Naruto: The Chosen Undead

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Chapter 118 At The Breakfast Table

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Kakashi sat bare chested on the examination mat, the soft green glow of healing chakra washing over his shoulder as Kurenai's hand hovered over his collarbone. Her expression was unreadable, focused, calm, but there was something unspoken in the way her fingers hesitated every so often, like she was afraid of what she might find.

"Any word from Jiraiya sama?"

"A toad from Mount Myōboku arrived yesterday. Said Jiraiya was summoned to speak with the Great Sage again. Something about a… new prophecy."

Kakashi's gaze drifted toward the window. "The child of prophecy…"

Her eyes flicked toward him. "Pardon."

He gave a quiet hum. "Minato sensei told me. Back then, the Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya he'd train a student... one who would bring a seismic shift to the shinobi world. Either salvation or ruin. No in between."

Kurenai's chakra faltered briefly as she absorbed his words. "He thought Minato was that student?"

"After Minato forced Iwa to the negotiating table, yeah," Kakashi murmured. "He believed it for a while. But Sensei…" he exhaled, "he was a man of peace. A light, sure, but not the storm that prophecy hinted at."

"From your tone… it sounds like you don't believe in prophecy."

"I believe in people," Kakashi said plainly. "Prophecies are like kunai thrown in the dark. They might hit something. Or they might be self fulfilling, if you believe in them hard enough."

"What if Naruto was the child of prophecy?"

He looked at her sharply, eyes narrowing. "Don't joke about that."

"Why not?"

"Because carrying the world on your back isn't a blessing," Kakashi said flatly. "It's a sentence."

There was a beat of silence, the kind that stretched just a moment too long before it was broken by the rustle of parchment. "I was trying to lighten the mood, but… I don't know how else to put this."

Kakashi stared at the final lines of the report in his hands, then exhaled through his nose. "My body's… brand new." He said it flatly. Not with wonder. Not with relief. Just a quiet understanding of what that really meant.

To anyone else, it might've sounded like a miracle. But to Kakashi Hatake, a man who had spent the better part of his life bleeding for the village, who'd lived more days on the brink than most people lived in their entire lives, it was an omen. Because his body was never supposed to be new again.

The calcified shrapnel from that Iwa ambush? Gone. The lightning charred nerves in his left arm from years of abusing Chidori? Restored. The spiderweb of scar tissue deep in his muscles, the silent aches, the phantom tugs where old wounds had healed wrong, all of it erased. And that wasn't just the Estus fixing his Sharingan.

Kakashi looked down at his fingers, flexing them slowly. He hadn't moved this smoothly since he was twelve. No delay. No pain.

He remembered what the ANBU med nin had once told him during a rare physical. If you had Tsunade's healing or a decade of rest, you might reach your full potential. But keep going like this, and you'll spend the rest of your life plateaued as a Jonin. Your own injured body is holding you back from reaching your true potential.

Apparently, Naruto Uzumaki had just undone twenty years of irreversible damage… with a sip of golden light. This boy was going to be the death of him.

Kakashi glanced up. Kurenai hadn't spoken, but her eyes were sharp. She was waiting for something; a hint, an explanation. He opened his mouth, but a voice called from outside, breaking the tension.

"Breakfast's ready!" Tsunami's voice chimed. "Everyone, come eat!"

Kakashi folded the report quietly and stood. "Saved by the rice."

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At the breakfast table, Tsunami blinked in surprise when she noticed him among the others. "Oh! I didn't make a portion for you, Kakashi san. I thought you'd still be resting."

"It's alright. Still feeling a bit off. Tea's more than enough."

Before anyone could respond, Naruto plunked the last Estus flask down in front of him with a clink.

"Here," the blonde said. "Last one. If you're still sick, this'll sort it out."

Sasuke rubbed a hand across his face, muttering under his breath. Sakura sighed loudly and looked away.

Kurenai didn't speak. She didn't need to. Her expression was carved from stone.

"What's that do?"

"It heals you," Naruto replied simply. "You drink it, and it just… fixes stuff."

Kakashi didn't touch the flask. His eye flicked to Kurenai, gauging her reaction. She turned to Naruto, her voice level but inquisitive. "Naruto… have you ever heard of the Uzumaki Clan's healing chakra?"

The table stilled.

Naruto blinked, surprised by the question. "Yeah. Why?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye.

Kiba leaned forward, brows scrunched. "Wait. Uzumaki Clan? That's a real thing?"

"There was a clan," Naruto answered, poking at his rice. "They were wiped out a long time ago. But… yeah, they had healing chakra. Sealing jutsu too."

Beside him, Sasuke picked up a slice of grilled fish. But instead of dropping it into Naruto's bowl, he broke it cleanly in half and set one piece beside his own rice. Naruto stared at it for a moment, then glanced at Sasuke. No words. But he understood. They were both the last of something. Two kids from dead clans, still learning what it meant to be alive.

Kakashi would've smiled. Normally, he might've teased them. But right now, his focus was razor thin. Because no one had ever told Naruto about the Uzumaki. So how did Naruto know? And more importantly… what else did he know?

"Uzumaki san," Shino spoke up quietly. "Why don't you use that flask to heal your arm?" His bugs buzzed faintly under his cloak, but they wouldn't approach the flask. Even the most obedient of his kikaichū recoiled from it, twitching as if in the presence of something extremely powerful.

Naruto shrugged, nonchalant. "Tried it, but this stuff doesn't heal souls."

The silence that followed was almost physical. Chairs shifted. Chopsticks paused mid air. Every eye locked onto Naruto.

"What?" Kiba muttered, blinking.

"What do you mean, 'souls'?" Sakura asked, half incredulous, half curious.

Naruto didn't elaborate. He was too busy tearing off flaky chunks of grilled fish and offering them to Oscar, who chirped eagerly on the table beside him. If Naruto noticed the unease rippling around him, he didn't show it.

Hinata's voice broke the stillness, hopeful and soft. "What… what are the limits of this thing?"

She hadn't meant to let that question slip... not with so much weight behind it, but the thought of her mother stirred something in her. If this mysterious flask could bring someone back from the brink, maybe… just maybe...

"Don't know. But it hasn't failed me just yet."

The vagueness only made it worse.

Sasuke leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. "Can the Uzumaki clan use this 'special chakra' in a jutsu?"

Naruto paused mid motion, a piece of fish held between his fingers as he tried to recall the details from Tobirama's journals. Some Uzumaki, he remembered, were born with a rare type of chakra—potent enough to suppress the Nine Tails itself. That same chakra was the foundation for the Adamantine Sealing Chains, a jutsu unique to their bloodline. The connection was obvious now. Sasuke's question made sense in that context. With clarity settling in, Naruto nodded quickly.

Kakashi let out a sharp exhale through his nose. The steam briefly fogged the inside of his mask. He knew that look on Sasuke's face... pieces were falling into place, and not in a way Naruto would ever intend.

"I've got it," Sasuke said. "Naruto uses this chakra alongside his Scorch Release."

Tazuna and Tsunami exchanged bewildered looks from their seats at the edge of the table, completely lost but sensing the shift in tone. The shinobi were in deep waters now.

"Wait, Naruto, is this true?" Sakura asked, leaning forward.

"What's true?"

"That you use fire to make the Estus flasks work," Sasuke clarified, his voice calm but firm.

"Oh. Yeah. I do," Naruto said casually, not realizing he had unintentionally created another misunderstanding. Sasuke's question had been about using fire from Scorch Release, but Naruto assumed he was talking about the fire from the bonfires he used to refill the Estus Flask.

At the breakfast table, the hum of conversation faded as Kakashi tapped two fingers gently against the wooden bench. A silent rhythm. Measured. Deliberate.

Kurenai's eyes flicked toward him. She blinked once. Then a gentle shift of chakra; subtle, almost imperceptible, and the world around them shimmered.

To everyone else at the table, it looked like the two jonin were simply locked in a long, wordless stare, quiet, intense, and vaguely awkward. In truth, they were engaged in a silent exchange, casting layered genjutsu back and forth, speaking.

"Why are you pushing so hard for answers you already know you shouldn't ask?"

"Because I've spent years healing soldiers who came back too broken to live. Missing pieces. Hollowed out. Dying slowly in beds like that one you almost didn't leave. And now I've seen something that reverses all of it." She looked at him. "Tell me that didn't mean something to you."

Kakashi's expression didn't change. But his voice was softer now. "It meant too much. That's the problem."

"Then you understand." Kurenai's voice lowered. "This... this isn't just another anomaly. He could be the next Tsunade. No, more than that. He's creating miracles from nothing. He doesn't even realize it."

Kakashi shook his head slowly. "Miracles can start wars. And you know the Hokage won't allow this to go unchecked."

"You think the Hokage sent me here just to check on Team Seven? Come on, Kakashi. He sent a jonin and summoned Jiraiya for backup on an A rank. I know what that means."

Kakashi's reply came colder than before. "And if you start expecting things Naruto can't give yet? If the village sees him not as a boy but as a tool? What happens then?"

Kurenai hesitated.

"We saw that happen to Itachi," Kakashi went on. "Expected to become the next Madara. A prodigy with no room to fail. Do you want to see that happen again?"

The silence hung between them. Then Kurenai sighed. "You're right," she admitted. "I got swept up in the possibility. I forgot he's still a child."

"He trusts us," Kakashi said, his tone unreadable. "And I'm not going to be the one to break that."

Kurenai nodded once, gaze falling. "Then I'll leave it alone. For now."

The genjutsu unraveled like mist on the wind. Everyone else at the table was staring at them.

"Do I have something on my face?"

Sakura arched a brow, grinning. "No, but you two were locked in eye contact like it was a wedding vow."

Hinata turned beet red. "I-I-It looked… um… very heartfelt…"

"What?" Kurenai jerked upright, flustered. "No! No, it's not... there's nothing going on!"

"Hey, I'm not judging. Good on you, Kakashi sensei. Kurenai's way outta your league, but shoot your shot, right?"

Kakashi stared at the kid. "I didn't shoot anything, Kiba."

Shino adjusted his collar. "Emotional bonding can improve field performance. I approve."

Sasuke, without looking up from his rice, muttered, "Hn. One less tragic loner in the squad."

"That's rich coming from you," Kakashi said dryly. He reached lazily into his vest and pulled out a worn orange book, cracking it open with one hand like it was a natural reflex.

Kurenai's face twisted in horror. "Seriously? In front of the kids?!"

"Oh, come on," Kakashi said, unbothered. "You were the one staring into my eye like I was the last man in the Leaf."

"That is not what I was doing!"

Tazuna squinted at the two of them, raising his cup with a grin. "Well, damn. You two bicker like an old married couple."

The words hung in the air. Kurenai and Kakashi froze.

Meanwhile, Naruto was entirely oblivious, shoveling rice into his mouth with mechanical speed and feeding bits to Oscar, who sat contentedly at his side. "Man," Naruto mumbled mid bite, "you're all so dramatic. Pass the pickles?"

The table dissolved into laughter. Even Sasuke let out a small, reluctant chuckle.

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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 58, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.

To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!