"I need you to train me." I said, breaking the silence.
Across from my seat, Shisui looked up from his dango plate and blinked. "What?" He asked dumbly with his mouth full.
"You heard me," I said flatly. "I need you to train me."
He continued staring at me, as if expecting something.
I sighed. "...Please."
The boy grinned. "Well, since you asked me nicely, sure!"
I blinked in mild surprise. "That's it? No bargains, no deals? I don't have to give you anything? You're just going to train me?"
He shrugged. "Take it as a gift from a friend. I was kind of expecting you to ask me sooner or later, judging from the books you borrowed the day before. Just not this soon." He gave a sheepish smile. "And sometimes I get envious of Itachi who gets to train and show off his little brother."
He twirled his dango stick around and pointed it at me. "But if I'm going to train you, there are some things you need to know. It's not going to be easy, in fact, it' going to be harsh. If I give you a set of instructions, I expect you to complete them accordingly without fail. Even when I'm on missions or clan meetings, you cannot slack off. And you have to be serious about it."
I nodded. If I wanted to become a shinobi, then I would have to become stronger. What better time to start than now?
"One last thing." Shisui said smoothly. "You have to call me Shisui-senpai."
I shook hands with him. "Deal."
--
Shisui took me to a secluded training area, the very same one I lost myself into about a year ago. It was quite near to the Uchiha compound. He comfortably sat under a shady tree, gesturing me to stand in the middle of the field.
"So, tell me. What do you know about chakra?"
"We can skip the theories, Shisui-senpai. I've read about them."
He smirked. "Cocky, aren't you?"
I shrugged. "I just don't want to waste time."
"Then can you do anything with chakra yet?" He asked.
"No. I've felt them on certain occasions, but never been able to utilize or mold them." I answered truthfully.
"Felt them?"
"Yeah. I felt them inside my body. It was like a river of... energy, flowing inside of me slowly and steadily. Whenever you use some kind of jutsu in front of me, the energy tingles a little."
I was able to differentiate chakra, given that I never had it in my body in my past life.
"Show me what you can do."
I stared. "What I can do?"
"Chakra will be another level, so let's start off with simple physical training. You know? The training protocol for shinobi. The warm-ups. Sit ups, push-ups and running around the field."
I had read about the training protocol. There is one for every rank. Academy student, genin, chunin, jounin. It consists of the warm up requirements and the list of basic jutsu that the shinobi should be able to complete.
So I started off with sit ups and push-ups.
"35 sit ups and 27 push-ups per minute." Shisui muttered. "That is positively civilian."
I gave him a stink eye. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not born into a clan family."
If he had noticed the sarcasm, he ignored it. Shisui waved it off. "We can fix that, don't worry. Now run around the field."
I started jogging away, raising my voice so Shisui could hear me. "Run for how long?"
"Until your legs give out."
I enjoyed running in my past life. I wasn't the fastest in class but my speed was above average. What I lacked was stamina.
I followed Shisui's instructions, running until I couldn't run anymore.
I didn't even last two hours. I collapsed onto the field right in front of a napping Shisui, my face hitting the dry land.
"Shisui..." I murmured tiredly into the field. His eyes remained close.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Shisui-senpai." His eyes slowly opened.
"That was one hour and twenty seven minutes." I heard him sigh. "A civilian can easily beat you."
He noted my exhausted form. My shirt was drenched in sweat, my hair was all over the place and so wet that some were sticking to my face in clumps. Lactic acid was freezing my legs in place and the air inside my throat was cold. I was too tired to move.
Shisui shook his head lightly before reaching into his backpack, bringing out four weights.
"Two of these are 2kg, the other two 1kg. Tie them around your arms and legs and go everywhere with them."
When it seemed like I wasn't going to move to retrieve the weights, he bent down and tied the heavier ones around my ankles, the lighter ones on my wrists.
"I used to train with them when I was younger, but I'm still not giving these to you. Return them to me when I give you the heavier ones."
He stood up and swung his backpack onto his back. I tilted my head to my right to look at him staring down at me. His eyes hardened and he turned his back to me.
"Your lesson today is to be independent. Not everyone is going to be there for you when you need them. Have a safe trip home, Naka-chan."
Shisui started walking away and I could only watch as he disappeared from my view, leaving me lying there with no energy left in my body.
It became a routine. At 7a.m. sharp, I would be at the training ground, doing my warm ups. At 8a.m., I would run around the field until 10a.m.
I had to admit, these past two months had been useful. From 35 sit ups per minute, mine increased to 40, and from 25 push-ups to 31. That's the fastest record. If I were to go on for half an hour for each set, then the average would be 37 sit ups per minute and 27 push ups per minute.
Two hours of running was still very exhausting, but at least I wasn't so tired that I had to sleep overnight in a training ground because a certain somebody left me there. My speed was slowly progressing, and the training helped a little with my lack of stamina.
My wrist weights increased from 1kg to 3kg, ankle weights from 2kg to 4kg. Shisui was careful enough to not use heavier weights or else it would stunt my growth. Not that I could afford to be any shorter. Thank God I was now more well fed, or well I would've collapsed right there and then.
Most of the time, Shisui wasn't there. He was getting busier everyday. So I took the liberty to bring Naruto along my training. The boy's stamina was great and he was only a little tired by the time the training ended. Meanwhile, I was too tired to walk, so Naruto ended up carrying me home almost every time.
--
In the middle of my push-up, an ANBU mysteriously landed right in front of me.
"Naka-san. The hokage has requested to see you." He said monotonously.
I took me quite a while to realize that it was the ANBU that had spoken since the mouse patterned mask was blocking his whole face, and more importantly, his moving mouth. It was quite a shame, I considered my ability to read people's feelings and body language quite an accomplishment. A face and their eyes usually show most of the emotions after all.
Without any further warning, he grabbed my arm and transported us to the Hokage tower through a body flicker.
When we arrived in front of the Hokage's office door, my face was unhealthily pale and my stomach was continuously lurching. The whole world was spinning and the only thing that stopped me from falling was the ANBU's strong grip on me.
He knocked on the Hokage's door twice and waited patiently for a reply.
From inside the room, the Hokage responded. "Come in."
The ANBU and I entered the room, both of us bowing deeply. When I raised my head, I was surprised to see Inoichi standing next to the hokage's table. The hokage gave me a grandfatherly smile before dismissing the ANBU with a wave of his hand.
"Sit down, Naka-chan."
I slumped into my seat. "It seems like I've been here far too many times."
Hiruzen gave an amused smile. "This wouldn't be the last time."
He made a hand sign, activating the silencing seals around this room. He gestured to Inoichi.
"This is Yamanaka Inoichi, part of T Division." I bowed in Inoichi's direction.
Inoichi gave me a kind smile. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you."
"I wasn't thinking you were going to." I replied. "But why are you here?" Of course I knew why he was here, but it was only polite that I asked.
"I just need to check some things." He said, before walking to me and kneeling down to my height. "You said you were having dreams. Special dreams. I just need to take a look at them."
I looked at the Hokage for explanation.
"Hinata was almost kidnapped yesterday. Fortunately, the ANBU I sent managed to capture the cloud ninja that infiltrated into our village before he could escape with Hinata." Hiruzen massaged his temples. "I'll have to discuss the peace treaty with Kumogakure."
Inoichi continued. "The point is, Naka-chan, those dreams you are having are true. And we don't want to put Konoha in danger, I'll need to take a look at it, okay?" He said, his tone unusually kind. Most probably because I was the same age as his daughter.
I was scared, to be honest. I didn't know how much he would see. Would Inoichi see the war coming? Would he see ...his death? Would he see my past life?
Raising his hand, Inoichi broke my train of thoughts.
"This may hurt a little, but remember to not resist it."
I nodded.
The moment Inoichi placed his hand on my head, everything went black. I was still conscious, but it was as if I was staring at a blank screen. Three doors appeared in the blank space. And Inoichi appeared out of nowhere, right into the middle of it all, staring at the three doors in confusion.
"Three, huh?" He muttered.
He slowly walked to the first one, hesitantly placing his hand on the knob, before it was roughly pushed away by another person's hand.
My mouth went dry when I stared at her.
Julie.
Her wavy black hair that reached a few inches below her shoulder. Her kind yet unforgiving dark brown eyes. Her slightly tanned skin from playing outside way too much. Everything about her was me.
Julie was me. I was Julie.
Julie was my past life, my memory I was trying to forget. Yet, there she was, standing in her sixteen years form right outside the doors to my memory.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Julie said, playfully warning Inoichi. Inoichi took a few steps back and stared warily at Julie.
"Who are you?"
Julie pretended to think for a few minutes. "I am me."
She bursted out laughing, but the laughter died out when Inoichi was not laughing along.
She pouted. "Killjoy. Fine. I'm her alter ego."
Alter ego? I thought about it. In a sense, she was my alter ego. But it was wise of her to not say that Naka was her reincarnated self. That would be very complicated.
Inoichi raised his hands to show that he meant no harm. "Can I take a look inside the door?"
Julie grinned. "Nah. This is eyes only."
Inoichi honestly looked at a loss of what to do. He had probably never met another person inside a person's head, let alone a person guarding a memory. Whatever technique he would use on Julie, he must be careful to not let it harm me too.
"Why?" He asked patiently.
"It's about me. Nothing about Naka." Julie explained with succinct. At Inoichi's unbelieving face, she continued. "Although, blondie, you can try opening the door."
Inoichi wasted no time walking to the door, twisting the knob. It was locked.
"Locked?" He said in disbelief.
"My, my," Julie drawled. "I didn't know that you were so interested in me."
"Why is it locked?" Inoichi demanded.
Julie shrugged. "You're the expert here, blondie. You tell me."
"I don't know!" Inoichi frowned.
"If it helps, I have a theory." Julie suggested. "She, as in Naka, is trying to forget it. I can only help her provide some of the memories she wants to remember, but not all. The rest? All locked inside here."
Inoichi blinked, comprehending the explanation Julie gave.
"Of course, that's just a theory. Now, now, I think what you're looking for is the third door." Julie walked to him to place her hands on his shoulders, only to have it completely pass through his body. Her eyes widened.
"Aww, I can't touch you?" Julie whined.
Inoichi tried to grab her arm, only for it to go through the other side with great ease.
"Interesting."
Julie guided him towards the third door. "I think this is what you are looking for."
"What about the second door?" He asked.
"Her memories here. Born in the hospital, living in the orphanage, struggling to survive, training with people. You know, the generic stuff." Julie grinned. "Besides, I know your chakra is running out. Mind technique requires a lot of chakra, and you wasted quite a lot talking to me. Why don't you just quickly open the third door and find out what you're looking for?"
Inoichi opened the third door. This time, it was unlocked. My point of view followed Inoichi into the room. The memories there didn't exist in bottles or on screens. They weren't visible. You experience the memories.
Inoichi stumbled backwards as the memory hit him.
Itachi stared at the dead bodies littered around him, his mangekyo sharingan activated. He glanced over to look at the Uchiha fan on the wall of his compound.
"Foolish little br-"
It disappeared, quickly followed by the second one.
Sasuke screamed in pain, his body falling the ground. The curse mark burned and spread throughout his body.
Third one.
Orochimaru licked his lips, the First and Second Hokage behind him. His eyes were focused on Hiruzen.
"Sensei, it seems like this fight is mi-"
Fourth.
Naruto stared at a crying Sakura.
"P-Please, Naruto! Please bring him ba-"
Fifth.
Deidara grinned at Team 7. He was sitting on top of Gaara, flaunting his black cloak with red clouds.
"Akatsuki really is lucky. Nine tails delivered all the wa-"
Sixth.
Naruto went onto his knees, tears clouding his eyes.
"Please, Sasuke. Come back."
And then it disappeared. Everything went black. A force pushed Inoichi out, the door shutting right after he came out.
Outside the door, Julie was sitting there, softly whistling a tune.
"Oh hey! You're back. How was it?" Julie asked casually.
"T-The.. That was... It.." Inoichi stuttered.
"The future." Julie confirmed. "Of one universe."
I made a note to thank her later if I were to meet her for not telling Inoichi that there was more to it.
Inoichi staggered a bit. Julie stood up.
"Seems like you're tired, huh, old man. You're probably going to leave soon." She paused. "But really, do come back later. It gets boring here sometimes."
Inoichi didn't reply, and then the doors disappeared. Julie disappeared. The blank screen disappeared.
I opened my eyes right in time to see Inoichi lifting his hand from my head. There were beads of sweat on his head, and his hand was trembling. Both of us stared at each other, glad that we were now back at the Hokage's office.
"You've been gone for a long time, Inoichi." Hokage pointed out. Inoichi tore his gaze away from me, looking at the Hokage with serious eyes.
"Hokage-sama," Inoichi started, bringing his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "This is going to be a long meeting."