V.3 Chapter 21

-Three days later, at Yukan's house-

At noon, when the sun was in the middle of the sky. It was the hottest time of the day when Minato and Yukan stood at the door of the house, staring at each other with straight faces.

"Why are you here?" Yukan asked in a grumpy tone. He was about to discuss the wedding plan with Kushina today but, out of nowhere, Minato came.

"If you remember, I am still your brother," Minato replied with a straight face and an obvious-sounding tone.

After a moment of silence and staring, Yukan said, "Fair enough." and opened the door wide, letting Minato inside.

Minato walked inside and looked around the house.

It looked the same as before, back when he was younger.

He walked around, moved his neck and looked around. He touched a few wooden tables and felt their texture.

Walking through the house after coming back from the war made him remember his past days.

Back when he was a young Orphan and had nothing. Life was tough for him back then but later, Aayu adopted him and gave him a family. Someone for him to call a mother and a brother.

For this, he always loved this family. It also held a very high value in his heart. He was ready to do anything to protect this family, which was only a brother, for now.

"What are you doing?" Yukan asked from behind. He felt that Minato touching the table and smiling made him look like a pervert.

"Nothing...Where's Kushina by the way?" Minato asked as he hurriedly lifted his hand from the table.

"She's sleeping right now," Yukan answered. He then walked ahead, picked up an apron, wore it and went into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Minato asked when he saw Yukan wear the apron.

"Cooking. Wanna do it together?" Yukan asked.

"Sure, just let me find another apron. Also, before I forget, Kiyome is coming here soon too."

"Hmm, alright, we'll make food for four people then," Yukan answered as both of them walked into the kitchen.

After a few incidents of almost burning the kitchen several times and trying their best to make edible food, they finally finished cooking and were doing the dishes.

"Hey, I asked before too. Why are you here so suddenly?" Yukan asked as he handed Minato a wet plate.

"There are two reasons..." Minato answered as he took the wet plate from Yukan's hands and wiped it with a dry and clean cloth.

"What are you waiting for? Tell me."

"Yeah yeah. The first one is a secret, so I'll tell you when Kiyome comes. Anyways, the main reason behind me coming here is to pay my respects." Minato said. He paused in between, thought about something and then continued to speak, "It is your mother's death anniversary today, so of course, I came back to pay respects."

Yukan looked at Minato after hearing him, looked at him with a warm look, smiled and said," Yeah, it is OUR mother's death anniversary today."

Minato looked at Yukan and smiled too. While being distracted from smiling, he accidentally dropped the next plate Yukan handed him and broke it.

"...What fastest ninja? You couldn't even catch the falling plate." Yukan mocked Minato.

"Neither could you," Minato replied.

"Yeah, I didn't, you fuck. I ain't the one called the fastest ninja."

"I-I was distracted."

"Well, let's first hide the remnants of this broken plate before Kushina finds out and scolds us. *Sigh* she scolds me too much these days..." Yukan said as he bent over to pick up the broken pieces of glass.

"Haha, Kushina has always had a bad temper. Ever since we were in the academy." Minato replied as he also bent down.

"Here, this piece was fallen a bit far." A soft hand came from behind and put a glass piece into the pile.

"Oh, thank yo- Wait, what the Hell-" Yukan was suddenly scared from seeing the hand coming from behind him.

"What about my temper being bad, though, Yukan?" Kushina spoke from behind him.

Yukan closed his eyes and smiled as a single tear fell from his eye. He did not want to resist or claim anything Yukan just accepted his fate.

-Sometime later, at the dining table-

The four, Yukan, Minato, Kushina and Kiyome sat at the dining table.

Yukan and Minato sat on one side with their heads down wearing sad faces, like some children who were scolded.

"Anyways, Kiyome, what about your stomach? I did not see you for a few months and you gain so much weight?" Kushina asked as she talked to Kiyome.

Kiyome suddenly choked on the rice she was eating and said," N-No, I am...Pregnant."

"Oh nice, huh? So as I was- Wait, what? You are pregnant? How many months?" Kushina asked as she suddenly got excited.

"This is the fourth month," Kiyome answered.

By now, Yukan and Minato's faces had returned to normal. Rather, Minato even had a proud look on his face.

"Congratulations to you two," Yukan said as he looked at Minato and Kiyome.

"Thank you" both of them accepted the wishes.

"By the way, Kushina is pregnant too," Yukan said once again.

"What? Kushina, you too? Which month?" Kiyome asked in excitement as she looked at Kushina.

"It's been one month," Kushina answered.

"Yeah, so actually, this was one of the reasons I came back today. I and Kiyome are planning to get married soon." Minato said amid everyone's happiness.

"What? You guys are? That's so nice... Kushina and I are also planning to get married soon." Yukan said looking at Minato and Kiyome.

"You guys are too? We are thinking about sometime around next month." Kiyome answered.

After this line, there was a moment when no one spoke. Everyone was trying to recover from all the happy news that was revealed.

"How about you guys get married at the same time as us? I and Yukan are getting married on the day of the Red Lantern Festival and I also need help planning." Kushina put up a proposal.

"I'm in. I needed help planning the wedding too. If we both plan it out, it'll be good." Kiyome said.

"Alright. So, I have thought about a few venues...."

The lunch was the longest and one of the happiest ones a house could have during these times.

After lunch, the four left the house for a walk in the park.

Time passed as they all walked through the market, brought some things and ate some more. The sun had long set and it was the time of evening.

Minato and Yukan stood in front of Aayu's grave, looking at it. Kushina and Kiyome had left a little while ago after paying their respects and giving the two some time alone.

Yukan sat in the mud, in between his mother's and father's graves and said, "Hey mother, here, this beautiful flower, only for you." Yukan put down the flower near his mother's grave and continued to say, " So, mom, the biggest news, you're going to get on- two grandchildren soon. You too, dad."

As Yukan was talking, he noticed Minato standing in front, up straight and with a sad look on his face. It seemed as if he would now cry at any moment.

"Also, this piece of shit got us scolded today..." Yukan said as he looked at Minato, making him laugh hard.

Yukan smiled while looking at Minato laughing and continued to talk, "So, you know, Kushina is finally going to officially become your daughter-in-law..."

-In the underground cave where Madara was-

Uchiha Madara with white hair and wrinkles all over his face sat as usual on his throne as he lived on the with the help of ten-tails.

In front of him sat another man with black hair with a mask covering his mouth and nose. (Like Kakashi had)

"....and so, I want you to go to the Rain village and complete the work," Madara ordered the man in the mask.

The man just nodded and got up, walking behind to leave.

When the man left, Madara looked into the deeper part of the cave as he said in his mind, 'Yukan Norio...an unplanned Obstacle which may interfere in my mission of creating a perfect world. I may need to eliminate him.'