A/N:
On writing software: My "30 day" free trial of Scrivener has been on its last day for over a year. Longest day of my life.
On author's notes: Let me know if you think my author's notes (pre- or post-) are too extensive.
Disclaimer: I must not Kishimoto. Kishimoto is the mind-killer.
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Chapter 3: How I Met Your Brother
A fist whistled past my ear, missing by the barest of margins. I stepped in, trying to take advantage of the overextension, but my opponent was too fast. He stayed in step with me, keeping the distance between us far enough that I would need to lean in to get a hit off while he, with his longer reach, could reach me with ease.
His assault continued and I was soon the one stepping back, giving ground before his superior speed and strength. He hadn't managed to land a hit yet, but I was stuck entirely on the defensive, so it was only a matter of time. He feinted low and left, and I bit. His right hand came swinging in towards my ribs. I only noticed my mistake at the last second. I threw myself down and backwards as hard as I could, bending back at the waist. I overbalanced but caught myself on my hands, ending up in a yoga bridge pose.
My opponent moved forward, intent on exploiting my vulnerability. I channeled a bit of chakra into my feet, as much as I could manage in the split second I had, and kicked off, lifting one foot upwards while I threw the other backwards to counterbalance. The unorthodox move surprised him and my foot caught him on the side of his chin. It was a glancing blow, but it knocked him off balance and gave me a second to retreat. I turned the kick into a back handspring and ended up a few paces away.
Sasuke touched his chin and nodded, acknowledging the hit. He sank back into his stance and I prepared myself once more. We were practicing in one of the flat, arena-style training areas. The lack of terrain features severely restricted the tricks and misdirections I could use, which were usually the only things that let me make any progress against him. Still, I wouldn't go down without a fight. I brought my hands up and we resumed our dance.
I was on the defensive again almost immediately. I did not have the strength to block most of his attacks directly and evaded many of them by a finger's width. I was using a style I had found in the library a couple months ago. It focused on redirecting blows, flowing around your opponent's movements, drawing them into overextensions and exploiting mistakes. I was still a long, long, long way from mastering it, but it was much more effective when physically outmatched than the academy style had been.
Sasuke came in high and hard and I grimaced, recognizing the start of one of his favorite combinations. A series of blindingly fast attacks, alternating high and low, were sure to follow. I could keep up for a bit but one would eventually slip through my guard and land me on my ass. I was still trying to figure out a counter to it. I knew almost exactly what he was going to do, but the speed at which he could execute the rehearsed strikes made it moot since I couldn't prevent it even with foreknowledge.
Perhaps words could do what actions could not. As he drew his hand back for the next strike I threw my hands up and yelled "No, don't! I'm pregnant!"
He didn't abort the attack, but he was thrown out of his rhythm and it came in much slower than normal. The bewildered look on his face made the bruises I was sure to have tomorrow totally worth it. I ducked under the blow and stepped in, twisting my knees, hips and shoulders to put as much power into my punch as I could. His eyes widened as my fist flew towards his abdomen. He began to step backwards, but there was no way he could move far enough in time. His hands flew together. My hand had just begun to sink into his stomach when he vanished in a puff of smoke. No way unless he shunshined, of course.
He was not yet good enough at shunshin to move more than a step or two, which meant he was still close by. I brought my hand up just in time to redirect a blow aimed at my temple. Its new course missed me by inches, but the follow-up caught me on the shoulder. I spun with the hit, but by the time I'd come back around Sasuke held a practice kunai well within striking range of my throat. We both knew I didn't have the space to dodge so I stepped back and made the seal of reconciliation, a smile spreading on my lips. The end result may have been the same, but at least it had happened differently this time. He scowled and returned the seal.
"That was a dirty trick," he said. "Doesn't even seem that applicable. It only worked here because you're someone I know."
"And you feared for the safety of my unborn child?" My smile widened. "Aw, Sasuke, you do care!"
He reddened. "I didn't want to potentially hurt my sparring partner," he said stiffly. "You being injured would hinder my own training."
"Of course that's it, you big softy. Besides, henging into the loved ones of your opponent is a pretty obvious tactic. You need to learn to disregard everything your opponent says and does that doesn't pertain directly to your mission. They are your enemy; every word out of an intelligent opponent's mouth will be an attack just as deadly as any kunai. There's a reason we use safe words in training. Unless you hear me say 'swordfish', everything else I say is just a distraction you should filter out. Now, when you…"
We discussed the match as he walked me back to my house. I couldn't match him directly in taijutsu, but I and, luckily, he, had realized I could still be a useful training partner. My shortcomings were purely physical ones, which meant I could still provide useful feedback and could notice openings he left or flaws in his style. I still managed to take the occasional bout off him with tricks and stratagems so he also considered it useful practice against a crafty opponent.
His reserved nature was proving to be quite the hindrance. I was slowly working on bringing down his walls. Not long ago the quip I'd made earlier about him caring would've had him leaving the conversation in a huff. That being said, he was still reticent and taciturn towards all non-Uchiha and I was running out of time. I did not know exactly when the Uchiha massacre took place (I don't think it's ever explicitly said in the manga), but I knew it was when Sasuke was seven. His birthday was been two weeks gone, and I still had yet to meet Itachi. I wanted to press for it, but I was afraid of pushing Sasuke away. I would have to do something soon, though, or the chance might pass me by.
We parted ways halfway my house, earlier than we usually did. He said 'Itachi-sama' had asked to see him before dinner this evening, so he had to go now. We agreed to meet tomorrow at training ground twelve, one of the forested training grounds. I had gone maybe a hundred feet when Sasuke came hurrying back. He stopped near me.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Ami, why did you want to be my training partner so badly? I noticed you made efforts to befriend several people from our class, but you tried by far the hardest with me. Why?"
Well, now. Truth be told, I had been expecting a question along these lines for a while. It was a good sign: it meant he was thinking about me as a person and not just a training tool. The second part of his question was even better. I didn't think he'd cared enough to pay attention to what anyone else in our class was doing.
Still, this would need to be handled with care. A misstep here could ruin all my hard work. Time for a mixture of truth, flattery and misdirection.
"Several reasons. Firstly, the obvious. I wanted a training partner so I could train myself. Of all the students in our class, it was pretty obvious you were the most skilled. Training with the most skilled person you can gives you the best opportunity and motivation for improvement. Ergo, I wanted you as my training partner.
"Beyond that, though…I think you've realized I would like to have you as a friend as much as a training partner. Companionship makes good things better and bad things more bearable. I'm not sure I could survive listening to Naruto and Kiba bickering for too much longer without someone to commiserate with. Everyone else of consequence in our class has some serious issues that would prevent me from truly having them as a friend"—a lie, but one I could easily backpedal on later—"or at least a close one. Kiba's aggressiveness. Shika's laziness. Ino and Sakura's superficiality. You have your own fair share of hangups, but you've got the positive qualities to offset them. Besides, I think a lot of them could be surmounted, in time.
"There's more. A less personal reason but arguably a more important one. The…"
I trailed off, trying to think of exactly how to phrase this next part. After perhaps ten seconds of silence, Sasuke prompted "The…?" I shook myself and resumed.
"War is coming. We may live in a rare time of peace, but this is still a ninja village. War is always coming. I fear that after this long without strife Konoha will have grown complacent, while the crueler villages are still being honed by their never-ending conflicts, both internal and external. War is coming. It may take five years, it might take ten, it might even take fifteen, but it will get here eventually. I would have us ready to meet it. Our class is a unique opportunity. We have a concentration of clan heirs and geniuses you see at most once in a generation.
"Sure, most of them—us—don't look like much yet, but give it time. We could become one of the most formidable groups of ninja ever produced by a hidden village. I want to make sure we end up as a powerful group, not a powerful bunch of ninja stuck together. I intend to forge us into an aegis to protect Konoha in its time of need. Hence my befriending of everyone who seems like they might be important. I wasn't sure about Naruto or Sakura"—another lie, but one whose truth he would not believe—"but you need nine to make three teams, so we'll probably end up with one of them. You were both the most promising and most isolated, so I put in the extra effort." I smiled at him. "That reason enough?"
His eyes were a little wide. I considered my words. I had said more than I had intended and could understand if he were somewhat spooked. I had perhaps revealed my hand a little early. Oh well. No helping it now.
"That was…not what I expected," he said eventually. "It's a lot to think about." He was taking this better than I thought he would. "About the coming war…Itachi-kun has always said…"
He kept speaking but I was no longer listening. Alarms were blaring in my head. Itachi-kun? For all the times I had heard Sasuke talk about Itachi, I had never once heard him use any honorific other than 'sama' when refering to his brother. Sure, he probably called him Itachi-kun to…I stifled a laugh. Of course. A lot of small discrepancies fell into place. "Sasuke's" coming back to talk to me, despite the chance it would make him late for an appointment with his brother. His lack of confusion when I used words no seven-year-old, no matter how prodigious, would know. The lack of mark on his chin, which should be reddening if not bruising by now.
"…the elders. Anyway, we can discuss this later. I really do need to go now." He looked over at me, noticing my distraction. "You OK?"
"Yeah, fine. Just thinking. We still on for training ground seventeen tomorrow?"
"For sure. See you then." He turned to leave.
"Actually, before you go, could you do me a favor? I had an idea for a chakra training exercise I want you to try."
"I really should be going…" His reluctance was palpable, but I couldn't let him leave just yet.
"It'll only take a second. Just close your eyes and breathe deeply, in and out."
He gave me a reproachful look but complied. In a flash I was behind him, one kunai pressed to his carotid, another pressed to the back of his neck. He would not be jerking backwards out of this hold. I was pretty sure who he was, but there was no point in taking chances. Besides, there aren't a lot of better ways in the ninja world for making a good impression than getting the drop on someone, especially if they vastly outclassed you.
"Release the henge. And no funny business. I see your hands making any movement other than forming a ram seal and you'll get blood all over that nice Uchiha jacket."
He moved slowly, placing one hand on top of the other. There was a puff of smoke and suddenly my kunai were at his chest and back level. He held his hands out to the side in the universal sign of non-aggression. I eased myself backwards, returning my kunai to their holder. He turned and smiled crookedly at me.
"What gave it away?" Itachi asked. "I thought I knew my brother well enough to an almost-perfect henge of him."
"The henge was fine; it was the other small clues that damned you. He said he had to leave to meet you, something he would never be late for, but then he came back to ask me a question that could only have a long, complicated answer? Unlikely. Your easy acceptance of someone else making plans for him, ones that involved socializing no less, was uncharacteristic. I'm pretty sure Sasuke does not know what an aegis is. I landed a hit on him while sparring that should be showing by now. I might not have noticed, but you said Itachi-kun, which might be what he calls you around your family, but something he would never say to anyone else."
He groaned and slapped his forehead. "Of course. Itachi-san."
"Sama, actually. That boy thinks you…"—I almost said walk on water, which was somewhat less of a compliment to a ninja, but I caught myself at the last second—"…are the Sage of the Six Paths reincarnated. The nail in the coffin was your agreement to meet at training ground seventeen tomorrow, instead of twelve like we'd discussed."
As I talked, I thought furiously. This was exactly the chance I'd been waiting for, but it would require some fast footwork and careful steps.
"Well, you are not at all what I expected," he said, chuckling and rubbing his neck where my kunai had drawn a speck of blood, "but I guess I deserved that. I came to take your measure, and I suppose I've found it."
My mind flashed back to his original question. He'd known about my befriending of the others, which meant…
"Why wait? You must've observed me long ago. Why wait until now to actually approach me?"
"Sasuke told me about this little girl with purple hair who was really eager to train with him"—really eager? I thought I'd played it cooler than that—"so I checked you out. I saw you approaching all the heirs and pegged you as a clanless kunoichi trying to curry favor with the future clan heads. It's pretty common, though few start that young." His eyes flashed. "Should've guessed you were trying to 'forge an aegis to protect Konoha in its time of need'. Obvious in hindsight, really."
He smiled at me and I took that as my cue.
"In the interest of full disclosure, what I said before wasn't the whole story. I would never say this to Sasuke-kun, as he's a little skittish, but it will hopefully put your mind at ease. I was never really able to connect with the children I grew up with. They all seemed so immature and, frankly, simple. Books always seemed so much more interesting than they did, something I'm sure you can sympathize with. Still, I harbored a secret desire for a friend. A best friend. The kind of friend you never have to justify yourself to, since they know you better than you do. The kind of friend who always has your back, no matter what. The kind of friend who would stand with you against the world and dare the world to do its worst.
"Like you have with Shisui-san." For a brief instant his face looked as if I'd slapped him, before he replaced it with the bored, lightly amused mask he usually wore. I would've missed it had I not been watching him so carefully. I spoke on blithely, pretending not to have noticed. "Sasuke talks about you all the time." Technically true, though he had never actually mentioned Shisui to me. "I know most people don't choose their best friends; they just wait and hope it works out for the best. I have always been more deliberate than most people." I smiled back at him. "So you've nothing to worry about. I want what's best for Sasuke almost as much as you do."
His eyes refocused and he spoke again, much gruffer than he had been. "Good. You had better. I find out you're lying or you've done something to hurt him…" His eyes darkened. "…and I'll get blood all over this nice Uchiha jacket."
He turned to leave, but I had one last thing to say. "Same goes to you. I know you love him and would never do anything you didn't have to that would hurt him, but I'm not sure you realize just how much he cares for you. If you ever do anything to hurt him, ever do anything to turn that love into hatred, it would destroy him."
I hadn't been as subtle as I'd hoped to be, but I thought my "coincidentally topical" words for Itachi had gone over fairly well for something composed on the fly. He certainly realized something; I just hoped it was what I'd been pushing him towards.
He stared at me for a second before he nodded and, with a flicker, was gone.
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I was walking home from Shikamaru's a few weeks later. We had had a particularly intense game of Shogi and my mind was filled with drops, promotions, gold generals and checks. I was remembering one of the pivotal positions and considering what other moves I could have made when I was grabbed by the throat and slammed into a nearby wall.
"Who are you?" The question was punctuated by another slam against the wall. "How did you know this would happen?" Thud. "Why didn't you warn me directly?" Thud.
I lifted my head and Itachi's eyes met mine. They were full of madness. Madness, and the Mangekyō Sharingan.
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When I said 'these characters' in the last post-chapter authors notes, I meant the Uchiha mentioned while describing Sasuke. I thought that was pretty clear.
In case you're curious, Itachi didn't spend a couple days following Ami around; he's kind of a busy guy. He used a shadow clone.
I wanted to show Ami meeting all the rookie nine, but this pre-arc is already running really long, and I don't think I could do the meetings justice with less than 500 words apiece. Maybe I'll save those for a side-story to be written if I ever need a break from the main one.
Was the foreshadowing with the sparring match too obvious? Too subtle? Just to be sure we're on the same page: the bit at the end of it was supposed to parallel Ami's attempts to divert the massacre. "…I couldn't prevent it even with the foreknowledge. Perhaps words could do what actions could not…The end result may have been the same, but at least it had happened differently this time."
This chapter does not mean that Sasuke X Ami will be this fic's pairing. The previous sentence does not mean that Sasuke X Ami will not be this fic's pairing.
yvonna: This Ami doesn't really think about her appearance, something which may or may not bite her in the ass later, so it's not something I think she would actually mention in her internal monologue. You'll get a description if it ever becomes plot-relevant, i.e. something she has to think about.
