Strongest Shinobi

Jiraiya, who had explained Izana's circ.u.mstances to Uchiha Fugaku, left Izana at the Uchiha residence.

Fugaku was furious to hear of the incident.

He picked up Izana, talking to him in a gentle tone.

Izana was a bit surprised at the intimacy he felt from Fugaku.

The man had met him for the first time, and he was already acting so intimately.

"Call Itachi."

Fugaku said shortly, after which several shinobi appeared and then disappeared.

"Don't worry Izana, you're home now. No one is going to hurt you again."

Fugaku looked with sorrow at Izana as he recalled what Jiraiya had said about him.

The child had lived through hell for his entire life.

At least for now, he should experience some parental love, Fugaku said to himself.

In a minute Itachi stood in front of Fugaku.

Itachi seemed to be the same age as Izana, around three years old.

"Father, you called."

Itachi looked at Izana with curious eyes.

Itachi had never experienced his father being so close to someone else's child.

"Itachi, this is your cousin. He is the son of my brother. He has been missing since three years ago while your aunt was pregnant with him. Treat him like your brother."

Fugaku put down Izana and pushed him towards Itachi.

"Izana, this is my son Itachi. I hope you'll be friends."

Izana, not knowing what the word friend meant could only stare at Fugaku.

"Uncle, what does the word friend mean?"

Fugaku was so shocked by Izana's words that he didn't know what to say.

He was shocked imagining how little his nephew knew of everything.

"A friend is someone you are close to, someone you share happy and sad times with."

Itachi explained, seeing that his father was still too shocked to answer.

He grabbed Izana's hand and dragged him with him.

"I'll take care of him father."

Itachi said as he took Izana with him into the estate.

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Itachi was looking at Izana with serious eyes.

Currently they were inside Itachi's room. The room was b.a.r.e, with only the minimum amount of furniture.

Among them was a pair of kunai and shurikens.

Though in Izana's eyes, the room appeared cosy and warm in contrast to his previous cell.

"Can you tell me about yourself?"

Itachi said as his eyes were still focused on Izana.

Izana felt uncomfortable beneath his stare and started to talk about his experiences until now as far as he remembered.

He even told Itachi about Ryuujin, even though the Third said not to tell anyone.

Even though he felt uncomfortable because of Itachi's stare, he still felt like he could trust Itachi. After all, Itachi was supposed to be his family.

Itachi had a moment of pity after hearing Izana's words. Izana was still so young, yet had experienced all the cruelty of the world.

Itachi didn't know how he would have been, had he been in Izana's situation.

"Well, I'm alright, so it's better now. I have Ryuujin and you now, along with uncle Fugaku, Jiraiya-san and the others, so I'm not alone anymore."

Izana smiled at Itachi, small dimples appearing in his cheeks.

Ba-dum.

Itachi felt his heart skip a beat. His cousin was too cute. He didn't have the stoic and arrogant demeanor of an Uchiha and looked more like a little rabbit. Cute and pettable.

"In the Future, don't smile like that except towards me and father. Otherwise there'll be a lot of flies around you."

Itachi warned. He could already see all the girls flocking around Izana.

It didn't help that Izana had no common sense and wouldn't understand the situation.

"Okay?"

A bit perplexed, Izana agreed to Itachi. Though he had no idea what Itachi meant by attracting flies. He smelled at himself, not finding the source of a smell that would attract any flies.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Itachi, Izana, its time for dinner."

Mikoto's voice, Itachi's mother, came from behind the door.

"Coming. Let's go Izana."

Itachi and Izana left the room and went to the dinning room.

Inside were Fugaku and his wife Mikoto.

"How was your day Izana?"

Mikoto said in a kind voice. She had heard from Fugaku Izana's circ.u.mstances.

"It was really nice, Itachi showed me around and we talked inside his room."

Fugaku send a questioning look at Itachi.

Itachi looked a bit guilty at Fugaku, which answered his suspicions.

"Itachi didn't ask you about anything painful did he?"

Mikoto, understanding the gaze between Itachi and her husband asked Shin.

"No, it wasn't painful. We're family, so we should share our feelings?."

Izana said as he tilted his head a bit in confusion of the words he just spoke, after which he smiled at the family of three.

Like Itachi, Fugaku immediately said the exact same words to Izana about his smile.

Still not understanding what's wrong, Izana nodded.

Mikoto could only smile at this heart-warming scene.

She already considered Izana as part of her little family.

She softly c.a.r.e.s.sed her slightly bulging stomach, for she couldn't wait for her second child's birth.

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A few months had passed. Fugaku had decided to celebrate Izana's fourth birthday this week, for this was the week in which his mom was apparently though to have given birth to him.

The whole Uchiha household was preparing for his birthday, yet Izana had no idea what a birthday was supposed to be like.

Fugaku said he shouldn't come back until noon, which gave Izana the time to visit Kushina nee-san.

He often visited her, talking with her.

After the first two meetings, Izana had felt something was different around her than it was around others.

When he had asked Ryuujin about it. He only responded with, we'll talk about it a bit in the future.

Izana had no idea when Ryuujin would talk about it, but he guessed it wouldn't be soon.

"Kushina-nee do you know what a birthday is? Uncle Fugaku said we would celebrate my birthday today, but what is a birthday?"

Kushina, faced with the innocence of a child with no common sense, was happy to explain.

Even her speech became a little messed-up in her excitement.

"You know, a birthday is the day when parents and friends celebrate the day you're born. It's really nice you know. You get a lot of presents and all the people you like are there. At least the people that are around."

Izana still didn't know what the nice thing was about birthdays, but he at least knew what they meant now.

"Then are you and Minato-nii coming? And Jiraiya san?"

"Of course Minato and I are coming. I don't know about Jiraiya, but he'll probably come."

"Then what am I supposed to do on a birthday?"

Kushina pulled Izana in a big hug.

"Nothing silly, cause it's your birthday. Enjoy it as much as you can."

Kushina released Izana and shooed him of to his home.

It was already noon, so Fugaku was probably expecting him any second now.

When Izana walked in, confetti was sprayed through the air, while a big cake was placed in the middle of the table.

Around him were his uncle, aunt, Itachi and most of the other people of the Uchiha clan.

In the corner sat Jiraiya, fervently eating a piece of cake like his life depended on it.

Near him stood Kushina and Minato.

Kushina was in the middle of lecturing Jiraiya on his manners while Minato stood beside her as he acted like he wasn't there.

Tears welled up in Izana's eyes as he saw the people he had grown to like around him.

He now knew how it was to have a family and how it was to be happy.

Deep in his thoughts he could hear Ryuujin talk.

[Happy Birthday, Izana.]

He smiled as he happily blew out the candles, hoping this happiness would last for a long time.