A.N. Haha! I managed to get this written in one week, which I honestly didn't think I could. My college starts early (in two weeks), so I've been busy with all the back-to-school prep. The next chapter will likely take two weeks, but we're getting into an exciting section! This is mostly flashback, but what stuff we do have in the present is pretty important, so I hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much Jessielric and Arisu003 for commenting and theorizing on every chapter! Your questions make me think about my story in a new way, as well as how I can improve my overall plot line!
Please rate and review! I literally hang on to any comment like a lifeline!
THEN:
"Time elapsed in the Second Exam: four hours, thirty-seven minutes. This is a new record for the exam held in the Forty-Fourth Training Ground. Taking into consideration that the exam is based on three-person cells, this record is astounding."
As he listened carefully to the oddly stoic voice of the Anbu in the white tiger mask, Danzo smiled faintly. "That's what happens when you graduate from the academy in a single year. Nothing strange at all about those two managing this." He stood from his spot at his desk, the white tiger mask nodding in the corner of his vision. "It's about time for the Third Exam to start. We should be on our way."
"With regards to that, I have a single report." The man stopped Danzo as he was about to step forward.
"What?"
"The genin team of our village that were to be their opponents in the first round defaulted."
"Afraid of their combined power?" Danzo's lips twitched upwards again, feeling unusually cheerful.
"Naturally."
The old man tossed his head back toward the ceiling and laughed loudly. The white tiger stayed silent, waiting for his master's words. "I've thought any number of times how much better it would be if Itachi wasn't an Uchiha, like the girl. But I've never felt it so keenly now."
"The Uchihas have their own utility."
"I don't need someone like you to tell me that," Danzo replied, starting the long walk to the arena. "Who is Itachi's opponent in the second round?"
"If the first battle has concluded as it should, it will be a Kumogakure genin who advances. Nemui."
"'Sleepy?' What a ridiculous name."
"The boy is known as Nemui Shunmino. Among the young ones of the Hidden Cloud, he is quite a popular ninja."
"A shinobi with a pseudonym is second-rate," Danzo snorted. "A true ninja does not need to hide their name so."
The man walking alongside him nodded.
"How will the pseudonym-free Itachi Uchiha fight this genin with the foolish name of Sleepy Hibernation whoever? I am indeed looking forward to it." The old man paused, sensing that his subordinate had more to say. "And what of Tsukiko Amaya?" He asked shrewdly. "Who is to be her opponent?"
Wordlessly, the tiger-masked ninja handed the form to Danzo.
Unbandaged eye widening slightly as it quickly scanning the page, Danzo felt more excited than he had in years. "Perfect. I couldn't have hoped for better. Now we'll see how Tsukiko's skills measure up when she isn't paired with an Uchiha."
As the older man composed himself, the masked ninja said nothing, his training making sure that Danzo couldn't see the chill that snaked down his spine at the gleeful smile of his superior.
NOW:
"Damn!" Tsukiko cursed, breathing heavily as she stared at the destruction in front of her.
Trees cracked and burnt, some even snapped in half. The ground black and charred, a few small fires burning away at what little green remained in the small area of scorched forest. The warm smell of a campfire floated pleasantly in the air, but did nothing to ease her frustration.
After her training session with Midori yesterday, Tsukiko left the young girl to master her new technique on her own for a bit, promising to check in later the next afternoon. In the meantime, she planned on doing a little training herself.
All morning, she'd been working on her Lightning control. Kakashi had mentioned that he was going to teach that move to Sasuke, and she wanted to be able to counter it. Not to mention, having incomplete control of her Gensogan was unacceptable. It was her advantage over Itachi who wasn't aware she'd gained a new element. The problem was, using Lightning was exhausting, the strain of having to juggle two elements at once not working properly.
"Having a bit of trouble, I see."
Tsukiko's head whipped around at the voice, and her face lit up when she spotted the owner. "Jiraiya-Sensei!"
It had been three years since she'd last seen him, not since he'd come to the Uchiha funeral, but he hadn't changed much. Long, spiky white hair, red and green sage outfit with wooden shoes, and a kind face currently smiling at her while he leaned against a tree, the Third Hokage standing next to him.
"Lord Third," she greeted respectfully, bowing her head before turning back to the old sage. "What are you doing here? Come to see the Third Exam?" Her eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched slightly. "Or are you here to deal with Orochimaru?"
Jiraiya put his hands up peacefully, laughing awkwardly. "Hey now, no need to get worked up!" He grinned, winking. "I'm just here to pass along some information I picked up on my travels." He gestured to the old man next to him. "And Lord Third thought it was important enough to tell you about right away."
Tsukiko cocked her head, suitably intrigued. "What is it?"
The Third Hokage produced his pipe, already lit, and took a deep breath, releasing the smoke when he exhaled. "The missing shrine of Akihiro Amaya has been located."
The young woman's breath caught, her eyes widening. "Are you sure? It's not another one of his fakes?"
Akihiro Amaya, Tsukiko's great-great-grandfather, had been a child when the village was first created. He left when he was thirteen, and traveled the world as a historian. Along the way, he built many shrines, safe places for those who wished to study and live in peace. But no one had ever found the Great Shrine, the place where the entire history of the Amaya clan, along with all of Akihiro's research, was said to be held.
"Positive," Jiraiya confirmed. "I saw it myself. A group of researchers from the Land of Fire happened across it while mapping out one of the lesser-known forests. It's far larger than any of the others, and too difficult for the average ninja to even get close to. It's locked by a large door with chakra encryption. I'm certain that only an Amaya can get in."
He grinned. "Luckily for us, I happened to be in the area. One of the researcher's contacted me, hoping I'd be able to bring you back with me."
"And all these researchers want is the joy of having discovered the missing shrine?" Tsukiko asked, raising her eyebrow. Most "researchers" and "explorers" these days were nothing but graverobbers.
"It doesn't matter," Lord Third stared firmly. "Unlike all the other shrines, Akihiro's Great Shrine was to be only visited by the Amaya clan. There is no claim to anything found within, unless you are of his blood."
"Not that they didn't try," Jiraiya added. "But Akihiro put several traps in place for those who try to break in, and let's just say some of those researchers aren't getting out of a hospital bed any time soon." He chuckled. "At any rate, I know you can't go before the Exams are over, but here's the map with their location."
Tsukiko took the rolled up paper, a flutter of excitement in her chest. There could be anything in that shrine, medicine, powerful items, a complete history of her people. It was tempting to go now...but…
"Hey." The old sage put a hand on her shoulder. "That's the face of someone with too many worries on their mind. The shrine can wait, so don't think you need to drop everything and go. You're a young and beautiful woman now, so lighten up! Everything will work out!"
The white-haired woman smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Jiraiya-Sensei."
He stepped back, rubbing the back of his head. "Anyway, I have to get back to Naruto. That little idiot's been badgering me for training nonstop." He waved. "See ya!" And with a puff of white smoke, he was gone.
"So Jiraiya-Sensei is training Naruto…" Tsukiko mused, putting the scroll in the pocket of her jounin vest. "And Kakashi is training Sasuke…" she grinned, shaking her head. "I'd better make sure my girls are ready."
The Third Hokage chuckled, gesturing to the burnt forest. "It appears you are also making sure you yourself are in top form."
Tsukiko ducked her head in embarrassment, her cheeks pink. "I just can't seem to figure out Lightning," she admitted. "It takes a lot out of me to use Fire and Wind to make it, and even more to control it."
The old man frowned, taking his pipe out of his mouth. "Why are you synthetically producing lightning instead of just using your chakra to do it, like you do with fire?"
She shrugged sheepishly. "Every time I try, I end up making fire. The two are very similar, and I'm not familiar enough with chakra-based lightning to control it."
Nodding his head, the Third Hokage hummed in thought. "Very well."
A faint buzzing filled the air, and Tsukiko felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up as the Hokage's arm was suddenly engulfed in lightning.
She had a split-second to react before the electricity left his arm, arcing toward her. Eyes white, she held up her hand to meet the sparking energy, and gasped as she felt it enter her system. Instinctively, she turned with the flow of the energy, holding out her other hand to send it shooting into another tree.
The lightning snapped the old oak in half, its trunk charred and black. It fell over with a heavy thud, echoing in the silence of the forest.
Breath leaving her in heavy pants, Tsukiko turned back to the old man, her body feeling energized and alive. "What...What was that for?!" She demanded, placing a hand on her chest to feel her heart pounding.
The Third Hokage put his pipe back in his mouth, rubbing one of his shoulders. "That was me letting you feel what chakra-based lightning feels like. I imagine you'll have a better idea of how to create it now." He smiled, turning away. "It's nice to feel like a sensei again."
And with that, he vanished, leaving a bewildered woman standing in the middle of a smoking forest, her hand tingling like she'd hit something hard.
THEN:
"To repeat, there are absolutely no rules," The proctor declared, his chest puffed up importantly as every eye in the stands surrounding the battle field focused on him. Important guests from every country were here today, excited to watch the final round of the exams, and more importantly, see where the balance of power had shifted.
"The contest continues until one side admits defeat. However, should I judge that continuation is impossible, the match will stop there. You both understand?"
The half-asleep face before him listened silently to the announcement of the high-handed supervising examiner. He had yawned any number of times now, to the point where Itachi wondered if he might actually fall asleep on the spot.
The boy's name was Nemui, which meant "sleepy." Apparently, he was a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Clouds.
"Maybe we should have them push our turn back, so you can get a proper sleep?" Itachi asked gently, concern for his opponent rising in his chest.
Nemui, a boy around thirteen years old, blinked at Itachi, his eyelids hanging halfway over his round brown eyes, exhaustion playing at the corners of his mouth. "No need to worry," he said with a sleepy smile, brushing his dark bangs back.
A curving wall swept in and around the circular grounds, while the ceiling was rounded and open. The ground was covered in dirt, a few trees growing here and there. Scaffolding stretched out horizontally, protruding from the top of the wall, where a large number of spectators watched the matches on which the futures of the genin depended. Daimyo and people from the ruling classes in all the lands, officials from each allied nation of the ninja world, chunin, jounin. Among them were even the faces of those who ran the black markets, having snuck in to gamble on the outcomes of matches or gather intel to sell to enemy lands.
Which village would stand with the responsibility for the future of the shinobi world on its shoulders? Each match was sure to be exciting, especially as Konoha boasted four Uchiha genin in the finals, as well as the rumor that they had a Gensogan user, the likes of which hadn't been seen for generations. And so, as Itachi's battle queued up, everyone held their breath.
This place, where capable genin from every village risked their lives, was a battlefield just as important as those fought on a global scale. Not infrequently, the fights here were directly connected with the power structures among the villages several years later.
Which was exactly why Itachi had to show off his power.
'Konohagakure has Itachi Uchiha and Tsukiko Amaya…'
He and Tsukiko had to demonstrate such overwhelming strength that the adults gathered there wouldn't so much as think of laying a hand on Konoha. This was the first step to a world without fighting.
He had absolutely no intention of going easy on anyone, despite his reluctance to hurt another ninja. He had to give this everything he had, to break his opponent quickly, before someone got seriously wounded.
"Third Exam, second round, match one," the jounin announced, his hand raised. "Konohagakure ninja Itachi Uchiha against Kumogakure ninja Nemui Shunmino. Start!"
"Haaaah." Nemui opened his mouth in a great yawn as the start signal was given. There was a smattering of whispered laughter in the crowd.
"Go Itachi!" Tsukiko shouted excitedly, practically leaning over the railing where the other fighters were stationed. "You can do it!"
A light dusting of pink across his cheeks at the loud praise, Itachi got into position. He leaned forward slightly and braced his feet. He had no weapons in either hand, and relaxed his entire body, setting his awareness adrift so as to not focus on any one particular spot. No matter what his opponent did, he was ready to react.
"I'm so sleepy." Nemui stood up straight, arms dangling at his sides, looking as though he was not in any kind of ready position, and then started to wobble from side to side.
"Maybe you should just go to sleep." Before Itachi's response had even reached his ears, Nemui's eyes were closed. His stiff body pitched forward, like a stick falling to the earth.
Immediately before he slammed into the ground, the older boy vanished from Itachi's field of view. The younger boy took a sharp breath of surprise. He hadn't felt a hint of movement in Nemui. His action was too sudden. From his awkward pose, he hadn't seemed to be shifting his weight from side to side.
Itachi had been too slow to anticipate his opponent's movement. In that momentary opening, Nemui had taken the upper hand.
He heard a snore from behind, the back of his neck prickling.
'Thunder…'
Itachi immediately tumbled forward in a basic somersault, and the right arm belonging to the sleeping Nemui grazed the front of his face. The extended appendage pushed past him with incredible force, white electricity turning into countless bolts of lightning, enveloping his arm.
'So that is the true form of lightning,' Itachi admired absently as he landed, getting some distance from his opponent.
As before, Nemui remained asleep.
Standing up.
Was it an act? Or was he really sleeping? The only way to find out was to attack him directly.
Itachi pulled a kunai from his breast pocket and threw it. The blade flew in a straight line toward the face of the sleeping Nemui.
His body, rocking from side to side, shook violently, and just barely evaded the kunai.
Was he awake, then?
At any rate, the older boy's eyes were closed, so Itachi couldn't use the Sharingan.
Nemui stood upright, still sleeping, as though the attack of the previous moment hadn't happened. Just when Itachi noticed him swaying violently once more, Nemui disappeared from his field of view again.
Faster than the eye could follow, Itachi danced up into the sky.
Nemui's lightning covered arm swept through the spot where the Leaf genin had been standing.
Itachi landed near the wall to put some space between them, and caught his enemy in his sight. His thoughts were racing at a dizzying speed, trying somehow to analyze the phenomenon happening before his eyes.
He couldn't use the Sharingan, as it would be a waste of a massive amount of chakra. In the formula for an overwhelming victory, the Sharingan was essential, so he needed to keep it aside until an opportunity presented himself.
But he was confident he could unravel the phenomenon before him, using the near decade of experience he had already. He didn't need to rely on the power of the Sharingan.
'Think…' His eyes traveled up to where Tsukiko was watching him with wide eyes. She wasn't cheering, likely afraid of breaking his concentration, but was smiling at him, her aura exuding confidence. She believed in him utterly.
And he wouldn't let her down.
Itachi switched his attention back to Nemui, wobbling off in the distance. He had to assume that his enemy was using a type of technique that brought out the full potential of his physical abilities through the selfless state of mind that was sleep. By sleeping, , he kept the ego in check, and could pull off specialized moves through pure instinct and animal intuition alone.
He'd been surprised by his opponent's tactics, so Itachi had lost sight of the fact that this was a fight based on physical abilities. If he simply concentrated on his own abilities, he could easily stand in the same arena as this boy. He focused all his attention of the enemy before his eyes.
Only a few seconds had passed since he'd landed, but it was enough.
Wobbly Nemui twitched. He was coming.
Vision, hearing, scent, all his senses attuned. Itachi tracked Nemui with everything he had. He felt his chakra tracing the wall to his right.
Lightning.
He dodged.
'I'm faster…'
So, Itachi was physically superior after all. Once he knew that, it was possible to deal with this. With flowing movements, he evaded the attacks launched from Nemui's selfless dream state.
He had a flash of insight: Why did his enemy specialize in a technique that relied on sleeping?
Imagining what his enemy thought about while he was asleep, Itachi began to piece together a theory. If he was sealing away himself to increase his physical power, then there was a real possibility that he had no memory of the event. If that were true, then Nemui didn't remember the self who fought.
'If I can wake him up, I can win…'
Why would Nemui need a technique like that?
Because he was a coward. He was totally terrified of hurting someone, of being hurt. So he escaped into sleep. And if Nemui was a coward, then he would be afraid of the endless sleep, the one no one woke up from.
Pity and anger clashed in Itachi's mind. Pity for the ninja, so like himself, who didn't want to hurt anybody. And anger for choosing the easy way out. A technique like that wasn't sustainable. Not for a true shinobi. Nemui would never be able to gather intel, to report on his fight and the things he learned. In other words, he wasn't a ninja. You have to open your eyes wide in order to carefully assess a situation.
That moment would clench his victory.
The back and forth of Nemui attacking and Itachi dodging gracefully lasted about ten minutes. Just when people in the arena were starting to fuss about the lack of any real developments, it happened.
Nemui, unable to keep sleeping and fighting for long, stopped abruptly, shook faintly, and lifted his closed eyelids the tiniest bit. Their eyes met.
This was the moment Itachi had been waiting for. He poured his chakra into his eyes.
Sharingan. It took less than a hundredth of a second to activate. Itachi was betting on that moment. He hammered into Nemui's mind the detailed image he had created while dodging attacks.
"Ahh!" Nemui screamed. Awake for a mere instant, he fell asleep once more.
'I did it.'
He slipped around from the rear, and slit Nemui's throat with his kunai.
This image, imagined so faithfully in spite of his discomfort with the idea, became reality, replaying in his enemy's mind with extreme detail. Nemui died, his throat slashed. But he was aware that he was still alive, and he opened his eyes again to verify before falling asleep. And yet, he couldn't sleep soundly anymore.
Itachi continued to dodge Nemui's attacks for another few minutes until his opponent's eyelids fluttered once more. In an instant, his field of view was dyed red.
This time, the image was of Itachi gouging into his stomach.
Repeat.
Each time he was killed, Nemui's sleep grew lighter. Stabbed, strangled, beaten, poisoned; Itachi killed the older boy any and every way possible.
Finally, Nemui couldn't sleep at all. If he closed his eyes, Itachi would kill him. After being subjected to brutal deaths over and over, he was now completely ruled by his fear of the final sleep.
"Hah...hah...hah…" Chest heaving, almost hyperventilating, Nemui trembled and shook.
The spectators had no idea what was happening. At best, only a few people had realized that Itachi was using the Sharingan.
The younger boy continued to evade attacks with ease, while Nemui's movements gradually grew sluggish. Sweat streamed down Nemui's face, and he started to cry, his eyes wide and unseeing.
Itachi hadn't once laid a physical attack on him, or even touched him.
"H-Help me," Nemui groaned, falling to his knees as tears streamed down his face. "I-I don't want to die anymore! Please, help me….Please."
"This match is over!" The proctor stepped in between the two boys. "The winner is Itachi Uchiha."
The arena fell silent. Everyone seemed to be confused by the incomprehensible situation.
Nemui wailed and wept, half-mad, right up to the moment he was carried away in a stretcher by the medical ninja. "I don't want to die!" He screamed over and over, the terror in his voice reaching into every nook and cranny of the arena, sending shivers up spines.
He would probably give up on being a ninja. That was the level of fear Itachi had put into him.
Ninja were the main cause of fighting in this world. One fewer ninja meant that much less fighting. Itachi hadn't been wrong to break Nemui's spirit so utterly and horribly.
'So why do I feel like a monster?'
All around him, people were silent, most of them in awe of the small boy. Itachi had, all by himself, produced an aura of death that wafted through the entire arena. He had demonstrated an incomprehensible power, and shinobi from all over the world now knew his unfathomable strength.
'We mustn't make an enemy of this boy.'
The more people who thought that, the less likely that Konoha would get dragged into conflict.
Using the Sharingan to cast Genjutsu was an effective means of making others see visions. But if he used this trick in the right way, he could pull others into the illusion, making an audience as large as this one see the strength hidden in his small limbs.
'I'm sorry,' he thought, silently willing an apology after Nemui, who'd been sacrificed for his lofty goals. Itachi was grateful from the bottom of his heart to the Konoha officials who permitted him to take part in the Chunin Exams, but in his chest was a deep ache, the regret for so destroying another person.
"Itachi!"
All he saw was a flash of white, and then Tsukiko was hugging him tightly, concern evident in her eyes. "Are you alright?"
She clearly didn't mean physically, as he hadn't been touched. At most, his clothes were dusty. But, as usual, she'd seen through him, somehow able to know when his heart cried out against his actions, like she could hear it.
His neutral expression softened, and he smiled gently at her. "I'm fine. Thank you." He poked her forehead before taking her hand, turning his back on the empty arena.
Tsukiko's eyes widened, and her cheeks darkened as her hand shot up to her forehead. "O-Okay," She stuttered, moving along with him. "You're, um, you're welcome."
'Cute,' he thought, smiling again. Then he heard it.
Behind him, in the silence of the arena, someone was clapping. Turning his head, expressionless, he looked for the source of the sound.
A face covered on the right side with bandages.
"Danzo Shimura," Itachi murmured, not attaching any honorific or respectful tone to the name as he should have.
Tsukiko's grip tightened, her face falling expressionless as well.
A dark, twisted smile stretched out on Danzo's lips as he looked down at the two children.
NOW:
"Let's take a break, Chiyo!" Masuko called out, cracking her neck. "You need to rest before trying that again."
The two kunoichi were in the same clearing as yesterday, destroyed trees and huge craters in the ground marking their progress.
It was a hot day, the sun beating down on the two kunoichi, and their training had been intense, to say the least.
Chiyo nodded wearily, the little remnants of her amor fading away. It was finally taking shape, becoming more than the shell it had been during the preliminary matches. She plopped down on the ground, laying on her back. "I...think..I'm..getting somewhere," she managed, smiling up at the sky.
"No doubt of that," Masuko grinned, standing over her. "But we need to get your speed up to par before you can even think about landing any blows on Midori."
"Or Gaara," Chiyo agreed, closing her eyes with a quiet sigh.
Masuko paused, her questions bouncing around in her skull. 'To hell with it. I've never been one for subtlety.'
She sat down next to the dozing genin. "What's going on with you and that Sand boy anyway?" She asked casually. "He do something to piss you off?"
'Because if he threatened you or Midori in any way, that genin'll have a lot more to deal with than some stupid Exam,' she mentally added.
Chiyo opened her eyes, frowning. "Nothing like that...it's just…"
"Just what?" Now Masuko was confused.
The younger girl sat up, facing her teacher with a look of resignation. "People like that, who've never lost a fight, or have never even been hurt...they're going to get a lot of enemies, people who think they're monsters, or evil." She lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly. "And one day, they're going to lose. No one is undefeated forever. And when that happens, they need to be told that it's alright, that they don't need to always win every fight. They need someone to take the time to understand them, to comfort them. Otherwise…" she trailed off.
"Chiyo." Masuko's voice was calm, but with a sharp edge to it. "What happened?"
The young genin hesitated, lifting her head to see the concerned look on her sensei's face.
Masuko's jaw clenched at the unshed tears visible in her student's eyes. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to," she said gently. "But Tsukiko and I need to know if something is wrong at home."
As she had so many times before, Chiyo shook her head, smiling weakly. "No, my parents are great. Sure, they put a lot of pressure on me, but it's fine. You and Tsukiko-Sensei are getting the wrong idea. I'm not talking about me…"
"Then who?"
"Reiji Mitsuru, my cousin." There was a sorrowful quality to her voice, and she lowered her head again, pulling at pieces of grass. "He, um...well, my aunt and uncle really pressured him, a lot more than my parents have ever done to me. He was a few years older than me, and we played together a lot.
"Reiji was a really good ninja, far better than anyone in his age. He never lost a fight, and always completed his missions perfectly. He became a chunin when he was a year younger than the norm, and he was gaining a lot of respect."
She stopped, struggling with something.
Masuko tried to intervene. "Chiyo, you don't have to—"
"I do!" She said sharply, ripping up a section of the ground. "I can't hang onto this guilt anymore! It hurts too much…" Her breath came out in short puffs, and she straightened determinedly.
"But a couple years ago, when I was still in school, he had a really important mission that went wrong. His group was ambushed, and though the enemy didn't steal the documents he was guarding, the rest of his team was killed.
"When he got home, my aunt and uncle started shouting at him, saying he'd dishonored our family, and that this was a disgrace that would blemish our line for years. I was…" Chiyo's hands clenched at the fabric of her pants. "I was watching from around the corner. I shouldn't have been there. My parents were trying to calm my aunt and uncle down, and didn't know where I was. Only Reiji saw me.
"Later, that night, after everything calmed down, he told me he loved me. That no matter what.." Her voice broke, and she was quiet for a long moment, her shoulders shaking. "That no matter what, he was proud of me. That's the last time I saw him."
"Oh, Chiyo…" Masuko sighed heavily, her heart like lead. Stories like this were becoming all too common in this hate-filled world of theirs.
"My aunt and uncle covered up his death, said it was a training accident. They didn't want the Mitsuru clan to be damaged any further by rumors of suicide. My mom and dad haven't talked to them since then." Chiyo cleared her throat, wiping her eyes with the bottom of her shirt. "Anyway, that's why I need to beat Gaara. He reminds me too much of Reiji, and I can't ever let something like that happen again if I can stop it. His own teammates are terrified of him, and forget losing a battle, he's never even been hurt before! If something happens that pushes him too far.."
"I get it," Masuko said, graciously looking away while the younger girl gathered herself. "You want to be the one to beat Gaara, so you can tell him what you never told Reiji."
Chiyo nodded, standing up. "It's completely selfish, but yes. I need to let him know that he's not a monster, that it's okay if he doesn't always win. If I can save one person...I feel like I can finally let go of my guilt."
The older woman watched her student for a long moment, sensing that there was something missing, something that Chiyo hadn't mentioned. Still, she'd finally learned the truth about the young genin's family, and that was a start.
"Well then, we'd better be getting back to training." Masuko clapped briskly, changing the subject. "With the speed you have now, you'll be lucky if you can outrun a turtle." The older woman knew from personal experience that what Chiyo needed most Now was to know that nothing had changed, that Masuko didn't see her any differently than before. She was still her student.
The dark-haired girl smiled gratefully, sinking into a crouch. "Then I'd better get to it."
"Confident, aren't we?" Masuko mimicked her pose, brushing her purple hair out of her eyes. "Let's get to work."
'I'll make sure you never feel that hopeless ever again. That's my promise, from teacher to student.'
THEN:
Tsukiko smiled calmly, her face betraying none of her nervous energy as she met the flat black eyes of her opponent.
"Match four of the Third Exam: Konohagakure genin Tsukiko Amaya versus Konohagakure genin Hiroto Uchiha."
The crowd stirred, anticipation palpable. Here was the match they'd been waiting for. An Uchiha against the rumored Gensogan user. Indeed, all eyes were locked on the genin, one tall, one small.
Hiroto was about four years older than her, the stern, expressionless look of the older Uchiha males already rubbing off on him. His hair was short and spiky, and he stood over a foot taller than her. It was only because of this, and his position of looking down on her, that she saw the faint trace of smugness in his eyes.
The younger girl took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. Although an Uchiha had been her preferred opponent on paper, now, facing him, she wasn't so sure. There were several Uchihas in the crowd, including Lord Fugaku, as the head of the clan and a representative. The others were acting as the Police Force, keeping everything in order. Still, she could feel eyes trained on her, and was faced with the realization that, other than Lord Fugaku, none of her adopted clan was on her side.
"So you've noticed." Hiroto's lips stretched into a mocking smile. "Quite the situation you have here. Either lose and shame Lord Fugaku and his son, or somehow miraculously win and the clan will hate you even more for upstaging one of their own."
Tsukiko's smile faded slightly, and she glanced back to where Itachi was watching her. She'd been so worried about him earlier that she hadn't really had time to think this through. She and Itachi had trained to fight another team in the first round, but they'd forfeited, and she hadn't really worried too much about fighting her next opponent. She had a strategy in place, and was confident in her win, but…
"Begin!"
'No time to think now,' Tsukiko thought, settling into a defensive crouch. She let her mind go blank, completely focused on the fight at-hand. Once she had an advantage, then she'd think more on whether she should win or lose. Her eyes watched her opponent carefully, focusing on his neck or lower, just in case he decided to use his Sharingan early.
'One one-hundredth of a second,' she reminded herself, making sure her body was relaxed. 'That's how fast he can trap me.'
To his credit, Hiroto looked completely unconcerned, not looking like he was about to attack, or even defend should she fly at him. He was openly inviting her to attack.
An obvious trap.
After a few seconds, he shrugged, sighing. "Alright, I guess I'll—"
His hand flicked forward abruptly, the glint of a knife giving away his intent.
Tsukiko jumped, bending backwards to avoid the kunai, while also twisting her body to dodge the one aimed at her feet.
"Firestyle: Fireball Jutsu!"
So, Hiroto was hoping for a quick victory, to burn her before she could regain her footing. But it was a mistake.
Grinning, Tsukiko's eyes turned red, and she held out her hands, easily wresting control of the flames as she landed. They weren't as hot or hard to control as Itachi's or Shisui's. Easy.
The crowd gasped as the fire, aimed directly at the girl mid-air, met her hands and was pulled apart, turning into two fiery whips.
'Time to go on the offensive.' The fire twisted around her arms in a firm grip, and willed it to burn hotter.
Scanning the arena, her intuition flared as her eyes found her opponent, standing casually as if he'd expected her to dodge.
'Don't look at his face.'
Hiroto may have wasted chakra by giving her fire, but he would've known about her abilities, at least to the extent that he could figure out that the fire wouldn't hurt her. It was a distraction, so that she'd be caught in the real trap.
The Sharingan.
She swung one of the whips at him, watching his feet and body language. But instead of dodging or countering, he shot straight at her, intent on catching her eye, even if he was burned.
Left with no choice, Tsukiko put out the fire and flipped backwards, her eyes turning green. As soon as her hands touched the earth, she used her momentum to wrench a wall out of the ground, landing with her back pressed against it.
Hiroto leapt up over the obstacle, twisting to see her. He threw a few kunai in an attempt to get her to look up at him.
The kunai slammed into Tsukiko's body, stabbing her through the chest and neck. Blood spurted out, staining the wall as she slid down it.
Crows burst out of the shadow clone, but were evaded easily by Hiroto, who tracked their movements with his Sharingan. It did however, provide enough distraction for her to think.
Inside the wall of earth, Tsukiko waited, catching her breath. The older Uchiha was stronger than she'd initially thought, and his opening words to her had caught her off-guard. But, his Sharingan wasn't perfected yet. He couldn't see through her clone or pinpoint her location, as Itachi would've. And that meant she could win.
'The clan might hate me even more, but there's a chance that they'll acknowledge my strength. I am, after all, one of them.' She closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of dirt.
But that thought was a little more forced than it usually was. Lately, with Itachi going to secret meetings, and the growing hostility around her, it seemed like she was becoming more and more of an outsider every day.
'It doesn't matter, so long as Itachi realizes his dream.'
A dream that would start here, with the defeat of this Uchiha. He seemed determined to catch her in his Genjutsu, which could have disastrous results as far as trying not to be hated went. If this didn't let up soon, she'd be forced to use her trump card.
'I need to try and end this before then.'
Her mind made up, she took one last deep breath.
In one explosive movement, Tsukiko burst out of the rock, her eyes switched back to red, and she kicked several small fireballs at the unsuspecting boy's back.
At the last second, he leapt upward, his eyes having finally tracked her chakra.
For the next few minutes, this pattern repeated. Tsukiko would attack, sending fire or kunai enhanced with wind at Hiroto, and he would dodge and try to catch her in his sight.
It was obvious he was trying to wear her out, but Tsukiko didn't have much choice. She needed to keep him at a distance, and keep him moving so he wouldn't trap her in Genjutsu.
"I'm disappointed," he taunted, landing a few feet away from her. "I thought your kekkei genkai would at least match the Byakugan in terms of a challenge. But all you can do is throw rocks and fire, which a jounin can do several times better than you. Honestly, what good are you if you can't put up a half-decent fight?"
Tsukiko didn't rise to the bait, keeping her gaze low. He would likely go on the offensive now, trying to get in close. That was fine, she just had to disable him before then. He was using far more chakra then her, after all.
"I'll admit that Itachi was impressive in his fight," Hiroto continued, his keen eyes reading the sudden stiffness in Tsukiko's form. "But he'd do better if we wasn't dragged down by you, who can't even use Ninjutsu." He gritted his teeth, getting angrier as he went on. "Everyone knows you were given to the Uchihas as a way to keep us quiet, spouting off lies about how powerful you would be. But if all you're going to do is ride Itachi's coattails, you might as well—"
"Do you really want to see what I'm capable of?" Tsukiko asked quietly, raising dark eyes to the angry Uchiha. "You, who've never fought in a real life-and-death battle, you, who, despite being older, hasn't even mastered his Sharingan yet?" Her voice was calm, but it was the calm before a storm, her eyes piercing through the older male.
Hiroto paused for a moment, taken aback. But then the fool realized that Tsukiko was making direct eye contact with him, and his smug smile returned. "I guess we'll never see," he said, his eyes glowing. "Now that you've been caught by my Sharingan."
And the image that he'd wanted her to see, her demise, became reality.
The Hiroto in front of her vanished, and then she felt his hand on her shoulder, a kunai at her throat. It was an impressive illusion, Tsukiko had to admit. She could feel the warmth and sweat of his hand, the sharpness of the knife. And she could hear his gloating voice in her ear, about to slit her throat.
"Pitiful. There really is nothing special about you after all."
Tsukiko smiled, glancing over her shoulder. "You haven't seen anything yet." Then her eyes turned gold.
Instantly, the illusion was broken, and Hiroto was in front of her again, his eyes wide with alarm. "How-How did you—"
"Chapter two, paragraph four of Basic Genjutsu for all Shinobi," Tsukiko recited, crossing her arms. "'A ninja must be able to disrupt their chakra to release themselves from a Genjutsu.' It's pretty basic stuff."
"But you can't just do that with the Sharingan!"
The white-haired girl nodded. "True. But say you had four different chakras, just ready to be switched around. It makes pretty much all Genjutsu useless, don't you think?"
'And now it's time to end this.' Tsukiko had been drawing him out this whole time. It takes a lot of chakra to use the Sharingan, and Hiroto has been especially reckless, too caught up in humiliating her to realize that he was nearing his limit. He didn't have enough energy to move faster than her.
Tsukiko smiled, taking one last look at the freaked-out boy, before using the Body Flicker technique, Shisui's specialty, to get behind him. "And just for the record," she hissed from behind, jumping up to slam the butt of her kunai into his temple. "I am not worthless. I'm an Uchiha."
Hiroto's eyes rolled back, and he, like so many Uchihas in years past, realized just how dangerous someone from the Amaya clan really was.
"That was reckless," Itachi stated simply, looking past her to glare at the unconscious Hiroto as he was carried off the arena floor.
Tsukiko turned pink. "I know, but it was a good way to show the other lands how strong I am. If the Leaf has both the Uchiha, who are so strong in Genjutsu, as well as someone who's all but immune to it, then it's far less likely we'll be attacked."
"Hmm," Itachi said, not at all happy. True, it had been thrilling to watch Tsukiko fight, especially against someone of his own clan, knowing that it was because of him and Shisui that she could counter the Sharingan so well.
But then she'd revealed the truth about her eyes, a secret she herself hadn't know until the first time Itachi had placed her in a Genjutsu. Not that it was a bad thing, but it would soon spread that the one best equipped to fight against the Sharingan was living with the Uchiha clan, and one of two things would happen. Option one, she'd finally be acknowledged and be brought into the inner fold of the clan in an attempt to keep her loyal to them. Or two, she'd be even more isolated, and the clan members would be even more convinced that she'd been placed with them as a spy. And knowing the vengeful nature of his family, it wasn't hard to guess which would happen.
And so, the instant the proctor had declared their match over, Itachi had all but dragged Tsukiko out out of the ring, latching onto her hand tightly. He could feel the angry glares of his clansmen, and the dark, greedy gaze of Danzo Shimura, looming over the area like hateful shadows.
"But hey," Tsukiko said brightly. "We get to move on to the next round!"
He looked up from scanning the crowd, unable to stop an answering smile from appearing on his face. "Yes. One more round each and we'll be fighting each other."
"It would be fitting, don't you think?" She teased. "For me to take first in everything?"
He quirked an eyebrow, poking her forehead. "You still lose to me more often than not in our training matches, remember?"
Tsukiko pouted, crossing her arms. "I'm getting better! Besides, the more you rely on that Sharingan of yours, the more of an advantage I'll have. Really, it's a good thing we're on the same team!"
Itachi frowned slightly. Her last sentence, while being just as cocky as she usually was, was more like a question. He looked closer, and saw that something wasn't quite right. It looked more like she was hugging herself than crossing her arms, and her eyes were more bright than usual, almost like she was trying to hold back tears.
"Tsukiko…" he said slowly, frowning with concern. "You know that no matter what happens, we'll always be a team." There was no hesitation in his voice, nothing but confidence.
Her smile faltered slightly. "Of course, right."
"No," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders to make her look at him. "You don't seem to understand. Out of everyone in the whole village, even Shisui, I wouldn't want to work with anyone else. You're the one I can rely on the most...and…" he trailed off, his face red. "You're the one I care about the most."
Tsukiko's eyes widened, and a warm feeling erupted in her chest. Her mind raced ahead, but was frozen at the same time, taking in little details about the boy in front of her.
'He's gotten taller than me...his hair is long now...he smiles more often…' All the things she hadn't really noticed before suddenly caught her attention, and she felt her face get hot.
"Th-Thank you," she stuttered slightly, unable to meet his gaze. "You always seem to know what I need to hear."
He opened his mouth to say something else, but snapped it shut when one of the proctors from the Second exam entered the waiting room. He removed his hands from Tsukiko's shoulders, oddly embarrassed and feeling like he'd been caught.
"The results for the Exams are in," the proctor said, smiling knowingly at the two children. "And I'm here to inform you that the Hokage has made a decision regarding the next matches."
Hokage has made a decision regarding the next matches."
A.N. Whew! That one was fun to write! I got so excited when I realized Tsukiko could fight an Uchiha, and I spent like an hour just planning how that fight should go!
What do you guys think about Chiyo? My sister and I thought out her backstory together, but after I'd written it, she turned to me and yelled "You bastard! How could you hurt the baby?!" So...yeah…
Several important bits in this chapter, definitely laying the groundwork for when I get to go off-script, as it were, but I won't say too much about that.
Anyway, please let me know what you all thought!