Hunter and Prey

Mikoto Uchiha shook her head, then said, "Actually, I like little houses like this better. The house we shared was big, but it felt empty."

Hyuga Shin's house wasn't small either. It was a two-story building, with three bedrooms and a living room upstairs, and a large hall, kitchen, bathroom, dedicated bathing room, and another bedroom downstairs.

Shin lived in the downstairs bedroom. When his father was still alive, he'd lived upstairs, but after his father died on a mission, Shin had moved downstairs.

So when they went upstairs and saw the dust everywhere, Shin felt a little awkward.

"I haven't been up here in ages, and I haven't cleaned it. Don't mind the mess! I'll have it cleaned in no time."

He swiftly formed Hand Seals and shouted, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A hundred Shadow Clones appeared. At Shin's direction, they set about cleaning the house.

Mikoto had been about to offer to help, but the words froze on her lips. She stared, dumbfounded, at the sea of Shadow Clones.

"Maybe that was a bit much!" Shin scratched his head, then left thirty clones and dispelled the rest.

"Let's go downstairs! We can come back up when they're done cleaning."

Shin led the dazed Mikoto back downstairs, then had her sit on the couch. He took two glasses of juice from the fridge and handed one to her.

"Thank you!" Mikoto accepted the glass with both hands and thanked him.

"You don't have to be so polite. We'll be living together from now on. If you keep acting this formal, we'll feel like strangers," Shin replied with a smile.

Mikoto's face turned a little red. She nodded, though she couldn't help feeling that Shin's words could be taken the wrong way.

"I'll make dinner!" After sitting for a while, Mikoto stood and headed for the kitchen.

"Sounds good! Your bento used to make my mouth water. I can finally try your cooking!"

Shin praised her, and he wasn't lying. Mikoto's bento really had smelled delicious.

Mikoto smiled gently and went into the kitchen. Since she wasn't tall enough, she grabbed a little stool.

After half an hour, Mikoto had finally finished preparing the meal. Since Shin could eat a lot, she'd made a particularly large amount.

When Mikoto brought the food over, Shin caught the enticing aroma and couldn't resist reaching out to grab a bite with his fingers.

"Smack!" Mikoto swatted his hand away, then said with a playful scold, "Go wash your hands!"

Shin gave an embarrassed smile and hurried off to wash them.

Once he was done, Shin quickly returned to the table and began to wolf down the food.

Watching him gobble it up, Mikoto smiled happily. The way he was eating made it clear how much he liked her cooking.

Nine-tenths of the food on the huge table ended up in Shin's stomach. When he'd finished, he leaned back comfortably on the couch.

"I'm stuffed! You're such a good cook, Mikoto. You're way better than me. You'll make a wonderful wife when you grow up," Shin praised her.

Mikoto's face turned red again. Shin's compliment embarrassed her, but it also made her feel warm inside.

"The upstairs is all clean now. Why don't you go get settled, Mikoto?" Shin said as he dispelled the Shadow Clones.

"Mm!" Mikoto nodded, then looked at Shin earnestly.

"I have to thank you, Shin. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have known what to do. Thank you for helping me find my way again." As she spoke, Mikoto gave him a radiant smile.

What a cute little girl, Shin thought to himself.

Mikoto's smile caught Shin off guard, and it took him a moment to collect himself. Then he said softly, "This is all my fault, really. If I hadn't dragged you into this, you wouldn't have been kicked out of the Uchiha Clan."

"Anyway, we're living together now. We should help each other from here on out, so let's stop saying things like 'thank you.' We're family now."

Family? Mikoto felt a sweetness bloom in her heart, then ran upstairs, her feet pattering against the steps.

Shin smiled. Was Mikoto embarrassed just now?

He turned on the TV and watched a show from the world of Naruto. Honestly, a lot of things in the Naruto world were worth poking fun at.

Some technology in the Naruto world was incredibly advanced, while other technology was woefully behind.

Maybe it was because of chakra that the world had developed so unevenly.

There was even a news program in Naruto, covering things like the situations in different countries and their strategies, with so-called "experts" weighing in.

But it was best to take that sort of thing with a grain of salt. If you took it seriously, you'd be the fool. No real strategy would be leaked to the public.

Chapter 30: Hunter and Prey

The days that followed were peaceful, and the Uchiha Clan didn't cause them any trouble.

Shin and Mikoto lived together, ate together, and went to school together. Their relationship grew closer, and Mikoto, who used to get embarrassed by the things Shin said, wasn't as shy as before.

More than half a year passed peacefully. During that time, aside from going to school, Shin sometimes went to the casino with Mikoto whenever Tsunade returned from a mission and dragged them along for a few rounds of gambling.

The biggest change over those six months had been Shin's strength. First of all, his chakra, which had once been bloated, had been compressed down to the level of an elite jōnin.

In other words, Shin was now a bona fide jōnin. A five-and-a-half-year-old jōnin would be enough to scare the living daylights out of anyone.

He was probably the first and last of his kind. Otherwise, someone must have been cheating.

After gathering their things and finishing breakfast, Shin suggested to Mikoto, "It's rare for us to have the day off. Why don't we go have a barbecue out in the wild?"

"Mm!" Mikoto nodded. She generally never refused Shin's suggestions.

"Should we invite our classmates?"

"No need. Just the two of us," Shin said, shaking his head. He looked out the window, a cold glint flashing in his eyes before vanishing in an instant.

Just the two of us, spending time with Shin out in the wild? How embarrassing! Mikoto's face turned red, and she went to get their picnic supplies ready.

Those were Mikoto's private thoughts. Shin had no idea what she was thinking.

And Shin wasn't doing this to spend a romantic day together. He was going to deal with the person who'd been watching them from the shadows.

A week earlier, Shin had sensed that someone was keeping an eye on him, and the person's boundless malice had immediately put him on alert.

He didn't know who it was, but it wasn't hard to guess. The only people he'd offended were the Uchiha Clan.

Aside from the Uchiha, even the devious Danzo had no reason to target Shin at the moment.

Over the past six months, Shin had kept a low profile, except for the time he'd taken out Fugaku Uchiha with a single kick. The most he'd shown since then was his tremendous physical strength.

The strongest he'd let on was about the level of a Taijutsu Genin, which disappointed Sarutobi Hiruzen, who'd been keeping an eye on Shin after he took out Fugaku Uchiha.

In Hiruzen's view, Shin had managed to take out Fugaku Uchiha only because he'd caught him off guard and Fugaku had been too careless. So Hiruzen stopped paying attention to Shin.