The Little Uchiha - A Naruto Quest

[Leekz01]

that's why I wanted the Konoha vote to win, sooner or later we may end up with the same arrogant mind set as the other Uchiha's that only care about their family, even if they're in the wrong. the whole Uchiha Massacre could have been avoided if the clan was just more involved with the village and didn't isolated them selves gaining more and more distrust from the village.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

I suppose one take on us joining with them is if we turned to understanding that the Uchiha coup would just fuck shit up for everyone, not make the Uchihas best. We're political allies of convenience, rather than having the same perspective - they're patriots, we just don't think the Uchiha have the right idea about how to be great.

 

[Silver719]

that's why I wanted the Konoha vote to win, sooner or later we may end up with the same arrogant mind set as the other Uchiha's that only care about their family, even if they're in the wrong. the whole Uchiha Massacre could have been avoided if the clan was just more involved with the village and didn't isolated them selves gaining more and more distrust from the village.

Click to shrink...

Except that the whole 'We need to take the village by force!' idea was downright awful for the Uchiha clan. Even if Itachi didn't snitch, I'm hard pressed to see any way it'd work.All it'd do is open the doors to internal warfare, clans assassinating eachother even as they claim to be part of the same village. The Uchiha, after taking the village by force, would promptly be raped by the Hyuuga and/or Akimichi.

We can take the stance that 'For the good of the clan, we must stay where we are. The Uchiha people are more important than the Uchiha reputation.'

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

The Uchiha, after taking the village by force, would promptly be raped by the Hyuuga and/or Akimichi.

Click to shrink...

What about the Aburame? They're a noble clan too!

 

[Silver719]

What about the Aburame? They're a noble clan too!

Click to shrink...

Eh, true, but if it's the Aburame it'd be less giant battle and more the entire clan dies because spiders.

 

[Pipeman]

Except that the whole 'We need to take the village by force!' idea was downright awful for the Uchiha clan. Even if Itachi didn't snitch, I'm hard pressed to see any way it'd work.All it'd do is open the doors to internal warfare, clans assassinating eachother even as they claim to be part of the same village. The Uchiha, after taking the village by force, would promptly be raped by the Hyuuga and/or Akimichi.

We can take the stance that 'For the good of the clan, we must stay where we are. The Uchiha people are more important than the Uchiha reputation.'

Click to shrink...

Part of the reason the plan seemed so retarded may in fact just be that we only have very vague information on how much combat prowess the Uchiha clan could actually bring to bear pre-massacre.

They may have seemed a bit like chunps what with having been supposedly all killed by one single teenager, but later on it turns out that the one who killed their actual military force was Obito, also known as the guy who almost matched and effectively killed Minato by proxy a few years ago when he was a teenager and later went on to stalemate pre-godmode Naruto, Gai and Kakashi.
And since later arcs do kind of give the impression that those three could have taken on the rest of Konoha solo that's no longer a big mark against the Uchiha.
So effectively the combined strength of the Uchiha military arm could range anywhere from chumps to "almost ninja jesus".

And that's without accounting for Fugaku, who is also an unknown, but was apparently considered for the Hokage position alongside Minato, which implies a pretty high base level the other actors were aware of.
He even secretely (including to his own clan) had the Mangekyo Sharingan and therefor was not only even stronger than anyone else knew but could have also escalated to the nuclear level by grabbing Naruto and controlling the Kyuubi.

Essentially, while it probably still would have been a clusterfuck of a civil war that left Konoha in shambles, it's possible that, at least theoretically, the Uchiha had enough forces to take out Hiruzen, Danzo and their inner circle if given the surprise factor, at which point no real Hokage level opposition (aside from the presumably absent Sannin) would have been left in Konoha and they could have attempted to come to terms with the other influential clans.
It still looks very rosetinted, but I can see it being the desperate last attempt of a people who saw no other way out of their current dilemma.

 

[Epsilon]

Part of the reason the plan seemed so retarded may in fact just be that we only have very vague information on how much combat prowess the Uchiha clan could actually bring to bear pre-massacre.

They may have seemed a bit like chunps what with having been supposedly all killed by one single teenager, but later on it turns out that the one who killed their actual military force was Obito, also known as the guy who almost matched and effectively killed Minato by proxy a few years ago when he was a teenager and later went on to stalemate pre-godmode Naruto, Gai and Kakashi.
And since later arcs do kind of give the impression that those three could have taken on the rest of Konoha solo that's no longer a big mark against the Uchiha.
So effectively the combined strength of the Uchiha military arm could range anywhere from chumps to "almost ninja jesus".

And that's without accounting for Fugaku, who is also an unknown, but was apparently considered for the Hokage position alongside Minato, which implies a pretty high base level the other actors were aware of.
He even secretely (including to his own clan) had the Mangekyo Sharingan and therefor was not only even stronger than anyone else knew but could have also escalated to the nuclear level by grabbing Naruto and controlling the Kyuubi.

Essentially, while it probably still would have been a clusterfuck of a civil war that left Konoha in shambles, it's possible that, at least theoretically, the Uchiha had enough forces to take out Hiruzen, Danzo and their inner circle if given the surprise factor, at which point no real Hokage level opposition (aside from the presumably absent Sannin) would have been left in Konoha and they could have attempted to come to terms with the other influential clans.
It still looks very rosetinted, but I can see it being the desperate last attempt of a people who saw no other way out of their current dilemma.

Click to shrink...

This basically sums up what I was going to say. I'll put it in spoiler, as it has spoilers from the show.

Spoiler

The takeover by force/bloody battle plan was awful. Fugaku himself admitted it in the Itachi flashbacks in Shippuden episode 455.

He then reveals his mangekyo to Itachi, and tells him of his own personal plan- the bloodless coup. Fugaku basically wanted to successfully genjutsu the upper echelon of Konoha and then nominate himself as fifth Hokage, which is plausible as he once was a candidate for Fourth Hokage. Fugaku as Hokage would end the rebellion without any battle at all except for a few mindslaved old ninja.

Itachi's loyalty won out however; he chose Konoha over his family.

If the Uchiha attempted war against Konoha, they certainly had a chance of coming out on top. Danzo at least believed it; and so did most of the Uchiha leadership.

The sharingan allows Uchiha to cast hypnotic genjutsu with but a glance, and nullifies any genjutsu used upon them by opponents. The sharingan sees movements in slow motion, and can perfectly predict physical actions by observing the preemptive muscle movements- providing a perfect counter to nearly all types of taijutsu, including the Hyuga juuken. Only an absurdly fast style like Gai's Strong Fist can overcome the predictive capabilities of those eyes. Lastly, the sharingan allows Uchiha ninja to simply learn ninjutsu by watching. They're a positively ancient ninja clan, and thus have hoarded not an inconsiderable amount of jutsu. Even a fifth of Kakashi's thousand jutsu feat is damned impressive.

The Uchiha were called the strongest clan in Konoha, and pretty much, this is it. Their bloodline is almost perfect in every way- be it ninjutsu, genjutsu or taijutsu, Uchiha can do it well. Among the other great clans, the Hyuga taijutsu gets countered by prediction; Aburame insects don't mix well with fire ninjutsu- and they get tracked by the sharingan too; the Akimichu are physical opponents susceptible to either powerful ranged ninjutsu or precision genjutsu. The Senju must've been real monsters back in the day to tangle with the Uchiha and come out on top.

They were a legitimate threat to Konoha, and Danzo decided to take preemptive action.

He sent Itachi to do the job.

Itachi approached 'Madara', who had been conveniently lurking around the Naka shrine. The two of them then worked on the culling of the clan.

The sudden attack and their own skills results in success. Itachi is just good, and Tobi fought the Fourth Hokage and survived eight years ago. His Schrodinger abilities make him absurdly good at being a murderhobo.

Itachi met Fugaku in the middle of the bloody streets, where he speculates that his father might be able to defeat him- but Fugaku doesn't fight; dispelling and revealing himself to be a shadow clone. Itachi then creeps into his own house, and to his surprise, Fugaku and Mikoto sit with their backs turned, waiting to be killed. This is a direct line from Fugaku-

"Come on in. There aren't any traps; I don't want to fight my own son."

This part had me wondering if Danzo used Itachi for this exact purpose; so that Fugaku would go down quietly. If he did, then it was a stroke of genius.

Danzo also attempts to kill off Itachi with two of his Anbu- but obviously that part doesn't work out too well. As Itachi the loose end remained alive and kicking, he holds up on his end of the bargain and stays away from Sasuke.

 

[Silver719]

It still looks very rosetinted, but I can see it being the desperate last attempt of a people who saw no other way out of their current dilemma.

Click to shrink...

What about, ya know, leaving Konoha and joining another village? Oh wait, because Madara was one of the founders, the Uchiha clan felt Entitled to the village, like it belongs to them in the wake of the Senju clan's demise.

Which is, let's be fair, a legitimate claim. By all accounts they have nowhere near the clout a founding clan should have, a situation which (from my understanding) stemmed initially from stigma over Madara's trying to break the village and that has been maintained by everyone else (senju included) for the express purpose of not letting the Uchiha have a voice in the village they (admittedly quite rightfully) deserve.

That said, the Uchiha Coup is the equivalent of a child who loaned out his favorite toy and throws a fit when he doesn't get it back. It's an understandable reaction, but that doesn't make it any less childish. Something I'd love to try and steer the clan away from, if Shisui and Itachi approach us on those grounds.


Semi-related, what sort of builds are people looking forward to? I'm currently in favor of maxing out our kunai throwing and using the Haxigan to become a marksman/sniper. Extreme range jutsu and all that.

Will probably need a Wind affinity to actually use that well, though. Doing a Vacuum Blade variant on Kunai for maximum penetration and minimizing/removing air resistance.

Oh, and Epsilon, will you be fluffing our Taijutsu improvements as us being given permission to use the Sharingan when training? It could easily explain the drastic surge in taijutsu competency.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

I wonder what Fugaku's eyes did...
I mean, Itachi and Sasuke were both in possession of Amaterasu, differing on whether they had Tsukuyomi or Kagutsuchi, with Itachi's Susanoo having absurdly OP gear...
So...presumably either Fugaku HAD Amaterasu...or Mikoto was genetically predisposed to Amaterasu and, perhaps, Kagutsuchi, with Fugaku having Tsukuyomi and mebbe some other illusion thing, perhaps with the strongsanoo coming from him.
Or maybe there's some mutation involved, and Amaterasu is the only thing with a definite source. *shrugs*

As to builds: I currently just want chakra control. We can quickly cover up deficiencies in skill with a progressively more mature Sharingan, but it can't make our chakra and control of it good on it's own.

 

[Pipeman]

What about, ya know, leaving Konoha and joining another village? Oh wait, because Madara was one of the founders, the Uchiha clan felt Entitled to the village, like it belongs to them in the wake of the Senju clan's demise.

Click to shrink...

You can't really leave a ninja village.
That leads to a civil war just the same, because Konoha cannot let a whole clan of traitorous missing-nin with a powerful bloodline escape, only the Uchiha are now homeless, Konoha gets to marshall its entire forces before striking at them and Konoha gets to try and get the drop on them while they're travelling and have to protect a considerable civillian population.

Which is, let's be fair, a legitimate claim. By all accounts they have nowhere near the clout a founding clan should have, a situation which (from my understanding) stemmed initially from stigma over Madara's trying to break the village and that has been maintained by everyone else (senju included) for the express purpose of not letting the Uchiha have a voice in the village they (admittedly quite rightfully) deserve.

That said, the Uchiha Coup is the equivalent of a child who loaned out his favorite toy and throws a fit when he doesn't get it back. It's an understandable reaction, but that doesn't make it any less childish. Something I'd love to try and steer the clan away from, if Shisui and Itachi approach us on those grounds.

Click to shrink...

Most recent canon sources are more or less unambigious on the fact that the Uchiha were (unjustly) discriminated against and all but considered traitors by Konoha ever since the Kyuubi attack.
That has admittedly some dissonance with Sasuke's early life, but you can write that up to a kid not really noticing such things/Kishi not yet having things figured out.

Basically by now the official stance is that, while the whole attempted coup thing is not completely whitewashed, it's made rather clear that the Uchiha were treated like shit by the village and the other side ordered the murder of children and civillians, so you can't really hold up Konoha as a bastion of all that is good either.

 

[dasstan]

As for the build I'm looking forward to, I'd like to pull a Tsunade. Get our control really high, and build the reserves so that they're truly massive. I wouldn't mind going all Hiruzen, and mastering all of the elemental transformations, but that's a very long term goal.

 

[Pipeman]

I want awesome taijutsu, cat summons and eventual sage mode for adorable kitty ears.

 

[Silver719]

To be fair, the 'Other Side' was headed by Danzo for the most part. And Danzo is unequivocally a jackass.

On that note, do you think Obito will try to spare us the same way Itachi tries to spare Sauce? It'd certainly be an interesting take on things.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

Damn, the biohazard symbol looks FAR too much like a mangekyo sharingan. Especially when you actually overlay it onto a blank sharingan.

 

[dasstan]

I want awesome taijutsu, cat summons and eventual sage mode for adorable kitty ears.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, add Cat-Modo to my list of wants.

On that note, do you think Obito will try to spare us the same way Itachi tries to spare Sauce? It'd certainly be an interesting take on things.

Click to shrink...

Maybe he'll even grace us with a chunk of Zetsu-Puddy for our troubles?

"Oh no. It appears that Itachi has grievously wounded you. *Rips off a chunk of Zetsu flesh and shoves it in the wound.*"

Damn, the biohazard symbol looks FAR too much like a mangekyo sharingan. Especially when you actually overlay it onto a blank sharingan.

Click to shrink...

Maximum Edge.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

And then you compound it with another sharingan for the perfect mangekyo and it looks either edgier still or just dumb.

 

[dasstan]

And then you compound it with another sharingan for the perfect mangekyo and it looks either edgier still or just dumb.

Click to shrink...

For extreme Mary Sue, we need to have unique EMS. Obito-Hibiki in one eye, Shisui-Hibiki in the other.

 

[Pipeman]

To be fair, the 'Other Side' was headed by Danzo for the most part. And Danzo is unequivocally a jackass.

On that note, do you think Obito will try to spare us the same way Itachi tries to spare Sauce? It'd certainly be an interesting take on things.

Click to shrink...

Not sure.
If things go exactly as in canon, I doubt so, but since Obito was fucking around with Itachi pre massacre (and therefor presumably with the Uchiha in general) I give him pretty decent odds of messing with us in particular at least once in his Masked Man persona, which is probably a good butterfly point to influence how he treats us during the massacre (if there is one).

More immediately though, the fact that we've sent Minato on a hunt for his body could have all sorts of butterflies ranging from massive ones like Minato vs Old Man Madara, with the outcome of Minato winning and retrieving Obito early or the outcome of Minato dying and Fugaku or Orichimaru becoming the Fourth Hokage afterwards, Minato simply not becoming Hokage because he spent so much more time on a personal issue or something more indirect like Minato discovering the Zetsus and hunting them down regularly at which point they have a much more difficult time setting up anything like the Rin debacle that break canon Obito.

Edit: A butterfly I'd find personally rather interesting would also be Minato recognizing Obito during their fight and getting a shot at his own talk-no-jutsu which has butterflies of its own that we are completely unaware of because we have no way to know anything about their fight.

And then you compound it with another sharingan for the perfect mangekyo and it looks either edgier still or just dumb.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, EMS is typically so overloaded with patterns stuffed into a single iris that they look kind of retarded.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

For extreme Mary Sue, we need to have unique EMS. Obito-Hibiki in one eye, Shisui-Hibiki in the other.

Click to shrink...

Sadly, we're not closely related enough to Shisui.
Maybe if sis gets the mangekyo we can trade one with her, though, after sneakswapping with Kakashi for one.

 

[dasstan]

Yeah, EMS is typically so overloaded with patterns stuffed into a single iris that they look kind of retarded.

Click to shrink...

I know how we fix this. Hibiki's MS pattern will simply be tessellated tomoe, so it will appear all black. That way the EMS will just look like the donor MS, but with a color swap.

 

[Pipeman]

To be honest, I don't really like the thought of spending significant amounts of meta driven effort to try and shoehorn non-evil eye-swapping into the story.

I'd prefer to either just not be so garbage a ninja that we have to use the powers that slowly blind us every second fight and only use the MS as an emergency trump-card or to grab some mad ninja scienced Hashirama tissue to get rid of the side effects, because apparently that can do literally everything for some reason.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

Yeah, add Cat-Modo to my list of wants.

Click to shrink...

N-nekomimi!
Nekomimi modo!
Nekomimi!
Nekomimi modo deeesu~!

 

[SoothingCoffee]

It is also worth noting that the Uchiha was Konoha's Military Police. They were the police of a frickin' Ninja Village. Think about that for a minute.

 

[Plotvitalnpc]

It is also worth noting that the Uchiha was Konoha's Military Police. They were the police of a frickin' Ninja Village. Think about that for a minute.

Click to shrink...

My personal belief is that the loss of the Uchihas was part of what absolutely fucked Konoha into it's current position.

-Databook stats on the villages-
Konoha: 5/5 Pop, 3/5 Mil, 2/5 Econ
Iwa: 4/5 Pop, 4/5 Mil, 2/5 Econ
Kiri: 2/5 Pop, 3/5 Mil, 2/5 Econ
Suna: 2/5 Pop, 2/5 Mil, 2/5 Econ
Kumo: 3/5 Pop, 4/5 Mil, 5/5 Econ

Click to shrink...

IE...actually probably the worst off village, in terms of responsibilities versus capabilities.

It has the largest population, a mid sized military, and the economy is nothing special...by definition it's below average (which would be 2.6).
After the Kyuubi attack and the Uchiha massacre, Konoha is left with a military that's presumably mostly tied up not doing missions, weakening the economy, because it's still got more people than any other village to deal with.

Kumo has the same economy, but more troops and fewer people over all...but it ALSO has a line of succession. They don't have to go out on an expedition if their kage dies.

Konoha might've been 5/5/5 before the past twelve years of getting fucked in canon. Maybe a 5 for pop even meant more back then, but...by series start, Konoha's not actually the best village, because it gets fucked every day.

(The assumption being, in my case, that economy is GDP, not GDP per capita)

 

[DOOMPOTATO]

It is also worth noting that the Uchiha was Konoha's Military Police. They were the police of a frickin' Ninja Village. Think about that for a minute.

Click to shrink...

Far more worthy of consideration is the fact that their replacement in that role was the "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad"

I mean, how would they enforce law and order, COINTELPRO style?

Obito had awakened his sharingan, but it didn't help him stay alive. It is a weapon in the same way a kunai or a sword is; deadly in the right hands, but worthless to one who does not know how to use it. A weapon does not make a man truly powerful; it's the other way around.

Click to shrink...

RIDDLE OF STEEL

 

[Silver719]

Yeah, EMS is typically so overloaded with patterns stuffed into a single iris that they look kind of retarded.

Click to shrink...

A blend of Shisui's and Obitos. three pinwheels, not connected to the pupil, blocky. Too lazy to actually MSpaint one.

Voila.

 

[Epsilon]

Interlude:

The Hunt - Part I

《~》
​

Namikaze Minato stalked through the winding halls of the Hokage Tower. That little boy's words had struck him more than he'd guessed; the thoughts of recovering Obito's remains had plagued his mind throughout the week.

Neither the secretary manning the reception desk nor the four Anbu operatives hiding along the wallpapers did anything to stop him when he strode towards the Hokage's chamber.

He was one of the preferati after all. One of the few ninja most likely to lift the heavy mantle of the Hokage from the Sandaime's weary shoulders. Namikaze Minato was a possible Yondaime Hokage.

His name carried quite a bit of weight these days and opened far too many doors for his liking. Before, he was merely a talented young Jounin, the legendary Jiraiya's apprentice.

The Third Ninja War changed that. Rather, his actions during the war did. He was no longer just Jiraiya-sensei's student; the shadow of the Yellow Flash ran much longer than that of the Legendary Three. Minato had carved out his own legend from the corpses of a thousand men and women. He had painted a masterpiece with the dull crimson of spilled blood.

"Come on in, Minato," spoke the weathered voice from beyond the door even before he knocked. He entered the room at a brisk pace. Politely, he bowed his head before his aged kage, and then took a seat at one of the chairs lining the ancient oaken desk.

Sarutobi Hiruzen reclined in his own ornately carved throne, remniscent of a warrior king of old in his red and white regalia. An intricately built pipe hung from his lips; the scent of burned cinnamon hung in the air.

"I need a requisition, sir," Minato approached the topic without any hesitation.

"What for?" asked the Sandaime while breathing out a thin trail of hazy smoke.

"A recovery mission," Minato replied. He fidgeted a bit, before adding, "It's a personal mission. Sir."

The Sandaime chose not to speak for a moment, while Minato stared at him with earnest eyes. He finally sighed.

"Very well," Sarutobi mused. "Your work has been nothing short of exemplary, ever since you walked into the academy and started writing on the walls with a red crayon."

The younger man had the decency to look a tad embarassed and apologetic at that.

"I'm certainly not above favouritism," the Sandaime continued, while his eyes took on the mischievous glint of a conniving geezer, "And you're luckily one of the few whelps this old man will pull strings for, hm?"

"Thanks old man! You're the best!" Minato grinned, respect all but forgotten.

"What do you need?" the reigning Hokage asked.

"Trackers. It'll be short term; nothing more than a day at best. A Hyuga and an Inuzuka would do."

The Hokage circled through a list of names in his mind, before making a complicated gesture at yet another Anbu hidden among furniture. The operative emerged smoothly and headed to the window.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he whispered while pressing his hand to a wall. The spiderweb-like imprint of the summoning seal spread out across the wall, and a small messenger falcon emerged from within.

The Anbu tapped out a code on the bird's back, after which it flew out the window to presumably fetch his requested team.

"They'll be here within ten minutes at most. Care for a cup of tea?" asked Sarutobi nonchalantly while pouring over a stack of documents on his desk. "Incidentally, you could look over a few of my yet to be done work. The red stamp goes on the ones you don't like, by the way."

Minato said nothing and pulled the stack towards himself. He supposed he could allow the Sandaime to dupe him into doing his paperwork once in a while.
​

---

"So? Where are we going, Namikaze?" asked he cool voice of the Hyuga he'd been assigned.

"He's just a bit grumpy that you're the hotshot jounin these days," the Inuzuka added after barking out a short laugh. She then turned speculative, "I must admit though, I also wanna know where we're heading."

Minato remained silent for a moment, concentrating to find a marked seal tag in his desired destination. He waved through the hundreds of blips in his mental grid, and eventually located the one he needed.

Gotcha.

I'll bring back what's left of your cousin to you, Uchiha Hibiki.

He opened his eyes.

"Hizashi, Tsume," he addressed them with a slight smile. "We're heading to Kusa."

His arms snapped out and grabbed them both on the collar before they could react.

They vanished in a flicker of yellow.
.
.
.
​

Kuromaru stared at the spot where his partner and her team had just been in.

"They left me behind..."

《~》

Regular update after this. Part two will come out after that.

*preferati - one of the jounin elite selected as a canditate for succeeding the current Hokage. I decided to use the term as it sounds fancy...

​

 

[Pipeman]

That was pretty hilarious.
And now I now have the persistent urge to keep bullying Inuzuka dogs for the duration of this quest.
The cat is truly strong in this Uchiha.

 

[Epsilon]

That was pretty hilarious.
And now I now have the persistent urge to keep bullying Inuzuka dogs for the duration of this quest.
The cat is truly strong in this Uchiha.

Click to shrink...

I will bully dogs every chance I get.

Going to sleep now; got a long day ahead tomorrow.

 

[Epsilon]

You decide to reveal your eyes to your sister.

Hikari has always been there for you for as long as you can remember. She played with you when you had been a babe, and took the responsibility for your care when your parents left for war- despite being child herself. You nee-chan deserves to know about your sharingan.

Hikari-nee trains fervently in the grounds these days due to her upcoming graduation exams. She doesn't mind when you follow her one day; she only grins and ruffles your hair. You pick a spot beneath a cherry blossom tree, and curl up on a patch of soft grass and fallen petals to watch your sister train.

Nee-chan dances with the wind. Cherry blossom petals floating in the air are occasionally displaced by her sweeping feet. The only sounds you hear are that of fists cutting through air, and the heavy breaths of exertion.

Your eyes flicker crimson on occasions your sister is too focused to notice. You can't help but watch her movements in awe; the sharp clarity of the sharingan picks apart every shift of muscle and limb.

You watch, and you learn.

The sharingan teaches on its own. You know with certainty that if you try, you can replicate your sister's movements yourself despite never having done them before.

You spend your time sprawled out beneath the blossom tree. The sun shifts overhead, and your sister stops when it's far to the west.

Nee-chan decides to rest at the bank of the Naka river, which passes through the grounds. She dips her feet into the slightly warm water and laughs when you fail to do the same; your legs fall short by just a bit...

"There there. Your legs won't remain that little forever!"

You huff and look away. The waning yellow light of the afternoon almost lulls you to sleep; you lean against nee-chan's shoulders. She pulls an arm around you and hums a faintly familiar song.

There's no one around as far as you know. You decide that there's no better time to tell her.

Roll 36+30 →66
Critical.

"Nee-chan?" you ask softly.


"Mm?"

She stops humming her tune to look at you.

"I have something to show you," you say almost shyly. "I haven't shown it to anyone else..."

Your sister looks curious, and then she smiles. "Show me then."

You look straight at her eyes, the same shade of flinty coal like your own. They widen when they see what you know to be a fascinating sight. Your coal eyes bloom with motes of red firelight, which swirl and become a perpetual crimson. A single tomoe, just as dark as the pupil in the centre, revolves lazily around it.

"Sharingan..." your sister whispers. "Hibiki...how did you...?"

You look away and stare at the river, watching the pinpricks of red in your reflection.

"They awoke a bit more than a month ago," you say after a pause. "When Obito nii-san died."

Your sister pulls you into a hug, resting her chin on top of your head.

"You were really fond of him weren't you?" she asks softly.

"Yeah," you mumble in affirmation. Obito had been your favourite cousin, but he had been more than just that. He was your role model; someone you looked up to. You can almost hear an echo of his last words in the wind whenever you think about it.

We'll make the Uchiha great or die trying, okay?

That's one promise you intend to keep...

"You should show your sharingan to someone higher up in the clan," Hikari finally says.

It doesn't feel fair to you that Obito nii-san never had the sharingan throughout most of his life- but here you are, sitting with the eyes you gained from his death.

Perhaps she notices your unwillingness, as Hikari explains further. "You won't learn to use them on your own as easily as you will if you're taught by the clan. This is Obito's last gift to you; you should use it well, hm?"

You think on it for a moment and nod in acceptance.

"Okay."

Hikari grins, and hugs you tighter.
You're growing up so fast, Hibiki...

Your sister is right.

You need to ask someone to teach you.

The sharingan is just a tool after all. A tool you need to master...

---

+2 exp to Taijutsu

Learned Standard Konoha-ryu Taijutsu

Rolls with Hikari gain a bonus of 35 instead of 30

---

Spoiler: Training

Taijutsu 5d10》+22
Chakra Control 5d10》+33
Running 2d10》+12

You put in a bit more effort into your physical training throughout the week.

Perhaps it is because of the moves you copied from Hikari or your own dilligence, but you show markedly more improvement in taijutsu. Your forms are more crisp and precise, held back only by your lack of reach and power.

Your intense physical conditioning seems to be working. You can keep practicing taijutsu more and run longer distances.

"Sensei, why is running so important?" you ask once during a run circling the market district.

Ayano-sensei snorts. "Silly boy. A ninja lives on his legs! Be it a mission somewhere within Konoha or somewhere as far as Snow, you'll run there on your legs!"

Oh. Okay.

Your rapidly rising control over chakra doesn't surprise Ayano-sensei too much anymore. You can feel your chakra and make it move; it's just something that comes naturally now.

When Sensei demonstrates how to stick a leaf on her forehead, you feel her chakra movements. You can even understand how she expells it through her tenketsu.

With proper concentration, you move your chakra like your sensei with little effort. The thin layer of energy that emerges from the surface of your skin has adhesive properties- and allows a leaf to stay stuck on.

In the quiet moments when you meditate and practice your control, you also wonder.

Perhaps you could go to Ayano-sensei with your sharingan? Or perhaps your great-grandma Shigure, who would certainly be more knowledgeable on the subject of your clan's bloodline. But a different opportunity comes your way before you can decide.

You are summoned to Lord Fugaku's home for an audience...


The police force grunt who delivers the message looks at you with suspicious eyes.

"What's a pipsqueak like you got to do with Fugaku-sama himself?" he asks.

He then looks at you with even more suspicion.

"Was it you who busted in through the vents of the police headquarters last week, and broke a window to escape with the boss's son?"

What.

"No!" Who would even do that?

"Just asking," the messenger replies with a shrug.

《~》

Nee-chan is still at class, so you go out alone.

The clan head's house is really pretty, you think.

There are wisteria flowers growing to the sides of the walls- and is that a koi pond!?
Fishies! You want to play with fishies! Nyaaa~

"Come on in," Uchiha Fugaku says simply from the door. There's a small smile at the corner of his lips when he sees you looking at the pond.

You marvel at the feeling of the polished wooden floorboards beneath your feet. The inside of the house is mostly a stark white, with often recurring little splashes of color like the red of a painted fan, or the violet crystals of a heart-shaped wind chime.

Uchiha Mikoto gracefully saunters around the dining room with something in her hands. It looks like a box of ice cream, you think after peering carefully.

"Oh hello dear," she says warmly when she notices you. You greet her back, while internally wondering how the hell she moved around at all with her massive round belly. That must be an a secret kunoichi jutsu. You'll have to ask nee-chan.

Lord Fugaku slides open one of the intricate rice paper doors, and guides you to what you assume is the sitting room.

"Hello Itachi," you greet the solemn boy sitting on one of the cushions.

Uchiha Itachi blinks back at you, before offering a slight smile.

"Hello Hibiki," he says while you take a seat. "It's been a while."

That it has. You and Itachi knew each other in passing like all Uchiha children tend to do; you've played a few games of hide and seek together a while back. You haven't visited the local park the last two months however, and Itachi had rarely showed up even before that. He must've begun his clan training at the time.

"I've heard good things about you from Ayano, young Hibiki," Fugaku says after clearing his throat a little. "Exceptionally keen in controlling your chakra since you begun training it not too long ago; a natural hand at kunaijutsu. You've shown much promise."

You felt a little shy at the praise. The clan head himself was praising you...

"I've decided that you'll accompany my son in his daily endeavours."

Huh.

Itachi echoes your sentiment.

Fugaku reaches out to pat Itachi's head, and the boy has an uncharacteristic pout.

"Shisui usually carries out the role of being Itachi's right hand, but that boy is a bit too wild. You seem like a sensible kid; I'm hoping you'll be a calmer influence on the both of them."

Traditionally, the heir to the clan is assigned a conpanion; a confidante and later bodyguard their age. It is a position of great honor, you know.

Someday, when Itachi will rule as clan head, you'll be one of his right hand men.

You don't know Shisui too well beyond his reputation as a genius; though he seemed quite cheery the few times you'd seen him.

You wonder if he has anything to do with kidnapping Itachi and the broken window...

The thought is quickly shaken from your head as you focus on your alternate purpose in coming here.

"Lord Fugaku," you begin. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" he asks.

For the second time, you reveal your eyes. You see him raise his eyebrows, and Itachi stare wide eyed.

"I awoke the sharingan," you say in an unwavering tone. Uchiha Fugaku's own eyes spin awake, though his are fully matured with three tomoe. His eyes gaze at you, searching for something.

"There are cases," he says slowly, "Rare ones, where a child awakens the sharingan too early. The eyes are damaged, and slowly degenerate."

He gestures at your own set. "Yours seem to have no such irregularities thankfully. How long have you had them?"

"A bit more than a month," you reply.

Fugaku thinks on it a bit, but doesn't ask anything further. He doesn't ask what caused your eyes to wake.

Perhaps he guessed.

"This changes things," he muses out loud while tapping his fingers absently. He then looks at you.

"I will make arrangements. You will join Itachi and train under my own tutelage."

Itachi smiles slightly at you. "Shisui also joins in from time to time."

The clan head himself will train you! You feel a bit out of your depth.

"Thank you, Lord Fugaku," you reply at a lack of finding anything else to say. "I will...try to live up to your expectations."

Your clan head smirks.

"You either do or do not, boy. There is no try."

---

You walk out of the clan head's house, ogle the koi pond a bit more, and then make your way home.

You're halfway there when a sound stops you.

"Meow."

It came from above.

With a strange feeling of deja vu, you look up to see a black and white tabby cat- stuck atop a streetlamp this time.

"Oh. It's you," you say dully.

The cat meows with a sad look in its eyes. How did it even get up there? You see no footholds on the smooth metal surface of the pole, and the adjacent wall to it is too low for the cat to jump up from.

Your hero complex urges you to again save the cat, but you're a bit stumped on how to do it.

Wait...

[ ] Use your knowledge of Leaf Sticking to attempt climbing up

[ ] Try to persuade the cat to jump down into your arms

[ ] Chakra allows you to jump much higher heights than normal. Climb up the wall and leap off it in a daring move...

[ ] Find someone else to do it? (Negated by Trait Into The Fray)

---

Uchiha Fugaku himself will oversee your training from this point. You have 20 exp to use.

Vote in plan format for training-

[ ] Taijutsu - Worthless (14/50)

[ ] Running - Worthless (6/50)

[ ] Chakra Control - Novice (16/100)

[ ] Ninjutsu - Dreadful (6/10)

[ ] Genjutsu - Dreadful (0/10)

[ ] Kunai Throwing - Worthless (9/50)

---

《~》

Spoiler: Changes

Taijutsu - Dreadful (2/10) → Worthless (14/50)

Running - Dreadful (4/10) → Worthless (6/50)

Chakra Control - Worthless (33/50) → Novice (16/100)

??? Talent Progression (2/3)

Spoiler: AN

Helping out Shisui would have ended with you wrapped up in rope and face to face with a disapproving Fugaku in his office in the military police headquarters.

Nee-chan would've then spanked you once you'd returned home.

^_^

You've gained the title The Uchiha Prodigy. You possess exceptional talent in the ninja arts, and have successfully awakened your bloodline at an unprecedented age. Great things are expected of you, little Uchiha.

*You have copied the Standard Leaf Style taijutsu from your sister.

+2 Taijutsu exp gained. Someone roll a 2d10.