Chapter 6 – Training?! More Like Committing Suicide!

Contrary to popular beliefs, Orochimaru was a diligent teacher, at least in educating his students. Just as he had strived for perfection, he expected no less from those who learned from him. Undeniably, his training was also most definitely out of the norm, and lethal. Yuna was one of the very few with the prospects to experience such phenomenon.

Yuna had an insightful understanding of what was installed for her training under the most praised one out of the three Sannin. If one did not have the tenacious vitality of a cat, or a will as strong as iron, sooner or later, one would falter and be laying on one's deathbed.

Yuna's training went as follows: for the first month, Yuna ran around Konoha at least three times for warm-up. After that, her teacher taught her some basic skills in hand-to-hand combat and then she would have to apply what she had just learned to defend herself. The attacker was the other lucky contender to have ever tutored by Orochimaru, personally and officially. Her name was Anko. She was a witty girl with short, spiky, hair and a fanned-ponytail. Just like her hair, she was a charismatic person to be around. Despite apologising repeatedly after practice, she never went easy on Yuna. Anko looked up to their teacher a lot. She always tried her best to impress him – that entailed no playing Miss Nice with Yuna. Anko knew perfectly well that if she went easy on Yuna, Orochimaru-sensei would undoubtedly see that as weakness on her part. Because of that, it had to be said that the taijutsu Yuna was capable of could no longer be classified as basic by the end of the first month.

During the second month, Yuna started to learn how to wield common weaponry such as kunai and shuriken, as well as the utilisation of explosive tags and poison on her weapons, while spending the rest of her time studying the art of traps. From the third month, she was learning how to use her chakra in different fields. She climbed tree after tree, walked and ran miles on the surface of hot springs, provided that she didn't lose concentration and ended up bathing, and practised some elementary-level ninjutsu like the cloning technique, the body replacement technique, and transformation technique to begin with.

After that, Orochimaru decided that Yuna should move onto more advanced ninjutsu using her own nature affinity. Although Yuna had a disadvantage of undeveloped chakra pathway due to her young age, she managed a variety of intermediate-level water releases like the water clones and water dragon bullet technique by the end of the fourth month's training. It would seem the girl had a large reserve of chakra like her adoptive parents. However, things stepped up even further in the fifth month. Orochimaru thought it was time for Yuna to gain some "real survival skills" and he felt certain that the best way to do it was by throwing Yuna into a pit of writhing, deadly snakes.

"Just make sure you are still alive and have not become their snack when I come back." With a sinister grin, the serpent-like man returned to his lab to continue his research. Anko was sweating and watching from a distance, standing by in case of an emergency.

Meanwhile, Yuna fought for her life.

Half a year of brutal training had drastic physical effects on the little girl. Yuna became notably thinner and swelling was forming around her eyes. She looked like a flower that was withering, waiting for her final evaluation.

"Some raw talents I see. Alas, quite dumb."

Okay, Yuna had to admit, if she could, she would love to beat this man up for good. These six months, facing such inhumane training, Yuna merely clenched her teeth and pulled herself up again for another round. Not once had she complained, not once had she shed a tear - because she knew, in order to pursue power, one must pay the price. Yuna grew up in Orochimaru's Spartan-style education both mentally and physically.

By the evening, Yuna returned home with all sort bruises and wounds. The couple got on with their usual routine. Minato got the medicine box out and started to measure the required bandage and Kushina went to prepare water and disinfectants to be used to clean the wounds. For the time being, Yuna was sticking the tip of her tongue out and smiling perkily when she was told to sit on the sofa.

Even with the slightest contact with the surface of the wound, the young girl grimaced in pain. Minato's heart tightened instantly and Kushina struggled to maintain calmness so that she could clean the wounds as delicately as possible.

"Is it necessary to go through all that hardship when you're only six?" Minato asked, in the hope that their baby girl would reconsider her actions.

"No pain, no gain. Boss, I'm sure you understand this," Yuna replied mildly.

The Yellow Flash was left speechless.

"Yuna-chan, papa is only concerned about your health. It is clear Orochimaru-senpai's training is too much for you," Kushina added with a faint smile.

"I know what I'm doing!" Yuna persisted with a pout.

"Let's say I'll have Kakashi come over and give you some pointers on how to create your own jutsu," Minato suggested. "How does that sound?"

"No, thank you. His Chidori is beautiful, but I don't see what I can take from there. I mean, it is a highly destructive jutsu and it is very flashy. A flashy jutsu is very useful for the ANBU work he does," Yuna said in a mocking tone and looked dimly to the side, "right?"

Minato chuckled at the sarcasm. "That's Kakashi's proud achievement. He will be so hurt when he hears this." The worst bit was that Yuna was talking about it in Kakashi's tone.

"Can you teach me your Rasengen?"

"I'm glad you're interested. And yes, I will teach you. That is, when you get in better shape."

"Yes, sir!"

The Third paid a visit to Orochimaru to check on the progress of the little girl who had asked for his help three seasons ago.

The old man puffed out smoke. "How's the little one doing?" he asked.

Looking out the window, Orochimaru quickly eyed the girl in question fighting against a giant snake. For two minutes, they stood at the same spot, observing each other's stance. The killing intent was building up.

Ever so slightly, the serpent opened her jaw with much sly, showing sharp and poisonous fangs, more than ready to strike. Yuna stood bravely without any sign of fear. In a blink of the eye, there was a crash to the ground where the girl was standing. She disappeared.

When the snake was sensing the girl's presence by the tree, she swung her tail, causing the blue-haired to drop her disguise. Reaching into her tool bag, Yuna quickly fetched kunai knives she had prepared with explosive seals. She threw them at the weakest grinding, while blocking the animal from attacking her further. When the seals activated, the soft ground crumbled and merged with the pond a few yards away. Water filled the crate.

Quickly, she made two hand signs, Snake and Ox, and then she slapped her hands together. Yuna reached towards to her opponent and kept her still.

"Suirō no Jutsu. (Water Prison Technique)"

With that, Yuna successfully trapped her teacher's summon and immobilised her. As soon as she released the animal and it went away in a poof, Anko ran towards her kōhai and congratulated Yuna for her hard work. The girls smiled and chatted.

"Not bad. She's too young. Her chakra is not stable enough yet to perform any jutsu beyond B-rank. For now, I can't teach her anything else."

"That's very impressive. She's already at the level of an accomplished genin, if not a chūnin." The Third was surprised by the immense improvements in such a short time. In fact, he was more impressed about how much control she had over water. Even for some advanced users, they required a lot more hand signs to complete the technique. Hiruzen remembered explaining to Jiraiya years ago when he had asked how genin Minato could perform water and wind techniques without the assistance of seals. It appeared Yuna might have closer genetic blood-relation to his more favoured potential successor. Hiruzen made a mental note of this observation, which he was going to bring this up the next time he saw the blond man. He thought again that Minato might have found it out already, but he would just kindly remind him.

"In all fairness, you are doing a brilliant job at teaching Yuna, Orochimaru. As do her, her hard work is paying off. I can't easily think of another child of her age with her skills. Why is she so eager to learn ninjutsu?" wondered the old-timer, deep in thought. "That's too much for a child."

The only child he could think of who was just like her would be none other the heir of the Uchiha. Hiruzen allowed the young boy to enter academy at age 5 - the last time he had made such an exception, as he recalled.

"No," Orochimaru disagreed. "This child is different. Not only she has raw talents, she has extraordinary endurance and willpower as well. She can endure suffering even most adults cannot. When I intensified the training, it was purposely done for her to back down. She didn't, and instead, she overcame the challenge with outstanding results."

"Well, to have your compliment, it implies the child is already a gem," remarked the old man. He smiled and returned with gladness.

It had been almost three months since young Itachi had attended the academy. After school, he went home immediately. He was still not very comfortable around other people, the other villagers. He spent his early childhood confined in the Uchiha district by his father and there were few times that he went into the main body of the village. After all, he was the second youngest in the clan at the time. All the people he interacted with were older than him.

Since his infant years, Itachi had shown extreme talents in becoming a powerful shinobi. He started training at the age of 3 and his learning curve had always been an exponential one. Fugaku was strict on his son. With an intense training and studying schedule, the all-rounder prodigy was only getting stronger and more intelligent. So when the time came, Itachi would be the pride of the Uchiha and a showcase to all other clans. Indeed, within the first month, Itachi was moved to second year as the homeroom teacher felt that it was a waste of time for him to be there at all. In Fugaku's opinion, the business with the academy was a waste of time. Just that it was the only way for anyone to become an official shinobi of the village. Besides, it was the chance to show off his son's genius.

There was no parent out there who would pass on such an opportunity.

When Itachi had finished his homework, he sat by the wooden platform that supported the house. He situated himself in the shade to avoid the setting sun blinding his eyes, and read a book for leisure. When he was about to find about the destruction of Uzushiogakure during the Second Shinobi World War, he noticed there was a shadow creeping from behind.

The older Uchiha boy had returned home from his two months A-rank mission. The first thing he did once he came back was to give his little cousin a surprise attack, to let him know that he was home sound and safe.

Shisui honestly thought he was doing a brilliant job. He had been leaning against the sliding door for a good ten minutes and Itachi had not shown any sign of recognition. He got bored waiting for Itachi to realise his presence. And so, Shisui began to sneak up on that bookworm.

Slowly, the teenager approached his target carefully, tip-toeing his way to him and opening his mouth to make a loud "AHH" by the younger boy's ear. Itachi turned his head nimbly to find his cousin's face right in front of his eyes. Shisui instantly dropped his evil plan to scare the little guy and went back to breathing normally.

Knowing Itachi, being ever so tranquil and boring, he could only be so scared.

Eyeing the book in the boy's hands, Shisui greeted with a sulking smile, "Hey, Squirt! Whatcha doin'?" He decided to start up a conversation casually. The boy's shoulders tensed up. Shisui smirked, knowing that he did scare Itachi, although just a tiny bit.

"Reading." Itachi gave a short answer. The older boy was waiting until he spoke more. "I thought you were Dad, so I didn't turn to see you."

"Fugaku still do that? Standing behind you and checking up on what you're doing?" Shisui had thought that had always been too much. How much the father kept such a close eye on his son, leaving the poor boy practically no freedom to do his own things. Shisui was not in favour of that. Then again, Shisui was in no place to talk about how parenting should be like. He was a teenager who happened to belong in the same generation as Fugaku only, which meant there was a generation gap between Shisui and Itachi.

It didn't matter much. Despite Shisui was older than Itachi by seven years and was supposed to be his "uncle", they were good friends.

"Yes," Itachi answered plainly. He didn't seem to mind how his father was basically controlling his life - that came with being the future head of the Uchiha clan. "I thought you wouldn't be back for one more week."

"I'm quite efficient," Shisui gave him squinty-eyes, thinking Itachi was doubting his abilities. "It was my last mission with them." He smiled brightly.

Finally, I can leave it all behind.

Itachi had learned about Shisui hating himself for what he was doing for the war effort. He only did what he was told because he was a shinobi. A shinobi must follow his order and complete his mission.

"Does that mean the war's ending?" Itachi asked with hopeful surmise. Shisui was signed to a contract to work under Danzō as his subordinate until the war ended, providing he had not sacrificed his life for their country.

Since that day when Mikoto was sent home in a comatose with bandages wrapped all over her body, Itachi had learned the horror of man: war. He thought he was going to lose his mother. About a year later, she woke up and retired her career as a kunoichi for the second and final time. She swore to never return to the Shinobi world as a kunoichi and instead be the mother she could be for her son.

It had been four years since Uchiha Shisui had joined the front line under Danzō's command. Being a part of the Elder's elite squad as a child weapon, a representative for the Uchiha clan, Shisui was assigned to spy on Amegakure as his last mission being a pseudo Root ANBU. Danzō was still pondering whether he wanted a collaboration with Hanzō; he sent Shisui on a solo mission to enter Amegakure as an orphan to gather Intel. After ten years, it would seem the Third war was coming an end at last.

"Yeah, other countries are still in, but Konoha's completely out of the loop already," Shisui added, "I've heard that Hokage-sama is planning to step down from his seat once things are more settled."

Itachi was getting very interested. Closing his book, he paid his full attention to the conversation.

"So, Dad might get his chance?" Itachi had heard the gossip within the clan about how there had not been a Hokage from the Uchiha clan yet, while the Sarutobi, a smaller foundation clan, had. In fact, Sarutobi Hiruzen was the longest-reigning Hokage.

"Maybe... Fugaku is definitely one of the candidates." Shisui thought about it more deeply, considering about the other possible choices.

Orochimaru of the Sannin. The Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.

"But he's up against two other candidates I can think on top of my head, who have monstrous strength. That is excluding a list of other minor competitors." Shisui didn't like to disappoint the little guy. He thought at least Itachi should know the truth and be prepared for the more probable result. "I think it'll be very difficult for him to win." He was trying to make it sound less like "no, he won't be Hokage". Really, that was what Shisui thought.

There was a pause. Flicking and scanning through The History of Konohagakure in his hands, Itachi took his time to think. Shisui was worried that the young heir would break down in tears because what he said could well be interpreted as the lack of faith in their clan's head. Itachi was still in silence.

Shisui thought Fugaku had enough on his plate and should focus more on the relationship between the village and the clan. That was all.

"From the clan's point of view, Dad should be the Fourth Hokage," Itachi spoke finally. "He's the strongest in the clan and it's our turn, but I don't think Dad fits the job."

The last bit nearly gave Shisui a heart attack. His eyes bulged and his jaw dropped in mere shock at those unexpected words. He never thought Itachi would ever say something like that about his father. As a good son, Itachi never disagreed with the man. Looking at the exaggerated expression, Itachi laughed a bit before explaining his reasoning.

"For one, Dad isn't the strongest of all shinobi in Konoha. Also, I don't think the way he does things would work with the rest of the village."

Shisui blinked hard, twice. He kept staring at the younger boy with disbelief.

I mean, to notice your father not being the strongest isn't the surprise here... It's the fact that you, of all people, would say it out loud...

"Squirt, please tell me you're not going to tell your dad about this conversation."

"No." Itachi gave Shisui a questioning look. "Why would I do that?"

Shisui only grinned a little, almost proudly, as a reply.

It would seem the academy was doing a world of good to young Itachi. He might still have difficulties blending in with the other people his age and making friends with them. At least he was beginning to understand how the world worked, Shisui thought contently to himself, knowing that everything was going so well.

Info for readers:-

Itachi's age

He's 4 years older than the original. Appearance-wise, a thirteen-year-old wouldn't have that physique in height and general and a fully developed bass-baritone voice under normal circumstances. Okay... one could argue Itachi was premature physically as well as mentally, but the general description of him did not portray a thirteen-year-old.

(I love your sexy voice to bits, Hideo-san. But honestly... You need to speak a lot higher when you're voice-acting a thirteen-year-old Itachi, or simply get another voice actor/actress. Like the anime production team realised it the second time when they introduced young Kakashi and young Obito, they got women to voice act for them; first time round, the adults tried but failed to sound anywhere close to even teenagers. I watch the anime in Japanese.)

This is one of the major changes I make in this fic. Despite how much I love his character, he makes no sense to me in the canon. With too many things about him unexplained and his exceptionally young age, I personally won't buy his story for being only 21 when he managed to achieve all that he had and died. It is said that he was scarred by the Third War and so he became a peace seeker.

According to my mental maths, Itachi would have been too young to witness any of it. Yes, he could have grown up to the aftermaths... But still... It doesn't quite add up to a 2-3 years old child understanding how all that worked. No matter how much a genius Itachi was, he was still a child. (His age was worked out from canon's information.) I believe there is a limit in everything—that includes the limit on how much a prodigy understands at such tender age. Besides, when Minato became Hokage, the village began to prosper again. So, where did Itachi get his fear of war?

ANBU Kakashi

Kakashi went into ANBU by the end of the Third War. He is still traumatised in here, but he knows how to deal with it much better than the anime fillers describe, much closer to his original impression and characterisation. I would think Kakashi would be stronger than that. I am ignoring the Kakashi ANBU episodes. There are quite a few plot holes in them. I'm not willing to buy it.

Kakashi is three years older than the original. The first time Kakashi was shown in the Third war era, he looked and sounded older than he was according to the information given.

Uchiha Shisui

I'm making him quite young, half a year younger than Kakashi. He's another tragic hero. There is a sequel to this interquel, which is my vision of his life story. It contains major spoilers and gives a detailed back story to the rest of my rendition of the Naruto world. Don't read it until the first volume finishes if you have a problem with spoilers.

s/9962747/1/Shisui-s-Side-Story