Knitting Fate

Second installment in Canon Patchworking with Uchiha Ren series

Fourth Thread

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This chapter has been beta'd for you by hestia8639. Thanks a lot!

Official beta'd version posted 04.08.2017

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."
― William Faulkner

0

Aside from the drama at the start of class, the lessons are just as boring as she remembered they could be; intermediate-level mathematics you usually learn in high school, Will of Fire indoctrination… oh, pardon, 'Theory Lessons', then Japanese writing and reading practice. She'd had no idea ninjas do literature, honestly, but she really enjoys the change. Then, there is physical exercise, from which she is banned for at least the next two weeks. She had, though, aced the katas the other students are struggling with already. Ren, that is, shortly before the Massacre.

(The Uchiha just had to keep spewing geniuses left and right, didn't they? Madara, Shisui, Obito, Itachi, Sasuke. And that's only those that are named in the show! Then, there's Izuna, and perhaps even Kagami, as he had become known as the only Uchiha ever to be tolerated by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.

They have a history, okay. Of spewing ridiculously-overpowered ninja. And Ren really, honestly hoped that she wouldn't be a rule-confirming exception.)

The fact that there is a large spider on her shoulder, though, makes things more… entertaining. The literature teacher, a civilian woman, nearly faints at the sight, which greatly amuses Ren.

Renee wasn't, after all, a good person. Not with her tendency to find immense joy in the suffering of others – a trait she has tried and failed to fight. Many times. So, when someone cries in her presence, she has a hard time holding back a snort.

The spider itself – himself, Ren knows her way in determining such things – seems to be very comfortable crawling all over her. He is on her face when the civilian teacher stops reading and takes a look at the class. That time, she shrieks and actually runs out of the class, which makes a total of sixteen definitely shinobi-raised children laugh out loud, some civilian kids snort, and only a few civilian girls either whimper or send her a murderous look.

Of course, they are instantly put in place when she sends them her own version of it. She may or may not have mentally scarred them for life. Not like she cares, anyway. Or, actually, she does care. She finds an immense joy in it.

She finds Sasuke on the roof, and can't help her snort as she sees him being crowded by girls, each and every one of them trying to force a bento on him. He looks puzzled, confused, scared and angry all at once, and as amusing as it is, Ren knows that he would never forgive her when he finds out she could've helped him but didn't. Not when it comes to fangirls.

So, she makes her way through the swarm of seven- and eight-year old girls in a good, old elbow-knee-very-not-sorry manner, and throws her arm around Sasuke's shoulders. Right now she dwarfs the boy – as does every other person her age, most likely. Later, he will have time to catch up, but then, adult Sasuke has a typical Japanese height of 174-or-something centimeters, while Renee had been a tall woman, reaching nearly 180-centimeters. Which means that if she reaches her original size, she would be the tallest woman in the whole Naruto cast, taller than even most of the men, and almost on par in height with Kakashi. (She's hopeful.)

But seeing as even now she stands above all of her class (even if it is normal for girls to be taller at this age), she figures it is possible. Or hopes. The same darn thing at the moment, really.

But she has to snap herself out of her thoughts, since Sasuke is looking more and more upset, as one of the girls actually tries to hug him. It's surreal to her, really, they are seven- and eight-year-olds, and they are already swooning over him. Honestly, even kids in her old world hadn't stooped that low (yet) and she feels thoroughly disgusted with the class. Her current physical age is the age to start having crushes, as puberty is right around the corner (and gods, don't you remind her abut that).

So, she knee-elbows her way through the pack of rabid fangirls and easily snatches Sasuke and leads him slightly away so that she can easily shield him from the girls. Some of them shriek in offense, but she hardly cares, as Sasuke's fingers latch onto her plain, gray-blue kimono.

"Who are you?!" one of the girls shrieks at her in a tiny, annoying voice. None she recognizes, although tiny versions of Sakura and Ino are, indeed, among the crowd. Ren just rolls her eyes.

"I'm his cousin, thank you very much for asking," she says. "As in the only living relative left that hasn't gone on a murder spree, although that can still change," she growls, narrowing her eyes, and the crowd wavers and begins to back away. The best part was that she isn't really joking about the relatives; Madara was power-crazy, Obito was heartbroken and being manipulated, and Itachi had gone rabid, leaving her as the only at least semi-sane Uchiha around Sasuke. He doesn't need to know about the two older men, though.

"But… but Sasuke-kun is…" tiny-Sakura says in her high-pitched, childish voice, and Ren only rolls her eyes at that.

"Sasuke-kun needs silence and space. Which you, obviously, fail to provide," she says, turning around and heading towards the playground. Sasuke, of course, follows close behind, face stern and irritated but hands still clenching her robe tightly. "Ah, one more thing," Ren turns towards the girls with the fakest, sweetest smile she's ever mustered in her life. "The second I hear Sasuke complaining about you will be the second I let my friend here get to know you. He loves giving kisses," she says, pointing at the spider, currently sitting curled up on her shoulder. The girls, however, shriek as one and suddenly Ren can't tell which ones are ninja pre-trained kids and which are not, with the speed they all vanish.

"It's a spider," Sasuke notices, looking up at her, wide, bland, charcoal-Uchiha eyes staring through her soul and she does not like the feeling. "Where did you get a spider?" he asks, his eyes narrowing, and Ren snorts.

"I found it in my class," she answers. "Some dumb civilian girl tried to kill him."

"Oh. Are you keeping him?" the boy asks, deciding that he prefers holding her hand to clutching her robes as they make their way down from the roof and to the playground.

"Yeah, I think I will," she answers truthfully. It may not be her Cobalt, or nothing even remotely close, but she'll take it, honestly. "Why?"

"You should name him then," Sasuke informs her, and she wants to say 'I know, duh', but she just smiles in return, letting the kid bask in his knowledge. "Every pet has a name."

"Meh, I'm not good with naming pets," she answers truthfully. "But since you brought it up, I'll just do what I always do, and call him Awai, since he's an albino and thus, pale."

"Wow," Sasuke actually snorts. "You're really awful with names, nee-san."

Ren actually freezes for a moment, but since Sasuke doesn't really seem to notice he had called her like that she just brushes it off. Her plan to stop him from turning into an asshole would've, at some point, involved him opening up to her to the point of calling her that, and sooner is better than latter.

Things start going awry that day, though, when another teacher, a chūnin girl, all of seventeen (What?! Who even allows her to teach?!) comes up to the class by the end of the break and announces that Kunoichi Classes are next. The boys would have a whole hour of break, and the girls would go learn to arrange flowers and apply make-up and things like that.

Simply put, Ren isn't having that.

"Excuse me sensei," she starts, standing up. "But I will not be attending Kuchoichi classes. Not now, not ever," she states as firmly as she can.

"Oh?" the girl asks, walking over to her. "Why? These classes are important. Women should know how to arrange flowers, and sew, and–"

"Maybe," she cuts, harder than intended. "But how can applying makeup help, when I'm being interrogated? How can sewing clothes help, when I'm on an infiltration or retrieval mission? Better yet. How can arranging flowers help, when I'm sent off to kill someone?" she asks.

"Uh, I-" the chūnin starts, but is visibly at a loss for words.

"Understand one simple thing; I'm training here to be a child soldier, often a murderer, because every ninja kills at some point. I'm not attending this school to become a florist, I'm attending it to become an asset to the village. A soldier, an information gatherer, even a murderer, if need be," Ren says, voice stern, as the girl's eyes widen with every word. "I'm a fucking Uchiha with a fucking Sharingan, unparalleled talent for Fire Techniques, a chakra stock bigger than most people my age, and decent abilities in wielding blades. If you think I will end up as a housewife, well, think again. Because I'm the head of my fucking clan and I'm going to become one of Konoha's best soldiers since the creation of the village," she growls.

"You don't know that!" the chūnin shrieks. "You can always fall in love and–"

"I'm cutting my ovaries out as soon as I hit puberty and can afford it, and I'm aromantic, too bad for you," Ren answers truthfully. Renee had had hers removed at the age of twenty-three, and it had been such a blessing for her that she always cursed herself for not doing it sooner. "I'm so sorry, but your argument is invalid. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cousin to spar with."

So, she leaves the chūnin girl flabbergasted, just as many other people present in the courtyard are at the moment. No one really expects her to do such a thing, do they? Well, as much as the original Ren attended the classes, it had been because that was expected, and she had slept through them, anyways. This time she isn't going to waste her time, preferring to do something actually productive and beneficial for the future instead.

Like getting Sasuke to become friends with Naruto, for example. Ren knows that the two would dance around one another for a long time until they are put in the same team, so giving them the opportunity to bond much earlier will be beneficial in tightening their bond. Thus, once they actually are teamed up, they won't have as much trouble with teamwork.

Also, Sasuke desperately needs friends. And optimism.

She finds him trying to get some other kids to play with him, but to no avail. Around this time the kids already share their parents' irrational fear and hatred and refuses – aggressively – to play with the small blonde in the orange shirt. That actually makes her quite sad. Sure, Naruto is a loud, hyperactive idiot, but there's something in him that makes her like him nonetheless.

(Except, of course, the Epilogue version of him. Gods, how is it even possible for the author to make his own characters so terribly OOC?)

"Sasuke, I have a mission for you," she whispers to her cousin conspirationally, and he looks at her with interest. "See that blonde kid over there?"

"Of course. It's the moron, he's bad at everything–"

"I want you to befriend him."

Sasuke blinks at her once, twice. Then looks at Naruto, then again at her.

"Why?" he asks blankly. Uh, so here it comes. The Talk, that is.

"Because, my dear, cute, little cousin, you need friends," she starts, kneeling in front of him. "So do I, but I'll take care of that myself. You need friends, just like everybody else. You can get strong alone, but when you have friends who have your back, and something precious to protect? That is when you get truly strong."

"But I have you!" he argues. "Can't you be enough?"

"No," she answers firmly. "You need friends your age. I will graduate soon, and start going on missions, while you'll be stuck here. Completely alone. Don't you want someone to help you fend off the fangirls?"

He shudders at the thought, and nods. "But why the idiot?"

"Just exactly because of that," true and not at the same time. "Plus, opposites attract, don't you know? Because they make each-other whole. He's an idiot, and you're smart. He's always happy and energetic, you're sad and de-motivated. You can learn from one another, how to be better, how to be stronger."

Sasuke winces, looks at Naruto again, and sighs. "I'll try, but only because you asked," he agrees, and Ren can't help but smile a little. Trying is enough, she's sure of it. Naruto has no one at this point, perhaps not even Iruka yet, and even if he does, their relationship is still rocky. She's certain he would leap at a chance at friendship.

Even with Sasuke. Or maybe, especially with Sasuke.

"What do you think, Awai?" she asks the spider as her little almost-emo cousin walks over to the hyperactive ball of sunshine, chases the older kids away, and then actually starts talking to the blonde. "I'm such a genius, aren't I?" she asks sarcastically, because given the chance, she's sure every fan of the series would come up with the same solution.

Awai only makes a motion as if he's clapping, earning a chuckle from the girl.

"So, mister Hound," she calls slightly louder. "How do you think the friendship between our local Jinchūriki and one of the last Uchiha survivors will bloom?"

Kakashi drops down beside her with a sigh, "So, you know."

"Please, everyone older than ten knows" she snorts. "I wonder why, though. Isn't that supposed to be, like, a secret? What if someone had spread it?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asks, leaning against a tree.

"I mean while it makes sense that some of the shinobi population know, how the hell do the civilians know?" she asks. "I remember the previous Jinchūriki. Pretty woman with long, red hair. Spent a lot of time with miss Mikoto there, and nobody really knows, except for our clan. I know only because I overheard the elders talking," true, for that's exactly what happened. She was three, or something, and nobody minded her.

She senses Kakashi stiffen, having apparently just realized that it's off, everyone knowing. Because it, indeed is. He only makes a soft hum of acknowledgement, though, and nothing more.

"So, what were you plotting with your spider?" Kakashi asks, and she sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"Sasuke needs friends, and the choice of the Jinchūriki is accidental. I just needed the most optimistic and energetic kid his age to level him," she answers in a half truth. The Jinchūriki part is an accident, yes, but Naruto himself is not.

"Naruto is always alone," Kakashi agrees. "It'll be good for him, too."

"Why am I not surprised that you know his name?" Ren snorts, and Kakashi scratches the back of his neck with a chuckle.

"Being ANBU and all," he answers. "We know things. Like you not wanting to attend Kunoichi classes."

"Has flower-arranging ever been useful to you in your career?" Ren asks him, and a shake of his head is the only answer she gets and needs.