Although she had become good friends with Naruto, Yuka did not invite him to stay over at their house. After setting a time to meet up with him tomorrow, she prepared to have someone escort him back home.
Naruto's clothes were somewhat dirty, which made it easy to tell that his living conditions were not very good. Mikoto had originally intended to let Naruto take a bath and change into a new set of clothes—Naruto and Sasuke were around the same age, so Sasuke's clothes would have fit him perfectly—but Naruto politely declined Mikoto's kindness. With a beaming grin, he said he was totally fine, then scampered off on his short little legs.
He was brimming with joy, looking forward immensely to meeting his new friend tomorrow.
Watching his receding figure, Mikoto felt as though she were seeing her dear friend once again.
Back in their youth, she and Kushina had first met. When the two of them made plans to go out together the next day, Kushina had acted just like this.
In the moonlight, the gorgeous young girl with long, beautiful red hair had bounded forward happily for a few steps, turned back to look at her with a smile, waved her hand vigorously, and finally pressed her overlapping fingers against her lips as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Hey! Mikoto!! See you tomorrow!"
And now, Naruto was making the exact same gesture Kushina had made back then.
The moonlight slanted down, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the ground with stark contrast between brightness and darkness. Naruto stood right there in the illuminated spot, his dazzling golden hair shining brilliantly as the moonlight spilled over his face, outlining his clear-cut features.
His thin little face was filled with smiles, his eyes practically crinkled shut with joy.
"Hey!! Yuka!!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Hmm?" Hearing him, Yuka looked over in the direction of the voice and waved back at Naruto with a smile. "What is it, Naruto?!"
Naruto took a deep breath, as if summoning all the strength in his body. "See you tomorrow! We'll see you tomorrow!!"
"Hahahahaha~" Yuka giggled, her eyes curving into crescents as she waved her arms extra hard. "Un! See you tomorrow!"
The tears that Mikoto had been holding back all evening finally burst forth at that moment. She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands, letting the ruthless tears wash over her cheeks and trickle down through the gaps between her fingers onto the ground.
"Mother?" Coming back to her senses, Yuka finally noticed her mother's strange behavior. "Why are you crying?"
"It's nothing." Mikoto's voice was choked with sobs. She unconsciously tightened her grip on Yuka's hand, as if trying to draw strength from her daughter.
It was her fault for failing Kushina. It was her fault for failing this child.
Before Kushina passed away, she hadn't been able to see her one last time, nor had she been able to protect this child. All of this was her own failing.
Yuka asked in puzzlement, "Does Mother have a private matter as well?"
Itachi, who had just walked over: "..."
Mikoto, lost in her sorrowful emotions: "...Eh?"
Yuka tilted her head in confusion. "Brother said before that things you don't want to tell other people are private matters. I asked Mother what's wrong, and since Mother doesn't want to tell me, that means it's a private matter. But Mother, I'm not 'other people,' I'm your child. Why can't you tell me?"
Mikoto's brain completely short-circuited. "...What were we just talking about again?"
Yuka remained clueless. "I asked Mother why you were crying, and besides, Mother, you were crying while looking at Naruto, even though Naruto himself is laughing. Why are you crying?"
Itachi stepped forward and swept her up into his arms. "Mother's crying has nothing to do with private matters."
"Then what does Mother's crying have to do with?"
Itachi didn't answer the question and instead steered the conversation elsewhere. "Yuka, are you still meeting up with Naruto tomorrow?"
"Yeah! We're good friends. I read in a book that good friends have to play together every day! It's called nurturing affection and deepening friendship so that you can become best friends for life!"
Mikoto instinctively chimed in, "Yuka, but you can't... you can't be friends with Naruto."
The village higher-ups used the high-sounding pretext of protecting the Jinchuriki to forbid the various noble clans from having any contact with them. To a village, a Jinchuriki was simply too important; if one got tangled up with a particular clan, it might even affect the village's development... The Uchiha clan was already growing stronger by the day, fast becoming a thorn in the side of the higher-ups. If they were discovered mingling with the Jinchuriki at such a crucial time, the consequences would likely be unimaginable.
Yuka was still young; she understood nothing of the affairs happening among adults, nor did she grasp the complicated machinations within the clan. She cared about only one thing: "Why can't I be friends with Naruto?"
"The Uchiha are a prominent clan..." Mikoto attempted to explain to Yuka, "and Naruto... Naruto has a special status. If you become friends with Naruto, it will put the clan in a difficult position."
"It's fine." Yuka quickly came up with a solution. "I can just sneak around and play with him later, and not bring him home. I saw in a scroll I read before that there are Transformation Techniques and Disguise Techniques. Once I have Chakra, I'll transform into someone else when I play with him, so no one will ever find out! Besides, I don't wear clothes with the fan crest when I go out anyway—who's going to know I'm a child of the Uchiha clan? I don't even have pinkeye."
That speech was both lengthy and logically sound. Hearing it, there really seemed to be nothing wrong with it, huh.
However...
Kid... the Sharingan is not pinkeye, hey!
Itachi maintained his deadpan expression, though his pupils twitched slightly. "..."
Mikoto was startled, but she forgot to correct her daughter's peculiar name for the Sharingan and was instead shocked by something else entirely: "... Son, didn't you say that as for those complex ninjutsu, she only looks at them but can't possibly understand them?"