Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Of course, it means literally." Mebuki said, blinking innocently.

"Gulp~"

Naruto swallowed hard and looked at the welcome message, not knowing what to say.

[Welcome the new member of the Haruno Family, Uzumaki Naruto!]

Sure enough, Mebuki's intentions were beyond Naruto's comprehension.

Last night, she'd mentioned wanting him as a son-in-law, and now, she was trying to make him her son.

It felt like she was determined to pull him into the Haruno family.

He couldn't help but wonder if Mebuki wasn't worried about the Root noticing her actions.

'Or was she actually in cahoots with them?'

'Could it be that my recent changes were too obvious and that old bastard Danzo had his eyes on him?'

'Is Mebuki an undercover agent from Root sent to keep an eye on me?'

"Mrs. Haruno, I just came for compensation. There's really no need to go this far, right?" Naruto said, rubbing his nose, not particularly keen on becoming entangled with the Haruno Family.

Mebuki explained: "Naruto-kun, Sakura was ignorant and almost killed you by mistake. My husband and I thought about it a lot and decided to adopt you as compensation."

"Naruto-kun, we've also gone around the village and learned about your situation." Kizashi, who had been standing nearby, chimed in, "It seems your life isn't easy. By joining the Haruno Family, your quality of life would definitely improve.

Hearing this, Naruto fell into deep thought.

Although he didn't fully understand the Haruno Family's true motives, joining the Haruno Family is indeed bringing him a lot of benefits. He'd no longer have to worry about meals, allowing him to focus more on his own goals.

"Alright, I can join, but I have two conditions." Naruto said after a pause.

Mebuki's face immediately lit up: "What are your conditions?"

Naruto thought for a moment and then said, "First, I won't change my name, I'll still be Naruto Uzumaki. Second, even though Sakura is a few months older than me, I want to be the older brother."

Calling the Haruno couple 'Mom' and 'Dad' wasn't an issue, after all, they'd be providing for him from now on. But the body he had was given to him by Minato and Kushina, and he couldn't forget his roots.

As for wanting to be Sakura's older brother, it was simply to avoid being suppressed by her. Ideally, he'd avoid any connection with Sakura entirely, after all, she was nothing but a troublemaker in his eyes, a source of endless hassle.

"There is no problem with these two conditions. I can agree to them. Apart from these, do you have any other requests?" Mebuki asked.

Naruto shook his head, "If you can accept those two conditions, that's enough. But I do have one question… why are you so insistent on making me a part of this family?"

Mebuki sighed and said, "Sakura is well-behaved around us, but both her father and I know that deep down, she's a bit rebellious. Lately, the generational gap between us has been growing, and she's been opening up to us less and less."

Hearing this, Naruto nodded in realization, "So, you want me to help bridge that gap, preventing her from going astray?"

"As expected of Naruto-kun, you catch on quickly. I like talking to smart people like you." Mebuki said with a smile.

It seemed Mebuki's plan was to simply add an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks and then have him manage Sakura on their behalf.

Naruto was slightly irritated., and couldn't help but say: "If that's the case, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I don't mean to offend, but I genuinely don't like Sakura's personality. If you force me to interact with her, my approach may be stricter than you'd like. It might help her mature, but I imagine it could be hard for you to watch."

"We won't mind, as long as it helps her grow!"

Mebuki responded without hesitation.

"Then... I accept."

Naruto was genuinely surprised by Mebuki's decisiveness, but now, with her approval, disciplining Sakura would no longer be an issue for him in the future.

'It seems living as a 'guest of honor' in the Haruno household wouldn't be so bad.'

Just as he was thinking this, a notification from his system sounded in his mind.

[Congratulations to the host for staying at Haruno's house for one hour. Sign-in successful. Reward: Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.]

Immediately, a flood of memories about this technique surged into his mind, embedding themselves as if he'd known how to use it all along.

'Huh? What kind of Genjutsu is this?'

Signing in at the Haruno's house and getting a reward was a pleasant surprise, but Naruto didn't have any recollection of this technique. Curious, he opened up his system interface to find more details.

[Hell Viewing Technique: Causes the target to see terrifying visions that they dread the most. In the original work, Kakashi used this technique to make Sakura faint.]

'Well, well, this could be useful.'

Naruto thought with a grin, 'With this technique, handling Sakura would be a piece of cake.'

'Hold on… there seemed to be a pattern to the system's sign-ins.'

Naruto couldn't help but start thinking back:

'I'd received [Gragas's Body Slam] at Ichiraku Ramen, [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique] at Hokage Rock, [Transformation Technique] at Academy, [Sharingan] at Uchiha Ruins, and [Hell Viewing Technique] at Haruno's house.'

'So, the rewards obtained by signing in at different locations are related to them.' (T/N: In the RAW, Gragas's Body Slam is called Meat, Egg, Scallion and Chicken. From what I researched, it's a meme in Chinese since Gragas looked like a meatball. But I felt it's strange, that's why I changed it to Body Slam directly.)

'Then, to obtain the [Rinnegan], did I have to go to the Akatsuki?'

[Friendly Reminder: To correct the host's assumption, obtaining the Rinnegan would specifically require you to find Nagato's hidden location within the Akatsuki's base.]

'Wait… what…'

Naruto was completely dumbfounded.

'The Akatsuki alone is fraught with danger, and now I'd have to locate Nagato's hidden location?'

'Given that Nagato couldn't walk due to his injuries, it was obvious he would be kept in a highly secure location. Most of the Akatsuki's members didn't even know where Nagato's true body was, and probably only Konan knew the exact location.'

'Besides, even if I find the location of his main body, it would be wishful thinking to want to get in.'

'Anyone who is not a fool will definitely have someone to protect him. Nagato has the Six Paths of Pain, and under normal circumstances, he will at least ensure that there is always one or more Pains around him.'

'Could it be that I am destined to never obtain the Rinnegan?'

Shaking his head vigorously, Naruto decisively decided to shelve this headache-inducing thought.

As the saying goes, 'the road will reveal itself when you reach the mountain'. It is too early to think so far ahead now.

Right now, he was more interested in Sakura's reaction.

He couldn't help but smile when he thought of Sakura jumping up and down in anger after she found out about the recent changes at her home.

"Naruto, breakfast is ready. Since it's your first day as part of the family, I'll leave the task of waking up Sakura to you." Mebuki said, placing breakfast on the table with a mischievous smile.

"Huh? Me? Isn't that a bit… inappropriate? You're really okay with this?" Naruto asked doubtfully.

Mebuki chuckled and said, "From a family perspective, you're now my son, so it's perfectly normal to go wake up your sister. Besides, if the two of you end up deepening your bond beyond that of siblings, I wouldn't mind making you a son-in-law."

"In short, we're a family now. But remember, Naruto, you're both still minors, so even if you're thinking about marriage, you'll have to wait until you're of legal age." Kizashi chimed in, backing up his wife.

Hearing this, Naruto was even more speechless.

'It seems that this couple is not very reliable…'

'By the way, are you guys really Sakura's biological parents?'