Sasuke tossed and turned on the squishy children's mat. He still had no idea of how he was going to get his father to take him instead of his brother. His father obviously favored his brother much more than him. Sasuke sighed and absentmindedly fiddled with his toys. Then an idea struck him. He probably should see how much chakra he could use. He decided that since he wasn't getting any bright ideas for the Kyoto trip, he'd train a bit.
Sasuke walked out to the training ground where his brother and father spent most of their day. But of course they were both out today, Itachi went to training with other ninjas and Fugaku, well he was still taking his 'walk'. Sasuke walked up to the various dummies and saw that they were nearing the end of their cycle. Most of them were holed up from being impaled by multiple blades. Some were just ash around a stick from ninjutsu techniques.
They wouldn't notice if there's just a few more tears right? Sasuke thought to himself as he took a ready stance. How nostalgic, this is going to be fun. Sasuke hadn't trained in what seemed like forever and licked his lips in anticipation. He did a test kick and frowned when he felt how weak and slow it was. To put it bluntly, his hand to hand combat sucked. He knew how to execute moves but his body wouldn't listen to him just yet. I'm going to have to start from day one, aren't I? At least he knew how to train though, he added as an afterthought.
He hoped that his chakra would be a bit more willing to go along with what he wanted to do. He breathed in a deep inhale of air, andlet what he hoped to be fire. And before he knew it, three of the dummies had caught on fire. Sasuke jumped back as he didn't expect anything to happen. He just stared at the burning dummies and back at his hands. I wasn't even trying that time. Of course in his older body, a 'wasn't even trying' fire jutsu would have burned the whole training ground down but still, he didn't expect such power from a five year old body.
Then suddenly, with a pained groan he fell on his knees. His throat burned and he coughed violently until he saw stars. Ah so it seems I have taken a considerable amount of chakra with me in the transition. But my body can't handle it just yet. Sasuke frowned as he knew before he could try experimenting more with ninjutsu or genjustu, he would have to train up in taijutsu. Then another idea struck him but it took all of his reasoning to push it off till his body was stronger. My sharingan.
But he reluctantly decided to save that for another day and cleaned up the remains of what he burnt. He sighed and plopped onto his back and stared at the sky. Great, I'm back to thinking about that stupid Kyoto trip. Sasuke couldn't help but shudder, something was off about that trip and he could feel it. All he could remember was his brother became less, social after that day. And the brother he remembered as the polite and very reserved person began after that trip. And not only that, but Itachi became so, cold.
"Sasuke?!" He turned his head to see his mother staring wide eyed at him. "Baby, why are you over there?" She ran up to him, picked him up and starting walking back into the house. "You're going to train later with your father and brother, so don't tire yourself out honey." She frowned, that was a half true statement. It was true that the three males of the family would train before dinner so naturally Sasuke shouldn't tire himself out. But at the same time, she hated how it was starting again. Her baby was learning how to kill and fight instead of playing with her in the kitchen. She knew she couldn't stop the development but she still didn't like it.
"Mom, but I-" Sasuke stopped himself when he saw the look on his mothers face. He decided to save training until later and instead snuggled into his mom's hair. After all, he knew how to get better so he wouldn't have to force himself to do a bunch of unnecessary 'training' that his younger self used to do. ''I want to help cook lunch!" Sasuke spoke, knowing this would make his mother happy again. And like a cue, she smiled at her son and said,
"Of course dear!" She happily brought her youngest into the kitchen and sat him down on the counter. She handed him a bowl of vegetables and asked him to pick out the ones he would want to eat. Honestly, this woman spoiled her son too much. But this love was something Sasuke had missed for so long. He just shook his head and said he liked all of them. "Really?" Mikoto looked at her son quizzically and Sasuke nodded back in response. "Look at you, being so grown up and taking care of your health!" She giggled and ruffled his hair. She continued asking her son what he would like to eat and he would usually say 'all in' to the ingredients, minus the natto. He really didn't like natto. She just smiled and said 'okay' to her son and would ask him to help make the rice balls or get the lunch boxes out.
When the two were finished she brought Sasuke to the window. The pair often did this because Sasuke love the sight of the village.
"Hey mom?" Sasuke asked, a rice ball in hand.
"Yes my dear?" She responded, smiling at how cute her son was. Sasuke decided to finish his food before continuing and she just looked lovingly at him.
"When will I go to school?" Sasuke remembered he entered the school year late because of the massacre of his clan. His heart clenched at the thought of his mother lying dead in front of him like she was many years ago. But age seemed to slip his memory.
"When you're six years old, just like your brother." His mom replied curtly. She couldn't help it; she really didn't want her baby to go away.
"Oh." Was Sasuke's response.
"Why do you ask?" Mikoto asked her son nervously, hoping that she was just being paranoid.
"I want to catch up to my brother." Sasuke smiled back, and he had too. How could he protect his brother when he couldn't even be his equal?
"Oh honey, you're five years apart!" She chuckled, "It's normal for him to be a bit better than you are."
"That shouldn't stop him." Sasuke froze at the voice. He didn't feel his presence and his mother didn't either. The pair turned around to see an angry faced Fugaku.
"Where have you been, you've been out on a walk for," she glanced at the clock then back at her husband, "thirteen hours?"
"I was just getting the preparations finalized for Itachi's trip." He simply stated and then he wagged his finger at Sasuke. "Come, its training time."
"Dear!" Mikoto squeezed her hold around Sasuke but, Sasuke managed to climb out of her hold and back onto the floor.
"Mikoto." Fugaku spat, "It's time he has some one-on-one training if he wants to amount to anything his brother is." He grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and pushed him to the training grounds.
"But he isn't ready for your training regime!" Fugaku ignored his wife and continued to the field.
Mikoto cried out in frustration as she ran to get the first aid kit. Her husband used to do this with Itachi all the time and even her prodigy son would come back into the house with blood on his body. Fugaku meant to fight Sasuke and she shook in worry. But as a wife she couldn't step in. She gripped the handle in anger. But as a mother she has too. With determination rising with each step, she ran up to the pair, intending to snatch up her baby and bring him back to the safety of her arms.
Sasuke noticed his mom making her was towards him and one look from his father made him sure that wouldn't be a good idea. His father still smelled of alcohol, if anything, it was stronger than before. He never wanted anything to do with Sasuke and this sudden 'training' probably meant another way for his father to release his pent up anger. Sasuke tried to smile and called out to his mom, "Watch me okay?"
Mikoto stopped in her tracks. What was she to do, humiliate her son when he finally got some time with his father? But she felt as if something was horribly off with this whole situation. She bit back her need to grab her child and nervously waved back at Sasuke, hiding the first aid kit behind her skirt. She didn't know what to do.
"So, father?" Sasuke chanced, and all he got was a grunt and a shove forward. Fugaku just stood there before he disappeared from Sasuke's view. Now, Sasuke wasn't supposed to be able to see him and he wasn't about to risk using sharingan, but he could feel him. He tried to duck as fast as he could, he felt his father's hand knick the top of his head but no serious damage had been done.
Fugaku looked at Sasuke in wonder, "Lucky shot." He murmured before going to strike again. Sasuke couldn't dodge him this time so he spread his stance and got ready to try and block the kick. The force of the impact made his arms numb with pain, but he held his ground. Fugaku then shifted around to kick again with his other leg when Sasuke's tiny hand slid under his calf. Sasuke exerted some pressure guided his father's leg away from his face and slipped past his father. Fugaku should have simply just punched the child but he just stopped. He turned to look at Sasuke. When did he? Fugaku had no time to finish that thought because Sasuke was running to his father ready to continue the fight.
Sasuke swung his left leg and was promptly caught by his father. He then turned to kick with his right leg and was caught again. He smirked and did the same move he did to his old teacher, and swerved around to take a punch at the stomach. Fugaku had to block with his shin but then had to throw Sasuke off if he wanted to keep his balance. Sasuke landed a couple feet away from his father but instead of planting his feet down, he fell. A sharp ache filled Sasuke's body, Shit, did I overdo it?
Fugaku was also seemed just about done with the fight. He had planned on throwing the kid around to vent some stress but instead got a fight. He just sneered and walked back into the house. Once he was out of view, Mikoto ran to her son and threw her arms around him.
"Honey, that was amazing!" She squeezed him and couldn't help but cry. Her worst fears were coming true; her baby was becoming a ninja. She had hoped that maybe Sasuke would be a not so good ninja and would just do some simple police work. But when she saw him fight she knew, he'd walk the same path Itachi had and become a profession ninja. And she couldn't bring herself to accept that. But she had to pretend to be happy but she didn't have to pretend to be proud. Her selfish thoughts tied up last night. No matter how much she wanted her baby to stay her baby, it wasn't possible. She knew this when she was her two boys in bed together. And it was only further finalized with today's spar. She could only support him, because that's what mothers do.
But instead of beaming with pride that Sasuke would have had it been; he scowled. He held no respect for his father that he once had. He wanted him dead for that attempt against Itachi but that anger could never fester enough. He was scared. He could barely use his power and he was stuck in a five year old body, he couldn't do much. Sasuke just nodded into his mother's hug.
At the dinner table, it was evident that Fugaku was beyond annoyed. Itachi was barely listening to any of his requests of passing the food. The whole meal was tense and the only people talking were Sasuke and his wife. He glared at his second with irritation and took another swig of alcohol.
Mikoto just frowned, disapproving her husband's drinking in front of her kids. Lately, her husband was acting strange, and so was her eldest. What had happened last night? But before she could continue thinking the smiling face of Sasuke brought her back. She fed him some of the meat from her plate and smiled back. She knew if anything happened to her angel, she would die.
Sasuke was at the door of the study. He had planned out what he was going to say over and over but now, those words seemed to escape his mind. He was fully aware of what was going to happen. He took a shaky hand and knocked timidly on the door. There was no response but the lights were on. Sasuke realized that his father was ignoring him.
"Father, please open the door." Sasuke said it; there was no going back now. He heard a sigh of annoyance before he shoves the door open in a fast swing. And it caused Sasuke to jump back with a yelp.
"You have five seconds to tell me why you decided to waste my time." Fugaku spat at him.
Come on Sasuke, you rehearsed this so many times, don't screw up now.
"I did well today right Father?" Sasuke tried smiling at the towering man. Fugaku just let out a short laugh.
"You're nothing compared to your brother, but at least you aren't a complete piece of trash." He sneered and started to close the door.
"W-Wait, I was um, wondering if I could do it too." Sasuke's voice shook and he kept repeating in his head that it was either him or his brother and his brother wasn't an option. Fugaku had a look on his face saying; 'Do what?' on his face. Come on Sasuke, it's not like you haven't done things like that before. It was true; Sasuke was by no means a virgin but the fact that he was going to do it with his father disturbed him. But he was in a child's body and every cell was telling him to run away. "The game you and brother were playing last time." Sasuke managed to whisper out.
"Why would I-" And an idea struck Fugaku. If he took Sasuke instead, he wouldn't have to worry about complications with the plan later on. After all, Itachi was a valuable asset to the plan. Even today Itachi failed to follow orders and this bothered Fugaku. He took a good look over Sasuke's body and he was taken aback at how his son actually looked. He never took any notice to his youngest but after today's spar, he was forced to see how Sasuke's body moved and the innocent facial features. He may lack in everything compared to Itachi, but he did look a bit better. Maybe he'll have some use after all. He smirked and that sent a shudder down Sasuke's body. Sasuke knew what this meant and he just forced a smile.
"Alright, let's play that game." Fugaku stepped aside and let Sasuke walk into the room. And with a 'click', he locked the door closed.