Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
November 1, x787.
"Hey, Hinata, can you check again with your Byakugan." Naruto asked impatiently.
Currently, Naruto was sitting on the training grounds of the Ninja Academy during the lunch break with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Shino. Aside from the eight of them, Sasuke, who was pretending to be uninterested in their conversation was not too far away and listening for Hinata's response with anticipation.
The reason Naruto seemed so impatient was simple, today was the day Alfonzo told the group of kids that he would return to the village. And they were all excited to see him. Especially Naruto and Sasuke, who had been orphaned thanks to various circumstances. Even so, the other kids were also excited to see him, as well.
During Alfonzo's first stay in the village, they all improved a lot as shinobi. And ever since he left, they noticed that their rate of improvement had slowed tremendously, despite the fact that they were still training hard.
Even Shikamaru, who was the laziest of the group acknowledged just how much training with Alfonzo and Ikaruga had helped him grow.
"O-Okay." Hinata replied while blushing furiously.
A moment later, Hinata closed her eyes. Then, she channeled her magic power into her eyes.
"[Byakugan]." Hinata said quietly as she opened her eyes.
Like Neji of Team Guy, Hinata was also a member of the Hyuga Clan. So, she could also employ the Byakugan. And as it turned out, her Byakugan was even purer than Neji's. So, despite the fact that she was weaker than her older cousin, she could cover quite the distance with her Byakugan. However, she was still incapable of covering the entire village. But that would not be an issue.
After activating her Byakugan, Hinata turned her head in the direction of the residence where Alfonzo and Elicia stayed during their last trip. Then, she focused all her ocular power in that direction, extending the distance she could see in a straight line. And when she did, she smiled slightly.
It should also be noted that the Byakugan was able to see through solid objects. So, despite there being many buildings and structures between the academy and the residence where Alfonzo stayed, they did not hinder her in the slightest.
"They're here." Hinata said quietly in a happy tone.
Despite her low volume, everyone was able to hear her clearly. And when they did, most of them smiled, with Naruto, Sasuke, and Choji being the most excited.
While Naruto and Sasuke were just happy to see Alfonzo again, Choji was looking forward to his cooking. Meanwhile, the others were looking forward to getting stronger from his training.
"But Miss Elicia is not with him this time." Hinata continued. "Neither is Miss Ikaruga or Miss Irene."
"Really?" Shikamaru asked curiously. "Did he come alone?"
"No, there are three or four women with him…" Hinata said while continuing to watch the mansion. "And a… cat walking on two legs?"
"A cat?" Kiba asked, reacting explosively.
"*Bark* *Bark*" Akamaru, Kiba's young ninja dog also barked in dissatisfaction.
"Is it cute?" Ino asked curiously.
"Um… Yes." Hinata replied after flinching at Kiba and Akamaru's response.
"I've never seen a cat that walks on two legs before." Sakura commented. "I wonder what it's species is."
With that, the kids began discussing about Carla with curiosity. However, before the conversation could go on for too long, Naruto interrupted.
"That's not important right now!" Naruto shouted. "Instead, we should all be talking about going to see Alfonzo after the academy lets out!"
Naruto's excited exclamation silenced the other seven children. Then, after exchanging glances, they all nodded in agreement. Even Sasuke, who had not participated in the conversation, had resolved himself to go to see Alfonzo in the afternoon.
*Ding! Dong!* *Dong! Ding!*
At that moment, the bell signifying the end of the lunch break rang. And when it did, not only the nine who were acquainted with Alfonzo, but all the kids eating lunch on the training ground, as well as throughout the academy, packed up and made their way to their classrooms for their afternoon classes.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, Rika, and Miyuki had just finished lunch. Currently, everyone was seated in the living room while Miyuki was serving them tea. And Alfonzo had just started a video call on his lPhone.
"I don't know how you come up with some of the things you invent." Rika said while watching Alfonzo operate his lPhone. "I mean, people have been using communications lacrima for centuries. But you somehow came up with a much more convenient way to communicate over long distances."
"Yes, it's quite impressive." Saeko said. "Buying one was one of the best purchases of my life. And since my father bought one, as well, I've been able to keep in touch with him rather easily since I left Takanosu."
"What can I say?" Alfonzo asked while smiling sheepishly. "I just have an active imagination."
'Like I could tell them that smartphones were such a big thing in my previous life and I felt naked without one in these last sixteen years.' Alfonzo thought to himself.
["Oh, the woes of being a world hopping reincarnator."] Bedlam said sarcastically.
'Shut the hell up!' Alfonzo replied internally.
"Still, the lPhone is really cool." Wendy said with a smile. "I can talk to Ur even when I'm out on a quest."
"Yes, it really is convenient." Carla added.
The older wizards in the room could only smile at Wendy and Carla. Meanwhile, Miyuki agreed with Wendy. Although she was not particularly close with her family after her brother passed away, she was grateful that she could use the lPhone to talk to them from time to time.
At that moment, Alfonzo raised an eyebrow. Then, he looked in the direction of the Ninja Academy. And when he did, he smiled.
"I guess they know we're here now." Alfonzo muttered while continuing to smile.
At the same time, an image of Elicia appeared on the screen of his lPhone. However, she was not alone. Amar'ei was cradled in her arms.
{"Hey, Fonzie! Looks like you're in a good mood. Did something happen?"} Elicia said excitedly after the video call connected. Then, she looked down at Amar'e, who was looking curiously at the lPhone propped up on the table in front of them. {"Mar'e, look, it's Daddy."}
Hearing Elicia's voice, Alfonzo turned his attention back to the lPhone in his hand. And when he did, he saw Elicia smiling brightly while Amar'e was reaching for the lPhone eagerly.
"Amar'e, how ya doin', Little Man?" Alfonzo asked, his smile widening after seeing his son's face on the screen.
Over the two months since Amar'e was born, he had grown nicely. His skin tone was somewhere between the shades of his parents skin tones, he had a head full of curly black hair and grey eyes like Alfonzo's. Also, it looked like he would turn out to be an extremely active child.
On top of that, the happy sounds he was making gave Alfonzo a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest.
Meanwhile, as soon as the others heard Alfonzo mention Amar'e, they all gathered around Alfonzo to look at the screen of his lPhone. None of them ever got tired of seeing Amar'e, after all.
"Hey, Lici." Alfonzo said after watching his son for a moment. "I just wanted to call and let you know that we made it safely. As for what happened, I just felt Hinata looking at us with her Byakugan. So, Naruto and the others should know we're here."
{"*Sigh* I wish I could have come with you this time, too."} Elicia said wistfully. {"I would have loved to introduce them to Amar'e. I bet they would have loved him. Oh, and it looks like everyone is with you, too. Hey girls, how ya doin'?"}
"Hey, Lici." Rika said while waving at the lPhone. "I don't know how you handled being blindfolded when you came here last time. Especially when it's so useless for wizards as strong as us."}
"Hi, Amar'e~, I miss you~" Saeko said, gaining Amar'e's attention with her higher pitch. "When you get older, Auntie Saeko will teach you how to use a sword, okay?"
To everyone's surprise, the calm and collected Saeko turned into a totally different person when she was around Amar'e. On top of that, she really wanted to make Amar'e her disciple when he was old enough to hold a sword. To her disappointment, however, Alfonzo and Elicia had not agreed to her proposal, stating that Amar'e would be able to decide what path he chose as a wizard on his own. If he even wanted to be a wizard, that is.
"Hello, Elicia, how are you?" Wendy asked politely.
"Amar'e, we'll play some more when I come back home, okay?" Carla asked with a gentle smile on her face.
Like Saeko, everyone was surprised when Carla adopted a different demeanor around Amar'e. Whenever she was around the infant, her standoffish demeanor would evaporate, replaced by a doting older sister vibe.
Seeing all the other girls, Elicia smiled brightly while Amar'e reached for the lPhone with even more vigor. Unfortunately, his short arms would never allow him to grab it.
{"Aww, look Mar'e. All your aunties and big sisters miss you." Elicia cooed while gently rocking Amar'e in her arms. Then, she turned her attention back to Alfonzo while continuing to do so. "["So, I guess you guys will have some guests this afternoon."}
"Probably." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "And they'll probably either want to start training immediately or have me cook for them. And in some cases, both."
{"Hehehe. Well, your cooking tends to do that to people."} Elicia said with a smile. {"I can't wait until Mar'e gets to taste your cooking. I wanna see the look on his face when he does."}
Hearing that, everyone in the living room could not help but imagine a slightly older Amar'e trying Alfonzo's cooking for the first time. And when they did, they started to giggle.
"Hehehe. Maybe you should hold off on feeding him Alfonzo's food for a while." Rika said with a smile. "Otherwise, you'll ruin other food for him."
"Rika's right." Saeko added. "Ever since I first tried Alfonzo's cooking, I can no longer eat food below a certain quality."
Wendy and Carla nodded in agreement with Saeko's statement.
"Well I don't know if there's anything I can do about that." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "Even if it's not my cooking, he'll be eating stuff Maria and Grayfia cook."
{"Yeah, and they're almost as good as Fonzie."} Elicia added.
"Really?" Rika asked in a shocked tone. "I haven't tasted their cooking yet. Now, I wanna try it to compare."
{"Trust me, you won't be disappointed."} Elicia said proudly. {"Even if it's not as good as Fonzie's it's really close."}
Like that, the conversation continued with the occasional peel of laughter sprinkled in. However, when Amar'e started getting fussy, letting Elicia know that it was time for his nap, the conversation began to wind down.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Alfonzo said just before Elicia could end the call. "The Hokage agreed to me leaving on the weekends to come home and see you and Amar'e."
{"Really? That's great!"} Elicia replied happily. Then, she looked down at Amar'e and continued in an excited tone. "["Did you hear that, Mar'e? Daddy will come home once a week to play with you."}
Unfortunately, Amar'e was too cranky because of sleep. So, Alfonzo would not get to see him smile again before the call ended.
"Hahaha! It looks like my little man is too sleepy to care if I come back or not." Alfonzo said happily. "So, I'll let you go, Lici. Go ahead and put him to sleep. I'll talk to you later."
{"Okay."} Elicia replied with a nod. {"Bye, everyone. I'll talk to you later. And make sure to call home a lot, okay?"}
"We sure will." Rika replied with a smile. "Talk to you later. Bye, Lici. Bye, Amar'e."
"Talk to you later, Elicia." Saeko said with a smile. "Bye, Amar'e~"
"It was nice talking to you, Elicia." Wendy said politely. "I'll bring back a souvenir for Amar'e."
"Bye, Amar'e~! We'll play lots when I get home, okay?" Carla added.
"Well, I'll talk to you later, Lici." Alfonzo said with a smile after everyone else said their goodbyes. "I'll be home this weekend. Love you. Bye Little man, Daddy misses you."
With that, Elicia smiled before she reached forward and ended the video call.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
Not even five seconds after the video call ended, loud, hurried knocking could be heard from the front door of the residence. And when it did, Miyuki wasted no time going to answer the door. Meanwhile, Alfonzo looked at the lock screen of his lPhone to check the time.
"Damn, we were on the phone a lot longer than I thought." Alfonzo said. "The day at the academy is already over."
"Does that mean that those kids you told us about are here?" Rika asked. "You and Lici spoke so well of them, I'm curious to meet them."
"Yeah, that's them now." Alfonzo replied. "And you'll have plenty of time to get to know them. They'll probably be here every day after school."
With that said, Alfonzo turned to Wendy.
"And Wendy, if you're not too tired after working at the hospital, could you take some time to teach one of the girls about Tsunade's healing technique?" Alfonzo asked. "From what I could tell from the last time I was here, she's got really good magic power control. On top of that, she's really smart. So, I think becoming a medical ninja would be good for her. Plus, I'll be teaching her some of the village's Genjutsu, too."
"I don't mind." Wendy replied.
"As long as you don't overwork yourself." Carla said in a stern tone.
"Carla, I'm not a kid anymore.!" Wendy shouted back. "So, stop trying to tell me what to do!"
Like that, the two best friends began to bicker. Meanwhile, Alfonzo shifted his gaze to Saeko next.
"And Saeko, I'd like you to train one of the boys who are coming to visit in the way of the sword." Alfonzo said. "I think it would really suit him."
"I would love to." Saeko replied.
"Thanks." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
"You don't have anything for me to do?" Rika asked with a grin. "Isn't there someone to teach how to shoot?"
"Unfortunately, [Guns Magic] doesn't really fit too well with the customs of this village." Alfonzo replied while smiling wryly.
In response, Rika only shrugged her shoulders, as she was not really asking that question seriously.
A moment later, Miyuki led a group of nine children into the room. And as soon as they saw Alfonzo, they all smiled. Even the corners of Sasuke's lips slightly curled, as well.
"Hey, guys." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Let me introduce you to my guild mates and new maid."