Word count: 4,831
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Takeshi's P.O.V.
~(Kirigakure)~
"What the-!" Hearing a shout, I bolted up and pinned the person closest to me to the ground. But opening my eyes made me realize I had over-reacted.
"Hey, Meizu, How's life?" I asked lazily, getting off of him.
"What the hell?! You're back!" He exclaimed, surprised by my sudden appearance.
"It's nice to be here," Kiiro greeted me by licking my face while wagging his tail.
"And you look different," Gozu added with a yawn.
"I got taller, so what? It's just by an inch."
Everything about me is the same except for my height. When I was here before I didn't grow, obviously because I'm a clone. So I changed myself a bit to make it seem like I'm a normal growing kid. And I might have brought something else with me.
"Where have you been?" Meizu asked.
"Jumping into interrogation already? If you really must know, I was exploring the village that's all."
"Right, I'm so convinced," Meizu said, clearly not in the mood for jokes. "Be honest young lady, where have you been?"
"Not in the mood for jokes." I mumbled. Clearly I was wrong. Shaking the annoyance away I grinned at them. "I've been 'spying' on academy kids while they train. I saw a few moves and I'm still trying to work it out," I said punching the air in front of me.
"We 'spy' on academy kids too and we never saw you there," Gozu told me.
"Which class were you watching, the first years?" I guessed.
"Yes," they replied together.
"I watched the graduating class," I lied.
Gozu shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know if you're a very lucky idiot or an incredibly stealthy moron," he 'complemented'.
"I prefer to be classified as both, they seem legit."
He shook his head with a faint smile. "By the way your clan kid 'friend' never showed up. And you sound different, not your voice, the way you talk..."
Mangetsu's keeping his distance already. I am just a street kid, who knows maybe his parents prevented him from meeting me even before I left Kiri. But his father, nothing here makes much sense yet.
"That's understandable," I said. Gozu gave me a questioning look. "Can we go to an abandoned training ground first?" They'll forget about this if I redirect their attention on something else.
"Fine."
~1 hour later
"This one is abandoned for sure," Meizu said.
"It doesn't look too crappy. Check for traps and hidden people," I ordered Kiiro. He barked and ran off to check.
Note to self: Most abandoned looking training grounds in Kiri are either secret private clan grounds, ambush training fields, too battered due to low maintenance, or 'claimed' by arrogant clan idiots.
Kiiro came back running while barking happily. I caught him in my arms as he made small noises. He has fur now. I observed, petting his head. "Let's sit over by the tree."
"Wha-?" I didn't wait for him to finish. I walked over to the tree and sat down on one of its roots that were sticking out of the ground. The sky was gloomy as always, so there isn't much use for shade.
"All right, interrogate me," once I said that, questions were bombarded at me.
"Why do you seem different?" Gozu asked.
"I'm trying to copy how some of the 'big kids' talk," I answered while grinning like an idiot.
"Why did you stalk the graduating class?" Meizu asked.
"Why not?" I shrugged.
"How come you grew taller all of a sudden?"
"I'm growing up, what else?"
"How did you pull it off?"
"How did I pull what off?" I got confused for a moment and before I finished processing the question Gozu cut through my thoughts.
"Where did you get those goggles?"
"I 'found' them," I said using 'air-quotes'.
"Where did you get the guts to eavesdrop on a graduating class?"
"Um... I've thought a lot about spying on them, so I did."
"What else did you do, when you were gone?" They asked at the same time.
"I practiced a bit," I said scratching my neck sheepishly.
"Why didn't you bring us with you?" Meizu asked, sounding disappointed and left out.
"I didn't want to depend on anyone," I answered pouting. "Sorry if I'm acting strangely, being alone does this to me. Without you two, this is who I really am."
"That's ok... I guess..." Gozu said.
Meizu suddenly jumped from his spot and pointed a finger at me. "You've trained, we've trained. We want to fight you. What do you say?"
"No we don't! You do," Gozu argued.
"Sure, this might be interesting," I said standing up uncaring.
"But-"
"It's fine, this will be fun. And by doing so we get to see each other's strengths and weaknesses, learning through your mistakes and learning through experience."
"Fine... but it's one against two," he warned.
"Right, I like a challenge. Kiiro don't move, okay?" I said kneeling in front of him, he complied with a bark. I smiled and scratched behind his ears. "Good boy."
I walked towards the field and began to formulate a plan, which was hard because one, I don't know how they fight. Two, I can't use C-rank ninjutsu. And three, I can't use my kekkei genkai.
They stood at the other end of the field, waiting.
Finally, they charged at me and I intercepted them. Meizu went for my head and Gozu aimed a fist at my stomach. I stopped their attacks with my hands, slightly getting pushed back in the process. The position prevented me from moving and defending myself, while they both had one hand free, so I let go of them and jumped back landing beside a tree. Meizu and Gozu jumped back as well landing in a good distance away from me.
I jumped up the tree and grabbed a few twigs and jumped down landing on all fours, using chakra to 'cushion' my fall. I charged at them, holding the twigs as if they were senbon, with my left arm in front of my face. I threw the twigs to distract them, adding chakra to create a small force to make the twigs go straight instead of falling on the ground.
I threw the other batch at Gozu again, and made him move further away from Meizu. Then, I jabbed Meizu on the stomach, he coughed. Recovering he did a back-flip and kicked me on the chest, successfully throwing me back. I grunted as I landed on the ground. I tried my best to recover quickly and ran, using chakra to increase my speed, appearing in front of Gozu, then gave his face a round-house kick. He fell to the ground then Meizu attacked me from behind, I ducked barely avoiding his kick and used my legs to trip him.
He fell and smirked. "Gotcha."
My eyes widened, I looked behind me to see Gozu holding the end of a rope I followed it quickly and saw Meizu holding the other end. Where did that come from?! They both got up and ran as fast as they could, circling me, using the rope to restrain me. I kept my hands close to each other. My pride wasn't happy about the situation, so I slowly did hand signs as the twins continued their 'assault'. Tiger. Boar. Ox. Dog. The two of them stopped and smirked proudly. They forgot... I thought with a faint smirk.
"Give up?" Meizu asked, his breath slightly uneven. I grinned in return.
"No way," Snake. I closed my eyes and focused solely on Gozu's position. I felt a slight disturbance in my head, my body moved shakily. I opened my eyes to see both boys wide-eyed and shocked. I took this opportunity to send chakra to my feet then circled the two of them until only a foot of the rope was left. They toppled over and fell to the ground with a thud. Both of them groaned in pain.
"How-?" Gozu managed to say before I cut him off.
"Rule number one: When tying someone up, always remember, the fingers," I answered panting. Having a child's body is such a pain.
"Not that, how did you switch places with me?"
"Oh... it's one of the things I learned during that short 'vacation'," I lied. "It requires heaps of concentration and chakra control, of course. You guys are pretty awesome too, I didn't notice the rope until the last second," I gave them a smile. "This was fun, let's spar again next time," I suggested childishly.
Gozu despite being tied up managed to show a smile. "Well at least we shocked you. Better than no reaction at all. If this was a real fight we would be dead."
"Wrong. I don't have anything to kill you with. I prefer to keep my hands clean." I told them frowning. They'll still be alive because I can't kill them.
*clap* ... *clap* ... *clap*...
My body tensed as I heard slow clapping from behind the tree, where we sat earlier. "That was well done for a group of orphans, especially you with the blue hair," Kiiro jumped and whimpered but stood protectively in front of us.
"Loyal dog..." a skinny man wearing a pin-striped shirt and a cloth-mask over his half of his face came into view.
"I would say that was okay for a bunch of untrained little brats," a tall, muscular man with short spiky hair and a scar on his right cheek emerged from behind the tree. He had a very noticeable tattoo of parallel lines in a grid like pattern, running across the lower half of his face.
"N-No way," Meizu stuttered wide-eyed. Gozu and I gulped.
It was not their features or their clothing that made the three of us speechless it was the weapons they carried with them.
Normally, when a child from my old world sees two strange guys carrying giant swords, the first thing that comes to mind would be 'fleeing' and the second is to 'approach'. Ignorance... You never fail to put little children in trouble, don't you?
The third would be a 'kid caught stealing from the cookie jar' re-enactment. Fortunately, our 'slot machine of fate' landed us on the third option.
"Hello," I said, keeping my voice steady. No room for voice-cracks now.
Grid-face and Cloth-mask glanced at each other and jumped away like nothing happened.
Everything stayed silent until I heard a groan. "Harumi... Air..."
I turned to see the twins turning a little blue. "Oh... sorry," I sent chakra to my feet and ran around to get them out. This would be faster if I had a kunai.
Once freed, they stretched and Meizu cheered. "Finally, I thought I'll never get out."
"That was... pretty, anti-climactic... I thought something bad was going to happen," Gozu said, uncomfortably.
I stared at the place where the two swordsmen stood before. Kubikiribōchō, Shibuki. Mangetsu said the Shibuki is also called the 'Blast sword'. It has a scroll full of explosive tags linked to it, behind the blade. I narrowed my eyes. The executioner's sword... so, Grid-face owned it before Zabuza? I nodded to myself and went over to Kiiro and picked him up. Good thing I listened to Mangetsu's sword rants. No matter how annoying it is, it comes around for these types of things.
"We met two members of the swordsmen and we're not entirely sure what they want," Gozu said, disbelieving his own words.
"Yeah... do you think they'll come back?" I asked him.
"I hope not," I gave him a questioning look. Most children would see it as an honor, but apparently not Gozu. "Not that I don't look up to them or anything, it's just because they might... you know..." I nodded.
Those sword dudes are confusing, first they show up and 'complement' us then they jump away like nothing happened. I sighed. Now... What do I do with-
"Did you really meet them?" an overly excited Mangetsu asked.
"Yes, yes we did," I answered. He isn't going to hyperventilate, is he?
When we arrived back at our 'hideout' we didn't expect anyone to greet us. Mangetsu randomly decided to visit and now he's acting like a fresh out of a concert teenage fan-girl.
"Does he know that humans need oxygen to live?" Gozu asked, with a hint of concern. Great, because of my influence Gozu is becoming a nice guy. I really need to get rid of this so called feeling of sympathy.
"Harumi, I wanted to ask you about something," Meizu took out a piece of cardboard. "Look," I did as I was told and knitted my brows in confusion.
"That's the cardboard I gave you before my small 'vacation'."
"Huh? Wait no, not that. I meant..." he flipped the board. "This one," he pointed at the small drawing on the corner. "What is this?" He asked.
I looked at it and saw the- Shoot! Why did I-?
"It's... uh... the... kanji for f-fire, right?" I said feigning confusion. "Right?"
He snickered. "You're good at battling but you're not good at writing. The kanji for fire doesn't have a line on the bottom," he smirked. "And these two lines should be curved a bit."
"So what if I failed at that? At least I can survive in a fight," I argued childishly. Kiiro barked his agreement.
Gozu got between us. "None of us went to the academy, so we're all pretty much on the same level," He said, flatly. Gozu's becoming marture...
Meizu covered his eyes with his arms dramatically. "Why can't one of you be on my side?" His twin, however, hasn't changed.
"Not everyone needs to choose a side, working alone is always an option," I said, shrugging. "Sure 'teamwork' might be important but being able to solve problems alone feels better than solving it with someone. Not to be greedy or anything but sharing the 'limelight' isn't necessary."
"The lamlit? What's that?" Mangetsu asked.
"Don't worry about it, Suigetsu," I said. Right, right. The word 'limelight' doesn't exist here.
"So this time I'm 'Suigetsu'?" He questioned. "You better start explaining these weird names," he demanded.
"Weird names?" I tilted my head. Names, plural? What else have I been calling him?
"Yes, names. First you called me Ashi then you called me Kato and just now you called me Suigetsu. Who are these people?" He demanded. I thought about it for a while but all I could think of was, I know who 'Ashi' and Suigetsu is, but who the hell is Kato?
""W-well, you see..." I sighed. Ok, no problem, I planned for this... Sort of. "Ashi's... the guy who named me."
"Someone named you?"
I winced. "Of course someone named me. Did you really think I named myself?" Yes, and I did a very lousy job. My immaturity backstabbed me.
"I guess not," Gozu said, thoughtfully.
I shook my head. I look up. Gozu notices and turns to the sky as well. "You should probably go," he told Mangetsu.
Mangetsu stared for a while before nodding. "All right..." he started to walk but stopped to look back. "Harumi?" he called.
"What?"
"Who's Suigetsu?"
"Uh... sorry I got confused and said 'water' instead of 'moon', but isn't the name cool?!"
"Yes, it does sound cool... see you in a few months," he jumped away.
"Months?"
"He's going to graduate," says Gozu.
I gave him a quizzical look. He caught it and returned the look. "I thought you said you watched the graduating class?"
"I might have watched a different class, then."
Gozu rolled his eyes. "You said he joined the academy when he was four and he's the same age as us. So, from that information and some others that I've heard from academy kids. I concluded he's an early graduate, usually that happens to 'prodigies'. He's lucky he graduated a year early rarely happens."
"Nooooo!" We flinched. "You're starting to sound like him!" Meizu exclaimed pointing at me.
I sigh. Lying, you never fail to save me... this life is like Default Dan. Everything is the other way around... I'm surprised I still remember that game!
But I kind of feel bad about lying... what am I saying? I have lied my whole life, a little too late for self-condemnation now, don't you think?
"By the way Harumi I'm not done 'interrogating' you, yet," Gozu said, narrowing his eyes.
I nodded. The kid's intimidating I'll give him that.
~(Konohagakure)~
I regret saying yes to Rin. I forgot that the only person I have who can help is Gai. Not that I don't like him he's just too energetic.
As soon as I spotted Guy near the weapons shop I walked over to him.
"Hey Guy, how's life?"
"Hello, Takeshi. Everything is great! But I never managed to convince my teammates to practice with me. I wonder why," he said thoughtfully.
"Keep trying?" It's because they don't like your training method. "Anyway can you help me with something?"
"Sure!"
"Rin and her team are going on a mission and she asked me to fill in for her at the orphanage so-" I never got to finish my sentence because the kid practically glomped me.
"I have found my true rival! People might not know it but Kakashi did a good job at taking care of his little brother!" Guy screamed to the heavens.
I blushed and stuttered. "G-Guy, put me down, it's not a big deal. I'm not his little brother, either."
He dropped me and placed his arm around my shoulder. "Helpful and modest just the type of friend I was looking for," he said with his 'nice guy' pose.
People around murmured among themselves. My blush got worse. Friendship is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Right now, it's killing me with embarrassment.
"Let us head to the orphanage," he said dragging me to who knows where. Does he even know where to go?
I wish that would never happen again. Unfortunately, the embarrassment didn't stop there.
After hearing a crash I walked towards the dining area and saw a broken plate and a confused Guy. I slapped my forehead and took a deep breath.
"Keshi-chan, maybe Guy-san isn't the best choice," a little girl observed.
I went down to her level and forced a smile. "Well I would have chosen someone else if I actually had people to choose from."
The door opened and Nono walked in. My eyes widened and I started to profusely apologize. "Yakushi-san, I'm so sorry. We'll pay you back, I promise," I turned to glare at the culprit. "Right, Guy?"
"Y-yes, we," he added.
I felt a hand on my head. "It's okay you don't need to do that."
"But Yakushi-san, the orphanage needs the money to keep it from shutting down. New plates should be the least of your worries," she smiled gently. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have some plates to buy."
I dragged Guy outside and didn't stop running until we reached the market.
"Guy that was the third plate," I frowned.
He exhaled deeply. "I don't think housework is one of my best skills," he admitted. I'm scared of what his place might look like.
I supported my head on my palm then let out a long and frustrated sigh. "Takeshi-san, what's wrong?" a small voice asked.
"Itachi, didn't I tell you to call me 'Takeshi' you don't need to add the 'san'," I scolded, playfully.
"Sorry."
"It's ok, don't worry about it," I almost forgot I'm at the park with a kid.
At the moment, Itachi is answering a bunch of math questions from a piece of paper that Fugaku gave him. Yes, Fugaku wanted Itachi to answer math questions. Yes, Itachi knew how to answer the questions. Might I add, he also knew how to use a pencil. Fugaku also ordered me to, 'watch over the boy until I retrieve him.'
"Takeshi-san, how old are you?" Itachi asked. Really? You know 5 + 5 = 10 but you can't stop calling me 'Takeshi-san'?
"Elev-ten," I stammered. It's hard to keep track of my age. I was born the same year as Team Minato but Obito is 11, and I'm 10.
Itachi stared at the piece of paper and slowly wrote 10 and 2.
"You're 8 years older than me," he said holding up 9. Maybe I over-estimated the kid.
I folded his forefinger. "This is 8," I placed it back, "and this is 9."
"Oh... sorry," he looked down sadly. Itachi is the only toddler that I find normal. That sentence has the word 'false' screaming all over it. I'm everything but normal.
"No, no. It's ok, you're actually right," he tilted his head in question. "I'm turning 11 this year."
"But didn't you just turn 10 a couple of months ago?"
I scratched my head. "Let's see, uh... about 6 months ago it was last year. Do you remember the time we learned about months?"
He nodded. "Yes, twelve months. January, February, March, April, May... June, July, August... September, October, November, and December."
Itachi confuses me. I don't know if I'm over estimating him or under estimating him.
"Yup, so about 6 months ago it was December. My birthday is December 31st."
He took a moment to think. "So does that mean when January comes a new year starts?"
"Yes."
"Ok, thank you, Takeshi-san,"
I sighed. "Don't worry about it."
"I'll talk to Shisui about this too," he turned back to his paper and scribbled.
Uchiha Shisui, son of Uchiha Kagami. Uchiha Kagami, 'friend'/teammate of Shimura Danzo. Shimura Danzo, manipulative guy who brainwash children... but isn't Orochimaru supposed to be the manipulative guy who brainwash children. I shook my head. They're the same.
Technology, Orochimaru, 'genius', experiments... I wonder what would have happened if technology existed in this world. I sighed deeply, boredom and disapproval combined. Questions, children always have them. At least Itachi's unique observation skill fortunately picks up good ones. Unlike, why does the flower dance? or why are you taller than me? Itachi's questions are fairly normal and only slightly ridiculous at times.
Although, I am unsatisfied by the lack of quality in children's questions... maybe it's because I'm a reincarnated indecisive fool with high standards and expectations...? Nevertheless, I'm not impressed.
"You want to have some food?" I asked, flatly.
"It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon."
"I know," I said looking at the sky.
'Humans', Guns, Bombs, Radioactive Materials, Snakes, Superhuman Abilities, Chakra, Immortality, Background/History Problems, Reincarnated Indecisive Fool, and Deranged Fictional Characters. Add them all up and what do you get? Venus number 2. Yeah, that's sounds right.
3rd person's P.O.V.
(Kirigakure, Mizukage Office)
The trio found themselves inside the Mizukage's office with 'Grid-face' and 'Cloth-mask' behinds them to prevent any chance of escape.
"Are these the 'street children' you two found?" Yagura asked, lacking both gentleness and care for the matter.
"Yes, Yagura-sama," 'Cloth-mask' answered. Seeing 'Cloth-mask' call the baby-faced adult 'Yagura-sama' made Harumi knit his brows.
Meizu rolled his eyes at the word 'street children' while Gozu drummed his fingers uncomfortably.
"You expect me to believe that they know how to use chakra? They look like they could barely lift a sword." Meizu knitted his brows in anger and directed his gaze on a plant.
Barely lift a sword... One of the most insulting things people from Kiri could say to one another. I guess it works the same in Samurai countries too... If there are any. Harumi thought.
"Ah..." Harumi started. "May I ask why we were summoned here, Mizukage-sama."
Yagura eyed the blue-haired boy warily before answering. "Sotaro, Mineo."
'Grid-face', or Sotaro, grinned in delight. "You are joining the academy. That's every kid's wish, correct?"
"Yes, but why?"
"You have some guts, questioning us right off the bat. Are you the 'leader' of this group?" 'Cloth-mask', or Mineo, asked.
"There was an unspoken agreement-"
"No there wasn't." Meizu argued.
Harumi made an 'oh' sound. "Right, gotcha," He pretended. "Unspoken," The boy zipped his mouth in pure mockery.
"Your sarcasm is delightful." Meizu said in distaste.
"Why thank you, I appreciate the efforts you put, in trying to insult me."
Gozu flushed in embarrassment as his eye twitched in annoyance. Crossing his arms, he thought. Why bring this here? Meizu just can't admit defeat, can he? He always had to listen to the two exchange insult after insult.
Yagura, despite having two bickering children inside his office, remained impassive, examining them like he was choosing which merchandise to purchase.
Sotaro, Mineo and him already had a long and detailed discussion about the three of them. Both Mineo and Sotaro informed him about three orphans with some 'potential'. He expected three mature teenagers not a pair of doppelgangers and a little girl.
Weighing the pros and cons as fast as he could he decided on giving Mineo and Sotaro a chance, something ordinary citizens will never get.
"Well, I'll allow it as long as they do well, they won't be eliminated." Yagura said calmly. "Oh, I'm sorry I meant they're 'base' would stay unknown. Do we understand each other, children?" He threatened. His pride, though will never allow anyone get off so easily.
"Yes, Mizukage-sama," The twins quickly complied and Harumi nodded accepting the 'truce'.
Train to be one of my soldiers and you will be rewarded. Yagura gave them a smirk. "You are dismissed."
Once the orphans were out of the building Yagura confronted the sword wielders. "Name, age, date of birth," He said casually while holding a pencil in one hand and supporting his head with the other.
Mineo nodded. "Meizu and Gozu, Age 9, June 6th. Harumi, Age 8, December 31st, same year,"
He wrote on the forms 9, 9, 8, 6th, 6th, 31st, male, male... "Harumi is a girl, correct?"
"... No, Mizukage-sama. He is a boy." Mineo answered.
"Tsk. That won't do..." He crumpled the form and threw it in the trash. Taking out an empty form he wrote. Name: Fuyuki. Age: 8. Date of Birth: December 31st. He answered the rest of the forms and made two copies signing each with his name.
After completing the forms he passed it to Sotaro. "Deliver this to the Academy and the place." He bluntly ordered.
Sotaro quickly read through the forms and raised a brow. Yagura noticed this and gave the swordsman a lazy look. "By doing so I am actually helping the boy. If he does turn into a useful weapon we wouldn't want any unnecessary fuss about his name, do we?" He let out a long sigh. "Besides changing names hardly ever matter what's important is survival." He narrowed his eyes. "Is there a problem with that?"
"No, of course not; we'll be off now." They proceeded to open the door.
"Remember well, what happens if they don't turn into useful weapons." Yagura reminded them while tapping his fingers on his staff.
"Yes, Yagura-sama," They bowed and closed the door.
Yagura slumped to his chair and scowled. The things I do to keep them satisfied are never enough is it? Some even dare to insult me. They don't know the half of what I do to keep this place economically 'alive'.
Missing-nins are increasing add a few more and Kiri would sink. Stealth and speed, hunter-nins are needed. Luckily the Hozuki clan produced another worthy prodigy...
Yagura smirked. This village wouldn't sink entirely after all if things work out the way I planned it.
\(- _ - )/
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your 3 best friends. If they're ok, then it's you.
~Rita Mae Brown
