Given Naruto's current mental state, she did not dare leave Naruto behind and return to the Uchiha Clan alone. Naruto usually seemed perfectly normal, but Mikoto could see a deeply buried madness in those profound azure eyes.
The people of Konohagakure had hurt Naruto too deeply. They had not only broken her heart, but driven her this mad... The Uchiha Clan's fate and Naruto's experiences had completely destroyed any goodwill Mikoto Uchiha had toward Konohagakure.
"You heard wrong just now! I only saw that you seemed to miss them, so I wanted to send you back!" Naruto guiltily turned her face to the side.
"I heard what you said just now! Nonō heard it too!"
"Mm, I heard it."
Yakushi Nonō nodded seriously, readily backing up Mikoto Uchiha.
"Wah! Are you two ganging up to bully me?! I'm your lifesaver!" Seeing the two of them join forces against her, Naruto pointed at them with one hand on her hip, putting on an extremely angry act as she accused them of repaying kindness with ingratitude.
Then, as if by coincidence, the bath towel around Naruto's flat, airstrip-like body slipped off.
"Ah!"
Naruto's face reddened. She hurriedly picked up the towel and wrapped it around herself, wishing she could crawl into a crack in the ground.
Don't be fooled by how calmly she could sleep with women she did not know in her previous life. Deep down, she was quite shy. She would still be embarrassed if someone saw her body, though she was not shy at all when it came to that sort of thing.
"Naruto, you'll catch a cold if you keep wrapping yourself in a towel. Come, change into this dress~!" Seeing Naruto blush in embarrassment, Mikoto Uchiha smiled gently and took out a newly bought outfit as she walked toward Naruto.
"No! I want to wear pants, not a skirt!"
Naruto climbed out of Yakushi Nonō's arms with a look of utter resistance and was about to run, but Nonō, who had already formed an alliance with Mikoto Uchiha, decisively used a ninja technique to restrain her.
"Nonō, you betrayed me—!"
"What else should girls wear if not skirts?"
"I'm not a girl, I'm a man!"
"Oh? Then, adorable little man Naruto, please show me proof that you're male?" Mikoto Uchiha held the dress and looked at Naruto with a smiling face.
"I don't have any!" Naruto retreated several steps, only to find herself with nowhere left to go as Mikoto Uchiha cornered her against the wall. In that cramped corner, Mikoto Uchiha seemed so tall, and the dress in her hand was so terrifying to Naruto.
"Then obediently put on the dress!"
"No—!"
Along with Naruto's miserable screams, Mikoto Uchiha and Yakushi Nonō changed Naruto into the dress and tied her long golden hair into twin ponytails.
The Nine-Tails, which had watched the entire process, gave it a thumbs-up.
"Naruto, it suits you!"
"It does not suit me at all!"
Naruto waved a hand and smacked away the eyeball that drifted close, making the Nine-Tails' body tremble in pain.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Naruto felt as though she had somehow crossed into the world of Gintama and become some unlucky kid with the surname Akizuki. Her mood immediately worsened.
"Naruto, you look very pretty in a skirt~!"
Mikoto Uchiha smiled as she stroked Naruto's head, watching her sulk.
"It's not pretty at all! The skirt is too inconvenient! Having my hair tied up feels awful! I don't want twin ponytails!"
In the end, Naruto still walked out of the inn with Mikoto Uchiha and Yakushi Nonō, wearing twin ponytails and an utterly lifeless expression. The innkeeper could not help wondering what the two adults had done to that child, and even considered calling the patrol.
Reason Evaporates (1/2)
In the forest, Naruto sat on a tree branch with a notebook in hand, scribbling and erasing over and over. Sometimes she frowned; sometimes she bit the pen, looking troubled.
I don't know when the Akatsuki Organization will begin capturing the tailed beasts. I can't just sit around and wait. I have to become stronger so I can protect the Nine-Tails!
The Rinnegan is way too powerful, ridiculously overpowered. Compared to it, the Byakugan is... far too inferior.
Naruto suddenly felt that the Byakugan was utterly useless!
The Sharingan is insanely powerful. I really should get myself a pair of Sharingan and install them. Red Eye syndrome is the best!
"Tch—!"
Back in Konohagakure, I was so focused on figuring out how to escape that I actually forgot the most important part of the Naruto plot.
In the Five Great Nations, every ninja village has tailed beasts... Konohagakure... Now that I've left Konohagakure, I've lost its protection. That means there's a high chance I'll become Akatsuki's first target for capture.
Sure enough, those people from Konohagakure made me so angry that I lost my mind and failed to consider this. But back then, I had no choice but to leave. Who knew what they might have done to me if I stayed in Konohagakure?
Thinking of the countless secret techniques in the Naruto world that could torture people, Naruto shuddered.
"Naruto, what are you thinking about? You're frowning. Can you tell me?" Seeing Naruto on the tree looking troubled, Mikoto Uchiha did not know what was bothering her, but she wanted to help ease Naruto's worries.
"Mm, I'm thinking about the future."
Seeing the concern in Mikoto Uchiha's eyes, Naruto jumped down from the tree, placed the notebook in Mikoto Uchiha's arms, and gently hugged her.
"Don't worry. I'm fine."
"Where's Nonō?"
"She went to fetch water. She'll be back soon."
"Oh."
In her inner world, Naruto stood before the Nine-Tails.
"Nine-Tails, can you sense the presence of other tailed beasts?"
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails with a grave expression. If her memories were correct, everything would happen when she was twelve. It might even happen earlier. Without Itachi Uchiha joining the Akatsuki Organization, they might begin their tailed-beast capture plan ahead of schedule.
"I can sense other tailed beasts within a certain range. Did something happen?" After answering Naruto's question, the Nine-Tails looked at her in confusion.
Naruto nodded and told the Nine-Tails some of the things she knew would happen in the future, picking only the parts she could reveal.
Haruki Hyuga was covered in Curse Marks. Using the Byakugan to scan the surroundings, he spotted Yakushi Nonō fetching water by the river.
"She's that woman beside Naruto Uzumaki... I'll kill you!" Haruki Hyuga's face twisted viciously as the Curse Marks on his body crawled about along with the growing negative emotions in his heart.
"The Rinnegan..."
A trace of reminiscence flashed through the Nine-Tails' eyes. As far as it remembered, the only one who possessed the Rinnegan was the Sage of Six Paths.
"Naruto, what have you decided to do?"
Before you continue