14 14. A visit to the Uchiha compound

Aiko was standing in front of the most popular flower shop in Konoha, The Yamanaka Flowers, as he was told to buy some on his way, but Aiko marvelled at the great variety of them which left him with a dilemma of what to choose.

There he met the ash-blond haired man called Inoichi, who he had first met at the Hokage's office building, as if seeing the boy's amazement and confusion, he gave some of his own suggestions after learning about the occasion, and Aiko learnt that he was actually the owner of the shop, surprising him.

Soon Aiko could be seen walking on the streets, holding a bouquet of lavender coloured flowers while keeping his presence concealment skill active training in it, he found out that it was the most easy skill to level up as he could leave it active during night as the stamina consumption was very less.

"Mikoto-san's house is quite far" he thought while walking as the Uchiha compound felt quite remote from Hokage's mansion.

He did not notice it before but walking through the civilian parts of the village, he could see two men teams of shinobis wearing the Uchiha clan's symbol etched on the clothes patrolling it.

Soon, he reached a huge arch with the Uchiha clan's symbol etched on the top, indicating that he was entering their territory. He found the place to be quite lively with a few shops of its own and children of his age and younger than him playing around with smiles on their faces, but the adults seemed a bit serious and calm, but the atmosphere was quite harmonious and they all looked like one big family with their similar hair and eye colours.

But, as he walked through the streets, he sensed a few gazes from old people which contained hostility, but the colour was pale red, so he didn't think much about it but was still bewildered.

Using his chakra perception and mapping skills, he quickly found the house he was looking for, though it wasn't that difficult as it was one of the biggest houses in the surroundings given that Mikoto's husband, Fugaku was the current head of the Uchiha clan.

'Knock, Knock', he knocked on the door and waited for it to open and after a few seconds it opened revealing Ichiro who was wearing a purple coloured skirt with her hair tied in a ponytail.

She had a surprised expression on her face seeing him, which turned into a happy one but she quickly pouted a little muttering, "You have grown taller" as they seemed to be of similar height now.

"Who is it, Ichiro?" came a deep voice from behind her and a man who looked to be in his mid twenties walked out, he had dark brown hair, which reached to his shoulders and onyx-coloured eyes, he was wearing a grey kimono and grey coloured pants.

"Father, he is Aiko, a friend of mine," replied Ichiro turning towards him with a small smile on her face.

Fugaku raised his eyebrows a bit surprised as it was the first time he had heard his daughter introduce someone as her friend to him, he observed the boy closely and guessed about his origins from his hair colour and symbol on his shirt.

Aiko was also looking at the man in front of him a bit curiously, he had a serious expression on his face and a strong chakra, though not on the level of Kushina or Jiraiya, it was almost comparable to Minato, but when he looked directly into the eyes of the man, he instinctively felt a sense of danger surprising him, as the marking in the mapping skill showed light green colour.

"Hello, my name is Aiko Uzumaki, Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy," said Aiko bowing politely to the man as Kushina had instructed and congratulating them.

"I am Fugaku Uchiha, thank you for the wishes" replied the man seriously, nodding his head, he was surprised by the polite and mature attitude of the boy.

"Come I will introduce you to my little brother," said Ichiro, looking at her father, who nodded his head, but added that they wash their hands before touching the baby, to which both agreed.

Aiko followed after Ichiro and soon they entered a large room where he saw Mikoto sitting on the bed, with a small bundle of clothes in her arms and Aiko realised it was the baby from the chakra signature. He was also curious as it was the first he would be looking at a new born baby.

"Oh. Aiko-kun what a surprise, how is Kushina?" asked Mikoto noticing the two of them who entered the room

"Kushina-san is doing well" replied Aiko with a small smile, as he watched Ichiro go near her mother asking "is he awake?"

Aiko gave her the flowers he had brought and watched the interaction between the mother-daughter pair as Ichiro gently lifted the baby boy from her mother's arms and brought him over to where he was standing.

Aiko also moved forward and saw the boy, who looked so tiny and fragile with black hair and a very cute face looking around with his big round eyes which were black, a feature of the Uchiha.

'Was I also like this?' he thought, a bit fascinated by the tiny creature in front of him.

"Isn't he cute?" asked Ichiro smilingly, as she gently poked the cheeks of the baby causing it to go "uwa uwa", which brought a smile to Aiko's face.

"What is his name?" Asked Aiko as he gently held the baby's hand.

"Uchiha Sasuke" answered Mikoto looking at the three children in front of her.

"Sasuke, huh?" muttered Aiko looking at the boy.

Soon, the baby fell asleep and Mikoto suggested that Ichiro show Aiko around the Uchiha compound. They passed through a lot of shops and people and soon reached a forest which was behind the compounds.

"This is where I usually train," said Ichiro, walking into a clearing which had a lot of wooden target boards attached to the trees.

Aiko followed after her, thinking how large the village was, almost each district had its own training grounds and forests and streams exclusive to them.

Ichiro casually took some shurikens and kunais from her ninja tool bag and threw them towards the targets which hit at the centre without fail, 'She has become stronger than before' thought Aiko looking at her.

"Why do you want to become stronger, Ichiro?" he asked suddenly thinking about his conversation with Kushina the other day.

"Hmm?" Ichiro looked at him surprised by his question, she considered for a moment and looked at him in the eyes and seriously answered "I want to end all conflicts in the world."

Aiko was surprised for a moment by her answer because according to the books and scrolls he had read, the world was a very large place, but looking at her serious eyes, he did not say anything and just nodded his head.

"what about you Aiko-kun?" She asked, looking at him.