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Ren age 7
I scanned the crowd before pointing a random person.
"The woman wearing the green shirt"
Itachi blinked "The one at the fruit stand?"
"Yep"
He squinted at the woman before speaking again.
"Civilian, mid-twenties, unmarried, job is….. unknown, currently buying fruit for dinner or for a shrine" He looked at me expectantly.
I thought for a moment "Age range is between 24 and 28, you can kind of tell by her perfume and skin lotion, you can see the brand she uses inside her bag, unmarried yes but she has a fiancée, she works as a….. librarian? I think? And yes the fruit is for a shrine because that is too much fruit for someone who lives alone"
He stared at the woman thoughtfully "Did you guess her job by looking at the ink on her hands?"
"Yep, if she was a writer the ink would be on her pinkie but since the smudges are on her thumb and index finger she…."
"….uses a stamp a lot which leads to her being a librarian" he finished. He frowned for a moment. "Shouldn't the stamp be clean? Looking at her fashion I highly doubt that she is someone who keeps things dirty"
"Not if she works at a children's library. The stamps there are as dirty as hell. You should see the one at the north east tower. It's practically blue because of all the times the kids smudged ink over it"
He nodded before taking a bite of his dango.
What we were doing today was me and Itachi deducing random people's profiles from the street. Since he was aiming for Anbu he thought that it would be useful skill to learn. I was just glad to not be the only weird kid staring at random people on the street. We were supposed to do it every three days or so but ever since Itachi had graduated early (showoff) and had been assigned to a genin team we had to go with doing it once every week. Speaking of Itachi's genin team…..
"Sooo how's your team?"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why the sudden change of subject?"
I shrugged "Just curious"
He thought for a moment "They are….. acceptable"
"Oooooh…" I gasped "acceptable…." I smacked him in the shoulder. "Details Tachi, details"
"They seem nice"
I smacked him again.
He sighed "Tenma Izumo is about four centimeters taller than me and three years older. He is aiming to be close combat specialist and he is.."
"Itachi" I cut him off "I swear I will burn all the dango in the five nations if you keep on messing with me"
He blinked at me innocently "I thought you wanted details Ren?"
"That's it I'm teaching your big brother where you hide your dango!" I shouted.
He frowned "Big brother? But…." His eyes widened with comprehension "Shisui is not my brother Ren"
I grinned at him "Sure he isn't, doesn't change the fact I'm going to tell him though"
A look of horror crept onto his face and my grin got even wider. "Come on Tachi tell me properly this time and I might not tell him"
"Fine" he grumbled. "Tenma-san seems brash but knows when to stop and Shinko-san is shy and is….. kind"
I thought for a moment "Tenma….. as in Tenma Izumo? And Shinko is Shinko Inari?"
He nodded.
"You've got good teammates" I mused "Tenma was recommended as a good close-combat student and Shinko was student of the year"
His face flickered for a moment before returning to stoic. "….. I see"
"And your sensei was….?"
"Yuki Minazuki sensei"
I took a bite out of the dango I was holding "I haven't heard of him"
"I thought you memorized all of the potential ninja's who would become a Jonin sensei?"
I shrugged "I haven't memorized all of them. I'm pretty sure there were a few files I ignored or his files could just be classified"
When I heard that Itachi was graduating early I had asked some favors from the T&I department who I knew and had gotten my hands on the files containing almost every ninja who had been signed up to become a Jonin sensei. I'm pretty sure the only reason I was allowed to even touch those files was because everyone there knew who I was and kind of pitied me. It was annoying but if it got me what I wanted I wasn't going to complain.
Itachi looked at the ground. "Anbu?" he asked.
I shrugged again "Maybe. I'd have to meet him to be able to tell"
"You can do that?"
"Uhhh… probably? I mean I know some people who used to be Anbu and I've been asking them some tips because some Anbu are assigned to be bodyguards for diplomatics?"
He looked at me expectantly.
I rolled my eyes "Fine… "
He gave me his version of a smug smile (which if you didn't know him looked like his default 'I don't care' face) and went back to eating his dango.
I huffed irritated "Why do you want to go into Anbu anyway? I thought you hated fighting"
He stayed silent.
"Daddy problems?" I probed
He glared at me "I'm pretty sure my 'daddy problems' are less severe than yours Ren"
I pursed my lips "I have no idea what you're talking about"
He turned to face me "Your dad wants to talk to you"
"…..You've been talking to him?"
"I thought it would be for the best"
I closed my eyes and tried not to strangle him "You have no right to judge that"
"He told me that you've been avoiding him for the last six weeks"
"I have not been avoiding him for six weeks"
"If you say so"
I stood up, threw my dango stick into the trash can and started to walks backwards away from Itachi "And on that note I'm going to…."
I bumped into someone. Three guesses who it was.
"Ren-chan…" Dad said "We have to talk"
I spun around and glared at Itachi "You asshole"
"He did it at my request Ren-chan" Dad gripped my shoulders gently "I asked him to do it when I realized you were deliberately hiding from me"
Itachi stood up and dusted his clothes "Akinari-san I should go home now. My mother will be wondering where I am now"
He nodded "You do that Itachi-kun. Thank you"
Itachi returned the nod and began to walk away.
"I'm telling your brother where you hide your pocky!" I shouted at his back "Both of them!"
He disappeared into the crowd.
"Ren-chan" dad sighed "Have you had dinner?"
I grumbled and looked away.
He signed again "Let's go home for now shall we?"
"…. Fine" I muttered.
He gave me a weak smile.
"So…. I heard that you were second in your class?"
"Just get to the point" I muttered "Don't do anything that'll embarrass the both of us"
"Isn't being second in your class something important?" he insisted "You could have told me"
"How?" I almost snarled the word "You literally left"
He winced "You could have left a letter"
"Oh sure" I snarked "I'll remember that next time you decide to leave" I crossed my arms and looked away from him. "Just get to the point already"
He fidgeted with his thumbs "I….. want to apologize… for leaving…you….and I…" he sighed again.
"Do you remember when you were two?" he asked suddenly
"What?" I asked
He nodded "You probably don't but it was when you were two that the first signs of your OI started to appear"
I nodded unsure where this was heading "Suuuure….. and?"
"It was just past your second birthday when you were in front of a door when it opened suddenly and you got hit by it. You started crying loudly and when we asked a doctor he told us that you had broken your bones and in your right arm and some of your ribs were poking your lungs. You had to go into surgery because of it"
I blinked as I digested this information. A door had put baby me into surgery?
"After that your mother and I…. didn't let you out of our sight. Since my workplace was crowded and even more dangerous than home your mother took you to hers and…." He trailed off. "I was so worried that something would happen to you. I would call her three times a day just to make sure that you were safe but soon I reduced it to one knowing that she would keep you far from harm." He wiped a tear from his eye and smiled sadly. "I know that you're a capable strong girl but when….. it came and took your mother. I was just so lost. And then when you decided that you would aim to join one of the most dangerous corps to ever exist…."
I began picking at the table of becoming very conscious of the words I said when we had fought.
"I shouldn't have snapped at you" he said eventually "I was just so…. so….. worried Ren-chan" He looked up at me with tears in his eyes "After I lost Kotoe I couldn't lose you too."
I rubbed my eyes hard. I was not going to cry. I was not going to cry. I was not going to… dammit.
I reached out and hugged him as hard as I could trying to ignore the tears in my face. He hugged me back fiercely and whispered "I'm so sorry Ren-chan. I'm so sorry for leaving I'm so sorry" over and over again. I stayed silent and kept on hugging him back.
I hadn't thought I would forgive him so easily. After mom dying him leaving had hurt so badly and every time I returned to an empty house I was reminded of the fact that he had abandoned me to fend for myself. I was angry and sad so I had bottled up my feelings and buried them as deep as I could but seeing him again and him telling me that he was sorry…..
I realized that I couldn't stay mad at him. How could I when he was the only family I had left? And while I was hugging him and crying I thought of how relieved I felt that I wasn't alone anymore.
Family, even broken was the most precious thing I could have right now and I couldn't repeat it enough that I was glad that I could have it back.
Izumi
She had expected a lot of things from the academy. Growing up it had been one of the most popular topics among everyone her age. The constant chatter and gossip had made the academy seem like a giant royal place where you were given blessings before becoming a ninja. That image had been shattered the moment she had entered her classroom and noticed the poker game happening in the middle of the classroom. Two kids, obviously from the Nara and Yamanaka clan, were sitting on the opposite side of a table, cards and small stacks of coins set between them, and a small crowd gathered around them and from the looks of it they were playing very very seriously.
The shock on her face must have been easy to see (who wouldn't be?) because Airi Hato one of the girls she frequently played with came over to explain the situation to her.
"They've made a bet on which strategy is better" she said "The Yamanaka girl, Ren? I think she's called? Said that luck and cold reading is better and the Nara boy, I didn't catch his name, bet that calculating the odds would be much better"
"Ok….." she kind of wanted to ask how they knew so much about poker strategies but honestly she was scared of the answer she would hear. "So…. who's winning?"
Airi simply pointed at the obviously bigger pile of coins next to the smiling Yamanaka. She nodded unsure of how to react. A Yamanaka was dominating a Nara. Sure why not? She took a front row seat and tried to ignore the frustrated noises that the Nara boy was making.
This was the first time Izumi saw Ren Yamanaka.
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The first time she talked to the poker girl was the first time they had kunoichi classes. They were doing flower arranging by pairs and by the luck of the draw she was the one who got paired with said girl.
Ren had obviously never made a flower crown because fifteen minutes later she still hadn't been able to make her first knot. Poker girl stared at the mess of stems and petals in her hands before looking at her and asking "teach me please?"
She sighed internally before reaching out and showing her how to make a flower knot. While she was finishing the loop of the crown Ren suddenly asked "Do you do knitting?"
She blinked. She did do knitting but how did she…?
"I've seen some of the old ladies do knitting and your finger movements seemed to move similarly." Ren shrugged "I've tried to pick it up but I don't have the time or the patience to learn it"
Ooooookay. Poker girl has mind reading skills (which in hindsight seems like something you'd expect from a Yamanaka) and spends time with old ladies (she doesn't even know why she was nitpicking that one)
Poker girl seemed to study her face for a moment. "Is this, whatever this is, because of the poker thing on the first day?"
How did she know that?
"because honestly that was Heisuke's fault" she continued.
She nodded but the look on her face must not have been very convincing because she started flailing her arms around trying to explain.
"Honestly! Heisuke saw me playing with my cards and started bragging about how good he was at poker using math! There was no way I was going to let something like that pass"
Poker girl dragged her hands over her face. "Oh god, that's going to stay with me forever isn't it? The girl who played poker on the first day of the academy"
She wisely decided to stay quiet.
"I feel like we're starting off the wrong note" Ren mutters. She sits back and reaches out her hand towards her. "Hi. I'm Ren Yamanaka, future diplomat. I like helping out at orphanages…" orphanages? "… magic tricks, sweet things and sleeping"
"Magic tricks?" she asked "You can do magic tricks?"
Ren retracted her hand to scratch her head sheepishly. "I… uhhh kind of picked it up as a hobby when I was four and I've been practicing ever since"
Now she was intrigued. "You've been practicing since you've been four?" she had been practicing shuriken throwing when she was four she began to wonder if she couldn't have done anything better.
"Yep. I just like seeing people's brain try to process the stuff I do" she grinned "and…. I never caught your name by the way"
"Oh" Stupid she should have introduced when Ren had done hers "I'm Izumi Uchiha, my dream is becoming the chief of the Uchiha military police and I like cooking"
Ren seemed to perk up at that. "You like cooking?"
"…..Yes?"
"Do you know how to make rice cookies properly because I always manage to burn them up"
"You cook too?"
"Yeah my… I just get a lot free time so try to make edibles to pass the time"
Ren must have a lot of free time because it turns out .she knows so much more than a few 'edibles'. The conversation started on how to make rice cookies but it soon expands into making everything from a simple bowl of rice to full on sushi. Why does she know how make sushi?
"To make lunch duh" she replies "I mean, why else would I bother to learn how to make sushi?"
She proves that barely an hour later by inviting herself next to her during lunch time and showing her the bento she brought and as promised Ren has brought sushi.
She won't admit it's quite good.
Ren continues to surprise her by proving to be great company. She keeps the conversation going by entering her own input and listening attentively when needed.
"What kind of magic tricks do you know?" she asks
"Card magic is my favorite" Ren answers immediately "I like mind reading to because that creeps everyone out and coin tricks too I guess"
"Mind reading? Don't you have a jutsu for that?"
A scowl appears on her face "I can't" she mumbles "Chakra imbalance and some other bullshit stops me from doing so"
She can kind of relate to that. Her smaller than average chakra reserves had been a big obstacle when she was trying to learn the fireball jutsu.
"Can you show me?" she asks "The mind reading thing I mean"
"Are you sure?" her voice seems to have taken a nervous tone "Most people get mad at me after I do that"
"Why would they get mad at you?"
A shrug "I have no idea. Embarrassment mostly. They either try to deny what I said, which ends up proving my point, or accuse me of eavesdropping or something."
She tries to remember anything embarrassing she might not want her to know before frowning.
"Hey wait if you're not using jutsu how exactly are you going to 'mind read' me?"
Ren fidgets with her chopsticks awkwardly "Well it's not exactly mind reading and more like….. intelligent guessing"
That only deepens her frown "So does that mean you've already done the 'mine reading' even before you get permission to do so?"
"…Yes?"
She decides not to pretend that conversation never happened.
"Well l can't think of anything embarrassing you could get out of me now so try doing it on me"
Ren gives her a sly grin "You sure? I'm pretty sure you're going to regret saying that later."
She huffed "I stand by my statement, nothing you say will embarrass me"
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She eats her words barely a minute later when Ren marches over to grab Itachi.
Itachi
Ren was an interesting character for sure. He had first noticed her when he had caught her cheating during the poker game on the first day of the academy (which he had only noticed by pure luck) and then became friends(?) with her when she had approached him the next day and told him that she would buy him dango if he came over to have lunch with her. Intrigued he had obliged and had followed Ren over to where a blushing Izumi was glaring at Ren.
"Ren!" she squeaked "You didn't have to drag Itachi-kun over!"
"I thought you said that nothing would embarrass you?" the teasing in her voice was obvious.
"That's not… I didn't mean….." she stuttered
Ren threw an arm over his shoulders and gave proud grin "Don't mind her Tachi-chan. She's just like that because…."
"Ren not a word" Izumi growled.
Ren just cackled.
"I'm sorry to intrude" he said "but is there a reason why you bribed me to come over?"
"Nope. Just wanted to prove something to Izumi"
He stared at her "A point"
"A point" she confirmed
"May I know why?"
"Please don't" Izumi groaned.
"Mind reading" Ren said while turning back to her bento. "Zumi wanted me to try it on her"
"And I regret everything I said" She groaned again
Mind reading? Since she's a Yamanaka does that mean she's using a Jutsu.
"Not a jutsu Tachi" Ren piped "and no to the next question yes to the next and for the last question…."
He blinked at her. Did he say that out loud or was it just her doing her mind reading? What did she mean when no to the next question…
Oh
He had to admit that was impressive.
Ren grinned "Guess I got those right then. I've never formally introduced myself have I? I'm Ren Yamanaka, future diplomat, a pickpocket in training and one of the most annoying things you'll ever encounter"
"I second the last one" Izumi grumbled. She had just finished her own bento and was wiping her hands on a handkerchief. "I've barely known you for an hour and you're already hard to deal with"
"That means I'm doing my job properly then" said girl smiled
He ended up spending a lot of time with Ren and Izumi after that and even though Izumi stutter a lot at first he found himself comfortable in their company. They went to the academy together, ate lunch together, studied together and he even managed to convince Ren to teach him how to do the mind reading which he found out was actually something called 'cold reading'.
When he had asked his parents about it they had been surprised but pleasantly so. While his mother had just been glad that he had been making friends his father had been glad for slightly different reasons.
"It's a useful skill that is used a lot by undercover anbu and strategists." He had said "The girl, while she won't be able to go far with her illness, will be a useful friend for you to have"
"Her illness?" he had asked "I didn't realize that she was sick"
An emotion flickered across his father's face. Disapproval? Pity? He couldn't tell. "It is not my place to tell you. All I can say is that girl is fated to fail her dream. There are some obstacles that one cannot overcome by sheer will."
When he had asked Ren about it she had simply scowled "I have a condition which makes my bones weak and another which messed up my chakra balance. They're ways to get better but…. It takes a lot of time" Her head snapped up towards him. "Don't you dare pity me or go easy on me because of that. The only way I'm going to be able to keep up is if I keep hitting my limits"
He nodded "I wouldn't dream of it" he replied truthfully.
Two years passed and he was at the early graduation ceremony. Everyone he knew was congratulating him but truthfully he was slightly disappointed. After spending so much time with Ren and Izumi he had been hoping that he would be able to graduate with either one of them.
"Don't be so glum Itachi-kun" Izumi said "We'll try our best to graduate early and maybe we could take the Chunin exams together"
"That" Ren cut in "Is a nightmare scenario. No way am I going to graduate early if it means going against you in the Chunin exams"
"Hush Ren" Izumi elbowed her "Be kind for once"
"I don't know what you mean Zumi. I'm always kind"
That managed to bring a smile out of him.
"You're laughing at me now" Ren accused
"I don't know what you mean Ren" he deadpanned "I'm always laughing at you"
Izumi burst into a fit of giggles while Ren glared at him.
Later that night Itachi looked at his new forehead protector and smiled. Having friends was nice. He hoped he would be able to make friends with his new team too.
Nono Yakushi
When the Yamanaka girl first appeared at her orphanage she was convinced that she was a spy from Danzo. Her eyes while friendly was sharp and the way she played with her cards were enough skilled enough to suggest extensive training. But out of them all the reason why she was there was the one that threw off her most.
"You're volunteering?"
The girl blinked "Um.. Yes?"
"Why" she demanded. Almost nobody volunteers at orphanages especially ones that are so far away from the main part of the village.
"Why not?" she shrugged "I like helping people"
"Why not one of the orphanages near the village then?" she pressed. "Surely those places would appreciate a helping hand too, would they not?"
"Oh. I've already been to those"
What
"I'm trying to visit all the orphanages in Konoha and this place is the only one I haven't visited yet" she continued
If this girl was a spy then she was a terrible one that's for sure.
"What's your name again?" she asked
"Ren Yamanaka ma'am" she smiled "I'm six years old and I'm planning to become a diplomat"
She couldn't refuse her after that.
Ren true to her word seemed to genuinely like helping people. All the other orphanages she had contacted gave nothing but high praise for the girl that visited every month.
"She's a godsend" one of the told her "She's good with kids and helps with the chores that we do"
Still not entirely convinced she had dug up some of her old anbu contacts (she didn't like calling them for such mundane reasons but this was Danzo she was talking about she had to be absolutely sure) and had asked about the little girl visisting orphanages.
"She's safe" they had all answered "She's actually a pretty sweet girl actually"
"Can you tell me more about her?" she had asked
She didn't like what she found.
Illnesses, a dead mother, a fragile relationship with her father that led to her living alone most of the time, all topped by a dream which was almost laughable at how naive it was. Uniting the five great nations by negotiation. If it had been that easy she wouldn't have lived an assassin the most of her life, taking so many lives in the process. (and Kabuto wouldn't have had to leave…..)
But the more time she spent with her the more she saw and what she saw was sincerity. She was dead serious in her dream and even her illness couldn't stop her from trying to achieve it and gradually she began to believe in her too. Ren was a kind soul, and times had changed since she had been one of the anbu. Maybe Ren would be able to achieve the dream that the Uchiha boy hadn't managed.
She started to slip notes that ended up at one of the diplo corps desk with details of an intelligent little girl who would be a good matchup for the division. Rumors began to spread of a little girl who helped at the orphanages and did magic tricks for the children. Some of the anbu started watching over the little girl making sure that a particular old man with a cane wouldn't be able to reach her. It would be a long way before she would be able to reach her goal but with help she would at the very least get a chance to prove herself.
She could only hope that it would be enough.
He stood in front of the grave.
"Hello again. I just happened to be passing by so I thought that I might visit you
The plan is in action but it's going slowly. It's going to take almost a decade to take action but it's going to be worth it."
He looked up at the sky.
"There's been word of a little girl going around. Apparently she's kind and helps around at the orphanages. I wonder if she'll meet sensei's kid?"
He thinks of something else and smiles.
"Do you know what else they say? They're saying she's the reincarnation of me.
If thats true she'll probably become just like me.
discarded... forgotten...
I'll have to watch her closely to see if she might be of any use. Who knows maybe she really wil become just like me"
He took a deep breath.
"She'll probably be like me at the start. Confused, hurt but she'll see the truth whether she wants to or not."
Obito Uchiha stared at the grave of Rin Nohara.
"I'll see you soon Rin" he whispers "I'll see you soon"
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The whole plot has been set and the ending has been decided.
Now all I have to is write this whole mess.
I want to do monthly updates but since I have a big exam in november I highly doubt thats going to be possible soooooo. Expect 2 chapters in July and almost no chapters untill mid November.
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Also my future plans for writing fanfics.
I've got two more Naruto story ideas fleshed out (and more will soon follow) and three Bnha fic ideas that I'm flelshing out now.
All of them mess with the canon plotline so expect nothing :)
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