Inside Minato Namikaze's house.
Shindai frowned as he tried to soothe the baby by gently rocking the stroller.
He regretted getting involved now. If he hadn't meddled with the baby, he wouldn't be stuck here trying to calm down baby Naruto. Kushina Uzumaki wouldn't let him leave until the baby calmed down.
"Baby Naruto, please... stop crying, okay? I'm sorry," Shindai pleaded desperately while trying to comfort the infant.
But baby Naruto only cried louder.
The loud wails almost made Shindai's head explode.
Eventually, Kushina Uzumaki couldn't stand watching anymore. She picked up baby Naruto from the stroller and successfully soothed him to sleep.
Shindai wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.
That was too scary. Naruto hadn't even been alive for a month yet, but already had such powerful lungs. No wonder he could become the savior.
Shindai slipped back to his place next door. Baby Naruto had given him somewhat of a headache, so he decided to take a quick nap to recover.
Just as he lay down on his bed (couch) preparing to rest, someone knocked on the door.
Confused, Shindai got up and went to open it.
Pakura and Hikaku Uchiha should still be at the orphanage, helping out the staff and the kids. Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara also weren't in Konoha right now. Who could possibly come looking for him?
When the door opened, it revealed someone completely unexpected.
"Huh? Clan Leader Fugaku?"
Fugaku Uchiha offered a tight smile as he said to Shindai, "Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to discuss something important with you."
Shindai invited Fugaku Uchiha inside.
After pouring Fugaku Uchiha a glass of water, Shindai sat across from him and asked, "Clan Leader Fugaku, this matter you want to discuss with me must be about Hikaku, right?"
Fugaku Uchiha nodded. "Exactly. The Fourth Hokage mentioned that you already know about Hikaku's background. Since Hikaku is originally part of the Uchiha clan, I'd like to ask her to return and live among us again."
Shindai looked puzzled. "Then why don't you just go talk to Hikaku herself? It won't help much talking to me."
Fugaku Uchiha shook his head. "I approached her a couple days ago, but she said she wasn't interested. You seem very close to Hikaku; since you seem very close to Hikaku, maybe you can convince her to come back to the Uchiha clan."
Shindai questioned, "You want me to convince her? What authority do I have? We're just friends. This is her personal matter—I shouldn't interfere. Besides, Hikaku has already joined Konoha. It doesn't really make a difference whether she returns to the Uchiha or not."
Sighing, Fugaku Uchiha explained, "Actually, our clan has lost many techniques over time—for example, those legendary fire release jutsu like [Great Fire Annihilation] and [Great Fire Destruction]. As a Uchiha from the Warring States era, Hikaku might know these techniques..."
Suddenly realization dawned on Shindai. "Ah! So you want to learn those lost jutsu from her!"
Emphasizing carefully, Fugaku Uchiha continued, "It's not just about techniques. I sincerely hope Hikaku will return to the Uchiha clan and come back to live in our compound with us. After all, we are family."
"
Shindai agreed, "Fine, I'll bring it up once and let her think it over. I won't pressure her. After all, the fact that she's gone back to calling herself Hikaku Uchiha shows she sees herself as part of the clan. So why insist on dragging her back to the Uchiha compound?"
"To be honest," he went on, "even if I tried convincing her, I don't think she'd go. She's got someone she cares about here, and life's been good. You're not really close to her either. Adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings again would be tough."
When Shindai mentioned that Hikaku Uchiha had someone she liked, Fugaku Uchiha raised an eyebrow and fixed him with a stare.
So Fugaku wasn't wrong—this was what Shindai had implied earlier.
Considering this, bringing Hikaku Uchiha back into the Uchiha clan and having her live in the compound seemed unlikely.
Suddenly, Shindai glanced around nervously before grumbling quietly to Clan Leader Fugaku: "Chief Fugaku, you might find out sooner or later, but this has absolutely nothing to do with me. Love can get really weird, you know?
Back in the day, we thought love was just between guys and girls, right? Now you've got same-sex couples popping up everywhere — guys with guys, girls with girls. Doesn't make much sense to us, but we've gotta respect it, I guess.
Man, I still can't figure out how they hit it off. Gave me a full-on splitting headache just thinking about it.
No wonder I kept getting beat up at home. Looking back, maybe it's because I accidentally walked in on something between them — no wonder they were both so mad and flustered."
Suddenly picturing Naruto and Sasuke, Shindai shot Fugaku Uchiha a pitiful look: "Chief Fugaku, you're probably gonna run into the same mess someday. These days are just way too open."
Fugaku gaped at Shindai in total shock.
Truthfully, Fugaku had already lost track of everything Shindai said the moment he opened his mouth.
What did he mean by "guys and girls"? What did he mean by "they hit it off"? And why wouldn't society understand?
Plus, Shindai gave him that pitying look again.
Still, Fugaku began to realize something from Shindai's words. "Wait... Are you saying Hikaku actually likes someone else instead of me?"
"What?!" Shindai exclaimed in disbelief. "Like *me*? Chief Fugaku, are you serious? Sure, I'm pretty charming, but if Hikaku liked me, do you think she'd keep ganging up with Pakura to beat me up? Wouldn't she be treating me nicely instead? Honestly, where in the world did you get the idea that Hikaku likes me?"
Fugaku opened his mouth, then finally asked curiously, "Then when you said Hikaku has someone she likes... Who exactly were you referring to?"
Shindai whispered cautiously, "Don't tell anyone — it's Pakura!"
Fugaku's jaw dropped wide open, disbelief flooding his eyes. "Pakura?! You're serious?!"
Shindai hissed anxiously, "Shhh!"
"Keep it down! If someone hears you, I'll end up getting beaten again!"
Shindai insisted, "I'm absolutely certain! I saw Hikaku and Pakura embracing when I was lying in the hospital. The happiness in Hikaku's smile was real—Pakura's way more patient with him than she ever was with me."
At first, Hikaku wouldn't even lay a hand on me, but after living with Pakura for a while, they ganged up on me together—and got way too good at it! What does that tell you? That's right—they've got that whole 'cut from the same cloth' vibe!"
Fugaku Uchiha was so stunned he didn't know what to do with his hands—scratching his face, then his chin like he couldn't sit still.
After calming down a bit, Fugaku Uchiha asked, "In the hospital… because Hikaku and Pakura were hugging? Can you give me the details?"
Shindai gave a vivid retelling of everything that happened in the hospital, finally saying, "That's when it hit me like a punch to the gut—Hikaku's into Pakura, and Pakura's totally into him too! My brain basically short-circuited back then, but hey—I'm their friend, so I gotta support them, right?"
Fugaku Uchiha picked up his glass of water and took a tactical sip while eyeing Shindai.
This guy… seriously?
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