HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO-CHAAAAAAAAN!
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Chapter 12
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In the courtyard of the academy, the first year students were gathered under the sun in a hubbub of loud and excited chatter.
The day before, small groups had been formed and each of them had had to collect information on a specific shinobi that they had chosen by themselves. As a result, this day would be dedicated to the presentations.
At the beginning of the day, Ino had been paying close attention, but her focus had eventually wavered as time went on. Naruto hadn't helped her in the least as she started to draw next to her, and the Call of Doodles had gotten the better of the both of them. Ino had probably spent more time drawing flowers on the animals Naruto had drawn on her sheets than she had taking notes.
That being said, it didn't stop her from listening and asking questions when a topic interested her– just like Naruto, who had fired several questions and remarks at the group that introduced the Yondaime Hokage. All the first years and teachers had now labelled her as the 'Fangirl Flash' due to how quickly she asked questions, answered them herself, before coming up with new ones.
Sakura had been taking notes the whole time, since she had been wondering a lot about specialities, and had no idea which path would suit her best. Well, as Naruto said, Sakura could do anything, as long as she put her heart into it; she was serious and disciplined after all.
When their turn came, Ino had been very excited. She had loved interviewing Fugaku-sama and getting to know his job better –and to know him better–, so she couldn't wait to share everything she had learnt with her classmates!
However, she quickly noticed that despite their practice, Sakura was blushing, most likely due to stage fright and her still present shyness, and Naruto was fidgeting a lot, being a bit uncomfortable when she had to speak in front of a large group as she was afraid that they would laugh at her and not take her seriously.
Ino was beginning to get a good feel for her friends.
Since she couldn't stand by and watch them panic (when they had no reason to!), she approached her two besties and put an arm around each of their shoulders, as Iruka-sensei introduced them to the assembly.
"Look, we did a good job, we're gonna be great! Besides, if one of us freezes, she just needs to look at the others and we'll take over, alright?" she suggested with a grin. "We're gonna smash this presentation in half!" And she wasn't just saying that to be nice and reassure them. She truly believed it.
The smiles she got in return showed her that she had managed to calm them down. Much better; if the three of them were together, there was no way they would fail.
And she had been absolutely right!
The girls first introduced the Uchiha clan as the co-founders of Konoha along with the Senjus (information that Sakura had found in a book). The police had been founded by the Nidaime Hokage to regulate the interior of the village while the Senjus were Hokage and handled the external affairs of the village and the management of the ninjas. The police had a serious training that taught them to distinguish between their behavior towards a civilian or a ninja, to be fair to all villagers, and to make Konohagakure no Sato as safe as possible.
They had even done an interview with Naru who had testified as a recurring ex-criminal. While she was sitting in a chair facing a desk, Ino and Sakura were standing on the other side conducting the interview in the same manner as a professional interrogation, the way Fugaku-sama usually did whenever she'd get in trouble.
"What were you arrested for, Young Lady?"
"Some pranks I did, dattebayo. Everyone called me a troublemaker, because of the pranks. Miyo says I'm an entertainer, 'cause I entertain and I'm funny, and I think he's more right though!"
"Could you give us some examples of the pranks you did?"
"Um, I switched the signs on some stores, (giggle), I dipped the Hokage robe in orange paint since I want it to be orange when I wear it (pout) but it's back to being white now (click of tongue). Also, I poured sticky glue at the entrance of a store so people lose their shoes, (shrug), and more stuff with paint. I like to paint."
"Oh, what an exhaustive list. And why did you commit all those crimes, Naruto-san?"
"Sometimes it was 'cause someone was mean and I got my revenge."
"And when it wasn't out of revenge?
"Then that was 'cause I was bored."
Of course, Naruto's answers probably weren't very representative of the rest of the criminals in Konoha, but deep down, Ino thought that if Naruto admitted to commit crimes for even trivial reasons, she couldn't have been the only one. The police must really have had it rough.
The part that was most interesting to Ino, however, was the question time.
Just like they did with the groups before them, the teachers asked them for more details about their research.
"Are you happy with what you have learned?"
The girls exchanged a look, and Ino nodded for Sakura to start.
"I had read about the Uchiha clan before, so I already knew they were the founders of Konoha, but I liked learning more about the role they had in the village. We know the role of the Hokage and of some ninjas in the village, but not really the role of the police, even if they have complementary duties. So I'm happy to know more about them!"
Iruka-sensei smiled before directing his attention to Naruto. "What about you? From what we understand, you were already familiar with the police. Did you learn anything new?"
Naruto nodded with a grin. "I was punished a lot but I didn't know they had rules to follow when they gave me punishments too, I thought they did whatever they wanted. It was fun to have the policemen's opinion, and be in their shoes."
A specific question from Iruka-sensei had especially caught Ino's attention. "Was there any reason in particular that caused you to head to the police chief?"
Ino had been thinking about this very thing on the previous night. She signalled to her friends that she could be the one to answer since that was a perfect opportunity for her to share her feelings with everyone.
"I've met with the police before, on a case where a merchant had been unfair to a civilian, and yet the merchant had pretended to be the victim."
She still remembered the anger she had felt that day. The experience had had a strong impact on her and on her awareness of the villagers.
"The police had been fair and not fooled, and I really admired Fugaku-sama for his reactions."
Fortunately, by the way. She had been ready to fight and resort to violence if need to be. (From what she had picked up, the violence of her shrill voice was especially effective against grown-up men.)
Ino paused briefly, restructuring her thoughts. She just had a lot of feelings when she thought back to everything she had witnessed those last few months; ever since she met Naruto. "Usually when we talk about ninjas, we mostly talk about the ones who go on missions to protect the village from enemies. But the police are with us all the time, helping the village stay peaceful by protecting us from bad villagers. Because there are bad villagers! And without them, being protected from outside enemies wouldn't be enough, because we still wouldn't be safe inside the village. That's very important."
She hadn't realized it right away, but ever since the day she was arrested by the police, Ino had wanted to understand the world around her better, and Uchiha Fugaku had inspired her to become a kunoichi as intelligent and charismatic as he was!
"So, I thought it would be nice to learn more about them. They're like the guardians of the village, from the inside."
Iruka-sensei nodded in agreement, satisfied with her answer. Finally, the end of the presentation came and the class applauded them as the girls shared happy looks.
Naruto clutched her arm as she returned to her seat, cheerful and energetic. "We kicked ass, dattebayo!"
Ino raised an eyebrow with a smirk. Obviously, they did. "Did you really doubt us?"
That elicited a giggle from Sakura who followed after them.
Yeah, they were all proud of their work.
But as they went back to sit down in their respective places, they passed by Sasuke who was wearing a bright smile on his face. He was literally glowing, as if he was the one being applauded.
It seemed like they weren't the only ones who had had a good time!
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Sasuke couldn't stand still.
The presentation day was set up to allow students to discover a range of ninjas and specialities that could inspire them for their future careers.
While some specialities had been interesting to learn about, most of them were very boring to Sasuke. He could find most of the information in books, but more importantly, he already knew what he wanted to do in the future. Evidently, any ninja and the services they had to offer were important to the village, but the contents became redundant from the third lecture on. A lot of the elements kept coming back. "For the village", "the will of fire", "protection", etc.
He just wanted to work with his family!
Then came the turn of the group he had been eager to listen to. The one that had stated the day before that they were choosing Uchiha Fugaku as the ninja they wanted to interview. His heart had jumped when he had heard that name and Iruka-sensei had marked it on the board.
Sasuke would have loved to be able to talk about the role of the Uchiha Police himself, and to spend the day asking his father questions about his job with his group, but they had preferred to introduce a Hokage.
Not that the Yondaime Hokage wasn't interesting, but all the information about him had to be researched in the books, and they even had a class scheduled on him. In the end, the information they could get about him was much more limited than if they had interviewed him in person.
That was why, as the girls started to talk, Sasuke's attention was at its peak.
What a surprise it was when he learned that the dobe that he loved to annoy was so familiar with the police, let alone with his father!
Naruto was a funny girl full of determination. Even though she wasn't very good at fighting, she had a lot of stamina and presented him with a pleasant challenge still. She was rather silly at times, but though he would never admit it to anyone, he kinda liked her. On the one hand, he was surprised and couldn't believe his ears when he heard that she dared to waste valuable time of the police with her mischief. But after a short moment of reflection, he changed his mind. Of course, if there was one person in Konoha who had so much guts, it had to be her. And deep down, he was even admiring. If only he dared to, he could spend more time at the police station and see his father more often.
But he was afraid that his father wouldn't be satisfied with making him write down the rules of the Uchiha Police...
Moreover, he didn't want to disappoint him.
Overall, the presentation was very instructive. As someone who wanted to be part of the Police Force, he gained more information on the training of the shinobis and on their missions, as well as explanations on their role within the village. It was exciting for him to listen to an interview about his father and about his dream job at the same time! He would have so many questions to ask when he got home tonight!
That said, by the end of the presentation, Sasuke's smile was so huge his cheeks had started to hurt. He'd always found Ino weird and somewhat annoying (to be fair, all girls were weird and somewhat annoying), but the admiring speech she'd made about his father filled him with such pride that he nearly let out a shout of excitement in the middle of the yard.
He couldn't wait to tell his parents and his older brother all about what he had heard today.
By the time the girls were done, one thought was running non-stop through his head as he held back his laughter.
He couldn't wait to become a police officer!
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"Next!"
Shisui walked into the waiting line to checkout, greeting the saleswoman and presenting her with the items he intended to purchase.
He was going to have to leave on a mission on the next day, and had decided to fill the fridge for his mother while he was still here. She was so busy taking care of people around her that she forgot she also had to take care of herself sometimes! He couldn't help the feel of fondness at the thought, but he still wished that she'd pamper herself as much as she did her loved ones.
Before his turn came, he noticed that the saleswoman had been staring at him. Yet, he pretended not to notice, wondering what he could have done to attract her attention.
Her gaze was not hostile. It seemed rather curious and somewhat hesitant.
Heh. If he had to be honest with himself, Shisui was frequently told that he was pretty handsome. He would just have to get used to other people's stares.
(Well, he didn't really think that was what was going on right then, but he liked the explanation and didn't feel like digging in.)
However, while the saleswoman was checking his items and counting the total amount of his purchases, she finally started the conversation.
"You're an Uchiha, right?"
Shisui wished he'd stop feeling dread whenever people would point out his clan name. He was proud of being an Uchiha. He just wished people would stop singling them out- just see him as a shinobi, see his clan as part of the villagers, dammit.
He didn't let his thoughts show on his face though, and just nodded with a smile.
"My son is a first year at the Academy, he wants to become a ninja like his grandfather, my dad, you know. He served during the war."
Shisui grinned at her, hoping it didn't seem as forced as he felt, and replied cheekily. "Aha, guess we'll be colleagues once he graduates then!"
The woman nodded slowly. "Yes, speaking about that," she began, "so, uh, apparently now he wants to be a policeman?" she... inquired? Was that a question? "Is that possible? To be part of the police without being Uchiha?"
Shisui stared. It was a question. In a way.
It was a question so foreign, though, that it took him a moment to truly get what she was saying.
... Come again?
His facial expression, or probably the lack of expression on his face must have given him away, since the woman shrugged before he could clarify his thoughts.
"We come from a family of civilians, and when he heard that a policeman's job was mainly taking care of civilian matters, that spoke to him, you see. And I'd like it if he could stay in the village. It just sounds nice overall," she explained.
It took a moment for Shisui to remember how to use his tongue and to form words. "I, uh, don't know? I don't think anyone ever asked to join the police to be honest, that's... a bit of something new?"
Since when was the police an attractive job to civilians?
"But that... sounds nice, you know," he concluded.
A wide smile lit up her face. "Right?!"
Yeah. Really nice, actually.
"Thank you for your visit! Let me know if you hear something about it!" she added with a wave of her hand.
With a greeting sign of his own, Shisui left the shop with his bag in hands, his head on a cloud.
Was he being naively optimistic, or was there really a wave of nice changes going on recently?
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Hiashi was walking in the streets of the village at a fast pace under the stunned eyes of the passers-by. His gait was somewhat precipitous and brusque contrary to his habit, and although his face was inexpressive for the most part, it did not completely hide his anger.
The Hyūgas were always guarded, collected and unreadable. They were dignified and never let their dismay or confusion show in any situation. Their walk was noble and calm, and they exuded an air of effortless confidence and authority.
So, even if Hiashi was fuming, he didn't let it show as much as he could have, although keeping his self-control was proving to be difficult at the moment.
Word would quickly get out that a member of the Hyūga Branch Family had managed to get arrested by the Uchiha Police and brought wrath upon his clan in the process, causing the Head Clan himself to surrender to the Commissariat. It was such a humiliation for them; of course Hyūga Hiashi would be disconcerted to say the least.
In truth, Hiashi didn't care about the humiliation of being arrested.
A superficial humiliation was totally meaningless if it allowed him to achieve his goals.
A few weeks earlier, his former teammate, Aburame Shibi, had contacted him to inform him that there was movement among the Clan Heads and that they had serious doubts about the Hokage's most influential advisor. Hiashi had jotted the information down in a corner of his head, but deep down, he didn't think that Shimura's shenanigans could actually go against the principles of the village.
They all had to commit atrocities, they all had to make abominable decisions; Hiashi knew something about that. The ghost of his brother still haunted him to this day in the existence of his young nephew, Neji, who harbored a well-deserved hatred for him.
What was really the risk that Shimura Danzo had crossed the line, given everything they were unofficially allowed to do?
Oh, how naive he had been.
Two days earlier, Hiashi had had to meet with the Hokage to discuss political matters related to his clan; namely the fact that his eldest daughter, Hinata, was a student at the Academy, despite the fact that the Hyūgas usually imposed a partial home-schooling on their heirs after a first year that served as their integration into society. However, considering the fact that the heiress of the Hyūgas had not yet been chosen given the much more impressive abilities of his youngest, Hanabi, it was concluded that Hinata would continue to undergo normal school-training at the academy, as did ordinary students.
It was a subject that angered Hiashi –having to pit his daughters against each others?!–, though he didn't let on. After all, a Hyūga was always calm and controlled.
Yet, as he walked towards the exit of the Hokage Tower, he came face to face with none other than Shimura Danzo, who had apparently emerged from his cave and appeared in broad daylight, despite the fact that no important meetings were scheduled on that day, as far as Hiashi was aware. He must have had some matters to settle directly with Sandaime-sama.
Remembering the latest conversation he had had with Shibi –the suspicions of dark methods used on his men, the clan children he supposedly abused–, Hiashi found himself caught up in a sudden curiosity. He wanted to know where the ANBUs of ROOT, Shimura's loyal bodyguards, were hiding, and observe whatever could be seen of their behaviour.
They might have eyes that could see through anyone, but the Hyūgas usually had a strict sense of honour and didn't show off their already visible kekkei genkai.
Of course he wasn't going to spy on the advisor's conversations with the Hokage, they were far too private and Hiashi kept a strong sense of ethics.
("""Ethics."""
Like a ninja.)
But, by all means, checking Shimura's surroundings for anything suspicious wouldn't form a boundary violation, and besides, he could tell Shibi that he had investigated him and reassure his old colleague if he could.
Needless to say, Hiashi expected to find nothing.
Hah.
After he activated his byakugan, he didn't notice anything of interest among the counselor's personal guards.
Instead, what he found out about Shimura himself made his blood run cold.
Hiashi realized that not only was the chakra of Danzo's bandaged right arm different from the rest of his body –an incredibly dense and powerful chakra–, but that, in addition, that arm was dotted with circles with different chakras – belonging to different people.
As for his supposedly disabled bandaged right eye, there was also a foreign chakra circle there –a foreign eyeball– and that was when Hiashi realized with horror that the all circles dotting his right arm were eyes.
Hiashi was all too familiar with eye theft. That was why the secondary branch existed; to prevent such a scandalous abomination.
Why would Danzo seek to implant more than a dozen eyes on his body, and hide the one that replaced his right eye, if not because they were dōjutsus?
And the only dōjutsus Hiashi had heard of were the sharingan and byakugan, both part of Konohagakure.
He gagged when he recognized one of the chakra signatures on Shimura's right arm (and even the arm didn't belong to him!): without a doubt, that chakra belonged to an Uchiha who had died during the third great shinobi war with whom Hiashi had worked. And given the latter's pride, he doubted that he would have decided to donate his most valuable limb to an advisor of the village, out of the goodness of his heart.
The reason for Hiashi's visit to the Hokage Tower did not exactly thrill him. But as he left, his thoughts were dedicated only to his new discovery and the confidences Shibi had made to him.
'He sacrifices his soldiers for training.'
'He breaks the spirits of our ninjas.'
'He could hurt our clansmen.'
Hyūga Hiashi left the tower enraged, fury clouding his mind.
To him, there was no doubt about it. The chances that one of the stolen eyes was a byakugan were slim to none, since the caged bird's seal was used to prevent theft and use of their dōjutsus by non-Hyūgas. However, if, by any chance, a grave of a Main Family member had been robbed without them noticing...
And in any case, even if they were all sharingans... Hatake Kakashi did possess a sharingan, but Uchiha Obito's gift was public knowledge. And in all honesty, even if the Uchihas happened to be, in a parallel universe, good Samaritans who would donate their eyes to the needy and the poor, all the clan leaders knew that Shimura and Fugaku couldn't stand each other, especially since the Kyūbi Attack.
And even if it was really 'just' stolen sharingans, Hiashi wouldn't let it go. A dōjutsu theft within the village was an unacceptable affront to the clans; and how long would it be before Shimura kidnapped one of his daughters to obtain the byakugan?
Either way, Hiashi was taking this matter very seriously now.
That was why he had hired Hyūga Toshiro, a young boy from the Branch Family who was in his final year of the academy, for a particular mission. He was known to have a somewhat volatile temper, though he had learned to contain himself as to not embarrass the clan.
This time though, Hiashi had given him free reign. If he needed to let of steam, he could let it all out, as long as it led to an arrest by the police. The clan leader, angered by such humiliation, would come after him himself and settle things with those damn arrogant Uchihas who were taking the liberty of ruling over their noble clan (or at least, that was what the public would think).
After all, due to the rivalry between the two clans who owned a dōjutsu, Hiashi couldn't afford to go directly to Uchiha Fugaku like old acquaintances for some tea; they would be too suspicious.
Therefore, Hyūga Hiashi was on his way to the police station, his step hurried and a barely concealed anger on his face.
When he arrived, he was greeted by a few policemen who seemed disturbed by his arrival. They must not have suspected that the clan leader would come on his own. Hiashi didn't wait long before asking for a private discussion with the police chief, along with his clansman, in order to settle this matter properly.
The Uchiha clan leader obviously found it hard to hide his annoyance, but when faced with another clan leader, he was forced to comply.
Once in his office, Fugaku sat down and showed the Hyūgas two vacant chairs.
"Listen, your protégé has been rightfully arrested-" he began, certainly not in the mood to listen to the whims of an annoying clan head with misplaced pride.
"Absolutely," Hiashi interjected, cutting him off sharply, "and I apologize for this, it won't happen again."
Fugaku lost his voice, a look of confusion on his face and his mouth half open, this turn of events taking him by surprise.
"I'm sorry for this masquerade, but we have an urgent matter to discuss, and this was the easiest way to be able to be alone," Hiashi explained, followed by a nod from Toshiro, yet he looked just as confused as Fugaku.
The police chief remained silent for a moment, perplexed but quickly understanding the gravity of the situation. That the Hyūga clan would willingly put themselves in a weak position in society did not bode well.
"What's going on?" Fugaku asked in a serious, stern tone.
"I have some bad news, and it might involve both our clans."
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Night had fallen, and 17-4's team had stopped in a forest to rest for a few hours.
17-4 lay down on the grass, waiting for his comrades to fall asleep. They spoke little, were barely older than him, and he didn't know their faces. Their –what was it called again– relationship was very different from his days with Shin.
Most of the time, 17-4 tried not to think about his brother; about what had happened between them. Sometimes, he thought that it would even be easier if he could forget everything. Do his missions, eat, sleep, and not think. Maybe it would hurt less that way.
He was beginning to wonder what would have become of him if Ino hadn't written to him that day, several months ago.
It was strange, but while he had never met her, she reminded him of the peaceful times away from the new world he had been immersed in. He couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.
From time to time, he thought it would be best if he stopped answering her altogether, to pretend that she didn't exist, and turn his attention entirely to his life as a ninja, as member 17-4 of ROOT.
But when she wrote to him at night, and he read about her adventures during the day, making strange and spicy comments, he felt transported to another world that made him want to reminisce, think, and continue to feel his emotions. After all, the emotions Ino stirred up in him were always pleasant. They reminded him that he was still alive, somehow. He wasn't sure if he would really be aware of it otherwise.
Besides, Ino was the only one who always called him Sai.
The name his brother used to call him too.
Sometimes, he became afraid of his memory; he felt it was playing tricks on him. He started to doubt that his life as Sai had ever existed.
And it was a life he didn't want to forget.
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To be continued
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You may have felt it, but this chapter was very difficult to write for some reason. I suppose there was too much information to give and I'm not comfortable when there isn't a lot of dialogues, but- hum, yeah, I was out of my comfort zone I guess ;_; I felt like I didn't know how to write sentences anymore omg, I hope it was still fluid enough for you.
The next one should be more dynamic!
Also, we're getting clOSER TO THE END OF THIS ARC I CANT WAIT AMALKNGMNAZJEG
I hope you still had a good time! Thank you for your support, you're all wonderful people (❁´◡`❁)
Edit: Thank you for all the positive feedback, I'm feeling so much better ;v; Also, sorry for all the typos and grammar mistakes and random words that shouldn't have been there, I posted the chapter around 3am and my brain was a bit disfunctional. This should be better now!