"Master, happy birthday!"
Hearing a wish so long absent that it seemed to have vanished from his life, Madara Uchiha froze for a rare moment, overwhelmed by the feeling that a lifetime had passed.
December 24 was his birthday.
It was also a day he had deliberately forgotten, one that was not worth celebrating.
"Who told you? Hōkaku?"
Madara tightened his arms around Shingetsu's tiny body and gently nuzzled her round cheek, then glanced at Hōkaku, who was trembling slightly with nerves. If anyone still remembered his birthday, it could only be Hōkaku.
"Cousin, happy birthday!"
Hōkaku stepped forward nervously to offer his wishes. Madara Uchiha was his older cousin, and they had grown up together, but ever since Madara became clan leader, he had stopped using that affectionate form of address.
Children of shinobi clans had no childhood. Amid the chaos of war, growing up as quickly as possible was their most pressing concern. Memories of their all-too-brief childhoods could only be cast aside. Had Shingetsu not suddenly asked, Hōkaku would have all but forgotten this important day himself.
"Master, your present!"
At Madara's question, Shingetsu blinked innocently and pretended not to have heard. She lifted her long sleeve and stuffed the gift she had spent so long preparing and hiding inside it straight into his arms.
It was clearly the sort of present a little girl would like: three fluffy, plump, round dolls, painstakingly dressed and styled. From their long, spiky black hair to their little black clan robes and the red-and-white fan crests on the fabric, they were unmistakably modeled after the people he knew best.
Madara recognized them at a glance-a big Madara doll, a slightly smaller Izuna doll, and a tiny Shingetsu doll. The three nestled tightly together in his arms, their soft, round faces