"Please forgive my presumptuous visit."
Looking at Uchiha Fugaku, who had invited him inside and seated him in the study, Chiba unusually assumed a formal sitting posture and spoke politely.
However, the awkwardness at the corner of his mouth slightly undermined that politeness.
"Not at all, not at all. May I ask what brings the Hokage Assistant to the Uchiha Clan?"
Uchiha Fugaku showed no displeasure whatsoever. There was even a gentle smile on his lips.
Clearly, he was quite pleased by Chiba's visit.
"Uh... actually, I came this time to..."
Upon hearing this, Chiba wore a slightly awkward smile and was about to say something, but his gaze could not help drifting slowly toward his lower right.
At that moment, right by his lower right side—his thigh as he sat formally—a little hand was tightly clutching his trouser leg.
That was right. A little hand, gripping his trouser leg tightly—very tightly.
Then, as his gaze shifted, he found a pair of bright black eyes staring intently at him, as if Chiba would vanish the very next second if they looked away.
Just earlier, when he had arrived at Uchiha Fugaku's residence and requested entry, Itachi had come up from behind and grabbed the hem of his pants. From the moment Chiba entered until now, the child had not left his side for even half a step, and the fabric at his cuff had been soaked warm and damp from being clutched.
To be honest, Chiba was extremely embarrassed right now.
Being approached so intimately by a character he had liked quite a lot in the original work did not feel nearly as good as he had imagined. This situation only made him feel as though the image he had once liked was crumbling apart.
This was Uchiha Itachi.
The