29

As the room falls into a tense silence, Hagoromo steps forward, his voice calm but filled with the weight of years. He addresses Kaguya, his tone respectful yet filled with a hint of desperation. "Kaguya, as your son, I ask for your help. The world is on the brink of destruction. We need your power to defeat Isshiki."

There's a moment of stillness before Kaguya responds, her voice measured and distant. "Help?" She looks around the room, her gaze cold, before it lands on Hagoromo. "I do not fight for the sake of the world anymore. You sealed me away, and I was forced to endure. I will not fight for you, not without reason." She pauses, and her eyes seem to soften just slightly as they rest on Naruto and Sasuke. "But I will... see."

Hagoromo looks momentarily defeated, his shoulders slumping as he realizes she won't be swayed. He remains quiet, the weight of her rejection hanging in the air, but there's a flicker of hope within him as she doesn't completely dismiss the idea. "I understand," he murmurs.

As the conversation turns, Naruto, who had been listening intently, begins to feel an unfamiliar excitement bubbling inside him. He looks at Kaguya, his heart racing a little. She hadn't completely rejected the idea—she'd said she'd "see." And more than that, her eyes had lingered on him and Sasuke with something he had never expected to see in her—the faintest trace of warmth.

Could it be? Could Kaguya really see him and Sasuke as her family, as something more than just mere mortals? As her grandkids?

Naruto's heart skips a beat. The thought that Kaguya, the powerful and mysterious being, could see him and Sasuke as family, as something precious, fills him with an emotion he had never thought he'd experience. A sense of warmth, something like the feeling of belonging.

He had never known a real grandmother. His own family had been taken from him at a young age, and for so long, he had been alone. But now, standing here, there was a possibility, just a small chance, that Kaguya—the same Kaguya who had once been so distant, so detached—might look at him and Sasuke like they were her own kin. The thought makes his chest swell with emotion.

Sasuke, though usually composed, feels the shift too, his eyes narrowing as he observes Kaguya's softer expression. But it's Naruto who feels it most deeply, and he can't help but smile a little, a bright, hopeful grin spreading across his face. "Maybe… maybe Kaguya really does think of us as her grandkids," he mutters to himself, more to ease the excitement in his heart than anything else.

For a moment, it feels like everything Naruto has wanted—family, connection, belonging—is within reach. The idea of having someone like Kaguya, someone so powerful and ancient, as his grandmother, is a dream he never thought he could have.

While the others stand quietly, processing the implications of Kaguya's response, Naruto can't help but glance at Sasuke, his voice filled with a mix of excitement and hope. "Hey, Sasuke, did you see that? She—she might actually think of us like family. Like... her grandkids!" His grin widens, and though his words are only half-formed, the emotion behind them is clear.

Sasuke looks at Naruto, the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. "Don't get your hopes up too much," he says dryly, though even he can't entirely hide the curiosity in his eyes. "But... I guess if she sees us that way, it's not the worst thing."

Naruto's grin only grows wider. For the first time in a long while, he feels a sense of connection, a sense of hope that maybe—just maybe—he might have a family after all, even if it's in a way he never expected.

And as Kaguya stands before them, her eyes lingering on both Naruto and Sasuke with an almost unnoticeable softness, it seems that, in the strange, complicated world they inhabit, family might just be the unexpected ally they need.