Noa POV
I woke up dazed with the morning light already streaming through the gaps in the shutters. The sun was well above the horizon. This was a rare sight for me because I usually rise at dawn to meditate and enjoy the cool early morning air before doing my physical training.
However, once I got back from my walk with Shizuru the night before I immediately went back to trying and controlling the puppet limb. I was so excited at my progress and wanted to solidify that eureka feeling of controlling the puppet limb that I trained until very late at night. I needed to memorize the sensation and stabilize my control so it would not be lost. It was so cool to make it float and move in all directions with decent speed just by using chakra threads.
A huge grin appeared on my face as I slowly stood and stepped on the floor only to land on a wooden puppet part and scream in pain. After jumping around and stepping on some more limbs and scrolls I finally found a peaceful place where the ground was not lava.
The room looked ominous like a massacre of wooden people. I sighed at how easily I got carried away once I got excited and slowly cleaned the room.
Walking outside I found Genta sitting on the porch while literally biting on a wooden plate and I recoiled in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked, and Genta's eyes widened as he groaned, "Noa! I am so hungry! I tried to wake you up but you were totally out of it, so please, can you prepare some food?"
I could not help but shout back, "Just eat at your place like you did before because my food budget is about to be completely depleted!" Genta looked around like he was looking for a ghost and then turned to me with pleading eyes, causing me to sigh and send out a chakra pulse that found no one close by, though I sensed a couple of shinobi near the compound for some reason.
I narrowed my eyes before looking at Genta, who was frightened by my reaction as I spoke, "Your father is not near." Genta almost screamed, "His cooking is so bad!" and looked up as if trying to talk to the gods while a single rain cloud hung above him, shouting, "Before you came I suffered in silence, but now I have a chance to eat like a human once more!" A single tear dropped from his eyes as I shook my head, deciding it was too early for his shenanigans as I walked to the kitchen in silence accompanied by Genta's celebratory cheers.
I decided to go for a feast by combining breakfast and lunch into a meal worthy of the gods and I started my preparations. After a while Genta's complaints came from outside as he grumbled, "Where is the food? It's only breakfast, what is taking so long?" A tick mark appeared on my face as I shouted back, "Shut up, you idiot! I decided to cook a large meal!" Genta yelled in excitement, "My empty stomach is ready!"
The food was almost done when I heard a knock on the door. Genta opened it and shouted, "My father is here! He wants to talk to you!" I narrowed my eyes and walked out of the kitchen to find Takemura with an unusual light in his eyes. I asked in a shushed tone, "Is there a reason we have more guards than usual around the compound?" He smiled and said, "Come with me to find out why," ushering us outside without further explanation. Genta started to protest as his stomach made weird sounds, but his father's hands balled into fists and Genta stopped speaking right away.
The elderly people in the compound sat peacefully in the rays of the sun enjoying the light while drinking green tea. We were greeted by all of them, and some got our names wrong, but that was expected from people who had seen the First Hokage in person at some point in their lives. We finally made it to the gate of the compound where the ancient clan guard greeted us, addressing Takemura, "They have not arrived yet," to which he nodded and replied, "It should not be too long now. You kids sit down and wait."
I asked with interest, "Who is coming?" but a worrying, mischievous smile appeared on Takemura's face that surprised even Genta, who backed up slightly. His eyes narrowed with suspicion at the rare look on his father's face, which made me worried as well while Takemura simply responded, "Wait and see."
After a while Genta started to poke me with his fingers, complaining, "I'm hungry!" I asked him, "What do you want me to do?" and Genta poked me harder this time, calling out, "You stinky cheapskate! Give me food from your seal!" Rage rose inside me as I asked, "I'm a cheapskate after all the food you've eaten at my place? Fine! Here is your food!"
With a pulse of chakra a puppet limb appeared in my hand. I connected a chakra thread to it and it started to float. Genta's eyes widened as the limb flew towards him threateningly. Genta screamed and ran around while flailing his hands and I ran after him to maintain the thread since I could not extend it too much just yet.
We started to run in circles while he was scream-laughing. I also let out an evil laugh as the puppet limb got very close to hitting him which caused me to concentrate even more on reaching him. Takemura shouted in annoyance, "Sit down, you idiots!" but his voice was drowned out by the excitement of the chase.
He stood up and started to run after us and the scene turned chaotic. Genta started screaming because of both the puppet part and the sight of his father's angry face while I ran from him as well. The guard's eyes were wide in disbelief at the scene before he was interrupted by an ANBU guard.
A small child appeared from behind the ANBU and looked with interest at the scene unfolding in front of him, chuckling as he was infected by the chaotic energy. Eventually, the gobsmacked ANBU who wanted to talk to Takemura took hold of himself and coughed, injecting some chakra into his powerful voice as he shouted, "Takemura-dono, we are here!"
This caused Genta to stumble at the sudden surge, which led to the puppet limb hitting him in the head as he fell, and because I was moving too fast, I tripped on him and fell down as well. Takemura finally caught up to me and delivered a powerful knuckle sandwich to my head, shouting, "You brats need to hold decorum!"
A surprised look appeared on his face as he shook his hand from the pain he felt hitting my head, and as I held my head in pain, he muttered, "Next time, I'll use chakra." My eyes widened as I asked, "Do you want to kill me?" while Genta screamed because the limb kept kicking him.
We heard a genuine mischievous laugh that seemed like it was coming from a child and we all turned to the source at the same time. Right there behind the ANBU was a child with striking blue eyes and bright yellow hair. He was wearing a simple and slightly worn white t-shirt with a red swirl on the front and shorts that looked a bit too big for his small frame.
His hair was a wild mess of golden spikes that seemed to glow in the morning sun. He stood there with three distinct whisker marks on each of his cheeks and a wide grin that showed he found our disaster hilarious.
Despite his small stature, he had a boisterous energy about him that stood out even in the middle of our chaos, and my eyes widened in disbelief as I muttered to myself in absolute bewilderment, mouth and eyes wide open, "Is that Naruto?"