At Fugaku's home in the Uchiha Clan Compound.
"Mikoto, your cooking tastes amazing no matter how many times I have it!"
At the dining table, Shinichi kept praising her even as he chewed his way through all the dishes.
"Haha, Shinichi, you're exaggerating! It's nowhere near as good as you make it sound!"
Uchiha Mikoto smiled happily.
Those were exactly the words anyone who cooked loved to hear.
Indeed, after they had finished putting on a fine performance together before the Third Hokage, Shinichi had loudly declared that he had not even eaten breakfast. Even a blind man could have caught the hint.
Unable to do anything about him, Fugaku had no choice but to "volunteer" to invite him home for a meal.
Of course, to avoid arousing suspicion, Shinichi had sneaked over.
With his Kamui ability, if he wanted to remain unseen, there were very few people in the world who could detect his whereabouts.
If Obito learned that Shinichi was using his Kamui specifically to mooch meals, who knew what a spectacular expression he would make...
"Fugaku, your acting really hasn't improved one bit."
After the meal, Shinichi's mouth was finally free, and he mercilessly tore into him. "If my acting hadn't been so brilliant, that old man would have seen right through us! Can't you show a little expression and polish your performance?"
"Instead of criticizing my acting, why don't you take a look at how overblown your own performance was?"
Fugaku spoke flatly.
Was he kidding?
Did he really think the head of the Uchiha was some pushover?
To give a flawless performance before the Third Hokage today, he had rehearsed at home countless times. If Shinichi did not believe him, he could ask his wife, Mikoto!
"I'm not wasting my breath on you."
With his stomach full, Shinichi could not be bothered to keep arguing with that poker face and immediately made to leave.
"Wait."
Unexpectedly, Fugaku called him to a stop, his expression turning somewhat awkward.
"Are you constipated? Then get to the bathroom. Don't tell me you want me to send you there with Kamui?"
Having never seen such a complicated expression on Fugaku's face, Shinichi asked curiously.
Obito: ???
Please, could you stop making a joke out of my Kamui?
"Can't you be serious once in a while?"
Fugaku's face darkened on the spot, and he swore at him. "You bastard! I want to ask you a favor, and I don't know whether you'll agree!"
That certainly was a hardcore way to ask a favor!
The head of the Uchiha truly was extraordinary. Even his way of asking favors was one of a kind.
"You want a favor from me, and you still have the nerve to curse at me?"
With his face sprayed with spit, Shinichi sneered. "Do you think your chances of success are very high?"
Fugaku: "..."
Once Fugaku finally calmed down, he immediately realized just how stupid he had been.
Damn it, what had he done?
He was the one asking a favor, yet he had treated Shinichi like that. Worse, the man was so petty that he could hold a grudge over anything. Wasn't he completely screwed now?
"If I said I didn't mean that just now, would you believe me?"
Fugaku looked utterly serious.
He really had not meant it. Anyone who ran into such an infuriating pest would lose control.
"Then if I said I didn't mean what I'm about to do next, would you believe me?"
An extremely dangerous smile immediately appeared on Shinichi's face.
"Uh... I suppose I would!"
Beads of cold sweat broke out on Fugaku's forehead, but he still forced himself to answer.
The sunset was infinitely beautiful, but dusk was drawing near.
Admiring the beautiful sunset alone, Fugaku sat motionless for a long time.
"Darling, what are you doing?"
Having finished the day's housework, Mikoto looked curiously at Fugaku, who remained seated in the courtyard with his back to her. She wondered what had gotten into him. He had been sitting there all day.
"N-nothing."
Fugaku's voice sounded a little strange.
"No, something's wrong. Turn around and let me see."
Sensing that something was off, Mikoto forcibly pulled aside the hand he was holding in front of his face, then laughed until her stomach hurt. "Haha! Darling, what on earth did you do? How did you end up looking like this...?"
Fugaku looked grief-stricken and indignant. His face was covered in bruises, and he sported two black eyes, one larger than the other. He looked utterly ridiculous.
Most outrageously, his nose seemed to have taken a vicious beating and had turned bright red.
Never mind anything else. If he went out looking like that, he would be the spitting image of a clown straight out of a circus.
"Shinichi did this, didn't he?"
Mikoto asked, struggling to suppress her laughter.
Apart from the unpredictable Shinichi, she could not imagine anyone else in the world doing such a thing to Fugaku.
"Who else could it be but that bastard!"
Fugaku gritted his teeth in fury.
He was increasingly certain that Shinichi was a walking disaster sent by heaven specifically to torment him. Unfortunately, he needed a favor from Shinichi this time, so he could only let the man toy with him however he pleased.
Even setting that aside, he could not beat Shinichi in a fight anyway. The outcome would apparently have been no different.
Itachi, Sasuke, your father did all this for you...
Fugaku sighed inwardly.
At the Hatake Clan home.
Reclining in a chair, Shinichi stretched and could not help muttering inwardly, What's going on? Did Fugaku and Hiashi arrange this beforehand? No, those two aren't that close. It must be a coincidence...
The favor Fugaku wanted was nothing other than for him to take Itachi and Sasuke as his students.
As luck would have it, Hizashi had also come to see him yesterday, hoping he would take Hinata and Neji as his students. He had even said it was his older brother Hiashi's idea. As for why Hiashi had not come to ask in person, he simply could not bring himself to say it.
After all, the two of them had not seen each other since that family dinner.
Hiashi, that obsessive daughter-doting freak, now steered well clear of the Hatake Clan, terrified that Naruto would lure away his little Hinata.
Unfortunately, a daughter's heart would eventually turn toward someone else.
No matter how tightly Hiashi guarded her, with Hinata herself willing and Shinichi's elusive Kamui helping them, Naruto could still meet her in secret quite often.
As the saying went, wooing a future wife had to start young. No matter how busy Shinichi was, he would never forget his basic principles for raising children!
"Big brother."
Just as Shinichi was debating whether to agree to those two men's requests, Kakashi suddenly appeared before him.
"You startled me. What do you want?"
Shinichi snapped irritably.
"I want to get some money from you."
Kakashi rolled his dead-fish eyes as he spoke.
Note that Kakashi had said "get," not "borrow."
That was because the money was his to begin with, the savings he had scraped together over years of working missions from dawn to dusk.
Yet a certain unscrupulous older brother had forcibly confiscated all his money on the grounds that children did not know how to manage it, giving him only a pitiful allowance each month.
As a result, whenever Kakashi needed money now, he had to go to a certain someone to get it and explain what he intended to use it for.
"No. Get lost!"
Shinichi was already annoyed. Why would he bother with him?
"You have to give me some!"
Kakashi looked utterly helpless as he explained, "Kurenai asked me today to go to the Hot Spring Inn on our next day off, but I don't have a single coin in my pocket. How am I supposed to book a room? I can't make Kurenai pay again, can I? She's already treated me to several meals. I have some self-respect, you know..."
"What did you say?!"
Hearing that, Shinichi jumped straight up and started yelling. "You idiot! How could you let Kurenai pay when you go out? Don't you know the Hatake Clan has nothing left but money? You even let Kurenai treat you to several meals! You stingy cheapskate, sooner or later you'll drive your future wife away!"
Oh, yes, absolutely!
The Hatake Clan really did have nothing left but money.
But why was he, Kakashi Hatake, the most legitimate heir of the Hatake Clan, so broke that he did not have a single cent? Why did even Naruto and Karin, those two little kids, have more pocket money than he did?
Before you continue