Chapter 24 Naruto, do you want a brother? (Part-2)
"Because when Giyu grabbed my hand, it didn't hurt as much as before."
After Naruto said this, he lowered his head in embarrassment. This is the first time he has expressed this kind of almost dependence on his peers, as if Giyu is his pillar of escape from loneliness.
"Of course."
Giyu looked like he was expecting it, and said matter-of-factly: "Because the place I'm pressing now can make your hand slightly numb, that's why you feel this way."
For him with a clear vision, it is not easy to do this.
But this answer was completely beyond Naruto's expectations.
In the brief silence, Hatake Kakashi, who was responsible for "protecting" Naruto outside the house, slapped his ANBU mask on his face, gaining a new understanding of Giyu's ability to stand aside.
[Shouldn’t I answer something more comforting at this time? 】
At the same time, when Naruto was injured, the shadow clone sent by Kakashi to the Hokage's office for instructions on how to act was also released on its own. He got a piece of news that he didn't know whether it was good or bad.
Danzo is back. He called Third Hokage to his roots.
[In other words, the Third Hokage still doesn’t know anything about what happened here...? 】
Tsk.
If things don't go well, it will become troublesome.
inside the house.
"Ehhhhh?"
Hearing Giyu's almost absolutely rational answer, Uzumaki Naruto shrank into beady eyes.
I always feel that my emotional expressions are not responded to, and I feel a little disappointed, but it seems completely normal, because this is what Giyu can say with this expression.
"Your injury itself is not serious. It only damaged the epidermis. It looks a bit scary."
Giyu pointed at the back of Naruto's hand and said, "But now, I have to take out these wool residues from the wound, which is very painful."
"Do you still not want to be knocked unconscious?"
"No, no need."
Naruto said a little bravely, "I aim to become the Hokage of the village, how could I be scare of little pain!."
He was just worried that once he fainted, the long-awaited time with Giyu would pass in vain.
"All right."
Giyu did not persuade him again.
He used the tweezers to draw a circle over Naruto's injury, and finally hovered it over a more conspicuous hair fiber.
Looking at the metal edge so close at hand, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Naruto's forehead. His body tensed up again, his tongue pressed firmly against the roof of his mouth in anticipation of the coming, possible severe pain.
"I'll count to three and I'll clip it out."
Giyu reminded him, as if to prepare him mentally.
"……ok."
A gurgling sound came from Naruto's throat.
["Naruto, ninjas must learn to be patient, especially if you want to become Hokage. Whether it is pain or loneliness, it is a test that sharpens us..."]
The old man's words came to Naruto's mind, making him secretly determined not to scream in pain at least in front of Giyu.
"Don't pull your hands away. One, two."
Before it was three, Giyu had already made his move, quickly and precisely.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
"You obviously said you had to count to three!"
At this point, Naruto's plan to show "Hokage-like perseverance" completely failed.
"It's just a tactic to distract you."
Giyu explained coldly.
"Then if you tell me, will it still work - ah! Why are you here again -"
"It seems to be working."
Just like that, during the chaotic conversation between the two, Giyu had accurately and quickly picked out all the hair fibers stained on the wound.
It was only then that the ulceration on the skin of Naruto's hands completely stopped.
The severe pain gradually subsided to a normal level, and the body that was almost stiff to the point of rust also relaxed a little, and there was even an unreal feeling of surviving a disaster.
His entire shirt was soaked with sweat.
Giyu, on the other hand, made a judgment about what was mixed in the detergent.
[It is a substance that specifically corrodes the human body. 】
The tweezers, the iron bucket for washing the mop, the cloth mop, and the floor of Naruto's house were all stained with the stuff, but they were intact. This showed that they were not common acids and alkalis, and should only be effective on the human body.
But what kind of person dares to do such a thing?
It was possible that someone meant to hurt Naruto, but if he had some common sense and wore rubber gloves when washing the mop, such a thing wouldn't have happened.
But even if the other party didn't mean it, the hidden dangers this cleaning agent may bring are huge.
Imagine if Naruto didn't just get it in his hands, but it splashed into his eyes or mouth...
[It’s time to go to the place where things are sold. 】
Thinking of this, Giyu crushed all the wool residue and gloves he had removed from the wound into a ball, and threw it into the trash can under Naruto's pitiful eyes.
Naruto also knew that he could no longer wear those gloves. He just doesn't like to see things that accompany him disappear like this.
In the past, when no one was paying attention to him, he would talk to almost every object in the house, as if they were substitutes for the friends he never had.
[But now I have real friends. 】
This made him feel slightly better.
At this point, the most difficult step of treating the wound is over.
The questions that Giyu didn't ask just now because he was worried that it would affect the treatment. Now he can ask questions.
"Are the shops in the village willing to sell you things now?"
Giyu asked expressionlessly as he took out the pill box from his pants pocket, as if he was just chatting.
"Yeah. Grandpa Hokage's words are very effective."
Naruto didn't want Giyu to worry about his other things, so he made his words quite ambiguous.
His positive tone combined with his fake smile can make any neutral word or even bad thing sound like a good thing.
This was a unique talent, and Naruto didn't even realize that he was avoiding those truly unpleasant experiences.
"oh."
Giyu responded noncommittally.
He unscrewed the cap of the medicine box, and a faint fragrance of wisteria flowers (for a little more knowledge, the seeds of wisteria flowers are poisonous) came out, which calmed his originally slightly impetuous mood.
This medicine was originally prepared for Sasuke who often burned his mouth black, and it was extremely effective in cauterizing injuries.
Recently, Giyu got a copy to prevent spontaneous combustion and injury when practicing flame breathing. Unexpectedly, he had the opportunity to use it on Naruto again. What he didn't know was that the bottle given out during the first meeting was actually taken away by Hinata.
In addition, Giyu also noticed something——
The red energy that could repair Naruto's injuries before was very little flowing out of his abdomen today, as if the source of that power was deliberately trying to make Naruto suffer for a while longer.
So after thinking about it carefully, it was best for him to help Naruto apply a full set of medicines and bandages himself to prevent further trouble.
While applying the first ointment to Naruto, he asked again: "What happened to the expired milk and the bottle of detergent in your refrigerator?"
Naruto's right hand shook like an electric shock.
Giyu has discovered the cause of his injury.
He didn't want Giyu to always see him looking pitiful and being bullied. But things go counterproductive, but it happens like this every time...
Unconsciously, his hair drooped down like the ears of a drowned cat.
"Tell the truth."
Giyu remembered that he was like this when he first met Sabito. Rarely, he could truly understand what Naruto was thinking right now.
[If it were Sabito, he would probably "comfort" me like this. 】
“I didn’t come to you because I felt sorry for you."
"But if you don't even dare to admit and face what has happened, it's really hard for me to treat you as an equal person."
Giyu really couldn't say this sentence in the original and inspiring tone of Sabito, so it seemed very harsh and even sounded a bit sarcastic.
However, the first half of the sentence still touched Naruto's fragile heart.
[I didn’t come to you because I felt sorry for you. 】
At least one of the doubts hanging in his mind was answered, and the answer made him very happy, so he naturally agreed with the second half of Giyu's sentence.
"In the end what happened?"
Seeing Naruto cheer up a little, Giyu asked again.
"Why would you choose something like this to take home? Did you not look carefully when purchasing?"
Although he had some guesses about what happened, he wanted to inspire Naruto to protect himself just like Tanjiro's determination to heal Nezuko. Therefore, it was necessary for him to tell what happened to him.
"that……"
Naruto looked at the translucent ointment spread on the back of his hand and said in a slightly lower voice: "Although everyone is willing to sell me things, I am not allowed to enter the store".
"After they collected the money, they would pack the things for me and take them out. I only discovered the problem after I got home..."
"Milk on expiry date can only be sold at half the original price. How much do you pay them?"
Giyu knows this because he occasionally buys milk that is close to expiration date and then goes home to make cream and eat it on the same day. This does not require the milk to be very fresh.
"100 Ryō (original price)..."
Naruto was slightly sluggish. This was the first time he knew about this required knowledge point for housewives.
"The other hand."
"Ok."
Next Uchiha Giyu and Uzumaki Naruto were both immersed in silence.
In the room, the two people's breathing and applying medicine were quiet. They could only hear the slight friction between the broken door and the door frame, and the occasional whistle of cold air pouring in, as if someone would suddenly break in at the next moment and break the quiet atmosphere.
"What's going on with the detergent?"
"I, I don't know."
Naruto opened his mouth and shook his head in confusion.
"Maybe it's because it's expired."
But Giyu could no longer trust anything Naruto bought from the village.
If this continues, how can Naruto solve the problem of malnutrition before the ninja school starts?
Excluding the fact that he urgently needs to resurrect Rengoku Kyojuro, he cannot just sit back and watch this child with a smile similar to Tanjiro continue to live like this.
[If Naruto can't count on them, then he can only fight for them on his own. 】
"Then go to them and ask them clearly. If it was an accident, they should compensate you."
[But if not...]
Giyu unfolded the gauze and cut it into long strips, folded them, and covered the back of Naruto's hand with a suitable elasticity. He circled it around and around, inevitably irritating the wound, but Naruto showed no reaction at all.
When Giyu raised his head, Naruto's face was pale, and he was obviously thinking about some unacceptable scenarios.
"You don't want to go."
This is not a question.
"I have no idea……"
Naruto's lips trembled slightly.
"Anyway...you said it, Giyu, but it just looks serious, right? Maybe let's forget it..."
Even if it was just one person's malicious sight, it was already unbearable for him. If he really did what Giyu said...
He had already imagined the situation where he came to the door, but was surrounded by people, and then was unanimously targeted.
What will those people say and how will they look at him?
The best-case scenario is that he can't even enter the store and is kicked out...
"Do you still want to continue eating expired instant noodles and drinking expired milk?"
Giyu asked coldly.
"No, I don't want to."
Naruto shook his head. The feeling of diarrhea every night was too uncomfortable.
"I don't want to live the way I did before."
"In that case..."
A cloud of white steam came out of Giyu's nose.
"Then don't give up the power of how you want to survive to others casually!"
His expression became unusually ferocious, and his sudden high-pitched tone frightened Naruto into silence.
"Don't treat what has happened as if nothing has ever happened. If accepting it helps, then you won't be hurt like this today!"
"Even if the Hokage has given the order, they still dare to do this because they know that you will not resist and will only accept it silently. It is precisely because you dare not stand up for yourself that some people will bully you even more!""
"I don't even have the courage to protect myself, and I said that I don't want to live like before! I also said that I want to become the strongest hokage in this village, and I want to be recognized by everyone..."
In the last sentence, Giyu's voice was particularly loud and harsh, almost as if it was squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Don't make people laugh so hard!"
Giyu's voice came.
The increased wind pressure outside the room pushed the door violently open, and the chair blocking the door was overturned on the spot and lay helpless on the ground, making constant creaking and rubbing sounds.
The warmth in the room was instantly filled by the cold wind, and the fine snowflakes were like flying pure white butterflies, whirling at the door, as if to invite Giyu and Naruto to walk out.
"I know that maybe in the past few years, no one has been on your side."
Looking at Naruto who was frozen in his seat but unable to hold back the tears that kept falling down his cheeks, Giyu continued to add: "But I will support you. I will go with you to ask clearly."
Naruto raised his head in disbelief as snowflakes poured into the room and stuck to his face, as if trying to wipe away his tears.
"As long as I'm with you, no one can hurt you."
"This is my, Uchiha Giyu, Promise."
After speaking, he placed the remaining half of the cut gauze in front of Naruto and said with a serious face: "I have demonstrated to you the technique of bandaging the wound. You have to wrap the remaining hand yourself."
After saying that, he walked to the door and held on to the door frame that was shaking due to the wind pressure. "I will wait for you outside for half an hour. If you are willing to go, come out before I leave. I will call Someone to fix the door as soon as possible."
After saying that, he grabbed the broken handle and pulled the door to the outside of Naruto's house. There is no cold wind outside the house that can flow in from here.
Chapter 24 Naruto, do you want a brother? (Part-2)
"Because when Giyu grabbed my hand, it didn't hurt as much as before."
After Naruto said this, he lowered his head in embarrassment. This is the first time he has expressed this kind of almost dependence on his peers, as if Giyu is his pillar of escape from loneliness.
"Of course."
Giyu looked like he was expecting it, and said matter-of-factly: "Because the place I'm pressing now can make your hand slightly numb, that's why you feel this way."
For him with a clear vision, it is not easy to do this.
But this answer was completely beyond Naruto's expectations.
In the brief silence, Hatake Kakashi, who was responsible for "protecting" Naruto outside the house, slapped his ANBU mask on his face, gaining a new understanding of Giyu's ability to stand aside.
[Shouldn’t I answer something more comforting at this time? 】
At the same time, when Naruto was injured, the shadow clone sent by Kakashi to the Hokage's office for instructions on how to act was also released on its own. He got a piece of news that he didn't know whether it was good or bad.
Danzo is back. He called Third Hokage to his roots.
[In other words, the Third Hokage still doesn’t know anything about what happened here...? 】
Tsk.
If things don't go well, it will become troublesome.
inside the house.
"Ehhhhh?"
Hearing Giyu's almost absolutely rational answer, Uzumaki Naruto shrank into beady eyes.
I always feel that my emotional expressions are not responded to, and I feel a little disappointed, but it seems completely normal, because this is what Giyu can say with this expression.
"Your injury itself is not serious. It only damaged the epidermis. It looks a bit scary."
Giyu pointed at the back of Naruto's hand and said, "But now, I have to take out these wool residues from the wound, which is very painful."
"Do you still not want to be knocked unconscious?"
"No, no need."
Naruto said a little bravely, "I aim to become the Hokage of the village, how could I be scare of little pain!."
He was just worried that once he fainted, the long-awaited time with Giyu would pass in vain.
"All right."
Giyu did not persuade him again.
He used the tweezers to draw a circle over Naruto's injury, and finally hovered it over a more conspicuous hair fiber.
Looking at the metal edge so close at hand, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Naruto's forehead. His body tensed up again, his tongue pressed firmly against the roof of his mouth in anticipation of the coming, possible severe pain.
"I'll count to three and I'll clip it out."
Giyu reminded him, as if to prepare him mentally.
"……ok."
A gurgling sound came from Naruto's throat.
["Naruto, ninjas must learn to be patient, especially if you want to become Hokage. Whether it is pain or loneliness, it is a test that sharpens us..."]
The old man's words came to Naruto's mind, making him secretly determined not to scream in pain at least in front of Giyu.
"Don't pull your hands away. One, two."
Before it was three, Giyu had already made his move, quickly and precisely.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
"You obviously said you had to count to three!"
At this point, Naruto's plan to show "Hokage-like perseverance" completely failed.
"It's just a tactic to distract you."
Giyu explained coldly.
"Then if you tell me, will it still work - ah! Why are you here again -"
"It seems to be working."
Just like that, during the chaotic conversation between the two, Giyu had accurately and quickly picked out all the hair fibers stained on the wound.
It was only then that the ulceration on the skin of Naruto's hands completely stopped.
The severe pain gradually subsided to a normal level, and the body that was almost stiff to the point of rust also relaxed a little, and there was even an unreal feeling of surviving a disaster.
His entire shirt was soaked with sweat.
Giyu, on the other hand, made a judgment about what was mixed in the detergent.
[It is a substance that specifically corrodes the human body. 】
The tweezers, the iron bucket for washing the mop, the cloth mop, and the floor of Naruto's house were all stained with the stuff, but they were intact. This showed that they were not common acids and alkalis, and should only be effective on the human body.
But what kind of person dares to do such a thing?
It was possible that someone meant to hurt Naruto, but if he had some common sense and wore rubber gloves when washing the mop, such a thing wouldn't have happened.
But even if the other party didn't mean it, the hidden dangers this cleaning agent may bring are huge.
Imagine if Naruto didn't just get it in his hands, but it splashed into his eyes or mouth...
[It’s time to go to the place where things are sold. 】
Thinking of this, Giyu crushed all the wool residue and gloves he had removed from the wound into a ball, and threw it into the trash can under Naruto's pitiful eyes.
Naruto also knew that he could no longer wear those gloves. He just doesn't like to see things that accompany him disappear like this.
In the past, when no one was paying attention to him, he would talk to almost every object in the house, as if they were substitutes for the friends he never had.
[But now I have real friends. 】
This made him feel slightly better.
At this point, the most difficult step of treating the wound is over.
The questions that Giyu didn't ask just now because he was worried that it would affect the treatment. Now he can ask questions.
"Are the shops in the village willing to sell you things now?"
Giyu asked expressionlessly as he took out the pill box from his pants pocket, as if he was just chatting.
"Yeah. Grandpa Hokage's words are very effective."
Naruto didn't want Giyu to worry about his other things, so he made his words quite ambiguous.
His positive tone combined with his fake smile can make any neutral word or even bad thing sound like a good thing.
This was a unique talent, and Naruto didn't even realize that he was avoiding those truly unpleasant experiences.
"oh."
Giyu responded noncommittally.
He unscrewed the cap of the medicine box, and a faint fragrance of wisteria flowers (for a little more knowledge, the seeds of wisteria flowers are poisonous) came out, which calmed his originally slightly impetuous mood.
This medicine was originally prepared for Sasuke who often burned his mouth black, and it was extremely effective in cauterizing injuries.
Recently, Giyu got a copy to prevent spontaneous combustion and injury when practicing flame breathing. Unexpectedly, he had the opportunity to use it on Naruto again. What he didn't know was that the bottle given out during the first meeting was actually taken away by Hinata.
In addition, Giyu also noticed something——
The red energy that could repair Naruto's injuries before was very little flowing out of his abdomen today, as if the source of that power was deliberately trying to make Naruto suffer for a while longer.
So after thinking about it carefully, it was best for him to help Naruto apply a full set of medicines and bandages himself to prevent further trouble.
While applying the first ointment to Naruto, he asked again: "What happened to the expired milk and the bottle of detergent in your refrigerator?"
Naruto's right hand shook like an electric shock.
Giyu has discovered the cause of his injury.
He didn't want Giyu to always see him looking pitiful and being bullied. But things go counterproductive, but it happens like this every time...
Unconsciously, his hair drooped down like the ears of a drowned cat.
"Tell the truth."
Giyu remembered that he was like this when he first met Sabito. Rarely, he could truly understand what Naruto was thinking right now.
[If it were Sabito, he would probably "comfort" me like this. 】
“I didn’t come to you because I felt sorry for you."
"But if you don't even dare to admit and face what has happened, it's really hard for me to treat you as an equal person."
Giyu really couldn't say this sentence in the original and inspiring tone of Sabito, so it seemed very harsh and even sounded a bit sarcastic.
However, the first half of the sentence still touched Naruto's fragile heart.
[I didn’t come to you because I felt sorry for you. 】
At least one of the doubts hanging in his mind was answered, and the answer made him very happy, so he naturally agreed with the second half of Giyu's sentence.
"In the end what happened?"
Seeing Naruto cheer up a little, Giyu asked again.
"Why would you choose something like this to take home? Did you not look carefully when purchasing?"
Although he had some guesses about what happened, he wanted to inspire Naruto to protect himself just like Tanjiro's determination to heal Nezuko. Therefore, it was necessary for him to tell what happened to him.
"that……"
Naruto looked at the translucent ointment spread on the back of his hand and said in a slightly lower voice: "Although everyone is willing to sell me things, I am not allowed to enter the store".
"After they collected the money, they would pack the things for me and take them out. I only discovered the problem after I got home..."
"Milk on expiry date can only be sold at half the original price. How much do you pay them?"
Giyu knows this because he occasionally buys milk that is close to expiration date and then goes home to make cream and eat it on the same day. This does not require the milk to be very fresh.
"100 Ryō (original price)..."
Naruto was slightly sluggish. This was the first time he knew about this required knowledge point for housewives.
"The other hand."
"Ok."
Next Uchiha Giyu and Uzumaki Naruto were both immersed in silence.
In the room, the two people's breathing and applying medicine were quiet. They could only hear the slight friction between the broken door and the door frame, and the occasional whistle of cold air pouring in, as if someone would suddenly break in at the next moment and break the quiet atmosphere.
"What's going on with the detergent?"
"I, I don't know."
Naruto opened his mouth and shook his head in confusion.
"Maybe it's because it's expired."
But Giyu could no longer trust anything Naruto bought from the village.
If this continues, how can Naruto solve the problem of malnutrition before the ninja school starts?
Excluding the fact that he urgently needs to resurrect Rengoku Kyojuro, he cannot just sit back and watch this child with a smile similar to Tanjiro continue to live like this.
[If Naruto can't count on them, then he can only fight for them on his own. 】
"Then go to them and ask them clearly. If it was an accident, they should compensate you."
[But if not...]
Giyu unfolded the gauze and cut it into long strips, folded them, and covered the back of Naruto's hand with a suitable elasticity. He circled it around and around, inevitably irritating the wound, but Naruto showed no reaction at all.
When Giyu raised his head, Naruto's face was pale, and he was obviously thinking about some unacceptable scenarios.
"You don't want to go."
This is not a question.
"I have no idea……"
Naruto's lips trembled slightly.
"Anyway...you said it, Giyu, but it just looks serious, right? Maybe let's forget it..."
Even if it was just one person's malicious sight, it was already unbearable for him. If he really did what Giyu said...
He had already imagined the situation where he came to the door, but was surrounded by people, and then was unanimously targeted.
What will those people say and how will they look at him?
The best-case scenario is that he can't even enter the store and is kicked out...
"Do you still want to continue eating expired instant noodles and drinking expired milk?"
Giyu asked coldly.
"No, I don't want to."
Naruto shook his head. The feeling of diarrhea every night was too uncomfortable.
"I don't want to live the way I did before."
"In that case..."
A cloud of white steam came out of Giyu's nose.
"Then don't give up the power of how you want to survive to others casually!"
His expression became unusually ferocious, and his sudden high-pitched tone frightened Naruto into silence.
"Don't treat what has happened as if nothing has ever happened. If accepting it helps, then you won't be hurt like this today!"
"Even if the Hokage has given the order, they still dare to do this because they know that you will not resist and will only accept it silently. It is precisely because you dare not stand up for yourself that some people will bully you even more!""
"I don't even have the courage to protect myself, and I said that I don't want to live like before! I also said that I want to become the strongest hokage in this village, and I want to be recognized by everyone..."
In the last sentence, Giyu's voice was particularly loud and harsh, almost as if it was squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Don't make people laugh so hard!"
Giyu's voice came.
The increased wind pressure outside the room pushed the door violently open, and the chair blocking the door was overturned on the spot and lay helpless on the ground, making constant creaking and rubbing sounds.
The warmth in the room was instantly filled by the cold wind, and the fine snowflakes were like flying pure white butterflies, whirling at the door, as if to invite Giyu and Naruto to walk out.
"I know that maybe in the past few years, no one has been on your side."
Looking at Naruto who was frozen in his seat but unable to hold back the tears that kept falling down his cheeks, Giyu continued to add: "But I will support you. I will go with you to ask clearly."
Naruto raised his head in disbelief as snowflakes poured into the room and stuck to his face, as if trying to wipe away his tears.
"As long as I'm with you, no one can hurt you."
"This is my, Uchiha Giyu, Promise."
After speaking, he placed the remaining half of the cut gauze in front of Naruto and said with a serious face: "I have demonstrated to you the technique of bandaging the wound. You have to wrap the remaining hand yourself."
After saying that, he walked to the door and held on to the door frame that was shaking due to the wind pressure. "I will wait for you outside for half an hour. If you are willing to go, come out before I leave. I will call Someone to fix the door as soon as possible."
After saying that, he grabbed the broken handle and pulled the door to the outside of Naruto's house. There is no cold wind outside the house that can flow in from here.
