Chapter 72

So I'm a frequent guest at ba-chan's house. An additional perk is interacting with Kushina, who has hardly any friends and can't go out to the village unaccompanied for obvious reasons.

Of course, the fact that she's not a native resident plays into this, and in a hidden village, that's not encouraged. And the rarity of red hair plays a role too. It doesn't bother me much, mainly because of my hectic schedule and intensive training, but an ordinary kid, especially a girl, could suffer quite a bit from it.

Hence the initial shyness when meeting me and Ma from a fairly cheerful, active, and lively little girl. That's why the roles of a kind older brother and another grandson stuck to me almost instantly.

And I didn't really object much, since in the company of two Uzumakis, I began to feel at home, unlike at home in the Nara district, which became dull and empty without Saya. Besides, apart from Ma and Setsura-oba-chan, I didn't bond with my clanmates enough to consider them one big happy family.

Comparing the attitudes of the grandfathers on both sides, Ishar looks much colder and more distant, although it would be quite difficult for a child to notice this. Another factor may be the strained relationship between Sai and Ishar.

The reason for that is easy to guess. And not least, withholding information from Uzushio even considering the clan relationship through me. In other words, the head of the Nara clan doesn't consider Pa and his family worthy of his support, otherwise, he would have written a small letter of warning.

So why should I feel something else towards slackers? Ha, I've been given more gifts by Uzushio in one go than here in my whole life, just out of simple joy to meet another Uzumaki! And this is without them knowing about my contribution to the clan's defense. Naturally, after that, it becomes obvious who should be considered the real family and helped in any way possible.

"It's nice to hear that, ba-chan," I smiled in response, emerging from a small excursion into memories and ruffled Kushina's hair. "What do you want to do today?"

"To the park! I want to go to the park!" the little one responded enthusiastically, immediately grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the house.

Hmm, the park in the Senju district is really cool, and the adjoining playground (combined with a training ground) would make even adults jealous. Thank Kami, I'm not part of them yet and can play with Kushina without worrying about sideways glances and smirks from others. Not that it ever bothered me even in my past life, let alone now.

"Alright, alright, let's go now, just let me grab your set of kunai and shuriken," I replied.

I nodded with a smile, observing Mito watching us, and entered the house. A couple of minutes later, a newly created clone hoisted a very happy Kushina onto his shoulders and dashed towards the park, accompanied by the cheerful squeals of the little one.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" a voice sounded near my ear, almost making me jump in surprise.

"Ba-chan! Don't sneak up on me like that from behind!"

Turning around, I came face to face with the extremely pleased face of my relative. Damn, centennial shinobi and their pranks! And she enjoys scaring me like that!

"Come on, no need to react so sharply," Mito chuckled, patting me on the cheek.

With a huge effort of will, I refrained from my natural reaction to sulk at the teasing, but a quiet chuckle showed the futility of my efforts. Oh well! Unrolling a scroll from my wrist to my elbow, I tossed it to Uzumaki.