Chapter 68

“Kakashi-san, is he okay?” – Yoshiro asked concernedly, looking at the dozing Naruto.

“Nothing special, just overtired,” Kakashi answered indifferently, and then remembered something and asked a rhetorical question, as if he had no doubt about his statement: “Did you feel it too?”

“Yes, I felt, ahem... a special chakra, is it really Naru...” Yoshiro muttered thoughtfully, nodding in agreement, but then stopped mid-sentence and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “A wandering shinobi like me shouldn’t venture into the murky waters of one of the Great Villages, right?”

To which Hatake nodded understandingly and was about to answer, but then his usually sad look became extremely serious.

“Yoshiro-san, can you take Naruto home?” – after these words, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique, without bothering to listen to the response of the wandering shinobi.

“As expected of the legendary First Mizukage, he has it all figured out?” – Yoshiro narrowed his eyes after Kakashi left and lightly pushed Naruto, forcing him to finally open his eyelids.

- Uncle Yoshiro, what happened, why are you here? - Uzumaki looked around tiredly, the boy himself didn’t understand where it came from, but he couldn’t let go of the vague feeling of losing something very important.

“You overtrained and fell asleep right in the forest.” You need to take better care of yourself, because rest is no less important than the training itself! – Yoshiro answered good-naturedly.

From what he heard, Naruto lowered his gaze in embarrassment and tried to stand up.

He wanted to lie down for a minute, but ended up passing out from fatigue!

But then another wave of fatigue rolled in, my legs trembled and my body sank back to the ground, exhausted.

“Well, it seems I really overdid it with the training,” the fallen Naruto raised his head and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Let me carry you,” then Yoshiro turned his back, squatted down and smiled over his shoulder.

After these words, Naruto looked at the back of the wandering shinobi for some time, stunned. It seemed like nothing special, but it brought a lump to my throat and a tingling sensation in my nose.

Soon, Yoshiro slowly walked through the moonlit forest towards Tazuna's house with a tired Naruto on his back.

“Sp...thank you, Uncle Yoshiro...” the face was hidden behind his back, but even in the boy’s voice strong emotions were felt.

“Nothing,” Yoshiro turned his head with a smile.

– Can you tell me more about the Uzumaki Clan? It seems you know a lot...” the boy asked carefully.

He soon sighed in disappointment, not having waited for the wandering shinobi's answer, but he was not particularly surprised, because this was not the first time this had happened.

“So be it, I’ll tell you my secret, since you really want to know.” The thing is that my wife is from the Uzumaki Clan... - Yoshiro suddenly whispered with a hint of sadness in his voice, continuing to carry the boy on his back.

Meanwhile, Kakashi rushed in the opposite direction until he came across a man in a white porcelain mask in the middle of the forest.

Judging by the pattern on the mask and the special uniform, it was an Anbu. But upon closer inspection, the Jounin noticed slight differences.

-What is it, Hatake Kakashi? – the masked man asked indifferently.

This stunned Kakashi. Everything indicated that he had met a member of the Root Anbu, except that the voice was a little strange, harsh or something.

Had the Nine-Tails' chakra attracted Root's attention?

- Root... where are you here from? – Jounin narrowed his eyes slightly.

And in response there was silence.

Only a cold gaze stared at him from under the mask.

The shinobi then made a gesture with his hand and walked away.

“It’s really the Root...” – Kakashi whispered to himself, exhaling in relief, shortly after the Root Anbu shinobi disappeared from sight.

The former Anbu understood the meaning of that gesture very well.

To put it rudely, just don’t stick your nose into something that’s not your own business!

But what is Root Anbu doing in the small Land of Waves?

After thinking a little, Kakashi discarded these thoughts; it is unlikely that the affairs of the Root Anbu are connected with them...

With such thoughts, he turned around and rushed towards Tazuna's house through the dense forest.

“I gave the opportunity, the rest depends on you, Yoshiro...” Yudao grinned wryly, looking after Kakashi as he ran away, with a member of the Root Anbu calmly standing next to him.

***

On the way to Tazuna's house.

– There are many rumors about the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan. Some say that the remaining shinobi villages considered the Uzumaki's extraordinary skill in Fuinjutsu a threat. Others say that the descendants of the Uzumaki were hunted because of their unique physique, which made it possible to seal monsters into them. My wife was lucky to escape, that’s when we met her... – at the mention of his wife, a smile appeared on Yoshiro’s face, but his voice became sadder as the story continued.

Naruto involuntarily shuddered all over when the wandering shinobi mentioned "sealing monsters", and then remembered how everyone in the village called him a monster, and the words of teacher Mizuki.

While he was thinking about this, the Nine-Tails' negative emotions began to seep through the partially torn seal within his subconscious.

But then scenes with a smiling Iruka, a caring Third Hokage and laughing comrades flashed before my eyes...