Early in the morning, inside a Ninja Academy classroom, Naruto sat in a corner, propping his chin with one hand, his gaze fixed on a translucent screen only he could see—
[Time until Uchiha Clan Annihilation: 12.34]
...Under these circumstances, did the great filial son... no, great filial daughter, still accept Danzo's proposal?
Tapping his finger on the desk, Naruto's mind conjured the image of that black-haired girl with deep tear troughs—Uchiha Itachi, the 'Itachi-god' who bore the sin of clan annihilation in the original story. In this timeline, she still allied with Danzo, who caused Shisui's death?
Is this the Hokage way of thinking at work?
But what truly bothered him wasn't this, but... even with hope, those guys still wanted to stage a coup?
Through Shisui's intel, he already knew the situation within the Uchiha Clan—Fugaku, the Clan Head, tried to buy time by having "Satsuki befriend the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki," but the hawks couldn't wait. They even came up with a more dangerous idea:
Control the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki through Satsuki? So they're targeting me now?
What's even more ridiculous is that these people felt they had nothing to fear, because with the existence of the [Ashes] organization, no major nation dared to act rashly, so they could safely start a civil war?
Damn it, these people are afraid the Uchiha Clan won't die fast enough, right?
With Naruto's current strength, preventing the clan annihilation would be as easy as flipping a hand. But the problem was... some Uchiha truly deserved to die.
Those hawks who clamored about "controlling the Nine-Tails" and "seizing power by force" would only be a menace if left alive.
So, what was Naruto concerned about? The answer was Satsuki's psychological state.
This thought was deeply ingrained in Naruto's mind.
The most direct solution was clear: as [Menma], purge the Uchiha hawks before the night of the annihilation.
But the problem was—the reason.
If nothing was explained...
In the eyes of the world, they would only see the leader of the [Ashes] organization suddenly massacring Uchiha Clan members. What would Satsuki think? She would hate the murderer of her clan. And if one day, she learned that [Menma] was [Naruto], the pain of being betrayed by the person she trusted most would completely destroy her.
What if the truth was revealed?
Publicly declare, "The Uchiha plotted a coup, and I fought for peace"?
No...
Naruto knew what that meant. The entire Uchiha Clan would be branded as "traitors." Satsuki would bear the stigma of a "rebel family," facing cold stares and ostracization from everyone in the village. Those avoiding glances, hushed whispers, deliberately kept distances...
Just like himself, he absolutely couldn't let Satsuki endure such a stigma.
"Morning, Naruto."
A familiar voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts. Satsuki stood by his desk, her school bag in hand, the morning light filtering through the window, gilding her dark hair. She smoothly pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Oh, morning, Satsuki." Naruto shed his serious expression, giving her his usual smile.
Satsuki placed her textbook on the desk. The atmosphere at home had been increasingly off lately. Her older sister Itachi's eyes were always gloomy, and yesterday she even clashed with the clan elders. Her once gentle older sister now felt terrifyingly unfamiliar.
Could her older sister ever go back to how she was?
She silently prayed in her heart. What made her even more uneasy was that the relationship between her older sister and father also seemed to be growing tenser, and the entire Uchiha Clan Estate was shrouded in a suffocating low pressure.
It wasn't until she walked into the classroom and saw this blond figure that the heavy feeling in her chest finally eased.
"Naruto," Satsuki suddenly spoke, her gaze drifting out the window, "It seems to be getting colder lately, doesn't it?"
"Hmm... probably." Naruto followed her gaze. The slightly cool autumn wind rustled the treetops. "It's already December."
The autumn wind blew in through the window, rustling the pages on the desk. Satsuki looked at the falling dead leaves outside, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Naruto.
"Oh right, I remember last time your scarf was stolen and trampled by those annoying brats, wasn't it? You haven't bought a new one yet, have you?"
Naruto's fingers paused slightly.
He clearly remembered what happened last winter—a few boys from his class secretly took Naruto's scarf from the classroom during lunch break. They not only trampled the scarf until it was covered in mud, but also deliberately, with smirking faces, threw it back to him right in front of him.
"Are monsters afraid of the cold too?"
"Should we give you one out of pity?"
At the time, Naruto simply calmly picked up the dirty scarf and brushed off the dust. Seeing this, the boys became even more smug, even provocatively leaning closer—
"School rules say students can't attack each other outside of sparring, you know~"
"Do you want to be expelled?"
The next second, screams echoed through the hallway.
Naruto beat them until they cried for their parents, sprawled on the ground, bruised and swollen, trembling. Expelled? What a joke. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the Fourth Hokage's orphan, expelled from the Ninja Academy? Unless he went to assassinate the Hokage tomorrow, such a thing would never happen.
Afterward, the parents of those children came to the school aggressively to demand an explanation. As a result, Iruka-sensei publicly scolded both the parents and the students until they were utterly humiliated.
In the end, those children not only bowed and apologized to Naruto but also paid for the scarf.
However, Naruto hadn't bought a new scarf.
Firstly, because winter was almost over.
Secondly... he realized he didn't actually need a scarf at all.
Having trained in taijutsu with Might Guy for years, his physical condition was already far beyond ordinary people. Even if he jumped into an icy river to swim in the dead of winter, he wouldn't even sneeze. That scarf was just a habit he'd developed as a child.
But Naruto didn't say he didn't need a scarf, because Satsuki suddenly asked about it... knowing her, she probably had a scarf ready to give him.
"Because winter was almost over by then last year, I hadn't bought a new one," Naruto scratched his head, "Now it seems like it's time to buy one."
Satsuki's eyes instantly lit up, but the next second she turned her face away, forcefully suppressing the upward curve of her lips, "You really do procrastinate... Fine, consider yourself lucky about the scarf."
She pretended to casually pull out a package from her small bag. The wrapping paper was dark blue, with neatly folded corners, clearly prepared with care.
"When I bought a new scarf a few days ago... I accidentally bought an extra one. It'd be a waste to just leave it, so I'll give it to you."
The package was opened, revealing a brand new, dark red scarf inside, its soft wool material gleaming with a warm luster in the morning light.
Naruto took the scarf, a smile irrepressible on his lips. "Is that so... Well, thank you. But Nizhu Zi, isn't this scarf a bit too big?"
He held up one end of the scarf and found that when unfolded, its length was almost enough to be used as a small blanket.
Satsuki immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I told you I bought an extra one by accident! It's normal for the size to be off, isn't it?!" She hugged her arms, her cheeks slightly puffed out, "If you don't want it, give it back to me!"
"I do, I do!" Naruto quickly pulled the scarf towards him, afraid she would actually take it back. He shook out the scarf, wanting to see how long it truly was.
Just then, a folded note fluttered out from between the layers of the scarf.
The gentle autumn breeze happened to sweep through the classroom, and the light note twirled in the air, drifting like a fallen leaf between the two of them.
Before Naruto could react, he saw Satsuki's face instantly change. A hint of panic flashed across her face, and almost instinctively, she reached out to grab the fluttering note—
The note floated lightly in the air. Satsuki's fingertips were just a little short, and just as she was about to jump to catch it, she suddenly froze.
No! If I jump to catch it, wouldn't that just tell everyone there's something wrong with this note?!
She suppressed the impulse, feigning composure as she reached out, intending to naturally catch the note, then casually say, "I didn't expect there to be trash in the scarf, it's really an embarrassment to the Uchiha."
However, fate seemed determined to work against her. The note, carried by the breeze, drifted away, and just before Satsuki could naturally catch it, it landed squarely on Ino Yamanaka's face, who was currently yawning.
"Huh?" The blond loli groggily took the note off her face, rubbed her eyes, "What the..."
Her voice trailed off.
[Custom Order: Couple's Scarf]
[Client: Uchiha Satsuki]
Ino froze.
Her gaze slowly moved from the note and met Satsuki's ink-black eyes—at some point, Satsuki was already standing in front of her, her small frame completely enveloped in shadow.
Satsuki leaned down slightly, her lips almost touching Ino's ear. Ino felt her back instantly drenched in cold sweat, her fingers trembling uncontrollably.
"Listen carefully... Throw this paper away immediately."
Ino felt the note in her hand weigh a thousand pounds.
"And..." Satsuki's breath brushed against her ear, "About the contents of this paper... if you dare to tell anyone, I will..."
Ino nodded frantically, tears welling in her eyes, but she dared not let them fall.
Satsuki straightened up, returned to her seat expressionlessly, and deliberately turned her face away, not looking at Naruto. She never expected that the custom-made item would have the order slip tucked inside... She almost exposed herself!
"That... if you don't like it!" Satsuki's ear tips were so red they almost dripped blood, "Then, then just give it back to me!"
Her voice carried a clear tone of pique. Naruto looked at her like this and couldn't help but smile.
Little tsundere...
He gently touched the scarf; its soft feel reminded him of something from a long time ago.
"Satsuki," he suddenly spoke, his voice a few shades softer than usual, "I remember a long time ago, you once walked me home, didn't you?"
Satsuki's body visibly stiffened.
"...Mm." Her voice suddenly became softer. "What about it?"
Don't make me recall that day...
That day she almost revealed her true feelings in front of Naruto, and her dignity was almost completely ruined.
Although in Naruto's eyes, Satsuki probably never had any "dignity" to speak of.
Naruto looked at her slightly reddened profile, the smile on his lips deepening. He tugged at the scarf and said earnestly, "I want to thank you. Thank you for the scarf, I really like it."
Satsuki's shoulders trembled slightly.
"How about this then," Naruto continued, his blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight, "Tonight, I'll walk you home?"
Satsuki froze. She slowly turned her head, her black eyes widening slightly, filled with an expression of disbelief. But soon, she resumed her proud expression, letting out a soft hum.
"Hmph... Since you're so persistent..."
Her fingers quietly tightened on the excess part of the scarf, her voice growing softer and softer. "I'm not saying I can't give you this chance..."