A/N: From here on out, the chapters get a little longer. Thanks for reading =]
Rebirth
Part Two: Growing Up
Chapter 4: Blooming Slowly
I got an apprenticeship with Haruno Sakura, the last apprentice of the Godaime Hokage and Sannin, Tsunade. I was not yet twelve, but Ouja insisted that my level of chakra manipulation was good enough to proceed.
"You remind me a little of when I was your age, Akako-chan," Sakura said, smiling. "You have so much potential just waiting to be discovered, except you were discovered sooner than I was."
She tested my abilities and was extremely impressed by what I'd been able to learn on my own.
"How did you find the time, Akako-chan? I had to train with Shishou for over a year before I could do half as much as you can now."
"I have insomnia," I said. Most nights, I go to the Hokage Mountain to watch the twinkling lights, above and below. Sometimes, I train there.
"Your chakra stores are modest, but they'll increase as you get older," Sakura said. "For now, I will teach you how to exert even greater control over your chakra flow. It's an extremely crucial skill to have when you're doing surgeries."
She also gave me a pile of scrolls on basic biology, anatomy, and medical history. I struggled to read them—the amount of jargon I had to learn was staggering.
Adding onto this, the chuunin exams were in six months. By now, Sango, Hanemaru, and I had developed a team fighting style that suited us, but soon Ouja was going to split us up for individual training.
Hanemaru specialized in genjutsu, so he was going to Kurenai. Sango was good at taijutsu, so he was training with Rock Lee. And I was still miserably inept at using my Sharingan, so Ouja got the Hokage himself to train me.
He was on time for our first meeting. I was surprised, because I had heard so many stories of how Kakashi was late to everything.
"Good morning, Akako-chan."
I hesitated, unsure how to address him. He was not wearing his Hokage robes.
"When we are training together, I am Kakashi-sensei. Understood?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."
For several moments, he stared at me.
"I remember when I trained Sasuke-kun for his first chuunin exam," he said. "He was much the same way you are now."
"How so, Kakashi-sensei?"
"He was driven to prove himself."
I bowed my head. He was correct.
"You're our little miracle, Akako-chan," he said, as he began to lead me towards the training fields. The bridge creaked as we walked over it. "We had not dared hope that other Uchiha had survived the massacre, but it seems Itachi-kun was mistaken. Tell me, how did you end up in Konoha?"
"I was born in Earth Country," I said. "My mother was Jishin Ishiko. She was a ninja, and she died when I was six."
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said.
"I don't know how she met my father," I said, accepting his sympathy. "I don't even know his name. But I want to find the answers to my questions."
At this, I saw Kakashi's eyes crinkle. I think he was smiling.
"I wanted to be a ninja so badly, but my guardians wouldn't let me. I used to sneak to the ninja academy in Iwagakure instead of going to school. After I healed a bird with a broken wing, I convinced them to take me in."
"Remarkable," he said. Coming to a stop at the edge of a practice field, he turned to me with his Sharingan activated. "Now, let's see what you're made of."
-paragraph break-
At the end of my first training session with Kakashi, my whole body ached, but my eyes ached the most. He had pushed me to the edge of my limits, mental and physical. I left the field on shaking legs, my mind crammed full with fifteen new techniques to learn and execute perfectly by the end of the week.
"Your chakra control is very good, as expected," Kakashi said. "Sakura-chan has told me of your training with her. You're quite fast for your age, but not very strong. Also, Ouja-sensei told me you've been receiving remedial lessons in katon?"
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," I managed. I could hardly stand to move my feet.
"It's a pity Sasuke-kun isn't here," Kakashi sighed. "Even though I wield the Sharingan, there are clan techniques that only he can teach you."
"What is he like, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked. "People keep comparing me to him."
"What, Naruto hasn't talked your ear off about him yet?"
"No, we mostly eat when we see each other," I said, smiling at the last eating contest we'd had. I'd lost, but narrowly.
"Kakashi-sensei, what have you done to my student?" Sakura exclaimed. He'd walked me to my lesson with her, outside the hospital. "There's no way we can train today! And you're late!"
"But Sakura-chan, I really do have a good excuse this time. You see, I was taking a stroll down memory lane when—"
"Enough!" she snapped. "Go back to your job, old man."
"So disrespectful," Kakashi lamented. "I remember when you used to listen to my every word—"
"Shizune-sensei is throwing a fit right now because you're not at your meeting!"
"Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that….Well, I will see you at the end of the week, Akako-chan. Remember to do the new set of kata I taught you."
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei."
"Some things never change," Sakura grumbled, as she put her hands on my shoulders. "Where does it hurt, Akako-chan?"
"Everywhere," I groaned.
-paragraph break-
Today, Hanemaru and Sango showed up to training very excited.
"Did you hear, Akako-chan?"
"What is it?" I asked, getting up from my back bend. I had been warming up for the past fifteen minutes.
"We're going on our first C-rank mission together!" Hanemaru punched the air.
"Really?" I asked.
"Good morning, team," Ouja said, appearing in a puff of smoke a few minutes later.
"Is it true, Ouja-sensei?" I asked, as Sango and Hanemaru jumped up and down. I'd never seen them act like this, not even around girls.
"Yes. And calm down, you two." Unrolling the scroll in his hand, Ouja skimmed it for a few moments before re-rolling it.
"What is it?" Sango asked.
"The daimyou is coming for a visit," he said, "and he wants an escort."
"Lame!" Hanemaru said. "He's just some old guy who sits in his castle all day."
"Don't be disrespectful," Ouja chided him. "The daimyou will be on the panel of judges during the chuunin exams."
"Is that what he's coming here for?" I asked.
"Yes, Akako-chan. We will be leaving tonight, so go get ready. We will meet in front of the gates at sundown."
I prepared my things with a heavy heart. Two years ago, I would have gone on my first C-rank mission with Asahi, Yuumaru, and Shigure. Since arriving in Konoha, I had gone on a few D-rank missions, but my cell members and I had agreed that getting to know each other better and training for the chuunin exams were more important.
Since he'd starting training with Kurenai, Hanemaru had gotten even more cunning, a trait he was endlessly proud of. He sometimes tried pranking Sango and me with the genjutsu he'd learned, which didn't often succeed because we knew to watch out for them. With my Sharingan activated, I was also getting better at seeing them.
Sango's training with Rock Lee gave him muscles of steel and self-control that rarely wavered nowadays. I went running with him once and gave up after about twenty laps up and down the Hokage Mountain. I occasionally sat on him, practicing hand seals while he did pushups.
My training with Sakura and Kakashi had strengthened my body and mind beyond anything I had expected. The amount of time I spent healing injuries had halved; I had numerous burns and cuts on my fingertips as evidence. Additionally, I had amassed over thirty new techniques. They were mostly doton and suiton-related, though I had added a few katon, fuuton, and raiton techniques to my arsenal, also.
All in all, the three of us were confident we could take this mission.
We traveled two days to reach the daimyou's estate. It was my first time out of Konoha since I'd arrived, unless you counted my occasional visits into the forest to train.
Sango and Hanemaru were like children, running through the trees and bouncing off branches. Ouja humored them, so I did, too.
The daimyou himself was a thin man who did not impress me.
"So you are Uchiha Akako-chan?" he inquired, looking at me.
"Yes, Daimyou-sama," I said, schooling my expression.
"So young," he said, "and yet the future of the Uchiha clan rests on your and Sasuke-kun's shoulders."
The trip back to Konohagakure took almost four days because the Daimyou had brought a carriage and his own bodyguards with him. The three of us spent most of our time hunting each other and for dinner in the trees while Ouja played politics.
"Thank you for seeing me safely to Konohagakure, Ouja-san. Akako-chan, Sango-kun, Hanemaru-kun, good luck on the chuunin exams. I look forward to seeing you compete."
-end of chapter-
A/N: Next up, Akako ends up housing a surprise guest *wiggles eyebrows*