A God's Chessboard

IV. The Angel is Taught

Disclaimer: All characters, law of the universe, and original plot lines belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

"Oka-san, do you know when Aniki and Tachi-chan will get back?"

Mikoto smiles at me as we wash the dishes. "Hm...I'd say about an hour or so," she hums, checking the clock. It was two in the afternoon, and both boys had gone in a boar hunt. I distantly recalled the manga having a brief flashback about this, but if Sasuke somehow managed to fail with both me and Itachi's help, well, we were going to...talk.

Almost on cue, the door opens and I can hear Sasuke's victorious shout of dragging the boar with him. "Otou-san, Oka-san!"

"What, you didn't call for me?" I ask teasingly as we inspect the kill in the front patio.

He pouts sullenly. "That's 'cause you already knew, didn't you?" he asks suspiciously. "You did that weird watching thing."

"Aniki, that 'weird watching thing', as you call it, is practically synonymous to the Byakugan. And I only watched until you guys killed the boar. Oh, and Tachi-chan, Otou-san wants you to clean up and spar with me this evening." Itachi nods behind Sasuke. I smile inwardly. Subete Miru, a jutsu I developed during my fourth life, was harder to keep up than the Byakugan, but allowed the user for more perspectives during battles. Fugaku had been interested when I demonstrated, but grimaced after all of the chakra control involved.

"Dinner's ready in ten minutes." Mikoto calls out. "Naruto and Sai will be joining us again."

Sasuke groans, and I poke at him. "Admit it: you enjoy their company," I say, smiling when he raises his hands in exasperation. He doesn't deny this, however, so I settle on attempting poking on Itachi's forehead and chasing him across the yard in a flurry of shunshin when he escapes.

All in all, it has been a good day.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Sasuke, happy birthday to you!" I sing, carrying a giant cake with Mikoto towards the lawn. Sasuke grins when he sees the food.

"Here you go," I say, handing Itachi a birthday hat. He twitches at the bright colors, but puts it on nevertheless. Naruto grabs another one and fixes Sai's sideways hat.

"And now I'm older than you, dobe," Sasuke smirks. Naruto tackles him to the ground, almost splashing into-

"Don't go into the garden pond!" Itachi relaxes slightly as both boys resurface, calmer than he has arrived. I clap my hands and push Sai into the pond as well, who in turn grabs my sleeve and pulls me in as well.

It is Sasuke's sixth birthday on July 23rd, and me, Fugaku, Mikoto, and Itachi, along with the Hokage's family and Sai have launched it for him. Well, mostly Mikoto and me suggested it, and then Kushina caught hold of the idea, and brought everyone else along...

I glance up at the sky. Evening is arriving, so, really, everything should be OK. But there is something wrong...

Look up, Kurama urges suddenly. I barely have any time to wonder why he's contacting me now after ignoring the communication seal I put on his cage before subtlety glancing upwards.

And then I see the silver glint of a poisoned senbon, and everything swirls around me. I freeze (unforgivable, and I can just hear Mito-sensei lecturing me again) and then push all three of my boys in the garden lake just as four professionally aimed darts shoot across the water.

I can hear shouting, and Sasuke is squirming in my arms. Sai, fortunately, seems to have caught on and is making ANBU signs to Naruto.

We stay there for what was probably fifteen more seconds before hands start grabbing us out. Sasuke gasps for air as Naruto collapses, with Sai in tow. I frown, seeing a dark masked penetrator tied to one of the poles. The Yondaime is crouching next to him with Fugaku, obviously checking for more weapons.

"Chiyoko? Can you hear me?" Kushina is repeating, and I turn to face her. I shake some water out of my ears before giving her a thumbs-up sign.

"Thank God," Mikoto breathes out. Then she hugs me tightly before stalking off to confront the intruder, muttering darkly under her breath. I can hear the words "this better not be from Iwa" and "how dare he" as she pushes both her husband and the Hokage aside.

Kushina grins a little. "Mikoto spent quite some time working in T&I," she chirps far too happily, and I have barely any time to wonder whether or not this is a good thing when she ushers all of us inside. Naruto swallows fresh water hurriedly, as if he is afraid this might disappear in a moment's notice. Sasuke has brought a change of clothes for each of us and pulls a blanket over his shoulders. Sai is blank-faced as usual, but even I can notice how he clutches his cup.

We could all have died today, I think. Except for me, which is the most ironic thing of all, because I am the one that least deserves it.

Shisui wakes me up with a bucket of water the next day at five o'clock in the morning. This makes a quarter of the seals placed in my room go off, so it's worth it when I see him strapped against one of the walls, hands cuffed and twelve carefully precise senbon surrounding his neck.

"Holy crap," Shisui swears, wiggling and in danger of turning on even more complicated seals. "What the hell are you trying to do, Chi-chan?"

"I'm healthily paranoid," I reply, giggling as I deactivated the glowing seals on the walls using sixteen passwords. "You're lucky—you only triggered the Level One seals."

"Level—" Shisui blanches. "Kami, I am so happy we're in the same Clan."

I glance sideways to him, moderately curious. "Although, what were you doing in my room this early? I'm always out to jog with Gai in the morning."

Shisui pales even further. "You mean—like, the Green Beast of Konoha?"

"I had no idea any one called him that except for himself," I say amusedly.

"You poor child," Shisui whispers, horrified, and suddenly whips his head around as Itachi enters the room. "I'm winning this bet, Tachi-chan!"

"...I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me," Shisui challenges. "You know, the bet we made when we were drunk last week!"

I nearly choke. "Wait, wait, wait. Itachi was drunk?"

"I was...highly intoxicated. I had no idea Shisui had spiked the drink," Itachi says defensively. I snigger openly, much to my brother's irritation.

"But, really, what is this so-called bet?"

Shisui looks incredibly proud of himself. "I'll be teaching Chi-chan and Itachi will teach Sasuke for a whole month until September! Have a match between the two, and the loser will do whatever I—I mean, the winner wants for an entire week!"

I giggle at his slip up. Itachi's expression is blank while conveying his displeasure at the same time. The door opens, and Sasuke takes one good look at Shisui before snickering. "Imouto didn't tell you about the upgraded security around here, did she?"

Shisui glares at me halfheartedly. "You didn't tell me any of that," he accuses. "Is it around the whole compound?"

"Yep. I made an entire barrier of seals after the...incident. Otou-san is inviting the Hokage today to make sure's everything's smooth."

"Of course, this shows it already is," Itachi smirks, indicating at the ropes around our cousin. Shisui squawks indignantly, saying that he was simply surprised, thank you very much.

I clap my hands playfully. "Now, my dear Aniki, I assume Tachi-mini didn't tell you about the unfortunate bet that's sure to go in my favor?"

"I did no agree to anything of the sort." Itachi shoots down the idea immediately.

"Come on, Itachi," Shisui coaches, using my brother's real name. "You can't say that what happened at the birthday party isn't going to occur again. It'll give both of them motivation, at least. And Chiyoko can be handicapped to taijutsu only."

"Hold it!" I protest. "I can't go against—"

Shisui gives me a what-the-fuck-are-you-doing look as Itachi seems to be weighing the pros and cons. Sasuke says hesitantly, "I would enjoy a spar against imouto, nii-san."

And so a deal is sealed.

Shisui, it turns out, is the fastest teacher in Konohagakure. Literally and figuratively. He signs me up with daily six hour training sessions with Gai (pointedly ignoring my pleading look) and dishes out spars like hot cakes.

Kage Bunshin is very useful in this case. Of course, it also means triple the muscle cramps and twice the exhaustion, but even I can see how much we're improving. Sasuke is reaching new heights, much to Fugaku's approval, and Itachi has temporarily revoked is jounin duties to train him. I can even hear chunin at grocery shops discussing who will be the winner.

September arrives in no time, and Shisui pats me on the back towards Sasuke in our training area before disappearing in an act of shunshin. I can sense several other chakra signatures hiding before steadying myself into a familiar taijutsu stance. Sasuke nods, and we fight.

Fighting is the only constant in my life. It is the only thing I ever get to show as I pass through lives like butter. Sen Sutāiru is so well performed that to an outsider, it seems to be a single dance that pierces with deadly strikes. And I bathe in it. I savor the thrill that hums inside of me, the whirl of weapons and arms and feet, the absolute freedom that frolics inside.

I hold back for Sasuke, if only not to scare him too deeply. I can tell the ones watching have noticed this, but I don't care. This is me and my brother, and no one else. But eventually, just like all the others, he wears down. He is spectacular for his age, I notice with pride and a little bit of disappointment, but he is still human.

Finally, he is struggling, barely holding on, and maybe my regret shows, because when he looks up, his eyes are red.

I am shocked that my sweet, naïve brother has acquired the Sharingan. This second is all he needs, and he strikes forward. But I have fought scarier monsters than him, so I whirl in a flurry of shunshin and press my fingers to his neck, a hair space away from a nerve point.

And people clap.

Fugaku releases the genjutsu, surveying both of us with clear acknowledgement. "Very nice, Sasuke," he says, pulling out a small mirror out of his pocket. "Look at your reflection."

And my brother beams, all but glomping me. "Thank you thank you thank you," he keeps repeating, and I tangle my fingers in his hair a touch wistfully. I search the crowd for Itachi, and he is there as Sasuke pounces on him as well.

But then I see a familiar glimpse of orange, one that is most definitely not Naruto's, and I am suddenly very, very scared.

Kakashi has heard of Chiyoko Uchiha. Who hasn't? But even as Uchiha boasts of many prodigies in their ranks, he doesn't expect her to be this good.

Sasuke Uchiha is fantastic—easily passable into genin and perhaps chunin. He does taijutsu and ninjutsu with solid build and a strategic mind, something which Kakashi knows most chunin don't even come close to applying as well as he does, but he can see how much the girl is holding back.

Her style, on the other hand, is confusing, unpredictable, and utterly brilliant. He can appreciate the strength that the Uchiha enjoy, the subtleness that the Aburame have, the precision that the Hyuuga favor. And many more remain, even (and he shudders to think of what this might imply) Gai's style compacted into a graceful, fluid dance.

But she is only using taijutsu. And, according to the Uchiha Head and Minato-sensei, has already made several new jutsu based on other dojutsu and flawless fuuinjutsu. But she was refused a shinobi career, and in a way he is both damns and is supremely grateful to the Academy for doing so. What else could she have been?

But Kakashi is not a gullible idiot, no matter how much the other jounin Fugaku invited ooh and ahh at both of his children. An not-quite-six year old can not be able to do this, much less alone and left parentless. A teacher, he concludes, must have already been in order.

So Kakashi sets his sights on that goal. And what he finds out leaves him completely hanging.

"I need you to teach me."

Kurama lifts his head, obviously expecting this. "Why?"

"You and I both know why," I say, bracing myself for a future quarrel. "I know you looked through my memories and saw Mada—"

"DO NOT mention That Man's name!" he roars, creating a tense atmosphere. "I would gladly crush him to the ends of the Earth, but I require two conditions."

I blink, unsettled by the ready agreement. "Uh, OK. Yes?"

"First, you will free me out of this miserable prison."

"...I'm going to assume you're smarter than you look, if only because doing so will kill me."

"Since when has death ever been a problem with you?" Kurama counters.

I nod grudgingly. "Point taken. But it must be Obito and Madara. I won't take no for an answer."

"Agreed. Both Uchiha can be eliminated. Second, That Man will die by my hand only."

I smile sweetly. "That can be arranged."

Kurama might be impatient, arrogant, and easily prone to rage, but he is a very good teacher. We hold training sessions in my mindscape at night with Kyōki, and in turn he teaches me anything he knows that "you puny mortals" can do. Surprisingly, there is a lot in this category, and only further widens when we join our chakra together.

Taijutsu is done between me and Kyōki, and Kurama teaches me about strategy and a general explanation for ninjutsu and genjutsu. We lay down to discuss creating the aforementioned, scratching out ideas and problems that lay ahead, even going as far as to me slipping inside his cage.

"Is there a way to cancel out dojutsu?"

Kurama pauses in the middle of our shogi game. "...That is a very interesting question."

I prop my chin in my knees, scanning the board halfheartedly. "I mean, it would be ideal to create a dojutsu that cancels out other dojutsu. Know what I mean? But, you know...it's creating a dojutsu."

Kurama nods in acknowledgement to my point. "I have some...experience in the matter. Hagoromo as well."

I perk up. Kurama rarely mentions the Sage of the Six Paths, so I don't push. Memories, especially for beings like us, are precious—you keep what you get. "It isn't impossible, then. You would know if it was impossible."

"...Perhaps," Kurama allows. "But if has nearly a 0% survival rate." I wilt, but he's not done. "Of course, Shukaku will smack me if I show this sort of reasoning. He was always such an obnoxious brat."

I'm shocked—not at the fact that he has called the One-tailed an obnoxious brat, but at the fact that he is willing to help me. It fills me with a pleased sort of acceptance, and my heart automatically inserts Kurama from 'friend' to 'close, sort of tolerated one'. I grin.

"Now, for the technical difficulties..."

"Who did you learn from?"

I nearly drop the bag I am holding. Kakashi stares at me with amused puzzlement. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do," he says. "Your taijutsu is explainable, at least; with no one to teach you, you would obviously make your own. But that wouldn't even come close to ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu."

I mentally curse myself for being so...relaxed around the Uchiha. At first, I just wanted to keep Sasuke and Itachi safe, but I had no idea I was going this soft. "Er...I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I say I learned from Otou-san?" I ask sheepishly, plastering a crooked smile on my face. Kakashi snorts.

"I already asked him. He says that no one taught you except yourself. And when I pushed further, he sort of snapped at me and said that he didn't want to question a five year old that's been abused."

I blink. "...Wow. I'm flattered. Although, I really don't give a shit about what the general population of Konoha thinks." Kakashi eye-smiles, and I realize that he is waiting for my answer. "Um...right."

Brat, you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking, Kurama warns me dangerously. I wave him aside.

"...Don't think I'm crazy or something, OK?" I purposely make the words rush. Kakashi leans forward, interested. I make my words slightly lower and I shift uncomfortably. "So, you know I have...this, right?" I motion towards my stomach. Kakashi nods, more sombre. "I sometimes have...memories, you know? Stuff that isn't mine. And a lot of it happens to be...fuuinjutsu. So I thought, this has to be a fuuinjutsu master, right? And I started experimenting."

"That's dangerous, you know," Kakashi reproaches me. He seems to be in deep thought, so I stay quiet. "But it explains a lot."

"Really?" I perk up. Kakashi hesitates, then opens up.

"There used to be two jinchūriki of Konoha. One of them was Mito Uzumaki, wife of the Shodaime. I'm guessing that the Kyuubi remembers what it was like inside of her."

"Oh," I nod quickly, as if to show I understood. "Then...the second jinchūriki used to be Kushina-san, right?"

Kakashi rears back, surprised. "How did you know that?"

"Well, Uzumaki Mito, Uzumaki Kushina, and...well, me. I heard that my family was part of the Uzumaki Clan," I reveal. "And, uh, Naruto, maybe."

Kakashi eye-smiles again, but I can tell he's thinking hard about my calculation. Perhaps I went too fast? I smile curiously, watching him. Now that I thought about it, my sister was a rabid fan girl of his. Posters, chibi dolls...I inwardly shuddered as the list went on.

"Maa, well, that's all I wanted to ask. I'll be going now. Unless you want me to inform the Yondaime about the matter?" he asks, no doubt telling the Hokage anyway no matter what I say. I duck my head shyly.

"Um...well, I don't mind, but I like my seal the way it is if he decides to inspect it. It's helped me. A lot," I confess. He tilts his head and walks away. I smirk.

Better, Kurama?

Much. Although I do think you over applied it.

A year passes by without much notice, with more visits from Sai and Naruto and more plans with Kurama. I turn seven and Itachi joins ANBU, rising ranks all the way to Captain, much to Otou-san and Oka-san's pleasure. Sasuke, after much perseverance, convinces Fugaku to accept him in the Konoha Police Force.

It was a nice year, I think back. One with no surprises.

But all of it comes crashing down when it is announced that Shisui Uchiha is dead.

And thus, our newest arc starts! I'm tentatively calling it the Massacre Arc, as that is what originally happened in canon, but I'm not giving any spoilers as what is going to happen here, so don't try to ask. ;) I also generally dislike it when an arc drags out too long, so this will probably be two chapters at most.

Questions:

- When does 'canon' start (when Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are twelve)?

I've thought about this, and I'm thinking about three to four more chapters at most, including this arc.

- When and where will Sakura be introduced? (And this question is specifically targeted for you, SmileRen.)

I can't actually say how, but it'll probably be after the Massacre Arc but before canon. Sakura will be nine or ten around then and in the Academy.

- For those who didn't expect this arc at all?

I AM SO SORRY! If I disappointed many people, I'll just say that it'll go differently from before. But I think that a grudge, like the Uchiha to the Senju, that has been held for decades cannot be stopped. Yes, the peace offering that Chiyoko was might've appeased them for a while, but it doesn't mean it'll stop a riot completely.

Thanks for all those who reviewed! Like I said before, feel free to send a PM to me if you have any critiques to make. But, and I repeat, I'd rather it be a PM, as I can reply back to you quickly.

Leave a review on your way out.