Itachi

Recently, a strange little person was discovered at the main gate of the Uchiha compound. He would wait there every day, yet he never approached anyone, and no one approached him.

He was like a statue, standing by the large tree at the entrance with unfocused eyes, only disappearing once night fell and no one else came out.

At first, no one paid him any mind, but three days in a row was just too strange. What was particularly striking was his rare red hair, and people grew curious about who he was waiting for.

It was the third day Itachi had seen her, this girl who was so different from her peers...

Yes, a girl.

When Itachi had saved her, he saw her eyes; they were not the eyes a three-year-old boy would have. Moreover, he simply had the intuition that she was not a three-year-old child.

He had saved Hui simply by following his own heart, not wanting anything in return, nor wanting to be entangled with her. In short, he felt she shouldn't know him, so whenever he saw Hui, he would avoid her.

Yet Hui seemed to understand his thoughts; she never took the initiative to bother him and pretended as if she didn't know him, just waiting there silently. Itachi thought it would last two days at most.

Because once, twice, but never a third time...

Yet seeing her again on the third day, Itachi thought that if he continued to ignore her, she would wait until he finally acknowledged her. This level of mental fortitude and persistence, made him admire her, yet also made him wary.

He knew there was no point in dragging this out any longer, and why should he let her keep waiting?

Itachi walked over and asked in a flat tone, "Are you waiting for me?"

Hui slowly looked up at him, her eyes finally gaining a bit of focus, and she gave a soft smile.

"I thought you would make me wait for a whole week..."

Hui said this, yet there was no excitement in her voice.

Itachi looked at her indifferently. "Do you need something from me?"

Hui lowered her head silently. "Not really, I just wanted to treat you to some Three-Color Dango..."

Itachi's entire body stiffened. She even knew his preferences; she was indeed becoming more and more dangerous.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, Brother Itachi..." Hui added.

She knew Itachi would see through everything, just like in her previous life. She could lie to anyone else, but she could never lie to Itachi; his intellect was a hundred times more mature than her own.

Itachi felt a sense of surprise in his heart. The girl was very familiar with him, yet he felt no malice from her.

Brother Itachi...

She had called him that so familiarly upon their first meeting. She understood him. Looking at Hui silently bowing her head, feeling the sorrow that seemed out of place on her, Itachi thought that perhaps this child wasn't here for anything else.

"Alright," he replied indifferently.

Hui looked up at him and smiled gently. "I'm so happy, Brother Itachi."

Itachi finally stopped being expressionless and gave a faint smile, one just as gentle as before.

Hui bought three skewers of dango, handed two to Itachi, and ate one herself. Itachi looked at the two skewers in his hand, then lowered his gaze to Hui.

Hui gave a brilliant smile. "Brother Itachi can give them to your family."

"Is that so..." Itachi said softly, his voice so low that only he could hear it.

By family, she must mean Sasuke...

"Brother Itachi, can I come find you in the future?" Hui asked in a small voice, a glimmer of hope in her tone.

Itachi gave a faint hum of agreement. Hui's heart gave a slight prick of pain. In her previous life, even as a member of the Uchiha clan, she couldn't save him. It was as if a fatal program had been written; no matter how she changed the process, the ending would always be the same.

Itachi looked at the inexplicable nostalgia in Hui's eyes, and a faint feeling stirred in his heart...

The feeling that she was not who she appeared to be...

But he would not pursue the truth.

He didn't want to, and it had no meaning...

Hui quickly finished the last dango. Her living expenses for the month were completely gone. Hui smiled helplessly; Brother Itachi still hadn't changed. Even knowing her motives were impure, he still accepted her. This was his tolerance.

"Thank you. I have never regretted knowing you, Brother Itachi," Hui said with a smile. This was truly the most sincere smile she had ever given. She said this thoughtlessly and then walked away.

Itachi watched her figure, so thin and fragile she could be crushed with ease. Was this the reason she came to find him?

The Third Hokage watched Hui, whose gaze had gradually turned cold in the crystal ball, and let out a heavy sigh.

The Uchiha clan, a clan equally feared by the people of the village. Hui was going to submerge herself into an even deeper darkness. She no longer cared about the hatred of the others in Konoha; it didn't matter anymore.

Although she had said she would come to find Itachi, Hui did not go to see him immediately. She didn't want to make him hate her just yet.

Because her false self...

was something she hated, too.

Naruto had been left out in the sun for three days and was strictly forbidden from following Hui—a very, very serious warning—so he was quite happy to see her return so early.

"Hui, you've made me look at this thing for three days. It's really so boring, and it's impossible to succeed!"

Naruto was full of complaints; the Body Replacement, Transformation, and Clone techniques were truly difficult!

Hui took a long breath. As expected, being with an idiot was much more relaxing!

"Then forget it," she replied indifferently.

"But didn't you say that if I could learn it, I'd be a genius and become very strong!" Naruto said, dissatisfied.

"We are only three years old. Please have some self-awareness. Can you even condense chakra?"

Hui sat lazily on the sofa, her tone indifferent.

"How can you say that? Even if it's impossible, we have to try!"

Naruto jumped up from the floor, pointed at the scroll, and said, "Others can do it, so we can too!"

Hui burst into laughter. Was this the legendary Naruto spirit?

"What... what are you laughing at!" Naruto looked at Hui, embarrassed; he seemed to have gotten too excited.

Hui put away her smile and said seriously, "Naruto, let's practice taijutsu first. Taijutsu is one of the three great ninja arts, and it's more suitable for us, isn't it?"

"...That may be true, but I still don't want to give up," Naruto scratched his head, silently defending himself.

"Mm, I know, but it's not the right time yet."

"Not the right time? What is that supposed to mean!" Naruto was going crazy. He couldn't understand Hui at all. Who was it that forced him to study it a few days ago!

"In short, we need to change our approach and start from the most basic taijutsu!"

"Oh..." Naruto no longer wanted to argue.

And so, the two little ones woke up early every day to run back and forth along the Konoha River, finishing only when the air began to heat up. Naturally, the mission to find Rock Lee had officially begun.

After searching every possible training ground and being "escorted" out countless times, they still hadn't found him, and Naruto was already roaring in frustration.

Hui watched him calmly, though she began to wonder in her heart why they couldn't find Rock Lee. She sorted through the plot points regarding Rock Lee and made a few guesses.

Rock Lee only realized he was a failure at ninjutsu and genjutsu after entering the Ninja Academy, which was when he couldn't take the blow and began training desperately in taijutsu. So, could it be that before he entered the academy, he wasn't as diligent as he would later become, which was why they couldn't find him?

However, Hui always felt that Rock Lee was the type of person with great perseverance. Even before entering the academy, his passion for training must have been there from a young age; it wasn't something formed by accident.

If so, he would be training, but where? If not at the training grounds, where else could he practice?

"Hui, those people are so strong..." Naruto stopped complaining and sighed. They were truly crushed; it was more like being thrown out in a matter of seconds.

Hui froze for a moment. How could she have forgotten? This was a place for Konoha ninjas to train, but Rock Lee wasn't even a ninja yet, so how would he have the qualifications to be here?

Then the best place would be the forests outside Konoha, running mountain paths or training. She had never considered leaving the village, which was why her search had been fruitless.

Although it was technically leaving the village, it was only passing through the Konoha gates and was still far from the village borders, so training outside wasn't impossible, was it?

But it was amazing to think about; Rock Lee was only four, right? Why would he be allowed to leave the village? Would he really not be stopped?

Thinking this, Hui turned and ran off. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Naruto turned to look, only to find that Hui had already disappeared, with only a voice drifting from far away:

"Idiot, let's go!"

"Hey, where is Hui going again!" Naruto hurriedly chased after her. He really, truly couldn't understand what was going on in Hui's head!