"Don't say that, wait for me. I said I'm going to take you home. You're not feeling well now; what if you fall?"
Naruto saw Sasuke stumbling with each step, looking like he might collapse at any moment. He couldn't just ignore it.
Besides, even though Naruto was afraid of ghosts, once Sasuke became his friend, there was no way he would let Sasuke face things alone.
"Aren't you scared anymore?"
Sasuke looked at Naruto, who came over to support his arm. Naruto was clearly scared but still trying to be strong. A trace of helplessness flashed in Sasuke's eyes.
This was the special thing about the protagonist, Uzumaki Naruto.
As long as someone showed him a bit of kindness, he would risk his life to repay it.
Even past grudges could be completely dismissed.
Such a personality likely stemmed from extreme deprivation of love and a deep fear of loss.
Or perhaps, it was the legacy of Ashura's will?
But Sasuke didn't feel any influence from Indra here.
He was already Sasuke — broken by irrational hatred.
There would be time to study that later. For now, it was time to go home and rest.
"I'm not scared at all! I'm going to become Hokage!"
Naruto's gaze darted around nervously; his heart was really trembling.
But he couldn't show fear — absolutely not — or Sasuke would mock him.
As for declaring his ambition to become Hokage —
That was his dream: to become someone everyone admired and respected.
"Hokage."
Sasuke looked at the yard ahead. That was his home.
Just as he was about to tell Naruto to go back, the system suddenly appeared again.
[Naruto has entered the Uchiha clan territory. Please make a choice, Host:Feed Naruto;Let Naruto cook;Eat with Naruto and invite him to stay;Give up the choice.]This time, the system's options, aside from giving up, all meant keeping Naruto here to eat together.
And even to stay.
If Naruto stayed here, the Hokage office probably wouldn't get any sleep.
But —
He really wanted to give it a try!
"Naruto, this is my home. Can you do me one more favor?"
Sasuke silently chose option 3, then looked at Naruto with hopeful eyes.
He was still a sick person, barely able to stand, so —
Since they were friends, helping out should be fine, right?
"No problem!"
Asked for help, Naruto didn't feel annoyed at all—instead, he was full of excitement.
But when Sasuke pointed in the direction and they arrived at a kitchen filled with various utensils, Naruto was dumbfounded.
Cooking was something he really didn't know how to do!
"I can't cook right now, but I can tell you how to use these. Later, you make enough for two, and we'll eat together."
Sasuke leaned against the doorframe, turned on the light, and then guided Naruto on how to use the simplest utensils there.
Although Sasuke could cook—after all, even a shut-in needs to eat—
He shouldn't be able to cook, because the Sasuke from before couldn't.
But having secretly watched his mother cook, Sasuke could roughly figure out how to use some tools, like making porridge or steaming rice.
"I'm mainly worried about breaking something."
Naruto looked at all the appliances, which he had never used before, and thought he definitely couldn't afford to replace them if they broke.
"It's fine. If something breaks, we'll just buy a new one. I don't really know how to use them either; I just watched my mom cook before."
Sasuke ran his hand over the refrigerator door, recalling the busy figure who used to be here—not only his mother but occasionally his older brother too.
The setting of this world was strange: ninjas, shrine maidens, samurai.
It should have been a very primitive state, yet it had all these high-tech household appliances.
A magical world setting—getting more and more exciting to look forward to.