Chapter 12
The midterm exams organized by the teachers arrived as scheduled the next day.
The test involves a medal-collecting competition in groups of three, with the final score determined by the number of medals collected upon reaching the summit. All teams start from different points within a ten-mile radius of the summit to compete for medals collected from other teams.
"Uchiha Yuki, Nara Shikara, and Shiranui Genma form a group."
This pairing wasn't unusual; Yuki usually partnered with Nara Shikara. But at this moment, Nara Shikara was still angry with her, leaving her somewhat at a loss. Nara Shikara walked to her side expressionlessly, while Shiranui Genma remained as usual. Yuki, however, noticed that Shiranui Genma had several small wounds on his body from extra training.
The exam wasn't too difficult, and the deadline was 3 PM.
It was early morning, just as dawn was breaking. The early spring weather was clear and cloudless, with a gentle breeze blowing.
With their combined strength, the three of them only need to be wary of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan detection during the competition. Speaking of which, Yuki has never been paired with Hyuga Tokuma. It's probably a subconscious assumption that the Sharingan and Byakugan are best kept separate, or that during ordinary missions, it's generally not advisable to include members with the same special eye technique in the same group. Besides the fear of having both abilities stolen by an enemy, are there other factors at play?
Xue was pondering when, with the tacit cooperation of the three, they had successfully captured four tokens. Based on the class size, which is approximately forty students, with three people per group, there were roughly thirteen groups. Now, they had five tokens in their hands, putting them in a position of certain victory.
The three found a cave and planned to rest for a while. Yuki looked at Nara Shikara, who remained silent, and felt a little helpless. Only when she asked him would he give a brief reply like, "Is that so?" "Probably." "Either is fine."
She took a sip of water and then handed the bamboo tube to Genma Shiranui. Upon seeing this, Nara Shikara took the bamboo tube from her hand and drank it all in one gulp.
Genma Shiranui: ...?
After finishing his water, Nara Shikara put the empty bamboo tube back into Yuki's hand and then remained silent.
Genma Shiranui watched this somewhat strange scene, his lips twitching slightly. His eyes darted back and forth between Yuki and Shikara Nara, but he ultimately wisely chose to keep quiet. He silently found a spot near the cave entrance and continued to keep watch.
Yuki stole a glance at Nara Shikara, who was leaning against the cave wall. His eyes were slightly closed, his breathing was steady, and his face remained expressionless, as if his actions just now were no different from usual.
After hesitating for a moment, Yuki spoke softly, "Nara-kun... I didn't think things through before, please don't be angry anymore, okay?"
Her voice was very soft, yet it was exceptionally clear in the quiet cave.
Nara Shikara's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she didn't open her eyes immediately. After a moment of silence, she slowly said, "I'm not angry." However, her voice clearly carried a hint of sulking.
Xue's voice carried a hint of grievance: "What do I have to do for Nara to stop being angry with me? I'm so sad."
Thinking Xue was crying, Lu Liang hurriedly opened his eyes, only to see Xue's obsidian-like eyes brimming with tears, on the verge of falling. His heart softened, and his ears turned red: "I'm just... I feel like you haven't... included me in your intimate circle, so I'm a little angry."
"Xue has so many friends, and I'm right here beside you. Yet you never tell me what's on your mind. I just feel like Xue has never let me into your heart. Why does Xue always seem so lonely?"
"Have we been friends since the moment we met, and even now, that we can make decisions together...?"
"My heart is open to the snow, but the snow can never see it."
Yuki looked at Nara, her eyes widening slightly. Was this how Nara had always seen her?
Nara Shikara blushed deeply after saying these words. He regretted arguing with Yuki. He had only wanted to be a casual ninja, earn some money, find a partner who wasn't particularly beautiful or ugly, and have a couple of children... What was going on?! It sounded like a confession.
He stared intently at Xue's face, watching her first look of surprise, then one of disbelief.
"I understand, Nara-kun."
Call me Lu Liang.
"Lu Liang, I'm sorry. I didn't notice your feelings and expressed the wrong idea." Xue's expression was serious and earnest. "It was my oversight. I will be more careful in the future."
Nara Shikara: ...Ah! It was all for nothing, this guy doesn't understand at all! That despicable Uchiha clan, just toying with the feelings of the Konoha villagers like this...
Lu Liang wore a helpless expression, realizing that the two of them were simply not on the same wavelength. Oh well, he'd just silently protect her from afar. Like becoming her shadow… Perhaps one day, she'd discover his feelings? Maybe? Lu Liang thought with a touch of self-deprecation.
Xue scratched her face a little shyly, a gesture that seemed strangely adorable on her.
She stretched out her hand, her index and middle fingers extended, the other three fingers closed: "Then... Lu Liang, let's make a reconciliation seal."
Lu Liang was initially a little confused, but then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Okay."
He extended his hand in the same gesture, with their index and middle fingers interlaced, symbolizing the resolution of their conflict and their hearts drawing closer once again.
After the reconciliation seal was completed, Xue took the initiative to hold the hands of Shira and Genma.
She looked at the two of them, her lips curving upwards, finally revealing a smile she hadn't shown in so many days.
"From now on, we should speak frankly with each other. That's the way of the ninja!"
"Yes, yes, Xue is right no matter what she says." Lu Liang's voice carried a numb sense of resignation. What to do when the girl he likes is an idiot?
Genma Shiranui looked at the two of them, who were clearly not on the same wavelength but had managed to make up as before, and couldn't help but laugh.
As expected of snow, it can make the second young master of the Nara family bow his head so willingly.
The three of them reached the mountaintop around the same time and handed in their plaques before 3 p.m.
After descending the mountain, the teacher announced the results, and they unsurprisingly won first place.
Perhaps it was this little incident with Nara that dispelled Yuki's original melancholy, and she regained her usual gentle smile when she was with her friends.
-
It was early spring, not long after Konoha and Kirigakure had signed a ceasefire agreement, and cherry blossoms were blooming like clouds and rosy clouds.
This should have been a breathtaking scene, but in Xue's eyes, it seemed to consist only of black and white, devoid of any dazzling brilliance.
Before learning of her parents' deaths, Yuki was sitting in class. Suddenly, the substitute teacher called her to the office and asked her to return to the Uchiha clan. At that moment, a sense of unease welled up in Yuki's heart. After returning to the classroom, she hurriedly grabbed her bag and left, not even noticing the concerned inquiries from Nara Shikara and Shiranui Genma.
The journey from the Ninja Academy to the Uchiha clan's territory wasn't far. At first, Yuki walked slowly, but as her unease grew, her pace quickened, and she eventually began to run, stopping breathlessly at the Nanga Shrine within the Uchiha clan's territory. The whispers of the surrounding clan members filled her ears, making her head throb.
Are Mom and Dad injured?
If she was injured, why not let her visit the hospital instead of asking her to come to the shrine?
Is there something important you want to tell her?
Xue had no time to think about anything else, or even to look around.
There are still children like her, some even younger than her.
"Xiaoxue... your parents sacrificed their lives. However, they completed their mission for the village brilliantly; they are true heroes. Their names will forever be engraved on the memorial stone in the cemetery." Uchiha Fugaku looked at Xiaoxue, who stood there alone, with no one coming forward to comfort her. And at this crucial moment, Mikoto was still on a mission; besides him, there was no one else to offer Xiaoxue support.
Uchiha Yuki was stunned at first, then realized what was happening, and tears streamed down her face.
She touched her lips, but couldn't utter a word.
Seeing this, Fugaku gently pulled her into his arms.
Yuki clutched Fugaku's shirt tightly and burst into tears: "I...I don't want them to be heroes...I want them to come back to life!"
Xue had no other relatives in the world besides her parents. After crying, she still forced herself to sign the papers as usual. Watching her parents' stitched-up, intact bodies being sent for cremation, in the end, the tall, loving couple she remembered had become two small urns. Xue was in a daze, and didn't even know how she got home.
After that, Yuki remained depressed for several days. However, her daily routine remained unchanged; she attended classes, ate meals, and practiced as usual. But this "normality" had an inexplicable strangeness about it. Nara Shikara, Shiranui Genma, Aki, and Hyuga Tokuma stood before Yuki several times, hesitant to speak, but ultimately said nothing. Even Mikoto and Ritsufuji, who had rushed back to the village after completing their mission, were helpless in the face of Yuki's demeanor.
Only when the night is deep and quiet will Xue hide alone under the covers and sob softly.
In the dead of night, the doorbell rang abruptly, startling Xue. Instinctively, she reached for the kunai her mother had given her, holding it tightly as if it would give her courage. She slowly walked to the door and opened it.
Outside the door, Obito, dressed only in a thin nightgown, stood there, his small body looking so frail in the cold wind. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, his black hair a mess, like a little bird's nest. He looked up at the snow with a bewildered expression and asked in a childish voice, "Sister, why aren't Mom and Dad home yet?"
Yuki froze, the kunai in her hand falling to the ground. She stood there blankly, taking a long time to recover from her daze. Then it suddenly dawned on her that she wasn't the only one who had perished in the war. There were Obito's parents, and the parents of other children. She and Obito... neither of them had parents anymore.
Yuki suddenly felt her legs go weak, and she uncontrollably knelt on the ground. She reached out and hugged Obito tightly, as if he were her last lifeline, burying her face in his chest, tears streaming down her face.
After a long while, Xue said in a muffled voice, "Obito, from now on, live with your sister... I will protect you and won't let you get hurt."
Obito, whose little head was just over three years old, didn't quite understand what was happening. He only felt a warm, wet sensation on his chest.
Is it because Mom and Dad... can't come back? He reached out his little hand and gently patted Xue's back, as if to comfort her, but he didn't know what to say.
For Obito, the memory of the day he lost his parents was very vague. He only remembered that under the moonlight, a girl was crying on his chest when he was young, and when she looked up, Obito saw a pair of scarlet eyes with double tomoe.
His black pupils turned scarlet, and two tomoe slowly rotated in his eyes.
Since then, she has submitted her application to graduate from the Ninja Academy and embarked on her life as a formal genin.
Because Yuki's mastery of the Sharingan was still insufficient, everyone always thought that she had only awakened a single tomoe Sharingan.
At the same time, Nara Shikara and Shiranui Genma also graduated right after Yuki, and the three of them were assigned to Kato's class.
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