Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 41

Nakano Shrine

"Where are we?" Tsunade finally asked and the boy smiled, walking up the stairs of their sacred shrine that belonged to his clan

"This is the Nakano Shrine, the shrine to the Uchiha patron deity." he answered in his usually calm tone and the girl huffed.

"I'm an agnostic!" Tsunade mumbled in an annoyed tone and Naruto sighed softly seeing the pouting girl who had her arms crossed in a huff.

"Come on, now be a sport and pray a fortune. Kami won't hurt you for praying to her…" he spoke with a chuckle, pulling the girl by her hand and she followed him with incoherent mumbles but didn't resist his grip even a little.

"Alright now…" she trailed off her rant midway, hearing a couple of claps and looked by her side to see Naruto standing with his hands clapped together and eyes closed.

She just watched his calm face, his hair flailing in the wind and became entranced by that calm and peaceful smile on his face as if nothing in the world could faze him.

She averted her eyes instantly when his eyes opened up after a minute, a pink dust adorning her cheeks and just stood by his side dumbly as he put in a coin and rang the bell to complete his prayer.

"Did you pray?" he asked the girl, who said nothing and crossed her arms with a huff, not willing to tell him she had spaced out in utter embarrassment, neither was she willing to lie to him.

Naruto knew she was being stubborn again, she was a reliable kunoichi who didn't believe in Kami o any deity. But everyone had to have faith, it was what he had been taught by his mother after all.

"Come on now…" he clasped her hands from behind her and clapped them by gripping the back of her palms in his own hands, much to the embarrassment of the girl. She could feel his breath over her cheeks and it made her cheeks burn quite a bit unknown to the boy behind her.

"I don't want to…" she mumbled half heartedly, and he smiled. He pulled his right hand up and closed her eyelids, much to the confusion of said girl.

"Everyone has to have faith Tsuna, it helps when you need something to rely on. Trust me okay?" he whispered and she fell silent. She couldn't say no when he had asked her to trust in him after all, it was the thing she couldn't say no to ever.

"Please fulfill the wish of my baka friend who is being quite stubborn right now, and forgive her. She's still a five-tear-old…" he finished his prayer while biting back a chuckle and she glared at him heatedly at his words, but said nothing as he rang the bell while putting a coin in her place.

"Baka…" she whispered to herself, kicking a rock with her feet to hide her tinted cheeks with her hair. He walked by her to the gates in a lazy stride and stopped abruptly at the gate making her look at him curiously.

"I have a clan meeting here in a while so I'll stay, you should head home. It's quite late now…" he spoke, making her look at the darkening sky and nod. She hadn't realized it was so late until now.

"You shrugging me off?" she asked him with narrowed eyes, but Naruto could feel her playfulness in her voice and smiled.

He took out a hand from his pocket and smiled seeing her eyes follow it to see what he was up to and he merely poked her forehead softly, much to her annoyance who rubbed the spot childishly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, now you'll make me late. Off you go…" he shooed her away by pushing her away gently by her hips, and she went out while puffing her cheeks at his chuckles and waved back at him while walking down the stairs with a hop to her feet.

"It isn't everyday you see a Senju at this place, now do you?" a voice drawled out from behind him and Naruto grinned, turning around to see Kagami there with his own grin flashing across his lips.

"Ojii-san…" the blonde chirped up, and both went in for the gathering side by side.

"It's your first official one huh?" the elder man asked and got a happy nod from Naruto. It was compulsory for every Uchiha signed in as a shinobi or with the Sharingan to attend clan meetings as had been the tradition for generations now.

But their gatherings had scarced out quite a lot ever since the formation of the village, reducing to approximately a couple of them a year except in times of emergencies.

"What's it about?" Naruto asked in his ever excited voice and the man smiled, ruffling his hair playfully.

"Nothing, just a little budgeting and going through some other official clan stuff. You just listen on and see what it's like alright, after all now you will be attending all of them." the man spoke and the blonde nodded as both went in to the main hall of the shrine where everyone had gathered.

Naruto sat alone in a corner, while Kagami went on ahead to sit with his fellow elders and just listened on to the discussion while storing all he heard back in his mind. Sure enough, nothing of importance was talked about except for the usual official and legal stuff that didn't concern him in the least.

...

Next Morning

KNOCK … KNOCK

Naruto was quite surprised upon hearing the door knocked so early in the day. He put down his spoon into the bowl of cereal and walked out towards the front door, clicking it open only to be surprised at the sudden guest standing there.

"Welcome to the Uchiha residence." he spoke politely with a boy and Tobirama nodded curtly, crossing his arms with a calculative look in his eyes.

"Umm Ji-chan?" his stupor was broken by the soft voice of the blonde boy, making him blink and focus in on him completely, berating himself for losing his concentration like that.

"May I?" he asked, making the blonde blink innocently before his eyes widened and he scrambled to the side to usher his guest in.

"Of course, where are my manners…" the blonde muttered the last part to himself and closed the door behind him, while Tobirama walked in towards the living room.

"I hope I'm not making it an inconvenience by disturbing you so early?" the man asked, taking a seat on his couch and taking the glass of water offered to him with a grateful nod.

"Of course not Ji-chan…" the boy spoke instantly, taking a seat in the armchair and smiling when the cub hopped onto his lap, curling up into a ball. Tobirama didn't even think about the cub, so lost was he in his musings right now.

"So…" Naruto asked, once more breaking Tobirama out of his stupor making the blonde a bit nervous seeing his strange behavior and sudden presence here, not minding it in the least though.

"How have missions been?" Tobirama asked, and instantly cursed himself inwardly seeing the blonde raise an eyebrow at him as if he were stupid. Which he was right now, he was the Hokage for Kami's sake. Who asks that in his position when he got the reports firsthand by them personally.

"Umm, they have been fine…" the blonde muttered lamely and Tobirama sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly.

"Can I have some tea?" he asked and the blonde nodded, seeing how much the man needed it and went in to get it for him. Tobirama sipped on his cup while the blonde sat there waiting for him to speak up his mind when he was comfortable enough.

"How do you like your house Naruto?" he finally asked, and the blonde raised another eyebrow but answered him honestly nonetheless.

"I love it." he stated flatly, as if it were a world known fact and Tobirama nodded already figuring as much.

"What if…" he finally started and the blonde leaned in curiously for his words."…if you were offered a better, larger, a more comfortable and larger…" his words were cut off before they could be completed.

"No." the blonde spoke firmly, his eyes now a little hardened making the Hokage quite surprised at the steel he could see in those young eyes. Tobirama pursed his lips and Naruto now was feeling where this was heading to, but he let the man have his time.

...

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