Training Hassles
Onyx and Ivory
Itachi came to a stop in the center of training ground four. His eyes darted around the empty clearing as he sighed, putting a hand to his forehead and rubbing it in annoyance. He had left his home at eight minutes to five and it had taken him just over seven and a half minutes to get here. Itachi thought that maybe Hoshiko wouldn't show up and just save him the trouble of teaching her. He couldn't believe he was stuck with the menial job of overseeing Hoshiko's training when she clearly didn't want anything to do with him; someone would have a much easier time with trying to get through her thick skull. Maybe that was why the Hokage appointed him; he was the only one that would probably be able to stand her rage and insults continuously thrown at him. Or maybe they were hoping that his calm exterior might rub off on her; if it did, Itachi would give up dango sticks for a week.
Itachi would wait five minutes, and then he would go to her home and drag her here, it was a nuisance but the Hokage had tasked him with a mission; and Uchiha Itachi never failed a mission, even if the mission was as bothersome as babysitting a brat.
Itachi shuffled on his feet.
"Hiya!" A shout tore through the serenity of peaceful morning as he sidestepped to the left as a figure went flying passed him and spun around two meters ahead. Itachi didn't bat an eye as Hoshiko looked peeved as she sighed.
"How did you dodge that? I thought I had you!" She exclaimed. Itachi felt a twitch on his lip but didn't smirk as he held her gaze.
"If you are trying to conduct a sneak attack on your opponent, it is best if you do not shout as you are attacking; it gives you away." He explained as Hoshiko's face turned a bright red.
"I—I know that! I was just testing you, baka!" she argued, her voice quivering in embarrassment.
Itachi didn't comment on the fact that he hadn't been able to sense her at all, it was only when she had screamed that he had even realized she was behind him. It intrigued him but not enough to earn a well-deserved praise.
"I assure you that my evasive skills are on par with that of the Yondaime."
Hoshiko 'tsk'd' and folded her arms over her chest.
"Still think you're so perfect," she grumbled under her breath but Itachi's keen hearing heard her.
"Thank you."
"I didn't meant it as a compliment, you baka!" She howled at him in aggravation.
"You may not have meant it as a compliment, that doesn't mean I can't accept it as one," he replied as Hoshiko's anger rose astronomically. Her arms shook with anger.
"You're such an asshole! I hate you!" she screeched at him. Itachi calmly took her insults; he was beginning to remember why Hoshiko failed to make friends as a child, and it wasn't just because of her family heritage.
"If you insist on continuing this childish behavior then I can only assume that you no longer wish to become an ANBU?" Itachi stated to her. Hoshiko froze on the spot as all her anger diminished in a second. Itachi didn't say anything else to her as Hoshiko relaxed her body. "My role is to help you understand what it is that you wish to accomplish, I cannot do that with you berating me every couple of seconds for something that I have not done. The Hokage has obviously seen some great potential in you and it would be a shame to put that all to waste because of some childish grudge that you hold against me. Now, would you like to begin?"
If Hoshiko had been embarrassed about having Itachi dodge her attack, it was nothing to what she felt now. She felt like her own mother or father had just scolded her. As she thought over Itachi's words, it was hard to believe that he was the same age as her, he was eleven but he acted like he was already twenty years old.
If Hoshiko was going to prove herself, she had to start taking it seriously; she was a Chuunin now, her goal was to be ANBU, she would never become one if she held onto this petty grudge. Sure Itachi would always be her rival in a sense and she would always try to beat him but if she even wanted to come close to the level that he was on now, she should try and listen to him.
"Fine, go ahead Senpai," she waved her hand dismissively and spoke with a slight condescending tone as Itachi sighed.
During the time that the two had been arguing the sun had just begun to poke over the horizon, bathing the training ground in a dewy pre-dawn light. Itachi didn't comment on the fact that she didn't even have the nerve to apologise to him, he wasn't about to have another pointless argument with her, it was like arguing with a brick wall that had three layers. Hoshiko was the most stubborn and infuriating person that he knew, and he assumed that he must've done something horrible in a past life for him to end up in this position right now.
"I have been told that your chakra control is near perfection, am I correct?" He asked her as Hoshiko gave him a sly smirk.
"You bet, best in the class." Itachi had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at her.
"One of the things that you can use to your advantage of being a master at chakra control would be the ability to mask your chakra signature. You seem to do it pretty well already without much effort until you exert energy in striking."
"Wait," Hoshiko said as she held up her hand, "are you saying that you couldn't even sense me when I snuck up on you?" She asked. Itachi didn't want to nod, but he had to. A grin came over her face as she smirked triumphantly.
"I would like you to practice this ability."
"I don't even know how I did it, it just comes naturally to me."
"This is why I am here. Trust me, Ginyoru-san." Itachi said sincerely.
There was a silent moment between the two pre-teens as Hoshiko finally nodded and formed the rat seal and shut her eyes. "Focus on suppressing your chakra, making it so that you wish to become invisible."
Itachi activated his Sharingan as his eyes blazed crimson; he could now clearly see her chakra. It flowed healthily through her body; he was amazed at what he saw. Hoshiko was actually drawing in her chakra from around her body into her center, once there she was able to mask it so that it was only a tiny flicker, it would be impossible to detect without the Sharingan or Byakugan.
"Am I doing it?" He heard her ask, one of her eyes was open as she met his Sharingan gaze. He nodded and deactivated his Sharingan; as he had deduced, he could not sense her Chakra. If he were not staring at her, he wouldn't even know that she was there.
"Hold this until you no longer can," he ordered. He heard her splutter as she growled but shut her eyes again and went back to concentrating.
Twenty-two minutes and forty-six seconds was how long Hoshiko could mask her chakra for. As she reached her limit the sweat had built up on her forehead and she was panting hard. She hunched over on her knees and wiped her brow with the back of her hand.
"Impressive," Itachi commented. Hoshiko lifted her head, her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.
"Really?" She asked in astonishment. Itachi nodded.
"There are not many Shinobi who can do what you do. If you continue to hone this skill then eventually you should be able to use it subconsciously. You would be the most recommended infiltrator for missions."
Hoshiko felt her chest swell with pride, her first compliment from Uchiha Itachi; she never expected to get one from him. She kept her excitement to herself; she didn't want Itachi to think that what he said had affected her.
"Now run one-hundred laps." Itachi ordered.
"What?" Hoshiko asked, infuriated.
"If you truly want to master this technique, you need to wear down your stamina. From what I saw of your fight with the Suna Genin, you were able to use three high classes Jutsu's and not break a sweat. Having this ability can lead to a great advantage over your enemy. You have chakra reserves far greater than mine but none of that counts if you can't continue to use if you're out of breath, now go."
"You watched my fight?" She asked. Itachi wanted to berate her for the fact that out of everything he had just explained to her, the only thing she got out of that was that he had indeed watched her fight.
"I was manning the guard tower." He replied to her, appeasing her.
"Whatever you say, senpai." She said with a smirk. Itachi crossed his arms as he sent her a swift glare as she chuckled and stretched out her limbs. She then took off at a low jog around the training ground.
"Hit all of these targets." Itachi told her as he stood back in the clearing. Hoshiko was gazing around at the targets littered around the forest. There were around fifteen targets; some strung up on tree trunks, others on the ground and one was behind a large boulder. She turned to him.
"That's ridiculous, I can't hit all of them in one go." She argued as Itachi sighed and walked passed her. Hoshiko followed him with her eyes as Itachi took out eight kunai, four in each hand as he bent his knees, readying himself. Hoshiko seriously doubted that Itachi would be able to make all of the hits, who in their right mind would be able to hit all of them in one go?
Itachi sprung up into the air, spinning and releasing his kunai as they shot out of his hands at lightning speed. Hoshiko's eyes couldn't keep up with the weapons, but she could hear the thunk of the kunai impaling the wood and the clashing of them as Itachi landed gracefully on the ground. The young Uchiha turned his head to look over his shoulder at Hoshiko. The girl was staring at the targets in awe as she saw kunai's imbedded in each of them. Hoshiko rushed around the boulder and was even more impressed when she saw a kunai in the one there; she poked her head back around to gaze at Itachi.
"That was cool." She muttered, her pride wounded at the comment. Itachi smirked and folded his arms and stood back.
"Now you do it," he said to her as Hoshiko swallowed loudly. Kunai throwing had never been her strong point, her aim was terrible most times, her strength came in the power of her Ninjutsu and stamina. Hoshiko walked over to the spot where Itachi had been standing as she readied her weapons. She took a good look around the area, trying to memorize where all of the targets were as she sucked in a deep breath and focused her mind on the targets.
She sprung up into the air, twisting her body as she threw her kunai, she was desperately trying to remember where the targets had been but for the most part she was just throwing blind.
Itachi narrowly dodged a kunai that had flown by his head by her poor aiming; if he hadn't activated his Sharingan in the nick of time he would've had a nice hole through his head.
Hoshiko landed on the ground as she surveyed her work, she deadpanned when she saw that out of the fifteen, only three had struck, and not even in the center. She rubbed her head and spun around to face Itachi who still had his Sharingan blazing in annoyance, it didn't take long for Hoshiko to see the kunai impaled to the tree behind his head.
"Oops," she said sheepishly. Itachi sighed and disengaged his Sharingan.
"Again." He said. Hoshiko nodded with a new determination as she gathered her kunai and tried again.
After hours of practice, Hoshiko had managed to bump up her score of three to eight, she was finally figuring out where all of the targets were but she was having difficulty aiming for the ones that were slightly curved out of the way. She hit the floor and couldn't hold her weight on her legs anymore so she fell onto all fours. She gasped for breath as she looked at the targets; on that last one she had managed to hit nine. She grinned as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. Hoshiko glanced over at her shoulder and saw Itachi sitting on the floor with his back against the tree trunk. She wiped the sweat from her brow and stood up, her legs were shaking but she pushed through it and shuffled over to him, she stretched her arms over her head.
"Not bad for a first day then, huh?" She said with a Cheshire grin. Itachi scoffed lightly as he stood up and brushed his clothes down.
"I thought you would've done better." He replied as Hoshiko froze and pointed her finger at him accusingly.
"What? Say that again you baka!" She threatened as Itachi faced away from her looking smug.
"You state that you're going to be better than me, but all I see is a girl that has too big an ego for her head." Hoshiko's cheeks flared up as she stomped her foot on the ground.
"Just you wait, Itachi-baka!" She yelled, turning away from him also. She heard Itachi laugh quietly.
"So that's where Shisui got it from," he mumbled, shaking his head. "We're done for today," he said loudly, getting her attention. "Meet me here tomorrow at six." He ordered. Before Hoshiko could complain once more about the time Itachi had already disappeared from her sight.
She ground her teeth together painfully, thinking about Itachi's words as she picked up her kunai and resumed her training.
Hoshiko was walking through the market street on her way home, it was nighttime and the gaslights were lighting the narrow streets as she weaved through the throngs of people; families going out for a meal or a group of friends gossiping at something or other. Hoshiko stared at the happy families, reminiscing about her own times with her family. She remembered the outings that her, her mother and father would have every other night; they would treat her to dumplings and ramen and ask her about her day at the academy. Even though Hoshiko refused to talk about the children in her class she was always eager to fill them in on new jutsu's that she had learnt.
A woman near the middle of the street caught Hoshiko's eye as she hurried over to her, "Okaa-san!" She called, waving her hand.
Hiroka turned, recognizing the familiar tone of her daughter as she smiled at her. Hiroka was swamped under the numerous bags that she had in her hands and arms.
"Let me help you!" Hoshiko uttered quickly as she took nearly all of the bags from her mother as Hiroka thanked her.
"Thank you, sweetheart. How was your training today?" She asked her as Hoshiko rolled her eyes.
"It was alright, Itachi is such a know-it-all, bossing me around, telling me to do this, and do that."
"Well, he is your senpai now, you'd do well to listen to him, he can probably teach you a lot about being an ANBU." Hiroka mused as Hoshiko sighed and scrunched up her face.
"I know; that's what he said too." Hiroka laughed and patted the top of Hoshiko's head affectionately.
"I don't know why you hold onto this grudge, it's not like Itachi-kun has ever done anything to you?" Hiroka said with a sigh as Hoshiko shook her head.
"I'm making a statement!" She argued.
"And what would that be?" Her mother asked with an eyebrow quirked at her.
"That Uchiha Itachi isn't perfect! That he shouldn't be treated like a god because he graduated a little early!"
"Sweetie, no one is perfect. I mean, look at you!" Hiroka chuckled as Hoshiko gasped at her mother.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" She exclaimed.
Hiroka laughed once again. "I am on your side. I just think that maybe instead of finding something to butt heads with him about, you should try and be his friend. The two of you are very much similar."
"I am nothing like him," she said with loathing. This time it was Hiroka's turn to roll her eyes.
Hoshiko was marching though the Uchiha compound, her fists were balled up at her side and her glare was set dead ahead at the house at the end of the street. She had arrived at the training ground dead on six am, and Itachi was nowhere to be seen! She had waited for half an hour before finally marching towards the Uchiha compound, intent on dragging the stupid ANBU member by his ear to the training ground. He was the one who had made her get up at a god awful time, so he was going to bear the consequences of a pissed of Hoshiko; not that he hadn't before.
The nerve that he had to not show up with indescribable, she was seething, it wasn't like they got to choose to be around each other, but Hoshiko wasn't going to disappoint the Hokage, she wanted to prove that she could make ANBU too, she was strong, and if that meant beating Itachi to a pulp then bring it on.
Hoshiko stomped her way to the front door, she knew where Itachi lived as her mother had dragged her here one time for a dinner that Itachi's mother had invited them round for. Safe to say from Hoshiko's negativity Hiroka politely declined all other dinner invitations. Hoshiko raised her fist and bashed it against the screen door.
"Oi! Uchiha! Get out here right now!" She hollered loudly. She waited for a few seconds and then knocked once more. "Itachi-baka! You said you would train me! I can't believe you're backing out from one day, am I that much of a threat to you, huh!" Hoshiko stood back and waited patiently, she would wait here all day if she had too, but she was not going to let this slip. She couldn't believe that the perfect Uchiha Itachi had forgotten about training; Hoshiko was never going to let him live it down.
There was a sound of someone walking to the door as Hoshiko readied her stance, she was going to pounce on Itachi once he opened that door, he wasn't going to know what hit him. The door was pulled open as Hoshiko stalled when she didn't see Itachi staring at her, but rather a young boy that looked strikingly like him.
"Uh…" Hoshiko mumbled as the young Sasuke stared up at her with his wide onyx eyes.
"Are you looking for nii-san? You were yelling for him," Sasuke said to her as Hoshiko's face suddenly turned red. She didn't expect this to happen, she didn't know how to deal with young children, she had never really been good with them.
"Hai, is he here?"
"No." Sasuke replied firmly. "He's on a very important mission."
Hoshiko groaned and smacked her forehead. "I bet he did that on purpose, the baka," she growled as Sasuke tensed and pointed his little finger at her.
"Nii-san isn't an idiot! He's the best ninja in the village, he's going to be stronger the Otou-san and the Hokage one day!" Sasuke defended as Hoshiko rolled her eyes at him.
"Whatever, twerp. I'm stronger then your brother." She said proudly, jabbing her thumb to her chest as Sasuke shook his head quickly.
"Nu-uh, no one's better then nii-san!"
"Am too!" She argued. Sasuke stomped forwards.
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Listen you little punk," Hoshiko glared at him as Sasuke matched her glare. "I'm going to beat your brother one day, and when that happens I'm going to come straight back here and make you apologise to me." Sasuke grinned and crossed his arms.
"Nii-san will never loose."
Hoshiko growled and shook her fist at the little shrimp with spikey hair, she had half a mind to throttle the little child but held herself back.
"Is that anyway to talk to a child?" A voice said from behind Hoshiko as the girl tensed and spun around. Hoshiko thought that it was either going to be the child's father or some other angry Uchiha coming to scold her, but her worries disappeared when she saw the familiar face of Shisui.
"Shisui-san!" Sasuke exclaimed with a smile as Shisui nodded to him. He grinned over at Hoshiko as the girl turned her face away from him, embarrassed. "She's looking for nii-san." Sasuke continued as Shisui walked up to Sasuke and ruffled his hair. "Shisui-san, no one is stronger than nii-san right?"
"What makes you say that?" Shisui asked the young boy as Sasuke directed his glare to Hoshiko.
"She says that she's stronger than him, but that's not true, is it?" Shisui barked out a laugh as Hoshiko felt her cheeks heat up.
"Itachi is very strong, Sasuke-kun. But you know, I'm kind of strong too, I bet I'd be able to take on him one day!" Shisui said proudly, jutting out his chest as Sasuke snorted.
"Yeah, right," he grumbled as Shisui spluttered and bonked Sasuke on the head. The boy yelped in pain as he held his head as he glared up at his brother's closest friend. "Ouch!"
Shisui chuckled and turned to speak to Hoshiko when he looked at the empty spot, perplexed; his heard darted to the left and right, spotting her walking away further down the street as he waved to Sasuke.
"I've got to got! Ja ne, Sasuke!"
Hoshiko was grumbling to herself, she was so mad at Itachi for ditching her to go on a mission and not even bother telling her about it. It was something that she added to her ever long list of things that Uchiha Itachi was not perfect at.
"Oi! Matte!"
Hoshiko didn't stop walking as she continued on her way to the exit of the Uchiha compound. Shisui suddenly came sprinting passed her as he skidded to a halt in front of her. Hoshiko didn't pay him any mind as she walked around him. Shisui glared at her and blocked her path once more; Hoshiko sighed in frustration and met his charcoal gaze.
"What do you want?" She snapped at him. Shisui's face changed from serious to a lazy grin as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Uh, Itachi actually asked me last night before he went on his mission to let you know in the morning that he wouldn't be here…but I kind of forgot," Shisui said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Hoshiko crossed her arms.
"I don't care." She bit back.
"Why? Isn't he training you?"
"I can train perfectly fine on my own, thank you. I don't need a babysitter." She said, walking passed him once more; she was almost at the exit when Shisui fell into step next to her with a brilliant smile on his face.
"Well, why don't I help you?"
Hoshiko scoffed loudly, "Don't you have something else to do? Why bother with someone like me?" She asked him as Shisui shrugged.
"Itachi wouldn't have asked me to inform you about his mission if he wasn't serious about your training, so I figured I can help, what's he got you doing? Breaking out of Genjutsu? Taijutsu?" Shisui pressed as Hoshiko ground her teeth together. It wasn't like she disliked Shisui; it was that she didn't know how to act around people who were actually nice to her. She had spent the remainder of her years at the academy fending off the bullies who didn't like her for her family heritage; even though now a few years later the village had come to accept her and her mother as residents, there were still a lot of people who didn't like her and voiced their concern about her becoming a Konoha Kunoichi. Hoshiko needed to prove to everyone that she wasn't going to betray the village like some people believed, and because of this, she tended to keep to herself and it was always strange to come across people who didn't fear her.
"Some stupid target practice." She replied finally. Shisui laughed.
"Ah, yes; I remember that. Itachi used to spend hours out there, I think he managed to hit them all within a few hours if I remember correctly."
Hoshiko's mood darkened from hearing his words, so Itachi had managed to hit all of the targets in a few hours? Hoshiko had been training for nearly half a day with it yesterday and could only hit eight. She bristled quietly as Shisui sensed her hostile feelings as he cleared his throat nervously.
"But you know, he had tons of help with the Sharingan and all. It's really difficult to do it without it." He explained, trying to reassure her somewhat. Hoshiko glanced over her shoulder at him and scoffed.
"You don't have to try and make me feel good about myself, everyone always tells me that I'll never be as good as Itachi. Even I know that it's a long shot, but it gives me something to aim for."
"Well," Shisui said matter-of-factly, "if I know Itachi, and I'm pretty sure I do; he set up that challenge for you to complete it. He wouldn't have shown it to you if he didn't think you could do it; and what better way to make him acknowledge you then to actually complete it before he gets back tomorrow, I'd bet he'd be real threatened then," Shisui said with a wink. Hoshiko had come to a full stop as she faced the older Uchiha. There was a few seconds of silence before Hoshiko darted out and grasped Shisui's shirt in her hand and began dragging him along behind her.
"Let's go, we've got a lot of work to do." She said as Shisui tripped over his feet but regained his balance quickly.
"Nani?"
"I'm going to beat this challenge, and you're going to help me!" Hoshiko demanded as Shisui tried to pry her grip off of him. It was no use though, the tiny girl had an iron grip and she wasn't relenting.
"Oi! Let me go now, Hoshiko-chan!" Shisui cried as Hoshiko ignored him and continued on dragging him. "Hoshiko-chan!"
"Report." Danzo ordered his ANBU as the man bowed with his rat mask covering his face.
"Hai." The ANBU raised his head slowly as he watched Danzo take a seat in his large wooden chair in their underground complex. The room was dark with only two candles casting eerie shadows across the old mans face. "As you assumed the Hokage has offered her a position in ANBU if she reaches the designated level. He has assigned Uchiha Itachi to train her."
"Hmm." Danzo mused as he rubbed his chin.
"As of now, Uchiha Shisui is with her as Itachi is away on a mission; but I suspect that she will continue to be with these two for a while." The ANBU explained as Danzo nodded.
"It will be difficult to get near the girl, I agree." Danzo tapped his fingers on his wooden cane rhythmically as he thought deeply about the situation. It was nearing five minutes before Danzo spoke once more. "We shall wait. It would be foolish to try anything with the two Uchiha brats keeping watch over her. The more time that Hoshiko suppresses her Kekkei Genkai, the easier it will be for us to force her to use it. For now, observe any signs of her Kekkei Genkai that we can put to use, I will inform him about this predicament, he isn't going to like waiting but we have no choice. I have invested too much into this, we didn't plot to have her father killed for nothing." Danzo explained as his ANBU nodded.
"Danzo-sama, it would be wise to inform me about her abilities, so that I know what to look out for." The ANBU said as Danzo examined him for a second and then nodded.
"You are right." Danzo stood shakily from his chair as he walked over to a small book on a nightstand and flicked through the pages. "The Ginyoru clan is one of the most secretive clans in the world, on par with the Hyuuga; through the years I have managed to acquire information about them, and after studying the body of Ginyoru Kisho I have come to the conclusion that Hoshiko can manipulate and perfectly control her own chakra and those of whom she comes into contact with."
"Please explain," the ANBU asked. Danzo flicked through the book.
"The reason the Ginyoru clan was feared so much is their Kekkei Genkai, it gives them the ability to absorb chakra from a single touch. They can drain their victims of chakra, absorbing their memories and strength, giving them an increased power and speed boost, they can virtually become unstoppable."
The ANBU was silent as he listened.
"They can heal wounds with absorbing chakra and can maintain a permanent chakra suppression, making them brilliant stealth assassins. You can understand why they were so feared." Danzo stated with a chuckle as the ANBU nodded. "During the Third Shinobi War, Iwa recruited them to sneak into Konoha campsites and assassinate dozens of Shinobi. They were able to take the memories of battle plans and the war was almost lost because of this. It was only when the Third," Danzo sneered his name, "made the decision to shift all efforts on the clan that we were able to end the war."
Danzo went back to his chair and sat down, handing the book to his subordinate. "The Mizukiri is a feared ability yes, but it has its limitations. The amount of chakra that they absorb makes them stronger, but if they take too much the repercussions are dire; they can burn out their chakra coils, they pass out after the absorbed chakra has done it's job and their healing chakra is very coveted, which is why he wants it."
"It's a blessing and a curse."
Danzo nodded. "There were reports that some of the clan started to exhibit the need to drain chakra, it can become quite addictive for them, resulting in them going on rampages and killing dozens of people."
"And this is why you wish to acquire her?"
Danzo didn't reply as the ANBU flicked onto the page of Hoshiko as a newly graduated Genin.
"She is the last of her clan, and I will obtain her power."
Thank you for the follows and reviews for the first two chapters! I hope you're all liking this story and trust me, it's going to be a whirlwind this story!