Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"What else would they do?"

Izumi smiled faintly.

"This place can't grow crops, and there's nothing here that actually needs guarding."

"If they don't go out and earn money..."

"How are they supposed to support themselves?"

"Or support everyone else living here?"

Sasuke froze.

Only then did Izumi walk closer.

Once she could finally see his face clearly, a gentle smile spread across her lips.

She reached out and instinctively ruffled his hair.

"I was just teasing you because you called me something so formal."

Realizing the gesture had been entirely unconscious on her part, Sasuke felt slightly embarrassed.

He instinctively stepped back, narrowly escaping her customary head pat.

"...Clan Head Izumi..."

Izumi sighed dramatically.

"Honestly..."

"You're nowhere near as cute as you were when you were little."

"You don't even call me Sister Izumi anymore?"

Only then did Sasuke realize that the deliberate sense of distance she'd shown moments earlier had completely disappeared.

"...Sister Izumi."

"Mm."

"That's better."

She withdrew her hand and looked at him with relief plainly written across her beautiful face.

"Let's go somewhere else."

"You probably have a lot of questions."

"We can sit down and talk properly."

---

Sasuke had imagined countless ways this reunion might unfold.

Perhaps she'd look at him with contempt and say—

"You actually have the nerve to show your face here?"

"You've been living comfortably in Konoha while forgetting your own clansmen."

Or perhaps she'd be consumed by rage—

"You're Itachi Uchiha's younger brother!"

"You carry his blood debt too!"

"I'll kill you first!"

He had imagined indifference.

Sadness.

Or even being told to leave immediately.

But...

This...

He had never imagined this.

---

"The house is a little shabby."

Izumi led him inside before pouring him a glass of water.

"It's probably not what you expected."

"If you don't like plain water, I can make some tea."

"N-No."

Sasuke hurriedly accepted the cup.

While holding it carefully, he quietly looked around the room.

From outside...

It looked no different from the ancient ruin-houses occupied by the elderly.

The only noticeable differences were its central location and its slightly larger size.

But once inside...

He realized it wasn't simply an old ruin.

Although modestly furnished...

Everything one needed was there.

There were proper tables and chairs.

Even bookshelves lined both sides of the room, filled with books and documents.

"Oh, that's fine."

Izumi smiled.

"I already gave away the tea Sara brought me before."

"If you really wanted some, I'd have to go borrow a little from Grandma Yi."

She didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

Carrying her own cup of water, she sat across from Sasuke.

"The other day, I heard from Sara's daughter—the girl from Rōran—that she'd met you and Naruto-kun."

"I've been looking forward to your visit ever since."

"Where's Naruto-kun?"

"He's here too."

"He just..."

"...hasn't come over yet."

"Oh?"

Izumi laughed softly.

"So he's giving you and me some time to talk about Uchiha family matters."

"Naruto-kun really is as thoughtful as ever."

"In that case..."

"Let's start with the clan."

She took a small sip of water before smiling again.

"On your way here..."

"You probably noticed the new houses we've only recently started building."

"Even after leaving Konoha for so many years, we still built them according to what we remembered."

"What do you think?"

"Do they resemble the old Uchiha District?"

"...The style is very similar."

"Really?"

"That's good."

She nodded with satisfaction.

"These ruins have been falling apart for years."

"They simply aren't safe to live in anymore."

"We need to move everyone into the new houses as soon as possible."

"There have already been several collapses."

"Not only did they injure the people living there..."

"They also affected the neighboring buildings."

"It happens several times every year."

"So we had no choice."

"We deliberately spaced everyone's homes farther apart."

"That way, even if one dangerous building collapses..."

"It won't drag the surrounding homes down with it."

Remembering those incidents, Izumi rubbed her forehead with a weary expression.

So that's why...

Sasuke finally understood.

I wondered why everyone was living so far apart despite there being so many empty buildings.

"It makes sense now..."

He thought for a moment before asking,

"If you've already built new houses..."

"Then why are all the elderly still living in the old ones?"

Izumi sighed softly.

"Partly because the new houses remind them too much of the old Uchiha District."

"Looking at them only makes them nostalgic."

"But the biggest reason..."

"They simply can't bear to move."

"They all think the new homes should be reserved for the younger generation."

"They believe they're already useless..."

"That they're only a burden on the clan."

"So right now..."

"Only a handful of people have actually moved in."

"Most of the elderly absolutely refuse."

She smiled bitterly.

"I was too idealistic."

"I thought everyone would be happy to see houses resembling our old clan district."

"If I'd known..."

"I would've built them in a completely different style."

"They cost a fortune, too."

"What about the younger people?"

Sasuke asked.

"What kind of work are they doing?"

"Everything."

Izumi answered matter-of-factly.

"There are towns nearby."

"Most of them run little market stalls."

"A few even opened a restaurant."

Sasuke felt as though every assumption he'd made had been overturned.

Running market stalls?

Opening restaurants?

The surviving Uchiha...

Were doing things like that?

Seeing the disbelief on his face, Izumi smiled knowingly.

"Sasuke..."

"Are you wondering why we'd choose to do things like that?"

"There isn't any complicated reason."

"It's actually very simple."

"Our highest priority now..."

"Is surviving."

"At first..."

"We hated it too."

"The destruction of our clan..."

"How could we not?"

"We wanted revenge."

"We wanted to restore the Uchiha Clan's glory."

"But reality..."

She looked directly at him.

"...has a way of confronting you very bluntly."

"No matter what we wanted to accomplish..."

"The first thing we had to consider..."

"Was simply how to survive."

She pointed toward the water in her cup.

"This water..."

"Where does it come from?"

"Our food?"

"Our clothes?"

"Who looks after the children?"

"Who takes care of the elderly?"

"Compared to revenge..."

"Those things mattered more to me."

"Most of the people here aren't ninja."

"A large portion are elderly people who can't work..."

"Or children."

"Even though there are fewer than a hundred of us..."

"The supplies needed to support everyone's daily lives still add up to an enormous amount."

"If we simply hid here forever..."

"Where exactly would all those necessities come from?"

Izumi's voice remained calm throughout.

Yet hidden beneath that calmness...

Sasuke could clearly feel how difficult those years had been.

Listening to her...

He couldn't truly relate.

Yet he couldn't argue against a single word.

Everything she described was completely different from both the life of a shinobi in Konoha...

And from the prosperous Uchiha Clan he remembered.

Izumi continued.

"After that night..."

"Very few of the people we rescued had awakened the Sharingan."

"Later..."

"Some awakened it after experiencing the trauma of the massacre."

"But they were still ordinary people."

"Many of them hadn't even mastered the basic abilities expected of a ninja."

"In the beginning..."

"Most people refused to accept living in a place like this just to survive."

"So I told them the truth."

"The Uchiha Clan had already suffered complete destruction."

"The ones responsible were still alive."

"If the outside world discovered just how weak we were now..."

"We might very well face another catastrophe."

"And if that happened again..."

"There would be no one left to save us."

"In the beginning..."

"Some people wanted to leave."

"Others wanted to return to Konoha and seek protection."

"Some even suggested abandoning the Uchiha name altogether..."

"And blending into nearby villages as ordinary civilians."

She paused for a long moment.

"...But in the end..."

"The clan reached the same conclusion."

"We would quietly remain here."

"At least..."

"...until the next generation had grown strong enough."

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