Konoha Hospital.
Uchiha Izuna's handsome face was tense as he paced back and forth anxiously outside a tightly shut operating room. His fists were clenched so tightly that veins bulged across the backs of his hands.
"Oi, little cousin, can you stop pacing? You're making me dizzy already."
Sitting on a chair in the corridor, Uchiha Gin finally couldn't stand watching Izuna pacing for hours, and spoke up.
"Big cousin… Mihoko will be fine, right?"
Izuna froze in his steps, his voice trembling.
"I can't guarantee that. I'm not a doctor."
Gin shrugged helplessly.
"But you're pretty familiar with the doctors here, right? Can't you go inside and ask?"
Izuna was so desperate he was clutching at straws—actually wanting Gin to sneak into the operating room.
"…Are you stupid? This is gynecology!"
Gin nearly wanted to pry open Izuna's skull and check if something was wrong with his brain. He stood and smacked his cousin on the head.
"Please be quiet outside, the operation is still in progress."
The operating room door creaked open. A nurse, annoyed at the noise, poked her head out to scold them. But then she spotted Gin's familiar curly hair. Her expression flipped instantly into surprise and delight.
"Gin-sama! You've come to help again?"
"Cough, cough…"
Gin cleared his throat to mask his embarrassment. Under Izuna's mocking gaze, he waved his hand seriously.
"Today I'm just family, won't bother you."
"Don't say that! You've helped our department so much before…"
Gin silently thanked the heavens that Uchiha Hikari and the others hadn't come along. Otherwise, those words would have doomed him for weeks.
"How's Uchiha Mihoko?"
Gin quickly shifted the topic.
"The mother's vitals are stable, just a breech position. The doctor is adjusting it. It should be over soon."
Since the one asking was their only official instructor—the so-called 'Saint of Konoha Obstetrics,' Uchiha Gin—the nurse didn't hold back and explained everything clearly.
"Thanks~ I'll give you all a big red envelope later!"
Gin promised with a grin and, after the door closed again, turned to give Izuna a reassuring gesture.
"…Big cousin, so this is what you've been busy with?"
Hearing the exchange, Izuna gave him a complicated look.
"…Partially, partially."
It had already been four years since Madara left Konoha. In that time, the burden of the Uchiha fell squarely on Izuna's shoulders. At first, he had been eager, even enjoying the work. But after Madara's departure, the responsibility crushed him into little more than a beast of burden.
And Gin? Every time Izuna tried to rope him in, he found an excuse—teaching, missions, even medical lectures. Izuna thought he was joking. Now, maybe not.
"Wahhh~ wahhh~"
The baby's cries rang out from the operating room. Izuna's face lit up immediately.
The door opened. Mihoko, pale but awake, was pushed out on a stretcher. She looked at Izuna with a weak but warm smile.
"Darling, come see our baby."
She lifted a corner of the blanket, revealing a wrinkly newborn happily suckling at her chest.
"Ah! Let me see too—"
"Thud!"
Before Gin could peek, Izuna's kick sent him flying into the wall.
"If you want to see, wait until we're home!"
"Tch, stingy."
Gin peeled himself from the wall, brushed the dust off, and sulked. Still, he quietly took out prepared red envelopes and handed them to the doctors and nurses.
"Thanks for your hard work."
The heavy envelopes made their smiles even brighter.
Later, in a private VIP room, Mihoko rested while the newborn slept peacefully in a new crib.
"You've worked hard, Mihoko."
Izuna whispered softly at her side.
"It's nothing~"
Her frail body radiated gentle maternal warmth. She stroked Izuna's cheek lovingly.
"Don't blame yourself."
She stopped him before he could apologize.
"…Blame him. Don't spoil him, Mihoko."
A lazy voice interrupted. Gin had slipped into the room and was now staring curiously at the baby.
"Big cousin, when did you get here?"
"For a while." Gin smiled, placing a bottle of strawberry milk he'd brought on the table. He gave Izuna a teasing look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Didn't I warn you? Mihoko's still so young, wait a few years before having kids. You never listen."
Eighteen wasn't unusual for a mother here, but in Gin's past world, it was risky.
"I was careful, but…"
Izuna's guilt deepened.
"Lucky they're safe. Otherwise, I'd make sure you lost an eye."
Gin glared at him. He hated men careless with women. He even considered scheduling a vasectomy for his cousin.
Izuna instinctively squeezed his legs together under Gin's malicious stare.
"By the way, have you chosen a name yet?"
Izuna and Mihoko shared a look. She smiled.
"Yes, Fugaku."
"Pffft!!"
Gin sprayed strawberry milk everywhere, soaking Izuna's face.
"Cough! Sorry! Sorry!!"
He grabbed a towel nearby and hurried to wipe his cousin's face.
"Don't! That's—"
Mihoko tried to stop him too late.
Gin suddenly froze, sniffed, and looked at the towel. The smell… wasn't good.
"…Sorry, Izuna. Forgive me this once."
"AHHHH!!"
Izuna exploded, vanishing in a blur of Shunshin, and a moment later water ran loudly from the bathroom.
When he came back dripping, he glared daggers at Gin.
"Oh come on, it's your own baby's. You think that's dirty? Mihoko, don't spoil him."
Gin sat by Mihoko like a gossiping friend.
"Guhhuhuh~"
The baby woke, not crying, but laughing.
Izuna could only sigh and give up revenge for another day.
"Big cousin, Fugaku's a good name, right?"
"…It is. But—"
Gin scratched his curly head, staring at the newborn.
"But what?"
Both parents leaned in nervously.
"…It's not auspicious enough."
"What?"
"I think… Fuyou (Wealthy) or Fugui (Riches) would be better."
And so, under Gin's meddling, the reincarnation of the Sage's son was pushed aside, and a boy named Uchiha Fuyou began a life of fortune and prosperity.
Land of Waves.
"Haha! I'm a grandfather!"
In the Daimyo's palace, Uchiha Tajima, white-haired but spry, leapt from his chair with joy at the news.
"Uchiha Fuyou—what a wonderful name!"
Meanwhile, deep in the wilderness of Fire Country, a red-armored figure sat by a campfire. A ninja cat approached with a scroll.
"Important urgent message, nya~"
Madara unrolled it warily. Reading it, his cold expression melted into laughter and tears.
"Ha! Izuna… became a father."
But then he frowned.
"…Fuyou? Definitely Big Cousin's idea."
Still, the news filled him with vigor. He had been tracking the Nine-Tails. Soon, he'd capture it and return to the village with triumph.
Far away, the Nine-Tails shivered, feeling hunted.
"…Something's wrong."
It tried to move its lair again.
But under the moonlight, scarlet eyes pierced the darkness.
"Finally found you."
Madara stepped forth, summoning his towering Susanoo.
The Nine-Tails cursed. The giant was even taller than it.
"Run!"
No longer the reckless beast it once was, the Nine-Tails spat a Tailed Beast Bomb and fled.
"Obediently surrender."
Madara intercepted, Susanoo blocking its path.
"Damn humans! Even if I die, I won't let you win!"
The fox roared, launching its strongest blast. Susanoo barely budged.
"…Is this really the Nine-Tails?"
Madara frowned. Its power seemed weaker, its voice oddly sharp.
Then he realized—no, it was the same fox. Which meant only one thing.
"I've grown stronger."
He smirked proudly.
The Nine-Tails squirmed, terrified, suspecting this human had strange tastes.
But a single glance of Madara's Mangekyō overwhelmed it. Its will collapsed instantly.
"…That easy?"
Surprised, Madara smiled. "Heh, I am truly Saku Madara now."
He leapt onto the fox's head, waving grandly.
"Let's go home."
The Nine-Tails, under control, ran unwillingly toward Konoha.
"…Old man, please open your eyes and end my suffering."
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]