hotmtlnovel Chapter 268: Brunch
Chapter 268: Brunch
Chapter 268 - Brunch
After bidding farewell to Teuchi and Ayame for the morning, he set off towards the agreed meeting spot.
Sakura was already waiting just as he was running, trying to catch his breath. When she spotted him, she grinned and waved him over.
"You're late," she teased, shaking her head in amusement.
Naruto chuckled, feeling a bit sheepish. "Sorry, sorry! I got caught up at Ichiriku's."
Sakura laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's right. I forgot you work there now. Well, I'm glad you're having fun there. But enough talking about restaurants; I'm starving already."
Naruto was more than happy to make up for lost time. "Don't have to tell me twice!"
Inside the café, she sat across from him. He was oddly quiet. When her drink came, she absently stirred it, sensing that he was about to share something significant—something that she hadn't heard from him yet.
Why else would he be so quiet?
Naruto finally met her eyes to whisper, "Hey, Sakura, what do you know about a Jinchūriki?"
"Huh?" Sakura asked as she sipped her tea. Her eyes darted around as she wondered why he brought his voice so low. The place was filled with civilians and shinobi alike, and while she doubted anyone could hear them over the chatter, she decided to play it cool. "What do you mean exactly?"
"I mean," Naruto said, staring down at his cup. "What do you know about Tailed Beasts and their hosts? Ya know, like Gaara."
Sakura had honestly only interacted with Gaara once, and that was during the Chūnin Exams. He didn't quite give her a good impression, and ever since then, she never heard from him again—all thanks to William, Margaret, Jada, Alex, and Jasper stopping the Sand from invading the Leaf.
"Sorry, Naruto," she answered, "but I don't really know anything about Gaara or what a Jinchūriki is."
He took a sip of his tea, wondering how to explain things. "Well, you see, Tailed Beasts are special, and there are nine of them. I'm the host for Kurama."
"Who's that?"
"He's the Nine-Tailed Fox living inside of me."
This was actually her first time hearing this. While yes, she witnessed Naruto use the Nine-Tails' chakra twice, but she never actually knew what it was. All she understood was that Naruto had a special type of chakra that no one bothered to explain to her. Not even Kakashi.
"You're not joking, right?" she asked. "Where is he then? In your jacket pocket? Under your shoe? Or maybe in that head of yours?"
"He's actually inside this seal," Naruto revealed. "Do you at least know what happened on October tenth, the day I was born?"
Sakura's composure faltered as she let out a shaky breath. "That was when the Nine-Tails attacked the village, right?"
"Yeah," Naruto nodded, still unable to meet her eyes. "Something like that. I can't explain it as well as Will, but that was actually the same day I was born. So when my dad couldn't kill Kurama, he had to figure out another way to save everyone—"
"...So he put it inside of someone," she finished.
Then she looked at him with fresh understanding, feeling empathetic.
"It's okay," he flatly said, gazing up at her. "That's why nobody liked me and why shopkeepers always kicked me out."
Sakura's heart pained at the memory of their childhood. "And why we were always told to stay away from you..."
"Yeah... And that's also why I couldn't do certain jutsu but still graduated from the academy. Even now, I actually still can't do certain techniques like I want. Ha-ha."
"But why are you telling me this now?" she wondered.
It's then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small book. "This belonged to my mom. She was Kurama's host before me."
Sakura's eyes widened in astonishment. "You mean your mom was like you?"
"Yeah, you could say it all runs in the family," he replied with a bitter smile.
He opened the book to show her its contents. Each page was filled with handwritten notes, drawings, and various stains from years of use. He smiled as he poured over the pages, and Sakura couldn't help but admire him; he had matured in ways she hadn't noticed before.
"Will, Pervy Sage, and I were in