When Worlds Collide

Chapter 7: Brotherly Bond

Welcome back! Now, I know I said this before, but this time I promise, this is the penultimate chapter of the Shimada Arc. And don't expect the same ole bland exposition type of chapters, now is when things start to pick up. Also, if there are italics without accompanying "I thought" or anything like that, it is Murasa speaking telepathically to Kai. Enjoy the chapter!

(Line Break)

Apparently my newfound purple friend resides in my right arm's chakra stream now. How do I know this? Well, pretty much any chakra I channel into good ole righty has a purple hue. Also, my mentor, a female naginata user by the name of Saiya, told me that any jutsus I use through that arm will also be purple. Cool. I also officially turned seven. My birthday was three days after the ceremony, and my lessons with Saiya and a training naginata were my presents. Best birthday gift for a up-and-coming-Shinobi.

So, now on to the current matter. I had wanted to schedule a meeting with Lord Yagasutchi the day after meeting Murasa, but the only slot he had open was three weeks after the Dragon Bonding. So, I worked with Saiya on the basics of Naginata use, and prepared for Academy entrance with Uncle some. Well, now the day was here, and I'm standing in Yagasutchi's office. If I had to describe it, I'd say it looked like any lawyer's office. There was a thick mahogany by the back wall, with two matching chairs with red upholstery in front of the desk. The rest of the walls were absolutely covered in shelves. Each shelve was filled with books and scrolls, and some with pictures of past Elders and Yagasutchi's family members. Speaking of the Clan Head, there he was, seated behind the desk.

"Hello, Kai," Yagasutchi greeted, a warm smile on his face. No matter the smile, there was worry in his golden eyes. "What is the purpose of the meeting today?"

"Well," I started, breathing in. This was gonna be tough on him, I know. He was pretty close to father, so he always had a bit of a special care for me, like you would a nephew or close cousin. "I wanted to talk about my second rite…"

"I feared that was the case…" He said, expression darkening. "What is your concern?"

"Well, to put it bluntly, some of the adults here have been treating me as some disgrace. They won't even look at me. And the shock on some of the Elders faces when I was bonded with a violet dragon, and that's a whole other topic I want to talk about after you explain the shock."

"Well, the shock is because we haven't seen anything like that in a long time. We were all expecting my son to be bonded with an Elder Dragon, he was wiser beyond even some of the Elder's years, and very skilled. But you came out of nowhere." He said, almost as if he had rehearsed this. "We all knew you were skilled, and pretty smart, but no one expected the Stormbringer to emerge. The last time he claimed a host was to the wielder of the very naginata he resided in. So, I believe the neglect you are receiving is envy. The parents want your bond-spirit, or they want him for their son."

"That makes sense. So, what does me being bonded to an Elder entail?" I asked.

"You will get a larger chakra reserve, have stronger Dragon Release abilities, and stronger abilities related to the dragon's element, in this case lightning." Yagasutchi explained, the worry starting to fade. "I'm glad it has just been neglect, there has been some cases of… other methods of showing envy in the past. But if anything like that happens, you come to me immediately, understood?"

"Yes, Uncle." I said, placing extra emphasis on the second word.

"I am not your Uncle, child." He said, amused. "You should know this."

"Yes, but you treat me as a nephew, so that's what you are to me now. My gold eyed uncle." I said, grinning. The guy could use the happiness, he had a tough job. And it's true anyway. He is like an uncle to me.

"Well I am honored, nephew." He said, smiling. "Now, I have work to do, and I believe you need to get ready for the Academy tomorrow."

"That I do. Take care!" I said, running out of the door.

(Line Break)

Lucky for me, the walk to the Academy was not long. About five minutes. Much better than the Uchiha and Hyuga, who had to walk half of the village. Today was the first day, and I was excited. I was most likely gonna get to be a part of Naruto's class, as I was about the same age as him, but there was a chance I'd be bumped up to Neji and Lee's year. Either way, I was excited.

There was an opening speech made by the principal, welcoming us to the Academy. Through the large crowd I spotted a shy looking Hyuga girl, a boy with a dog on his head, and a certain raven-haired individual with a duck butt for hair. Looks like its gonna be Naruto's class. Yessssssss.

Eventually, we broke off to go to our classes. That's when I saw the first deviation from the original timeline. Standing there, in our class, was none other than Tenten. She's supposed to be the next year up! Maybe her parents decided to wait on a kid or something. Either way, that's fine with me. I wonder who will take her place on Team Guy?

We were given assigned seating by the Instructor, a Chunin by the name of Maran. He had shaggy brown hair and a scar on his chin. Guess Iruka won't be our teacher until later, I hope at least. We were given assigned seating, and one by one, kids left the front of the classroom and went to a desk. There I was, wondering who I would be sat next to, when suddenly…

"Kai Shimada, seat 12, next to the Uchiha." Maran said, his voice firm. There's my answer I guess.

When I sat own next to Sasuke, he looked over at me with a smile. "I like your ponytail. My name's Sasuke, and yours is Kai?"

"That's what Maran said, isn't it?"

"Well, yea," he said, looking down. Aww, I hurt the guy's feelings. "I was just making sure I heard right."

"Well, you did hear correctly." I said, backing off on the sarcasm. "Lighten up! I was only messing with you. Thought I'd start our friendship off with a joke. I guess I came off a little harsh…"

"Just a bit." He said, the same smile returning. "I'm glad you think we'll be friends!"

"Me too," I said, smiling. I am definitely not laughing like an evil maniac in my head at what I'm about to say. "You seem like a good friend to have." If you only knew, you poor, poor, uninformed child.

"Thank you!" He said, beaming.

(Line Break)

Academy training was about as tough as Uncle had trained me. We ran, practiced taijutsu, learned math and history, and practiced with shuriken and kunai. Turns out Sasuke is actually really talented. He had me beat for history grades, tied me in math, and wasn't far behind me for the taijutsu. Then there was the kunai and shuriken. Turns out, I suck with shuriken, but I set the Academy record for kunai throwing. Interesting. Sasuke absolutely demolished me with shuriken, thanks to "Big brother" giving him some tips. We were top two in most of the subjects, with the exception of math, which went to Shikamaru. I also got to see just how good at throwing weapons Tenten was. She also beat Sasuke with kunai, and was not far behind him in shuriken. I'm fairly certain if I hadn't set a new record she'd be in second and Sasuke in first, cause she was good. At the end of the test day, a day where our throwing rankings were tested, Tenten's competitive side showed its face. When Sasuke and I beat her, she vowed that she would get the better of us at range one day. If she turns out like she does later on, that will be true.

Speaking of throwing, there we were, practicing against the logs as the sun set. We each had to hit 15 in the center of the target with both kunai and shuriken as fast as we could, to prepare for the next test day. We were allowed to leave when everyone completed this, and it was about to become night when Naruto finally hit his last shuriken. We were dismissed for the day, and after the usual goodbyes we went home for the weekend.

As I made my way back to the compound, I realized I had forgotten to give Sasuke his notebook back. He had asked me to write down class shuriken records when I finished so he could show Itachi how good he was doing. I quickly turned around and walked towards the Uchiha compound. As I approached the outside of the compound, I dropped all my books, reached into my bag and grabbed my wakizashi. "Oh no, nonononono, not tonight, not yet, how could I forget!" Against the wall of the first building was a bloody kunai, and the usual dimly lit compound was dark. There was a faint ring of steel, and I knew my target location. I took off in a sprint.

I don't know why I charged in there, but I'm glad I did, because the sight that greeted me was one I would never forget. An Uchiha clad in black, tanto drawn, had his back to me. His arm flashed forward, and there was another ring of steel as shuriken hit the ground. I charged, wakizashi drawn, and slashed at the Uchiha. He turned around, hearing my approach, and blocked my attack with his tanto. Once we clashed I threw my momentum to the left to get in between him and Sasuke, and landing in a crouch I witnessed something I had not accounted for.

Staring at me in shock, beaten and bloody, protectively in front of Sasuke, was Itachi Uchiha. But if he was there, then…

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Shouted the one I would never expect, Shisui Uchiha. I leapt away, and went in for another attack. Before I even got there, Shisui delivered a quick kick to my gut, knocking me back onto the ground a few feet away. I wheezed, the breath knocked out of me.

"What have you done, Shisui?!" Itachi shouted as he launched a volley of shuriken. "What has Danzo done to you? Why would you betray our clan, our village?"

"This is for the village!" Shisui spat, rolling to dodge the projectiles. "Danzo opened my eyes to the threat that is the Uchiha. Even if I did stop the coup this time, there will be a next time. This clan will never remain peaceful! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Itachi matched the fireball, clashing with it, but losing. His chakra reserves were running low, and he didn't have enough to keep this up. Rolling to the left, he and Sasuke dodged the flames before they could reach them.

Shisui seemingly expected this, as he used the Body Flicker to warp in front of Itachi, slashing his chest with a kunai. Sasuke screamed, and I knew I had one chance at helping, and it was now. I needed to distract Shisui, and I prayed that Itachi had enough left to capitalize.

I am ready, child. Release my power and vanquish this foe.

I gathered my chakra into my right arm, activating the dragon's own chakra, as a violet spirit began forming from my tattoos. I've only used this once, but let's hope this works. "Dragon Release: Weapon Possession!"

Murasa roared, lightning crackling from his mouth, coating my sword. He took flight from my arm in the form of a long chakra dragon, swirling around my torso as I dropped into a crouch, holding my blade horizontally out in front of my chest, sharp side of the wakizashi facing Shisui. Murasa let out another roar as he matched my sword's movement, glaring down Shisui, revealing this form's size. He was at least seven feet long, and his head was slightly larger than that of an average human. He had crackling electricity in the place of his usual white fur. I charged forward, taking the older Uchiha by surprise as my strikes now had a lot more weight to them, thanks to the Spirit Dragon now following my blade's movements, striking him with each spinning and sweeping slash. Shisui went on the defensive, blocking each of my attacks. He blocked my upward diagonal slash, and turned to face me as I flipped over him. I led with a fake upward cut, and spun into a horizontal aimed at his ribcage. They don't say he's fast just for shits and giggles, because he easily dodged it, and launched another kick at my chest. I was prepared this time, and took the blow on my crossed forearms, making a cushion as I was pushed back. The kick broke the jutsu, the purple chakra dissipating into the air as Murasa let out one final roar. Shisui went back on the offensive, delivering a hard uppercut into my stomach, sprawling me onto the ground.

This was all the distraction I needed to give, as a tanto blade burst through Shisui's chest, spilling blood onto the ground. He fell forward, revealing the heavily bleeding Itachi holding the blade. Itachi's Sharingan began to change shape, becoming the pinwheel that marked his Mangekyo upgrade. He gasped, clutching his chest wound, and doubled over. Sasuke was at his brother's side immediately, still pale from seeing his brother's best friend attempt to murder me and Itachi.

"You, child," Itachi coughed, blood sputtering from his lips. "Thank you for your help. I hate to ask more of you, but can you help get me to the hospital?"

"Absolutely!" I claimed. "You'll never make it to the hospital in time though, it's too far away. You should come back to the Shimada compound with me, it's on the way and there are medical Shinobi staffed there."

"Thank you very much." Itachi said, wheezing.

So there we were, a young Uchiha and a boy with violet eyes, rushing a heavily bleeding Anbu Chief through the empty streets. "Cmon Sasuke, we're almost there, the compound is just…up… ahead…" I slowed to a halt, not believing what I saw before me.

The Shimada Compound was burning.

(Line Break)

Dun dun duuuuuunnnnn. Cliffhanger time. So ends chapter 7, and my first attempt at a fight scene. Let me know what you think, and I will see you next week, when we find out what is going on here.

P.S. I'm gonna start leaving clues to other changes in canon. They won't be directly addressed in the next chapter, but any time later in the story. Each clue will be at the end of the chapter marked by the abbreviation A.C. (For Author's Clue). I'll start out with a simple one, something that will be addressed fairly soon, to see what you guys think. Let me know if you want these to continue.

A.C. Out of the whole spectrum, pink is the oddly misplaced one.