Choosing to Live On

The waters of the Naka River flowed on.

Ever since Shuo Ye could remember, this river had been flowing. The first time his father brought him here, he had probably been only four. Takuma had held his hand as they walked down the little path beside the clan grounds, and then he had seen this river for the first time.

The water was clear. He could see the stones on the riverbed and the occasional little fish swimming by.

"You'll come here often from now on," Takuma had said.

Shuo Ye stood by the riverbank.

He could no longer remember the last time he had come here. Before the clan massacre? The third day after it? He could not remember. All the days lately had blurred together, every day and night turning the same shade of gray.

The river flowed on.

Exactly as it always had.

The evening sky reflected on the water's surface. Clouds drifted, birds flew, and whenever the wind passed over, the reflection trembled before settling into stillness again.

Nothing had changed.

But everything had changed.

Shuo Ye lowered his head and looked at his reflection in the water.

A seven-year-old boy. His hair was black and messy. There was dirt on his face, perhaps dried tear tracks as well. His eyes—

He saw his own eyes.

Three tomoe.

The Mangekyō Sharingan he had awakened on the night of the clan massacre had regressed after being overused. Now, only three tomoe slowly turned within his eyes. But if one looked closely, a pattern flickered faintly in the deepest part of those black pupils.

That was the pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Even though it had regressed to three tomoe, even though he had not opened the Mangekyō Sharingan again in a long time—

That pattern remained.

Like a scar.

"Dad..."

He spoke. His voice was so soft that even he could barely hear it.

"You told me to 'live on.'"

The boy in the reflection on the water was speaking too. But his lips did not move. Perhaps it was only the echo of Shuo Ye's own voice in the river.

"I don't know what pride is."

Takuma's final words. Even now, he did not fully understand them. "You are our pride—not as an Uchiha, but as yourself."

What does 'as myself' even mean?

Even now, he still was not certain who he really was. The college student in his twenties from his past life? Or the seven-year-old Uchiha Clan orphan he was now?

"But—I'll try."

When he said those words, his voice finally stopped being so faint.

Maybe because the wind was blowing. Maybe because he had finally spoken the words aloud. To this river, to the reflection in the water, to the father and mother who could no longer hear him—

"I'll try to live on."

He raised his head.

The setting sun cast a streak of golden-red light across the river. Not a red moon, not the color of blood. Just an ordinary, warm sunset at the end of a day.

The little path by the river was still the same. Grass grew, trees swayed, and birds called in the distance. It was as though nothing had happened.

"Shuo Ye—!!"

A voice came from far away.

He heard it. Naruto. Every time that idiot called his name, he dragged out the last syllable as though afraid no one would hear him otherwise.

"Shuo Ye—!! Iruka-sensei is looking for you!!"

Then came a second voice. Softer, but just as clear.

"Shuo Ye-kun—my mother asked me to tell you that the flower shop is closing early today, so if you're free—"

It was Ino.

Shuo Ye stood by the riverbank, looking at the path beneath the setting sun. From where he stood, he could see the bend in the path perfectly. It seemed someone was coming around that bend—

First came Naruto's head. Golden, blazing bright in the sunset like a burning flame. He was running, running with all his might, shouting "Shuo Ye—!!" as he ran.

Then came Sakura's head. Pink, chasing after the two boys. "Naruto, slow down!!"

Then came Ino's head. Purple, in the direction of the flower shop. She was not running, but she was walking quickly—

Shuo Ye watched them.

He took a deep breath. The evening air was cool, carrying the scent of grass and earth. Perhaps there was even a faint trace of flowers drifting over from the distant flower shop—

He took his first step.

Not toward the river. Toward them. Toward the direction Naruto was running from, toward the direction Ino was walking from, toward everyone still alive, toward every place where lights still shone—

"Live on."

He whispered it once more. This time, he was not speaking to the river or to his reflection. He merely whispered to this world, which was slowly beginning to regain its warmth—

"I'll try."

His foot stepped onto the grass by the river. The blades rustled beneath his feet. Cool, soft, real.

Not a dream. Not a genjutsu. Not the night of the clan massacre that had repeated for seventy-two hours inside Tsukuyomi.

This was real.

He was alive. Naruto was alive. Ino was alive. Sakura was alive. The Hidden Leaf Village still stood. The Naka River still flowed.

"Shuo Ye!! What are you doing here!!"

Naruto had finally arrived. He was drenched in sweat, his face plainly showing both "I've been looking everywhere for you" and "You were actually here all alone." But if one looked closely, there was something else in his eyes—

Perhaps concern.

"Iruka-sensei is looking for you! He said you still haven't filled out your Ninja Academy graduation application!!"

"...Got it."

Shuo Ye turned around.

His face toward Naruto, toward Ino, toward Sakura, toward everyone coming around that bend in the path—

The sunset stretched everyone's shadows long. Shuo Ye's was the same. It spread across the grass all the way into the river, mingling with the reflection in the water until it was impossible to tell where the shadow ended and the reflection began—

"Let's go."

He spoke to Naruto, his voice having returned to that familiar lazy drawl. As though nothing had happened, as though he had only taken a stroll by the river, as though the past few days of locking himself in his house without food or drink had merely been because he "couldn't be bothered to move"—

"Huh? Go? Go where?"

"To find Iruka."

"Huh?! Then why didn't you say so earlier!!"

Naruto started running ahead. He had always been like this, charging to the front in everything he did, never thinking, Why am I running? or Where am I running to?—he simply ran, with all his strength, without looking back, Naruto-style.

Shuo Ye followed behind.

His pace was not fast. But it was steady.

One step, two steps, three steps. Across the grass, across flower petals—the wind had probably blown them over from someone's yard—across the warm evening ground that was slowly growing dark—

Ino walked beside him. She did not speak. But she glanced at Shuo Ye. Just once. Then she seemed reassured, because she turned her head back and continued toward the flower shop—

But her pace slowed a little.

As though she were waiting for someone.

Shuo Ye watched her back. Her purple hair glowed brightly in the sunset, blending with Naruto's gold and Sakura's pink into a warm, pulsing light of some indescribable color—

He quickened his pace.

"Dad..."

He spoke softly. This was probably the second time he had mentioned his father today. But this time, his voice was neither trembling nor crying. It was simply ordinary and calm, as though speaking a simple sentence to someone very, very far away—

"You told me to 'live on.'"

"—I'll try."

He caught up with Naruto. Then together, toward that little path, toward Iruka, toward the flower shop, toward tomorrow—

They walked on.

Behind them, the waters of the Naka River continued to flow.

Nothing had changed. Yet everything was different.

[Volume One: End]