A/N: Potentially triggering. Proceed with caution.
"...It doesn't have to just be at the feet. A user under water can focus chakra on their hands or any other body part that makes contact with the surface of the water. If they were submerged, they can climb atop the water as if they were climbing out of a pool." Tokuma concluded his explanation of the Water Surface Walking Practice. Shisui was already a Chunin, but Tokuma and Izuna were still mere Genin, though the Hyuuga knew more about the exercise he never attempted than the Uchiha boy. What did she expect of him though?
He was a genius.
"Each person is responsible to guard against the area straight ahead of them and to the left, as the manji suggests. This formation has one blind spot: the centre." The Hyuuga concluded his explanation. He really was the only one that the Uchiha understood anything from; he simplified things enough. Both him and Izuna were still academy students, but he already spoke as if he attempted such a move and graduated as a Genin a long while ago. What did she expect of him though?
He was a genius.
Tokuma reminded Izuna of his brother.
Suzaku clapped his hands with a small smile that greatly contradicted his tired facial expression. Really, the only reason he started with this exercise was because both Minato and Fugaku pressured him, saying something about how Izuna's eyesight was deteriorating the more time passed some seal was placed on her eyes, and that she needed to control her Chakra to blah blah blah. He tuned them out halfway--he literally just stored the information in his subconsciousness--when he grasped the summary of their request. Everything was such a drag, in his honest and humble opinion. "Right, Tokuma-kun. Now you and Izuna-chan will go and practice it while Shisui perfects the Afterimage Clone Jutsu and the Body Flicker Technique."
At Shisui's cheer, Tokuma turned to Izuna seriously.
"Can we talk for a minute?... I mean... Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Izuna's eye twitched. It was already awkward as it is, he didn't have to make it more cringeworthy.
"Tokuma," Suzaku interrupted gravelly, dropping all formalities as his posture stiffened. He knew of the... ill feelings between his family and Izuna, after all, and leaving them unsupervised could end in something too troublesome for his taste. "Whatever you have to say to her, you can say it in front of all of us."
"Heh?" Shisui mumbled under his breath, feeling left out. He was the only original member of team Suzaku left, but he was in the complete dark about what was happening.
Tokuma nodded firmly to his sensei.
"Listen, Uchiha, my parents blame you," Tokuma didn't hesitate. He winced at how rude his statement sounded and bit his lips, but he already spoke up. There was no going back now. He wouldn't, even if he could. "They have every reason to blame you; we both know that. You did what you did, you can't take it back. Nothing can change what happened."
Suzaku looked like he was ready to throttle the boy.
"Don't get me wrong," He continued. "I still blame you, like mom and dad."
'I know.'
Silence.
"She said she knows." Shisui quickly translated, realizing that the Hyuuga didn't know the Shinobi code yet.
Tokuma gave a nod of acknowledgement to the boy.
"I-... You did... that- and... I know it's not your fault, but you still did it. It was you. No one else. Nothing would've changed hadn't you been there, but... it hurts knowing that it wasn't them, but you."
Another uncomfortable silence hung in the air.
"You were his first friend, y'know?" And his last went unsaid. "You and him were supposed to be a team when you graduated, no matter how your first interaction went. I overheard mom and dad talking, alright? It was never supposed to be me and you. You and him, you were two prodigies who-... And it hurts so much to know that it was you who killed him, not anyone else."
The Hyuuga shook his head lightly, a pained smile tinting his lips.
"I don't want there to be any bad blood between us. What's done is done, and you can not change it." He breathed out a sigh, his shoulders sagging down. "I want to try and get along with you, you're my teammate now, not his. I... uhh.. I hope we can be good friends?"
Tokuma cringed internally at how awkward and forced his words sounded.
Izuna gave him a tightlipped smile. 'I hope so too.'
Silence.
"Oh- Uhh… She said she hopes so too." Shisui piped in, his eyes wide and his fake smile so big at how tense the air was.
He did NOT want to be involved in this.
Izuna really needed to stop leaving her stuff at home when she thought she wouldn't need them, because apparently she always did. Especially her notebook and pens.
Tokuma forced a small smile towards Izuna; they had to start somewhere, right?
More silence.
"...Character development is so troublesome."
---
Izuna spluttered as she fell into the water once more. Takuma was having a much better time than her, but he still sucked. Now she knew why Suzaku always kept muttering "Troublesome" under his breath with a depressed cloud hanging over him. She glared at the water, as if it would become solid for her to walk on because of the nasty look.
Izuna halted in her steps, remembering one of her training sessions with Fugaku.
"Izuna..." Fugaku sighed in exasperation. There wasn't any progress on her part whatsoever. He knew taking the Chakra out of her eyes was going to be tiresome, but he didn't expect it to take that much. He lost all hope in her managing to do it without stabilizing her emotions about three days ago now. He didn't even know why he was wasting his time teaching her an exercise that she obviously would never get. "Did you manage to do the Leaf Concentration Practice in the Academy?"
'The what?' That answered his question.
Fugaku caught a flying leaf between his index and middle finger, ignoring Izuna's fangirling about how 'so cool' his action was. It was a leaf, for god's sake.
"Place the leaf over your forehead and direct all your chakra onto it; use it as a focal point."
Twenty minutes later, and no progress.
How and why she wasted twenty minutes trying to do an exercise as simple as that, he had no idea.
"You're distracted." He noted with his arms crossed, a stern expression on his face. He was getting antsy after so many hours of absolute and horrendous failures. "This practice is to better the mental focus of Shinobi and hone their concentration skills. Clear your mind and keep it here, not in the clouds. You're not a damn Nara."
Izuna found his advice helpful at the time.
When she followed it now, however, she realized it was only helpful at that time.
Couldn't she just swim instead?
---
Minato beamed at Izuna, happy that she finally got over her grudge and was talking to him. He actually called her in to his office to fill her--surprisingly--empty file, but she came willingly and happily.
"So when did you unlock your one-tomoe Sharingan… err... I mean, how?" Half of the file was literally blank. He didn't know how the third Hokage left it like that. Not even her birth date was there.
'I saw a boy getting eaten by fish.'
"What? I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Obviously Minato didn't see most of her signs if what he interpreted was that.
Izuna shrugged.
'I saw a boy getting eaten by fish.'
"I'm sorry, Izuna-chan, but I think I might need to brush up on my knowledge of the Shinobi Code. Do you think you can write that down instead?"
Izuna wrote it down quickly on a piece of paper he gave her.
Minato brushed the back of his head sheepishly, looking at, yet again, the same answer; 'I saw a boy getting eaten by fish.'
"Are you sure you wrote that correctly?" Izuna was after all a child; she could have confused some Kanjis with others.
The Uchiha looked in confusion at Minato, nodding quickly.
"...Maybe I need to brush up on my Kanji too- Ouch." Minato winced lightly, whining. "Kushina-chan."
"Stop bullying the girl, Minato-chan! That's not nice, 'ttebane." Kushina scolded with a terrifying glare that could put a person sixty thousand feet under. She was such a hypocrite though, always bullying her husband. Minato would never dare even think those words, however.
"Right, haha...?" Anything to escape his beautiful wife's wrath. Kushina really just happened to drop by when Izuna was there and decided to stay; good thing she did, in her opinion. "So, anyways, when's your birthday, Izuna-chan?"
Izuna sweatdropped at his considerably nicer attitude and smirked.
'October 11th.'
"Mhmm. You'll be turning nine then, am I correct?"
He got a nod in reply.
"And do you know your mother's name?"
She actually had to think about that one for a moment.
'Hatano. She was a refugee from Amegakure.'
At least, that was what Obito told her about her mom before his death.
Minato hummed lightly in acknowledgement, writing down the information that surprisingly wasn't there.
He would ask her more serious questions when Kushina wasn't around and ready to kill him if he got too personal.
Like why the most basic of information wasn't in her file.
Her, and Hiruzen.
---
The second time Izuna visited Minato's office, she cried.
"...her blood-... hands-..." She only heard snippets of the conversation, they were talking in low murmurs. Kakashi was there, and he was crying. Tears were dripping down his face as he looked at his hands. He was shaking so hard Izuna could see it from behind the slightly ajar door. "Its-... there."
He didn't dare speak in more than a hushed whisper, and Izuna couldn't really decipher what he was saying. She was eavesdropping, yes, but did she care? No.
"...kashi-... me-... both of-... hear..." Minato looked tired as he hugged the boy close to his chest. Izuna's breath hitched in her throat once she heard his next sentence. "Rin's blood is on both of us, see?"
The Namikaze held Kakashi's hand, trying to comfort him however way he could.
"There's blood on your hands, right Kakashi?"
"Now... now its on yours too." The Hatake choked back a sob.
"Exactly, on both of us. I won't let you go through this alone."
"She... Rin's always there, sensei... I-..." Their voices drowned out as an ANBU pushed Izuna away from the door, closing it quietly behind them.
The Uchiha snarled at the woman--she was the same ANBU that was in Minato's office before.
"Come back later." It was an order, and Izuna begrudgingly turned to leave.
If Kakashi killed Rin, then why did Izuna's heart ache for him so much? Why was she crying?
---
The third time Izuna went to Minato's office, it was an ANBU who told her the Namikaze needed her.
"I don't want you eavesdropping again, Izuna." That was the first thing Minato did; reprimand her. She shrugged, looking down at the ground as blood flushed her cheeks a bright red. "Promise me you won't do it again."
She scrunched her face up at him in tearful anger. He knew she would never pass up a promise--or break it; he knew it, and he was manipulating that trait of hers.
'Promise.' Minato smiled exasperatedly at her. He rubbed his temples, debating whether or not to tell her about the mission, just like he had been for about two weeks now.
"Hey, Izuna-chan, remember the S-ranked mission you assigned?" It wouldn't hurt if he told her. He would just get another promise out of her.
The girl peaked up at the memory, a full blown smirk appearing on her face.
"..." He was starting to rethink his choice at that smile of hers, but he continued on. "It was a great success, actually. I didn't know who to assign it to, and it was completed wonderfully."
Yet, his doubt wasn't misplaced. Sure, she literally followed the instructions he taught her and the original team didn't even need the backup one, but no eight year old was supposed to assign S-ranked missions. That was a big 'nono' in his dictionary.
"Promise me you won't try a stunt like that again, though, Izuna."
The girl visibly deflated and rolled her eyes.
She shivered at Minato's narrowed and slit pupils.
When Kushina was angry, hell's fire broke loose, but when Minato was angry, hell's fire froze over. Izuna didn't know which was scarier.
'Promise.' She reluctantly replied.
It wasn't like she could do it if she tried to assign such a mission again anyways; he made sure all his ANBU knew that she wasn't authorized or allowed to touch the scrolls unless he was there.
"Now, to complete your file..."
---
"What do you think makes a Shinobi?" Shisui asked quietly. He was not looking at Izuna directly, but in her general direction so that he could see her answer.
'The ability to protect the greater good, no matter what.' Izuna didn't hesitate.
After their training ended earlier that day, they decided to hang out. The Nara Jonin called them all a "troublesome drag" and left. Tokuma had some familial business to attend to--clearly a softer way to mean that his parents didn't approve of Izuna being on his team and that he would have to talk to them--and left as well. It wasn't as if Izuna saw Shisui that much; before his death, Obito was the black sheep of the clan--which automatically made Izuna one as well, especially when she was only a half Uchiha--and she lived in the outskirts of the compound. So they decided to hang out. And anyway, their first mission--D ranked, since it was Izuna's first. Plus, her and Tokuma were still Genin--was first thing tomorrow morning. Having fun came before doing chores, in their opinion.
'It doesn't matter who must be sacrificed, as long as, generally, everyone else is alright.'
Shisui bit his lips slightly; he respected her opinion, but he didn't necessarily agree with it.
'What do you think makes a Shinobi?' Izuna fired his question back at him.
"I'm trying to figure that out still, but... I know that a Shinobi doesn't have to be famous, he doesn't have to be strong either. He just needs to protect and help everyone, no matter what. He..." Shisui trailed off for a moment, his eyes clouding over. "He shouldn't let envy or jealousness get the better of him, especially when it involves the lives of others."
Shisui didn't want to be a murderer again. He didn't want to kill someone he loved again. He wouldn't ever succumb to those feelings again. He never would again.
Izuna agreed with his point of view, but not entirely. Just like he agreed with hers, but not entirely. Their respect didn't waver though, despite the silent and unspoken conflict.
They fell quiet once more--more like Shisui fell quiet--and watched the sunset on the top of the Hokage mountains- specifically, the head of the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. They had the brilliant idea, as Uchiha, to spite him by sitting on his rock; the man wasn't the biggest fan of their clan, after all.
The earth was almost still and silent. The warmth of the sun began its slow travel past the horizon. It sank below and drowned, slowly but surely, and it sent out flares of reds and oranges and pinks across the sky, shooting across like meteors.
"Y'know..." Shisui murmured. Today was a harsh day at training, and his Chakra was mostly spent. Their Sensei had the brilliant idea of them fighting in a team against him after their training ended so that they could work on their coordination and function normally.
Apparently, they were a search and rescue or an information gathering team who also specialized in their Kekkai Genkais; Tokuma with his superior--even than most of his clan members--Byakugan would track the enemy or the allies and gather information, depending on the situation, Shisui with his Mangekyo Sharingan--which obviously surpassed the normal Sharingan--would either collect information or act as the first line of defense, and Izuna, with her Taijutsu and her Chakra, would be the decoy and the fighter--along with Tokuma if appropriate. She was also the medic, which made for a very compromising situation, but they got to make the best of it. In time, they would.
Izuna turned to look at Shisui curiously when he didn't continue.
"Just... just look at the sky... Its all we have right now, and all the sky has is itself and everything looks absolutely perfect. And its blinding." Shisui seethed. He really hated sunsets; those were the same words he told him.
"All we have is the sky, but all the sky has is itself. Perfect, right? Wrong, its blinding, Shisui." He spoke with so much venom in his voice, Shisui wondered how he was still alive and managed to contain such hatred.
"Because everyday, there's a sunset waiting for us, like always, but what if you can no longer seek it out? What then?"
"To know that everyday, there's a sunset waiting for us, same as always, but we can't seek it out anymore-its suffocating."
"Its always there, but we have no hope of seeing it again."
"It takes away our hope of ever seeing it again, even if its still there."
"Its like a dragon who needs to defend his keep, but has no fire."
"Its like a fairy who needs to fly, but has no wings."
The first star appeared.
'Where is this coming from, Shisui?' Izuna inquired, taken aback at the ferociousness she saw in the boy's eyes.
"Where's all this coming from...?" Shisui asked, taken aback at the fierceness he saw in the boy's eyes.
Shisui smiled painfully, knowing now where it came from.
He didn't bother replying, because sooner or later, Izuna would come to understand what he meant.
Shisui wished on the star. It was a small wish, but it was all he wanted right now.
I wish for everyone to have a happy ending. I wish for the dragon to befriend the blacksmith.
Everybody wanted a hero, but no one wanted to be one. Even him.
This was his dark side.
Shisui jolted out of his thoughts with a small "Ouch!" and rubbed his shoulder gently.
"What was that for?!" Shisui whined loudly. It didn't even hurt; he was just a drama queen. He cowered backward at Izuna's glare.
'You were ignoring me!' She was furious- that much was apparent from how fast she signed.
"Slow down! I'm sorry! I'm just... uhh… not used to it?"
The girl huffed indignantly at his weak smile. She plopped down on the space beside him, a mischievous smile replacing her earlier frown.
'Did you wish upon a star?'
"Yeah. Why?" He replied in a careless manner,
You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net