By the time Naruto ran back from several hundred meters away,
the wedding ceremony was nearly over.
It was time for everyone's favorite part: the feast.
Glancing at his mother and Karin getting along so happily,
Naruto muttered sulkily to himself.
"Hmph, I'm not sitting with Mom."
"...I'll sit with Itachi!"
With that, he headed toward Itachi's table.
He spotted an empty seat and plopped right down.
The instant Naruto sat down,
Whoosh!
Dozens of red eyes lit up.
They all turned toward Naruto, staring at him without emotion.
"Believe it?!"
Startled, Naruto jumped straight up.
Itachi asked in some surprise,
"Naruto, what are you doing here?"
Naruto scratched his head and said,
"I came to find you... I wanted to sit with you."
The Uchiha looked at Naruto, then at Itachi.
They seemed to understand something all at once.
One by one, they withdrew their gazes thoughtfully.
Beside Itachi,
a Uchiha girl said with a smile,
"Hello, Naruto. Itachi mentions you all the time."
The girl wore a purple qipao, her hair cascading like a waterfall.
Her large eyes seemed to ripple with water.
A beauty mark beneath her right eye made her quite the budding beauty.
Naruto sat back down and struck up a conversation with her as though they were old friends.
"Hey, does Itachi really mention me that often?"
Then he added suspiciously,
"He's not just calling me an idiot or something, is he? Believe it!"
The girl covered her mouth and chuckled softly before saying,
"No, no. It's all praise."
Only then did Naruto breathe a sigh of relief.
"Whew! That's more like it, believe it!"
"Come to think of it, I still don't know who you are...?"
Itachi said calmly,
"She's my friend and colleague, Uchiha Izumi."
Recognition dawned on Naruto.
"I remember that