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I apologize for the late update. I had been pretty busy with schoolwork and all those stuff.
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Almost a year had passed; Shikamaru and I were pretty close to being 6 year olds. We visited the Uchiha Compound so many times that most of the people there remembered us, inclining their head towards us whenever we went there a little in acknowledgement. We would treat Mikoto like our aunt, but, however, we had rarely seen Fugaku. Itachi was like our older brother, much to Sasuke's annoyance and jealousy. Let's just say that Itachi would always open up to Shikamaru and me, with the gentle, kind and brotherly side of his.
Sasuke, Shikamaru and I became training partners. Not to mentioned how Shikamaru was able to use chakra 5 months ago. That was when dad decided he should be teaching the family's techniques right away. Well, let's just say that the training wasn't as easy going as expected.
Today was Itachi's birthday, yet I didn't know what to give him. Shikamaru decided on giving him a set of training weights and a set of kunai, while Sasuke decided to give him his handmade Uchiha crest. That was why Shikamaru and I were walking down the streets right now for the present. I sighed. I wouldn't really waste my training time just to find a present, but Itachi was very important to me, so I guess I'd make an exception. I looked to my left and saw a shop full of accessories. I shrugged, no harm done if I were to go in there. I looked around and something caught my eye, and it looked really familiar, but I couldn't place it where I had seen it. I smiled. That would be a perfect birthday present. With that, Shikamaru and I headed off to the Uchiha Compound.
As expected, Itachi was home. Apparently and as usual, Fugaku was in a clan meeting, while Mikoto was baking cake for Itachi. Shikamaru quickly ran to her to see the cake, and unfortunately, it would take many hours to get it completed, thus making Shikamaru pout. Mikoto giggled and ruffled Shikamaru's hair, and told us where Itachi was, which as usual, was in the training ground.
At the sight of us, Itachi stopped his training and smiled. Shikamaru and I ran up to him and hugged him, and somehow, Sasuke managed to get into the group hug.
"Happy Birthday, Itachi!"
He opened Sasuke's present first. His eyes softened at the not-so-neatly carved wooden Uchiha crest. He poked Sasuke's forehead, whispering a 'thank you'. He then opened Shikamaru's present and smirked.
"Just exactly what I need. Thank you, Shikamaru-kun."
Shikamaru cheekily beamed, with both of his eyes closed. Itachi then opened my present. I looked nervously for his reaction. He seemed confused at first, but then smiled nonetheless. He took the present out of the box, and held it up.
"A necklace, huh?"
"Yup!"
He smiled, and traced his fingers on the 3 circles of the necklace. Then, he put it on his neck.
"Thank you."
In no time, Shisui-sensei happily skipped over to us.
"You opened the presents without me?" He mocked a hurt face, which had failed considerably.
"Yes…" came the dry reply of the birthday boy.
"Anyways, don't worry Ita-chan! I've got your present!" Exclaimed Shisui-sensei, who then handed Itachi 3 packets of dango, which Itachi gladly accepted. Shisui sensei then used the Body Flicker Technique to go to who knows where.
Itachi broke the silence, saying "Let's train."
Sasuke's eyes immediately brightened while Shikamaru and I stared at him incredulously.
"It's your birthday, and you want to train?"
He shrugged, "Why not? Father gave me a day off and I've got nothing better to do."
"Whatever you say, birthday boy."
Itachi immediately took control.
"Sasuke, why don't you spar with Shikamaru-kun? I am sure that Shikamaru will be able to beat you, considering how he was able to use chakra and some basic family techniques already."
Sasuke huffed but complied. My ears perked up, that means…
"And Shikanaomi-chan, why not spar with me?"
I immediately jumped up, took off my training weights, and took my stance. Itachi was smirking. Bad sign.
"START!"
Shikamaru and Sasuke's match started the same time as Itachi and mine. Itachi ran towards me with incredible speed. He ran past me, and when I turned backwards to face him, I could barely dodge the incoming punch. I jumped into the air, and aimed a kick at his head, but Itachi easily caught my foot and I tried to punch him, and, again, which he easily caught. He didn't let go of my foot and hand, so I forced chakra into them, and then pushed them towards Itachi's body. If they touched Itachi's body, it would bleed internally due to the amount of chakra forced into. Unfortunately, Itachi immediately let go of my foot and hand, which gave me an opening to kick his stomach. Itachi flew back to hit the wall.
POOF!
A clone!
"Never turn your back to your enemy," said a familiar voice. I turned around and saw a pair blood red sharingans. Before I could get into the genjutsu, I quickly substitute myself into a log. If I ever get into a genjutsu, it would be the end of my life. I sneaked behind him and tried to punch his head, and he easily caught without turning back. I use the body flicker technique and appeared in front of him, surprising him and I used this opportunity to punch his face.
Itachi stood up and remained a distance between us. I could see Itachi breaking a sweat, which I mean literally only a sweat, while I was panting hard. Time to test my wind jutsu. I spread my hands, and applied chakra to it. Then I let go of it, aiming it at his heart. Itachi dodged it, but not so fast, so the wind sliced his shoulder. Not bad! At least it sliced his shoulder! I highly doubt that it was a spar anymore, it was like a life and death fight.
Itachi looked pretty angry. Then, everything was in slow motion. He sucked air into his mouth and blew it out at one time, using the great fireball technique. Wow! It looked a whole lot bigger and cooler in real life! I quickly dodged the ball to my left, but because of the wind, to ball slightly swayed. A small fraction of fire was heading towards me. I dodged to my other left, and my eyes widened. The small fire came crashing into my right arm. I looked at it carefully, and it didn't look that big, so I guess it couldn't do much harm to me. Somehow, after the fire came into contact with my skin, I felt like I had no more chakra left. I tried to move and stood up, but it was like I was paralyzed.
"Shikanaomi?"
I heard Itachi calling my name, but the voice was so light, that it seemed like he was 10 kilometers away from me. I tried not to close my eyes, but it didn't seem to work. My heavy eyelids were closing, and the last thing I saw was Itachi's worried face.
A cliffhanger!
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Warning for the next few chapters: A twist in Naruto's plot. But don't worry, after a while, it will go back to normal!
Thank you :)
