A/N: How does everyone like the story so far? Just a heads up for everyone in a couple of chapters, three at most, I'll be stopping the story at a logical break. Don't worry. I'll resume the story after a bit of time. I will use that time to redo some of the old chapters and potentially combine a couple of chapters so that the story doesn't get overtaken by excessive chapter numbers. As always, thanks for reading, and please leave a review. It helps me learn where I need to improve.


Chapter 10 - Guarding the Daimyo

One Year Later

Izumi was running through the streets excitedly. The reason for her excitement was the news she had just received. She had just gotten out of a session with her sensei and the Hokage himself. They had talked about several things, the most prominent being a proposal to allow her to graduate from the academy nearly a year early. Usually, the girl wouldn't be so excited from stickily graduating, but she had one black-haired boy on her mind. Thinking back to the day he had returned from his C-rank mission.

Flashback

After talking in front of the Hokage's tower, the two of them decided to grab something to eat from a local ramen shop, Ichiraku, to be more precise. It was nearby, and neither of them felt like traveling far. Sitting down at the counter, both of them placed their orders before Itachi turned to face her, and his black eyes were seemingly staring into her soul.

It didn't take long for him to speak up, "Izumi, I think we should talk." The Genin said in a soft voice. Izumi dreaded those words, as they could lead to many conversations, most of which were unpleasant. Nodding to her friend, she motioned for him to continue. Itachi looked down at the counter for a moment. If she didn't know her friend better, she would've assumed he was nervous about something.

Breaking the silence once more, the stoic boy decided to get straight to the point, "It's pretty clear that you have feelings for me."

This statement caused her face to become superheated, and she began to stutter, "I-I-I" it wasn't that she was trying to hide her feelings, but she didn't expect him to be so bold about it either.

Resting a hand on his friend's shoulder, looking into her eyes with as much care as he could muster, "It's okay" looking back down at the counter, he stuttered a bit when he said, "I-I think I might feel the same." A bit of red filled his cheeks.

Izumi's mouth fell open, and this was the second time that Itachi had surprised in as many minutes. Several questions filled her head, but the only one she could voice was, "What?"

Itachi took a moment before responding. This played out better in his head. "I may feel the same way, I'm willing to give us a chance, but first, you would need to graduate and become a Genin."

The excitement that was once there turned to sadness. Was she not good enough for him currently? Sadness filled her eyes, "but why?" She questioned, silently begging that her fears weren't valid.

Seeing the despair in his friend's eyes shocked Itachi. He didn't expect that to hurt her at all. He had approached this situation as any other, with logic. That's why he had suggested they wait. Closing his eyes for a minute, he thought of a way to word this so that his friend didn't become even more upset. Opening back up his eyes, he stared into her violet irises, "As a clan heir, the village is extremely critical about who I marry and as such who I date. The council would never allow me to date someone who wasn't a shinobi, even if they were an academy student." Itachi knew quite well that he would be facing enough trouble with his clan to date an outcast such as Izumi, but he could deal with his family. A direct order from the council through the Hokage himself he couldn't refuse.

Izumi seemed to understand this, the expression lightening up on her face. Although she didn't like it, there wasn't much that she could do about it. "Then it's a date." She said with a smile. Looking up, she noticed that their food was almost there. She never thought her feelings would be reciprocated, but she was glad they were.

Flashback End

She still had to wait three months to take the graduation test, but she wasn't going to spend those months sitting idle. She hurried to a nearby training field; she had a test to prepare for.


Hiruzen sat in his office staring down a stack of never-ending paperwork. Although he was reading through a procurement form, his mind was still on his meeting with the future Genin. He did not doubt she could pass the test and become a Genin, but he never liked graduate students this young outside of war. However, the council was very adamant about the village's need for capable shinobi. Since the village was still recovering from the nine-tails attack, every mission counted towards their near collapsed economy. He agreed that it was for the best, and this girl would be more beneficial outside of the academy.

Looking back to the paperwork on his desk, he could've sworn a new pile had formed. There were only five a moment ago, and now there are, 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven'. There were two new stacks! Hiruzen's head fell in defeat, he was one of the most feared shinobi in the world, but he sat here defeated by the dreaded paperwork.

Itachi was sitting crosslegged at the edge of a river. Currently, he was meditating, thinking back upon the last year. Overall, the previous year had been highly prosperous for the young Uchiha. He had begun learning more about Genjutsu; after his confrontation with the client, he realized that Genjutsu is an effective way to end conflicts fast and efficiently. It allowed the user to choose whether to spare the victim or not. Honestly, he was unsure why it wasn't used in the Shinobi world that often, and it was rare to see a Genjutsu specialist. Maybe it was due to the extreme chakra control required to be efficient, or perhaps it wasn't as flashy as other areas such as Ninjutsu or Taijutsu.


His team had progressed a lot as well, but even though they each were capable, Yuki kept refusing to enter them into the Chunin exams. Much to the dismay of all three members. They had a perfect track record when it came to missions, with every one of them being complete with no casualties between their team and the clients. Obviously, bandits and a few rouge soldiers had died during the missions, but no client had been killed under their watch, and the mission was always completed. This led Itachi to the reason he was meditating in the middle of the day. Sure he enjoyed clearing his mind, but it was because of the news his team had just acquired from the Hokage. Due to their exceptional performance over the past year, his team was selected to guard the Daimyo on his annual trip to the village. It mainly was ceremonially since no shinobi was stupid enough to start a war by killing another country's Daimyo, and no bandit was stupid enough to try and rob the Daimyo of Fire.

Even knowing this, Itachi couldn't shake the heavy feeling in his gut. Something was going to go wrong. That's why he was meditating, trying and calm his nerves. Hearing a rustle behind him, he already knew who it was, even without looking behind him. A girl walked into the clearing. Looking a bit embarrassed, she tucked away a bit of hair. "Sorry, did I interrupt your meditation?"

Opening his eyes, he turned to look at Izumi, "I was just finishing up." It wasn't unusual for him to see Izumi here. After all, this had become the area the three friends met up, but looking at her, he could tell something was up. Motioning for her to sit next to him, he uncrossed his legs, placing them into the river in front of him.

Sitting next to him, she looked at her friend. Over the years, she had learned to read his stoic expressions, and something was bothering him. She believed it would be easier for her to complete a B-rank mission than to find out what was worrying him. A slight grin formed on her face, "Hey Itachi, I had a meeting with the Hokage today." This seemed to get his attention, "He offered me the ability to graduate in three months if I passed the Genin graduation test." Although the accomplishment didn't compare to him graduating nearly two years prior, she was still proud of it.

Itachi began looking back at his reflection in the river. The timing couldn't be worse, he was happy that his friend would be able to graduate early, but he knew that he would likely miss it. His mission with the Daimyo began in a month and a half and took about two months to complete, and that would put him about fifteen days late. Deciding to worry about that at a later time, he turned back to his friend, "Congratulations, graduating early is no small feat." A slight grin formed on his face as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Just be careful as a Genin.

The girl's smile grew at her friend's kind words, "I not a Genin yet." She chuckled

"Don't worry; you'll ace the exams," Itachi stated confidently, remembering a conversation similar to this between him and Shisui in the not-so-distant past.

This caused the girl's smile to grow even larger if that was possible, "You think?" After receiving a nod of affirmation from him, she looked at the horizon, watching the edge of the woods on the other side of the river.

The two of them sat like this for a while in comfortable silence until the third member of their group decided to show up, "What are you two love birds discussing now ." This comment earned him a glare from Itachi and a blush from Izumi. Itachi probably could've fooled most people with that look but not him. Shisui had been training with Itachi nearly every day for years now, and he probably knew him better than the boy knew himself. Sitting on the other side of Itachi, the friends quickly began casually discussing missions and events that had happened in the village as was their norm for this time of day.


6 Weeks Later

It was the day of the mission, and Itachi was checking on his kunai and shrunken stocks. Even if it was supposed to be an easy mission, Itachi knew better than to become relaxed. A few days after their talk, he had informed Izumi that he would not attend her graduation. She was rightfully upset by this, but she understood why he would miss out on it. She congratulated him and jokingly asked him why he constantly needed to outdo her. Putting his rations into his back, he did one more quick check of his supplies and slung the bag over his shoulder

Arriving at the gates, he wasn't surprised to see the absence of his team as he had purposefully arrived early. However, he was surprised to see the figure of Izumi sitting up against the gate, reading a book. What was she doing here? Intentionally he cleared his throat to get her attention.

Looking up from her book, a small smile formed on her lips from the sight of her friend, "Oh, Itachi, I didn't notice you there." Putting the book in a bag to her left, she stood up. Scratching the back of her head, "I guess you're probably wondering why I'm here, huh?" After receiving a nod confirming her assumption, she proceeded to tell him, "Well, since you're going to miss my graduation," she stated with a bit of teasing accusation, "I thought it'd be best if I got to say goodbye. Before you left."

Itachi knew that she didn't usually get up this early, yet she did to see him off. The kind gesture put a smile on his face, "Well, my team probably won't arrive for a while if you want to sit and chat for a bit?" This brightened the young girl's expression, and with a nod, the two of them sat down. Now that Itachi thought about it, how did she know what time he was going to leave? He hadn't told her a time, only the date, and his team was purposefully leaving hours earlier than usual so that they could cover more ground. Deciding to voice his thoughts into words, he asked her, "How did you know when we'd leave?"

This caused the girl to get a bit embarrassed, "I didn't. I came here a little over an hour ago." She stated sheepishly.

Not many things surprised Itachi Uchiha, but you could consider this to be one of them. She could've easily been waiting here for hours before he arrived, and yet she came this early to ensure that she didn't miss out on him leaving.

The two of them sat there talking with each other for an unknown amount of time until their conversation was interrupted by the ever-growing annoying voice of his teammate Tenma, "Stop whining to your girlfriend and get ready for this mission."

Itachi knew that it wasn't right to hate your team members, but he just couldn't help himself. This guy was nothing but a jealous idiot who believed Itachi didn't deserve the attention that he got from the village. Standing up so that he was eye-to-eye with Tenma, "Shut up," he stated, his cold glare penetrating the brown-haired boy's soul.

Tenma wasn't big enough of an idiot to try to fight Itachi. He knew that Itachi was on an entirely different level than he was and would be able to wipe the floor with him if he chose to. Trying to regain a bit of his self-respect back, he retorted with the only comeback he could think of, "Whatever you say, freak." Before walking off to talk with the Chunin guarding the entrance.

Izumi had stood up during the brief confrontation, Itachi seemed entirely unfazed by the boy's words, but knowing that they would've upset her if they were directed at her, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. He's just jealous that you're a prodigy at this stuff, and he probably won't make it past Chunin."

Her statement caused a slight grin on his face to appear, "You're right."

Noticing Itachi's sensei in the distance, she quickly hugged her friend, knowing that if he were aware, he wouldn't have allowed it. Whispering in his ear, she said her goodbyes, "Just stay safe and come back to me. You still owe me that date."

To her surprise, he returned the hug, promising, "Wouldn't miss it." Releasing his grip, Izumi reluctantly followed suit.

By this point, Yuki arrived and looked down to see his three students, "Is everyone prepared to leave?" Receiving a nod from all three, he continued, "Are you sure, because once we leave, we can't turn back?" Once again, he received a nod from them. "Alright then, let's go."

Izumi waited at the gates until Itachi was out of sight, afterward she went on her way to a training field, she had an exam to prepare for.


It had been a few days since they had left the village, typically they would make it to the Daiymo's palace in a week, but the Hokage required that they retrieve a gift for him that took them in the opposite direction of the Fire Lord's palace. They were currently moving at a grueling pace, at least for Itachi. The other two Genin seemed like they were going to need another break soon. Yuki must've noticed it, too, because he lifted his hand in a fist, signaling for them to stop. Sitting on the branch, he happened to land on Itachi pulled out his water, and took a small drink. Looking around, they were in a heavily wooded area, which was common in the land of Fire, but this one seemed a bit different. It seemed to put Itachi on edge as if they were being watched by something or someone. Looking around, he didn't notice when a man disappeared into thin air. That boy paid too much attention for the mysterious man's liking.

After a few minutes of resting, they continued hopping through branches hoping to reach the town by nightfall so that they could retrieve the package. Little did any of them know, the mysterious man was following them, now from a greater distance, but still, he made sure to keep them in sight.


Eleven Days Later

Today was the day they were supposed to arrive at the Daimyo's palace, and although they had yet to see the palace itself, Itachi knew they were nearing its positions. For the last day, towns had begun being more common and more prominent than the other ones he had visited in the Land of Fire. Itachi assumed that the increase in people living in this area had to do with Daimyo's Presence. The sun was starting to set, but from the look in Yuki's eyes, they weren't planning on stopping anytime soon.

Looking at their horizon, he was surprised when a tower became visible over the tree line. It was only a single tower, but Itachi assumed that it was a watchtower. The end of the forest was coming up quickly, watching Yuki jump down ahead. Itachi jumped down from the branch he was on. Looking up, he was amazed by what he saw. The palace had four towers similar to the one he saw before. They were positioned on the four corners of the palace wall. The wall itself was easily twenty feet off the ground, probably to prevent direct attacks from shinobi. Although it wouldn't be challenging to scale in time, he doubted anyone below a high-Chunin level could accomplish it. Therefore reducing any village's army by at least 2/3. The next thing that caught his eye was the palace itself. Just from the looks of it, anyone could tell that the Daimyo had lots of money. The walls were built from precious stone, and immaculate sculptures rested on the edges of the roof. The palace itself towered far above the trees, yet it was impossible to see outside this clearing.

Following their sensei's lead, the three Genin approached the gates. They were greeted by an older man who seemed to be awaiting their arrival.

Bowing at the waist, "You must be Team Yuki from Konohagakure." After receiving a nod from Yuki, he continued, "Follow me right this way.

Following their guide, Itachi looked over at his teammates, both of which were amazed by the view in front of them, and Itachi couldn't blame them. The palace was beautiful from far away, but it was amazing up close. With the palace only feet away, you could see the beautiful artwork etched into the outside. It probably took years for this place to have been fully built and designed. Most people would've probably gotten lost by the sheer number of turns they had taken, but team Yuki still had a grasp on their directions. After all, they were trained shinobi.

Turning around to face the group, their guide looked at Yuki, "Your team is probably tired. I'll set up a meeting first thing tomorrow, but for now, rest and prepare for the trip back."

Turning to their commander, the three Genin waited to be dismissed before heading to their assigned rooms.

Itachi had seen apartments smaller than this guest room and rooms smaller than the closet. The room itself contained a giant bed with a chest at the foot. On the wall directly in front of there stood a dresser that probably required at least five people to carry in. Next to the dresser was a door that Itachi assumed led to the guest bathroom. Finally, there was a set of double doors opposite the door he came in from. Walking over to them, he opened one to find himself out on his balcony. The air was a bit chilly, but he didn't mind. He had grown quite accustomed to the cold night air back in Konohagakure.

Itachi stayed out on the balcony for a bit of time, staring at the moon and the stars in the sky, hoping that his ancestors would bestow a bit of wisdom onto him. Deciding to get some rest, the young Uchiha went back inside, lying down her drifted to sleep.


Waking up early, Itachi decided to see if they had any training grounds to practice his taijutsu form. He wasn't going to practice any destructive Jutsus while within the palace walls, but he could practice his form a bit. Finding out the location from one of the guards, he quickly made his way to the training grounds. Itachi was the only one here at this hour, which meant he would have the entire training field to himself. Deciding there was no better time than the present, he began running through his katas entirely from memory.

A few hours had passed by now, and looking at the boy, you could tell that he had been training based on the layer of sweat that coated his body. Finishing up with a high kick, he turned to where he had heard a person earlier.

Figuring it was probably a guard servant watching him, he called out to them, "You can come out. I'm just finishing up."

After hearing a surprised "Erp," he watched as a young girl who couldn't have been much older than him walked out of behind a crate. Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I guess you shinobi must be as good as they say." The girl was wearing a dark-blue kimono with a bow tied around her waist. She had brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, with brown eyes that seemed to match. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, and it's just that you looked so graceful flowing through each attack." Her cheeks become a bit red after this.

Itachi was a bit curious who this mysterious girl was. Only two people resided in the palace, servants, and guards. Since her outfit seemed a bit much for the daughter of a servant, he assumed that one of her parents must be a high-ranking guard. "You're fine. Watching doesn't cause any harm."

The girl straightened up after hearing this, no longer nervous about what his reaction was going to be. Taking a few steps closer, "You must be here for the trip back to the Hidden Leaf?" Receiving a nod in confirmation, she continued, "They sure start you guys out young" she giggled. Looking at him, she could tell that he was at least two years younger than her, and she couldn't dream about leaving the palace to go on missions.

Itachi was trying to figure out what she was trying to accomplish, watching her moments for any sign of a threat. His gaze must have shown his confusion because the girl formed a surprised look, "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself; I'm Mikasa."

Where had he heard that name before? Thinking back to some of the books he read he eyes grew wide. Bowing at the waist, "My sincerest apologies, Princess Mikasa. I was unaware." Itachi stayed in that position. The thought never occurred to him that he might be talking to the princess.

Mikasa giggled at his reaction. She assumed as much, but part of her hoped that he was just different from the others. "Relax, you're acting like you disrespected royalty or something." Obvious sarcasm in her voice. "Outside of the throne room, you can forget the unnecessary pleasantries, and I believe them to be nothing but a waste of air."

Relaxing at her statement, he rose to meet her eyes once again. Itachi was curious why she would be acting like this. Generally, reality clung to their titles because it was the only thing giving them any power, but she seemed to be different. "I'm grateful for your extreme generosity, princess."

She glared at the younger boy for a moment, "Like I said, outside of the throne room or other high-priority events, it's just Mikasa. "Placing a hand on his shoulder, "Just continue acting as you were a moment ago before you had learned my heritage."

This request was difficult for Itachi. Being raised as a clan heir, formalities had been ingrained into him from a young age, but her voice seemed sincere, almost as if she was begging him. Usually, Itachi would refuse, but he knew what it was like for someone to treat you coldly because of who your parents were. "Alright, Mikasa."

Although there were only two, those words held power and caused her to form a grin, "Thank you, by the way, I never got your name."

Itachi's eyes grew wide. In all of the chaos, he had forgotten to introduce himself. The sheer surprise caused him to briefly lose all thoughts, "Uhhh, "regaining his composure, "I'm Uchiha Itachi."

The girl once again giggled at his temporary loss of words, "Well, Itachi, it was nice to meet you, but I've got to go. My teacher is probably worried sick." Walking away, she glanced behind her once to wave bye to her new friend.

It was probably about time that he left to prepare for his meeting with the Daimyo, assuming that most of his team would probably wake around this time. Leaving the training field, he debated what he had gotten himself into.


The meeting with the Daimyo went as well as one could hope. It wasn't exactly a meeting, more of a briefing with the leader of the Fire country explaining when they were going to leave and having his military leader discuss defense tactics with Yuki. Interestingly enough, Mikasa was there in the meeting; she didn't provide any feedback and didn't serve much of a purpose. Itachi assumed she was only there to become acquainted with the duties she would have to take on one day. The girl had acted as if they hadn't met earlier, reintroducing herself, but she emphasized her title this time. Itachi got the point. She needed to keep the interactions away from her father a secret. Itachi knew all too well the feeling of having an overbearing father, and he assumed the Daimyo was worse than his father.

From the meeting, he learned that they would be leaving in a couple of days so that his team could finish resting up. Itachi was ready to go, and he assumed the same could be said about Yuki, but his other two teammates were still exhausted. When his team had first provided the Daimyo with the gift, Itachi was probably more curious than the Daimyo. When the Fire Lord opened the box, Itachi nearly fell over. It was a decorative sword, and from the looks, it probably couldn't handle the force of blocking one swing in combat. The Daimyo genuinely seemed to enjoy the gift, but it could've just been the result of so many years of receiving gifts.

After the meeting, Itachi decided to take a walk in one of the Daimyo's many gardens. Itachi found the garden just a display of his enormous wealth, with rare plants from all over the elemental nations planted there, but that didn't make it any less of a peaceful walk. So lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the girl in front of him. It was the Mikasa. Currently, she was crouched down tending to one of the plants.

She must've noticed him out of the corner of her eye, standing up, a tiny grin formed on her face when she saw who it was. The smirk turned playful a moment later, "Careful, Itachi, if I didn't know better, I would think you were following me."

Itachi froze, running the thoughts through his head of what ramifications he would face if an accusation like that were ever brought against him. Stalking the princess was not a crime to scoff at. At best, he could be prevented from ever passing the rank of Chunin on request of the Daimyo. At worse, he could be put to death on the terms of being a potential spy or traitor. His face must've betrayed his thoughts because she broke out laughing, "Relax, I was only joking." Regaining his composer, she continued, "You need to lighten up a bit."

A slight grin formed on his lips. Contrary to popular belief, he had emotions and could joke. He and Shisui joked all the time. "You had me worried for a moment."

This caused the girl to start laughing once more. After a moment, a more serious looked came over her, "Thank you for not blowing my cover in front of my father." Looking down, she appeared to be a bit upset, "I know he means well, but sometimes it can get a little overbearing."

Itachi didn't know what to say, so instead, he just stood with the girl, offering her his silent support. This continued for a bit until their conversation picked back up.


Ten Days Later

The convoy was small, consisting of only his team, the Daimyo, and a few servants, yet they still moved slowly. Itachi sometimes forgot that everyone trained to be at the speed they were. Just as he had previously assumed, they didn't encounter any resistance so far. However, as became a habit for the Uchiha, he was always cautious. From the looks of the sun, it was about noon, and they had been walking for about six hours, and he was sure that the Daimyo would be requesting a break any minute now. As if on cue, Yuki signaled for them to stop. They were resting under the shade of a huge tree.

Finishing the water in his pouch, Itachi looked up to see a stranger walking down the path. It wasn't strange to see others on this trail, but it was odd that they were alone. Most people traveled with others. The other part that struck him odd was that the stranger was wearing a cloak that concealed their hands and potentially hid weapons. A cloak wouldn't stand out if it had been raining or if it was cold, but neither was the case. Finally, now that they were closer, Itachi could see a mask on his face. Moving over to his sensei, he tried to get the man's attention, but Yuki only had a blank stare. 'He must be under a Genjutsu,' he thought to himself. Most Genin probably wouldn't have known how to release someone else from the illusion, but Itachi recently studied up on Genjutsu. Placing a hand on his sensei, he released a pulse of chakra, but it didn't work. This was someone they didn't want to get in a fight with. They would surely lose.

The mysterious man must have sensed Itachi's pulse of the chakra because he looked up at him. Sending a bit of killing intent, he was surprised when both boys met together, and that should've been enough to freeze a couple of new Chunin in place. The girl, however, was frozen in place, sweat visibly forming on her face.

Itachi leaned over to talk to his teammate, "This guy is extremely dangerous." Looking him in the eyes, "Do not engage him."

Tenma didn't take orders from anyone, least of all the freak. Pulling a kunai out of its pouch, Tenma charged at the masked stranger from behind, hoping to surprise him. It all happened so fast, Itachi wasn't even able to follow it with his eyes. At one moment, Tenma was charging at the stranger. The next, his teammate's blood covered Itachi's face. The man had managed to pull a tanto out, and with speed that seemed impossible, got behind Tenma. With one clean cut, the boy's head and body fell in different directions. "This world has no place for hot-headed shinobi."

Itachi fell to his knees. Tears streamed down his cheeks as his eyes began to burn. Although they were never close, Tenma was still his teammate, and his death was on Itachi's shoulder. He didn't need to look up to know what happened next. The distinct sound of the Daimyo screaming echoed through his ears before the sound of gurgling replaced it. The Daimyo was choking on his blood. They had failed their mission. Looking up, he could barely see with his eyes burning like this, but what he did see surprised him even more. Yuki had managed to get out of the illusion he was trapped in, but not before being skewered, the man's tanto pushed through Yuki's lung, cutting an artery in the process.

It took about fifteen minutes for Itachi to regain himself, the pain from his eyes causing him to pass out, but once he did, he wished he had gone blind. There were bodies littered around him, and he saw the bodies of his teammates scattered across the ground. As was the protocol, Itachi went from body to body checking for pulses, but none were found.


A/N: A lot happened in this chapter, and overall I felt like it was one of the better chapters. Itachi got his Sharingan! I felt like the initial flashback between Itachi and Izumi could've gone better. I tried to keep her from having the fangirl feel, but at the same time, allow the readers to know that she was excited. I also added the bit with Hiruzen so that everyone knew exactly why Izumi was allowed to graduate a year early outside of war. I'm not planning to make her a prodigy by any means, but I also don't think someone who trains with both Itachi and Shisui wouldn't excel in the academy.

I don't know much about the honorifics in Japan, but I'd love to begin including them in my story if someone could give me a brief explanation.

I did introduce an OC character in this chapter. Although I don't plan on Mikasa being that main, she will probably appear a few times throughout the story. What are your thoughts on her?

I'm thinking about writing a story or two where it surrounds Naruto and Sasuke's brotherhood. It would be a story that switches perspectives every other chapter or maybe two stories in and of itself. One from Naruto's perspective and one from Sasuke's. What do you guys think about that? Naruto would probably be closer to Minato than canon.

P.S. The river that Itachi was sitting at towards the begging of the chapter was the same one Izumi found Shisui at. Although it probably won't ever play a massive role in this story, just keep that in mind when I talk about any of them near a river.