Time skip 2

It all started when I was leaving Konoha after one of the visits to Mikoto, where I saw Naruto being kicked out of a fruit shop when he was just looking at some good-looking watermelons.

I began to think about the other tailed beasts and how foolish Hashirama was to capture them and distribute them as if they were deterrent weapons. Then, a small doubt crossed my mind.

The tailed beasts were distributed to the major villages because they paid a high price for them, but how could Takigakure secure Chomei when its strength is a joke?

Trust in the Hero's Water? I highly doubt it.

Strategic position? No one is interested in them.

Money and resources? They seem to be almost as poor as Sunagakure and don't even have a tenth of its population, only with a better environment to be self-sufficient.

So, I went to look for the only person who might know about it and was within my reach, Tsunade. And the information I got left me completely speechless.

I explained my doubt, and when I saw her making a grimace as if remembering something embarrassing, I joked, saying it wasn't possible that Hashirama gave a tailed beast to settle some gambling debts or something, right?

Tsunade remained silent and turned her head to look away.

She turned her head!

For someone like her, that's basically tacitly confirming that what I said is correct!

I couldn't believe it. I knew Tsunade inherited the bad habit of gambling from her grandfather along with his bad luck, but really?

How big must Hashirama's gambling debt have been for Konoha to decide that using a tailed beast to settle it was more profitable than using money, resources, or land?!

Then I remembered Fu, the Seven-Tails' jinchuriki and the only one with the ability to fly.

Her life in Takigakure and how it ended at the hands of Akatsuki.

Seimeigakure, as the best ninja village in the world (self-proclaimed), how could we allow ourselves not to have our own jinchuriki? Absurd!

So I kidnapped... ahem, rescued Fu from the evil clutches of Takigakure in a gesture of pure altruism and justice.

My justice.

As hidden as they think their village is in the waterfall, it's visible for kilometers from the sky. Especially when you're looking for a gigantic tree from which Hero's Water is extracted every hundred years, from which I tore off several branches to study them later.

It took about twenty seconds to locate and "rescue" Fu using my speed, while it took Takigakure a week to realize she was missing.

So yes, I believe the moral compass is VERY in my favor in this case.

Fu was still small, about three years younger than Haku, so when she realized that she went from being surrounded by people who beat her and looked at her badly to living in an incredible place made of clouds, with adorable cloud foxes whose tongues tickled her cheeks, lots of delicious food until she was full, and people who treated her well, it didn't take long for her to call the village her home and start smiling.

Really smiling.

Believe me when I say that when I saw Fu's state upon meeting her, I had serious thoughts of turning Takigakure into the second Kusagakure. The village is literally built on and surrounded by water, so the power of the attack would multiply immensely.

But unlike Kusagakure, I know that the children of Takigakure are genuinely innocent, and not all of them would mistreat Fu in the future. That was the only thing that saved them.

If they really try something funny... maybe they won't need that old tree they like so much anymore.

The reactions of Pakura, Tsunade, and Shizune when they discovered the true identity of the girl were... they stared at me in shock. So when I told them what I saw when I took her out and with the verification of the medical duo, they supported my decision to take her away from there.

We didn't even treat her differently for being a jinchuriki; I just made her spend more time with Mariko, who had more experience with young children and could check that the seal had no problems like Gaara's. I also asked her to put the same seal on her that everyone else received when they joined the village, as Maki did when she joined.

Although this time, the person who felt great shame unexpectedly was me.

We were all eating together during dinner, and I noticed that Fu had a dirty mouth. Mariko beside her was distracted talking to Karin, so I took a napkin to clean it myself, and when I finished, she turned to look at me with her orange eyes and said cheerfully:

"Thanks, Dad!"

Everyone fell silent for a second before bursting into laughter so forcefully that they all fell backward, without exception!

Damn, even Kimimaro couldn't contain himself!

Well, that's not entirely true; there was one person who didn't laugh, and that was Nemu, who looked at me as if she doubted her life, trying to remember when "I made" a little sister.

The subsequent conversation was somewhat awkward, but Fu was adamant in saying that "dad is dad," and then Nemu joined the conversation with her own logic, affirming that I was indeed her dad...

It was chaos! Never try to reason with a little girl...

At least, Nemu and Fu bonded a lot from that moment on.

In summary, I ended up having two "daughters" even before marrying Ameyuri and Pakura, who were immensely amused by my embarrassment and the fact that I was gaining experience in advance.

Why haven't I married them yet?

Because I still haven't managed to find and catch that damn ferret!

Do you have any idea how many caravans there are in the Wind Country?

And they all look the same to top it off!

It's a damn headache, but at least I'm lucky that they haven't pressed me about it. I suspect they might have discovered something when I made several rings of Pure Gold, but I'm not entirely sure. Call it instinct.

I've also been researching Devil Fruits, and I'm halfway successful with some. The data I got from the ninja who ate Kumogakure's SMILES has been very helpful to see if the physiques of this world can withstand them or have any hidden drawbacks.

My research on chakra metal has been progressing quite slowly, even with Nemu's help. I guess wanting to create symbiotes based on chakra metal is not as simple an idea as I thought. But I'll persist.

Looking at the figure floating in the nutrient solution of the medical capsule in silence, I can't help but sigh.

The Uchiha Massacre made me make a decision that could complicate things a bit...