LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 90 – Last Minute Advice
The genins returned home. Neji and Jun flanked Kazuma like two bodyguards and showered him with more or less useful advice for his first mission outside the village. Once at home, Neji patiently showed him what to put in his bag… spare clothes, weapons, a sleeping bag, a tent to use only if the weather was cold or rainy...
Sasuke came home looking tired and grumpy. It was often his mood after a day of waiting for Kakashi or doing a particularly frustrating mission. Well, Sasuke considered all missions frustrating, but some were particularly rewarding. He sank into an armchair, pretending to ignore everyone, but he didn't go up to his room. He liked staying with them.
Karin then returned, covered in mud. Everyone snickered as she entered, and she gave them the middle finger before going upstairs to take a quick shower. When she came back down, her hair wet, she slumped down next to Sasuke to watch Neji share his wisdom with Kazuma. The young Uchiha let her sit beside him. He was more and more tolerant of having his personal space invaded.
Izumi came in last, well after dinner time. She had her medic's uniform folded under her arm and was yawning. On the doorstep, Kazuma saw her turn around to wave to someone: probably Ume, her best friend. She accompanied her sometimes. Izumi went to throw her uniform in the laundry basket, then did like Karin and collapsed on the couch.
Jun laughed at her and went to fix her a plate in the kitchen. Normally, Izumi lived in the house next door, but she must have seen the light in here and was too lazy to cook herself. It happened often. The Uchihas had three houses attached to one another, but they almost all lived together in the same one.
Kazuma had a hard time imagining living alone. He liked the cozy evening atmosphere here. Everyone gathered in the same room, simply enjoying their time together. Neji, teaching him to prepare to go on a mission. Karin and Sasuke were teasing each other. Izumi was telling them about difficult patients. Jun had immersed himself in his Fuinjutsu but kept an eye on them and occasionally took part in the conversation.
Kazuma wondered who had fulfilled the role of big brother for Jun and Neji. Who had taught them how to pack and prepare for their first mission? Was it their mom? At that time, she was no longer an active kunoichi. Jun and Neji had both loved Hazuki, like Izumi, of course, but they hadn't turned to her for advice…
It was Jun, Kazuma suddenly realized. It was Jun who had taught Izumi, then Neji, then Karin how to pack before a mission. It was Jun who had filled the role of the ninja parent of their family, for as long as he could remember.
And from Jun to Neji then to him, the advice was transmitted. Kazuma wondered, in a distant way, what it would be like not to have that. When he was younger, he didn't think about it. But since he had been placed in a team where everyone except him was an orphan... He couldn't help realizing he was lucky to have his family. He knew how sad and unfair it was that his friends were deprived of this simple happiness. Kazuma was a dreamer and an optimist, and seeing something sad always made him want to take action to fix things… But how could one begin to fix something like that?
“It's good, I think nothing is missing,” Neji declared.
Kazuma snapped out of his thoughts to glance at his bag and the clothes prepared alongside. For his first outing from the village, Jun had forced him to wear a t-shirt without the Uchiha clan emblem. Well, it was one of his usual t-shirts, very dark purple-blue with a loose collar, but it felt weird not wearing the clan fan anymore. This symbol had been embroidered on all of his clothes for half of his life.
Izumi and Sasuke must have been following the same train of thought, as both of them gazed pensively at the purple t-shirt.
“Is it really necessary?” Sasuke blurted out with obvious reluctance.
Jun opened his mouth, but Izumi pulled the rug out from under him, saying flatly:
“Absolutely. The Uchiha clan is famous. There have always been people eager to kill the Uchihas, whether for glory or the Sharingan. And now that there are so few of us... Our value on the black market has increased even more.”
“Izumi!”
The young medic frowned and looked at her big brother.
“What? It's true. And they should know that.”
“Certainly. But you didn’t have to be so blunt.”
Izumi conceded the point with a shrug. Kazuma pouted. Of his two siblings, Izumi was generally the sweeter and more polite, but she also had a bit of a chilling side coming from her work as a medic ninja. All the shinobis who worked at the hospital had a creepy side. Perhaps it was due to their detachment when talking about slicing people, or the ease with which they apprehended death off the battlefield.
“The clan symbol makes us all targets,” Izumi continued. “Jun doesn't care, because he's a jonin, clan leader, and can take care of himself.”
Jun happily waved his hand in agreement. He was indeed a jonin-level shinobi, the leader of the clan, and also highly ranked in the Bingo Book.
“And I am a chunin,” Izumi continued. “But Kazuma and Sasuke, you're both genins, so it would be safer if you wore t-shirts without the clan symbol... At least for your first missions.”
It was reasonable and Kazuma nodded, but Sasuke crossed his arms, looking stubborn. The latter was very attached to their symbol, to their heritage. Sensing the argument coming, Kazuma offered a suggestion.
“We could embroider the symbol on the shoulder or a small one on the back of the neck, would that be fine?”
Izumi and Jun looked at each other. The clan leader shrugged his shoulders.
“It's true that it would be less visible.”
It was a yes. Sasuke's shoulders relaxed, and Kazuma knew he was making a mental note to sew the clan symbol small on a t-shirt or two. It was a well-kept secret, but yes Sasuke knew how to sew. It was an essential skill for a ninja, after all, both for mending clothes and for stitching.
Jun cleared his throat a bit apprehensively.
“And since we're talking about keeping the fact that you two are Uchiha a secret… Kazuma, it's mainly for you, since you're leaving on a mission tomorrow. But it will also be valid for Sasuke when he's sent on a mission in turn. Do you remember what I told you?”
"Keep the Sharingan a secret," Sasuke and Kazuma repeated in unison.
“Exactly. Having the Sharingan saved my life once or twice. And keeping it a secret has certainly saved me more often than not. So… Be careful when you activate it. If you can hide it, please do so. Especially you, Kazuma. You must hide your Dojutsu.”
Kazuma promised to keep it a secret when he awakened it. That being said, he hadn't failed to notice that Jun had spoken of Dojutsu, and not of Sharingan when addressing him. And this realization made him wince. Because Kazuma was half-Hyuga. Activating the Sharingan would make him a target for enemies outside the village, but activating the Byakugan may put him in danger within Konoha. Or at least, there would be a conflict between the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan. He almost hoped not to have a Dojutsu in the end.
