After seeing Naraku off that night, Kakashi spent two days in a daze, holed up in his house, until he finally cleared his head on a warm afternoon.
Looking back at the two days he spent alone at home, he always felt like he was sleepwalking; he vaguely remembered something happening, but whenever he tried to recall it, all the details were hazy, like a white veil.
The only fact he could clearly grasp was that he was the only one left in this house.
The shadow of loneliness weighed heavily on Kakashi, and his stomach rumbled with hunger.
"Naraku… what are we eating today…?"
Kakashi's murmur was dry and hoarse, his vocal cords sounding like two heavily rusted and worn iron plates rubbing against each other.
But this time, no one would complain in his ear about why he was still the one thinking about this, yet answer him immediately.
Knock knock knock.
A knocking sound came from the entrance, and Kakashi dragged his sluggish body to open the door, his eyes met with Minato's golden hair shining in the sunlight.
"Kakashi, are you alright? You don't look so good."
Minato was startled by Kakashi's appearance.
Having not rested well for two days, and barely having any food or water, Kakashi's complexion was now so poor that he looked not much different from a refugee.
Ah, no wonder Sister Kushina was so anxious for me to come over; Kakashi's condition really couldn't be delayed any longer.
Minato realized the seriousness of the situation, but he always acted with discretion, not digging into what had happened, but gently curving the corners of his eyes.
"There's a mission that requires you and me to go together. How about we find a place to eat first and chat about the mission?"
"Okay."
Kakashi replied hoarsely, slowly nodding his head as if his neck was rusted… Early the next morning, Kakashi, with his backpack, met Minato at the Konoha gate.
After an entire night of almost forced sleep, he finally returned to normal and could leave the village for the mission.
To ensure Kakashi got enough rest, Minato didn't talk much during dinner yesterday, only offering a few simple words of concern before urging him to go home and sleep.
He planned to gradually inquire or counsel Kakashi during this mission.
Hopefully, it will have some effect… "Will this work?"
Kushina sensed that Minato and Kakashi's Chakra had already left Konoha and asked Kana, who was also using Perception Ninjutsu.
She always felt it wasn't enough; if Kana hadn't stopped her, she would have long since dragged Kakashi and Naraku to her house to have them talk heart-to-heart.
Instead of relying on Mikoto and Minato to look after these two children separately.
How could Sakumo-senpai, such a kind and reliable person, leave his only son and his apprentice to quarrel and end up like this?
When he wakes up, he'll be so sad.
"Let's take it slow, Sister Kushina, it will get better."
Kana herself wasn't sure, but no matter what, she couldn't use Kushina's simple and crude method to force them to reconcile.
Ever since she realized there was a real problem between Naraku and Kakashi, she had been so worried she couldn't sleep at night. She had no choice but to go to Kushina, but who would have thought that Kushina's suggestions were more radical than the last.
Kakashi, that little stubborn ox, and Naraku, that quiet gourd, were not ones to be pushed around; forcing them together would probably be counterproductive.
The brilliant idea was rejected, and Kushina was greatly disheartened. She and Kana stared at each other, scratching their heads for several hours, thinking until it was almost dawn.
The two sisters were so tired that they flopped onto the bed, intending to sleep, when suddenly a light bulb went off.
If they couldn't think of a solution, they would just find others.
So Kushina brought in her good friend Mikoto. The latter, upon learning that such a thing had happened, felt incredibly guilty for her oversight and decided to bring Naraku home to comfort the poor child's injured heart.
So that morning, she chased her husband out to make room.
Fugaku originally wanted to struggle, but Mikoto firmly packed him and his luggage and sent him to another residence closer to The Police Force office building.
She stated that if the clan leader was home, Naraku, as a junior, would definitely feel anxious, and how could he recuperate properly then?
As the head of the Uchiha Clan, shouldn't he properly care for a well-behaved, sensible, pitiful, and helpless child like Naraku?
Fugaku was speechless and didn't want to displease his pregnant wife, so he could only comply.
Naraku was temporarily taken care of, so Kakashi could only be entrusted to Minato.
Fortunately, Minato happened to be resting at home these two days with no missions. After learning about the situation, he first went to the Hokage Building to take on an easier job, then went directly to Kakashi.
Kana originally thought about whether to go find Might Duy, who was said to have a good relationship with both Naraku and Kakashi, and ask him to think of a solution as well. Minato quickly explained that Might Duy's personality wasn't suitable for such a task and that he could handle it himself.
Now, they could only hope that Mikoto and Minato would be effective in finding a way to reconcile these two children.
"Why did they even quarrel?"
Kushina mumbled with a puzzled expression.
"They're both such sensible children!"
Kana shook her head: "I don't know."
Then she complained angrily, "Who would know what those two big idiots are thinking!"
... "Achoo,"
Naraku was in Tsunade's office, waiting for the Sealing Jutsu formula to be adjusted, when he suddenly sneezed.
He felt like he had been cursed.
He rubbed his suddenly itchy nose and put the book he had finished back on the bookshelf.
"Next, read the third and fourth books on the right."
Tsunade was busy writing sealing incantations and didn't even look over, casually telling him where the next books he should read were located.
"Okay, Tsunade-sensei."
Naraku pulled out these two thick tomes, "Detailed Explanation of Creation Rebirth Technique" and "Theory and Practice Methods of the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique." The large characters on the covers were faded from wear, indicating their age.
"Alright, come over."
Tsunade motioned for Naraku to sit in the chair, removed her forehead protector, and lightly tapped the mark on his forehead with her finger.
A long chain composed of more than ten runes shot out from the mark, spreading throughout Naraku's body, tightly coiling around every part of him, even covering his fingertips and toes with many incantations.
After the inspection, Tsunade found that the Sealing Jutsu's effect was much better than she had anticipated; the erosion of Naraku's body by the Sharingan's Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) had significantly slowed down.
As long as he didn't use the Mangekyo, conservatively estimated, living an additional three to five years shouldn't be a problem.
If further adjustments and improvements could be made, his lifespan could probably be extended.
Tsunade's expression visibly relaxed a lot as she considered the next direction for treatment.
Her hands didn't stop moving; she placed a scroll on Naraku's forehead and activated it with Chakra, and the modified Jutsu formula began to automatically replace the old one.
Once all the necessary modifications were complete, all the runes retracted back into the diamond-shaped mark.
"Alright," Tsunade took back the now blank sealing scroll, "Next time will still be in three days."
"Thank you."
Naraku put on his forehead protector, completely covering the mark.
"By the way," Tsunade reminded him, "Sakumo is doing well and has been moved to a regular single room. Don't go to the wrong place if you want to see him."
"Yes, I understand."
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