Seeing Shisui's eyes still tightly closed, Itachi's steps forward paused slightly, but he didn't think much more, crossing the small wooden bridge and sitting cross-legged beside Shisui.
Staring at the empty fish basket, Itachi wasn't sure if he would be able to eat grilled fish tonight.
"Was today's mission smooth?"
"Mm."
The quiet environment made the fish in the river relax their guard. Itachi watched them curiously touch the floating bait, their tails occasionally visible on the water's surface, and deliberately lowered his voice.
"These past few days, while on a mission, I discovered a suitable place to live within the Land of Fire."
"It's a basin deep within the mountains, close to a river, and the land is relatively fertile. That place can temporarily become Uchiha's base."
Shisui heard the fatigue in Itachi's voice. It seemed that while completing his missions these past few days, he was still concerned about Uchiha's future. This made Shisui, who couldn't help him share the burden, feel a touch of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Itachi, for making you bear so much alone. It must be very difficult."
With that, he held the fishing rod with one hand and patted Itachi's shoulder with the other.
The touch on his shoulder made Itachi's long-tense shoulders relax.
He closed his eyes, inhaled the damp air, and listened to the gurgling river, occasionally accompanied by a few bird calls.
"Chizhao doesn't seem like an ordinary child."
The fishing rod moved slightly. Shisui tugged it, then maintained his fishing posture:
"Indeed, an ordinary child's mind isn't so meticulous, and their abilities couldn't possibly be so exaggerated."
"Do you trust her?"
Itachi tilted his head, looking at Shisui's profile. The soft orange light illuminated his face, and his long eyelashes cast a small shadow.
"Itachi, can you see the koi fish in the river?"
A gentle breeze swept by, making the river water ripple slightly. Under the evening sun, fragmented golden ripples intertwined and collided.
Itachi didn't understand why the focus was on a fish. He shook his head, his voice low:
"No."
"But Chizhao saw them."
"I hope we'll be able to see them too, in time."
No sooner had he spoken than the fishing rod in Shisui's hand suddenly tugged violently into the water.
"It's hooked!"
He leaned back, the taut muscles on his arms becoming clearly visible. He pulled hard on the fishing rod, using both hands to reel in the line quickly.
A plump, large fish was yanked out of the water, flapping and flying towards Itachi in his surprised black eyes.
"Wait...."
Shisui only heard a crisp "smack," and felt as if the fish he caught had swung in an arc, hit something, and then fallen onto the grass.
He tentatively reached out and asked about Itachi's condition:
"Itachi? Are you alright?"
Itachi, bent over, trembling and covering his cheek, was breathing a little heavily.
The force of the fish hitting his face was indeed not light, like being slapped hard by a formidable older sister. The stinging pain was accompanied by a pungent fishy smell.
"Mm... it hurts..."
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't see..."
No, I couldn't see anyway: "Sorry, I didn't pay attention to the force and..."
"It's fine..."
Itachi lifted his head and took a deep breath.
A clear red mark appeared on his cheek, and there were even a few fish scales.
Good thing Shisui couldn't see, otherwise he would have been laughed at.
He deliberately made his tone calm, as if nothing had happened, rubbing his cheek with one hand, picking up the fat fish with the other, and throwing it into the bamboo basket, muttering:
"One fish isn't enough."
Hearing this, Shisui, his fighting spirit rekindled, rolled up his sleeves:
"Heh heh, just wait a moment, there will be many fish soon."
This time, Itachi learned his lesson. He sat far away on the steps of the wooden house, holding his Ninja blade in his arms, resting his chin on his folded arms, silently watching Shisui's back.
It was truly good to see Shisui still alive.
He surveyed the elegant environment bathed in the evening glow, the fresh scent of grass and trees carried by the breeze reaching his nose. He comfortably narrowed his eyes slightly.
This place seemed filled with an aura that could bring people back to tranquility, enveloping him tightly from the inside out, healing his exhausted mood little by little.
Was all of this built by Chizhao?
Truly remarkable.
In his drowsy mind, he recalled the koi fish Shisui had just mentioned.
The shimmering river surface gradually blurred in his eyes.
In a trance, he seemed to see the girl's bright smile.
Then I'll try to believe too, believe in that koi fish that brings hope.
.......
Today, Konoha's sky was clear and blue, and the gentle sunlight, like a soft gauze, evenly spread across the land. A light breeze blew, bringing waves of freshness and comfort.
Inside the Ninja Academy, a group of children stood in neat rows on the playground, facing Iruka.
Iruka stood with his hands on his hips, announcing in a loud voice:
"Taijutsu training is over. Now it's free activity time. Everyone, please be careful while resting. Dismissed!"
"Yes!"
No sooner had the synchronized voices fallen than the children, laughing and playing, scattered in small groups.
Chizhao, who was about to return to the classroom, suddenly saw Naruto jump out in front of her. His cheerful demeanor was like a fully charged little sun, constantly radiating his sunshine.
"Hey, hey, Chizhao, let's play kick the can together!"
"Kick the can? How do you play?"
Seeing the girl's confused expression, Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly.
All the children in the Village knew how to play this game, but asking him to explain how to play made Naruto, who was already in an intellectual desert, even more of a headache.
"It's just, you run, and then I chase, and then *bong* kick the can! It's that simple!"
"Huh?"
Watching Naruto gesticulate wildly, vividly describing the rules to her, a bunch of question marks popped up in her head again.
This kid's talent for rhetoric was truly an enigma.
A little speechless by Naruto's foolish behavior, Shikamaru, looking like a wise man, walked between the two, pushed Naruto aside, and sighed softly:
"I'll explain."
Chizhao also turned her gaze to Shikamaru, her cute 'you speak, I'm listening' expression making Shikamaru cough lightly, a little embarrassed.
After a long explanation, Shikamaru's throat was dry.
When he saw Chizhao's eager expression, he knew she must have understood.
"I meant the same thing..."
A puzzled Naruto looked at them, not understanding what he had said wrong.
However, he was met with silence from both Chizhao and Shikamaru.
After fully understanding the complete rules, and then recalling Naruto's previous description...
It could be called the ultimate in 'concise and to the point.' Only geniuses among geniuses would have understood it.
Here, Chizhao wanted to specifically praise one person, and that was Konohamaru, who was still an infant.
"I want to play! But there are so few of us, shouldn't we get a few more people to make it better?"
"Me too!" Choji walked over, eating potato chips.
Shikamaru counted on his fingers: "Right now, there are only four of us."
At this moment, Chizhao's gaze fell on Ino and Sakura not far away. She happily ran over to invite the two. Initially, they were a little hesitant.
But Chizhao, who really wanted to experience a childhood game, could only trick them by saying Sasuke was also participating, which finally won them over completely.
Naruto also somehow dragged Inuzuka Kiba over, and the number of game participants suddenly grew.
When Sakura looked around, asking where Sasuke was, Chizhao immediately became nervous.
"He might still be in the forest, I'll go find him!"
Chizhao ran off quickly, frantically searching the forest, and finally found Sasuke meditating under a large tree.
"Sasuke! Please help me!"
Sasuke was startled awake by the sudden shout. Seeing Chizhao slide and kneel before him, he immediately jumped up from the ground in fright, a drop of cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
He nervously asked: "What... what are you doing!"
After understanding the situation, Sasuke crossed his arms, hesitated for a moment, and refused Chizhao's game invitation.
"Oh, come on! Sasuke, please agree to play with me!"
"Why do you always ask me?"
"Because... because I want to get along with you."
The girl's eyes shimmered with light, and her expression was pitiful.
Being stared at like that made Sasuke somewhat flustered, averting his gaze, but the tips of his ears involuntarily turned a clear, light red.
"Let's be clear, you asked me to go, I'm not going voluntarily..."
"Yay!"