For yet another simple meal, Yura's cooking was delightfully delicious. Maybe it was just the contrast of having reheated food for the last few days, but this breakfast was really tasty. Sasuke ate slowly, savoring every bite as he didn't want it to be gone too soon. If he kept doing as she asked and she kept being nice, would he get these meals every day? He hoped so, cooking was hard and he still didn't quite know how to cook an egg, let alone an entire meal. If nothing else, having Yura around would be nice for that,

Sasuke hadn't gotten terribly far into the meal when Yura finally joined him, evidently not being too much into training right now. That was fine by him, it meant he didn't have to eat alone. Maybe he wasn't much for striking up conversation just yet, but having another presence here certainly helped. "This is yummy... Thank you..." the little Uchiha mumbled, his cheeks flushing as he smiled and took another bite. Just a tiny bit of salt, nothing else, yet it was exactly what he wanted. Like last night he was doing his best not to inhale what was on his plate, taking small, patient bites every few seconds instead of engulfing it in one go.

"Uh... No, no school today," the Uchiha boy answered, "It's our one day off. Sensei is probably making plans for tomorrow though." Iruka was the man's name, and he worked quite tirelessly to give them the education they needed. He also had a bit of a temper, and a tendency to go off on a few of the clowns of the class. Sasuke thought they were, on occasion, funny, but more often than not found them annoying. Especially as of late where all he had were his lessons, the fact someone was detracting from that was almost an insult. Knowing it wasn't his place to correct his peers though, and that Iruka would try himself and fail, he didn't bother anyways.

"Well... We've been learning how to practice hand signs, and what ones are used for certain jutsu. Iruka won't let us actually try jutsu just yet though, I think it's kind of dumb." He could already perform a fireball jutsu, albeit at a relatively basic level. That had to be leagues ahead of his peers though, so why couldn't he try? It was a bit disconcerting, he hoped they would get to practice sooner rather than later. "We also learned about some of the ninja's weapons, and what they're used for. There's a lot of them, I don't get why we need so many..." Then, as if having a sudden change of heart, Sasuke's eyes got a slight twinkle to them, and he lifted his head to look up at Yura with a spark of hope. "I have a bow, and I know how to use it. Do you think, maybe... I can train with that?"

As for Yura, she was unimpressed with her cooking and knew most other people would be too. Although at the same time many people appreciated simple fare when they were good and hungry and she was totally capable of doing that much. Eventually she would see to it that Sasuke could cook for himself as well. No rush though.

"Ie ie," Yura replied. It was nothing. But she was happy to be thanked. His little blush was cute too. "Thanks for having me over." She bowed slightly in respect. But she didn't want this to be a formal thing so she suddenly shifted her posture to be more casual and relaxed.

She raised her eyebrows. No school, huh? What should they do today? There were a lot of things Yura would like to have a chance to do on her own. But if she had to put it off one more day it wouldn't matter and she could probably drag Sasuke around for most of the errands if she had to do them and it wasn't safe here. She wished she knew whether it was safe or not. What was she supposed to be protecting him from? That had been part of her mission statement too, not just to become his guardian. Was Itachi coming back or was there something else?

But she was getting sidetracked so she shook the thoughts away.

Yura smirked a little. "That bugged me too," she sympathized. "But being a ninja requires a lot of self-discipline. So little things like doing homework and following minor rules you don't agree with are good practice." She sighed. "It sucks though." Her eyes twinkled at him. Besides his teacher had to have other reasons for the rule. She ate a little more, listening in as the boy finally opened up about something. Boy, he was in a better mood this morning. She only hoped it lasted!

Yura hummed. "There is an art to choosing the right weapon for the right task. Ninja aren't samurai. We don't brute force things... most of the time. We're efficient. And sneaky." She leered at him. "So we have a lot of weapons and tricks." She leaned back. "But everyone has their preferences for certain ones." She reached up to her hair and encountered her headband instead of her comb and frowned. Maybe she should keep wearing that. She felt a little odd without it.

Then she met Sasuke's intent, hopeful gaze. She blinked. "Oh, sure. Are you worried your teacher would object?" Her eyes glinted back at him. She leaned forward and crouched a little which made her seem younger and more excited. "I'll play target if you want and snatch them out of the air. It'll be good practice for me too."

Well maybe that was overstating it a bit. That was more like a chuunin level -game- for her and she'd need very little chakra. But it would still be diverting.

Occasional nuisance and tedious pacing aside, Sasuke did enjoy going to class. Learning and improving was something he enjoyed, even if he didn't think he needed as much as his peers. As far as ninjutsu was concerned he was already ahead of the class, and he boldly predicted it would remain that way throughout their time at the academy. Did he know it all? No, and he knew that, but he was confident in his abilities. He knew discipline was a big aspect of it as well, and that too he thought he had in droves; he never got in trouble in class, unlike some of the other kids, and he did as he was told, wasn't that discipline?

"I know we're sneaky... Just some seem... Silly." Paper bombs for instance, what was sneaky about that? They could blow apart a building, there was absolutely nothing sneaky about that. Kunai he got, wire made sense, as did shuriken, but bombs? He was alright with his bow and he'd been practicing his kunai technique, not to mention he wanted to look into the Shadow Shuriken jutsu as well, shouldn't that be enough? He could probably use a few things fairly well, that should more than suffice at making him a shinobi.

With the meal coming quickly to an end, they had to figure out what they were doing next. It was a little presumptuous for Sasuke to expect Yura to join him in anything, but he did want to try and keep her company for as long as he could. After being graced by another person, another Uchiha, for any period of time he had no desire to going back to being alone. She had been training before this, hadn't she? Well maybe she'd let him tag along, or even train with her; Sasuke knew he wasn't remotely equal to her in terms of skill, but it would be nice to have a partner.

"Iruka...? I... I don't think so. He'd be happy I'm practicing," Sasuke answered uncertainly, hoping that to be true. Bows weren't really something they were taught to handle in the academy, he more took it up because of Itachi and from personal interest. If Yura was willing to let him train with it, something his instructors might not allow, then he was all too happy to do so. Looking at her somewhat skeptically when she said she'd snatch his arrows, the Uchiha boy hesitated briefly before giving a little nod, not seeing any problems with that. "If you want to, sure... I'll go get my bow."

Taking his polished off plate first to the sink, Sasuke set it down before hurrying off to his room, his bow sitting just under the window by the far wall. It was a little recurve bow, and he had roughly 7 arrows still in good condition in his quiver. Strapping the latter over his chest, he slung the bow over his right shoulder and hurried back out of the room, stopping briefly at the dining room to wave to Yura and show her he was ready. Then, slipping out to the back of his house he moved to the middle of the yard, waiting with some anticipation for his new partner to get here. Was he feeling excited? It was either that or nervous, he couldn't tell, but having a break from the monotony had him feeling all sorts of things right now.

Yura didn't see any harm in this practice. The worst that could happen would be the bowstring breaking and snapping back on him. When Sasuke popped his head back in Yura got to her feet. Then outside she held out her hand to take it from him and looked it over.

"Looks like it's in good shape."

She examined the arrows next and nodded. There were only a few of them but at least if she did snatch them out of the air they wouldn't get ruined. Yura gave them back.

"Alright, pick a target and do a few practice shots."

She really did intend to make herself the target soon but she wasn't sure she could or should get him to actually fire upon her right away. And besides she could examine his technique far better from here and make adjustments if he'd let her.

There wasn't terribly much that Sasuke was exceptional in just yet, but he felt his bowmanship was fairly decent. Perhaps the only thing he might be grateful for from Itachi was that, and he was somewhat eager to show it to Yura. He was a bit hesitant about shooting at her, yet if she asked for it then surely she must be prepared, right? Even so... He'd barely even hunted with it, let alone shot at another person, and the notion of doing so unnerved him. Maybe they could just practice with dummies instead, to begin with at least, and then work their way up to it. Maybe she'd forget all about it too, he'd be okay with that.

She wanted to see his bow? Being one of the few things he owned he was a bit hesitant to hand it over, but after briefly considering it he did as he was asked. Watching as she scrutinized it he was satisfied that she found it to be good, and the arrows as well. He had always been told to be careful about the arrowheads, as firing them into too many things would dull them and make them ineffective. So far he seemed to be okay, but it was hard to say for how long that might last. Would Yura know? He hoped so, because he hadn't a clue how to sharpen arrows.

"Just... Pick a target?" Sasuke repeated, not exactly sounding overly certain. Glancing at a few striking dummies set up in the yard he eventually settled for the middle one, a few holes and slashes from his and Itachi's days of practicing out here. He was a bit nervous to put his ability on display, worrying maybe irrationally that it wouldn't be good enough. That was pushed aside quickly at the reminder that he was the last of his family, and in that he ought to have more confidence in himself. Father had always gone on about doing him and the others proud, and the little Uchiha wasn't doing that by standing here worrying. Maybe he was inexperienced, but he had to try showing Yura his best.

Taking aim, Sasuke aimed right at the throat of the dummy, hoping to get a "kill" shot on his first go, show off a little. After pulling the string taught he let the arrow fly, watching with baited breath as it went on target... And then missed. It skimmed the shoulder of the dummy and hit the wall behind it, embedding itself in the wood with a dull thud. Embarrassed and somewhat annoyed, he notched a second arrow and tried again, aiming for the same spot and letting his shot fly. This time around it landed, albeit more in the upper chest than the neck, but he still hit his mark. Letting out a soft sigh after the fact he glanced up at Yura curiously, wondering what she had to say for that.

Yura nodded. She wasn't going to make any assumptions about him today. She just wanted to see where he was at and help him improve. So let him pick whatever target he was comfortable with. He was likely to do his best that way. She watched him choose and followed him toward the dummies. Then she immediately picked out a couple of problems with his stance that she knew would send the arrow askew before he even fired. However she let him try to work it out first. After all this wasn't a skill he'd perfected and could just pick up again at a moment's notice. Fortunately the second time aground he did better.

Yura nodded, offering him a smile for the first success. But she did have some help to offer. She stepped around him. She moved so that she had his same sight line and then nudged him so that he was perfectly centered. Then she kept adjusting his arms and legs until he had the proper stance. Then she patted him on the shoulder and dropped her hand.

"How's that? Uncomfortable? Good. It won't get better until you're used to it then it'll be as natural as breathing."

Wasn't it great to be a ninja?! She'd grown to love it at least.

"How can I put this?" She looked at the target, then back at him. "Okay. DON'T focus on your aim. Your whole body needs to be positioned right and at the right level of tension or it's going to go awry EVEN when your aim is perfect. So your aim doesn't matter if your delivery is off. Get it?" She quickly looked him over and saw that his arm was beginning to shake. "The tension on your bowstring might be too high right now. But you'll get stronger and work up to it."

"Oh, one more thing. Let go by relaxing your fingers. Keep everything else firm, especially your bow arm." Because again, the stance mattered more than aim. The aim depended on the stance. His fingers could tilt the arrow up or down as he released and/or his bow arm could begin to drop before the arrow finished coming off of it. It was important to realize that.

She took a step back, "Now go for it! Use the rest of them in a row." That would give him several chances to use and remember her tips.

Archery wasn't something Sasuke had mastered by any stretch, but he found it to be enjoyable. Even now when things were so dim he was able to appreciate it some, even if he had missed his mark. Sharpshooting it was not, he'd have to practice a fair lot more if he hoped to be as accurate as he wished. Looking to Yura for feedback, he stood still while she came over and began moving his body into position, finding the way she left him feeling rather unusual. According to her though this was how he ought to fire, and it was certainly different from the relaxed stance he generally took.

"Just relax my fingers...? Um... Okay then." He was used to letting go and dropping his arms, but apparently that wasn't right either. He might do better just now if Itachi had ever instructed him properly, as much of what he knew now was self taught. Yura knew better than he did though, he'd do as he was told and hopefully see results for it. Aiming again at the target's neck, Sasuke took a moment to ensure he was on target, exhaling silently and letting his first shot fly. By reflex he'd pulled his arm down again while firing, causing the arrow to sail up slightly and slash across the dummy's jaw instead, slamming again into the wall behind it. Not willing to give up, he readied another, and another, letting every last one fire off in how he'd been told.

When the quiver was empty and all arrows exhausted, Sasuke could definitely tell the difference in technique. He'd not hit any more targets than he normally would, probably due to the different style, but the few he did were far more spot on. There was no arguing that Yura's technique was better, and more taxing; he'd only fired off a handful of arrows, yet his arm was burning from keeping the stance and straining to hold the string back. It was going to take a lot of practice without a doubt, yet he'd manage it, he had to. Archery was one of the few things he still considered to survive from his family, and doing it in some ways helped to relieve some of those memories, and he never wanted to forget those.

"That... Wasn't so bad..." Sasuke said, trying to dismiss his sore arm despite giving it an obvious rubbing. Carrying the bow in one hand he went to the wall and began fetching his arrows, having to either get on his toes or jump to get the higher ones. Two of the heads were somewhat dulled from hitting the wall, but otherwise they were unscathed. With every arrow placed in the sheath he returned to Yura's side, again giving her a curious look. "Uh... I don't think target practice would be a good idea..." he mumbled, his eyes looking away as he frowned, "I might miss and hurt you..."

Yura nodded. "Just relax them, let it fly on its own." She stood back and watched. But of course he'd dropped his arm too soon. That was okay. She didn't expect him to absorb what she meant right away. The next time he fired he tried again to remain still and did a little better. Once he was done she let him do the work of collecting the arrows and come back to her. It was always bad to be TOO helpful as teacher, she knew.

But there was nothing wrong with praise, in her opinion.

"That was good. You're starting to understand the movements better, Sasuke. Don't worry, once you practice it a lot you won't have to think about it. Then you can keep your mind on other things like the way your target is about to move, air currents, etc." She waved her hand in the air dismissively. All that was for later.

When he addressed his concerns about firing at her she shrugged.

"Yeah, alright. But it's a fun game. I guess we'll play it when you're older."

She studied him.

"I know your arm is getting sore but go through at least half the arrows again, for practice. You don't have to rush. You can rest your arms in between. Then come back inside and we'll resharpen the arrows. Okay?"

She took a few steps away. "I'm going to clean up your kitchen before I leave. I've got to do some errands today." She started to move again and then turned back to him once she reached the doorway. Her hand rested on the frame. "You can come if you want. When's the last time you left this place, besides going to school?" she asked him, a little concern in her voice.

Sasuke wasn't too sure if he'd done a good job, it looked to him like it was the same as always. Yura's praise surprised him a little then, and he allowed himself a faint smile at being told he'd done well. He supposed he had really, given he'd done about the same as usual even with a new technique. Sure, it would be some time until he was on target all the time, if ever, but the fact he had a chance to improve made working for it exciting. Maybe a bow wouldn't ever be considered a ninja tool either, yet that wasn't going to stop him from practicing.

"That all sounds complicated..." Sasuke mumbled in regards to the other factors. Air currents? He wasn't even sure what that was, it sounded like something that was way above him though. He'd always figured you just aimed an arrow and fired it, so hearing the fact there were more aspects to it made archery a bit more daunting. Simple target practice would be fine however, that didn't take much other than a steady hand, and the know how, both of which he now possessed. Firing at a moving target? Particularly, a target that was another person? He wasn't prepared for that just yet, and thankfully Yura was sympathetic to his concerns.

Nodding his head at the directions to keep going, the young Uchiha hurried over and fetched all of his arrows, noting that two had become dulled. Yura was more than happy to offer to help with that, but she wanted him to continue with what he had left. His arm might be sore from the strain, but he knew that pain was all a part of training, and if you weren't sore then you weren't training hard enough.

Notching another arrow as Yura began to leave, Sasuke was ready to resume his training until she mentioned leaving, lowering his arms and glancing back at her with a slight bit of worry. What if she didn't come back? There was no way of knowing where Itachi was right now, and while he couldn't exactly fend off his older brother, he felt a little better knowing where Yura was. Worried this might be goodbye, he tried not to jump at the offer of joining her, though a small smile of relief washed over his face. "Um... Okay! I'll come!" he answered, placing his arrow back before setting both the quiver and bow down, hurrying over to join her. Slowing as she addressed him with another question, Sasuke frowned in thought and gave a small shrug, not sure honestly of when it had been. A few days? Maybe longer? It was difficult to answer when you'd lost track of time, he wasn't even certain of how long it had been since the massacre.

“Wait.” Yura held up a hand as he moved up to her. She struggled for a moment with how best to handle him. She wanted to be kind and gentle with him but not to coddle him. A moment ago he was willing to keep practicing but after getting worried that she would leave he wasn’t as ready to part from her even briefly. She understood, but that wouldn’t do. Next time she would just slip away and not give him time to think about it, maybe that would be better.

She dropped her hand and smiled reassuringly.

“I’m glad you’ll come with me. But go ahead and finish practicing. I’m just going to clean up the mess I made while you do that. And we’ll sharpen the arrows before we leave, like I said.”

She met his eyes with calm understanding. “Don’t worry, Sasuke. I won’t leave without you,” she promised quietly.

Then, lingering and watching him closely to make sure he was okay, she retreated into the house. But then she went to the kitchen window to watch him and make sure he really was okay. Standing there she thought of his mother doing the same thing and shivered hard.

Given the choice between joining Yura and staying here alone, the decision was an obvious one. Sasuke had spent plenty of time by himself as of late, and the opportunity to change that was too good to pass up. Yet as he approached the woman she stopped him for some reason, etching a look of confusion on the young Uchiha's face. Had he done something wrong? For a second it looked like she might not let him tag along after all, yet a smile soon after quickly relinquished him of that fear.

"Oh... Okay, I can do that," Sasuke responded, giving a nod before glancing back at his quiver. The arrows certainly were a bit worn, even the better ones were showing sign of wear and tear. It had been quite some time since he'd worked on them, Itachi usually had been the one to do so and, well, he wasn't now. If Yura was willing to help him in that regard, then all the better.

Watching as Yura returned to the house, Sasuke let out a sigh and stepped back onto the grass, placing himself before the far right target this time. He was going to be sore by the end of this, and tomorrow at the academy was likely going to be tough, but he was keen on getting down this technique. Though he already excelled compared to other students he didn't take nearly as much pride in that as he did this; using a bow was something wholly his own, and sentimental value aside he felt it made him stand out.

Notching one of the good arrows and placing it on the drawstring, Sasuke let his shots go off in steady succession, doing so mechanically. That was another thing that was nice about archery, he could do it and almost go to his own world for a little while. While he was shooting there was little else but him and his target, now if only he could just hit the darn thing...

Yura was relieved to see that he wasn't too clingy and could still handle being by himself. If she could get him interested in training again, perhaps he wouldn't sit on the pier so often moping like when she first met him. Poor kid. He was alright for the moment though so she left off watching and cleaned the dishes. Then she went on to clean the rest of the kitchen. She made a mental list of everything Sasuke's pantry was low on so they could restock. But it began to be eerie after a while. Was she being too intrustive? And she couldn't help forming a mental picture of the previous woman to run this kitchen. You could tell a lot about a person based on how they organized things, or didn't. Sasuke's mother was organized and she kept a mix of medicinal supplies and food stores and cleaning supplies in here. And it was an old style kitchen, so the woman was clearly traditional. Then again perhaps she didn't have a choice as the clan head's wife? There must have been many expectations put on her, even in her private life. Yura sighed at that thought. Anyway, she couldn't help analyzing everything, it was something she was trained to do automatically. But kami it was weird and depressing. Especially when she thought, "this teacup was much loved, you can tell, and now they'll never use it again." Or "she was low on everything, she was probably planning to go shopping... maybe even the day she died and now her kid has been struggling along on his own ever since." Things like that had her finally giving up and closing herself off. She stopped and waited a couple of minutes for the kid to come back in.

When Sasuke returned she poured water for them both, from the tap, to rehydrate. He was sweaty and tired too. But that was alright because, "Now you really look like a ninja!" she said with a grin as she tossed a rag at him to wipe his face.

"Now, where are your sharpening tools?" she asked.

Sasuke wasn't typically fond of being told what to do, at least not by a stranger, yet he was finding it nice. Having some kind of routine in his life again helped, and it certainly beat moping about. He may not be finding the usual joy he did when it came to archery, yet it was a nice enough change that he appreciated it all the same. With arrow heads dulling, it wasn't long before he had to stop his session, collecting and putting away each arrow. It'd probably take a good few minutes to get them back all up to snuff, even longer if he had to do it himself; Itachi had taught him, but Sasuke had never really sharpened the arrows himself before now. Sooner or later he'd get some with heads that were durable too, but for training purposes he had hand made, very unreliable ones.

Tired and sweaty, Sasuke figured he'd trained enough and could go back inside. His arm ached from the strain the bow placed on it, and tomorrow at the academy he'd probably still be feeling the burn. That wasn't even including the actual training he still had to do, which now was going to be even more difficult due to soreness. He could complain or get down on himself about it, yet if he did then he'd never amount to much as a shinobi. His life was probably going to be spent being largely uncomfortable, as if he wasn't already, so best to get used to it now. Their instructors always said the life of a ninja was a hard one, and the kids usually snickered or made jokes about it. People died in the line of duty though, and those who came back sometimes were injured beyond recognition, so it really was a hard life. Maybe they didn't appreciate it yet, his peers, but Sasuke knew first hand how dark a shinobi's world could be.

Lost in his own, dark little world he'd not paid much mind to Yura when he first came in, glancing at the glass of water as it was handed over. Nodding his head gratefully he took a long sip before setting his bow and quiver aside, taking a seat on a small chair. "You think... I look like a ninja...?" he asked, glancing up curiously. Weird, was all it took to look the part to be sweaty and tired? Nearly dropping his glass when he caught the towel, the young Uchiha went about wiping himself down meticulously; it wasn't quite a shower, but until he got a chance to really wash off this would have to do. When the bulk of the sweat was wiped clean he folded the towel at his side, ready to get to work on restoring his weapons.

"Um... In my room, near where I keep the bow," he explained, fetching his things and showing Yura the way. His room, despite all that had gone on as of late, was still orderly and clean as ever. The tools they needed for his arrows were in a small black box at his bedside, tucked beneath a table supporting a lamp. Grabbing said container he placed it on his bed, undoing the latch and pulling out a file, some polish and a bit of rough paper. "Nii-san... Uh... Itachi used to do this for me, so I'm not really sure what to do..." Sasuke mumbled softly as he looked between the objects, wondering which to use first. Was it the file? Or maybe the paper, then the file to refine the edges. And where did the polish come in?

"You're starting to at least!" her voice was still teasing, although he seemed to have taken her very seriously. "Just wait until you get your headband!" She touched her forehead and then realized she wasn't wearing her own. She frowned and looked at her civilian clothes, holding out her arms briefly. She sighed. Then her face closed off and it was clear she didn't want him to ask, if he'd even noticed. She made a small shooing motion toward his room.

When he came back with the tools, Yura sat at the low table across from him. Her eyes were soft again when he mentioned Itachi. Although there was a flash of pain and anger at the mention of that man. She nodded her understanding and began to show him how to care for his weapons. It would take practice too, of course, but it wasn't so difficult to file the arrow heads evenly on both sides creating a sharp edge or finish off the process. She set aside the first arrow.

"Now it's your turn." She motioned for him to pick up another file. Then she started on a second. It was a calming process, at least for her, being so used to it. After a moment she asked, "Hey, Sasuke-kun. Do you have an allowance from the village or something?"

Huh... Was he really starting to look like a ninja? Obviously he was working towards that, as many children in Konohagakure did, so hearing that made him somewhat happy. His chest filled with a bit of pride, and a faint smile even crept to his lips. He wasn't ever in doubt of becoming a shinobi, he felt he was more or less guaranteed to succeed, but it was still nice hearing it from an adult. "My own headband..." Sasuke mumbled, touching his own forehead thoughtfully and completely missing Yura's gesture. That would be something alright, he wondered what it would be like.

Daydreaming aside, he really should get to repairing his arrows. He'd only so many of them left, and if he let them dull then he'd have even less. Hurrying off to his room for the tools, he returned shortly thereafter and placed them on the table for Yura to inspect, hoping she could show him how it was done. Did she even know how? Itachi used to handle it for him, and he'd occasionally polish one or watch, but he'd never really done it before. Watching her intently as she went about the process he drank in every movement, wanting to be absolutely certain he knew what he was doing. In no short order she had her first arrow like new again, its edges sharp and the tips almost shining from the polish.

"Oh, you want me to do one...?" Sasuke asked, blinking once before grabbing a file of his own. Well he had seen how to do it, so how hard could it be replicating the process? As it happened, quite hard, as he was finding quickly that getting the edges just right was a tricky effort. Granted if they were true arrows then it might be easier, but these makeshift ones were somewhat unwieldy when it came to shaping and carving them out. After a fair bit longer than Yura had taken he managed to pull it off, setting aside his first right next to her own. It was clear who had done which, yet his was serviceable and ought to fire just fine.

"Yeah, they do. It's not a whole lot though. Mostly just enough for a little food, and maybe some new clothes now and again," Sasuke answered mechanically, busy going about tending to his arrows, "Some villagers bring food by too, but it always goes bad. I usually try to eat when I'm at the academy then, or when I'm coming home, since I can buy food then." It meant he ate out fairly often as well, more than before for certain. Leftovers and take-out, hardly the ideal way for a child to be feeding themselves, not that he knew any better. Placing down his second arrow he snatched up a third, glancing up at Yura before he started it. "Does the hokage know you're here? Did he send you?" He wasn't sure why, but that thought just occurred to him then.

Yura was pleased to know some villagers were trying to look out for him. He needed a lot more than just food but at least that small charity was helping him get by. As for the food going bad... figures. He was just a little boy.

"Ok, we'll have to do something about the food situation, won't we?"

She picked up the last arrow, aside from the one in Sasuke's hand, and glanced at him. She couldn't tell what emotion was behind his question. She tilted her head slightly and began working on the arrow slowly.

"Well, legally speaking, yes. I'm your guardian now." She glanced at him with a slightly worried expression and set down the arrow. Her expression became earnest and focused on him.
"It doesn't mean I'm going to try to take the place of your parents or move in here and change everything. I'll just..." She stopped and motioned back and forth between them. "The two of us will take care of each other, won't we?"

Sasuke only shrugged, not really having brought up an issue with it before. He supposed he ought to just be grateful he was getting any food at all, instead of being left to starve. Truthfully he had no idea what he should expect for aid after a tragedy like that, if any at all. Getting any amount of aid was nice, and he tried to be grateful for it, however much or little there might be. Still... He couldn't say he hated the idea of Yura being around to cook him meals, that would be rather nice.

So she was meant to become his guardian now? Even with her reassurances he was still a little tentative about having another figure like that in his life. She might say she wasn't trying to replace his parents, but she'd be doing everything they would have, so didn't that make her a replacement? "I... Yeah, we'll do that," Sasuke agreed, nodding despite not sounding completely certain. How was he supposed to take care of her? She was the adult here, what could he possibly do for her? He didn't get it, but if she was doing something for him then he should try providing something in turn, he supposed.

Before long they had made it through all the arrows, managing to salvage six of them. It was somewhat disappointing to have to get rid of any, yet he also recognized that he'd be getting a new set sooner or later too. Like a lot of things in life he realized they weren't permanent, and sooner or later they might end up gone before he knew it. A somber and rather depressing thought for a child, yet it was one he'd entertained quite a lot as of late. It was nice that they were leaving the compound now, he needed to get out of here for a while, even if he didn't feel like it. A little socializing and seeing some friendly faces would do him some good after being shut in for a while.

Yura relaxed. He hadn't freaked out, that was a relief. As for what she meant by them taking care of each other... well... imagine if SHE was the last Uchiha? Even if the only other one besides her was a little broken boy it was better than being alone. Especially now that her teammates had died. Her heart tightened at that thought. And despite saying she wasn't trying to replace his parents, the two of them could still become a real family. He was a good kid and she wanted them both to be happy. They deserved to be, despite everything.

After finishing the arrows they headed into the village. At first no one noticed them. But Sasuke was a little infamous already as the only survivor and anyone that saw him and didn't know who he was only had to look at the back of his shirt. He wore a clan symbol which clearly identified him. Yura was a little impressed that he still wore it proudly although she wasn't sure how he actually felt about it. In any case, word started to circulate about them pretty quickly. Yura noticed the gossiping and quickly picked a store to go into. It gave them a little time to distract themselves and escape direct scrutiny. But by the time they got to the counter, the checkout person had become interested.

Yura's face tried to discourage comment or questions but the cashier still asked, as casually as she could, "Aren't you the lady who came in here yesterday?"

"Yes... I needed to get a few more things," Yura offered the slight explanation and hardened her face to try to discourage more questions.

The cashier didn't take the hint. She glanced at Sasuke. She smiled politely at him, thinking he was sweet and cute and feeling sorry for him. She reached over the counter and offered him a candy.

"And who is this? A relative of yours?" She resumed checking Yura out.

Yura glanced at Sasuke and then took out her money, ready to give it to the lady the second she was done totalling everything.

"Yes," she said simply.

The woman looked at her curiously. She was DYING to express her surprise and confusion about that fact, since Sasuke was supposed to be the only one left. But she wasn't quite that bold. She accepted Yura's money and gave her back the change.

Yura wanted to leave but Sasuke had a few things of his own to get so she picked up her bags and stepped aside. Then she smiled at him as reassuringly as she could.

Leaving the Uchiha compound was a bit daunting, he'd not really done that since the massacre. The idea of having to face other people, people who new what had happened, frankly unsettled Sasuke. He didn't want sympathy or to be told "sorry" a million times over. Well intentioned or not those weren't going to bring back his family, and he was sick of hearing it by now. Yura was heading out though and he knew he should join her, even if he didn't particularly want to. Once they had finished working on his arrows and set them aside, the young Uchiha followed after his lone clan member, keeping his eyes down to avoid meeting anyone's gaze as they walked.

All around him he could hear voices, whispering and mumbling among themselves about him and his clan. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to go out, he hated the fact that everywhere he went, sad looks were sent his way. That and he had become something of a novelty, being the only Uchiha member to be spared. Well there was Yura as well, but she hadn't been here during the attacks. Sasuke couldn't say if it angered or annoyed him more that people saw him for that, for being the survivor of some horrific attack. He'd almost prefer for no one to ever notice him instead, so he could go about his day without all that unwanted attention. Yet right up until they had slipped into a shop, he swore he felt eyes on him, and words about his predicament were constantly overheard.

Yet as it turned out, even in the shop they weren't terribly free from the attention. The woman at the counter seemed to be every bit as interested as those outside, and unfortunately they couldn't just walk away and ignore her like the rest. Glancing up when he saw her offering over candy he accepted it reluctantly, waiting until she was looking at Yura again to pocket it. He hated sweets, anything with too much sugar was unappealing to him, and he'd just as soon throw the treat away if the woman weren't standing right there. Instead he went about the shop, looking for a few things he needed of his own. Some supplies for school, a strip or two of sand-paper that he could use to help keep his bow in good condition, and to make more arrows if need be, and some food that he might like. With what little money he had of his own he paid for it, forgetting for a moment that Yura was even present.

Sasuke was only too happy to be out of the store once he was done, not wanting to linger and be spoken to. Back at the compound he had managed to relax somewhat when Yura was around, but out here it was another story. Everyone looked at him, they all spoke about him, they all had a million questions. What was it like? How does he feel? Does he need anything? Before most of these people wouldn't have given him much more than a passing smile, but now everyone felt bad for him and wanted to help. Cynically he rejected any offers, figuring in a week's time they would move on and go back to ignoring him as they had. Besides, he had Yura now, he didn't need their help.

"I don't like this... I want to go back..." Sasuke mumbled, frowning as he looked up at Yura. He was already sick of other people looking at him and talking about him, it made him terribly self-conscious. He'd prefer to just be home and train right now, rather than this. Clutching his bags against his chest he gave a disconcerted sigh when even more voices could be overheard speaking about him, making the young Uchiha scrunch his shoulders up. "Just stop... Stop talking..." he said meekly, far too quiet to be overheard by the folks speaking.

Yura set aside her frustration with herself for not anticipating this. That was a useless emotion. And she stifled her anger at the citizens, even the cashier. She kept tabs on Sasuke's emotions. He didn't have to tell her, for her to notice how uncomfortable he was. He had a right to be uncomfortable.

Yura's slender, strong fingers settled on one of his hunched shoulders and squeezed.

"Let's go. It's time for lunch. I can make us some of your favorite food!"

Her hand slid to the back of his neck and gently pushed him toward the exit.

She tried to think of something to distract him.

"Say... Sasuke-kun, do you like animals?"

Yura easily held her bag of food on one hip and let the free arm dangle between them.

"Before I went on my mission I had a cat. I'm thinking about getting another one. What do you think?"