"...No, you've got the wrong person..."
Sasuke abruptly turned his head. He only gave that figure a hurried glance before quickly looking away as if burned.
Naruto stood nearby and sighed helplessly. He hated this kind of evasive, riddle-speaker way of communicating most of all. They clearly both knew the truth, yet they insisted on pretending to be strangers.
"Aunt Mikoto," Naruto said bluntly, "this person came from another future world. By blood, he should count as your child, right?"
"!!"
Sasuke had never expected Naruto to state such a horrifying truth so directly. He immediately crouched down and clamped a hand over his mouth, his voice panicked.
"Stop talking!"
Mikoto, standing not far away, froze when she heard that answer. If an ordinary child had said it, she would certainly have thought they were joking.
But Naruto, a child mature beyond his years, had never been one to spout nonsense. Even so, the answer was far too absurd. Mikoto felt she needed more proof before she could believe such an incredible claim.
Before this, Mikoto had suspected that the mysterious person might be connected to Itachi Uchiha—although her eldest daughter had made such a cruel choice that night, as a mother, she had never been able to completely let go of her concern for that child.
While Sasuke frantically covered Naruto's mouth and Naruto struggled with all his strength, Naruto suddenly reached out amid the chaos and yanked off the large hat that had been covering nearly half of Sasuke's face!
Although Sasuke immediately reached for the hat to put it back on, under the dim streetlight, Mikoto had already clearly seen the stranger's face.
"We... look so alike..."
Mikoto unconsciously let out a soft sigh. Sasuke's movements instantly froze, and he realized things had already begun heading in