Just moments after chatting with Orochimaru about being careful not to have children stolen, Hatake Sakumo turned around to find the boy had vanished, sending him into a brief panic.
He hurriedly patrolled the shop, finally spotting the familiar back squatting down in the section selling girls' hair accessories.
Hatake Sakumo instantly breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, and asked, "Nariya, what are you doing?"
Why had he run over to the girls' accessories section? Could he be trying to buy something for a girl he liked?
...No, that couldn't be right.
He was far too young for that.
As he was thinking this, Nariya Ueshima stood up. Realizing the item he wanted was not here, he craned his neck to look toward another section.
"Found it."
Hearing his absorbed muttering, Hatake Sakumo looked on in utter confusion.
Ten-odd seconds passed before he saw Nariya Ueshima pick up a silver-white eye patch.
For some reason, Hatake Sakumo understood the boy's intent immediately.
In that instant, his feelings were terribly complicated.
Those eyes must have brought Nariya a lot of unwanted attention, hadn't they?
Covering them up might be for the best.
After all, he was about to start school at the ninja academy. Unlike the adults outside who were too busy with daily life to spare much attention, the children in there would speak their minds with absolute sincerity and zero hesitation.
Since he wasn't from the Uchiha or Hyuga clan, exposing unusual eyes like that would inevitably draw excessive scrutiny.
It seemed this child was far more sensitive than he had imagined.
Sigh.
With things like this, Hatake Sakumo no longer had the heart to try and persuade the boy to come live with the Hatake clan. He would simply bring up the topic again when the time was right.
After finishing his selection and preparing to pay, Nariya Ueshima reached for his wallet, only to have his hand stopped by Hatake Sakumo.
The man patted the boy's head with a smile and said, "You're about to start school, and Uncle wants to congratulate you. This one's on me."
"Huh? Uncle Sakumo, I have money."
"It's fine. It's not expensive anyway, so let's treat it as your enrollment gift. Once Kakashi gets back, we'll all have a meal together to celebrate. How does that sound?"
Hearing this, the child in front of him froze, lowering his head so far that even his voice grew quiet.
"...Why are you being so good to me?"
Hatake Sakumo smiled gently. "You don't need a reason to be good to people."
"Also, don't worry about what happened today."
He was referring to their encounter with Danzo and Orochimaru.
He was especially concerned about Orochimaru's nonsense, worrying that Nariya might have taken that remark about "value in being used" to heart and assumed that the only reason he was being nice to him was to exploit him.
Yet Nariya Ueshima—though a child in appearance, was actually an adult on the inside—how could he possibly misunderstand Hatake Sakumo's intentions?
Of course he wouldn't take Orochimaru's words seriously.
He was simply playing the part of a sensitive, introverted orphan.
After parting ways with Hatake Sakumo, he put Danzo and Orochimaru completely out of his mind to focus on completing his enrollment procedures.
At the Third Hokage's behest, the young ninja academy teacher assigned to guide him through the paperwork was named Tsugawa Yibito.
Seeing that the boy was using a severed half-eye patch to cover his left eye, Tsugawa Yibito looked rather surprised.
Why was the child specially recommended by Lord Hokage practically blind?
"Teacher, is something wrong?"
"...It's nothing."
Tsugawa Yibito hurriedly shook his head, keeping the thought to himself as he prepared the enrollment form and other documents for Nariya Ueshima to fill out.
"When you come the day after tomorrow, remember to bring a photo for your student file."
"Does the photo require me to take off the eye patch?"
Hearing him ask, Tsugawa Yibito was just about to say yes when a large hand suddenly pressed down on Nariya Ueshima's head.
Turning around, he found Orochimaru's face right before him.
"We meet again."
"...?"
"Don't remember me? We only saw each other a few hours ago. I am—"
Seeing the boy's dazed expression, before Orochimaru could finish his self-introduction, Tsugawa Yibito leaped up from his chair on the opposite side of the desk in a flurry of excitement.
"Lord Orochimaru!"
"It's Yibito."
Orochimaru raised his head, offering a faint smile as he exchanged a few polite pleasantries with Tsugawa Yibito. Learning a few details from the teacher, he lowered his gaze back to Nariya Ueshima.
"So it was Teacher's decision."
Orochimaru murmured, struggling to comprehend Teacher Sarutobi's intention. Had the teacher discovered something special about this child, which was why he was sending him to school?
In truth, Orochimaru had little interest in digging into the exact reasons; he had simply grown fascinated lately by his research into certain subjects.
"There's no need for this child to take off his eye patch. It doesn't cover much of his face anyway, and he'll be easily recognized from the photo."
"Y-Yes, sir!" Tsugawa Yibito nodded.
"..."
Caught in the middle, Nariya Ueshima stayed as quiet as a mouse.
He had no idea how Orochimaru managed to appear and disappear like a ghost, let alone why he had suddenly stepped in to bail him out.
"Your name is Nariya, isn't it?"
With golden pupils scanning the enrollment form on the desk where Nariya Ueshima had just written his name, Orochimaru's tone was exceptionally gentle.
"Would you like to become my disciple?"
Nariya Ueshima froze: "..."
Tsugawa Yibito gasped in shock: "!!!"
As one of the legendary Sannin whose fame shook the ninja world, countless people would break their necks just for the chance to become Orochimaru's disciple.
While Orochimaru had not yet begun his formal scientific research, he was already a reliable adult—though roughly calculating the timeline, he must have been dabbling in those studies long ago.
Become Orochimaru's disciple? Wait around to be branded with a cursed seal, or end up as a subject for human experiments?
Nariya Ueshima decisively rejected the notion in his heart.
Just then, Tsugawa Yibito hurried around the desk, grabbed the boy's hand, and launched into a passionate, non-stop speech about how incredible Lord Orochimaru was and how he must cherish this hard-earned opportunity!
If he weren't already too old for Orochimaru to want him, Tsugawa Yibito looked ready to become the disciple himself.
No wonder he was so emotional and obedient; he was clearly a devoted fan of Orochimaru.
With that realization, the boy hopped down from his stool, bowed to Orochimaru with great solemnity, and looked thoroughly sincere and polite.
Seeing this, Orochimaru assumed the boy had accepted. After all, who possessed the sheer audacity to turn down one of the Sannin?
"I'm sorry, but I cannot become your disciple."
The smile in Orochimaru's eyes froze.
Beside them, Tsugawa Yibito's jaw nearly hit the floor in shock!
Was all that high praise he had just heaped upon Lord Orochimaru for nothing?!
"Why is that?" Orochimaru asked, his voice raspy as he maintained his composure.
"Because I am already Uncle Sakumo's disciple."
"..."
Hearing the name of the White Fang of Konoha pass the boy's lips, Orochimaru was both surprised and not surprised at all.
As for the stunned Tsugawa Yibito, he stood frozen in place for a long beat.
Ah, so someone had already beaten him to the punch—and the master was none other than Lord Sakumo.
Well, that explained everything.
The lingering irritation he had felt over Nariya Ueshima's lack of tact instantly melted into complete understanding.
Meanwhile, back at his own house, the lonely bachelor who was currently sighing and groaning over his absent son—Hatake Sakumo—suddenly sneezed.
Had the weather turned cold, or why did his back suddenly feel so chilly?