Opening his eyes, Akane who had come out of the dream looked at his empty hand. The smile on his face faded and he looked outside with an unreadable expression. A moment later he sighed and walked outside to prepare and summon Mito with Katsuyu's help.
Looking at him walking towards the forest, Kana sighed. She knew that they were taking a big step towards the future, and also the fact that it was a necessary step.
"A bird has to leave the next to grow up and fly away,"
Saying the words, Kana smiled and went inside the house to prepare the things that would be needed by Akane. Even though she knew that he could get those things in Konoha too, it was her duty to do this and something her heart said.
Reaching the open ground in the forest, Akane bit his thumb. He performed the summoning technique and used his chakra to summon Katsuyu.
"Akane-Sama, why did it take so long? You haven't pulled me the dream for a long time."
As soon as Katsuyu appeared, she complained to Akane in her cute voice. Hearing her words, Akane paused. He couldn't say he had forgotten about this so Akane replied, "I was a bit busy these days. When I am done with the stuff, I will let you do whatever you want in the dream."
"Busy? Hmph, just say that you forget,"
But Katsuyu didn't buy his words and hearing her, Akane smiled wryly. After talking for a few moments, he was able to convince her and in the end, Katsuyu reverse-summoned Mito's clone who was in Shikkotsu Immortal forest.
With a burst of smoke, Katsuyu disappeared from the place and in her place, a red-haired woman appeared. Looking at Mito, whom he had only met in dreams, Akane had to say that she had a formidable presence.
"Hmm, finally here," Mito murmured as she appeared in a different place. Behind her was a big scroll and moving her head, she looked at Akane, whose familiar presence she had felt when she was summoned.
"Welcome home,"
Hearing the words spoken by Akane, Mito paused. She looked at Akane deeply and looking at the smile on his face, Mito couldn't hide the smile appearing on her face.
"Yeah, home." She murmured as she released her senses and felt familiar presences not far away from the place.
"Give me a minute and then we will go there," Mito said a moment later, wiping her eyes which were getting wet. Looking at her like this, Akane thought of the original Mito, who must suffered a lot and it was not like she had also not suffered but at least, her last few years would be happy ones.
'These changes, I don't know how they would affect the future but these moments make me happy and I will continue to do.'
While Akane was lost in thoughts, Mito opened the big scroll she had brought. Putting her hand on the seal in between, she opened the seal and several bursts of smoke appeared around her.
These were the Shadow clones Mito had sealed in the scroll and they were tasked to make the barrier around the island as asked by Akane before.
When the Shadow clones were summoned, they all looked at the Head Mito and with a snort, they disappeared from the place. Looking at their reactions, Mito chuckled and she looked at Akane who was looking at the seals on the scroll.
"What do you think?" Mito asked Akane, who turned towards her and replied, "A new type of seal? I haven't seen this before,"
"Hmm, I was tinkering with seals and made this chakra storage seal, this can help a lot but it's pretty dangerous to use," Mito said with a thoughtful face and Akane looked at her.
"Anyways, we can talk later about this. For now, we have other things to do, don't we?"
Akane looked at Mito who changed the topic. He created a Shadow clone who took the scroll away from her and seeing him like this, Mito laughed.
"Let's go," Akane said to Mito who nodded at her and they walked towards the house together.
"So, what did everyone say?"
While they walked, Mito asked Akane about how others reacted to the proposal.
"I haven't told them about this. It would be better if you dropped the bomb on those two topics." Akane said with a sigh and he felt a hand on his head.
"I understand, you don't need to worry about this," Mito said as she understood what he was trying to say, and Akane nodded at her words.
When they reached the house, Mito looked at Kana standing at the gate of the house.
"Welcome, Mito-Sama." She said to Mito, who nodded at her and walked inside the house with Kana.
"You are not coming?" Mito asked Akane who stood outside instead of walking with her. Hearing her, Akane nodded at her and said, "I will be back in a few minutes."
As Akane spoke those words, she vanished from the scene, leaving Mito to glance at Kana, who shook her head. With a thoughtful expression, she followed Kana inside to surprise the others with her visit.
Meanwhile, Akane reappeared in his room, gazing out the window with a contemplative look. Upon receiving memories from his shadow clone, he was pulled from the myriad thoughts swirling in his mind.
A sigh escaped his lips and Akane murmured, "I better go and join them, there's no point in thinking further."
Saying those words, Akane walked outside his room and went where everyone was.
Opening the sliding door, Akane stepped into the room, where several Uzumakis sat together. The atmosphere shifted slightly as all eyes turned to him. Mito was seated at the centre, her commanding presence exuding a quiet authority. Kana stood nearby, smiling softly, while others—Shizuka, Mina, Kishimo, Makoto, and Honoka—each displayed varying levels of curiosity and expectation.
Akane cleared his throat. "I see everyone's gathered. It feels... warm, seeing everyone together like this here, instead of dream."
His voice carried a sense of nostalgia, though his usual calm expression betrayed little of his inner emotions.
Mito gestured to an empty spot beside her. "Come, sit, Akane. We were just catching up, but I think it's time for some important discussions."
---
Kana's expression turned solemn as she heard the words. Noticing her reaction, Mina, who had a hunch that something was about to happen, understood that her gut feeling was true.
Nodding at Mito, Akane went to the empty seat in the room and sat there. He looked at Shizuka and others who were looking at him with a curious look on their faces and taking a deep breath, he said, "I am leaving for Konoha."
As soon as Akane said those words, silence appeared in the room. Shizuka, Makoto and Kishimo had shocked expressions on their faces. Mina looked at Kana, who nodded in return and she somewhat understood the reason for Akane's choice.
"Konoha? Why? Did something happen?" Shizuka spoke instantly when she understood the meaning of what Akane said.
"No, nothing happened." "Yeah, I feel like I am reaching my limit here and I have to explore outside."
Mito and Akane spoke at the same time and Mito looked at Akane who spoke the truth.
'So he meant,' She thought in her mind, and when she noticed others looking at her, she nodded at them.
"Besides this, there is also another reason and it's related to the identity Akane will take in Konoha," Mito spoke and others decided to ask the questions in their mind after she had spoken everything.
Hearing her words, Akane panicked for a second but he calmed himself and waited for Mito to announce the engagement.
"Akane will be getting engaged to Kushina and Tsunade" Mito spoke slowly, making sure they heard her words clearly and just like before, another silence appeared in the room.
Kana looked at everyone's expressions as Mito said the words and a smirk appeared on her face as she noticed the change in Shizuka and Honoka's expressions.
"Whaatttttt!!"
The first one to speak was Shizuka who looked so shocked that even words couldn't describe her reactions.
"Engaged?" The next one to speak was Honoka, who looked equally shocked. Kishimo looked at Akane and when their eyes met, Kishimo had a look of pity in his eyes.
He of course had met Tsunade and Kushina and he knew how violent those two women were. Looking at the pity in Kishimo's eyes, Akane didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Kishimo's innocence.
He then looked at Makoto, who seemed to have controlled herself from speaking anything and when their eyes met, Makoto just smiled and didn't say anything.
"Akane, don't you have some explaining to do?"
"Hmm? about what?" Akane looked at Mito who asked those words. He thought she was talking about Shizuka and Honoka, and even though Mito wanted to talk about another person, she just nodded and said, "Their reactions. I am sure you have something you want to say, right?"
As she said those words, Shizuka and Honoka flinched. Shizuka wanted to say something but Mina prevented her from speaking. As for Honoka, she just looked down and didn't say anything.
Looking at them, Akane didn't say anything for a moment. After organising his thoughts, and thinking of the future, he said, "Let's go and talk outside."
Honoka looked up as she heard the words. She looked at Akane, who was looking at her with a calm look on his face, and making up her mind, she got up.
Shizuka also got up from her place and the duo followed Akane, who walked outside. No one stopped them since they knew it was an important talk, and Kishimo looked at Makoto.
The look in Makoto's eyes told Kishimo to remain silent, and he turned his head away.
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