The Legacy of the Uchiha
Prologue
Summary: The Legacy of the Uchiha was thought to be in hands of Sasuke Uchiha, but in this version of the story there happens to be another; Kento Tanaka, the unknowing son of the prodigy Shisui Uchiha...and current dead-last in the academy. How will he do when pitted with the Hokage's daughter and his bloodthirsty relative, especially when you mix in a sensi who thinks you the reincarnation of his long lost teammate.
AN: I aged up Shisui making him about five years older than he was in cannon, mostly to avoid any...gross issues with his age.
BEGIN!
"Aye, get back here you little shit!" Kento's heart felt like it was about to explode in that moment as he quickly began to dash as fast he could from the store owner's vicious pursuit.
Kento's malnourished body could barely handle the strain that his muscles were enduring to push his legs fast enough to remain out of grasp from the very pissed off man. "I only stole instant ramen! What is this guy's problem?"
If only he had been able to eat it would have been an easy task to avoid the man, but his mother had an...unusually poor spell of heath and if Kento had left her for even five minutes...he wasn't sure that she would be able to last that long. She had gotten all the food they had, and all their money went into pills that didn't help her worth a damn.
A burning sensation in Kento's leg brought him to the ground as his muscle tore from over-exertion. He couldn't be caught, damn it! If looks could kill then Kento would have been dead on spot as the shop keeper stood over his injured form, his eyes had been glazed over with pure rage.
"You think that I haven't figured out that you've been stealing from me for years you impudent brat! This place has standards, you think that I'm just gonna let you take whatever you want?"
"P-Please sir, I'm—"
"Save it! I've heard it all before, kid. I know every single sob story in the book, so hand me the bag or we're going to have a problem."
Kento's dark brown eyes widen: if this man were to take him to the police then it meant that his mother very well could die if he wasn't there to help her.
The man made a grab for the bag while he held the food tight to his chest. Every single fiber of his being aches as his nutrient starved body tries to generate enough strength to save the valuable supplies.
A harsh kick to his chest proved to be all that he could take as the man ripped the bag away. "I-I can't let him do that." Kento holds tight against the man's ankle, but another kick to the face knocked him down and out.
A small pool of blood began to leak out onto the concrete as Kento began to feel tears gather within his eyes. His body began to shake as malnourishment and the physical beating began to take it's toll.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" A scratchy voice that Kento somewhat recognized in his dazed state called out. His eyes scanned around for the source of this disturbance as the shop keeper did the same. His eyes soon keyed in on the source of the noise and his pupil grew wide in shock.
Naruko Namikaze: THE Daughter of the Hokage crossed the street towards the disturbance. "Honorable Daughter, what brings you over here?"
"Whatever the hell you're doing to him." Her finger pointed directly at Kento. Why was she defending him? Kento's eyes narrow, "Of course! The great prodigy Naruko Namikaze had one reason to try and help a guy like him: pity, that's what it is!" he tries to push his body off the sidewalk, but to little success.
"He was stealing from my store! I am merely taking back my own property—but if you happen to have a problem with my actions then I can certainly let this young man go with a warning if it appeases you—after all it's only about 2 Ryos worth."
"I'll pay for it."
Kento watched with shame as he soon recognized that he was becoming a charity case. All his life he had hated the thought of people thinking that they were so far above him that it gave them the right to coddle and interfere in his affairs. The other part of him—the logical part, knew that he had no choice lest he want to starve to death—and it made his skin crawl.
Naruko gave the store owner the money and the man began to walk away from the scene, leaving Naruko and a very hurt Kento behind. The girl walked over to his body and looked down at him with a sad look in her eyes.
It was exactly what Kento knew it to be: the girl felt bad for him! The blue pools that made up her eyes held no lies as he struggled to move his body.
"You're Kento right? I think I've seen you at the Academy sometimes. W-Where have you been lately."
"Sick." Kento's flat tone dryly explained, clearly not telling the whole truth.
"I might be blonde but that doesn't mean that I'm dumb—"
"My Mother is sick, very sick. I'm sorry that I can't come to class, but I have to care for her...nobody else would."
Her gaze turned from suspicious to sympathetic within moments. "I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do to help her? My family has access to some of the best doctors in all of Konoha."
"There is nothing you can do for her, nothing anyone can do for her!"
If Kento didn't know who he was dealing with he would have sworn to have seen a flash of pain cross Naruko's face. "I—well—I lost my mother the night I was born...even though I never had her to lose her it still feels like I've always had something that's been missing. Sometimes I used to blame myself for it...she died to give me life, it took me a long time to understand that she wouldn't want me to feel that way.
Her grief...It seemed real, Kento didn't like that at all: it made it easier to stomach his negative feelings towards the most beloved child when she seemed like a distant...almost inhuman figure. The fact that she had a tragedy of her own, just like the one he would soon go through made it hard for him to blame Naruko.
"...I'm sorry—it's hard for me...to accept help. I've done most everything on my own for a long time, people usually...pity people like me or they don't bother to give us a second thought."
The girl extended her hand down to him, "Your leg is pretty busted up." Kento's eyes narrow suspiciously at the gesture. If he had more chakra then it wouldn't be difficult for him to use his jutsu to repair his leg, but his body was in no shape to try and perform a technique like that before something bad could happen to his mother.
"I promise I won't pity you if you promise me that you won't do the same."
"...Deal."
Kento grasped her hand and then Naruko easily pulled him up. The boy the cautiously put his right arm around her shoulders and then he winced upon placing the weight of his injured leg back on the ground.
"Where do you live?"
"The Eastern Civilian District. Once we get close I can show you exactly where."
Both knew that the Eastern Civilian District was probably the poorest part in all of Konohagkure. It had the highest crime rate anywhere in the city, and it was also the farthest from the Academy: after all the clans of Konoha made up a majority of the shinobi population and they held very little interest in co-mingling outside of family compounds and tight-knit communities that rarely touched the rest of the village.
"You came an awful long way to..."
"Do you want to say steal? I did that because if I tried to steal back in the East District then I would have been killed. Store owners are a lot more prepared for this type of thing when it happens almost all of the time."
It was deeply unsettling to Naruko that someone she went to class lived in such conditions. She barely knew much about him, of course almost nobody knew anything more about him other than rather...poor academic performance.
"S-So what brought you to that part of town. I'm sure if you wanted you could have hard a servant do any type of shopping you had to do."
Naruko laughed at that statement, "I wasn't even planning on shopping. Some Iwa embassadors had come for dinner to talk and I didn't want to stay in a house with a bunch of stuffy old pervs talking politics." he blinked twice.
"How do you know they're perverts—"
"My Godfather is a super-pervert! I think I have a sixth sense for sensing perverts after spending time with him."
The...eccentricity of Jiraiya was well known amongstthevillagers of the Hidden Leaf. Kento had mostly known the man from seeing his books in the hands of someof theless...clean people he knew. They were common place in the Eastern District where people needed cheapthrills and there was nothing cheaper than cheap pornographic novels. He'd tried to read one book in the Icha-Icha series, and he barely made it ten pages before he gave up due to the cringe-inducing sex scene that quickly shut down any notion of a plot, though he should have known better to expect such a thing from smut.
"...That doesn't answer my question."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean about that?"
"That part of town might not be as bad as the East District, but as the Daughter of the Hokage could go anywhere else and do anything that you want."
"I'm not a fan of the rich types. They always try and use me to get to my father, always try and get into favor so they can have some type of pull...I might not be the smartest in the world but I know when someone is trying to use me. The real people of the village are the ones that I love the most. The people who can call me Naruko instead of 'Honorable Daughter' they're the ones worth talking to since they can see beyond the stupid title and treat me like a person."
People in the poorer parts of the village had a split opinion of the Yondaime, and as a result Naruko was judged in the same light. After all the Yondaime saves the village from complete destruction at the hands of the Kyuubi, but at the same time recovery had been extremely slow in poorer areas. His mother's friends had constantly spoken rather poorly of the fourth because his lack of assistance offered to them.
The clans had bounced back rather quickly and had used their own pull to gain the most assistance as they were the voting majority within the Civilian Council, which honestly was anything but considering the amount of power that clans had over the non-clan Civilian population. Everyone else still had rubble to sort through and bodies that were never found because they happened to be buried underneath tons of stone.
Kento was sure that his father was stuck under all that rubble, his dead body never being given a grave for him to visit, no closure was to be had since there was no proof that his father hadn't outright walked away from his kid and his young mother.
He wasn't sure which of the two options would be worse...being abandoned, or his father dying a terrible death only to never be found again. The worst part of it was that Kento would never get the answer, he'd been resigned to the sad fact a long time ago.
Not having a father made him grow up strong...if he didn't lie, cheat, or steal then his mother and himself would have died a long time ago. It's why he took an interest in chakra manipulation and shinobi skills because they made him a better thief...and it gave him the knowledge he needed to prolong his mother's life while not having to pay hospital bills.
The dream Kento held onto for years was that one day he'd be able to master every form of medical jutsu in the world and use them to heal his mother...to stop death and suffering all together. Once he did that then the money would come naturally as the greatest healer in the world and then he would be able to afford a better life for him and his mother.
It's why Kento attended the Academy despite all the obstacles that were set forth before him. It was his ninja way, the promise that he made with his mother in return for her consent to allow him to treat her with his jutsu so that she could stay with him longer.
"Take a left up here." The boy instructed as the setting became more familiar. He could see the people around them begin to eye them like they were injured prey in shark infested waters.
"T-They're not too happy that I'm here, are they?"
It was a possibility, but he didn't want to place the blame on Naruko completely. "You saw what I was doing back with the store, these people see an easy target when they see a hurt kid and a little girl together like this."
Naruko's eyes narrow, "I'll show them an easy target if they try to hurt us!" she then flicked him on the forehead with her free hand. "That's for calling me a little girl."
"Just because you hit me doesn't mean that it's not true."
"Hn."
"You're starting to sound like Sasuke when you do that."
"Oh, please! Sasuke wishes I sounded like him."
"...With the way you two fight I wouldn't be surprised if you were crushing on him."
"Oh yeah? When did you come up with that lie? Oh, yeah probably in class because you're about as lazy as Shikamaru!"
"He sleeps, I just do...a different type of work."
The girl immediately perked up and gave him a wide grin. "Don't tell me that you've come up with some super killer technique that you've been hiding from all of us! I wanna see it!"
He blushed at her excitement, "It's not really a ninjutsu, or anything like that...it's actually mostly Genjutsu and some healing." he left out the part about learning the A-ranked Mystical Palm Technique in a stolen textbook.
"I don't think I've ever seen a boy take interest in being a medic-nin before. Genjutsu is pretty adavanced as well, they really don't teach that at all in the Academy. So why are you learning this stuff...the Genjutsu I mean...I understand why you're learning healing."
Soon they came across the a neighborhood full of decrepit houses. People had almost completely cleared off the streets as the sun had begun to set. Naruko felt herself almost shiver as she felt the atmosphere grow tense.
Kento could feel her discomfort, "We're close, turn the corner up ahead and walk to the last house on the right hand of the street. The grey one." she nodded back.
They turned down said street and quickly made way to the small home which had no light within at all. Naruko opened the door the house was completely silent other than the creaking of the wooden door.
Kento grit his teeth before looking Naruko dead in the eye. "I'm...going to need your help." He tilted his head towards the hallway to their left. "Last room down."
Naruko nodded back and lead Kento to said room and opened the door to reveal a young woman neatly covered in a blanket and a small table next to her that held books and a small bow which had a small amount of ramen in it.
"M-My son." The woman picked her head as far up as possible in order to gaze at her son with warm eyes, despite how sickly she looked on the outside, her eyes more than made up for the loss of her skin tone.
Kento momentarily forgot his pain and stumbled forwards to her. "You can fight this, hold on Mom!" He clutched her hand in his as she looked directly into his eyes. "W-Who is your friend? Does my little Ken have a g-girlfriend?"
He nodded at his mother in order to appease her, "Just hold on. Naruko give me your hand, please." Naruko did as she was asked and put her palm in his. "Transfer me some chakra."
"My contr—"
"Just do it! God damn it!"
"K-Kenny, it's time to let me go."
"M-Mom! Please don't go...I can't be alone, just let me treat you."
"You're not alone...I d-don't think that I remember the last time you had a friend over...I know what you've had to do for me...no son should ever have to do what you've done for for your mother."
"Don't day that, I haven't done anything like what you might think I've done, Mom!"
"D-Don't be sad, I don't want you to be sad Kenny. I get to go home soon, to your father and my family. I-I'll see you again when the time comes, until then please don't give up on your dream because you can't save me. I want you to try and finish at the A-Academy... do it for me, please."
Naruko felt her own eyes water as the final moments between a mother and son played out between the two. She felt a pit well up inside of her as her own loss began to effect her in ways that she hadn't felt since she was a little girl...would she die like this one day? Naruko had never really felt death this close to her before and it felt like a shadow that hung a hundred feet long behind the young mother and it felt as if it was ready to encapsulate her completely.
"D-Don't be alone...you've made my life so much brighter it might be time for you to find someone else...he'll be a great husband one day, Miss."
Kento nodded and his mother let go of his hand and brushed the tears away from his face. "You look so much like your father...he was a great man and a war hero...you would have loved to have met him one day."
"Mom...what was his name...please tell me his name."
"I never told you your father's name...because I was scared of what could happen to you if you found out...it's an S-ranked secret that only me and the Hokage know...I think I can tell you now...Naruko I know that it's you...I trust you that you can keep a secret like this for my son."
Her hand dropped to her stomach and her breathing began to grow extremely weak. "Your father's name was Shisui—please, don't tell a-anyone, it's not safe to share that name."
The mother took a big gasp of air as her smile grew, "I love you my son." within moments she was gone and Kento rose to his feet as tears streamed down his face and his knees began to quake. "G-Give me the chakra, quickly."
Naruko frowned but transferred the chakra anyways and the boy gathered the energy into his palm which became surrounded by light. Kento then carefully placed his palm at the point where her chakra coils met and supplied a jumpstart with his own chakra as he hoped to heal the coils enough so the body could continue to live, but within a minute his chakra had seemed to do nothing as he just simply stood over her body and let the tears stream down his face.
Naruko places her hand on his shoulder, "I can stay if you want. I can send one of those ANBU bozos who've been following me around with a message to my father. I can also send one to get emergency services to take care of her," the girl breathes in. "It takes strength to handle something like this and you did the best you could...you managed to make her happy in the end."
"Why do you care!"
"We haven't known each other long...but I can tell that you're a good person and I don't have enough honest friends. You don't have to be alone in this...I can help you."
His eyes met Naruko's blue eyes and he could tell that she was being genuine. He could see that she was also deeply affected by his mother's death and he felt actual sympathy from someone for one of the first times in his life as opposed to pity.
"P-Please stay." He weakly asked with his eyes shut. Naruko noddded back to him, "I'll tell the ANBU, they're still hiding outside." she took her leave out the front door and subsequently left Kento alone in his thoughts.
Normally on any other night he would have been extremely relieved to know that his father was dead instead of a deadbeat. It was also nice to know that his father was a war hero instead of some vendor that got killed in a robbery gone wrong. Now he finally had a name, "Shisui..." it was more than he had his entire life.
Why was his name such a bad thing to share around, did it mean that Shisui was some type of crime lord with enemies? No...his mother wouldn't lie to him, especially about something like that in her last moments. He would find out who Shisui was if it took him his entire life. He couldn't live on without finally knowing where he came from.
He wanted to stop thinking...the pain in his chest made him writhe as his mind wandered back into the hurtful reality of his situation...as of now he was truly alone in the world...
At that moment Kento broke...
The Hokage's Office
"I would much look forward to making a visit to Iwa to discuss the future possibility of holding a Chuunin Exam there in the future." Minato spoke in a diplomatic tone to the three embassadors that stood in his office. If he could have been honest with the men he had little desire to actually go to Iwa...there was too much blood that had been spilled on both sides, but he knew that if relations where to ever become a norm it required someone taking the rough first step.
It had to be Minato, especially if his little Naruko would one day take office after him...he shuddered at the thought of her trying to entertain embassadors. He knew that she had it in her, but at the same time she was a hothead that had trust issues.
"Sir, your next visitor is here."
"Ah!" Minato was broken out his thoughts and looked back at the embassadors, "We'll have to pick up on this tomorrow. I hope you enjoy your hotel, and don't be afraid to ask for a switch if it isn't up to your standards." he then looked back to his receptionist. "Tell him to come on in."
She nodded and held the door open for the embassadors who moved out in a group as they each chatted about the events of their visit amongst each other.
Minato took a deep breath: next time Iwa wanted to send more cronies it might be time to fake an illness in order to avoid the condescending bastards.
The door opened meekly and the familiar sight of his former student greeted him, "Ah! It's my successor! If I have many more nights like these then I might have to pass you the hat sooner than later." Kakashi gave a small smirk to his Sensi.
"You just have to hold on until Naruko can take the job. I'll be known as the Hokage with the shortest term and my only action will have been to establish Icha Icha Day as a national holiday."
"Jiraiya would be pleased with that...Naruko might just get rid of that one as her first action."
"So what is this about, Sensi? As much as I think you would like to chit chat you must have a reason for summoning me here this late."
Minato sighed at the end of the banter that he desperately needed.
"You know me well. My intention that brings you here is because the Genin team you will be taking on might have the most potential in history...as you know you will be taking lead of Team 7, and on that team you will have the top shinobi and kunoichi along with the dead last."
"I've had the same layout before. What outside of giving me your little girl is going to be so special about this team?"
"That should be enough...but you're right. The team will have; Sasuke Uchiha, Naruko Namikaze, and Kento Tanaka. You are the optimal teacher for this group based off your knowledge of the Sharingan and the respect Naruko has for you."
"So one Sharingan user and a Jinnchuriki, anything special about the dead last?"
Minato gave a small laugh. "The dead last might be the most special out of any of them and he doesn't even know it."
"What could be that special about a dead last?"
"The boy lives alone with his mother in the East Civilian District in one of the worst neighborhoods in all of the village. He's shown frequent criminal behavior out of necessity for survival. He's a really good thief."
"How is that relevant, Sensi?"
"I'm getting to it, Kakashi!"
Kakashi sighed. "Fine."
"The teachers at the Academy have constantly complained about his lack of interest and complete disregard for his teachers lessons, yet on every test he has near perfect scores without completing any other course work."
"So he's a good cheater? Is that really why you called me in here."
"I know the boy has never cheated once in his life. I believe that he has access to the Sharingan from his father, whether he knows it or not is the better question."
"The boy is a Uchiha? That is an interesting twist."
"There is even more: It was brought to my attention years ago that his father was none other than Shisui Uchiha, the Body Flicker."
Kakashi felt a small smile at the memory of the man who was one of the great heroes of the Third Shinobi Worl War, he had been saddened when he heard of his suicide. It really brought his own issues into perspective that came from his memories in the war, and when he came to terms with what happened it led him to become even closer to what was left for him with his Sensi and the little girl who had become much like his younger sister in Naruko.
"His eyes might be the most powerful and saught after on the planet, especially if he inherited the Kotoamatsukami from his father. It is imperative that you keep the boy's use of the Sharingan a complete secret when he begins training until he grows strong enough to protect himself."
"...You sure I can't just send them back to the Academy."
"Absolutely not."
"Guess I'm training the second coming of the Sannin..."
"Maybe, the boy actually wants to be a medic from the reports the ANBU have filed about his treatment of his mother."
"Is his mother unwell?"
Minato's expresssion darkened, "This is where things get...complicated when it comes to to Kento: his mother has been dying of chakra poisoning for the past five years, the boy stole medical textbooks from the hospital and learned the Mystical Palm Technique and has been keeping her alive." he took a glance out the window at the darkening sky.
"Kakashi, he will need you or else he might grow to be distant and if we lose this boy then we might have an extremely dangerous enemy whether it be him or someone who finds out about his heritage and takes his eyes, and if that happens—"
"I won't fail them, you can count on that Sensi."
The End
Hello everyone! Welcome to, "The Legacy of the Uchiha." this story will follow the trials and tribulations of Kento Tanaka that come with being a dead last on the team with the two biggest prodigies in Konoha.
I decided to write this after reading stories like, "Blood Bag." and, "The Boy on the Team." which were just a thrill to binge read.
I have most of the important plot points figured out in my head, but I'm still open to recommendations. I'd prefer reviews that come with substance though, mostly because it gives me a look into my own writing from a distance and if something sounds good in my head but is dumb I would like to know about it so I can reconsider.