Hello again! Here is my new and vastly improved next chapter. You'll see not only did I improve everything that existed, but added a whole new sequence as well! This chapter also includes a time skip to move it ahead a few years. Thank you again to those who have reviewed, and followed this story from the start. You rock! :)
Enjoy it! :)
"Blah" - Talking
'Blah' - Thinking
Disclaimer: As usual, don't own Naruto or its characters, just my own plots and Oc's.
Four years later
Itachi is now ten years old, and Sani is nine. Sasuke and Sakura, who have met for some play groups at the communal park where several clan families bring their kids, are both five years old, though Sakura is a few months older than Sasuke. They also know of and have met a little boy named Naruto, who the villagers all seem to despise, and they figure that it must have something to do with the nine-tailed fox incident from five years ago, though they do not know the truth about him yet. They don't really talk to him much, but they have come to his rescue a few times from gangs of bullying kids, and even some parents.
Itachi and Sani are genin, Sani is a second year genin now and Itachi himself is a third year. Right now he's actually in the midst of the Chunin exams. Itachi and Sani had both graduated the Academy at age seven, and the clan calls them prodigies. But no matter what they do, the bullies are still stronger. Itachi and Sani have still not told their parents, or even their teacher Madara about the bullying, even though the elder Uchiha has suspected something for years now, they're too afraid too due to many threats made by the boys, mostly toward Sasuke.
Also, when Itachi was only eight, he activated his Sharingan during a scary encounter with those bullies. They also haven't told their parents yet, but Sani has also activated Sharingan. Hers looks though like a pinwheel with two blades. It was also activated when she was eight. Madara was very impressed with both of them; Shisui has just recently activated his as well, so now Madara is training them in the ways of their clan's dojoutsu too. Sani and Itachi sometimes wonder if it was because of a blood pact they made three years ago that tied their blood together that made it happen, as odd as it may sound. Though, they also wonder if the Ukishira bloodline trait is something that can mimic, or 'inherit' other bloodline traits, or also maybe something else tied to the Sharingan. They have no idea what the real trait could be though.
*Flashback Start – Three Years Ago*
Sani smiles as she leads two year old Sasuke across the street to their aunt's house, Sasuke is going to be spending a few hours there playing with another cousin while their parents are out to run some errands, and Sani is going to meet Itachi at the Academy. She smiles and ruffles his hair, kissing the top of his head.
"Be good, okay?" she says, and he nods, waving and then running to the porch where their aunt is waiting. She smiles and waves too, handing Sani a paper bag with a smile, and then watching as she heads back down the street and to the compound's gates. She waits while they're opened, and then thanks the guards and she takes off to the Academy, eager to see Itachi since today is his graduation day. She smiles when she sees him and the rest of his class come out of the building, and she runs over to him with a grin.
"Tachi-kun!" Sani cries happily, hugging him tightly, "you did it!" he blushes slightly, smiling some as he shows her his new Hitai-ate, or forehead protector that he got when he graduated. They start back on their way home after Itachi says goodbye to a couple school friends, and Itachi begins telling her about the bell test he had to pass for his new Jonin sensei, in order to fully graduate from the Academy, even after the in school test.
She smiles and links her arm through his as they walk, and he rests his head on her shoulder some, staying close to her side. Had anyone else touched him that way, he would have jerked back away from them almost immediately. Sani smiles as she listens, curious about the test, since she's going to start in the Academy on the next term, and the clan has high hopes that she will excel as well as Itachi has in studies as well as training.
They're just about halfway home, snacking on a few of the Dango sticks Sani brought with her that their aunt gave her when she dropped Sasuke off, when they sense some very familiar angry chakra. They both glance around, but don't have to look far, when the eight boys that always torment them come out. All of them are nearly done their second year as genin, and they're all thirteen, typical classic bullies. Itachi and Sani figure they have something against Uchiha's head family, but they don't know what it could be. They move closer and surround Itachi and Sani in a circle, several of them sneering at the two now trapped kids.
"Well, well, well… look at this, little Lord Uchiha made genin." One sneers. Another one smirks and taunts,
"What'd you do? Cheat? Steal the Hitai-ate?" while a third and fourth suddenly move in and grab Sani roughly, one holding a kunai to her pale throat. Itachi's eyes narrow, a hand moving to the shuriken holster on his leg.
"Ah, ah." One of the guys holding Sani says, pressing the kunai to her throat a bit harder, and causing a fine thread of bright crimson to appear against her creamy skin. Itachi's eyes widen a tiny bit, and he swallows nervously, sighing and relenting.
"If you try to fight us, she dies." The leader says coolly, and Itachi hangs his head, defeated, not wanting them to have the satisfaction of seeing how upset he is. This is when they take their chance and pounce on him, fists and feet going after every inch of the young Uchiha that they can get to. Sani starts to cry, knowing she can't do anything to make it stop, to make the boys leave them alone.
They force Itachi to his knees, as blows connect from all sides. He tries not to show anger or tears, he wants to make sure nothing happens to Sani at all. They continue to taunt and tease him, the leader of the group soon pinning him to the ground so the others can get free, cheap shots at him. Sani stifles a scream when one boy's fist connects painfully with Itachi's ribcage in the same spot where a previous beating had cracked one of his ribs a couple years or so ago.
When they finally stop, leaving Itachi on the ground, holding his stomach and moaning in pain, they leave, but not before one of them solidly punches Sani in the stomach, dropping her to her knees with a pained gasp, and then slashes at her arm with the kunai when she tries to block them. She groans and gets up, rubbing her stomach a bit and looking around, she sees Itachi not far from her, and she crawls over to him from where she landed on her knees. He sits up slowly, wincing a bit. When he sees the blood leaking down her arm onto the ground, his look turns furious, his eyes darkening as he nearly growls in anger.
"Tachi-kun." She says softly, gently brushing a hand across his cheek, making him look at her, and he starts to slowly relax, sighing some as he closes his eyes, then opens them again just a moment later. He then takes her hand, muttering,
"This is getting ridiculous." as he examines the wound on her arm. Itachi then looks at his hand, which is bleeding from where he'd been cut while fending off a shuriken aimed for his head. He then places his hand on her arm, right over her cut, and she watches for a minute, then puts her other hand on top of Itachi's.
"We'll be friends forever." She says softly, and he nods as well, ,
"Forever." He agrees, squeezing her arm gently before letting it go. Sani helps Itachi up, and they slowly, and painfully make their way to their private hot spring, undressing and sitting down in the warm, soothing water, side by side, where Itachi lets down his walls and begins to cry, tears of both anger and despair. Sani ends up starting to cry some too, it hurts so much to see him this way, he's becoming so broken by everything that's been happening to them. It's especially painful when he starts saying it's his fault she got hurt. She gently wraps her arms around him, trying to offer what comfort she can, and he lays his head down onto her shoulder.
He's depressed, lonely, withdrawn and sullen, and the increasing neglect from their parents is only making things worse, he feels so unwanted and unloved. They care about his talents and abilities, and how they would benefit the clan, but not about him personally, that's how Itachi feels. He soon curls closer; his sobs are slowing down as he drifts to sleep.
Sani watches the stars, as her sad, slowly breaking, frail-spirited best friend sleeps at her side. She sighs sadly, wishing she could protect him from all his pain, but also knowing she's the only thing keeping him sane and grounded, as well as Sasuke who he absolutely adores. The breeze soon picks up some, and she notices the stars vanishing as dark, menacing clouds move in across the sky. She sighs, then stretches and sits up some, carefully because of Itachi beside her.
"Tachi-kun." She says softly, gently shaking his shoulder. He opens his onyx eyes, and when he looks up at her, she can see the sadness, the desperate loneliness in their obsidian depths. He looks so much like a lost young boy. She smiles softly and gently brushes back his soft ebony bangs, saying,
"We better go before it rains." He nods, and they get out of the spring, drying and dressing, and then heading off. They stop at Mrs. Haruno's first to get their wounds treated, and then they head off home to go to bed.
"Nishu nee-chan!" Sasuke squeals happily when they come inside. Itachi heads to his room, while Sani sets down her bag, then scoops up Sasuke. He wraps his small arms around her neck as she carries him into the living room. Their mother and father are out of the house again, which angers her; Sasuke is only two years old and they're leaving without him, it both angers and sickens her. Itachi soon comes into the room,
"They left Sasuke by himself!" she says angrily, and Itachi's look turns furious. He checks all around the house to make sure, growling in anger when he finds nothing. Their mother and father have even started neglecting Sasuke some too, but they never thought it would get this bad, which makes Itachi and Sani worry. While Itachi keeps Sasuke in the living room, Sani having settled him on Itachi's lap when he had flopped onto the couch, Sani goes into the kitchen to make them something for dinner. Sasuke's eyes light up when Itachi takes off his new Hitai-ate, showing it to him.
*Flashback Ends*
Later that afternoon, Sani watches as Sasuke throws his last two shuriken, landing them both perfectly along with the others. She smiles and hugs him.
"That was perfect Sasuke!" and he grins at her, returning the hug, and then sitting down with her as she puts out two bento boxes, opening them and giving him one of them and a pair of chopsticks. As the two of them eat their lunch, Sani sighs a bit as she remembers that she has to leave on a mission tomorrow. She and her squad are going to Sunagakure (Suna) for two weeks to assist the Kazekage and look after his children, among some other details. She sighs some, she doesn't want to leave Sasuke, and especially doesn't want to leave each Itachi, the two have become so close it's literally almost painful for them to be apart for lengths of time.
She decides as she eats, that she is going to ask her sensei if she can start bringing Sasuke to training sessions, and even on missions as well if she really needs to, she's tired of him being left alone at home. A few hours later, Sani comes back outside to where Sasuke is playing, as she had gone inside to dispose of their empty bentos and to get her kunais and shurikens for training. Sasuke runs over when he sees that she's getting ready, and he immediately starts to cry when he sees her strapping the holster onto her leg, knowing that it means she's going to be leaving.
"N-no, d-don't go a-away." He whispers, looking down as his shoulders tremble a bit, and Sani looks up at him, and she frowns. She then kneels down, ruffling his hair and then turning her back to him.
"Climb on, you're coming with me." She says softly. He wipes his eyes and nods, getting up onto her back, his arms around her neck and his little legs around her waist. She stands up, holding his legs securely, and takes off for her squad's training grounds. She can feel Sasuke clinging to her tightly as she runs, his tears making a wet spot on the back of her top. She sighs some, wishing he wasn't so sad. She notices that when she reaches the grounds that Sasuke clings to her tighter, obviously nervous about the new people he hasn't met. Luka-sensei sees her and he comes over as she lets Sasuke down onto the grass. He kneels down with them, frowning some when Sasuke moves closer to her side, sniffling a bit.
"Sani, why is he here?" Luka-sensei asks gently, concerned, seeing how sad Sasuke looks. She says softly,
"This is Sasuke, I brought him because…" and she softly explains what's going on with Sasuke and her family, to a point. Luka's eyes widen some, and then he nods and says,
"Of course you can bring him with you, and when he starts at the Academy you still can if you really need to." Sani nods at him, sighing in relief and thanking him. She sets Sasuke up with some of his shuriken and kunai at a target, and then she joins her squad. As she starts to spar with one of her teammates, Kiro, from the Aburame clan, the oldest on the squad and a bit of a prodigy to them, she remembers the very day that Itachi had activated his Sharingan for the first time. It had been both terrifying and exciting that day. Excitement at his new ability, bit terrifying at the way he activated it. She remembers it all very, VERY vividly.
*Flashback Start – Two Years Ago*
"Tachi, I did it!" Sani squeals happily as she runs up to Itachi, seeing him waiting for her at the gates of the Academy. Itachi grins and hugs her tightly. She's just graduated from the Academy, and passed Luka sensei's bell test, the same final test as Itachi did last year. He's eight now, and she's seven, and Sasuke is now three.
Sani smiles as Itachi sets her down, and they start walking along their favorite path through the woods, around back of the village that leads to the Uchiha compound, heading again to their hot spring, their favorite place to relax, talking as they walk. The back path happens to be the longer way to the compound, and they prefer it because it gives them more time alone to just talk,, and they're hoping to avoid the gang of Uchiha hating bullies. Itachi's even more depressed and withdrawn lately due to the bullying and neglect from their parents, distant to everyone besides Sani and Sasuke these days.
They make it halfway to the spring, when they're suddenly ambushed by the gang. Sani is grabbed and pinned to the ground, while Itachi is jumped by the others. Usually they don't bother hurting Sani, just force her to watch what they do to Itachi. He does whatever they ask, not wanting to risk putting his best friend in danger, wanting to protect her.
Today ends up being different though. When they finish with Itachi, leaving him kneeling on the ground, they start on Sani. She tries to curl away from them and the raining blows, crying out at the ones that connect with areas of her body, her stomach, sides, back, and other places. Itachi pushes himself up into a sitting position and his eyes go wide when he sees them, almost all of them, attacking Sani the way they usually do him.
"S-stop…" Itachi says hoarsely as she cries out in pain from a hard blow to the back. He slowly pushes his beaten body upright, swaying a little, and his eyes fill with angry tears when he sees Sani on the ground, trying not to cry out as she tries to protect herself. His hands clench into fists as his eyes narrow in anger.
"Leave her alone!" he says, trying to sound confident. The boys ignore her and continue their attack on Sani, but when Sani cries out again, Itachi's rage grows, making him tremble, his nails actually digging into his palms enough to draw a small bit of blood.
"I said leave her alone!" he yells furiously, and when everyone looks up at him, the boys are shocked to see Itachi's eyes are no longer obsidian, but crimson red. Some of the boys utter yelps of shock and scatter away at the unexpected sight, but the leader growls and doubles back and attacks Itachi, using both Taijutsu and attempting Genjutsu as well, and it's like Itachi can predict and counter every move he makes, every attack he tries to land. The boy eventually gives up and takes off, and then Itachi's eyes slowly return to obsidian as he watches the boy go, before he turns and helps Sani up from the ground.
They walk to the hot springs, undressing and lowering their battered and bruised bodies into the soothing hot water. Itachi curls into her side, furious with himself for not being able to protect her. Sani wraps her arms around him, trying to offer comfort, this is the worst that yet that he has broken down.
Itachi ends up crying himself to sleep beside her, physically and also emotionally exhausted. Sani watches him, she's extremely worried about how depressed he has become. Their parents neglect him so badly; they do her too, except when it comes down to their talents that is. They do Sasuke too, though not as badly. Sani has actually pretty much taken over Sasuke's training and Itachi helps her. She watches Itachi sleep, very worried about him. Seeing him so vulnerable tears her up inside. He's curled as close as he can get to her side, his head on her shoulder, pale cheeks stained with tears, and trembling some too. Sani gently runs her hand up and down his back in a soothing motion, wishing she could take away all of his pain and suffering. She then also remembers Sasuke, and realizes he might be by himself again, which makes her worry. After a bit, she shakes him awake gently.
"Tachi-kun, come on, we need to get home to Sasuke." She says softly, smoothing his bangs out of his eyes. He lifts his head and looks at her, and his expression just breaks her heart, he just wants to be loved by their parents and not pressured for his talents. She gently kisses his forehead and gives him a comforting hug, and then they get out of the spring and head home, stopping at Mrs. Haruno's on the way for treatment.
When they get home, there's only one light out, which confuses them. Their parents went to a party and Sasuke should have been at their aunts. Sani goes to pull the shoji screen open, when they hear what they realize is terrified crying.
"He's alone again!" Itachi hisses angrily. She pulls the shoji open and they hurry inside the house, and they follow the crying to the back room.
"Sasuke?" Sani calls worriedly, looking for him. Using his new Sharingan to look for his chakra, Itachi quickly finds him hiding inside a cupboard in the back room, and opens the door.
"Aniki!" the boy cries, launching himself right at Itachi and holding onto him tightly. He hugs Sasuke close, trying to comfort his distraught otouto. He looks up as Sani comes over, running her fingers through Sasuke's dark hair softly.
"Hey there, Chibi." Sani says gently. He lifts his head from Itachi's shoulder,
"Nishu…" he whispers tearfully. She smiles and kisses the top of his head, and then he burrows back into Itachi's shoulder. Sani puts their stuff away, while Itachi takes Sasuke into the living room to try and calm him down. Sani then fixes a cup of warm milk, knowing that it helps Sasuke to relax. She goes into the living room with the cup, sitting down beside Itachi, who's rubbing his brother's back now.
"Sasuke," she says softly, "I brought you something." He lifts his head, wiping his eyes and sitting up in Itachi's lap. Sani smiles softly and gives him the glass. Itachi wraps a blanket around him as he slowly drinks the milk. She takes the glass when he's done, setting it down on the table as Sasuke crawls into her lap and curls up. Itachi fixes the blanket back around Sasuke, who's now falling asleep. Itachi and Sani look up later as they hear the shoji slam open, their parents are back. Sani says,
"Tou-san, look what Tachi can do!" Itachi activates his new level two Sharingan as their father turns around and his eyes widen. Their parents start congratulating Itachi and praising him. Sani leans in and kisses Itachi's cheek, and then she slips out and off to her room. Sasuke asleep in her arms, she lays him down on her bed, then she sits down beside it. Itachi comes in after a bit, looking dejected. Sani can just tell by his expression that their parents once again proved they only seem to care about his abilities, and not about him. He drops down beside her, and she wraps an arm around him a loving and comforting hug, He snuggles into her side, closing his eyes. She pulls a warm blanket around the two of them as Itachi drifts to sleep, a tear slipping down his cheek.
*Flashback Ends*
Sani ducks a swing from Kiro and counters with a drop kick, remembering how they had sent the summon crow to Madara immediately after they had put Sasuke to bed, and he came the next day to see Itachi's Sharingan and to talk to them and train them some. She also finds herself remembering when she awakened her own Sharingan as well.
*Flashback Start – One Year Ago*
"Man that was tiring." Sani says with a laugh as she and Itachi walk back from the mission's office in the Academy, both their squads had just returned from missions and their sensei's had filed their reports at the same time. Itachi laughs and nods as well, the two of them are heading to their favorite Dango shop, wanting to get a snack for the walk home, and also to pick up Sasuke from Sakura's place where her mother had been babysitting him. As they pass Ichiraku Ramen's, they smile when they see Naruto happily slurping a bowl. Old Teuchi, who owns the stall, and his daughter Ayame, are some of the only few who treat Naruto the way he should be treated, they don't pick on him or look down on him or anything like that. Naruto sees them and he grins and waves as they walk by, smiling as they wave back.
"He looks like he's enjoying himself." Itachi says as they watch Naruto a moment more. Sani nods, linking her arm with Itachi's as the two of them continue on to the Dango stand. Both of them laugh when they see Anko already there ordering dango, she has a well known sweet tooth, and can often be found here. She laughs too, waving and calling them over.
"Just get back?" she asks, and Itachi and Sani both nod. Sani places their order while Itachi and Anko talk, both sitting down at a small table set near the stand. Sani soon joins them as they all wait for their orders.
"How have you been?" Sani asks, and Anko nods, leaning back against the wall behind the seat of the table.
"Good, been busy. As a Chunin they want me to start proctoring the Chunin Exams." Itachi and Sani both gasp and then smile.
"That would be cool; it would be interesting to take the exam under you." Itachi says, and Anko nods and smiles, seeing Sani nod as well.
"Hai, I think I'm going to go for it." She says, and they nod. She then says with a laugh,
"I promise not to be too hard on you." And Itachi and Sani both laugh at her tone as well. The orders are soon called; the three youths get up and accept their orders, paying for them. Sani and Itachi say goodbye to Anko, heading toward the Haruno's house, while Anko heads to her own home. They smile when they see Sakura and Sasuke playing outside, Mrs. Haruno settled in a porch chair as she watches them.
"Ah, Itachi-san, Sani-san, Konichiha." She says with a smile when they come over, and Itachi and say nod and smile as well.
"Konichiha, Mrs. Haruno. How was Sasuke today?" Sani asks, and the woman smiles,
"He and Sakura had plenty of fun. May he come back again?" and Itachi nods.
"Hai, of course, as long as Kaa-san and Tou-san allow him to." And she nods, calling the kids over while she goes inside to get Sasuke's backpack. Itachi and Sani smile and hug Sasuke when he hugs them, saying hello to Sakura as well. They thank Mrs. Haruno when she comes back out with the backpack and Sasuke waves to Sakura as they head off down the road, heading for their usual path back to the compound. They're talking and laughing some, though they keep their guard up too as they walk, smiling as Sasuke chatters happily about his day at Sakura's. Sani smiles as Sasuke picks a couple of little red flowers he sees, giving one to her and one to Itachi, and they both smile and ruffle his hair.
"Arigatou, Sasuke." They both say, and he grins and continues walking with them happily. The trip goes relatively calmly, Sasuke is now being carried by Sani and is almost asleep, when the boys suddenly appear, though they seem hesitant at first when they see the small child Sani is carrying. Sasuke groans sleepily, and opens his eyes when the boys rush at Itachi, he'd heard them. Sani gasps, gently covering his eyes, so that he won't see them hurting his brother. She sets him down, turning him away from the fight and telling him,
"Chibi I need you to go and hide in those bushes, okay? Keep your eyes covered and don't let anyone find you." He nods and takes off, scared but wanting to show Sani he knows to do what she told him. Once she sees he's hidden, she turns back and tries to stop one boy from punching Itachi, but he throws her to the ground. She yelps as her arm connects with a rock in the road, and then pushes herself back up.
"Stop it!" she yells, and Itachi activates his Sharingan, but to their surprise, the boys seem to know to avoid his eyes, watching his body language instead. He tries to catch them in some of his Genjutsu that Madara has taught them, but with them diligently avoiding eye contact he is unable to. Sani manages to land a kick to one boy's side, making him let go of Itachi, and she makes her way to him, the two of them now back to back, circled by the boys. They defend as best as they can, but hits still get landed on them. Sani clenches her fists, not wanting to see Itachi take so much abuse for her again, and she feels her anger building, but suddenly they hear a startled squeak, and look over to see the leader of the boys holding Sasuke up in front of him by the back of his shirt, the little boy still covering his eyes in fright. Itachi and Sani both gasp, their eyes narrowing angrily.
"Don't you dare to lay a hand on him!" Itachi snarls, his crimson eyes narrowing dangerously, glaring at the boy. The leader, they've learned his name is Soka, sneers at them, raising up a hand as if to strike Sasuke, and Sani looks down, snarling angrily,
"Touch him and you die!" and when she looks back up, Itachi and the others are shocked to see her eyes are now crimson red as well, but different from Itachi's. Instead of the two black tomoes he has, hers is a small circle in the middle with one blade, like a pinwheel blade shape out from it, almost a one bladed pinwheel.
"W-what the..!" Soka says, dropping Sasuke back to the ground, the boys again try to attack Sani and Itachi, but they predict the moves, countering and blocking. Like back when Itachi activated his Sharingan, the boys soon scatter, unsettled at the new development, but Soka makes one more attempt at attacking, only to be blocked by both Sani and Itachi. He gives up shortly after as well, and Sani and Itachi make their way over to Sasuke, hugging him.
"They're gone now, otouto." Itachi says, lifting Sasuke into his arms, who uncovers his eyes and looks around, relieved.
"Nishu? Why are your eyes red?" he asks, and Sani says softly,
"I'm not sure, I think it might be a Sharingan, but don't tell Tou-san, okay?" Sasuke nods as she picks up his little backpack from the ground and they continue home. Once there Sani and Itachi again head to their hot springs, this time letting Sasuke come with them. He's only with them about half an hour when their mother comes out to see if he's with them, taking him in to bed. Sani and Itachi then curl up after she leaves, talking softly together about today's new development. They don't really cry this time though; they're starting to get to the point where the bullying is making them more feeling numb than anything else. They still only talk about it to each other though.
After they dry off and head back to the house, they settle on her bed, and Itachi performs the hand signs and summons Madara's crow. Sani writes down her message about what happened today, describing how her eyes looked as Itachi gives his point of view from seeing them, and then they send the bird off.
The next morning while they're in training, their mother running errands with Sasuke and their father at work, Madara arrives, asking to see Sani's new eyes. She nods and shows him, and he gasps a bit.
"An unusual Sharingan indeed," he says, "I believe now is the time to begin training you to use your new eyes." They nod, and Shisui soon arrives as well, and Itachi activates his own Sharingan. Madara chuckles at Shisui's reaction to seeing two pairs of Sharingan, and then he studies Sani's eyes, and then declares,
"Cool!" This makes them all laugh. They soon begin their training, Madara telling him that he's very impressed with her Sharingan, just like he was with Itachi's, and Shisui says,
"I can't wait to activate mine." And Madara nods.
"I suspect that will be soon enough." He says, and Shisui nods and smiles, the three of them continuing to train.
*End Flashback*
Sani turns her attention back to the spar with Kiro, which soon ends in a tie, and they go back over to the targets for a break. As they approach the target area, Sani notices that Sasuke is not throwing any shuriken, but was intently watching their spar. She smirks as he attacks her, and she blocks his moves effortlessly, but his punches and kicks are very well aimed, as well as his blocks being very well timed, his movements fluid and precise.
"I see Itachi has started you in Taijutsu." Sani observes, and Sasuke grins and nods, bouncing a bit happily on his heels as she ruffles his hair. Sani lets a smile grace her lips, and then she attacks Sasuke, though not at her full force, but just enough to make him really move. She's very impressed at how well he blocks, dodges and counters. She soon stops, smiling, and says,
"Very good Sasuke, I am very impressed." She says, and his eyes light up. Her sensei then sits them down for their break, telling her squad that they leave on their mission to Suna in three days now, instead of one, and so because of that they have some time to relax until then. Sani and her squad discuss the details of the mission for a while, and what time to meet at the gate in three days, and then they pack up, saying their goodbyes and heading off.
Sasuke also packs up his weapons, and he and Sani head back home, chatting some as they walk, talking a little about when she's going to be leaving, and also about how much they miss Itachi, and how they wonder how he's doing in the second stage of the exam.
Three days, that means she'll be able to see Itachi before they leave, they, because she'll be bringing Sasuke with her to Suna. She and Sasuke arrive home, greeting their parents and going to their rooms to change, and then washing up for supper. They sit at the table, listening some as their father talks about his day at work to their mother while they eat, but their minds are more on Itachi and how he's doing, hoping he's doing well.
After dinner Sani helps their mother with the dishes, and then she and Sasuke head back out to sit on the porch, sipping some hot cocoa as they look at the stars, Sani smiling and showing him some constellations she knows, both of them unaware that the same person they're both thinking of, is looking up at the same stars, missing them as much as they miss him.
Well there it is, the new and improved chapter review and tell me what you think. :)
Sani.