"Little Sasuke-chan is growing up. It feels like just yesterday you barely came up to my waist," Shisui said with an exaggerated sniff. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff. It was moments like these where Sasuke genuinely questioned whether Shisui was really an Uchiha. His cousin was dabbing at his completely dry eyes and blowing his nose into a napkin. 'So dramatic,' Sasuke thought.
"Where has the time gone?" Itachi asked in that bland tone of his, but even he had a small, teasing smirk on his face.
"You are both ridiculous," Sasuke scoffed and returned to his food. Why had he taken up Itachi's offer to stay over for dinner again? Right, he had assumed that it would be just the two of them, but he should have known better. Itachi had barely finished laying out the food when Shisui had strode into the apartment as if he belonged there and claimed a seat at the kotatsu.
"Oh come on, Sasuke. We're just teasing. You and Itachi are like brothers to me and what are brothers for?" Shisui said and clasped at hand onto Sasuke's shoulder with a grin. Sasuke sighed softly and returned to his food. It's not like he minded Shisui's teasing too much. His only saving grace was that Shisui wasn't as meddlesome as Itachi. Accepting his lack of protest with a nod, Shisui turned to Itachi, "So how did you get them to separate this time? You said it took both you and Haruno-san to pull them off each other at the party."
Sasuke nearly snapped his chopsticks as he turned a glare onto his brother. "Liar," Sasuke seethed at his loose-lipped brother. Whether that was a lie or not, Sasuke wasn't 100% certain. That night was still a bit of a blur…
Itachi finished chewing before he calmly responded to Shisui, "Sakura-san did most of the physical work required to pull Naruko-chan away from my brother. I believe the issue was that they were too intoxicated to see reason. Naruko-chan was more willing to leave this time when I pointed out how late it was getting. Kushina-san has very strict dinnertime rules."
"I'm mildly surprised. I didn't take Sasuke for the passionate or romantic type," Shisui mused. "But he must be doing something right."
"I'm right here," Sasuke ground out and glared at both Itachi and Shisui.
"I admit that they have an…interesting dynamic," Itachi replied as if he hadn't heard Sasuke.
"Interesting is putting it lightly. If I called a girl an idiot on a regular basis, I'd get slapped for it and my reputation would be shot," Shisui complained.
"And what a reputation to lose," Sasuke muttered loud enough for Shisui to hear.
Seeming to no longer be ignoring Sasuke's presence, Shisui turned to him with a wounded look. "Is that sarcasm I hear, Sasuke? You make it seem like I'm some sort of philanderer."
Sasuke snorted and asked, "How's that civilian girl you were seeing? The one you said gave you chocolates for Valentine's day."
"He's no longer seeing Kurosawa-san," Itachi pointed out and took a bite of the tomato nabe he'd made. Sasuke shot Shisui a knowing smirk. "They were together for three weeks and four days."
"Do you always count down how long my relationships last?" Shisui asked Itachi, affronted by the blatant betrayal.
"It's not like it's a lot of work. What's your record? Three months?" Sasuke teased with a smirk. Shisui narrowed his gaze at Sasuke in warning.
"Four," Itachi corrected mildly.
Shisui hung his head with a loud sigh before giving Itachi an exasperated look, "Not all of us find their perfect match when we're seven." Itachi shrugged once in response. Turning back to Sasuke, Shisui pointed his chopsticks at his younger cousin and said, "Nonetheless, we're happy for you, Sasuke. It was pretty painful watching you dance around your feelings and beat around the bush for so long."
Sasuke felt his brow twitch when Itachi nodded along sagely to Shisui's words. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience," Sasuke muttered.
"Don't worry about it," Shisui waved him off with a grin. "You should really be focusing on where you're going to take Naruko-chan for your first date. The first date is really important for determining how a relationship will progress."
Sasuke would never admit it out loud, but he didn't have the faintest clue how to be a boyfriend. His best examples came from his father and brother, but both of them were very private with their more affectionate behaviors. Their displays of romantic love had been few and far in between- some hand holding or a slightly longer than normal embrace. Sasuke felt like he could handle that. He'd seen Shisui with a few girls over the years- a stark contrast to Itachi and his father. Sasuke was positive that he couldn't handle public declarations of admiration just yet. (Shisui had no shame).
Taking his silence as an answer, Shisui went on, "You have no idea what you're doing, do you? You're just like Itachi." Itachi shot Shisui a mild glare but didn't say anything. "Don't give me that look. You were just as lost as Sasuke looks when you asked me for advice."
Sasuke shot Itachi a look of surprise. He wasn't sure why, but he'd never entertained the idea that Itachi had been lost and had no idea what to do once upon a time. Itachi had always seemed like a wealth of knowledge and experience. There was only five years between them, but it always felt like Itachi had an answer for every question and a plan for every situation. But, he supposed, even Itachi had to start somewhere.
Itachi had a slight tint of pink on his cheeks as he cleared his throat. "I was thirteen," Itachi stressed. "Besides,even I could see that Tou-san wasn't the best option when I had questions," Itachi explained.
"So, you asked Shisui?" Sasuke asked incredulously.
"Of course! You won't find anyone with better advice than me," Shisui bragged. "I'd already had my first kiss before you were out of diapers, Sasuke-chan."
Sasuke eyed Shisui before turning back to Itachi in question. His older brother sipped at his tea before silently nodding once at Sasuke's hidden question. Sasuke turned slightly less dubious eyes back onto his cousin. He considered Shisui for some time and Shisui grinned at Sasuke in return. "What… what's so important about the first date?" Sasuke managed to get out. Shisui looked positively thrilled that Sasuke had asked. So thrilled in fact, that Sasuke wondered if he would end up regretting his decision.
"Girls are a different breed of creatures, Sasuke. They can decide within minutes whether someone is worthy of their time. That's why the first date is important," Shisui said with a finger pointed at Sasuke. "Luckily for you, Naruko-chan has already decided to give you a chance beforehand. But that doesn't mean you can relax.
"Girls approach a relationship differently from us. Their goals are more focused on the long term. Most of them are looking for long-term commitment, marriage and kids," Shisui said and finished off his nabe.
Sasuke chewed a tomato as he mused. Naruko had never mentioned any of that. When she spoke about the future, she was always declaring her plans to become Hokage. She had never once mentioned anything romantic. Did she want kids? Did he? Was he too young to be considering this?
"Maybe Naruko-chan is different though. You know her better than I do," Shisui said with a shrug. "And that's where you have the advantage. You've been friends for so long that you already know what she likes, dislikes, wants and needs. It shouldn't be hard to find something that you both like to do and just go out and do that."
Sasuke frowned as he thought. "We like to train," he replied.
After a beat of silence where Shisui just stared at him, Shisui sighed and hung his head. Itachi shook with silent laughter before managing to get out, "I think that's as good as you're going to get, Shisui."
"Training is hardly romantic, Sasuke," Shisui tried to explain as if Sasuke were a slow child.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Then what do you suggest?" Sasuke asked snidely. Once again, Shisui grinned widely and almost predatorily. Sasuke felt as if that had been the wrong question to ask. He gulped.
~:~
Shisui's words were still buzzing around in his head the next day. Sasuke did his best to focus on his training, but he could tell that his mother was more than aware of how distracted he was today. They'd chosen one of the empty Uchiha training grounds for their session today. Her sharingan were spinning lazily as she raised her katana to block the swing of his chokuto. Sensing that she was about to go on the offensive, Sasuke jumped back and out of the way of her blade.
When he was fifteen, Sasuke had spent several months pushing himself to master a wide range of skills in preparation for his jounin exam. He'd practiced genjutsu with Itachi, ninjutsu with Kakashi, and worked on his speed and taijutsu with Shisui. He had considered asking his father for a lesson or two of whatever the man was willing to teach him, but pride had held him back. He'd wanted to improve without his father's help as a sort of surprise like he had done for his chuunin exams.
When his mother had offered to teach him kenjutsu, Sasuke was surprised to learn that she had more or less mastered the skill in both the generic Konoha and the Uchiha styles. He knew that his mother was an accomplished jounin before she had retired. But he was a little ashamed that he hadn't even considered asking for her help.
He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he decided to take her up on the offer, but it wasn't the strict disciplinarian he had faced. His mother had been out of the field for years, but her skills were still sharp and her movements fluid and practiced. As a rule, he wasn't allowed to use his sharingan when training with her, forced to rely on his natural reflexes and observational skills. He'd been completely overwhelmed within minutes, but she hadn't bothered to give him much time to recover. She sometimes randomly switched between kenjutsu styles in an effort to keep him on his toes. She even slipped in movements from styles he couldn't readily identify. Sasuke quickly learned that his mother could take training far more seriously than even Itachi. When she had helped him train before he had made genin, she was always patient and encouraging. But now that he was older, she faced him like an adult with quick strikes and almost harsh punishment for careless mistakes.
Despite her rough training methods, his mother was always quick to praise him and his quick mastery of his blade. Itachi hadn't cared to devote too much time to the skill so it made her happy to be able to pass her skills onto him. Sasuke was happy that he'd made her happy and there was another part of him that was thrilled to be skilled at something Itachi wasn't.
Sasuke dodged the quick, controlled swipes of his mother's blade while preparing for a counterattack. He was easily blocked yet again, and he could see his mother frowning slightly at him. "You're distracted. You're lucky I haven't drawn blood yet," she admonished and forced him back with a push of her blade. Resisting the urge to scowl, Sasuke forced his mind to clear with a deep exhale before taking up the offensive. She was still easily reading his movements, but at least she was smiling again. "Much better," she praised.
Sasuke tensed immediately. He was more than familiar with his mother's patterns by now so he knew that once he had met her expectations, she would immediately increase the intensity of her attacks. He wasn't disappointed when she tossed some shuriken from her sleeve and breathed fire release onto them. "Katon: Housenka Tsumabeni," she called the jutsu.
Resisting the urge to activate his sharingan, Sasuke channeled his chidori through his blade and started to move. He could have tried to dodge the attack, but he knew that this was another one of his mother's tests on his visual acuity and reflexes. He raised his chirping blade, easily deflecting the shuriken within his path while keeping his body low to the ground in order to avoid the rest of the flaming projectiles.
"Well done. It was wise to channel your lightning release through your blade. It wouldn't have been able to handle the addition of my fire release without it," she said and replaced her sword into its scabbard. Sasuke nodded in thanks while putting away his blade. "Can I ask what had you so distracted today?" she asked with a curious tilt to her head.
Before Sasuke could respond, another voice called out over the training grounds, "Sasuke!" They both turned to see Naruko waving at the edge of the training grounds with a wide grin.
Mikoto smirked while shooting her son a knowing look from the corner of her eyes. Sasuke wisely chose not to acknowledge her. Mikoto smiled serenely at Naruko's approaching form before saying, "Naruko-chan, you're looking especially happy today."
Naruko's grin dimmed slightly as a light blush tinged her cheeks and she nervously scratched at the back of her head. "What can I say? It's a nice day today, dattebayo!" she said with a stilted laugh. Sasuke gave her an exasperated look. How did she manage to make it this far as a shinobi when she couldn't lie to save her life?
"It sure is," Mikoto said and grinned. "I think I've had enough training for today, Sasuke. I need to run some errands. I'll leave you two to enjoy the day," she said and patted his back softly before leaving them alone.
Was his father the only one in his family not pushing him and Naruko together?
"Ne, Teme. Let's get some ramen," Naruko suggested with a bright grin as she rocked on her heels.
"You came all the way here to ask me to get ramen?" he asked a little dubiously. The Uchiha district was on the edge of the village. He was more than sure that she had gone out of her way to invite him out to eat. Suddenly, Sasuke remembered Shisui's advice.
"Every girl eats. Go out to a nice restaurant and don't forget to be charming. Use some of those manners I know Mikoto-oba-san taught you."
"Yeah! I have a coupon that I was saving, 'ttebayo," she said and showed him a wrinkled piece of paper from her pocket.
Sasuke was sure that going to Ichiraku Ramen while he was still sweaty and dirty from training was not what Shisui had had in mind. Sasuke tried to think of a nice place to eat in the village, but he was drawing a blank. He didn't normally eat out and when he did, it was for ramen or maybe barbeque. He must have been taking too long to respond because Naruko suddenly exclaimed in excitement before tugging him away from the training ground. Sasuke had wanted to object, but he could barely get a word in once she had started singing her ramen praises.
She was debating the merits of each flavor of ramen without much input from him as they walked through the village. She was telling him about the new flavor being offered at the ramen stand, not a care in the world. Sasuke couldn't help but glance down at where she was holding onto him. Her hand was still secured around his blue wrist warmer even though he was now walking at her side. Naruko had no concept of personal space so he wasn't surprised that she could touch him so freely. He was almost jealous of how easily she could get close to others. The only times he didn't hesitate to touch her were during spars or brawls.
Suddenly, Naruko pulled her hand away from him with a soft, "sorry". He realized that she'd caught him staring at their hands. She held her hand to her chest before slipping both hands into her pockets. She was awkwardly shrinking in on herself, not meeting his gaze. Sasuke didn't care for extended physical contact with others but Naruko always seemed to thrive on it. He supposed he should mind, but he couldn't find a reason to. Maybe he was just used to her by now? "Usuratonkachi, it's fine." She stared up at him in surprise for several seconds before a light blush rose on her cheeks. Just like that, she grinned at him before snatching up his hand and tugging him forward. She didn't let go of his hand until they were seated at Ichiraku. When she did, he couldn't help but notice the loss of warmth, but kept quiet. While he didn't mind the contact, that didn't mean he would latch onto her like a bur.
"One miso with extra pork!" Naruko exclaimed and practically vibrated in place with excitement.
Sasuke wasn't a professional by any means but even he could tell that this was probably the farthest from "romantic" that they could get. Sasuke was still on his first bowl by the time Naruko was tipping her second back and draining the leftover broth from hers. He watched her wipe her mouth on her sleeve before shouting to Ayame for another bowl. Nope. Not romantic in the slightest. But… Sasuke stared at the absolutely ecstatic look on her face when Ayame brought over another bowl. (He supposed that he shouldn't be surprised. She had always been pretty easy to please.)
Naruko was mid-slurp when she caught him staring. She smiled at him despite the noodles hanging from her mouth before eagerly returning to her bowl. What did it matter if they weren't at a nice restaurant? As long as she was happy, he could be happy too. "Naruko," he started. Her cheeks were stuffed when she turned a questioning gaze onto him. "I want to fight you."
She blinked at him in surprise before loudly swallowing the food in her mouth. "You're on, Teme!" she shouted with a wide, excited grin. Without any hesitation, she gulped down the rest of her food and dumped her coupon and some money onto the counter from her frog wallet. Sasuke had just enough time to finish his food before they were dashing out of the ramen stand and over the rooftops towards the training grounds.
"I've been training hard, Teme. I won't be going easy on you," she said as she stretched her legs.
"Hn. I didn't expect you to stop training. But it won't make much difference," Sasuke smirked and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword at his hip.
It had been far too long since their last spar. He missed this feeling and judging by the grin she was sporting; she felt the same. He let his eyes swirl into the sharingan and he watched her chakra swirl around her. Sasuke drew his sword and charged just as Naruko drew a kunai and met him halfway. "How long have you been using a sword?" she asked.
"Two years," he replied and blocked a downward slash from her kunai. While he held her at bay, he funneled his lightning release through his sword. Her eyes widened in surprise and she leapt backwards to avoid the stray jolts of lightning. Without hesitation, he followed after her with his chirping chokuto drawn. He vaguely recalled her mentioning training with wind chakra. He wasn't sure how far along she was in her training and he was curious as to how she would match his lightning.
He had to admit that he was pleased to know that her affinity was wind. His primary affinity was lightning (somewhat rare for an Uchiha) which gave her an advantage. Nonetheless, he was feeling a bit excited at the thought of her training to work around his primary affinity. It would only make for a better challenge. There was also the matter of his secondary affinity for fire. Only wind can assist and magnify fire. Sasuke tried to keep from looking too far into it, but his mind couldn't help but ponder the possibilities of the types of jutsu they could create.
"Taju kage bushin no jutsu," he heard her say just before the training ground was flooded with orange.
He was actually starting to sweat. He could barely find a second to breathe with the number of clones she was putting out. His body was almost moving on muscle memory alone- duck, twist, turn, jump. Eventually, the movements got too repetitive for his tastes. Using one clone's head as a springboard, he jumped into the air and flipped while gathering lighting in his left hand. With one swipe of his arm, a shower of senbon rained down on the sea of Naruko and quickly dispersed most of them. When he touched back down, Sasuke smirked with a soft, "hn".
"If you want to beat me, you'll need to do more than send out clones," Sasuke said and ran his eyes over each of the Naruko left. They were all watching him with fierce determination on their identical features, but their chakra gave them away. None of them were the real one. Their chakra signatures were all identical, but the amount of chakra in each clone paled in comparison to the original- like candles compared to a roaring flame.
"Oi! You think you're better than me, Teme!"
"I'll kick your ass even if I'm a clone!"
She had to be planning something. Sasuke was mildly impressed that she had the foresight and patience to attempt to pull off whatever it was. He was confident that he'd be able to figure it out long before she could get close, though. It might be arrogant of him, but he was sure that no one knew her fighting style better than he did. And despite all her unpredictability, it never took him too long to figure out what she was thinking mid-battle.
He had staked his sword in the ground next to him to grab the Naruko charging at him by her jacket. Using her own momentum against her, he threw her into another clone trying to sneak up behind him. He was about to draw his sword again when he heard a screeching noise. Turning to the few remaining clones, he could see that they had paired off and were forming a new type of rasengan. He could see the blades of wind chakra spinning around her normal chakra. The clones were grinning wildly now.
"Futon: Rasengan!"
Sasuke did his best to outrun the balls of chakra speeding towards him and he was only mildly surprised when they expanded. His eyes widened when some of the clones decided to face him head on with their jutsu, however. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see another rasengan speeding towards him, but he was just a second too slow. The rasengan popped into another clone that tackled him to the ground and landed a punch to his jaw. For a second, he was left dazed on his back, vaguely feeling his jaw throb as she landed a few more punches. Her thighs were clenched over his arms, keeping his upper body immobile. On his second try, Sasuke was able to generate lightning all over his body to disperse her clone.
He wasn't proud to admit that he'd quickly lost control of the fight to her clones. His body moved on its own, dodging about half her strikes. At one point, one of the clones even managed to disarm him with a kunai. He could feel that natural competitive spirit rising up within him. He wouldn't lose.
He would only need one for this. He didn't want to go overboard. Suddenly making the tiger sign, Sasuke took a deep breath and compressed his chakra. 'Katon: Gouryuuka no jutsu!' Sasuke dropped his jaw and exhaled the large, dragon head-shaped fireball at the clones, causing them to disappear on contact or from the intense heat alone. Using his chakra, Sasuke was able to control the fire to send it flying upwards. He watched as the clouds started to slowly gather just as the real Naruko reappeared from where she had been hiding along the edges of the training ground.
He watched and waited for her attack, but she was standing completely still with her eyes closed. Was she… meditating? "Need a break, Usuratonkachi?" he taunted, but he was secretly grateful. The thunder clouds were still darkening.
When she didn't respond, he frowned slightly. He was about to toss some shuriken at her but stopped when he noticed her skin changing around her eyes. Her tanned skin was turning orange and when she opened her eyes, her sky-blue irises were yellow. Subtly shifting his stance, Sasuke waited for her attack. She grinned and said, "Took a while to gather the chakra, but I hope you're ready! Here I come, Sasuke!"
That was all the warning he received before she practically blurred out of existence. He could barely see her movements as she struck with far more strength than he was used to from her. Was she using chakra to enhance her strength? No. He'd be able to see it, if only slightly. It was almost like the amount of chakra she was using was diminished. So how? He was left even more confused when a punch that he was sure he had dodged, still managed to knock him backwards and away. When he turned back to her in question, he watched her give him a "V for victory" sign and grin smugly.
He knew that he wasn't supposed to use it. His father, Shisui, and Itachi (especially Itachi) had warned him against it. A spar with Naruko hardly counted as an emergency. Maybe if he refrained from using any jutsu? He just needed to be able to see. He let his chakra pool behind his eyes, his Mangekyo swirling into place. He watched her grin fall as a more serious look slid over her face. That's right. She had no idea what his eyes could do. "Your training wasn't for nothing. But I wonder how fast you really are," Sasuke said as the sound of thunder clapped overhead. He watched some raindrops land on her cheek, but she didn't take her eyes off him. He gathered lightning chakra in his hand and the clouds above responded with more thunder. Finally, she looked up in astonishment.
Kirin was his most powerful raiton jutsu. When he had been training with Kakashi to expand his ninjutsu repertoire, his former sensei had given him one main goal: develop his own original jutsu. Kakashi had only advised him during the process, remaining mostly hands off. Sasuke hadn't originally known what type of jutsu would have fit into his arsenal best. He had a wide range of short to long distance jutsu from multiple ranks. An offhanded comment from Kakashi about the chidori had gotten Sasuke thinking.
"I only regret the amount of chakra needed to use it," Kakashi had lamented. Sasuke's chakra reserves had built up enough that he could use the Chidori multiple times without being winded. But if he could use an even more powerful jutsu that required less chakra?
This Kirin was abated compared to the one he had perfected. It didn't take the form of a dragon made of pure lightning this time, being restricted to stray bolts of lightning. There was no need to go all out. With a wave of his hand, the first bolt of lightning struck.
"Teme!" she shouted as she dove out of the way, tucking and rolling back onto her feet. There was a black circle of scorched grass where she had been standing.
"If you have time to yell, you should dodge faster," he responded and sent another bolt of lightning down. As she was in the middle of dodging, he moved.
He could track her movements better now, but she was still moving a bit too fast for him to hit. Every few seconds, her eyes would quickly glance up at the clouds warily as if she were waiting for another strike of lightning. It was when she was distracted that he managed to land a kick to her gut and send her flying while simultaneously calling down another lightning strike.
"Futon: Reppuushou!"
Sasuke channeled some chakra to his feet to help him stick to the ground as he braced himself for the incoming winds. He watched her narrowly slip past the lightning, the uncontrolled release of winds and her own chakra pushing her out of the way of his attack. (He hadn't realized that he'd tensed up during that last attack.) When she pushed herself back up from the ground with an outraged curse at him, he relaxed slightly. Luckily, the thunder clouds were starting to dissipate. She was still in the middle of cursing at him when he dashed across the training ground.
"Where'd you learn that jutsu?" she questioned while ducking to avoid his fist.
"I developed it."
He felt an odd sense of pride at her wide-eyed awe. But she was quick to snap out of it. "New jutsu or not, I can still kick your ass!"
"I doubt that. I had to hold back for your sake," he said as he caught her punch with a chakra-enforced hand. He could have pat himself on the back for not flinching at the immediate sting of pain that shot up his arm.
"Teme!" she shouted and punched with her other fist. He made sure to reinforce his entire arm as he caught her other hand, doing his best to maintain his grip on her smaller fists. He was so close to her face he could feel her breaths coming out as harsh pants. He could feel his feet slowly sliding backwards on the grass from the force she was pushing against him. He tried to use his taller height to his advantage, but she wasn't budging. Idly, he realized that they weren't even sparing anymore, but this battle of wills felt just as intense as their earlier bout. He could feel his arms starting to weaken as she pushed him back another inch. It was pure bullheaded stubbornness that kept him going just long enough to notice the orange starting to fade around her eyes. He could hear her lamenting softly. Whatever technique she had used wasn't permanent.
"Five minutes? Is that the best you can do, Usuratonkachi?" he couldn't stop the taunt from escaping.
"Teme!" she shouted and used a quick burst of speed to grab him by the wrists. Just as the orange was fading away, she pushed her entire body forwards head-first. He had tried to lean back and away, but she'd still managed to smash the top of her head into his face. He thought he'd heard his nose crack. A loud curse jumped out of its own accord, but it was drowned out by her loud war cry. His breath left him with a "oomph" as she tackled him to the ground and straddled his waist.
After that, their legitimate spar devolved into a rowdy brawl accompanied by loud curses and insults. He couldn't blame her entirely for it either. He was reacting to her wild energy the same way he'd done when they were kids. But now that they were older, it was much easier to restrain her in a chokehold and demand that she give up. She had immediately doubled- no, tripled- her efforts to break free, as if he had instead demanded she give up ramen. Like some sort of wild cat, she growled just seconds before actually biting him. She managed to wriggle out of his gasp while he stared incredulously at the fresh bite mark. He was still stunned that she'd actually bitten him when he felt her fist strike his cheek. He was about to kick her away, but she was fast enough to straddle him again and raise another fist to strike. Before she could bring down her arm, he met her gaze and placed her under a mild genjutsu. She was only gone for a few seconds, but it was enough to push her off him and restrain her with a kunai.
When her chakra surged out of her and broke his genjutsu, she blinked twice to regain her bearings and immediately started to struggle in his hold. He had his knee on the middle of her back and a hand pinning both her wrists to her back. "Teme, you cheated! Who said you could use genjutsu?"
"I didn't realize it was cheating. Did you want me to hold back even more and let you win?" he replied. As he expected, she didn't respond. Truthfully, he didn't care to use genjutsu during their spars. He always preferred the challenge of meeting her head on- something that was easy to avoid with genjutsu. But he'd been a little desperate this time…
When he moved to stand, he let the sharingan fade away from his eyes. He offered her a hand up this time even though his arms still felt like jelly. She had a few bruises on her face and blood on her chin from a split lip, but he was sure that he looked no better. Sasuke rested a glowing hand to his face, immediately relishing in the feel of healing chakra soothing the pain he felt.
He was picking up his sword from where he'd lost it earlier when he heard her exclaim, "You know how to heal?"
"Sakura taught me," he said and placed his chokuto back in its scabbard. She had closed in on him and was staring at his face in awe.
"Heal me too, 'ttebayo!" she said and rested his hand on her cheek.
For a moment, he paused at the feel of her. He'd felt her face plenty of times, usually under his fist, but never from a gentle caress of his hand. He could feel the light ridges of her whiskers under his thumb, but other than that her face felt smooth, soft and heated to the touch. He noticed her eyes widening slightly as a light flush colored her cheeks. He felt his heart pound once and skip a beat as he moved his hand away. "Maybe next time, Usuratonkachi. If you actually manage to beat me that is," he said and poked her forehead. He started walking away from her and he could almost hear the seconds pass as her brain caught up to his words.
"Jerk!" she shouted as his back. Sasuke smirked.
~:~
Sasuke was sure that Shisui was getting far too much enjoyment out of their training sessions. The older boy was grinning widely and recounting their spar from his point of view. "You just need to focus more. That's all," Shisui said with an easy shrug.
"I was focusing," Sasuke gripped. They were walking back to the village together after spending all afternoon training. They'd had to go out of the village and find a clearing large and secluded enough for privacy. They were working with clan secrets after all.
Shisui rubbed a hand to his chin and hummed in thought. "It's probably your chakra control then. You're decent at fine control, but the Susanoo is different. It can be just as strenuous to handle such a large mass of chakra as it is to continuously handle with small amounts. You should try meditation."
Sasuke raised a dubious brow.
"I mean you should try refamiliarizing yourself with your chakra. Using the Susanoo requires a large amount of familiarity with your chakra to be able to form the full body. Try spending at least an hour a day getting more in tune with your chakra."
Sasuke turned Shisui's words over in his head. The older boy was right. Using the Susanoo didn't come as easily to him as using Amaterasu. At first, he could just about get the ribcage to form and maybe the skull but going any farther had quickly drained him of chakra. Now, he was almost able to get the full body to form (mostly due to his increased chakra control), but he was still unable to actually use the Susanoo to attack. Actually moving the behemoth required intense focus, awareness, and control. Sasuke hadn't managed to hit Shisui with an attack yet. It was no more than a glorified shield at this point.
"Then again, it is me that you're training with. I'm sure that you would be able to simply crush a lot of shinobi," Shisui mused.
"But if I want to hit anything moving even slightly faster than average, I'll need to be better," Sasuke finished and frowned.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. By all accounts, you're doing better than I expected," Shisui complimented.
"I'd be farther along, if we trained more often. Or if you at least allowed me to train with my mangekyo on my own," Sasuke pointed out.
"I'm supposed to help you master your eyes. You can't master them if you end up going blind after a few days. I know that you want to do more, but you should consider Itachi."
Sasuke raised a confused brow. Shisui gave Sasuke a serious look. "He's worried about you. He knows what you had to go through to get those eyes and he's conflicted. He appreciates that you have a new tool to fight and protect yourself with, but he loathes what you had to go through to get it."
"He never told me that," Sasuke said in a soft voice.
"He's been fretting over your eyes from the moment you got the sharingan. Awakening the sharingan is a rite of passage within our clan. But Itachi can't ignore the cost of gaining such power. Truthfully, he hated his eyes when he got them. They're a necessary evil to him now."
Sasuke nearly paused at that. He'd never considered that Itachi had felt this way about their clan's doujutsu. "Why are you telling me this?" Sasuke asked.
"Because Itachi didn't. Because despite as much as you know, you can still stand to understand him better," Shisui explained.
Sasuke frowned and stared down at the forest floor as they walked. He knew that Itachi was as complex as they come. When he was a child, he'd had no hope of deciphering Itachi's reasons for what he did and spoke. But lately, Itachi had been opening up to him- sharing with him more than ever before. "Do you think he would have told me if I'd asked?"
"Perhaps. You're not a little kid anymore. I think he's starting to realize that. But I doubt he'd have brought it up without prompting though," Shisui answered with a shrug. "Who knows? He might start coming to you for advice one day. He'll need advisors for when he becomes Hokage. Prodigy or not, no one can do everything alone."
Sasuke tried to suppress the happiness he felt at Shisui's words, but the older boy must have still seen it because he grinned knowingly. Sasuke grunted dismissively while looking away from Shisui. He could hear Shisui's nearly silent snickers and wisely chose to ignore them. Shisui could walk back to the village alone. Sasuke didn't have to stick around and be-
Sasuke choked on a breath as he felt Shisui roughly pull him backwards by the back of his collar. As he was stumbling back, Sasuke watched a small ball of chakra screech and whir by where he had just been standing. He knew that attack.
"Sasuke!"
He wasn't the only one getting in some late training. Naruko was standing with the Yondaime, the clearing around them only slightly destroyed with small craters and fallen trees. Naruko was scratching at the back of her head with a sheepish expression. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Where were you aiming, Usuratonkachi?"
Immediately, she snapped up with a glare. "Your head, Teme!"
Sasuke let his eyes rove over the many craters and scoffed. As he expected, she was ready to march over to him and probably shout until his ears starting ringing, but the Yondaime was quick to grip the back of her jacket. "Naruko, you asked me to help you train," Minato reminded.
Naruko spared her father a look. "I know," she said, but quickly turned back to Sasuke. "Were you training too?"
Sasuke noticed the Yondaime looked a bit put out at being brushed off by his daughter. "Obviously," he replied.
Just like that, he could feel the air between them shift. Her eyes narrowed at him as she stared him down, as if trying to physically see the differences his training had brought out. He took the time to examine her as well. He could see light burns on her hands. 'Chakra burns?' What was she doing with her wind chakra? Despite his curiosity, he didn't ask. He'd find out soon enough. Besides, it's not like whatever it was could top what he had been secretly working on. It was probably not the smartest thing to do with the Yondaime right there, but Sasuke smirked at her. He could see the angry flush rising up her neck as her chakra lashed at his own. (He hadn't even noticed that he'd unleashed his chakra.) Without conscious thought, his sharingan activated.
"Sorry to disturb you, Hokage-sama. We'll get out of your hair," Shisui loudly said started shoving at Sasuke's back. With eye contact now broken, whatever hold that had been over him quickly vanished. He objected loudly back at Shisui, but his cousin was adamantly pushing him away. "I'm saving your life, you little brat," Shisui hissed in his ear and shushined them away.
~:~
He may not know much about dating or romance, but Sasuke didn't think he was doing too badly. Honestly, not much had changed in the dynamics of his relationship with Naruko. They still argued and fought regularly. She was still an idiot and she still called him a bastard. They did spend more time going for walks around the village where she would tell him every single detail of her day or every thought that crossed her mind, he would offer the bare minimum of responses, and let her energetic chatter wash over him.
And then there were the new activities (perks) that came with the territory of a relationship…
Sasuke couldn't say that he'd ever been too interested in girls (or guys for that matter). There was always training or a mission to do. There had been plenty of girls within the village that would ask him out or give him chocolates on Valentine's day. But he'd always been quick to dismiss them. Shisui had called him a late bloomer but Itachi had insisted that he was just selective. Once again, Itachi had been right.
While his interest in training and getting stronger hadn't waned in the slightest, it was as if another, new part of his brain had emerged with the sole purpose of focusing on attraction (to one person in particular). Naruko had always captured his attention in the past- she made him want to fight her, challenge her, beat her. But now she was capturing it for new reasons entirely.
He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or not. She seemed to adapt to their new dynamic almost too easily. While he was still wrestling with himself on how much he was willing to display, she barely hesitated. Naruko would always wordlessly ask for permission before attempting something new, which he appreciated. But once he found himself agreeing to her wishes (he was finding it harder and harder to deny her), she would enthusiastically capitalize on his willingness. He'd once semi-patiently sat through her attempts at getting his hair to lay flat. (Honestly, the things he let her get away with…)
"You're in a good mood today," Itachi said and sipped at his tea. Itachi had been adamant to see Sasuke at least once a day after he had moved out of the compound. Sasuke had put up token objection to this, but Itachi had seen right through it. Truthfully, Sasuke was seeing his brother more regularly now than he ever had when Itachi was in the ANBU. Now that Itachi had relinquished his mask and taken up the position of Hokage's aid/advisor, he was still very busy. But at least he was within reach.
Sasuke hummed once in response and stared at nothing over Itachi's shoulder. Itachi had been insufferable with his silent, but ever-present air of "I told you so". Sasuke was sure that Itachi would spend the rest of his life gloating. "So are you. It wouldn't have anything to do with Izumi returning to the village yesterday, would it?" Sasuke asked and finally met his brother's eyes.
Itachi stared at him for several seconds before actually smiling. It was barely there, but Sasuke was sure that it was large enough for just about anyone to notice. The table of girls next to them erupted in giggles. Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes, but Itachi acted as if he hadn't noticed. In a completely un-Itachi move, Itachi shrugged carelessly once, took another bite of his dango, and casually leaned back in his seat.
Sasuke stopped to stare at his brother. Itachi always seemed to have slight shadows under his eyes and too many hard lines for his age- frighteningly similar in appearance to their middle-aged father. Those shadows were almost entirely receded now. The stress lines were practically filled out and smoothed away. A regular sleep schedule and a healthy diet perhaps? Itachi always watched what he ate, but maybe he was finally getting a chance to eat more than just ration bars and soldier pills for days.
"Sasuke?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Sasuke shook his head with a smirk. "You've gotten fat spending all day in the tower. Have you been slacking off on your training?"
Itachi smirked. "I hear you've been training almost non-stop. Kakashi-san is relieved that you've found a permanent sparring partner," Itachi said and stood. Sasuke refused to blush. "Maybe you can show me how much stronger you've gotten?"
Sasuke grinned in excitement. The giggles were coming out as squeals now.
~:~
Itachi could practically feel the excitement buzzing off of his little brother as he led the way to one of the training grounds on the village's outskirts. Sasuke was far from the little boy that would follow at his heels and beg to train with him. But in moments like these, Itachi couldn't help but see flashes of his adorable, little brother. Making sure to hide the smile on his face, Itachi stood opposite Sasuke and waited. Itachi let his senses take in the entire field, his mind already documenting different factors like wind speed and direction while whirring through different contingency plans. Itachi could sense Sasuke's chakra, barely restrained and strong across the field.
"You aren't going to spend half the fight relying on genjutsu, are you?" Sasuke taunted and rested a hand on the hilt of his chokuto.
Itachi smirked slightly. "I was under the assumption that I was to be testing you in all areas," Itachi said and let his eyes swirl red. "If you don't think your skills at genjutsu are satisfactory-"
Sasuke scoffed loudly and activated his sharingan. Itachi had just been goading his little brother, but Sasuke didn't hesitate to take the bait. Even so, Itachi was sure that Sasuke was already working through different plans of attack and retaliation. His little brother did always favor a more direct approach.
Utilizing his speed, Itachi blurred into action while drawing a kunai. Judging by the slight widening of his eyes, he had managed to catch Sasuke off guard, but his little brother was quick enough to draw his blade to block the point of his kunai. Itachi could see the minute movements of Sasuke's eyes, probably trying to detect genjutsu. Raising one foot to hook around the chokuto hilt and quickly disarm Sasuke, Itachi followed through with a quick to the jaw with his other. Sasuke had been quick to grab his sword while leaning back to avoid the kick, but he hadn't noticed the subtle genjutsu Itachi had placed over him while still mid-air. While his brother stood with a slightly vacant look to his eyes, Itachi placed three more genjutsu over him and waited.
Genjutsu wasn't Sasuke's specialty. Being an Uchiha and having the sharingan afforded him some natural proclivity for the skill that would be more than enough to face the average shinobi. But Itachi had no interest in preparing Sasuke to face the average shinobi. He was already confident that his little brother was strong enough to face the average jounin and emerge victorious. But Itachi was looking towards the future. The Akatsuki was a legitimate threat on the horizon and a direct threat on Naruko-chan. Based off of past actions and what he knew of his brother's behavior, Itachi was sure that only death or severe incapacitation would keep Sasuke away from a fight with an Akatsuki member. He would need to be ready.
It took four minutes and twenty-three seconds for Sasuke to break through all of his genjutsu. Despite remaining motionless for that time, Sasuke was panting slightly and glaring at him. "Better than I was expecting," Itachi complimented. Immediately, Sasuke's annoyed glare softened, and he seemed to preen himself quietly. Yes, still his adorable little brother.
"Does this mean you'll take me seriously then?" Sasuke asked and gripped the hilt of his chokuto. He had been taking Sasuke seriously. The genjutsu he'd placed were some of his stronger ones. He supposed a battle of the mind wasn't what Sasuke would consider a true spar.
This time, Sasuke made the first move. Sasuke had gotten faster than he remembered. He wasn't up to Shisui's speed, but Itachi was sure that his little brother would get there in time. He moved his chokuto like an extension of himself- his movements tightly controlled, yet fluid. Itachi could see their mother in the way Sasuke struck. Without hand signs, Sasuke breathed a fireball while mid-dodge. His chakra control was far more refined as well. This must be the work of training with Haruno-san. All in all, Itachi was impressed by the amount of growth he saw in his brother.
"That's good enough for a warm-up," Itachi said and moved. He rushed towards Sasuke with his kunai drawn, but Sasuke met him halfway. They caught each other by the wrists, grips tight. Itachi focused on Sasuke's hands and arms but couldn't see any chakra augmenting his brother's strength. He'd gotten physically stronger too…
Itachi felt the shift in the air before he saw the beginnings of lightning form in Sasuke's hands. As Itachi was leaping backwards to dodge, he could hear Sasuke summoning a weapon from a seal hidden somewhere on his person. Without weaving a single sign, Itachi quickly summoned a clone in his place and ducked into the shadows of the nearby tree line. Itachi watched Sasuke toss a fuma shuriken at his clone before disappearing from sight. Had he seen through the clone? The shuriken sparked wildly, Sasuke's Chidori powering it enough to cut through the kunai his clone used and dispel his clone entirely.
Itachi tried to detect Sasuke's presence, but he had to admit that his brother had hidden himself quite well- almost as well as an ANBU operative. Kakashi-san's influence perhaps? It was interesting how many different styles and techniques comprised his brother's fight style.
Itachi stiffened. If he had been just slightly less aware, he might not have sensed the subtle genjutsu that Sasuke had placed over him. Idly, Itachi recognized the jutsu as one of his own. He wasn't sure whether to be proud of how well Sasuke had casted the genjutsu or insulted that Sasuke thought that a trick like that would work on him. It took barely any effort to turn the genjutsu back onto Sasuke and catch him by surprise with a hand to the throat. Despite the true surprise in his little brother's eyes, something felt off. Itachi narrowed his gaze.
With a chakra-enhanced squeeze to the neck, Sasuke froze just before starting to buzz and glow blue. 'A lightning clone,' Itachi surmised and moved away before he could be electrocuted. He was still mid-air when he noticed the movement from the corner of his eye. As if everything was moving in slow motion, Itachi turned and attempted to dodge the attack. But his mind had already calculated that he wouldn't be able to move fast enough to dodge the kick Sasuke was aiming at his chest. He could try for another clone, but the kick didn't look too powerful. It would be more efficient to simply brace for the impact with chakra.
Itachi immediately regretted this decision, however. Sasuke's kick had manage to knock the air from his lungs and send him flying out of the forest. Even before he managed to regain control and slide to a stop on the grass, Itachi knew that his ribs were bruised. He moved down onto one knee and tried to breathe through the pain. When he saw Sasuke hobble out from the tree line while cursing quietly and colorfully (their mother would be so disappointed if she heard him), Itachi raised a brow. Sasuke managed to limp/hop over to him before collapsing onto the ground. Itachi stared down at the bruises rapidly darkening his brother's foot and ankle.
"Your chakra control has gotten better, but not good enough to mimic Tsunade-sama. You'll need to go to the hospital for that leg," Itachi said and sat back. Itachi hadn't even noticed that Sasuke was trying to use chakra to increase his strength. Maybe if he had, he could have stopped Sasuke from injuring himself.
"Sakura made it look easier than it was," Sasuke explained and gently pulled his leg towards himself. "You should see someone about that bruise," Sasuke said and nodded once towards Itachi's chest.
Despite his shirt covering most of the area, Itachi could see the hints of dark blue bruising peeking out from the top of his V neck. Itachi gave Sasuke a dry look, but Sasuke smirked cockily. He was about to comment that Sasuke had caused more damage to himself than he had Itachi, but he paused. Itachi watched in mild intrigue as Sasuke's hands glowed green. Medical ninjutsu? He hadn't known that Sasuke was learning the skill. After a few seconds, Itachi pointedly cleared his throat. Sasuke raised a brow at his brother in question but then smirked again.
"Sorry, Nii-san. I'm running a bit low on chakra. But I'm sure that someone at the hospital can tend to you."
He didn't need his sharingan to see that Sasuke was lying through his teeth. "Sasuke," Itachi warned.
"Maybe they can give you a few lessons, too," Sasuke said and wiggled his ankle experimentally. Hearing Sasuke's laughter as he dodged the shuriken that Itachi had tossed was worth aggravating his bruised chest.
Itachi pushed himself onto his feet and straightened out while Sasuke was pushing himself up onto his feet. As he approached his little brother, Itachi couldn't help the feelings of warm fondness and pride that were swelling within him. It had been a while since he had trained with Sasuke or seen Sasuke's skills firsthand. And in that time his little brother had truly grown strong. Even so, Itachi could see that Sasuke had yet to reach his true potential. It wouldn't be much longer now until Sasuke surpassed him.
Sasuke watched as Itachi raised a hand towards his head. Even though he always pouted and grumbled about the gesture, Itachi could see that Sasuke appreciated it for what it was- a non-verbal reminder of love and affection. At the last second, Itachi diverted his hand to reach around Sasuke's head. He'd caught Sasuke by surprise, but Sasuke still let him pull him in for a soft bump of foreheads. The pure shock and surprise on Sasuke's face had Itachi's features softening. "You've grown strong, Sasuke," Itachi said and allowed his walls to momentarily fall as he poured as much pride, love and sentimentality as he could into his words. If it was even possible, Sasuke's eyes widened even further.
He looked so young- like the adorable little brother Itachi often saw. The two images were superimposing themselves over each other- a seven-year-old Sasuke grinning without a care in the world and the seventeen-year-old preparing to take on the true horrors of the world. Itachi could see the different emotions warring within Sasuke. He was touching at his forehead fondly while pouting and looking away. "What's gotten into you?" Sasuke grumbled softly.
Before Itachi could answer, a shinobi he was vaguely familiar with shushined to the space at their side. He was on one knee and made eye contact with Itachi. Immediately, Itachi sobered up, all traces of emotion wiped from his face. "Itachi-san, I have a summons for you from Hokage-sama. It's urgent," the shinobi said.
"What happened?" Sasuke asked, almost demanding the messenger. The shinobi eyed Sasuke for a few seconds before looking to Itachi warily. If the matter was confidential, the Hokage would have sent an ANBU instead of a chunin. Almost imperfectively, Itachi nodded once.
"Sarutobi Asuma has fallen in battle."
~Omake~
Naruko was going to give him even more grey hairs. Minato ran his fingers through his hair and sighed loudly. Not having the strength to hold himself up any longer, he slumped over on his desk and released a woeful moan.
"Sensei?" Kakashi questioned from where he was leaning against the wall of the Hokage's office. Minato cracked an eye open to see Kakashi's lone, grey eye watching him from over the top of his orange book. The sight of Kakashi reading Jiraiya's book again left Minato feeling another wave of failure. His lone student was a closeted pervert! Minato released an even louder moan.
"What's wrong with him?" Minato heard just seconds before the sounds of his sensei's clacking sandals filled the room.
"Hokage-sama returned from training with Naruko-chan like this," Itachi's monotone voice supplied from his desk across the room.
Jiraiya closed the door to his office with a pensive hum. "Did something happen to the brat?" Jiraiya asked.
"I'm not sure. He hasn't been very forthcoming with how their training went," Itachi replied.
"Sensei, we can't help if we don't know what's wrong," Kakashi supplied in a wary voice.
Minato pushed himself up from his desk and faced his student. "Naruko cut our training short. She seemed so happy to be training with me. I made sure to clear my schedule to make time for her," Minato explained. Itachi glanced at the extra stacks of documents on his own desk and the distinct lack of papers on the Hokage's desk with a raised brow.
"I'm sure she appreciated the effort," Kakashi soothed.
"Did she?" Minato asked skeptically. "Everything was going great, but then he showed up."
Kakashi slumped with a sigh while Itachi went back to his work with a shake of his head. Jiraiya was the only one still giving Minato his full attention. "Minato, we talked about this. Naruko isn't a little kid anymore. So she's got herself a boyfriend. What's the big deal?" Jiraiya shrugged.
"Boyfriend!? No one told me he was her…" Minato couldn't even say the word. His little girl, his precious Naruko, his innocent daughter… Minato barely held back the wobble in his chin.
Itachi looked up from his desk again when he heard the loud thud of Minato's head hitting his desk. He locked eyes with the other two inhabitants of the room. Kakashi looked to be half a second away from fleeing through the window and Jiraiya seemed to be contemplating it as well. Itachi was sure that "provide emotional support" wasn't listed as one of his official duties as Hokage aid.
"Hokage-sama-" Itachi started, but Minato cut him off.
"He practically stole her from me. We were training and it was going so well and then he just swooped in out of nowhere. She just left me behind to go follow after him," Minato moaned in a slightly muffled voice. He was still faceplanted onto his desk.
"Makes sense. He's a decent looking brat," Jiraiya mused and rubbed at his chin. Minato softly whimpered.
"He insults her," Minato complained. Ever since they were children, he'd called Naruko all manner of horrid insults. Minato was more than aware of the absolutely foul language that Uchiha boy used. And he'd only gotten worse as he'd aged! Poor Mikoto and Fugaku.
"She does the same to him. At this point, it's almost like a pet name," Kakashi pointed out.
Minato continued on as if he hadn't heard him, "He gave her a black eye just two days ago." Ever since she had returned to the village, Naruko would come home with more bruises and cuts. His wonderful, loving and ever-amazing wife was always quick to ensure that Naruko wasn't truly hurt, but then she would loudly applaud Naruko for whatever hits she had managed to land in return.
"I believe they were sparring, and she also broke one of his ribs during it," Itachi said and turned the page of the citizenship request form he was reading through.
"And he doesn't even pay when they go out for ramen!" Minato loudly objected as he suddenly sprang up from his desk. His dearest daughter deserved more than a cheapskate!
"Minato, despite all my attempts to teach you the ways of women, only you would think getting ramen counts as a date," Jiraiya said with a roll of his eyes. "Look, they're kids. Kids are gonna do what they want. Live and let live, I say."
Minato nearly threw a kunai at his former sensei. What terrible advice!
"Minato-sama, I assure you that my brother is very respectful towards Naruko-chan. I am almost positive that it is her that is dictating how quickly their relationship progresses," Itachi soothed.
Minato stared at Itachi for several seconds as he thought. Itachi was a good man. He wouldn't lie to him. Minato was also sure that Itachi deeply respected him due to the way that he handled the situation with the Uchiha so many years ago.
"There you go! It sounds like he's just like you, Minato!" Jiraiya exclaimed. Minato's brows furrowed in confusion. "Good looks can get you only so far when you can't even talk to a girl properly."
Minato flushed in embarrassment. He could see Kakashi hiding behind his novel to hide is amusement and even Itachi was shaking silently in laughter behind some papers. Minato did throw that kunai this time. Unfortunately, he hadn't caught his sensei and Jiraiya had rudely bowled down the door to his office in his attempts to escape.