Chapter 5: Sparring and Bitching Out A Brat
The next morning, I find myself in one of the many training fields that this village holds. It's one of the lesser used ones for whatever reason, so I use it when I don't feel like using the Anbu training grounds. I look around for any signs of someone being around. When I see no one, I nod to myself and pull a scroll out of my right shuriken pouch. Today is an unscheduled day off, however I'm still dressed in my usual leather garb just in case. What's the difference between a scheduled day off and an unscheduled one? Simple. The former is when I know I won't have to go on duty for the village. The former is when I'm expecting one, but haven't gotten one.
I run a single claw along the opposite hand's thumb, drawing blood to the now broken skin and opening up the scroll. The blood is slewed onto the parchment and with a bit of concentrated chakra there's a cloud of smoke. I sigh and sit on the bench before the sleek instrument that's not meant for battle, but can still be used as such if given the right amount of time- which is almost never. But that doesn't mean I don't know how to play it. It's taken me three years, but I find myself good enough to be confident in my playing ability. I slide my fingers along the keys of the piano. Now...how the hell is someone like me supposed to play a piano with claws in the way? That's one of the main reasons it took me three years to learn. It's an awkward way of playing it, and in fact it gets uncomfortable if I play for too long. However, I do like to practice when I can. Why? Because I like music. Simple as that.
The song I play is called Crimson Moon, something I made simply from my own ear. As I play, I close my eyes, and smile into the music. It is a slow and sad song, one that would best suit a mourning time. And even though I made the song, I can feel tears threatening to slip down my cheeks. This song always goes on to make me sad, however I don't mind. It's a beautiful song that I've managed to create, and I will never tire of playing. As the song comes to its climax and then finally the closing, I let my fingers simply slip off the keys. Simply from playing a two to three minute long song is enough to tire my fingers the way they have to play, but it was worth it.
I hear the sound of clapping, and I gasp, while the piano and its bench suddenly poof from existence, my shock sending my chakra to unsettle and unable to sustain the piano and stool. The result is me gracefully falling onto my ass. And the result of that, is the sound of a male chuckle. At first I think that Kakashi decided to follow me, seeing as not even he knows what I do when I come to this training ground. However, when I make it to my feet and turn to see who it was, I'm surprised to see a slightly smiling Itachi Uchiha. I blink dumbly at him. How long was he there for?
"How long were you there for?" I question.
Itachi tilts his head and walks his way into the clearing, the light smile now gone from his face, "I'd like to assume almost the whole time. This is where I normally train. However it seems that someone else uses this place as well".
I blanch. The whole time? Ugh, I need to learn to not get caught in my music so easily but still get the same beauty from it. That'd be nice. "The whole time? Damn". However, next I offer a smile to him, "If you want, I can leave and find another place to play. I don't mind".
"Actually...Would you like to spar with me?" The thirteen year old questions.
I tilt my head, "You wanna spar with me?" I know he's better than me. I'm not yet of Captain level for Anbu. I've only been training for three years. I'm not a prodigy as much as I seem to be. "You sure?"
"Are you afraid you might hurt me?" He questions, a slightly dark look in his eyes.
I scoff, "Hell no. More like I don't want to get my ass handed to me". I offer a smile to him, "But I'll spar you...I need to get better anyways".
He nods silently, and we walk into the center of the clearing to stand across from one another, "No B or A rank jutsus or summonings. Killing blows are to be held back to simple wounding blows. Say yield if you are caught and don't have any moves to make. If you say 'yield' then the fight is brought to an end. Understood?"
"I got ya," I offer him a smile, and crouch. My tail tightens its hold around my waist as to make sure it's safe, and my wings furl closely to my back in order to give me aerodynamicness as I run. I don't plan on flying unless I absolutely have to. "Ready?" I pause before rushing forward with a, "Begin!"
As one, we rush at one another. He with a kunai in his hand, and I with my talons at the ready. Like when I had first sparred with Tenzin, kunai meets the back of my talon-armored hand, making sparks fly. However, unlike with Tenzin, my eyes widen as I'm sent slipping back. My feet dig into the ground, and that's when Itachi attacks. With a wide punch to the side of my face. My eyes widen and a foot lifts up up kick us away just in time for his punch to go passed me. Using my momentum, I move to fall back into a back hand spring, lifting my foot in an attempt for me to meet his chin. However, he spins on the balls of his feet, moving around the kick and pushing my leg to the side. This throws me off balance only for a second. But it's a long enough second for him to get a kick into my lowered torso as I'm forced to swing by body to the left. I grunt and take the kick, stumbling as I do so. However, as he moves to follow up the kick, I catch his hand with my own, talons curled around his fist and a smile spread on my lips. My talons make their way down the lower part of his forearm, leaving nice scratches down them and giving me first blood. Not only this, but as this occurs I pull him in towards me, aiming for his face. He falls back, using his weight to unbalance me and bring me down to where he can clock me good in the jaw and then in the stomach. I'm forced to stumble back again. Next thing I know, he's hitting me left and right, bringing the speed up a notch. Oh, that rib hit is gonna bruise really well. I skid back, planting my feet in the ground to keep me from going any further.
Hands run through signs and settle on tiger. "Katon: Kitsune no Kyofu!" By my command, fire bursts up as though coming from the ground and begins to roar its way towards Itachi in the shape of multiple foxes with their fangs bared and eyes glowing hungrily.
He, being the genius he is, already knows how to counter act the fire, "Suiton: Kawaguchi Daibokufu no Jutsu!" And just as the name suggests, his jaws open up to spew out a large amount of water, which then clashes with my fire.
"Fuuton: Reppusho!" I command, refusing to allow my foxes to die out against the water. The water evaporates against the two combined C-rank jutsu.
The fire hits Itachi's body, and like any hungry meat eater, the foxes made of fire rip at skin and clothing. That is, until the clone dispels. This makes my eyes widen. A clone either the whole time or part of the time. "Kirigakure Jutsu," I hear from a tree, and I whip around to find him in a tree to my right. There, he holds his left arm straight up while the rest of his body is standing perfectly straight as well. His right arm crosses his chest, bringing his middle and pointer fingers to his lips. I watch with wide eyes as a thick chakra powered mist encompasses us both. Shit. My eyes can't see through this! Not even the famed Byakugan can see through this since it's laced with Chakra! And the Sharingan definitely can't see through it. In other words, I'm fucked. Where the hell did he learn this?
I growl to myself, my loose tail lashing around like an angry cat's, and crouch to place my right hand of talons into the earth's crust. Here, I feel for vibrations of any sort. Normally I'd make the mist go away right away, but I want to try this first. I feel my own heart beat...And...There! Quickly, I roll to my left as set of shuriken lash out at me, spinning as they fly and sticking into the ground where I was once crouching. Another set of shuriken fly at me, and my hand lashes out to cut them into pieces. This leaves my ribs right open, and Itachi sees this. I grunt as the foot makes contact with my left rib cage. However, I take this moment to wrap my tail around his foot and swing him away with powerful tug. The thing's not for show as I mentioned before. I waste no time now, unfurling my wings and letting them let out large gusts of wind to get rid of the mist. It takes about ten flaps to do this before they're furled at my back again. The Itachi I see still stunned from the throw is obviously a clone, as is shown by my throwing shuriken at him. Instincts act faster than my mind as I find my tail stopping Itachi's silent rush by jabbing out at him. He backs off and spins around my tail to lash out with a kunai. A single finger lashes out and cuts the blade in half. However, as he spins again, I spin myself the opposite way and jab my other set of claws at him. They end up at his throat. However, we fall to a complete stop, and I assess where we stand. A set of claws is gathered together to make a single point which is directed at his throat, centimeters away from taking the killing blow. He in the mean time has a second kunai pointed at my own throat, the broken one discarded on the ground and his hand balled into a fist. My wings are slightly unfurled, having helped me stop my backwards momentum and slightly protecting my open sides. My other hand is grabbed by a hand from behind me by the real Itachi as he holds a second kunai at my throat. My tail is pointed at his heart, as when I was spinning around and facing away from the clone in front of me, I saw him coming in.
We stay there for another second before the fight continues, me quickly lunching forward and sending my claws through the clone. As I'm pulled back towards Itachi, I use that momentum to spin towards him so I can see him. My tail acts and wraps around the arm with the kunai, and again my claws aim for his neck. A foot lifts up and kicks me in a pushing motion backwards, causing me to stumble from the power. My eyes widen as my tail's hold on his arm tightens and I ultimately bring him with me. I land on my back, Itachi himself on top of me and straddling my waist. His free hand catches him so that his face is in front of my own and we don't head butt one another. My tail continues to hold his kunai-ed arm. However, this doesn't leave my hands free to do anything as Itachi at lightning speeds picks himself up just enough to simply kneel over me and pull another kunai from his pouch to point it at my neck.
"Yield," he tells me, sweat dripping down his face. I can feel his pulse through my tail which is kind of weird.
I stare at the younger shinobi defiantly before sighing. Ahh, I put up a good fight and I got a good number of blows on him. I held my own pretty well actually I think. Even if he was going easy on me without using his Sharingan. I sigh again, "I yield," I tell him, and my tail releases his arm while he moves to get up.
And he would have too if it weren't for, "Alright nii-san! You beat her! I knew you would!" A familiar young voice speaks up.
This spooks the older Itachi, and he ends up over me again. However this time, both hands on either side of my head and his face is a lot closer than I expected it to be. Molten gold eyes meet midnight black for a moment or two unblinkingly. That is until he blinks and I win the staring contest. He gets up and off of me, and offers a hand with a light smile, which I take. "You're rather good, Cross-san".
"Just call me Cross; I hate honorifics," I tell him as I take his hand and he helps me up. I meet his eyes again, looking down to do so. And to think, I just got beaten by a thirteen year old- a boy who is three years younger than myself. "But thanks. I try," I jokingly say the last words.
"That you do," Itachi nods out. Our eyes now land on the little boy before us, and the older Uchiha sighs, "What did I tell you about following me out here Sasuke? You could have gotten hurt".
"But I didn't!" Sasuke insists "'Cause you protected me!" He beams to his brother, who I see smile back. His eyes then fall to my form and he mutters, "I guess you did a good job...You were that Anbu from yesterday weren't you? The one who captured the loser and took him to Hokage-sama?"
"Loser?" My eyes become a bit harsh, and I feel my fingers twitch in the urge to clench into a loose fist. As my tail wraps around my waist, I suppress the urge to lash it angrily.
"Yea. That Uzumaki boy," Sasuke answers, "He's such a loser. Always skipping class and sleeping when he actually comes. He can't do jutsus and he can't fight to save his life. I've beaten him like twenty times already. He should just give up".
"Sasuke," Itachi scolds, "Not everyone is gifted with fighting in their blood like the Uchihas are. Everyone learns at a different pace". It seems that he's slightly upset with the boy. Good. "You know better than that".
"But nii-san! It's true! I'm at the top of the class and he's all the way at the bottom! He's a dunce!"
Okay, that's it. My golden eyes narrow dangerously, and my claw tips meet up as my fingers curl into the best fist they can with my talons. "That 'dunce' or 'loser' is a good kid," I snap at him, making his young black eyes turn to me in surprise at my tone. "You have no idea how much potential that boy has, simply because he tries. It's because he doesn't give up that will make him not only an unstoppable shinobi, but also an incredible man". I can feel my chakra rising with my anger. That's not good. "You know nothing about him, brat," I snap, now bearing my fangs at him and making my way towards him. As I do, his tough guy look slowly falls, "You don't know how his family died or why, or who his parents were. You don't know what he goes through. I personally like the boy; I've talked with him and he has nothing but a want to be noticed". By now I'm standing in front of Sasuke who looks like he's about ready to piss himself. "If I ever hear you saying such bull shit in front of me, child, I will not hold back. You will feel the wrath of someone who cares about the boy. And if that happens, not even your beloved brother will be able to stop me. Got it?" The boy nods, "Good. Now beat it".
He looks to Itachi, who I see nods silently and Sasuke scrambles off with a small whimper. As I control myself again, I hear Itachi speak up, "While I don't like your method of scolding let alone threatening my brother in the slightest, I apologize for his behavior". He pauses, "You seem to care about Naruto greatly".
My eyes fall onto the Uchiha and I sigh, unclenching my hands as I do so, "It's not your fault. I kind of got carried away. And...Kakashi told me Naruto's story. I can't help but sympathize with how he feels about being the odd ball out". I look to the sky, finding the sun about half way through the sky. "Would you like to grab some lunch? My treat," I offer with a jerk of my thumb towards the village.
"I don't think I should," Itachi states simply, "I should get back to training, actually".
I scoff, "All work and no play makes Itachi a dull boy," I tell him and reach down to take a hold of his wrist. He doesn't fight and I smile. "Come on. Relax a little bit. You Uchihas work too hard if how much you train is any example of your clan".
"I'm a prodigy of my family; I have to uphold their name for my father, and as heir to head of the clan," Itachi tells me as I pull him along.
"Yes well, now you're going to be a clan head who knows how to relax as well as train," I smile to him.
It takes us little to no time to find our way walking through the business of the village, weaving through the people but keeping close to one another. After a good twenty minutes of silent walking, we make our way to a simple restaurant that served most common foods and various drinks of our choosing. Once given a table by a young woman who swooned at the sight of Itachi- despite her being in her mid twenties and he still a young teen- we order our food and drinks. While I order gozya and a kettle of sanpincha, Itachi simply orders onigiri and a kettle of hojicha.
While we wait for our food to arrive, our drinks having already made it to us, Itachi decides to take up a conversation. That's right, anti-social Itachi Uchiha started the talking. Not me. "Earlier...You said that you know how Naruto-kun feels about being the odd ball out...What does that mean?"
I pause in sipping my jasmine tea and sigh, placing it down on the table. "If you haven't noticed by now, you're dumber than you play yourself to be," I tell him with a slightly teasing smirk. But I get no reaction from the tease. Ugh, this kid needs to get out more. "Ahem. Anyways...As you know I have a pair of wings, a tail, talons, fangs," I shortly bear them at him, their tips stopping at my lower gums, "And finally, tapered ears," at this, I push some hair behind one of my ears to show that indeed, the tip is tapered. "I don't look human, and in all honestly I'm not- DNA tests say I'm not. While Naruto is completely human, he's treated like the demon he holds. I myself am given either odd or glaring glances by various people who see me as another living and breathing demon. I know what it's like to be shunned by those I wish to protect, even if it's in a smaller number than himself. And even if they don't dare try to attack someone who is naturally set up to tear off their faces". I purse my lips in disappointment. "To tell you the truth, I've only been in this village for three years. Before that, I lived in a tube in one of Orochimaru's famed bases- which as an Anbu Captain I'm sure you were told about at some point. Kakashi found me while on a mission, and he brought me here".
As I speak, I watch his eyes slowly widen to the position of a surprised face. It's not surprising that he knows Naruto's secret but not my own. Most shinobi- and people who don't hate me- assume I moved here three years ago as the last survivor of my clan from a small and unknown village. And that I was traumatized to the point of becoming a child again. "That's horrible," Itachi tells me with a frown on his lips. "I wish the people of this village, and those of other villages, weren't so close minded. If they could just try to understand those who aren't like them, maybe we could find peace".
"Words spoken like a pacifist, and yet you're one of the village's strongest shinobi," I note smartly as our food comes to us. We make a short thanks for the food before digging in.
After a few bites of his onigiri he admits, "I'd rather not fight. I'd rather try to talk things to a settling point before, if I absolutely have to, jumping into battle". So...He really is a pacifist..., "My father was the one who made me become a shinobi. To uphold our name and as heir to the clan. A head who will not or cannot fight is not an heir at all to him. Especially not when the Uchihas make up at least eighty percent of the village's police force".
"That's cruel," I tell him with a scoff, "Your father doing that to you. What of Sasuke? Is he forced to become a shinobi too?" I really don't like his dad. He sounds like a complete and utter ass.
Itachi shakes his head as he chews, showing that no, Sasuke isn't forced to become a shinobi. "Unfortunately, I am a role model for him. He wants to make our father- whom focuses on myself due to my skills and position in the clan- proud of him and pay attention to him".
"He seems pretty cocky for a neglected kid," I mutter through a bite of food.
The Uchiha sighs, "He's honestly a sweet boy. I wish he would drop this dream of becoming powerful like myself; I just want him safe".
I can't help but smile. A brother through and through it seems. "Sounds like you'd do anything for your brother".
"If you had one, wouldn't you?" Itachi questions.
That's a good question. If I had a brother. If I had a family- parents who raised me and loved me, a little brother who looked up to me or at the very least liked me- would I do anything to protect the little brother I had. "Yes," I decide, "With my life even. If I had a little brother to protect, and it was to protect him, I'd tear down a village for him". God knows that I have the power to do so.
Itachi nods once to me, "Then you and I are on the same track". We are? "As you now know, I hate to kill; everyone deserves to live their life to the fullest if they have done no wrong. However, I will kill and steal as many lives as I have to in order for my brother to survive in this world".