Chapter 3

The next few days passed by in a blur of medical checkups, mindless staring at the ceiling, and reading. I had asked for a few text books from the academy and the nurses had seemed happy to oblige. My nurses were all hesitant at first, seemingly walking around egg shells around me, but as they saw I wouldn’t break down just for talking to me, the relationship became a bit more comfortable. I did not say much to them beyond the occasional request and thank you. Though it was hard, I faked a smile when they brought me something I needed. It cost me nothing more than mental energy and was the right thing to do. Gratitude could go along way in building connections and respect from others.

As I began to read the books they had brought me, I began to understand the ultimate cheat code that the sharingan truly was. I flipped through the pages at a blistering speed and I discovered that not only did the sharingan offer eidetic memory, it also offered eidetic understanding. The book was a history text, one detailing the events of the First Shinobi World War, but I found that merely flipping through the pages of the text impressed both the image of the text in my mind and also a complete knowledge of what the text was trying to convey. I felt a twinge of regret. If only I had had this ability in my past life.

My thoughts turned to my current life. The sharingan was obviously far more useful in this world than one in which it would be used to sate the academic passions of a nerdy professor. To be able to apply this to any ability as long as my body, my chakra capacity, and my chakra control were able to perform it? The sharingan, to put it mildly, was broken. Still, I was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Despite my bloodline limit and apparently natural talent, I was only human. I did not have the same godly chakra reserves or healing abilities as jinchuuriki. A kunai to the head would kill me as easily as any other shinobi. There would be far greater threats to face than mere iron and steel. I hadn’t kept up with the anime past Naruto becoming Hokage, but I distinctly remember hearing about aliens from alternate dimensions showing up and wrecking Sasuke and Naruto. I frowned. I could digress into a rant about poor storytelling, but there would be no point. Not like I could do anything to change such things or that there would be anyone around who would understand my ramblings.

I sighed. The Hokage had been by to see me twice more. The first visit had been a difficult conversation as he requested as many details as he could about that night. All the while I could not help but feel the tension. He was putting on a show. He knew the details, but he did not know that I knew that he knew. It was a delicate dance of words I played. I’m sure he probably noticed something was off about my demeanor but I could only hope that he attributed it to my trauma and not something closer to the truth.

The second meeting had been difficult in a different way as it had centered around logistics. The man had attempted to offer a home outside of the clan compound but I found that Sasuk-, no my, my pride would not allow it. The compound was my home and I would not be forced from it. That had lead to more conversations regarding money and inheritances. The Hokage had seemed to want to merely tell me that everything would be taken care of, but with my older mind I found myself asking for more detail. This had led to the Hokage agreeing to set up an appointment with a potential accountant who would manage my affairs. Was it precocious of me and unwise? Probably. It would have made more sense for an eight year old to not care about such things, but once again I found I could not let such sleeping dogs lie. My pride demanded that I honor the legacy of my clan through proper stewardship of all they had left me.

I paused. One of my areas of research in the past had been the intersection of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and Feminist Ethics of Care. Simplifying it down to perhaps unfair descriptions, whereas most ethical theories focused on more futuristic/motivational factors (such as the utilitarian method of maximizing happiness and minimizing suffering), I would argue that virtue ethics and ethics of care were both more holistic in nature and also more true to the human experience. In the case of Care Ethics, right and wrong should be carefully considered under our societal attachments and responsibilities to those closest to us. For example, a parent has a stronger ethical responsibility to care for their child than they do to care for another’s child.

Virtue ethics, being less normative in nature, were, to simplify it unfairly, about becoming the kind of person who is, by nature, virtuous. The intersection came in to play in how one’s ethic of care for another could be formative in a virtuous human being.

Thus, my ethical responsibility to care for the legacy of my family compelled me to develop as an individual in how best to steward their remaining wealth and legacies. Long story short, I wanted to honor my family and that meant I mentally had to prepare for a long and boring meeting with with an accountant should be arriving any minute now.

I stood and made my way to the window. It was still so bizarre to look out and see the faces of the Hokage. While I knew there were jutsu that created such a monument, I still thought to myself that mere cartoon (or anime to avoid the weeb complaints) animation did not do the structure justice. I had never been to Mount Rushmore, but had been to the Lincoln memorial in my past life. Staring up at the faces of the Hokage, I could not help but feel a sense of awe. There was something both regal and comforting about knowing that the faces of the Hokage looked down over the village that they had sworn to protect.

I tore my gaze to the village streets. Numerous Shinobi and civilians were making their way here and there, many with smiles on their faces. I found my eyes drawn to a young boy walking down the street with his mother. She held his hand in hers and a warm smile rested upon her face. I felt a pang of grief pierce my heart. I would give anything to hug my mother, either of them, just one more time. The grief gripped my heart tightly and I took several deep breaths to calm myself.

Focus. I could not be crippled by grief. There was a time and a place for weeping, the catharsis of the soul as it were, but I could not become weepy eyed at every display of familial affection that occurred in front of me. I might have taken the body of who many in the fandom might consider the “duckbutt emo kid,” but that did not mean I had to act like one. I subconsciously patted the back of my head, forcing the hair down. It didn’t last long before sticking back up. I sighed. I needed a haircut. I suppose I could ask the nurses for one.

I was broken from my thoughts as I heard the door open. I turned to see perhaps the most stereotypical ideal of an eastern accountant possible. The man wore a white robe with a blue shawl and hat. His face was gaunt, almost ratlike, with a pointed nose and Fu Manchu. Internally, I thought back to the many diversity trainings I’d received and mentally snorted. This was not woke at all.

“Good Morning, you are Sasuke Uchiha, yes?” His voice was softer than I would have expected. His eyes contained a hint of compassion buried beneath…annoyance? I supposed that made sense. I was an eight year old child after all.

I nodded, “Indeed, and you are?”

“Sunak Yeltori. I’m the estate manager the Hokage sent for. Shall we sit?” He gestured towards the chair and bed and I nodded.

I observed him as I took a seat upon the hospital bed. I suppose this meeting would have been better in his office with a desk but perhaps the Hokage wished to put me at ease by having the meeting here. It was annoying that we did not have a desk as I could see the numerous file folders in the man’s arms but I suppose the bed would provide enough space. Annoying.

“It is nice to meet you, Mister Yeltori,” I offered with a smile. The man gave a slight nod.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I’ll admit most of my clients are typically much older, but I’ll do my best to assist you managing your holdings until you’re older.”

I gave a nod and thought for a moment before asking, “Before we begin, could I ask your qualifications?”

Sunak raised his brow, seemingly not expecting the question, but tilted his head, “Of course. My name is Sunak Yeltori, certified estate manager of twenty years. I received my education in the Fire Nation Capitol during my youth before moving to Konohagakure fifteen years ago. I’ve overseen numerous business and actually was responsible for several of your family’s business holdings here in the village which was why the Hokage selected me for this task,” he paused and I could see a softness in his eyes, “I know you likely will become tired of hearing this, but my sincerest condolences for your loss. It was an honor to serve your clan in the past and I will do my utmost to serve well going forward.”

I listened and gave a small nod, “Thank you, Mister Yeltori. Well…shall we get started?” I gestured towards the folders in his arms.

The next hour was both enlightening and overwhelming. Seltori kept his explanations simple and brief, but even with my older knowledge I found myself struggling to keep up. Numbers had never been my forte, but I managed to keep up with it. As expected, I was, monetarily, loaded.

My clan was apparently quite wise with their finances and business investments. I now apparently owned several modest businesses throughout Konohagakure and many large bank accounts. The numbers were quite staggering.

“My suggestion, Sasuke, would be to consolidate the savings into a single account to increase interest-“ he paused noticing the way I had begun to yawn and offered an amused smile, “Ah, I can come back tomorrow if you wish?”

I waved my hand dismissively, “No, no. I’m fine just need a short break.” I stood and stretched making my way to the faucet to fill my cup with water. I looked over at the man and asked, “Why did you choose to be an accountant?”

I immediately realized I said had something wrong as there was a glint of fire in his eyes and his nostrils flared.

“I am no mere accountant, boy!” He leapt to his feet and shouted in a voice inflamed with the passion of a thousand indignant bureaucrats, “I am an Estate Manager! No simple accountant is as capable of the arcane art of investments and finance as I! A mere accountant may be able to tell you numbers, but I am capable of far more! I am a sage of the numerical arts! A devotee of Sagacious Zu Economics! Financial investors enter my presence and worship! Accountants may tell you numbers, but I shall tell you meaning!”

I could feel myself deadpan. Shonen anime. Right. Still, his passion was admirable. I could respect that in a fellow academic as it were. Imagining the times some of my students had failed to call Doctor and instead referred to me as Mister…yes I understood his indignation well.

I bowed at the waist, “My apologies, Mister Yeltori. I did not mean to offend.”

The Estate Manager sniffed imperiously as if condoning my words, “I accept your apology. Shall we continue?”

I nodded and soon we were back into the world of numbers. Several important decisions were made over the next several hours. First, the majority of wealth would be consolidated into a savings account to build interest and the rest dispersed to an account from which I could comfortably draw a modest month stipend. At Sunak’s suggestion, we agreed to have a weekly D-Rank mission for genin to deliver groceries to my home. It was a minor fee and would barely cut into my funding.

Additionally, we decided that there would be a larger one time mission for a team of genin to go through the estate and throw out all trash and clean the buildings. Another annual mission would be to stop by and do a cleaning of the clan compound.

I felt a hint of annoyance at allowing random genin into the home of my clan, but the truth was I could not main the compound as it was on my own. And I was not willing to rent the buildings out to anyone. One day, those houses would be filled again with Uchiha. My family. My clan.

As for the businesses owned by my family, we would leave them in the care of their current managers, but would revisit their profitability in a year’s time. All in all it was highly beneficial, but I did have a thought that I wanted to suggest.

“Would it be possible to renovate the two houses beside my own into something different?”

Sunak stroked his chin, “Anything is possible, what did you have in mind?”

“Ah, I’d like to consolidate all of my family’s scrolls into a library and our weaponry into an armory.”

“Hmm,” he observed me quietly, “You are a very precocious child, Sasuke. Very odd. Very smart. Thinking of the future so soon…”

I felt myself swallow hard. I’d gotten ahead of myself, so wrapped up in my dreams of the future that I had let my maturity bleed through. That said, why did I want such renovations? I envisioned a future with a family. My clan restored and justice visited upon those who had slain the innocents.

And it was here that I knew instinctively that I would forever be different than the Sasuke Uchiha. I was not an avenger. I would be an agent of restoration and justice.

But how to salvage the current situation?

“I…” I swallows and chose my words carefully as Sunak’s beady brown eyes observed me, “I want to build a home for my future family. Itachi took everything from me…I intend to rebuild what he stole. Whatever it takes.”

The man was silent for several moments at my words before nodding and saying, “Very well then it shall be my honor to assist,” he turned his gaze back to the books, “Yes, such a project should be possible…”

We spoke for about an hour more before calling it and rescheduling a visit later in the week to follow up on things. As he left, I sighed and rubbed my temples. My brain hurt furiously from all the logistical conversation. I could tell that, in this body, I lacked the mental focus of my older self. I supposed it was understandable with different body chemistry that my capacity would be different.

I frowned at a sudden thought. I would have to relive puberty. Fuck. The thought was not pleasant as my teenage years had been quite unkind. I shook my head. I could think on such things later. For now, time to rest.

The following day came and I glanced over at the medic checking my vitals. His name was Higaku. By his eyes I could tell he was if the Hyuuga clan. I suppose it made sense that one of that clan would make a good medic with their superb chakra control. He gave me a small smile, “Good news, Sasuke, only one more evaluation today and we should be able to discharge you.”

I sighed in relief. Finally. It would be good to get out of this hospital. I laughed softly and said, “Good. What will it be this time?”

Higaku started to speak, but the door opened and cut him off. Higaku turned to the entrance and gave a smile, “Ah, looks like he is here already.”

I felt a chill run along my spine and my stomach drop as a blonde haired man stepped into the room, “Hello, Sasuke. My name is Inoichi Yamanaka. Shall we get started?”

-End Chapter