Chapter 144: Jealousy
With plenty of time on his hands and not a single customer in sight, Mizuki dozed off on the chair behind the flower shop's counter.
Just as he was drifting into a deep nap, he vaguely sensed someone entering the shop. Moments later, someone seemed to be calling his name.
Annoyed at being disturbed during his nap, Mizuki reluctantly opened his eyes to find the shy Hyūga Hinata greeting him, accompanied by Inuzuka Kiba and the ever-unremarkable Aburame Shino.
"What do you want?" Mizuki asked, a bit curtly. He hadn't interacted much with this trio. They were all from established ninja clans and hadn't been close to him in school either. If anything, they were more familiar with Iruka.
"We wanted to bring flowers to visit Kurenai-sensei," Hinata said timidly.
"Flowers? Isn't this shop out of the way? The Yamanaka flower shop is closer. Why come all the way here?"
"You really know how to treat customers, Mizuki-sensei," Kiba grumbled. "We came too early—Yamanaka's shop wasn't even open yet."
"Too early?" Mizuki glanced outside. The sun was high, and the weather was bright. Any shop should be open by now. Then he remembered—Yamanaka Inoichi was injured fighting Tobi. If he was recovering, their flower shop probably hadn't reopened yet.
"What flowers did you pick? I'll wrap them up for you."
"No need, Mizuki-sensei. We've already done that." Shino, trying to assert himself for once, even spoke aloud. "We've also left the payment on the counter."
"Hm?" Mizuki rubbed his eyes and finally noticed the coins.
"So why wake me up if you've already handled everything?"
"Then what else do you need?" Mizuki asked, doing his best to smile. A teacher had to maintain some dignity and warmth.
"We heard you and Kurenai-sensei were on the same mission and both badly injured. But you seem okay... we just wanted to know if Kurenai-sensei will be alright." Kiba got straight to the point. "Everyone else just told us to be patient and trust things would be fine. No one told us anything real."
"That's understandable," Mizuki said. "Kurenai-sensei's life isn't in danger. But... her recovery will take time."
"Then... she won't be able to lead us on missions for a while?" Shino, ever observant, caught on to the underlying message.
"Pretty much. You should be prepared for that. But... if a highly skilled medical-nin gets involved, she might recover faster. It's hard to say for sure."
Tsunade's return could change things. Mizuki didn't dare speak too soon.
"Understood. Thank you, Mizuki-sensei. We'll take our leave now." With that, the trio turned to go.
Mizuki shook his head as they left. Aside from them, likely no one in the village cared who would take over Team 8 temporarily.
Each of them—Hinata, Kiba, and Shino—came from well-established clans with their own unique training methods. They didn't rely on their jōnin-sensei to teach them jutsu. What they really needed was someone to guide them in how to be a proper ninja, something Kurenai had done well.
Now that she was injured, it made sense to appoint a temporary replacement. Konoha had no shortage of jōnin capable of filling the role, and Mizuki didn't concern himself with it. Anyone willing to take on genin was usually patient enough to last until they made chūnin.
…
The trio's visit had shaken off Mizuki's sleepiness. As the morning wore on, more people filled the streets. Even the laziest residents had to get to work eventually. Customers began arriving, leaving Mizuki little time to relax.
Although the Four Seasons Flower Shop had only been open for a short time, Mizuki's custom-grown flowers—enhanced by his own chemical agents—grew quickly and often produced rare mutations. Most were worthless, but a few unique ones drew in flower and ikebana enthusiasts, boosting sales and income.
After weeks of trial and error, Mizuki had finally adapted to the workload. He no longer fumbled through every customer interaction like he had when he first started.
By noon, the summer heat had driven people indoors. Mizuki was finally able to rest and wait for Tsubaki to bring lunch.
But instead of Tsubaki, it was Uchiha Sasuke who arrived.
Mizuki noticed the complicated look in Sasuke's eyes and knew right away—he must've found out something about yesterday.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mizuki asked casually. "Shouldn't you be eating lunch right now?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sasuke asked, clearly frustrated.
"Tell you what? That Itachi came back? And why should I have to report everything to you?"
"…You're right. I overstepped. I apologize." Sasuke quickly realized his tone was out of line.
"No problem, Sasuke," Mizuki waved it off. "But yesterday—how much do you remember of what I told you?"
"Just... that man's strength—is he really that powerful?"
"That's all you took away from it?" Mizuki sighed. "That blade-wielding warrior you saw—Susanoo—wasn't even the full extent of Itachi's power."
"Then I have no right to seek revenge?" Sasuke murmured, almost in despair. "Is my goal... just a joke?"
"Didn't I already ask you yesterday?" Mizuki frowned. "As your former instructor, I won't lie to you—your future doesn't have to be beneath your brother's. But right now, you don't even understand the gap between you. You don't know what kind of monster he really is."
"Then what do I do? After all this training, I'm not closer—I'm falling further behind."
"That's a dangerous way of thinking, Sasuke." Mizuki could clearly see that Itachi had only grown stronger in the past few years—much stronger than Sasuke could imagine. And Sasuke was just twelve, barely beginning his prime. "You're at the start of your golden growth period. But your brother? He's already far down that road."
"…Even Naruto is stronger than me now," Sasuke muttered.
"Feeling the pressure? That you're not growing fast enough?"
Sasuke didn't reply, but the silence was answer enough.
Mizuki chuckled. "Just a month ago, Rock Lee beat you senseless. A month later, you overwhelmed Gaara, who had defeated Lee. You did that in front of the entire village—am I wrong?"
"But in the end, it was Naruto who beat Gaara…"
"And? Naruto isn't allowed to beat Gaara?" Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think of your teammate? A forever-loser? Someone always beneath you? You've made two mistakes, Sasuke—greed and jealousy. Do you think Naruto just got lucky with power?"
Sasuke was stunned into silence. He might be more talented than Naruto, but even he couldn't deny Naruto's grit and unyielding spirit.
"Go back and think it through. Talk to Kakashi—he's your real teacher."
"…Sorry for bothering you."
…
Watching Sasuke's retreating back, Mizuki couldn't help but feel sympathy. The boy had been dealt a rough hand. A few words wouldn't fix his mindset. Without experience, he'd never grasp the bigger picture. Living in a world woven of lies and tragedy, Sasuke had managed not to break. That alone was impressive.
But there was little Mizuki could do beyond giving the occasional nudge. With how different things had become from the original timeline, Sasuke's path was unpredictable. Kakashi would have to guide him from here.
In Mizuki's opinion, the biggest change came from what didn't happen yesterday—Itachi hadn't implanted Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan into Naruto. Originally, Itachi had intended to use Kotoamatsukami to permanently steer Sasuke away from darkness. That plan ultimately failed, and the eye was used during the Fourth Great Ninja War instead.
But with Mizuki's interference, that future was gone. No Kotoamatsukami. If Sasuke ever truly turned against Konoha, they would lose their last chance at redemption. As for the Fourth Ninja War? Mizuki could only hope for the best. Three months had already changed everything—three years from now, who could say?
"You two can come out now. He's gone." Mizuki sighed. More unexpected visitors today.
Kakashi and Yamashiro Aoba appeared.
"Thanks for dealing with Sasuke," Kakashi said, slightly sheepish. "I feel bad dumping this on you."
"It's fine. I only had to talk a bit." Mizuki turned to Aoba. "Why are you here?"
"Well…" Aoba scratched his head. "I accidentally let slip that Itachi had been spotted. Next thing I knew, Sasuke ran off. I followed to make sure he didn't do anything rash."
"So this is your fault, huh?" Mizuki sighed. "No wonder he came here looking for answers."
"Hey, Mizuki—got customers?" Just then, Tsubaki arrived.
"I'm starving. Want to stay and eat with us?"
"No, thanks. If Sasuke's fine, we'll get going."
…
After lunch, when the shop was cleaned up, Tsubaki looked around to make sure no one was nearby. She then handed Mizuki a scroll and said quietly, "You should go talk in person—in three days."
"Something serious?" Mizuki unrolled the scroll and scanned it. "…Tailed Beast chakra? Already?"
As he read further, Mizuki's expression turned grim.
"Second Hokage, Edo Tensei, Shadow Clones... None of this is unrelated. So someone had already attempted what I'm trying now. As expected... this world is full of geniuses."
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