"Hey! Kiba!"
The streets of Konoha were already aglow with lantern light. Evening crowds bustled about, most of them headed to the night market.
Shin followed closely behind Kiba, keeping a short distance.
"Didn't you say you were starving? Shouldn't you be heading home for dinner?"
"What's the rush? I'm not that hungry anyway."
Kiba walked at a lazy pace, hands clasped behind his head. Akamaru was sprawled out comfortably on top of his head.
Shin fell silent. Seriously? You're one to talk.
Kiba strolled leisurely, taking in the sights of the lively market.
"Aren't you worried your mom will be mad?" Shin asked, surprised.
"I'll just tell her you dragged me off to train," Kiba said, glancing back at him. "If she asks tomorrow, don't you dare slip up."
Seeing that he couldn't talk him out of it, Shin gave up and simply continued walking behind him.
"Come on, Genma! I'm begging you, just this once!"
"No."
"Don't be like that, Genma! We can work something out, right?"
"I said no."
"Genmaaaa..."
Three figures were walking toward them, their conversation floating clearly into Kiba and Shin's ears.
Two of them were faces they both recognized.
"Aren't those my sister's teammates?" Kiba murmured, eyeing the group.
Sure enough, two of the men were Yanazawa Zeiri and Ninomiya Ryojin shinobi they'd met not long ago.
"Hey, aren't you guys Hana's younger brothers?" Ryojin waved as he recognized them.
"Good evening," Shin greeted politely, followed by Kiba.
Zeiri and the man they'd been talking to turned to acknowledge them.
"Who are they?" the unfamiliar man asked, looking over at Shin and Kiba.
"Let me introduce you," Ryojin said, grinning.
"This is the incredibly strong Jonin from Konoha, Shiranui Genma!" he announced dramatically.
"Special Jonin," Genma corrected him with a sigh.
He was strikingly handsome, wearing a deep blue headband backwards and chewing on a senbon needle between his lips.
"Same thing! Your skills are on par with any Jonin anyway," Ryojin said cheerfully.
"Quit buttering me up."
Shin and Kiba bowed politely.
"And these two are Hana's younger brothers Inuzuka Kiba and Takami Shin," Ryojin said, gesturing to each of them.
"Nice to meet you," Genma nodded in greeting.
"So you're Takami Shin, huh?" Genma looked Shin over with interest.
"You know me?" Shin asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I do," Genma said with a smile. "I knew your father."
My… father?
Shin froze.
He knew very little about his parents only that they'd been shinobi. Aside from that, their lives remained a blank slate. Even Tsume rarely spoke of them, and when she did, it was only in passing.
"You knew my father… how?" Shin asked cautiously.
"Big Brother Shi? Yeah," Genma's expression softened with a trace of nostalgia. "Back during the war, he was our team captain. I was just a Genin then, and he was already a Chunin. Looked out for me a lot."
Shin pressed his lips together. His curiosity about the man who was his father in this life stirred even deeper.
"What kind of shinobi was he?" he asked.
"Shi was strong. If he hadn't died, he probably would've led an elite Jonin unit someday."
"Even Shikaku respected him."
Genma sighed. "It's a shame..."
Shin said nothing. He hadn't learned much just that his father had been powerful and highly regarded.
"No point dwelling on the past," Genma said, shaking his head and smiling again.
"Shin..." Kiba called out softly, noticing his friend's silence. He thought Shin was grieving his parents again.
"I'm fine." Shin looked up, smiling reassuringly. There was no trace of sadness on his face.
"Yeah?" Kiba grinned back, comforted by his friend's expression.
"So, what are you two doing out so late?" Ryojin asked, breaking the awkward silence. "Just out for fun?"
"We just finished training. We were about to head home," Kiba said, putting on an innocent look.
"Woof?"
Shin sighed. You really got into that role fast, huh.
"Wow, that's impressive," Ryojin said, clearly impressed.
"There'll come a day when you're glad you worked this hard," Zeiri said quietly, speaking for the first time.
"Shin, I heard you're top of your class now," Ryojin added, turning back to him.
"Any Uchiha in your year?"
Shin nodded with a slight frown. "There's one. Uchiha Sasuke."
"Nice!" Ryojin brightened, stepping up to clap him on the shoulder.
"That's what I'm talking about put those arrogant guys in their place!"
"Always looking down on the rest of us."
Shin considered the weight behind Ryojin's words.
Are all Uchiha really that prideful? So condescending? Are they really that disliked?
"Sasuke's not really like that, though," Shin said, shaking his head.
"You just don't know them yet, Shin," Ryojin said with a groan. "The Uchiha I've worked with every one of them had their noses in the air. Working with them on missions was a nightmare."
"The problem is, they're good. Whether in school or as shinobi, their results are always top-notch. Not many people can outshine them."
Shin suddenly recalled what Shisui had said before leaving.
The Uchiha have been on top for too long…
Did he want me to become top of the class… for their sake?
"Come on, Ryojin," Zeiri interrupted. "They're not all bad."
"Oh, please! Zeiri, don't tell me you've forgotten how one of them strong-armed you into handing over that custom blade you ordered?"
"Alright, enough. Don't start fighting again," Genma interrupted, looking exasperated.
"What the Uchiha do is their business. If they cross the line, the Hokage will deal with it."
Ryojin huffed and fell silent.
Genma turned to Kiba and Shin. "It's getting late. You two should head home."
"Yes, sir." They bowed and took their leave.
"I'm heading home too."
"Wait, Genma, you still haven't agreed to help me!"
"Forget it, kid. You can't even throw a kunai properly and now you want to learn how to use senbon?"
Shin returned home that night feeling mentally and physically drained. The things he'd encountered today had left his mind reeling.
Meeting Shisui… and then Shiranui Genma, who spoke of his father.
And those strange scenes Shisui had shown him in the illusion.
The man with blond hair and a red cloak marked with cloud patterns...
The five Hokage faces carved into the cliff was that the future?
A masked man with a spiral-patterned mask… wearing the same cloak.
Were they part of the same organization?
And that young woman who called him her child…
Was that his mother?
Shin couldn't be sure. Why had he seen her? If those visions were of the future… did it mean she didn't die?
Impossible. Their bodies had been recovered and brought to the Forensics Division. Later, they were buried in the Memorial Stone Garden.
His thoughts spiraled. Everything was chaos.
Worse still, he began recalling images he never wanted to see again memories he'd tried to bury.
His head ached.
He collapsed onto his bed, trying to calm himself.
Eventually, he fell into a deep sleep, weighed down by a thousand tangled thoughts.
"Takami Shin..."
"Tachikawa Shin..."
"I... am clean."
"I won't walk that path again."