Sleep Anywhere, Anytime

"I wonder what exactly happened to me mentally." Uchiha Nagi thought back over everything that had happened recently. Nothing out of the ordinary should have happened.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence?"

Uchiha Nagi muttered to himself. If it was an accident, he really couldn't figure out how he'd been affected.

"Like the doctor said, I should get some proper rest. Maybe I'm just sleepy because I'm young."

Unable to figure out the cause, Uchiha Nagi could only try to reassure himself.

At that moment, he looked up at the sky, which had grown completely dark.

"It's already so late. Looks like I won't have time to find a suitable rock today."

Although the back mountain was within Konoha's boundaries, it wasn't exactly safe.

Especially this late at night. Even if he got lost there, nobody would notice.

And given his standing in the Uchiha Clan, they probably wouldn't bother sending anyone to look for him.

Or perhaps the greatest value of him getting lost would be for the Uchiha Clan to use it as a whetstone to sharpen the knife they'd plunge into Konoha...

Right, he wasn't important enough to be the knife himself. He could only help make it sharper.

"I'll take things as they come."

The next day, Uchiha Nagi came to class as usual. The students who had bullied Uzumaki Kushina the day before were sitting there with bruised and swollen faces.

On the other side, Uzumaki Kushina sat there looking smug, like a rooster that had won a fight.

"It probably won't be long before she earns the nickname Blood Red Pepper."

Uchiha Nagi yawned and sat down.

"Nagi, did you get checked out at the hospital?" Namikaze Minato saw that Uchiha Nagi didn't seem any more alert and couldn't help worrying again.

"I did. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong, either. He told me to get plenty of rest."

"I see." Namikaze Minato furrowed his brow but didn't say anything more.

The bell rang.

"Nagi, wake up."

Namikaze Minato looked worried. Before, the other boy would only doze off briefly and wake at the slightest noise.

But the class bell had already rung, and Uchiha Nagi still showed no sign of waking.

What's more, he'd fallen asleep in an instant. They'd been talking just moments ago, and then the next thing Namikaze Minato knew, the other boy had dozed off.

"Hm? Did I fall asleep?" Uchiha Nagi woke up.

Namikaze Minato nodded silently.

Uchiha Nagi fell silent, too. With sleep this good, the ability to fall asleep in a second—if he'd had that in his previous life, people would have been incredibly envious.

In his previous life, he'd been a wage slave tormented by insomnia.

But now that he had such good sleep, he couldn't bring himself to be happy about it.

Over the next few days,

Uchiha Nagi's condition didn't improve. It only got worse.

Whenever his attention wandered, he would fall asleep on the spot.

Because of this, he'd already been called out by several of his subject teachers, and had even been made to stand as punishment a few times.

"I can't believe I'm this old and still getting punished by being made to stand."

Uchiha Nagi found it rather amusing. Unfortunately, standing punishment didn't stop him from falling asleep. Instead, he'd unlocked the ability to sleep while standing.

And because of this, he'd also picked up the nickname Sleepyhead in class.

Perhaps it was because the nickname was a little insulting, but his relationship with Uchiha Enichi, which had been improving, immediately became tense again.

The other boy seemed to think he was bringing shame to the Uchiha name.

"What am I supposed to do? It's not like I want this," Uchiha Nagi complained helplessly.

"Hey, Sleepyhead, can you really sleep while standing?" Uzumaki Kushina asked curiously as she looked at Uchiha Nagi.

"Lady Blood Red Pepper doesn't need to worry about that." Uchiha Nagi glanced at her. Over the past few days, Uzumaki Kushina had certainly lived up to the nickname Blood Red Pepper.

She'd beaten up nearly half the students in class.

Thinking about his condition, Uchiha Nagi felt a headache coming on. There was nothing wrong with his body; in fact, he seemed to be making faster progress in his training.

He just couldn't understand why he was so sleepy. Soon, he might be sleeping anywhere and anytime.

"Hmph!" Uzumaki Kushina heard him call her Blood Red Pepper, blushed, and glared at Uchiha Nagi, only to find... that he'd closed his eyes again.

"Did he... fall asleep again?" Uzumaki Kushina asked, dumbfounded. Hadn't they been talking?

"Yeah, I think so. Nagi's condition seems to be getting worse." Namikaze Minato furrowed his brow, too.

"Is he... sick?" Uzumaki Kushina finally realized something was wrong.

Namikaze Minato nodded.

"Thump!"

Uchiha Nagi's forehead hit the desk. The pain jolted him awake, and he wasn't surprised in the least. It wasn't the first time this had happened.

"Sorry, I fell asleep again."

Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina didn't know what to say.

"Um, Sleepyhead, have you been to see a doctor?" Uzumaki Kushina changed the subject.

"I have. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong, but I'm planning to go again tomorrow since we have the day off." Uchiha Nagi felt that he couldn't go on like this.

If he didn't deal with this problem and it kept getting worse, what if he suddenly fell asleep in the middle of a battle?

The enemy wouldn't stop attacking just because he'd fallen asleep!

At this rate, he could sleep forever without ever waking up.

"Okay." Uzumaki Kushina nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something. Her eyes lit up.

"I'll go with you. My older sister works at the hospital, and she's a very skilled doctor. I'll ask her to take a look at you."

"Hm? You have an older sister?" This time, Uchiha Nagi was the one who was surprised.

"Yeah, why? I don't think I've told you about my family before," Uzumaki Kushina replied.

"No, it's nothing."

After answering, Uchiha Nagi furrowed his brow. He didn't remember Uzumaki Kushina having any relatives. And in just a few years, the Uzumaki Clan would be wiped out, leaving Uzumaki Kushina with only Uzumaki Mito as family.

"Wait, Uzumaki Mito? Tsunade's grandmother?"

Uchiha Nagi suddenly realized that Uzumaki Kushina must be living with Uzumaki Mito right now. So could the older sister she mentioned possibly be... the legendary Tsunade?

Actually, that really might be possible!

"So, do you want to go together?" Uzumaki Kushina asked again.

"Sure. Thanks for your help."

Once Uchiha Nagi realized what was going on, he naturally didn't refuse. He needed to find out what was wrong with him.