"What's his name?" I was asking Tsume who was coming to the academy for the first time with her Ninken "Kuromaru. He is the strongest of the new litter, mother has great hope for him." I humming in response, looking at the little ball of fur on the desk. Kirin beside me stroked his head and the puppy seemed to enjoy it. The lessons had not yet begun, Minato was fascinated by Kuromaru, he didn't leave him out of his eyes since Tsume had arrived.
"Sensei is a little late, isn't he?" I was asking, pushing my best friend to leave his strange fascination. This one laughed a little and scratched his hair in a sign of embarrassment. "It's true. I wonder why?" The Nara on the other side of the hall yawned and replied, "It seems that we are going to have a new girl student." I did not miss the feminine he had used and Kirin either: "Really? Another girl, I hope we can be friends!" Tsume nodded fervently.
It was strange, it was certainly not a civilian who would join the academy along the way, it meant that a clan of Konoha had accepted a girl to become Shinobi? I was not sure what to think.
Our Sensei arrived, followed by a girl as Nara said, she was redheaded and seemed hesitant between shyness and a temperament of fire. But... There was something more. She had two paths. A bright one that belonged without a doubt to the girl and the other... It was completely indescribable. I could not see the beginning, nor even the end and... No, I couldn't describe it.
"I am Uzumaki Kushina and I will be Hokage!" With her accent and surname, I immediately knew that she was from the village of Uzushio, which had been destroyed a few weeks ago now. In the background of the class there were laughter – orphans and civilians laughed at her. But Minato stood up (with a smile, of course) and said, "I want to become a Hokage too."
Now, it was no surprise, my friend had already told me of his dreams but why would he tell that girl? She went to sit after slightly insulting Minato who was sat, I turned my head towards him to observe and... Was he blushing? Was he embarrassed to have been insulted as well? He glanced at me before biting his lip and whispering to me that only I heard "she is really very pretty..." This girl had just burst him verbally and he...? It was stronger than me, for the first time in public, I exploded with laughter.
All the looks turned to me, I held my stomach, it was beginning to become painful but every time my laughter calmed downt, I watched Minato and saw him blush again and... I couldn't stop.
"Sensei! My brother must be sick!" Kirin panicked, shaking my shoulders so that I calm down, I tried to take my breath to explain to her, but Minato was faster, he laid his hand on my mouth and grabbed me with him to leave our seats "Sensei, I take care of him!" I didn't even hear the Sensei's answer that Minato and I were already outside and then in the bathroom where he sighed and looked at me and my laughter calmed down finally.
"If I had known that to break your mask, I had to tell you that I had found a pretty girl, I would have already done so." I watered my face to find some content "It's not that you found her pretty that makes me laugh, it's the fact that she insulted you and you still found her pretty."
"In any case, you can only say it to Kirin and she must tell no one." Minato knew me and my sister too well, he knew we wouldn't keep secrets. "Okay, okay. You know us, we won't say anything. But Tsume may realize it with my sister who laughs throughout the day of tomorrow... and from tomorrow. And after-the-morrow and... "He blushed and sighed while my smile was getting a little more smirk " Okay, I'll tell Kirin and Tsume tonight at the training ground."
We return to the classroom where we gently bowed to the Sensei to excuse our behavior, but he swept it with a sign of the hand – we were his best students after all.
Kirin immediately put his hand on my forehead "you have no fever, my brother. You're okay?" I smile so that only my sister sees it but does not answer.
As I had planned, Kirin made a point of becoming friends with Kushina after the revelation of Minato.
Although most of the time my sister trained Kushina all over the village to the surprise of her, the girl adapts perfectly to the character of Kirin and Tsume. I believe that Kushina did not expect to be accepted so easily, she took great pleasure in being with Kirin – but she could not watch Minato and me in front.
I think it is because we always met her at the wrong time: when she was attacked by others. At first, I thought that Minato was going to help her, but this boy always surprised me because he did exactly the opposite. I was watching Kushina get harassed by the others to the side of Minato "Why don't you help her? Are you shy?" I asked my best friend, embarrassed to look at this and not to act. But he shook his head softly and smiled "she is strong. I trust her to be able to fend for herself." It made me smile: If this is how Minato wanted to act, I would not prevent her – I would believe in her as he does.
She won the fight despite the disadvantage of the number and cast a black look towards us – she was running away.
"She may not like you very much." I say to Minato, looking Kushina go away more and more, he seemed absolutely not worried. That trust he had towards others was really strong. I did not forget that he had given me the same kind of confidence and that he had been right.
The second year at the academy ended with the last "sweep". Since we had started, some students had withdrawn because of the difficulty, parents no longer wanting their child to be Shinobi or even dismissed by the Sensei for one reason or another. Anyone could not become Shinobi after all, it was necessary that the importance of the Village and follow the orders fit in the head of each child and it was quite normal that some do not understand or do not accept it. Thus, Konoha preferred not to keep them for a matter of future security.
The last test will remove each rotten apples from the lot and leave us with a single class with a maximum of 33 students, so that none is left behind when creating teams of 3. It was a merciless sweep, they had a number to reach, not one more and not one less, and no exception would be made, only the best placed psychologically would be kept.
So, from the third year, the "Civil" part of the program disappeared. Finally, we would learn to truly manipulate the Chakra, to learn the most basic Jutsus as well as forms of fighting, strategies and all other things shinobi more advanced.
The test was undoubtedly created by the Intelligence department. The questions did not explicitly propose a trap, they looked very clear and coupled with the rules of the Shinobi that had been learned, the answers were obvious. But that was exactly what was dangerous because in the statement "If in the future one of your mission was morally debatable, could you discuss it?" The logical answer was no, but contrary to popular belief, few Shinobi was willing to do everything. Obeying everything, yes, it was obvious. However, it was up to the Hokage to know who these of his soldiers were capable of doing a mission whose morals were compromised and who were not able to do so.
The Shinobi gave his confidence to his leader and once broken, the chief had no more say because the confidence of a Shinobi often rested on life or death, as well as on a very fine line of "psychological well-being" that could explode with a single mission assigned to the wrong person.
There was a very striking example of the fact that the Hokage could not give the mission of killing a child to a father, a mother or a sibling elder: It could only be a disaster at the end for the Shinobi/Kunoichi.
In other words, it was strongly recommended that the Shinobi say that it does not feel comfortable in such a mission – that was what avoided a very big potential problem. That was not what was written in the Shinobi rules, but it was the right thing to do.
So I said, "Yes."
This test had no bad or good answers, it just needed to be consistent all along and show that you care about the village as well as the orders. The statement did not speak of saying "no" immediately, but discussing it and that was what made all the difference.
The last statement was the one on which I blocked the longest, it was written this :
"During one of your missions, you meet a citizen of the leaf you know and who is on the way back to the village. You are yourself in very bad shape, you can not change your way and you are pursued by enemy Shinobi.
1-without the civilian you will arrive at the vanguard and you will be saved but the civilian is killed by the Shinobi ENnemis.
2-you stop to save the civilian, the enemy Shinobi will kill you but the civilian is safe.
What situation do you choose?"
Again, the obvious answer would be the 1 because a Shinobi was much more important than a simple civilian, it was written in the rules. Moreover, this civilian was not a merchant, not a nobleman. Just a person who was there in the wrong place and at the wrong time. But it wasn't just a civilian, it was someone we knew: it could be the ramen merchant or even someone from our family. And I imagined, if in this case, it was my little brother or even a member of the Clan Uchiha, a resident of the village that I greet all the days and greets me all the days. Could I then let him die?
"Live as long as you want and then die.*" That was what the Hokage said at the time of his presentation two years ago. Was is this? That one day, for a reason and a cause that we care about, we choose to give our life? One day, I would rather die than continue to live and I would die then, and it would be my choice.
If a member of my family or a friend were in danger of death, I would jump in front of any attack to protect him. Yes, I would choose to die and I would be proud of it.
The flame that bright in me becomes stronger as I'm answer the 2.
Fugaku entered the Academy this morning. Kirin, father and I were among the crowd, watching the new students receive the speech of the Hokage – the same one that had marked me and that I was still decipher.
This year he was not the only one of the clan Uchiha to enter, there was also a girl – the second after Kirin, Uchiha Mikoto. The two stood rib to rib in the row and seemed already arguing. They just met a few minutes ago, though. There were also two Hyuugas, twins like Kirin and me: One was the heir of their clan. There was also a Akimichi boy and – surprise, a Yamanaka girl, a Nara girl and a last Inuzuka boy.
Since my own first year, there were many more girls (about twenty) and students in general, there were 5 classes of 20, many more civilians but fewer orphans. This year would probably graduate more Shinobi than ours.
"Big Brother!" I trained with Minato on our training ground in the Uchiha district when Fugaku called me, we stopped to look towards the entrance where my little brother was waiting patiently. He had an air scowl on his face that made me almost smile – he was cute but I won't tell anyone. "Yes, Fugaku?"
He sighed, scratched his neck, rolled his eyes and finally decided to speak "Do you have any notes from your first year at the academy?" I had, of course, I did not throw them precisely for this kind of situation but I was curious to know why. That's exactly what I asked so, my little brother scowled a little more but... he was blushing? My beloved little brother was blushing.
He grunted something "repeat please." Minato had gone away, a hand on his mouth and had turned back so that he was from back, but I saw his shoulders were shaking – he laughed. "Mikoto beat me on our first test!" That was the way I thought. "Is it serious?"
"Yes, I want to be stronger than her!" Okay, a very young rivalry it wasn't serious, was it? Well, it's also at this age that I had adopted this unhealthy rivalry with Minato. But why was Fugaku blushing then? "Why?" My little brother becomes the same as a tomato. I was missing something, wasn't I? "Nfar! It's none of your business, big brother, now, do you have any notes, please?!"
"Well, in my office, the bottom-right drawer. These are all my grades on the first year, you can take it all." He sighed and nodded to me "Thank you brother!" Then he ran off. Once he was far enough, Minato burst out laughing. "What? What is going on?" I asked my best friend, he wiped his eyes and looked at me with far too much amusement. "Tell this to Kirin tonight and you'll understand."
The sharp cry that my sister made this evening could have awakened the dead, she came out of my room at the speed of light, passed our Father aback and opened the Chamber of Fugaku in a huge burst: "Our little brother has a crush!"
I was looking at all this next to our father. Fugaku howled that it was certainly not the case and began to throw his toys on Kirin who dodged them happily by leaving the room and singing "Mikoto-Chan is very pretty! You have good taste!" The youngest member of the family went out in his turn from his room, the red face of embarrassment or anger, I was not sure.
"Big Brother why did you tell her?" I looked at him as if he had another head. Why did Kirin even think he had a crush? I had understood the crush of Minato because this one had immediately found Kushina pretty, but Fugaku had said he wants become stronger... Kirin laughed and leaped upon me, grabbing my shoulders in a loose embrace "little brother, you will learn that your big brother can be a genius but he is very slow in everything that does not concern the Shinobi! He has understood that you had made her your rival and he did not find anything strange in telling me!"
The spiteful look on my brother face was verdict I had really missed the important information of his statement. But father at our side laughed, breaking the strange silence that had crept between us. He smote my shoulder with affection "Don't worry son, someday like Fugaku, you'll understand. Now it's dinnertime."
I smile, so my little brother also wanted to protect someone.
Father, Kirin and I stood in front of the lake which served as a training ground at the Uchiha learning the Jutsu of fire. "You are aware of Katon-Gōkakyū No jutsu,The Uchiha technique which is a ritual of transition to adulthood in the clan, right?" We shook our head in unison. "I've been waiting until your 9th birthday so you already know what the Chakra is and how to manipulate it. I know you're all both able to learn it quickly now. The Mudras are:" Our Father wove the signs of the hand gently while spelling them for us "Snake-goat-monkey-pig-horse-Tiger." The fire came out of his mouth.
I had a strange feeling in my stomach, not fear, not even apprehension: I had the feeling that I had to realize something now while our father was transmitting a technique that the Uchiha had been doing since the night of Time.
Kirin and I took his place in the vicinity of the lake and in total coordination, we became adults.
"The shadow of the fire will illuminate the village and once again the leaves of the trees will grow back.*"
Ah. That was it. This fire burning that I felt in Kirin, the same fire that our mother had fanned. That fire that I felt in me with the will to protect. That fire I felt at Minato and his dream of becoming Hokage. That fire I felt at Tsume with that burning desire to prove herself. This fire I felt at Kushina with the need to be loved. That fire I felt in my father as the leader of the Uchiha clan. That fire I felt at Fugaku and his love for Mikoto.
It was the same fire that illuminated the village. And it was from this fire that the next generation would shine.
I finally figured out what a Shinobi was.
A little love to conclude this chapter of the life of Suzaku.
Thousand adventures are in his future although our character does not know it yet – The next chapter is called "Let's Walk Together" and it's going to be long: it will contain moments Link between the characters that we know and others that we are going to discover. It's going to be a long way to the end of the exams Chunin, Suzaku does not know what is waiting for him and unfortunately, I'm not going to be the nicest to him.
* Hiruzen Sarutobi is canon.