Naruto: Chronicles of A Fire Ninja

"Thank you, thank you so much," Mikoto was hugging Kaida like he was her own son. Kaida was just smiling at that, knowing full well how big of a burden it is for a parent whose child is suffering through some chronic disease.

In his past life, his mother was also on the verge of collapse because of his condition, handling the responsibilities of his siblings as well as always coming to the hospital to take care of him. In Mikoto's embrace, he suddenly remembered his own mom, and a little tear fell from his eyes.

After thanking him, both Fugaku and Mikoto went inside the room. Since the operation of chakra pathway didn't require the patient to be unconscious but rather fully conscious and actively using them, Itachi was wide awake now.

"How are you feeling, son?" Fugaku asked.

"As good as I can be, father. I can't even tell I have gone through any operation," Itachi replied, trying to sit up.

"No need to sit. Just take some rest. The doctors have advised you to take some rest for a few days here, and that is what you are going to do," Mikoto said, pushing him back to the bed.

"Aunt, in his condition, it is really good for him to drink spinach and coriander's juice. It will help him recover faster," Kaida said in a fully serious tone.

"Okay, then let's bring him some. Till then you are just going to rest here, okay," Fugaku said, and he and Mikoto left to bring the juice.

But Itachi's face was, for the first time, showing disgust. If there was one thing he hated eating in the world, it was spinach, even in cooked form. Now he had to drink its juice. He looked toward Kaida to ask for any alternative, only to find him smirking.

"You..."

"Take care, 'Lord'," Kaida said with a wink as he left the room in haste.

"You will pay for this!" Itachi shouted, alone in the room.

...

Kaida went toward his home. Since this was a major surgery, there was nothing else planned for him today, so he decided to go back and take some rest before doing something else.

ding dong Kaida rang the bell of his home, expecting Yomi to open it since only she would be there at this hour, but he was surprised when the doors opened.

"You are back, brother," Kaida said.

"This is not how you meet your brother after so long," Shisui said, giving Kaida a big hug.

"Look like you really missed me, huh?" Kaida said jokingly, but Shisui kept on hugging him. Kaida, who had been maintaining a strong front for so long, could feel that crumbling, with his feelings coming up.

"It's all right. You are not alone. Your brother is always with you," Shisui said, rubbing Kaida's head while still hugging him. Tears started flowing from Kaida's eyes.

"I couldn't save him, brother. I couldn't save him. If I was just a few seconds earlier, I could have saved him. I could have..."

"It's all right. You did your best. You really did..." Shisui said, rubbing his head while taking him inside the house. Yomi was watching him, remembering how it was Kaida who was always consoling everyone till now—her, Ryota's parents, even himself. She knew Kaida was also suffering, but what could she say when she couldn't move on herself?

Now, seeing Shisui finally back and Kaida slowly letting out his feelings, she sighed in relief.

After crying for so long, Kaida finally stopped. The emotions he had bottled inside him finally came out.

"How are you feeling now?"

"I am fine now, brother."

"Good. Now go and take some rest. I will have something I want to discuss with you, but first take some sleep," Shisui said. Even though his tone was gentle, it didn't leave any room for discussion. Kaida just nodded and went to his room and took a brief sleep, without waking every 10 minutes like the previous week.

...

"So what did you want to discuss, brother?" Kaida asked.

"I went to Lord Third when I came back. Aside from telling me about my new missions, he also told me about an interesting promise my brother had made. I just want to know how he is going to fulfill it," Shisui said. Both of them were sitting in the garden, Kenta peacefully sleeping in his small cave-like room which he had made himself over time as his own room.

Both of them were looking toward him as Kenta slept peacefully.

"Don't worry, brother. I am not going to mindlessly kill everyone from those villages. I am not that twisted," Kaida said with a small chuckle.

"I know that much, Kaida. There is no need for you to state the obvious. What I want to know is what you are planning. I know you, Kaida. You are not the type of person who will make empty promises. So..." Shisui asked.

"I... I don't know, brother. Even though my end goal is clear in my mind, the path is not. But I am slowly forging it, with my first goal being money—the resource for which all major villages started war multiple times. So I am planning on using that resource. After that, I have to do many things, but that is for the future."

"Do whatever you want. I am not going to tell you to forget everything and live peacefully. But let me make one thing clear: in your plan, change every 'I' with 'We,' as I have already said. Your brother is always with you. Am I clear?" Shisui asked.

"Yes, brother," Kaida replied with a smile. He knew his brother loved peace and strived for it, but more than that, he loved his family.

...

While the two brothers were having a heartfelt conversation, Hiruzen and Shikaku were having their own conversation as well.

"We should really attack a day after tomorrow, Lord Third. We will not get such a great chance once again," Shikaku said.

"Sending a shadow clone in place of a real S-rank ninja for Daimyo's security—do you know how big of a risk you want to take, Shikaku?"

"Only two shadow clones. Kakashi and Guy will be present there personally, along with eight elite ninja. There is not even a need to send half of them."

"He is going to the Land of Mist, which is currently in civil war—a time period when they could easily eliminate him and blame the other party for it," Hiruzen said, massaging his forehead.

"And Jiraiya-sama could easily come back and join the caravan after the attack. It's not like they could move faster than him anyway," Shikaku said.

"Now I am really thinking I am going senile for even approving this idea. But if we pull this off, this will really be the perfect answer to those who are thinking Konoha is still an injured beast," Hiruzen said, taking out his smoke pipe.

"Okay, proceed with this plan," giving his approval after taking a strong puff from his pipe.