Stuck on the Road of Life

Three's a Crowd, They Say

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I'm just playing in his sandbox…

Uchiha Shisui was exactly like I expected him to be; loud, excitable, energetic and a whole lot of fun to be with. Unlike our dear friend Itachi, and the majority of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Shisui was full of smiles, and it was highly infectious. Shisui was the same age as I was, a year older than Itachi. Itachi was right about him unable to keep his mouth shut when talking. I didn't really mind, and I suspected that Itachi didn't mind either.

Shisui's parents were never shown or explained in the manga. When I arrived with Itachi at Shisui's home, I saw that he lived in a small but cozy house that looked like it would fit a family. Shisui greeted us both at the entrance of his house. He was so excited to see me as he didn't have that many friends outside the compound, or so Itachi said.

"Do you live here alone?" I asked Shisui once we entered his house. Shisui laughed and playfully slapped my shoulder. I winced slightly at the sudden slap.

"No. My dad is a shinobi. He got deployed to the front lines of the war, or so he said," he shrugged. So Shisui's dad was a shinobi who was currently fighting in the war. I wondered if the war was the reason for his father's absence.

"I don't have a mother. Dad said she died during my birth, some complications," he shrugged.

"Sorry," I muttered. Shisui gave me another smile, and I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Don't worry about it," he said, waving his hand-dismissing what I just said. "So, you live just outside the compound?" asked Shisui. I answered the barrage of questions that came from Shisui. Most of them were the usual questions one would ask when getting to know someone. Name, age, and so on. Itachi watched us silently, seemingly amused.

The three of us sat in the dining room. As we sat on the tatami mat, Shisui brought some crackers and put them on the kotatsu. The three of us ate some crackers before Shisui continued with the questions (interrogation).

"So, how did you meet Itachi?" asked Shisui.

"He was accompanying his mother. They were buying some things from mine. I dragged him out of the shop and introduced myself," I answered. Shisui let out a hearty laugh.

"Yes! You have to drag Itachi anywhere. He's too shy to introduce himself to new people. How do you think I even know him?" said Shisui while laughing. I found myself laughing as well.

"I'm right here…" Itachi deadpanned. Though he was clearly amused, if the twitch of his lips were any indication.

Since it was still fairly early in the morning, Shisui brought us to the training ground he regularly uses. It was a pretty big clearing with trees covering from all sides. In the middle of the clearing, I could see some scarecrows used for target practice. The doll had a few stab marks from both kunai and shuriken and a piece of wood nailed on its torso. The piece of wood had a red dot at the center of it. Just as we arrived, Shisui motioned towards Itachi.

"Hey, Itachi! How's your training going? I can give you a few pointers if you want," said Shisui, giving Itachi a pat on the back. Itachi shrugged off the pat on his back.

"I'm progressing nicely. Maybe you should talk to Tora instead. I remember him saying that he wants to join the academy." I blinked, not expecting that from Itachi. Shisui smiled and walked towards me.

"You want to join the academy? You can train with us if you want!" said Shisui excitedly. Well, at this point, I couldn't really refuse, could I? And besides, I really needed the edge over the other students if I want to graduate early like Itachi and Shisui would.

"Sure," I shrugged sheepishly. "Though, I am just starting. I should start with the basics first." Shisui nodded, clearly agreeing with my statement.

"Itachi and I have only recently started training as well. We haven't gotten to chakra control, but I've been practicing shurikenjutsu for quite a while. Longer than Itachi has. I can start helping you now," said Shisui, giving me a lighthearted wink.

"That's great!" I beamed at his generosity. Starting with shuriken was probably a good idea. It doesn't require chakra to perform, just precision, timing and lots of practice.

Shisui showed me the basics on how to throw a shuriken. I noted all his explanations in my mind. Despite still being a four year old kid, Shisui was surprisingly a good teacher. He used phrases that were easy to understand and answered my questions clearly if I didn't understand something. Not that I had many questions. I absorbed all this new information like a sponge. I could easily understand the theory. Now, the only thing I needed to do was to practice doing it for real. Looking at Shisui's results, I felt a small blow to my self-esteem. All of his shuriken had hit the targets right in the center.

I bended my arm just as Shisu had shown me. I stared at my target, an old beaten scarecrow. It was harmless as any other inanimate object. I took a deep breath, remembering the motions on how to throw a shuriken. Behind me, both Itachi and Shisui waited with bated breath, anxious to see on how I would do. I honestly didn't expect much since this was my first time. I took another breath and threw.

Bend the arm; swing the arm around ninety degree and flick the wrist when you throw. It was how I remembered Shisui's movements. His movements were so precise. I was sure that mine probably looked amateurish in comparison. As I threw the weapon, I saw it sailed through the air, going straight for the target. The moment I saw its trajectory, I knew that it wouldn't hit the center.

A second passed, and I saw that the shuriken I had thrown had embedded itself on the wood just below the intended target, which was the red dot on the center of the piece of wood. The red dot was unscathed, as if mocking me for failing to hit it. I didn't notice Shisui running towards me until he excitedly patted (slapped) my back. As a result I sluggishly fell forward with a loud 'Umph'. Shisui sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before pulling me up. I dusted my shirt and noticed that he and Itachi were smiling at me.

"What?" I asked them, genuinely confused. Itachi came up to the both of us, still smiling. He pointed at the target. I looked at it. It was still as I remembered it. I had failed to hit the center. The shuriken fell below the red dot.

"That," he said, pointing at the target. "Was pretty impressive." I blinked in surprise. Shisui decided to voice his thoughts as well.

"It was even better than my first try! You're a natural! If you hadn't told me this was your first try, I would've thought you had trained already!" Shisui exclaimed. I hadn't expected this, to be honest. "A few more practice, and you can probably hit the center with ease!" continued Shisui.

"But I didn't hit the center…" I scratched my head. Shisui chuckled.

"At least you managed to hit part of the target. The first time I tried to throw a shuriken, it didn't even hit the scarecrow," said Shisui. Itachi gave me few more shurikens. I looked at him questioningly.

"Try again. You may be a natural at it, or it could be a fluke." I nodded, understanding the purpose, although a bit offended at his wordings. The thought that it might be the former would be shocking and exciting. Though, if it was the latter I wouldn't be surprised.

I took my stance again and threw one shuriken after another. This time, I was slightly less nervous. I watched in silent shock as most the shuriken I threw lodged themselves on the piece of wood nailed on the poor scarecrow. One shuriken I threw slashed the scarecrow's arm, lodging itself on the tree behind it, while the last shuriken stabbed the spot where the scarecrow's eyes should be. It was off target, but in real life that would have been an instant kill, or at the very least incapacitate.

The three of us spent a few more hours perfecting my throw, which Shisui was more than happy to help me with. Itachi and Shisui could do perfect throws, despite their age. And all their shuriken had hit their respective target. Looking at mine, some were a bit off, but most had actually hit around the center. I was surprised. I didn't remember my throwing skills to be this good in the previous life. To be honest, I felt a bit weirded out.

Before we knew it, the sun had risen above our heads. Being called the Land of Fire, it was pretty hot. But it was certainly not as hot as I was used to in my previous life. Tropical countries, especially one like Indonesia were very hot during the dry season, after all. I didn't really mind the heat, actually. I had spent a lot of time outside the house in the last few months that I was pretty much immune to it. I actually got a pretty nice tan because of it.

"Hey, want to get some dango?" asked Shisui. I never had dango. Itachi seemed to brighten at the thought of the sweet snack. Didn't Kishimoto mention Itachi having a sweet tooth?

"I've never had dango, before," I said to Shisui. He smiled at me, showing his toothy grin.

"Well, we'll take you to our compound's dango shop!" said Shisui. He grabbed my hand and dragged me along. Itachi quietly followed us from behind. "You'll love it!" Shisui said.

When we arrived at the shop, I immediately sat beside Itachi. Shisui called the lady who ran the shop for some dango. She eyed me for a short moment before giving us our orders. I've seen dango before, but I never ate them. It was made of rice, so maybe it tastes like mochi? I looked at the dango the lady gave us. There were six sticks with four small balls skewered on each stick. Some kind of sweet soy sauce was poured onto them. I took a stick and put one in my mouth. The sweet flavor assaulted my taste buds. The taste was a little overbearing at first, but as the seconds went by, I got used to it.

"How is it?" Shisui asked me. Itachi was chewing his dango, but I could see that he was looking at me too. I chewed a bit more before swallowing.

"It's good," I said. "A little different than what I'm used to, is all." I took another bite of the sweet rice dumpling and chewed. Shisui seemed to shine with relief when took another bite. Itachi being Itachi, ate in silence while watching the two of us. The three of us chatted about little things and whatnot. Well, me and Shisui, mostly. Itachi gave his opinions every now and then by nodding or giving a small hum of approval. Throughout all that, Itachi didn't utter a single word, until Shisui asked Itachi about the academy.

"So, when are you planning on entering?" asked Shisui. Itachi looked to the side for a moment, contemplating his answer.

"The average age for enrollment is five, so I'll probably join at that age," answered Itachi. I decided to enter the conversation and voice my thoughts over my mom's decision.

"My mom won't let me join until I'm six," I sighed. Shisui was silent for a moment before suddenly, he smiled and let out a grin.

"If I join at six as well, we'll all be in the same year!" he exclaimed. Now that I thought about it, Shisui was right. If I join the academy at the age of six, I would be in the same class as Itachi, since the academy doesn't seem to separate the academy year by age.

"Why six, though?" Itachi asked me. "Can't you just join when you're five? If you want it like that, you have to wait at least two years." I rubbed the back of my head and thought about it. To me, it just seemed that mom was reluctant to let me go, especially when I wanted to enter the line of job that got her husband killed in the first place. And I really didn't want to upset her.

"I'm sure she has her reasons," I shrugged. It wasn't really my place to tell them anything about it, to be honest. Shisui looked like he wanted to say something else, but stopped himself before any word could come out.

"Didn't you bring that book you took from the library?" asked Itachi in an attempt to steer the conversation away from the subject.

"Borrowed, you mean?" asked Shisui, a little confused. Itachi shook his head, which prompted Shisui to put on a bemused expression. He turned his head at me with both eyebrows raised.

"How did you even do that?" Shisui asked while grinning. "I don't often go to the library, but I'm pretty sure you can't do that!" he exclaimed. I shrugged, trying to brush it off as something normal. When I thought back about it, what I did wasn't normal. Not the least bit normal. No normal four year old would blackmail a librarian into giving a book away.

"She was being generous," I shrugged again.

"He blackmailed her," Itachi cut in.

"Hey!"

Yep. This seemed to be the start of a great friendship. I just feel it in my bones.

I walked back home from the compound. Itachi had been called by his mother to come home. I walked Shisui back to his house before parting ways with him. I found it easy to talk with him. Sure, befriending somebody like Itachi was interesting, but finding someone so similar to me in personality was a nice addition for my social circle. Shisui had ended up asking me so much about the 'Library Incident' as we called it, that the three of us actually forgot about the book I brought.

I approached my home as the sun was beginning to set. The door was locked. This wasn't unusual. Sometimes, mom would run out on a certain ingredient and she would have to go on a late grocery shopping. A few shops were still open this late in the evening. I would've told her to consider on hiring someone, but I knew that we were making just enough money to pay the monthly bills, the ingredients for bread, and food for ourselves. This was one of the reasons that I wanted to be a shinobi. Dangerous it might be. But from what I read, the job pays well. We needed it. Mom needed it. She was too proud to be ensnared in debts. By splitting the earnings I would make as a shinobi, I could alleviate her burdens. And maybe, as I go through the ranks, she could finally afford an assistant.

But I knew that I couldn't just sit on my ass, reading books. Itachi and Shisui had started training early. Somehow, I needed to catch up. I barely had money to buy any equipment, so for now; I just had to focus on endurance and stamina. And maybe some chakra control. Those would do for now. If I wasn't mistaken, the library had some books about chakra control and other things we would learn in the academy besides history. I needed to freshen up my geography, even though I knew that I would hate it. I always hated geography, but that would really help me in the academy and in the field.

I pulled out a spare set of keys from my pocket, and unlocked the front door with it. Mom trusted me enough to have a spare set. I entered the house and flicked the light on. The lights went on in a blink and I locked the door behind me. It wasn't that late, but I figured a quick shower wouldn't hurt anyone. Mom came home during my shower. She told me to wait while she prepared dinner. After a while, I went to the kitchen and hopped onto the chair and looked at the dish served on the small table for two. It was the usual rice, grilled fish and miso soup. I hid my grimace, but I think mom caught my expression either way. It's not that I hated it, but this was literally the only thing we had eaten for dinner for the last few weeks. Mom sat down in front of me, right before her own dinner, which was exactly the same as mine.

"Itadakimasu," both of us said before picking up our chopsticks.

We ate in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one, but I knew that she was going to ask me about my day sooner or later.

"How's your day?" she asked. I set my chopsticks down, already finished with my meal while mom was merely halfway done with hers. Sometimes she looked pretty amazed at how fast I eat.

"I made another friend today," I said.

"Really? Who is it?" mom asked, becoming interested. I liked to play outside with other kids, but none of them were really close friends with me. The moment I got along really well with Itachi, mom immediately approved of our friendship. Mikoto didn't seem to mind either.

"Itachi's cousin, Uchiha Shisui," I replied.

"Another Uchiha, huh?" she muttered. "You seem to be getting along with children of that clan, Tora." I blinked. Was that bad?

"Is that bad?" I asked, mirroring my thoughts. She shook her head and smiled.

"No. Not at all. It's just surprising. The Uchiha Clan aren't really the most open clan in the village. For you to befriend two members of the clan in less than a week. That's remarkable." Really? I didn't know that it was that big of a deal. When I thought about it, with a clan as reclusive as the Uchiha it was no surprise, actually. For me, a no-name civilian child to gain the friendship of the clan heir, was quite an accomplishment.

"They taught me on how to use shuriken and kunai. Shisui is a really good teacher!" I said. Mom nodded.

"How old is he?" she asked.

"The same as me," I answered. She blinked in surprise.

"Four? He must be smart." I hummed in agreement. We talked about the rest of my day, how I first tried dango, finding out about Itachi's addiction to the sweet dish and the Uchiha Compound. She was a little surprised that I was able to freely enter just like that. But considering I was just a kid, they probably didn't see the harm in it. I was just going to tell her about Shisu's father, but stopped myself. I didn't want to kill the conversation and ruin the mood.

"If you want to train with throwing shuriken and kunai, I can buy you a training set," mom suddenly said. I immediately shook my head, waving my hands in front of me.

"You don't have to, mom. I can just borrow Itachi's when we get together again," I said. She adamantly shook her head and gave me a small smile.

"It's fine. You want to become a shinobi, don't you? Might as well start early. You don't want to be left behind by Itachi, right? For that, you have to work had!" she said, pumping her fist upward in the motion of hard work. I blinked a few times, before letting out a sigh. I knew she wouldn't back down. While this would be another dent in our savings, it would also be another incentive for me to finish the academy early. Mirroring her movements, I pumped my fist in an upward motion.

"Okay!"

That's another chapter. I noticed that I tend to switch between mom and Oka-san. From this chapter onwards, I will be using "Mom". It's much simpler.

I notice that most SI fanfics or even most Naruto fanfics rarely addressed the state of the civilians' economic standing. Surely, not all of them were loaded, or have stable business like Teuchi and his daughter. This is something I'm trying to tackle here.

And sorry for the long update. I was doing research (Not that kind) on Itachi's disease. And add to the fact that with my family is celebrating Lebaran, I didn't have much time in the first place. School's starting in a week or so. Which means that updates may get longer in between.

That's it for today, favorite, follow and review, guys and gals! Next chapter may get longer.