A knock at midnight

Bang, bang, bang!

Someone knocked on the door from outside, and Jin Uchiha froze for a moment.

In all his years in the Hidden Leaf, he had hardly made any friends.

The only people he was close to were Ayame and old man Teuchi.

But those two were civilians. They would never come into the Uchiha Compound.

Who was it?

Full of questions, Jin Uchiha hauled himself off the couch.

He ran a hand over the soft cushion before slowly making his way into the courtyard and opening the gate.

The moment it opened, he froze.

Standing at the entrance to his little courtyard was Shisui Uchiha.

What the hell was going on?

The parents he had inherited in this life had been staunch followers of Kagami Uchiha.

Before he himself had died, Kagami had brought Shisui over to visit, so he recognized him.

Though the boy had yet to earn the nickname "Shisui of the Body Flicker," he was already a rising star everyone in the clan watched.

But after his parents died, he had lost contact with Shisui.

They had not seen each other once in all those years.

"Jin, did I startle you?" Shisui's voice was gentle and apologetic. "I'm sorry. I've been swamped with missions."

"Especially these past few years. I've even been away working over the holidays."

"I never managed to find time to come see you."

"I really am sorry."

There was no faulting Shisui's sincerity.

The two had often played together as children, thanks to the friendship between their families.

But Shisui was a genius. He had graduated early in his third year and become a ninja.

Ever since, he had been buried in missions, running himself ragged for both the Lineage and the village.

When he said he had been too busy to spare the time, Jin Uchiha believed him.

With Shisui's personality, he simply was not capable of lying about something like that.

But believing him was one thing. Jin truly did not want to get mixed up with these characters from the story.

He had spent all these years keeping his distance precisely to avoid getting involved.

But now that Shisui was at his door, he could hardly slam it shut and drive him away.

Forget it.

Sighing inwardly, he forced a stiff smile.

"Ahem. What are you apologizing for?"

"I know you've barely had a moment to breathe these past few years. What ninja hasn't?"

"Don't just stand at the gate. Come inside, and we'll talk."

Jin Uchiha stepped aside and led Shisui into the house.

Shisui glanced around at the furnishings, which were so sparse they bordered on shabby, and his brow creased.

But he said nothing.

They settled into their respective seats as host and guest in the living room, and Jin Uchiha brewed a pot of tea and brought it over.

"Here, Shisui. Have some tea." Jin Uchiha pushed a cup toward him.

Shisui picked it up, remained silent for a few seconds, then asked, "How have you been getting by these past few years? Why did you go to the Ichiraku Ramen Shop for breakfast?"

Well.

That confirmed it.

That feeling of being watched earlier had almost certainly come from the man sitting before him.

He just had not expected Shisui to have been following him since early that morning.

After giving it some thought, Jin Uchiha decided not to hide anything.

"To eat, of course."

"My parents died on a mission eight years ago. I was too young back then, and the Ichiraku Ramen Shop was cheap."

"So from then on, I pretty much lived on their ramen."

"But you know how it was."

"My parents didn't leave much behind, and I didn't have the talent. To earn money doing missions as a ninja, I had to wait until I graduated from the academy."

"That little inheritance was nowhere near enough to feed me for all those years."

"So I talked to old man Teuchi. I said I'd eat all three meals at his place until I grew up, and asked whether he could give me a discount since I'd be eating there long-term."

"Old man Teuchi has a soft heart."

"He wasn't even open that early in the morning, but he let me eat with him and his daughter, and refused to charge me."

"For lunch and dinner, he only charged me the cost of the ingredients, and even then he always knocked quite a bit off."

"I'll remember what old man Teuchi did for me for the rest of my life. In my heart, he's like my own father."

Shisui Uchiha's mind reeled.

He had never imagined that this was how Jin Uchiha had spent those years.

But it made no sense.

His own father had died around the same time as Jin's parents.

Yet he had been looked after since childhood. Why had no one taken care of Jin?

Shisui was straightforward by nature, and he simply could not wrap his head around it.

"Why?" Shisui could not help asking. "Didn't the clan do anything?"

"Doesn't the clan have an orphanage? Any Uchiha child whose parents have died can go there."

"And your parents died on a mission, no less."

"You had every right to enter the orphanage. How did things end up like this?"

But after he said that, Jin Uchiha merely fell silent.

A long while passed.

Only then did he speak slowly, something hard to define coloring his voice.

"The reason isn't complicated."

"My parents were followers of your grandfather, Kagami Uchiha."

"Once your grandfather was gone, how could his followers expect to be treated well?"

"I got off lightly. If you have time, go look around the clan. Of the children of those who served alongside your grandfather back then, plenty have had it much worse than me."

Shisui Uchiha went rigid, his clenched knuckles turning white.

All the color drained from his face.

The hand holding his teacup shook enough to send ripples across the tea.

Jin Uchiha watched it happen and sighed inwardly.

He remembered that, in the original story, only Shisui and Itachi had been able to stand together.

Not one of Kagami's old followers or their children had stepped forward to support Shisui.

In his previous life, he had never understood why.

But after crossing over, it had all become clear.

After Kagami Uchiha died, most of his old followers had been dealt with. Over the years, some had died, and others had been crippled.

Most of their children had not even survived to adulthood.

Even the few tough enough to make it that far probably hated Kagami and Shisui's branch of the Lineage to the bone.

And anyone expected them to help?

What a joke.

Jin Uchiha was the exception. Having lived two lives, he could still judge things fairly.

He knew Kagami and Shisui were good people, and that his parents had not made the wrong choice. No one had expected Kagami Uchiha to die so young.

As for Shisui?

He had only been a little kid back then. What could he have known?

So Jin held no resentment toward him.

He had only kept his distance all these years because he knew the plot and did not want to get involved with these characters.

Put simply, he did not want to invite trouble.

But across from him, Shisui's expression grew uglier and uglier.

"No, it shouldn't have been like this!"

"How could those bastards do something like that?"

"This is fucking—"

A creak rang out.

Even Shisui, normally as gentle as water, seethed with murderous intent after hearing the truth.

He was truly furious.

After all, Jin Uchiha had ended up in this situation because of his grandfather, Kagami Uchiha, and their branch of the Lineage.

And that was not all.

According to Jin, he was one of the lucky ones.

At least, under the care of Teuchi and his daughter, he had safely reached adulthood. Once he became a ninja, he would no longer have to worry about putting food on the table.

But what about the others?

As those images flashed through his mind, fury surged to his head, and his Sharingan activated at once.

And it did not stop there.

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan showed faint signs of developing toward the Mangekyo.

Jin Uchiha felt as though he were sitting on a bed of nails.

He was not sure at what point Shisui had awakened his Mangekyo in the original story.

But if it happened in his house, all hell would break loose.

The Uchiha, the Third Hokage, and every other higher-up in the Hidden Leaf would all fix their eyes on him as someone involved.

How was he supposed to keep his head down then?

Fuck. I absolutely cannot let this happen.

His nerves stretched nearly to breaking, and he hurriedly interrupted.

"Shisui, calm down."

"It really isn't a big deal. I don't resent you in the slightest."

"Besides, I've already made it to adulthood, haven't I? Please don't take it to heart!"

"Fuck, I'm begging you, all right!"

"..."