Uzumaki Naruto was in an extremely happy mood. Everyone noticed it at once, a few quite surprised at the sight of the boy walking so merrily among the streets of Konoha, caring not an ounce about the glares some shot him. It seemed as if for once, he was immune to their obvious distaste of him. Once in a while he would open those sparkling blue eyes of his and look slightly upwards at the sky as if recalling something and then would smile brightly.
Even if they refused to admit it, the very sight somehow warmed some of their hearts. It surely wasn't everyday they saw someone smiling so brightly that it seemed as if absolutely nothing could ruin his day. So when the blond boy accidentally bumped into a large man, they watched his reaction. Instead of crying as he normally did and run off in the face of the waves of insult that were shot at him, he merely bowed and apologized and carried on, as if nothing happened.
Said child was not in high spirits for no reason. For once, he started off a day with a good wakening.
The previous night, when he had drifted off to sleep with his new friend by his side, he half expected that she must be gone by morning. So when he woke up, he was mildly upset to see that she had indeed left, but with a note by his side. The sad mood quickly lifted as surprise took it place, as he saw that for once, his apartment was clean.
Being a child, he could not clean his own home or cook his own meals. So the Hokage had assigned a special maid to come at times to clean it up and to fix some meals for him. But like all others, she despised him and so, purposely left him on his own most of times to fill his stomach with cup ramen or cheap, cold onigiri sold in a shop nearby. He didn't bother with cleaning; it took too much of a work.
He was at first slightly uneasy stepping on such wonderfully waxed floors, but the moment the smell of fresh food hit his nose, the curious child had hurried off to see what was on the table in front of him. Wide eyes relaxed as tears began to form and freely ran down his cheeks. With swimming vision, he clutched the piece of paper in his hand, as he had struggled to read what was on them, the moment he understood it, just cried harder.
His best friend had done so much as to prepare a full meal for him, a large traditional breakfast that he had many a times dreamed of eating with his family. A meal that someone prepared for him. Just for him.
Wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve, he attempted to climb up the chair, only to see another note on it. Blinking, he took it and slowly read each word once more, and once he did, blinked again in surprise before grinning. Then he took off running to the bathroom where he took out the little green toothbrush and set on brushing his teeth.
She had gone so far as to remind him to clean his teeth. Impatiently then, he scurried back to dig into his meal. It was still warm, which made him realize that she didn't leave too long ago. That also explained why his bed was warm when he woke up. The breakfast took a long time, stuffing in as much as he could of the tantalizing bits of fresh food before deciding to store the rest away for lunch.
Since Sakura Oneechan was probably busy training now, he decided he would just go to the playground to spend time with himself. After all it was still early and there wouldn't be much kids there. He wouldn't care if their parents dragged them away; today he would be content playing with himself in the sandbox.
'Should I build a castle...or a normal house...?' his childish mind mused as he walked on, uncaring about the confused people around him.
"Well...this could take a while..."
Itachi nodded in agreement, sighing inwardly as he rubbed his temple. Soon after having their morning meal, the two Shinobi had hastened to their new team's meeting spot, both being of the strictly punctual type. To their annoyance, their two teammates showed no sign of appearing soon, and nearly an hour had already passed.
Sakura began twirling a kunai in her hand, extreme boredom filling her as time went past. The pink haired Kunoichi was not usually used to standing around without doing anything; in the past years her life had been extremely hectic, running from one duty to completing another, leaving almost no time for her to catch a breath.
And yet she was used to it and had accepted it as her life for nearly five full years. This sudden change was growing to be a growing, slight discomfort for her and her energy was bubbling inside to release itself and shatter a rock or heal someone at the hospital the least.
"Sorry I'm late you guys but... I got lost of the road of life while on my way here so I had to stop and ponder..." Her left eye twitched as she stopped swinging the knife in her finger, at the much too familiar excuse put forward by non other than, Hatake Kakashi.
"I wonder if they take lack of punctuality well in ANBU headquarters." Itachi stared blankly at the masked nin who laughed in response. Reaching up, he scratched his cloth covered cheek.
"I had an emergency meeting with the Hokage. And then while returning a black cat crossed my path so I had to take a longer route."
The ten year old Chuunin was hardly amused. If anything, he wondered if this certain excuse making would continue for a long time. As if hearing his mental musing, the rosette quietly confirmed it was going to be so, much to his disgruntlement. Now all there's left to wait was his best friend.
"So I'm finally going to meet Shisui of the Body flicker hm?" The rosette sounded enthralled as she thought out loud. "I wonder how he is..."
"He's quite a ladies man...boy. Just as Itachi is." Kakashi crinkled his visible eye, to show that he was smiling. Sakura pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes slightly. So he was already on that level of pervertness as so she could she it. Of course, this was Hatake Kakashi they were talking about. The one who wouldn't think of going anywhere without his precious book.
"His abilities Kakashi...I meant his abilities.." She said quietly, while shooting a half glare at the grey haired ANBU. He laughed in response, shrugging slightly before nodding and confirming that he indeed was a prodigy; one who mastered his sharingan at age ten.
"Meaning he's older than us?"
Itachi nodded slightly as he looked at her confused face. "He is twelve." She hardly seemed impressed that the shinobi had mastered the sharingan at a young age. Then again, she probably had it already embedded in her head that he was very strong. At a loud 'good morning' all three turned their heads to see a widely grinning, black haired shinobi waving at them, in a manner that reminded the girl of an older Naruto.
"Sorry I'm late! The Hokage called me to brief on something!"
"Shisui." At Itachi's acknowledgement, she blinked and pointed at him.
"You...are Shisui Uchiha?!" Her loud announcement made the boy stop and grin at her before nodding. His unusually bright attitude and cheerful smile made it hard for her to accept that he could really be an Uchiha. Then again, there probably were cheerful shinobi like this around; she probably didn't meet them yet.
Moving forward, the shinobi quickly grabbed her hand and gave it a soft shake while looking down at her with the biggest smile she had seen since Naruto. "My name is Shisui Uchiha, nice to meet you Sakura Chan!"
Blinking in surprise, she looked at him curiously as to how he was already aware of her name. He chuckled as he pinched her cheeks, much to her annoyance. "The Hokage told me all about you and your mission. My, you are a cute little girl aren't you?"
"That," Kakashi suddenly turned serious, the aura of a deadly captain surrounding him quickly. "is exactly what we need to discuss."
"The fact that she is cute?" The lighthearted Uchiha asked cheekily, ignoring the glare the pinkette was giving him. The serious atmosphere which Kakashi had successfully created with a mere sentence was destroyed in a matter of seconds, all because of the carefree Uchiha Shisui. And the copy nin was not liking this one bit.
"Oh jeez Kakashi senpai calm down!" With this, he swung a hand over her shoulder and Itachi's while grinning at the now, highly irritated masked ANBU. "Today's the first day as a team! No need to get worked up!"
"Shisui we are in an extremely-"
"How about we go somewhere and introduce ourselves properly?" Shisui continued, now completely ignoring the older teen and turning to the others. "I know Itachi but then, I probably don't know you as much as I know you cherry blossom princess!"
"...Stop calling me cherry blossom princess." Sakura muttered in a low voice. "It sounds ridiculous."
"How adorable!" He cooed, now ignoring the warning looks his best friend shot him. It was as if the Uchiha tensai were indirectly telling him not to mess with her. For years they had been friends and so, the older boy had learned understand his younger companion's mood and attitude.
Still, he couldn't understand why Itachi was silently warning him to back off from her. While lost in his thoughts, he failed to gather the deadly aura that was steadily escaping from the pinkette and didn't catch the deadly glare she got him.
"You're so short you know." He rambled on, looking down at her with a curious face. "Really now you should eat more or something. Plus, you are pale. You lack color to your face."
"Shisui..." Now it was Kakashi with his warning (and somewhat nervous) tone. "Stop babbling...now."
"He's always like this?" The nine year old asked quietly as she crossed her hands over her chest. And to think she expected the legendary Shunshin no Shisui to be one of those calm, quiet and elite Shinobi. This change was nice though, knowing there was at least one Uchiha she could talk with who wasn't emotionally constipated.
Still it didn't change the fact that she was thoroughly annoyed by him addressing her with odd nicknames. She had a feeling that he was going to be the noisy and hyperactive one of the group. Quietly, she wondered whether it was a must for every team she was on to have a loud and boisterous shinobi who did everything they could to annoy her.
"Yes...unfortunately." Itachi confirmed quietly averting his gaze upwards to watch the lazy clouds. He sighed mentally as his best friend began berating him for being rude. At times, he wondered how on earth this guy became his best friend, no less his brother.
"Shall we go introduce ourselves as planned now?"
An hour later, the four Shinobi were hanging around in their own personal training grounds which the Hokage gifted them with. Sakura was lying at the foot of a tree, highly amused as she watched an odd exchange of words between the two Uchiha in front of her. If anything, she did not expect the fun humored shinobi to start an endless (and very much pointless) argument with Itachi.
And what was more, the younger Uchiha was actually answering them, albeit in a very bored manner. If they were to behave in a less mature way, surely they'd resemble a bit like her old teammates. Though surprisingly, the rosette just couldn't picture Itachi acting like his once emotionally constipated brother. And not surprisingly she couldn't picture him as Naruto either.
Kakashi though, was himself. Since she had already figured out his addiction, he was once again back to reading the orange book of his. Though this time, he just couldn't stop the perverted giggles from escaping from his throat. And sitting next to him, it was a bit unnerving. It had been a while since she had seen it though and she was pretty sure she could touch that book without getting any bad memories now.
Sure she really didn't like to read books as that; she'd rather be researching on poisons and medicinal herbs. And yet, she was extremely curious of what this book, what Naruto's godfather had written through years of 'research', could contain. It did seem as if it were very popular among a large number of people she had met. It wouldn't hurt to ask him right? After all, she did have an adults mind.
So with that, she scooted closer to him and leaned towards his ear, surprised that the copy ninja couldn't even notice that she did. Was he really that engrossed with the book? Her curiosity was just increasing.
"Hey Kakashi sensei?" She whispered, in the most silent way she could without scaring him out of concentration.
Of all the possible reactions she could have pictured him doing, it certainly wasn't screaming, jumping up and staring at her while twitching. Then he pointed a trembling finger at her.
"STOP DOING THAT! IT'S CREEPY!"
"Doing what?" She blinked, unable to understand why her sensei was practically hyperventilating. All she did was whisper in her ear. An unlikely explanation was that he might have mistaken her hushed tone for a ghost. But that was something Naruto would think of...really now...
"Doing...that! You don't know how creepy that is! If you can whisper do it in a more normal way!"
At a loud laughter, she turned to see Shisui rolling on the ground like a retarded turtle which couldn't get back up straight while his friend just sat there, silently looking at him with an unreadable expression. "Kakashi you and your perverted mind! You are going to get labelled as a pedophile!" He laughed while pointing at the masked man.
"I WAS READING A PART WHEN THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTER SAID THAT! YOU THINK I WOULDN'T GET A HEART ATTACK?!" Kakashi's loud protests only served to make the Uchiha laugh even harder, to the extent tears were escaping. It wasn't amusing to Sakura who had not one clue of what was going on right now.
If it were anything, Sakura never expected her new team to be so...lively. She figured that since the three males were notable and extremely powerful shinobi, they would be quite serious. Itachi excluded, the boys were indeed idiots. Sighing in irritation, she lay back down and covered her eyes with one arm as she thought about her situation.
Since they weren't really doing anything except wasting time, the rosette decided that this would be a good time to try think of what to do in her plans. But before she could do as so much as to start thinking, she felt Shisui's chakra settle beside her and then, felt a shadow over her face. Moving her arm just enough for one eye to peek out to see what happened, she saw his face hovering above hers, the idiotic grin plastered to his face.
"...Do you need something?"
"No, but you suddenly went quiet so...I thought I'd see what's wrong with you." He answered plainly.
"And you hope to achieve that by staring at my face?"
Before he could make a smart remark of his own, Itachi tugged him away, an irritated look on his face. "Stop staring at people's faces while only centimeters close to them. It's creepy."
"The cherry blossom princess's bipolar mood changes are creepier!"
What.
And so, the next split-second later, Shisui found himself embracing the ground several meters away from where he was originally sitting, his left cheek swollen and bruised so badly he could see the purple on it. Also, he felt a loose tooth. However, before he could react, he was facing the sky once more with a bit of weight around his hips. And then the creepiest face he had seen in his entire twelve years loomed above his. A face with chakra film around it.
"What did you mean by bipolar mood...? Are you suggesting that I am abnormal?" The suddenly, terrifying pink haired girl asked in a low tone, a visible vein bulging above her right eyebrow, which was also doing a series of twitching. And that added to her scary aura.
"No you got that wrong...I meant that your mood changes a lot! And its cute!" He tried to explain, trying to force a grin to his face. The poor nin just couldn't believe that this terrifying monster like being was the same person as the absolutely adorable and cute, innocent girl he had met just a while ago. He vaguely remembered the Hokage warning him not to annoy her too much and wished he did so.
And right now, he was sure this girl was going to murder him if he messed up once more. The smart shinobi decided not to use his body flicker technique; if he did so it would only anger her further. From what Sarutobi Sama had told him, it seemed that she had single-highhandedly defeated Itachi who had his sharingan on to fight at the full potential, all with less then half her chakra reserve.
Terrifying indeed...
"SO YOU THINK MY JUDGMENT IS WRONG IS THAT IT!?"
Said shinobi panicked. What did his father tell him often? Ah yes, 'no matter what you say to an woman who is furious at you, she'll take it wrong and will murder you.' And Shisui did not have a death wish. He had a bright future ahead of him! He was going to enter the ANBU, become a high ranking shinobi in Konoha, marry a beautiful woman, have kids and...die an old man while surrounded by his grandchildren who wanted his wealth...
Alright, so that was not the most comforting thought at the moment. He smiled brightly despite sweat running down his temples. "No of course not! You are very correct! I was just fooling around you see! I didn't mean that you had a bipolar mood! It was a joke! Really!"
At her unbelieving face, he gulped. This was not good. "Ah...you wouldn't hurt your new teammate on the first day now...wouldn't you?" Much to his inward relief, she seemed to consider it before finally nodding.
"Yeah, I guess I'll let it pass for today." She sighed as she got off him. "Sorry about hurting your face...I forget about my own strength sometimes." But just as she was about to start healing it, Shisui made a remark about her manly her punch was...
"DIE!"
As Kakashi watched his student beat the life out of the preteen, so quickly that he couldn't even attempt to use the body flicker technique, he began to hope that the Hokage wouldn't punish him for the kid's death. He had it coming anyway, and besides, Sarutobi Sama was probably watching all this with that glass ball of his.
"Should we do something?" He asked the other Uchiha who was staring blankly at the scene. "You do know he might get killed...you had a personal encounter with her didn't you?"
Itachi felt his left eye twitch slightly as he remembered the uneasy events of yesterday. Even if she had delivered near fatal injures to him the day before, he recalled that she did not try to murder him the way she was to his idiotic best friend right now. Sure he had made a joke that angered her at the end of the match...but this was ridiculous.
Silently, he came to a conclusion that intervening will most probably transfer her anger from Shisui to him. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to truly take his life away. "...not helping will teach him a life lesson."
Kakashi chuckled uneasily. "Ah...I see..." he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.
As a loud shriek echoed through the whole grounds then, the two winced but before they could so much as turn around to see what happened, the whole ground shook and the two wasted no time into jumping away to the safest tree nearby. Once they did so, Kakashi turned to see if their teammate were still remaining on ground.
"W-Where is he!?" He choked out when he failed to notice the boy among the broken pieces of earth and dust clouds. Soon though, he saw the screaming kid run out from one smoke cloud, the pink haired girl chasing him while throwing a number of weapons. He desperately turned to Itachi once more, wondering what to do.
Said boy just smiled. "What? This is entertaining."
"ENTERTAINING MY ASS! ITACHI HELP ME OUT!" Shisui screamed once he heard his best-friend's remark, only to receive a simple wave. Before he could shout out once more, he was yanked back by his collar and the next thing he knew, he was flying among the clouds.
"I bet I'll make friends with the birds a lot from now on..." He mused as a flock of ducks went flying past, all staring curiously at the strange looking avian without any feathers, floating midair.
QUACK!
Fugaku Uchiha was not having a good day. It was nearing midday now and he was still seated in the hall where his clan elders were harshly castigating him for his actions. Somehow they had found out about the pinkette residing there and they were not pleased at all.
The old men and women glared accusingly at the unwavering Uchiha with a blank face, anger growing with each passing second.
Fugaku expected this well, and so had not really been nervous when being summoned to the HQ's so early in the morning. If anything he had mentally prepared himself for the long and painstaking ordeal that he was going to have to go through.
"You should have consulted us first!" One woman hissed, her wrinkled and pointed face similar to that of a vulture of the desert that hadn't had a decent meal in weeks. "Who do you think you are doing things as you please?! You are the clan head yes! But as the elders, you are supposed to come to us for consultation on such matters!"
Inwardly, the Jounin scoffed. For all he knew, the old members of the clan elders did nothing but lounge around at bars or their homes, laughing and joking around while playing shogei or simply sleeping. He knew that they didn't do any work for the clan. Why, it was he who had to strive to make the clan as well as it was right now!
Itachi was his son and it was he who bought the honor and fame upon his clan! And yet the old hags had to poke their noses in where they didn't belong, ordering them as if they were merely their pawns.
'Could be that they are becoming senile.' He thought quietly as he lent only half an ear towards their screams and wailing. All he wanted to do now was to go home and take a nice nap after some warm green tea that would surely calm him headache down.
"How are our plans going to proceed with an outsider living in your home?!"
Here it finally came. Taking a deep breath, he looked straight into their eyes. "If things go well we shall not have to proceed with the coup d'etat. We can solve this peacefully."
"PEACE!? THERE IS NO PEACE! Stop talking like that crazy babbling man titled with the Hokage! You do know how they have been treating us ever since the nine tails attack-"
"Give us a few months." It wasn't a request, it was an order and they all noted it, falling silent. Some members of the Konoha Military shared nervous and confused glances and quiet murmurs began breaking out in the large hall. "Perhaps two years. We will proceed if there is no other way. Let my son enter higher ranks to try deal with this."
"An year...you suggest we post-pond our plans for two whole years?" The leader of the clan elders, the frail looking man finally spoke, tone completely neutral. The clan head still refused to waver. He nodded, head high as the proper leader of the Uchiha should be. He was going to convince them through this no matter what.
"If you would like, I would get that girl to come here personally to give a pledge to never harm us, if that comforts you."
The elder seemed to consider it and after a few seconds he nodded. "Very well, we accept it. Two years it is. Make sure she comes here Fugaku, I want to meet with her."
Fugaku Uchiha was more than glad to be excused from the suffocating atmosphere of the Uchiha Council's office. Without slowing down, he quickly made his way to the streets, away from the Uchiha compounds. He needed some time by himself to cool his head down. Sometimes he hated his post of being the clan head, all because of the duties laid on his shoulders.
Within a few years, he was aware that Itachi would have the bear the brunt of everything. He felt remorse towards it and wished his son could live a bit more normal life. However, the circumstances were surely forcing him to push his son to become perfect in everything. He knew that Itachi was too gentle and kind to lead the life of a shinobi even if he were a genius with great potential.
Since he was barely four years of age, he had witness several murders and deaths; something that had scarred him for the rest of his life. It was sheer cruelty to have forced his son to enter the life of an emotionless shinobi and yet, there still wasn't any choice.
The head of Konoha Military hoped that things would be fixed soon so that he could live a normal life with this family. He knew Sasuke was not getting enough attention from either parent though Itachi covered up for that. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose to try calm himself down. Before he could continue with his thoughts however, he heard a faraway, shrill scream that sounded oddly familiar.
And surprisingly it was growing closer steadily. Confused, he looked around to try see where the voice was coming from, when he saw Shisui running towards him at an incredibly high speed. Before he could protest, the boy ran past him and away. Fugaku swore that his face was white ...as well as had an array of different colors over different parts of it.
The next person that went past him was surrounded by green chakra and had pink hair...with a murderous aura seeping out of her. And the next stopped as soon as he saw his father and bowed briefly before giving a sheepish smile and followed his furious looking teammate. Afterwards, the supposed team leader and ANBU captain rushed past, yelling a quick apology.
Fugaku watched the four run out of his view, clearly causing a bit of havoc around. If he guessed correctly, Shisui had somehow earned the wrath of Haruno Sakura, and so her other two teammates were trying to stop her from brutally murdering him.
"A crossbreed between Kushina and Tsunade don't you think?" He whipped his head around to see a grinning Hokage, still puffing on the pipe. "They've been on this since morning, and had caused a bit of havoc around Konoha. A bit nostalgic eh Fugaku San?" He laughed at Fugaku's appalled expression. "Don't worry, I reckon Shisui will escape alive. More awaits near future at least."
"...Hokage Sama, the clan elders had a meeting today. They wish to meet Sakura."
"Let them." Sarutobi shrugged. "For now, why don't you had home to try relax a bit? You look worn out. I'll lay you off missions for a while, at least until things are sorted out a bit."
Fugaku bowed gratefully before he headed home to do as said. It had barely been two days since the pink haired girl's arrival and his household and lifestyle had drastically changed. And he wasn't enjoying it one bit.
Sasuke was not in a good mood. He had woken up to a practically empty house and was explained that both Sakura Oneechan and Itachi OniiSan had left to meet up with their team members while Otousan had gone for a clan meeting. And so the boy had eaten his breakfast in silence, sulking all the while. He had planned to try play with both older nin that day, since yesterday Sakura Oneechan was missing since morning.
His older brother had told him that she had gone off to spend time with another kid. And that thought made him sulk even further. Sakura neechan was supposed to hang out with him. Not another kid! He was worried that Sakura nii wouldn't return back to their house if she liked the other boy's house even better. And he hadn't seen her nor his brother the entire day.
Right now, he was sitting glumly in a swing in an isolated playground, a scowl on his face. Almost isolated. His onyx eyes lifted to regard the hyperactive blond, blue eyed boy who seemed to be having so much fun by himself, making odd figures out of sand in his sandbox. Also, he was making odd sounds with his mouth.
His mind couldn't think of any legit reason of how someone could amuse himself just sitting alone in a box...filled with sand. If anything, it looked downright ridiculous. Shouldn't the boy be doing something worthwhile, like practicing kunai throwing or practicing punches to prepare to enter the academy? Or could it be that he was a mere civilian?
"And PSHHH! DOWN GOES THE BOAT! And here comes the sailor- oh no! The sea monster! Quick do a water jutsu! BLARRRGHHHHH PSH PSH BWANG!" He yelled loudly, making the little Uchiha's eye twitch. It was completely ridiculous. And yet...the boy seemed to be content, as well as having fun. He watched the boy stand up then, holding a boat and an odd figure in hand and began to run around the place.
"QUICK! RUN! HE'S GONNA EAT US ALL! AHHHHHHHHHH!" He tripped. Sasuke swore the kid purposely tripped himself. He saw it with his very own two eyes. "Oh no...I fell...you must go on Aoi...I'm done for...do the jutsu...and free us all..." and with that, he fell limp. Just like that.
The whole playground went silent for a long time, except for the sound of some birds chirping in a tree nearby. If anything it made the scene look even more absurd. What seemed like minutes passed then, and he began to worry as if something had happened to him. The way he was lying as if unconscious looked...so realistic. And yet, he made no move to get up from the swing, opting to watch instead.
Right out of the blue then, with a loud yell he jumped up, nearly knocking the bewildered child out of his seat. "IT WORKED! THE JUTSU WORKED! WE DID IT! WE SAVED THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND OF RAMEN!"
Land of ramen?
"Now, I shall go back to my home...and sacrifice a duck for dinner. Or maybe I'll just slap a kid with a duck hairdo sitting on a swing with an ugly face at practically nothing. Probably just the beauty of the day. How sad. He probably lost his pet owl which has the same face. Oh...HOO! HOOOOO!"
It took a few seconds for the Uchiha to figure out that the blond kid was referring to him. "I DO NOT HAVE A DUCK HAIRSTYLE! OR AN UGLY FACE!" He screamed out at once, gripping the ropes of which held the swing rather tightly as so to prevent himself from falling off. The blond boy turned around, seemingly surprised.
"I wasn't talking about you." He blinked, putting on an innocent face. "Why'd ya say that?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but then, shut it at once. He really couldn't give out any reason. If he did, he would be admitting that what the annoying kid said was true. Suddenly the blond kid laughed.
"HEY YOU MATCH MY DESCRIPTION! HAHAHAHA!"
Little Sasuke was now so furious, his whole face was turning into a bright shade of red; the color of a tomato which also happened to be one of his favorite foods. Jumping off the swing, he marched up to the annoying boy, all the while trying to look intimating. But the glare which he attempted only came out as an extremely cute and babyish face, one which babies made when they didn't get what they wanted.
And the very face made Naruto continue his laughter, while rolling on the ground. For a long time now, he had observed the black haired and eyed boy sitting alone on the swing, looking rather sullen and moody. He felt pity for him and had considered several times to try ask him to play with him in the sandbox. And yet, his grumpy face made him decide otherwise.
It seemed as if he was mad at the happy and bright day itself. 'Heck,' he thought as he finally raised himself up to face the other boy's angry face. 'He wasn't even swinging. Wonder what his problem is...'
"I don't like you." Sasuke proclaimed then, pointing at him. "You made fun of me and I didn't like it!"
To his surprise, the boy just shrugged before placing both hands behind his back and pouting back at him. "I don't care. Besides, you were sitting on the swing doing nothing like an owl. It was pretty distracting. Besides you were glaring at me."
"I wasn't glaring. I was observing." Sasuke huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets before glancing at the sandbox. "What were you doing in the sandbox anyway? You were making weird sounds and noises."
Naruto blinked in surprise before grinning once more and running back to the box. "I was being playing the tale of the water sailor shinobi and the sea adventures! See the figures?" He held up the toys he were so merrily playing with a while ago. "Do you know that legend? Apparently they were really famous!"
"...No..." Sasuke muttered as he slowly walked towards him. "Where did you hear it from?"
"I heard it from my Oneechan!" The orange ball of energy blurted out, eyes suddenly seeming to sparkle. "Uh well..she's not my real Oneechan...but she said I could call her that! She's pretty awesome! I met her yesterday and we went for ramen and stuff! She's the best person EVER! Anyhow, she tucked me into bed last night-"
Sasuke's eye twitched. Last night? Could that mean that...possibly that his Sakura Oneechan had...spent time with him?! He shook his head. 'Impossible...' he thought grumpily as he continued to listen to the hyperactive boy.
"-she told me of this hero of the oceans long ago! She said they lived LOONNNNG ago but then their legend lives on because they were heros! I want to be that kind of hero one day!" He stood up and hit his chest with a closed fist, smiling determinedly before pointing at him. "I want to be a hero that everyone will remember! Then everyone will respect me and stop treating me like scum!"
"Treating you like...scum?"
Naruto turned around to look at the Hokage Monument in the mountains. "Yeah. They definitely won't! That's why...that's why I'll become Hokage! My name is Uzumaki Naruto you better remember it duck haired grumpy kid!"
As soon as the last sentence left his mouth, Sasuke scowled as hard as he could before stomping his foot down on the ground, hard. "My name is Sasuke! Sasuke Uchiha! Stop calling me duck haired! Argh I hate you!"
"U..chi...ha...?" Naruto pursed his lips and looked up at the sky with a slightly retarded look on his face (at least it seemed that way to Sasuke.) while thinking hard. "WAIT! Are you related to Uchiha Itachi San?!"
The five year old, who was in the process of marching away sulkily stopped, frozen in his tracks. How on earth did he know about his brother? Had his promotion to Chuunin raised his fame among the village, to such an extent that even idiots as this blond boy knew of him? Despite the pride that rose up in his chest, he felt stirrings of annoyance start to bubble in his stomach once more.
It really wasn't fair for his brother to be receiving all the attention while he was left behind. It really wasn't fair. He felt his head slowly bob up and down in silent confirmation before quietly adding that he was his elder brother. The bad day was already turning for the worse wasn't it? Suddenly, two hands slammed down on his shoulders and he was whipped around to meet Naruto's grinning face.
"SO THAT MEANS SAKURA ONEECHAN LIVES WITH YOU!?"
And so a block fell from the sky and onto the Uchiha boy's head. And that annoying bird went flying past in the silence. This...was so WRONG. Sakura oneechan could not be the one spending time with this...this...annoying kid!
"HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?!" He screamed, making Naruto stagger back a bit.
"Well duh. I told you earlier. Sakura Oneechan took me out for ramen, made me dinner, read me a bed time story, tucked me into bed, made me breakfast-"
This was so WRONG on SO MANY LEVELS. Sakura Nee hadn't even read him a story yet! How come this weird kid with the name that came from ramen gets special treatment?! "STOP CALLING HER SAKURA ONEECHAN! SHE'S MINE." He growled as he faced up to him.
Instead of backing down however Naruto glared back, with more ferocity. "She isn't for anyone to claim! I can call her Sakura Oneechan too! She's my best friend!"
"No she's my best friend!"
"MINE!"
"MINE!"
"NO SHE'S NOT! ARGH I HATE YOU!"
"FEELING IS MUTUAL!"
Sasuke had just about enough. Huffing, he marched back to his swing and sat down, looking away snobbishly. Naruto followed, going back to his sandbox and began to make more buildings silently, a pout on his face. Both boys remained like that for a long time, not even bothering to spare a glance at each other.
Finally, Naruto peeked up slightly to see that the Uchiha kid wasn't even swinging. What kind of a person sits on a swing without swinging it? It was perfectly illogical; except for adults. He had seen many older kids and adults sit there without swinging, seemingly lost in thought. Could it be that Sasuke was trying to imitate the older people?
He snorted. 'What a loser...' he thought as he picked up the sailor shinobi and placed him in the boat, both toys which Sakura nee had bought for him yesterday. 'I can't believe he'd really say such mean things...still...he looks pretty lonely..'
And so, after a while, he once again made his way over to the kid and sat down on the swing beside him. When Sasuke refused to acknowledge his presence, the blond boy shrugged and kicking the ground slightly, began softly swinging, enjoying the cool breeze that ruffled his hair and helped him calm down after the heated fight as well as the running around.
He quietly began to wonder whether he should head to Ichiraku's for lunch or have the leftovers from breakfast. As much as he loved the taste of Sakura' Oneechan's cooking, he almost always had ramen for lunch and would hate to break that habit. Inaudibly swallowing, he realized that the meal probably would last him dinner as well. The meant no ramen for today!
He began to wonder whether she did it on purpose; the food she prepared had lots of veggies mixed in it. It was a trap! A clever and delicious trap that is...and it was not worth throwing away. He didn't know whether she'd return to make a meal like that again; shinobi were pretty busy and she probably was as well.
While lost in his thought, Naruto failed to notice Sasuke's curious stare directed at his swinging. When he finally noticed however, the Uchiha looked away, to bring another scowl upon the blue eyed boys face. "Look if you wanna ask me something get it over it." He muttered. "Or else stop staring. Its rude."
"Hmph." Sasuke pouted as he looked down at the ground and gave it a slight kick, making the swing move a bit, irregularly at that. Once more he attempted, only to kick off a bit of dirt from the ground. His scowl deepened as he tried it again, only to fail. With this third attempt ending without success, he gave up and once more, said motionlessly.
Meanwhile, Naruto who quietly observed the grumpy boy's behavior began to try think why he acted in that manner. His mind slowly clicked things into place and once he got an idea of what was wrong, a grin crossed his face. "Oh I know whats wrong! You don't know how to swing!"
His little secret finally having being exposed, Sasuke turned a bright red with embarrassment at the fact that he couldn't do a simple thing as that. "Normally Itachi niisan would push me. Thats why..."
"Psh, what a loser." At the comment, the annoyed boy looked up to scowl at the blond haired, whiskered kid who still had that grin on his face. "You don't let someone push you! You have to learn to do things yourself! From what I keep hearing from you, you keep on living under your big brothers shadow ALL the time."
It was the bitter truth, and even a strange boy he met just a few minutes ago could sense it. He really was having a bad day wasn't he?
"How stupid...jeez...hey look at me." As Sasuke did so, Naruto kicked the ground slightly and let himself swing back. "See? That's how you do it. Now you try."
He was teaching him? Sasuke really didn't like the idea of anyone but his clan members teaching him things and yet, this was one particular thing that looked so much fun...to do on your own. There probably wasn't any chance. Besides, since he was being nice, obliging wouldn't really be a problem would it?
And so, he slammed his foot down on the ground. "It didn't work." He huffed, making the Kyuubi container face-palm.
"No, no! You push softly! Watch!"
The Uchiha spent the next few minutes attempting to copy Naruto's movement's, growing frustrated by each passing failure. Just as when he was to give up though, he flew backwards. Poor Sasuke got the fright of his life and he gripped the ropes tightly to prevent himself from falling.
"THAT'S IT!" He heard Naruto yell. "NOW PUSH YOURSELF FORWARD!"
Sasuke hesitated for a second before repeating the same action and then, obeyed what the hyperactive boy was telling him to do. And soon, he was swinging back and forth beside Naruto, now with a gleeful grin on his face.
"See dumbo? It wasn't even that hard! All you gotta do is learn by yourself and everything's gonna work out!" Naruto grinned, prompting Sasuke to turn look at him.
"But you must've learned this from someone!" He blinked. "Who taught you? Mom? Dad?"
Naruto laughed and closed his eyes in order to prevent Sasuke from seeing his misty eyes before slightly slowing down. "No. No one told me. I learned on my own. Just by watching other kids."
"...liar. You can't watch someone do something and learn it yourself..."
"You try it then. Observe some normal kid," He didn't forget to stress on the word to irritate the Uchiha, and felt his mood improve once he saw his trademark expression; the scowl. "do something fun, and copy it."
"Fine...I'll try it out."
Naruto looked up at the sky and decided that this would be a well enough time to go eat lunch. He turned to Sasuke to see him climb off the swing and head off to his backpack, and bring out a bento box. He paused briefly before turning to the blond, a hesitant look on his face. "Um...would you like some?"
"Thanks for the offer but..I already got some back at my apartment. Loads of leftovers from this morning. Sakura nee made too much." With that, he jumped off the swing himself and prepared to run off, only to see Sasuke's crestfallen face. He felt a bead of sweat run down his temple as he decided that this kid was really, a big crybaby...even if he didn't cry.
"Ah...would you like me to bring back some? We could eat lunch together ya know. I have a lot of food she made and I really don't want to throw it all away because it tastes reaaaalllllyyyyyy good. So, whatcha think?"
Sasuke looked down at the lunch box his mother made for him and thought about the food Sakura oneechan must have made. His mother made him onigiri all the time, and sure it tasted wonderful. And yet, he so badly wanted to taste whatever meal Sakura oneechan must have prepared for Naruto. Turning around, he nodded.
"Alright! Wait right here! I'll be back!" And with that, he ran off. Sasuke walked back to the swing and sat down, softly swinging once more. Time seemed to go slow as he waited, growing impatient with each passing minute. Uchiha Sasuke was hardly tolerant and he hated waiting for things to happen. He'd rather make it happen himself.
His mother had always told him that being patient bought about a lot of benefits, but by so far, his childish mind couldn't register what benefits would it have for a person to sit down and do nothing while waiting for something to happen. Who knows when it might happen as well? His stomach growled, begging him to fill it with something. Sasuke never got hungry often; he was always well fed before he even asked to be fed. And as a result, the occasional rare moments where did feel hunger were extremely annoying.
Just as he was about to decide that Naruto was probably not going to return, he returned, looking quite out of breath. His eyes widened at a nasty looking red bruise that was located on his left eyebrow. He was sure that it wasn't there when he had left!
Despite it looking terribly painful, the boy with whiskers on his face was still grinning. "Sorry I'm late! Got caught up with something! Here's your box!" He shoved an ordinary looking blue box into Sasuke's hands. "I packed it the best I can."
Sasuke opened the lid to see the larger compartment completely stuffed with rice while the smaller one was overflowing with side dishes. He raised an eyebrow.
"Chopsticks are inside." Naruto said, his voice already muffled with food. "And the foods a bit cool since it was made in the morning so...whatever."
Sasuke nodded as he picked up of the side dishes and placing it inside his mouth, chewed slowly. The Jinchuuriki watched his face closely, squinting to see any type of reaction at all. "So...? How is it?"
Sasuke answered by glaring at Naruto and swallowing down several more. "I can't believe she cooked for you first..." He mumbled, earning Naruto's triumphant laughter. The two children continued to eat in silence from then on, Sasuke occasionally looking up to wonder how the hyper blond got a large bruise on his face. Could it be that he fell over? He was after all, one who couldn't be still.
After making it through the meal halfway, now already feeling full, he decided to ask his doubts away. And so he did, while keeping the lunch box down. Naruto refused to look at him for a long time before turning with a grin. "I tripped. Can you believe it? I was running down the stairs when BOOM, this cat appears in front of my legs and I trip over it and fell the rest of the way! It hurts a lot...I'm going to have to go put some medicine on later."
Sasuke was only slightly convinced, but since Naruto didn't seem to really want to talk about it, decided to drop the subject for later. And so he lay back on the ground to watch the clouds, out of complete boredom.
"So, why are you here? Mom busy with work or something?"
Sasuke snorted at that. "Mom doesn't work...but then she had to attend a clan meeting. And I came here to pass the time."
"Meaning your mom doesn't know that you're here?"
Sasuke shook his head. "Nop. She doesn't. But she won't worry, since this place is near the Uchiha grounds and Itachi Niisan comes here often. Plus I'm going to the ninja acadamy soon."
"Heh, beat you to that!"
"WHAT?!" Now completely shocked, he sat straight up to gape at the blond boy with the grinning face, unable to make out whether he was serious or he was just fooling around.
"I'm already in acadamy." Naruto boasted, laughing at the Uchiha's expression. "What?"
"Why on earth did you get special attention..." Sasuke mumbled, his trademark expression once again marring his face. Naruto only rolled his eyes at Sasuke's 'childish' behavior.
"Its not special attention stupid Uchiha." He said quietly. "Its just so to buy me time away from the villagers."
"Huh?"
"The Hokage let me go before one year because I can't mold my...cak...cat...what's that called...something to mold..."
Sasuke watched Naruto struggle before raising an eyebrow, deciding that he indeed was an idiot. "Chakra."
"I KNEW THAT!" Now it was his turn to turn red, with embarrassment. "Anyhow, I can't do jutsu well...so I lag behind in class. It's not like sensei pays me any attention anyway...who cares."
"...Why do they don't?"
"I don't know...they hate me for some reason. People call me a fox brat and all. Sakura nii is the only one to be my friend so far. But ya know the fun thing!? Whenever I do pranks on people it turns out to be successful! And then they go screaming-"
As Naruto went on rambling about his latest mischievous acts, Sasuke wondered why the villagers hate on the blond eyed with the cheery personality. And as much as he hated to admit it, hanging out with him made him feel less moody. It felt as if he had absolutely no time to be be sad; he found happiness in little things. Like the sandbox and the weird doll.
"-and then I'll become Hokage and rule over everyone! No one will hate anyone again!"
Sasuke chuckled before lying back down on the grass, spreading his arms and legs out to relax under the warmth of the sun. "I dunno for one thing you are fun to hang around with. Even if you are really are rude sometimes."
"It's called teaching you manners." Naruto snickered, crossing his hands over his chest. "Stupid Uchiha."
"Idiot."
"STUPID UCHIHA."
"IDIOT UZUMAKI."
The continued their brawl for what seemed like eternity, until they were interrupted by the voice of the female they both adored to great lengths. "SAKURA NIIICHAAAAAAAN!" And with that, Naruto rocketed off the ground and the next second, had her pinned to the ground in the tightest of bear hugs.
Shisui laughed as he looked at the struggling pink haired girl, who was quickly turning a bright red from lack of oxygen. "She's definitely good with kids...something to look forward to when she becomes a mother." They watched her somehow pry his hands off her, only to be re-tackled by Sasuke.
It took both Itachi and Shisui to try peel them off the oxygen deprived teammate of theirs, who also seemed to be having fun.
"Oh? You both have met?" She blinked as she finally looked between Sasuke and Naruto, surprise evident in her eyes.
"Yeah! This kid needs to learn to respect people! Stupid Sasuke." Naruto pouted, clasping his hands behind his head.
"Idiot Naruto. You need to learn manners." Sasuke huffed, crossing his hands over his chest.
Sakura wanted to hug them and squeal in delight, while shaking them back and forth. And that was exactly what she did, save for the shaking. It wouldn't be too good on their yet developing brains of course..
"I was hoping you guys might meet! I was going to introduce you both to each other really!" She finally let go, beaming down at them with the brightest smile she could muster.
"You didn't need to. We're already friends. And it's all thanks to you Sakura nii! We were fighting for your attention and thats where we started talking and then settled a truce!" Naruto held a thumbs up to the now, confused Sakura Haruno as she tried to get a grasp of what he just said. But before she did, she caught sight of the nasty bruise on his eyebrow.
"Who did this?!" She demanded as she bought out chakra to heal it. "Bullies again!?"
"Itai...don't be rough oneechan..." Naruto pouted as she set on rubbing the dried blood off. "Not really, I fell down the stairs while getting bento for Sasuke. He wanted to eat your meal so I went to get him some."
"...I'll interrogate you later." She murmured in a low tone, making her teammates pale up. Kakashi placed a hand over her shoulder, smiling nervously.
"I understand you have worked with Ibiki...but that term is too harsh for kids...don't you think?"
Sakura immediately rectified her mistake, a sheepish smile on her face as she used a much more simpler word, while Shisui sniggered behind her back. As if life wasn't short enough for him already.
Shisui had finally used his specialty to save himself, though he was sure he wouldn't be able to always use it to arrive at his aid whenever she vented her anger out on him. The very first time he used it, she had been so awed, for a second he thought that she would back off. But it only made her want to test how fast he was. Problem was, she was insanely quick as well. Itachi was not kidding when he admitted to have used his sharingan the second the battle started.
"Oi you three!" Naruto pointed to the three boys, making them snap their attention to him at once. "Play with us!"
"Yeah we are playing prisoner!" Sasuke grinned, placing both hands over his hips. "Here's whats gonna happen! Kakashi Jiisan is the old, sick and weak Feudal Lord who can't do anything but sit on his throne to give orders-"
"Now that's not nice...making a reference to my hair color..." Kakashi muttered quietly, clearly irritated. Shisui slapped his shoulder with a grin in an effort to cheer him up.
"-Sakura Oneechan is the beautiful, charming, powerful, cool Feudal Lord's daughter who is kidnapped by Shisui monster!"
"That's right. Wait..WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"
"And my Itachi Niisan is going to be the one to save her!" With that, he pounced on his big brother, grinning like a crazy child. "Me and Naruto are going to be the two shinobi you'll need to rescue her with. Without us you can't rescue her because Itachi niisan only knows one sealing jutsu and he's a Saumari."
"...Why does your brother get special attention?" Shisui muttered, earning a chuckle from a highly amused Itachi.
"I'm his brother." And with that, Naruto and Sasuke dragged the four off to the game. Sakura though, was not pleased of having to play the part of damsel in distress once more; game or not. She'd have to wait till they reach maturity to beat their brains out. Her two lovable little boys. 'Might as well adopt them.' She thought humorously while watching Sasuke and Naruto force Itachi to repeat the cheesy lines when he was going to 'rescue' her.
"I wonder if Kushina will forgive me for adopting Naruto as my son..."
Q&A section/Authors Notes:
I...am terribly sorry for making you all wait for nearly two weeks for my update. Yes...I am a lazy prick who is trying her best to try be punctual. My brain shares the blame; it just wouldn't come up with good ideas. Honestly, it took me that period of time to write this short chapter. (It is at least 2000 words shorter than the previous ones)
Anyhow thank you all for your kind and wonderful reviews! Now onto answering some questions you might have about this chapter:
~Some people may get confused as to why Naruto is getting physically hurt now and then even though the Hokage forbade it. Once again, remember that the civilians do not physically assault him; it goes to the bullies of near his age. And since the older people ignore him anyway, they don't prevent their kids from hurting Naruto. If anything they'll drag them away in fear of the Kyuubi.
~I made Shisui slightly older than Sakura and Itachi, because I thought that would be more fitting for the story's plotline. In the actual verse, it was made known that Itachi looked up to Shisui as a brother. Now, Itachi was very much confused and very vulnerable to the things around as well as emotionally weak. However, Shisui was there to guide him and help him make his decision to protect Konoha. I think Shisui played a very vital role in keeping Konoha safe, even if you all don't catch it that way. I mean, suppose Shisui wasn't there to remind Itachi of his priorities while in a tight position, who knows what could've happened? We all know how traumatized he was since childhood; obviously he would be then. So there, I made him older in order to teach him stupid things! ^^
~ Yes I know, I made Shisui look like a retard. But fear not; he isn't. Shisui just has a bright personality and a happy aura, much like Naruto. I recall Itachi mentioning that Naruto and Shisui were somewhat alike! (As Naruto was to Dan...and Nawaki...) So instead of giving him the same old serious personality that seems to practically run in the Uchiha blood-line, I gave him a cheery persona. A change is good isn't it? Remember though: SHISUI IS NOT AN IDIOT. He is indeed one of the most brightest around; though he acts retarded. (Like Naruto)
Sakura's first impression of Shisui was not good; mainly because he acted stupid. (Don't we all have that one friend who is one hyperactive oddball?) So now he would probably be the target for her assaults...at times. It is definitely going to go on to Kakashi as well. As for Itachi now...I'm thinking of sparing him more than others. After all, Sakura holds people with manners with a high regard. She is well-mannered herself really...though unable to contain her fury around stupid people...
~I know what you are thinking; "Sasuke wants Sakura and Itachi niisan together". Well...kind of yeah. I mean, they are both his older siblings now, and he thinks that somehow making her be with Itachi would not let Naruto steal her away. (Sakura really cares for Naruto and Sasuke knows that all too well) It's just his childish mind, seriously.
~ Ahhh yes...the Shisui monster part. It's going to keep recurring throughout the series. Naruto's going to adopt that nickname!
~ Speaking of adopting, yes...I think Sakura might as well do that. She is slightly loose in the head at times. Who can blame her? She's still giddy from meeting her teammates...I think. Overall though I think it would be the worlds WEIRDEST if Sakura decides to call Naruto her son wherever she goes. So no..I don't think it'd be a good idea for Sakura to legally adopt him. (Kushina would never forgive her for stealing her son away. Don't forget that their chakra records his memories...) So I'll just make it a quiet amused thought passing through her head.
~ SASUKE AND NARUTO BECAME FRIENDS! The finally awaited moment. I hope you are all regurgitating rainbows~! (Excuse my sick mind...) I decided it would be best if Naruto and Sasuke met first and develop their friendship. Don't you worry, mini Sakura will make her appearance soon! -lets out a squeal- I most certainly enjoyed writing about Sasuke's and Naruto's meeting and that is probably why it is the longest in this chapter. Forgive me but I am still waiting for it to happen in the actual manga.
~Shisui and Sakura are probably going to become close friends. You can count on that!
Reviews motivate me to keep writing, so keep reviewing! ^.^/
Owari~