The Susanoo protected Jun. It wasn’t a complete one. It was a simple skeletal structure of a ribcage. The rest of the clearing was pulverized. When he got to his feet in the middle of the crater, glazing briefly at the trees torn by the explosion and the thick cloud of smoke that hung over the scene, he knew that no one could have survived it. The Kiri’s shinobis had been pulverized. Sora, Chibi, and Ise met the same fate. He couldn’t bring their bodies home anymore. The thought pained him.

However, he didn’t dwell on it. He could sense the tall man’s chakra. It was extremely weak. He had managed to escape the worst part of the explosion. But, it wasn’t enough for him to get away unscattered. Jun calmly scaled the ring of the crater, then crossed the ravaged area that had been blown away by the explosion.

The Kiri shinobi was lying against a tree trunk. The blast had undoubtedly flung him there. His entire right side and part of his face were scorched by the flames. His legs were reduced to charred stumps. When he saw Jun, he smirked and opened his mouth. Maybe he wanted to mock him that he should have done this earlier before his comrades were killed. Or that he was only following order and he had nothing personal against them.

However, the young Uchiha didn’t want to hear anything coming from his mouth. He coldly drove his kunai through his heart. The man’s head fell forward. His chakra went out. Jun didn’t move. He stared at his enemy’s corpse. He felt nothing, just emptiness.

He wanted to cling to the rage and hatred that had given him strength during the fight, but it was as if everything had been consumed. There was nothing left, just exhaustion. He was tired. He had avenged his friends, but they will not come back to life. He returned to Konoha alone.

Jun reported to the Hokage and informed him of the deaths of his teammates. He naturally avoided mentioning anything about his Mangekyo Sharingan. He attributed all the credits to his explosive seals and Fuinjutsu. Moreover, the teenager delivered the sealing scroll containing Daiki’s body. He went home afterward and hugged his mom.

Jun hadn’t lost anyone on a mission before this one. It was a different feeling from his father’s death. They weren’t killed by the Nine-Tails. They were killed by people, by shinobis. He could defeat ninjas, but couldn’t do anything against a force of nature like Kyubi. He felt ashamed and guilty. He wanted to protect them. The mission wasn’t that difficult.

They had faced strong enemies, but he had been able to stand up to them.

“It wasn’t your fault. You did your best, didn’t you? You gave it your all, right? Some missions go wrong; it’s part of being a ninja. You just have to learn from your mistakes.” His mother said firmly.

“That isn’t going to bring them back to life,” Jun muttered.

“It isn’t. But maybe it’ll save your team’s life the next time you’re sent on a mission.”

Jun didn’t want to be sent back on a mission, but he didn’t have much choice. He needed the money to feed his family. But it was hard to continue moving forward. He doubted his abilities. He felt bad and guilty. He saw Sora’s family at the cemetery and almost ran away. They only thanked her for avenging their daughter. Jun knew they were being nice. They didn’t really care about vengeance. They only wanted their daughter back. But, they didn’t want to blame him. However, he was blaming himself.

Ise had no family other than his father. He came to the funeral and told Jun that he did well destroying his son’s body and preventing his Byakugan from falling into the enemies' hands. Jun wanted to punch him. His son was dead, and his thought was about the Byakugan. Was the Dojutsu more important than his son in his eyes?

Jun wasn’t close to Ise, but he was still a comrade who had fought by his side. He deserved to be mourned, not be despised as if had made a mistake by dying at the hands of the enemy. Daiki had no family. Jun never saw anyone coming to his grave. It was even sadder than Ise’s situation.

The young Uchiha also had to deal with the stares of the villagers. He had lost his team. If he had been the captain during the mission, his reputation would have suffered. But now, he was seen as the sole survivor. People gave him pitiful looks. Eventually, they would forget. But some would still remember him as the boy who lost his whole team on a mission.

Jun’s pain subsided as time passed. Other people experienced tragedies or heroic feats, and the village gossip moved on. Jun slowly moved forward. He had lived two lives and knew better than anyone that clinging to the past and grief was useless. However, in a corner of his mind, he regretted not having done more.

The world didn’t stop turning. Everyone went on with their lives. Gai was named jonin and threw a huge party. Jun drank for the first time. He threw up the next day. Izumi laughed at him.

Susumu was advancing in his internship at the hospital. Natsumi and Shiba-sensei completed a mission from which they returned with severe injuries. But they were very proud of themselves. Iruka got rejected by his teammate Madoka Hyuga, and Yugao began training with Hayate.

Jun celebrated his thirteen birthday. The teenager had to learn to live with the guilt, doubt, and painful memories. But he had survived. He needed to become stronger; therefore, he went on more missions.

The teenager carried out several missions with genins and chunins of his age. There were no Uchihas in his teams but quite a few Hyugas. Preventing Ise’s eyes from falling in the wrong hands seemed to have gained their trust. He felt like they found it more honorable than saving his life. Jun didn’t understand their way of thinking, but he held his tongue. Having a Byakugan user watching his back was always helpful.

Miyamoto Hyuga was on his team on several occasions. They took the chunin exam at the same time and both passed it. He was reserved at first, but he slowly came out of his shell after a few missions together. He revealed a gentle and sociable nature. He spoke unreservedly about his talents with the Byakugan.

According to him, he possessed the best eyes of his generation. However, it did not give him any special status in the clan. Among the Hyuga, there was only one important thing, the main branch. Anyone not from that branch was of a low status regardless of talent. Jun was happy he wasn’t born a Hyuga. The Uchihas had their challenges, but the Hyugas’ traditions drove him crazy.

Later on, the teenager began doing missions with jonins. No one put him in charge of leading a team. The fiasco of his only failed mission still hung over him even though he wasn’t the one in charge of the team. At least, his abilities were no longer doubted. Teaming up with jonins meant carrying out perilous missions.

Gai was his captain most of the time. It seemed they were only a few chunins who could keep up with his pace. It wasn’t so bad. Jun liked working with him. His intense personality was exhausting at times, but he was an excellent ninja. He was more subtle and sensitive than he let on. He wasn’t as clueless as most people would think.

Moreover, Jun had practiced a lot with him in the weeks following his disastrous mission. Training with Gai thoroughly exhausted him and left him no time to think or be depressed. He also learned valuable tricks from the jonin. Gai’s Taijutsu was versatile and can perfectly adapt to any opponent’s style. The man also never asked questions when Jun made strange requests. For instance, he asked tips on how to get away when being pinned on the ground by two opponents or how to fight while supporting an injured comrade.

He got along with Gai. Even though there wasn’t a fixed team, they found themselves being assigned the same type of missions. Therefore, they ended up using the same formation. Gai was an expert in Taijutsu; Jun could support the team with his Ninjutsu. A third shinobi can stay back to cover their backs.

Jun also performed missions with Raido, who had been in charge of the second test during the chunin exam. He was also a member of the Ninjas Sensor Department and regularly led tracking teams on missions. Miyamoto Hyuga was also among the best trackers in the village.

The young Uchiha participated in a mission to protect a village harassed by bandits with Kurenai and Asuma. He performed a sabotage mission with Hizu, the referee of the chunin exam. The latter was pleased to team up with him again. The young Uchiha also met Ibiki on a memorable occasion; they had to capture two jonins who had deserted the village.

All these jonins were stronger and older than him, but they treated him with respect. No one looked down on him or blamed him for his past failure. They were professionals. They expected him to do his job, and Jun always delivered. Their behavior helped the teenager. He wasn’t the first person to lose comrades on a mission and wouldn’t be the last. Everyone was moving forward, and the same was expected of him. He didn’t have time to dwell in the past.

He would never forget Daiki, Ise and Sora. The pain would remain, but he wasn’t alone. There were many others carrying the same pain. Moreover, there were other people he could protect. Jun was slowly healing.

He went back to his research on seals between his missions and training. His work in Fuinjutsu was progressing. The deaths of his comrades had made him lean on the seal that made the user explode. Jun wanted to make it so that the seal would activate when the body was out of chakra. If Daiki had that, Ise wouldn’t have to jump in and get injured in the process. If Sora had it, perhaps things could have been different.

However, such seals were double-edged swords. There was a risk to injure or kill your allies. The mission could also be jeopardized. But it was sometimes comforting to bring the enemy along to the grave. He finished the Jutsu before the end of the year. He called it, Dying Wish Seal.

Jun started on a new project, a seal to prevent Dojutsus from being stolen. He knew that everyone with an ocular Jutsu would do anything to protect their eyes from being taken. The same applied to him as well since he had the Sharingan. Therefore, he would do his best to complete the creation of the seal.

Moreover, he didn’t neglect to spend some time with his family. Izumi told him she was thinking about taking the final exam this year. She could graduate at ten years old. It wasn’t unheard of, but it was still quite rare, especially in times of peace. However, that conversation turned into an argument.

The siblings didn’t agree. Jun wanted her to take her time and enjoy her education at the Academy. He knew what the life of a shinobi entailed and desired to protect his little sister from it for as long as possible. They both raised their voices at each other.

“I can do it. I can graduate at the same age as you. I’m not a failure.” Izumi shouted.

“I never said that. All I’m saying is there is no rush. There are things for you to learn at the Academy. You’ll be better prepared if you take your time.”

Izumi was on the verge of tears.

“I know how to fight. I’m the best in my class in Taijutsu.”

Jun shook his head furiously. He had graduated at ten years old, the same age as Izumi now. He had killed at that age. He was mentally prepared for it, but it still shook him. He just couldn’t imagine his sister going through that at that age. He felt like she wasn’t mature enough.

“You’re still too young.”

“You graduated at ten too. What are you talking about? You’re just a hypocrite.”

Jun was shocked. Izumi saw it on his face. It was the first time she insulted her brother. She looked horrified. She opened her mouth and burst into tears. Their mother had to intervene and forced both parties to apologize. Jun confessed his true feelings; he was afraid for his sister. He begged her to wait another year, just one more year so he could come to terms with his sister growing up.

Normally, Izumi wouldn’t have given in. She was sweet and kind but also proud and determined. She had endured so much in her childhood without breaking. She didn’t give up easily. Maybe she felt the genuine fear in her brother’s voice and was affected by it. Or she realized that becoming a genin was an important step and that she shouldn’t take it lightly. Or maybe she didn’t want that to be a cause of conflict between her and her brother. In any case, she promised to wait another year.

Jun knew he was only postponing the inevitable. Izumi was going to become a kunoichi. She would go on missions, fight for her life and take many in the process. He had been stupid not to think about it before. He had always assumed Izumi was still too young, that there was time. But he realized there was no more time. Jun had a year to train her and seriously prepare her to face the shinobi world.