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“You’d look so cute in this, Dai-chan!” coos Katsumi while holding a frog onesie up to her baby brother’s chest to compare the size to the plain onesie he’s already wearing; narrowly pulling it away fast enough to avoid his drool dripping on it.
As he continues playing with his blocks, Akane holds up her choice and asserts, “He’d look better in this!”
Katsumi casts a withering look at the traditional Uchiha garb for infants and yawns. While Akane hisses at her eldest sister about what exactly her yawn meant, Yuriko gestures to her sophisticated hakama and mentions, “Perhaps…this?”
“Come on, Yuriko! He’s gonna wear that kind of stuff when he gets older. We have to dress him up in as many cute outfits as we can now. ” She finishes with a coo, “Isn’t that right, Dai-cha—Dai-chan?”
Leaving his rudimentary structure behind, Daiki slowly crawls toward one of the articles of clothing scattered across the living room floor. He tugs on some cloth as he tries to bring it out of the pile. Surrounding him, his sisters also grab onto it to help him. Within no time, they tug it free and Katsumi holds it up for all to see. A shirt emblazoned with the Uzumaki crest glares them all in the face.
Daiki gurgles and reaches out to it as Katsumi groans, “You can’t even talk yet, and you’re already such a mama’s boy!”
~xXx~
2:59 PM
Daiki shovels some sand into his bucket while watching the clock like a hawk. He pays no mind to the eyes boring into him from all across the playground.
3:00 PM
He scrapes the excess sand off the top of the bucket and swiftly flips it over before glancing at the clock once more.
3:01 PM
Footsteps in the sand behind him garner his attention. Swiftly turning toward the noise, he finds several girls in his class blushing and pushing each other. Finally, one of them gathers the courage to say, “Happy Birthday, Daiki-kun!”
“Thank you,” he responds before turning back to his miniscule sand castle and the clock.
3:03 PM
However, the girls apparently have further business with him. They whisper amongst themselves as they audibly debate who has to “do it.” Several maddening moments later, another one of them asks, “We were wondering if you wanted to play with us—”
3:05 PM
Just as he’s about to refuse the offer, the voice he has been waiting to hear calls out to him, “Daiki!”
Immediately whipping toward the sound, Daiki spots his mother waving at him. Tossing aside his bucket and shovel, he stands and thoroughly dusts himself off before rushing over to her side. She greets as they grasp hands, “Happy Birthday, Daiki! Ya ready for your special birthday dinner?! I know I am!”
“Thank you, Mother, and yes,” he answers with a squeeze of their clasped hands as they begin making their way to Ichiraku Ramen.
“What kind of ramen do you want?”
“Miso pork, please.”
A hand to her chest, she sighs, “A man after my own heart! You and me are the only ones in the family with any taste, I swear!”
As Naruto continues to complain about her husband and daughters’ ramen preferences, her son’s heart swells as the phrase, “a man after my own heart'' echoes inside his brain. He can’t help thinking that it fits him quite well.
~xXx~
“Hey, Uchiha!” calls one of his classmates the following day at school. Daiki turns toward the sound and nearly gets a face full of dirt as a reward. He narrowly dodges the dirt clod thrown his way and the boy that called him, Shuichi, sneers. Behind him, a bunch of his friends snicker.
“Fight me!” he yells loud enough to garner the attention of everyone on the playground.
“What for?” asks Daiki while dusting some stray bits of dirt off his shoulder.
“Cuz I’m the best in our class and not you!”
Raising an eyebrow, Daiki mentions, “Didn’t you fail the last physical test?”
Whispers travel through the crowd gathering around them as Shuichi sputters, “S-shut up! I was just off my game that day!”
Shrugging, Daiki turns back around to continue his business on the swing, but Shuichi runs up to grab one of the chains and stop him in his tracks. This isn’t the first time he has been challenged during recess, and he doubts it will be the last. Losing patience, Daiki sighs, “Let go.”
“No! Not until you fight me!”
“Show him, Daiki-kun!” shouts a girl in the crowd, soon echoed by several other of his fans.
“Take him down, Shu-chan!” call this week’s would-be rival cronies.
Nothing good ever comes of these fights. Daiki thought that the first kid to challenge him had just been a fluke, but after he handily defeated the boy, they just kept coming. At first, it hadn’t been any trouble, but recently they’ve started to interfere with his free time. Worse still, he sometimes gets repeat challengers—boys that want to use him as a measuring stick for their progress.
It grates on Daiki’s patience.
Just as he’s considering handling the situation as quickly as possible, a voice calls from the edge of the playground, “Daiki.”
All motion on the playground grinds to a halt at the mere sound of his father’s voice. Shuichi’s grip on the swing slackens and he slowly backs away under Uchiha Madara’s piercing gaze. Apparently, his father inspires terror in even those too young to know of him. Daiki bets that he has never had to deal with challengers constantly approaching him.
With a jealous huff, he slides off the swing and follows him home.
Once they arrive, they go about their usual routines: Daiki retreats to his room, and Madara to his office until dinner. After dinner, however, his father summons him to his office. Confused, Daiki knocks on the door to announce his presence and his father allows him entry.
The moment Daiki sits down in front of him, he begins, “Does that happen often? Children challenging you to fights, I mean.”
Brow knit in confusion as to why his father would care, Daiki nonetheless answers, “Yes.”
“I thought that might be the case,” replies his father with an exasperated sigh.
“You did?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory of being an Uchiha. You’re expected to be the best of the best—and to prove it upon demand,” explains his father bitterly. “Katsumi and Akane had to deal with it, and Yuriko to an extent—”
Daiki isn’t sure what makes him do it, but he asks, “What about you?”
Surprised by the question, it takes his father a moment to collect himself, but he soon answers, “No—well…your mother would say…yes.”
Knowing full well that his mother does everything for a reason, he asks, “Why would she say that?”
Heaving a sigh, Madara scrambles to censor Naruto’s profanity and summarize the key points of her argument. Eventually, he responds, “As the heir to the clan, I was…expected to be the pinnacle of perfection…physically and mentally…at all times.”
Sensing that there’s more to the story, Daiki waits patiently for his father to continue. It takes a while, but he’s eventually rewarded with another admission.
“Even…even when I was supposed to be grieving. The main family is supposed to serve as a source of morale for the clan, and I…” His father rubs at his face tiredly, before continuing, “The point is, your mother said it was a lot to ask of a child.”
Naturally, Daiki agrees. “And now?”
Quirking a brow, Madara repeats, “Now?”
“Are you still expected to be the best of the best?” Daiki elaborates.
“As the head of the clan? Of course,” answers his father, completely ignorant of his wife’s point.
~xXx~
Several years and several family incidents later, Daiki finds himself in an interesting position of power.
Standing opposite of his three elder sisters as they sit at the living room table, Daiki inspects their work. For Katsumi and her frog-based antique, he gives a nod of approval—much to her satisfaction. For Yuriko and her practical stamp set, he gives another nod. When he reaches Akane’s gift, however, he stops. “What is this?”
Already insulted, Akane snarks, “What does it look like?”
“It looks like you want to fail just like Father did,” he returns while holding up the Ichiraku coupon book like a used rag.
Akane gasps, “You failed Father in your stupid, little inspection?!”
“Four times, actually.”
Nearly choking on her spit, she exclaims, “Four—”
Daiki cuts in, “Need I remind you that my ‘stupid, little inspection’ is for Mother’s Day? ”
“You do this for her every holiday!” exclaims Akane indinantly, much to Katsumi’s amusement and Yuriko’s exasperation.
“Because a satisfactory present is the least we can do for Mother after she took time out of her busy schedule as Hokage to clothe and feed us. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Father took time out of his busy schedule as clan head to clothe and feed us, yet all you gave him for Father’s Day last year was some subpar macaroni art!”
“He should be glad he even got that,” says Daiki. “Besides, did he let you rest on top of his organs for several months as you wreaked havoc on his body’s chemistry?”
A long silence passes as Akane struggles to come up with a comeback. Unfortunately, none come to mind in time.
Daiki huffs, “I didn’t think so. Anyway, I expect a more suitable gift by the end of the week, but earlier would be better.”
Still some fight left in her, Akane sasses, “Or what?”
“Or I’ll give Father a half-eaten sandwich for his birthday,” Daiki threatens casually.
Eyes narrowed, Akane claims, “You wouldn’t dare.”
Meeting her gaze, Daiki goads, “Try me.”
The ensuing staring contest lasts for several moments until Akane finally accepts that Daiki fully plans to keep his word and storms out of the room, taking her subpar gift with her. With a sigh, Yuriko gets up to go after her and help her pick out a more suitable gift. His eldest sister, however, cheers, “You tell her, Dai-chan!”
~xXx~
Becoming a Chūnin was truly the greatest decision Daiki ever made. Not only does his mother trust him with more dangerous, more important missions, but he’s also qualified to act as her escort on diplomatic missions. The Hokage’s Guard is still a ways away, but it’s a start.
He’s dutifully following after his mother and her aide through the Kumogakure administration building when he feels eyes on him. Quite used to the feeling, he ignores it until the source ends up right in front of him. Beside the raikage and his aide is a girl about his age, maybe younger based on her height. Her emerald eyes stare at him in wonder from between her golden locks as she waits for a lull in the conversation to make her move.
Seizing the opportunity as soon as it presents itself, she cuts into the conversation with an invitation clearly directed at him, “Would you like to have tea?!”
The raikage’s aide attempts to shush her, “Neri, not now!”
But, Daiki’s mother answers for him, “He sure would!”
Whipping his head toward his mother, he lets his shock show. However, she only urges, “Go make a new friend!”
Needing no further encouragement, Neri approaches him and loops their arms together. With a deep bow to both his mother and the Raikage, she promptly drags him outside and halfway across the village. Once they arrive at an expensive tea shop, she waves at the owner and someone comes to seat them immediately.
Taking a seat across from him, Neri assures, “Don’t worry about paying. Daddy will take care of it.”
A displeased quirk to his lip, Daiki merely replies, “I see.”
A server comes over to ask them what they would like, addressing ‘Neri-sama’ by name. She replies, “The usual will be fine for me. What would you like…?”
“Daiki,” he reluctantly answers. “And, water will be fine.”
Pouting as the server departs, Neri mentions, “You could have gotten at least tea, Daiki-kun!”
“I see no need. Moth—Hokage-sama will be expecting me back soon,” he brusquely replies.
Humming a bit, Neri asks, “What is Hokage-sama like?”
“The most beautiful, most powerful woman in the world,” answers Daiki truthfully. However, his answer is also meant to discourage her. The girls back in Konoha often lose interest in talking to him once he gets started talking about his mother and this girl should be no different.
“She seems it!” says Neri, much to his surprise. “Hokage-sama has such a presence after all.”
Momentarily stunned by the praising words, Daiki quickly replies, “But, of course!”
“Very admirable, indeed. Especially, how valiantly she protected Uzushio. Raikage-sama was blown away by how much of Uzushio was still standing by the time our troops arrived.”
“As he should have been. Hokage-sama refused to accept the annihilation of her own clansmen, after all,” huffs Daiki with palpable pride.
Resting her chin atop her palms, she continues with tangible interest, “That’s so heroic! You must be proud to be her son.”
“I am,” confirms Daiki. “She’s the best of the best.”
“No doubt about that!” agrees Neri with a wide smile.
Daiki takes a moment to study Neri. Her hair isn’t quite the same shade of gold that his mother’s is, but he finds it pretty nonetheless. Her eyes are a rich emerald instead of an intense sea of azure, but he doesn’t mind that. She lacks adorable whisker marks, but she does have some freckles dusting her nose. All in all, a pretty girl.
Intrigued, Daiki invites, “Would you like to have ramen some time?”
~xXx~
Once Daiki and his mother return home from the Land of Lightning, he’s quite confused when his father haltingly invites him to his office during dinner one day. Stranger still, his mother looks absolutely giddy and asks if she can attend as well. Unfortunately, his father is quick to deny her; not that she apparently minds since her responding whine is half-hearted at best and she follows it up with snickering. His father scowls and a foreboding feeling settles in the pit of Daiki’s stomach.
After dinner, Daiki sits opposite his father on the tatami of his father’s office. A long silence passes as his father collects himself with a calming inhale and exhale. Finally, he starts, “It has come to my attention that you have…taken an interest in a girl.”
Daiki’s brow furrows in confusion. “Yes, why?”
Clearly, his father had been hoping his information had been incorrect if his disappointed wilt is any indication. He reluctantly continues, “When a man reaches a certain age, he starts to have…urges.”
Immediately understanding where this conversation is heading, Daiki tries to cut it short, “Father—”
But, Madara holds up a hand to stop him. “He starts to have urges, and…grow hair in new areas…”
“We already covered puberty in school!” desperately interjects Daiki.
Visibly relieved, Madara asks, “Is that so?”
“Yes, and Mother already told me plenty.”
Clenching his fist, Madara grits out, “ Did she now?”
“Yes,” confirms Daiki, relieved that he avoided hearing this awkward conversation for a third time.
His father dismisses him soon after, but even in his room he can hear his father angrily yell, “NARUTO!”
The wind carries his mother’s answering guffaws and wheezes upstairs.
~xXx~
“Daiki-kun, let’s go on a picnic today!” announces Neri while dragging Daiki away from the Konoha procession. Just before they round a corner, he sees his mother and Misaki wave at him in farewell. Adjusting his pace to keep up with Neri’s quick steps, they walk through the streets of Kumogakure, arm in arm.
“Where?”
“There!” she points with the hand holding her picnic basket. “It has the best view!”
Though he attempts to follow her direction with his gaze, he comes up short. Resigning himself to a surprise, he simply allows her to tug him in whichever direction she pleases. Before long, they end up frighteningly close to the edge of a cliff.
Purposefully steering her as far away from the cliff face as possible, he tries to distract himself with conversation as she pulls a blanket out of her basket and spreads it out. “What did you bring?”
Smoothing out the blanket folds, she answers as she takes a seat, “Your favorite!”
A crease forms in Daiki’s brow. He would have heard the clatter of ramen bowls with how jauntily she swung the basket back and forth as they made their way here. Genuinely curious, he settles atop the blanket beside her—making sure neither of them are too close to the edge—and reaches for the basket.
Neri quickly pulls it out of his reach and admonishes, “Oh no, you don’t! I have to do it with pizzazz or the surprise is ruined!”
Gesturing so as to give her the floor, Daiki watches as she opens the lid with a flourish. Much to his confusion, she reveals not a bowl of ramen, but fried tofu pockets. Based on the shape and the light smell, he can already tell what she brought: inarizushi. She huffs with palpable pride, “I made them myself!”
“My favorite food is ramen, though…” Daiki trails off.
Chuckling, Neri argues, “Is it? I saw how you forced it down whenever Hokage-sama wasn’t looking at the feast last time you were here. You hid it well, but I could tell that you rea~lly liked the inarizushi she made, though!”
Flabbergasted that she had been paying that much attention, little comes to Daiki in the way of a reply, “That’s…”
Humming in satisfaction, Neri continues, “No use trying to hide it, Daiki-kun!”
At a loss, all Daiki can do is partake in the offered dish. The compliment he gives to the chef sounds a lot less begrudging than it did in his head. Absolutely pleased, Neri accepts the praise and puffs up more than he has ever seen her.
Her obvious joy does things to him. It makes him reckless. It makes him ask, “Neri, will you—”
~xXx~
After years of visiting a girl in Kumogakure, Daiki has finally deigned to bring her by the house. Naruto claims that she’s a fine girl and that Madara will like her, but he has his doubts. Their other children’s spouses were always an unpleasant surprise in one way or another, and Daiki has always been stubborn.
Madara immediately understands why this girl succeeded in catching his son’s attention where so many others failed. At first, he thinks he’s having an aneurysm when a carbon copy of his wife follows Daiki into their sitting room. From the shape of her face down to her hairstyle, he wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to be just one of his wife’s aged-down kage bunshin.
A long look at the figure sitting beside him only yields a confused smile from the original, though. The time for the punchline has already long passed, but it appears that it’s not going to come based on how the girl and Daiki take seats at the table opposite him and Naruto.
So, Daiki is dead set on dragging his umbilical cord behind him to the grave, then.
The girl bows her head in greeting, so at least she was taught some semblance of courtesy. Her smile isn’t nearly as bright as Naruto’s, but there are undeniable similarities. He wonders whether Daiki asked her to tie her hair in a bun or she just favors that style, as well. Though he gets the impression that she’s from a well-off family based on the quality of her clothes and her manners, Madara can’t help feeling that she—
“Hello, Hokage-sama! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Madara-sama! I can see where Daiki-kun gets his good looks from!”
—would make a fine addition to the family; not to mention the political clout she brings from Kumogakure as a descendent of the Raikage's aide! Doing his best to conceal his pleased huff, Madara responds, “The pleasure is mine,...”
“Neri!” she answers with a smile.
As they work their way through pleasantries, Madara starts to notice just how close Neri and Daiki are. In addition to their physical proximity, they often trade compliments and refill each other’s teacups. His eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline when Daiki allows Neri to feed him a cookie, though.
A flabbergasted look at Naruto only yields a confused look before a realization dawns upon her. Grabbing a cookie off the plate on the table, she holds it up to Madara’s face in the same way Neri did for Daiki just moments ago; smile and all. With all eyes in the room on him, Madara can’t help a flush crawling up his neck. Naruto insistently pushes the cookie up against his mouth and he takes a bite to appease her.
While Madara immediately turns away afterward and withdraws inside himself to overcome the embarrassment of what just happened, he sees Neri and Naruto exchange a thumbs up out of the corner of his eye. What catches his attention, though, is the tiniest amused smirk on Daiki’s face. The thought that his son is capable of something he isn’t frustrates Madara like nothing else.
The feeling never quite fades as the introductory meeting devolves into a game of chicken between father and son. Their ignorant, but over-eager partners help them compete through audacious displays of affection. Though Madara tries his best with flattery, allowing himself to be fed and feeding in return, his sense of shame won’t allow him to go as far as kissing Naruto on the lips while being watched. Daiki, however, has no problem doing so with Neri and handily wins their impromptu contest.
Though Madara begrudgingly admits defeat, he never forgets.
~xXx~
On the day of the wedding ceremony, Madara just happens to be walking by the living room table when he happens to notice a sheet of paper. Curious, he picks it up and immediately freezes. Not bothering to soften his tone, he calls out to his son, “DAIKI!”
In a leisurely pace, his son descends the stairs to join him in the living room. Casual as ever, he answers, “Yes, Father?”
“What is this?” Madara hisses while holding the paper up for inspection.
Daiki leans toward the paper to give it a good look before responding, “My marriage paperwork.”
“ I can see that, ” hisses Madara. “ Why did you write ‘Uzumaki’ as your last name?”
“Because I’m an Uzumaki, of course.”
Momentarily stunned, it takes Madara a moment to fire back, “You were born and raised an Uchiha!”
His son shrugs. “So? Mother said I’m an Uzumaki, too—”
Grasping at straws for a rebuttal, Madara argues, “Only the wife changes their name!”
“Uchiha, Uzumaki—Neri doesn’t mind either way. Besides, what about Tarou-san and Wakaba-san? They changed their names,” returns Daiki.
“That’s different! You’re not joining a different clan through marriage!” reasons Madara, hoping to get it through his son’s thick skull.
“What if I want to?”
“YOU CAN’T!”
From the second floor, Naruto calls down, “Is everyone ready for the ceremony?”
But, father and son can’t even agree on that. Daiki confidently responds, “Yes.”
His father, however, shouts, “NO! We’re not leaving until you redo this paperwork correctly!”
As if exasperated with an unruly child, Daiki only sighs. “Fine.”
~xXx~
Early in the morning, Madara paces the hallway of the maternity ward as Naruto dozes off on a nearby bench. Beside her, Daiki bounces his knee nervously. Finally, a cry breaks the tense silence and startles Naruto awake. However, the family stares at the door separating them from Neri and her child in confusion when no doctor emerges to congratulate the new father.
They continue to burn holes in the door until another cry joins the first. Just as mayhem is about to break out in the hallway, a doctor finally emerges to allow the family entrance. “Congratulations, Uchiha-san! It’s twins—a boy and a girl!”
He quickly follows up the statement by stepping out of the way as the family piles in to meet their newest members. Daiki is the first to approach his wife and children. A tired, but ecstatic Neri whispers to him while lifting their children in her arms, “Look, Daiki-kun! Aren’t they cute?”
“They’re precious,” he answers through watery eyes as Neri tries to hand him one of their babies. He takes the boy into his arms as his vision grows blurrier. The bundle in his grasp rustles as his son wriggles and gurgles.
His mother comes up next to him to get a look at one of her latest grandchildren. Leaning into Daiki’s shoulder, Naruto quietly coos, “Oooh, he’s so cute!”
Overwhelmed with joy, Daiki offers, “Would you like to hold him, Mother?”
“Oh, I can wait! You just picked him up, after all—”
“I insist,” declares Daiki while turning toward his mother.
Not needing to be told twice, Naruto accepts her latest grandson. A golden wisp of hair tickles her face as she nuzzles him. When she pulls back a bit to look at his face, a pair of cerulean eyes stare back at her. She greets, “Hello,...”
“Arata,” supplies Daiki with a soft smile on his face.
Naruto returns the smile and picks up where she left off, “Hello, Arata! I’m your grandma~! It’s nice to meet you!”
Not wanting to feel left out, Neri beckons Madara over to the other side of the hospital bed. She invites, “Would you like to hold Arisa, Madara-sama?”
“Yes,” he answers immediately, much to Neri’s amusement.
His eyes bore into Arisa as Neri hands her daughter over to him. Madara takes a full minute just to study her. Her golden hair, her flushed skin, her beautiful azure eyes—all perfect. Best of all, she meets Madara’s gaze head-on. She may not be able to see yet, but Madara likes to think that she senses his presence and refuses to back down.
Looking back up to his daughter-in-law, he praises, “She’s flawless.”
“Thank you so much, Madara-sama!” replies Neri with a wide smile.
Naruto gushes to Arata, “Look how happy Grandpappy is!"
With his face pressed against Arisa’s head mid-nuzzle, Madara warns ineffectively, “Don’t you dare. It’s ‘Ojii-sama’ or nothing.”
Naruto hands Arata back to Daiki before snorting with her hands on her hips, “Good luck trying to get all of our grandkids to say that.”
“It will go smoother if someone doesn’t undermine me.”
Naruto sighs, “I just wanna be ‘Baa-chan,’ is that so wrong?’”
Rather than answer, he asserts, “If Hashirama’s grandchildren can do it, then so can ours.”
“Is this another one of those ‘I won’t let Hashirama show me up’ things?” groans Naruto.