Chapter 1: The Uchiha Heir

Living in the clan compound was like walking around with a clown nose on and a light up billboard attached to her back. Kenma had never fit in. It started with her hair, blonde like her father's instead of the standard Uchiha black, and it ended with her personality. She never meshed with the uptight holier-than-thou attitude Uchihas seemed to be born with. This fact was only worsened by her status as a bastard.

Ever since she could remember, despite her mother's attempt at shielding her from the gossip, people speculated on her ability to activate the clan's dojutsu, looking down on her father's heritage. The fact that her mom ran away from home to marry him also being further fodder to shit on her entire existence.

In that way, she was excluded from Uchiha playpens and rarely left the house.

Her family, consisting of her brother, her mom and her, lived on the outskirts of the compound—out of mind and out of sight which she was partially thankful for. Her father had died during the Third Great Shinobi War which was why they were even living in the compound in the first place.

She hated it here—which she voiced almost everyday to no avail, earning her a "You're so childish" from her bitch-brother.

Today, she was walking through the compound and making herself a target of whispers and gossip because she made a promise to her Sensei to make a delivery to the young Uchiha heir—who was almost bearable if he wasn't a symbol of everything she wasn't.

Itachi was a once in a millennium (or whatever ridiculous number) genius—born at the highest position in the clan and also a stone cold bitch. The only reason he was almost bearable was because he didn't talk shit about her.

Stone cold bitch actions. He didn't talk, period. Unless, he was thanking someone for the match after beating their ass into the ground during mandatory school spars.

He was not her friend. The reason she was given this task instead of any other bootlicker Uchiha was because it was her punishment for falling asleep in class.

She arrived at the Clan Head's house at the center of the compound, a poker face plastered on her face from years of practice. She hated this place so much, really.

Shockingly, despite preparing for the worst (meeting the clan head or the matriarch) she's met with a tiny child who she recognized as the second son. She didn't remember his name…

He stared at her wide eyed and scared—clearly not expecting her to be at the door despite opening it so eagerly.

After a beat, she said, "Hello. I'm here to see your brother-"

Before she could get an explanation out, the kid yelled, "Nii-san!"

And Itachi materialized so quickly it was as if he had always been there. His eyes widened in recognition; then he turned to the kid and chastised him, "Sasuke, what did I say about opening the door for strangers."

"She said she's here for you, Nii-san," he defended with a weak smile.

Itachi gave him a look that conveyed perhaps that the conversation would continue once she's gone. Then he drew his eyes towards her.

His gaze, she felt, was intense, as if his sharingan was activated behind his coal eyes. Dreamy was not how she would describe him. The fangirl's obsession with him was lost to her.

But she hid her apprehension, settling on a neutral, "Sensei wanted to deliver something to you."

Itachi nodded. No words, no greeting and most definitely, no offer to come inside. Stone cold bitch attitude to keep up and all that.

If Kenma was braver than she was, maybe she would've blown up at the offense, but she just internalized it—a sour expression on her face as she digs through her bag pulling out a crumpled paper.

"Here," she said, straightening it out quickly and catching the words bolded at the top. It read 'Request for Transfer - Genin Fast Track Application.'

Itachi took it with a shallow bow, reminiscent of how he ended spars at school.

"Thank you for your trouble."

"Wait," Kenma said, stopping him before he can close the door on her face and before she can think not to. "You're graduating early?"

Surprisingly, one blink later he answered, "Yes, Mizuno sensei recommended me, and my father thought it was appropriate."

Kenma frowned—she's not sure why, but she ended up asking. "Do you want to graduate early?"

It took longer for him to reply, so much so that Kenma was not sure that he would answer, but he did, saying "There's nothing else for me to learn at the academy. It's only natural that I move on."

To her, the response sounded measured, an answer, but not an answer at the same time. She didn't think much into it when his brother interrupted, giving her a perfect exit opportunity. "Nii-san, when are you going to train with me? You promised you'd train with me!"

The Uchiha heir's state of mind had nothing to do with her. If anything, good for him. There was no question that he would pass the academy exam. He was a genius, the pride of the Uchiha clan, and at least when he was gone, that was one less person she had to compete with in rankings.

"Well, you look busy," she said, looking at his brother who was petulantly glaring daggers in her direction and gripping onto his leg. "See you in class, I guess."

Then she vacated their doorstep, not waiting for one of his practiced responses and practically ran home.

It was only once she was in her own room, that she realized she might not see him in class again. She ignored the embarrassment creeping up her cheeks, willing her mind to let it go. It wasn't that serious. Itachi probably didn't even care.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘ ༓ ∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The next day. Kenma saw him in class, so his transfer didn't happen immediately. That made sense. He just got the paperwork yesterday, and after going through his parents it probably had to be signed by the hokage or whoever it needed to be signed by.

She was relieved only because she didn't have to lay awake at night thinking about yesterday's goodbye.

Itachi looked statuesque, so basically his normal. She couldn't help staring at him, thinking about how one day he'll stop showing up to class and everyone will wonder where he went. It occurred to her too that she was paying more attention to him now than she had the whole school year.

Does anyone else besides their sensei know that he'll be graduating early? She can't imagine Itachi telling anyone.

If it was him, he'd keep it to himself until the day he didn't show up. Then in a couple of days or maybe a week, someone will ask where he is. Then the class will learn he graduated. Then everyone will know because gossip is gold. Then the clan will whisper about how he's the youngest genin since, well she's not sure who preceded Itachi on that title, but it'll be another point for his greatness.

It was weird to think about. They were the same age, but he seemed light years away. In written and practical exams, he ranked first. He never lost a spar. He consistently wrapped them up before they could reach five minutes, and she can't remember a time that he looked or acted… Anything less than perfect.

The boy was destined to be a shinobi. The only thing he was lacking was his Sharingan, but that seemed like a done deal in the face of his greatness.

Itachi was enviable, not only because of his position in their clan, but also because of his talent.

Yet, his answers to her questions, the way he phrased everything, and even his statuesque appearance now, it weighed on her. His life, it was one she would kill to have. Still, he seemed lonely.

Ridiculous.

The resident pariah of the Uchiha clan having pity for the golden child. This thought brought her back down to earth. He should be happy, if Kenma was in his position, she'd be happy.

Then as if knowing what she was thinking about, Itachi met her eyes at the back of the class and nodded in her direction, a slight quirk of his lips that she could almost imagine was a smile, the smiliest smile a stone cold bitch could give anyways.

Regardless, it was way more than what anyone had received from him so far, if the way the girls in her class turned their heads to her as if she'd promised to kidnap their first born child.

She looked away quickly, hoping to be done with him. At the end of the day, he was her opposite, a statue, a goal, a stranger.

The rest of the day passed excruciatingly slow until their spars… Had Kenma mentioned how much she hated spars? Because she hated them.

Despite all her training, she could only consistently beat the civilian kids in class, and even then, sometimes they would get her too.

Additionally, she lived in fear that she would be paired up with the other clan kids and get pummeled into the dirt. She even preferred Itachi because at least everyone loses to him, but losing to another clan kid or worse an Uchiha… It was a possible embarrassment she had to face everyday.

It was their eyes and the whispers. The same ones that followed her around the compound had creeped their way to the academy too.

Every performance, every ranking, she was matched up and compared. Dutifully by her teachers, innocently hurtful by her peers and downright maliciously by her clan. Words from her classmates trickled down to her clan, as if they had crazy spyware set up in the academy just to prey on her.

She was not as good as the other Uchiha, not even as good as other clan kids, and for a clan that prides itself in producing prodigies, she was an eyesore of an eyesore (doubly severe).

Losing here was just an additional humiliation and another excuse for them to dog on her.

Today, she got matched up with Uchiha Naoya, so luck was not on her side. He was a violent kid, second only to Itachi in taijutsu, and he liked to flaunt his strength, probably to feed the giant ego stuffed up his ass.

He was especially mean to Kenma because she was an easy target.

They met eyes, and he was smirking as if he'd already won the battle.

The entire class clearly felt the same way too, looking away with non-concealed sighs at the "boring matchup."

Mizuna sensei clapped her hands together to quiet the conversations that had sparked from the class's disinterest. "Okay, you know the rules. The match ends if your opponent steps out of the ring, gets knocked out, admits defeat, or if I declare the match over. Whenever you're ready, do the seal of confrontation and start."

"Might as well admit defeat now, you can't beat me," Naoya said.

She ignored his obvious taunt, but anger pumped through her veins. She wanted to wipe that over confident smile off his face. She wanted to prove to everyone that this wasn't a boring match up.

They exchanged the seal of confrontation, but it lacked any semblance of sportsmanship.

Kenma opened first hoping to get a fast one on the confidently unguarded Naoya. She jumped. A strike to the face.

It was reckless, but she couldn't resist the urge to. She would force him to acknowledge her.

But his posture shifted, and he tilted his head, dodging easily as he made a grab for her arm and used her momentum to flip her over his shoulder.

Twisting her body, she landed on all fours, sprung back into range and blocked several jabs that left her arms feeling numb. He was relentless.

A kick to her side, a jab at her neck, another to her abdomen. She evaded, swinging her arms wildly, hoping to keep him away, but all it took was one moment of fatigue, one sloppy step backwards, and he was in her face. He slammed his heel into her stomach, sending her backwards near the edge of the circle, the air brutally knocked out of her.

"Wanna call it quits," he taunted.

Naoya was as skilled as he was a douchebag, but her pride doesn't let her end the fight. Her head bowed low, she took a moment to catch her breath and clawed at a fistful of dirt. Throwing away a clean fight, she threw it in his face, and he groaned, momentarily blinded.

She closed the distance delivering a solid uppercut and then another kick. A palm strike to his nose, the resulting blood dripping down his chin bloomed momentary satisfaction. But, it was not enough.

Naoya let his body fall backwards, into a handstand, where his legs kicked off her face. Kenma brought her arms in front of her in an 'x' and managed to block clumsily. Naoya transitioned into a backflip, putting a small distance between them.

But he gave her no time to rest, perhaps angry at her underhanded tactics, and went into a series of punches and kicks, faster and stronger than before. Most she managed to dodge, except for a knee to her already tender stomach.

He capitalized on her pain and returned the palm strike she had given him earlier. Bone breaks beneath the force, but he wasn't done. He repaid the uppercut as well. This rattled through her skull and made her airborne before he delivered the third and final downwards kick to her stomach, sending crashing to the ground at her classmates' feet. She was barely even conscious of that. Aware of the burning sensation in her throat as she forcibly hacked bile out, she lost consciousness to the sound of Mizuna sensei's hazy words.

She woke up in the nurse's office already feeling the giant bruise on her abdomen. She touched her face gingerly, where her nose had surely broken, but felt only a phantom tenderness there.

The nurse walked in as Kenma checked over her injuries. He was a young Hyuga, not in his twenties with aspirations to join the hospital. He was stationed at the academy though, much to his chagrin. Throughout her career, she had met with him multiple times, and he addressed her sharply.

"I healed up your broken nose, but left the bruise on your abdomen. I hope you learn something from this, Uchiha-san."

She glared at him. This wasn't her fault. If anything Naoya should know how to pull his punches. What type of person sends their classmate to the infirmary for a spar? She had no problems voicing this to the Hyuga, but he saw through her bullshit.

"You should know when to give up," he said. He looked like he wanted to say more, but ultimately grabbed the clipboard he'd left at her bedside. "I advise you to rest for a couple weeks. Your ribs were bruised, but it's nothing serious. I also informed your teacher to let you sit out from spars for a while. I can't ask for too much… knowing how you are, but go easy on the training."

He said the last bit with almost genuine concern, and she rolled her eyes and asked the only important question, "Did you tell my mom?"

He sighed. "It was not serious enough to inform your guardian; however-"

"Yeah, if I'm a danger to myself or don't listen to your instructions. Whatever, whatever." She waved her hand at him, annoyed. "Can you go now?"

The Hyuga's lips pursed into a thin line and his eyebrow twitched, but he eventually exhaled and said. "Classes are almost over. Take as much time as you need to rest?" He made a move to the door and just before he closed it he offered her one last pitying sentence, "Try not to get hurt again."

Once he was gone, she lifted her shirt and examined the dark purple bruise. Curiously, she poked it and hissed. She had no plans of stopping her training, despite struggling to sit up from the pain. Naoya had hit her in the same spot on purpose. He was a vicious motherfucker like that, and she lost.

Again.

Like everyone had expected her to. Her eyes prickled with unshed tears, not from the pain, but from the humiliation and the anger.

How long did she have to go through this? Putting up with the bullshit and the whispers and the scorn.

Worst of all the losses because then she was everything they thought she was. A failure Uchiha. Someone to ignore and someone who would amount to nothing.

It was frustrating, and with angry tears finally falling down her cheeks, she promised to herself that she would win. No matter how long it took, she will beat Naoya and every other clan kid in her class. Then she'll become a legend, mentioned in the same esteem as the Sannin.

Because if she was able to do that, then everyone would finally recognize her.

She'll never suffer such a humiliating defeat again.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘ ༓ ∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Later after getting a lecture from Mizuna sensei about fighting dirty and picking up her missed homework, she headed to the courtyard. Everyone else was gone or playing ninja. She was waiting for her brother. He promised to treat her to ramen today, and he'd meet her at the academy after his genin mission.

She wasn't sure how long he would take. His genin missions never ended at a set time, but was used to it and excited for ramen. It would be the only good thing to come out of her terrible day.

Then she spotted Itachi. At his side was his little brother holding onto his hand. It was cute and also out of character for Itachi. Did his little brother notice that he was a stone cold bitch? Probably not, seeing how his tiny baby hand gripped tightly at his.

She watched him silently, taken aback as he made his way towards her. At first, she thought he just happened to be headed in that direction, but he didn't diverge from her path until he was right in front of her.

The whole situation felt awkward to her, but she didn't say a word, letting him make the first move as if this was some sort of battle.

Unaffected by her own feelings, he broke through the silence as easily as he would hit the center target during their shuriken practice. "Did you tell anyone," he asked.

She took a moment to put it together, but she realized he was talking about his early graduation. She really shouldn't be shocked by his conceitedness. He was an Uchiha afterall.

"Why? You don't want anyone to know?" Her eyebrows furrowed. She had no intention of telling anyone, but it was interesting that the stone cold bitch cared. That in itself made her want to spread the word. But, she poked for information instead, curiosity getting the better of her, "Why keep it a secret?"

"They'll find out sooner or later, but I would rather not deal with the hassle."

People would be in arms about it. He had the girls in class ready for battle at any breathing thing in class and riled losers up with his mere presence.

"You better not tell anyone!" Sasuke interrupted with a scowl, reminding her of his tiny existence.

"Cute," Kenma said and then shrugged. "Sure, I won't tell anyone, but what do I get?"

She could use Itachi, she realized. What she lacked was a proper teacher. Because of her status, clan teachings weren't passed onto her, and she had to survive with the academy's fighting style which wasn't bringing her to the heights she needed.

"Don't take advantage of my brother!"

Kenma glared at the kid and then continued, capitalizing on the opportunity no matter how much she disliked Itachi. "It won't be anything bad. Just… Help me train."

"Don't you have someone else who can help you," the kid said, a face full of pity which was about as offensive as anyone can be. Unintentionally, he had hit several sore spots. "My brother's busy training with me anyway, so he can't help you."

"Ototo," was the only stone cold warning the little kid gets, and it zipped his little mouth shut, which gave her more satisfaction than it should. She was beefing with a four year old. Then Itachi addressed her. "Fine. I can help you until my transfer is confirmed."

"Sure. How long is that?"

"I'll take the exam at the same time as the other graduates in two months."

"Only two months?" She wasn't sure how much she can improve in two months, but if it was enough to stop her from getting her ass handed to her during spars, "Whatever, I'll take it."

Then like any true deal, they shook on it with Itachi's annoying little brother frowning in the background.