On the streets of Konoha.
A little boy held up a crow, looking especially pitiful—particularly because the crow looked incredibly fierce.
An adorable little boy and a pitch-black vicious bird...
The image did not quite match.
A few wild children dashed past them. Noticing the crow on Uchiha Itachi's arm, they shouted and scattered.
Even though one little girl seemed to want to talk to him, she saw Kitahara's crimson eyes, timidly bit her lip, and left.
Uchiha Itachi had never been good at interacting with others to begin with. Now that he had brought along a bird that looked like trouble, even fewer children were willing to speak to him.
"This is our village..." Uchiha Itachi did not mind. He merely pressed his slightly sore arm and said softly, "Konoha Shinobi Village."
"Caw..."
Noticing his predicament, Kitahara lightly took flight and landed on his shoulder.
Since it was now even bigger than the little boy's head, Uchiha Itachi instinctively tilted his head to make room. Still, this was much more comfortable.
The crow's feathers softly brushed across his little face, warm and slightly ticklish.
"Those... children just now, they're the same age as me." Uchiha Itachi tilted his head, watching their figures disappear down the street. His tone was somewhat low. "But... clearly, we aren't suited to being together."
It was not as though he did not want friends.
But Uchiha Itachi was confused by the conflicts between shinobi and had no interest in children's make-believe games.
"Caw..."
Kitahara spread its wings and gently patted the little boy's hair, as if comforting him.
The little boy's cheeks flushed slightly. A smile appeared on his face as he walked toward the village's shopping district.
"There is a takoyaki stand up ahead. It tastes so-so, but during the Natsuhi Festival, lots of people line up for it, and it's hard to buy. It's strange..."
"You can often run into shinobi at the grilled skewer stalls here, but I don't like the taste... The shinobi stories are interesting, but the adults get so noisy when they're drunk. Even Father is no exception..."
"This Three-Color Dango shop sells sweet dango... but Father doesn't like sweets..."
Uchiha Itachi chattered on and on. This was a rare experience for him. Looking across his entire life, only when he faced Uchiha Sasuke would he talk this much...
Whether he was sweet-talking his younger brother or making harsh threats...
The little boy noticed that the crow on his shoulder had fixed its gaze on the dango shop. His face brightened. "Do you want to eat this? Let's buy some!"
"...Caw..."
Kitahara let out a weak cry. You little brat, you're obviously the one who wants to eat it more! Still, what child did not eat sweets...
Perhaps it was precisely because Fugaku Uchiha refused to indulge his son's craving for sweets that Itachi would never forget them for the rest of his life!
Kitahara watched the delighted little boy take out his money. The person who loved sweets the most had spent his entire life suffering...
Once it figured out the Chakra inside its body and how to activate those ninjutsu, perhaps it could see whether...
"Mm... Can crows eat sweets too?" Uchiha Itachi carried the small bag, repeatedly looking between a skewer of Three-Color Dango in his hand and Kitahara's eyes. He could not help swallowing.
"..."
Those crimson eyes practically rolled back... Kitahara knew exactly what the little boy was thinking!
Caw!
The crow suddenly stretched out its sharp beak, snatched a red dango, and quickly swallowed it!
I wanted to lend you a hand, but I didn't expect you to begrudge me even one dango!
Were all Uchiha people this stingy...
Kitahara grumbled inwardly while tasting the dango. This flavor was far too cloying!
"Hm? You don't like it?" Seeing Kitahara turn its head, seemingly uninterested in the dango, the little boy happily took a bite himself.
A bag of Three-Color Dango was quickly emptied.
After finishing the dango, Uchiha Itachi let out a satisfied burp. Seemingly feeling that it damaged his image, the little boy quickly straightened his body.
Kitahara was dumbfounded...
Hey, hey, hey, this Three-Color Dango barely even qualified as a snack! Yet you were eating it as a meal...
"Caw..."
Seeing the traces of dough on the little boy's face, Kitahara instinctively extended a wing...
"Ah, thank you!" Uchiha Itachi beat it to the punch and wiped the corner of his mouth clean, revealing a proper, perfect smile.
It seemed that he had not been this happy for a long time since returning from the battlefield... The last time had been when Father praised his shuriken throwing.
"Itachi, aren't you going home yet?"
"Grandma, I'll be going home right away!"
"The weather is getting colder and colder. Don't make Lady Mikoto worry!" The old woman slowly shuffled away, a fan crest visible on the back of her robe.
It seemed that after the Third Shinobi World War, there were no longer any kind-hearted young men willing to help old ladies home...
"Yes!"
Itachi stood straight and answered, his hair pressed closely against the crow's wing.
After a while, he extended his arm, signaling for Kitahara to stand on it. "Will you come home with me?"
Caw!
Of course. Kitahara was not a real crow, after all... It was very interested in the life of Konoha's shinobi!
"..."
Itachi silently patted the crow's wing. He would need to come up with a good story about this crow...
Whether it was today's jump off the cliff or secretly eating sweets, both would definitely earn him a scolding from his father and mother.
But that was not a problem. He, Uchiha Itachi, had a talent for making up stories!
The Uchiha clan compound was still located in a bustling part of the village. Perhaps birds of a feather flocked together, or perhaps there was another reason, but shinobi came and went in every direction.
Today was the day Konoha buried the heroes who had died in the Third Shinobi World War... Their faces all carried more or less sorrow.
"The meaning of life is so heavy. Why does war still exist..."
The little boy's mood was inevitably affected by the others. He quietly stepped into his home and closed the front door.
"Is Itachi back?"
Perhaps because Itachi was still their only child, his parents paid him great attention and doted on him deeply. His mother, Uchiha Mikoto, spoke as she walked out of her room to greet him.
"Are you cooking, Mother?"
Uchiha Itachi looked at the apron on his mother's body. At this time of day, he would usually go to the kitchen and do whatever he could to lighten his mother's burden.
But today...
"A crow? A pet? Why did you bring it home?"
She spotted the crow on her child's arm at once, and doubts immediately arose. Itachi had been mature since childhood and rarely showed interest in outside matters. Yet today, he had brought home a crow...
Itachi shook his head and thought for a moment before answering, "No, it's a friend I just made today."
"..."
Her son normally neither sought out little girls nor paid attention to little boys. Just two days ago, she and her husband Fugaku had discussed whether Itachi felt too lonely and whether they should think of a solution...
Yet her son had made a crow his friend... And this was even the first friend he had acknowledged before his parents.
"Can you tell me about it? For example, how did you meet?"
Uchiha Mikoto looked toward Kitahara. It was a fierce-looking crow, and its crimson eyes made it seem like it was not to be trifled with.
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