The Fox is in the Details, Chapter Two: I Hold a Wolf by the Ears
Sasuke was standing in the middle of the Uchiha training grounds, he held a kunai in his right hand and his left was unsteadily holding a half ram seal. An aura of chakra flickered around him as he put all his focus onto his kunai.
With a sharp breath Sasuke threw the kunai at a stump. It hit it square on with a fwip, but the kunai bounced off leaving only the barest of marks on his target. Sasuke glared at the stump, but walked over to retrieve his weapon.
His breathing was ragged, and his gait unsteady. As he reached down to pick up the battered implement Naruko cleared her throat. Sasuke grabbed the kunai and swiftly fell into a defensive stance. The adrenaline spike cleared his foggy senses and he immediately honed in on her.
Naruko was standing underneath a tree branch a few yards away, her hair swaying in the breeze. The dimness of dusk made it hard for Sasuke to tell much of anything from that distance. She was about to say something, but Sasuke interrupted her.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" He would glare at her, but thought better of it. It was too dark for her to appreciate anyway. Naruko released her hold on the branch and flipped onto her feet. "I'm here to talk."
Sasuke could tell from her voice, height, and build that she was young. He was certain that she couldn't be much older than himself, and that annoyed him greatly. She was hanging from that tree with her chakra, something he'd occasionally see from seasoned ninja.
Sasuke looked her up and down as she approached, she was wearing a hospital gown and pants. He could see tape marks and a small mark on her arm, evidence of intravenous therapy. She also looked haggard, like she hadn't slept in days.
Sasuke smirked. "Whoever you are you, obviously shouldn't be out of bed." She shrugged her shoulders and started running her fingers through her hair. Trying to get it into a more manageable position. "Yeah, probably. Still, we do need to talk." She motioned towards the village. "Is there anywhere you'd prefer to chat?"
Sasuke grunted and started walking. Naruko walked a little behind him, purposefully keeping just barely in sight. "You never said who you were." Naruko nodded. "Yep, so do you want to know why that little move didn't work or do you want to figure it out on your own."
Sasuke thought back to the kunai barely denting the stump, and his back tightened in frustration, but he said nothing. Naruko picked up a stone and hurried into his side. "Your problem was that you were focusing on the kunai when you should have been focusing on your arm."
"There are times when you will want to strengthen a kunai, like if you were blocking or trying to pierce a strong target. However, that is an advanced technique. Like all advanced techniques it is practically worthless unless you have mastered the fundamental techniques, or at the very least recognized that and made up for it."
Naruto threw the pebble at one of the decorative boulders in Sasuke's yard and cracks spread out from the point of impact. "A kunai is only ever as good as the arm that throws it. Bar none. Chakra can only do so much, you are stronger than I am. If you did what I did just now, that boulder would be in pieces. If one of our teachers did that it would be dust."
Sasuke looked at the boulder in awe for a moment, before schooling his features. "So, you're saying what? That I should get stronger? I know that!" Naruko shook her head. "I'm saying you should practice, one step at a time. Your time is better spent refining the skills you have, learning new techniques is important but only when you are ready."
Sasuke glared at her. "You sound just like Iruka! I need to get stronger faster than that!" Naruko grabbed on to his hair and pulled his head back to look in his eyes. "You dummy, any other way is just wasting time. You get the most return in the least amount of time by refining techniques you already have! You won't beat Itachi by learning more techniques than him, you'll do it by being a better shinobi and that takes time!"
Sasuke knocked her hands out of the way, but only halfheartedly. The only thing on his mind was her eyes, her Uchiha eyes. Sasuke put his face in his hands as he tried to get his breathing under control.
He looked up at her. Her face was undeniably that of an Uchiha, it sent chills down Sasuke's spine. "Who are you!? Answer me!" She sighed then looked at the sky. "I'm your... Sister." The night sky was calm, very much unlike the mood. She took comfort in that.
Sasuke looked at the ground, he didn't know what to say. What to think. He couldn't focus on anything but the sound of his heartbeat, once it started calming down he looked up. She was looking at him, her face as blank and haggard as it had always been. That pissed the hell out of Sasuke.
Sasuke threw a punch at her. She threw up her guard before he even started moving, her reflexes led her astray. Her block was too low and too close to her body. Sasuke hit her fingers and one of them snapped. He followed with a kick which she managed to dodge, but nearly stumbled doing so.
Naruko moved into a defensive stance and focused on blocking out the pain in her fingers. She had no weapons, no tools, and wasn't wearing practical clothing. She was also injured, still exhausted from her ordeals, and very much unused to her body.
All in all, continuing this fight was a very bad idea. She blocked another punch, correctly this time, and tried to get him to listen to reason.
"Stop this, I am in no shape to fight but I will end this if I have to." Sasuke just continued his assault, punching and kicking like a madman. For her part, Naruko stuck to dodging and blocking but was being worn down and fast. Her vision was also starting to blur, whether from her injuries or overexertion she couldn't tell.
Sasuke threw another punch and yelled at her. "Who are you!?" Naruko misstepped and took the punch to the jaw. She brought her good arm up to her face, and elbowed him in the face with the other. The shock in her arm almost made her blackout, but it put distance between them.
Sasuke was breathing heavily and his right eye was a little worse for the wear. It looked like one of the blood vessels had ruptured. "Who..." He coughed and looked a little unsteady. "Are you?" He looked her straight in the eyes.
Naruko spat out some blood, and cleared her nose. She checked to make sure she still had all her teeth before answering. "I already told you. Though my name is Naruko if that makes any difference, and yes, I am an Uchiha."
Sasuke looked at her for a few moments before mumbling. "Too complicated for a prank..." He dropped to the ground and looked up. "I don't know what you are playing at, but you cannot be an Uchiha. There are only two, and you are neither."
Naruko wanted desperately to get off her feet as well, but she knew that standing was the only thing keeping her awake at the moment. "I am not going to lie to you."
Naruko cleared her throat before continuing. "I was not raised by an Uchiha, but I am an Uchiha by blood. Your sister in fact. Twin sister at that. I have been in the hospital since I was found outside the village some days ago."
Sasuke looked at her again. "If what you say is true, then that means... What? That your some sort of clan secret? An exiled Uchiha? He would have known, he would have got you one way or the other."
Naruko thought about how to phrase this. "Do you know why Itachi did what he did?" Sasuke scowled. "To test his power." Naruko nodded. "Then why did he let you live?"
Sasuke didn't answer for a long while. "He said he didn't consider me worth killing..." Naruko looked him straight in the eye. "Would he consider me worth killing if he knew of me?" Sasuke didn't answer.
"Why were you in the hospital anyway?" She didn't answer, and when Sasuke looked over he saw that she was asleep. He sighed again and went to pick her up. She had to go back to the hospital, and wasn't taking herself there anytime soon.
Answers will come in the morning, one way or the other. Of that Sasuke was certain.
