A/N: Hey everyone! I'm here with chapter two! I told you it would be quick. I took longer than advertised to post this story because I had trouble making it its own entity, instead of simply a version of Diamond of Akatsuki. If you haven't read that story, check that one out too! I put my heart into these stories so I really hope you enjoy them!
"Emiko-chan? Are you ready?" Mikoto calls from outside her door.
"I'll be out in a minute!" She looks at herself in the mirror again. Her waist-length black hair was in two pigtails, her long bangs parted to the left. She wore a red high-collared shirt with the Uchiha Crest on the back outlined in black, and black ninja pants. "Today marks my first day on my road to a shinobi." She whispers to herself. She adjusts her black ninja shoes as she opens the door and walks outside. As she walks out her door, Sasuke walks out with a black shirt and black shorts. The Uchiha crest was worn proudly on his back.
"It's your first day guys! Take a picture!" Mikoto smiles at them. Emiko grins, her mother's smile was contagious. Sasuke drapes his arm over her shoulders and she hugs him to the side. They both smile at the camera. "Join them Itachi?" Their older brother steps in front of the camera and Emiko climbs onto his back. He supports her with one arm and places one hand on Sasuke's head. They all smile the same smile and the camera takes their picture.
"Okay. Let's go guys." He adjusts his arms so they are hooked under Emiko's legs. As he starts towards the door he says "We're off." Emiko rests her head on his shoulder as he closes the door behind him.
"You smell good.." Itachi chuckles.
"Thank you" The little girl yawns and closes her eyes.
"I'm tired.."
"You know, being a ninja means waking up early and getting very little sleep, or getting no sleep at all. Are you guys ready for that?" Emiko immediately answers.
"Of course!"
"Emiko-chan!" Emiko's head pops up and she looks behind her to see Kiba walking with his older sister Hana.
"Put me down!" Itachi unceremoniously drops her and she stumbles, Kiba rushing to her side, Hana falling into step next to Itachi.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She grins at him.
"You're starting the academy early, hmm?"
"Yeah, Otosan thought it'd be smart if I go in now."
"You must be pretty smart then." She grins, lacing her hands behind her neck.
"I guess you could say that." There's a bit of movement in Kiba's hood.
"Who's that little guy?" Kiba grins.
"This is Akamaru. He's my ninken." Emiko giggles and pets the small puppy.
"Hey Akamaru." Kiba looks up, seeing the others far ahead of them.
"Hey! We gotta catch up!" He starts running to catch up with them. "Race ya!" She glares at him and starts running. He had a head start.
"You cheater!" Kiba jets in front of her, way ahead. She tries to apply chakra to her feet like Shisui taught her to do, jetting ahead of Kiba. She reaches the others instantly, then slips her hands in her pockets. Kiba finally reaches her.
"H-how'd you do that?" He falls into step next to her, panting.
"I'm not going to be in the academy very long." She answers swiftly. She yawns, stretching her arms above her head.
"Chakra control already, Imouto?" She gives Itachi a curt nod.
"Aniki?"
"Hmm?"
"How long did it take for you to become a jonin?" Itachi looks up in thought.
"About six years from the start of academy." She smirks.
"I'll do it in four." He chuckles.
"You can try."
"Your sister reminds me of you Itachi. Not so much in personality, but in skill." He nods at Hana.
"It's a shame the police force thought she wouldn't be a good ninja. I look at her and wonder what they were thinking." Emiko grins at her older brother's praise. Off to the side, Sasuke looks at his sister in envy.
"Have you been training her yourself?"
"I've been a bit too busy. So she took it upon herself to ask Shisui. He tells me that she learns really quickly." Emiko looks up, seeing the academy not far in front of them.
"That's smart of her."
"That's what I said." They stopped in front of the entrance to the academy. "Have fun guys, make friends, be nice." Emiko grins.
"I already have friends. Talk to Sasu-baka." She stuffs one hand in her pocket, waving as she walks away.
"Miko-chan!" As Emiko walks into the academy, she sees Shiori already there. "Kiba."
"Shiori."
"What class are you guys in?" Emiko asks them.
"I'm in Iruka-sensei's class" Kiba answers.
"Me too." Shiori adds in, shooting a glare at Kiba. Emiko smiles.
"So am I! We're all together!"
"Imouto. I have Iruka-sensei too." Sasuke walks up behind Emiko and the others. She smiles at him and they all walk into the class together. As they walk into the room filled with students around their age, Emiko quickly scans the classroom. High ceilings, ramped rows, a flat stage in front with a podium and a chalkboard, lots of windows. After looking at the class she scans the students for recognizable faces.
'A Hyuga.. Naruto is here.. That one looks like he can be an Akimichi.' Emiko made note of all these things while they walked to the center of the room to a few empty rows. She sat in between Kiba and Sasuke. Behind her sat Shiori and Naruto was next to her. Sasuke gave Kiba a light glare. He never liked Kiba, and Emiko never understood why.
"Okay class, settle down." The sensei walks to the front of the class, in the center of the floor. "I'm going to put you guys into temporarily arranged seating. If you like your seats, you can stay there. It'll be like this for about a month or two, okay?" There are groans of disapproval throughout the room. "In the first row on my right, Shino Abrame, Tatsuki, Haku Shiro. behind them, Kyusuke Kenpachi, Katsu Sosuke, Megumi Takehada."
Emiko zones out as he calls names that she doesn't recognize. The rows on the left were quickly filled, and he started again in the center.
"First row. Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Kyoko Miyazaki. Behind them, Kiba Inuzuka, Emiko Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara." She smiles as she sits next to Kiba. "Behind them, Naruto Uzumaki, Shiori, Sasuke Uchiha."
"Yeahh!" Naruto punches the air and Shiori giggles.
"Hn." Emiko rolls her eyes.
"Be nice nii-san."
"Choji Akimichi, Hinata Hyuuga, Tenzin Kishimoto." Again, Emiko stops paying attention, laying her head on the table and closing her eyes.
"Wake me up when he's done."
"Wake me up when he's done." Emiko's eyes pop open as the boy next to her says exactly what she said, except to the Akimichi behind her, while she was speaking to Kiba.
"You're so lazy Emiko-chan." She shrugs.
"Might as well get sleep in academy.." She lightly doses off, still slightly aware of what's going on around her. Kiba sighs and shakes his head. Akamaru climbs out of Kiba's hood and lays next to Emiko's head. "See? Akamaru and Shikamaru-san agree." She speaks sleepily to him.
"Uchiha, Emiko. Nara, Shikamaru. It's the first day of class, show some effort."
"I'm up!" Emiko tells him. "Just let me rest my eyes. It saves energy." He sighs.
"Imouto.."
"Today, we'll be learning about the fundamentals of chakra."
"Chatora?" Emiko snickers and Shiori corrects Naruto.
"Chakra Naruto, chakra." Emiko sits up straight, pulling out a notebook and starting to draw, imagining what her sharingan would look like. She knew of what he was teaching. Then, she drew Shisui's sharingan, and Itachi's and soon, the page was filled with sharingan eyes of her clan. Akamaru walks over and sits on her paper, causing the little girl to giggle.
"Akamaruu.." Kiba picks up the puppy, placing him back in his hood.
"It's okay Kiba. It's nothing important."
"It's your notes!" She smirks.
"Nope. It's the sharingan of different members in my clan. I already know this stuff."
"Uchiha, Emiko!" Her head snaps up.
"Hai!"
"What is chakra?"
Emiko stands up, and starts her explanation without blinking. "Chakra is the energy that we use every day to do daily things. Ninjas use chakra for jutsu, and as you grow, the amount of chakra you have grows with you. Chakra is stored in all places around your body, and is centered around the stomach area. Meditation can help you to access your chakra, and it makes it easier to access your chakra in the future. Chakra-" The man in the front of the room holds his hand up.
"Thank you, Emiko." Other children in the class look at Emiko with wide eyes, murmurs of surprise sound through the room. She nods, sitting back down in her seat.
"Where did you learn that? He didn't even get that far in his speech." Shiori asks her, causing the young Uchiha to turn around.
"Well I researched in the library so I would get it before trying it out." She turned to a blank page in her notebook and sighed, not knowing what else to write. So she lays her head back on the desk.
"So now, let's try and put this into action." She hears Iruka talking to the class. "We're going to try meditation. So sit on your desks." She pokes the sleeping boy next to her.
"Shikamaru-san. Can you sleep while sitting up? We're meditating." She sits on her desk and the boys sit next to her. Shikamaru leans his cheek in his hand.
"What a drag.."
"Okay class. Now meditation might be difficult, most of you are hyper. Try to relax and let everything go..." Iruka's voice fades away as Emiko takes deep breaths. The sounds of irritation are silenced by the roaring of Emiko's chakra in her ears. She concentrates on the pit in her stomach and it mellows out, calming down to a gentle hum. She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes, flinching when she sees Iruka standing directly in front of her.
"H-Hi?" He crosses his arms.
"I was only using you as an example. Have you done this before?" She nods.
"Hai."
"Try it again."
"Why reach chakra without performing a jutsu?" He raises an eyebrow.
"You can perform jutsu?" She nods again. "Show the class." She groans, getting off the desk and walking to the front of her class with her hands in her pockets.
"Bushin no jutsu!" In a poof of smoke, two clones were on either side of her. Iruka grins at her.
"Good job Emiko-chan. Does anyone else in the class know how to do any jutsu?" Sasuke stands up and walks next to his sister.
"Henge!" In front of Emiko was a spitting image of herself.
"Hmm.. " She looks him over. "You forgot my birthmark, Nii-san." He groans as she poked his cheekbone. "It belongs right here." Murmurs of amazement sound through the room.
"Sugoi!"
"They're so cool!" Emiko grins and crosses her arms behind her back, dispelling the clones. Sasuke sighs, running his fingers through his hair.
"Go Shikamaru-kun!" Emiko overhears Chouji nudging Shikamaru.
"That requires me getting up Chouji." Emiko giggles. If it weren't for her family's strict expectations, she would be the same way.
"Anyone else?" No one volunteers. Iruka sighs. "Alright, back to your seats."
"Emiko. Stay after class." Emiko pauses as she packs up her things, the other students file out of the classroom. She hoists the bag over her head and onto her shoulder.
"Hai, Iruka-sensei?" It was only the eighth day of school, Emiko wondered what he would be calling her for.
"You're a very advanced student Emiko." She grins cheekily.
"You think so?" He nods.
"Taijutsu and ninjutsu come naturally to you." She bites her lip.
"I was told that I wouldn't make a good ninja by the grown ups in my family. So I went to train myself. I went to the library first, because that's what Shisui-nii-san said to do. He said it'd take me a while to remember it all, but it took me a little bit."
"You remember it all?" She nods. "Did you read the ninja handbook?" Again, she nods. "What is rule number twenty-seven?"
"A shinobi must never show any weakness." She looks down. "I remember it like a picture." His eyes widen.
"Photographic memory? That's very rare Emiko." She looks up at him in amazement.
"Really? I thought everyone remembered like that." He shakes his head no.
"I'm going to have a talk with your father. Okay?" He places his hand on her head. "Nothing but good things I promise." They walk out to Sasuke and her father and as her father sees them, he crosses his arm in disappointment.
"Uchiha-san, I would like to talk to you about your daughter." He raises an eyebrow.
"Sasuke, Emiko, go play in the park." The children do as their father tells them and he runs a hand down his face.
"What has she done..?" Iruka chuckles.
"It's actually quite the opposite. Emiko excels farther than other students in the class. I advise we test her and put her in a more advanced class."
"Really?"
"Hai. It's only after a week of class but I believe your daughter is in the wrong class."
"What do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest we wait about a month to see her potential, and either move her up or graduate her. She could teach the class on chakra if I let her." Fugaku nods, crossing his arms. "And also, I don't think it would be wise to tell Sasuke about this." At the clan leader's look he says "I'm not trying to tell you how to run your family. But wouldn't Sasuke get jealous?" Fugaku shrugs.
"It'd push him to get stronger." Iruka sighs.
"Alright. But I just wanted to run it by you that your daughter may graduate very quickly." Fugaku nods.
"Thank you." He walks away and his children obediently follow him.
"What was it about Otosan?" Sasuke asks their father.
"You'll find out at the dinner table." He leaves it at that and they walk in silence.
They walk into the Uchiha compound, which in Emiko's opinion, had grown quieter over the past month. Her father leads them to their house and they immediately take off their shoes, going to clean up. There was a clan gathering today. They discussed achievements of members of the clan, and then there was a large buffet of food so everyone ate and danced in the center of the compound. Emiko always loved it when there was a clan gathering, it reminded her of how much fun the members of her clan could have.
"Emiko-chan." The little girl looks up to her doorway, her mother leaning on the door frame. She smiles up at her.
"Hai, Okasan?"
"You should wear that outfit that I bought you the other day." Emiko walks over to her closet, pulling out a black pair of leggings and a long-sleeved turquoise shirt. Of course it had the Uchiha crest on it and was in the front, lower-right hand corner of the shirt. She takes out a black, sleeveless cardigan from the closet and looks back at her mom.
"This one?" Her mom smiles and nods.
"That one." The little girl puts the outfit on with her usual black shoes.
"Sit down Emiko. I'm going to braid your hair." She obediently sits in her chair as her mother braids the sides of her head to pull her hair out of her face. She used a pin to keep the braids in place. "Alright. I'm done now." The little girl stands and smiles at her mother in the mirror.
"Is Sasuke ready yet?" Her mother nods, grabbing her hand to lead her down the stairs.
"We're going to have fun today Emiko, ne?" The little girl nods happily.
"Mm!" They meet their family down the stairs. The boys of the family were downstairs, Itachi was sitting on the couch reading a book.
"Are we all ready?" Their father stands and Emiko blushes lightly.
"Sorry for making you guys wait.." Fugaku smiles at his youngest child.
"Don't worry about it Emiko." They walk out the door and to the building where the meetings were held before the feast. Her father traveled to the front of the gradually filling room while his family sat in the middle. Uchiha members of all types filled in and sat around them.
The talk began. Emiko paid great attention to the concerns of the clan, and most had to do with how the village saw the Uchiha clan since the Kyuubi attack. There were yells of approval as one of the members suggested annexing from the village. Emiko thinks back to books she read about countries who annexed from the original country. Another of her clan members suggested overthrowing the village. Emiko's eyes widen and her hand shoots up as soon as the coup is suggested. Her uncle in the front raises an eyebrow at her father.
"Hai Emiko-chan?" She stands up.
"Uncle. Wouldn't it be better to solve this problem by annexation like Hayao suggested? Overthrowing the village would spill unneeded blood, Misashi-san." She looks at her clan member who suggested the coup. "We don't want to make the villagers see us even more bad. So I think we should have a conference with Hokage-sama to solve the problem or annex from the village." She bows her head lightly.
"Your daughter is very smart Fugaku." Emiko blushes at the praise of her uncle.
"The villagers already see us in a bad way. Who cares whether or not blood is shed?" Mikoto tugs on her daughter's shirt, so she could sit down, scared for her to get in to the arguments of adults.
"And why do they see us in a bad way again, Misashi?" She glares at him, asking him to tell her what she already knew.
"They believe we are heartless killers who brought the Kyuubi to the village." She crosses her arms.
"By spilling blood you're only proving them right." Itachi stands up next to his younger sister.
"I agree with her. Spilling blood is unnecessary." Emiko smiles thankfully and sits down.
"Very smart.." Her uncle whispers to her father. Fugaku looks at her with pride.
"Any more comments Misashi-san?" Itachi looks over at his cousin. He gives Emiko a dirty look and doesn't answer.
"On another note. We have another prodigy in the clan." Fugaku announces. The clan members whisper to themselves.
"Toshiro.."
"Amaya."
"Hideki." The names they mentioned were children of at least six.
"I've been told by her teacher, that if she completes another few months in the academy and proves to be advanced, they will test her and she will either graduate or be moved to a more advanced class."
"She..? It has to be Amaya or Itsumi." Emiko hears one of her family members behind her.
"Emiko, please stand up." The little girl's eyes widen as she stands.
"H-Hontoni?" The little girl smiles as she holds her hands behind her back. The men of the family looked at her in shock. Shisui smiles brightly at her and Itachi rubs her head affectionately.
"I promised she'd make a great ninja, did I not?" Itachi speaks up. Murmurs of surprise surface throughout the room.
"Even sooner than Itachi.."
"Emiko? Really?"
"I'm told she excels in every area, and in the level she's in, there isn't much to teach her." She blushes lightly at the attention on her. "As we all know, a child isn't considered an adult until he or she can perform Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. Emiko-chan." Her head pops up.
"Hai, Oto-san?"
"Can you perform this jutsu?"
"Hai, Oto-san." His smirk of pride grows.
"Are there any more announcements?" The clan members are silent, staring at the five year old girl, wondering how she remembered all the hand signs at such a young age. "Let us watch Emiko perform the jutsu, then we feast!" The clan members cheered at the upcoming fun of the night. Crossovers usually happened at a clan gathering, but she was the youngest to cross over, it was Itachi first at six.
The clan members filed out of the meeting area and to the center of the compound. Tables lined the edge and were filled with food, each family offered something to the table. Today, their family offered omusubi with okaka, Sasuke's favorite. Itachi stood next to Emiko, Shisui on the other side of her.
"I'm very proud of you Emiko." Shisui tells her.
"Thank you for teaching me, Shisui-nii." He smiles at her.
"Make father proud, Emiko." The little girl nods, taking a deep breath and exhaling. Uma, Mi, Hitsuji, I, Uma, Tora.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" She takes another breath, and fire. A great ball of fire filled the clearing and graced everyone with it's heat. Children stepped back, afraid to get burned. Then, she stepped back, ending the jutsu, her face flushed from the heat. Applause sounded from around the girl and she smiled, Itachi rubs her head affectionately.
"Congrats Emiko, I'm proud of you." She giggles and Shisui looks at her proudly.
"Thank you Shisui-nii." She gives him a tight hug. "You aren't going to stop training me, are you?" He chuckles and shakes his head.
"Of course not."
The rest of the night was filled with laughter, dancing and food. As midnight drew nearer, Fugaku ordered his oldest son to take his younger siblings home and take them to bed. He did as he was told, and after making sure they were asleep the door clicked behind him as he walked back to the center of the compound. When he heard the door click shut, Sasuke creeped out of his bed and shut his door behind him. He crossed the hallway to his sister's room and knocked on the door. He hears scrambling inside.
"Imouto?" He opens the door to Emiko sitting on her bed and reading a book.
"Hmm?" Her brother looks around, the smokey smell of a burnt out candle wafted through the room. Her pillow had unusual lumps. He quickly snatches up the pillow to reveal scrolls.
"Why do you have these?" He opens one up, a clan fire-based jutsu written on it with dark ink. "So many handsigns.." He mumbles. His sister snatches the scroll from him.
"It's chunin level. Don't try it." She snaps as he tries to make the signs. He pauses and looks down at her, awed.
"You're learning chunin-level jutsu?" She nods, then grabs her scrolls and puts them in a shelf under her bed.
"What did you need Nii-san?" He bites his lip.
"How did you get so strong?" She raises an eyebrow.
"I trained. Duh." He glares at her.
"I trained too."
"Well maybe you just aren't as good as me." She walks over to her bay window, sitting down and overlooking the fun of the adults, as all the children were now home. She hears her brother shift, most likely crossing his arms.
"Iruka sensei just hasn't seen yet." She rolls her eyes.
"Okay Sasuke. I'm tired, go away." Emiko feels his glare as he walks out her room and slams the door. She sighs, looking around her neat room. There was a turquoise Uchiha banner hanging above her bed. えみこ was stitched across the top in dark blue. Emiko. Across from the area she was sitting was the door to her room. And across from her platform bed were two doors. One was her closet, the other a bathroom that connected to the guest bedroom. There were a total of three bathrooms in the house. One connected Itachi's room to Sasuke's, the other was their parents' and the main bathroom. She stands up from her seat in the window, shutting the curtains, the vision of lanterns fading from her mind. She grabs a scroll and starts to skim for future use. The sound of celebration starts to die down, and soon Emiko hears the click of a door at the front of her house. Again, she blows out her candle and lays down, facing her bay window and away from her door. She hears her father open her door and walk up to her bed.
"I know you're awake Emiko." She continues to pretend she's sleeping. He sighs. "I understand that you're trying to learn jutsu but you need sleep too.."
"Aniki says that ninjas get little to no sleep on missions." The little girl turns to look at her father. He chuckles.
"Yes, that's true."
"What do you think they're going to test me on Papa?" The man shrugs as he thinks.
"The clone jutsu maybe. Or transformation jutsu.." She grins.
"I know those already." He chuckles
"Yes, I know." He sighs and looks down at her. "Be careful Emiko. You're talented but you're young." She smiles up at him.
"I'm going to be an even better ninja than Itachi! Just you watch Papa." He smiles and kisses her forehead.
"Goodnight Emiko."