Chapter-6

Madara found him still sitting near that lake even after the moon had arrived in the cloudy sky. The little boy tensed on sensing the approaching presence but relaxed a little on seeing it was his older brother.

He took a seat beside the boy who still didn't say a word so Madara pressed a lunch box in his arms.

"Eat" he insisted,

"I'm not hungry" protested Naruto, and noticed a similar lunch box in his older brother's lap.

Madara's eyebrows twitched at the defiance but then again he had not expected anything else. His brother was stubborn, after all. Izuna would have known how to make him accept, but he was gone now.

And now it left Madara the responsibility of looking after this child.

"Fine. Then I'm not eating either" he growled, and threw his lunch box in the lake.

Naruto's eyes comically widened as he gasped which soon turned into an angry growl as he glared at his brother. An act that would have seemed alien to him not a few days ago, but they were not the same boys anymore.

"Baka, Aniki!" he spat, which only made Madara grin wide as he laid himself down flat on the wooden bridge.

"If you don't want to eat, fine. But I'm not eating either without you"

"I don't care"

Madara chuckled at Naruto's childish rant as he cursed him several times. It made him forget the pain of missing his dead brothers. And maybe Naruto felt the same...

Still, Naruto proved his stubbornness by not touching his lunch box Madara brought for him.

That was until his stomach growled...

Loudly.

The boy's cheeks flushed red as he looked away from Madara's laughing face. He affectionately ruffled the boy's hair in an effort to make him look back.

"Izuna, I said I don't-"

His voice died in his throat as he saw it was Madara staring back at him with sadness in his eyes. The two brothers went silent for several long moments until Naruto opened the lunch box and offered the refreshing food to Madara.

The boy was still not meeting Madara's eyes but the gesture said it all.

With a smile, Madara picked up the spoon and grabbed the rice. But instead of eating it himself as Naruto wanted, he presented the food to the boy.

Naruto gave him a glare in return but Madara didn't budge. The aroma of fresh food was too much for the small child who had not eaten anything since morning and he finally took his first morsel.

They ate in silence with Madara helping Naruto eat and doing the same for himself. It gave him peace and forget about his own pain as he focused on his sibling.

But Naruto's next question surprised him...

"Brother...is there a way to bring them back? A jutsu? A technique?" asked the hopeful child, looking at his prodigal brother with such desperation that made Madara sad.

"They're all gone, Naru. I'm sorry"

He truly felt awful for dashing the boy's hopes but Madara himself knew it was not possible. Their brothers were dead, their bodies reduced to ashes as custom demanded.

"I miss them" he whispered,

"Even Inabi and Yashiro?" asked Madara curiously, knowing the twins had not been kind to the boy.

"Yes. They were my brothers, all of them"

Madara's heart melted on hearing those simple words and he put the lunch box aside to wrap his arm around his young brother to bring him close. To his surprise, Naruto didn't relent and buried himself in Madara's side.

"I miss them too. And I am sorry for...not being there for you" said Madara, now realizing he had been wrong in ignoring his little brother for so long.

Naruto didn't say anything which made Madara panic,

"Just don't leave me"

Madara fought back his own tears as he gripped his little brother even more closer.

"Never" he promised,

Yet even as he said that an amused grin arrived on his lips, one which Naruto didn't fail to notice.

"Quit getting depressed and brooding all the time, or I'll bonk you on the head" teased Madara, only to receive a smirk from his brother.

"How will you even hit me when you're fat and slow?"

Madara blinked and looked at his own body to actually see if he had gained some weight only to find his normal lean and fit body. He also realized the weight of his brother on his side disappearing followed by a little rock hitting his head.

Madara's eyes twitched on seeing his little brother standing in the lake, laughing his ass off at the trick he had played on his older brother.

"YOU BRAT!"

Naruto yelped as Madara roared and charged after him. He ran faster and faster but Madara finally jumped on him making them lose their chakra control as they both ended up crashing into the cold lake.

He swimmed back to the surface and gasped fresh air only to see Madara waiting for him.

He gulped.

But his brother laughed.

And Naruto laughed alongside him forgetting about the pain in their respective hearts.

Unknown to both brothers, Naori and Tajima smiled from their position in the trees.

(Next Day)

Naruto was surprised on seeing her.

He barely had hazy memories of his aunt in his short life. He remembered her flowery scent and kind eyes, her telling him stories at nights even if those occasions were rare and few. He remembered crying for her when she was gone, Izuna had said she would come back someday but he had not believed it.

And he had forgotten about her which made him feel guilty.

Atleast her smile was kind and welcoming as she gently cupped his cheek.

"You've grown up quite a lot" she commented,

"Hai"

Naori frowned at his obedient reply. It was not the nephew she remembered but then again she had been away for nearly two years and knowing Tajima this boy would have rarely had any interactions with the opposite sex.

She cursed her rigid brother again because her task had been made only more tougher. It would have been nice if this awkwardness didn't exist between them.

"Since you have awakened your sharingan, Tajima has seen fit that I take over your training while he does the same for Madara" she said patiently, as his face fell.

"Oh..." was all he said, unable to hide feeling betrayed for his father ignoring him again in favor of his older brothers. But he shouldn't have expected anything else.

Naori knelt to his level and gently grabbed his cheeks making him look in her eyes. She found it hard to believe that there was so much kindness still left in him despite what he had seen.

"He wanted to train you both together but I asked you for myself" she said with a smile, as his eyes widened in surprise and a flair of hope. It pained her to see him grasping for little crumbs of affection and care from his own family, but it only made her more determined to change this mistake.

"Really, Oba-san?" asked Naruto, and saw her eyebrows twitch at the term he used. She was freaking 19.

"Yes. And you'll call me Naori only" she informed,

"But..."

She poked his forehead earning a yelp followed by a scowl from him which turned into a mischievous grin as he did the same to her with his little finger.

Naori grinned on seeing his triumphant expression, maybe her wild nephew was still alive in there after all.

"I'm glad you are back. I missed you" he said happily,

"So am I"

She hugged him thinking her own child would have had the same brown hair as him if Itami had lived. It pained her everyday thinking about her dead lover and the family they had wanted to have.

When they parted she presented him with a slip of paper which he looked at curiously.

"What is it?" he asked,

"Tajima told me about your problems with fire ninjutsu"

He cringed and looked away in shame but she gripped his hand making him look back at her.

"It's not necessary for everyone to have the same chakra types. Not all Uchiha are fire masters..." she suggested, earning a frown from him.

"But I'm a dragon"

She laughed kindly at his silly remark. Her clan's obsession with hailing themselves as descendants of that mythical creature who may or may not have existed was quite strong.

"Well, little dragon. Then I'd like you to pour your chakra into the paper" she instructed,

"Why?"

He gulped when her eyebrows twitched in annoyance but unlike his twin older brothers she didn't bonk him on the head.

"Just do it, please. You'll be surprised"

"Okay"

He hesitantly poured some of his chakra into the strange paper clearly worried and excited about the results. He frowned when half of the paper became wet and the other half wrinkled. Looking back at his aunt, he saw she seemed quite surprised.

"What does it mean?" he asked curiously,

"It means you are a Water and Lightning type user. You can still use the other three types of chakra and their jutsu but it will be challenging. But water and lightning are your strength, something you can truly master" she explained,

"But shouldn't an Uchiha be a fire user?" questioned Naruto with a frown,

"Silly if all of us were fire users then it would be easy for the enemy to defeat us. We need to have diversity in our ranks and the attacks, Madara is an exceptional fire and wind user. With this, you can complement your brother on the battlefield and have his back"

Naori saw that her careful explanation had an impact on him as his frown disappeared. He still wanted to master fire but linking his ability over water and lightning to that of protecting his older brother had made him more accepting of his different power.

''What type are you?"

"Fire and Lightning. But I know some good water jutsu as well, however mastering them will be your job. But I don't see why with your sharingan you can have much difficulty"

"Then let's get to work"

Naori blinked when he yelled excitedly before running towards the lake to start his training. Gods, the boy was hyper active but it could also prove beneficial for his training.

What she had also wanted to tell him was that apart from his training in combat, she would also be taking over his teaching in matters of clan politics and art of diplomacy. Something which Tajima could not teach his sons in a thousand years.

Madara did not have the patience or tact for the soft skills, he was more of a warrior. But Naruto had a way with words and this ability if molded properly could prove beneficial to their clan in the future.

Madara would be the next leader of their clan but if the Uchiha were to win he would need his diplomatic and reasonable brother to gather new allies and also turn lost ones back to their side.

It was the only way they could weaken and defeat the Senju.

With those thoughts in mind, Naori walked towards her nephew in whom she could see her successor.