Six months later.
Megumi sat on his balcony with his eyes closed.
He was viewing each of his crows, both inside and outside the village.
Within those six months, he'd created thousands of crows, with fewer than a hundred in the Land of Fire.
Megumi had crows in every nook and cranny of the village, especially the Hokage Tower. One resided in the Third Hokage's shadow, with others stationed outside the building.
Megumi didn't place crows in any clan houses because the contract stipulated he wouldn't interfere in clan affairs.
And yes, he'd found Naruto's location, all thanks to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who always visited where Naruto was kept.
Megumi now understood why he couldn't sense that damned fox. A barrier prevented him from locating Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
Now that he'd discovered where Naruto was, he still couldn't request guardianship. He was only six years old himself, and those greedy bastards would never allow the village's secret weapon outside their control.
"Megumi, you'll be late on your first day at the academy!"
A young girl's voice called from downstairs.
Megumi teleported down to where she was.
Standing before him was a girl his own height with brown hair and eyes.
This was Yukimi of the Iburi clan, the last survivor.
Megumi had been dragged into this mess by Kakashi.
He knew Pakkun and his pack had convinced Kakashi to involve him.
He'd seen everything and done nothing since the Iburi clan had sided with Orochimaru and even attacked Kakashi.
The Iburi clan's technique would have been one of the best if not for its fatal flaw: wind.
Megumi had watched Orochimaru suck the clan members' blood like a vampire during a full moon.
He couldn't understand how the clan kept giving Orochimaru their children when not one survived except for Yamato.
Those people were just brainwashed followers of the snake.
After Yukimi survived and became the first of her clan not worried about wind, Kakashi told Yamato to let Megumi be her custodian.
This was better than letting her wander around where Orochimaru might come for her again. Yamato didn't want that, even though he'd heard rumors about how Megumi killed. But Yukimi agreed, surprising them both. Since then, they'd been living together.
Megumi was more ghost than roommate, staying indoors and watching. Through this, he'd learned to mimic emotions.
Megumi cooked while Yukimi cleaned because she'd tried cooking once and created an abomination that Megumi had to eat since he couldn't let food go to waste.
"I don't forget things, you know," Megumi said with a smile.
Yukimi had been like a big sister to Megumi. She didn't know why she'd agreed to stay with a stranger she'd never met, but she was grateful her path had been good.
She now lived in a big house with her own room rather than underground.
During her stay, she'd noticed Megumi had no emotions. The day he ate food that looked like poison, he'd consumed it as if it were nothing.
So she'd always tried dragging him out to shop with her. His hobby was sitting beside a grave.
"You're going to be late on your first day at the academy."
"I won't be, and stop disturbing me while I'm sleeping."
Megumi walked out of the barrier toward the academy. On his way, he noticed Root had stopped spreading rumors.
Arriving at the academy with his application form filled out, he submitted it to the chunin in charge and was redirected outside to listen to the Hokage's speech.
Megumi had already swapped places with a clone while the real one stayed in the shadows.
Hearing the Third Hokage's speech, others were moved, but Megumi sensed people's eyes on him. He used his perspective sharing to check who it was: Hana and the Gekko clan head with a few others.
"Oh God, I've forgotten about her." Megumi turned to look at Hana, smiling and waving.
After the speech, Megumi walked up to Hana and Tsume. It had been six months since he'd seen their faces.
"Good morning, Aunt."
Tsume had seen Megumi walking toward them but couldn't know what to expect after what happened that night.
She'd followed Hana to his house but was blocked by the barrier. Since they hadn't seen him outside, they'd just hoped he was fine.
"You remembered us today, brat."
Behind the harsh words was warmth.
"Sorry, I wasn't very active," Megumi said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"And Hana, you can follow me home so I can give you what I promised."
He left them without waiting. He was blocked by the Gekko clan head and some kids.
"You said you'd pay back. It's been over six months. When are you paying?" the clan head asked.
"I'm sure you know I just bought property to live in, so you'll have to be patient, old man."
Megumi knew how many times these people had come to his home, even digging underneath to enter the barrier. They couldn't because the Hokage had sent ANBU to warn them.
The clan head gritted his teeth in frustration. He'd reported to the clan that they'd receive a huge amount of money, so they'd spent what they had, putting them in debt.
"How about I assign someone close to you to stay with you until you pay? And know this: the money has doubled over that period."
He wanted to pressure Megumi into begging.
"Who are you suggesting?" Megumi was puzzled when he heard he'd have to take someone from the clan.
Did these old fools think he'd invite a spy into his own house?
"The person will be your grandmother. What about that?" he said, smiling.
Then he sensed a strong killing aura and took a few steps back.
"Megumi, you don't have the option to decide." He tried maintaining the same energy, but when he looked around, he noticed he was the only one feeling the murderous aura.
"It seems you're not aware of your surroundings, old man."
Megumi was getting pissed off, hearing he was being looked down on by some no-name clan thinking he was their slave. "I'll pay when I feel like paying, and if you bring any trash to my property, I'll send her back to you in a plastic bag."
"How dare you disrespect my grandmother like that!" A boy his age stepped up, not only to gain the clan head's approval but also to dominate this boy who supposedly had no chakra.
"I don't give a damn about who your grandma is." Megumi walked past the clan and up to the boy, releasing cursed energy that made the boy fall to his knees. "If you're going to be a dog, be a good dog. But don't ever let me sense killing intent from you again, or I'll kill you."
Megumi walked away but paused. "If you're annoyed about that, you can attack me, and I promise I'll kill you, your wife, your children. I'll make sure your bloodline is no more."
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