2 Chapter – 1 Funeral Services & Guardian

One Week Later, somewhere in Konohagakure

"This will be your new home… going forward, you will be living in this house…" said the woman with purple hair as she opened the gate of an apartment.

'Sasuke' followed behind her silently and looked at the place.

The woman looked at the silent Sasuke, and asked, "How is it? I personally selected this one for you while you were in a coma, I figured that it would be better to live here than 'that' place, it's also close to the Konoha Ninja Academy. Do you like it?"

It was a small apartment with a single room that was well furnished, a small kitchen with all the necessary kitchen appliances, a washroom, and the place also had a balcony. The place wasn't as large and luxurious as the Uchiha Patriarch's Mansion; however, it was good enough for one person to live.

"Good or bad is irrelevant, it does not matter where I live as long as I have the resources I need to achieve my purpose, but still, thank you for taking your time to look for a place for me to live," answered Sasuke gratefully, and added in a deep voice, "But I need scrolls of Jutsu… my Clan had a lot of Jutsu, I need them all to get stronger."

The woman looked at Sasuke with a thoughtful expression. Hatred and anger are apparent in his eyes, and she understands the reason behind Sasuke's hatred. If she had gone through what the young boy went through, perhaps she wouldn't be any different so she nodded, "I understand, I will convey your desire to Hokage-sama, and he shall make the arrangements for you to go to the Uchiha District to collect the Scrolls of Ninjutsu that you need."

Considering what transpired in the Uchiha District a week ago, Sasuke would definitely need Hokage's permission to go there as that area has become a restricted zone.

Sasuke nodded gratefully, "Thank you… etto…?"

"Yūgao, Uzuki Yūgao..." answered Yūgao as she passed a set of black clothes to Sasuke, and explained with a bit of hesitation, "Change into them… They are for the funeral…"

"Hmm," nodded Sasuke as he received the clothes.

Yūgao said, "Take your time, I will be waiting outside…" then proceeded to leave the apartment complex.

Left alone, Sasuke proceeded to change his clothes, he wore the set of black clothes that Yūgao had passed to him, and then left the apartment.

Yūgao was waiting for him downstairs and looking at him, she nodded, "Alright, let's go." Then led him to the funeral grounds. The 'Funeral' of the Uchiha Clan is far more important than anything as per the words of Hokage.

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At the Funeral Grounds

Following Yūgao, Sasuke arrived at the Konoha Cemetery.

A Group of men and women have gathered at the Konoha Cemetery wearing Black Clothes. Personally, Sasuke did not know any of them, however, based on the memories he had inherited from the soul of the assassin from the other world, he could identify a few of them. Hyuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Chōza, Yamanaka Inoichi, Inuzuka Tsume, Aburame Shiba, there were others as well whom Sasuke did not recognize.

Of course, there were also three of the four members of the Konoha Council, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura, the Sandaime Hokage and his two consultants. There were no signs of Shimura Danzō, that man only lives in shadow and is not fond of making public appearances.

Looking at Sandaime Hokage and the two Elder Consultants, rage appeared in Sasuke's heart, he wanted nothing more than to tear them apart, but… the boy restrained himself, he knew that he had no chance of killing them the way he was now. 

If he were just the seven-year-old boy that he was until a week ago, he might have failed to control his anger and hatred, but Sasuke now was a mix of both an eight-year-old boy, as well as a seasoned assassin, he had enough control over his emotion and made sure not to show his rage on his face.

As Yūgao led Sasuke toward Sandaime Hokage, the others at the funeral grounds noticed his arrival, while whispering to each other.

"That's Uchiha Sasuke?"

"The boy is really young!"

"Just look at his eyes… there is nothing except rage and indifference in them."

"To have lost his entire family, his entire clan at the hands of his very own elder brother… I pity him."

"The young boy is carrying a heavy burden."

"Who could have imagined that such a thing would happen to the Uchiha Clan."

"That traitor Uchiha Itachi… why did he leave behind his younger brother? Did he fail to kill him? Or is it that he intentionally did not kill him?"

"We might never know… but one thing's for sure, Uchiha Itachi did not leave Uchiha Sasuke alive out of compassion, I mean the boy killed his entire Clan, including his parents! Uchiha Itachi definitely has an ulterior motive."

Such words reached Sasuke's ears, although, there would be sparks of rage and anger on his face from time to time, overall, the boy maintained an indifferent and lifeless expression.

Soon, the young Uchiha and Yūgao were standing beside Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Hokage-sama, I have brought Uchiha Sasuke," said Yūgao with a bow.

"Hmm? Well done…" nodded Sandaime as he looked at the young Uchiha, however, the boy did not raise his face to meet the eyes of the elderly Hokage.

Sandaime Hokage did not take any offense, considering the emotional turmoil the young boy was going through, it was natural for him to close off from others. Turning back to the two consultant Elders and Patriarchs' he spoke, "Let's proceed with the funeral."

The others nodded, and so the funeral services commenced.

There were hundreds of newly constructed graves at the Konoha Cemetery, all of them were of the Uchiha Clansmen. Personally, Sasuke did not have to do anything; he just silently stood at the center as the names of all the dead Uchiha Clansmen were announced while the ones gathered for the funeral services thanked them for their services.

Sasuke did make sure to remember the names of all the Uchiha Clansmen. Each and every name, regardless of age and gender… he thoroughly memorized as they were spoken, after all, he has to take revenge for each and every member of his Clan, it's not just his father and mother who died on that night, countless innocent people were murdered, and they cannot and must not be forgotten, nor will their soul rest in peace until they are avenged.

In fact, Sasuke knows that many of these cemeteries don't have genuine bodies, certainly, the village has prepared graves for all the dead Uchiha Clansmen, however, it's impossible for all the dead Uchiha Clansmen to be buried here, after all, many of them were taken away by Uchiha Obito on the night of the Genocide, and Shimura Danzō certainly wouldn't have spared the chance of obtaining so many Sharingan.

"Considering the number of Sharingan that Shin had implanted in his body, as well as the body of his children/clones along with the Sharingan that Shimura Danzō had implanted in his arm and the Sharingan that Uchiha Obito kept with him, perhaps all the people with the three-tomoe Sharingan had their eyes removed," mumbled Sasuke as he clenched his fists in anger.

The mere thought of his clansmen's eyes being used in such a repulsive manner infuriated Sasuke.

Of course, the others at the cemetery noticed the young Uchiha's anger, however, they mistook the reason behind his anger. They assumed that Uchiha Sasuke was enraged at Uchiha Itachi for killing Uchiha clansmen, however, Uchiha Itachi is not the only object of Sasuke's anger, there are others as well, and certainly, they will all suffer and regret doing what they did to the Uchiha Clan.

Among others, Yūgao also noticed Sasuke's anger, and perhaps out of compassion, or perhaps out of pity for the young boy's misery, she put her hand on his head. It was something of a sisterly instinct, the thought of such a young boy going through such a life did not make her feel very good.

Sarutobi Hiruzen noticed Yūgao's action, and decided to himself onto something, 'It should be fine if it's her…'

It took more than an hour and the Funeral Service was finally completed. After the ceremony, people offered their condolences to Sasuke, but the boy did not pay them any attention, just nodded silently. It's not like the others' condolences were coming from their hearts, it was just a formality for them. Certainly, they might not have wished for the Uchiha genocide, however, they were not allies of Uchiha either, because if they were, then the Uchiha Clan wouldn't have been as marginalized as it was, and it wouldn't have been pushed to such a corner. 

Moreover, Sasuke doesn't think that everyone believes the 'truth' announced by the village word for word, people involved in politics are smart enough to make some guesses, not to mention, that there are obviously some discrepancies in the entire 'Uchiha Genocide.' 

'How did Uchiha Itachi kill all the Uchiha Clansmen alone? Even if he could kill everyone in the Uchiha District, what about the Uchiha Clansmen stationed at the headquarters of the Konoha Military Police Force without alerting anyone in the village? The Anbu had been monitoring the Uchiha Clansmen for so many years, yet they were not monitoring the Uchiha District specifically on the night of the Genocide! Isn't that a bit too coincidental?'

A 'young boy' like Sasuke might not be able to notice those discrepancies, but there is no way someone as smart as Nara Shikaku wouldn't notice, after all, everyone at a 'higher level' should be aware of the marginalization of the Uchiha Clan over the years.

Therefore, Sasuke did not think that these wishes of condolences were genuine and paid no attention to them other than superficially nodding his head gratefully.

Once everyone had offered their wishes, the crowd dispersed, and Uzuki Yūgao led Sasuke back to his new apartment.

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Uchiha Sasuke's Apartment

Back at the apartment, Yūgao smiled and said to Sasuke, "Well, I will be off… I have to report a few things to Hokage-sama, and while I am at it, I will also convey your desire to retrieve Jutsu from the Uchiha District… Until then, don't do anything stupid, understand?"

Sasuke nodded lightly, "You don't have to be overly concerned," then closed the gate without giving her any more chance to speak. He knows that she is a member of Konoha Anbu and believes that the only reason she is doing what she is doing is because of the order of Sarutobi Hiruzen, otherwise, it doesn't make any sense for Uzuki Yūgao to show any form of kindness to him. Moreover, the pity in her eyes irked him.

Yūgao looked at the closed gate with a helpless expression, then disappeared with a quick Body Flicker and made her way to the Hokage Building.

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Hokage Office, Hokage Building

Knock! Knock!

There was a knock on the door of the Hokage Office, followed by a voice, "Hokage-sama, it's Uzuki Yūgao."

"Let her in," instructed Hiruzen as he closed the file in his hands and looked at the young woman who walked in.

"Hokage-sama… I have dropped Uchiha Sasuke at the new apartment," reported Yūgao with a bow.

"Hmm," nodded Hiruzen, then he clasped his hands together and asked, "Tell me everything that happened in the past week… also, did Uchiha Sasuke show any signs of awakening his Sharingan?"

"Except for rage, hatred, and grief… I have not seen anything else on the boy's face, certainly, he is deeply affected by the annihilation of the Uchiha Clan, as a result, the boy has grown silent, not intending to speak any more than necessary, and the boy seems to be a little distrustful of me…" answered Yūgao, and added, "As for his Sharingan, so far there is no sign of him having awakened the Sharingan…"

"I see," muttered Hiruzen with a thoughtful expression, 'Either it's too early for him, or he is keeping it hidden out of distrust… if he hasn't awakened it yet, then that would mean that his talent is not as good as Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui… perhaps this is a good thing for us, and if it's distrust, then that would also make sense since he has been 'betrayed' by his very own brother, the boy would be vigilant against everyone…'

After giving the matter some thought, Hiruzen passed the file to Yūgao, and instructed her, "This is all the information we have about Uchiha Sasuke, read it, and thoroughly memorize it."

The information comes from the constant monitoring of the Uchiha Clan. There was such a file of all the Uchiha Clansmen in the Anbu department. Even if it was a newborn baby, the Anbu monitored them and maintained a separate file for them. 

Following Hiruzen's orders, Yūgao received the file.

Hiruzen further ordered, "From here on, I am transferring Uchiha Sasuke's guardianship to you…"

Yūgao was takenaback, "Uchiha Sasuke's guardianship?"

Hiruzen explained "Since you were the one who took him to the Konoha Hospital and kept an eye on him for the past week, as well as fulfilled his needs, it makes sense for you to be his guardian. Moreover, the person he saw upon waking up from the Coma was also you, so he probably trusts you more than anyone. If I were to assign someone else, the boy would be more vigilant and uncomfortable."

"I… I see," nodded Yūgao, understanding the reasons.

Hiruzen continued, "You don't have to live with him as that might interfere with your Anbu duties and missions, leave the boy to his devices, just check upon him from time to time. Let him know that he can come to you for his needs, and you also teach from time to time if he wishes that and you are free from your Anbu work, in short, just be there for him in case he needs someone."

Unaware of Sandaime Hokage's true motivations, Yūgao accepted the mission, "I understand."

Hiruzen's reason for assigning a guardian to Uchiha Sasuke was to create fetters for the boy. The current Uchiha Sasuke in his eyes is nothing but a blank slate that has an intense hatred for Uchiha Itachi, but the problem is, there is nothing tying him down to the village. The boy has lost his family as well as his Clan, and he certainly doesn't have any close friends or relatives left that would tie him down to the village. In such a scenario, someone is needed to draw affection and care out of Uchiha Sasuke for the village.

Since Yūgao displayed a bit of compassion and pity for the boy, so Hiruzen decided to make her his guardian such that Sasuke would have someone in the village whose presence would make him hesitate to leave the village and motivate him to protect the village.

Once that was settled, Yūgao asked Hiruzen, "Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke wanted to take Uchiha Clan's Jutsu from the Uchiha district…"

"Uchiha Clan's Jutsu?" muttered Hiruzen in surprise.

Yūgao nodded, "Yes," and explained, "It's probably to master them in an attempt to become strong in order to exact his revenge… there's intense hatred and rage in his eyes, and for that…"

"I see," mumbled Hiruzen with a thoughtful expression, and said, "You can lead him to the Uchiha District tomorrow, I will make necessary arrangements by then… he can take whatever Jutsu he wants to take from the Uchiha Clan, there are no restrictions on that regard."

"Got it Hokage-sama, I shall lead Uchiha Sasuke to the Uchiha District tomorrow," nodded Yūgao.

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