**Back to the Present**
Yoshino stood with her son in her arms. Seeing Megumi, she was happy, then turned to look behind him at a girl with visible fangs.
Like an Uchiha flexing their Sharingan without introduction.
Hana walked to the door to greet the woman. She'd met her a few times and knew she held a higher position than her mother in Megumi's mother's eyes. "Good afternoon, Mama."
Hana wanted to take the child from her, but Yoshino refused. She understood the baby might cry.
Walking her to the dining room, Megumi had placed a variety of food and fruit.
"You can cook?" Yoshino asked.
She hadn't expected him to learn cooking at that age. But he was the son of a crazy woman. Why be surprised?
Before they started eating, Yukimi walked out with swollen eyes from tears. She looked at Megumi, hoping for an apology, but he was like wood, oblivious.
"Good afternoon, ma," she said in a low, cracked voice.
"Did you miss home?" Megumi still couldn't tell why she'd left when she did, now returning with tear-swollen eyes.
Megumi stood and patted her head like it was nothing. "Don't worry. This weekend we'll go out."
Yukimi nodded, her cheeks red as if they'd explode if Megumi continued.
Yoshino was speechless. Being dumb to women's emotions ran in the Nara clan bloodline.
The four ate. After eating, both Hana and Yukimi put aside their problems and carried plates to the kitchen, leaving Megumi and Yoshino alone.
"Aunt, we're alone now. You can say what you've been wanting to say." Megumi reached for the sleeping baby.
"Huh..." She was surprised Megumi knew why she came. She knew it would sound suspicious since this was her first visit, even when she'd been the one encouraging her husband to bring back Megumi's body.
"His name is Shi—"
"Shikamaru, right?" Megumi cut her off mid-sentence.
"Hehe, yes. We were just coming from the village hospital. He's been sick for a few days now." She told him the reason she wasn't allowing anyone to touch him.
"He's fine now. It's just a temperature problem," Megumi said.
The moment he'd picked him up, he knew Shikamaru's body was hot. Why not apply a little RCT for his cousin?
Yoshino saw Megumi's hands glow with white energy.
"Thank you."
Silence filled the room as they looked at each other's faces.
"Can you tell me what happened? What exactly are you?" Yoshino asked.
"What am I?" Megumi hadn't expected this, but he needed someone he could at least trust. Yoshino was the only one present.
Knowing he was immortal, why bother with betrayal when he had no emotions?
"Well, I don't know what to call myself. But you can call me the King of Curses."
"The King of Curses? What is that?" Yoshino asked.
"When I died, I didn't have my abilities. My power revolves around negative emotions like hate, anger, or fear. I came back to life because I didn't fulfill my promise with my teacher, Kushina. So am cursed, and I can only tell you that I'm basically immortal, and I have my information about who killed my mother and my teacher."
Megumi and Yoshino went outside to Kaede's grave before preparing to leave.
"Who killed Kaede, and why haven't you killed them?" Yoshino didn't want Megumi to turn into what Kaede was in her prime.
"Four of your elders and some members from the clan, and some of the higher-ups who are power-hungry."
Yoshino could only grit her teeth and clench her fists.
Now she saw she'd been used by the elders of the Nara clan. She started connecting the dots: how they'd forced them to leave the clan, leading to Megumi being imprisoned.
Megumi could see her emotions spiraling out of control as they reached the village circle.
"It's okay, Aunt. I don't blame you for this, and I don't see reason to. So please don't get worked up about the past."
Yoshino looked at the calm boy before her. From what she'd just learned, she didn't know how he was coping.
"What are you going to do to the Nara elders?" she asked, ready to make them pay for what they did to Kaede.
"I will kill them all. Every one of them, like they did to my mother. And not just them. I'll also kill every one of their children down to their grandchildren."
These words shocked Yoshino. She felt a shock down her spine hearing Megumi say those words with a calm face, as if they meant nothing.
Arriving at the Nara clan gates where two men stood on either side, Yoshino was about to enter without greeting them after what she'd discovered about the elders. She now hated this clan.
Looking back, she saw Megumi standing several feet from where they'd stopped talking.
"Why are you still standing there? Come in," she said.
The two men guarding the gate blocked Yoshino from leaving. "Madam, the elders gave us instructions that both that boy and his mother are not wanted within the clan compound."
"What? I said I'm letting him in. As the wife of this clan's head, I'm giving you an order to move out of the way." Yoshino was upset that a clan member was looking down on her.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't remember receiving orders from you before," one of the men said in a cold tone.
Megumi, still carrying Shikamaru, watched the drama between the three Nara members.
"Who is the head of this clan? Is it run by my husband or the elders?" she asked the guards, but they didn't bother replying.
Yoshino's shouting drew attention from everyone in the clan.
Shikaku came immediately to the scene with his friend Inoichi.
"What's going on here?" he asked. Seeing Yoshino crying and Megumi standing outside the clan carrying a baby, he couldn't tell what caused the commotion but knew Megumi was involved.
"I wanted Megumi in, and these men are telling me they don't care what I want. They're not allowing Megumi in because of some old men's orders." Yoshino managed to explain.
"Can you defend that?" Shikaku asked the men.
The two men were already sweating. They hadn't expected Yoshino to scream, and seeing Inoichi beside Shikaku, they knew if they lied, their memories would be checked.
"We... we were given instructions that day that this boy and his mother are no longer members of the clan," one of the men stammered.
Yoshino went to where Megumi stood alone outside. She would do everything to make Megumi step into that compound.
"Come in, Megumi. This is your home, and it always will be."
Yoshino stretched out her hand to Megumi, a smile on her face.
"Thank you, Aunt, but you don't have to stress yourself for me." Instead of taking her hand, Megumi gave Shikamaru back to her. His face was as calm as a sleeping volcano. He tilted his head to face both guards. "You better control your bloodlust if you don't want to die!"
Shikaku knew his nephew might kill them for real, and nothing would happen to him.
"Please pardon their rudeness, Clan Head of the Uzumaki Clan."
Shikaku bowed his head, swallowing his dignity in exchange for two lives.
But while he did that, Elder Tsunayoshi nodded to someone in the crowd.
"How can the clan head bow his head to a child? This is disgusting."
"I heard he was never given the title of the Uzumaki."
"That's right. How can you be given a big title when the Hokage hasn't announced it to the public?"
Words started spreading through the Nara clan.
'These bastards aren't even taking me seriously.'
Shikaku had given up on the clan, but he couldn't let these ignorant fools put him in trouble.
Inoichi, who'd been beside Shikaku this whole time and was aware of how this matter started, didn't want to involve himself in something like this. If Shikaku, who could be said to be the smartest person in the village, was avoiding it...
Among the crowd, a single man came out and walked straight to Megumi with a smile. "Long time, brat. Remember me?"
Megumi narrowed his eyes, seeing this guy who'd injured him when he was just four. He would have loved to kick his ass, but he understood this guy was weak.
"Sorry. Who are you?"
Naosuke's smile vanished instantly. He gritted his teeth and cursed Megumi's generations in his mind.
"I'm Naosuke, and representing the Nara clan, I issue a duel challenge against the clan failure..." Naosuke chuckled before covering his mouth. "Forgive me. I mean the Uzumaki Clan Head."
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