Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto
Chapter 2
The next morning Izumi found herself on the way to the academy before she realized where she was going. Today was her graduation exam. No today was the day of the clan meeting. But that was after she cleared the exam. She had a feeling she won't be welcome otherwise. This was a very familiar feeling. The excitement and anticipation before an exam. She had a feeling she was used to such situations in her 'other life'. But what was unfamiliar was the dreadful realization of being unprepared. One side of her was rationalizing that this ninja business was all a dream and how fitting it was that even in dream land, going unprepared to an exam would be her biggest fear, considering a madman was going to kill her according to the dream plot. The other side, apparently unfamiliar with self-reproach, was mopping her little head over how 'dear Itachi' couldn't be what the 'other' thought he was! In all the confusion and nerves, she couldn't for her life remember what the exam topics were, which made her more nervous. 'Calm down, Izumi. You will remember everything once you clear your mind', she thought. It's just that the topics were lower in priority considering everything that happened recently. Surely, it will all come to her when she was asked to perform, right? On the other hand, if she failed because of this, all her plans will be delayed starting with 'storming' the coup-meeting today. The Uchiha elders will not include failures in their coup plan.
And oh how would she face Itachi if she failed? Considering she just fought with him yesterday about her conviction.
'Oh not again', her other side thought dripping with sarcasm, 'Indeed, how will you face him when he comes for your life, if you are not prepared?'
Too bad, the prim Uchiha lady did not appreciate the sarcasm and with a mental shrug to the 'other' took off to a nearby roof for a much needed short-cut to the academy and… fell down. "Oh, ow aw, that hurt! Shit not now."
Her palms were burnt off and by the pain she could feel, so were her feet. Those were the tenketsu points. She had tried to accumulate chakra there. That was weird since this only happens when your chakra pathways handle more chakra than they were meant for like blocking or absorbing a powerful jutsu which was clearly not the case here.
'Oh why all the disasters keep happening to me lately? Especially on the most important day of my ninja career!' 'Must be the meeting with Itachi', she had a strong suspicion the 'other' was having fun at her expense as usual. But the quip was closer to home. Indeed it all started there, as if an alien had invaded her thought. 'You are thinking too much. Besides this little exam is not the most important day, but the day Itachi comes for you will be, so make sure you are prepared for that and these small exams will be cleared before you know it.' As much unlikely as that scenario was, surprisingly it calmed her. She had to prepare for a possible coup, passing the exam was a very small step in that regards. So first things first, she had problem with chakra control, well no better time than now to find out why. She tried to concentrate chakra in her hands, this time carefully and slowly. She could feel the usual strain on muscles as physical energy was sapped, but instinctively flinched away from accessing spiritual energy, once bitten twice shy. It was like a dam on a torrential river. With more control than she ever exerted in her life, she got the right mix for her purpose and jumped on the nearby roof and started for the academy. She seemed to have gotten the hang of it. She will have to check up with the medics, but for now this will have to do.
Her monologue was broken by the enthusiastic and nervous giggles of her friends. She was finally at the academy.
"So today is finally the day. You are graduating ahead of us, so make it count and impress Itachi, hun?" said one Uchiha Ami.
"But don't get cocky na, we will catch up soon enough before you could snatch him", said one Uchiha Tora.
'Looks like we have met the other members of the Itachi Fan club!' But another part of her was happy to be on familiar grounds after a harrowing day. Yes she belonged here. Oh to be able to act her age again, with the worst worries being boys and exams! With equal zeal and animation, she said, "Oh, he is such a pretty boy, isn't he? Especially with those eyes and politely distant behavior. He has this whole unattainable beauty thing going on, so much you wouldn't even realize what's hidden in that pretty little head of his!"
"Why do I feel like you are in on a private joke that we are missing?" Hmm, the quite ones are sharp, aren't they? That was Hyuuga Sayoko. Why she befriended an Uchiha with the rivalry between their clans was still a mystery.
"Yes, you are behaving out of character, Izumi." Ami was blunt as usual.
"Am I?" Izumi was instantly defensive.
"Yes, normally you would be blushing and denying when we would tease you about your oh so obvious crush. What more, didn't you accused us of being shameless when we were speculating about his…ehm…assets?" That brought a smile on her face. That seemed like another life.
"Did I? I seem to have a pole up my ass."
"Oh was that a curse word? Who are you and what did you do with Izumi?" Tora was dramatic as usual.
"Well nothing like the end of the world to realize what is important and what is trivial, I guess?"
"What?"
"Never mind"
Yes this was the world she would preserve, these were the people she would save. There was no question about running away alone as she once thought in panic. She was not capable of keeping ahead of hunter-nins anyway, and there will be those and not the type to bring her back, but to hunt her and harvest her for her doujutsu as her mom said.
The written part of the exam was very easy. The ninjutsu exam was pretty lame. Of all the jutsus they could ask of, they asked for the clone jutsu. Her hands went through the familiar motions without even thinking and… she couldn't have bungled the easiest jutsu right? But the instructor's face suggested otherwise. The clone standing beside her was clearly not her. It was taller, older with foreign features. But that was not all. The whole of the room was crammed with clones like that. She wasn't aiming for multiple clones! Heck, was it possible to create that many clones? Unless they were Naruto of course, she 'remembered'. Ah, the jinchuriki? But these were not shadow clones. There will be time to investigate that later though. Time for passing the exam. She concentrated and made a clone that resembled her this time.
Next was the taijutsu exam. Just her luck, she was paired with Hyuuga Takeshi. He was the topper of the senior class she was taking the exam with and an expert in the Gentle fist technique besides. She was not sure she could keep up with him without the sharingan. The problem was that she could not keep the sharingan activated for longer than a few minutes without fainting. Could she end this within the first few minutes? She knew the answer even as she activated her sharingan: unlikely. The world slowed and she could predict his every move which was of no use since her body couldn't keep up with his speed and she barely escaped a few crucial attacks at her tenkensu points which would have rendered her immobile. If this was the level of her taijutsu, she wouldn't last in any close-range combat and she was planning to outlive a coup, was she? Her brain was already planning out rigorous training sessions and multiple strategies to avoid direct confrontation in a battle situation, all the while engaging Takeshi. That was what she liked about sharingan. It increased the brain's processing speed allowing multitasking. Alas! Hers was limited to a few minutes, so it was no help with homework. On that account, wasn't it more than a couple of minutes?
"Something is not right" Hyuuga Takeshi, his byakugan activated, sounded like he was making an observation about the weather and not a crucial setback in this important match of his career.
"I didn't faint like the stats about me said, right?" she couldn't hide the glee in her voice.
"That too, but mostly your chakra. It's different than before." She had a hunch about that.
"What do you mean?" A Hyuuga who shared information without asking, would be the least suspicious way of finding out about this. A medic will raise a red flag, especially with all the surveillance on the Uchiha.
"It's like the chakra of two different persons". 'Like a jinchuriki?' her mind supplied. Calm down, she didn't have a talking monster in her head… may be… err… talking to herself didn't count, right?
"Before you used sharingan, the chakra you used in your hands and feet was what a normal eleven year old of the Uchiha clan will have" Even though it was a taijutsu exam, only ninjutsu was truly prohibited.
"After you activated your sharingan, the chakra signature, though similar to earlier, clearly changed and it's huge. You should have overwhelmed me long ago. Why didn't you?"
Her muscles were sore. It was becoming difficult to dodge him.
"I see, that's why", he said, "its excess spiritual energy. Your physical energy can't keep up with it."
With that the flurries increased and it was impossible to block them all, so she didn't. With all her might, she concentrated on the only thing she could think of, a genjutsu, which was pretty lame since Takeshi will notice the change in his chakra instantly with his byakugan and release it. But to her surprise his attack stopped inches from her chest, he spasmed and then he collapsed.
After the anticlimactic end of the exam, she didn't stick around for the results. She had an important meeting to crash. The sun was long set by the time she had been to the Uchiha main house, the police station and the houses of all the elders with no sign of the congregation anywhere. Of course, she should be checking out the Naka shrine, her 'mind' suggested. But there was no place big enough for the meeting there, another part complained even as she headed that way. The shrine was quiet as usual with the occasional incense burning. There should be a secret door somewhere, under the tatami mats? There was no sign of any such doors. Of course, the sharingan. She activated it and made a cursory check. Ah that must be the door. She pulled out the tile and went through the tunnel underneath. The meeting was already underway and everyone looked around upon her entrance. Itachi was the only kid in attendance and he had his brows furrowed as he took in her appearance there.
"What is she doing here?" asked one shriveled old elder whose name escaped her and not because he had a habit of putting other people 'in their place'.
"Ah our newest addition", said Uchiha Hikaru and got up to guide her inside, "Since she managed to find the place without anyone's help unlike some, I say she deserves to be here, na Seijuro?" He seemed to be having a private joke at Seijuro's expense who was frothing in the mouth at this public rebuff.
She was guided by a firm hand beside Itachi who was sitting in a seiza beside his father. The meeting resumed in a leisurely pace with grouchy old men complaining and feeling good about themselves, while the youth agreed out of 'respect'. Really, it was more like a 'complaint against the village meeting' than actual 'coup plan meeting'. Were they serious about the coup? Did they even have a plan? No wonder they were caught so unaware, 'will be' she corrected if the forewarning was to be believed. Now what? She knew as the youngest member she was supposed to stay silent, even Itachi was silent. But to hell with custom when her life and loved ones might be in danger. Taking advantage of the fact that the clan head Fugaku was sitting near, she lowered her voice and addressed him directly, "Sir, if you don't mind my being curious, is coup the only option? Can't we take our grievances directly to the council meetings and negotiate our position? Clearly as it is, the coup plan will fail and lead to our wholesale slaughter".
Fugaku looked startled, by her boldness? So was Itachi. He looked afraid for her? Only then she realized, everyone had stopped talking. They had a grim look on their faces. Some were giving openly hostile look. Yes they were very serious about their coup plan. Belatedly she realized the precarious position she was in. She, the latest member in their treasonous group was opposed to said treasonous plan. At least they were aware of sabotage from inside. On the other hand this might have prevented Itachi from coming clean with his thoughts. Oh this was so not the time for being philosophical. "What I mean is, giving the village the appearance that we are negotiating might buy us some time, since they already suspect us if the surveillances are any indication. Meanwhile we can plan better, like the logistics of the coup?" She tried to salvage the situation. They were not buying it, were they?
To her surprise, Uchiha Fugaku defended her case, "I agree. The young lady seem to have good grasp of politics. Why don't you help me with the next council meeting? Meet me at my office tomorrow." With that the tension was relieved and the meeting resumed, this time with more vigor and actual planning. Izumi was too relieved to pay attention.
The meeting ended late at night and Izumi was making her way to home deep in thought. The new moon made it difficult to see and made it an ideal time for clandestine meetings or sneak attacks like the five young men who were blocking her path.
"And how can I help you gentlemen?" Oh she knew exactly what this was about.
"Did you really think you would get away with the stunt you pulled there, traitor?" one of them said.
"Depends on who you are asking. Some may call you traitors, traitor to the village for what you plan to do or traitor to the clan for attacking a clan member who is trusted by the clan head." An attack here will be supremely disadvantageous. She could not take five men alone in close combat. The narrow stretch did not have much place for maneuver for ranged attacks. That left only genjutsu, but that will require close range eye contact one by one.
"Stop giving us the cheek, gaki. The clan head will do nothing about what he doesn't know about. We will dump your body in the Naka river and no one will be the wiser."
"Five guys ganging up on a gaki? Not so confident in your abilities are you?" She taunted activating her sharingan, three tomoe swirling.
One of them didn't have the sharingan and took offence and lunged forward. What an idiotic move. She neutralized him with a genjutsu and threw kunais at the other three while moving for the fourth. While the three dodged her kunais, the fourth did not move sideways as expected and give her the clearing to make a run for it. He faced her head on. She would genjutsu him, except he had a three tomoe sharingan. Bad choice for choosing him for the escape route. The other three had recovered and were converging. She needed a distraction. That is when the darkness broke out into a squeal of crows and the next thing she knew the five guys were unconscious around her. Of course Itachi would be the one to defeat five adults like it was nothing.
"Err… thank you?" Another part of her was angry that she was no match to him and hence doomed to die at his hand, "But how did you know to come to my rescue?"
"What else did you expect? These fools who do not know the measure of their container and live by jingoism and foolish pride in glories of past rather than their own, of course they would attack when you point out the futility of their plan. So I followed you" 'So, was he rebuking her or supporting her position?', was her frantic thoughts. Was he agreeing that the plan was flawed or did he think there shouldn't be a plan at all? And if there was a plan that was not as easily sabotaged, who will he side with? Of course, that he went to the trouble of rescuing her was not lost on her. Before the love-struck izumi would have rejoiced. But the world-wise Izumi had a better understanding of Itachi's sense of duty and altruism.
"I don't know what you are playing at but that speech there made sure there would be an actual coup now", was his parting words as he disappeared in the darkness.
A/N : Err... this is my first story, please read and review to let me know what you think.
