Desire for Revenge (1/2)

She casually tossed it to Yakushi Nonō, who sealed it inside a prepared scroll.

Wind Style: Gale Palm!

Blown into the air by the wind, Haruki Hyuga was pinned to a tree trunk by a Root kunai like a rag doll. His limbs dangled limply, while blood flowed from his hollow eye sockets and dripped from his toes, drop by drop.

"You lunatic!!!"

Haruki Hyuga glared from his hollow sockets, his only remaining Byakugan bloodshot as it fixed on Naruto with utter hatred.

"A lunatic? When have I ever been normal?"

Naruto looked at the blood on her hands with a smile on her face. A gust of wind swept past, scattering her already messy golden hair.

" Mikoto Uchiha, if you feel like you can't stay with me any longer, then leave... I won't try to keep you, nor will I stop you."

"But remember this: what Konohagakure has done is hundreds, thousands of times worse than anything I've done."

Naruto narrowed her eyes at Mikoto Uchiha's pale, horrified face. Her deep azure eyes made it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Naruto, I'm sorry. I just..."

"Did you see Sasuke in me? Don't joke around. He grew up coddled in luxury, while I struggled to stay alive beneath the hateful gazes of Konohagakure's people! You need to understand, naive madam... We grew up in completely different ways. How could we possibly be the same breed...?"

As Naruto watched Mikoto Uchiha crouch down to embrace her, her small, bloodstained hand reached up to touch Mikoto's cheek, leaving a crimson mark on her sorrowful face.

"I don't hate the motherly love you've given me..."

Naruto gratefully kissed Mikoto Uchiha on the forehead. It was a kiss without desire or ulterior motive.

"Quick! Get out of here! K-Konohagakure's ninja will catch up any second!"

Mikoto Uchiha's fair cheeks instantly flushed red. She had no idea why she suddenly felt so embarrassed when she was no longer a young girl. Picking Naruto up, she hurriedly ran forward.

Seeing Mikoto Uchiha's reddened ears beneath her hair, Naruto narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Hey! Mikoto! Why are you still carrying Naruto? It should be my turn!"

"You two! Don't treat me like a doll, okay? Once I recover a little strength, put me down!"

Chapter 29: Desire for Revenge (1/2)

The pursuing Konohagakure ninja found Haruki Hyuga half-dead and nailed to a tree trunk. When they saw that one of Haruki Hyuga's eyes had been dug out, their expressions changed drastically.

Kakashi stared at Haruki Hyuga's hollow eye socket in disbelief, clenching his fists. He had never expected Naruto to actually gouge out Haruki Hyuga's eye.

"Captain Kakashi! What do we do? Chase after them, or..."

"Treat Haruki Hyuga's injuries immediately. You few, take him back to Konohagakure first. Yamato and I will pursue them!"

After assigning their tasks, Kakashi and Yamato immediately set off in pursuit.

Before long, Kakashi and Yamato spotted Yakushi Nonō and Mikoto Uchiha, who was carrying Naruto, moving swiftly ahead of them.

Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals. It had rained yesterday, leaving the ground soaked. As he formed the seals, droplets of water rose into the air and swiftly gathered together.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!

The water gathered into a water dragon and instantly swallowed the three people ahead. Then, the three figures turned into smoke and vanished inside the water dragon's jaws.

"These are... clones!"

"Senior!"

"I didn't expect them to still have the strength to use Shadow Clones. This is my fault... Yamato... the mission has failed..." Kakashi sighed and pulled down his forehead protector to cover his Sharingan.

All three clones were Naruto's. Yakushi Nonō and Mikoto Uchiha did not possess Naruto's enormous reserves of Chakra, and Shadow Clones consumed far too much Chakra for them.

Using the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto created three clones. Two of them transformed into Yakushi Nonō and Mikoto Uchiha to deliberately let Kakashi and Yamato see them, luring the two into pursuit while the real Naruto and the others escaped in another direction.

Naturally, the exhausted Naruto had no intention of confronting Kakashi and Yamato head-on. Give her a break—without Yamato and his Wood Style, she could have fought Kakashi. But with Yamato there, how was she supposed to fight? There was no way to win!

"They really fell for it."

After receiving the clones' memories, Naruto smiled faintly and took out the money she had won gambling, handing it to Mikoto Uchiha.

"Looks like we're safe for now. I'm going to rest for a while. I'll leave this money to you two. Don't spend it recklessly... If you do, I'll spank you..."

Half-asleep with exhaustion, Naruto mumbled those words in a way that did not sound threatening in the slightest. She formed hand seals with both hands.

"Transformation..."

"Bang!"

As the smoke dispersed, Naruto turned into a little hamster and burrowed into Mikoto Uchiha's embrace, squeezing between her soft breasts and poking out her tiny head.

In her inner world, Naruto lay atop the Nine-Tails, her eyes closed in exhaustion.

"Finally, we've gotten away from Konohagakure's ninja... Nine-Tails, I'm going to sleep for a while..."

Seeing how adorable Naruto looked as a little hamster, Yakushi Nonō could not help reaching out to stroke the hamster's head.

The morning sunlight shone on Mikoto Uchiha and Yakushi Nonō. They had traveled through the night and both looked rather exhausted. Seeing the town ahead, they knew they would soon be able to rest.

Several days later, at Konohagakure Hospital, Haruki Hyuga sat quietly on his bed, staring blankly out the window. White cloth covered his right eye. After treatment from a medical ninja, his injuries would require a period of hospitalization before he could recover.

The injuries on his body could heal, but his lost right eye would never return.

Haruki Hyuga understood better than anyone what losing an eye meant as a member of the Hyuga clan. His heart was filled with hatred for Naruto and hatred for Kakashi—hatred that Kakashi had failed to avenge him, and hatred that Naruto had dug out his eye.

Creak—!

The door was pushed open, and Kimura entered carrying a fruit basket.

"Captain Hyuga, are you feeling any better?"

Kimura set down the fruit basket and looked at Haruki Hyuga with concern, but the concern in his eyes seemed unbearably glaring to Haruki Hyuga.

"Save your fake concern!"

Haruki Hyuga grabbed the fruit basket and hurled it at Kimura, pointing at him with a face full of rage.

"Did you come to see how pathetic I look? Get out!"

"Captain Hyuga... Please get some rest..."

Kimura walked out of the hospital room, and the people waiting outside gathered around him.