Gifts

"I feel much better now." Itachi said at the entrance of the compound. His lung replacement operation was a success, and there weren't any scarring after he healed. He didn't know how Sasuke treated him since he was sedated, but he felt a hundred times better than before.

What's more, Sasuke even gifted him with a 'cursed mark'. Itachi had seen this mark from Orochimaru, and he knew that it had the negative effect of affecting one's mind.

He was a little revolted when Sasuke placed this on him, but when he tested it out, he only gained power. There were no drawbacks in sight. He confronted Sasuke about it, and after a lengthy chat, he came to the understanding that Sasuke really did tame the cursed mark.

"No problem, big brother Itachi. If your disease acts up again, come find me." I proudly patted my chest and smiled at Itachi.

"I will." Itachi nodded before weaving a few hand signs.

Puff! x2

Two crows appeared and flew towards me, ultimately landing on my shoulders.

"This is…?" I asked, a little surprised that Itachi summoned his crows.

"I'm going to leave two crows with you. The one on your left is a messenger crow… You can use it to contact me. And the one on your right has the eye of Shisui Uchiha." Itachi's crows had the ability to merge themselves into a person… and he planned to leave the two crows to Sauske.

"I get why you're leaving the messenger crow… but why the one with Shisui's eye?" I pretended not to know about Shisui's eye. But deep down on the inside, I'm extremely shocked that Itachi would leave Shisui's eye with me at this point and time.

After all, Shisui's eye had Kotoamatsukami embeded in it. With Kotoamatsukami, I would be able to use it to destroy a foe through mind games, or I could even use it to obtain the heart of anyone I want.

In addition, I also have Yakumo's kekkei genkai that boosts the power of my Genjutsu. This means that with the combination of Kotoamatsukami and the Kekkei Genkai, I might even be able to turn anyone into a slave.

The only drawback is that the cooldown of Kotoamatsukami is 10 years… Unless it's returned to its original owner, that is.

"Shisui's eye is at the Mangekyo Stage. Unlike my Tsukuyomi, Shisui's Mangekyo ability is…" Itachi went on to explain the things that I already knew. However, I pretended to listen to him intently.

"I want to leave it with you as a form of thanks… and I believe that you will find it useful in your endeavors." Itachi explained why he wanted to leave behind Shisui's eye.

"If that's the case, then I will take it. I definitely have uses for Shisui's eye." When I said this, I meant it from the bottom of my heart.

After I use Kotoamatsukami, I planned to use the eye to reanimate Shisui and bring him back to life. One of the requirements of reanimating a person is to get their flesh or blood, and the eye provided me with just that.

Seeing that I accepted, Itachi signaled for the crows to merge into my body.

"CAWW!!" The two crows cawed and got off my shoulders.

There were two ways for the crows to merge onto my body. The first is to turn into a tattoo and stay with me externally. The other option is for the two crows to dive into my mouth and stay in there…

The second way is more discrete, but it's definitely more painful. After all, I would have to swallow two crows and when I want to use them, I would have to throw up two crows.

Itachi seemed to have considered it, and only commanded the two crows to externally stay on my body.

The two crows dove down towards me, but they turned into two streams of black chakra before entering my wrists. Both of the crows turned into wing tattoos before hiding their presence.

I wasn't even able to sense the crows with my Mind's Eye of Kagura.

"Well then, I'm going to leave. I probably won't be able to stick close to you this time." Itachi explained before running off.

I waved goodbye to Itachi before looking at the sky. It's almost sunset already, and the world is extremely yellow right now.

I've used most of my chakra to repair both of Itachi's lungs, so I naturally didn't want to stay around the compound.

Hence, I left the compound to roam the festival streets.

…

…

"Umm, Pervy Sage?" Naruko went up to Jiraiya and handed a bag of food to him.

Jiraiya had come to give her some tips for the Rasengan's training process, but he also asked her to go into the festival to buy some food while he rested here.

"Hm?" Jiraiya accepted the bag of food and got up, ready to depart once more to see his lady friends.

"Well uh… maybe you can stick around for a little while longer today..? To help me train?" Naruko scratched the back of her head, asking with a softened tone of voice. She saw a child with his parents back in the festival streets, and it made her yearn for some company.

"Sorry, I don't have time. I gotta get back to town and keep an appointment with someone who is going to help me with my research." Jiraiya spoke to Naruko in a stern voice.

"It's up to you to figure the Jutsu out by yourself, Naruko. Otherwise, there's no point in learning it for all the good it'll do you. I thought I made it clear for you at the beginning. You need to stop acting like a helpless child. YOU'RE a ninja!"

Naruko's throat closed up and her lips trembled upon hearing Pervy Sage's reply. She was not begging Pervy Sage to stay as her teacher; she was begging him to stay in the role of a parental figure… but she didn't want to come outright and say it.

She also didn't want to force Pervy Sage to stay if he didn't want to, so she made a fake laugh and said: "Ahaha sure, of course! Don't worry about me, I understand! Forget about it… I was just asking, that's all! Go on and do whatever you have to do, Pervy Sage."

"Mmh." Jiraiya made a small grunt before leaving. He didn't really catch Naruko's sorrow.

Into the far yellow scenery, Naruko watched the trees swallow the figure of Pervy Sage as he continued to walk away.

The rustle of leaves filled her ears through the light wind that carried the sound. On any other ordinary day, she would find it pleasing.

But today… Just today, she felt rather empty. Her heart was in turmoil, rumbling about why she couldn't have anyone close to her.

In that moment, though, an annoying voice snapped her out of her melancholic state.

"The heck are you standing there like a fool for, Naruko?" I popped down from the trees while carrying some treats and food from the festival. I came from a different direction, so I didn't see what or who Naruko was looking at. Also, I wasn't here to see what happened, but I could guess what happened from the look on Naruko's face.

It just so happens that I had bought the dual ice cream from the festival, so I decided to approach Naruko and start to win her heart.

"It's nothing. Go mind your own business, Sasuke!" Naruko puffed her cheeks, clearly still dissatisfied that Sasuke had kept her as a girl.

"Now, now. Don't be like that. I came here to treat you to some food because you might be starving yourself while you trained." I jumped down on the tree and pulled out the paired blue ice cream.

"This is…" Naruko saw the blue ice cream and her mouth slightly opened.

"I take half and you take the other. We'll share." I took the ice cream out of its package and broke it in half, handing one to Naruko.

"Thanks." Naruko smiled sweetly and accepted the ice cream.

She then looked at Sasuke as she sucked on the cool and sweet treat. She didn't get the parental figure that she wanted, but she did have Sasuke.

Although he's quite annoying, he seems to have been there all the time.

Naruko didn't know it at this time, but a bit of odd feelings began to blossom in her maiden heart.