A small explosion woke me up; frankly, I wasn't surprised. Loud laughter followed, as well as rapidly fired off taunts and responding threats. I rolled over, hoping to continue sleeping, only to have the blankets ripped off me.
"Ne, Asuka! Get up; you promised today we'd get dango!"
Did I? Why the hell did I do that?
"Come ooooon, it's my birthday…"
Oh. That's why. The wheedling tone got my ass in gear, grumbling while I rolled out of bed and hunted through my things for something decent to wear. The Orphanage we lived in didn't really have much in the way of clothing options. My companion was wearing dark blue shorts and a plain white shirt that wouldn't stay that way for long. He was jumping up and down in place, practically dancing with excitement. Not that I could blame him; we didn't get much in the way of food, never mind sweets. I had saved up the pitiful allowance I got for doing the dishes every night for a very long time in order to get this for him. I pulled out a rather beat-up pair of dark blue pants and a similar white shirt before heading to the bathroom, slipping easily past my friend, who hadn't yet stopped talking.
His sunshine yellow hair flopped all over the place, and I could still hear the sound of chaos outside our door from whatever mischief he'd caused already today. Uzumaki Naruto. Sometimes, I woke up and still couldn't believe I was friends with him. Not because he was the 'cool kid' or my 'long time crush' or anything teen novel-ish like that, we were five years old, for fucks sake, but because he wasn't real. Hold on, that's not a good way to phrase it. He's real, all right; he just... wasn't , before. The first time I lived. In that place, he was a story, the first anime I ever saw, actually. It ended, and I would read the occasional fan fiction or watch an episode if it came on in the cafeteria at work. Then I died. It wasn't particularly a good way to go, but not a bad way either. Everyone in the building knew it could be a target at any time, and we accepted it. But that doesn't mean we actually believed it could happen to us.
My first memories of this world, my new home, are muddled. By that point, I didn't know Japanese, or whatever passes for Japanese here. My vision was the shit kind that belongs to a newborn, so no surprise that my sight was limited to blurs and color. There was a distinctly feminine voice, dark eyes, dark hair, pale skin, a soft blue-ish blanket that was quickly replaced with something much rougher and more like burlap the closer we got to our destination, the sound of pen on paper, the rustle as it was tucked into the blanket, and the loud knocking that signaled my arrival at the orphanage. I was quiet for the journey my mother took to leave me there, still mostly in shock, mourning my co-workers and friends, and still trying to get a handle on the fact that I was alive and seemingly starting over again.
Two months later, I thought I was set for death again. There was a burning deep in my infant body that didn't make sense. I thought I'd caught some strange illness and that I was going to die before I even got the opportunity to enjoy this second chance at life. The women who worked at the nursery didn't refute this one bit, worrying over me and generally not understanding what was wrong with a usually silent child. It took several days for the pain to go away, and both the matrons and I breathed sighs of relief.
Three months after that came the noise . It wasn't actually 'noise' per se, but it was loud and suffocating, like the static that I felt in the air, and moving through me once that pain ended from my 'illness' before. I sat there in terror while we were moved somewhere dark and damp, only slightly more sheltered from the pure rage that flowed through the static and threatened to smother us. It didn't take much longer after that to figure out where I was or what had happened. A small baby was brought to the orphanage shortly after we were settled back in, by men wearing familiar animal masks and carrying tantos on their backs. From there, the shit that I'd been ignoring hit me like a steel anvil, and I had to reevaluate my life goals. Becoming a programmer again was no longer an option. I'd been doubting it for a while already, mostly because of the distinct lack of complex technology. Sure, there was electricity, a television, and some kitchen appliances, but that's as far as it went, and the television was ancient. Now, I had a new goal in mind: succeed. It had been all about doing well for yourself in my original lifetime, and this time, it wasn't any different. I was going to become someone that twelve-year-old me could meet and be proud of, and I was going to do it while fucking with the bad guys as much as intelligently possible.
The mirror in front of me never showed the face I was expecting, and this time on Naruto's birthday was no different. I expected dark hair, but of a different shade and length. I expected light eyes and freckles accompanied with blockish features and a nervous smile. Now, there was pale skin, delicate features, and eyes of a dark, indeterminate color. I turned my eyes away from it quickly, still slightly unnerved to have a child's face staring back at me. It had been a long time since I'd been a little girl, and this face was nothing like I'd had before. I went back to getting dressed, pulling on my clothes, brushing my teeth, and dragging a brush through my hair, chopped shorter by the matron just the day before. Now, it barely reached my chin, and she'd decided to do her experimental best at hacking bangs into existence for some reason, but I'd convinced her to stop when they were to my cheekbones. I could sweep them to the right and deftly ignore them.
Naruto was banging on the door by the time I was finished, already impatient, "Come on, Asuka! If we don't hurry it will be busy and we'll have to stand in line forever !"
I rolled my eyes as I swung the door open, pushing past the hyper kid, "I'm moving, I'm moving. What happened out in the hall?"
His right hand immediately went to scratching the back of his head nervously, a surefire sign of guilt.
"Ah, well, Masu-chan and Beni-chan found frogs in their beds this morning and weren't very happy about it."
I stopped shuffling through my things, raising an eyebrow at him, "And I'm sure you don't know anything about it, huh?"
He shook his head rapidly, plastering on his best innocent look. It wasn't bad really, large blue eyes, chubby cheeks, if I hadn't known him I would have let him get away with murder if he used that look. So I rolled my eyes again, finally finding the coin purse I had been looking for. Naruto had found it for me for my birthday earlier in the year, a chubby little squirrel. It was cute as hell, but the mouth clasped shut and you basically had to feed it the money. Kind of odd, but I thought it was brilliant. He got it at the same stand that I'm assuming gama-chan, his own frog coin purse, came from.
The kid bounced practically the entire way to the stand, and then to the park as well, two sticks of dango in each hand. He was chattering on about where he'd found the frogs, having given up on playing innocent, and I observed the people around us. Very few of them were actually glaring at him, most just ignored him, keeping well out of his way. The cruel stares were few in this part of town, but they still existed. This was the only park that we could come to in peace, and that was only because of its proximity to the Uchiha Police Headquarters. The Uchiha didn't hate Naruto, which I didn't really understand, from their point of view. Most shinobi were under the impression that one of them had controlled the fox and set it upon the village, no fox attack, no animosity. But no one had put that together yet, or they just didn't care. Naruto was treated just like any other child, and excessive cruelty towards him wasn't allowed when they were present. This probably didn't do anything good for their reputation, so I tried to keep the confrontations to a minimum for their sake.
Looking at him, you couldn't tell that he was under stress, mistreated, and mostly unloved. I liked to think it was because I'd done a good job to be there for him right from the beginning of everything, but it was most likely due to his resilience. He'd never known life without me there by him. I was already five months old when he was brought in, plenty old enough to stick to him once he became aware and mobile. I was the one who helped him learn to speak, to walk, to read, and to write, though the latter two I'd had to learn for myself first from an outside source. No one was keen to share things with him, so I learned to be his fetcher. If he was hungry, then I would be the one to ask for food. As far as anyone at the orphanage was aware, I was just another orphan, no one to deny food or education.
Having been a quiet and reflective person in both lifetimes, I let him ramble on, inserting comments every now and then so the 'conversation' wouldn't die out. When it came time for lunch, I bought us both something small from a nearby shop, and we ate that, too, at the park. A few hours later I bought Naruto an ice cream cone and decided to call it quits. That was the night they kicked him out.
I didn't find out until lunch the next day. Sometimes Naruto just wanders off to try to play with other kids. I'm his friend, and he mostly sticks to me like glue, but sometimes he wants variety, to make new friends and add to our little family. It doesn't work, but it doesn't stop him from trying. I didn't put it together that he was gone for good until I entered his room to wait for him there with my book. There was another kid in there. Small, brown hair, crying. New. I didn't need to ask; I could figure it out for myself. I turned around and left without a word to the kid, feeling slightly bad for not comforting him, but I had things to do. I went to my room, digging out the bag that had been passed down to me when one of the older kids had graduated from the Academy. It was meant to take supplies to and from school, but I hadn't started yet, wanting to be in the same year as Naruto.
I went through my things with an adult's eye, packing what I would need and putting back what would just be dead weight. I did the same with Naruto's things, quietly so that the crying child didn't really notice me, or perhaps he just didn't care. When I had found all that I needed, I put the bag on my back and left, searching all of our usual haunts for the boy. I was mostly ignored, and I didn't dare ask if anyone had seen him; I wasn't likely to get a polite response. Finally, I found him, moping on the swings at our park. I dropped my bag, sitting silently on the swing to his right, waiting for him to say something while I went over our options. I wasn't leaving him on his own; he was five years old, and while technically so was I, at least I had the brain and memory of someone much older. At this point, Naruto knew the Hokage; the man visited him once a month and only missed his birthday the day before because of some diplomatic thing that he'd explained weeks in advance. Technically he could go to the guy, but getting to him would be damn near impossible. The only reason Cannon Naruto could just pop in was because he was a ninja, and the civilian workers physically couldn't keep him out. While we were damn sneaky for children, we hadn't yet been professionally trained. With no one to awaken our chakra, we couldn't use it; even if I could feel it roiling around every-fucking-where, I just couldn't touch it. So, we could always progress like in canon. Teuchi, I think, was the one to tell the Hokage that Naruto was homeless. We already knew the ramen chef, being frequent customers at his stall. The only reason we hadn't gone for Naruto's birthday was because funds were scarce. I couldn't afford it today either, and though Teuchi was known to let us run a tab, I could hardly just demand free ramen. The guy had to offer. We also couldn't just pop by for a visit like we do occasionally; we'd already been a few days ago.
While I was analyzing what we were going to do with ourselves, Naruto cracked. The story poured forth on the consequences of turning five years old. He was told he was old enough to fend for himself rather than waste their resources. I wanted to punch someone, but that wouldn't do much good. So, instead, I stepped off the swing and picked up my backpack, rethinking the whole 'running away' thing.
"I could hide you in my room."
It was an honest offer; he vehemently shook his head, saying, "I'm never going back there, ever."
Fair enough, really. I cast my mind about for what the hell we were going to do for food, shelter, funds, how we would end up in the academy-wait, that would work. I checked the position of the sun compared to the Hokage Monument before grabbing Naruto's hand.
"Then we become ninjas and show them that they never deserved us anyway."
Seeing as Naruto is now old enough to register at the Academy he could fill out the paperwork to join the class, even if it is a bit past the enrollment date. He thought it a brilliant idea and enthusiastically filled out his own forms beside me, excitement only dimming when he reached the address portion. Being a Chunin, the guy at the desk noticed.
"We have the address for the orphanage on file if you can't remember, kid."
I snorted, "Oishi-san kicked us out for turning five."
Naruto's genuine child reaction backed up my story, and the Chunin replaced his shock with a stoic expression.
"Ah. Just...leave that blank for now, then. I'll...I'll be right back, I have some errands to run."
I had been a bit worried that he would let it slide because of any animosity felt towards Naruto, but he's a ninja living in a village filled with ninjas. If he didn't report it then it would eventually come out anyway, as well as the fact that he let it slide. We were almost able to fill the paperwork out completely by the time the Hokage himself arrived and pulled Naruto to the side. I had already been 'approved' as Naruto's friend, I'd latched onto him before I was old enough to deceive, as far as they were aware at least. But, none of that meant that I had the same relationship with the Hokage. My situation would most likely have been ignored, but I have the feeling Naruto demanded to bring me with him wherever he went.
We weren't allowed to live together, but Naruto was appeased when I was awarded an apartment in the same building, on the same floor. I was across the hall, and a door down. Normally orphans can be given apartments away from the orphanage if they attend the Academy and prove that they're capable of surviving on their own, we just never got that far. The conditions placed on us for allowing us to attend, even though it was technically too late in the year, were that we would graduate with those our age, who would start the next year. I didn't bother to try to figure out the motive behind that one, I was just relieved that events seemed to be falling mostly where they should.
In the isolation of an apartment of my very own, I finally felt safe writing in the notebook, the one that was wholly in a bastardized mix of French, English, and various fictional languages from my previous life, and that was labeled 'Gabrielle'. In it was all that was truly left of the person I used to be. All her quirks, her knowledge, even her languages. Anything interesting about her, her time period, and her world, were recorded. The knowledge that I shouldn't have was referenced to in a way that I hoped would keep it mostly safe. I wrote in several different colors, sure to make the writing itself neat, but done in spirals like the Gnomish language in Artemis Fowl. It looked like nonsense, childish art. I prayed that it would stay safe that way.
Chapter 2Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextI had assumed that school would be easy for me, and I wasn't completely wrong. I knew math, I could figure out codes and cryptograms, after all, I had been a programmer. I had common sense, and I had intelligence. But the language of this place was complicated, and my hands were tiny. At the end of the day I sat at my kitchen table, Naruto beside me, our homework splayed out in front of us. There were different alphabets, as well as other things that made my head hurt. But I had the physical brain of a child, which was still producing new brain cells at a rate that made learning slightly easier. Since Naruto knew no other way but to harness this he sometimes picked things up easier than I did. It was frustrating, and humbling at times, but I got everything eventually.
I was at the top of our class Academically, despite being the second youngest, with Naruto placing somewhere around the middle due to the teacher's assistant sabotaging his grades. Our Physical scores, those were a different thing entirely. We were being taught the Academy taijutsu, which was at the moment more practice, muscle memory, and participation points. We were much too young, small, and inexperienced to be thrown into matches against one another, well, except the clan kids. Naruto was at the very bottom of the class in that area, not through any fault of his own. His energy was endless, and he was always enthusiastic to learn this particular part of being a ninja, but during class he was given incorrect instruction or altogether ignored. After school we always stayed behind several hours so that I could reverse whatever damage had been done to his education that day and practice myself.
That was how we met Uchiha Sasuke. The both of us were running through kata, set moves strung together so that you could practice each move as it was meant to be used in an actual fight. He was doing one from three levels lower, I had set him on it to fix his stance in one part. I had assumed it was better but he had fallen back into a bad habit during class today, earning him a stern insult from one of the teachers. I noticed that he hadn't once complained that he was bored yet and made a mental note to treat him to Ramen later if he kept it up for at least another hour. My thoughts were interrupted by a child's voice cutting through the silence.
"You're doing it wrong."
My head snapped around to the sound, mind not wanting to accept who I saw staring at Naruto from just beside the fence. Naruto reacted as expected,
"Nu-uh!"
I rolled my eyes, noting that the position he had frozen in was indeed wrong. I dropped out of the form, slinking off to where we kept our bags, sitting down to watch it all unfold as I took a water break. It descended into an argument rather quickly, and I finally intervened.
"Cool it, Naruto."
The hand grasping the other kids shirt immediately slackened, and he took a step back, turning to look at me guiltily. I resisted an eyeroll, turning instead to the kid who could only be chibi Sasuke.
"If you're so knowledgeable on the Leaf Academy Taijutsu why don't you join us?"
He immediately turned at least seven shades of red. It was fascinating. He went from little snow white to boiled lobster in .02 seconds.
"Ah, well, I don't actually know the Taijutsu-"
Naruto cut in,
"Ha, then why were you correcting me then, huh?"
The kid shot back angrily,
"Because I know some taijutsu in general, and that stance frankly looks awful. It's just common sense."
Before it could descend into yet another argument I cut in, not one to miss an opportunity like this.
"Then why don't you join us?"
The blush was back with a vengeance.
"Ah, you see, I'm not actually in the Academy yet…"
Before Naruto could break out the childish mockery I shot him a look and turned back to Sasuke.
"Doesn't matter. If you know some taijutsu already then you must be a clan kid, right?"
At his nod I continued,
"Then you get training outside of the Academy anyway, it's good practice for all of us."
I could feel an oncoming wave of complaints and made a sign to Naruto that plainly said we would talk about this later. He descended into full-on pout mode while Sasuke was left to think nervously.
"I'm not sure I should…"
I shrugged,
"You don't have to, obviously, I just thought it might be nice to make a new friend."
At that his expression changed, he took only a few more seconds to think after that.
"Sure, why not."
It was a long time before the fighting between the two of them became amiable banter. Several months in fact. We never did find out what Sasuke was doing hanging around the Academy, though I assumed it was what most pre-Academy kids did, spying on the students and fantasizing about when it would be them. It was a few weeks until the upper years would be taking the graduation test when Sasuke invited us over to his house. Naruto was ecstatic to go 'play at the Bastards place', but I wasn't so sure. As outsiders who knew how we'd be welcomed, nevermind a no-name orphan and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. As the cherry on top this was also the clan heads kid, whose standards would no doubt not include us. Then there was the fact that they had, what, a little over a year to live? I'd spent many a sleepless night thinking over what to do about that and the blank pages to show for my effort hurt all the more once I got to know Sasuke. After a while I'd given up and instead started planning for damage control. Like hell was he going to become an 'Avenger'. Well, unless it was the kind that ran with Big Green, tin man, and capsicle.
We ended up visiting the compound. I forced Naruto to take a bath and wear decent clothes, though not formal or overly nice, we were going to be playing around after all. Sasuke met us at the gates, beaming widely. It didn't quite make up for the stern looks we got from the guards, but they were easily ignored. He grabbed us each by the hand, pointing out each person he knew and what each shop sold. Some of the people greeted us kindly, others indifferently, some sniffed at us. I was surprised to find it was around the same distribution of reactions as with the villagers out in the main part of Konoha. Perhaps it was only the upper class Uchiha who had sticks up their asses. Too bad those were the ones we would be dealing with as Sasuke's immediate family.
Another thing I hadn't been expecting were the cats. They were everywhere. Canon hadn't shown them running around for some reason, as far as I could recall, but they were definitely there. It made sense, almost every Uchiha ninja signed onto the cat contract, it would make sense that part of the deal would be that they could have the run of the compound. Sasuke scooped up one that came near him, absently handing it off to Naruto when he wanted to use his hands again. That one quickly did a runner, apparently feeling the Kyuubi and not agreeing with contact to it. Naruto quickly hid behind me so I got the next armful of fluffball that Sasuke no longer felt like carrying. I felt cheated that the series hadn't included this. It humanized the Uchiha so much to see them sneaking little bits of food from their stalls to the cats, picking them up like children and cooing over them, the young Uchiha's being guarded by those with obvious intelligence in their eyes and a certain strength in their step. It made me wonder how 'Madara' ever succeeded. Not only were there Uchiha, there were the cats standing guard, most of them nin trained by the looks of it. I suppose I would have to wait and see. Or perhaps it was a divergence. It wouldn't be the first time Canon events hadn't agreed with things I saw for myself. Perhaps it just meant that this wasn't the story I had grown up with, not completely.
The one I ended up carrying I wasn't sure about. It could have been one of the trained ones that spoke and used chakra, but it just lounged on me, purring, so there was no proof. It was rather pretty actually, orange with tiger like stripes and striking green eyes. It was the eyes that made me think it was most likely one of the intelligent ones. I had mostly tuned out of what Sasuke was saying while examining the cat suspiciously and when I tuned back in it wasn't a surprise he was talking about his father. Why he was talking about him was though
"-wanted a dog, but father said no."
I deadpanned, shifting the cat a bit.
"Oh, I wonder why. For some reason I don't think that would go over very well."
I think the cat agreed with me. Naruto didn't seem to care either way, busy taking in all the sights. When we finally reached the house that belonged to Sasuke he turned to look at us in order to gauge our reactions, but started when he saw me.
"Asuka-chan, you could have put him down four blocks ago."
I shrugged as best I could around the cat,
"Why would I do that? He's all...floofy."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, pointing at the ground and putting on an attitude like he was disciplining a younger sibling.
"Let him free, Asuka-chan."
I faked a pout, loosening my arms so that the cat could jump out. It did no such thing. I bent down to put it on the ground but small claws sunk into my light grey shirt, anchoring him to me. I had a stare down with it,
"Come on, Sasuke-kun says you have to go now."
It just stared at me balefully. I stood back up, holding it again and looking triumphant.
"Oh, well, too bad, guess he isn't ready to leave yet."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and looking like he was close to stomping his foot.
"He has to though, no cats are allowed in the house."
I raised an eyebrow at that,
"That seems rude to the cats, they can go everywhere else, why not in there?"
It seemed like it'd be a bit of a political disaster, the head of the Clan not allowing the summons in his own household. Then again, perhaps it would be seen as normal, if they were allowed everywhere else and there was only the one rule to prevent listening in on clan secrets or something, still it seemed odd to me. Sasuke tilted his head, thinking about it.
"I suppose it is."
Naruto snorted,
"What do you mean 'rude', they're just cats."
I kicked him lightly in the shin, scowling,
"Don't be like that. And they aren't, not all of them anyway. Some of them seem more...well, just morethan the others, you know?"
Naruto rolled his eyes at me but Sasuke shook his head,
"No, teme, she's right. Some of them are nin-cats, how could you tell?"
I scratched at my cats chin, noting that it had stopped purring for a second when I had pointed out that some of them were different.
"Chakra. Some of them have normal amounts for cats, others almost seemed like people."
The boys were well used to me sensing chakra by now, having utilized the skill to get out of trouble when causing mischief and even going so far as to help me hone it. However, all of that practice didn't prepare me for the voice that spoke from the direction of the house.
"That's a very impressive skill, being able to tell the nin from the normal."
All three of us jumped, causing the cat in my hands to hiss and dig his claws into my arms in warning. Sasuke's mother was standing on the porch, arms crossed, leaning in the doorway with a small smile on her face. She had to have been a ninja, chunin at least. She turned to her son,
"Are these the friends you told me about?"
Obviously we were but it was just the thing to say to get him to blush furiously and start introducing us.
"This is Uzumaki Naruto and Asuka, guys, this is my mom."
I always thought it was sweet the way that both of them introduced me last on purpose, having shared the theory that perhaps people would assume that the surname belonged to the both of us, rather than automatically judging me for not having one at all. Of course that wouldn't work on this woman, having known Naruto's parents and knowing what he contained. I watched her expression carefully for judgement, only noticing I was squeezing the fluffball when he sunk his claws into me once again. I loosened my hold, relaxing simultaneously. There was nothing negative there. A bit of sadness and some regret, but no anger, disgust, or fear. Perhaps fan theory was right and she had been Kushina's friend, trying to take him in and being stopped only because of clan politics. She shook off the memories pretty quickly, gesturing us inside.
"Well, why don't you come in then? I just finished making mochi."
Naruto cheered and ran forward with Sasuke while I once again tried to detach the cat. Mikoto smiled softly,
"Go on, neko-chan, find someone else to bug."
Surprisingly the cat let go, jumping free of my arms and sniffing, a deep voice following the yawn.
"Just as it was getting interesting, too."
I only barely managed to keep my mouth from hanging open as it glanced over at me,
"Take care of yourself, brat. And bring treats next time."
I turned back to the woman, my obvious confusion causing her to laugh slightly, covering her mouth politely.
"He seems like one of the grumpier ones. Think of it this way, he said 'next time', he approves of you visiting again."
My inner five-year-old, close to the surface even when I had physically been in my twenties, sent the thrill of accomplishment leaking into my expression, causing her to laugh again.
"Come along, we'd better hurry or the boys will have eaten all the sweets."
They hadn't, but they were extremely close to a fistfight over whether Sasuke's mother or Ichiraku Teuchi was the better cook.
Notes:As always, please comment :)
[For my Americans out there, please stay safe this Black Friday]
Chapter 3Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextWe were held back a year in the Academy due to our age. I had known that this would happen because of the Hokage's initial request about graduating with our peers. We could hardly advance with the year above them and then join them for a repeat of the last year, that wouldn't make as much sense as redoing the first year with them and then moving forward, learning with them and getting to know them. Of course, Naruto was devastated about having to redo the year, my reassurances that the work would now be easy and familiar falling on deaf ears. It was Sasuke that brought him out of it, realizing that it meant we would be in the same year as him now. I tried to be happy for Sasuke about starting the Academy and sitting with him for moral support at the ceremony, but the fact that we had now entered into flashback episodes unnerved me. Things were moving forward.
It had all seemed so slow when Naruto and I were younger. However, looking back it seemed like I blinked and it was all passed us. I had been mentally ancient compared to him, but there I was chewing on blocks and drooling on everything. Walking had been a relief, as well as talking, but nothing had compared to reading. I had never really stopped reading to get rid of the boredom. Once the initial difficulty in the Academy of learning the proper way to behave and act as a citizen of Konoha and how to completely read and write the language of this place it was cake. The history classes were interesting, as well as the theory on many aspects of being a ninja, but mostly we were focusing on basic education at the moment with our PE class being replaced with taijutsu practice. Therefore, it wasn't unusual for me to be seen reading some random book instead of paying attention. Of course doing it over again would only be twice as boring, but I had Sasuke to help this time around, whereas I had Naruto last time. It wouldn't be the same but at least I had more time to beat the basics into Naruto's head.
All homework was done at my place. I made food, and helped when they needed it. Naruto's place was in no state for visitors, I never had been able to convince him to keep it clean, and Sasuke's place was out. On one hand, I didn't want to run into his father or his older brother. I didn't want their attention. Oh, we would hang out in the compound all the time playing with the cats and using their training grounds, but when I felt the approach of either his father's or brother's chakra Naruto and I excused ourselves politely and left. I was able to memorize their signatures when I identified them by sight when both were busy around the compound at separate times. From there it was easy to watch from them. It wasn't exactly polite to walk around your home compound with your chakra masked, to those who could still sense you, or saw you, it looked totes suspish, was not recommended. On the other hand, the compound was going to become a battleground one day after school and we didn't need to get in the habit of being there around the time when it would be happening. I had the brief thought that Itachi would change things then, but 'Madara' wasn't to be swayed, and he was in charge, so that would only endanger us.
My second reason for avoiding Sasuke's house would forever stay hidden, but the first one was challenged pretty quickly. The day after Naruto and I had beat a hasty retreat Sasuke confronted us outside of the Academy before school, looking me in the eye and knowing that it was me who made the calls most of the time.
"Why do you keep running away from my brother?"
Oh, so he hadn't noticed the father bit yet. I shrugged sheepishly, averting my eyes and letting the natural flush that always happened when I felt any strong emotion overtake my pale face.
"You always go on about how awesome your brother is, and how much you wish he would teach you something-"
"Exactly, so why don't you want to meet him?!"
I shot him an exasperated look so he would let me speak.
"Because you hardly ever get to see him, duh. He's always busy, so if he's free then you deserve to finally have some time to spend with him without us in the way."
This was accepted easily enough, though he still insisted that one day we meet his 'awesome big brother'. I was wary of the guy for many reasons. One, who he'd grow up to be. Two, who he would be in some short months. Three, I knew how he was supposed to die, and it was up to me to save his life. Well, lengthen it a little bit. I was going to save him from the murder bit, but that sickness was beyond me, medicine had never been my forte. One semester in the pre-med program at college in a past life taught me that swiftly enough. However, Tsunade, Sakura, and Shizune should be able to make some progress if it was eventually brought to their attention. That would be easy enough if Sasuke ever showed signs of illness, Naruto and I would drag him there before he could protest if he coughed up blood for any reason whatsoever.
Not all of Sasuke's family was avoided, in the end. We ran into several of his cousins when practicing taijutsu at their training grounds, and more often than not they were very willing to hand over a few tips or tricks to the clan heads son and his little friends. The twins Kado and Kazuo, the only twins in the clan as far as I knew, were regulars, them and Shisui of course. They seemed more like Sasuke, fun loving, friendly, though a little bit holier-than-thou at times in the twins case. They helped us with shuriken and kunai throwing, which neither Naruto or I had been good at our first time going through the first year of the Academy, and it was during one of these sessions that Itachi stopped by to see his brother. I tried to bow out but Kazuo (I think), the little twerp, grabbed me, with Kado taking Naruto. They presented us to Itachi like human sacrifices before a sun god, identical cheeky smiles making me want to punch them.
"These are the little friends we've been telling you all about!"
Sasuke was trying to keep from laughing at my utterly done expression, whispering to me once I was released and had staggered away a few steps trying to keep my balance.
"See, if other family is here too then you aren't stealing time at all."
The kid was trying to make me feel better about it. Joy. I didn't want to disappoint so I plastered on a smile, it turning to a real one once I noticed how Naruto was all over Itachi with questions about the life of a ninja and 'cool jutsu'. I couldn't hold in an eyeroll.
"Naruto, you know we can't do jutsu yet."
He squawked, looking offended and whirling to look at me, "What!? Why not?"
"Do you ever pay attention in class? They don't awaken your chakra system until the second year, supposedly to give you more time for it to form and levels to build up. Mostly it's so that those who can't make it to the second year can't fuck themselves over or the too eager can't get themselves killed."
My liberal use of foul language, learned when exploring Konoha and mostly accidentally eavesdropping on shinobi and various old men (and women, some people's grandmothers were founts of knowledge, curse word wise), didn't surprise any of those present. Well, I couldn't tell about Itachi really, but the others were used to it. No, Kado, Kazuo, and Sasuke were looking horrified for different reasons.
"They don't let you use chakra ?"
It was Sasuke who asked, so it was to him I had to explain it to.
"Well, no. Clan kids get to because they have family who knows what's going on and can make sure that they don't hurt themselves or others. Orphans and Civilian children don't have that option, so they're forced to wait for it to come up in the Academy curriculum."
Sasuke looked dumbstruck. "I thought you just didn't want to use jutsu, not that you couldn't ."
I rolled my eyes, punching his shoulder lightly, "It isn't some medical issue, we aren't completely incapable, we just have a time limit until we can."
At least I hope not. I had that 'static' in me that I was positive was chakra what with how I could feel the same thing from everyone else and animals, but there was always the possibility that I wouldn't be able to use it, like Lee. I pushed the fear aside, elbowing Naruto so he would remember his manners, he finally remembered that he hadn't introduced himself. He didn't get the hint, but Sasuke was already seizing the lull in conversation to do so.
"Aniki, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Asuka. Guys, this is my Aniki."
He looked so damn proud that I felt guilty for putting off meeting him. But the guilt mostly disappeared when the guy shifted and I felt his chakra brush against mine again. Da yum . It was slightly frightening, but Naruto dragged me along to visit the Hokage enough that it was easier dealing with large chakra signatures, but at this stage they had to be mostly at rest, which was useless really.
Itachi was a quiet guy. He didn't participate in the conversation much, mostly watching with a small smile on his face as we bumbled around. He did end up showing off a bit once Sasuke begged a few thousand times, though he didn't get around to teaching it. A bird circled overhead and he quickly said his goodbyes and begged off. The twins wandered away shortly afterwards and Sasuke was still pouting. I considered telling him that his brother really had been busy when Naruto jumped in.
"Is he afraid of birds or something?"
Sasuke gave him a withering look, "Of course not, Aniki isn't afraid of anything!"
Naruto held his hands up in surrender, "Just asking, he saw that bird and ran."
More observant than I had thought, a thrill of pride ran through me and I cut in.
"They're messenger hawks, they're used to summon ninja from across the Village, discreetly. You aren't supposed to acknowledge them, just read the message in the flight patterns and then get moving."
I was faced with two wide eyed kids, "How'dya know that?!"
They looked indignant and I smirked, "I actually pay attention in class. We actually haven't gone over that yet this year, though, so Sasuke had no way of knowing it anyway."
Naruto got the unspoken message that he should have been paying attention. He looked guilty for all of three seconds before starting up another competition involving shuriken in order to change the subject.
It was that night that we finally managed to get permission for Sasuke to have a sleepover at Naruto's. Apparently Itachi had given his approval of us as responsible enough. I wasn't entirely sure about their sanity, allowing three five-year-olds, well I was six, but still, alone to care for themselves? Then again, this was a ninja village, and we usually were alone running around, this wouldn't be much different except there would be sleep at some point. Hopefully.
It ended up being at my apartment rather than Naruto's, since mine was cleaner and the kitchen was stocked, seeing as we always ate there. There was a television that had come with the place, broken and super poor quality, but the tech classes I'd taken in college weren't that far back in my memory. I was able to fix it one evening after I had gotten the apartment, so we were able to spend the night watching scary movies, building blanket forts, and throwing popcorn at one another. Of course the scary movies probably weren't a very good idea, what with the others being actually five years old, but they weren't that easily scared. When they were scared I promptly brought that horrible pre-teen phase I had back to life, making snide, sarcastic, and inappropriate comments, flaming the films for all they were worth. Most of the time it worked and they were too busy laughing their asses off to feel afraid anymore, but other times I sent them to the kitchen to make popcorn or refill all the drinks. They took the escape gladly so long as I didn't acknowledge why I was doing so.
I knew that we were being watched. Naruto sometimes had an Anbu guard, whether it was because they read the civilians' moods and deemed if they were likely to snap and attack at certain times, they had intel that someone was going to move on him, or they were just checking in, I didn't know. But a certain Anbu was with them tonight, and I knew that he had requested it this time. Uchiha Itachi knew that his brother was going to be spending the night away from home for what was most likely the first time, and he was there to guard him. Sasuke was probably as much of a political target as Naruto, even before the massacre. Dormant Sharingan, kid of the clan head, mostly ignored because of his older brothers brilliance. People could be very tempted to turn him against his family, or even his village. People like Danzo.
I couldn't help but wonder what those Anbu thought of us. I was surprised I could feel that they were there at all. I accidentally caught myself staring out the window in approximately the direction of one of them and they dampened it down drastically. Not invisible to me yet, but more on the edge of my mind rather than ' bam ninja outside mah window'. I shook it off after that, only occasionally glancing at them. I couldn't resist sending a knowing look at the one that was Itachi, seeing only the slightest of movements of leaves as he twitched in what was probably shock. No doubt his mother had told him I was some form of sensor. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to let him know I could pick him out of a lineup of hiding Anbu. Actually, in hindsight, it sounded like an absolutely horrible idea, but it was too late now.
The boys changed the channel to some action movie that Naruto and I had actually seen before. Naruto seemed just as enthralled as last time so I pulled out one of my books, absently taking notes, glancing up now and then if one of them made a sudden movement or strange sound. It was so much like babysitting back when I was a teenager that the nostalgia hit me like a physical wave and I had to get up and move. As a result, we had entirely too much mochi for three children. I distributed a slightly more than healthy amount between the three of us and then stared at the gigantic bowl that was left. I eventually shrugged, opening the window and setting the bowl out on the window box, on top of the small layer of grass.
"I guess it's for the...animals then."
I closed the window with a snap, ignoring the horrified looks the boys gave me before they accepted this as one of those weird things that I apparently do. When I went to get the bowl later to wash up it I felt a thrill of victory to find that it was empty. I had worried that they wouldn't eat it. They should be comfortable with knowing that it wasn't poisoned, they had seen me make it and then eat it myself after all, but I had held out the thought that they might decide to persist in pretending they weren't there. The boys looked at it suspiciously and I shrugged,
"It's a ninja village kids. Either the passerby were hungry or our squirrels have gotten rather sneaky."
Not impossible that the squirrels would be sneaky, they'd have to outsmart the ninja if they ever wanted to make a living stealing from them. That thought was actually slightly frightening so I let it be, going back to cleaning up and humming slightly under my breath while the boys yelled at the television.
Notes:I know I said every week, but whoops, okay? "
Anyway, please comment <3 Either with thoughts on the fic or tags I should consider adding.
Chapter 4Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextOmake
It may have happened, it may not, you decide.
Uchiha Itachi was one of many ANBU tasked with watching over the Kyuubi vessel on the night some intel came in from the streets about angry, drunken civilians making threats against the boy. It wouldn't be the first time this happened, and it wouldn't have been a first if they actually went through with it either. Sometimes the team often thought that they weren't needed though, because of the small girl that the fox constantly trailed after. Oh, she let him do the talking in most situations, and she stood in the shadows, but anyone with half a brain could see she was in charge. If there was a hint of danger she grabbed him and they simply disappeared. The landlord knew which apartment was the Kyuubi brat's, and he gave that information out freely. The policy wasn't actually law, so nothing could be done about it. But the girl's apartment was under the radar, as was the Uchiha compound. The amount of times ANBU trailed after the trio there in the past year was uncountable.
Uchiha Itachi only met them face to face recently, and if he hadn't seen the girl from a distance he wouldn't have known her to be the mastermind. Watching them all together like this, her gauging their behavior and treating them accordingly, never acknowledging their fear, it spoke of higher intelligence than she let on in public. Her comments to movies, some made no sense, obviously references to something he had never heard of, perhaps an inside joke with the other two, but mostly with a vocabulary that didn't belong to a six-year-old.
The Kyuubi boy also surprised him. The file had him at slightly below average intelligence, with a foul temperament, and overall horrible personality. Of course, he knew the last two to be false from his meeting with him in person, and now his own snide comments and counter-theories about whatever film also suggested that perhaps the teachers couldn't be trusted to make assessments about him.
And his brother. He hardly ever saw his brother so happy and alive. Lately, he saw him miserable and disappointed as he disappeared off to another mission. But here among his friends, he was lively, a bit of a smart aleck, but cheerful all the same. It was heart-wrenching for him to not be able to be that way at home because of his father.
After so long of watching them the girl's quirks caught the collective attention of ANBU once again. Itachi had learned from his mother that the girl was a sensor, able to pick out nin-cats from the normal animals. When he had heard from her own mouth that this was even before her chakra system became active and reachable he deemed it necessary to submit it to the debriefing. Following a natural sensor was always tricky, but ANBU usually had no need to do so in the village. Anyone who had the ability was usually trained to such a position that they understood the code made up of lengths of chakra flashes unique to Konoha and jealously guarded, through that they could be put at ease and everyone goes on their way. Either they had gotten lax in their in-village maneuvers or she was better than they had thought.
Crane was left in an unintentional staring match with her for upwards of 32 seconds until he finally gave in and admitted to being spotted, curling his chakra in on itself and hiding further in the leaves. The girl looked away, finally noticing that she had been staring, and not reacting more upon realizing that they were being watched. All present and aware of what was going on wondered about her sanity, allowing an unknown party to hang around outside her window while they were alone and vulnerable. That is, until she looked at Itachi. Oh, she knew it was him, and she knew exactly where he was. He was unable to stop most of the motion, scowling under his mask and pulling his chakra in even further. Someone really needed to tag this girl's file. If they already didn't have her tagged for that intelligence of hers anyway. She was a prodigy and she wasn't trying too hard to hide it, though she wasn't exactly flaunting it like his family had forced him to do early in life. Her reading material alone vouched for that intelligence, advanced cryptography was soon finished and replaced with intermediate sealing theory, careless notes forming on a notepad on the couch beside her. It was the only couch cushion left in place, the others having been stolen by the boys when they began building their blanket fort. For no discernable reason, the girl became restless, putting the book away and retreating to the kitchen, not noticing how the boys perked up when she retrieved a mixing bowl and she definitely didn't realize the way they did little victory dances when she brought out short-grain rice and a mortar.
There were several different colors and each color was dusted with a different thing, from coconut to katakuriko. The obscene amount of the sweet that she had made didn't seem to hit her until she noticed the amount of drool pooling below the boy's feet. Her solution was to put the unreasonable excess into one bowl and set it outside.
"I guess it's for the animals then."
There was a collective twitch, either they were being insulted or it was a reference to the animal masks. Itachi preferred to believe it was a reference to the masks, after all, she was giving them sweets. In the shadow of the mask, he allowed himself to stare at them mournfully. Tanuki was the first to give, risking the Captain's ire. He flashed forward discreetly, grabbing a handful and retreating back to his former position, body language showing no remorse as he slipped them deftly under the mask and began munching. Itachi could see Hound-taicho from where he was sitting, as well as Neko, who was usually never far from his side. The irritation in Hound was almost palpable, but so was the resignation. After that most of the others surged forward, a larger group than normal. Itachi joined the second wave, enjoying the mochi while it lasted. He would have to prod Sasuke into getting his little friend to bring the leftovers home occasionally.
Neko was in the last wave, holding out the longest by proximity to the source of the ire. It got stronger when he returned to his post with two handfuls of sweets, nervously holding a hand out flat with the mochi resting there. After a moment of irritated silence, there was a swoosh of air and the mochi was gone, Hound's mask twitched and the others stifled their amusement before it could earn them hell in training later.
The satisfaction in the girl's face disappeared after her mention of squirrels, a slight, almost unconscious shiver following. Tanuki practically radiated curiosity, as well as Crow, tho there wasn't much either could do, the story behind the reaction would likely never reach their ears.
After the boys finally went to sleep, passing out in front of the television, the girl covered them with blankets and curled up on the couch behind them, eventually nodding off in her tea. A pair of gloved hands caught it before it could hit the ground, a different set cradling the book, flipping through the pages and marveling at the content. The tea was gently placed on the end table, with the book laid open to the correct page beside her. Hound eyed Tanuki as he set down the tea, watching the slight movement of the mask as he reacted to what he saw. When their eyes met it took one hand signal and they cleared out, not leaving a trace.
Notes:As always, comments give me life :)
Hope finals were kind to everyone, and if they're still happening I hope they continue to be kind.
Chapter 5Notes:***There /are/ warnings for this chapter, but they contain spoilers, so see the end notes if you think you might need some notice about stuff.***
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextTaijutsu practice was my favorite. It was something that I didn't have a leg up in. All Academics were dominated by me, but that was hardly fair given that my previous life gave me one hell of a head start. Weapons were also something that I didn't have the advantage in, and while it was interesting and entertaining it just wasn't the same. It felt empowering to command my body to do something strenuous and then for it to actually happen exactly as I envisioned. Before I hadn't exactly been obese, but I definitely wasn't 'healthy'. Even at six years old I was stronger than the twenty-year-old me, though that could be due to a body enhanced naturally through chakra and trained by master killers.
I couldn't get enough of it. Even when I was dripping sweat and close to collapse it amazed me because I could go on. Before a small flight of stairs had me wheezing and if there were anywhere upwards of three flights I would be near catatonic and aching. But now that I had physical fitness and something to do with it I was enthusiastic as hell. Oh, I would never be a taijutsu specialist, the strength wasn't there. Just hitting things real hard wasn't for me, but damned if I wasn't going to be fucking brilliant at it anyway, no matter my true specialty. Sasuke and Naruto didn't exactly share the same enthusiasm for it as I did, but they liked training and would usually indulge me when the mood struck to run for fucking miles.
I was tiny. I would always be tiny. One of the matrons at the orphanage had once told me, while being mothering and condescending all at the same time about my size, that the doctor they'd had look me over when I arrived said that my mother hadn't eaten nearly enough for me to be healthy. It was a miracle that I had lived at all, and that my chakra system formed appropriately, even if it was a bit later than usual. She had said that my mother was most likely too poor to feed herself properly, never mind a child, and that's why I was left there. Of course, food at the orphanage isn't exactly the peak of nourishing, especially when you're splitting it evenly with the kid they sometimes refuse to feed at all. Even now my funds went to helping feed Naruto, and both of our funds weren't exactly large. I was doomed to never be the strongest or the mightiest, right from when my mother skipped a few too many meals. But fuck if I didn't always outrun the rest of the class in laps. It usually pissed off the clan kids, but they didn't spend many a night running to get rid of nightmares about a dystopian world at war that had eventually gotten them killed.
Sasuke came in just after me in the Academics, but blew me out of the water in Taijutsu, meaning he took the place at the top of the class. That kept his father happy enough, and with Itachi apparently starting to rebel a bit Sasuke was working on the fireball jutsu quicker than I had thought. Of course, Naruto and I were right there beside him, with Naruto yelling random encouragement and taunts and me analyzing and giving the best advice I could think of. Of course, I filed away the hand signs, the way his chakra curled through his tenketsu, and the how-to for later, but I doubt I would use it without his permission. We memorized hand signs early on in the academy, it was one of those ninja basics that we learned to run through at light speed from day one. The practice of fumbling fingers had to be beat out of you pretty quickly in their opinion. I'd been a computer person, my mind knew how to move my fingers swiftly to hit keys that I wasn't even consciously aware of why they needed to be hit yet. It wasn't difficult to train them with the handsigns the same way, even if it was a different body, the neurons controlling the muscles were the same, even if the muscles themselves were fresh. Or something like that, at least.
While Sasuke fumbled about with his fire jutsu and Naruto yelled about how cool it was and tried to imitate harmlessly with his still inactive Kyuubi-saturated system I curled up on the bank of the river surrounded by cats, covered by others, and reading a book. We were going to have to take the long way home again to avoid the Inuzuka compound. They always took undue interest when we returned from the Uchiha compound after interacting with too many of the resident felines. The cat from the very first visit was almost always among them, though he never spoke in front of the boys, and when he did speak it was to complain about the lack of treats. In my defense, I tried to bring treats in, but my budget couldn't keep up with how often I visited the compound.
After about a week of this sitting around watching smoke, the bigass fireball finally appeared. I was thrilled for Sasuke and told him so, but the dread of the upcoming massacre still followed me around. I was running out of time to learn from our Uchiha friends, to get to know Itachi, his mother, hell, the cats even. I was running out of time to spend with this completely carefree Sasuke. My friend wouldn't ever be the same afterward, if he was even my friend anymore. I hoped to nip the 'avenger' nonsense in the bud and keep him from going completely broody, but from fanfiction, it would seem mostly impossible. Then again, those authors didn't know the Sasuke I did who liked to try to sneak tomatoes away while I was cooking, who hadn't noticed yet that I hated tomatoes with a passion and wasn't going to put them in the food anyway. I only bought the stupid things for him. If he was going to start hating everyone I might have to start eating them just to be reminded of him every now and then. Scratch that, those things are disgusting.
After Sasuke had mostly mastered the Fireball jutsu I got everyone into the habit of walking Sasuke home after we had finished what homework and training we were going to do that day. I wasn't sure if it would be safe for us to get that close to the compound should we interrupt the massacre, but I wanted the chance to convince Sasuke to get help instead of running in and getting caught by Itachi, who forces the whole hate thing on him. It was nearing the end of the first semester when I stopped dead just inside the compound, every muscle tensing and eyes narrowing dangerously. The boys stopped as well, eyeing me fearfully. I cast my eyes around the compound, examining the posture of the people loitering around. There was anger, mostly. Some felt fear, though those were the minority, and only civilians at that. Sasuke poked my shoulder lightly,
"What's wrong Asuka?"
I turned my searching eyes back to him grimly,
"Something isn't right. The cats."
"What about them?"
"They're gone. Every single one."
Sasuke's mother was waiting on him at the doorway, and she gave us a grateful look when she saw us. I gave her a nod and a quick greeting before grabbing Naruto.
"It's time for us to leave."
"Wha-hey, we didn't even get to stay for cookies like usual!"
"We aren't welcome today."
On the way out Naruto picked up on the fury surging through the place, the looks we got. I didn't rush. I stopped at the stands we sometimes frequented, calmly bought dango for Naruto and me, and when I finally found a civilian who wasn't paralyzed with fear or rushing to get somewhere else I finally asked.
"Fukami-san, what happened to all the kitties?"
It wasn't one of the civilians I had in-depth conversations with, but rather one of the older women who usually commented that I needed to eat more and gave Naruto and me directions to whatever restaurant had claimed her fancy recently.
Her face darkened, but she didn't shut me out.
"The Konoha council ruled against so many summons running free in the village, said it made people anxious. Bah! It's just another thing to tie us down, and break our spirits. Ever since that day, it's only gotten worse. What about you, child, were you frightened of the cats?"
I shook my head rapidly, Naruto as well.
"They were our friends! They weren't all nice, but they weren't dangerous if you weren't being rude or breaking the rules."
I'd seen a cat snag onto someone's boot for disturbing the peace, while the Uchiha patrolled the village, the cats patrolled the compound.
The lady nodded, grim satisfaction coating her face.
"See, a ridiculous notion, the cats causing anxiety."
She continued to mutter and we excused ourselves, heading home. I finally had an answer as to why the show had never shown the cats. They wouldn't have been in the frame if Sasuke was doing ninjutsu, or had been close to the head's house, which is where all the other things happened. After that, well, this had happened. It might just be the same story after all.
***
School was the same despite the strain between the Uchiha and the rest of the village. The only Uchiha in our year was Sasuke, and the others we didn't interact with enough to tell if they seemed to realize what their clan was up to. The teachers didn't let on either, so perhaps the political stress was contained so that only the council, the Hokage, and the Uchiha were aware. I'm sure if the heads of the other clans were in on it completely then they would put it together once all of them were wiped out. And if Konoha could get rid of one unruly clan...it would cause mayhem and mutiny for even one of them to find out, or even suspect. So naturally, I was probably going to have to theorize afterward within hearing range of at least one of them. All the clan heads of import had a kid in our year, even if they weren't in my class. They would know me from the rankings posted in the halls that declared me the highest in Academia and second only to Sasuke in taijutsu. [Not that class ranking would mean shit all to them, but their kids could at least vouch that I had more than two brain cells to rub together.] It always made me angry to see Naruto near the bottom of the rankings when he deserved to be either right up there with us in taijutsu, or nearer the middle or top of the middle, in academics.
Naruto's situation would bother me more, and warrant some sort of drastic measures to earn a solution, if they actually mattered in the long run. True, they counted toward team placements, but this way it was predictable and headed towards canon Team 7. Sakura was dead middle with a higher academic score than most, Sasuke was at the top of everything basically, and Naruto was at the bottom overall. The exact formula for the team. So long as Naruto passed the exam at the end, which technically he wouldn't but whatever, then he would still become a ninja. He wouldn't need to score very high throughout his school years, so long as he passed. And the teachers wouldn't let him fail. They didn't want to keep him for more than one year. We were shuffled to the other guy who taught this level as it was. I still wasn't sure how Naruto managed to convince the guy to shuffle me with him, though I'm sure it involved amphibians and an excess of paint.
Naruto's pranks happened, just like in the show. I shouldn't have been surprised. Though he got attention from myself, Sasuke, our few friends in the Uchiha district, and Teuchi and his daughter, a majority of the population still despised him. He wanted total conversion. He wanted to be noticed. He needed for the hatred to go away. I'm not exactly sure what happened but one day he marched up to Sasuke and me after he had disappeared to do some mischief of his and proclaimed that he would be the Hokage. I had wondered when that would appear. I simply shuffled my book a bit and nodded,
"Okie doke. Be sure to lower that tax on soda, it's killing our budget. You know what, just lower the tax of things coming in from the land of Iron, that's where all the good junk food is from."
I spoke about it like it was fact, because to me, it was. I'd seen him wearing the hat. This wasn't just a childish fantasy, it was the future. But of course, he had probably kind of expected to be laughed at, like with every other person he had told so far, even from me who was always in his corner. His face was priceless especially when Sasuke lowered his own book, looking thoughtful,
"Oo, could you also lower the taxes on Pocky? It's one of Itachi's favorites, I think he'd love you forever if you could make it more affordable."
I zoned out of Naruto's teary moment of feeling accepted, feeling a bit like I was intruding and at the same time wondering why the hell it would bother the heir to one of the largest, richest founding clans of Konoha that pocky was about 2 yen more than other things. He could buy out the industry with his pocket money if he saved right for a few months. Not to mention ANBU pay, that had to pay a lot, right? Then again, with the whole 'heir to the clan' thing his father probably wouldn't like to hear about him being seen buying sweets. There was probably a lecture in there somewhere about 'weakness', or perhaps just 'tooth decay is unseemly for someone of your stature', yeah, that makes sense. When I zoned back in they were rolling on the ground trying to strangle each other, and I had no clue as to why. I sighed, going back to my book. Just your average Thursday I suppose.
When the end of the semester approached I started to relax a bit. I had always vouched for the fan theory that stated that the clan must have been massacred when Sasuke was around 8, even if the timeline and sequence of events made it seem like he was around 6, like now. Apparently, his birthday was later in the same month as mine, so I was only barely older. I was starting to relax too much, thinking I had several years left with happy Sasuke when we visited on a weekend to find that Shisui had committed suicide.
I was numb for a few minutes. I'd noticed he wasn't in the village, I tried to keep track of everyone I care about, after all. But I'd thought he was on a mission. My face felt cold for some reason, despite the sun, and I couldn't help but remember that I'd jerked awake slightly after one in the morning, feeling off. God, had I noticed him dying but not realized it? Was the sudden absence of his chakra enough to wake me from across the village? Fuck, I knew his exact time of death and hadn't registered what it was in the moment.
I was only able to stare at the grim-looking Sasuke dumbly, still processing while Naruto stared at the ground in shock. I twitched, forcing myself into the present, pushing down my emotions to deal with later when I didn't have children looking at me like they were about to cry, grimacing,
"The Shisui that was always grinning, throwing us around, shunshining places he shouldn't, and buying us dango?"
He nodded and I was only able to give a weak 'oh', voice wavering more than I'd meant it to. Needless to say, we left quickly to let the clan grieve…and to grieve ourselves. Naruto was near silent for the rest of the day. I didn't have anything good to say to comfort him, not when I desperately needed comfort, too, so I cooked instead. When he finally spoke it was to ask questions, child's voice distraught.
"Why...why would someone do that? Just...end it all."
I held in a sigh, putting the lid back on the soup and going to sit at the table opposite him, crossing my legs in the chair.
"Sometimes...the world is cruel. And people who are so bright, and good like he was...it just... gets to them. The dark that's everywhere gets inside and it taints. The taint...it drags them down until they're drowning and then when they feel like there's no escape, no way to be free again….they go search for that freedom the only way they can think of."
"...that's stupid. They shouldn't do that."
This time I really did sigh, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand before catching myself. Apparently, Naruto's bad habits were contagious.
"Its…" I sighed again, "All we can do is keep an eye on the ones we love, and be there for them when they start to drown." I immediately felt sick because Shisui had drowned - I cut the thought off, continuing.
"Look, he said that Shisui was gone and that there was a note. You know what the Sharingan does. It copies. Handwriting isn't a sacred thing when there's a bazillion of those guys running around. Shisui was one of the happiest people I've ever known, he had family, friends, hell, even a bingo book page. Perhaps one of his enemies got to him, maybe he really did just get in over his head. I don't know."
He finally looked up, pouting petulantly, "But you always know, you know everything."
I snorted, "Ha, not nearly."
"But you do! You're able to explain why birds chirp, why the sky's blue, the grass green, fire's hot, frogs are slimy, you fixed the TV, even when there were sparks and stuff, you always know the answers in class, you read those complicated books, you never miss a question, even when you weren't paying attention."
I was surprised that he had that many instances to name and resolved to take the time every now and then to look at one of his questions and go 'I don't know, let's go to the library about it', just so that this notion would die out.
"Naruto, I'm your age. Well, slightly older. Barely. I don't know everything. I especially don't know what was going through Shisui's mind when he died, whether it was a reason for suicide, or 'Oh shit, these guys are after me'. There are going to be times when I don't know why, how, or sometimes even what is going on."
He shivered, "I hope that doesn't happen too often."
I forced myself to grin, "Same here. Now, I do believe that there's food to be had!"
Later that night Naruto went back to his apartment to go to bed and I stayed up the rest of the night staring out the window, trying to come to terms with the rapidly approaching deaths of most of the people I spoke to on a day-to-day basis. With the fact that I really had failed to ever think of a way to help Shisui, and now he was gone. I ignored the Anbu in the trees, clenching my jaw and chanting old prayers from another life in the back of my mind, hoping that he had peace, wherever he was.