Chapter 21: Interruptions

"So I heard that you joined the Sealing corps huh?" the man happily asked as he saw Shin put the newly purchased weapons into a sealing scroll, "You are quite connected aren't you Uncle Ibuki?" Shin smiled as he put the scroll into his pouch. "Hahaha, well, I am a business man of course! Connections make half the job." the man winked with a knowing smile before busying himself. Shin left the shop with replenished supplies and a full wallet from having sold quite a few sealing scrolls and explosion tags, the rest of the money would be deposited to the Konoha bank.

Shin's months long training at the sealing corp had bore fruit and Shin was finally able to learn advanced fuinjutsu seals and techniques. His interest was in sealing techniques and contract seals since being able to void the contract between the summoner and the summoned was OP, Minato was able to do it in seconds and not to mention that the sealing techniques would be of great aid towards his objectives.

"Shin? It's been a while." a chubby girl in a white dress and shoulder cut blonde hair greeted him while holding a few cups of ice cream. "Hi Chikori. How have you been?" Shin greeted her with a smile as the girl looked around in search, "Atsuki didn't come with you?" she asked in surprise, "We aren't joined at the hip you know. He is always either on a mission or training with his team." Shin sighed while shaking his head. The two friends barely saw each other once a month ever since the team was disbanded, Shin was busy training while Atsuki was always on a mission or training with his new Jonin sensei, in fact the last time the duo met was more than two months ago when they accompanied Ryouka to the summer festival.

"Oh, well… tell him to come by if he needs anything… ok?" The girl spoke while shifting on her feet. Shin smirked and spoke in a serious tone, "Well, he did say he wanted something… I wonder if you can help." Chikari looked up expectantly, "S-sure, what is it?" "He want a girlfriend~" Shin had a sly smile as the girl turned red while pouting and punching Shin with her free hand, "Shin you meanie! Don't talk nonsense!" The boy simply laughed while trying to block the girl's gentle fists(not the martial arts). Unbeknownst to them, a big man with a blonde ponytail watched the two kids interact with a satisfied smile on his face.

Shin went on his way after having a fun chat with his childhood friend, 'Though I am still a child, meh.' the boy shrugged as he wandered the bustling streets of Konoha and took in the sites. The village was big enough to be called a small city and had many places to explore. There were constantly new buildings being built and merchants going in and out of the village. The trees were planted around every corner and the colorful buildings gave people a peaceful and vibrant feeling. There were children playing in the streets while the adults went about their business, no one worried about the protecting and safety as their trust in the ninjas protecting them was neigh absolute.

Shin saw a pair of men walk past him and recognised the red and white fan crest on their uniforms. All of a sudden, his sense of peace and security was broken. 'Merely 3 years left huh.' Shin sighed in grief, he had been trying to get closer to Itachi and Shisui, even getting them to train with him, but the progress was sadly not optimal. 'No matter what, if Shisui dies, the clan dies with him. Changing Itachi's mind would be impossible. The only way the Uchiha clan survives is through a successful coup and Itachi would never let that happen.'

Shin's frown deepened as he pondered on ways to avoid the upcoming tragedy, missout out on a tail that had started to follow him. 'The only way to save Shisui is by helping him avoid Danza and his personal army of ninjas.' Shin had seen Shisui's level, it was Level 84 with a +30 and Danzo was able to match Shisui as he would be 3 years from now. Shin was sure that he won't even be close to that level in 3 years time, 'The energy vain is all but useless without the Stone of Gelel which isn't even on this continent right now. I'm pretty sure that the 3 tails is still alive in the current Mizukage as Itachi was the one who almost beat it to death with Akatsuki and I can't just tell the Uchiha to calm down… Is there really no way?' Shin refused to acknowledge his inability but alas his circumstances were forcing him to submit to them.

"Shin!?" Shin woke up from his stupor and looked at the black spiky haired girl wearing a surprised expression. "Yah… Hi Yukia. How have you been?" "Oh n-nothing… Just getting some cakes." The girl replied while looking away. Shin looked down to see the bag, it was from his favorite spot, "Oh I love that place! Which one did you get?" the boy asked in excitement, remembering the time when she gave him a coupon, Shin thought he had found another fellow sweet lover. "O-oh ahm, vanilla and ch-chocolate…" the girl sneaking a peak at the end of the sentence. "Ah man, I Love the chocolate. Maybe I should get some too. Well, see you later Yukia." Shin changed directions as his sweet tooth took control of his body and steered it towards the cake. "W-wait!" Shin looked back as he halted at the girl's words who looked away, "I ah, I don't really like Chocolate so… we can s-share… if you want, or not. It's fine." the girl stuttered as the sweet tooth Shin replied, "Really, well if you insist."

A while later, in one of the many parks in Konoha, a boy and a girl ate chocolate and vanilla cakes respectively while talking about mundane things like colors and foods and weird shaped clouds, nothing the boy paid attention to while noshing his free cake, 'Free things definitely taste better!' After eating, Shin just laid back on the bench and watched the clouds, feeling himself to be among them until an "Eeeep!" woke him up. Shin looked at the person next to him and saw a black cat had suddenly dropped from the tree and landed on the girl's shoulder.

"Pineapple? Where have you been?" Shin asked but the cat just said "Meow OwO" and decided to lay down on the girl's shoulder. "Oh I'll take her, don't bother others you cat!" Shin moved closer to take the cat but the girl denied him. Shin had to wait till the sun was low on the horizon before he was allowed to take the cat and leave. "Man, it's been one delay after another today, I just want to go home and do nothing." the boy complained as the cat agreed with a "Meow >w<" which earned an accusing glare from Shin, "You're the reason I was late!" boy flicked cat's head who protested "Meow!". Shin looked absolutely offended, "Ah! Cake! did NOT stay for cake! The poor girl had wrong trying to help her out! no choice!" defended himself while cat just rolled eyes and jumped off boy. "Where are you going now?"< p>

Shin walked after Pineapple and saw her go towards the Ichiraku Ramen stand, "Pineapple, no noodles! Remember what happened last time!" Shin spoke as the cat pouted and went in. Shin sighed and walked after her but halted as he heard a familiar and gentle voice, "Pineapple? What are you doing here? Is Shin with you?" "Mom?" Shin went inside and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?" Ryouka had old tastes when it came to ramen so she was not very fond of Ichirau's which suited a more colorful palate. "I was hungry." The woman replied with a guilty look. "Ok…?" Shin replied with confusion he heard a huge slurp and his mother turned around with a tissue while scolding, "Eat slowly, you're going to choke."

Shin was surprised, he looked around her and saw a spikey blonde kid looking up at his mother with an innocent expression before looking at him. Shin saw the brilliant blue eyes and fox-like whiskers on the small, round face and bits of meat and noodles on his face that were promptly wiped off by Ryouka. The little boy swiftly went back to his Ramen while dangling his short legs from his stool.

 [Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Level: 6(+280)

Title: Civilian of Konoha/ Jinchuriki

Age: 4

Stats:

Strength: 6

Vitality: 6

Agility: 6

Sense: 6

Chakra: 6

Control: 6

Notice: Secondary source of Chakra detected.]

'Holy guacamole! Extra 280 levels! Even Oruchimaru is like a child in front of this monstrosity!' Shin suppressed his shock as much as he could but Ryouka still caught the shift in his expressions.

After the meal was over, Naruto ran off and Shin walked home with her mother in silence, wondering about the massive difference in stats, 'I wonder if I'll even live through the war, if Naruto is so strong now, what about after getting sage mode? And how strong would Madara be? And Kaguya?' Shin's expressions involuntarily went through changes as he realized just how out classed he really was in this world.

"Shin…" the boy looked up at his mother with a surprised look, having all but forgotten that he was with her. "Naruto is just an innocent boy. I don't know what you have heard about him but… I hope you… I hope that you don't blame him for what happened." Shin looked confused for a second, "Does she think I hate the kid because of the fox?" Looking at Shin's expressions, Ryouka sighed and continued, "I also blamed him, like so many others. But every time I saw him, alone and sad… I somehow thought about you and Atsuki. About how you two would be if you were in his place. Without a family, without a home and… and I just couldn't hate him anymore. His eyes, he is not a monster everyone believes him to be! He is just a child, all alone in a village that hates him."

Shin looked at his mother as beads of tears started to flow down her cheeks and hugged her. The woman dropped down and hugged the boy tightly, her silent sobbings causing Shin to remember all the time he had spent with his family, the time before the nine-tail's attack, the time when every morning in his house would be filled with laughter and every night with stories and epics of great heroes. A time when every holiday and weekend he would get gifts, hugs and kisses from his grandparents and how empty his life seemed now in comparison. All the tears and sorrow that the mother and son had been hoarding for more than 3 years, afraid that they would get swept away by the flooding memories of the past if they broke down, all of it was let loose and the duo, for the first time in 3 years, wept. They let go and hugged each other, feeling the warmth and comfort in each other.

As the mother and son let it go in the middle of the street and got weird looks from every passerby, one such passerby stopped after seeing a furry black cat, "Pineapple?" he called out. Hearing this voice, the duo broke away and the newcomer saw them in surprise and urgency, "What's wrong? Why are you guys crying!?" he asked them in fear but instead of an answer, he was swept up in a warm embrace by the woman as she hugged him tightly, "It's ok Atsuki, everything is ok." the woman smiled while wiping off tears from her face.