Change

Itachi read as he walked down the hall. The few that didn't subconsciously avoid him, he sidestepped, uninterested. The cumulative events leading to the Second Great Ninja War, all the moving pieces set into motion by actions sometimes decades beforehand, were far more interesting and informative than chattering classmates. Fascinating, how history seemingly predicted outcomes to some more recent issues; the key to breaking that cycle may heavily depend on studying history to learn the patterns and failures.

He stepped out of the academy doors, circle of bodies blocking the gate. He paused, eyes still skimming over words.

A sparring match or fistfight. A common occurrence when the academy built competitiveness into the curriculum. A few had used to try cornering him to earn bragging rights. Had they ever won. None had.

He walked the perimeter, jumping onto the gate to avoid the commotion all together.

A familiar flash of pastel orange and checkered cloth made him pause.

Renri landed a flip, arm raised in time to block a kick to the chin. Another girl, brown hair and harsh scowl, Mariko, he recognized. Mariko pushed off Renri's arm to spin on her heel. Renri rushed to stand and jump backwards. Her retreat, Mariko pointed an accusing finger, catching her breath preventing words.

Renri waited patiently for the insult to follow.

Itachi lowered his book.

Morita Mariko. The girl that Renri had been with when attacked by the supposed monster. From Naoki's words, Mariko was related to someone from a clan with pull. Because Morita, Morita was an Inari clan.

And that came from Shisui, all other information about the tie severed. He could find nothing.

The pause, he watched Renri shift in place. She had no reason to retreat. Changing her stance would have freed her to finish ducking under Mariko's high kick to move in and throw off Mairko's balance as she spun into a punch. Renri may not be good with taijutsu, but most of her issues stemmed from her physical reaction time lagging behind her mental. She could predict counters. She had time.

"Quit running away!" Mariko snapped the second she had enough breath. Sweat dripped down her forehead.

Renri fiddled with her loose sleeve to tie it up. She hid it better, but she was still winded. The moment class ended, they must have started sparring- because the lacking animosity and duration showed Renri held back from using ninjutsu. "I'm a distance fighter," Renri mumbled, slight downturn to her lips.

True enough, but…

With a stomp of Mariko's foot, "Cram the excuses!"

Itachi smiled slightly when Renri's brow twitched to frown, caught. She just didn't like physically demanding tasks. They made her too tired to do anything else, she had complained when called out, his solution of working harder to build stamina not what she wanted to hear.

"You're supposed to be working on taijutsu," Mariko continued, another stomp for emphasis. "Get-"

The pause given, Renri stole it. She rushed forward. Fast in bursts, she tried a series of jabs. Mariko matched. Blocked. Then a mis-step. Renri's hand glanced off her cheek, too slow and off mark to hit square.

One.

Renri stepped back, anticipating the follow-up kick aimed for her side. Mariko's foot catching more fabric than skin, Renri fingers twisted into Mariko's pant leg before she could pull away. Mariko jerked at her leg. Once. Twice.

Two.

Mariko broke free to charge and kill any distance Renri tried to maintain.

Not doing well on the surface, but Renri… Mariko retreated from another half-hearted jab after landing a sure-to-bruise hit. Renri was too busy mentally fighting with kunai in mind.

She really should be working on taijutsu. There was a reason some managed to survive on taijutsu alone.

Mariko overreached, grab missing. A fractional stumble-

Three.

Renri broke her own balance with a haphazard kick, copying and failing as Mariko leaned and stepped. Mariko reclaimed the advantage. Her foot hooked the back of Renri's knee to send her face-first into the dirt.

An indignant pile of fabric, Renri stayed down, fist tightened at her side.

Could have substituted out of that. She probably thought. Her own poorly executed taijutsu would have tripped her up and prevented it. This time. She had surprised him, managing to substitute out of a hit while sparring with him- and he placed her under a lot more pressure than Mariko.

"Ha! Got you!"

Four.

While Mariko stood gloating, Renri pushed herself off the ground, wiping dirt from her mouth on the back of her hand. Narrowed eyes, loose hair falling into her face, concentration and frustration and irritation painted over a usually carefully neutral expression.

That glare all for her, Mariko took a faltering half-step.

Five.

Mariko grit her teeth to charge the next breath. Renri turned heel to run. Mariko chased. Renri hopped upwards, Mariko's knees bent to follow, unaware, assuming Renri had no way to dodge midair.

Six.

Renri's hands caught the edge of the open academy gate. Mariko couldn't dodge midair. Feet digging into her stomach, Mariko hit the ground hard.

Seven.

Renri landed a short distance away. Her irritation quickly morphed to concern when Mariko didn't instantly hop to her feet to retaliate. She ran to crouch at Mariko's side, voice lost with distance and crowd chatter.

Seven times.

Mariko would have died in actual combat seven times over. The jeering crowd, their classmates taking sides, most shouting cheater with Mariko's friends, everyone remained oblivious. Actual combat lacked concrete rules. Renri understood that.

"I've starting cheating in taijutsu matches when I don't want to take a hit," she said, staring up at him from her position flat on the ground. She seemed surprised, yet not. He offered a hand to help her up, his kick what had sent her skidding across the ground when she'd failed to use a substitute in time. He hadn't fallen for the same trick twice. "Takuma-sensei hasn't said anything, but I know he knows. I can't tell if it's a punishment or reward, but he's finally started putting me against the best in class."

Reward, he told her. No need for unnecessary injury when she already understood what a battle meant. Better to allow her to strategize in the safety of class than let her grow bored against opponents, truthfully, better matched to her taijutsu skills.

However, giving into frustration wasn't helpful either.

Mariko stumbled to her feet after slapping away Renri's offered hand. A flinch as she rubbed at her shoulder, "What the hell was that?" she snapped, stepping into Renri's space to intimidate. Being the shorter of the two curbed its effectiveness. Stood on her tiptoes to kill that disadvantage, she screamed in Renri's face, "Quit cheating and running away and fight me fair and square!"

"I'm sorry for hitting that hard," Renri apologized while sidestepping the rest. "I was frustrated." Mariko huffed, stepping back while massaging her shoulder. She hit a point that caused a grimace. Renri leaned in, trying to see. "Is it bad?" Soft, voice drowned by the crowd and wind, he read it from her lips and expression. Always on the losing end of their spars, she understood training came with some level of pain no matter if a friendly match or not. She usually followed him checking if she was okay with asking after him in return. "I'm sorry," she said, brows pinching, lips downturned, genuine.

Mariko took it as an insult. Voice loud, biting, she announced, "No, I'm fine," green glow over her hand, a smirk on her face, "I can fix it."

Renri's nose scrunched, concern fighting irritation. She seemed… very jealous of anyone that could use medical ninjutsu. Mariko saw that and weaponized it. Arms covered in bruises, yet a noticeable improvement in her taijutsu, the two had been training together for a while already.

Mariko waved her free hand to dismiss the concern Renri managed to cling to in the end. "Just landed weird. It's not your kicks could-"

"Mariko and Renri!" A voice boomed, Takuma stepping outside. Their classmates scattered as he stomped a path towards the two. Arms crossed, expression stern, he acted like he hadn't been watching from inside long enough to have absently acknowledged Itachi on his way out. "This is the third commotion this week! Practice in the proper training fields, not outside the academy!"

That explained the commotion he heard while sitting on the roof for lunch break the other day.

"That's so boring," Mariko complained, the main culprit of the noise. The green glow over her hand remained steady. "Not my fault people like watching Renri get her ass kicked."

"I like the change in scenery," Renri quietly added, shooting a small glare at Mariko. She probably didn't like the crowds. Itachi was surprised she agreed to spar anywhere near the academy.

Takuma-sensei looked exasperated for a long minute. "As nice as it is to see you two getting along better, this is the final warning." Firmness in his voice snapped their drifting attention back to him. "Next time there will be consequences. Practice in the appropriate places or," a fractional pause, "off academy grounds. Understood?"

The threat had Renri biting her lip, looking to the ground. Mariko scoffed and glared at Renri. Regardless, both nodded.

"Renri," Takuma said with blatant disapproval, name and tone enough to make her shrink, "keep your temper in check. I've been understanding in class, but this is different. If you agree to rules to a spar with a comrade, it's disrespectful to break them. Especially over something like frustration at losing." Renri hung her head at the chastisement, easily yielding. Takuma shook his head. "I would apologize to Mariko."

"Sorry." Renri turned to Mariko with an insincere bow. "I used some chakra."

"Suck-up," Mariko shot back, apology transparent. "No, duh." She rolled her eyes as Renri met her gaze. A small amount of chakra focused to her hands helped her rebound downwards with more force than she could have generated without. Mariko's hesitation as she realized her mistake in blindly chasing Renri added. "Told you, I just landed wrong." The moment arbitrary rules were tossed aside, Mariko understood this would be her loss. "Your kick was still pathetic," she added, unpleasant as ever, but right. "Quit acting like you're better than me."

Her glare drifting from Renri upwards, Itachi met it with a blank expression that infuriated her more. He recognized her as more than the girl Renri had shoved away from a kunai and protected during that attack. Like the upperclassmen that went after him, blaming the Uchiha for the nine-tails, Mariko was likely one that went after Izumi.

"You're not," Mariko said.

"Mariko, I'll take you to have your shoulder examined." A cut off remark, Takuma held up his hand. "No complaints. You're not a medic." Mariko pouted, added yet to his statement, word directed at Renri in a final insult. She continued her own efforts, green glow unfaltering even as she followed after Takuma.

They left Renri at the gate.

Renri collected her abandoned bag before hopping up to stand at Itachi's side. "Am I a lost cause with taijutsu?" A tilt of her head, she added, "I want you to say yes so I can give up and do anything else." She pointed to his book, open to where he had left off. "You know. Fun stuff like reading."

"You're getting better."

She pretended to deflate at that, smile hidden as she turned her head, hair falling over her face. She fiddled with her sleeves to untie them. "I needed someone I have a chance against." A sideways glance at him, she frowned, tacking on, "Not that I've won against her either." Bruises covering her arms, dirt coating her clothes, she was trying. Her frown faded. "Thanks, Itachi. What you've told and shown me has helped a lot more than the books and scrolls. Though," she dragged out, smile growing, "I want to see you spar with Shisui."

"No."

Answered entirely too fast, she stared, tie in stilled fingers slipping loose. Her sleeve fell to cover her arm. She waited. Parted lips a second from asking-

"He would have too much fun with that." Shisui was serious when they trained together, sure, but add in an audience? "Way too much fun," he added under his breath, envisioning that nightmare.

"It's still amazing that he can beat you," Renri said, more to herself than him, marvel with both evident.

He still had much, much further to go before he would consider himself anyway near Shisui's level. The sharingan wasn't even the greatest hurdle. It was experience.

Academy within sight, he would never get that experience here.

He closed his book, ready to move on with his day.

"I was going to the river to work on some water jutsu today," Renri offered, interrupting a one-track mind. "You?"

"You should be running to improve your stamina."

She made a face. "My mistake." The thought of running dampening her mood for a second, the hint of an invite cheered her up. Running happened to make for a nice warm-up. "I suppose I will be running, dying half-way, and then going to the river."

"If you didn't try to keep up with me, you'd make it further."

"Then I may as well run by myself."

"You should be."

"Sometimes?"

"Sometimes."

Sufficient reassurance, their conversation trailed into comfortable silence as they left the academy behind. An imaginary start line at the library, a path cutting through narrow fenced alleys, uneven rooftops, and every obstacle between, he usually ended near the edge of the village. Then, he would double back to find Renri stubbornly struggling along or a huffing pile collapsed on the ground. Regardless, when she saw him show up to wish her luck finishing, she would smile brightly.

He wondered if she finished the route alone or if she gave up after seeing him again. He wondered, if left alone, if she would make it as far as she did when trying to keep up with him.

Renri fell a step behind.

He glanced over his shoulder, stopping when he saw her stop. Her bag shifted in front of her, hurriedly opened, she glared at it. A snake head popped out to return the look. The rest of its colorful body followed until the snake hit the ground with a soft thud. A final hiss and it slithered away.

"Stop coming with, then," Renri muttered, bag closed and returned to her side. Her gaze remained on the shadows between buildings where the snake had disappeared.

He had heard the snake speak. Once. The first time they settled on running, Renri had let out a half-scream behind him that had him skidding to a stop and whipping around. Snake around her neck, Renri started still, it had hissed complaints about being tossed around and squashed by books. The snake had then dropped to the ground to storm off, much the same as today, but Renri had been frozen, terror in her eyes, for a long moment after.

That was the moment he decided he didn't like that snake.

"It's still with you."

Renri hummed, catching up to his side, attention on the ground. They left the snake behind before she continued. "I don't know why," she repeated, exasperation breaking through to cover worse. Cut-off, contained the last moment, but she had screamed when it had coiled around her throat. "I haven't gotten into any more trouble. I don't need to be watched, I never was before, so I…"

Except, now she was. Something had changed.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Also thank you to those that have fav/followed!