Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ From Sunrise to Sunset ❯ Becoming a genin ( Chapter 4 )

4.Becoming a genin

At the end of the first semester, Yahizui was at the top of the class. As had been the case with Itachi, people said that she would graduate at the end of the year and become a genin. As for the rest of the class… well, she occasionally talked to Amaya, who begged her to come home with her in order to see Shisui.

“Amaya-chan, look, Mikoto-sama and Fugaku-sama won't let me bring home guests without permission.” Even if she wanted to bring a guest in, which she didn't, it would be terribly rude to do so. After all, she wasn't part of the family.

“B-But…” Amaya put on her sweetest puppy eyes. “All I wanted was to get to talk with Shisui-kun…”

Let's just say that the best way to get something from Yahizui was the helpless puppy look.

“OK, you'll talk to him, fine! Today I train with him at training ground three. You can come if you want, but I'm telling you it's gonna be harsh.”

“Doesn't matter. I'll come with you. Thanks, Yahizui-chan, I owe you big time.” The smile on her face, the sparkling eyes… Yes, Amaya was a happy girl.

Two boys leaned against a tree. One of them had a bored look on his face, the other merely stood there patiently.

“So, tell me… What's troubling you?”

Itachi looked at his friend from the corner of his eye then straightened his back a bit.

“I am not troubled.”

A bee flew in his ray of vision. He watched her, as she worked with all her strength for the better of the colony. Each bee had its own place. established by the queen from the very beginning. It didn't matter if they were workers or drones, they would do what had to be done for the queen.

How much humans resembled bees, the way they accept their place in society, the way a ninja would do everything the Hokage would tell him to do, and give his life in an instant to protect his village. But he didn't want to accept his place in society; he was, from the beginning meant for more, to be better, powerful.

“Don't try to hide it, Itachi. I've known you since forever. I know Fugaku-sama pissed you off.” Even for an all-knower like Shisui, the smirk on his face while he said that was a bit suspicious.

Itachi's attention redirected toward his friend.

“Have you been listening at doors again, Shisui?”

Shisui gave Itachi an impish smile, one hand resting at the back of his head.

“Hehe…Well, let's say I accidentally overheard you talking to him, but… I couldn't hear what. ”

Itachi's gaze once more became lost.

“He wants me to advance as quickly as possible in the ninja rank. He says that I hold great potential.”

Of course, as he'd been instructed since very young, Itachi had to work for the clan's interest. The Uchiha clan was one of the most powerful, so they had to maintain their position. Being a greater prodigy than Shisui himself, Itachi was exploited at maximum for the clan's benefit.

“Are you going to do your best to please the old man, as always?”

“As always.” Indeed, Itachi was not famous as being a person of many words, but with people as close as the one that he considered an elder brother he was, if not more talkative, at least he had the decency to actually take part in the conversation.

Yes, you will never disappoint the clan…

With a big sighm Shisui took a seat on the grass.

“What is Hizui-chan doing? She is never late for training. That girl is really working hard to beat you. At her age she should enjoy the last bits of childhood that ninja life allows you.”

And yet, she does catch up pretty fast.

“Achoo!”

“Somebody must be talking about you, Yahizui-chan!” yelled Amaya from the other room after hearing Yahizui sneeze.

They were at Amaya's place, since after classes, Amaya thought that it was necessary that she must go home and change in order to look presentable for Shisui. At the moment, Yahizui stood in the living room, tapping her fingers on the table impatiently, while Amaya took her time turning her closet upside-down in order to find a matching shirt for her ninja skirt. Once every two minutes, she came to Yahizui, asking her if her hair looked nice or if the shirt matched.

After fifteen agonizing minutes, Amaya got out of the room, satisfied with the way she looked.

“Come on, Yahizui-chan, we are going to be late.”

“We are already fifteen minutes late….”

Meanwhile…

“Hokage-sama, this scroll came in for you. It has the Shourai seal on it.”

Suddenly, the Sandaime's attention turned toward the ninja who brought the scroll.

He was a bit intrigued, but didn't panic. At his age and experience, the old Hokage had learned that everything has an eventual solution.

“Shourai, you say. I see. Leave it on my desk.”

He thoughtfully looked at the seal, and the seal eye seemed to look back at him.

They waited, and waited, but no man had infinite patience, and the Uchihas made no exception.

“Well, I guess we should start without her. Anyway, for this training session, I planned that one of us would spar with her, so we better warm up.”

“Hn.”

They warmed up for about five minutes, until they heard Yahizui's voice.

“I'm sorry I'm late! I was… Oh! Itachi, I didn't know you would join us too.”

Both boys looked in the direction where the voice came from, but were surprised to see not one girl, but two. The girl sitting next to Yahizui was a head taller than she was, with sandy-blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

They both looked at her, not knowing what to say.

Since Amaya was at a loss for words and the boys clearly did not intend to speak, Yahizui took the initiative.

“Guys, this is Raikou Amaya, a girl from my class. Amaya, meet Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.”

The boys both nodden as a response, while Amaya stuttered a shy “Hi.”

Again, seeing that they said nothing, Yahizui made one more attempt.

“Amaya asked me to help her with her aiming, and I thought it would be a good idea if she would come with me, so that Shisui could help her. Right, Shisui-kun?”

The silence was so deep, that they could hear the insects buzzing through flowers.

Finally, the unexpectedly silent person broke the ice.

“Why not help her, Shisui?” The smirk on his face clearly said that he was doing this to him for his simple sadistic pleasure. “I will spar with Hizui.”

With one look from him, Yahizui understood it all. Right now Shisui probably felt like everybody was against him. Well, it was a necessary evil in order to get his self proclaimed coolness calm down a bit.

Feeling cornered, he had no other chance. “Ah…. Um…sure, I'll help you with your aiming, Amaya-chan.”

While Amaya gave a small squeal of joy, probably because he had added the -chan to her name, Shisui gave the two accomplices the Uchiha Death Glareâ„¢.

“Have fun, Amaya-chan. If you need me, I'll be right here. Oh, and be gentle with her, Shisui.” Yahizui could barely suppress the giggle that was threatening to escape her lips.

She then turned to look at Itachi. “Do you think we were too harsh with him?”

“No.”

He stopped in the middle of the road, clenching his hand between his hands. It had been some time, but he still had a few problems with the flow of memories and the new presence inside his head. It was one of the episodes, so he took a seat at the edge of the road, waiting for it to pass.

This wasn't the first episode of memory recalling the presence inside his mind decided to show him. Up until now, she decided to show him parts of her childhood in a chronological order.

He mentally prepared himself, closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he found himself in the already familiar compound of the Shourai clan.

A twelve-year-old kunoichi with long brown hair and sparkling blue eyes was running thorough the compound, shouting as loud as she could.

“Harutobi-chan! Where are you?”

The one the young girl was searching for came running out of a warehouse.

The elder girl glared at the obviously younger one, tapping her foot impatiently against the stone road. ”Harutobi-chan, how many times have I told you not to go running in one of your hidings? Father wanted you to train with him today. Why are you hiding?”

The little girl's shoulders slumped in defeat, and she started to examine the blocks of stone that the road was made out of.

“Forgive me, Sayuri-oneechan…but I didn't want to train with Father until he took me seriously.”

“What are you talking about, Harutobi? He takes you serious enough for a nine-year-old. Ne, come on. I'll try to pull a few strings at Father to convince him to take you more seriously.”

He then watched as the little girl trained with fierce determination. A silky voice rang in his head.

You're probably wondering why I'm showing you this…

Yes, I am.

I want you to look carefully at every fight. My memories are now your memories; my experience is your experience. All you have to do is practice it and then you will search for her.

Why do I have to search for her?

Stupid little boy…She's the only one left.

Oh, yes, yes, I know, don't give me the lecture again.

The voice didn't answer, and the images stopped. Only then did the young boy get up and continue on his way.

They stood there, facing each other in complete silence. Even though this was only a sparring session, both of them regarded it with seriousness. Neither of them wanted to lose to the other, and they were ready to fight until their last powers to prove something.

Of course, each wanted to prove a different thing.

Itachi's face was cold and emotionless. As Yahizui regarded him, she tried to get in the same emotionless state he was.

I will prove to you that I'm strong, as strong as you are.

She was no longer Yahizui, but a ninja, a prodigy.

“I will not let myself be defeated.”

“Hn.”

We'll see.

At the exact same moment, they drew their kunai and the fight begun.

With the tip of his eye, Shisui watched their fight, the clash of kunai filling the clearing.

So… the confrontation has begun. This will be interesting.

He then looked at the girl sitting not far from him as she tried to improve her aiming, but failed miserably. Actually, it was understandable. Not many people aimed well, while staring at someone else.

He gave a heavy sigh. This is useless.

“Ne, Amaya-chan, why won't we take a break, and go watch those two maniacs while they're fighting?”

Amaya blushed furiously and nodded, quickly grabbing her kunai and shuriken, and followed him.

“A… S-Shisui-kun, this is a training session, right?” Shisui nodded in response.

“Then why are they fighting like that? I mean, aren't they taking it too seriously?”

Shisui watched the fight with a thoughtful gaze. When he spoke it felt like he was talking with no one in particular.

“When two prodigies clash, it's bound to make sparks.”

Amaya watched him in awe, not really understanding what he meant. So she continued to look at the fight.

Neither Itachi nor Yahizui stopped. They merely kept attacking each other. Their skills were even, each having the advantage of knowing each other's weaknesses. All their little habits were visible to one another. The way his jaw tightened when he was about to make another attack, the way her eye slightly twitched, they saw it all.

“You won't last long.” Itachi's cold voice held a bit of smugness in it, smugness that irritated Yahizui above all, but she held it in place.

“We'll se, ne?”

She took a second kunai from her pouch, holding it in her right hand.

Itachi stopped for a moment, landing on his feet, but he swiftly regained his composure, beginning another attack.

Ambidextrous, I see.

He swung his leg to kick her in the chest, but she was fast enough to dodge it with feline moves. She threw one of the two kunai in her hands, but he dodged easily.

That fraction of a second was the only thing she needed to launch a punch meant to hit him in the face.

Her eyes widened a little as her fist didn't hit its target, but instead got securely held in his hand.

Finding herself trapped, Yahizui unclenched her hand, quickly grabbing a kunai hidden in her sleeve.

However, she wasn't fast enough, as her kunai met with his.

One second later, Itachi threw the kunai toward her, which she easily dodged.

Both of them landed in opposite sides of the training ground to catch their breath.

They were both tired. Even though they were both far more advanced than most at their age, they were still young and hadn't had enough endurance training.

Their breath came in pants as they gripped their weapons tightly.

Yahizui watched Itachi and saw that he was completely relaxed.

If he only knew…

She straightened herself up looking at him with a small smirk. “It's over, Itachi-kun. I won.”

Itachi looked at her, a small smirk also forming on his lips. “I think not.”

The next moment, they both pulled on the almost invisible ninja wires. Their eyes widened as they found themselves tied up.

“What the…?” they simultaneously said.

Amaya watched amazed.

Why did they both do the same thing? And when did they do it?

Shisui, on the other hand, was amused by the whole situation. He had seen the whole thing with his Sharingan.

As he walked between them, he started to applaud.

“You guys really are something, ne? I'll leave it to you to realize when the wired kunai we thrown.”

Then he walked to each of them, cutting the wires.

When they stood up and headed toward each other, Shisui had the impression that the two would call a truce and reconcile.

Instead, Yahizui merely stretched out her hand. Itachi took it.

He looked at her, deep into her scarlet eyes, and saw acceptance there. She wanted to win, to prove herself, but right now, she was happy with a tie.

“You can become powerful.”

But I still took it easy on you.

It only took these words to light a gleam of happiness in her eyes, and he was content with that.

“So can you… Ita-kun.”

The last part was merely a whisper, since the old nickname was only for him to hear.

She then let go of his hand and turned to Amaya.

“I'm sorry, Amaya-chan, but I have to go home. Mikoto-sama told me to take care of Sasuke right after training, so…. I have to go.”

“No worry, no worry, I'll see you tomorrow at the academy.” Amaya waved her hands frantically in front of her face. “Goodbye, Shisui-kun, Itachi-kun.”

Then she quickly turned on her heels and started to run.

“Well then,” came Shisui's voice from behind them. “We should head back home now, it's getting dark.”

And they began their walk to the compound.

The Sandaime Hokage stood in his office, pipe in hand and watched the village. It was so peaceful, and the light that the setting sun brought over the village gave it an unreal look.

Slowly, he averted his gaze from the village he had sworn to protect and looked at the scroll sitting on his desk. He clearly remembered the first part of the scroll; the only part he could read.

He opened the scroll once more and read the few lines:

To the leader of Konohagakure,

On the day she becomes a genin, give this to Yahizui. She will know how to read it.

The rest of the scroll was blank.

With a sigh, he put the scroll in a drawer, took a puff from his pipe, and returned to the window to admire Konoha.

Blunt as always, Harutobi…

The setting sun gave the town a golden glow.

You were such a good shinobi, loyal to Konoha…for those war times…

As soon as they entered the house, Itachi and Yahizui were greeted by Mikoto's harsh voice.

“You two are late! Supper ended an hour ago.”

She stood in the kitchen with Sasuke on her knee, bouncing him slightly.

“Pardon us, Mother…” began Itachi, his voice calm and even.

Yahizui took the liberty to continue his sentence. “…but we were training and we lost track of time. By the time we finished, it was already getting dark outside.”

Their answers combined seemed satisfying enough for Mikoto, for her slightly angry features returned to their warm and kind state.

“Go upstairs and clean up. You two look like you haven't bathed in a week. Then come down and I'll prepare you some food.”

They both nodded in response and went upstairs to get cleaned up.

Mikoto watched them go and smiled to herself, then looked at Sasuke, who seemed a bit brighter now that he had seen them.

“What do you think, Sasuke-chan? I say that she's a very good thing for Itachi-kun, ne? She makes him less cold. Don't you think so?” She kissed the little chicken-haired boy on the forehead.

Sasuke looked at his mother and nodded enthusiastically.

“I knew you would agree with me.” She let out a fit of small giggles and started to prepare them something to eat.

The next semester at the academy went off pretty fast for Yahizui. She learned the basics and a few new jutsus, and practiced them every day with Shisui or Itachi. From time to time, Fugaku came to teach her something new and to learn new ways of increasing her mental strength. By now she knew how to read very well, and the words that were unfamiliar to her would always be in dictionaries.

She wanted to learn about the history of Konoha and of the Uchiha clan. Since she was still a little girl, Yahizui liked to know about the history of things.

Seeing her inclination, her mother and aunt had told her the history of the Shourai clan in a tale like-way. The memory was still alive in her eyes and she could just imagine her mother talking to her.

Flashback

“What do you say, Hizui-chan? Want to know how our clan came to be?”

The little girl sitting in the woman's lap nodded as a yes.

“OK, let's see…” She stood like that for a few minutes, not knowing how exactly to begin the story.

“Once upon a time, when the ninja world was at its beginnings, there was a beautiful princess. She lived a life of extreme luxury and had everything she needed, but the princess didn't find happiness in the life she had. She was also a kunoichi and liked the heat of battle. She was loyal to her father and leader, and completed every mission perfectly.

One day, she met a fierce enemy who blinded her in battle. After she returned home, her father stripped her of the ninja rights, forbidding her to ever engage into a fight again. He felt pity for her, and she felt miserable, because she was no longer useful to her dearest father.”

Yahizui's mother looked at her to check if she was listening. Seeing that her child was all eyes and ears at her story, she continued.

“The princess cried her days and nights, until there were no more tears left in her eyes, so she cried tears of blood. She prayed to all the Kamis to help her, to make her see again so that she could serve her father. Seeing her grief, the Kamis' hearts softened, and they decided to help the poor girl. So one night, while she was praying, the Kamis spoke to her.”

Her mother took a few seconds to change her voice in an imposing one. “`Beautiful princess, we heard your cries and pleas, and we have decided to make you see again. We cannot restore your lost eyes, but we can make you see. From this day on, you shall be called Shourai, and the power you hold, Jisengan.'”

The small girl looked at her mother with sparkling eyes. “So this is how our clan began?”

“Yes. As the generations passed, the Jisengan was refined until it became what it is today.”

End flashback

The memory slowly faded in the back of her mind. Is the Uchiha history as pretty as my clan's?

“Hizui-chan!” Her thoughts were interrupted by Mikoto's voice. “Come on, today is the graduation day, hurry up.”

Graduation day. Today was the day that she and Itachi would become genin. The teams had been formed yesterday, but no one yet knew who their teammates were. Of course, taking into consideration the fact that no one was as young as she, her teammates were two ten-year-old boys.

OK, let's do this. Taking the headband and getting to know the new sensei.

She brushed her messy hair and went downstairs.

“Mikoto-san, where is Itachi-kun?”

“He already left, dear!” Mikoto yelled from the kitchen.

Punctual as ever. She walked out of the compound and onto the Konoha streets. It felt like no time and soon she found herself in front of the academy.

After taking a few deep breaths, she entered the building.

She entered the classroom assigned and took a seat next to two ten-year-old boys: Mikazu Keisuke and Nakata Taizen. They were discussing whether kunai or katana would be more effective against a lone Iwa shinobi.

The room went quiet as their teacher walked in with a set of many shining headbands. He called each student to come pick it up, and each tied it where it felt more comfortable or fashionable.

When the time came for Yahizui to go get hers, she proudly walked over and took the headband in her hand. Now I am officially a Konoha shinobi.

She hurriedly tied the headband around her waist and headed to her place.

Once all the headbands had been passed out, the chuunin teacher looked at his list and began to call out names.

“Team 1: Hanazaki Hikaru, Kinihai Minori, Yamanaka Toya…”

Yahizui listened attentively, waiting for her name to be called.

“Team 2: Shourai Yahizui, Mikazu Keisuke, Nakata Taizen.”

The two boys straightened up and looked at Yahizui. She looked back at them, nodding in their direction as a salute.

They returned the gesture, but did nothing more. In their eyes, Yahizui had no place on the team. She was six years younger than they were. Why would she be any better?

 

“Ne, lit… I mean, Yahizui-chan, what do you think our sensei will be like?” Keisuke managed to correct his vocabulary in time. If he hadn't, he would have been in great trouble. Yahizui, though young and normally polite, had a temper as fiery as her hair.

Yahizui looked at both boys. Will they get along? Will they be as strong as Itachi or Shisui? No, no one else can be like them.

“I don't know. I hope he will be good. What's his name again?”

“Wataru Takahame,” said Taizen.

As they spoke, the door opened, and the jounin senseis entered the classroom. Wataru Takahame surveyed the classroom, looking for his team. He had seen their files when he was appointed as their sensei, and kept the vague faces of all of them.

It didn't take long for him to find his new team as soon as he saw crimson hair and scarlet eyes flanked by two older boys. Guess this is them.

“Hi guys, I'm Wataru Takahame, your new sensei.” He was a fairly tall man, with short honey-colored hair that matched his sharp eyes. He wasn't ugly, but you couldn't call him a heartthrob either. By the looks of it, he was in his twenties, but he was in no way a weak ninja. In fact, Wataru Takahame was part of the elite jounin of the village, so he mustn't be underestimated.

“Hello, I'm Shourai Yahizui.” She had a bright smile on her face and gave a small bow.

“I'm Nakata Taizen.” A brown-haired boy with calm hazel eyes nodded in his direction. His hair was shoulder length, and he kept it braided. His headband was tied on his right arm securely. Also, the calm tone in his voice could disarm many people. He seemed like the thinking type, a little bohemian even.

“Mikazu Keisuke.” His black hair held a bluish tone, while his eyes were a deep, almost dark blue. The boy was bound to become a real heartthrob when he grew up. The headband tied on his forehead ruffled his hair a bit, giving him a look that probably wasn't as scary as he wanted to be.

Takahame watched them one more time before turning to Yahizui.

“The Hokage wants to see you in his office. We will all meet tomorrow at training ground three at five a clock.”

They all groaned in annoyance, but accepted.

As they exited the Academy, Yahizui went to the Hokage Tower, while the boys went home.

When she reached the door to the office, she gave a soft knock and was rewarded with an “Enter.”

The room was very well lighted, the large window giving a superb look over Konoha. The Sandaime stood in his chair, looking like he always did: thoughtful, wise and old.

“Hokage-sama, you called for me?” A low bow accompanied her words.

“Yes, I did. At some time in the past, after you came here, I received a scroll with your clan's seal.”

He carefully watched her, as her eyes slowly widened in bewilderment. She looked like she wanted to say things like “It can't be possible” or “Is anybody still alive?”

As if voicing all of her fears, he answered the most preeminent question that kept lingering in her eyes: Who sent it?

“I am afraid, Yahizui, that I don't know the answer to any of these questions. All I can do is give you the scroll. In it says that you will know how to read it.”

She took the scroll with shaky hands, holding it as if it were to break in any moment.

“H-H-Hai, H-Hokage-sama.”

“You may leave.”

The moment she reached the compound, she dashed into her room, took a seat on the bed, and looked at the scroll.

What's in it? From who is it? Aunt Harutobi? Someone else?

Finally, after five minutes of debating what might be in the scroll and who sent it, she opened it.

As expected, it was blank, so she did what her aunt had taught her.

She bit her finger and drew her clan's symbol on the scroll.