Sasuke and Naruto (Part 2)

Ichiraku understood Kakashi's look and wisely shut his mouth, but his heart remained unsettled for a long time.

He had always seen Naruto's situation in the village since childhood. If this child really was the Fourth Hokage's son, then it was truly hellish.

"Um, Big Brother Kakashi, Uncle Ichiraku, you know my father, right? Where is he now?" Naruto raised his head, his eyes already brimming with tears that looked ready to fall at any moment.

Uncle Ichiraku took a deep breath. It seemed he had gotten himself into serious trouble. Whatever hidden circumstances surrounded Naruto's situation, it was not something an ordinary man running a ramen cart in Konoha could meddle in.

"Naruto, I can't tell you your father's identity for now. But I can tell you this: your father was a great ninja," Kakashi said.

"I..." Naruto stared blankly at the two of them.

Kakashi patted Naruto's head and said, "I'm keeping your father's identity from you to protect you. Your father had many unimaginably powerful enemies. You haven't even finished Ninja Academy yet. We can't let you get dragged into the disputes of the previous generation."

"So once I become stronger, you'll tell me who he was, right?" Naruto quickly pulled himself together and asked after wiping away his tears.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded.

"You can't lie to me!" Naruto looked up at Kakashi and said.

Kakashi looked at the face before him. Though still childish, it bore an extraordinary resemblance to his Teacher and Master's Wife, leaving him momentarily dazed.

"Hey! Big Brother Kakashi!" Naruto grumbled unhappily.

"Alright, I promise. Hurry and finish eating, then go home and pack your things. From now on, you'll live with me," Kakashi said.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted cheerfully, then wolfed down the ramen in his bowl as fast as he could.

"I'm done eating! Thanks for the meal!"

Inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene through the Crystal Ball and let out a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Kakashi still knew where to draw the line. He understood that now was not the right time to reveal Naruto's identity.

Elsewhere.

In Uchiha Toko's Study, Fugaku took his leave after bringing Sasuke over, leaving only Sasuke and Uchiha Toko in the room.

After seeing Fugaku off, Uchiha Toko bent over his desk and wrote furiously, while Sasuke waited in the Study with some unease.

"Find somewhere to sit. Wait until I'm done with this," Uchiha Toko said without looking up.

It was clear that Fugaku usually placed great importance on Sasuke's manners. Although Uchiha Toko had said that, Sasuke merely found a cushion and sat properly in seiza.

After some time, Uchiha Toko wrote the final character, then looked up and asked, "How many characters do you know?"

"Big Brother and Mother taught me to read. I recognize most characters," Sasuke said.

"Good. At least I won't have to start by teaching you how to read." As he spoke, Uchiha Toko handed Sasuke a small booklet he had just finished writing.

"Your task today is to memorize the first three pages. Once you've memorized them, I'll explain what they mean."

After hearing Uchiha Toko's words, Sasuke lowered his head and glanced at the item his new Teacher had given him.

"Men at their birth are naturally good?" Sasuke opened the first page and read the first sentence word by word.

That was right. In order to teach Sasuke well, Uchiha Toko had written down some Confucian classics he remembered from his past life, removing the parts that did not fit the Ninja World particularly well.

At Sasuke's age, even if he taught him powerful ninjutsu, his young body and insufficient Chakra would prevent him from using them. It was better to take this opportunity to set his values straight first. At the very least, he should suffer less from Ninja Academy's education methods, which were designed to cultivate killing machines. Then Uchiha Toko could teach him how to view and think about this world rationally. At the very least, he could not let him turn out like his Big Brother.

Regardless of its other aspects, the Confucian teachings from his past life were at least adequate for shaping one's moral character.

Although Sasuke did not understand why his Teacher was making him memorize books instead of teaching him ninjutsu, he obediently began memorizing.

After eating ramen, Kakashi followed Naruto back to his apartment, a room of less than thirty square meters.

The moment they entered, Naruto enthusiastically showed Kakashi his "treasures," including but not limited to a cabinet full of instant ramen and expired milk in the refrigerator.

Kakashi casually picked up a carton of milk from the refrigerator. One glance at the expiration date made him frown deeply. It had expired three months ago.

"Naruto, didn't you ever think it tasted strange when you drank this?" Kakashi asked.

"Huh? No. The milk I've always drunk has always tasted the same," Naruto said after first staring blankly at Kakashi's question.

Hearing that, Kakashi more or less understood what was going on. He then walked to the wardrobe near the refrigerator, pulled open its doors, and saw that it contained only somewhat worn-out clothes. He wanted nothing more than to slap himself several times.

He had truly been an asshole all these years.

"Forget it, don't pack. I'll take you to buy new things tomorrow," Kakashi said with a sigh as he watched Naruto stuffing boxes of instant ramen into a bag one by one.

"At least let me take these ramen with me! They're all my treasures!" Naruto panicked. He could forget everything else, but he had saved up these ramen for such a long time.

At that moment, Kakashi spotted a red scarf in the corner of the wardrobe. He remembered that Master's Wife had seemed to be knitting this very scarf during her pregnancy. After picking it out, he shut the wardrobe door, stepped forward, grabbed Naruto by the collar, and headed outside. "Children can't eat so much ramen. You'll never grow taller."

Naruto's tiny arms and legs flailed wildly, but before Kakashi, he could only watch helplessly as his treasures drifted farther and farther away.

Sasuke's little mind was quite clever. In less than an hour, he had memorized everything Uchiha Toko had assigned him.

Uchiha Toko tested him on a few lines. After confirming that the boy had indeed memorized them, he began explaining the meaning of those sages' words to him sentence by sentence.

Sasuke listened attentively as time slowly passed.

"Alright, we'll stop here for today." Only after finishing the material Sasuke had memorized did Uchiha Toko put down the book. "It's getting late. Go back and sleep."

"Um, Teacher, aren't you going to teach me ninjutsu?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Ninjutsu?" Uchiha Toko nodded. "Then come with me."