"Um... I think Genjutsu would be pretty good," Kurenai Yuhi said hesitantly. After all, this was her first time sparring with Pokemon, so she was a little nervous!
"What's so good about that? It's only because you haven't tried the benefits of real combat. You have to be willing to try new things. Trust me, would I lie to you?" At this critical moment, Uchiha Gen couldn't let the duck he'd already cooked fly away, could he? Since the girl had taken the initiative, he might as well get right to it! Otherwise, who knew how long it would be before he got another chance?
"Oh, all right, then. I'll leave everything to you, Gen. I'll study hard and try to become a qualified Pokemon master as soon as possible!" Kurenai said, her face flushed as she boldly eyed Uchiha Gen.
The shameless pair spent the whole day practicing all sorts of Pokemon battle strategies and special techniques! It wasn't until dusk that Uchiha Gen finally pulled himself away from her tender embrace, looking a little tired.
Kurenai was utterly exhausted. She merely waved goodbye as he left. After all, she'd been on the receiving end ever since the second half began! The fact that she'd held out until now was already a miracle!
Uchiha Gen hurried out of Kurenai's house. Seeing the sun about to set, he rushed to a few shops, grabbed several takeout dinners, then headed home.
That evening, at Uchiha Gen's home!
"Where did you go? Why are you only getting back now?" Pakura asked casually. She'd slept until the afternoon and vaguely remembered hearing Uchiha Gen say he'd bring her lunch. But when she woke up, he still hadn't returned, so she'd assumed she'd only heard him say it in a dream!
"Oh, I had a few things to take care of. Here's the dinner I brought you," Uchiha Gen said, changing the subject.
Pakura wasn't interested in what Uchiha Gen meant by "a few things." As someone born and raised in Konoha, he was bound to have all kinds of trivial matters to deal with. If she had to pry into every single one, they'd never get on with their lives!
"I'll save this for a late-night snack. I already had dinner at the clan head's house. This afternoon, a little kid named Itachi came by and said his father wanted to invite you over for a visit, and to meet me, the outsider who'd just joined the Uchiha Clan. You weren't home, so I went by myself. It saved me the trouble of cooking, anyway! I didn't bring you any food, though. It was my first time visiting, and taking food home after eating there would've looked bad." Pakura put the takeout in the fridge as she explained.
"Looks like Clan Head Fugaku wanted to see what kind of person you are. They don't know you yet, and it makes sense that they'd be cautious for the safety of the Uchiha Clan. The invitation for me was secondary. You were the one they really wanted to meet. It didn't matter whether I went or not! From now on, just think of the Uchiha Clan as your own. These people aren't very friendly to outsiders, but they treat their own quite well," Uchiha Gen said thoughtfully.
"True. Lady Mikoto is a lovely person. Her cooking's delicious, and she's so nice to talk to! She'd even heard about my fame in Sunagakure! But that guy Fugaku is always scowling like someone owes him money. I don't know how Lady Mikoto ever fell for someone like him!" Pakura complained.
Well, considering how many people had probably taken his money, Fugaku's face was understandable! Ever since he'd gotten hooked on spending money, the Welfare Lottery had made the Fugaku household so wealthy that they no longer had to worry about money.
And once he'd had money, his first order of business was spending it. The problem was that there were only so many Uchiha around. Ever since Izanagi became available, everyone wanted to save their ocular power for emergencies. The people selling ocular power couldn't keep up with the demand anymore!
Whenever the young members of the Uchiha Clan had enough ocular power, they immediately stored it with Uchiha Gen. Not one of them mentioned selling it to Fugaku. After all, no one was short on money anymore. If Uchiha Fugaku wanted to keep spending, he had no choice but to keep trying to persuade the clan's older members.
These days, he'd even started eyeing some underage troublemakers! With Uchiha Itachi's popularity and help making introductions, Fugaku had actually managed to talk a few into it!
Fugaku now looked at everyone as if they were walking stores of ocular power, and he thought their power was going to waste. They might as well sell it to him, a Mangekyo wielder, so he could make the most of it!
"Fugaku's had a few things come up lately. It has nothing to do with you, and he's not picking on you. But he's always had that expression, so you'll get used to it," Uchiha Gen said casually.
"Tomorrow, I've arranged to go shopping with Lady Mikoto. Is there anything you want to eat? I can pick some up while I'm out. I've been thinking of learning some Konoha cooking from her," Pakura said as they chatted.
"Huh? You only met today. How did you get so close already?" Uchiha Gen was curious. He'd met Uchiha Mikoto a few times. She was dignified and gentle, but that type wasn't his cup of tea. Compared to Mikoto, he preferred someone distinctive like Pakura!
"Oh, I don't know. We just seemed to hit it off. And her younger son is so cute! You've met the little one named Sasuke, right?" Pakura clearly loved children. Her eyes lit up when she mentioned Sasuke!
"If you like kids, we can have one of our own," Uchiha Gen said offhandedly.
"Really? I thought you'd say we were too young and didn't want children yet!" Pakura looked at Gen in delighted surprise.
"Of course not. Kids can be a bit of a handful, but we can hire a nanny when the time comes. We can afford it," Uchiha Gen explained. He thought children were a lot of trouble, but they'd be his children. No matter how much trouble they were, they were worth having!
"I don't want to hire a nanny. I'll raise my own child! Mikoto does that, and she looks so happy. Besides, I can learn how to take care of a baby from her first. I can practice with Sasuke, and by the time our child is born, I'll know what I'm doing!" Pakura disagreed and made her suggestion.
"All right, all right. We'll do it your way. It's late, and I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. I'll put the late-night snack in the fridge," Uchiha Gen said, picking up his change of clothes and heading for the bathroom.
"Gen, since you've agreed, we should get started on having a baby sooner rather than later. That way, our child can be born sooner!" Pakura said, her face flushed as she gazed at Uchiha Gen.
Huh? Seriously? How many times had it been today?
"Pakura, are you sure you're up for it? You slept until the afternoon today. Are you sure you'll still have the energy to go shopping with Lady Mikoto tomorrow?" Uchiha Gen asked, feeling a little weak.