Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 604 A Strange World

"You've worked hard today. Dinner is ready, come and eat."

A blond man poked his head out of the kitchen, his face gentle, like the surface of a river warmed by the spring sun.

He hadn't taken off his apron yet, and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms.

"I see."

As Mai walked past Minato, her gaze didn't fall on him, but rather on the bowls and chopsticks on the dining table. Despite her father's affectionate words, Mai's response remained lukewarm.

Looking at his daughter like this, Minato felt no displeasure, but rather a hint of guilt in his eyes.

He turned around, went back to the kitchen, opened the lid of the rice cooker, and white steam billowed out. He picked up the rice scoop and began to scoop out rice.

At the dinner table, Minato kept trying to find topics to talk about and liven up the atmosphere.

He picked up a piece of stewed meat and put it into Ma Yi's bowl. "The meat is stewed perfectly today, try it and see how it tastes."

Mai hummed in agreement, picked up the meat and ate it without saying anything. He then picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks. "The green vegetable was bought at the market this morning; it's very fresh."

Mai hummed in agreement again, ate the vegetables, and still didn't speak. Minato's smile remained, although Mai's reaction was consistently calm. There was neither the irritability of a rebellious phase with "leave me alone" nor the impatience of adolescence with "you're so annoying." She was simply calm, undisturbed, and didn't look at her reflection.

Minato knew this wasn't a rebellious phase. Rebellious kids slam doors, talk back, and yell, "You don't understand me at all!" But Mai wouldn't.

She simply listened quietly, responded quietly, finished her meal quietly, and quietly put the dishes and chopsticks in the sink.

It's as if a long, long time ago, she had said everything she wanted to say, and shouted out all the grievances she wanted to vent, and then she realized that no one was listening, and no one would change anything because she had shouted, so she stopped talking.

Minato knew this, so he never blamed her, never urged her, and never forced her to speak when she didn't want to. He would just smile and try to find topics to talk about, and even if the response was just an "um" or "okay," he felt that was enough.

As they were finishing their meal, Minato decided to get down to business.

"Mai, for the time being, don't leave the village. If you're going to take on a quest, try to only accept those within the village."

"What happened?"

"The Akatsuki are becoming increasingly active. Right now, the only two ninja that haven't fallen into their hands are the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails."

"Jiraiya-sensei went out to gather intelligence and ended up critically injured. He hasn't woken up yet."

Mai paused for a moment. Minato thought she was going to say something, but she just gave a soft "hmm" and then shoveled the last bite of rice into her mouth.

She put down her chopsticks. "It's the Nine-Tailed Fox. I understand. I won't leave the village for a while."

Minato nodded. He knew that although his daughter had always been aloof, she would do what she was supposed to do and wouldn't do what she wasn't supposed to do. She wouldn't make him worry, wouldn't deliberately go against him, and wouldn't add to his troubles when he was already exhausted.

Minato never doubted that Mai was the kind of person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

Dinner was over. Minato stood up and began clearing away the dishes. Mai, however, walked towards the door, heading towards the entrance.

"It's so late, are you still going out?" Minato asked.

"I'm just going for a walk. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay. Be careful on the road."

Minato watched until his daughter's figure completely disappeared from sight.

Then, he started cleaning all by himself. He put the dishes in the sink, squeezed on dish soap, wiped them one by one with a sponge, rinsed them with water, and placed them on the drain rack.

Clean up the food scraps on the table, wash and wring out the dishcloth, and wipe the table until it's shiny enough to reflect your image. Cover the leftover food with plastic wrap, put it in the refrigerator, and close the door.

Everything was done in an orderly and unhurried manner. After tidying up, he did not rest, but went to the low cabinet in the living room, opened the drawer, and took out three incense sticks.

He then walked to the altar in his home.

The altar was in a corner of the living room, very clean. A dark velvet cloth covered the tabletop, and on the cloth sat a framed photo containing a black and white photograph. The photo showed a woman with red hair.

With his lips turned up high, he looked like an optimist, like a flower blooming in the sunlight, glistening with dew.

Shuimen stood in front of the offering table, lit three incense sticks and put them into the incense burner, then stepped back, put his hands together, closed his eyes and began to worship.

------

"Uchiha clan territory...is nobody here?"

Naruto stood in the middle of the street in the Uchiha clan compound, looking around.

"What kind of question is that?"

Sasuke walked ahead and glanced at Naruto.

On the other side, the three of them were walking in the deserted Uchiha clan territory. Sasuke stopped in his tracks after hearing Naruto's question.

His gaze lingered on Naruto's face, as if to confirm whether he was serious.

"Where have all the Uchiha clan members gone?"

Naruto asked again, this time with more specific questions.

Sasuke's eyes turned strange. If it weren't for the fact that Naruto's doubts didn't seem fake, he would have thought Naruto was mocking him.

"Which small village are you from? The Uchiha clan was wiped out many years ago. Now, only my parents and I are left."

"Sorry." Naruto received the answer he expected. He had already heard this story in another world—Uchiha Sasuke, the night of the massacre, Uchiha Itachi, but what happened on the night of the massacre in this world?

Naruto didn't know how to ask. He only knew that his question had been very impolite, so he apologized.

Sasuke did not respond to the apology, nor did he explain the reason for the Uchiha clan massacre. Instead, he changed the subject.

"You'll have to wait a bit. I have some errands to run." He paused, glanced at the fork in the road ahead, and then turned left. "Just in case you get lost, come with me."

Naruto and Satsuki nodded. They didn't really have any plans—their goal for this trip had already been achieved. They had met Mai Uzumaki, the girl with golden twin tails and blue eyes, whom Sasuke called "Mai." She was the "Naruto Uzumaki" that Satsuki had been longing for in another world, only with a different name and a slightly different personality.

As for what to do next, they hadn't thought about it, nor did they need to. Passively acting, seeing what other strange and unexpected things the world held, was also a form of travel.

The three then arrived at a place. This was a peculiar building within the Uchiha clan's territory.

This is the only building with lights still on on the entire dark, desolate street.

The building's style was quite different from the surrounding residences; the door was wider, the walls were higher, and the stone steps at the entrance were paved with dark stone slabs, worn smooth and shiny by countless feet.

A brand-new wooden plaque hangs on the wall next to the door. The plaque has a dark brown background, neat characters, and fresh carving marks, as if it had just been hung up not long ago.

By the light of the streetlamp, Naruto saw the words on the wooden sign: "[Uchiha Police Force]".