Chapter 4

Message of the Sharingan

I know I'm only nine. I know I'm still in training. I know that this fight is between an academy student who, according to officials, is on a genin level... and a ROOT Agent which is basically a corrupt ANBU.

When I got ready to fight, I was sure that I wouldn't make it out without having a few broken bones and probably only 20% of my life. I thought for sure, that this would be one ended.

But... I was smiling.

The ROOT Agent threw four Kunai in my direction. I could see, them coming easily. I jumped to the right, knowing those wouldn't hit Shusui who was behind me. The Agent took that chance to throw four more at me as I landed.

Everything is so clear...

I tilted my head right, allowing two kunai to fly past me, one of them nicking my ear only slightly.

I can tell where those kunai will end up the moment they leave his hand...

I caught, to my surprise, one of the kunai with my right hand and deflected the last one coming at me. I saw the Agent freeze, probably in surprise, but only for less than a second. He came at me while drawing the tanto strapped to his back, all with surprising speed. However, I could still see it.

This must be what it's like...

He brought his tanto down on me in a vertical slash so fast that I could hear it slicing the air between me and him. And yet, I was still able to block the tanto with the kunai I caught.

To have...

We stayed like that, and I could see my reflection in the tanto. And smile on my face grew bigger, while the ROOT Agent growled at me.

The Sharingan.

My eyes were scarlet red, with one tomoe circling my pupils in each eye. The Danzo-Lackey got annoyed at our little clash and sent a kick into my stomach. It made he heave and sent me flying back and onto the ground, sliding. He wasted no time and was already above me, aiming his tanto for my face while I was still down. With haste I rolled to my left just in time for the blade to embed the ground. Using the inertia of my roll, I managed to push myself up back to my feet but I kept low to the ground.

"Tch," the agent pulled his tanto from the ground. "Alright, I'll admit it. For a kid you're decent. But don't think that Sharingan scares me, I'll rip those eyes from your sockets myself!" He once again charged at me, this time sheathing his tanto and going for hand to hand combat. I felt that rush again. The rush of battle, it was strange but for some reason, I can't imagine myself living without it anymore.

His right fist tried making it's way to my left cheek, but I easily raised my left arm to block it. I then saw his left knee rising up to hit my in my jaw. I saw it coming, but I wasn't fast enough to react to it. It connected and I felt my jaw buckle from pain. But it was bearable, most likely do to the adrenaline. Next, an elbow to my gut knocked the wind out of me and caused me to go flying backwards again but this time I was able to recover and land on my feet.

Next thing I know, I can feel his chakra to my left. I turned and there he was, sending a roundhouse kick to my face. I tried to bring my arms up to block it, but I wasn't quick enough and received a foot to my face.

I'm starting to think that this guys just loves launching me across the field because here I am, on the ground next to my brother (who was still kneeling) with what felt like liquid running down my cheek from my right nostril. I could only assume that it was blood, or maybe mucus. At that moment the little Polynesian girl from the, "Why not both" meme popped into my head and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"W-why are you laughing...?" Shisui asked, he was looking down at me with a face that spelled worry and confusion.

"Oh," I managed to get out with a sigh. I slowly forced myself to sit up despite not really wanting to. I had to get up while the adrenaline was still fresh. "Nothing, just thought of something funny."

"You think of something funny in a time like this?"

"Hey, you have to have some type of happy thoughts when fighting a one on one battle you can't even hope to win."

The older Uchiha sighed at the point. His eyes were back to it's normal dark color, but I felt the surge of chakra he put into them, causing them to go red again with three tomoe. He managed to stand on his two feet after a bit of struggling. "I can take him from, Nijiko. You run and go get-"

"If I have to say, ONE more time that I ain't going anywhere. I will make sure that one day you'll wake up in a tank of crabs." I got up, also with some difficulty. Jeez, the struggle is real here.

ROOT-Guy sighed. "It's pitiful. You might as well accept you fate, perhaps if it were earlier I would have felt a little intimidation from seeing both of you ready to go." He raised both of his arms, placing his hands together in the ram seal. "But you don't even have enough chakra for anymore ninjutsu. Unlike me." He started going through a series of hand seals, ending on a tiger. "Fire Style: Flame Bullet!" A blast of fire launched from the man's mouth... or at least the part of the mask where his mouth would be.

I could feel Shisui start to panic, and so did I. That was until I remembered something.

Bringing my hands together as fast as I could, I formed the following hand seals... albeit, sloppily. Tiger, snake, rat, snake, tiger. "Water Style: Water Formation Wall!" One breath in, and here I am exhaling water from my mouth to form a wall of water shielding both me and my brother from the blast. Of course I knew it wouldn't stop it completely. I don't have enough chakra for that and I don't have that much of a mastery at all on this jutsu. However, once the Flame Bullet came into contact with the Water Wall, steam erupted and most of the fire was gone. We could still feel the intense heat though, and I'm pretty sure I now have first degree burns on my arms.

I was panting heavily and I turned to my brother to make sure he was okay. He turned to look at me with a bit of shock on his face. "Nijiko-chan... where... how'd you learn to do that?"

An exhausted chuckle escaped from me. "Heh. Sasuke's learning Fire Style jutsu already. I'm not falling behind just because I have the chakra nature of mom instead of dad."

"I bet you must be proud of yourself." The agent's voice echoed through the mist. I felt his chakra running dead at us, but I didn't have enough chakra to even stand. My vision was returning to normal, signaling that I couldn't hold the Sharingan any longer. The sound him drawing his tanto rang out. "Now you die!"

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

Holy Heat, he made it in time!

ROOT-Guy stopped in his tracks in time to jump back, avoiding the incoming gigantic ball of burning air articles the raced in between him and us.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, as the other ROOT Agents who were still at the edge of the clearing tensed up for a newcomer to appear.

And appear he did. Took him long enough in my opinion. Back in the other timeline, he arrived just when Shisui's Susanoo gave out... it's been about five to seven minutes of my ass getting kicked since I got here. "Shusui-san. Nijiko-san. I apologize for being late."

"Better late than never, Itachi." Shusui said, finally becoming a little bit more relaxed.

When I said back in the other timeline, in maid me think about how old people say, "Back in my day," sometimes. And seeing as I'm technically the oldest one here if I combine the time of both my lives... Well that settles it, from now on I'm just going to say, "Back in my day" to reference the other timeline.

Heh

Itachi turned back to look at me with a confused frown. "What are you laughing for?"

"Oh nothing. I just thought of something funny."

"At a time like this?" He then looked at Shisui for an answer.

"I don't know, man. She did that earlier too." He stood up and went to Itachi's side while I remained behind them, kneeling on the ground. I could tell he had more confidence in the situation now that his basically-brother-from-another-mother was here. On the other hand, I couldn't see their faces, but I could sense in their chakra that the ROOT Agents, especially the one who was fighting me were losing their confidence.

The man took hesitant steps backward toward the rest of his team. "Disoriented and weak Shisui and a little brat was fine. But both Shusui and Itachi is another story." Spinning on his heel, he raised one of his arms which I'm guessing is the signal for their team to retreat. I was right, the Rest of the ROOT Squad scattered while the one I was fighting tried to bolt.

Keyword: tried.

All Shisui did was nod, and somehow Itachi understood. Less than a second later, Itachi shot another blast of fire at the man who was already on the other side of the clearing. This time the blast was smaller, and faster. The Agent noticed and hastily changed course, and jumped to his right, only barely escaping it.

"Damnit that was close." He said, still in mid jump.

"Then this will be spot on."

Next thing he knows, and next thing I know too, Shisui's behind him with a hand on his own tanto. Waisting no time, he drew the blade gave the Agent a deep gash running diagonal across his back. I was sure is had to have cut his spine and probably something else. Blood sprayed everywhere from his back, but just as quickly as he was there, Shisui was gone and in front of the man so no blood would get on him. The Agent dropped, unable to move but it was obvious that he was struggling to stay alive.

"Just because I'm missing an eye doesn't mean anything changes. I'm still Shisui of the Body Flicker, and this is punishment for hurting my little sister." His tone was cold. I'd never heard him speak with that affliction, I guess he really is an extremely protective brother. Hell, even I forgot about his bingo book name. I'd forgotten my brother was such a master at the body flicker that he was seen as a teleporter.

Shisui walked back to Itachi and I as I was finally able to stand. "I forgot you were that fast, Shisui-nii."

His cold demeanor was gone, and a bright smile (despite the fact that his right eye was gone) appeared on his face. "Never underestimate me, Niji-chan."

I managed to laugh. "I guess not."

This was the very thing I was trying my best to prevent. I wished, and prayed to whatever god or kami out there that would hear me. I had one wish that basically became a mantra since a year ago. I said it every night, I said it every morning. And I said it every time he left me.

Please. Don't let my brother die.

"This is the only option."

"But... but no! we can think of something else! We can get my mom to help, tell Hokage-sama, something!"

A hand was placed on my shoulder. It was Itachi's. I looked back at him, rage starting to build. Why wasn't he trying to help me convince him otherwise?! Shisui is his best friend, damnit. He should be just as upset as me! I was about to yell at him, until I saw his face. Back in my day, Itachi hid his emotions pretty well. He never really cried until he killed his parents. But...

A lone tear was running down his right cheek.

"Nijiko-san. It's for the best." He said.

I couldn't respond. No words would come out anymore.

"Niji-chan. I'm sorry. I've decided that my eyes are too valuable, too dangerous to be around the likes of Danzo now." Shisui looked at Itachi and he looked back. "Itachi. Look after Nijiko for me, and the rest of the clan. I leave everything to you."

"Don't you dare leave Shisui-nii! You're my brother damnit!" I'm pretty sure I was leaking like a broken sprinkler now. The one thing that I've wished didn't happen since I was reborn is happening right in front of me.

Shisui began backing up toward the edge of the cliff. The Naka River was below, and it made me think of something. I can change how a river flows... but I'm only nine. I little obstacle like me can change how it flows but not where a river flows to. Not yet. I'm a pebble, not a boulder.

Maybe this death is inevitable.

Shisui's name can be read as "Death Water". "Shi" meaning "Death" and "Sui" meaning "Water". I've no idea why I thought of that at a time like this... a fitting end I guess.

"Nijiko, don't cry. You have a Sharingan now, I'm sure you can change the clan with Itachi. If there's one thing I learned about our clan, is that we speak through the Sharingan." At that last statement, is Sharingan was activated and starred deeply into my eyes, causing mine to activate seemingly off of reflex. It struck me as strange. I didn't intentionally activate it.

Shisui walked from the edge and squatted in front of me. I got a bit confused, wasn't he just about to suicide? Of course he was, otherwise I wouldn't be crying. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing until I realized something. Shisui reached out with his index and middle finger extended, both of his eyes looking dead into mine.

poke. "See ya."

"I see. Gen-" I couldn't finish. I choked. Shisui had both of his eyes so there was no question to this. I activated my Sharingan, on purpose this time, and my older brother disappeared. He was no longer there anymore.

More tears flowed down my face as I moved my hands to my forehead where he poked me. A hand was placed onto my shoulder and I was reminded that Itachi was still here. "It'll be okay, Nijiko-chan." I turned to him and I was once again reminded that he was also suffering as much as I was. However not many, he also shed another tear or two. I never thought I'd ever see Itachi cry...

Especially from those red eyes with pinwheels in them.

It's been about a week and half since The incident with Shisui. Mom knows what happened, Itachi and I told her. She's been trying to help raise my mood but nothing is really working. I stopped crying at least, but I can't really smile at the moment. I stopped going to the academy which caused Lee to get worried and Tenten to visit one day. I had mom send them away.

Sasuke's been asking questions about where Shisui went, and so has Naruto. Itachi gave the excuse of Shisui being on an extended mission. But that didn't stop the two from trying to visit me also, which brought a stalking Hinata and a Neji dragging her out of the shadows to visit me once Naruto and Sasuke were gone. I had mom send the boys away, but I got tired of the visits and dismissed the Hyugas myself. I also added in a message to anyone else who'd want to visit me to... like... not.

Despite my severe depression right now, I was never a fan of moping around and doing nothing so I all I did everyday was train. I worked on chakra control for water walking, improving the Water Wall technique, even a bit of Fuinjutsu but only basic storage seals. Hell, even though it made me upset, I attempted to practice the Body Flicker... What? Maybe I want to uphold my brother's legacy. Itachi's already got a girl, and you guys know that people in this world have children early since life expectancy isn't very high. Especially for shinobi. Shisui, strangely yet expected, didn't have any interests.

I sighed. The ground is soft. Dirt and grass, I was always more of a fan of nature... well now I am. I don't have any video games to play or anime to watch so all there is to do is go outside and enjoy nature.

Heh. Reminds my of my Parent's "Back in my day" speeches when they could only go outside and play cowboys and Indians. Kind of Ironic for my Mom to play that seeing that she was Native American now that I think about it.

"America." It's been a while since I've thought about my past life. I mean, hell, I haven't even spoken any of the languages I spoke back then. I've written them to take notes on Fuinjutsu, but not spoken them. Last time I did that, Shisui looked at me like I was mental.

Well, up I go. I jumped onto my feet and began walking home from the Uchiha training grounds. The moon was bright and full, actually it was a bit eerie. Gave off a mysterious feel to it, and I actually liked it. I stopped.

"Déjà vu."

I've looked up at a moon like this...

Itachi

A warm breeze passed from this elevation. The Uchiha district looked calm from above, as If nothing had happened... as if nothing dangerous was lurking around. There weren't many civilians left out, which is good. However, many Shinobi were on patrol. I'm tasked with taking out the civilian Uchiha and any Shinobi I run into.

I took a deep breath as I crouched on the top of a wire pole overlooking the district. I could see my shadow upon the ground from the full moon shining behind me. This all ends tonight.

"Shisui. I'll protect Nijiko, I'll protect Sasuke. I'll protect all of those we love. You'd probably kill me for even thinking of doing something this risky, but... this. This is the message of my Sharingan." With my eyes ablaze with the three tomoe version of my clan's precious kekkei genkai, I was ready to begin.

Still no excuse for how long this update took. I think I see my schedule here, a chapter a month. But I reeeaaaalllllyyyy don't want to give only 12 chapters in a year. That's bullshit. I'm still trying my best but managing the staff of a hotel is cutting annoyingly into my free time and it's frustrating.

ANYWAY! Funfact: Nijiko is literally based on me, so any facts about Nijiko's past life that are mentioned were my life. By the way, does anyone have anymore guesses as to what foreign clan Nijiko is from yet?

Reader Felipexatu's guess was the Kaguya clan, but I'll deny that now.

DannyPhantom619: In response to your question, even though Nijiko is learning Fuinjutsu and may become more adept with it in the future, it would be a bit dangerous for her to attempt to teach anyone Fuinjutsu without some degree of mastery. Why? Sealing is extremely dangerous when you think about it. Perhaps she could get him started on basics in the future... maybe, but more than that? Nah, I like characters who still have their lives.

Anyway, This chapter was actually cut really short. I planned to write a lot more but time and life do not seem to be in my favor. However, you know what's coming next chapter, so get ready~