"So, Sakura-chan, how did you end up here?"
In the clan head's residence of the Uchiha Clan's compound, Naruto stared with a peculiar look at the girl carrying a large bag of snacks.
And the... white-haired clone that climbed in through the window with her?
"Don't ask. There was a situation at home. Everyone needs some space right now, so I'm here to crash at your place." Sakura shrugged nonchalantly, her manner already completely disregarding Tsunade's house arrest order.
Not to mention the two adults at home, when Sato Sakura's identity was revealed earlier, there were quite a few Ninja maintaining order hidden in the shadows around the streets. Plus, there was a hole in the house, and Sakura herself hadn't tried to hide anything.
So, this explosive news spread by word of mouth, gradually causing a storm among friends and family.
So now she could only hide from the storm in the last pure land, which was Naruto's place, where news traveled slowly.
Dejectedly, she reached into the bag, pulled out a bottle of coffee milk, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Sato Sakura, who was looking on curiously.
Although Naruto didn't understand what kind of new two-person act his teammate was pulling with her own clone, he was about to face the Chunin Exams again soon, so he buried his head again and frantically crammed for his theoretical lessons.
However, the wonderful study time didn't last long before it was interrupted again.
The wooden floor outside his room creaked underfoot, and the originally closed door was slammed open, revealing Sasuke's figure, panting heavily.
"Who, who did it!"
Sasuke's eyes landed on Sato Sakura, and a hint of red flickered in his pupils.
In this environment, before the age of information explosion, the only things that filled the villagers' appetites along with their food were various gossip and scandals.
But recently, aside from the war, what better gossip could there be in the village than about the famous Ninja of Konoha, the Fifth Hokage's disciple, the head of Konoha's Medical Department, Jonin Haruno Sakura?
From the time the news spread until Sasuke learned of it, and then to when he deduced, based on his knowledge of this old comrade's habits, that she should be hiding from harassment at Naruto's place, it took less than ten minutes.
Then came the frantic dash, storming back to the Uchiha Residence, ready to find out who had laid hands on Sakura and let them experience the interrogation techniques he had learned while commanding the Public Security Department recently.
"Huh, Sasuke, what are you talking about?"
Seizing the chance to escape the sea of knowledge, Naruto put down his pen and paper, shaking his slightly dazed head.
"Idiot, use your Observation Haki and see, that's not a clone!"
A trembling finger pointed at the expressionless girl lying on Naruto's bed, chewing snacks. Sasuke's face turned red, too embarrassed to say the second half of the sentence.
"Uh... really, Sakura, is this your sister? Why does she look so much like you?"
Reminded, Naruto used his unskilled Observation Haki and finally noticed a significant difference in their life energies.
"Sigh, the last pure land!" Sakura sighed softly.
But in the end, a mischievous impulse arose. She pulled Sato Sakura off the bed, put her arm around her shoulder, pressed her cheek against Sato Sakura's, and raised her hand to make a peace sign beside Sato Sakura's other cheek.
A wicked smile appeared on the girl's face, and she spoke in a slightly decadent, lax tone: "This is my daughter! Cute, right?"
"Da... daughter... what are you talking about?"
A dry voice squeezed out of his throat, accompanied by a gulp.
Uzumaki Naruto's expression changed dramatically, Uzumaki Naruto wanted to speak but hesitated, Uzumaki Naruto's body trembled, Uzumaki Naruto collapsed to the ground, Uzumaki Naruto's heart stopped, Uzumaki Naruto turned pale all over.
Ding—
The blond boy's lips parted slightly, and a wisp of his soul drifted out of his mouth, slowly rising towards the sky, ready to depart with the old woman on the River Styx.
…
Because Sasuke was the first to deduce Sakura's location and stormed back to the Uchiha Residence, the others, following the strategist Shikamaru's useful brain, also tracked Sasuke's trail to the Uchiha Residence.
In the end, what started as a simple teammate meeting gradually turned into a gathering of the new generation.
In the large reception hall of the Uchiha Clan's head's residence, Mikoto served a cup of hot tea to each visiting guest and retreated with a quiet chuckle.
On the cushions, Naruto, Sasuke, Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and the others stared intently at Sakura, who had her arms around one silver-haired and one blond-haired girl.
"Sakura-chan, what is going on!"
Ino snuggled into the pink-haired girl's slightly prominent softness, sniffing the cool fragrance on her, completely unconcerned about Sato Sakura glaring at her with hostile eyes.
As for the idea that Sakura had an illegitimate daughter this old, Ino herself absolutely wouldn't believe it.
After all, they had grown up together. Even during Sakura's time guarding the border, Ino would visit her on missions. How could an illegitimate daughter suddenly appear without Ino knowing about it?
But if it wasn't an illegitimate daughter, what was the deal with this appearance that was practically carved from the same mold as Sakura's?
It couldn't be that Kizashi and Mebuki had secretly had a child while no one was looking and left it outside, could it?
"It's complicated to explain, but from a blood relationship perspective, this child is indeed my daughter."
Sakura raised her hand and scratched under Sato Sakura's chin, making the fair-skinned, expressionless girl squint her eyes in comfort. "Come, say hello to your uncles and aunts."
"Pfft—!" *n
Many of her contemporaries who had been drinking hot tea spat it out directly upon hearing Sakura's words. Even the usually stern Sasuke had cracks in the cold expression he maintained.
"Hello, uncles and aunts! My name is Sato Sakura. I'm seven years old. Please take care of me from now on!"
Sato Sakura stood up to greet everyone, then looked at her mother, who couldn't even remember her own age correctly, with resentful eyes.
Born in 1511 of the Sea Circle Calendar on the island of Punk Hazard, she left the sea for the Ninja world in 1518. She was actually seven years old.
"Ah... oh, yeah, I guess so."
Sakura's face flushed slightly with embarrassment as she scratched her head.
"Don't, don't call me aunt..."
Aunt Ino couldn't stand the title and frantically messed up her own hair in frustration.
In just a few years, she had gone from Ino-senpai to Ino-nee and then to Aunt Ino. The shock was no less than seeing Madara arm-in-arm with Hashirama, declaring to Mito that he was stealing her love.
"Ah, Sakura has a child, Sakura has a child!"
Naruto still stared blankly at the ceiling, mumbling the same few words repeatedly.
"Sakura... is so bold!"
Hinata's face turned bright red, and she lowered her head, sneaking glances at Naruto.
"Indeed!"
Shino nodded in agreement with Hinata.
"Well, it's just a child, why is everyone making such a big deal out of it!"
Kiba, who had been dragged along, looked at them uncomprehendingly. After all, the Inuzuka Clan had always lived with dogs, and they'd seen litters of a dozen or more quite often, so they were actually the most open-minded about it.
"Probably because raising a child costs a lot of money, so she won't be able to buy delicious food anymore?" Choji rubbed his stomach, wondering if he should help out his contemporary.
"Stop overthinking it. Sakura is a Jonin, can't she afford to raise one child?" Shikamaru raised his hand and knocked on Choji's head.
"Seven years old?"
Amidst the commotion, Sasuke spotted a blind spot in Sato Sakura's words. Having collected information on all his contemporaries for the Chunin Exams, he knew that Sakura was the same age as him.
If this child wasn't lying about being seven years old, then seven years ago Sakura was only nine, far too young to bear a child. So... at the very least, this child couldn't have been carried and birthed by Sakura herself.
"Caught that, did you?"
Sakura looked up at the now-silent crowd and suddenly smiled: "That's right, this child is the product of genetic technology!"
"Huh? Huh—!" *n