NIP Chapter 24 Naruto: Hey! Isn't this Dad?
Chapter 24 Naruto: Hey! Isn't this Dad?
Boom boom boom!
In front of a dormitory building for singles in Konoha Village, Naruto stood outside a familiar door, pounding on it with his fist.
"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!"
"Naruto?"
Accompanied by a somewhat surprised voice, a figure suddenly appeared not far behind Naruto.
Naruto was taken aback and quickly turned around, only to find Kakashi-sensei standing beside him.
"Yo, Naruto." Kakashi waved at him lazily, "What did you need?"
"I'm so glad to see you, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's previously sullen face immediately broke into a smile upon seeing Kakashi, but he quickly pouted in dissatisfaction. "Where did you go? I knocked on the door for nothing!"
Kakashi scratched his head and casually replied, "Ahaha, I had something to take care of and went out for a bit."
"Did you need something? Come in and talk to me." Kakashi said, walking past Naruto and taking out his key to open the door.
Naruto responded and followed Kakashi into the house he had never visited before.
Upon entering, there is a small single bedroom with no entryway or partition, and the furnishings are very simple.
A single bed took up most of the space, with a low table next to it, on which were stacked several books and magazines, and a simple wardrobe in another corner.
The house was very clean, the floor was spotless, and all the clutter was neatly stacked, clearly indicating that the owner was a tidy person.
"Wow—Kakashi-sensei, your house is so small!" Naruto exclaimed without any hesitation, looking around the cramped room with curious eyes, examining every corner.
Kakashi closed the door, sighing and saying, "Don't look around, Naruto."
Before he could finish speaking, Naruto had already started spinning around on his own, even pulling out a small book from Kakashi's bedside table: "Eh—'Make-Out Paradise'? Isn't that the book you always read, Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi's pupils contracted, and he took two long strides forward, snatching the book from Naruto's hands. He carefully hid it on top of the bookshelf behind him, his face dark, and said, "Ahem, this is not for children."
Seeing Kakashi's nervous look, Naruto pouted and complained, "You're so stingy! It's just a book, not some kind of treasure."
Kakashi was both amused and exasperated by what he heard.
Naruto is such a restless guy, he doesn't act like he's part of the family at all, even rummaging through his teacher's house.
I should have known better than to let him in.
Thinking this to himself, Kakashi couldn't wait to get rid of Naruto.
He actually had other important matters he wanted to investigate.
But with Naruto here, he couldn't just kick him out directly, so he could only patiently deal with him.
"Ahem, speaking of which..." Kakashi cleared his throat, trying to steer the conversation back on track, "Naruto, didn't you say you had something to ask me?"
"Oh, right!" Naruto suddenly remembered why he came and was about to ask about the Rasengan when he was suddenly caught by a familiar figure in a photo frame. "Eh?!"
Naruto looked closely and saw a somewhat old photograph on Kakashi's bedside table.
He stepped forward, picked up the photo frame, and looked closely. There were four people standing in the photo.
There are three people in the front row.
A black-haired boy wearing goggles and smiling brightly, a white-haired boy with a smug expression, and in the middle is a girl next door making a "V" sign.
Behind the three stood a blond man with his hands on the heads of the two boys.
It was this blond man who made Naruto's eyes widen instantly, and he let out an incredulous scream: "Dad?! Kakashi-sensei, how come you have a picture of my dad?!"
Kakashi turned around abruptly upon hearing this, only to see Naruto staring at him with wide eyes, holding the old photograph, his face filled with shock.
Naruto excitedly held up the photo frame to Kakashi, pointing his finger at the blond man's face in the picture. "This person looks like my dad! Oh, no... he's the dad from my dreams! Kakashi-sensei, I've been dreaming about my dad a lot these past few days, it's him!"
At that moment, the room fell into a brief silence.
Kakashi was dumbfounded, his brain almost shutting down for a moment: "...???"
How could you forget that Naruto had seen Minato-sensei in his dream?
Seeing that Kakashi didn't speak, Naruto thought he hadn't understood, so he quickly explained again: "Kakashi-sensei, look! This blond man in the photo looks just like the dad in my dreams! I always thought the dad in my dreams was just a figment of my imagination, but I never thought there was actually such a person, and you even know him!"
Naruto grew more and more excited as he spoke, staring at the photo for a few seconds before becoming even more certain: "It really is! Exactly the same! Blonde hair, blue eyes, even the way he smiles is the same! Hey, come to think of it, this person actually looks a lot like me, haha!"
Naruto scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.
After all, praising someone for being like yourself sounds a bit narcissistic.
However, he was indeed thinking to himself: This mysterious father from his dream was actually a real person, and he was in Konoha!
Kakashi-sensei and he actually know each other?
Thinking of this, Naruto looked at Kakashi expectantly, hoping that his teacher would give him an answer.
However, Kakashi remained silent throughout.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
Naruto looked up in confusion and saw Kakashi with one hand covering his forehead, his expression quite stiff, and his one exposed eye not daring to meet his gaze.
Kakashi was in a state of utter confusion and couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
What could he say?
Should he tell Naruto right now?
Yes, that is your biological father, Minato Namikaze, the former Fourth Hokage of Konoha.
Are you going to casually reveal the secret that the third generation has kept hidden for more than ten years?
But if I don't say it, Naruto is such a persistent guy...
Kakashi was caught in a dilemma, a bead of cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
After a long while, Kakashi's Adam's apple bobbed. He was about to say something vague when he saw that Naruto had already looked away, seemingly not dwelling on the issue.
Naruto stared at the photo frame, then suddenly noticed the smug-looking white-haired boy in the picture. He burst into laughter, "Kakashi-sensei, that sullen-faced brat, could it be you? Hahaha, just like Sasuke, always so arrogant!"
Naruto waved his hand dismissively.
But then he pointed to the black-haired boy wearing goggles in the photo, his eyes lighting up, and said, "This guy, he looks pretty cool! He looks a bit like me in the past with those goggles on!"
Hearing Naruto shift his attention and start criticizing the people in the photo, Kakashi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, Naruto is such a sweet treat.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't know how to handle the situation.
"Those are... my childhood friends." Kakashi stepped forward, took the photo frame from Naruto's hand, and his tone unusually low. "And my teacher. They... are no longer in this world."
"What..." Naruto was stunned, opened his mouth but found that he didn't know what to say.
He stared blankly at Kakashi wiping the photos in his hand. The usually carefree silver-haired teacher had his head slightly lowered, and his expression was unreadable.
Were those people in the photo all Kakashi-sensei's former companions?
Naruto suddenly realized that although Kakashi-sensei always seemed calm, he was actually just like him, living a lonely life in this world...
He even lost so many important people.
In an instant, Naruto's joy and curiosity vanished, replaced by a dull, painful ache.
He clenched his fist, then quickly relaxed it, scratched his head, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, I didn't know..."
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