Uchiha Shuu, son of disappointment Uchiha Michiko and retired genin Uchiha Taro, was used to people talking down to him. Since the moment of his sister's birth, their side of the family had been branded as disappointments. First of all, his mother had been born without the sharingan, retired at genin status, and did not marry someone with redeeming power. She was a disappointment, unambitious and untalented. The fact remained that she was still the sister of a powerful female figure in the clan, and an elder one at that, but she could in no way match up to Mikoto.
Kouko had worked hard at her studies and hard at her training in an attempt to break free of this label, but all of her efforts were squashed by those of her blessed prodigy cousin, Itachi. Everything he did left her spinning in the dust. The clan loved him but forgot her name.
Nevertheless, she persevered, continuing to work as hard as ever. This effort made Shuu truly respect and look up to his sister. In his eyes, she was a prodigy. And not an emotionally-detached one, at that.
Shuu received treatment no different. He was largely ignored in the halls, save for Mikoto, who, as their aunt, showed all the auntie affection that was expected of her. Fugaku didn't even so much as breathe in his direction, though. Shuu didn't like him very much.
The day he met his younger cousin was the day he made a new enemy.
The little brat of a four-year-old had peeked out behind his almighty older brother to babble some insult about Kouko. He'd compared his oh-so-great brother to his hardworking sister. He'd said she'd never be as good as goddamned Itachi. Speaking as if it were their fault they hadn't been born in the branch of the family blessed with natural genius and luck.
Shuu may have spat something back, or maybe he had literally spat, but the next thing he remembered was storming towards the swing set only to nearly barrel into a girl already on the swing.
Asagiri Futaba was, in all respects, an ordinary girl around the same age as his bratty cousin. She held no special qualities and nothing was significant about her existence.
That's what he thought, at least.
But as time went on and Shuu spent more time with the girl and her aunt during training he couldn't say no to (he needed all the help he could get to surpass his cousins), he realized he liked being seen not as Uchiha disappointment Shuu, but as Just Shuu.
Futaba never saw him as the disappointment the rest of the clan thought him to be. Maybe her young mind couldn't register the bitterness he spoke of his clan with, or maybe she couldn't understand the concept of resent yet. All she did was speak to him like...like he was a normal kid. Like his name didn't even matter. She would shamelessly gush over rabbits and playfully punch him when teased. She'd ask him what his favourite colour was and what weapons he thought were cool. It was refreshing and strange and Shuu didn't know how to deal with it at first.
But even though it felt a bit like babysitting on his part sometimes, his time with Futaba was always enjoyable.
On nights Kouko and Shuu were free, Imiki would invite them over to their small house for the night. They would spend time telling stories and playing games and watching crappy movies, then would pass out with stomachs full of oily popcorn.
Shuu loved those nights, too.
Nights at the compound were always cold, quiet, and lonely. He couldn't risk making too much noise lest he get in trouble and soil his lineage even more, leaving him with little to do. His favourite pastime was staring up at the ceiling, because what else was there to do?
Nights with Imiki and Futaba, on the other hand, were warm and fun. He'd laugh himself to tears and fall asleep, exhausted. His sister was always there, smiles more genuine and expressions more...real. Without realizing it, she must've drawn into herself too in an attempt to satisfy the clan.
But one night, it was different.
A sleepover cut short, that night marked the first time he'd ever seen Imiki so serious. Shuu and Kouko headed home wordlessly that night.
Futaba had changed after that, however subtly. Her eyes now glinted with something distant at times. Whenever he caught her alone (usually before he pounced on her for cheap laughs), her eyes were solemn and held a certain resolve—resolve towards what, Shuu could never hope to guess. When caught, she'd hastily cover it up and resume being pre-incident Futaba.
It didn't fool him, but Shuu never told her.
When Futaba first came to the compound to stay a few nights, Shuu was both delighted and horrified. On one hand, she being here meant she wouldn't let him die of prolonged solitude. On the other, she'd see how the clan felt about him first-hand. Futaba wasn't stupid, she was fairly intelligent for her age. She'd catch on to the brief glares of passing aunts and uncles and such. She'd know.
She'd realize he was a disappointment.
It's not like she wouldn't have found out eventually, his mind whispered. All good things must come to an end and all of that.
But...she didn't change. She continued to smile at him as if the world didn't matter. Her games and goofy grins didn't change, her eyes didn't change. Shuu was still Shuu in her mind.
He decided he'd do a lot to keep her smiling like that.
It was a fantastic day until Sasuke came along and just felt the need to shove his nose into their business.
Shuu desperately had wanted the little brat to get lost. His friend seemed to have other ideas, though, inviting his cousin to play with them later on.
Shuu had sent a protesting look at Futaba, who had reasserted her power in the friendship by sending him a look back. With a sigh, he steeled his will and decided to put up with it. Only for a little bit.
Only because Futaba said so.
Through the entire game, Shuu's thoughts dripped with venom. Sasuke had everything. Couldn't he let Shuu have this one thing and leave him alone?
Everyone liked Sasuke. He was the genius and people practically fell over themselves trying to please him and his brother. He didn't need another admirer in the form of Futaba.
Futaba was his friend. Couldn't he have that? He knew almost everything about her. He knew more than Sasuke ever would. He knew her favourite food was zoni. He knew her least favourite foods were anything with mushrooms or tomatoes. He knew she was absolutely terrified of horses. He knew she muttered in her sleep.
Futaba was his friend.
Since the day he saw her crying when she thought she was alone at the memorial stone, since he saw the sun turn into rain, he'd sworn to never let it happen again. How could he know others would make sure of the same? They'd hurt her.
He never thought he'd be the one to cause her pain next, though. One thing led to another and ticked off by being talked down to be an annoying Hyuuga brat in his class, Shuu had taken out his frustration on the blonde kid his mother and most of the village seemed to condemn. If so many people hated him, doing the same would make Shuu more accepted, right?
Except the one person that mattered did not hate the blonde kid. She went against the village's opinion, defending the shortie with a wild fury Shuu had never seen in her before and frankly made him want to curl up in a corner as a result.
What was wrong with what he was doing? It was what everybody else thought of the kid, so why did Futaba have to be different? He thought he'd done something that would help him feel more accepted. But obviously he hadn't as Futaba pestered him about his behaviour immediately after, leaving him behind and alone.
He didn't even know Uncle Hiro before he'd died. He didn't even care, even if his mother did. But it was a reason to hate Uzumaki Naruto like the rest of the village did, so he would eagerly take it. But then Futaba started questioning him and his motives, which in turn made him question his mom and the village's motives—why did they hate a little kid? What could he have done in his pathetically short life to piss an entire village off?—and in short, he felt quite pissed himself at Futaba for making him question the very thing he had strived for his entire life—acceptance.
Why was this so complicated?
It was only after the entire thing had boiled over that he realized that acceptance from his clan, his village, his peers—none of it was worth anything if he couldn't brag about it to her. Nothing made him feel better if it didn't make her feel better, too.
All along, he thought he'd needed everyone else to like him, but maybe, subconsciously, he'd only ever wanted her to like him.
With the realization bringing a sudden heat to his cheeks, Shuu picked the pillow up off of his bed and resisted the urge to yell into it.
shorter chapter, and i didnt make as many edits, but still an important one in showing shuu's character.
i know the way he views futaba is a tad possessive and childish but he is a six-year-old kid, and when i was six i remember people being very vocal about who their best friends were. those sure were the days. i miss eating raisins on the playground.
