Chapter 1 – My Foolish Little Brother
It was the height of summer; cicadas shrieked desperately in the trees, their incessant chorus deafening. Beneath the branches, a three-year-old boy sat on a boulder, tilting his head to stare at the cloudless sky.
Sunlight filtered through the dappled leaves, falling across the child's upturned face. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, raised a hand to block the glare, shuffled to the far side of the rock, and resumed his sky-gazing.
Worried the sun would hurt his eyes, he tried to lift his arm to shield his head, but halfway up he let it drop again, too lazy to bother.
The boy muttered to himself, "From today on, I, Umino Kakuki, finally have a little brother. Sigh… my foolish otouto."
As he spoke, Kakuki glanced at his father, Umino Ikkaku, who was pacing frantically outside the front door, and rolled his eyes.
"Dad, relax—Mom and the baby will be fine!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, little Kakuki. Mom will be okay, and your brother will be super cute."
The anxious Ikkaku, hearing what he thought was his son's fear, still managed to spare a moment. "Be good and play, Kakuki. Daddy's busy right now."
"…" Kakuki's face darkened. Being treated like a toddler was the worst. After all, inside the three-year-old body was a Soul over twenty years old.
In his previous life, Kakuki had grown up in an orphanage nicknamed "Tomato." He'd barely graduated, found a job, tasted society's cruelty, and hadn't even finished digesting his boss's pie-in-the-sky promises when a dump truck slammed into him on his morning commute.
When he woke again, he was a newborn.
Hearing his new parents speak, he assumed he'd reincarnated in Japan.
But once he could walk and spotted Ninja sprinting across rooftops, arms trailing behind them, and saw the Hokage Monument, he realized he'd transmigrated—into the world of Naruto.
Putting his name together with his father's—Umino Ikkaku—and his mother's—Umino Kohari—he finally remembered: he seemed to have become… the yet-unborn Iruka Umino's older brother?
Apparently his arrival had fluttered the butterfly's wings; instead of only Iruka, the Umino couple had first "crafted" him.
Kakuki had worried his presence might erase Iruka entirely.
Only when Mom got pregnant again did he breathe easy.
Even if, logically, his existence shouldn't affect their choice to have another child, the thought of a world without Iruka left Kakuki feeling hollow… even guilty.
An orphan in his past life, he now had real parents—something to celebrate—yet as a transmigrated Soul, he felt… out of place.
Just like now: Dad paced anxiously at the gate while Kakuki sat on a stone beneath the big tree outside, staring at the sky through the leaves.
Waaah! A loud cry rang out. Outside the door, Ikkaku's frantic pacing stopped, his eyes suddenly bright.
Creak— The door opened. The midwife smiled in relief, raising a hand. "Umino-san, I've fulfilled—"
Ikkaku shoved her aside, not noticing she tumbled to the ground, and rushed in shouting, "Kohari! Kohari, I'm here!"
"Tch." Kakuki chuckled at his old man's recklessness, helped the midwife up, dusted her off, and asked about his mother and new brother.
The midwife, unruffled, pinched his cheek and laughed. "Relax, kid. Mom's fine, and you've got a baby brother."
"I see…" Kakuki exhaled; his clenched fists slowly uncurled.
From inside came Dad's booming laughter: "Haha, another son! The Umino clan thrives! Thanks for your hard work, Kohari!"
Crading the infant, Ikkaku beamed. "I've picked a name—Iruka! Hahaha!"
Yes, I have a little brother, and his name is Iruka Umino.
That name will forever remind Kakuki he's living a second life in the Naruto world—with real parents, a brother, and a home.
Dad was still clowning around inside while Mom scolded him gently. Smiling, Kakuki headed in to meet his baby brother.
"My foolish little brother—" he snickered, rubbing his hands, eyes sparkling.
———
"My adorable little brother… why are you crying again?!" Kakuki rocked little Iruka, patting him softly, all light gone from his eyes.
"I won't call you foolish anymore, just stop crying, okay?" On the verge of collapse, Kakuki finally realized Iruka might be hungry. He set him in the cradle and fumbled to prepare a bottle: hot water, formula, done.
Watching Iruka refuse to release the empty bottle despite his satisfied grin, Kakuki groaned, "Dad, when are you coming home?!"
A year flew by. The four-year-old Kakuki hadn't followed the usual transmigrator script—no Chakra at three, no three basic jutsu at four, no Shadow Clone at five.
When he'd asked to train, his parents warned that drawing Chakra before six could stunt growth, so he obediently waited.
Now, aside from learning a few new characters, his main job was… babysitting.
Mom, Umino Kohari, was a Jonin of the Village's Sealing Team, tasked with maintaining Konoha's protective barrier and monitoring any breach attempts.
Devoted and busy, she'd returned to work right after maternity leave; Kakuki only felt maternal love on her rare days off.
Dad, Umino Ikkaku, was a Jonin squad leader currently overseeing three fresh Genin. Most of the time a Shadow Clone watched the kids, but occasional missions took him out of the Village.
Their house—a two-story detached home in the Village's prime center—had to be bought, not built on the outskirts or assigned as cheap dorm housing. A mortgage meant that sometimes both parents were gone, leaving Kakuki alone with Iruka.
That dreadful situation was happening right now.
When Mom hadn't come home for three days and Dad's Shadow Clone vanished yesterday, Kakuki knew his fate was sealed.
I'm still just a baby myself… he lamented, on the verge of tears.
Iruka's parents
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