Sasuke's brother

The First Serious Mission

While watching an annoying, runaway cat get suffocated by its owner is amusing at first, it gets both boring and repetitive as time goes on. The simple yet frustrating mission seemed to be given to team Hiruko the most.

While the mission at first became a way of taking his mind off of things for Yūrei, the constant repetition of it made it easier as they knew where the cat would already be. And the easier the mission, the more time did the young Uchiha have for himself.

Either to torture himself physically through training.

Or to torture himself mentally through the thoughts of his deceased older brother.

While the road for recovery seemed almost non-existent, Anna continued to push forward. Constantly asking the Uchiha to hang out seemed to at least take his mind off of the thoughts, but all of it would be made up during training.

And watching his young pupil torture himself gave Hiruko an uneasy feeling. The blisters on the Uchiha's hands were proof enough. The number of blisters on his hands, as a few fellow Ninjas commented, made him look like he worked in a mine.

Yet, they all knew what he was going through.

Losing a loved one, especially the only one you had, falls hard on anyone.

A child is no exception.

So in knowing his pain, a few tried to reach out and help him.

But all were quickly shut off.

Anna almost seemed like a light in the darkness.

Sticking to him as much as possible seemed to have an effect on him, one that none else seemed to have on him so far.

A smile.

One that, while rarely there, came straight from the sad and wicked heart of the young Uchiha.

And while close to Anna, Yūrei still kept his distance.

All for a reason only known to him.

Afraid of the loss that might strike him once more, he kept himself closed off on all sides.

Rejecting Anna's proposals for lunch together by saying he needed to rest.

Rejecting Anna's proposals for training together by saying he wanted to work on his Sharingan.

Rejection after rejection seemed to twist Anna's heat more and more.

Not for rejecting her, but for closing himself off.

Silent tears would cover Anna's pillow every night before falling asleep, only to dream of the young Uchiha harming himself.

All the while she suffered in silence, rather than talk to anyone.

With Hiruko-Sensei and the older Jounin watching Yūrei intently, combined with Anna covering her sadness with a smile, the silent tears at night seemed to never stop.

And while aware he was damaging others as much as himself, Yūrei still kept himself at a distance, feeling it was for the better.

The blisters on his hands or the scars on his body still seemed to hurt less than his heart.

Uchiha Training Ground

Landing softly on the ground, Yūrei's gaze went up to see the damage of his attack.

The kunai, while still not hitting the center of the target, all seemed to come closer and closer to it every day.

Taking a few deep breaths, still tired from the workout, Yūrei began to pack up. While today Yūrei wanted to focus on stamina among other things, the same thoughts seemed to hold him back.