Not Even One-Word Answers!

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

The familiar voice pulled Arata Uchiha out of his thoughts.

He looked up. Izumi was smiling warmly at him, adjusting the Konoha Headband she had just put on. Her eyes were full of delight.

"How do I look? Pretty cool, right?"

Izumi proudly tapped her headband, her voice bright.

"Yeah. Let's go home."

Arata straightened up and replied without missing a beat. He couldn't really share the girl's excitement.

"No!"

Izumi Uchiha frowned, her slender arms crossing in front of her.

"We have to celebrate your graduation today. Training can wait for a while."

"Or else, heh-heh..."

The girl shook her small fist and wrinkled her nose, pretending to look fierce.

All Arata ever did was train. He had no other hobbies or friends his own age, and Izumi Uchiha genuinely worried that something might be wrong with the little guy.

"But..."

Arata tried to argue.

After all, instead of celebrating for no reason, he would rather swing his blade one more time at the training grounds. Besides, there was something important he needed to discuss with Uncle Yashiro.

"Are you not going to listen to your big sister?"

Izumi Uchiha cut off the reason he was about to give, then reached across and lightly tapped Arata on the forehead with her slender finger.

"Your time belongs to me this afternoon!"

"No arguing!"

"Got it?"

That was her final warning.

Otherwise, she'd have to use her Sharingan to change his mind!

"Got it."

Looking at the girl standing right in front of him, Arata weighed his options briefly, then gave in.

Next, he wanted to request permission to join the Anbu and keep an eye on Itachi and Konoha High Command, in preparation for the Night of the Clan Massacre. If the clan elders really approved his request, he wouldn't have much time to himself afterward.

"Hmph, that's more like it. What do you want for lunch? Come on, big sister's treating."

Izumi had no idea what was on his mind. Thinking her show of authority had worked, she smiled again.

"Anything's fine."

Arata answered in his usual flat tone, still acting as though nothing in the world could interest him.

"That's not the right answer!"

Izumi Uchiha looked furious, like she was disappointed in him.

How could he give a girl such a halfhearted answer?

How was she supposed to find herself a sister-in-law one day?

As she spoke, she reached out without hesitation and started fiddling with the boy's cheeks.

"When you talk to a girl, you should smile a little and speak gently. Brushing her off is rude."

"Try to use words like 'yeah,' 'uh-huh,' and 'oh' less often."

"Got it?"

Izumi Uchiha looked at the smile she had squeezed onto Arata's face and clapped her hands, satisfied.

He was a handsome little guy with plenty of talent, yet every day he acted like he wanted to keep everyone at arm's length. That was no good. It would hurt girls' feelings.

"Yeah."

The little guy answered instinctively after her lecture.

"Hmm?"

A threatening glint flashed in Izumi Uchiha's eyes.

What had she just said?

"Okay."

Arata immediately changed his answer.

"'Okay' isn't allowed either! Not even one-word answers!"

The Two-Tomoe gradually appeared in Izumi Uchiha's eyes. It seemed changing his mind directly would be more convenient.

Konoha's downtown area was bustling. Merchants from every nation and region streamed in, hawking their wares from one end of the streets to the other. They all wanted to make a fortune in the strongest shinobi village.

Fortunately, Izumi showed restraint.

Even though the hairpins, makeup, and clothes on the stalls caught her eye, she still kept Arata's feelings in mind.

They'd agreed to just eat, so that was all they were going to do—

"Big sister Izumi, what gift do you want?"

Just then, the girl suddenly heard a question beside her. When she turned around, Arata was already standing by an accessories stall, looking over the wares.

The Uchiha weren't short of money.

Unlike the Hyuga, they weren't hidebound, nor did they have a clear distinction between the main and branch families. Any clan member who awakened the Sharingan received a greater share of resources.

And in a clan that valued strength above all else, money was the least valuable resource.

As someone with two Kekkei Genkai, Arata Uchiha received an even greater share. Among the younger generation, perhaps only Itachi, the clan leader's son, could compare.

"How about this?"

After calmly surveying the stall, Arata picked up a simple, ordinary hairpin shaped like a four-leaf clover.

He chose it for the same simple reason as its design: the four-leaf clover symbolized good luck.

But Izumi treasured the ordinary hairpin as if it were priceless. The moment she took it, she eagerly pinned it into her hair.

"Does it look good?"

She gently adjusted her hair while looking in the stall's mirror, her pretty eyes curving into crescents.

It was the first gift she had ever received.

"Yeah."

"It looks good."

This time, Arata had learned his lesson. He added a little more than just a simple affirmation.

"Nice, you're improving. Keep it up~"

Izumi Uchiha turned around and reached out, instinctively about to pat Arata on the shoulder as she usually did to encourage him. Then she suddenly realized that the little guy who used to be shorter than her had quietly grown taller over the past two years. He had even skipped three grades and graduated from the Ninja Academy alongside her.

"Arata, you've grown up."

An inexplicable warmth spread through the girl's heart.

"Come on. Big sister's treating you to barbecue."

In honor of the gift, she gave up on her plan to introduce him to Three-Color Dango and started cutting into her own pocket money.

But just then, Arata's attention was caught by another small figure. He didn't respond to Izumi's offer.

That kid looked like—

"The villagers say he's the incarnation of the Nine-Tails Demon Fox."

Following Arata's gaze, Izumi Uchiha also saw the little boy, who looked like a stray dog crossing the street. People hounded and insulted him wherever he went.

It was no wonder people treated him that way. After all, the "disaster" five years ago had left many Konoha residents with scars that would never fade.

She and Arata had both been caught up in it.

"No, that's not true!"

"I'm not a demon fox! I'm not some Nine-Tails Demon Fox!"

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki!"

The little boy clamped his hands over his ears and shouted at the top of his lungs, standing alone against the crowd of people who despised him.

But his protests were useless. Not one hateful stare softened.

"Let's go, big sister Izumi."

Arata didn't want to watch anymore.

The tragedy Naruto faced and the Uchiha's current predicament had much in common. With his current strength and status, Arata couldn't change anything.

All he could do was refrain from making things worse.

"Okay."

Izumi didn't say anything more. After one last glance at the little boy, nearly drowned out by the rumors, she went with Arata down another street.

The Uchiha's awkward position in the village kept them from meddling in other people's affairs. Every clan member who had graduated from the Ninja Academy should understand that.

But Konoha's commercial district was only so big~