Naruto, born from the world of his parents.

Hehehe, hehehe.

As Minato was leading Hiruzen Sarutobi towards the ward, he saw his wife, who was leaning against the window and chuckling to herself, just as he turned the corner.

He paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly, stepped forward, and patted Kushina on the shoulder: "What are you looking at?"

"Shh, keep your voice down."

The tacit understanding between the couple over the years allowed Kushina to know who was behind her without turning around. She showed no politeness to the Hokage, who was highly respected and even worshipped by everyone in Konoha, and warned him with a frown as she opened Minato's hand.

Hearing his wife's words, Minato turned his head and smiled apologetically at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was not far away, before leaning his head against his wife's and looking into the window.

But this glance made Minato's heart skip a beat. Naruto's hospital bed was empty, with only a girl sitting by the bedside.

"Naruto has disappeared?!"

Almost instantly, Minato's expression darkened. He was just about to go inside when he heard Naruto's voice.

"Mom and Dad, what are you doing?"

Minato turned his head and looked at Naruto, who was standing calmly at the door of the ward. He felt relieved and was about to say something when his wife spoke first.

"Ah, Naruto, Mom brought you food, but your dad pulled me here as soon as I got to the door, telling me not to bother you. But I can't see anything here. What happened?"

Minato was stunned. He stared wide-eyed, about to say something, but the stinging pain in his foot stopped him from speaking.

He looked at his wife's somewhat dangerous gaze, swallowed his explanation with a wry smile, and turned to Naruto: "That's how it is."

Naruto looked at the couple, who were clearly in their thirties but still looked like teenagers, and said nothing. He simply turned and went inside.

Seeing this, Kushina breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to praise her husband, she heard Naruto's quiet voice.

"I heard my mother giggling."

These words made Kushina freeze instantly. She walked into the room with great embarrassment, but when she saw the quiet girl by the bed, her embarrassment vanished in an instant.

After casually tossing the lunchbox in her hand to Naruto, almost instantly, this most respected lady in Konoha ran to Hinata's side.

"Kushina-sama..."

"Don't be so formal. As Naruto's friend, you can just call me Auntie."

Hearing Hinata's voice, Kushina smiled, her eyes crinkling into a happy arc, interrupting Hinata's politeness.

Kushina had always liked this polite child, and today, after peeking at him through the window, her affection naturally shifted from admiration to a familial fondness.

She was about to say something while holding Hinata's hand when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Kushina turned her head away somewhat displeased, only to see Hiruzen Sarutobi's figure.

A hint of doubt flashed in the eyes of this seemingly rough-around-the-edges woman. She looked at Minato, as if she understood something from his gaze, then stood up, first bowing to Hiruzen in greeting, before turning to Hinata and asking with utmost gentleness, "Little Hinata, Naruto is in the hospital, and I'm so bored at home alone. Would you like to come and keep me company?"

Hinata nodded and followed Kushina out of the ward with perfect understanding.

Kushina didn't say much until they reached the hospital entrance.

She turned to look at the hospital, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Aunt Kushina?"

Kushina looked in the direction of the voice, her worry instantly vanishing as she revealed her signature hearty smile: "Ah, Itachi, are you here to see Minato?"

Uchiha Itachi was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, and nodded hesitantly. But just as he was about to say something, he heard a surprised voice coming from the hospital gate.

"Itachi-kun!"

Kushina turned her head in confusion, only to see a girl in a purple sleeveless top walking towards her with a joyful expression.

Upon seeing the girl, Kushina seemed to instantly understand something, and looked at Itachi mischievously: "Oh, little Itachi has grown up too."

By the window of the ward.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the scene unfolding downstairs and couldn't resist taking a puff of his cigarette, but as soon as he pulled out his pipe, he put it back in his pocket.

"Is that girl named Uchiha Izumi?"

"Yes, Lord Hiruzen."

"She seems like a good woman, a good match for Itachi."

"Brother Itachi?"

Upon hearing what the Third Hokage said, Naruto immediately became curious.

"Does Itachi-nii also have a girl he likes?"

As Naruto was pondering this, he heard Hiruzen continue, "Although it doesn't look quite like it, it always reminds me of Lake Biwa."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned around and looked at Naruto, a tender look mixed with sadness in his eyes: "Biwako is my wife, and also the midwife when you were born."

"what?"

Naruto was somewhat surprised, as he had never seen this grandmother before, but the clever boy immediately thought of a possibility and shut his mouth.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't shy away from the topic and nodded frankly: "That old woman left when you were two years old. You don't need to be sad for me or anything. On the contrary, I'm much more relaxed now that I don't have to face that old face that always forbids me from smoking every day."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes suddenly became extremely serious: "I've been Hokage for too long in my life, and a lot of information can be found. I've thought about it, and this information should be useful to you."

"I got engaged to Biwako when I was twelve years old, and it was on the day of the engagement that I first met her. At that time, I thought, how could there be such a serious face in this world? So I gave her a nickname that only I know."

"Little Turtle, I think her stern face looks a lot like the turtle in the pond."

"She cooks very well, but there's one dish that's particularly awful and I can never seem to get the hang of it: bonito flakes with rice. I used to think it was because she wasn't putting in the effort, but then one day I impulsively went and ate bonito flakes with rice, and I discovered that I'd somehow become allergic to bonito flakes."

"Every morning she would put her slippers in the most suitable place, but she always insisted that she didn't want me to get my feet and socks dirty."

"She would make me a bowl of ramen on my birthday. It wasn't until much later that I found out it was because when I was fifteen, I saw a TV character who had a bowl of ramen on her birthday every year, and I thought to myself how kind she was."

"besides……"

Hiruzen Sarutobi quietly recounted his past with his deceased wife, his expression utterly calm, as if he were attending a funeral.

At first, Naruto found it strange, but gradually he became attracted to the incredibly mundane stories told by Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke at length, until the setting sun bathed the white walls of the ward in orange light before he finally stopped.

Looking at the hunched old man, Naruto felt a tightness in his chest.

"Alright, that's all the information I can think of that would earn my trust. I hope it's useful."

He nodded vigorously as he listened to the old man's words, but Hiruzen Sarutobi just stared at him without saying a word before turning away decisively.

But when he reached the door, he seemed to trip over something and almost fell.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up again. He stood quietly in place, then left and disappeared.