Uchiha Ao returned home.
His younger brother and sister hurried over to greet him.
"Big Brother, you're back!"
His younger brother, Uchiha Ran, was two years younger than him. He had just turned ten and was still attending school. He was an excellent student and had a good chance of joining the Police Force as soon as he graduated.
The Police Force held a high position within the Uchiha Clan, and most of the clan's resources were devoted to supporting it.
Clan members who joined the Police Force became the clan's core personnel and received priority training.
Those with ordinary talent, like Uchiha Ao, could only serve as ordinary clan members and train in the Jonin Class established by the village.
Then there were ordinary clan members with no talent for being ninja.
Their mother, for example, was an ordinary person who had never trained in Chakra. She was a housewife.
Their father had died when Ao was eight.
That had left their mother and the children to get by with the clan's support.
They also had a youngest sister named Zi, who had just turned eight and was attending the Ninja Academy as well.
"Mm. Why are you two home so early today?"
Uchiha Ao asked curiously.
It was around three or four in the afternoon, and the Ninja Academy usually wouldn't let out for another two hours.
"The school has to prepare for tomorrow's graduation ceremony this afternoon. The Third will be there, so they gave us the afternoon off."
Uchiha Ran replied.
His eyes flickered. After hesitating briefly, he continued, "Big Brother, do you know which team you've been assigned to?"
There had been some unpleasant rumors lately.
People said his brother had poor talent and that no teacher wanted him, so the Third had forced him into Team Four.
But he'd heard that the Jonin leading Team Four had lost his entire family in the Nine-Tails Incident.
His brother would surely be targeted in a team like that.
He could even be in danger on missions.
"I don't know. What is it? Have you heard something?"
Uchiha Ao asked. For the past half month, he'd been spending all his time with Orochimaru, persistently trying to become his student. He hadn't had time to pay attention to what was happening in the village.
"I heard you've been assigned to Shimura Kage's team. He's from the Shimura Clan, and his wife and daughter died during the Nine-Tails Incident..."
Uchiha Ran said with a grim expression.
The Shimura Clan lived on the outskirts of the village, close to its outer perimeter.
It was right where the Nine-Tails had first rampaged.
The clan had suffered catastrophic losses.
More than thirty percent of its members had died on the spot.
Fewer than half had survived.
It was one of the clans in the village that had suffered the heaviest casualties.
Shimura Kage had escaped that fate because he'd been away on a mission.
That was why the Third had chosen to turn a blind eye to Danzo's actions against the Uchiha.
He let people smear the Uchiha Clan's name however they pleased in the aftermath of the disaster.
"Should we ask the clan head... to get you assigned to another team?"
Uchiha Ran suggested.
The siblings relied on one another, and they were all very close.
In Uchiha Ran's eyes, the main reason Uchiha Ao acted so boldly and got into trouble outside was to protect him and their sister.
Even when he was weaker than his opponents, he would stand his ground and shield them from being bullied.
His brother had fallen behind in his training because he had to work after school to help support the family.
He simply didn't have time to train.
"We don't have money to grease anyone's palm. You two still have school to worry about. Don't fret—I've already found a good place to go."
Uchiha Ao said with a smile.
He wasn't the person who'd lived this life before him, but he could still feel how close his family was.
Most households in the Uchiha Clan were harmonious.
They cared for one another.
Competition and suppression only arose between different households when they vied for training resources.
Still, Uchiha Ao knew he couldn't truly treat these two strangers as his family.
For his own safety, he couldn't trust anyone in the clan.
"Big Brother, you don't have to worry about us..."
His little sister, Uchiha Zi, spoke up from the side.
She was eight now and had grown much more sensible.
After school, she could find little jobs around the clan to earn some spending money.
She didn't have to rely on her brother for everything anymore.
"Our family will have three ninja. We'll have a good life in the future, so don't put too much pressure on yourself, Big Brother."
Uchiha Ran chimed in.
Although Konoha was known as a ninja village, ninja made up only a small portion of its population. On average, only one in every three families could produce a ninja.
And with the high casualty rate among Genin and Chunin, the village's ninja population had never grown much.
It was only after the war ended in recent years and the Fourth Hokage took office that the number of ninja in the village began to rise.
It had reached twenty thousand.
More than fifteen thousand of them belonged to ninja clans.
The distinction between ninja clans was simple.
Any family with at least ten ninja could be called a ninja clan.
Even in a great clan like the Uchiha, on average, each household could only produce one ninja.
There weren't that many ninja.
"Dinner's ready. Let's eat!"
Their mother, busy in the kitchen, leaned out to call to the three siblings in the living room.
Uchiha Ran deftly unfolded a folding table, while his little sister brought over four small stools.
Uchiha Ao walked into the kitchen and saw their mother ladling soup.
His mother had no name of her own. The neighbors called her Mrs. Orange because his father had been Uchiha Orange.
After so many years at home, she no longer had the courage to seek work outside.
After her husband died, she could only take on odd jobs from the neighbors, doing laundry and cleaning to earn a little money for her hard work.
The children were too young to work, too.
Most of the food their family ate came from the two plots of land in the front and back yards.
That was why they lived in such poverty.
The dishes on the cupboard were simple.
A plate of greens, a serving of pan-fried fish, and a bowl of miso soup.
Three dishes for four people.
Their main dish was rice porridge, with more broth than rice.
It was barely enough to fill them up, and nowhere near nutritious enough. As a result, he was already twelve and still less than five feet tall.
Their family had no steady source of income. They relied mostly on the clan's support, along with the part-time work his mother and he did outside the home.
The clan allowance was about six thousand ryo a month.
With their odd jobs, they could scrape together ten thousand ryo, barely enough to support a family in the village.
That was their main source of income.
Other civilian families couldn't afford to support a household with expenses like theirs.
The simple home-cooked food was delicious to the siblings.
After drinking a bowl of porridge, Ao put down his chopsticks and watched his younger brother and sister eat, his expression relaxing a little.
He'd been an orphan in his previous life. He'd never expected to have a family in this one.
He'd never known how to be around family.
He didn't know how to treat them.
But based on how he viewed other people, only an exchange of benefits could maintain a stable relationship.
They ate in silence.
It was a rule their father had established when he was alive, and they still observed it.
Even though their father was gone, their mother would set out a pair of chopsticks and a bowl at the head of the table, so the siblings wouldn't forget him.
"Knock, knock..."
A faint series of knocks broke the peaceful atmosphere.
They came from the outer gate of the courtyard.
Ao rose and gave his mother a calm nod before heading out.
He crossed the courtyard and opened the gate.
Someone he knew was waiting outside.
The most outstanding representative of the Uchiha's younger generation—Uchiha Shisui.
"Shisui, you're here."
Uchiha Ao curled his lips into a smile.
"Have you eaten? The clan elder is looking for you..."
Shisui said calmly, his eyes revealing a hint of curiosity and scrutiny.
He'd noticed some secrets about Ao.
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