"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!"
"Sa—"
Thwack!
Just as the two boys' fists were about to hit each other's faces, Hikari stepped in and flicked them both on the forehead.
The two little brats immediately clutched their heads and cried out in pain.
"Hikari, why'd you hit me? That hurt!" Naruto complained, a huge bump rising on his forehead.
"No fighting. How many times have I told you two?"
Hikari planted her hands on her hips and looked down at the boys, her expression stern.
"Naruto started it. I tried to say no." Sasuke rubbed the bump on his head, his cheeks puffed out.
All he had wanted was to train with his older brother. What had he done wrong?
"You're lying, you jerk! If you said no, why'd you hit back?"
"..."
Kurenai was momentarily floored.
Why did his personality remind her a little of Kazan as a child?
"Anyway, no fighting. Naruto, your father is the Fourth Hokage. As the Hokage's son, you should set an example."
Kurenai's voice softened as she spoke quietly to Naruto.
"I don't care! Hokage this, Hokage that—I hate it!" Naruto looked thoroughly fed up.
Because his father was Hokage, it was often just him and his mother.
And they kept telling him to understand. What was a little kid his age supposed to understand?
The two women exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's helplessness.
It seemed every Hokage had the same problem.
They devoted most of their time to the village, leaving none for their families.
Kurenai couldn't help wondering if her future child with Kazan would turn out the same way.
Hikari seemed to have the same thought. She tried to reason with Naruto even more patiently, treating it as practice for the future.
"Not become Hokage? Would you still be