KATSUROU I

58 AC

"INOICHI! I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR DOING THIS TO ME!"

On a full moon night in the month of November, a woman's angry screams could be heard in the maternity ward of the Konoha Hospital. Looking inside the room, we can see a heavily pregnant Uzumaki Misaki on the birthing bed, crushing her husband Inoichi's hand in her firm grasp while Tsunade, her cousin and physician, looks on with an amused smirk.

"But Misa-chan, weren't you the one who wanted kids as soon as-" Inoichi gets interrupted by the door slamming open with a boisterous redhead barging in.

"I didn't miss the birth of my nephew, right?" Kushina exclaims. A sheepish looking blond man walks in after his girlfriend "My apologies, Misaki, I tried to stop her but as I'm sure you know, it is impossible to stop her when she's hell bent on something. How is the baby coming along by the way?" Minato asks.

An angry Tsunade scolds, "Do you people think that this is an art exhibition where you can just walk in whenever you want? Get the fuck out right now, only the father is allowed!" before literally tossing the couple out of the door.

"Now that the nonsense has left, you are doing great Misa, just a couple more contractions and we should have a perfectly healthy baby on our hands." Tsunade announces with a smile.

"You hear that Misa-chan, only a few more pushes and you'll be done with this!" Inoichi happily says to his wife only to get his hand crushed again.

"Of course I heard her the first time, dummy, you think that this is easy by any means?" Misaki grumbles, before beginning to push again.

Tsunade uses the Mystical Palm Technique to stabilize the process and prevent any complications. After about half an hour of pain from Misaki(and Inoichi, to a lesser extent),

Tsunade says "I can see the baby's head now, one more push should do it, come on Misaki I want to see my baby nephew!"

Misaki glares at her cousin before pushing one final time with all her might. Tsunade catches the baby gently and cleans him all over and wraps him in a soft blue cloth.

"It's a beautiful baby boy, have you both decided on a name yet?" Tsunade says while handing Misaki her son. Misaki gazes at her son with a tired yet serene smile for a while, after which she seemingly makes a decision.

"Yamanaka Katsurou, that is going to be the name of my child."

Inoichi breaks into a small chuckle while wiping a tear from his eye. "Katsurou huh? You're not even gonna let your son be immune to your competitive nature?" He says with a smile. Misaki replies, grinning "Never."

Meanwhile, Tsunade lets in the friends and family of the newborn and his parents. Kushina immediately makes a beeline to her sister's bed where she is holding Katsurou. "Oh my god he is so cute! Why does he have Inoichi's hair though?"

"Why are you people always bullying me? Minato, help me out here!" Inoichi appeals to Minato, who is too busy making funny faces at the baby who looks absolutely delighted.

"Ah, what a cheerful child, what's his name?" Minato asks after a while. Misaki replies, "Katsurou, Yamanaka Katsurou. He is never going to lose, I will be making sure of it."

Nara Shikaku remarks "Poor kid, his life is going to be a drag from the moment he walks" and promptly gets hit on the head by his girlfriend Yoshino. Inoichi suddenly speaks up "Oh yeah, hope you don't mind, Chouza, but Shikaku, will you be my kid's godfather?"

For once, Shikaku straightens up and says "Of course, it would be my honor." Inoichi smiles and embraces him.

"I thought we were friends Inoichi, you didn't even take me into consideration!" Minato ruins the moment with fake tears falling down his face.

"Baka, you're already going to be Katsurou's uncle, stop being so greedy!" Misaki yells at him, giggling.

Minato and Kushina visibly redden and Kushina tries to change the subject by asking "Well now, who's going to be the godmother?"

Misaki sobers up and says "Tsunade-nee, will you do it?" Tsunade is visibly surprised and exclaims "Me? Are you sure?" "Yes, there is no one I would trust more to look after my child if I'm not there. No offense, Kushina." "Some taken," Kushina says with a pout.

Tsunade smiles with tears in her eyes, and says "Well if you put it like that, I don't suppose I can say no."


62 AC

Yamanaka Katsurou was very excited.

So excited that the four year old had been up since dawn and had already taken a bath and got dressed. He pulled on his favorite purple t-shirt with a black Yamanaka symbol in the front with comfortable gray shorts. He rushed downstairs to see his dad had already left for work, the T&I department never stopped it seems. His mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for Katsurou and herself when she saw him happily plop himself down at the table with an expectant look.

"Ara, Katsu-chan, what's got you so bright and early today?" Misaki pretended to be oblivious to the reason for Katsurou's excitement.

"Well I did complete the task you had given me so…"

"So what?"

"Don't tell me you forgot already!"

His mother breaks out into a fit of giggles "I'm just messing with you, we will leave in an hour, sit down and eat." Katsurou hmphs but starts eating without complaint, he had worked hard for this reward and he would make sure he collects it.

His mother had told him that if he would do an hour of calligraphy every day for a week, she would take him out for something fun. There were only so many fictional scenarios he could come up with to enact his toys in so Katsurou put in the painstaking effort of using an inkbrush for seven straight days just to get some change in his routine.

"So, kaa-chan, where are we going today?" he asked, the optimism back on his face.

"The Uchiha compound, it's been a while since I saw Mikoto and she has a daughter about your age, you should get along pretty well," Misaki explained.

"The Uchiha compound?! But isn't that place cursed?"

"What? Who told you this nonsense?"

"Oba-chan."

"Ugh, what am I going to do with that girl? Katsu-chan, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Your aunt was probably making sure that you don't accidentally wander into the Uchiha territory but it is absolutely not cursed. Make sure to remember that and never mention things like that in front of an Uchiha, they are not necessarily bad people but they are very quick to take offense."

"Yes yes, don't offend the Uchihas, I got it. Now please get ready quickly, I want to see this place!"

"Shut up and eat your food!"

After finishing breakfast and Misaki getting ready, the mother son duo finally set out on the day's adventure.

Even with the war ongoing outside Konoha's borders, Katsurou and his mother still attracted the attention of almost every passerby. After all, one did not often encounter one of the last princesses of the now almost extinct Uzumaki clan and her son, the heir to one of Konoha's premier clans in his own right. Misaki had been raised as a royal and she made sure to hammer in the manners into her son, so they met each greeting with a smile and a polite nod of the head.

Katsurou gazed upon the Hokage Mountain where he could see the faces of the illustrious First, Second and Third Hokages. The First held significantly more value to him as he considered Senju Hashirama to be his idol, and he had made it his life's goal to surpass him the day his mother told him that Hashirama was her grandfather and therefore, Katsurou's great grandfather. His mother looked at him with a knowing smile and gently tugged his hand to continue on their journey.

Finally, they came upon the gate that signified the beginning of the Uchiha compound.

The buildings inside the compound really looked the same as the ones outside, if not a tad bit older. The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama had forced the Uchihas to relocate here when he took up the mantle of Hokage. Officially, it was so that the clan responsible for the military police could have unbiased judgment regarding the village affairs, but naturally, no one believed that. No one could fault Tobirama for resenting the Uchihas, they did kill most of his family but the Hokage should be above such things.

Inside the clan compound, one could usually see regular patrols of the KMP(Konoha Military Police) but today, only the occasional genin could be spotted as every available ninja of the rank Chunin and above had been deployed to fight off Konoha's enemies. There were still some civilians stopping to greet Katsurou and his mother, before proceeding with their lives. Misaki got him a chocolate doughnut and the nice bakery lady tossed in an extra cookie for him.

"Oh please don't, he gets enough sugar as it is," Misaki pleaded with the bakery owner who chuckled and replied "Ah, let him, he's not going to be a kid forever." Katsurou grinned at her and mumbled his thanks through the cookie he was eating.

"Katsurou! What have I told you about talking while eating?' his mother scolded. Katsurou swallowed "Sorry, thank you for the cookie!" The two women shared a smile and then Misaki grabbed her son's hand to lead him to the Uchiha head's house

"I'm not gonna talk to Kushina-oba, she's such a liar!" Katsurou remarked while walking. Surely a place where people offered free cookies couldn't be cursed. Misaki looks at him amusedly before saying "Oh? Who exactly will you learn kenjutsu from then?"

"You?" Katsurou looks at his mother expectantly. She laughs and ruffles his hair. "Sorry, I can teach you fuinjutsu and some other complicated things when you're older, but I'm afraid swordsmanship is not one of my talents."

"Fine, but I will be getting her back for this," Katsurou promises, as seriously as a four year old could. "You do that sweetie, and ask me if you need help with anything." Misaki may be a bit more reserved being the former crown princess of Uzu but every Uzumaki had an affinity for pranks and she was no exception.

Eventually, they reached their destination. It was an old Japanese style mansion but it was very well maintained. Misaki knocked at the front door and a beautiful ravenette in her mid twenties answered.

"Miko-chan! It's been so long! How have you been?" Misaki exclaimed on seeing her friend. Mikoto embraced her warmly and then replied "It's not easy managing a clan on top of a toddler, but I like to think I'm doing great."

"And who's this handsome young man?" Mikoto crouches down to Katsurou's height.

He puffs out his chest a bit, "Yamanaka Katsurou, the future God of Shinobi," he proudly proclaims. Mikoto is surprised for a second but then regains her smile "My, my, someone doesn't dream small, huh? Make sure to protect me when you're the strongest shinobi around." "Where is Izumi, by the way? I was looking to set these two up for a playdate while we catch up." Misaki interjects.

"What? She was right beside me, where has she disappeared?" Mikoto swings around to see a tiny head hiding behind the corner of the wall from where it had been peeking at the visitors.

"Izumi! It's rude not to meet our guests, come back here right now! Please excuse my daughter, she is rather shy."

"Ah, no worries, she's only three after all" Misaki assures, as Mikoto walks in with Izumi in her hands.

"Hello, my name is Uchiha Izumi, it's nice to meet you." Izumi introduces herself and immediately looks away.

"Aww, she's so cute! I'm Uzumaki Misaki, but you can call me Aunt Misaki if you want. And this is my son, Katsurou, introduce yourself to her"

"Hi Izumi! I'm Katsurou, let's be friends!" Katsurou says grinning.

Izumi takes a careful look at him, and returns to looking away. Katsurou looks down with a depressed face while the two women laugh.

"Ah, he takes too much after Inoichi sometimes, let's get inside and catch up a little."

"Sure thing, Izumi, why don't you show Katsurou the playground?" Mikoto encourages her daughter.

"Are you sure they will be okay unsupervised?" "Yeah yeah, there's always some elderly clan members watching over the children over there, don't worry."

Izumi goes over to the still depressed Katsurou and extends her hand towards him, "Katsurou-kun. Come with me," and as if the sun descended upon his face, Katsurou brightened up and took her hand.

The two children left in the search of the playground and on the way, in an attempt to know more about his newest friend, Katsurou asks, "Ne, Izumi-chan, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I don't know yet, but I would like to make my parents and my clan proud." Izumi says with a small smile on her face.

And in that moment, Katsurou decided that he would like to keep that smile on Izumi's face as much as he could.

AN: That was the first chapter, hope you liked it. I'm kinda freestyling it with regards to the timeline so naturally, some discrepancies might have sneaked in. Please try to ignore those, it's fanfiction after all. And about the birth scene, that's just some pure bullshit but hey, I need to get the plot moving somehow, don't come at me with "oh ackchually babies don't develop hair at birth" or something like that. But yeah, other than that, some constructive criticism is always welcome.

In the next chapter, we will have Katsurou entering the academy with Izumi. The genin team is obviously going to consist of them and for the third member I'm still undecided between Yugao and Hana, any suggestions about that is also welcome but I'm afraid I cannot guarantee that I'll follow those.

About updates, yeah, that shits gonna be pretty irregular. This writing shit is harder than I thought, my apologies to all the writers whom I have cursed for underuploading/abandoning their fic. I'll try to get two updates per month but, no promises.

Thanks for reading,

MiyeonAhri