"Huh?"
Naruto was momentarily taken aback by the little girl's words, his hand pausing in its gentle stroking of her head.
"Dying while protecting someone you love-"
He drew out the words, then suddenly lowered his head to meet Kousei's gaze.
"That sounds like a truly romantic way to die. It really suits a [Great Hero], hehehe..."
Hearing this, Gaara couldn't help but startle, and Kousei beside him also stared blankly at her father's smile.
'So...'
'This is what Dad thinks?'
After that, the carriage fell silent for a long time. The little girl quietly accepted Naruto's feeding, while Gaara lay still.
Although neither possessed the ability to read minds, they could both sense the sincerity in Naruto's tone.
That carefree attitude towards death held not a trace of falsehood.
It undoubtedly caused a certain impact on the two children, whose worldviews were still unformed.
Gaara wasn't afraid of death itself… he was more afraid of losing his 'value', of becoming someone nobody needed.
Despite his tough talk about 'needing only his own love', he was the one who most craved love.
...
The carriage traveled on with stops and starts, Naruto and the others making no effort to conceal their whereabouts.
Perhaps due to the Daimyos of various countries working behind the scenes, the bounties on Naruto and the others on the black market began to skyrocket in creative ways.
The Five Great Daimyos might lack many things, but money certainly wasn't one of them.
Even the most stingy Land of Wind's Daimyo was actually quite wealthy… he was simply miserly.
When the previous Kazekage, Rasa, was still alive, he was forced to use his Kekkei Genkai for some 'gold-panning' activities due to the meager funds allocated to Sunagakure by the Daimyo.
Panning for gold in the literal sense.
The gold dust controlled and excavated by Rasa was eventually exchanged for survival supplies and funds.
And who did he exchange it with?
Still the merchant caravans and the Daimyo of the Land of Wind. That gold dust ultimately ended up right back in the Land of Wind's Daimyo's coffers.
To be frank, while his liquid assets might not match those of the prosperous Land of Fire, they weren't far behind those of the Lands of Earth and Lightning.
Thanks to this, many notable Rogue Ninjas made an appearance before Naruto's group during this time.
Those with better attitudes, who attacked openly, might be spared after being defeated.
But those who came with assassination in mind from the start mostly ended up as fertilizer for the Ninja World.
While handling these matters, everyone initially chose, by unspoken agreement, to shield Kousei, the only child among them.
But somehow, one time, the little girl silently appeared behind Yugito, who was responsible for burying the bodies.
"Aunt Yugito, do you think if they knew they would end up dying here, they would still choose to come after us?"
Yugito was first startled by the little girl, then instinctively moved to cremate the body with a fireball.
But seeing the girl's complete lack of fear, her movements slowed.
"Sigh-"
Yugito still performed an Earth Release Ninjutsu, letting the earth swallow the body, then walked over and picked up the little girl, saying with mild exasperation.
"First of all, I'd prefer if you called me Yugito-nee, like Karin does."
Well, she was twenty-seven this year... but a woman is sensitive about her age!
Carrying the little girl back towards the camp, Yugito initially wanted to brush her off with something like 'a child doesn't need to know these things'.
But seeing the girl's utterly serious expression, the dismissive words died in her throat.
"...Those people? They probably just wanted the huge bounty. Their reasons could be all sorts of strange."
"Some wanted a better life, some might just want to spend it on revelry, others might want to use the money to increase their own power."
As she spoke, Yugito remembered her own childhood.
Constantly training, all to master the Two-Tails' power and gain others' recognition.
That was her reason for living.
"They must have known that taking this mission meant a high probability of death. But driven by either 'hope' or 'obsession' or something similar, they still chose to attack us."
"Given another chance, I think they would still make the same choice."
After saying this, Yugito seemed to feel her seriousness was a bit misplaced for the situation, and she vigorously rubbed Kousei's still slightly chubby cheeks.
"Don't think so much about it. You'll understand many things when you grow up."
"Oh..."
"Want a snack? Call me Nee-san and I'll take you to buy some."
"Nee-chan!"
Another common assassination attempt thus concluded. For the rest of the day, no more fools jumped out seeking death.
To be honest, given the current strength of the Tailed Beast Team, even several dozen Elite Jonin wouldn't be enough to take them on, let alone these third-rate fighters.
Night fell.
Surprisingly, the little girl declined Yugito's invitation to sleep together and instead ran over to Naruto's side.
"Uncle Naruto... could you come out? I have something I want to tell you."
Pulled out of the camp by his finger, Naruto offered an apologetic smile to the others, then tossed his nearly-lost hand of cards onto the table, completely ignoring the looks from B, Roshi, and Jiraiya.
The two walked until the campfire light was out of sight. Kousei found a relatively flat large rock and pulled Naruto to sit down with her.
But once seated, the little girl just hemmed and hawed, seeming to want to say something but not knowing where to start.
Seeing this, Naruto just smiled lightly and patted the girl's back, signaling her to take her time.
"…"
"Uncle Naruto... no, Da..."
"Da?"
"Dad..."
"Dad?"
Kousei's face was turning red with effort, but the words in her head wouldn't come out.
"...Could you be Kousei's Dad?"
After blurting this out, she immediately covered her face with her hands.
'I messed up!'
'I was supposed to tell Dad the truth!'
'Now it's going to be even harder to bring it up again.'
Just as the little girl was upset at herself for finally squeezing out such a line, Naruto suddenly picked her up and placed her in his lap.
"...It must have been hard, right? All those days without me."
"Huh?"
Kousei looked up at Naruto, utterly astonished.
'What... did he mean?'
Seeing the little girl still frozen in confusion, a gentle smile bloomed on Naruto's face. He pressed his forehead against hers, feeling the undeniable warmth.
"A daughter from the future traveling through time to find me... it's truly unbelievable."
Naruto's words shattered Kousei's composure instantly, making her forget what she was supposed to say next.
Looking up and seeing the girl still staring dumbfounded, Naruto used one hand to gently wipe away the tears that had just started to fall.
"You've really been through a lot, Kousei."
Yes.
Naruto, with his Observation Haki could envelop the entire Konoha Village… how could he not have overheard the little girl's conversations with Haku and the others?
Moreover, anyone who wasn't extremely dense would have picked up on Kousei's behavior these past few days.
Naruto was just waiting, waiting for the little girl to say it herself.
"Wah... Waaaaaaah!!!!!!"
In that moment, an unprecedented wave of frustration flooded Kousei's small mind.
Without the slightest hesitation, she threw herself into her father's arms and let out the kind of crying fit appropriate for her age.
"Ha... so you also like to wipe your tears on my clothes when you cry? In that, you really take after Hancock."
Hearing her mother's name from Naruto's mouth, Kousei looked up, stunned, her tears momentarily forgotten.
"Huh? Mom cries too?"
"Of course. When I was training her back then, she cried plenty... though she persevered in the end."
This was the first time the little girl had heard about her mother's past from someone else.
It successfully diverted her attention.
"Eh... Un... Da..."
The word 'Dad' stuck in her throat, hard to say at first. But under Naruto's encouraging gaze, Kousei managed to reorganize her words.
"Dad, can you tell me more about what Mom was like before?"
"Of course..."
...
The night was long.