In the end, nearly half of the tomato-and-egg stir-fry ended up in the little girl's stomach.
Naruto Uzumaki watched her with an amused smile as she took tiny bites of rice, eating with full concentration. Every now and then, when she got a particularly tasty mouthful, her eyes would narrow just a little in bliss—like a contented cat.
Naruto had absolutely no resistance against this kind of unconscious cuteness.
When the very last grain of rice was gone, Tsuki finally looked down at the empty lunch box in front of her—and only then seemed to realize what she'd done.
Oh no. She had only meant to try a bite or two…
After carefully tucking the empty bento box back into his pack, Naruto heard a soft, mosquito-like whisper behind him.
"Um…"
Tsuki kept her head lowered, her voice soft and timid."I'm sorry… I think I ate too much. If you didn't get enough to eat, um… would you like to come to my house for dinner?"
Naruto blinked in surprise—then smiled.
So she wasn't one of those hopelessly stubborn tsundere types after all. There's a saying, 'Too much pride can ruin a good thing,' but the truth is, the real tragedy comes when someone stays proud for so long they never get the chance to show their gentler side.
The girl standing before him carried the quiet dignity of the Uchiha clan, but she also had the courage to admit when she was in the wrong—and even to invite someone over for dinner as a way of making up for it.
She'd clearly been raised well.
A strange, indescribable sense of sorrow welled up inside Naruto. In the original timeline, in the Naruto he remembered… there was never any Uchiha girl named Tsuki.
The answer was obvious.
In about three years, after Naruto enrolled in the Ninja Academy, a tragedy would occur—one that would shake the entire shinobi world.
The Uchiha Clan Massacre.
If one were to trace the roots of that disaster, the web of responsibility would stretch far and wide. But three names stood out among the rest:
Shimura Danzō.Uchiha Itachi.Uchiha Obito.
The Uchiha's downfall hadn't been a single, sudden blow—it was more like a chain of dominoes, each one carefully arranged and tipped over in turn.
And the first domino had fallen on the night Naruto was born.
The Night of the Nine-Tails.
That was when Uchiha Obito attacked Konoha, releasing the Nine-Tails from its seal. Naruto's mother, Uzumaki Kushina, lost her life that night. His father, Namikaze Minato—the Fourth Hokage—had no choice but to fulfill his duty as Hokage and seal half of the Nine-Tails' chakra inside his newborn son.
But the massacre's roots didn't lie there.
The real reason the Uchiha were doomed… was the pair of enormous Sharingan eyes that had appeared within the Nine-Tails itself.
Every Konoha shinobi who fought that night saw them clearly. It wasn't unreasonable that the village's higher-ups began to suspect the Uchiha of orchestrating the attack.
And yet… the bitter truth was that they weren't entirely wrong.
What no one expected, however, was that the man who had controlled the Nine-Tails wasn't some unknown traitor—he was Uchiha Obito, believed dead for years.
To prevent another such threat, the Konoha Council ordered the entire Uchiha clan to be relocated to the outskirts of the village and placed under constant surveillance.
The proud Uchiha could not bear such humiliation.
As frustration festered, the clan began to fracture from within. The hawkish faction grew louder with every meeting, insisting that the only way to reclaim their honor was through force—by seizing control of the village itself.
And that was when the traitor appeared.
Uchiha Itachi—the eldest son of the clan head, Fugaku—was also a double agent planted within the clan by Konoha. Every detail of the Uchiha's coup plans was leaked to the higher-ups.
When the Third Hokage learned of the situation, he and Danzō clashed in their response. Hiruzen Sarutobi hoped for peace through negotiation. Danzō, however, demanded the "threat" be wiped out entirely.
And so Danzō made his move.
He coveted Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan—particularly its terrifying ability, Kotoamatsukami, which could bend a person's will without them realizing it. During a secret ambush, Danzō tore out one of Shisui's eyes.
Knowing he could no longer use Kotoamatsukami to prevent the coup, Shisui entrusted his remaining eye to Itachi and took his own life—throwing himself from a cliff to weaken the clan's power, even in death.
After losing his dearest friend, Itachi—caught between his loyalty to the village and his love for his family—made a decision.
He sided with Danzō.
The man responsible for Shisui's death… became his partner in slaughter.
Then came the night of blood.
Men, women, children—even newborn infants—none were spared. The Uchiha compound was drenched in red. Only a single survivor remained: a boy named Sasuke.
Why… why had Itachi ignored the Third Hokage's plea for negotiation?
The whole sequence of events collapsed under scrutiny. Itachi claimed he'd done it "to protect Konoha," even as he personally butchered his family. He said he "loved his brother more than anything," even as he tortured Sasuke endlessly with Tsukuyomi.
That twisted contradiction was likely why public opinion about Itachi had flipped over the years.
Masashi Kishimoto had tried to paint him as a tragic hero—a "guardian who carried the darkness" in the name of a greater good. But to Naruto, it was nothing but horrifying.
If noble intent justifies any atrocity… then what meaning does morality even have?
Even if the Uchiha had launched a coup, could their fate have been any worse? Entire families slaughtered? Infants cut down in their cribs?
Naruto shook his head, forcing the thoughts away. He couldn't understand Itachi's reasoning—couldn't understand that so-called "Hokage mentality."
He no longer dreamed of becoming Hokage himself.
His eyes drifted back to the little black-haired girl before him. Would this child… also die on that night?
The thought that Tsuki might one day be slaughtered in the name of "the greater good" made his chest tighten painfully.
No… He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.
Even though the mysterious system still hadn't activated, he could rely on himself. Maybe… maybe he could talk to the old man, the Third Hokage.
If he said something like, "I've formed a bond I can't afford to lose—if she's gone, I might lose the will to be a ninja altogether"…
Yeah, that would probably sound like blackmail.
But Naruto couldn't help it—that was just who he was. He couldn't stand by and watch a tragedy unfold in front of him.
He wasn't some saint, just a person who couldn't ignore what was wrong. And as for Obito—that bastard—he'd make sure to deal with him personally one day.
"Thanks, Tsuki," Naruto said with a smile. "But it's okay—I'm already full. Honestly, it's not about the food itself. What made me happiest was just having someone to eat with."
He added, "And seeing you enjoy my cooking like that… that's the best compliment I could ever get. You're actually the first person to ever say they liked my food, you know?"
…Why was she blushing again?
Well, whatever. It was adorable. But it was getting late—they should probably head home soon.
"Thanks for keeping me company today," he said, standing and brushing the grass from his pants. "I'll come find you again sometime, Uchiha Tsuki."
At that, Tsuki's head shot up. She crossed her arms, trying to hide the embarrassment creeping up her neck, and said in a proud, tsundere-like tone,
"If you really insist on coming to play with me, then… I-I guess I could make the effort to hang out with you!"
She hesitated, then added, "Oh, and my name isn't Uchiha Tsuki. It's Uchiha Satsuki."
…Satsuki?
Naruto's smile froze.
That name… why did it sound so familiar? It reminded him of someone—someone important. His future best friend and rival.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Satsuki seemed to notice his strange expression. After a short pause, she explained awkwardly,
"Um… yeah, I guess it's kind of a weird name, huh? My dad actually wanted to name me Uchiha Sasuke originally, but… I turned out to be a girl. So he just changed the '-suke' to '-tsuki.'"