Out of the Ashes

Chapter 6

Mild Taste

Kakashi led me to one of the many training grounds that were completely inside the village. These grounds were mostly used by Genin and lower Chunin so they weren't as damaged or as large as the ones further out that were reserved for higher Chunin and Jounin. Kakashi had me set my things down by a tree and we began with simple exercises so Kakashi could get a grasp of my abilities.

"One hundred one handed push ups, fifty on each hand." Kakashi chirped, crinkling his eye at me while crouching down to read his book.

I stared at him for a moment, questioning if he was sane and serious. Then I looked at my small child limbs and internally questioned if I looked like a buff child or something. Finally, I looked at Kakashi like he had two heads and said, "I'm an academy student! We're lucky if I can do one hundred regular push ups!"

Really we were lucky if I got to fifty, but he didn't need to know that.

"Then today you'll learn. Get going, I want to be done with this in an hour."

I refused to lower myself to gaping at Kakashi and instead I grumbled while lowering myself to the ground and attempting one handed push ups. Kakashi leaned against the tree and started to read while occasionally looking up to observe my push ups. While I want to gloat to you and say I was able to do the push ups on time flawlessly but I most certainly did not. One handed push ups were hard and as I said I could barely make fifty regular push ups. I had managed to do them in an hour and a half but Kakashi was highly unimpressed by the quality of the push ups.

"I'd give you about a twenty-five." he told me.

I stared at him, "Uh, what?"

"You did about twenty-five correctly and the rest were so awful you're lucky I'm not making you redo them." Kakashi crinkled his eye in amusement while I furrowed my brow in annoyance. He gave me my next assignment which was two hundred curl ups. Those I was able to do but he still looked highly unimpressed.

"What could possibly be wrong with them?" I questioned harshly when he glanced between me and his book like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Simple," Kakashi said, "I can do twice that amount in half your time."

"Bullshit." I immediately called and Kakashi actually did look at me with a raised brow. I suppose bullshit wasn't language I should be using at eight years old but it was too late now. To get his attention off my language I demanded he prove it. I did my curl ups in fifteen minutes and Kakashi simply set his book down, waited a moment, and fucking crinkled his eye at me again.

"Done."

"You didn't do anything!"

"I simply did them too fast for you to see."

I glowered at him and he picked his book up again, "For the sister of Uchiha Itachi, you're not very strong."

"Well, I'm not Ita am I?" I retorted hotly.

Kakashi hummed and shut his book before placing it into his Jounin vest's pocket. He knelt down so that I was a bit taller than him and he looked into my eyes. I made sure to channel my annoyance into my glare but he didn't make any outward reaction to it. We stared at each other for a few minutes before he sighed quietly.

"You aren't ready for this." he announced.

I was stunned for a moment before I argued, "Of course I am!"

"No you're not. Can you even call your sharingan to your eyes?" Kakashi challenged. I bit my lip. I assumed it was just channeling chakra to my eyes but to be honest I was kind of afraid to do that. What if I lit my eyes on fire or something?

When I didn't do anything Kakashi nodded and stood up. He put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair, "Come and find me when you can do that."

"Can I have a hint at least? How do I turn my sharingan on?"

Kakashi shrugged at me and then he was gone with a shunshin and a small cloud of smoke. I felt my temper flow over me and I kicked the dirt angrily before gathering my things. I visited Sasuke in the hospital before returning home.

For the next few weeks I developed a routine. In the morning I would get ready and practice gathering my chakra internally and spreading it through my body. I needed to be sure that I could call it to my eyes without accidentally setting myself on fire or boiling my eyes or something. Then I would walk to the academy by myself and at lunch I would eat with Aburame Kyuketsu. Kyuketsu was an all right kid once you got past how grungy he appeared. He was quiet, as all Aburame were, and while he actually wasn't very friendly he had a dry sense of humor that was hidden beneath his sarcastic quips, thinly veiled insults, and occasional backhanded compliment. All in all, he was an intelligent piece of shit that I could stand long enough to have lunch with.

And then there was Bu. Bu, I was beginning to believe, was bipolar. Or perhaps he was just a moron. But either way, he was acting like an odd child. He hadn't actually spoken face to face with me since our argument but I certainly had seen enough of him. He followed me like a shadow sometimes in the morning and afternoon when I went to or returned from school.

"Ne, Shicho." Sasuke asked me one day, "When will they let me see again?"

They hadn't removed the bandages from his eyes yet but from what I vividly remembered, they had been cruelly destroyed. So I simply pat Sasuke's head and said, "Hopefully soon, Sasu."

Then, one day, my daily routine was broken by a not so chance encounter. And this deviation could possibly have been one that caused a domino effect of unfortunate happenings.

I was in the market shopping like I did most days I didn't have class. I was at the vegetable stall looking through the various veggies that I knew I could somewhat deal with when cooking. I was able to hear my name called through the bustling crowd and I looked up to find a familiar shade of pink coming towards me, but it wasn't Bu. This was his mother, Onna. She was, oddly, dressed in a Jounin vest over a light colored battle kimono. She stopped by my side and I found that in her basket she had several vegetables and some meat from the butcher wrapped up neatly alongside a stack of explosive tags and one kunai.

"I haven't seen you in awhile, Fushicho-chan. How is Sasuke-chan?" Onna asked brightly. She was a very friendly woman and the one time she had met Sasuke he had hissed like a cat when "Sasuke-chan" had been her way of addressing him. It was perfectly appropriate to call him at that age but that didn't mean he liked it.

I shrugged and turned back to the stall to lift an eggplant and debated if trying a new variety of plants would enhance my shit cooking, "He's healing. Slowly."

"Such a shame, will he be held back a year in the academy?" Onna casually questioned as she took a place next to me and took something that looked like a radish and shoved it into my hands while placing the eggplant back.

I scowled at her actions but figured she was much more experienced than I was in this area, "Hopefully not. I think they're going to tutor him to keep him in this year."

"And you?"

I paused, "What about me?"

"I've heard rumors." Onna smiled, "They want you to apprentice under Hatake Kakashi."

I snorted, "Yeah, that's not happening."

"Oh?" Onna hummed and shoved several more radish looking things into my hands.

I nodded and she asked me why I wouldn't be apprenticing under Kakashi. I explained what had happened while paying for the radish things and other vegetables I had bought.

"That's really unfortunate. I know the village wants to advance you to the next class."

That was news to me and I sputtered for a moment before crying, "What?! Why?"

Onna blinked at me with her bright orange eyes like she had expected me to know. Then she sighed, "Well, the elders want to have an Uchiha in active forces as soon as possible. By apprenticing you to Hatake-san you would easily be able to graduate at the very least a year sooner and begin missions as his apprentice."

I felt myself pale at the mention of the elders. Of course, didn't Danzo have a thing for orphans? But I was untouchable, wasn't I? I mean, a sudden change from a cute little girl to an emotionless pawn was a huge change and I don't think it would go completely unnoticed since I was one of two Uchiha left and everyone had some kind of pity for me. And wouldn't he have to kidnap me for that or try and seduce me with the concept of power and village loyalty?

I took a deep breath as I realized something; I was eight years old. Eight years was a long time to remember a detailed plot, especially one so long and colorful as Naruto. What if my memory was fuzzy? Obviously I knew the big events but what about the little things? I tried to recall Danzo's backstory and things about Root but I was drawing a bit of a blank. Sure I knew the generalness but where were the details? What else was I forgetting if I couldn't remember everything about one of my biggest enemies? In the story he was a bit of a minor antagonist but in real life he was a major one for me. Sure I could tell you everything about the Akatsuki and Tobito because they were the main focus. They were going to destroy the world after all; but what about the minor antagonists?

"Fushicho-chan?" Onna's voice brought me back to reality and I gave her a fake smile.

"Yeah?" I inquired brightly.

She narrowed her eyes but continued with where she had been directing the conversation, "I noticed that you haven't been speaking with Obu lately."

"We had an argument..." I rubbed the back of my head and tried to get my heart to stop frantically beating from my thoughts on Danzo.

"Fushicho-chan I apologize if I'm blunt but you don't have any friends." Onna stated and I gaped at her audacity, "And while Obu is my lovely son and I want him to keep only worthy close comrades, I feel I should advise you begin with making friends."

She continued when I was too stunned to reply, "Physical power isn't the only power, Fushicho-chan. You'll find networking is incredibly valuable. I know you've been speaking to Aburame Kyuketsu but that's one boy who isn't even in your class. When you graduate you'll need comrades who you can learn off of and as you're going now, you'll be alone and weak."

"Excuse me-" I tried to sputter but Onna just steamrolled right over what I attempted to say.

"I know you've been through an extreme hardship but that is no excuse for you to push people away. One of my contacts saw you antagonize a Hyuuga boy and you've always outcasted yourself from your peers. Do try to make friends, Fushicho-chan." Onna gave me a brilliant smile and started off into the street. I hurried after her and caught up with her when she was on the outskirts of the residential district.

"Onna-san!" I called and she ignored me. I tried against and she only turned onto another street. I huffed to myself and found my temper was rising steadily but I swallowed it down and followed her down that next street. And I almost smacked my face into someones chest.

I rubbed my nose and apologized quickly, "Excuse me-"

"Fushicho?"

I blinked and found myself staring into Bu's own amber eyes. I looked around him to find Onna smiling quite smugly. So this was her plan all along; insult my pride and get me to run into her stupid son.

"What're you doing around here?" Bu questioned awkwardly.

"Evidently being tricked into being social." I replied shortly, glaring daggers at Onna. Bu turned a questioning look to his mother.

Onna, radiating innocence like a sun, chirped, "Why, I ran into Fushicho-chan and thought it's been awhile since you two had a play-date!"

"Mom!" Bu cried while blushing, "I'm almost ten now, I don't have play-dates anymore. It's called training together."

I snorted and Bu glared at me from the corner of his eye. I antagonized him, "You sure you don't play during your "training" Bu?"

Bu looked scandalized I could possibly suggest such a thing, "I'll have you know I've been training really hard-"

"He's been training because he has a crush, Fushicho-chan!" cooed Onna as she wrapped her arms around her son and nuzzled her face into his hair. Bu's tan face turned an interesting shade that could rival his hot pink hair.

Bu cried, "Lies!"

Now, I'm sure you're wondering at this point how this could possibly be a catalyst for an ominous future. After all, it seemed like Bu and I were making up, yes? Well, life likes to make things ironic. Incredibly ironic in fact. Now, at this point in time everything seemed peachy keen but soon this event would alter my future far more than I would have thought it ever could.

That night I ate dinner at Bu's. Onna showed me how to pickle vegetables and that was where that radish thing came in. See, that was a daikon.

"You didn't know what it was but you bought it?" Bu sniggered at dinner while I poked at the pickled daikon radish I had made and wondered if it's pleasant appearance was only a facade and it would kill me as soon as I took a bite.

Bu watched as I took a bite of my not so prideful daikon radish and immediately my face lit up. Through the burning I could taste it; a pleasant and mild taste that didn't taste like I had made it. Bu grinned at my face and dug into his own meal that his mother had made and Onna smiled smugly as I now ate the pickled vegetable that would become my specialty for a long time to come.

That, I must confess, was a good day.

AN

This is a bit shorter than my usual chapters but I think it came out decent. I meant to update much sooner but at least it's out now :) And Happy New Year!

Fun Fact- I have, at this point in time, no idea who Fushicho will be paired with. I have a few ideas of what I can do.

Thanks to the following for reviewing (:

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