from being so heavily saturated.
She struggled with making space for the new components at first, their existence changing the shape of the matrix that she was used to seeing, but eventually, it got easier to draw. She still had some issues with the range of the barrier, as it tightly clung to her skin, leaving no space in between and itching her to do better.
It wasn't something she couldn't fix with time though, she thought as her mother's proud grin showed up in her mind.
She closed her eyes with a tired sigh as the grass around her tucked her in. The feeling of Kushina's liquid-like hand playing with her hair, or rather attempting to do so as her form just continued to pass through them, didn't bother her. Instead, the cold breeze that emanated from her felt like a nice, welcome break, and she only snuggled up to it like a sleepy cat.
Shisui stood at the edge of the clearing, gazing into the dark deep forest with empty eyes, his seemingly blank face concealed the slight curl of his lips and the knit in his brows. Only his crossed arms showed the hidden tension inside of him.
"What's wrong Shisui-kun?" Kushina's soft voice spread in the dark, with her eyes still locked on the form of her dozing off daughter to give at least a little bit of space to the boy.
The lone Uchiha shifted in his spot, tightening his grip on his arms even harder.
"It's, it's Itachi. He,"—Shisui covered his mouth with his hand, choking on his words and scrunching his face in a painful frown—"He was the one that… That did it."
A loud sob escaped through his fingers as his knees turned weak, barely holding himself up and stopping from fully dropping to the ground like a puppet and bawling at the grass beneath.
"He had to have a reason," he whispered, digging his nails into his arms and shutting his eyes. The sorrow, blaring and overwhelming, made him shake with every sob and whimper he held down in his throat.
Kushina turned to face him, her gaze felt soft and soothing on him and it reminded him of Naruto and the way she looked at him before. He bit his lips in guilt.
"I believe you."
The resolution in her voice was stronger than what Shisui could muster up and he met her gaze with surprised eyes, not expecting someone to believe his weak words filled with more hope than actual confidence. With no evidence to defend his best friend and closest family.
Silence rang around them and he breathed out the air he didn't even realize he was holding. Her faith gave him some peace of mind and made his body slowly relax from the tension that grasped at it.
"Mikoto wouldn't have let this happen if there was no reason," Kushina added after a while. The glow of the moonlight revealing the frown etched on her face, as she without notice tightened the grip on the fabric of her dress.
"We will get to the bottom of this."
Naruto stirred in her spot. The cold liquid that engulfed her didn't seem to plan on moving away and she, for a quick second, considered just ignoring it and going back to sleep, but the chilly air started to be awfully uncomfortable, making her shudder in her sleepy state.
She cracked her one eye open, trying to see what was the cause of the cold, but was only met with a blurry view consisting of greens and lines of red.
Red? She thought to herself and lazily rolled onto her back, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes while the cogs in her brain, without hurrying, turned and turned.
"Naruto."
The cogs in her brain clicked right away after hearing that.
A loud yelp left her mouth and her eyes shot open as she pushed herself up. The bright sunshine hit her right in the face, making her squint immediately after.
She could hear her mother cackling at her reaction and she felt her face burn from embarrassment, looking up at the sun to see the time.
"Oh no," she whispered to herself. "Sasuke is gonna kill me!"
Her panicked shout spread across the clearing, her mother's raised brow going unnoticed by the girl in the commotion.
Naruto quickly brushed off the grass and the dirt that clung to her clothes, her nervous repeating about being late ringing during the already quiet morning while she looked for her missing shoes.
"Did you remember to clean your apartment?" Kushina crossed her arms, her fingers tapping on her arm.
The blonde girl froze in her spot at her mother's seemingly innocent question, a short, nervous laugh escaping her.
"I-I really need to go now!" She stammered out and quickly took all of her things, nearly making them fall out of her bag in the process, a red bright blush creeping onto her neck and face.
Kushina shook her head at her daughter running off to her tiny place and softly muttered "Have fun", more to herself at that point than to Naruto, not expecting an answer. The slight lift of the corners of her mouth betraying her true feelings on the matter.
She looked back at the teenage boy behind her. His face wasn't as pale as the day before and he seemed more ready to face the day, preparing himself to follow the blonde ball of energy. Kushina sent him a quick reassuring smile, before putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a big squeeze. Shisui met her eyes and gave a meek smile in response, his mind already going towards the upcoming meeting with the Uchiha clan.
When Naruto entered her apartment, she didn't waste any time.
The clothes that covered the floor, and the haphazardly thrown cups of ramen in places where they really shouldn't be, were quickly thrown away or hidden under the couch or in the shelves. Only the sealing scrolls did she deal with, with a bit more care, stacking them together on her desk and window sills. The proper cleaning left for the unspecified later.
"You could at least help me out here Shisui!" Naruto shouted, sharply turning to face the Uchiha boy that walked into the living room with a pout.
"Naruto, I'm a ghost," he said, his face in a natural deadpan at her words.
"Oh, right," she mumbled to herself, pushing the hair out of her face and giving him one last dirty look before going back to the task at hand.
She threw the last things underneath her bed, covering the sight of them with a pull of her blanket before a loud ring sounded in the apartment.
Naruto shot up at the noise and ran up to the door, storming through Shisui without the tiniest cringe and ignoring his shout of objection.
After a quick brush of her clothes, she opened the door with a huge, toothy grin.
Sasuke stood in his spot, quickly pushing the small package wrapped in silk into her hands, unwilling to hold it any longer as the sizable pinkish blush kept growing on his cheeks. A plastic bag full of tomatoes lay on the ground, propped up against his leg.
Naruto tried to meet Sasuke's eyes after taking in the sight of it all, but he only averted them more strongly, grunting something under his nose.
The Uchiha clan flickered behind the boy, their aura calmer than usual, less overwhelming and not sucking in all the air around them, letting her breathe. The faces of the few she could distinguish from the mass didn't look as pained as usual, they looked expressionless, melting with the surroundings creating a blank canvas. Mikoto was the only one that actually looked happy, her eyes were still hazed to an extent but glinted together with the sun, giving off a warm impression. She moved apart from the clan, sticking close to her son as they entered the apartment.
In the corner of her eye, Naruto saw Shisui frown, his disappointment at the lack of bigger improvements with his aunt's and uncle's state, clear as day. Not even mentioning the knowledge he had now.
Sasuke headed straight to the kitchen, putting the plastic bag with tomatoes on the table while Naruto slowly got around to unwrapping her package.
"It's a cake," he muttered. "Be careful with it."
It was a small slice of a white strawberry shortcake with the strawberries carefully placed on the creamy top, barely fitting on the crowded surface.
"Woah…" Naruto's eyes widened at the sight, looking back from the cake to Sasuke on repeat, checking if it was really for her. "I don't think I've ever eaten one!"
She reached towards the frosting with her finger, mesmerized by the softness and the sweet smell, getting closer and closer to the whipped cream. She nearly touched the top of it when Sasuke smacked her hand away, sending her a disapproving glance.
Naruto pouted at his reaction, backing off slightly before taking a small wooden table, with cutlery thrown on top, to the living room. She decided to place it in the middle of the room, giving enough space not only for herself and Sasuke to sit but also for Shisui and the rest of the ghosts.
Sasuke walked in soon after her, holding the cake on one of her cleaner plates, with one lit candle neatly put on top. The fire from it brightened up the room in a warm glow, the lack of big windows showing its downsides and not letting in enough sunshine.
They both sat down on the floor around the table, the cake carefully placed between them, with the light dancing just for them. It perfectly illuminated Naruto's blooming smile and the excitement bursting through her, as well as Sasuke's well-hidden amusement.
She looked around her one last time, from Shisui who sent her a soft, tender smile to Mikoto whose eyes were filled with mirth, her hand hovering slightly over Sasuke's knee in a parental gesture, uplifting and supporting him from the shadows and to the Uchiha clan in general that ignoring the occasional moan kept their behaviour civilised for her birthday.
"What's taking you so long? Can't blow out a candle?" The boy said with a light, playful smirk dancing on his face.
"Shut up, jerk!" She said with a laugh, not angry at his words and only smiling broader.
Her eyes glistened from the tears that started to gather and she quickly wiped them away. She wasn't going to show how much this party meant to her!
Naruto took a deep breath in, her chest puffing out, and with one last look at the dancing flame, she blew out the candle. The light in the room snuffing out with it.
This is a miracle! A new chapter? Who would have thought! Sorry it took so long, the chapter has been in the works for literal months and so much has been happening in my life it's just big woah, so happy it's out now tho! And it's the longest chapter up to date too, ending at nearly 5.8k! Also don't worry a lot of chapters are already planned out so the only thing left is to...write them lol Little spoiler for the next one, prepare for Sakura and Ino! =D
I want to wish everyone happy holidays and happy new year! 3