020:Little prince

"To tame means to establish ties." That was a line from a famous book Sora had read a long time ago about the adventures of a little prince traveling to different planets and meeting new friends. One of them, a fox, wanted to be tamed.

"To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world," Sora remembered the fox's words to the little prince.

From the little information Senbonzakura had shared with him, he could deduce that the fox had intelligence. Even if it didn't, instincts were still useful in creating a bond between Kushina and the fox.

"But what should I change?" asked a puzzled Kushina.

"Well, think about a pleasant place. Just like the cafe that we were in is for me. Where did he use to live before?" Sora asked.

"Mmmhhh... From what Mito-san told me, he used to live at the border with the Land of Lightning," said Kushina, finally recalling a useful piece of information. She could recreate those forests inside its cage.

"Let's try that, let's go!" said an excited Sora.

Kushina stayed in her place.

"Kushina-san, why are you still there? We should go to the cave," said Sora.

Kushina sighed. 'He is still a kid after all,' she thought.

"For now, we should go back to the real world. While it was a good suggestion, I need to consider some stuff. And you..." said Kushina, grabbing him by the cheeks. "First of all, it's dangerous for you to go. Second, don't try to play smart with me, trying—obviously failing—to change our previous conversation subject. Please... be careful, Sora-kun," said Kushina in a worried tone.

Sora, feeling the genuine concern from Kushina, could only smile. "I'll keep it in mind, Kushina-san."

"Okay, we should go back. Your mom should be picking you up any time now," said Kushina with a smile.

'Whoops, I forgot about that. I'm so, so, so dead,' thought Sora, while the narrator could only light a candle and pray for his survival.

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Mikoto picked up Sora as promised, and he could see that behind her smiling face, she was pissed.

'I'm sure that bastard told her that I pranked him or something,' thought Sora, and he was partially right.

"Kushina-san, thank you for taking care of my child. He can be a handful sometimes," Mikoto said to Kushina.

"Not at all, Mikoto-san. We got along just great, and he apologized for the prank last time," said Kushina, laughing a little.

Mikoto's aura grew gloomy. "Sure, my little prankster, don't worry, it won't happen again," she said, staring at Sora.

Sora felt a chill down his back. Then, he heard some hushed conversation.

"Which prank?"

"Shhhhh... Obito, shut up," answered Rin, while Obito made a zipper sign over his mouth.

Kakashi only scoffed at the situation, then looked at the naughty Sora. Their eyes unknowingly crossed, and Sora remembered something.

"Kaa-san, can I say goodbye?" Sora asked Mikoto.

"Tell me, Mikoto, for now, Uchiha Sora," said Mikoto with a wide smile that tried to hide how angry she was.

Sora nodded and went to say goodbye to Team Minato, who was nearby. He said goodbye to each one of them, and when it was Kakashi's turn, Sora said, "I'm sorry for being insensitive before. I was surprised because Sakumo Hatake is my hero. I admire him very much and think he was a great ninja. That is all!" Sora then ran to his mother's side, embarrassed.

Kakashi was shocked by the revelation, and then Obito interrupted. "Damn, I also admire him very much. You see, Kakashi? More people think like me!" said an excited Obito. Rin didn't correct him this time, because she also thought the same.

'One step further in helping Kakashi. Well done, Sora-kun,' thought Minato. Reading the atmosphere, he said, "Okay, I think we should go and grab a mission. Let's go. See you later, Mikoto-san, Sora-kun," while winking in Kushina's direction before shunshining away.

Kakashi also disappeared, and Rin started running in a ninja way, leaving the confused Obito behind. "Wait for me!" screamed Obito, trying to catch up with the rest.

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Mikoto's day had been stressful, to say the least. As the patriarch's wife, she now had too much work with her husband away.

'I miss my ninja days. Slitting a throat is easier than dealing with paperwork,' thought Mikoto, facing a pile of documents waiting for her approval. 

'Now Fugaku is preparing the camp near the Land of Water as per the Hokage's order,' Mikoto sighed in response. The Uchiha clan was highly versatile, but the mist jutsu restrained them quite a lot.

'They should have sent us to the border with the Land of Lightning. The Sharingan can detect and deal with those muscle heads. Disgusting politics,' thought Mikoto, approving her husband's order for more kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs. The village adopted a wait-and-see policy to restrain her clan while not establishing a proper supply chain, so the Uchiha had to use their resources to hang on until more support came.

'We can't lose this front, and they know that. How cunning,' Mikoto thought to herself while reviewing the paperwork. This style of doing things made her think of a certain pineapple head, but oh well, they both had to take care of their own clan's interests.

"Who is it?" asked Mikoto to the air.

"Lady Mikoto..."

The ninja assigned to Sora explained what had happened while Mikoto listened.

'It seems that I need to change his assigned guard,' thought Mikoto, realizing the problems with the current guard. 'How obscene? Where did he learn that?!' thought Mikoto, listening to Sora's prank.

"Take me there," said Mikoto with an icy demeanor. At least Kushina was protecting Sora; otherwise, Danzo's Root could take advantage of the chaos in the war to do something to them.

'He has political immunity until the war is over. I need to be careful,' thought Mikoto while traveling. She still had to deal with the clan's work, but...

'Paperwork saves lives.' thought a resolute Mikoto.

And so, Sora would be grounded for quite some time, but that will be a story for the future.

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A/N: Finally I wrote this, this feels more like a filler chap but I think it's necessary for future interactions/dynamics. Have a nice day and If you have some suggestions or ideas, don't forget to write them in the comments section.