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Chapter 29 - A Senior Like That... Kind of Useless, Isn’t He?

Konoha.

What used to be the Uchiha compound had long since become a wasteland. It had always sat on the village's fringe, where no one wanted to open shops, and no clan wished to relocate. The place felt ominous. If they moved in, would they be the next clan erased?

The compound was history, yet the training field beside it remained.

"Amane-kun."

On the field, the boy drove his fists into a post, sweat flying. At his side, a petite girl with pale-gold hair dabbed his brow with a handkerchief, her eyes full of care. Give it a few years and the scene would have looked more fitting. In the shinobi world, though, if you were going to court a girl, you started young.

Her worry was real. So was her helplessness. Like Iruka, Ino had no idea what words could ease Amane's heart. Unlike Iruka, she knew that just sitting with him in silence helped.

She glanced at the newly built wooden hut near the field and felt her chest tighten. Who could have imagined the second son of the Uchiha would live in a place so bare?

The world had turned cold. So had the villagers. Their big brother was now an S-rank missing-nin, which made his brothers pariahs. No one wanted to be associated with them.

Loneliness older than their years. That tiny cabin was home to him and Sasuke.

"Thanks."

He wiped his face. The gentle look remained, but Ino sensed sorrow hidden beneath it. The more he hid it, the more that quiet melancholy glowed. For a girl, that kind of melancholy could be deadly.

"You think my new home is lousy?"

During a short break, Amane led Ino inside. Sasuke was still outside practicing hand signs, hurling a clumsy Great Fireball Technique. Only the two of them were in the room.

"No. It just feels like something is missing," Ino said.

The room was simple, but everything needed was there, a certain charm in its spareness.

"Something is missing, huh? How about kicking Sasuke out and having you move in?"

He ruffled her hair with a half-smile. He liked Ino and never hid it. Seeing her cheeks redden, he shook his head. Teasing had limits. She was six.

He pointed into the distance. That was the true edge of Konoha. One body flicker and he could be outside the village, then two hours more to the nearest town. That town was now Uchiha territory, full of elders and children, firmly under their control. Knowing Konoha as they did, they could handle shinobi patrols with ease. Hiruzen could die wondering where the Uchiha had gone.

"It's safe here. Don't worry," he said. "You, on the other hand, are Iruka's model student. Skipping class to keep me company, won't your father be upset?"

A probe. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio had always backed the Hokage. Amane wanted to know whether Ino coming here had her father's tacit approval or if she had slipped out on her own.

"My father wouldn't," Ino answered plainly. "He told me never to let anyone sway my judgment or change my mind."

An open-minded father. Rare. Amane nodded and let it drop. The trio did not pick fights and knew their limits. The Uchiha were gone. Because they were gone, no matter how talented the two brothers seemed, they would not be viewed as a threat. Two boys could not revive a clan's glory.

They sat by the training field, shoulders lightly touching. One week remained before the graduation test. He had trained day and night. Life after graduation would be dangerous. He knew it and chose to leave early anyway. The clan needed relocating, and the Academy was not convenient. Some things could only be done in the dark. At least with the night of annihilation past, he had time to grow stronger.

"Testing will be here."

In the deep woods of Training Ground Seven, a masked man with only one eye visible stood before Amane.

"To be blunt, applying for early graduation is foolish. Trash should stay in school and study instead of dreaming about being a shinobi."

"Let me make this clear. This test was designed to evaluate teamwork. You chose to graduate early, which means no one will team up with you. You'll run missions alone like trash. When you die one day, no one will even carry your body home."

Trash, am I?

Amane pushed up his glasses and smiled, all harmless civility. "Sure. I'm trash."

"But think about it. Watching your comrades die with nothing you can do. Seeing your teacher sacrifice himself while you grieve in silence. Then, as if that were normal, everyone around you dies until none are left."

"Hm. A senior like that... kind of useless, isn't he?"

Insults? He did not need profanity. Language had an art to it, and this man clearly did not have it.

"You imagine you know why I requested this test. You imagine I'll turn out like you, a do-nothing, and you hope I'll give up and stay a good-for-nothing."

"Deep down, you think I'm just like you."

"But…"

His eyes kindled, and his figure vanished.

Heat roared up Kakashi's back. He spun, meeting the twin tomoe mirrored in Amane's lenses.

"How do you know I'll end up like you?"

"Trash."

BOOM!

Heat surged. The real exam began.

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