As Shota looked at baby Fuu, 'So no matter how much timeline I change, something's would never change.' Shota held the small bundle carefully and stared at the sleeping baby girl.
Her green hair was soft and her face looked peaceful. Even though he had changed many events in this world, some things stayed the same. Fuu was still going to become the seven tails jinchuriki.
This made him think about how destiny worked in the shinobi world. Some paths seemed fixed no matter what choices people made. He handed the old man, the current Jinchuriki the baby back.
Hisen the leader of Takigakure stood beside the old man. Hisen did not waste time on greetings or small talk.
"Come, we would begin the sealing process tomorrow." He said without any acknowledgement of their presence or even a hello. His voice was direct and businesslike.
He turned and started walking toward the sealing chamber without waiting for a reply. The Suna group followed him. Shota could tell that they were completely surrounded by Taki shinobi.
Shota could not blame them consider they were hosting two S rank shinobi who might want to steal their precious 'hero water' or even some the unique jutsus tTaki had in their Jutsu archives.
As they walked, Hisen turned to them. "I hope Kazekage and Suna have not forgotten their deal of protecting us along with Iwa from foreign threats." He reminded them of the agreement made between the villages.
"Do not worry. Suna would follow on it." Shota said. The man nodded.
The old man turned to him with Fuu still in his arms as they reached the inn . "Shota Aizawa can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?"
He wanted a private moment before the sealing began. Shota agreed right away because he could see the pain in the old man's eyes.
Shota nodded. He took him to a quiet room nearby. The chief knelt beside the sleeping infant. His weathered hands trembled as they brushed a strand of green hair from her tiny face.
The old man looked at Fuu with deep love and sadness mixed together. He took his time, gently touching her cheek as if trying to remember every detail of this moment.
"I always imagined spoiling my granddaughter," he whispered with a bittersweet smile. "Teaching her how to fish... watching her chase butterflies through the fields... hearing her call me 'Grandfather' every morning."
The old man shared the simple dreams he had for Fuu's childhood.
His voice cracked. The emotion became too strong for him to hide. Tears started forming in his eyes as he continued speaking from the heart.
"Instead... the first gift I would give her is a burden no child should ever bear." The old man clearly felt guilty for passing this responsibility to such a small baby.
"I have been a Takigakure Elder for decades. I have sent men and women to death. I have made decisions that cost countless lives. Yet none of them compare to the pain of this one." The grandfather talked about his long years as a shinobi and one of the village leaders.
He had made many tough choices before, but handing over his granddaughter was the hardest thing he had ever done. The pain in his heart was deeper than anything from battles or wars.
"But my bloodline is the only one that could safely handle the Seven tails and that's my granddaughter was decided to be the next Jinchuriki and handed over to you." His wrinkled hand rested gently on Fuu's forehead.
He prayed silently for a moment, hoping she would be strong enough to handle what was coming.
"Forgive me, little Fuu." He asked for her forgiveness even though she was too young to understand.
A long silence followed. Neither Shota nor the old man spoke for several minutes. The only sound was the distant roar of the waterfall outside. It gave them time to think about the serious step they were about to take.
"When the Seven-Tails is sealed within you... our village will survive. But I fear your childhood will not. They will smile at the hero who saved them from the seven tails, yet flinch from the child carrying the beast. Such is the cruelty of people."
He closed his eyes. The memories of past hardships seemed to weigh on him heavily.
"I am too old. I will not live long enough to protect you from every hateful stare... every whispered insult... every lonely night." He knew his time was short. After the sealing, he would not be there to shield her from the difficulties ahead.
Turning toward him, he bowed far lower than someone of his status ever should in front of a shinobi from another village.
"So... I entrust her to you." His voice was no longer that of a proud shinobi who was a strong jonin, but simply that of a desperate grandfather. He was begging Shota not as a leader but as family who wanted the best for his granddaughter.
"Please, let her grow up in Sunagakure in the best manner possible." He asked Shota to make sure Fuu felt at home in the desert village. Suna would become her new family.
"I know no village is free of fear. I know there will be those who see only the beast she carries. I know Būpuku is old and Suna would be looking for a new jinchuriki soon. With another jinchuriki, perhaps they will understand each other's loneliness in ways no one else can."
The grandfather hoped Fuu and the future Shikaku's jinchuriki could support each other. Sharing the same burden might help them feel less alone.
"Perhaps, when the rest of the world calls them monsters, they can still call each other friends."
A faint smile appeared through his tears. Even in sadness, he tried to find hope.
He looked back at Fuu once again. His eyes were full of love as he memorized her face.
"Let her laugh. Let her climb trees, play games, scrape her knees, and complain about vegetables. Tell her stories before bed. Celebrate her birthdays. When she cries... hold her. When she smiles... smile with her. And if she ever asks where her grandfather is..." His voice finally broke as the tears flowed more freely.
"...tell her that he loved her more than he loved his own life."
He gently kissed her forehead. The kiss was soft and full of farewell.
"I do not ask you to raise a weapon. I do not ask you to raise a jinchuriki. I ask you... to raise my granddaughter." The old man made his request very clear. He wanted Shota to treat Fuu as family first, not as a tool for the village.
The old man slowly stood. Tears were still falling down his face as he prepared for the painful process ahead.
"May the world remember her as a child before it remembers the beast she carries. And may she someday forgive an old man... who loved her enough to let her go." These were his final hopes for Fuu's future.
Shota looked at him and asked, "And why are you telling me this?" Shota wanted to understand why the old man chose to share these personal feelings with him specifically.
He was not the Kazekage and was in charge of Fū or the village.
"Your dojutsu makes you the perfect candidate to babysit a jinchuriki after all and I have no doubt that Suna would want you there to make sure that the seal on Fū is not faulty or if I have hidden a failsafe on it to destroy Suna." The old man said with a smile.
"And would you do that?" Shota asked. He wondered if the old man had really hidden something dangerous in the seal.
"Like I said, do not raise her as a weapon and I would be a hypocrite if I did the same." He said. He wanted Fuu to have a good life, not to be used against Suna.
"I am glad you asked me to come with you in private. I have something to ask of you. Could you help seal another tailed beast... or rather just the chakra of another tailed beast into me?" Shota asked.
He knew the old man was already on the brink of death after sealing seven tails from himself to Fuu, he would die.
The old man eyes widened at his words. He then smiled. "You do not... mean that... you... of course... it was nine tails." Realisation dawned in him. The grandfather understood immediately what Shota was planning. The connection to the recent attack on Konoha became clear to him.
"I guess Fū is going to at least have two friends." The old man said with a gentle laugh despite his tiredness.
"Nah I rather be her lazy uncle." Shota said and the old man smiled.
--------Author Notes---------
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