"Haku, what are you doing here?"
Naruto looked at Haku, who was helping in the kitchen, his small eyes full of big doubts. How did that saying go? If this were a novel, would I have missed a few chapters?
"Naruto, you should call him 'older brother'!" Kushina, still holding a soup ladle, corrected him.
"Older brother?" Naruto had a guess. No way, are you really going further and further down the road of being the Ninja World's Old Godmother?
"That's right, Haku officially became my son a few days ago." Kushina's face was full of happiness.
Haku tilted his head slightly, revealing a beautiful smile that would make many girls feel ashamed, and said, "Naruto-kun, no, Younger Brother, please take care of me from now on!"
Naruto nodded blankly. Having another older brother was pretty good, but the word 'Younger Brother' always reminded him of Sasuke.
He imagined the future, when his siblings would go out on missions together, and after encountering enemies, they would use various Bloodline Limits to defeat enemies several times their number in no time.
The enemy would lie on the ground, barely alive, and ask in shock: How can you be so strong? Who exactly are you people?
Kimimaro would step forward: I am Kimimaro, son of the Fourth Hokage!
Haku would step forward: I am Haku, son of the Fourth Hokage!
Karin would step forward: I am Karin, daughter of the Fourth Hokage!
Naruto would step forward: I am Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage!
It would be so imposing!
After a brief daze, Naruto remembered something and asked Kushina, "Why didn't Mom tell me about such a big thing on the phone?"
Kushina knew that Naruto liked to call the Nine Tails' special way of communicating the Ninth Phone Line, and she didn't even bother to complain about the name, answering, "It was to give you a surprise, aren't you happy?"
"...Happy." I'm so happy, Naruto felt that his position in the family was becoming more and more stable.
"Can you tell me in detail, what exactly happened in the days I was away? Did Haku and Zabuza join Konoha?"
"Let me explain." Minato walked over and said, "Zabuza and Haku have been in a state of confinement, after all, they are rogue ninjas and prisoners."
Hearing Minato mention the confinement, Haku didn't have any special reaction, just smiled faintly.
Minato said apologetically, "Although I have the intention to cooperate with them, in order to be responsible to the village, necessary interrogations are still necessary, sorry Haku."
"You've said that many times, Father... Father." Haku hadn't fully adapted to the title yet, shaking his head and smiling lightly, "Zabuza-sensei and I can understand your difficulties."
Minato nodded and continued to explain, "After that, Kushina learned about Haku's background and felt that Haku, like Kimimaro, was a good child with a pitiful background, and insisted on making Haku our son."
Naruto knew Haku's background. He and his mother both possessed the Ice Release Bloodline Limit, but the small village they lived in feared and hated Bloodline Limits. Haku's father discovered this and personally killed Haku's mother, and was about to lead the villagers to attack Haku when Haku's emotions went out of control and the Bloodline Limit erupted, freezing the entire house into a huge ice sculpture.
Haku survived and was later taken away by Zabuza and raised as a "tool," but the two of them unknowingly regarded each other as important people. Zabuza himself hadn't noticed this, or had noticed it but was unwilling to admit it.
"So Haku agreed so easily?" Naruto turned to look at Haku.
"Actually, Zabuza-sensei was going to carry out a mission and insisted that I stay in Konoha.
Zabuza-sensei said that he had always regarded me as a tool, but that day, when he saw you Genin actually joking and arguing with Jonin and even the Hokage, Zabuza-sensei thought that maybe Konoha was the place I should be."
"You shouldn't be so easily persuaded, right?" Naruto didn't ask what mission Zabuza was carrying out, probably related to the Land of Water. After Dad became Hokage, the goal he wanted to pursue was actually peace in the ninja world.
"Yes, I insisted on continuing to live as Zabuza-sensei's tool, but Zabuza-sensei gave me the last order as a tool, which was to become a real person and then live in a way that I like."
Ah, Zabuza's got some class, Naruto was surprised. That guy doesn't seem to be a completely cold-blooded killer at heart.
"But I didn't know what a real person was until Father and Mother sincerely invited me."
Haku placed a hand on his chest, "There's a warm feeling here, as warm as when Zabuza-sensei needed me many years ago, but the feeling is completely different..."
"I still don't know if I can be considered a real person now." Haku smiled softly, "But I know that I really like this family."
Naruto roughly understood what happened. This result seems pretty good?
"Then after Zabuza finishes his mission? Will you continue to follow him?"
Minato reached out and ruffled Naruto's blond hair, "Zabuza-sensei will become Konoha's most steadfast ally. In the future, we won't restrict Haku from seeing him or even teaming up with him."
"Oh." Naruto escaped his old man's clutches. Why are you touching my head? My little blond hair shouldn't feel as good as Akamaru's fur, right?
"Excuse me!" At this moment, Shizune knocked on the door while holding Tonton.
"Too slow, Shizune!" Tsunade threw down the cards in her hand and complained—she was pulling Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Kimimaro to play cards, and Naruto had reason to suspect that she was using Shizune as an excuse to get rid of her bad hand.
"It's all because Tsunade-sama pushed everything onto me!" Shizune changed into slippers and sat next to Tsunade.
"Buryou!"
"See, Tonton said so too." Shizune's inherent skill—Pig Language Level 10, able to understand what Tonton is saying.
Tsunade casually picked up a small wine glass and said nonchalantly, "Annoying. Can't you see I'm busy too?"
"Eh~ Eehee~" Shizune made an exaggerated expression and retorted, "Busy drinking? You're going to take over the entire medical department, please take responsibility!"
That's right, Minato had already come to an agreement with Tsunade and Jiraiya. In the future, Tsunade would take over Konoha's medical affairs, gradually replacing Torifu Koharu's position, while Jiraiya would take over intelligence affairs, slowly replacing Mitokado Homura's responsibilities.
As for those two old-timers, their abilities are actually okay, but their thinking is stubborn and old-fashioned. It's time for them to retire, so they can join the Third Hokage and Danzo for a game of mahjong.
Everyone had arrived, the food was ready, and the whole family gathered around the table, raising their glasses and clinking them together:
"Cheers!" *n (What should we multiply here?)
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