Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I do own Kumi, though.

Warning: child abuse and bullying (mostly mentions of it), some dark themes, too much fluffiness sometimes, DRAMA!, unbeata'ed (frankly, even unrevised most of the times. I'm lazy, guys, sorry). A real rollercoaster (or, at least, it's supposed to be).

Author's note:

No excuses, guys. I did post another chapter on Until Forever Quietly Slipped Away, though, for those who haven't seen it.

Now, I have to comment about one thing that has been coming up frequently in some reviews. I thought I had made this perfectly clear and I'm pretty sure one of my author's note has explained this already, but whatever. Kumi is, and has always been, a boy. He was a boy in his past life and is a boy in this life too.

(This is yaoi, people. Ahem.)

And this fanfiction's rate WILL go up. I don't know when, but, for now, it'll stay as it is.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

(THE REVIEWS! THE REVIEWS!)

(... Cookie points for bringing the whole gang together this chapter?)

All Things Are Difficult Before They Are Easy

By Amaryllis D. Namikaze

Chapter XIX:

The Fight

"We'd encounter a crossroad of fates no matter what situation we're in. If I wait until everything is ready, I won't be able to do anything in my life! I'm not a hero. I can't deliver the results that'd make everyone happy. I'll just do whatever I have to do at the moment, to not have any regrets later."

- Mikumo Osamu, World Trigger

"Again."

"Tiger, ram, monkey, boar, tiger."

"You forgot horse before the last tiger."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

I had asked Mikoto to teach me how to manipulate fire release. Like every good Uchiha, she was a fire maniac who got high on katon techniques. My dual affinity of lightning and wind, not to mention my chakra control, made it ridiculously easy to learn raiton and fūton jutsus - and I did love them, but my eternal love was all things to do with chakra. I knew from the anime, mostly from Kakashi's crazy repertoire, that it wasn't impossible to learn techniques with affinities that weren't yours. It was just slightly more difficult.

I had read countless books on other chakra affinities. My read-and-learn ability was useful, but there were many nuances that couldn't be explained in a simple book. Such as how my chakra should feel as I transformed it from pure energy into fire. Some said it was warmth, others, fury. I didn't feel anything really. Maybe it was because I was too aware of it? No. It couldn't be, because I knew when my chakra became wind or lightning.

Another problem was the set of seals. I had great memorization skills, of course, but my fingers were still stiff in their unusual positions. Tiger, for example, was a must in fire techniques, but not that common in my daily repertoire. I had become good enough with my jutsus to need only one or two seals. My beloved Lightning Blades didn't even require hand-positions anymore - I only had to point my index and middle finger at my enemy and ta-da.

"Don't sulk, Kumi-chan," Mikoto told me, smiling at my downturned lips. "You're the best of us at Ninjutsu. The only reason why it looks difficult right now is because you're not used to it."

Chitarō, who had been silently taking care of his katana a few meters from us, spoke up, "You're so troublesome sometimes, Kumi. As if the possibility of you not getting it ever existed."

I smiled at his vote of confidence.

"Nee-chan, nee-chan, look!" Kakashi's childish voice called me.

I glanced at where he was. Sensei was busy training some rookie ANBU team, as he usually did when we had no missions, so I had offered to take care of Kakashi as it wasn't a school day. My childhood friends decided to reunite in a training ground to chill out or study and I carted the silver-haired child with me.

Before I could walk closer, the little brat came running towards me like the devil was on his heels. Once again, I promised myself to do my best to keep this energetic spirit within him. I don't know if I could bear looking at his dark grey eyes and seeing coldness.

I crouched down, though in this position Kakashi was basically as tall as me. He was tall for an almost five-year-old and I was short for a thirteen-year-old. Ren thought it was funny. I most certainly did not. In my last lifetime, I recalled with a grimace, I'd been skin and bones, never able to grow a muscle, but never this small. Almost like a branch that didn't grow quite right and stayed as a twig.

"Kihito-san taught me how to do Henge!" He told me, beaming with all his teeth and effectively taking me out of my bad memories.

"Did he now?" I said, only half surprised. Kakashi supposedly graduated at five, which meant that the three basic techniques taught at the Academy shouldn't be too hard for him.

"Look!" He said, twisting his hand in the dog, boar, ram seals and transforming into me with easy impeccability.

I stood up, analyzing the perfect copy of myself. If there was one thing Kakashi hated, it was not to be taken seriously when he was learning how to be a shinobi. I could understand that - most ANBU operatives didn't take me, or even my teammates, for real in our first year as the First Response Team.

"Isn't he great?" Kihito asked rhetorically, coming closer to us with his hands in his pockets. His bō-staff was secured at his back, since Tsume had a habit of picking it up and swinging it around if left unguarded.

"Yeah, the details are amazing," for his age, I almost completed, but stopped just in time. The transformation was amazing. Period.

Kakashi had mimicked the way my hair, long enough to stop at hip length now, twisted in a high ponytail with a few golden strands falling around at my face, too short to be held back, and the way my eyes changed colors according to the light. Just the fact that he noticed these details at his age spoke of what a great ninja he'd be.

"You did a great job, 'Kashi," I told him, ruffling his hair - well, my hair. He beamed, and the expression looked unfamiliar for me because I wasn't used to seeing myself smile. With a puff of smoke, he was back to himself.

"Thank you, nee-chan," he said, holding my hand sweetly.

Oh, jeez, lovely Kakashi couldn't disappear.

All of sudden, Tsume was gathering Kakashi in her arms and throwing him over her shoulder. She was cackling devilishly, but I wasn't worried. It was her way of life.

"Now it's the Great Tsume's turn. Come, puppy, I'll teach you better, more important things than Boring Kihito could ever teach."

Her canine partner barked in what I knew was agreement.

"Hey," Boring Kihito complained, following the odd duo. I rolled my eyes at their antics.

I inhaled deeply before turning back to Mikoto, who had stood watching the entire scene fold before her.

"Ready to try it for real this time?" She questioned, looking excited. I could imagine why. The Great Fireball Technique had been invented by an Uchiha and mostly kept within the clan. An outsider being able to use it meant that someone had taught him/her.

Frankly speaking, Mikoto was becoming a little rebel under Kihito and Tsume's tutelage. I honestly thought that the only reason she still tolerated her father's rules for now was because of Utatane-sensei's strict teaching methods. Even though the entirety of team Four had become Chūnin by now, the woman still was a demon team leader.

"Yes."

"I'll show it to you once more," my best girl friend said and I nodded in agreement. I had expanded my sensory ability enough to feel when my enemies' chakra was at their last strands and it was even easier to do it with familiar people. I knew that Mikoto could only do the jutsu twice more.

She ran through the hand positions with the ease of a fire user, cupping her mouth and breathing a giant fireball with a simple cry of "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!". The path before us was swallowed by the monstrous fire and even the Snarky-and-Crude-Duo had stopped fighting over who taught Kakashi to watch.

"This never gets old," Ren laughed beside Chita. He had been relatively silent today, choosing to read - of all things, I know - scrolls of his family's techniques.

"Your turn," Mikoto said, looking at me with challenging onyx eyes. Sometimes, it was easy to forget which clan she belonged to due to her kindness. And, then, there were times like these - when she glanced at me with a smirk twisting her lips and a tilt of her head that just screamed at me Can you do better than that, huh?

I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating. In a way, it was frustrating. I was used to throwing jutsu around with the easiness shinobi threw their shuriken and kunai. I was able to connect with my internal energy with no major problems, expanding my familiarity with it each day. Even my sensor abilities had become essential to most missions we took.

On the other hand, the challenge was exciting. The necessity of training and applying myself to something was always welcome. Maybe I had spent too much time in this world, maybe this had been my personality all along - but of one thing I was certain of: life was ten times more worthwhile when you had to fight tooth and nail for it.

My seals were smooth simply because I had practiced the positions a thousand times during the Academy. The way I flew over - tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger - was agonizingly slower compared to Mikoto, though.

As I forced my chakra to go up my throat and out of my mouth, I concentrated on the sensation of it. Wind and lightning were different from the descriptions of earth, water and fire. The former was made to be sharp and the later, quick. Their transformation was a flurry of energy shooting out of my body before I could even think about it. It was precise, of course, but my chakra went back to simply being energy in a jiff.

Fire wasn't like that. It felt as if could go on forever. It was crawling its way up, burning every fiber of my very being with its warmth. The descriptions in the books were both right and wrong. It did feel like warmth and fury, but it also felt like power and earnestness and passion and destruction. In my mind, it felt like always, though it was over in seconds.

"Katon: Gokākyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)!"

A ball of fire four times bigger than myself came out of a thin strip from my mouth, raging over the already scorched grass with overwhelming intensity. As it died down, I gulped a ridiculous amount of air. Ok, this explained why Uchihas made their piromaniac-ish shows quick - you couldn't breathe while expelling fire chakra.

I was feeling slightly empty, which was weird. Fire wasn't even my affinity, why would it matter if it was here or not? Not to mention that I loved the possibilities wind and lightning offered me - they were five times more versatile.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at Mikoto's gentle smile.

"Feels strange the first time, doesn't it?" She asked, sounding proud of my accomplishment. "Fire is livelier than the other affinities, that's why it feels like a mix of sensations. It's a bit overwhelming at first."

I nodded in agreement. Actually, it made sense. The adults were always mentioning the Will of Fire and whatnot. I thought it had to do with the Fire Country's, especially Konoha's, desire to succeed and protect. As most of our ninja force had a fire affinity, it was a no brainer why we were an energetic, sometimes over-the-top, bunch.

"Thank you for taking you time to teach me. Your tips were," I was saying, but Mikoto put her hand over my mouth. I absently noticed that it was more calloused than when we first met all these years ago.

"My tips were fine. It's your control of chakra and your intelligence that made you succeed. Frankly, you're gonna be one hell of a Ninjutsu specialist in the future."

"Hear, hear!" Ren shouted, clapping excitedly. I blushed lightly at his fervor.

Chitarō rolled our eyes at us, "He's already a Ninjutsu specialist. Kumi is the best Chūnin in this village in regards to chakra."

I waved my hands dismissively at them, "Enough, guys." And covered my face when they laughed.

I loved my friends, but, boy, could they make me blush.

Boy, could they make me blush, I thought to myself, later this week.

Ren was having fun at my expense, but this was nothing new. I could see him on the other side of the long table, whispering something at his brother, and both of them laughing like gossiping girls. I sighed at the view, wondering if Inoichi's sole purpose in life was to make fun of his teammates too.

"Having fun?" Chitarō asked, sitting right beside me. His eyes were amused over his cup.

I rolled my eyes at him, a small smile escaping its way through my lips.

"Does it matter? Ren is having a blast over there. Enough for the both of us, I suppose."

Chita laughed, smirking. Nara and their smirks.

A horrible laugh drew my attention. Kushina, I inwardly winced. I had become used to her presence and my brother even made some effort not to take her home when I was there, but I couldn't completely ignore her existence. Especially with this breathy-shrilly laugh of hers close.

We were celebrating my brother's promotion to Jōnin. We as in all of our closest friends, so, of course, Kushina's presence was expected. Welcomed, even, by my brother. She was always chatty and flamboyant and too-much when I was there to see it. Her smiles towards me seemed sincere, but we were ninja and sincerity wasn't that hard to fake. She'd have to be an idiot not to notice my dislike for her until now. Hadn't the anime portrayed her as one, though?

"Don't mind her," Chitarō murmured in ear since everyone around us was a shinobi with acute hearing.

I nodded, not replying. Minato was busying himself with Kushina, Shikaku and Shibi. Poor Chōza sat between the tense Hyūga twins trying to talk and create an amiable atmosphere. The Yamanaka brothers were still gossiping and, no surprise there, the Snarky-and-Crude Duo were bickering between themselves. Umino Tetsuo and Shinji Aiko, who had become our friends after their placement in my brother and friends' teams for the Chūnin Exams, were absent; they'd gotten married - it was easy to forget them being a few years our senior due to their easygoing nature - and Aiko was in her last months of pregnancy. I knew that this baby was most probably Umino Iruka, which made the timeline even more real. Decided to ignore this line of thinking, I kept my eyes around the long table, observing everyone's activities. At the very end sat Mikoto and Fugaku, the latter speaking lowly about some matter and the former looking down.

I frowned, sending chakra to my ears to better enhance my senses - a trick that Sakumo-sensei had taught us soon into his teaching days. I couldn't hear their whispered words, however, over everyone's loud chatter. This trick did work better in silent forests, after all.

"Kumi-chan!" Ren called and I turned my head to look at him. His sudden wink made me roll my eyes and duck my head to hide my blush. His brother laughed with him at my reaction. Idiots, both of them.

"They sure know how to play with your dislike for attention, huh?" Chitarō mused beside me.

I shrugged, trying to play it off. Frankly, Ren's teasing would have more worrying, especially with Shikaku so close to hearing range, if Mikoto didn't look like she was about to cry at the end of the table. This was meant to be a celebration as Minato was the first of us to become a Jōnin.

I bit the inside of my cheek. My best girl friend was sweet as she was fierce. She could glare you to the ground if you truly pissed her off, but, most of the time, Mikoto was fine with just observing in the sidelines. She preferred acting behind the scenes instead of being confrontational. In a way, her personality matched well with mine.

Except it didn't match well with Fugaku's. He was my brother's Genin teammate. They got along well and I would feel guilty should they stop speaking because of my meddling, but I'd never pick their friendship over Mikoto's happiness. She was to marry him, there was no doubt about it, but should she become the silently suffering wife so early on?

I gulped. I could picture Sasuke's and Itachi's expression inside my head, their drawing lines and stories. I could comprehend the Uchiha's firstborn's feelings, his loneliness and sense of duty. And this was only without seeing him as a real, touchable person. How would it be when he was born and not only an anime character? Would I be able to add another block of guilty over me for not acting earlier?

Guilt was an ugly emotion. Kakashi's tears after his mother's death had started a chain of heartbreak that was on its path to shreds.

I got up.

"Kumi?" I heard Chita asked, bewildered.

I should stop. I shouldn't meddle. I was entitled to saving my brother's life - maybe - but not anything else. I had nothing to do with Kakashi's mother. With sensei's suicide. With Kakashi's stern nature. With the Uchiha clan's future. With the Third War. With the Fourth War. With Mikoto's wedding, for goodness' sake.

But I had. Because a person wasn't meant to be sitting on the sidelines while their loved ones got hurt. I couldn't relate to Naruto's brightness and his stubbornness, but I could understand his need to be helpful and his desire not to let anyone die. Because I'd died once and I knew how it felt and death wasn't what scared me and loneliness was. I was afraid of buts, because buts were preceded by I tried and followed by I failed.

I approached the end of the table with my hands shaking, but determined to get there. By then, everybody had stopped chatting to look at me. I was sure I looked as foolish as one can get.

"Fugaku-san."

It wasn't a question.

"Hmm?"

The Uchiha-like answer made me steel myself.

"Please, spar with me."

Historical movies made you crazy, my mind chided me. You aren't a knight fighting for a maiden's honor. You're barely a fighter.

Fugaku's eyebrows rose in surprise. I could heard Minato's confused voice in the background, but only faintly over the roaring in my ears. My blood was pumping so fast I might as well faint.

"And why, pray tell, would I fight a pint-sized shinobi like you?"

His jab at my height had no effect. I was mostly calm.

"Because Mikoto may be your fiancée and I may not have anything to do with this, but I do have something to do with her happiness and peace of mind. And if you're disturbing this, I can't keep quiet about it. That's why," I said, trying not to sound too stupid by my request and not choke at the same time when his eyes started burning in rage," I want you to fight against me. And, should you lose, you won't ever again make Mikoto cry."

It was an unrealistic promise. He couldn't promise not to make her cry, of course. She'd shed tears eventually because of whatever reason. And this fact made me sound like a toddler walking towards his doom.

Fugaku snorted.

"Sure. Let's take this outside and make you wish you'd never opened your mouth."

He got and started walking to the door. Mikoto was looking at me horrified.

"Kumi-chan, you didn't have to do this," she said, about to continue ranting before I cut her off.

"I had. You were about to sob all by yourself because this idiot thought he could walk all over you. Well, he can't. And he won't. Not anymore."

I turned around and followed Fugaku. Behind me I could hear my friends and my brother getting up and I'm sure one of them apologized to the owner of the restaurant for the trouble.

I had to fight Fugaku before this burning flame inside of me became a sizzle and I was too down the road of guilt.

Too many historical movies, indeed.

Shikaku was sure he was the only one smirking wickedly.

Minato was predictably fretting. The rest was a mix of slightly tense and worried. Even Tsume, the crazy Inuzuka heiress, was quiet. He couldn't fathom why they were so anxious. Neither of the Chūnin were about to die - it was only a spar. Even though its motive didn't sound very ninja-like and more samurai-oriented. Over a woman's happiness? Frankly, Shikaku would just dump the woman and move on.

He supposed, though, that since Fugaku and Mikoto were betrothed, they couldn't simply stop seeing each other. Well, Shikaku would never interfere like Minato's little brother had done, but he could enjoy the consequences. Fierce Namikaze Kumi was a new side to his puzzle.

The training ground was empty except for them. The Nara heir wasn't even sure of which one it was, so distracted he was with the possibility of seeing a fight of pint-sized Kumi against brute Fugaku.

(Seriously, though, didn't the kid eat? He was thirteen and about a hundred-forty centimeters tall. There had to be something wrong with that.)

"You should stop behaving foolishly. We are shinobi, not samurai," Fugaku commented, almost expressing Shikaku's thoughts word for word.

Kumi's face didn't betray anything. It made Shikaku smirk in anticipation. He had seen many emotions splattered against this face. Embarrassment, happiness, bewilderment. This cold anger was new.

"Very well," the Uchiha male acquiesced.

Fugaku ran forward, his stance ready to change in case his direct attack got thwarted. Kumi didn't move until the last moment, dodging the punch with a turn of his head and ducking under the other's arm. He tapped a muscle in the Uchiha's leg and his knee gave out immediately. Shikaku was sure his puzzled had used a lightning current.

Kumi jumped away, moving his hands in a preparation for a jutsu. The fact that only two seals were necessary meant that it was one of his most used ones.

"Fūton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)!"

A giant wind blast threw Fugaku back, but he had already recovered, sliding away in a crouch to slow his movements. The Uchiha formed hand-seals, cupping his mouth in preparation.

"Katon: Gokākyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)!"

"Katon: Gokākyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball)!"

Two voices shouted at the same time and Shikaku turned surprised eyes at Kumi. He'd gotten better. He remembered the little kid who didn't know how to plan at the spot, whispering quietly over being unable to decide on a strategy within seconds of action.

"Huh, since when he knows how to control fire affinity?" Minato questioned, confused.

"He's been reading about it for awhile," Chitarō explained and Shikaku realized that his brother and Ren were the only ones in the training ground calm despite the situation. "But Mikoto taught him his first fire technique this week."

"Talk about being a prodigy with Ninjutsu," Chōza whistled appreciatively.

"We reckon he's going to learn a technique, at least, for every affinity," Ren piped in.

Inoichi rolled his eyes, "Maybe he didn't have any problem with fire because it's his third affinity or something, but this doesn't mean that he'll get water and earth. Some Jōnin have up to three affinities and never manage to control a fourth one."

"Nah," Kihito dismissed the Yamanaka heir comment with a wave of his hand. "Nobody has all the affinities, of course, but this doesn't mean that you can control all five of them. It only means that you'll have more difficulty with the other. Kumi is a genius in all matter chakra, he'll manage. Maybe not in a year or two, like you would with your natural affinity, but he will."

It was the most Shikaku had ever heard the Sarutobi heir say in one go and he was impressed. Kumi's friends had so much faith in his abilities, it was amazing. They would never argue over ifs, only when.

Before he turned back to watch the fight, Shikaku saw a look cross over Minato's face. He couldn't place it - and, man, did it bother him not being able to read someone's thoughts in their expressions - so he stored in his mind for later analyzing.

Fugaku and Kumi were engaged in a Taijutsu spar and it was clear the latter was losing. Shikaku wasn't surprised. The younger Namikaze fought mainly with his lower-body strength and Fugaku wasn't giving him the chance to enter his stances, occupying the blond with dodging his punches. The Uchiha was all about brute strength and fire techniques while his smaller opponent was all about grace and control.

"He's not giving it his all," Shikaku commented, surprised. He'd have thought that, since this fight was about Mikoto's future happiness or whatever, the blond would fight with everything he had.

Chitarō let out a laugh at his comment, looking all-knowing and annoying.

"Does it bother not knowing something about your puzzle, Aniki?" The little shit whispered too low for anyone else to hear, except maybe the Inuzuka heiress given by her snort. "Anyway. As the First Response Team, we can enter stupid fights or train our asses off, since we may be called in for a mission at any moment. Kumi knows this and is making do with what he can. Not to say that he'll lose, of course. He'll still win against Fugaku full-strength or not."

His brother was right. Five minutes, a bunch of fire and wind techniques and a failed Genjutsu attempt later, Kumi moved in for the kill so to speak.

Fugaku lost his balance when Kumi ducked his fist and swept his leg in a half-circle. Before the Uchiha could roll to his side, the blond had extended his arm, his index and middle finger in its signature position, and tapped the taller opponent in the neck.

"Raiton: Raihan no Jutsu (Lightning Blades)."

The effect was instantaneous. Fugaku slumped down, unconscious. Kumi got up from his crouch, looking winded. Shikaku had just remembered the blonde's low stamina when his body gave out. Before it could hit the ground, though, Ren grabbed his teammate around the waist.

As the friends moved around him toward the Uchiha and the smallest Namikaze, Shikaku stayed rooted in his place, staring puzzled at Ren's expression. The dirty-blond had shot him a look as he gathered Kumi in his arms that Shikaku couldn't decipher. Its answer should have been in the smirk across Ren's face, but the Nara heir simply didn't manage to place it.

For one reason or another, it bothered him senseless.

We were dining when Minato spoke up.

"Hey, Kumi...?" He hesitate, which made me frown. My brother wasn't one to trail of in uncertainty.

"Yes, Onii-san?"

While waiting for my brother to gather his bearings, I poked my failed attempt at cooking a korokke with my chopsticks. It was a deep-fried dish that looked like a French croquette and Mom used to do it wonderfully, but my always ended up too dry. Minato ate it anyway, but my constant failure at cooking it was getting old.

"I've always known about your talent for Ninjutsu," he started and I stayed silent, unaware of where he was taking this. "I mean, anyone with eyes can see you have a knack for it, but I didn't realize..."

A pause.

"I have a project of mine. I mean, I'm mainly a Taijutsu fighter with some wind techniques, but I've been reading some of your books about chakra manipulation. I wanted to tweak some fūton jutsu, but the complexity of manipulation drew me in altogether."

"Nii-san, you're rambling," I laughed at his embarrassed grin. "What is it?"

"I've been trying to create a jutsu based entirely on chakra manipulation for a year already, but I hit a barrier a month ago. And I think you may be able to help me."

Minato continued explaining what he wanted and the intricacies of his technique, but his voice faded into the background. He was talking about the Rasengan. The freaking, honest-to-God Rasengan. And he wanted my help.

Oh, sweet Jesus.

"Kumi-chan, are you listening to me?" Minato whined, poking my cheek with his chopsticks. Chopsticks dirty with sauce.

"Onii-san!" I exclaimed, feeling the stickiness in my face.

He laughed at me, "That's what you get for not listening to your great, almighty older brother."

"There's nothing almighty about you, Onii-san," I replied, entering this cheery mood with easiness.

He was strong now, of course. But his almightiness would only come later.