Chapter 2
I hastily formulated a reasonable reply, "Then I look forward to the day we spar, Fugaku-nii."
Nii-san simply smiled back at me, an anticipatory smirk.
By now Nii-san had finished setting our plates down. So I went to the little library that was my second home, too lost in thought to read.
If Nii-san was Fugaku then I had a while before Itachi was even born. Heck, the coup could be completely prevented by me, since Fugaku was the instigator.
I smiled, for now I'd focus on getting stronger, then when the 3rd Shinobi War broke out I wouldn't die right away. It should start sometime in the next eight to fifteen years.
Or maybe I'm screwed up; timelines in Naruto have never been my strong point. I mean seriously, for all I know the first shinobi war ended only a few years ago, but I doubt it.
Well, I can process this later but for now…
I picked How to Train Fire Chakra off of the shelf and got comfortable.
Training any kind of elemental chakra can be extremely dangerous and should not be attempted without sufficient chakra.
Well that's encouraging; if my knowledge is correct chakra pools are very limited before five or six years of age.
Fire chakra has been called the most dangerous element to train with good reason. If you do not use proper care you risk incineration, burnt insides, or even literal heart burn.
And virtually every Uchiha does it, come on how hard can it be? Still it's best if I ask Chichi or Hiroshi-sensei before I actually attempt this.
Fire Techniques often use the tiger hand seal.
Aha! I knew I was forgetting something: hand seals. They look like a real pain to remember; hopefully Hiroshi-sensei will teach me.
Fire chakra is formulated in the belly by concentrating chakra and then releasing it as pure energy. A slight nudge is enough to change the element to fire if you have an affinity.
Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Since fire is merely the expression of energy released in a chemical reaction; it isn't hard to think that if we say chakra is energy. In fact, producing fire chakra should be incredibly easy. Which I suppose is the danger; since it's so easy to make it it's also easy to make too much. Something like that should be how it is.
But that brings up the question, why isn't every ninja from here to Iwa spamming fire techniques?
Maybe fire chakra is a really affinity dependent element? Or are affinities so very important? It would be nice to think that with only slightly more trouble you can use a technique you have no original affinity for. But then, why do only geniuses like Kakashi and the Sandaime use jutsu like that?
That's why developing new affinities is a task that can take years; if you have no original talent, getting over the first hump of making even the tiniest amount of a new element can be close to impossible.
If that's the case, I hope I have two affinities. It's also really bad if I have no fire affinity at all, if I can't do Katon: Great Fireball I'm screwed. Reason being, the Uchiha use it as a coming of age deal, if I can't do it, I'm a kid until I can.
Well, I probably won't be using elemental jutsu until I'm five or so anyway, still, this is all rather intriguing.
If you don't have an affinity, please buy my other book How to Develop a New Affinity.
Really man? Who even wrote this? Doesn't say, did Father get rid of the author page?
Anyway, this book has been interesting… wait I only read like eight sentences, all the rest came from my own mind. Ignoring that, I need to read up on hand seals and start practicing.
Luckily, there was a scroll in the room about the twelve common hand seals. It described things in a little too much detail, but fortunately there were pictures.
After practicing hand seals for half an hour I felt somewhat exhausted, mentally. So I went to my bed and lied down.
Thinking while not being able to get to sleep is something I've done as long as I can remember, this time my thoughts were of family.
Could I really stop the massacre? The coup plot even? It didn't matter, I had to. I would.
I'd never even gotten past the chunin exams in cannon Naruto, all my other knowledge came from fan fictions and my sister. My real knowledge of the future was limited at best. In some ways that was good. I could tell myself I couldn't stop some things, it would be true, I know.
It's actually fortunate that I know virtually nothing about my brother from my previous life, prejudice is an awful thing.
XXXX
I woke up the next day, feeling somewhat less anxious than ever before. I guess knowing that Itachi and Obito weren't going to kill us all anytime soon got a load off my chest.
After my morning routine I had breakfast, heading out immediately to the training ground after a brief goodbye to my mother.
Hiroshi-sensei was waiting for me there so I greeted him, "Good morning Hiroshi-sensei!" I called.
"Good morning Nanashi-kun."
"Today we'll learn some more advanced taijutsu moves of the interceptor style."
I resisted the urge to wail, it got even more complicated? There were already dozens of kata's to remember.
"This is more focused on being perceptive, whereas what you've been learning before now is all based on repetition."
"So, rather than a bunch of kata's to remember this is more like common kata's and how to counter them?"
"Mostly, other than the basic academy style that almost every country teaches there are hundreds of taijutsu styles. So this is more on countering common moves and then not getting blindsided by a strange style."
I see, so that's how it is hundreds of moves out there; it really is a dangerous world.
"Now Nanashi-kun, what must we always remember?"
"What you can achieve is based on speed; its effectiveness is based on strength." I answered without hesitation.
"Exactly, now, why do the Uchiha focus somewhat more on speed?"
"To take full advantage of the Sharingan."
"Good, let's begin."
Hiroshi-sensei is a really good teacher and someone I admire, he also is very flexible. If I have a hard time on something we focus in on that, if something is easy we spend only token time on it.
After practicing sparring and being lectured for hours I finally asked the question.
"When am I going to learn jutsu, or even hand seals?" I'll be the first to admit that making a tsunami out of a puddle or a fireball is very cool; I'm also intrigued by the concept of genjutsu.
"Jutsu will wait until you actually have enough chakra, hand seals… well you wouldn't be asking if you hadn't already looked it up."
"Yes." Hiroshi-sensei knows me so well, it's quite refreshing. But for now I'm very hungry so I continued, "Let's go eat."
He smiled, "Yes, lets."
Four Months later
As I grow older time seems to go both far faster, and at the same time, a snail's pace. I can now do twenty-nine push-ups so I feel alright about that. My Taijutsu lessons have come along nicely; however I find quickly switching between hand seals extremely disconcerting.
Hiroshi-sensei eats with us every day now; and Father has expressed his approval of my progress, mildly.
Chakra lessons are non-existent at this point, being put on hold until I actually have enough to do anything with it. I have not read anymore in How to Train Fire Chakra my conclusions satisfying my present curiosity.
During the meal I asked, "Nii-san, how is your progress?"
"The academy is boring, but necessary; the material is useless other than the history and civilian studies."
What he actually meant is probably more like, "Those stupid instructors are dumbing things down too much."
But on another note this is really interesting, Fugaku likes math? Or even history? Don't all kids hate this stuff? Admittedly, at his age in my past life math was my favorite subject with English being my least liked.
I wonder, do they teach grammar in the academy? Seems like a waste of time for a profession that has an average life span of twenty-five or so.
Which brings up another question that's been plaguing me; are you smarter if you have more chakra? Or in other words: "Will a Sannin always be smarter than a civilian?" it seems so.
Intellectual questions aside, life in a Ninja Clan is interesting. My family is suitably rich though we live a relatively simple life. As may have been obvious if I looked closer sooner, my father is clan head.
This brings up a good point as to why I am being nurtured to such a degree; I am the back-up clan heir. Father is not above thinking that Nii-san could die in the line of duty, many do.
Turning my attention to my father I asked, "Chichi, how strong are you?"
"Strong enough, Nanashi, strong enough."
"That's good. Just remember not to die out there." I replied seriously.
"Cheeky brat, we go easy on you because you're young, but maybe I should show you why I'm a jonin." He retorted good naturedly. I truly value these moments, they are precious to me.
"Please take care of me."
Before he could even begin to answer I cut in, "But you already do, Father, you already do."
"Hn." He grunted back.
"Mother, thank you for the meal." Fugaku-nii and I said simultaneously as we got up and brought our plates to the sink. I wonder, are dishwashers not a thing here? Naruto technology is confusing that way.
After finishing the little ritual, I went with Hiroshi-sensei back to the training grounds.
He rapidly gathered up some leaves and came back.
"For the rest of our training time take off your shirt and clothe your upper body with these leaves, if you begin to feel exhausted, stop and let me know." Well, chakra exhaustion is the bane of ninja everywhere, putting them out of action for almost a week, and if it's really severe, a month.
I only succeeded in covering my frontal abs with leaves before I stopped for the reason given. However, Hiroshi-sensei didn't seem too disappointed.
I went to bed, or futon I guess, almost immediately after supper. The beds here are actually more comfortable than one might expect.
Tomorrow I'll start reading History of The Uchiha Clan hopefully I can gain some insight into the period before hidden villages.
Two Weeks Later
The book, though frustratingly difficult to put in chronological order went back almost as far as I had hoped. Unfortunately, it gave little more insight than a family tree.
Apparently I was descended from one of Madara's cousins. Officially, Madara had no wife and no children, but I wonder. I guess in the grand scheme of things it's insignificant.
The rivalry between the Uchiha and Senju clans was very real, to the extent that if one saw the other they'd draw swords without warning. Neither side was above using whatever tricks and acts of terrorism to win.
It was a rude awakening; the life of a shinobi was truly a jaded one. Unfortunately I couldn't find the reason for the conflict, beyond the Rikudo Sennin's eldest son's jealousy.
Two Months Later
I'm only a couple weeks from four years old now, training has been taken up a notch; with fractured bones occurring every once in a while.
Fugaku hasn't brought a girlfriend over yet, so I'm guessing he's the sort to marry late. Hiroshi-sensei confided to me that he has no close family, the Clan and Konoha being all he had.
I'm not the patient sort, so I hope my chakra expands early, as previously mentioned, jutsu are cool. But, more morbidly, they can easily end a life; indeed, many were invented with that purpose.
I stand by this philosophy, "Whatever power can be used for good can be used for evil, and vice versa." But what is good? In this life what is evil? A stupid question, I have a conscience after all.
Today is the day of my first spar with Nii-san; hopefully he'll go easy on me. As I finished tying on my sandals, I wondered just how strong he was.
Father, Mother, Hiroshi-sensei and Fugaku were already present. Thirty feet in front of Father we faced each other, a short five meters apart.
Father eyed us both and then, almost too fast for my eyes to follow, jumped forward and raised his arm, "Hajime!" he called.
My stance already taken, I let Fugaku-nii make the first move, his much larger body covering the distance quickly. He began with a standard punch that I easily ducked under, my small size being advantageous.
I countered with my left leg, shifting my right into an adaptable position. Unfortunately this resulted in my kick being too slow to actually connect, Nii-san turning away as my leg swept past, he leaped at me before the movement of my leg stopped, forcing me either to block or perform a backwards leap kick. I chose the latter.
Landing imperfectly after my stunt I was surprised to feel a shooting pain in my back. I stumbled forward; I should have seen that coming. I turned around before Fugaku could follow up lashing out with my right arm. To my dismay my arm was too short and Nii-san easily deflected it. My left fist already in motion I jumped back to avoid the pain that would follow if I continued.
Nii-san attacked quickly with a tackle I was to slow to avoid, to weak and light I quickly succumbed and fell down, trying to use my legs to throw him off. He was too skilled to allow it and held, knowing struggling was useless, I gave up.
"I give up, Nii-san wins." The fight had been decided too quickly; but facts were facts.
"Good job, Fugaku." Father praised, I agreed, he won in less than seven moves.
"I enjoyed it." I told my brother.
"You'll improve." He answered with a small smile.
"And so shall you, I look forward to it."
"Very good, let's return." Father interrupted.
Nii-san and I both nodded and followed chichi back to the house.
"How did I do Hiroshi-sensei?" I asked on the way.
"You did well; however, there is much room for improvement."
"I agree; I look forward to prospering under your tutelage."
"That's good then." He allowed himself a small grin as I did the same.
One Year Later
My chakra has expanded; and, now that I've adjusted, Father will teach me the fireball technique. I look forward to using my very first elemental jutsu.
"Nanashi, I understand you've already gone over basic fire training with Hiroshi-san."
"Yes, Father." While at home Father was a friendly man, in the field he was nothing but professional. And he expected no less from me.
He then went through the hand seals, Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger, and brought his fingers to his lips, making a ring with his forefinger and thumb. He then spat out a large fireball that obliterated two of the dummies and left most of the others singed.
"I assume you saw the hand seals. This technique is rather simple, just imagine your chakra as fire then blow it out at a constant rate, or, launch it all at once like I did."
"As with all elemental techniques, use great care, you can obliterate your own self from the inside if you mess up." He also should mention that this doesn't happen to people usually unless they're trying to make a variation of the jutsu. Nevertheless, I don't want any burns so I'll be carefull.
"Remember to coat your throat with chakra so that the technique doesn't go out of place or burn your esophagus." Ah yes, careless youngsters are the number one cause of death.
"Yes, Father." Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger…blow.
A wave of warm air blew from my puckered lips. Although expecting it to work on the first try was a little wishful.
"Good, use more chakra. This technique will take almost all you have." Well, being complimented on such a failure is surprising.
I spent too much of my chakra trying to figure the thing out; so we had to go inside for the day.
Concentrating chakra in the belly… and then expelling it as energy turned into fire. But what if I neglected to change it to fire? A weaker technique, if we use Rasenshuriken as an example.
I wonder what would happen if I converted the chakra for the Great Fireball to say… lightning instead. Best I don't try until I can ask someone who's done it about trying such things.
Here's a cool thought, if Tobirama can take humidity and make it into water techniques, can I use regular fire to do my bidding? I don't think so, water works differently from fire, whereas with fire you can make it out of your own chakra(energy) with water you need an actual source of physical water.
Which is why chakra is considered an energy, it can to made to combust rather easily; but, with something like water all it can do is shape preexisting water sources.
So if I had to say, lightning and fire chakra are the easiest to create but water, wind, and earth need physical manifestations to shape. Fortunately for users of the two latter, air and dirt is almost everywhere.
If I'm right… nothing major, but, I'll have a greater understanding of elemental techniques, which is never bad. I went through the hand seals a couple times and then made my way to supper. Sukiyaki, mom is so nice.
I noted with slight surprise that Fugaku had a fore-head protecter.
"How long has Nii-san been a genin?" I asked my older brother.
"A couple days." He answered.
"Why didn't you tell me, I'd have prepared something for you by now."
"Which is precisely why I didn't." Ohh, how thoughtful of you Nii-san.
"Hn." I said with a nod.
"Itadakimasu!" I picked up my chopsticks and began eating. I'm tall enough now to put my plate in the sink on my own but I still let Fugaku do it for me. Being young has some perks.
The next day Father and I went out to the training ground, I noted with interest that the poles had been replaced. I suppose some Uchiha have the less than glorious job of replacing those.
"Watch once more." Father instructed, he launched the fireball again.
I carefully watched his every move but was unable to determine what my own failing was.
Perhaps if it didn't change the nature of the chakra to fire before I expelled it? I puffed my cheeks, layering them with protective chakra, as I brought the chakra up through my throat I compressed it, and then changed it to an inferno, before quickly launching whatever heat ball I had produced.
I didn't risk putting my fingers up, merely haphazardly spitting my very first fireball. It impacted a few feet away, causing me to grin at the destruction.
Father looked on, impossibly hard to read.
"It was small imperfect and un-aimed, but with practice you will succeed. You seem alright to go again, try once more."
I repeated the technique, rearing back before blowing this time; I then expelled a less wild version of the technique. Aiming through my fingers this time, I shot the fireball at the poles that acted as dummies, incinerating one.
It should be mentioned that masters of this technique cut down on the hand seals and forego the rather elementary aiming through the finger ring.
"It is better if we don't push things, tomorrow we'll go over this again. After that, you'll find your library has more useful and advanced scrolls and books."
"Thank you very much, Father."
"It's no trouble; as long as you are competent I'm more than happy to pass on my knowledge."
Interesting he calls it 'passing on his knowledge' not 'teaching me' it contains subtle connotations. Or am I overthinking?
Well, today has been quite good, learning my first jutsu and all.
Other than that, it seems that we have plenty of time before lunch, good thing I brought my kunai.
These kunai were a gift from Hiroshi-sensei for my fourth birthday, so I've owned them for close to a year. However - I take good care of them - they are still plenty sharp.
Much to my consternation the Second Shinobi World War ended a short few months ago. My timeline for Naruto was never set in stone but this is surprising. Fortunately this means that I won't be going to the battle front any time soon.
Curiously enough a familiar name popped up recently.
The White Fang of Konoha: Hatake Sakumo. He's a young and talented man at this point; still growing in power, but strong enough that enemies below jonin shake in fear.
I threw my kunai from forty-five feet, none of them totally missing but quite a few just grazed the pole. Father gave a few words about my throwing stance before leaving to go work. He is a truly busy man, what with being the head of Konoha's military police force.
The Uchiha Police, as they were commonly referred to, had duties ranging from settling violent disputes between shinobi, keeping crowds at bay during major events, and even hunting missing nin. While the ANBU took up the responsibility of hunting anyone A-rank or higher, the Uchiha brought in lower ranking missing nin.
On a related note, Konoha's desertion rate was the lowest of the five great hidden villages.
Lunch time rolled around in due time, picking up my kunai once again I brought them all with me as I returned. Washing myself quickly so that I would look respectable for the meal I sat down in seiza at the Japanese table.
Mother once again cooked an excellent meal, but a meal is boring without conversation.
"Nii-san; who is your jonin-sensei?"
"Hisakawa Akiyoshi."
Nobody I knew then.
"Are your teammates any good?"
"They are academy graduates."
In other words, civilians with no extra-curricular skills.
Well, I hope Nii-san does really well. It's good to have strong family.
After practicing the Great Fireball technique with Father the next day; I made my way to the library. The amount of scrolls had increased almost ten-fold and the number of books had also grown.
Man, clan children had seriously two legs up on everyone else, eh? The first to find would of course be the 'academy three' the bunshin actually may have been the most useful of them, despite popular belief.
Still, we'll start with the henge; it being the easiest, probably. I rummaged through the scrolls until I found the one I sought, opening it and placing a paperweight so that it would not roll back up.
Well, there is a reason students take months to learn these, was my first thought.
The henge worked by putting a layer of chakra over oneself and then giving it color through imagination. Hence the reason it was hard to transform into things smaller than oneself.
If you put in more chakra the technique become both more solid, withstanding even punches, and more chakra intensive causing little ones to faint. This explains why academy students, sans Naruto, would have their transformation broken by naught more than a finger flick.
The main things with henge are 1: chakra cost, 2: imagination, and 3: solidity. Overall while it could be really useful it was simply impracticable in so many situations.
Or am I wrong; is it just as simple as the scroll says? A slightly chakra high chakra cost and constant mental concentration? It seems too easy, Dog, Boar, Ram, and "Henge!"
I focused on the appearance of Fugaku and in a puff of smoke there I stood, now as Fugaku. I immediately began noticing discrepancies, so this is the real challenge. Its great training, as ninja who want to succeed in this technique will inevitably become more observant.
Well, if that's how it is then I am up to the challenge.
I studied one of my kunai carefully and then henged into it. From my position as a kunai I looked at the basis for my appearance, regrettably, I could not see all of myself.
As I attempted to look closer the henge broke, so that's how it is, henge really does need some serious focus, I'll practice it by transforming into Nii-san as I read in here.
To say that Fugaku was uncomfortable under my scrutinizing gaze the next day would be an understatement of grave proportions. Finally he broke and asked me in ill-concealed anger.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
"No, I'm just studying for the henge."
"Oh."
I am surprised he accepted that explanation so easily. Could it be that Nii-san also did this to someone? How unexpected.
"Was it a girl?" I asked with a smile.
"What?" He looked up from the scroll he was reading in honest bewilderment.
"The one you studied for the henge, was it a girl?"
"He…ck no." Wow, refraining from using bad words in front of me, I'm proud of you Nii-san.
"You do realize you just put the start of one bad word with the end of another don't you?"
"Stop teasing me, Nanashi!"
"Aww, little Fugaku has a temper problem." I said in the little kiddy voice with a pitying face.
"Ugh, fine I do." He muttered, annoyed.
I gave him a thumbs-up, "You're learning Nii-san!" and ran off.
To explain, what he is learning is that the best way to deal with teasing is to agree with it. For example if someone says, "You're an idiot." If you say "Am not!" really angrily you'll get nowhere, but if you say "I really am." They'll most often leave it at that.
Teasing Nii-san aside, I'm going to get the henge down before moving on to the bunshin.
Supper was a quiet affair, with me looking at everything studiously, eager to henge into anything I wanted to without fail. Fugaku merely said, "You'll get bored eventually."
It was somewhat true, but with something like looking like anything I wanted to in front of me I just couldn't pass it up.
I went to bed that night with a wandering mind. Never settling on anything in particular before I drifted to sleep.
One Month Later
I'm five and the Great Fireball is easy now, if somewhat slow and small. The henge has been coming along well, with every day seeing a reduction in errors and greater ease in maintaining the technique. I'm glad I'm an Uchiha, blessed with the gift of more than average reserves and, more importantly, the sharingan.
Fugaku-nii unlocked his only a week ago, so I am understandably eager to have my own.
Hiroshi-sensei has been drilling me to the ground in chakra control, well, as far as the leaf sticking exercise and the leaf burning exercise can go. We make sure to go over the kata's for the interceptor style every day, as well as kunai throwing.
"Henge!" This time I transformed into Nii-sans forehead protector after hiding his real one, today would be interesting.
As soon as Fugaku picked me up I started having second thoughts, when he tied the knot behind his head it would apply a great deal of pressure.
Nevertheless, I did not give up, focusing on only the fact that I was a head-band! At length I stopped concentrating as if my life depended on it at, careful to maintain my form.
I looked around from my perch on my brother's head and saw a brown-haired man who wore a flak jacket. He must be Nii-san's jonin-sensei.
On a separate note, while this use of the henge is unorthodox it is not impossible. The idea coming from Sasuke throwing Naruto in windmill shuriken - or whatever they're called – form.
So if Naruto can be thrown like a shuriken, why can't I be tied onto someone's forehead? No reason; that is the conclusion that I reached.
Fugaku's teammates were a meek looking girl with dark hair and grey eyes, and a boy who carried himself with all the confidence of a genin who had not seen death. The boy was freckled with light skin and long light-brown hair and dark eyes.
"Let's go get a mission kids." While the girl just nodded both of the young males looked up in slight offence, obviously offended at being called "kids."
Looking back I don't know if this was such a good idea, watching genin do D-ranks seems kind of boring. Perhaps thinking I could maintain the concentration needed for the henge all day was a bit ambitious.
It turns out that the mission for today is… pulling weeds. I guess D-ranks didn't change much from now till canon huh?
I've always known that Hatake Kakashi was an awful sensei but now the point is driven home. Of course he did have the most dysfunctional team ever. What brought this up is that after the D-rank we all went, and team Akiyoshi, as I heard one of them call the jonin, began the tree climbing exercise.
Naturally I filed away all the useful tips for later reference. But as Nii-san ran up the tree repeatedly I began to feel hungry. I had eaten a very large dinner the night before, and not neglected to snack before Fugaku woke up, but I was not used to having an empty stomach.
My stomach rumbled strangely audible to the outside world causing everyone to look at Fugaku. It seemed they all thought it was him but I knew he was far too intelligent to be fooled. My elder brother narrowed his eyes and, because he was actually hungry, let them lead him off to a restaurant.
As their orders arrived I could almost see the smirk on Fugaku's face, had he figured it out? Or was my stressed mind deluding itself.
As Nii-san slurped his noodles I could no longer bear it, my mind rebelling against the torment. And so against my rational thought the henge broke and I fell straight into Nii-sans yakisoba noodles.
I laughed awkwardly as I felt the juices begin to soak my pants.
The girl was the first to speak, "Uchiha-san's forehead protector is a little boy?" She asked with great innocence.
"Actually," I stood up on the table with a grand flourish, "I was spying on Nii-san while practicing my henge." My best imperious voice and face were plastered on, chin raised slightly.
Unfortunately the image was ruined by my dripping pants and all of them began to laugh. I joined in as well, recognizing how hilarious that probably was.
When the laughing died down Fugaku was the first to address me, "How are you going to pay for my lunch, otouto?" The question gave me pause, before I thought of a witty answer.
"It's not like it's ruined, my pants were perfectly clean. See, you can lick right off." I informed, turning my rear to him.
Despite himself Fugaku smiled, but still tried his best at a scowl. Akiyoshi grinned widely and the boy stared in disbelief while the girl began to blush slightly.
"I'll let you off this once, idiot." Fugaku said, "Now stop being impolite and introduce yourself."
"Of course," I back-flipped off the table, "I am Fugaku's younger brother, Uchiha Nanashi, pleased to meet you."
"Hisakawa Akiyoshi; pleased to meet you Nanashi-kun." How familiar, but with me as a kid and two Uchiha here it's only natural.
"I am Sugimoto Kazue, nice to meet you Uchiha-san." That was the girl.
"Tokuda Sadao." The boy said; such a reliable name. Sadao means 'decisive man'.
"If it's all the same to all of you I'll cut this short and run home to change."
"That's fine Nanashi-kun." Hisakawa-sensei spoke for the group.
I bowed out and tossed my brother his real headband. Saying no more, I left for home.
Well, I have to say that went amazingly well, and even Fugaku took it rather amiably.
I changed into a clean set of clothes and went over to Hiroshi-sensei's place.
"The henge broke when they went for lunch," Was the first thing out of my mouth after I had politely greeted the Uchiha male.
"I see; you lasted a while then." I had let Hiroshi-sensei know of my plot, knowing that without him it would fall flat on its face. Reason being: Hiroshi and I meet every day, if I didn't show up without telling him – or Nii-san, Mother, or Father -my whole family would be causing an uproar in Konoha, Sharingan and back-up heir and all that.
"Thank you for the kind words."
"Well Nanashi-kun lets go out and get some training in, yeah?" It was now that I remembered my distinct lack of lunch, fortunately my stomach did not rumble.
"Yes." I said with a smile, while my body rebelled; my spirit was strong, if I could exercise while hungry for hours, I could fight without food for a good while. In theory.
After throwing all my kunai I surprise attacked Hiroshi-sensei. This is how our spars began; everyday one of us would attack the other without warning.
Sensei swatted away my initial right hook easily, almost missing my left leg. He jumped back and took a stance, waiting for me to make a mistake. I took my own stance and we began to circle each other, I twitched my right leg as if to attack and Hiroshi-sensei took the bait.
I jumped aside as he punched straight at my previous position, back kicking as he went past. Unfortunately he spun around with his own spin kick, his superior speed and reach outmatching me.
I somersaulted backwards as his kick connected, my chest bruised from the force. Not resting and assaulted my teacher in a furry of blow counters and blocks. I landed some hits on his legs and he on my upper body, the logical result of the difference in size.
I disengaged after a particularly fierce set of blows and then quickly jumped high with a flying kick. On second thought a flying kick was a poor decision, as evidenced by its complete failure. Hiroshi merely ducked under it and swatted by back with his hand as I flew past.
The extra force threw off my landing off and I stumbled, my sensei took advantage of my floundering and placed me in the dirt with only token resistance.
I looked up and groaned, "I still have a long way to go."
"Yes you do." He offered his hand.
I took it in my own and stood up, brushing off the dust.
"Let's go through the kata's now."
"Ok, sensei." We went through the kata's for the interceptor fist slowly at first, speeding up each time we repeated until we were going at combat speed.
We went to my place after this, to get clean for dinner.
"I hope you aren't mad about my little stunt." I addressed Fugaku.
"It's fine, but if you pull that again I'll beat you into the ground."
I smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"You're a strange one otouto; what kind of response is that?"
"An honest one, I've always valued honesty." It's true, I have.
"We're a family of fighters, liars, and killers, Nanashi."
"That doesn't mean we have to fight, lie, and kill each other and to each other."
"I suppose so Nanashi."
"How did Father's day go?" I asked said man.
"Nothing overly eventful, but what stunt were you two talking about?"
"Ah, I impersonated Nii-sans forehead protector."
"He also fell into my lunch." I mock glared at Nii-san for mentioning that.
"An interesting use of the henge, to be sure."
"I agree, I wanted to use the experience for practice but I failed to succeed."
"You did alright; after all being tied behind your brother's forehead must have been painful."
I beamed; Father was truly a knowledgeable ninja to think of such things, "It was, your compliments are to kind."
He smiled back but then turned serious, "And what then of your training with Hiroshi-san?"
"After I was discovered I immediately went to his house and requested that we train." I answered promptly.
Hiroshi nodded to Father's inquiring look and then turned to me, "That's alright then; everyone needs a break once in a while though, so tomorrow no training. Go to the playground and meet others your age, or if you prefer, visit other families within the clan who have children."
"Your offer is most kind; I will be at the playground after breakfast." Honestly I really needed a break; a day of rest after all this work would be nice.
I saw Father cast a glance at Hiroshi who gave a slight nod back, so, I was going to have an unofficial bodyguard? Never could be too cautious I suppose.
I cleared my plate and then took it to the sink handing it to Fugaku, or rather trying.
"Lazy Nanashi, you can do it yourself."
I grinned joyously back at him, this was his way of saying, "You're a big boy now."
I placed my plate in the sink and ran off to my room, putting all I had into my evening push-ups.
The following morning I ate, grabbed the lunch Mother had boxed for me and left. While Konoha was large it wasn't as if you couldn't find out where you wanted to go. The people were generally very friendly and were especially nice to little children. So I asked a citizen the way to the park and he cheerfully pointed in the right direction.
Konoha's public park is a large place, with plenty of opportunities and locations for children to play. By far the most frequented, however, is the playground. Where mothers and sometimes fathers brought their children to spend pent up energy.
I walked up and decided that whatever game these children were playing was not as good as it could have been. Well, maybe that was arrogance but I wasn't interested so I took a ball that was lying around and yelled, "If you want to play something actually fun come here!"
The ignorant children failed to notice the veiled insult and most came to me. I began to explain to them the rules of soccer and then chose a team leader for the other side.
I should mention that I don't really know all the rules of soccer, not that it would have mattered. Children don't care for the complexities of rule books and would have quickly lost interest.
I had the other kid, an older looking boy, pick first.
If there is one thing that can be said about little tots it's, "They're all brats."
The amount of delay we suffered because of children whining that they didn't kick picked was frustrating, to say the least; however, at length, the game began.
I'm not much for going easy on little selfish kiddies like these but it's no good if I just plow through them with shinobi skills. So I limited myself to a rather talented, but certainly not trained-for-two-years, level.
The game ended with my team having two more points than the opponents, I smiled.
I looked around at the playground after the game and saw what I sought, monkey bars.
I had always liked them, at first seeing them as a daunting challenge before looking at them as a way to prove myself. They're also quite useful for chin-ups.
And so I spent the rest of the day; on the monkey bars, going down the slide for nostalgia, and people watching. It was fun seeing how other kids behaved, and their parents' reactions and interactions.
So when the sun was lowering I left, going home in high spirits.
XXX