Chapter 38

"Then I'll leave him with you again, Eiji~"

With hair as black as coal and onyx eyes as deep as the abyss, radiating youthful and breathtaking beauty. His affection for his son was out of this world. Eiji observed the mother-son interaction and wondered how he had gotten himself into this mess, only able to sigh as he thought of his own mother whom he had left behind.

Having Uzumaki Kushina as his sensei made his life somewhat easier in terms of missions. Since she wouldn't waste her time on trivial D and E rank missions that civilians could handle. Most of his time was now spent at Kushina's house. Obviously, Eiji couldn't take on missions outside the Village of Konoha.

Kushina was a Jinchuuriki, and Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't dare to order Sakumo's children to undertake missions outside the village.

She didn't have much ease in leaving the village, and the Hokage wouldn't allow her to leave even if she caused trouble. So Eiji couldn't accumulate missions in his record for years. It had been a year since he started his main ninja activity.

Babysitting Uchiha Itachi.

At least three or four times a week, Uchiha Mikoto would leave her son for a few hours at the Hatake family's house. Being from the Uchiha clan and the wife of the clan leader, even if she was busy, she couldn't leave Itachi with just anyone to take care of him.

One day, when she was complaining to Kushina about this stressful situation, Mikoto needed to attend to other clan matters, as well as engage in some activities. Even though she had retired from being a ninja a few years ago.

Things started to take a slightly different turn. Mikoto began training with Kushina in her spare time. She tended to seek advice and teachings from Sakumo when necessary. Even Uchiha Fugaku, the leader of the Uchiha clan, her husband, didn't have as much experience and comprehensive skills.

While the two were going about their business and concerned about her friend's son's situation, Kushina remembered that her Genin couldn't undertake missions regularly like others. So she quietly sold her Genin to take care of Uchiha Itachi.

And so I ended up in this miserable position.

"It's okay, kaa-san, I'll behave," Itachi nodded and spoke softly. Mikoto smiled and nodded. She felt a bit strange with Itachi; she loved him from the depths of her being, but he was different from other normal 2-year-old children she had known.

He was a bit too mature and diligent.

She glanced at Hatake Eiji, who was looking at them, and there was a subtle difference in both geniuses. Look at Eiji, he could act mature and sometimes sensible. But since he was young, he acted a bit like a selfish child, causing trouble with his overly sincere words, but his actions usually weren't bad.

She averted her gaze and looked at Hatake Kakashi. He, on the other hand, was quieter and more reserved, not liking to be bothered. Unlike Eiji, Kakashi could sometimes be a bit harsh and rude with his sarcastic words and seeming indifference, but he was just a child careful about who he engaged with. He had a truly soft side in his heart beneath his distant demeanor.

And then she smiled at her son as she stood up. Her son, on the other hand, could be considered a genius like Kakashi and Eiji. Not because of his ninja abilities, but because of his mindset. Unlike Eiji and Kakashi, both of whom had some characteristic that differentiated them in their behavior despite being exceptional. Itachi, on the other hand, was always very well-behaved and devoid of desires. He understood things he shouldn't yet understand at his age and behaved in everyday life like a mature and diligent child, and that worried her.

If Itachi weren't her son, she would suspect she was in a genjutsu or that Itachi was a reincarnated soul.

Eiji watched Mikoto leave his house and turned to Itachi.

"Are you hungry?" Eiji asked after getting up and heading to the kitchen. There wasn't much to do while he was here. Obito had argued with Kakashi and had been "training" alone for 3 weeks; Obito could be very proud when he wanted to. Rin was at Konoha Hospital perfecting her medical ninjutsu. Guy was running around the village as usual.

Itachi thought of refusing for a second and gave up after seeing some dangos in the boy's hand who was taking care of him. It had been a few months since Itachi had been spending time with Eiji daily and he had gotten used to his presence. He found Eiji quite intriguing; he acted very differently from everyone he had known in relation to him.

'He's too clever and intelligent even for his age.' *sigh*.

I handed the dango to Itachi and decided to grab some more snacks and sit next to Itachi in the living room. I couldn't do much personally, so when I was with Itachi, I left shadow clones in the room studying Fuinjutsu.

"Well. What story do you want to hear today?" Eiji asked with a smile. His pastime with Itachi was telling stories from his old world. This held the child's attention better than anything else besides ninja things.

Itachi thought for a moment and asked sincerely, "Tell me more about the story of that pirate called Brook. What happened to him and La-Labon?" Eiji smiled at Itachi's speech error but didn't comment.

'This is going to be a long day...'