The new year came. Jun continued doing missions. He saw his former team members again. Shiba was still training Natsumi and Susumu; the Uchiha was always welcome to join them. But it was rare to see the four of them together. Susumu spent the majority of his time in the hospital for his medical training. Natsumi and Shiba also had mission duties.

Kazuma turned two years old. He was still a happy and adorable baby. He was surprisingly sensitive and intelligent for a child his age. His vocabulary was growing. Jun thought his little brother was developing normally, but their mother assured him Kazuma was early. The teenager wasn’t surprised. He had a feeling Kazuma would be gifted. He carried two strong bloodlines within him after all, the Uchiha and the Hyuga.

Jun began planning to protect Kazuma from people who would want to take advantage of him. He would suggest to their mom to wait until Kazuma was seven years old to enter the Academy. He didn’t want his brother to become a young prodigy who will be sent on missions at a very young age.

The teenager immersed himself in Fuinjutsu with even more determination. He eventually completed the jutsu to protect stolen Dojutsu. It was a vicious technique that would make the eyes explode if a foreign chakra was injected into them. It had taken several tries to determine the amount of chakra needed to cause the explosion.

Jun had ensured the explosion would occur when the Dojutsu was solely powered by a foreign chakra. He did that to avoid accidents in cases when a medic-nin was healing someone’s eyes. He had performed many tests on several eyes. Susumu had access to the morgue, hence providing him with test materials. His friend was reluctant at first, but Jun was able to convince him of the use of the seal. The teenager had named the technique, Raging Rupture. He was confident the force of the explosion would blow off the head of any person who had the misfortune to use a stolen eye protected by his seal.

The Raging Rupture Seal would only activate after the eyes were transplanted to someone else, and the chakra of the true owner no longer existed in the eyes. Jun wanted to share his technique with other people with Dojutsu, especially Shisui. If they can revitalize their friendship, that is. Otherwise, he had the feeling Shisui may not accept an unknown seal to be placed on his Sharingan.

Jun placed the seal on his eyes. Then, he talked about his new technique with his mother and sister, making them swear to secrecy. He put the seal on both even though they didn’t possess the Sharingan. The teenager didn’t want to take any chances. Who knows what the future hold…

Hazuki looked a bit worried and believed that Jun had been traumatized by Ise’s death. However, the seal had no side effects, and it seemed to put his son’s mind at ease. Therefore, she agreed. Izumi didn’t need any convincing at all. Her trust in her brother was absolute. She only had one question when Jun was drawing the required patterns on her face with his chakra.

“Can it be removed?”

“Easily… If you know what you are doing.”

The patterns glowed with a reddish color and were siphoned into Izumi’s eyes. He ordered his sister to roll her eyes backward as much as possible. The seal was there, at the edge of the eyes. It was a light reddish line that resemble a vein. It was easy to miss unless one knew exactly what to look for and where to look at.

“Can you please bring Kazuma? Let’s put one on him as well.” Jun asked his sister.

Hazuki gave him a piercing look. She didn’t say anything but was thinking that their conversation about Kazuma’s potential Dojutsu may have been the trigger for his son developing this technique. Jun focused on drawing the patterns on his brother’s face. The latter kept moving his head and tried to touch his face.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a nice drawing on you.”

“Why?”

It was his favorite question these days. Kazuma liked to ask about things, and he enjoyed listening to the answer. Jun couldn’t think of what to tell him, but Izumi came to his rescue and offered a nice story to distract their little brother. He finished placing the seal without difficulty.

“The seal has no weight whatsoever. You won’t feel it’s there, and it’s completely safe. It’s not like what the Hyuga do to some of their children…” Jun said to his mother.

“Jun! Don’t tell me you studied their seal…”

“How could I? It’s not like they would let me near one. I don’t agree with their methods, though.”

His mother remained silent. She glanced at Kazuma, who was listening to Izumi’s story.

“Hizashi has a son, right? A Hyuga. Is…”

“Does he know? I don’t think so. He was only four years when his father died. I think Hizashi was planning to tell him about Kazuma, but…”

There was no need to complete the sentence. Hizashi would never have the chance to do so. Neji was probably five years old now. Jun knew of his existence but hadn’t really thought about him. He had only been a character of Naruto in his mind, but things changed. He was Kazuma’s brother.

Neji had no blood connection with him or Izumi, but he was related to Kazuma. The two half-brothers were only three years apart. When Jun thought about Neji’s situation and how the clan would treat him, he couldn’t help but also think about Kazuma. It made him angry. He wanted to help Neji.

However, he didn’t do anything rash. He didn’t ask about Neji to his Hyuga acquaintances, Madoka and Miyamoto. He didn’t go to the Academy to look for the boy. He was being discreet. Jun couldn’t take Neji away from the clan. However, he would continue researching the Caged Bird Seal to find a way to safely remove it. Then, he could free people from the branch family.

His action may lead to an uproar within the clan. Jun knew such a change could be followed by violence. But it was worth it in his eyes. He would be ready to bear the consequences. He didn’t want to leave the members of the branch family to keep living as slaves of the main family. The way Hyugas operate deeply revolted him.

The time for the next chunin exam was approaching. Yugao decided to give it another try after failing the exams in Suna and Konoha. But she needed a team. She thought about asking her sensei to find her two partners. But the idea of teaming up with people she didn’t know for an exam as important as the chunin one made her uncomfortable. She knew how dangerous the trials could be. She lost teammates last time. She wanted people she could trust. Therefore, she replaced Jun in the old team 14.

“Are you sure it doesn’t bother?” Yugao nervously asked Jun.

The Uchiha was a bit jealous. It was his old team after all. But Yugao was his friend.

“It’s fine. You guys are my friends, and it’d be nice if you all get promoted at the same time.”

Susumu was ready this time to become chunin, and Natsumi was eager to try again. Their sensei, Shiba, was confident. The new temporary team needed to learn new formations since Jun’s fighting style was different from Yugao’s.

Iruka and his team were also taking part in the exam. Jun didn’t think Iruka had what it takes to be a chunin yet. He needed more experience in his eyes. He believed Mizuki would definitely fail because of his attitude and temperament. Madoka Hyuga had her chances.

Fujitaro Uchiha was also taking the exam with a team of Uchihas. Jun had noticed that the Uchihas were isolating themselves even more than before. They were only a few of them performing ninjas duties under the Hokage. Many Uchihas were now part of the Police. Only three years remained before Itachi’s killing spree.

Jun often thought about reconnecting with Shisui. He knew the latter would perish soon. He had little time left. He didn’t want to end things like this. Shisui had been a good friend, one of his best friends. He missed him. He wanted to warn him about Danzo and help him. But he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to justify himself, to explain how he knew things. He wondered if Shisui felt lonely.

Despite his desire to rekindle the friendship, Jun didn’t do anything. He wasn’t sure things could go back the way they were. Too much time had passed. The distance between them was colossal. They had practically become strangers. But the reality was that Jun was afraid.

He was afraid they would become friends as before, and he would be hurt when Shisui died. He apprehended the pain he would feel. He had already accepted his impending death, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with the pain that would come with it. A part of him hoped that keeping things the way they were now would make it easier.

Izumi finished her current school year at the Academy. Jun began teaching her some jutsus, starting with the Great Fireball. He felt she needed to know the technique; it was an Uchiha tradition. Even though the clan rejected their family, the Uchiha blood flows in their veins. Jun would also teach her some shuriken techniques, learned from Shisui.

A few days before the chunin exam, many genins and their senseis departed to the village of Taki, the location of the exam. Jun anxiously watched his friends leave. However, there was no need for him to worry. They returned safely a couple of weeks later with some of them wearing the chunin jacket.

Yugao and Natsumi had been promoted, but Susumu would have to try again. Madoka Hyuga also received the rank of chunin. Her teammates, Iruka and Mizuki, didn’t. Fujitaro had a happy face; he also passed the exam. Jun congratulated his friends. He was happy for them. He knew Susumu and Iruka would get there as well.

“We’ll finally do missions together,” Yugao said with a smile.

Jun returned the smile.

“I’m looking forward to it.”