Following the widely witnessed Clan Honor, Hikaru became something of a hero within the Uchiha clan. Being considered the top genius of the clan since Fugaku and a staunch defender of its pride.
Of course, it would only be a few years before Shisui made a name for himself and quickly overtook Hikaru's title as being the Uchiha's top genius in a generation. However, he didn't care for the genius title much; he cared only for the reputation of being a devoted clansman. He had already built a somewhat strong relationship with Yashiro, the leading figure of the waning traditionalist faction and future leader of the coup faction. Now, he had ingratiated himself with the entire clan.
This was very important for his future plans. Although he was not sure as to which decision he would ultimately end up making, he nonetheless needed to have a high status within the clan to affect any change. This was but one step in his efforts to become a leading figure in the clan.
Outside of the clan, his name had also spread far and wide throughout the village for both defeating Asuma and his invocation of a Clan Honor directly after.
One thing Hikaru found especially funny was the level to which he had pissed off the Senju clan and its many descendants. Konoha was truly a corrupt place. Whenever he passed by village officials, at least one person would stare at him with poorly concealed scorn.
With the Senju clan having such a firm grip over all the administrative and bureaucratic departments, it was no wonder the Uchiha clan had never before penetrated even the edges of the centre of power.
The reputation increase both within and outside of the Uchiha clan also opened up many doors for him, allowing him greater resources. Connections were king.
"Ah, now this is the life." Grinning, Hikaru scoffed down some delicious dango which he had gotten free of charge, as he sat at a table with Obito.
They were currently within one of the many Uchiha streets spread out around the village.
"I can't believe you beat Asuma!" The other boy complained, slumped over the table.
Obito was split. On the one hand, he was happy for his friend and that the clan's honour had been defended, but on the other hand, it only made him seem all the more pathetic.
"Stop whining. Here, eat some dango." Hikaru said, shoving some in Obito's face.
Scowling, Obito took the stick and started eating.
"Good." Smiling, Hikaru offered some soothing words. "I'm certain you'll grow much stronger than anyone of our generation. You're just a late bloomer."
Chewing, the spiky-haired boy looked at Hikaru sideways for a moment. After determining that he wasn't being mocked, Obito flashed a bright smile. "You betcha! Just you wait. I'll be better than you and Kakashi before long!"
Snorting, Hikaru glanced around the half-full room. Since most of the Uchiha were still stationed in the village, the Uchiha streets were not as deserted or gloomy as other areas of the village.
"So anyway. On my mission, we fought these super bad guys. There must have been ten of them, but you know me, so it was easy dealing with them. I-"
"There you are! I thought I heard Obito's loud mouth." Asuma poked his head in the shop before signalling those behind him to come in with him.
Asuma, Kurenai and Rin all shuffled in and seated themselves at the table both Uchiha boys were at.
Seating himself beside Hikaru, Asuma called for some food for himself.
"Heya, Hikaru. Been doing well?" The Sarutobi's easygoing smile had a bit of self-deprecation behind it.
Naturally, Obito forgot what he was about to say and started talking to Rin, ignoring Hikaru.
"Oh, hey, guys." He greeted the newcomers before making some small talk with Asuma.
Not long after the boys' conversation died out, Hikaru turned his attention to his left and couldn't help but stare into the unique red eyes of Kurenai.
"You're not trying to pull a genjutsu on me, I hope? I've heard of your ability." The girl joked.
"If I could pull off any genjutsu on you, I'd consider that a gift from the gods." Hikaru retorted. "You just have interesting eyes. I've never seen any like them before."
Laughing, Kurenai's eyes sparkled with amusement. "I get that a lot. Still, it's been a while since we last talked and already, you're one of up and coming genjutsu users of our generation! Should I feel threatened?"
Waving a hand, the Uchiha dismissed such an idea. "The only way I can match your genjutsu talent is if I cheat."
"Well then, let's hope you never get your sharingan!" She said with a grave voice.
Smirking at such a comment, Hikaru spoke again. "Actually, I was wondering if you'd be up for some genjutsu training with me?"
Kurenai placed a finger to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm, that does sound like a good idea. There's no one else at my level that I can train with, so what I learn is only really limited to those weaker than me."
"My thoughts exactly. Let's set something up soon."
Asuma, who had been silent during this whole exchange, finally spoke up. "I wonder when you'll get the time. All of our workloads are gonna increase like crazy."
Even Rin stopped her conversation with Obito mid-sentence. "You mean the war?"
Nodding, Asuma sighed. "It's about to break out any day. Meaning the village won't be able to afford giving even us genin squads any rest. There's not enough shinobi to go around."
As the Hokage's son, it was only natural that Asuma would be more keyed into matters of state than most others, so everyone paid attention to his words.
While the others chatted around him about their current situation, Hikaru fell into deep thought.
The genin squads shouldn't be called into the war for the first year, at least. But they would still be involved in many dangerous missions. Then when they were involved in the war, it would be constant life or death situations one after another. He knew his current level, he was strong for a genin, but that was about the extent of it. He could probably beat some chunin, but that didn't matter in war.
Teamwork was definitely king. His and Ren's teamwork was rather excellent, but Kimiko still didn't fit the mould very well.
Ha, she probably detests me even more now.
Well, at least they still had time to improve their teamwork.
As for improving his power, he could only think of one way to do so that was relatively easy, yet even then, there came a cost. ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ด. It was close to the Land of Fire, on friendly terms with Konoha, and held within it a great power enhancer.
Hoshikagure's namesake, the star at its centre, had the peculiar effect of greatly enhancing one's chakra and even gifting them a unique type of chakra with many applications. A versatile set of chakra tails that can transform into beasts, the ability of flight, and sensory abilities so strong that you can even peer into the past based on someone's chakra signature were just a few applications.
However, no great power comes without cost. Such a massive increase in power comes at the expense of messing up one's chakra network, so much so that a person can die years after their initial training from the lingering effects.
All in all, it was a power with great returns and great risks, but the consequences could be easily mitigated.
Surviving the next four years. That was what mattered most.
Hikaru's eyes unconsciously rested upon Obito's face. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ '๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ข'. His eyes then moved over to Rin. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช'๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด.
An hour passed like that, with all of them chatting and making plans. At the end of it all, only Obito and Hikaru were left. Of course, Obito had tried repeatedly to walk Rin home but was politely turned down each time.
Sitting in silence for several seconds, it was Hikaru who spoke up first. "Why do you want to be Hokage?"
He had been curious about this fact since he had never actually found out why beyond the usual platitudes.
Rubbing his head, Obito gave a cheesy smile with his eyes closed. "Isn't it obvious?"
"I want to make things better for everyone!"
When Hikaru stared at him listlessly instead of responding, Obito dropped his smile and stared down at the table.
"I just want everyone to acknowledge me." He mumbled.
๐๐ฐ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฐ... ๐๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ? "And you think that by becoming Hokage, that will happen?"
"Yeah! I'll become the first Uchiha Hokage. I'll be the best Hokage Konoha has ever had!"
Hikaru spoke carefully, unsure whether he should even be saying such words. "Are you not getting it the wrong way round?"
Tilting his head, Obito's eyes relayed his confusion. "What do you mean?"
"A person should become Hokage because they are acknowledged by everyone, not in order to do so."
Obito fell into deep thought at these words. After all, his reasoning was a bit perverse, wasn't it? He wanted to become Hokage for such a vain reason. Butโฆ Was it really vain? He was born an orphan. He was an outcast of his own clan. He didn't really have any friends. Hikaru was the closest friend he had, and even then, the other Uchiha was distant. Rin's face flashed in his mind. She, she always acknowledged him and was always kind to him.
Did he want to become Hokage so that he could live up to her expectations of him or so that he could become someone she would genuinely appreciate? He didn't know.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, as if he had just made a big mistake, Hikaru rose to his feet and patted Obito's shoulder. "Come on, let's get going home."
After leaving the Dango store and parting ways, Hikaru didn't return home. Instead, he headed toward a very special spot.
Overlooking the snaking river and great expanse of forest below, the Uchiha boy sighed.
This was the place. The place where Madara and Hashirama first met. The cliff where Itachi had jumped from in order to experience the meaning of life.
"Did I make a mistake?" He muttered to himself.
He couldn't escape the feeling that he shouldn't have said such words to Obito. Uncertainty began to bubble up inside him.
He had gone to such lengths to preserve the timeline early on, had pushed Sakumo to his death. Yet, here he was, just casually changing things anyway. Of course, he never planned on keeping the timeline on track the entire way, but he definitely couldn't disrupt it so much so early on.
Feeling directionless, he did the only thing that felt right.
With only a little hesitation, he stepped forward and immediately began plummeting through the air. At this height, even if he strengthened his body with chakra, he would still probably die.
Free falling through the air was an incredible rush. The cool air rushing around him. The adrenaline coursing through his veins. The fear in his heart. The cries of his brain to do something, anything.
Like this, he felt utterly powerless. Entirely at the mercy of gravity. It was exhilarating.
Arms swinging by his side, he gazed up at the night sky, at the hundreds of twinkling stars.
It was beautiful here. With so little light pollution, the night sky could show all of its splendour.
๐๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด? ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
Thinking back on his two lives, he noticed a stark difference. One was dark and gloomy, almost empty, like a black hole. It was as if he had never lived in the first place. The second was like a newborn star, flickering but burning brightly despite its small size.
It was undeniable. Although this was like a fake world, he had truly lived. He had faced death over and over, he had challenged death over and over, and he had triumphed. Isn't that the meaning of life? To live in spite of death's ever-looming spectre? To spit in death's face.
Rather than live out his days in safety and security, he felt most alive when he brushed with death and felts is embrace ever so briefly but still managed to elude it.
That was it. He would live so that he could face the possibility of dying. Over and over again. It was like a game of sorts. The more brushes with death, the more points he'd wrack up, a game with the ultimate game over.
No, that wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ? That he wanted everyone to acknowledge him. In a way, isn't that what he also wanted? To be acknowledged, to be more than a speck of dust in the wind, to be someone.
๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ.
๐ ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.
With an answer in mind during the clarity provided by his freefalling, he took action. Dragging two kunai into the cliff face, he slowed his descent enough to harmlessly drop to the riverbed.
Still shaking with the thrill of the jump, he slowly collected himself. Hikaru then pulled his blade from his shoulder and turned it sideways until its metal glinted with the light of the stars.
๐๐ฆ๐ต'๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ถ๐ด.