"ARGH! Where is he?!" demanded the blonde boy wearing his orange uniform. His hands rubbed back and forth through his hair as he shouted his frustration at the sky, and then effortlessly flicked a kunai into his hand, hurling it at a nearby training log, lodging the projectile deeper into the wood than his light frame would reasonably allow.
"No idea," said Heero, trying to keep his voice level as he sat in the corner of their training room, hanging off the ceiling in a crossed legs position. He was, if one looked closely, only being supported by a single toe, which shone slightly with glowing chakra in the nail.
"ARGH!" he shouted again, and pulled the kunai out, before proceeding to launch into an actually rather expert routine against the offending log. If he'd ever done that in training, he would have destroyed even Hinata and Sasuke without much trouble. Luckily, he didn't think hard enough about that, and instead was rewarded with a cracking sound as the log split in two.
The pair of them had been down there since waking up at six in the morning, getting ready for their meeting with Kakashi. It was now a little past eleven, and though they'd been listening the whole time for their doorbell, and making sojourns to front door every few minutes or so, nothing had been seen of him.
"Do you think he reneged on his promise?" asked Naruto, his breath coming out in huffs, this being the fifth log he'd destroyed since eight o'clock.
"Doubtful. Itachi would never have promised us something that he didn't intend to deliver on, and he seemed to know Kakashi quite well, considering how the Copy Cat addressed him in class," said Heero as he let himself fall from the ceiling, rolling as he hit the ground, and then popping back up to his feet. The two boys, covered with sweat from their work outs, decided to go up to the ground floor and wait out front again.
The two were just climbing the stairs, when the doorbell rang, and they looked at each other in shock. They then started tripping over their own feet to be the first to get the door, the pair arriving there almost within the same heartbeat, and quickly throwing open the door to reveal not one, not two, but three people standing there.
"Hello boys, have you been good?" asked a feminine voice, which caused both boys to whoop with excitement, ignoring the other two despite their frustration with the late arrival, and instead pounce on Kurenai, who caught both boys in her arms, and hugged them close.
"Oneesan!" they shouted together, and the three just stood there, the woman basking in the love that flowed from the pair, before finally they all got to their feet and just looked at each other.
"Where have you been?" asked Naruto after a few seconds of silence.
"On a mission, which is something you'll learn more of when you've grown up a little. For now, just know that I've gotten copies of all of Itachi's reports about you, and I want you to know, I'm proud of both of you," she told them, gesturing towards Itachi, who smiled down at the boys.
"Indeed, a fine pair of young ninja here. You raised them well, Kurenai," said Itachi, which got rather full of themselves grins from both boys, before the third member of the party spoke up.
"Ah, touching Itachi-kun. I didn't know you cared about anyone except that little brother of yours," said Kakashi, earning a rather wicked glance from Itachi, one that passed right over the boys' heads.
"You're late!" accused Heero suddenly, pointing a finger straight at the one eyed man, who then mimicked the motion, pointing a finger at himself.
"Me? Late? Never, I arrive exactly when I intend to," said the one eyed ninja to defend himself.
"You did say in class that you would be here at eight in the morning. If Kurenai hadn't asked me to seek you out, I think it would have taken you another hour to arrive," responded Itachi.
"Ridiculous lies and slander. I said I would be here at ten, not eight," said Kakashi with a childlike glint in that eye of his, as well as a smile beneath his mask.
"Need I remind you that it is now past eleven, and approaching midday?" said Kurenai, causing that grin to deflate a little, before he slapped his hands together, and then rubbed his palms against each other.
"Change of subject. Who's ready to learn a technique from me?" he said, leaning down towards the two boys, who looked from each other, towards their big sister and teacher, and then back to Kakashi.
"We forgive your tardiness," said the two graciously, getting Kakashi to just stare at them, while Itachi and Kurenai took a moment to stare at the back of his head, and then laugh as a single drop of sweat was visibly sliding down the side of his mask.
"I believe the boys have you pegged, Kakashi," said Itachi, as he motioned for the pair of them to join the adults in the yard. Soon, all five were standing there, the boys looking expectantly towards Kakashi.
"Now then, your oneesan and I had a long discussion about the prize, and after much debate-" "After I threatened his most prized possession" "-I have decided to gift Naruto with a technique that is normally taught only to experienced Jonin." said the masked Ninja, with a small injection by the kunochi next to him.
"And for Heero's prize, Kurenai and I will spend the next few days working with you on your family's technique. Hopefully, with some personal tutoring, we can actually begin to bring you the skill to use them. Are these acceptable terms?" asked their sensei, and the two turned to each other, making mumbling noises as they brought their heads together that were really just gibberish to make it seem like they had taken any time at all to make the decision.
"We accept your decision, Kurenai, sensei, koki otoko," the said, bowing to each in turn, causing the first two to grin at the third.
"When did I become Late Man?" asked Kakashi in a voice that would have garnered some sympathy from his audience, if the boys still weren't a little mad at him for being late, or from the other two if they didn't know him. So they took some time to discuss where to train, with Kakashi and Naruto heading to one of the training fields by the school, while Kurenai, Itachi, and Heero went back inside to the private training room.
"Alright, I've seen you make the colored chakra before, but just to refresh, can you make some of the white now?" asked Itachi, and Heero nodded, dropping into a stance, and then making a handsign. It was a Tiger, of a sort. The sign seemed to somehow be inverted, and as Itachi watched through his special eyes, he saw the boy's chakra pour into the sign, and come out in a pearl white that glittered through his body's chakra network.
"Always interesting to watch that," he commented, holding his hand out towards Heero, who took it, and allowed Itachi to examine him for a few minutes, before motioning towards the pile of logs, some broken, some whole, and then set one down on a training mount for Heero.
"Now, slash your 'claws' at this log," he asked, and Heero focused. He'd done this exercise a dozen times a day, the claws being the easiest of the Four Gods Techniques. Breathing in and out slowly, he brought his hands out to his sides, holding them there and then pushed his chakra out through the tips.
Slowly, the white mist began to take shape along his nails, growing out as shimmering blades about a foot long apiece, before he shouted, leapt forward, and struck with them. As always, the claws did nothing. Their essence crashed into the wood, and then dissolved like so much smoke, shattering into nothingness, and leaving Heero standing there, looking like an idiot.
"Hmm," was all the Uchiha said as he walked over towards the log, and looked closely at it with those special eyes of his. The Sharingan could see things not even the esteemed Byakugan could, looking at the same thing. For instance, the Byakugan would have seen the log, the chakra within it dead because it wasn't part of the tree. The Sharingan could see deeper than that, looking at the dead chakra itself, rather than those flows along which it once moved.
"Interesting," was all he said as he got up, and held out his hand towards Heero again, the boy giving his own, and letting the man inspect it as thoroughly as before, even poking it this time.
"Any idea how he makes that work?" asked Kurenai after a few moments, while Itachi stood back, stroking his chin in thought.
"A few ideas come to mind but...Heero?" he said at last, after letting that but hang in the air for far too long for the boy's liking.
"Yes?" he asked, a note of hopefulness seeping into his voice.
"I know you have your father's journal here. Might I see it?" he asked the boy, who stood there for a minute, his own face scrunching itself up in thought, before nodding.
"I think that would be okay, but you both have to close your eyes. That means turning off the red ones too," said Heero, and Itachi grinned at the child. He shut his eyes and held them closed for a few moments, before opening them once more, revealing the marks of his Bloodline gone from them.
"Alright, Kurenai, if you would join me in that corner?" he said, motioning towards a distant place in the room. The pair strode over there, and then waited for several seconds, before Heero moved from his spot, the sounds they heard from him indicating he was moving some tiles around on the floor, and then a click, followed by a door swinging open, and then shutting quickly.
"Okay, here you go," said Heero, holding out the journal to Itachi, the spot on the floor he'd been fiddling with being quite obvious from the gap in several floor mats that hadn't been there before. Rather than berate his student for lax security, the Uchiha heir instead opened he book, while turning on his eyes again, and quickly skimming through it.
One of the other advantages of his eyes over those of the Hyuga, one he knew his clan took advantage of far too little, was that it allowed one to look at a piece of paper, and perfectly recall the contents of it. So within seconds, he had read the entire journal, something that had taken the boy before him almost a year, and then he handed it back to him with a smile, nodding towards him as he turned around, and turned off his eyes. A few more seconds of noise, and then the boy replaced the mats where they had been, before calling out to the pair to turn around.
"Did that help any?" asked Heero expectantly, and Itachi smirked down at him while nodding.
"It helped. I want you to make those blades again, this time, hold them," he ordered, and Heero did just that, the claws coming to his hand much more easily this time, as ten, foot long rods of roiling white chakra danced from his finger tips.
"Excellent, now, tell me, what does it feel like, holding them like this?" inquired Itachi.
"It feels like...like it always does. I can feel the chakra, but nothing else really weird," he responded.
"And what does your father's journal say about it?" said Itachi, continuing to stare at Heero's hands.
"It says they're supposed to feel heavy, like lead weights when they move, but I can't get them to feel any different," the boy said this while launching into an open hand routine of his taijutsu training. His fingers seemed no less agile than before.
"Indeed. Now, have you tried adding anything else to the white chakra?" asked the instructor as he walked around Heero.
"Um, you mean like the other colors? I tried that once, and all I got was a headache," he admitted as he stopped in mid kick.
"No, I mean like your own chakra. You said you can feel the chakra in the blades, but have you ever tried to mix that with your original chakra?" he asked, and Heero just stood there for a moment, and then sighed as he focused inward. Repeating the techniques he'd been perfecting over the last two years that let him hang from ceilings, or run sideways along walls, he pushed his chakra out towards the tips of his fingers.
"Wha?!" he shouted in surprise, as his fingers became heavy at the merest touch of his chakra. The blades on the end changed physically as well. What had once been just rods of roiling mist like energy coalesced into solid forms, seemingly becoming blades of light, that he now held out at arms length, like at any moment the claws could leap off his hands and bite him like snakes.
"Incredible, even I can feel the chakra from them," commented Kurenai, who had been standing back, letting Itachi work with his student, her little brother. Heero, still a bit dazed, just nodded, and then turned towards the log he had slashed at before.
"Claws of the Tiger!" roared the youth as he bolted forward. His gait was not as sure as before, his hands feeling the weight of his technique, like lead gloves which threatened to weight him down. He didn't let that stop him, however, moving with the practiced grace of an Academy student, slashing in two flashes at the log, and then stopping just beyond it, holding his hands out to his sides so the claws formed about him like wings.
For a moment, it seemed like it hadn't worked, like the simple solution had failed, but then, the log fell apart. Not into just two pieces either. It had been slashed both horizontally and vertically, the small pieces of wood clattering to the floor with a dull sound, as the claws from Heero's hands retracted back into his body, his face lighting up as he turned around.
The next moment he was falling, and Kurenai rushed forward, her own training taking over so that before he had even touched the ground she had her arms around him. Checking first for a pulse, and then for breath, she held him there for several seconds, before turning to Itachi.
"What happened?" was all she asked, curious why her Heero would have fainted like that, when she knew he could hold the mist like claws for over an hour if he really tried, and that was before the Academy.
"Exactly what it looks like. Chakra exhaustion. His father's journal said it was common for the technique to do this to even older practitioners of his family's kekkei genkai," he admitted, as he walked over to her, and used his eyes to observe every channel of the boy's chakra network.
"Luckily, your little brother has a chakra capacity I would normally associate with chuunin, if not jonin, so he was able to take it. In fact, I wouldn't doubt that, now that he knows how it works, he'll be able to maintain the claws for a time, before this happens," he told her, motioning for her to follow. He sat down on one of the mats, and waved for her to place Heero's sleeping form beside them, before she joined him.
"So, will he be able to do all four of the techniques?" asked Kurenai. Her memories of Heero's father were of someone who'd only seen him from a distance, but she knew such skills were as formidable as the Yellow Flash's, possibly more so, if properly utilized.
"He could, but only the Claws and the Armor would leave him alive. The drain of the techniques are each an order of magnitude over the last, according to the journal," he explained calmly.
"So he should stay away from the Speed and the Roar then," she said the last as a matter of fact, and Itachi just nodded to it, looking over at the body. He saw potential there, the potential to bring ruin or prosperity to Konoha, depending on the whim of the user.
"Indeed. I had expected this to take much longer than it did. A few days at least to unlock the power hidden in his blood. To know it was hidden so simply shames me. If I had but known, I would have asked to see that journal sooner," he admitted, lamenting all the time wasted there, vowing to himself that he would not be so careless next year with his students' potential.
"It worked out better this way. He has the grounding in the basics, rather than relying on one set of skills. That sort of thing could kill a ninja, if they aren't prepared," she said, and Itachi, after a moment of thought, nodded, remembering stories of kekkei genkai users who were so dependent on their blood skills, they fell in battle the instant a counter could be made. Even his own eyes could prove to be such a crutch, as his clan found out from time to time.
"Well then, I believe I shall leave you two alone. When he awakens, remind him not to go beyond himself just yet. Konoha will have more use for him alive than dead," said the Uchiha with a matter of fact tone to his voice, but Kurenai wasn't fooled for a moment. Itachi saw his students as part of his family, and would have blamed himself should one of them fall.
"Domo, Itachi sensei," said Kurenai at last, and that brought a ghost of a smile to the Uchiha's lips, before he made a single handsign, and vanished, leaving her alone with Heero, whom she began to tend to.
Author's Notes:
I honestly started this story on a whim, after reading the ending of Naruto and feeling...unsatisfied with the conclusion of the manga. The anime is worse, in its own way, but still, many plot points and things that happen after the time skip just kind of make me mad, and so, before I go too much farther into this, I want to state for the record some things that are indeed different regarding this universe, as opposed to the canon one that do not come from that coin flip.
1) Madara Uchiha was a guy. He lived several generations ago, during the founding of Konoha. He did some stupid stuff, and ended up getting himself killed because he refused to accept that there were those who were better than him. He's still honored, somewhat by the Uchiha, for helping to found the clan, but otherwise, he's a historical footnote.
2) Tying into the above Obito is dead. Is Tobi still in this? Well, that's something for another time, but yeah, Obito died after the events that messed Kakashi up.
3) Chakra is a living force of the world, as described when it was being introduced to the audience, and which became a major plot point in one of the movies, rather the results of some guy eating a really good piece of fruit. Seriously, that was stupid.
4) Just to confirm this, considering the last point, yes, there was a ten tailed beast that got changed into nine other beasts of power. His backstory is different here, considering the above, but yeah, there's that.
That's all I've got for now. If I think of anything else, or if you have any questions regarding this fic, please feel free to note me, and remember to review as well as favorite, reviews are how I know I'm doing good with this.