The Fateful Uchiha

Most kids finished the Academy in four years. However, there were exceptions. The gifted ones could graduate early. There were also a few who had a mentor already picked for them. Anko Mitarashi was an example of that. She entered Orochimaru’s tutelage at a young age. Speaking of the Sannin, he hadn’t deserted the village yet. Jun was wondering when he would run away.

Well, that was a question for another day. There was a more pressing matter on the horizon, Kyubi’s attack on Konoha. Jun didn’t even know how to approach the problem. If he was a genin, maybe he could have tried to approach Kushina, pretending to learn Fuinjutsu from her. He wouldn’t need to act too much as he was interested in Fuinjutsu. It would have been an opportunity to get close to the Uzumaki. He could suggest to Kushina to give birth somewhere else other than Konoha. With Minato’s help, she could be sent to Mount Myoboku to deliver her baby. Obito would definitely have a hard time tracking them there.

However, Jun wasn’t a genin. Nothing prevented him to seek out either Minato or Kushina, but Academy students were not allowed to find senseis before they graduate. If he did that, people would get suspicious, and he might attract unnecessary attention to himself. Minato was the Hokage. He couldn’t casually approach him or his family.

Jun was in his third year at the Academy. He would have to wait at least another year before graduating. Even if he could graduate early, how can he convince Minato and Kushina? He was only a kid after all. He wasn’t supposed to know that Kushina was the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. He may end up putting himself in a complicated situation.

How can he protect his family? Jun would have liked to save everyone, the Yondaime, Kushina, and all the victims of the tailed beast. But he couldn’t. He wasn’t physically able to do so. He was selfish to think about only protecting his family. He felt like he had no choice. He would be sad and would mourn the people killed in the attack. He was terrified and felt sick when he thought about it.

Jun didn’t know how to warn his family of the impending assault without appearing crazy or suspicious. How can he get his loved ones to safety without warning them? Konoha possessed safe houses for civilians to go to during an emergency. His parents’ house was far from them. He thought about moving to the Uchiha zone but promptly dismissed the idea. He felt like it was a riskier move.

Knowing the date gave him an advantage. He could suggest an outing to his family on that day to get them out of the village. But would it work? He had no perfect solution. In his memories of Naruto, there was no mention of his family. Were they killed by Kyubi? Was their death inevitable? Was he powerless against it?

Jun couldn’t inform anyone about the upcoming attack either. His previous life and memories were his greatest secret. Moreover, who would believe him? There was also the possibility of him changing the storyline. His memories would become useless then. Jun was overwhelmed by the situation. He pushed his worries to the back of his mind. There wasn’t much he could do now anyway.

Fortunately, there were other things to keep him occupied. He would have gone mad if he solely thought about the impending calamity. He had his friends, his family, the Academy, and his training. His parents did not train him often, just once or twice a week. It was enough for Jun. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. Jun got stronger. His Taijutsu could compete with Yugao’s now.

Classes were getting more difficult. They focused a lot on Taijutsu. The instructors created many activities to increase their physical toughness. Taijutsu matches became more frequent. Iruka’s grades dropped as hand-to-hand combat wasn’t his strongest suit. In contrast, Jun and Yugao were performing well. They often found themselves facing the top two students, Ise Hyuga and Fujitaro Uchiha. They were tough opponents to defeat. Their taijutsu was more refined. Ise used the Hyuga’s Gentle Fist. Fujitaro’s style was also strong. He was the only one who could give the Hyuga a run for his money.

Jun was surprised to see he was able to keep up with Fujitaro. He understood why with time. They had a similar Taijutsu style. Jun concluded his mother taught him the Uchiha Taijutsu. Jun wasn’t angry. If learning Uchiha’s techniques allowed him to get stronger, he would gladly learn. He had no intention of joining a clan that rejected his father though. One day, he asked Renzo a question that had been in his mind for a while.

“Why don’t mom’s parents like you? Is it because your parents were outsiders?”

His father who was showing him a Suiton Jutsu dispelled the technique. It was the Hiding in Mist Jutsu, a low-rank technique Jun was interested in.

“It’s complicated,” Renzo said.

“Are you saying I won’t be able to understand?”

His father shook his head and ruffled his son's hair.

“You can understand. But It’s not simple; I want you to keep that in mind.”

Jun nodded. He knew his father would tell him the truth. He never lied to him. Jun loved his mother and adored his little sister, but he was closer to his dad.

“My grandparents were civilians. They were merchants. They traveled with a caravan to many places, the East of the continent, the Land of Fire, the Land of Whirlpools, and sometimes the Land of Water. Ninjas often escorted them. Sometimes ninjas from Konoha, but other times ninjas from Uzushio, the hidden village that once existed in the Land of Whirlpools. They traveled all the time. My mother was born in Uzushio. My father was born a few months later on the border of the Land of Fire. They weren’t born in Konoha, and they both grew up on the road.

“But they became Konoha shinobis,” Jun said.

His father nodded.

“Conflicts escalated during their childhood and eventually the routes the caravan took became unsafe. It was the Second Great Ninja War. My two grandfathers stayed with the caravan to run the business, but my grandmothers settled in Konoha with their children. Some of their associates moved to Konoha as well. Others preferred cities without ninjas, and a few returned to Uzushio.”

Renzo looked lost in thought for a moment, then he shook his head and continued.

“My parents became ninjas, not merchants, and Konoha became their home. I think they did a few missions in the Land of Whirlpools. They had friends in Uzushio. It was an allied village, that was acceptable. But no one has ever forgotten the fact that they came from another land. Later, Uzushio was destroyed by Kiri, and my parents were very bitter about it. They had lost loved ones. They thought Konoha should have helped them. I was eight years old at the time, and I remember their anger. But it gave them the reputation of loving another village more than Konoha. During a time of war, it wasn’t a good reputation to have.”

“But they didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I know. It wasn’t fair, but a bad reputation can start from very little.”

He sighed deeply then gave Jun a little smile.

“That's in the past. My parents both died on a mission three years later, just before I graduated. People seemed to forget about my origins. Then, I met your mother. We were assigned to the same team as genins. When we fell in love, the Uchihas suddenly remembered that my parents had been accused of loving Uzushio more than Konoha. They brought it out in the open and caused a scandal. I was furious.”

Renzo greeted his teeth, then seemed to collect himself before continuing in a calmer tone.

“I don’t know if they were really that opposed to the idea of their daughter marrying a son of foreigners, or if it was just a pretext. Either way, they crossed the line. They used their influence to separate our team. They made sure we were never assigned to the same missions. Then, they arranged an engagement for your mom with a member of the clan without telling her.”

Jun was shocked.

“After a while, your mother packed up her things and told them she’s had enough. She disappeared from their lives, and they let us be. Maybe it was because of the War. Kumo had joined in. Suna found a new Kazekage, and Konoha officially declared war. Things were chaotic. They may not have had time to look for her.”

There was a brief silence. Jun was digesting the information. Konoha may enjoy an enviable reputation among the villages, but the way it sometimes treated its shinobi was far from being exemplary.

“You never talk about it.”

His father shrugged; he was a bit uncomfortable.

“There is not much to say. It happened long before you were born.”

Jun wrinkled his nose, unconvinced.

“What were their names? Your dad and mom, my grandparents.”

Renzo gave him a surprised look, then looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. He was visibly embarrassed.

“My mother was Makino and my father was Jun. You were named after him.”

Jun’s eyes went wide in surprise. He never knew and never wondered where his name came from. For a moment, he tried to imagine his unknown grandfather and how he had suffered from the way his comrades treated him. He promised himself to honor the name.

Jun and his father didn't bring up the subject of his grandparents anymore. He could tell it was still a sensitive topic. Moreover, he had obtained the answers he sought. Jun told Izumi a little about it. He thought she deserved to know. There were half-Uchiha and descendants of people from Uzushio. That was a unique combination.

Jun didn’t tell his friends Iruka and Yugao the whole story. He merely mentioned that his grandparents came from the same village as Kushina Uzumaki. He also began to read books about the Land of Whirlpools, its history, geography, ninjas, and its fall. The books about the topics were rare. It was something Konoha wasn’t proud of. They weren’t too excited to put what happened in history books. Jun was frustrated. He felt like the Uzushio people deserved more. He knew Konoha’s shinobis had the Uzushio symbol on the back of their uniform but was that enough?