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Part 9: Uchiha Yujirou
And there is a feast prepared for Death and all his friends.
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Sasuke and Sakura come back not long after. By that time, Kiba and Akamaru had already lain the traps around their camp. They should have something caught by the time the noon day sun rolls around.

Sasuke was about to make the seals for their clan's fireball technique but Yujirou abruptly cuts him off.

"Uh, ano, I don't think we should be doing that," Yujirou starts, putting a hand behind his neck in slight embarassment at having to contradict the other Uchiha, "If we were on an actial mission, that amount of chakra would be a beacon to shinobi."

It was one of the things Genma taught him when he took Yujirou to watch a puppetry show in a nearby village. It was a few days before his sixth birthday then. Genma wouldn't actually be in the village for his birthday, but it couldn't be helped. Still, it had been a fun trip and instead of renting a room in an inn, Genma had also taken him camping for a night.

"Let's treat this like a mission Yu-chan," the man said ruffling his kid's hair, "And on missions, one of the most important things when setting up a camp is to make sure you do nothing to invite possible enemy nin and then, to not leave a trace when dismantling the camp, so you won't be followed."

"I agree with Yujirou-kun," Sakura says from Sasuke's side, voice barely above a whisper, "We've only started learning how to mold our chakra this year. But I'm sure you'd be able to control yours perfectly in a few years, Sasuke-kun. But yeah, right now though, maybe I can start the fire? My Papa actually just taught me how. I thought we would need it for this trip."

Sasuke was predictably not very happy with the turn of events having been lectured by his classmates. Ah, the infamous Uchiha pride rearing its ugly head, something Yujirou was very familiar with himself. But Sasuke also had enough sense not to argue with them over it. Well, at least his clanmate knew how to listen to reason.

The whole trip was just as boring as the first time he went through it. Though now, with Sasuke's unrelenting looking after, it was a bit more bothersome. He couldn't even take a leak without the other boy hounding him, asking where exactly would he be going. It has been a mortifying experience for both of them. Kiba had even gotten comfortable with teasing the two Uchihas, proclaiming that Sasuke had a crush on Yujirou. The latter could only be grateful that Shino was never one to join in childish teasing and that Sakura was too horrified thinking about Sasuke's alleged crush on him to properly react. Though Yujirou swears she glares at him whenever she thinks he's not looking. And if looks could kill, well then he'd be dying a little earlier this time around.

Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei, and Yona-sensei gathered all of them the next day. Their sensei took account of everyone's name and had reminded them of their pending classroom activities. Since their meet-up point was a little distance away from Konoha, all the students were required to be accompanied by a guardian; otherwise, one of the attending teacher would bring them back inside the village. Kids like him coming from a clan could also leave the grounds with another certified clan member. (Genma-nii was Genma-nii and even though he is Yujirou's family in all but paper, his guardianship is not legally recognized by the village. And even if everyone who knew him and his Genma-nii accepted their filial bond, Genma-nii is still not permitted to act as his stand-in guardian in academy-run activities like this.)

Sakura had already been picked up by his father. She bade them a shy goodbye which only Yujirou had bothered returning (earning him a slight smile and a faint blush from the girl). Haruno-san had laughed loudly at this exchange. Sasuke had only looked at him confused.

With Fugaku and Itachi and the way they are, no one has probably ever taught Sasuke the importance of gaining favors from women. And he really couldn't expect it from Shisui-nii who is a boy also barely out of puberty.

"So listen up, Yuji, one very lesson no one will bother teaching you: kunoichi can and will destroy you, if you give them a good reason to. Just take it from your Nii-san, okay? Never ever cross a kunoichi, especially if you think they don't have the physical prowess to get back at you. Chances are she has another kunoichi friend and that kunoichi friend will probably be like the second-coming of Tsunade-sama and she will beat your ass to dust."

"Nii-san, what did you do?"

"Wow, I'm mildly offended that you would assume that I'm dumb enough to cross a lady. But well, yeah, not me. Someone you know though. Tell him to watch his back when you see him next."

"Oh. What did Shisui-nii do?"

The man only laughs in response. And Uchiha Yujirou could only sigh. He briefly sends a silent prayer to their ancestors to keep his Shisui-nii's ass intact enough for him to teach Yujirou how to be quick like him.

Looking around, he saw the haggard faces his yearmates. Spending the night outdoor for the first time with no supervision isn't that easy. The whole point of the exercise was to get kids comfortable spending nighys outdoors for when they inevitably start taking missions outside the village.

There's a cold feeling that has started looming in his chest.

He was going to have a genin team and a jonin-sensei. And he would try to get along with them and climb the ranks. He didn't want to get stuck in Military Police Force. He was going to pass the chunin exams and then finish a bunch of missions, be impressive enough that he gets bumped up another rank. And he'll follow Genma-nii into the T&I division, even if their Chief looked like he ate kids for breakfast.

It was everything he felt after finishing the survival camp the first time. Before Itachi slid his blade straight through his heart, face devoid of emotions, as if killing Yujirou was as mundane as a D-rank mission.

Beside him, Shino took a step to his left, moving a little further from Yujirou. And Akamaru, already hiding inside Kiba's clothes, starts whimpering.

"Yuji-chan!" Shisui's voice was cheery as usual, but there was an underlying tension in his shoulder as he deliberately and completely blocks off Yujirou's line of sight. To anyone else looking at them, it would seems like a casual reunion of two good friends. But Shisui, kneeling in front of the younger Uchiha with both hands on the boy's shoulders, is in fact instructing him on a simple breathing exercise.

Because his eyes are red again and everything is a little bit brighter… but only for a second-barely a second. Not even Sasuke caught the shift from black to red and back to black. And the chakra distortion was minimal that no one is going to suspect anything severe, like his unnaturally acquired Sharingan.

"Shisui-nii-san, I thought Mother would also be picking us up today?" Sasuke says moving closer to them.

"Aww, aren't you happy to see your cousin Sasuke-chan," the older boy replies, getting up and dusting off his pants. Yujirou took this momentary distraction to compose himself. "Besides, Mikoto-sama and Fugaku-sama were called by the elders in an emergency meeting," Shisui-nii adds.

He would have missed it completely, Yujirou thinks. There was tightness in Shisui-nii's voice as he explained Mikoto-san's absence. The Elders… they have been displeased. Yujirou remembers the morning Genma spent in the Uchiha Main House. The blatant disregard of an Uchiha Elder's position. The three adults shielding Yujirou from their greedy hands. The clan heads are being refused their demands and now they are trying to reprimand them. But then again, it would have been more surprising if they'd simply relented and granted Yujirou the peace and quiet he wants. Yujirou knows this without needing to be told. The way Shisui-nii casts worried sidelong glances at him says it all.

Shisui-nii is a prodigy so very unlike Yujirou. Or rather, Yujirou is no genius yet right now, the clan is clamoring as if he were, all because of his eyes, pushing him to quickly climb the shinobi ranks to add another name to the short list of active Uchiha shinobi in the village. It was as if it wouldn't be enough until Konoha's forces were overrun by Uchiha.

Yujirou knows he's being harsh in that line of thinking.

Yujirou is an Uchiha and he took great pride in his clan, in the fact that their clan was one of its founding members. He liked his clan and he liked his village and he knew the Uchiha took great pride in their village. (Fukumi-sensei had taught him history much better than the Academy ever could, and Yujirou appreciated his history lessons much better than his arithmetics. His Sensei has also been careful in teaching him the Uchiha history, their faults and glory and everything in between. Yujirou devoured those lessons with as much gusto as a four-year-old can.)

The Elders, he knows, or at least he'd like to believe, only want the best for their village. (He has to believe that because if not, then what's the point?) They think that only the Uchiha can protect Konoha adequately. And well, it's also true that there hasn't been as much Uchiha in the shinobi force as the village had before the Third War. But they were getting desperate and Yujirou, who is yet to be named an official genin, is getting caught in between.

He knew a lot was riding on him and Sasuke performing well in the academy. An older Uchiha would always be checking up on his studies on a regular basis. It was a little bothersome, but he took it in a stride. That was all frombefore though. Now is a different matter altogether.

A hand, much bigger that Shisui's, ruffles his hair. Lost deep in thought, Yujirou completely missed the arrival of the other shinobi. He looks up, surprise and joy clouding him as he saw his Genma-nii.

"Hey ya there kid," the brunet greeted him.

"Nii-san!" Unable to help himself, Yujirou launched himself into the brunet's arms, hands latching tight to the fabric of the man's uniform. "You had a mission. You weren't supposed to be back 'til next week." Which was exactly what happened before.

"Yeah, but Hayate owed me one. Didn't have to stay to clean up the left over mess."

"Genma-san, Sasuke and I will be heading back to the compound now. I've informed their Sensei that Yuji-chan will be going with you for now." Shisui turned his back on Sasuke, prompting him to climb up. Sasuke did so with not much fuss.

"Got it. I'll make sure to get him back not too late. We'll just be going on a quick stroll."
Shisui gives them a little salute before leaving.

"Should we go now too, Yuji-chan?"

The young boy nods and takes his guardian's hands. All of the sudden, Genma lifts him up, and on instict, Yujirou wraps his arms around the older man's neck.

"Genma-nii!" He cries in indignation only to be met by laughter.

Genma did have a mission that should have taken him out of the village far longer than it did. But the nagging feeling at the back of his mind wouldn't let him rest. (At one point he'd even started to wonder if he'd accidentally chewed on a poisoned senbon again.) It was only through complete luck that he was able to make it back to the village earlier.

The mission was simple enough anyway: A noble, one of those annoying and stuck-up ones, had requested escorts for a festival he and his bethroted wanted to attend. His hefty pay afforded him the best escorts, fortunately for him (and unfortunately for the poor fools who got delegated to the task which sadly included Genma this time around.) The mission entailed a 24/7 bodyguard duty in the shadows for the duration of the festival. Luckily for him, Hayate had stopped by the same village from one of those easy courier missions. And since Yugao was one of the other poor fool tasked with the babysitting mission, convincing the other man to switch with him had been easy. So in the end, Genma managed to head back for Konoha earlier.

In fact, he was just in time for one of Raidou's Chunin trainees to catch him entering the village, as the said boy was just about to leave to deliver him a message.

And as Genma flew through the trees separating him and the patch of land delegated to the Academy, the brunet clenched a piece of inconspicuous parchment filled Raidou's unmistakable scrawl in a code only their team knew.

"Three unknown. ANBU gear. Not the usual mask-holders. Left before sunrise."

It could mean anything, really. The babysitting duty was distributed to both high chunin and jounin ranks, but the Hokage or perhaps some other clan head or council member could have commissioned the ANBU for extra protection. It pays to be cautious, after all. But then again, the team leaders should have been debriefed about their extra company. If it weren't for the fact that the three mysterious masks knew the Konoha ANBU-exclusive hand signs, Raidou and the other team leaders would have called for back-up.

Technically, Raidou passing on this message to Genma when he wasn't involved in the mission can mean serious repercussions for the brunet. Genma could be reprimanded and even stripped of rank (or at least lose some privileges his rank permits him). But Genma has always been self-aware. He knows he could do more than break the rules for his kid.

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Training Field 30 was one of the smaller training grounds, as such there were only a few teams who regularly books it. Many clanless parent shinobi used the training said field to introduce to their kids the shinobi way. Field 30 was also connected directly to three other bigger training grounds, but it was isolated enough by the forest which also made it a great spot for a quiet practice session.

Yujirou was not entirely sure why exactly his Nii-san brought him there. Well, it is true that they were one of the few who regularly requests the use of this field, but still.

"I'm gonna cut this short, Yuji-chan. I know what you did when I took you with me when we were testing thise two chunin."

Yujirou couldn't look Genma in the eye then.

The older man never needed to raise his voice to make Yujirou feel bad and really, he doesn't even seem all thay angry which made matters a hundred fold worse.

"And sure, it's beneficial during training to share tips and techniques, but you must also remember that some take their clan techniques as a secrecy. Ya know? They wouldn't take it lightly, your indescriminate copying of their methods."

Of course, there was no hiding from Genma. Yujirou bets even Raidou found him out. Even if the pair had already been busy dodging attacks and playing offensive against the two other chunin.

"I'm not all that mad at you, kid," Genma says putting a hand atop Yujirou's bowed head. "Kotetsu also said he didn't mind. That it wasn't exactly a secret move or anything. But you should definitely still give him a proper apology. Besides, I bet you haven't started your Sharingan training yet. Your Uchiha mentor would discuss what you can and can't do with your eyes. So see? All's well. Just don't do it again."

Yujirou nods in agreement. In hindsight, it was obvious what he did was wrong, but he had been too preoccupied with worry to have thought of the repercussions of what he did.

"Also, you are not allowed, in any circumstances, to use that jutsu you copied off of Kotetsu."

The Uchiha's eyes widen and meets his guardian's eyes.

"But you said Kotetsu-san said he didn't mind?"

"Well, yeah, but also, using that kind of move will deplete your chakra halfway through the technique. And earth might not even be your affinity."

Well, that was definitely going to be a problem. Being able to drag a person through the seemed like a useful move. And now that he knew he couldn't just scout random training fields to copy jutsu, what use does his sharingan even have in trying to keep his clan from being wiped out.

Genma lets out a sigh, his hands moving to the back of his neck. Seeing the frustration on the kid's face, he relents.

"Okay, let's make a deal-" he crouches, meeting Yujirou eye to eye "-I'll teach you how to hide you chakra and you promise me not to use that jutsu you stole from Kotetsu, 'good?"

Yujirou instantly lit up at Genma's proposition. Genma didn't really know why his kid suddenly wanted to learn all these advanced stuff. Sure, the Uchiha (most of them) are fast-learners and are just plain natural at being shinobi. And he's sure his kid isn't too far behind the clan heads' kid. But Yujirou has never been a particularly proactive student. He's an Uchiha with the temperament of a Nara, always been that way even as a baby. (And well, you know what they say, always fear a motivated Nara.)

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A/N. Hey! An update! So close to the finish line.