Sasuke

In the end, nearly half a box of Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes ended up in the little girl's stomach. Naruto watched Tsuki take small bites of rice with a smile. She ate very seriously, and whenever she tasted something especially delicious, her eyes would narrow slightly, like a satisfied cat.

Naruto had absolutely no resistance to this kind of unconscious cuteness.

When the final bite was wiped clean, Tsuki stared at the empty lunchbox and suddenly realized what she had done.

Oh no, I said I'd only have a taste...

After carefully putting the empty lunchbox into his backpack, Naruto heard a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz behind him.

"Um..."

Tsuki lowered her head, her voice soft and sweet. "Sorry... I think I ate too much. If you're not full... do you want to come to my house for dinner?"

Naruto paused slightly, then his expression relaxed. So she was not the sort of tsundere who would stubbornly stick to it until the end.

As the saying went, "Tsundere ruins lives," but the truly terrible cases were usually because the "tsun" lasted too long—so long that there was never even a chance for the "dere."

But this little girl before him possessed the innate pride of the Uchiha Clan, while also being willing to frankly apologize when she felt sorry, even inviting someone to dinner at her home as compensation.

It seemed she had been raised very well.

An indescribable sense of regret suddenly welled up in Naruto's heart. In the original Naruto... there had never been an Uchiha girl named Tsuki.

The answer was already obvious.

In about three years, after Naruto entered the Ninja Academy, a tragedy that shocked the entire Ninja World would take place: the Uchiha Clan massacre.

If one investigated the roots of that tragedy, the forces involved were tangled and complicated, but there were three main culprits.

Danzō Shimura, Itachi Uchiha, and Obito Uchiha.

However, the Uchiha Clan's destruction had not happened overnight. It was like a chain of carefully arranged dominoes, and the moment the first domino fell...

Was the night Naruto was born.

The Nine-Tails' Attack.

Obito Uchiha attacked Konoha and released the Nine-Tails, resulting in Naruto's mother, Kushina, sacrificing herself. His father, Minato Namikaze, fulfilled his duty as Hokage to prevent Konoha's "nuclear weapon" from being leaked, sealing half of the Nine-Tails inside the newborn Naruto... but that was not the key point of the Uchiha Clan massacre.

What truly drove the Uchiha Clan toward destruction was the enormous Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes.

Every Konoha ninja who participated in the battle that night had seen it clearly. It was not entirely unreasonable for the higher-ups to suspect that the Uchiha had planned the attack.

But... they really had not wronged the Uchiha.

It was just that no one had expected the Uchiha controlling the Nine-Tails to be Obito Uchiha, who had supposedly been dead for years.

To guard against the Uchiha Clan, Konoha's higher-ups relocated the entire clan to the edge of the village and placed them under strict surveillance. The proud Uchiha clansmen could not bear such humiliating treatment.

Driven by the desire for power, the Uchiha Clan gradually split from within. At clan meetings, the hawks' voices grew louder and louder. They advocated seizing Konoha's government by force and changing the clan's situation.

Then, a traitor appeared.

Itachi Uchiha, the eldest son of Clan Head Fugaku, was also a spy Konoha had planted within the Uchiha. He revealed every detail of the clan's planned coup to Konoha's higher-ups.

After learning of this, the Third Hokage and Danzō had a disagreement. The Third Hokage advocated negotiations, hoping to resolve the conflict through communication, while Danzō insisted on eliminating the hidden danger and completely eradicating the Uchiha threat.

Afterward, Danzō began his actions.

He feared Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan, the Kotoamatsukami that could rewrite one's will. In a covert ambush, Danzō stole one of Shisui's eyes.

Having lost one Mangekyo, Shisui understood that he could no longer use Kotoamatsukami to stop the coup. In despair, he entrusted his remaining eye to Itachi, then chose to leap from a cliff and kill himself, all to weaken the Uchiha's power.

After losing his dear friend Shisui, Itachi Uchiha—the man who had always been caught between the village and his clan—actually accepted Danzō's proposal.

The man who had indirectly caused Shisui's death had now become his collaborator.

The clan extermination began.

Men, women, old people, children, even infants in swaddling clothes—none were spared. Blood stained the Uchiha compound red, and the only one who survived was the young Sasuke.

Why... had Itachi completely ignored the negotiations advocated by the Third Hokage?

The logic behind the entire incident could not withstand scrutiny. Itachi claimed to be "protecting Konoha" while personally slaughtering his entire clan. He claimed to "deeply love his younger brother" while using Tsukuyomi to make Sasuke endure endless pain.

Perhaps this twisted behavior was why public opinion of Itachi Uchiha had reversed online.

Kishimoto had tried to portray Itachi as a "guardian who bore the darkness," using "necessary evil" to beautify the massacre. But Naruto only felt a chill run through him.

Could one truly cast aside all moral limits in one's methods as long as the goal was noble?

Taking a step back, even if the Uchiha had truly launched a coup, could their fate have been any worse? Their entire clan wiped out? Not even infants spared?

Naruto shook his head, unwilling to think any further. He could not understand Itachi's way of thinking, nor could he understand the so-called "Hokage mindset." Now, he no longer dreamed of becoming Hokage.

Naruto looked at the black-haired little girl before him. Would this child... die that night too?

The thought of Tsuki possibly being slaughtered for the sake of some so-called "greater good" made Naruto's heart churn.

No... I have to find a way to do something.

There was still no sign of the system activating. Right now, he could only rely on himself. Perhaps... he could go gossip to the old Third Hokage?

For example, he could claim that he had formed an "irreplaceable bond," and that if something happened to her, he might never recover and might even give up being a ninja...

Though that sounded like he was threatening the Hokage.

Naruto knew this concern might be a little excessive, but there was no helping it. Naruto was simply that kind of person. He could not stand by and watch a tragedy unfold before his eyes.

Of course, he was merely kind, not a saint. That bastard Obito... Naruto would not let him off.

"Thank you, Tsuki. But there's no need. I'm already very full. Actually, more than the food itself, having someone willing to eat with me makes me even happier."

Naruto answered Tsuki's invitation. "Besides, seeing you enjoy it so much is the best compliment I could receive. You're the first person to approve of my cooking."

Hmm... why is she blushing again? Oh well, she looks really cute when she's shy. But it's getting late. Time to go back and rest.

"Thanks for keeping me company today." He stood up and brushed the grass clippings off his pants. "I'll come play with you again, Uchiha Tsuki."

Upon hearing that, Tsuki immediately raised her head and corrected him in a somewhat proud tone.

"If you insist on playing with me, I-I'll reluctantly keep you company!" She paused, then added, "Also, my name isn't Uchiha Tsuki. It's Uchiha Satsuki."

...Satsuki?

The smile on Naruto's face suddenly froze.

That name... why did it sound so familiar? It was a little like the name of his future best friend and rival, Uchiha Sasuke.

Satsuki keenly noticed Naruto's strange expression. After hesitating for a moment, she still explained.

"Um... the combination of this name is a little strange, isn't it? Actually, Dad originally planned to name me Uchiha Sasuke... he just didn't expect me to be a girl, so he changed the 'suke' to 'tsuki'..."