章 3: Chapter 3: Promise and Resolution
A new day has dawned.
The crisis in Konoha is over.
If you look up at the sky, you'll see that it's almost always the same. You only see the sun, occasional clouds, and the blue sky.
The same can't be said on the ground, for better or for worse.
With the news that the Nine-Tailed Fox has been defeated, people were filled with relief and tears of joy. However, they couldn't celebrate too much, as many civilians, ninja, and especially the 4th Hokage lost their lives in this battle.
This news not only shook Konoha, but will soon cause a stir in the other Hidden Villages.
The people who sought refuge in the bunker were able to gradually return, and we were finally able to return as well.
As Izumi and I went outside or rather I was carried out, someone ran towards us.
"Izumi!", cried an adult woman with tears in her eyes.
"Mom!!", Izumi recognized the woman and ran towards her with tears in her eyes too. They hugged each other.
It was a truly heartwarming reunion between mother and daughter, like on TV... if only I wasn't being crushed in the middle. A hug with two girls can be a wonderful thing, except in my case, where my weak, wobbly one-month-old body is turned into baby mush by this hug.
'I now understand why children don't like to be hugged by their parents,' it damn hurts well.
"Ugh", I tried to make some noise to show that I'm still here.
Fortunately, they noticed that something was between them and separated.
"Ah, I'm sorry, are you okay? Did you get hurt?", Izumi was startled and anxious, trying to apologize.
Meanwhile, her mother looks at me confused. Upon closer inspection, she looks like an older version of Izumi. What also stands out are her well-endowed breasts.
'This cushioning has relieved the pain, blessed be her breasts!!!', I admired how Mother Nature could create such glorious inventions and I was focused on it with my baby eyeballs. 'I guess even as a baby, I can't escape my natural instincts as a male.'
Izumi's mother knelt down and stroked my head. Flustered, I looked back at her face as she began to speak: "Ara Ara? Izumi, who is this child? Does he belong to someone from the bunker?"
"Ah", Izumi flinched a bit and then told the whole story. When she got to the moment where her father protected her and died as a result, she started crying and her mother comforted her.
"Don't worry, neither your father nor I will blame you. The most important thing is that you are safe", I realized in that moment how important Izumi is to her. Even in this moment, she is only thinking about her daughter's well-being while hiding her own tears.
When Izumi had composed herself again, she got to the point where she found me and took me in. Her mother listened to the whole story and stroked my head with a gentle smile.
'Admittedly, I find it strange when someone strokes me, but I guess it's something I'll have to get used to... but I don't hate it', I thought.
She turned to Izumi and asked her gently, "Tell me, Izumi, you saved this child. This child is alive because of you, so I want to know, what are your plans from now on?"
I knew exactly what she was referring to. In reality, it is perfectly clear what this question means:
- What will happen to me.
On that night when the Nine-Tail wreaked havoc, many died, including many parents who sacrificed themselves to protect the village. As harsh as it sounds, I am not a special case and cannot expect special treatment.
The Shinobi world... no, not just this world, but also my past world can be cruel. You can't expect a free lunch.
Although I can justify everything in my brain, a small part of me still hopes that something good will happen. My breathing accelerated slightly and my heart beat stronger.
This day is probably the worst day of my entire life. I haven't felt so weak and powerless in a long time like today.
'I don't want to feel like this anymore!', I cried out from the depths of my heart.
Unaware to me, these feelings awakened a small spark in my little heart. A spark that seems so small and threatens to go out every second, but it's definitely there. What this spark means and how it will develop was not clear to me at that time.
Not only Izumi's mother, but also I am curious about what Izumi's decision will be.
Izumi then closed her eyes briefly and tried to take a deep breath.
***
"Say Izumi, you saved this child. This child is alive because of you. Therefore, I want to know, what do you plan to do from now on?"
Her mother's words echoed in Izumi's head.
- What will happen to the child?
Although she was young, Izumi fully understood that the fate of this child was literally in her arms.
Even though she had her eyes closed, she felt the world around her. The wind that was pounding against the rock wall, the chirping birds welcoming the morning, and most of all, the weight she held in her hands. The weight was so light, as if he didn't exist at all. Strangely, she could sense its presence more strongly than anything else. She focused more and more on this feeling, and soon everything disappeared from her perception. The only thing that remained was the child and herself.
In this dark sphere, the child was the only thing emitting warmth. Its presence was a little star in the midst of darkness for Izumi. She lifted it up to embrace it deeply and brought its face to hers to cuddle with it.
She had only recently met him, but already felt comfortable in his presence. She didn't want to leave him and leave his fate to others.
'I want to see his fate myself!', she thought, because she deeply felt that this baby was the one her father had spoken of.
'Actually, the answer was clear from the beginning', she giggled a little and resolutely opened her eyes.
Her strong feelings seemed to respond to her and her Sharingan awakened for a short time, this time with two tomoe.
Her Sharingan shocked the two people present. Who wouldn't be shocked to discover a Sharingan with not just one, but two tomoe in a four-year-old child?
Unaware of the shock she had just inflicted on the two people, Izumi continued:
"I want to protect him!"
"When I discovered him, I swore to myself that I would protect him and stay by his side. That's why I don't want to give him away", she said from the bottom of her heart.
*Silence*
Afraid that her mother would be angry with her, she lowered her gaze to the ground. She didn't know what to do if her mother rejected her wish. All she could do was cling even tighter to the child. No matter what happened, she didn't want to give him up.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her head and looked up to see her mother smiling gently at her.
"If you have thought about it so much and are convinced, then why not? As your mother, I can only agree with you", she said to her daughter.
"R-really? Can he stay with us?", Izumi began to stutter and her tears came.
"Of course, my dear. Or do you think I'm lying to you?", her mother asked with a mischievous smile, poking her nose.
„Yay! *sniff* We did it! Thank you, Mom, waa!" Her face lit up with joy as she heard the final answer and started crying. She wasn't crying out of sadness but out of happiness.
Her smile was so pure and beautiful that in that moment, two more people were saved.
The little boy reached out his hands and his eyes became watery. Relief and happiness appeared on his face.
It seemed to both of them that he understood what it was all about. The two took his hands and began to talk.
"I will protect you", Izumi said with a trembling but determined voice, and her mother murmured to herself as well.
"Dear, did you warn Izumi about this boy...did you leave him for us?", she asked, unable to hold back her tears. "If they follow your will, it is my duty as a mother to do so as well and protect the two of them."
Of course, she had learned of her husband's death much earlier. She had gone to their house before and found him there. Devastated, she knelt down and despaired at the thought. 'If only I had come earlier, then none of this would have happened.' Nevertheless, she could not dwell on it for long as her daughter was not there.
The fact that her daughter could still be alive drove her forward. She forcibly removed her self-doubt and hid it in her heart.
When she finally found her daughter in the safety bunker, she was truly relieved. She couldn't show her desperation to her daughter because she had to be strong as a mother in this situation, but she was wrong. Her daughter was much stronger than she had thought, and the reason for that was the child she was holding in her arms. This child was probably the reason why she didn't despair... because she had something to protect!
"Honey, you left this child for us. This time, we will protect him. Please stand by us with your powers", she whispered to herself as she touched her eyes.
In that moment, the thoughts of the three were united, and they wanted to protect each other. Even if the world plunged into darkness, hope would not be forgotten.
This situation seemed to confirm this.
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Hello, this is your humble author. I tried to create a heartwarming scene here, I hope you enjoyed it. I also wanted to shed some light on the power of the Uchiha's Sharingan. In many fanfics and often in the series itself, this power is often seen as something cursed. It is indeed cursed, and I fully agree with that, but it is not limited to that. Both hate and love can awaken the Sharingan, and that's what I wanted to convey with this chapter.
That concludes the small prologue, but there's no time-skip for those who are wondering. At the beginning, there are a few things I need to mention that will have a greater impact on the story later, you'll see.
If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know. I'm also open to suggestions for improvement.
週次パワーステータス
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