Here's @riojiyo131, your trusted writer.

You can now get early access up to Chapter 156 of Re: Naruto Uzumaki on my Patreon.

Up to Chapter 11 of Marvel: Star Wars System is also available on my Patreon. Each chapter averages 5,000 words.

patreon.com/riojiyo131

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The first 5 chapters of Marvel: Star Wars System are now available, completely free on my Patreon!

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"And that's why I'm here" Karin finished explaining.

They were both submerged in the bathtub water, completely naked facing each other. There was barely enough room for both of them, so their bodies were almost pressed against each other.

Naruto frowned slightly, annoyed by his mother's crazy ideas.

"Are you telling me my mother asked you to get in the bathtub with me to seduce me, Karin? Is that it?"

According to what Karin had told him, when she left her in the village, she found out that Kushina and Mikoto had argued.

Mikoto had been bothering Kushina, boasting that her daughter, Reika, had defeated Karin, her protégé.

She had even shown her that photo of them sleeping together!

After a few days, Kushina got angry with Mikoto, and they ended up arguing.

And Kushina wasn't one to give up easily.

Instead of training Karin in Fūinjutsu, as she was supposed to do as her teacher, Kushina had been taking her shopping, carefully choosing pretty and trendy clothes for her, teaching her how to apply makeup and how to highlight her best features. She had taken her to the hair salon more than once, insisting on a makeover that, according to her, would make anyone fall at her feet.

Karin, although a bit confused at first, started getting used to the routine. Not only did her appearance improve, but she also gained confidence.

Naruto couldn't help but smile imagining his mother taking on such a... maternal and flirty role. No doubt, Kushina had her own ways of preparing someone for love.

But even so, what she was doing was wrong.

"Of course not! She didn't ask me to do this! She doesn't even know I'm here!" Karin exclaimed, hurrying to clear up the misunderstanding.

It was true that Kushina had her own plans to take the lead and make Mikoto swallow her words, but this idea had been entirely her own, not Kushina's.

"A-although I heard Kushina say that... if I want to beat Reika, and even Hinata, I have to be the first one to get pregnant, to have your child!"

Her face was as red as her hair.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Let me tell you something, Karin," he said seriously, squeezing her cheeks tightly. "This isn't a competition. You don't need to surpass Reika or Hinata. You're all equally important to me. Hinata and Reika seem to have already understood that, that's why I'm telling you. Stop competing. There's never been a competition."

"B-but..." Karin tried to protest, although with her cheeks squished, she couldn't speak well.

"No buts. And get this through your head: I do NOT want to be a father yet. I'm too young. I have other priorities. I want to have fun. And I still need to rebuild Uzushiogakure."

If he had a child now, he'd probably go out in search of milk or cigarettes for a while.

Of course, he was joking.

If that happened, he would take responsibility... even if that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

"N-Naruto..." murmured Karin, even redder than before, turning her gaze away, not daring to look him in the eye.

"No, Karin. I mean it," he insisted, firmly. "Try to talk more with Hinata and Reika. You'll realize there's no competition between you and that you have much more in common than you'd like to admit. You might even become friends."

Naruto realized then that he needed to talk with each of them separately about this topic at some point...

Karin kept acting nervously, fidgeting with her hands.

"No... it's not that..."

Naruto looked at her, confused.

"What's wrong?"

Karin lowered her voice almost to a whisper.

"T-there's something hard pressing against my stomach..."

Her blush deepened even more, and her gaze slowly moved toward the thing she was feeling pressing against her.

"Oh."

Naruto blinked for a moment, realizing what Karin really meant. A mix of surprise and amusement crossed his face.

"Ah..." he murmured. "I think we're a bit too close, aren't we?"

His gaze slowly traveled down Karin's body, to her exposed breasts.

"It's a normal response in a man's body when facing a pretty girl like you, Karin. Besides, you're naked..."

Karin couldn't help but blush even more, and looked away with a mix of embarrassment and amusement.

Without pulling away, he brought his gaze closer to hers, which was completely flushed but made no attempt to distance herself.

Karin slowly looked up, her eyes seeking Naruto's, a small smile forming on her lips.

He returned the smile and leaned closer to her.

"Well, this is taking an unexpected turn, though I'm not complaining," Naruto murmured, as they both kept getting closer.

Their lips met, and their hands began to slowly explore each other's bodies.

...

After that shower, which lasted longer than either of them had planned, Naruto spent some time with his parents.

Since they had returned to life, he hadn't had the chance to talk with them calmly, like a real family.

Even Karin joined them, although Kushina looked at her with a small mischievous smile, probably sensing that something had happened between them.

It was obvious that both Minato and Kushina knew that Karin had snuck into their house.

After all, how could she hide her presence from two Kage-level figures?

Naruto didn't mention it, keeping it to himself to avoid making Karin feel even more embarrassed.

"So, that priestess named Shion will be my daughter-in-law in the future too?" Kushina asked with a small smile.

Both she and Minato had been asking him about his journey, and Naruto hadn't held back any details.

Upon hearing that the priestess of the Land of Demons had confessed to him after Yomi's death and Mōryō's final disappearance, Kushina couldn't have been happier.

"Minato... we're going to have a lot of work as grandparents in the future," she told her husband, smiling joyfully.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

He hadn't even accepted Shion, and his mother already thought he would take her as his wife?

She had a serious problem with everything related to grandchildren and becoming a grandmother...

"Have you thought about having another child?" Naruto suddenly asked, changing the subject.

"Maybe that'll stop her from bothering me so much about grandkids..." Naruto thought to himself.

If Kushina focused on having another child, maybe she'd leave him alone on the matter.

Minato, who was drinking water, spit it out instantly upon hearing that.

"A-another child...? Naruto, d-don't bring that up, please... Your mother..."

Kushina's head slowly turned toward Minato, lit by a small smile, her eyes narrowing.

"Minato..." she said softly. "We've already talked about this. You don't have a choice."

Minato simply swallowed and let out a long sigh.

"Naruto. You'd better go home. Dad and Mom are going to be very busy from now on..."

"Wait... now?" Naruto looked at them, confused.

Minato slowly nodded. "You know when your mother gets something into her head, it's hard for her to forget it."

Naruto and Karin exchanged glances, their expressions clearly showing their disgust.

"You're disgusting," they said in unison.

They hadn't even left the house when they heard them kissing and bumping into everything as they made their way to their room.

Why did he have to give them ideas?

Naruto had regretted few things in his life. This was definitely one of them...

...

Naruto lay back on the grass, his hands behind his head and his eyes fixed on the sky. A soft breeze caressed his face, and the sun filtered through a few white clouds slowly floating above them.

"See that cloud over there?" he asked with a calm smile. "Looks like a boot. One of those big, old ones..."

Madara, lying beside him, her loose hair falling over her shoulders and the tight dark clothes she wore under her armor hugging her figure, turned her gaze and studied the cloud carefully.

"It doesn't look like a boot," she murmured, slightly amused. "It's a house. Look closely. That part there is the slanted roof. It even has a little chimney."

Naruto let out a soft laugh.

"A house? Nah, you're seeing things, Madara."

A few meters away, Madara's armor rested on the grass.

It was rare for her to take it off. It was as if even she needed a break. To get away from everything and relax.

Silence returned between them, comfortable, but Naruto broke it after a few seconds, his voice lower, more serious.

"Hey... Madara. There's something I want to talk to you about."

She turned her head toward him without fully moving. Her expression was no longer so carefree.

"What is it?"

"Black Zetsu."

Madara's eyes narrowed, frowning.

Naruto continued speaking, acting cautiously.

"What I'm about to tell you isn't easy. But I need you to listen, without interrupting me. Okay?"

She nodded slowly, serious.

"Black Zetsu was never your ally. He was never your creation. He is..." despite agreeing not to interrupt, she did anyway.

"What are you talking about?" Madara frowned.

"We talked about this with the others in the chat group not long ago... Black Zetsu is the will of Kaguya Otsutsuki. He's her son, so to speak. He was created thousands of years ago... and since then, everything he's done has been with one goal: to help her descend to this world again."

Madara's lips tightened. "You're joking. I can't believe it. I created Black Zetsu myself. There's no way I was deceived."

"I wish I were joking, believe me. He manipulated everyone. First it was Indra. Then you, Madara. Even now, he's doing it with Obito..."

"Naruto—"

"Please. Just listen."

She shut her mouth, but her jaw remained tense.

"Zetsu was there from the beginning. He's the one who altered the scriptures about the Sage of the Six Paths. He's the one who sowed hatred, fear. Wars. And then... he found you."

Madara stared at the sky, but she no longer saw clouds.

"He whispered ideas to you. Convinced you to carry out the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Convinced you that it was your plan. Your will. But all of that... was for Kaguya. It was all a lie. So that you, unknowingly, would create the path for her return."

Naruto said it gently, but the words were still like knives to Madara's heart.

Madara didn't respond immediately. Her hands clenched into fists on the grass. Her breathing grew slower. Heavier.

"And how do you know all this? Do you think I ever believed you actually came from the future, brat?! I doubt any of us ever really believed it!"

Naruto turned his gaze away and looked back at the sky, closing his eyes.

"You barely knew how to use the Academy's Three Basic Techniques when the chat group appeared! There were so many times you were surprised by things you should've already known if you came from the future, like when you found out that Sasuke was actually Reika."

Madara didn't stop there—her voice grew firmer, more defiant.

"Don't try to make me believe nonsense!"

Naruto opened his eyes and sat up halfway, staring at her.

"You're right. I'm not from the future. I just know the future thanks to the... system, so to speak."

Although he had been found out, Naruto had no intention of revealing that he had reincarnated, that he wasn't the real Naruto Uzumaki.

However, he still considered himself Naruto Uzumaki. He had all his memories, even part of the original Naruto's feelings and dreams stored inside him.

By this point, it was as if the two had fused into one.

Except deep down, he knew that wasn't really true. He had prevailed.

"Just don't tell anyone."

Naruto lay back on the grass again, keeping his gaze fixed on the sky.

For a few seconds, they both remained silent, caught in their own thoughts, each dealing with their own issues.

"It was all for nothing..." Madara suddenly murmured.

Her voice trembled for the first time. She was still looking at the sky, but her eyes, dark and deep, shimmered, holding back tears, refusing to let them fall.

"I spent my life fighting for a dream... for a vision... for a world that didn't exist."

"You were simply deceived," Naruto said, not blaming her. "That doesn't erase the damage... but it also doesn't erase what you truly wanted. You wanted peace. You were just sold a lie disguised as hope."

Madara closed her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she made no effort to stop it.