The hut looked even smaller with four children standing outside it.
It sat crooked beneath the trees, old wood patched over older wood, smoke slipping weakly from the chimney into the evening air.
Kisuke landed on the ground first.
The others followed a moment later.
Kushina looked at the hut, then at Kisuke, then back at the hut again.
"You live here?"
Kisuke glanced at her.
"Obviously."
She frowned.
"It's tiny."
"It's a hut."
"I can see that."
"Then why ask?"
Kushina's eye twitched.
Minato hid a smile behind his hand.
Shikaku stared at the roof for a second.
'It somehow looks more tired than I feel.'
Kisuke walked toward the door.
Then paused.
He looked back at the three of them.
"For the last time, you don't have to come in."
Kushina folded her arms.
"For the last time, I want to."
Minato gave a small nod.
"I'd like to meet him too."
Shikaku sighed.
"At this point, I've already come this far."
Kisuke stared at the three of them.
Then shook his head.
"You people really don't listen."
"Nope," Kushina said immediately.
"That much is obvious."
Kisuke slid the door open.
The familiar smell of herbs, old wood, and weak medicine drifted out.
The inside was dim, lit mostly by the low orange glow of the fire in the corner.
The old man was still in bed.
Still beneath the blankets.
But his eyes were open.
And when they landed on Kisuke first, they softened.
"You came back."
Kisuke stepped inside.
"Yeah."
Then, after a beat, he added,
"I brought problems with me."
The old man chuckled weakly.
His gaze shifted past Kisuke.
To the three children standing at the entrance.
Red-haired girl.
Blond boy.
Dark-haired boy with an expression like he regretted every life choice that had led him here.
The old man smiled faintly.
"So you finally made friends."
Kisuke turned immediately.
"They are not my friends."
Kushina stepped into the hut and pointed at him.
"We fought together!"
"We fought each other."
"That still counts!"
"It absolutely does not."
Minato entered more politely, dipping his head slightly.
"Sorry for intruding."
Shikaku followed with a smaller nod.
"Sorry."
The old man's eyes lingered on them.
Then on Kushina.
Then on Kisuke.
A strange understanding passed over his tired face.
Kushina noticed it first.
She stepped closer to the bed and spoke more softly than usual.
"I'm Uzumaki Kushina."
The old man blinked once.
Then smiled wider.
"I see."
Kushina glanced at Kisuke.
"We're from the same clan."
The old man looked at Kisuke again.
For a moment he said nothing.
Then he let out a soft, breathy laugh.
"So that's how it happened."
Kisuke frowned.
"How what happened?"
The old man ignored the question for a second and instead looked toward the other two.
"And you boys?"
Minato straightened slightly.
"Namikaze Minato."
Shikaku lifted a hand a little.
"Nara Shikaku."
The old man repeated the names quietly to himself.
As if testing their sound.
Then he smiled.
"Well. You all seem decent enough."
Kisuke folded his arms.
"You've known them for five seconds."
"That's plenty of time."
"That explains a lot, actually."
Kushina looked around the hut again.
It was small, simple and visibly poor.
She did not say it out loud this time.
But something about it dug at her chest.
This was how another Uzumaki had been living.
Out here.
Hidden away.
Unknown.
The old man looked at the four children for a moment longer.
Then spoke.
"I was once a shinobi of Konohagakure too."
That quieted the room.
Minato and Shikaku exchanged a glance.
Kushina looked curious.
Kisuke just sighed.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Former ninja. Legendary criminal. Keeper of great treasure. Very cool."
The old man gave him an embarrassed look.
Then chuckled again.
"…About that."
Kisuke paused.
The old man stared up at the ceiling for a second.
His voice came softer now.
"The treasure was never real."
The room went still.
Kushina blinked.
Minato raised a brow.
Even Shikaku looked mildly interested now.
Kisuke stared at him.
The old man sighed through his nose.
"I just wanted to sound impressive."
Kisuke looked at him for another second.
Then deadpanned,
"I knew it."
The old man looked almost offended.
"You knew?"
"Of course I knew."
Kisuke threw a hand toward him.
"You changed the story every single time."
Minato had to bite back a laugh.
The old man shook his head weakly.
"Hm. Ruined my dignity."
"You ruined your own dignity."
"That too."
But then the old man's expression changed.
The humor faded.
Not completely.
But enough.
And when he spoke again, his voice carried an old weight to it.
"The truth is less interesting."
Kisuke's arms lowered.
The old man did not look at any of them at first.
He just stared upward.
"I did go rogue."
His voice was steady.
"I did leave Konoha."
A pause.
Then—
"But not because I stole anything."
Minato's face grew more serious.
Kisuke watched him carefully.
The old man's hands trembled beneath the blankets.
"During a mission… I betrayed my comrades."
Silence followed.
The fire cracked softly in the corner.
Outside, the wind brushed against the walls.
The old man continued.
"I got scared."
His voice had gone quieter now.
Smaller.
"The mission turned bad. We were cornered. And I…"
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"I chose myself."
No one interrupted him.
"I ran."
His breath shook once.
"I left them there and ran."
Kisuke stood very still.
The old man's face was calm.
Like he had carried this truth so long that finally speaking it out loud felt less like confession and more like putting something down.
"I never went back."
His lips curved into a tiny, bitter smile.
"I told myself I had no reason to. Told myself I'd only be punished. Hunted and killed."
He swallowed.
"But the truth is… I was ashamed."
The room felt smaller somehow.
Minato lowered his eyes.
Shikaku's expression lost its edge.
Kushina looked at the old man not with anger—
But with a kind of quiet sadness.
The old man turned his head weakly toward Kisuke.
"So no treasure."
A beat.
"No great secret."
Another.
"Just a coward."
Kisuke looked at him.
Really looked at him.
At the frail body under the blankets.
At the lines in his face.
At the tiredness that seemed to live in his bones now.
Then Kisuke snorted softly.
The old man blinked.
Kisuke shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Yeah."
The old man waited.
Kisuke shrugged.
"I knew the treasure wasn't real."
Kushina stared at him.
Minato did too.
Kisuke's voice stayed casual.
"And I don't look at you any different."
The old man's eyes widened slightly.
Kisuke looked away toward the wall.
"You're still my grandfather."
The words were simple.
But they hit the room harder than anything else had.
The old man stared at him.
Then a weak, shaking laugh escaped him.
The sound broke halfway through.
Kisuke scratched the back of his head.
"Don't make it weird."
The old man's eyes shone.
Then he looked at the three visitors.
His expression changed again.
Not sad now.
Just resolved.
"Please," he said.
Minato looked up immediately.
The old man spoke more clearly than he had all evening.
"Take Kisuke back to Konoha with you."
Kisuke's head snapped around.
"What?"
"Kisuke—"
"No."
He took a step toward the bed.
"I'm not going anywhere."
The old man kept his gaze on Minato, Kushina, and Shikaku.
"He should not stay here."
Kisuke's voice sharpened.
"I said no."
Kushina frowned.
Minato watched quietly.
Shikaku's eyes shifted to Kisuke.
The old man continued as if Kisuke had not spoken.
"He's a good boy."
Kisuke stared at him.
"He deserves more than this place."
"Grandpa."
"He deserves people his age."
"Grandpa."
"He deserves a village."
Kisuke stepped right up beside the bed now.
"No."
The old man finally looked at him.
And smiled.
A small, warm and tired smile.
The kind of smile that already felt like goodbye.
Kisuke's chest tightened.
Something cold moved through him.
No.
He ignored it.
The old man lifted one weak hand.
Kisuke grabbed it at once.
"I'm staying here."
His voice had gone lower now.
Less certain.
The old man's fingers barely curled around his.
"You'll be alright."
Kisuke frowned.
"That's not the point."
The old man's breathing had become faint.
Kisuke leaned closer.
"The point is I'm not leaving you here alone."
No answer.
Kisuke's brows knit together.
"Grandpa?"
Still nothing.
The smile remained.
The eyes were half-lidded now.
Peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Kisuke stared.
For a second his mind simply refused to understand what his eyes were seeing.
Then he squeezed the old man's hand tighter.
"Grandpa."
Nothing.
The hut became completely silent.
No one moved.
The fire crackled once.
Then again.
Kisuke stood frozen beside the bed.
Still holding the hand.
Still waiting for a squeeze back that did not come.
'…No.'
His face didn't change.
Not at first.
He let go of the hand slowly.
Then straightened.
His voice, when it came, was weirdly normal.
"…He died."
No one answered.
Kisuke nodded once to himself.
Like that settled it.
"Okay."
Kushina's eyes widened.
Minato's expression tightened.
Shikaku stayed silent.
Kisuke took half a step back from the bed.
Then another.
His hands slipped into his pockets.
He looked at the wall.
Then at the floor.
Then at nothing.
"It's fine."
His voice was steady.
"He was sick anyway."
Kushina stared at him.
Kisuke swallowed once.
Still looking nowhere.
"I knew it was going to happen."
He nodded again.
Like he was explaining something obvious.
"So it's fine."
Kushina's jaw tightened.
The strange connection she had felt toward him before—
Now it hurt.
Because she knew that tone.
Not from herself.
But from hearing it in others.
That blank voice.
That brittle calm.
The kind people used when they were trying not to crack in front of strangers.
Kisuke kept going.
"I'm good."
Kushina moved.
Before he could step farther away, she grabbed the front of his shirt.
Kisuke blinked and finally looked at her.
"What are you doing?"
Her eyes were bright.
Angry too.
But not at him.
"No, you're not."
Kisuke frowned.
"I said I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
"I am."
"You're not!"
The words burst out of her so hard the whole hut seemed to shake with them.
Kisuke stared.
Kushina's grip tightened.
"You don't have to do that."
"Do what?"
"That."
She shook him once.
"That stupid thing where you act like nothing happened!"
Kisuke looked away.
"I'm not acting."
"You are."
He tried to pull back.
She held on.
"I'm not."
"Liar."
That made him look at her again stunned.
Kushina's voice dropped.
Quieter now.
"He was your grandfather."
Kisuke's throat worked once.
"He raised you."
His face twitched.
"You don't have to be strong right now."
Kisuke's mouth opened.
Then closed.
He looked away.
Then back at the bed.
At the still body.
At the hand resting over the blanket where his had just been.
His breathing changed first.
Then his shoulders.
Then his face.
The calm started to crack.
A little at first.
Then all at once.
His eyes watered so suddenly it looked like they had betrayed him.
"No," he said weakly.
Then again, smaller.
"No…"
Kushina let go of his shirt.
Minato stayed silent.
Shikaku looked away and gave the moment space.
Kisuke's hands clenched at his sides.
His vision blurred.
His breath hitched.
And then the tears came.
Violent.
He doubled over with a broken sound and covered his face, shoulders shaking as years of stubbornness, love, fear, and exhaustion finally collapsed under the truth he could not brush aside.
Kushina stood in front of him and did not say anything else.
And in the small old hut, beside the bed of the man who had raised him, Uzumaki Kisuke finally let himself break.
---
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