The next morning, Sasuke Uchiha woke from his dream and pushed open his bedroom door. As always, the house was empty. When he stepped outside, the compound was just as quiet as it had been the night before.
The familiar and unfamiliar faces he usually saw had all vanished. The only sounds came from the new Security Force building, which had been set up not far away. The night-shift ninjas were giving their reports and waiting for the next shift to arrive.
But what did that have to do with him?
"Well, well. If it isn't the famous Sasuke Uchiha."
He'd taken only a couple of steps toward the Academy when he heard a familiar female voice. Sasuke turned around. It was the woman who had captured him the night before—the Nara woman who used the Shadow Secret Technique.
With a piece of bread in her mouth, she used both hands to fix her ponytail as she headed toward the Security Force building in standard-issue Konoha ninja attire.
But she'd clearly come from the same direction as him, and there was nothing that way except the Uchiha Clan Compound. The Nara Family didn't own anything there, did they?
"Why are you...?" he asked.
"Oh, me? I went to visit a grave." Lu Yu Nara swallowed her bread and looked over at Sasuke. Then, as if she'd just remembered something, she clapped her hands.
"Right, no one's told you, has they? The Uchiha who were killed by Uchiha Itachi are buried at the edge of the forest behind your compound. I just went there."
"Don't say that name!" Sasuke suddenly shouted.
"Fine, fine, I won't." Seeing how furious he was, Lu Yu moved closer instead of backing away. She patted Sasuke on the shoulder and lowered her voice.
"Don't go to class this morning. I'll take you there."
"Huh?" Sasuke's expression shifted from anger to confusion.
"It's fine. You were only discharged from the hospital yesterday, so no one will mind if you skip class today. And me? I've wanted to skip work for ages. Come on." She took Sasuke by the hand and led him back the way they'd come, into the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Sasuke instinctively tried to pull away, but Lu Yu's grip was like an iron clamp. Besides, he did want to see the graves. He still looked a little uncomfortable, but he went along with her.
They crossed the compound and reached the edge of the forest behind it. Row upon row of burial mounds formed a striking sight. Some had headstones carved with names; others had nothing but a lone mound of earth.
The mounds were large, and they stretched on in a long line.
Lu Yu produced a bunch of white chrysanthemums from who knew where, pressed them into Sasuke's hands, and led him to the two largest mounds. There, she showed him the names carved on the headstones.
Fugaku Uchiha.
Mikoto Uchiha.
The former Clan Head and his wife. Sasuke Uchiha's parents.
"I'll wait over there. Say whatever you want to say, and cry if you need to." Lu Yu pointed to a mound in the distance, where a few blooming chrysanthemums had been placed, then quietly walked over.
By the time she returned, Sasuke's eyes were red and his voice trembled slightly. He'd clearly been crying, though he was trying to act strong. He pointed to the spot where Lu Yu had been sitting by herself.
"Who was he?" Sasuke asked.
"He was my old teammate." Unlike Sasuke, Lu Yu sounded calm, even a little cheerful.
"His name was Uchiha Jie. You might even know him."
"Jie-nii?" Sasuke's eyes widened. He realized he really did know him. If she'd known Jie-nii, then... He looked at Lu Yu again.
"Are you the weird girl from the Nara Family that Jie-nii used to talk about?"
"What the heck? That's what he called me at home?" Lu Yu stared at him in disbelief. She grabbed Sasuke's arm and demanded, "He said that about me?"
"Uh, y-yeah," Sasuke stammered, shrinking back and nodding cautiously.
"I can't believe him!" Lu Yu stamped her foot. She worked herself to the bone for Konoha, while the man who'd faked his death was off enjoying himself outside the village with a little girl from the Hyuga Clan.
That alone would have been bad enough. But he'd even talked about her behind her back.
Still, she couldn't let Sasuke see how upset she was.
"Remember, I'm not some weird girl. If anyone's weird, it's him." She gave Sasuke a stern look, then glanced up at the sun.
"Hmm, it's still so early. Is there anything you want to do?" she asked.
"Train..." Sasuke thought of the mounds of earth. "I'm going to kill that man," he said through gritted teeth.
Then he looked up at Lu Yu. "And I'll avenge Jie-nii, too."
Seeing Sasuke try to act like an adult, Lu Yu reached out and ruffled his hair.
"It's good to have that determination, but you still have to take things one step at a time. You're just a kid. You can't go around talking about killing people all day."
"But... I'm the only one left in the clan." Sasuke slapped her hand away. His voice sounded strong, but a hint of tears crept into it.
"That's all the more reason to take things one step at a time. Of course you should train hard, but don't turn yourself into an ascetic and chain yourself to revenge."
"You said it yourself: you're the only one left. If you're going to feel pressure, let it be the pressure to rebuild your clan. The Uchiha Clan used to have hundreds of people. Reviving it will take a lot more work than killing someone."
"I remember the girls in your class seem to like you. Why not put some effort into that?"
Lu Yu looked Sasuke up and down, making his face turn red.
"All right, all right. I'm just teasing you."
Back at the Uchiha Clan Compound, Lu Yu led Sasuke to a house, pulled out a key, and unlocked the door.
"Since you want to train and get revenge, I'll give you a few things," she said.
"But isn't this an Uchiha Clan house?" Sasuke asked.
"Some members of the Uchiha Clan left wills. Their belongings naturally went to whoever they named as their heir."
Stepping inside, Sasuke looked at the familiar furnishings and nodded. "Yeah, this really is Jie-nii's house."
Lu Yu had Sasuke sit on a stone bench in the courtyard, then went inside. A moment later, she returned with a scroll.
"Jie left more than just this house behind." As she spoke, Lu Yu handed the scroll to Sasuke. "He left this to me. It's a scroll about training in Yin Release."
Sasuke took the scroll but didn't unroll it. "Yin Release? What's that?"
"It's a form of ninjutsu, different from the five elemental releases. It's used by people with a Kekkei Genkai."
Lu Yu pointed to herself. "Like my shadows."
Then she raised two fingers and tapped Sasuke on the forehead. "And the Sharingan."