Ino Yamanaka

Josuke looked toward the person who had approached.

It was Ino Yamanaka.

Although he'd been studying at the academy for a while, truth be told, Josuke hadn't really interacted with any of the girls from Naruto.

He smiled faintly. "What's up, Ino?"

Ino was delighted. Josuke wasn't aloof at all—in fact, he seemed so gentle and easy to get along with. (That's just Josuke's personality. He's probably a cheerful, sunny kind of guy... He might change a little after the Uchiha Clan Downfall. Probably.)

Ino found herself feeling a little embarrassed.

"Umm, Josuke, is there some trick to the Clone Technique? I feel like I can never get the hang of it."

Ino bashfully tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Josuke thought for a moment. How could he explain it simply?

After a brief pause, he spoke.

"I don't think there's any particular trick. You just have to control your Chakra at a level that's right for you."

Ino blinked her lovely eyes.

"Then I'll give it a try."

With that, Ino closed her eyes and formed Hand Seals.

Before long, an identical Ino appeared beside her.

But she quickly vanished.

Ino's eyes flew open in surprise. She couldn't believe she'd actually succeeded.

"Josuke, thank you!"

Ino exclaimed happily.

Josuke waved his hand. Being treated like this by a girl for the first time left him a little embarrassed.

In his past life, he'd been nothing but a purebred goblin, longing for perfect love and a beautiful wife.

What a shame. A goblin was always just a goblin...

"No problem. If you have any other questions, you can come find me."

Josuke suddenly felt that he shouldn't have said that. It sounded like the kind of thing that could kill a conversation.

Ino covered her mouth and giggled.

"Okay, then I'm looking forward to learning from you!"

The morning classes came to an end, and lunchtime soon arrived. Sasuke and Josuke took out the lunch boxes Mikoto had prepared for them.

The lunch was generous.

There were rice balls and sushi. Maybe because of all the practice today, the food really hit the spot for Josuke. He and Sasuke sat off to the side eating, when Sakura came over.

Sakura looked shy as she spoke to Sasuke. (I don't know how she could tell which one was Sasuke and which one was Josuke, either. Heh.)

"Sasuke-kun, my mom made these egg rolls. P-please try one."

Sasuke replied coolly, "I don't need them."

With that, he stood up and left. Seeing Sasuke go, Josuke followed right after him.

Sakura looked dejected, but she didn't give up. (After all, she's our Sakura.)

Just as Josuke was about to leave, Ino came running up. "Josuke, this is sweet tea from my family."

Ino handed him a little bottle.

Josuke took it. The transparent cup was indeed filled with tea.

"Thanks, Ino. Arigato."

Josuke said goodbye and hurried after Sasuke.

After Josuke left, Ino was delighted. She bragged to her best friend,

"You saw that, right? That's my Josuke-kun, unlike some people's Sasuke-kun. Heh heh heh..."

Sakura rolled her eyes at her.

Just look at yourself.

(I'm out of ideas, so let's just skip ahead!!)

At last, school let out in the afternoon. Josuke had had more than enough. School had been exhausting in his past life, and now he had to go to school again? QAQ This was torture.

When he got home,

Josuke didn't see his parents.

Instead, he saw his long-absent big brother.

Sasuke saw his beloved big brother too and ran over happily.

"Onii-chan~"

Sasuke hugged his brother around the leg.

Itachi gently tapped Sasuke with two fingers.

Josuke thought this was probably Itachi's last time coming home. The next time would likely be the Uchiha Clan Downfall...

When Itachi saw that their parents still hadn't returned, he cooked dinner himself for his two younger brothers.

The meal wasn't especially lavish, but it was enough to fill their stomachs. Not long after they finished eating, Fugaku and Mikoto finally came home.

Fugaku's expression was grim.

He looked toward Josuke, Sasuke, and Itachi.

Then he thought back to what he'd just said to the clan's high-ranking members.

Did it really have to come to this?

Ever since the Nine-Tails' Attack, the villagers' oppression and discrimination against the Uchiha had only grown. Fugaku had repeatedly raised the matter with the Third Hokage.

But the Third Hokage's answers always left Fugaku disappointed. "Be patient a little longer. For Konoha."

Fugaku was dissatisfied, but his grievances were directed only at Konoha's leaders. At the Uchiha clan's high-ranking meeting that day, the Great Elder had proposed that the entire Uchiha clan launch a coup and seize control of Konoha.

That way, the Uchiha could live peacefully in the village.

Fugaku had immediately tried to stop him, but he hadn't realized how deeply his clansmen hated Konoha. The Great Elder had already secured the support of most of the Uchiha.

The rebellion was already being organized in secret. Even if Fugaku didn't want to rebel, he had no choice.

His feelings were incredibly complicated.

Itachi looked toward his parents. He had already learned through the Anbu what had happened at the meeting, so he had no choice but to take that step.

"Father. Mother."

Itachi looked at them.

Fugaku looked at the son he hadn't seen in a long time and nodded.

"You've grown taller. Where are your two younger brothers?"

"They've already fallen asleep. They were exhausted from practicing at school today. After dinner and a bath, they collapsed into bed and were fast asleep."

Mikoto's eyes glimmered.

Fugaku said no more and returned to his room alone. Once he was sure no one was around, he quietly opened a secret room.

Inside were only a few simple tables and chairs.

He picked a seat at random. His pupils turned into Three-Tomoe Sharingan, which began spinning wildly until they became a finely formed Shuriken.

No one knew that the Uchiha clan leader possessed the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan—not even anyone but Fugaku himself. (It appeared in the anime, but not in the original manga. I'm going with the anime version, QAQ.)

Fugaku couldn't change his clansmen's minds. The coup was about a month away, and he never would have imagined that, in order to force him to comply,

the several elders, who had always been at odds with one another, would join forces at this very moment.

What irony.

Fugaku suddenly missed the days when Minato was still alive. If Minato had intervened back then, could he still be alive now? No one could say.

At the very least, during Minato's time as Hokage, relations between the Uchiha and the rest of Konoha had improved more than ever before. Many clan members and villagers had let go of their prejudices.

That period could be called the best time for relations between the Uchiha and the villagers since Madara left. Some of the older Uchiha even insisted that

during the Fourth Hokage's term, relations had been several times better than they had been back then.

And now, what had happened to the world...?