Tsume Inuzuka, head of her Clan, was in the middle of a meeting with a very important guest when someone suddenly barged into her office.
The guards at the door were instructed not to let anyone enter.
…but there were some people you didn't say no to, both within the Inuzuka Clan and without.
Hana Inuzuka, a spitting image of her mother albeit younger, wore the frustration and annoyance of her late father well. Tsume didn't immediately chew out her daughter and heir to the clan for barging in. No, the Matriarch had taught her daughter well.
"Ka-sama, Nara-dono, forgive me for the intrusion" she bowed, both at her mother and toward Shikaku Nara, the guest Tsume was entertaining.
The head of the Nara clan, who had just finished dispensing with a few conversational courtesies, seemed bemused.
"This better be good, pup" Tsume grunted, "or I'll keep you on guard duty for a year"
Hana's back straightened in reflex to the underlying threat.
"I need your approval on reclassifying an A-rank Clan Mission"
Tsume's brows furrowed.
"You've been on Gate Duty for only a week and you're already skulking about trying to find ways out of it" Tsume sighed, rubbing a hand into her tired eyes, "where have I gone wrong?" she bemoaned aloud to no one in particular.
"Mom!" Hana growled at the dramatics, especially in front of company "It's not my request! A Genin came with the request that we sent to the Hokage"
"An A-rank mission… from a Genin?" Tsume's glare was flat, "if this is some kind of prank, I swear-"
"I'm serious!" Hana growled, "a Genin wants to clear out some trees we slated for removal! But he's under some constraints"
Tsume considered Hana's words for a second.
"A Genin you said?" Shikaku asked aloud, "did you happen to catch a name?"
Hana completely missed both her mother's side-eye toward the Nara Clan head, as well as how oddly calm the man had suddenly become.
"Yeah, it's the orphan boy, Ryo-" Hana looked back to her mother, "-Kiba-baka's classmate"
The head of the Nara Clan shifted in his seat slightly, the man turning to look toward Tsume. The message behind his eyes wasn't entirely clear, but the Matriarch of the Inzuka was a seasoned Ninja.
'There's something dangerous here… something I don't know about yet…'
"What does he want the mission reclassified as? And don't say S-rank"
Hana scoffed, "that's the best part. He's claimed hes on probation, so he needs it changed to a Charity Mission in order to accept it"
Tsume's back straightened.
"So he'll do it for free?"
Hana nodded.
Danger be damned, Tsume wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Well, it wasn't getting picked up any time soon, might as well let a brat punch a mountain for all I care"
Tsume waved her daughter away, "fine, I'll approve the paperwork once it comes across my desk, you have my permission"
As Hana bowed and made to depart, Tsume returned her attention to the quiet and calm Nara Clan Head-
"Tsume"
Shikaku's words were firm.
In a way that the Jonin Commander of Konoha's voice should be, he clearly explained to the Clan Head and ally before him.
"I advise we witness this Genin, Ryo, before we speak any further"
Tsume's interest was piqued.
'So you're here about him then?'
My eyes are half lidded in irritation.
Even with my Six Eyes, I imagine a blind man would be uncomfortable with the amount of onlookers gawking my way.
'Heh. Gawking isn't the right word' I glance left and right quickly. Before me, are a dense thicket of trees.
Deep at the back of the Inuzuka Clan, once you'd wandered past the gate, through a fair majority of the Clan's housing compound, are the first inklings of the deeper forest.
The Shodai's Trees stand before me now.
'...that's a lot of Chakra… and not just regular Chakra-' my eyes darted from tree to tree, taking note of the ones much larger than the others.
They seemed to be absolutely stuffed with something that looked like…. Well, really clean Chakra.
I snapped my fingers in realization.
"Nature chakra eh… Senjutsu…" I scratch the back of my head, pocketing my offhand in my hoodie as I turn to stare up at the towering trunks.
'Some of them are more significantly reinforced by their Chakra than others… those must be the older ones…'
Might take a bit more 'oomph', but I'm pretty sure I can do this.
"So… do you want the remains of the trees, or can I just go all out?" I push up the sleeves of my hoodie, speaking to the male Chunin guard.
Once the female guard had disappeared with my request, another Ninja had returned to confirm that I was allowed to enter.
And the male Chunin had walked me through the Inuzuka complex.
At a certain point, I was aware that there were more than a few people waiting for us at our destination.
Not a huge crowd, but I noticed Tsume Inuzuka standing alongside Shikaku Nara-
'The fuck's he doing here?'
-and a handful of various Inuzuka Shinobi, oh, and a set of Nara guards. There's the female Chunin as well-
'Oh. That's Hana… no wonder she looked familiar'
The guard finally answers me, but his reply draws a glare from me.
"Stop messing around, kid. It's embarrassing, don't you think? Tsume-sama isn't-"
Yeah.
Fuck you.
I mean I get. Scrawny kid, not a ton of Chakra, green as grass… but you don't fucking understand what I can do now. In fact, I'm not even quite sure myself.
"Here goes nothing" I huff, gathering cursed energy in my core.
"Dismantle"
With an over the shoulder hurl I twist my arm through the air while activating Sukuna's technique. The attack wasn't as refined as I wanted it to be, but it was certainly correct in size.
A black slash, visible to my eyes only, had bisected the first tree I stood before, the entirety of it now split in two alongside some of the ground.
To all the others around me, it must have seemed as if some invisible force cleanly divided the towering trunk in a heartbeat.
The force of the slice had created an audible crunch, as wood was cleaved apart.
But I was focused on how my attack didn't quite cut it.
The tree, although split, was still standing.
"Keh" I scoffed, "you're fucking tough, huh?" I kicked some dirt.
Damn.
Sukuna's technique was either pretty inefficient, or the tree was just that tough.
'Or you just ain't used to it yet' I scolded myself for immediately assuming it wasn't my mistake.
But either way, even with a clean slice down the middle of it the damn tree is still standing.
'The roots are deep' I observe, 'but no matter. Let's give this a try'
"Oi. Chunin-baka" I grouse at the guard a few feet beside me, "step away now or you might die"
I don't bother paying him anymore attention, my eyesight still locked on the trees before me. How many slices would it take?
'And how fast can I dish them out…'
An attack that was a rapid fire of neigh invisible slashes, each adjusted in length and width according to the proportions of Cursed Energy pushed into them, would be a useful tool in my arsenal.
Firing off two more uses of Dismantle my eyes track how the technique is executed.
'So in order to send a barrage…'
This time, instead of completing the feeling of using Sukuna's technique, I feed it waves of cursed energy.
With my arm and open palm directing the attack, hundreds of black strips of energy form into existence before hurtling forward. With every slash jettisoned forward, I watch each and every impact.
In a heartbeat the thicket is devastated.
Trees are torn into tens of hundreds of pieces, the earth is grazed and slashed, and the entire time I'm smiling.
'What a technique…'
But I don't stop raining down slashes, with hundreds of instances of the severing technique blasting out into the universe, I'm taking a long time to analyze both what I am doing and the result.
Dismantle was an incredibly destructive technique.
Whatever differentiated it from Cleave… I hadn't the slightest, but perhaps now was-
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The roar of authority pulls me from my internal speculations.
Pulling my cursed energy away Dismantle stops casting almost instantly. A few additional slashes carve into the trees and earth before me, but I don't care about that.
I turn to face the voice.
Tsume didn't know what she had expected.
At the cusp of the forest, right before the section slated for destruction, the Genin had conversed briefly with Tachiba, the Chunin Guard.
She hadn't caught any of their conversation, but whatever it was, the Genin had just turned away and started-
A large slash had instantly appeared on the thickest tree. Whatever it was, the ability had severed the closest tree to the Genin in half.
Tsume hadn't sensed any Chakra.
At all.
The boy hadn't even gone through any formative hand signs, or-
Her eldest, Hana, who stood alongside her, spoke the words every observer was thinking.
"What the fuck was that?"
Because there hadn't been anything to observe besides a short gesture from the youth.
All they were left with was the result, not the action.
And before anyone else could chime in, the youth showed that he most certainly wasn't done yet.
Tsume was taken aback for the first moment as suddenly the trees began to break apart. As if a giant knife was slicing through the trees hundreds of thousands of times, constantly reducing them into smaller and smaller pieces.
The earth was being nicked by the attack, destruction and devastation being wrought indiscriminately against her clan's territory.
In the next second, Tsume realized that this wasn't going to stop until all the remains of the trees were gone.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" she roared.
And the Genin immediately responded, his technique ceasing as he lowered his hand to turn to her voice.
Yeash. Those aren't good faces at all.
The Chunin guard that had accompanied me was pale faced and fearful, having scuttled back as soon as I warned him he might die.
'Glad you're taking me seriously now' I grin internally.
But the rest of the onlookers didn't seem to be stoked about what happened either.
'Don't point at anyone' I remind myself.
All of the Shinobi present would have likely picked up on the fact that I needed to direct the attack, thus to make them feel a little more at ease, I wouldn't gesture at them right now.
Nara Shikaku was stone faced, his guards definitely on edge after the display of Dismantle's capability.
Inuzuka Tsume seemed to be pissed, but she wasn't barking any more orders or threats at me, which was nice. Hana seemed the most disturbed as even amongst the other Inuzuka Shinobi present her face was the palest.
'They've never seen a Sorcerer before, so fair enough' I think to myself, 'even in the world of Ninja, what they've just witnessed goes beyond their understanding'
"Eh" I shrug at the Matriarch as I call over an apology, "sorry bout' that. Those trees are fuckin' tough"
It was a piss poor excuse that did little to explain what had just happened.
But I wasn't obligated to reveal my technique or anything like that.
'Pretty sure the old man would have my balls if I went around yapping about the Four Eyed bastard'
They were the ones that wanted a mission completed for free.
They'd invited me into their home.
And they had also more than likely assumed I was just talking the talk for one reason or another. Who'd ever take a Genin seriously?
My gaze meets Tsume's.
…whatever she sees, whatever bit of information she gleams from our brief staredown, she offers a haughty smile.
"And here I thought this was going to be some kind of scam" her smile shifts into a grin, "but you seem to be worth your word, Genin Ryo"
…I don't really know what to say to that.
But seeing as the Job's done...
"You need me to do anything else…" I nod back over my shoulder, "...or do y'all got it from here, Inuzuka-sama?"
The Matriarch barks a laugh. For what reason, I don't know, but she smiles at me afterwards.
"We'll take it from here. Thanks for your service, Genin"
Well.
That's that.
"Right" I nod to her, briefly glancing over all the other spectators, "see ya"
Rolling my sleeves down and slipping my hands into my hoodie's front pocket, I casually stroll away.
I remember the way out.
And when I eventually reach the gate to the Inuzuka clan compound, I'm happy that no one else bothers me.
My fingers are itching after all.
'I had so much more to test…'
It's a shame.
…but I'm sure I'll have another opportunity soon.
I grin.
'I think it's time to pay Itami-sensei a visit'
As soon as Genin Ryo departed the head of the Nara Clan had immediately gone to examine the site of destruction.
He wasn't surprised when Tsume then dismissed everyone else.
Nara Shikaku did not turn his head to Tsume Inuzuka as she walked straight up to him, coming to stand by his side.
They were the only two out there now.
The air was already tense. Tsume's words made it worse.
"You came to warn me about him, huh? Just as he strolls through my front door?"
"In our line of work, accepting a coincidence at face value can be a death sentence" Shikaku's eyes never left the destruction before him, "but it is a phenomenon you cannot ignore"
"Speak plainly," Tsume growled.
"Genin Ryo is a Container, like the Uzumaki boy…. But he does not hold a tailed beast"
Tsume thought process halted for a moment.
"What does he hold?"
Shikaku looked Tsume dead in the eye.
"We don't truly know"
He glanced around for a brief moment, before settling back on Tsume.
"But this Entity that inhabits his body has granted him power" the head of the Nara Clan glanced toward the destruction before them, "a power we don't fully understand yet"
"What we just witnessed…" Tsume couldn't wrap her mind around it.
"The Hokage believes the boy is slowly picking up on the Entity's abilities. We're not sure how deep the connection between them is, the circumstances surrounding the connection, or what's even going on within him…"
Shikaku's eyes traced the destruction.
"The results, however, are evident"
A dark thought crossed Tsume's mind.
'If we don't even know what it is, then…
"The Entity… how secure is it?"
Shikaku gave her a blank stare in reply.
'We don't truly know'
"Shit" Tsume cursed.
"As Jonin Commander I'm required to brief all Senior personnel and Shinobi with regards to potential threats to the village"
Nara Shikaku scratched his beard in thought.
"Genin Ryo, but more specifically the Entity residing within him, is considered a threat to the village"
"But not the brat, right? The Hokage trusts him?"
Once again, Nara Shikaku offered his fellow clan leader a blank stare.
In the silence that follows only the wind in the leaves is left.
Sasuke Uchiha had both of his feet firmly planted, his Sharingan active as he pursued potential targets.
Selecting the right one was the most important factor to consider now, and out of the sea of options he needed to consider each and every one.
Shape.
Approximate weight.
Blemishes on the skin.
All of this went into his considerations, the tomoe in his eye spinning… there.
With his first target selected, his eyes continued roving.
He wanted at least four, because just one wasn't-
Sasuke registered the person standing close beside him the very second before this personal space invader made themselves known.
"Yo"
Sasuke's fist had come up in an instinctive reaction, but his newly improved eyes gave him enough perception to hold back any coming attacks.
Ryo grinned at him.
"I'm getting pretty good at that, huh?"
Sasuke huffed, closing his eyes in perceived irritation as he cussed out his friend, "asshole. You're almost as bad as Kakashi"
"You know, I'm gonna take that as a compliment"
Sasuke scoffed, "it wasn't. What brings you around here, Ryo?"
'Around here' being the Uchiha district, specifically the market area at the center of the gigantic clan compound. The market was made up of hundreds of stalls bordering one another, each of them selling goods and wares to those that passed by. The sounds of trade and haggling could be heard echoing up and around them all.
Both Civilians and Shinobi alike plied there wares here, all of them guaranteed protection to safely conduct business with the Uchiha Clan guaranteeing the enforcement of civility. After all, it was the Uchiha that ran Konoha's Police Force, so naturally a few of Sasuke's Clan members could be spotted patrolling through the many lanes of stalls.
Ryo looked down at Sasuke's prized targets.
"Well. Not for Tomatoes, that's for sure" he smiled as he glanced back at Sasuke, "I'm looking for-"
Ryo blinks once as he abruptly stops.
"Actually, I'm looking for your sister, Itami"
"Huh?" Sasuke's attention is completely taken away from the Tomatoes, "my Sister?" he said with complete and utter confusion in his voice.
He couldn't understand why Ryo would need to see his Sister.
How does he even know her?
The pink haired boy's smile was a little lackluster, but he was straight forward with Sasuke.
"Itami's been my kinda-teacher since I became a Vessel"
….
….
"What?"
In the middle of the bright and sunny day, Naruto quietly observed the village before him.
On a day like today, he could be training, spending time with Ryo, eating ramen…. But instead he had chosen to scale the Hokage mountain.
And he hadn't come with paint cans and an arsenal of brushes for once.
No.
Today he sat there quietly, perched on the head of the Fourth Hokage as his gaze ran over each and every detail of the village.
The Nine Tails attack had supposedly destroyed a third of the Village.
…
'And it was said that the Nine Tails had been destroyed,' Naruto thought to himself and frowning as he stewed over the plain and simple fact;
He'd been lied to, yes but more importantly was that things started to make sense.
All the looks people gave him, civilians and Shinobi alike.
All the whispering.
The damn muttering.
They all knew.
'And I didn't'
…
And with this revelation… Naruto had no idea what to do about it. Truly. He was lost. At this current moment in time, he didn't know what to think, what to feel, or-
Naruto felt an immense weight settle upon him.
From within his very being, nestled next to his soul, a voice spoke to him.
Do you hate them, Child?
Naruto's answer was quietly whispered to only himself and his passenger.
"Shut up"
A deep chuckle drummed up from within.
You are my Vessel. Learn to use your hate, before you are destroyed"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Naruto snapped, swiftly bolting upright as his anger got the best of him, "stupid fox! What do you know! I'll show you-"
But the Nine Tails wasn't finished talking. It snarled as it spoke to its container.
Petulant child! You do not understand. I told you, the King of Curses has been unleashed. He's coming for me and he'll kill you to do so, brat"
The deep growl which accompanied the last word admittedly sent a shiver of fear up Naruto's spine.
But the youth just groaned, "I was there, ya know, I remember what you said. I remember the deal, ya dumb fox-"
The Nine Tails immediately corrected the youth.
Binding Vow.
"Huh?"
Naruto scratched his head as he loudly exclaimed to his permanent passenger.
"Deal, pact, vow, I don't care ya damn fox. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I never go back on my word!"
The presence failed to react for a few moments.
Eventually it managed one word.
A declaration of a simple evaluation of its host.
Idiot.
And as Naruto cursed up a storm of childish insults towards his tenant, the Kyuubi receded into the depths of its cage.
In the dark, it sat, waiting patiently for its chance.
Its red eyes gleamed in the shadows of its cage.
Kurama would have his revenge.
"Can you imagine our world without Chakra, Bee?"
The eight tails vessel blinked in surprise at the sudden question.
In the empty streets of the Rain Village, the Kumogakure Shinobi and Jinchuriki, younger brother to the current Raikage, had been stewing in the uncomfortable silence.
The young Monk who had just spoken to him, Tengen, had been quietly guiding him deeper into the heart of the foreign village, when she suddenly popped the question at hand.
Bee awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, but remained just a step behind Tengen's calm pace.
"Nah. Can't really picture it. No Chakra… it just don't fit, yo"
He felt the figure behind him react to his sudden motion.
The one with the weird Dojutsu, Nagato, who was trailing a few feet behind the both of them, was ready to pounce in a moments notice.
Tengen had to only look slightly over her shoulder to see Bee. She smiled up at him.
"I suppose such an idea seems ludicrous. Chakra has been with you your whole life" Tengen's smile seemed a touch somber.
"Before the Era of Shinobi, I once did believe that Chakra was the Cure that Hagoromo claimed it to be"
Bee was a keen enough Shinobi to notice the microtension that came from Nagato at Tengen's words. More specifically, the reaction came as soon as the monk mentioned another person's name.
'Hagoromo?' Bee thought to himself, trying to put a face to the name.
The Shinobi kept that note to himself as Tengen faced away from him, yet continued speaking as they walked.
"Instead the bitter truth is that a world with Chakra is far better than the alternative"
The Shinobi from Kumo took a second to process that eerie statement.
"Back up miss, no diss, but…" Bee hung on the word as he glanced back over at Nagato before returning his own question to the young Monk.
"What's the alternative to Chakra?"
Tengen's shoulders seemed to stiffen, ever so slightly, but her steps remained steadfast and even.
"Before the coming of the Sage, Bee, this world was Cursed" Tengen seemed oddly chipper, which greatly contrasted the harrowing words she used, "to be honest, it still is, and the world would be suffering those effects-"
Tengen quickly glanced at Bee again.
"-If not for your dear friend and his siblings. Not a day goes by that their existence does not safeguard you from an unspeakable horror"
It was the Eight Tails that responded to these decidedly hostile words.
Tengen. Enough. Bee is not like the others. He is worthy of your trust.
The words, which only Bee and the Monk heard, seemed to mollify the latters obvious anger.
Tengen slowed her pace somewhat, dropping back to allow the Kumogakure Shinobi to walk alongside her.
"My apologies. Gyuki is right, I'm letting my anger get the best of me"
Tengen briefly held up her hand to her face, and Bee watched as her face changed while she was studying the limb. The look that came across her eyes was as if the very limb itself was…
Well, foreign to her, was the best way to put it in Bee's opinion.
"Trust is earned, yo, you don't just give it and go" he gave the Monk a solid nod, "we cool, Tengen" Bee pointed a thumb over his shoulder, "your bodyguard ain't spooky either, I'm here because Gyuuki told me to be here. No more hypotheticals"
Bee turned that thumb to himself.
"Connect the dots, cuz' to be honest, I'm lost"
Tengen hummed thoughtfully, before nodding once.
"Then I shall be blunt" she lectured the Shinobi.
"Chakra came into this world just over a thousand years ago. It is the by-product of the creation of the Tailed Beasts, the Great Seals. When Hagoromo Otsutski, who is more commonly known as the Sage of Six Paths, formed the tailed beasts it was in an effort to combat a Sickness far older than him, me, you or my dear student Nagato"
Tengen sighed softly.
"For as long as Mankind has existed, so too has Cursed Energy. It is the manifestation of humanity's negative emotions, which gains form and sentience in the nightmarish approximations of their nature"
They were nearing a towering and grand building which was as drab and metallic as the rest of the Rain Village..
At the base lay a set of large black doors, a few heads taller than Bee's towering stature.
"We call these abnormalities Curses. They wreak havoc, destruction and pain to all who come across them"
They were stood before the slowly opening doors now, but Bee's attention was on Tengen and her calm words.
"And it is because someone has destroyed a Tailed Beast, that a sort of, clock, has started to tick down"
The monk looked toward the Eight Tails container, her gaze blank yet hard.
Her words made little sense at the moment to Bee, but-
"Until now, all we managed to do was stem the tide… but now, the tide is rising, Bee of Kumogakure"
Tengen stepped into the open door.
"And if any of us truly wish to survive what is to come, we must work together"
Bee cocked an eyebrow, but still followed her forward, a question of his own at the forefront.
"Who's we?"
It didn't take long for the younger Uchiha to inevitably track down his Sister.
If she was on duty today, she wouldn't have been at breakfast, but her presence let Sasuke know that she was certainly on a day of leave.
And if Itami was in the markets, she'd probably be buying sweets.
'Pocky-fiend' Sasuke often labeled his sister, as the chocolate coated pastry sticks were most certainly her favorite treat. The Uchiha Heir knew better than to get between his Sister and her Pocky, but that made it a cinch to quickly track her down.
In fact, Itami had just been leaving the small bakery when Sasuke and the lazily trailing Ryo came round the corner-
"Sasuke-kun" Itami glanced toward the pink haired boy.
….
It's impossible.
….
It can't be.
Sasuke watched in utter disbelief as his Sister greeted Ryo with a polite nod as she directly addressed him.
"Ryo-san. What brings you two here?"
His face must have twisted into some kind of sour reaction, because the pink haired punk was leering at the Uchiha heir with a wide grin.
"What, teme? Didn't think I was cool enough to hang with other Uchiha?" Ryo scoffed before dramatically fanning his face, "alas, my friends always must bellite me"
…
Kakashi really was rubbing off on him, and not in any kind of positive way.
"Careful you don't start showing up late all the time" Sasuke muttered.
"AH?" Ryo gaped, snapping back with a "what was that, teme?"
Sasuke smirked, his Sharingan reflexively activating as he gazed at his teammate.
"You heard me, prick"
Itami's hand came out of nowhere, deftly smacking Sasuke's forehead with two fingers.
Sasuke's "OW!" was blurted out as the same time as Itami lectured him with a, "do not use your Sharingan on allys, Sasuke. Ka-san would be disappointed"
The younger Uchiha gaped up at his stone faced sister.
Ryo's smirk grew further and-
"Even if your allies are being rude and uncivilized, an Uchiha knows better than to stoop to such a level"
"Yeah, Sasuke, an-" Ryo's brain short circuited for a moment, "wait a minute"
Itami's smile was small, but honest. She was quick to deduce why Sasuke was so flustered.
Ryo had likely told her little brother about the nature of their relationship, student and teacher. And like a bull in a china shop, Sasuke had tracked her down for confirmation.
So she addressed her little brother.
"Ryo became my temporary pupil once he first showed signs of developing some kind of unique ability"
"Sorcery" Ryo corrected pointedly, but was ignored by both the Uchiha.
"I was told to keep an eye on him and help where I could"
Sasuke connected the dots on who gave the order for this to occur, but said nothing else besides a simple, "I see"
Whatever the arrangement had been, Itami had been tasked to instruct and monitor Ryo under her duties as an ANBU.
A task handed down by the Hokage, most likely.
"Your Sister's pretty good, Teme" Ryo blurted, "she's half the reason I can whoop your ass all the time"
Itami frowned, "must you always try to provoke others?"
"Ha" Ryo smiled, "always! How else would I have any fun? Besides, Sasuke's a Sorcerer now, so of course I'm tryna get a rise outta him! I gotta see how we measure…"
The pink haired menace trailed off as his words registered for Itami Uchiha. The taller black haired girl swiftly shifted her attention to her younger brother.
"Explain"
Sasuke cringed. The cold evenness of her words let the younger sibling know his Sister wasn't too happy to receive this news so suddenly.
Ryo slowly took a step or two away, giving the siblings a polite moment to talk.
Sasuke shot his pink haired friend with a death-glare for dropping this in his lap suddenly, to which Ryo just shrugged.
The Uchiha Heir looked back to his Sister with an equally stoney expression.
"I already told you about the mission…. But after I sparred with Ryo and Naruto, well something's…"
Sasuke was at a brief loss for words.
Ryo piped in with a "awakened?"
The black haired youth nodded toward his friend, "that. I can use Cursed Energy meaningfully now"
Sasuke's sister narrowed her gaze at her younger brother.
"Have you told Father yet?"
"Ah. No" Sasuke failed to hold his Sister's stare, "I haven't found the right time"
Itami nodded once, "the longer you wait, the worse it will be" she shook her head slightly at Sasuke, "but I'll respect your decision, my foolish little brother"
As she ruffled her sibling's hair, the boy in question squawking indignantly in the process, Itami addressed Ryo.
"I suppose you came to ask me to train?"
Swinging back into the conversation, the pink haired sorcerer couldn't help the wide grin splitting across his face.
"You know me so well, Itami-sensei," he beamed.
The elder Uchiha smirked lightly.
"Something tells me you've got your hands on a few new tricks" she turned away from the two Genin, beckoning them to follow her, "we'll use the Clan training grounds for this"
"May I join?"
Her eyes shifted to Sasuke, who had asked the quiet question.
"Of course, Sasuke, anyone may spectate-"
But that's not what her younger brother meant.
"May I spar with you as well"
Itami rolled the request around in her mind.
"Hell yeah" Ryo grinned, "I ain't gotta a problem with it" the pink haired youth glanced over at Itami.
"Do you, Sensei?"
Neither Ryo nor Sasuke fully understood what she was thinking at that moment, her expression turning pensive for only a few seconds before she decided on her answer.
"No, I don't have any issues with Sasuke joining us"
And then she began to walk away, immediately prompting the youth to follow.
Compared to the training ground we used as Team Seven, the Uchiha's Clan location was much smaller. By no means tiny, the flat dirt ground stretched out at least a hundred meters each way.
There were a series of small structures surrounding the ring, benches and barriers.
'Stands?' I think to myself.
Pfft.
Figures.
Of course the Uchiha would sit around and watch their clanmates battle. Battle hungry bastards, 'course they'd get a kick out of it. Beyond the peanut gallery were the woodlands and dirt pathways leading back to the Clan's main compound.
My eyes lazily drift over the horizon, slowly turning around to see the full three hundred sixty degrees.
'Besides the three of us… there's no one around'
Well.
"Are we really putting on a show for no one?" I smile, "how far am I allowed to go, Sensei?"
Itami actually frowned at me as she removed unnecessary pouches from her figure. As a member of the ANBU, it appeared she was always prepared for a fight.
"Consider my clan's land for at least a second, Ryo-san" she seemed to glare somewhat, "needless destruction isn't always the answer"
'Huh. Sensei actually seems pissed' I scratch my cheek, 'well. I guess I'm not using Big Blue…'
Unless she manages to back me into a corner.
"I won't be using Infinity" I proclaim aloud, but gesture over to Sasuke while adding, "Sasuke's technique is to Copy things, but-"
"H-HEY!" the younger brother sputtered, "stop blabbing you moron!"
I waved away Sasauke's aggravation, "mah, don't sweat it. If your opponent knows how your technique works its strength is increased"
Sasuke was taken aback, "what? Really?"
"Yeah" I shake my head, "it's like the most basic of pacts-"
Huh.
'How… how did I know that? When… when did I learn that? And from who?'
"How much stronger?"
Itami's question caught my gaze. Her eyes seem cold. It's obvious she noticed I cut myself off. And she's accepted this information as truth, which it is… even if I don't necessarily know how I know that, I just do.
But her current question is intending to dig into my capabilities.
"She's learning how to kill you for the Monkey"
The voice is in my head.
I ignore his taunt in favor of answering Itami's question.
"Significantly"
But I glance over at Sasuke.
"So. Wanna say exactly how your technique works?"
The younger Uchiha blinks, hesitates for a second, then frowns at me. Still, he doesn't hold back.
"While I'm only just getting the hang of it… It's as Ryo has said. From what I can tell… any ability I observe I am capable of mimicking"
I grin over at him, "you sly dog. So your not actually using my complete techniques, just the parts you can observe"
Sasuke held my stare flatly.
"Perhaps. I don't understand it perfectly…"
I hold his gaze but say nothing in response.
'...There's something else he's not sharing'
"Sasuke"
We both turn to Itami's call.
"I would like to spar against you first" the off duty ANBU turns to look at me, "is this acceptable?"
"Don't mind waiting" I take a step away, going for the chairs of the sidelines, "but Sensei-"
I look Itami dead in the eyes.
"Take this seriously. Sasuke's pretty dangerous now"
I then threw a smug smile at my teammate.
"Bet you don't last two minutes, Teme!"
"Fuck off" Sasuke snarls, his attention completely focused on his Sister.
…huh. Maybe there was a bit more bad blood between them than I thought-
Once I'm a few meters away, it is surprisingly Itami that strikes first.
I quickly dash away to the sidelines, the fighting immediately growing in fervour and brutality.
Techniques are quickly introduced, Itami launching multiple strings of fire at her Brother.
Sasuke's response arrives at the same time, with a set of speared flames identical to his Sister's colliding together.
The explosion is vast.
Itami utilizes this to her advantage with a wind technique.
The fire is quickly pulled into a hurricane of flame, a spectacle of destruction that was only mildly damaging-
Oh.
I'm just able to realize that the attack is a distraction, as Itami is directly moving to engage her brother in hand to hand-
At the epicenter of their fight, Sasuke reveals his trump card.
Once his Sister was in close, he activated his Technique.
And the ability he had copied?
"THAT'S MY MOVE TEME! YOU FUCKING-"
Ah. Now I see how Naruto felt.
Sasuke must have copied it when we trained together before. When the blonde idiot had struck at me with the strange flash of black and red energy.
The prick is using my ultimate protection, Infinity.
As soon as Itami drew close, she knew what her eyes were seeing.
Her training kicked in and she swiftly leapt back and away.
In the scant few seconds she had as Sasuke revealed the sword held in his wrist seal, she evaluated her little brother.
While he was indeed using Ryo's Infinity, fighting him hand to hand wasn't the only option.
But that was assuming he was using the defensive ability in its complete form.
Ryo could use Infinity subconsciously, allowing his technique a level of automation that kept him safe from any kind of attack.
Was Sasuke able to mimic it to that level?
Possibly.
But Itami had her doubts. Though, as she understood, a Sorcerer's capability was different from a Shinobi's.
So she would test him first.
His gaze hadn't left hers, his Sharinngan spinning.
'Three Tomoe in one eye already…'
Her Brother had indeed grown stronger.
The proud smile on her face was discreet and brief. Her own eyes flared up, her Sharingan spinning.
And Sasuke was bombarded with Genjutsu.