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Shusuke went home soon after both of his teammates left. It would have been Team Yuki to be called if he didn't just overwork himself these past few days. In all honesty, he was disappointed that he wasn't with them and was sad with the fact that their bonding time was cut short. Shouldn't there be others who're more capable than Kanata and Ren? He's not saying that they're incompetent or something. It's just... he's really lonely. His eyes lit up with recognition before they were clouded with guilt. Ah, this is the feeling that bothered Ren all this time.
Ren must have been extremely lonely when they keep pushing him away. Shusuke only knew that there's tension between the village and the clan but he doesn't exactly know what the clan head is up to. Maybe it was because he's a blabbermouth and would slip up and tell everyone if he were ever told of what is going on with the higher ups. "Uchiha-san, where's Ren?" The said Uchiha snapped out of his train of thoughts and looked down. A tan skinned girl was standing in front of him, her hair spiky and put up in a ponytail.
Her half lidded eyes and unnerving stare made him nostalgic. It was Nara Shikanai; a precious person to their little Ren. He rarely sees the Nara nowadays. In fact, didn't she graduate just a few months ago? That must be why. Shusuke mentally nodded at his great - not - deductive skills. "Ah, Nara-chan, the brat was called out by the Hokage just moments ago." He watched her frown and her eyebrows furrow in concentration. Then, a disappointed sigh escaped her lips.
"Is that so? It's a shame we can't hang out with him." Shikanai lazily waved her hand and was about to leave when Shusuke's voice stopped her from doing so. "Nara-chan, does the brat... have Ren been acting weird?" The breeze whistled in the silence, his shoulders tensing up when Shikanai glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. However, it wasn't her usual bored stare but a more hostile, menacing, one. "It's your fault. It's troublesome enough to take care of Shikamaru and when I saw Ren these past few weeks; I was - am - livid. Ren's a child, got that? You can't just push him away from you guys. No matter how much of a prodigy he is; Ren is not as mature as you think he is. Abandonment is the last thing a child would need."
The Uchiha gulped when she fully faced him with a glare in her eyes. "I've said this before to your other teammate; if you ever hurt Ren, you'll be facing a motivated Nara. And yours truly will surely hunt you down so you can repent for your actions." With one last intense glare, she left with a click of her tongue. The teen gulped as soon as she was out of sight; he wiped the thin sheet of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. No wonder Kanata always refuses to accompany him and Ren before when the latter visits his friend.
Nara Shikanai is a very intimidating and intense individual as soon as the subject is Ren's well-being.
He was honestly terrified.
It was only three in the afternoon when he arrived at his home. His house was situated far from the others. Despite being an arrogant and prideful guy, he likes his alone time. He didn't bother going to the clan head for a debrief for his new mission; he is exhausted. Does Fugaku want him to faint before he decides to give him a rest? Not likely, Shusuke mused to himself as he plopped down on his bed. It made a creaking sound as he made himself comfortable. There was nothing to do and he doesn't like being bored or doing nothing. Of course, he dislikes solo missions assigned by Fugaku than boredom; that much is obvious.
His exhaustion finally caught up to him as he yawned quite loudly. He rubbed both of his eyes as he muttered one last thing before he takes his rest, "You better protect Ren, you over-obsessive masochist."
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Thirteen-year-old Shusuke proudly showed off his Chuunin vest; annoying Kanata to no end while Ren smiled cutely at his teammate. "Hah! Beat those seniors of ours! We became Chuunin on our first try!" He boasted out loud with a grin on his face. They were at the training ground; it was a day after the exam. They had finally taken their first Exam to be promoted to Chuunin and they breezed through every part of it. The survival exam was done efficiently thanks to Ren's strategies that led them to beat the others in record time. Then again, Kanata and Shusuke weren't surprised by it.
Even the other villages acknowledged the fact that Konoha had birthed another prodigy not long after Uchiha Itachi. During the team battle, their team had stand out by not attacking anyone directly. They had moved with great efficiency and they had almost seemed as if they were shadows of the teams they struck down. It had always been too late for the enemies to realize that they were behind them and prepared to knock them out with one blow. So, really, it was all thanks to Ren and his brilliant mind. "Shut up already, you're getting more and more annoying every second, idiot," Kanata muttered under his breath.
Shusuke growled and said, "You shut up, you damn masochist! Don't be such a killjoy and ruin the moment."
"Ano, Kanata-san, please let Shusuke-san enjoy the fact that we've been promoted to Chuunins. After all, we only become Chuunins once in our lifetime, yes?" Said boy with his dark blue shirt blushed when Ren smiled at him with that adorable smile of his. Seeing this made Shusuke roll his eyes. Kanata was so obvious that it made him frustrated. The Uchiha wearing red shirt returned to bask in the joy of becoming a Chuunin once again when a puff of smoke appeared near them. "Yo!" And once again, Eita-sensei tripped on air; making his students sweat drop.
Once he stood up, he smiled at them and said, "Team Twelve, you surely made me proud." Ren beamed, Kanata slightly smiled and Shusuke grinned. "I'm happy to say that I welcome you as Team Yuki from now on." Hearing this made Shusuke excited. They weren't greenhorns anymore! They were finally going to go on actual missions where there are thrills and actual danger!
In the few weeks after they became Chuunin, they went on C-Rank missions and rarely on B-Ranks. Each mission was done with great sufficiency and most of the times, Eita had let Ren lead the team. It was a few days after their break when their senpai informed them that they were going on a B-Rank mission as a Chuunin Team without their senpai. Shusuke was absolutely ecstatic and he can't wait for the action. Ren had been the one to lead their team.
As they leave through the gates of Konoha, Shusuke can't stop talking because of how excited he was. He kept talking on and on and on until Kanata, who had been silent all these time, snapped at him. "Can't you shut up already? Your talking is making me frustrated. Do me a favor and zip your lips." His tone of voice annoyed Shusuke in return so he retaliated. "Huh?! What's gotten you so uptight all of a sudden?!"
"It's because of your chattering that made me this way, you moron."
"Like you can talk! You're always ogling at Ren all the time!"
"I-I'm not! Stop talking nonsense as if you know anything at all!"
"Are saying that I'm an idiot?!"
"Took you a long time to find out!"
"G-guys? C-Can you quiet down and make up? We're on a m-mission s-so - " However, Ren's concern was only brushed aside as they continue to bicker among themselves.
"MASOCHIST!"
"S-Shusuke-san..."
"STUPID!"
"K-Kanata-san..."
"PERVERT!"
"P-Please stop fighting..."
"PEA BRAIN!"
"PEDOPHILE!"
"Oh shut up already!" Kanata accidentally shoved Ren to the side, who had been standing between them as a way to separate the two of them and forcefully grabbed Shusuke's collar. "You're always so high and mighty! As if you think you're on top of the world and everyone is beneath you! It's absolutely frustrating on how you're such an idiot!"
"ME?! I'm not the fxckxng only one you xsshxlx! You have the same shxtty attitude!"
"Ha! If I'm like that, you're even worse than I am!"
"I've had it! What's with you today, you bastard?! Are you on your period or something?!"
Kanata was about to shout out another degrading insult when something dawned upon him. At his silence, Shusuke also realized the same thing as him. "Hey, where's the brat?" Kanata quickly lets go of Shusuke and used his chakra to accelerate himself. "Ren! Ren! Where are you?!" Near him, Shusuke was also doing the same thing. "Brat! Where did you go?!" The both of them landed on the forest floor, panting once they realized that panicking will only result in failure. "This is all your fault, you moron!"
"My fault you say!? I remember that you're the one who shoved him aside!"
"If only you stopped talking in the first place!"
"What's so bad about talking?!"
Kanata huffed and panted, tired of all the shouting they were doing. "Let's hold a truce for now. Ren is possibly in danger right now. We should go and find him as soon as possible." There were a few seconds of silence before Shusuke, who was glaring at his teammate, nodded in agreement. They searched for a trail and after five minutes, Shusuke found four pairs of footsteps on the forest floor and a fresh nick on the tree's bark. He told this to Kanata who quickly used his sensory abilities to get a hold of Ren's chakra. Soon enough, he found it and the both of them rushed to the destination.
They followed the trail in silence but of course, nothing ends well.
"This is all your fault, Kanata."
Said teen stopped and faced Shusuke with a red face. "I know that so why won't you shut up already?!"
"If only you weren't on your man period, we would have been doing our mission right now!"
"Stop blaming me when I admit it was my fault already! So shut up and let's just f - "
Kanata and Shusuke froze.
"Ahhhhh!"
The scream sent shivers down their spine. They could feel the despair and pain the voice was laced with as horror painted their face. The voice was a familiar and it horrified them when it dawned upon them. It was Ren. It was Kanata who first moved and was followed by Shusuke. With each step Kanata takes, the anger in him slowly grows as Ren's scream echoed in his mind. Each step caused the bark to break off the tree; his fists clenched tightly while he bit his lower lip, drawing out blood. Behind him, the glower on Shusuke's face could send others away with their tail between their legs.
The bloodlust they were emitting was enough to send the animals around them to run away from them. It didn't take them long before they reached their destination and the sight by the barren field was enough to send them into a frenzied state. At the center of the barren field were three enemy ninjas and they were circling around Ren, who was motionless and was lying in blood. Their breath hitched to a stop as they took in the sight. A sword held that little fragile body of his to the ground and the sword pierced through his chest.
Kanata's onyx eyes swirled into red and in them appeared three tomoes. Shusuke instinctively activated his bloodline limit and with the speed they didn't know they possessed, they charged at the enemies. Everything seemed to be in slow motion for them but in reality, the fight didn't even last for a minute. They had completely slaughtered the enemy ninjas. When they stopped, Kanata took a deep breath when he realized that the sword didn't pierce Ren's heart. He shakily knelt down beside their teammate's wounded form and with trembling hands, he asked Shusuke for a first aid kit.
The latter remained silent as tears streamed down his cheeks when he held his shoulder and handed Kanata the first aid kit that Ren gifted him with before the Chuunin Exams. A few more centimeters and Ren would have -!
Kanata slowly removed the sword pinning their teammate down and while doing so, kept repeating the word 'sorry' under his shaky breath. They stopped the bleeding the best they could and as Kanata wrapped Ren's wound, Shusuke was left to seal up the bodies of those ninjas who had hurt their precious friend. They traveled back as fast as they could and left Ren in the hands of the medic nin as they trudged dreadfully to the Hokage's office to give their report. Hiruzen saw their crestfallen expression and realized that little Ren wasn't with them.
"Hm? Where's Ren, boys? He's the team leader, remember?" Eita asked with furrowed eyebrows. Where could have his youngest student gone off to?
The teen wearing a dark blue shirt couldn't even raise his head so Shusuke took the job to inform the Hokage and Eita of what had happened on their team leader. "Ren... Ren is... he's in critical condition." Silence enveloped them before Eita let his jaw ajar before he vanished. He must have gone to the hospital... or he could have gone to fetch Ren's protective guardian. "Uchiha Kanata... Uchiha Shusuke... you will tell what happened on your mission." The stern tone the village leader used made them freeze.
"W-We were acting like bickering children and Ren tried to break us up but we only ignored. W-We don't know exactly happened but we realized that he was no longer there breaking us up.
"W-We were acting like bickering children and Ren tried to break us up but we only ignored. W-We don't know exactly happened but we realized that he was no longer there breaking us up. We searched for him and Ka-Kanata found the trail. We heard a scream and we instantly knew it was Ren. When we arrived... Ren was... Ren was... there was a sword pierced near his heart. We... we eliminated the enemy and rushed back here to the village to get him treated."
Shusuke trembled as he finished his informal and brief report. The Hokage sucked in a breath after hearing him. "Children..." They both flinched when he spoke. "... you must understand that everything you do affects everyone around you. Your carelessness will put the people close to you in danger and only, in the end, will you regret what you have done. The both of you are on suspension until Ren is back in good health. Remember, you have done something incredibly unwise that had put your friend in danger. Next time, you must be more careful."
The both of them meekly nodded and left as soon as the Hokage dismissed them. They went to the hospital as fast as possible and froze when Kakashi emitted quite an intense bloodlust when they arrived. They couldn't forget the fury that Ren's Guardian held as they waited for the surgery to finish.
It had taken three weeks; three bloody weeks before Ren woke up.
This time, they also froze upon being the subject of Ren's ire. His hazel eyes were dull and lifeless and this terrified them. He looked at them; it was as if he was looking right through their soul. "Next time you two argue, on a mission or not, I'll deal with you two myself. Dislocate your shoulders a couple of times would do, wouldn't it? I could always heal you after every dislocation I make on your bloody shoulders anyway." His words sent fear coursing through their veins.
That was the first and last time they argued. Since that day, they vowed to protect Ren with everything they have.
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Shusuke woke up with a jerk when he sensed a malicious chakra lurking near his home. He quickly grabbed his weapon pouch and silently left through his window. The moon was up and it seemed like it was around seven in the evening already. The compound is eerily silent... is there another meeting going on? He wondered to himself. The flickering of that suspicious chakra sent him on edge. It was extremely familiar and he couldn't shake off the thought of how it belonged to that person.
A light thud sent him on alert as he turned around with a kunai held defensively in front of him. A masked man was walking towards him and his chakra was so alike to his former babysitter. "It's been a while, Shusuke." His voice made all the hair on his body stand up. It gave him goosebumps. He didn't want to say it but he did anyway. "O-Obito-niisan..."
"You grew up well."
"H-How? Y-You're supposed to be dead... y-you died during the war."
Shusuke was as pale as snow; he couldn't shake off the feeling that he wasn't talking to a ghost of his former babysitter. "Yes, it would seem like that, huh? How are things with you?"
"Stop it! Why are you casually talking to me!? Why is the compound... reeking with the scent of blood?"
The masked man - Obito - stopped with a halt. "The purge of the Uchiha's starts now, Shusuke."
It all happened in a flash. One second, Obito was thirteen meters away from him. The next, Obito pierced a kunai right through his heart. "Even if it's you, Shusuke, I cannot let you live." Shusuke choked on blood as he coughed it up. The kunai he held fell through his loose hold. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He could only feel pain. Tears streamed down his cheeks as Obito pulled away. Shusuke fell forward and lied down on his own pool of blood. "R-Ren..." he choked out. Obito's eyes widened; even at this time, all Shusuke could think about was the young Nohara.
"I'm sorry, Shusuke. I'm terribly sorry." A lone tear slid down Obito's cheek as he vanished without a trace; leaving Shusuke's body to lie down on blood.
The dying Uchiha coughed again; without his heart beating, and with him losing lots of blood by the second, there was no way he could survive.
"K-Kanata..." he uttered in hid dying breath. "... you better fxckxng take care of Ren. If you don't... I'll fxckxng haunt you in your sleep..."
Tired.
Exhausted.
He wanted to rest a bit longer.
His eyelids slowly fell and he fell into a deep slumber wherein he wouldn't be able to wake up.
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From a distance, Kanata felt his heart clench as he glanced at Ren, who was sleeping. They had decided to take a rest near the border before they go back home.
The Uchiha frowned; why does he feel like he wants to go home NOW?
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A/n: Hey guys! Pleasedon'tkillme!
Love you!
*Runs away and hides in a hole from angry Shusuke fans [if there is any].*
