Chapter 19: Dinner

Naruto headed home quickly as he had to prepare for lunch with his uncle's family, Sasuke had told him that the dinner would be later that night so he only had a few hours of time left to prepare himself.

He searched for the most formal clothes he could find and went to take a bath since he was invited he figured that he'd bring them some gifts, while he didn't have much he could give them a stack of storage seals, which were better than what you could find in an average Fuinjutsu shop.

Time passed quickly as Naruto set out to the Uchiha compound which was located quite far from the village, he wondered why one of the most important clans was located so far away but he decided to ask about that at a later time, he arrived after a 30-minute walk.

The compound had tall walls surrounding it that were marked with the signs of the Uchiha clan, Naruto quickly found the entrance and was stopped by two guards.

"Halt! State your business." one of the guards spoke.

"I've been invited by the clan head to attend dinner with him and his family," Naruto informed them, they seemed to have already been told that he would be coming so they let him in without fuss and even gave him directions to the clan head's house.

After another 5 minute walk, Naruto arrived at a large traditional house, he knocked on the door which was quickly opened by a mature-looking dark-haired woman.

Mikoto Uchiha stared down at Naruto, after her best friend's death she hadn't interacted much with others outside of her clan so seeing Naruto brought back many pleasant and unpleasant memories, but she didn't let them bother her as she greeted Naruto.

"Ara~ you've arrived a bit early, only Sasuke is home at the moment, come inside I will bring him here in just a moment." Mikoto motioned for Naruto to follow her as she led him to a large living room.

While Naruto waited he used observe on various items that were in the house, the living room had a large library like section that contained various scrolls and books of literature, there were also some books about Uchiha history which interested Naruto but he held himself back as it would be improper to grab things in someone else's house.

After a minute or so Naruto could hear two people walking towards the living room, a very grumpy Sasuke and a smiling Mikoto appeared from the entrance to the living room.

"Now boys please enjoy your time together, I will be in the kitchen if you need anything just tell me." She said with a small chuckle.

Naruto nodded in agreement as Mikoto left the two boys by themselves, at first there was an awkward silence between them but since Naruto knew that Sasuke was his sort of cousin he wanted to be friends with him.

Naruto broke the silence first "So what do you usually do when you're home?"

This seemed to catch Sasuke off-guard "Uhm, I usually just train, I also read books but I like training more."

"Eeeh that's it? Isn't that like, kinda boring after a while?" Naruto was surprised.

Sasuke just seemed even more confused than before as he replied "No not really, I just like training so it's what I do most of the day, but I also spend a lot of time with my brother!"

Sasuke seemed to ease into speaking with Naruto as the two started talking about various things, although most of it consisted of Sasuke grilling Naruto about how he became so strong and Sasuke talking about his brother Naruto nonetheless enjoyed talking with Sasuke, after a while the two heard the front door open as two people entered the house.

It seemed like the Uchiha clan head and his son had arrived.

It took less than a minute for Naruto's uncle and Itachi to appear, Naruto smiled upon seeing Fugaku but controlled his emotions since he didn't know if either Sasuke or Itachi were aware of Fugaku being his Uncle, Naruto naturally assumed that Mikoto was his aunt.

Naruto smiled at Itachi and introduced himself, "It's nice to meet you Itachi-san, Sasuke has told me a lot about you."

Itachi had a minuscule smile on his face as he nodded at Naruto and greeted him back "It is nice to meet you as well Naruto-san."

The four made some small talk before Mikoto appeared in the entrance of the living room and told them that dinner was ready.

Naruto now arrived at a brand new room that was connected with the kitchen, it held a large table with various chairs around it, the table was filled with various different kinds of meats, fish, vegetables, and rice.

The four of them all sat down with Fugaku sitting at the head of the table with Mikoto sitting at his right, and Itachi on his left.

Sasuke sat down next to his brother so that naturally left Naruto to sit next to Mikoto.

"I hope you will all enjoy my cooking." Mikoto smiled at the four males.

The group all simultaneously said itadakimasu and began eating with gusto, Naruto was captivated by the smells as his enhanced senses made the food smell even better than it already was, compared to his own cooking this was simply godly.

The group spent a good 40 minutes eating and savoring their food, they spoke about different topics and even discussed Sasuke's awakening of his Sharingan.

After Sasuke awakened his Sharingan he had gained a lot of confidence as to him it seemed that his father now paid more attention to him which while partially true was due to an entirely different reason.

Itachi was actually happy to meet Naruto as he was already long aware of Naruto's status as his partial cousin and now that he could finally meet someone that reminded him of his own uncle he was very happy, even if he didn't show it.

Mikoto and Fugaku were simply happy to see their children get along with Naruto.

Naruto was simply happy spending time with people he could consider family as he enjoyed the food and talked with joy.

The group finished eating and gathered in the living room where they sat on a large couch.

Fugaku cleared his throat as he inspected Sasuke and Naruto, "Now, Sasuke I will tell you something that you will need to keep secret for now, I have already informed Naruto and Itachi of this so you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone, ok?"

Sasuke was confused, there was a secret between his family and Naruto that he wasn't aware of?

Sasuke nodded his head in obvious confusion "Uh I promise?"

Fugaku smiled at his child and started speaking "I am actually Naruto's uncle and Mikoto is his Aunt, you guys are like distant cousins of each other."

Sasuke's brain stopped working for a second "WHAT!" he shouted.

"Wait wait wait, you're telling me that Naruto is my cousin!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Even Naruto was surprised at the fact that Fugaku was revealing this but he was glad since he didn't have to be secretive about it anymore.

"I guess re-introductions are required?" Naruto joked.

It took Sasuke a solid ten minutes of explanations and confirmations before he calmed down.

"Ugh, why did he have to be my cousin?" Sasuke pouted

Naruto chuckled while Mikoto scolded Sasuke who looked away in annoyance.

Naruto was glad that he had found a family, even if it was not his own.