[Chapter Size: 2600 Words.]
Konoha, 44.
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Obito continued walking through the village for a while, slipping his hand into his pocket as he let out a sigh. He didn't want to think about whatever problems the Uchihas might bring him now. He also had his sensei, who wouldn't stand by if the clan decided to pressure him.
As he walked into the busier areas of the village, he saw several red-haired people passing in front of him. They were Uzumakis, making their way through the crowd of villagers. It had already become quite common to see Uzumakis among the people in the village.
What he didn't expect was that, the moment people looked up at him, they would recognize him immediately. "Hey, you, Uchiha-kun!!"
"Damn, how am I so distracted that I can't even recognize the people right in front of me anymore?" Obito couldn't help but complain to himself as he watched the three girls approach him.
"Obito!" they called out as they stopped in front of him with friendly smiles.
They were none other than Akane Uzumaki, Towa Uzumaki, and Runa Uzumaki, the three disciples of Miss Hanabi, with whom they always trained at the Namikaze training grounds. The girls always trained together, so they had naturally become friends with him, since they were constantly around one another and often carried out missions together, as their two teachers were husband and wife. It was quite normal for their training sessions to spark a bit of friendly competition from time to time.
"Hey, Obito, how are you? I'm happy to see you!" Towa said as she stepped forward, moving closer to him.
He gave her a sheepish smile. "Hi." Showing his most genuine side, despite trying to hide it, she immediately noticed that something had happened. "Rin, Kakashi, and I took the day off."
"We're off today too. You seem tense. Don't tell me you're already missing training?" Towa said, the girl he had always gotten along with better than the others.
In a way, Obito had built a close friendship with her. That was normal enough, but with Towa it was different from his other companions, who were simply friends. Around her, he almost behaved as if he were with Rin.
The others began whispering among themselves as they watched the interaction, while Obito tried to step back, his face turning slightly red because she was standing a little too close, something she noticed immediately.
"I'm not thinking about training. Actually, I'm happy we have a day where we don't have to keep training until our bones break," Obito replied.
"I'm glad you think that way. My friends and I came to walk around the village since we didn't have anything to do. Our sensei gave us some tea at the Namikaze residence and told us to go have some fun..." Towa said before an idea came to her. A cheerful smile spread across her face. "Hey, how about you come with us? Are you busy?" she asked right away.
Obito thought for a moment before shaking his head, and the smile on Towa's face grew even wider. "Great! Then come with us!" she said excitedly as they made their way through the streets.
"How about we stop to eat something? I'm starving," Akane Uzumaki said from behind Obito and Towa.
"Do you recommend any particular place? We don't know many restaurants around here." Towa insisted as she walked beside Obito.
"Well, there's a ramen shop nearby. I know we've all eaten there together before, but the food is really delicious," he said.
The girl simply grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along. "Great, let's go!"
"Hey, don't be so shameless, Towa. You're making him uncomfortable," Runa replied with a laugh.
"What are you talking about? I bet you've always wanted to do the same thing with Naruto," Towa shot back.
Obito looked at them in surprise, watching the girl behind them, Runa, begin to blush.
"I can't really say anything. Naruto became really handsome now that he has that red hair... He's much better-looking than when he had that blond hair back when we first met him," Akane said thoughtfully, resting a finger against her chin.
"So you're saying blond Naruto, who looks a lot like Sensei's husband, was ugly? Are you saying Minato-sama is ugly?" Runa teased.
Akane's eyes widened as she finally realized what she'd implied. "That's not it! Um... I think Minato-sama is very handsome, strong, reliable, famous, intelligent, capable, wealthy..." Akane said, making everyone around her widen their eyes. Even Obito, who had been completely lost listening to the girls gossip, was left speechless in surprise.
"Hey, why are you all looking at me like that? I'm saying he has every good quality! Kushina-sama always openly says how much she loves her husband, and she once told me that Sensei and all of his other wives love him unconditionally. Are you really going to tell me you don't need all of that to have the most beautiful and powerful women in the ninja world by your side? I say no! That just proves Minato-sama is incredibly handsome. He managed to win over all those wives. Besides, I'm only telling the truth." Akane spoke with one hand on her hip as she defended herself from her friends' teasing.
"I dare you to say that to Hanabi-sensei. You'll get slapped," Towa said beside Obito, still holding onto his arm as she burst into laughter.
"That's not what I meant! Besides, getting back to Naruto, let's be honest. He wasn't all that handsome before. I mean, his father's hair is nice, but his old hair was kind of plain. Now that it's red, he looks so much more like an Uzumaki... Even though his chakra is still that golden color and full of warmth. No wonder Runa has a crush on him."
"What are you talking about!?" Runa began to complain.
"It's true. But you know you shouldn't be holding onto those feelings, Runa..." Towa commented, looking a little more concerned this time as she stopped laughing. After all, everyone knew that even though Naruto was here, he would eventually leave, and there had to be someone important waiting for him in his own world.
"That's true. Not everyone has a thing for an Uchiha," Akane said, giving Towa a smug look.
Obito was left speechless. That entire conversation had caught him completely off guard, and his face turned bright red. He could also see that the girl walking with her arms wrapped around his had become shy as well.
"Don't pay too much attention to her, okay?" Towa murmured.
"O-Okay..." Obito stammered.
He certainly wasn't used to girls acting like that around him. But somehow, Towa seemed to like him. Or was he imagining things? She might not like him, right? After all, they always seemed to get along well whenever they talked together... He found himself thinking about it while the girls started laughing at the two of them. His flushed face had given away exactly how he felt.
"Come on, come on. Enough with the drama," Runa said as they all continued walking until they spotted the sign for Ichiraku Ramen.
"It's been a while since we came here. This is great," Akane said as they approached and stepped inside.
"Hello, Grandpa." Obito pushed aside the entrance curtains and saw Teuchi arranging a few things behind the counter. Teuchi noticed him.
"Ah, Obito! It's good to see you." Teuchi waved.
"Let's sit down," Obito said, inviting the three girls.
As soon as he sat down, Towa took the seat beside him first, while the others occupied the remaining seats. He found himself surrounded by red-haired girls, making him feel a little awkward as he placed his order. They also happily began eating.
"So, how's your training going?" Towa asked with interest.
"It's... going well." Obito looked at her and answered, unsure of how else to respond.
"Were you sick these past few weeks?" Runa asked, sounding concerned, while Towa and Akane also looked at him. "Towa asked Sensei about you. She said you've been undergoing special training with Minato-sama. Is that true?" she asked curiously.
Obito thought for a moment before simply nodding. "Yeah, I trained somewhere else together with Naruto," he replied, making Runa let out an impressed whistle.
"As expected of Minato-sama's favorite student." Towa lightly slapped his shoulder.
"Favorite student?" Obito asked in surprise.
"Of course! He's been paying more attention to you these past few months than to anyone else. The only one you can't beat is his son from the other world. So you must be incredibly strong now, right?" Towa asked, her eyes sparkling.
"Well... you could say that," Obito replied with a bit of embarrassment.
What else could he say? Could he tell them that he now controlled the Wood Release, even if only at a lower level? That he possessed an ability that allowed him to transfer parts of his body into another dimension, making himself intangible and nearly invincible? That he had access to a separate dimension exclusive to him, one that no one else could enter? That he could teleport, almost rivaling Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God Technique while having the advantage of not needing any markings? And on top of that, that he could also suck anything into that dimension?
At eleven years old, Obito was already extremely powerful. He had even surpassed Kakashi with ease after obtaining this new eye, but he knew he needed to stay humble. After all, Minato-sensei had given him a thorough beating when he started becoming arrogant about his abilities. After that, they had a very serious conversation about life, followed by an even greater disappointment as he realized many things he had previously failed to see.
"You must be incredibly strong now!" Akane said excitedly. "We'll have to spar and see for ourselves!"
"Yeah, of course. I'm going to become Hokage someday," Obito said, tightening the forehead protector on his forehead as Teuchi began bringing over the bowls they had ordered.
"That's amazing! I believe in you!" Towa immediately replied so sincerely that Obito turned to look at her.
For a brief moment, Obito saw Rin standing before him instead of the Uzumaki girl. His broad smile disappeared.
Towa blinked, confused by his sudden change in mood. After all, she had been just as excited as he was. "Did something happen?" she asked with concern.
This time, Obito gave a faint smile. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about a few things. Anyway, let's eat." He said it to the other girls, who nodded, although he knew they had all noticed the change in his demeanor.
They ate in silence for a while before gradually returning to their conversation. Although Obito wasn't as enthusiastic as before, he still managed to keep up with the girls' lively chatter.
"Well, that was delicious." He set his bowl down with a smile, looking at them.
"Yeah, it was really good." They left the ramen shop together, only to run into Kakashi and Guy walking down the street at that moment. Both looked at the group in surprise.
Obito brightened considerably and waved at the two of them. Kakashi merely looked surprised for a moment before returning to his usual expression. He still had that same old arrogance, and the moment Obito saw it, he wanted to wipe it right off his face, but he held himself back. He shouldn't act like an idiot, especially not in front of the girls. He had to mature.
"Kakashi, Guy, how are you?" Runa asked.
Guy also seemed surprised to see the three Uzumaki girls greeting him, as he apparently had only noticed Obito at first. He also knew the bowl-cut boy, since he occasionally joined the training sessions with his father at the Namikaze training grounds.
"We're just out enjoying our day off," Obito said.
"Really? So are we! It's finally time to have another competition after going so long without facing my rival here," Guy said, pointing at Kakashi, who simply rolled his eyes.
"You're seriously going to do that on your day off?" Akane said in a friendly tone, though she crossed her arms as if speaking to an idiot.
Kakashi merely shrugged, maintaining his usual detached attitude.
Normally, Obito would have asked where Rin was, whether she was at home or had gone out. But he didn't feel like seeing her. So he continued on with the girls as they visited a few more places in Konoha that they hadn't had the chance to see before.
The outing turned out to be quite fun. They stopped by a few stalls. There were a handful of games, though not many, but there were plenty of food stalls, so that was only natural.
After some time, the girls ended up carrying several bags full of things, while Obito began making a habit of sealing items into scrolls. It was rather strange considering he was an Uchiha and they were Uzumakis, but they didn't want him to do that, saying it would ruin the experience.
"Well, I guess we'll be going now. I'm really glad you spent the day with us," Towa said as the girls began laughing, making her blush.
"Come on, don't be such a coward! Ask him already! You've been talking about it this whole time. Hurry!" her friends urged.
Obito looked confused, while the girl became even more embarrassed before finally turning to face him.
"Sorry... They don't know what they're talking about. But, if you're free three days from now, there's going to be an event here in Konoha. Kushina-sama told us about the Flower Festival, and there's supposed to be a really beautiful cherry blossom tree that blooms that day. They say it can bring good fortune to your life. I want to go see it at night. I was just wondering if you'd like to come with me..." she asked, her cheeks flushed.
Obito was surprised by that. He didn't remember any such event, or at least he hadn't paid attention. "Really?" was the first thing he said, causing the girl to become even more embarrassed as she had to explain.
"Yes. Kushina-sama told me that Minato invited her to one of those festivals back when they were still in the Academy. It was one of the first times they went on a date after she left the Uzumaki Clan," she said.
Towa felt a little embarrassed having to explain that. After all, it had been Kushina and Minato's very first romantic date.
But Obito seemed completely oblivious to that. He was simply surprised.
"Sure, we can go. But we'll probably be pretty tired, right? We only get random days off, and it won't actually be a few days from now like you said..." Obito replied.
"That's great!" She nodded happily after hearing his answer. "Don't worry. I'm sure we can survive spending a few hours in Konoha at night. From what I've heard, the food is supposed to be amazing that day," she added.
Obito agreed. "Sure, we can go."
"Great! Then we'll keep in touch. If you're away, I'll leave a message through Hanabi-sensei about how we can meet up," she said.
Obito nodded, seeing no problem with that. Afterward, they went their separate ways. Seeing that it was already late afternoon, Obito continued walking through the village alone until, all of a sudden, a familiar face caught his attention.
It was Rin.
She was at an ice cream stand with a few of her Academy friends.
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