It took me a while to figure out how to go about with this chapter. I hope yous like it.
Naruto was more than happy to hang out with us. When visiting his apartment, it was a bit run down, but he was able to make it seem more homely, despite having little furniture. There were ramen bowls everywhere. Sasuke made a face of disgust.
"You're such a slob, Dobe." Sasuke commented, inspecting the empty ramen bowls that probably hadn't been touched in a while.
"Hey, shut up, Teme!" Naruto's head popped out from the kitchen with a light glare. "If it weren't for Kuroki-chan, I would've slammed the door in your face!"
"I wouldn't be here by myself in the first place." Sasuke retorted, smug smirk taking his lips.
I snickered, their arguments were always interesting when I wasn't in a bad mood. I sat on the couch, crossing my legs on it, signifying I was getting comfortable. Looking around, I became distracted enough to almost not hear Naruto's loud voice.
"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto questioned, looking from me to Sasuke. The little Uchiha huffed and folded his arms.
"Kuroki wants us two to spar. To see who's better." He answered, glancing to me, then returning his gaze on Naruto. "But we both know I'm the better one."
Naruto yelled in protest, telling us to wait here while he ran into the bathroom, coming out less than two minutes later hastily putting on zipping up the orange jumpsuit I was used to seeing him in. He gave us the thumbs up after putting his goggles and sandals on.
"All done! Let's go! I want to kick Teme's ass!" He announced, throwing open his door and stomping out, Sasuke and I following.
"Yeah, right, Dobe. You're not kicking my ass anytime soon." Sasuke smirked smugly.
I smirk-grinned, shoving my hands in my pockets as we made our way to the stairs. "Who knows, my little Sasuke. Maybe one day he'll kick your ass and," I leaned closer to Naruto, teasingly grinning back at the little Uchiha. "he'll become my favourite." Sasuke's eyes went wide with surprise, looking at me incredulously. Naruto laughed and fist-pumped.
"Then Kuroki-chan can teach me cool jutsus!"
"No!" Sasuke exclaimed, grabbing onto my arm and hugging it possessively. He glared warily at Naruto, who was stunned for the moment.
I was too, because I didn't expect him to have such a possessive reaction. Naruto went to my left and hugged my other arm, pulling and causing me to lean towards him.
"I need Kuroki-chan to teach me cool jutsus!" Naruto protested.
Sasuke reacted and pulled the arm in his, causing me to lean over to him. "Kuroki-chan can't teach you! I need her more than you do!"
Were...were they fighting over me? They...were. WHAT? I somehow forgot they were eight and children were possessive, even of their friends. They both pulled at my arms, throwing insults and reasons why they needed me more, making me sway from left to right. I had decided to let it continue, hoping they would give up after a minute or so.
It's been five minutes. And I was getting a headache.
I raised my arms, their smaller ones unable to keep a grip on mine and let my arms slip right through, not expecting the sudden action. They were both stunned, Naruto having stopped his insult mid-sentence. I sighed, glancing from Sasuke to Naruto.
"Fighting over me, how cute." I grinned at them. They seemed to realise what it was they were actually doing, and blushed madly in embarrassment. I snickered. Then turned to them, taking a step back. "Never do that again." I commented, my face immediately gone of amusement. "I got a headache and we wasted time. Next time you two do something like that again, I'll do the same thing I did to Kiba when he decided to steal my food to you." An innocent smile gracing my lips. Both Naruto and Sasuke paled, they remembered when I hung Kiba upside down, the rope worn and fragile. The rope broke, but his arms and legs were still tied so he couldn't do anything to avoid the lovely dog shit that awaited his doom. I grinned evilly at the memory.
He was mentally traumatized of dog shit for a full two weeks. That punishment was being nice compared to what I would have in mind for people whose lives I gave no shits about. "Understand?" I asked the two, my smile never faltering. They nodded their heads in unison, not wanting to go through my wrath.
"Good. Let's go." I turned and walked down the stairs, wanting to get out of this building before I start making craters. The two boys followed silently.
The sun was beginning its retreat for the moon to shine by the time Naruto and Sasuke finished their sparring match. I had spectated, and I noticed how much the Uchiha improved. He was better than Naruto originally, but it seemed like the blonde had become even worse, even though he was at the same skill level the last time I watched one of their sparring matches. Sasuke must be training hard. While I was strong, I wasn't the strongest. I know for a fact that the Rookie Nine will be improving rapidly.
Naruto and Sasuke panted as they laid across from each other, panting and sweating in the middle of the training field where Itachi and I first sparred. Bruises, scratches and dirt were all over them. I jumped down from the tree branch I was using as a seat, landing in front of them. I grinned. "Nice. You've really improved Sasuke."
The little Uchiha blushed and looked away from me, nodding. "Thank you..."
"Ahhh! What about me, Kuroki-chan?" Naruto groaned in annoyance, looking to me from his spot on the ground.
"You're horrible." I deadpanned, Naruto's eyes widened and sat up quickly, crossing his legs in the process.
"Whaaat?! But I worked so hard, dammit!" He threw his hands in the air, cursing who ever was causing his training to fail in improving his awesomeness. Sasuke sat up too, about to respond to Naruto, but noticed the sun was rapidly retracting its sunlight.
He gasped. "Oh, no! Dad's going to be so angry if I'm late!" He stood up, brushing the dirt off him and proceeding to run. Sasuke waved back at us. "See you tomorrow!" Then was gone from my sight. I looked back to Naruto, who was still looking in the direction Sasuke had run off to.
"Tired?" I asked, placing my hands in the pockets of my pants. The blonde looked up at me, grinning brightly.
"I'm a little hungry, but that's about it." He replied, scratching the back of his head as his stomach growled on que. I took a hand out of my pocket and stretched it out towards him. He grabbed my hand and I pulled him up, then we started walking out of the training grounds.
I remember Aonami mentioning that as long as I was home by ten, I was good. "Want me to teach you how to tree-climb?" I asked, glancing to Naruto. He looked at me.
"I already know how to climb tree, Kuroki-chan."
I shook my head. "No, not that kind. Here, let me show you." I offered, walking to a nearby tree. I glanced at it before sending chakra to my feet and form chakra threads that would enable me to walk up the tree trunk. I heard a gasp from Naruto's direction, and turned, gravity causing my hair to fall into an awkward position in my face, the loose parts of my clothes sagging a bit. I released the chakra threads, dropping down and landing silently on the ground. "That's what I meant." I commented, walking back over to the blonde.
"Whoa! Yeah! Yeah, I want to learn! Teach me Kuroki-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, pleading eyes peering into my amused ones.
I nodded, turning and continuing to walk out of the training grounds. "Let's get ramen first, then we can train." The mention of ramen made Naruto fist pump and happily run to catch up with me, singing a song that only consisted of the word 'ramen'. I smirk-grinned. It was a good distraction from the impending death of the Uchiha clan that was bound to happen in two nights. It's killing me, knowing that I could stop Itachi from ruining his little brother's life,
I could stop him. I could stop the bloodshed, the suffering that Sasuke would be going through. He could grow up being a flirt, be free from the life of being an orphan. But I wouldn't. Itachi had good reason, and he was a pacifist. Convincing him otherwise would take a lot longer than what I would like. The only thing I could do; would do, was to simply support Itachi and the unknowing Sasuke. He'll be angry, once he realises our little 'What If' game was to let him think rationally about the oncoming event. I'm sorry. Really.
After eating ramen at Ichiraku's, we went back to the training grounds and were about to begin on tree-climbing, but the trees weren't big enough for training. Nightfall had risen by the time we got to the ramen store. Was it a restaurant? I had no idea.
Anyways, we had decided that the trees in the training ground were too small, and went to look for larger ones. We couldn't find any...and Naruto had the bright idea to go outside the village because there was sure to be more. Yes, there were larger ones, but being outside the village would be too dangerous.
"Come on, Kuroki-chan! We won't be out that far, and with yours and my skill, we'd be fine if bandits attacked us." Naruto boasted, a confident expression on his face as he gave me the thumbs up. I immediately smacked him upside the head.
"Ow~! What was that for, Kuroki-chan?" He asked, rubbing his head whilst pouting at me. I gave him a 'are-you-fucking-kidding-me' look. He didn't seem to get it.
I sighed. "Naruto, I may be good, but who knows what could happen? And you're horrible at taijutsu, so you'd get beaten up before I could tell you to stop." The blonde was about to retort but I intercepted. "Do you want me to protect you?" It was a simple question. And whilst most would just be annoyed and say 'no', Naruto was the type who didn't want to be protected, he wanted to protect, so when his face gained a frown and he took a breath in, I knew he was going to yell and say something along 'I want to protect you!'.
"No! If anyone's going to be protecting anyone, it's going to be me!" Naruto exclaimed, jutting a thumb to his chest to further point out himself. I scoffed.
"How could you protect me without getting yourself killed? You can't even touch me." I retorted, riling him up made him more determined, but I wanted to make a point that being outside the village at night, even during the day, can be dangerous if we're not careful.
Naruto looked down, his shoulders shaking with frustration. He knew I was right, he couldn't protect me unless he decided to become my shield whenever someone through a kunai or punch. I wasn't letting that happen anytime soon.
I sighed, looking to a nearby tree. "How about we work on your taijutsu instead? We can work on tree-climbing tomorrow with Sasuke." I looked back to the blonde, whose head snapped up at the offer. Something was twinkling in his eye. What a strange look.
"Really?"
"Really. Maybe then you could kick Sasuke's ass." I smirk-grinned at him, and he grinned brightly back.
"Alright, let's go!" He cheered, following me as I walked towards the nearest training ground.
"Ready?" I asked, standing across from Naruto in a training ground not far from where we were when arguing about leaving the village. It only took us five minutes to get here, and with the time it took for us to eat, attempt to find larger trees and the little confrontation, we only had an hour to train. Naruto nodded, moving into a poor fighting stance, then charging right at me.
He had his fist ready for a punch to my face, and I hadn't moved until he was in range to hit me. I simply moved my head and dodged his punch with ease, then grabbed his arm with my right hand and used my left hand to grab the fabric around his stomach, lifting the stunned blonde up and shifting to throw him over. I let go of him once he was on the other side of me, back flat against the ground. He groaned, rubbing his butt as he sat up.
"Ow~!" Naruto moaned, glaring lightly at me. I stared at him.
"Up."
"In a minute, my butt hurts." He waved a dismissive hand toward me. I promptly walked up and literally kicked his pained ass. The blonde faceplanted into the dirt in front of him. I snickered, that side being more funnier than I thought.
This is going to be a long hour.
"Dammit, Naruto! You move your left foot here, your fight foot there, your arms are to be close to your body and you have to relax!" I ordered, moving Naruto's limbs to where I wanted them. I ignored the blush he wore because of the intimate contact, I was too pissed off with how horrible he was at forms. I took a step back and gave an approving look of the blonde who stayed frozen in the position I placed him in, not wanting to piss me off even more.
"Kuroki-chan, I feel weird." Naruto commented, frowning at his form, but still not moving. I sighed.
"You're not used to stances, because you're an idiot and just charge right in. But we'll have to stop, I have to be home in fifteen minutes." I glanced to the sky, tonight was beautiful too, but I was too preoccupied with the idiot in front of me. Naruto dropped the stance and rubbed the back of his head, giving me a wide grin.
"Thanks, Kuroki-chan! You've really helped me a lot!" He gave me the thumbs up. I tch'd with a slight grin. Giving a lazed wave as I bent my knees to jump onto one of the nearby branches.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He waved as I jumped up and began to make my way to my house through the trees and roofs. Thirteen minutes.
I landed on the first-story roof of my house, my window accessible by landing on it. I opened the window sill, making my way through and jumping over my bed. I didn't want dirt all over my covers. My feet were silent as they touched the carpet of my room, and I yawned lightly, proceeding to take off my shoes and clothes. Time for a shower, then bed.
Shiruba must've heard me, because as soon as I opened my door in nothing but a towel, I was tackled to the ground by the huge dog. "Hahaha! Shiruba, get off me you big goof, I have to take a shower!" I grinned as he licked my face a couple more times before obediently getting off me. I stood up, wiping the saliva off my face. I'm so glad he lets me clean his teeth and tongue. I gave Shiruba a small pat before making my way to the bathroom. "Go tell mum I'm in the shower." I told the canine, who barked in affirmation and made his way down the stairs. Shutting the door and locking it, I threw the towel off my form and over the rack which kept the shower curtains up. I walked in, turning the shower on hot and beginning to get lost in my thoughts.
"Welcome home, Kuroki-chan." My mother greeted, seeing me walk down the stairs with a towel in my hand and drying off my hair. I glanced at her and waved, already on my way to the kitchen. "How was your day with little Sasuke-kun?" Aonami had that tone like when a friend knows who your crush is and asks how they are. I rolled my eyes, opening the fridge to find bacon. I mentally cheered as I grabbed the plate and some drink equivalent to soft drinks in my world, using my feet to shut the fridge door and walking over to the bench.
"It was fine, we talked, and then we went to see Naruto." I took off the plastic from the bowl and placed it in the microwave. It still mind fucked me how this world has microwaves. After setting it to one minute and turning it on, I looked back to see Aonami leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen from the hallway, a mischievous smile gracing her lips. "I made them two spar. Then he went home whilst I trained Naruto in some taijutsu." I grinned in triumph when the blasted woman pouted in disappointment. It was too soon to grin, because her head popped up and her disappointed expression gone, a gasp escaping her and a hopeful look on her face.
"What about Shika-kun? You two are such an interesting pair!"
What?
Oh, god, no. I looked away, stopping the microwave and taking out the now warm, amazing, awesome bacon. I almost mentally went to heaven. Then Aonami had to ruin everything and ask, "Well? Is Shika-kun more your type?"
I turned and gave her a disgusted look, but she paid it no mind and continued to look at me with shining emerald orbs. Eh... "He'd be my type if I had one, but mum...I'm ten."
Aonami hand a hand dismissively and scoffed. Did I...get that from her?
"I met your father when I was eight, look where we are now. I'm married to him, we have a wonderful house with a huge library, he's bringing the money in and we have you." She smiled lovingly at me, her eyes filled with affection. I looked down, a small smile on my face.
"I'm glad I was born into this family." I admitted. I really was. Who knows, I could've been born as Orochimaru's daughter, or even worse; son. Aonami and Kuroi were great parents, even though Kuroi likes to not hold back in any kind of fight and Aonami has a thing with coupling me up with my friends. Aonami walked up to me, bending down and hugging me gently. I wrapped my free hand as far as my little hand could around her back. A few moments later, she let go, and I dropped my hand to my side.
"Do some exercises after you've finished eating, I don't want you to sleep right after having bacon." She told me with a mock stern look. I smirk-grinned and nodded, grabbing my drink and heading upstairs with my amazing bacon and drink. Shiruba barked, giving me a visual on him come out of my room and greet me with a pleasant bark. I grinned at him as I came closer, him walking around me until I got to the entrance of my room and walked in. He followed and pulled on the rope I tied around the doorknob, causing the door to shut behind me. It was easier than me closing it whenever we got food. I placed the plate of bacon on the bed, climbing on top and taking a seat in the corner of the wall and bed, crossing my legs in the process. Shiruba carefully climbed up, taking a seat beside me on the bed, I smiled and began to pet him. "Let's eat."
I woke up sometime in the morning when the sun was still hiding, the moon out and giving me its light. I was capable of vivid dreams, meaning I could feel any contact an object or person did to me. I couldn't feel pain, just a dull sensation that only ever became a little stronger with the amount of pain I should feel. I placed my arms over my eyes. Ten long, yet short years in this world. My body is ten, but my mind is twenty five. Somehow, even though I've matured since I first came here, I felt like I was still fifteen, still nothing but an adolescent. Annoyingly, I was even less. A fucking child. Sure, it was fun learning how to control chakra and be taught a more advanced hand-to-hand combat style, and even use lightning jutsu. But when I had died, I accepted death. Welcomed it. I died because I protected the one person I truly cared about in that world. What would they think? Knowing I was in an anime world that was no longer an anime to me. It was now reality. Do you miss me? Did you ever care about me? Or did you die not long after I fucking saved you because you were a fucking idiot?
Crying came easily for me this time. It wasn't that snot-filled sob-outs that I never; never, do. But...it was the silent type, tears running down my cheeks whilst I stayed silent. I missed my old life, more so the person who was in it. I cried because I loved them, I cried because I would never see them again, I cried because it had taken me so long to finally remember them. I cried...because now I was going to lose another person who I cared about, even if only mentally. Why did I become close with the Uchihas? Why? I could've saved myself from the pain, the hurt of knowing one of my closest friends was going to kill his whole family. I mentioned this before, didn't I? I did, but it still tore me apart. I...don't regret becoming close with Itachi and Sasuke, I don't regret loving them. Itachi was stoic, but he loved his brother more than anything, I loved that about him. Sasuke was such a cute kid, so kind, so ambitious, so naive...will you still want to kill him when it happens, Sasuke? Will you ignore everything I've tried to do to stop you from making the same choices you did in the anime?
No one would know of this. No one. I will never cry in front of a person, not even Shiruba knew. He was fast asleep beside me, oblivious to the pain I felt. I better not develop depression and anxiety in this world, I would hate to have that whilst a ninja. Ha, I'm still the same, no matter what body I'm in, what age. But I am Taidana Kuroki, that is me. My old name is nothing but the past, my old friends are nothing but the past. The moonlight was always able to send me into a dreamless sleep, staring at its beauty for who know long, then waking up at dawn every morning. Or was it dusk? I should probably look into that. I yawned, sitting up and glancing out the window. You would not believe the surprise that overwhelmed me when I saw Itachi kneeling on the roof outside my window, staring straight into my eyes. I almost punched the glass because of how utterly surprised I was. "Ah, fuck." I placed a hand over my eyes and fell back onto the bed, Shiruba waking at the movement and Itachi sliding my window open.
"I should punch you for scaring the fuck out of me like that." I commented, lightly frowning at the Uchiha who now sat on my window sill with a serious expression. No...ah, fuck there's bad news with this.
"I apologize, Kuroki-chan. I didn't mean to scare you, but I had to tell you immediately." His voice was so serious, and I turned covering my face with my eyes with my hands.
"What? It's something bad, isn't it?" I glanced at the Uchiha, who nodded solemnly.
"I...have to do it tonight. Danzo had reached his limit." I scowled at the name, sitting up and glaring at Itachi at a speed that should've given me a headache for five minutes.
"Fuck Danzo and his patience! We agreed three days! Three! I-" Before I could finish my rant, Itachi had placed his hands on either side of my neck, pulling me closer and resting his forehead against mine. I lightly grabbed his wrists and looked up at him. "Itachi...?"
His eyes were pained, solemn and sorrowful. I could see how much it tormented him. "Kuroki...I don't want to do it tonight either. But I have to...for the village." I looked down. I wasn't fully mentally prepared yet. Tonight. That's only like eight hours. Eight. That feeling of wanting to cry came over me, but unlike a few hours ago, I couldn't. It was a defence my mind forced my body to whenever someone was around and I upset. "Kuroki-chan. Look at me." I didn't even know I had my eyes closed, so I obeyed him, opening my eyes and looking up at him. They had a kind of determination in them now.
"I love you."
I stared at him. What? OH! I gave a smirk-grin, looking at his chest instead of his face. "Jeez, Itachi. You had my heart stop for a second there." I looked up at him again, he still had his hands on my neck and his forehead to mine. "I love you too...but there's something else, isn't there?" He smirked in the slightest.
"So smart. Yes, there's something I want you to do." Finally, we released our holds on each other. I stared at him expectantly.
"Take care of yourself."
Hold up. What? That was it? Fucking seriously? There's nothing else?! What?! By how Itachi opened his mouth for say something else, my face was showing my annoyed confusion.
"You always look after Sasuke and the others. You're their big sister, and you care for them more than you care for yourself." I looked down. Yes, I cared more about them than I did myself. It's just how I worked when I created friendships.
"But you're my little sister. I won't be able to take care of you, but I want you to promise me you'll take care of yourself more." I sighed. He just wanted me to take care of myself? I could do that, but it seemed like such a small thing compared to everything else.
I glanced at him. "Fine. Promise me you will too, then." His smirk stretched a bit and he nodded. I'd almost forgotten Shiruba was here until he made a move on the bed, standing up and making his way over to Itachi. The Uchiha began to pet Shiruba.
"Look after Kuroki-chan too, okay Shiruba?"
Shiruba barked. I groaned lightly, scratching my head. I probably looked like shit right about now. "Okay, shoo, Uchiha. I need to get ready for today." I shoo'd him with my hands, Shiruba removing himself from Itachi's hands and jumping off the bed and pulling open my wardrobe with the rope I attached to it. God, I loved this dog. Itachi smirked.
"Goodbye."
"Just go already, before I give a show of tears." And with that comment, the Uchiha was gone in an instant. Still a boy after all. I turned to Shiruba, grinning at him then taking the blankets off myself and getting off the bed. "I better make this day count."
Alright, there's the end of chapter 6. I need reviews, guys. I'd love to know your opinions about the story, what you hope for in the future. I'll be making subtle changes in each chapter to fix anything I dislike or some grammar errors.