Article 10 - Interlude 2 - The Awakening of a Crow

Warnings: I do not own Naruto, it's intellectual property is owned by none other than Masashi Kishimoto. I own the OC's that I've added to the story and nothing more.

...

I was completely ready, but i still had to wait on my father before he could take me to the arena. Two Hyuga children were participating in an exhibition match and one of them was younger than myself.

It sounded crazy, but then again Itachi had already graduated the academy at the age of 7. I had asked Itachi about the contestants and all itachi had to say was "They say Mina may surpass my records."

My mouth hung agape.

"But you have the sharingan, and you are a genius… Surely the Byakugan isn't powerful enough to allow for that, everyone knows the uchiha are better. Dad says that's why they moved us into the outskirts of the village."

Then he poked me in the forehead. Weirdo… no one else does that… but then again I guess that means it's kinda special.

"Don't repeat what father says ever… and the sharingan is powerful, but it is not invincible, never forget that."

"Okay, sorry."

Then he had to go set off on a mission. The conversation just made me want to go witness the fight to see what the hyuga could do. They had made the cut to impress brother. Even father wanted to watch this. He said the hyuga wouldn't do this unless they were going to put on a display of power.

A child younger than myself had captured both my father and my brothers attention. I wanted them to take notice of me.

"Sasuke, your ready right? Let's go, we got about 10 minutes so we need to be out the door now."

"I've been ready."

…

It was unreal. So many people had shown up to watch. The seats were packed so it was fortunate father had already reserved our seats. We sat next to many of my cousins, uncles, and aunts. This much attention already and the flier says she is 4 years old… 4 years and 4 months.

She's nearly a year and a half younger than me, yet she drew this crowd? Surely she can't be that good, how old would she had to start training to be here already?

I couldn't help but visualize walls rise around me… figuratively of course. There must be so many strong people in this village. I wanted to bring pride to my family. I want to unlock my sharingan and become strong.

"This is some turnout. I don't know if we've ever had a exhibition match with such young talent before. The hyuga must be slaving their children. Let's see how effective that's worked." he finished with a snort.

I must prepare myself. I can't even blink. I'll watch it all to see the difference between us. To figure out where I need to be at to impress dad and everyone else.

She was so short, but her frame didn't look thin and girly. She had an air of confidence about her that already made her feel a level above him and he hadn't even seen anything she was capable of yet.

"How can she be so confident?" I wondered.

The shouts of the crowd seemed to drown into the background and I found myself thinking about this little girl… Mina Hyuga.

It felt strange. I didn't feel the need to befriend anyone outside the compound, especially girls, but she seems interesting. Like she's a different creature.

"Contestants take your places!" the sound system boomed.

The announcer's voice cut me out of my trance and my focus shifted back to the arena.

I need to pay attention. Show me what you are made of Hyugas.

"In the red corner, the challenger Neji Hyuga, 6 years and 9 months old has his sights on an upset. I'm told he underwent intense training specifically for this match, let's all hope he has a good showing!"

The announcer wasn't even talking like the kids were equals. Who is this girl?

"And in the blue corner, Mina Hyuga of only 4 years and 4 months old, the pride of her clan, will fight to protect her title 'Prodigy of Prodigies.' She is the holder of two Kekkei Genkai, the only in our village! Let's all send out a round of applause for our champion!"

I couldn't stop myself. Maybe I got caught up in the moment. I cheered Mina's name. I wanted to see her at her best. I wanted to see what she was capable of. I would get better than her eventually and be the talk of the village. I was from a stronger clan, It only made sense that I could be better if I received instruction. Was I getting ahead of myself?

"Alright! The rules are simple, blunted weaponry, fatal strikes are forbidden, and will be decided by forfeit or knock out. If the match isn't concluded in 10 minutes our judges will determine the results! Since we got that out of the way, Let's get ready to start everyone! The countdown is about to begin! 10! 9! 8-"

Both fighters took on differing stances while the countdown continued.

"1! START!"

Mina shot forward with speed that surprised me. I looked over to my father to read his expression. The corner of his mouth tightened into a grin. Father was enjoying this? Perhaps she will live up to the hype.

The older boy began throwing kunai into the ground while carefully backstepping. He was being weary. It would appear he didn't want a straight out confrontation. He must respect her skill greatly.

She began moving side to side. It seems the kunai are holding her at bay at the moment.

The boy reached for more kunai behind his back but Mina was faster.

She started locking him down from a distance with her own kunai. Each throw seemed rehearsed, sailing through the air on target. It was not just the fact Mina had two Kekkei Genkai that brought her to this stage. She had polished fundamentals. I was slacking. Her movements looked so refined.

She started to turn direction and blitz him.

Neji's main arm was tucked behind him and she swung her palm sideways even though she was several feet away. A white colored shaft extended from her arm and it was on course for the boys head… who was that again?

Neji ducked under the swing striking it with his offhand upwards.

Mina's arm was dragged upwards from the force and the shaft retracted back into her hand.

"Father what was that?" I shouted.

"She has a rare Kekkei Genkai that allows her to manipulate her bone structure. It's fairly strong, but paired with the Byakugan it's quite terrifying. If she were allowed to kill her competitor I'm sure her attack options would exponentially increase."

Wow. She was special indeed.

Neji had lassoed Mina's wrist with his wire string. She struggled with it for only a moment before snapping it.

Her bone manipulator Kekkei Genkai did seem very useful. What would I have done if my wrist were caught by wire? I would have been forced to confront my captor in a position of weakness.

A blast of chakra bust from Neji's palm.

"What? He can do such a technique at this age?!" My father exclaimed.

It would seem Neji is no slouch himself. Both of these combatants were living up to their name of prodigies.

Mina held her arms out in front of her ready to meet the advancing wave. Her palms glowed and she smashed her palms into the corner of the blast knocking it off course enough to get beneath it.

"Creative!" I hear my uncle say.

"These kids are something else. What are the Hyuga feeding them?"

My shoulders dropped at their words. I felt like I was so far behind my peers. Could I even consider these people my peers now? What had I been doing all this time?

I watched in awe as Neji now became the aggressor. He ran at her courageously without a trace of hesitation. He got close enough and jabbed at her with his glowing palm but unlike last time no waves of chakra came out.

Mina leaned forward… and Neji went at her chest with his hands… NO! He's weaving hand signs.

"The Transformation Jutsu?" I overheard my dad whisper.

I couldn't believe my ears. A trash E ranked jutsu used for infiltration?

Neji had now become somewhat taller and had four arms on each side of his body. He could attack or defend from any angle by the way they were situated. I had never heard of altering a transformation technique to allow for extra appendages. If that were possible why wouldn't handicapped shinobi who have lost arms not just use the transformation jutsu like this if it were so versatile?

All the arms approached her quickly and it appeared she was finally panicked.

The hands spread their fingers apart and simultaneously assaulted her body. It shook violently which made me cringe.

"What did he just do?"

She flipped backwards into a handstand and lashed at him with her spine which she retrieved from her body.

"He… He used the Gentle Fist to assault the tenketsu in her body disrupting chakra flow and sealing off parts of her bodies flow. The fact he did this with 8 hands means he could have taken out more than a fifth of all of them in one attack… Terrifying."

"It's likely that he sealed off the pathways on both of her arms. She's unlikely unable to perform the gentle fist in this state." My heart dropped at my uncles statement.

That transformation strike combination had effectively turned the whole fight around for him. Now Mina was being looked at as the underdog. I felt pity for her but what did I expect. A 4 year old can only do so much even if she is blessed with intelligence and powerful blood.

"Oh dear lord…" I heard my father whisper.

I turned back and saw Neji blast out 8 slabs of chakra. The Jonin ninja's body around the arena became tense but didn't run out to rescue her yet. The strikes were spread out far enough that she wouldn't get hit by all of the strikes, but they grouped into a large wave which made them seem inescapable.

Her spine whip began glowing and she lashed it out making contact with an aerial oncoming blast splitting it into two with a small gap at the bottom. She dove into the gap but was still pelted with another of the… I think i heard them called 'Air palm strikes.'

She tumbled to the ground spinning violently. I couldn't imagine being assaulted like that yet. Surely a small girl couldn't handle the beating she had taken this match even though it seemed she had an upper hand most of the match. The element of surprise is an invaluable tool.

She pushed off the ground landing back on her feet. She looked a bit shaken but the same aura of confidence was still being radiated by her. She still intended to win? No, It didn't even look like it was intention, she believed in her victory.

What is she?

Neji began his charge again, and swiftly her arm jolted forward carrying the whip forward with a *FLICK*

It caught his ankle and locked around it. I could see spikes extend and rip apart his ankle. That would no doubt be incredibly painful… yet he didn't falter.

Mina began pulling him towards her and I was completely captivated. She was reeling him in like a fish! That quickly ended after Neji raised several arms overhead and smashed the whip. He was still on limited mobility and I questioned why he didn't try to recast the transformation to temporarily deal with the injury or if it didn't work like that.

Mina pulled out numerous kunai and threw them into the sky with great arc. She reached back behind her retrieving more and layering her delayed attack from above with straight thrown kunai.

Neji fought off the storm of projectiles with tireless precision even though he must be feeling winded by now.

And…

A bone broke and snapped from the ground constricting around and climbing up Neji's body.

What? ...She tunneled the bone underground while he was fighting off her attack of kunai. Brilliant.

"Seems like she's a little tactician too. Might even give the Nara's a run for their money."

I couldn't help but to agree. To be in awe of this little girl a year and 5 months my junior.

Mina's bones slithered up his body from all directions and was fought off with 6 of his arms while 2 were raised head level.

Neji yanked on the bones which made Mina stand straighter.

The bones suddenly stopped their advancement.

Mina was flung off the ground into a backflip and landed on her head. Oh my god what happened?

"Dunno, maybe she froze up. She looked petrified after seeing those Air palms came out. She true combat experience so I'm sure this fight will be a learning experience."

I looked at her crumpled form in horror.

"Will… she be alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, Medical ninjutsu can do wonders if administered instantly, that's why there are medics stationed here. It seems she's pretty good but still has a long way to go." Father said as he took my hand.

"Dad… Can I catch up to her?"

He looked surprised but I could tell by his eyes he was amused.

"No…" He finally said. My heart sank. He didn't believe in me. "You would need to dedicate yourself entirely to walk the same road as her. The way you are I see that impossible."

Wait… behind all his reproachful words i heard something. He said If i dedicate myself entirely I could walk her road. I could be the same level as the same girl who was given the title of 'Prodigy of Prodigies.'

"-But if i dedicate myself fully?" I asked. I wanted to hear him say it.

"You could do is a shame you are so soft."

Anger flared in me. I did not want to be soft. I wanted to dedicate myself.

"Can I learn to not be soft? I want to dedicate myself." I asked earnestly.

My dad just smiled… I think this was his intention from the start. He wanted to motivate me. I will rise and surpass his expectations. Anything to be the 2nd son in his eye's rather than itachi's younger brother.

"I will dedicate myself." I said.

"We'll see Sasuke."

I couldn't suppress the wave of energy that arose in me. I felt happy. I gave myself a worthy mission. I would catch up to her and be the pride of the uchiha.

...

Authors Notes: I thought about what kind of changes the story would undergo with the addition of this live exhibition match and decided that several of the clan's children would no doubt take inspiration in this to start taking their training serious or start it at all. I quick interlude from Sasuke's POV to see him forming a goal before the Uchiha massacre.

Enjoy the story and I earnestly ask anyone who is willing to, to write me a review. I will cherish each and every one of them and respond as best as I can. I write so I can share with you guys, and it warms my heart to hear your opinions and interact with the readers.

…

**SPECIAL THANKS to the great people below who left me a review, It means a lot!**

-Irina Akashira