Naruto: Faint Smile.

Author Note: We are back to the normal order, sorry for the previous mistake.

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I'm currently updating the novel 1 or 2 chapter a day in patreeeeon. On chapter 104 right now.

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Enjoy you sexy bastards.

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[Arata Takeshi - POV.]

Three days had passed since the events of the Chunin Exams, and after receiving the scolding of my life from Lady Mikoto and Mr. Fugaku—which ended with Itachi and me being grounded for two days—I finally found myself at the supply depot, standing before the quartermaster to retrieve my newly issued custom-made Chunin vest.

Lady Mikoto had been… furious, to say the least, but more than that, she had been worried. She deemed our actions beyond irresponsible, stating that this was one of the reasons women lived longer than men, while berating herself for thinking that just because we were geniuses, we wouldn't be affected by the primal stupidity that curses all men down to a fundamental level.

I honestly had no counter-arguments to her words… I mean, she was kind of right. After all, we had decided to eliminate all the teams just because we could, and it would be fun to do so. Creating a new record was just a nice side bonus, but beyond that, there wasn't any real logic to our little plan.

I had never seen Lady Mikoto so furious before, or ever for that matter. In fact, if it wasn't for Lord Fugaku intervening right before she could deliver her sentence, I'm pretty sure we would've been grounded for at least a year, based on how mad she was. But somehow, whether by holy intervention or luck, Lord Fugaku managed to negotiate our sentence down from a year to just forty-eight hours without training, books, and our favorite foods.

At the time, I wasn't sure why he had intervened, seeing as he had been mad as well. And it wasn't until he asked Lady Mikoto to leave so that he could have a hard talk with us about the consequences of our actions that I learned why he had done so.

He wasn't really mad.

Quite the opposite…

He was proud.

That had been unexpected, to say the least. Of all the people I had expected not to be mad about our little plan, Lord Fugaku was the last person I would've considered. It was honestly a bit weird—he had even taken us out to eat, telling Lady Mikoto he would see that we were punished properly with a tone so cold and angry that the very angry Mikoto caved a bit, asking him to be lenient with us.

I remember looking at Itachi for some answers, but he was even more befuddled than I was about the entire thing.

"Here you go, little monster," the quartermaster, a gruff-looking man with a scar across his left cheek, handed me the vest with a small nod of approval. "Chibi size, just like you," he added with a chuckle.

Chibi? Ha, I suppose that's accurate. Can't wait for my growth spurt though—can't have the epithet of Chibi Monster or Little Monster taking any kind of traction.

Offering the man a faint smile, I took the vest from him, holding it up in front of me. As he had said, jokes and all, the vest was noticeably smaller than the standard issue, tailored to fit my frame. The material felt sturdy enough to take a few shurikens yet light enough not to hinder speed and stamina, designed for mobility and protection.

"Thanks," I replied, slipping the vest on. It fit perfectly, snug but not too tight, with just enough room to move freely. I looked down at myself, and after a second or two, I found myself frowning.

"Looks good on you, kid," the quartermaster said.

It looked terrible on me. I looked like a militarized penguin. The vest, despite clearly being tailored to my stature, looked like an oversized life preserver on me, puffing out at all the wrong places. It created an inflated silhouette that seemed to both hide and exaggerate my smallness.

I looked utterly ridiculous.

"It'll take some getting used to," I replied.

"Meh, you'll manage. At the very least… you can't drown now," he replied with a booming laugh before waving me off as he turned back to his work.

…

I won't dignify that with a response.

Calmly, I turned around, ignoring the occasional snicker as I stepped out of the depot. Maybe this was a shoe kind of situation, and I just had to break the vest in.

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After picking up my Chunin vest—or life vest, depending on how I wanted to see this situation—I headed back to the Uchiha compound. The day felt like it had dragged on forever, which I supposed had something to do with the bureaucracy of things I had to deal with today. So by now, all I really wanted to do was relax. Maybe read a book or something, or better yet, sleep for a few hours.

When I got home, the house was quieter than usual, which was odd. It didn't stay that way for long, though. As soon as I entered the living room, a tiny blur of energy rushed toward me.

"Big bwother!"

I barely had time to brace myself before the little princess flung herself at my leg, her arms wrapping around me like a mini vice grip. She looked up at me with those huge, gleaming eyes, full of energy and adorable mischief.

"Daddy told me you passed the exam!" she said proudly, puffing out her chest like she'd just single-handedly saved the world. "I knew you'd be back safe 'cause I told my strongest shinobi to protect you!"

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "Mr. Bear, I assume?"

Mito nodded vigorously, tugging me toward her room. "Yeah! He even came with a scar from his mission—a small price to pay for his r-r-resebounding success!"

"You mean, resounding, right?" I smiled, patting her on the head.

"Yeah! That! Come, come!" Mito giggled, pulling my arm.

Unable to resist her overwhelming power, I followed her into her room. As usual, it was a chaos of stuffed animals, each one strategically placed as if they were on guard duty. Teddy bears, stuffed foxes, cats, dogs, and a few animals I was sure didn't exist, being amalgamations of two animals and the like. Based on how she had her toys arranged, and the fact that each one had a wooden kunai, it seemed she had assembled her own tiny army, complete with sentries and commanders.

"See?" Mito said, pointing to her favorite teddy bear, which sat at the head of the group, holding a small plastic sword. "Special Force, Mr. Bear, protected you! And has now been promoted, just like you."

Mr. Bear had been promoted as well? Haha, well, talk about efficiency.

I smiled, kneeling down to her level. "Is that right? Well, I guess I owe them a thank you then. You're a pretty good shinobi commander, little princess."

She beamed at the compliment, hands on her hips like she was some kind of general. "Yup! He listened real good, and I made sure he knew to protect you, no matter the cost. That's why you're home safe!"

The seriousness in her voice was both extremely adorable and impressive. She really believed her stuffed animals had kept us safe during the exams. And I didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise, and I would kill whoever had the heart to do so.

"Well," I said, keeping my tone equally serious—this was a serious matter, after all—"you did a great job, Commander Mito. I'm sure your team worked very hard."

"They did!" she agreed, nodding firmly before grabbing her teddy bear. "Especially Mr. Cat, he had to take care of Shisui, and he needs special attention."

I couldn't help but snort at how Mito saw Shisui. "Indeed."

Mito smiled wide, her whole face lighting up as she hugged Mr. Cat and Mr. Bear to her chest. "Good! So every time you leave for a mission, you and Big Brother Itachi don't have to worry 'bout anything! I got this!"

I gave her a quick pat on the head, ruffling her hair. "I feel safer already. Thanks, Mito."