Mikoto Uchiha looked down at us with a small smile, there was a bit of sadness in her eyes which made complete sense to me. Naruto however was as oblivious as ever as he grabbed me by the shoulder and glared at me.
“I know she’s very beautiful Kami but you can’t stare like that” my surprised look changed to outrage as I tried to swat Naruto across the head, he had expected the strike and dodged before he ran off into the apartment with a laugh “you little shit” I mumbled under my breath before I froze.
I slowly turned to Mikoto who was glaring at me “where did you learn that language young man?” she asked in a low menacing voice.
I sheepishly rubbed my head, my mind racing to come up with an answer. One came to me as I looked down. I fake sadness “the villagers sometimes call us it” I said in a low voice.
I hadn’t realised Naruto had come back with our lunches in his arms “that’s the first time i’ve seen you bothered by what they say. I’m pretty sure on multiple occasions you’ve said “I don’t care what those assholes say” if I remember right” he said as he adopted a thinking pose.
Mikoto had looked at me with a bit of sadness but that had quickly turned to anger when Naruto spoke since she realised I was manipulating her.
I glared at Naruto who rubbed his head sheepishly as he realised he had just gotten me in trouble.
“The Hokage told me you’d both be a handful but I didn’t imagine it to be like this” she said with a sigh as her anger seemed to dissipate.
“Sorry” I said with a small chuckle as I gave her an apologetic smile “To make it easier we both tend to joke around a lot, don’t worry we’ll take training seriously but in between training sessions you’ll find us to either be amusing or annoying” I said as i took the lunchboxes Naruto handed me.
“What are those?” Mikoto asked as she pointed at the lunchboxes.
“Those Sensei are Kami’s amazing, spectacular lunchboxes!” Naruto said loudly as he made a fancy gesture towards the lunchboxes.
“You’ll also find us to be very energetic” I said flatly as Mikoto gave a small giggle at my joke.
“I’ll have to try this fantastic cooking at some point” she said and I nodded seriously.
“You don’t have to make lunch though, my son will join you two in training, i’ll make you three some dinner after we finish training” she said.
“That’s fine with me, saves me some time in the morning” I said with a shrug.
Naruto somehow looked both sad and excited. Sad at not being able to eat my lunches and excited at having what he assumed would be a family dinner.
We soon left the apartment, I locked it behind us and then we set off walking to the Uchiha Compound or at least I assumed that’s where we were going.
Naruto was walking ahead of us, he kept trying to get us to move faster but we didn’t.
“You’re quite different from your brother aren’t you Kami?” she asked and I nodded.
I was walking beside her with my hands in my pockets “yea, I quickly adopted the big brother role. I take care of Naruto and so it had the side effect of making me mature faster and in a different way. I’m not sure if Naruto is as oblivious as he seems or if he acts like he is and just ignores all the glares and whispered words.
I honestly don’t care what they think. There is obviously something they know that we don’t, I doubt their intelligence but I also doubt they don’t have a good reason for their hatred otherwise the Hokage would’ve put a stop to it a long time ago.
I still think their hatred is dumb, we’re children after all” I said as I walked along.
Mikoto smiled, “I’m glad you see it that way,” she said with a kind smile.
We soon arrived at the Uchiha Compound, Mikoto told the guards to expect us every day in the morning and to let us through when we came.
We entered and it was clearly obvious the Uchiha thought of us differently, they didn’t glare at us. Some gave us curious glances since we were with Mikoto but overall they just ignored us.
We eventually made our way to Mikoto’s house. We went in and as we entered Mikoto shouted out “Sasuke I’m back!” she said as she moved into the house gesturing for us to follow her.
She led us into the kitchen where she then took the lunches I had prepared and placed them on the counter, no point wasting food after all.
We then went into the back garden and we saw Sasuke practising throwing Shuriken.
Naruto was immediately interested as he ran over and watched a shuriken slam into the target at the other end of the garden.
“That’s so cool! Can you teach me?!” He said excitedly as he bounced on his feet, grinning at Sasuke who seemed completely caught off guard.
I crossed my arms with a sigh “Naruto! Introduce yourself” I said in annoyance.
“Oh” Naruto said as he turned to me and gave me a salute before turning back to Sasuke as he stuck out his hand “I’m Naruto Uzumaki. I’m going to become a Hokage, believe it!” he said with a massive grin.
Sasuke glanced at his mother who gave a small nod. He took Naruto’s hand and gave it a small shake. “I’m Sasuke Uchiha, it’s nice to meet you!” he said in a happy voice with a broad smile.
Mikoto seemed pleased at her son’s greeting. It was weird seeing the smiling Sasuke and comparing him to the brooding emo he would become in a few years. I was of course not going to let that happen.
I wasn’t delusional, I wouldn’t be able to stop Itachi but I want Naruto, me and Sasuke to become friends so he has someone to rely on after his clan is massacred.
I walked over and stuck my hand out to Sasuke as well “Hello Sasuke, I’m Kami Uzumaki, Naruto’s big brother” I said with a smirk as he shook my hand.
Naruto glared at me “you’re not the big brother I am” he said as he thumbed his chest.
“Pretty sure I remember Hiruzen saying that I was born a few minutes later than you which therefore means I am older thus I’m the big brother” I said to Naruto like I was explaining something to a dumb child.
Naruto glared at me in annoyance “Jiji did not say that!” he refused “pretty sure he did” I said with a nod as Naruto went to lunge himself at me.
We were stopped when we heard a small laugh from beside us. Sasuke was watching us with his hand covering his mouth as he laughed at our idiocy.
I smirked as Naruto moved over and slung an arm around Sasuke’s back and pulled him close “You know i’m the big brother right Sasuke? It’s obvious isn’t it, that idiot can’t be” he said as he gestured to me with a grin.
Sasuke laughed a bit more at that.
“So then if you’re the big brother then you’ll be able to beat me at Sensei’s training” i said with a challenging smirk.
Me and Naurto immediately ran over and stood straight in front of Mikoto before we both said “We are ready to train Sensei!” We saluted as we spoke with a grin on our faces.
“Energetic indeed,” Mikoto said with a smile.
“Okay first off what have you both learned already” Mikoto asked as Sasuke came and stood beside us two.
“I have learned how to do both the tree walking and leaf concentration exercise. I’ve been practising them everyday to improve my Chakra Control and I believe Naruto was pretty close to completing the tree walking exercise when we finished our training with Tiger” I explained.
Naruto nodded confirming what I said and Sasuke looked at us impressed.
“I can do the leaf concentration exercise but I don’t have enough chakra to reliably do the tree walking exercise yet” he said.
“Okay then first off I think we should test your physical abilities, find the limits of your stamina and such so I can get a better sense of your abilities” Mikoto said.
The next few hours were some relatively intense physical exercise. Back in my old life I'd probably be dead after like 40 minutes of it.
Sasuke tapped out after about 1 hour but after about 3 hours me and Naruto were still good to go. We were panting and aching but we still weren’t at our limits.
“Okay stop!” Mikoto said as we both jumped to our feet and started stretching. We had been taught stretches by Tiger.
“Your stamina is immense,” Mikoto said as she watched us both. We were covered in sweat and our bodies were aching but we could’ve gone longer.
I laughed slightly “Yep, I like to think Tiger thought so as well, it’s hard to tell what the Anbu are thinking with those masks” I said as I stretched out my legs.
“Tiger taught you some stretches as well?” she questioned and I nodded “yep he did” I said.
We had finished our stretching so we walked over to where Sasuke and Mikoto were.
I looked over as someone walked into the garden/training ground. It was Itachi Uchiha.
“Brother!” Sasuke said with a grin as he ran over and hugged Itachi, wrapping his small arms around his brother’s waist. He grabbed Itachi’s hand and pulled him over to us.
“Brother, meet my new friends, Naruto and Kami,” Sasuke said, introducing us both to Itachi.
Naruto smirked up at Itachi and gave him a thumbs up whilst I gave him a simple nod.
Itachi nodded back “what’s going on?” he asked Mikoto.
“The Hokage asked me to train the two Uzumakis here and I asked Sasuke if he wanted to join and he agreed,” she explained, smiling at her son.
Itachi nodded, he had a small smile on his face at Sasuke’s enthusiasm “I’m gonna be super strong just like you” Sasuke said to Itachi.
“I think we should go on to chakra control now” Mikoto said, getting our attention, Itachi walked off to the side as he watched.
“Kami can you sit out for a bit and practise your control on your own whilst I see to these two” I nodded simply at Mikoto’s question.
I walked over to Itachi and stood beside him as Naruto demonstrated how close he was to doing the tree exercise.
“So your brother’s a nice kid” I said to Itachi as I watched the training.
“You say that like you aren’t a child yourself” he stated flatly.
I let out a small chuckle “it does feel like that at times. The villagers seemed to hate us. I’ve had to look after Naruto my entire life and protect him. We’ve been attacked before but the Hokage put a stop to that as soon as I told him” I said.
Itachi nodded “Is he sad at the way he’s treated?” Itachi asked and I shrugged.
“I’m not sure, he is either oblivious to it or he chooses to ignore it. Either way the glares and mumbled words don’t get to him at all” I said.
“What about you?” he asked and I let out a small chuckle.
“I couldn’t care less what the village thinks of me. I want to be a shinobi because I want to protect my brother. I intend to become one of the strongest shinobi to ever live, I want to be the next that claims the title of God of Shinobi.
I admire Hiruzen Sarutobi. He is an incredible man and I aspire to be like him. That’s my goal, to be the strongest and to protect the ones I care about” I said as I smiled at Naruto who had just fallen off the tree.
He proceeded to give the tree a kick before he ran away and then ran back at the tree trying to climb it.
“What about you?” I asked.
“I have my goals, not many ask me that question but I aspire to be a strong shinobi as well” he said simply and I smiled.
“A man of few words I see” I said with a small chuckle “I’m sure i’ll wear you down enough for you tell me what that goal is” I said as I smirked at Itachi who glanced at me.
“It’s kind of obvious that Sasuke admires you. I’m not surprised he does. Became a Genin at 8 years old, a Chunin at 10 and an Anbu at 11” I said, a bit caught up in what I was saying.
I realised I shouldn’t know the Anbu thing, Itachi glanced at me but I kept looking at Naruto and Sasuke as I tried to play it off by just ignoring what I said.
“It’s quite impressive” I continued as Itachi glanced away “I guess my first step to becoming the strongest would be to get better than you. I don’t doubt that it will be difficult but I do know it’ll be worth it” I said with a smile.
“I think i’ll make you the first goal that i’ll reach” I said as I gave Itachi a smirk before “I should probably get started” I said as I stepped forward. I gave Itachi a nod before I walked to Mikoto who had just finished teaching Sasuke the tree walking exercise.
“Ah Kami, good timing” she said as she stood beside me watching Sasuke attempt the technique. It was hard for him since he didn’t have a lot of chakra but the best way to increase your reserves was to use them up. Chakra was sort of like a muscle.
“So you can do both the tree walking and leaf exercises?” she questioned and I nodded “show me” she said as she gestured to a tree that wasn’t in use.
I walked over and placed a foot on the tree and without stopping I slowly walked up the tree. I decided to try and show off. I walked up the tree and grabbed a leaf before placing it on my forehead as I tried to do both at the same time.
It was a lot harder than I thought it would be and I barely managed to grab a nearby branch as my feet dislodged from the tree. I swung and stuck my feet back to the tree trunk before I walked back down a bit embarrassed.
“So I can’t do both at the same time yet” I said in embarrassment as I picked up a nearby leaf that had fallen and stuck it to my forehead showing her I could do the leaf exercise.
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Mikoto smiled at me “you don’t need to as far as I can tell. The Hokage told me to do whatever I wanted in training so I'm going to give you a choice. You can keep practising those techniques in our lessons and I can give you tips and help or you can learn your first Jutsu. I expect you to practise chakra control outside of our lessons though.
I don’t think you're stupid enough to try a Jutsu outside of our lessons so I don’t mind teaching one to you. We can start with the three you will learn in the Academy.” Mikoto offered.
I knew what would make it easiest to graduate early. I also knew that naruto struggled with the Academy three because of his poor chakra control so they would also be good practice.
“I want to learn the three Jutsu please” I said with a smile as excitement flared up in me.
“Okay but first you have to complete a challenge. I want you to be able to land 10 shuriken on that target. Once you can I will teach those Jutsu. I’ll show you how to properly throw them and then the rest is up to you” she said and I nodded.
My best bet for obtaining the power I seek is the Shadow Clone Technique. With my abundance of chakra and stamina that technique would speed up my training by a massive amount. Hopefully if I can learn all three of these techniques then maybe I'll be able to convince Mikoto to teach me it. If she doesn’t know it or won’t teach me then I'll have to convince Hiruzen.
Hopefully one of them will teach me.
We moved over to where Sasuke was standing when we first arrived.
“This is dangerous so you will only practise here” Mikoto said firmly and I nodded.
She then showed me how to properly grip the shuriken. I held it so my thumb was near the centre and my index and middle finger were on the opposite side.
I watched as Mikoto threw the shuriken. It hit the target dead centre, she then took me through the motions of throwing it so I had it in my head of how to do it.
She then stepped back and let me throw it for the first time.
I pulled my arm back and focused on the target before I threw the shuriken. I kept the throw as straight as I could making sure the shuriken was vertical the whole way through.
I then released the shuriken as my arm straightened out. The shuriken flew straight but my aim was obviously poor as the shuriken flew past the tree that my target was hung on and hit a wooden board behind the tree that was there to stop the shuriken from flying off.
“Decent form, keep practising and you’ll have it down in no time” Mikoto said with a smile.
“I’ll be watching you so take it slow and be careful.” she said before she walked away and went back to observing all three of us.
It seemed Naruto had made a lot of progress. He was able to keep himself stuck to the tree for a few seconds. Sasuke seemed to be getting close but he had to keep stopping when his chakra got too low so he could rest, which was holding him back greatly.
Naruto and Sasuke had already seemed to develop a rivalry. It was amusing to see them both trying so hard to be the first to accomplish the technique. Sasuke had it harder in my opinion. I was fairly sure that Naruto would get it down first.
I refocused my attention on the target as I picked up more shuriken. I held two in my left hand as I threw one with my right hand.
As I focused on my training, I didn’t see when Itachi left.
A few hours later Mikoto told us to stop. Naruto and Sasuke were annoyed at that since they both believed they were close.
“Cheer up you two” I said as I placed my hand on both of their backs and pushed them towards the house “it’s time for food” I said.
Naruto immediately perked up and tried to run into the house but I grabbed him and pulled him back, he looked at me confused.
“You're dirty, idiot” I said with a sigh as he smiled sheepishly.
Mikoto smiled “You boys go get cleaned up whilst I make something to eat. Sasuke, would you show them to the bathroom and lend them some of your clothes for now” she asked and Sasuke nodded with a smile.
“I’ll make sure we bring some spare clothes next time, thank you both” I said as I bowed slightly in thanks.
Mikoto waved it off “and don’t worry about the mud” she said. I smiled at her as Sasuke led us into the house and to the bathroom.
It was a typical Japanese bathroom. We undressed and cleaned ourselves with their soap before rinsing off the soap and mud with a bucket of water. We then jumped in their massive hot bath.
“This is nice” Naruto said as he let out a sigh resting in the water. I agreed with him. We had a bathtub in our apartment, it wasn’t big enough for a bath like this so we just washed ourselves in the tub like western people did. I preferred showers but this was relaxing.
It soothed my aching muscles but I was already feeling better physically thanks to the high regeneration I was gifted with. Chakra and the Kyuubi’s presence made my natural regeneration high.
We rested, Naruto and Sasuke talked about their training and how fun it was among other things. Soon Sasuke told us his mother would be ready by now so we got out and got dried with some towels before Sasuke gave us some of his clothes.
All three of us were dressed in a blue shirt and black shorts. We walked downstairs to find two people sitting at the table. Fugaku Uchiha, Sasuke’s father and his mother.
She gestured for us to sit down, smiling at us all dressed in the same clothes. Sasuke greeted his father before asking Mikoto “Is Itachi not joining us?” he asked in a sad voice.
She nodded “he’s busy, sorry Sasuke” she said with a small smile.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Fugaku said as he and Naruto sat at the table.
Naruto smiled at the man “same here” he said with a grin. I simply nodded at the man.
“I heard you learned the tree walking exercise and the leaf concentration exercise in a few hours, impressive” he said to me with a nod of acknowledgement.
I noticed Sasuke frown slightly at his father’s interest in me. I was sitting beside Sasuke who was sitting next to his mother. Naruto was across from us, he was sitting near Fugaku.
I gave Sasuke a small jab in his side, as he turned to me with a frown he saw my grin and smiled slightly, nodding at me in thanks as he turned to his food.
We all ate, Naruto complementing Mikoto on her “Fantastic Cooking!”It was quite good so I gave her my thanks and compliments as well.
Soon we were standing in front of their house. It was dark at this point. Mikoto was standing beside Sasuke in the front door.
“Are you sure you two can get home just fine?” Mikoto asked and I nodded, giving her a smile.
“Yeah we’ll be fine, thank you for the hospitality Sensei. We’ll be here tomorrow at the same time” I said as I gave them a wave. Sasuke waved to us as we both walked away.
“So you enjoyed that?” I asked, noticing the goofy grin on my brother’s face. He was walking with his hands behind his head as he stared ahead just grinning.
“Yep! Believe it!” He said as he grinned at me “Sasuke is really nice and so is Sensei” he said.
“I’m glad you and Sasuke have become friends,” I said with a smile.
“Me too” he said as he gave me a thumbs up.
“Race you home?” Naruto asked with a smirk as he immediately ran off.
“You don’t know the way!” I shouted at him as I ran after him.
“Then you’ll just have to beat me!” he shouted back.
I sighed as I caught up to him. We ran home laughing all the way. It didn’t take long for Naruto to fall asleep.
I washed Sasuke’s clothes that we had borrowed as well as the ones we wore in training before I went to sleep.
I had a good sleep, I was excited for the future. I decided to enjoy these years to their fullest since things will soon turn intense and life threatening. It would be a long time before I could rest like this once everything kicked off so I’d make the most of this for as long as I could.
The next week continued much the same and I seemed to be much better with chakra than I was with Shuriken. I had gotten some tips from Itachi after some coaxing as well as Mikoto and Sasuke who were better than me.
Today’s training session I was going to show Mikoto I could hit the target ten times. I was correct when I thought Naruto would complete the tree exercise before Sasuke. Both could do it relatively easily now although Sasuke couldn’t do it for very long since his chakra was still low. It was much higher than it should be for a kid his age however. Comparing his reserves to mine and Naruto’s was incredibly unfair.
We were quickly ushered into the training grounds when we arrived at their house. Sasuke was waiting for us. He smiled as he saw us, Naruto immediately rushed over and they both started talking excitedly since Mikoto gave them both the same offer I had gotten at the end of yesterday’s training session.
I warmed up my throwing arm whilst Mikoto taught Naruto how to throw Shuriken. Sasuke would easily beat Naruto at this since he was already really close to being able to hit ten.
Naruto was determined to close the gap as fast as he could though.
Mikoto had set up two more targets for me and Naruto. After teaching Naruto she moved over to me and gestured for me to throw the shuriken.
I gathered three in my left hand as I held one in my right. I aimed and pulled my arm back before throwing. I made sure to take my time for each throw. She never said I had to do it fast so I took my time.
I managed to hit all ten shuriken. Mikoto nodded in satisfaction “I expect you to keep training your shuriken throwing when in these lessons. So I think it’s time to teach you the academy three” she said and smiled as she saw my excited grin.
I couldn’t care less how weak they were. I was going to learn my first Jutsu, I was positively shaking with excitement.
“Okay so the first i’ll teach you is the Clone Technique since I believe it to be the easiest. I’ll teach you the hand signs first, I want you to practise them until you can go through them all at a high speed” she said.
“The Clone Technique requires the Ram, Snake, Tiger hand seals in that order” she explained as she went through each hand sign slowly, showing me each of them.
I nodded, Mikoto then showed me the Ram seal telling me to make the seal with my hands.
I placed my left and right index and middle fingers together vertically as I let my left hand ring and pinky fingers rest over my right hand ring and pinky fingers.
This was the iconic clone summoning seal we see Naruto use a lot in the anime.
I held the position before realising it and then doing it again. I did this until I felt I had the hand seal down.
Snake was next and this was by far the easiest hand seal to do. I simply pressed my palms together vertically before intertwining my fingers together as if in prayer.
I barely needed to practise this one since it was very easy to do.
Tiger was next and this one was easy as well. I simply intertwined my hands and fingers again like I was praying but instead I also raised my index and middle fingers on both hands vertically placing the fingertips together.
I practised the Tiger hand sign for a bit before I felt I had it down. I then went through the three hand signs in order. Ram then Snake and then Tiger.
Mikoto nodded when she was satisfied I had it down.
“Now this is the hard part. Hand Signs simply help us mould our chakra into the form we want which is why as you become more proficient with chakra control you can use less hand signs. It is easier to use less signs for Jutsu that share the same nature as your chakra nature affinity but that is something for later” she said.
She then performed the clone technique for me. She went through the hand signs slowly so I could see them. A clone of her then appeared in a puff of smoke beside her. Both of them smiled at me before the clone puffed out of existence.
“Do the hand seals whilst moving your chakra to your hands. You need to put your intent into the Jutsu to use it. The hand seals make it easier to mould the chakra into the required form but at the end of the day it all comes down to you. Imagine what you want and make it so. You can also say the name of the Jutsu to help you focus” she explained and I nodded.
I moved my chakra bringing it to the forefront. As I went through the hand seals I felt the chakra change and morph, I focused on the intent, imagining a copy of myself appearing beside me.
As I finished the hand seals I said “Bunshin no Jutsu” a puff of smoke appeared beside me as I felt the chakra leave my body.
I looked over as a clone of me appeared. It was horrible. Some of the features were off and the clone looked tired and sick. It poofed into smoke a few seconds later.
“That was quite good for your first use. I was surprised you were able to do it on your first try” Mikoto said with a smile “do it again, i’m sure you have plenty of chakra for it”.
It took about an hour and about 30 tries for me to get the clone down. There was always some minute difference but as I inspected this clone I realised I had successfully created an exact clone replica of myself.
I smiled, pride filling me as I turned to Mikoto who was looking at me impressed “an hour to make a perfect clone is quite impressive. You are quite talented at Ninjutsu aren’t you?” she said with a pleased smile.
We both gave her a thumbs up but we were caught off guard when she smirked “now try summoning multiple clones”.
I frowned as the clone dispersed, it can’t be that hard right. I went through the hands seals only this time I intended to create multiple clones.
I created two, one of the clones was as worse as my first attempt whilst the other was decent but had some minute differences.
It took about an hour and a half to get both perfect. I then moved on to three. Mikoto said if I could do three we could move onto the next Jutsu.
It took about 2 and a half hours for me to get three perfect clones. I showed Mikoto and she nodded, impressed with my progress. I also no longer need to say the Jutsu name to use it, I still had to use all three hand seals.
“Okay so next we will do the transformation technique since the last one is much more dangerous than the others. The hand seals are Dog, Boar and then Ram” she said.
Dog was easy to do and I got it down easily. Ram I already knew. Boar was a pain in the arse. It seemed easy at first but it was an awkward position to hold your hands in, uncomfortable as well. It took about 20 minutes for me to get used to the position enough to use it in a Jutsu.
“The transformation technique changes your appearance, it’s an illusion of course. I recommend trying to take Sasuke’s form. You are too familiar with Naruto so it will be much easier and your height will be drastically different if you copy my form which can be confusing to get used to” she said.
I nodded as I looked over at Sasuke.
“You need to imagine every detail and you need to replicate those details. The clone technique is good practice for this technique” she explained.
“I’m ready” I said as I went through the hand signs and used the Jutsu.
A puff of smoke surrounded me as I looked at Mikoto, she nodded impressed.
She had brought out a full body length mirror and held it up so I could look. I looked like Sasuke. At a casual glance you’d think I was him but as I looked closer I could see the minute differences.
My posture was also different since I held myself differently than he did.
“You don’t need to pose as Sasuke perfectly for me to be satisfied. Iron out all of those small details and once you have, you can try and take my form and then I'll be satisfied” she said and I nodded.
As I went through the hand signs again and again. It took about 30 minutes to assume a form that looked exactly like Sasuke. I then moved on to Mikoto.
The first transformation went well. At a casual glance I was Mikoto. It was weird being so much taller all of a sudden and it was weird being female as well. It was weird.
I did the same thing and another 30 minutes later I had gotten Mikoto’s form down as well.
She nodded in satisfaction as she inspected her own body. “It’s always weird seeing yourself,” she mumbled, looking at me with a smile.
I let the technique disperse as I returned to my regular height “It’s weird being female and much taller” I said with a grin. Mikoto let out a small laugh as she nodded.
“Okay so finally we can do the Change of Body Technique” she said showing me the hand seals.
They were Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog and then Snake. The only one I didn’t know was Ox. Ox wasn’t that hard, it was just confusing, I made many mistakes and it took about 10 minutes to figure it out.
“Okay so this is the most dangerous one to learn since it can only be used in reaction to danger, go get a shuriken and throw it at me” she said and I did what she said.
I went over, got a shuriken and then moved back. I then threw the shuriken at Mikoto.
She flashed through hand signs and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. A small log in her place.
I looked over to see her beside me. I smiled at her.
“This is difficult because of the danger so I want to tell you exactly what to imagine and intend since if you do it wrong you’re going to get stabbed by shuriken” she said as she went into an explanation.
Basically the technique worked by swapping places with an object. You must know where the object is in relation to your body or you must be able to see it. You need good reaction time to use the Jutsu.
So I spent about an hour going through the hand seals until I could do it fast. Then the time came to perform the Jutsu.
Mikoto readied her shuriken, she pulled her arm back and threw it with much less force than she would normally. I went through the hand signs, my intent clear as a puff of smoke covered my body.
I expected to feel pain instead I felt fine. I slowly opened my eyes to see Mikoto looking at me with a smile. I saw the rock I had substituted with on the floor not that far from Mikoto.
I walked over with a triumphant grin. I was excited “well done Kami, i’m impressed” she said.
“Thank you Sensei,” I said as I gave her a respectful bow. She smiled at me, bowing to me as well.
“There’s only really one more thing for you to practise. Taijutsu” she said as she smiled at me.
“For now you should rest for the rest of the day or practise the techniques you already know” she said as she went towards Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke was really close to getting the ten hits he needed. Naruto was having a hard time. It seemed he was as bad at shurikenjutsu as I was.
I took Mikoto’s advice as I sat on the porch at the door to the house, watching Naruto and Sasuke.
Itachi appeared, walking up and standing beside me. I smiled up at him from where I was sitting. “Hey Itachi,” I said.
“Hello Kami” he said as he sent me a nod. I nodded back before I turned back to Sasuke.
“Here to see Sasuke?” I guessed and he nodded “how is he doing?” Itachi asked.
“Really well, Mikoto offered Naruto and Sasuke the same challenge she gave to me and they’ve both thrown themselves into it. Sasuke is really close, he was already practising with his shuriken so he was already close”. I said.
Itachi nodded “how have you been?” I asked Itachi.
He looked at me seemingly thinking if he should say or not. He slowly sat down beside me as he spoke “I’ve been fine, my missions are tough but that’s what I expected” he said.
“Wow, pretty sure that’s the most you’ve ever said to me” I said, giving him a smirk .
“May I make an observation?” Itachi asked and I nodded.
“You seem much older than you are. I understand you had to basically raise yourself and your brother but I wouldn’t expect a child forced to do such a thing to be so sure of themselves” he said as he glanced at me to see my reaction.
I let out a small laugh “You really are saying a lot more all of a sudden” I said with a smirk.
“A deflection” he stated as he gave me a flat look.
“And he’s back,” I said with a grin.
“Do you use humour as a deflection a lot?” he questioned as I let out a sigh.
“Yes I do, what else can I do?” I asked as I looked at him “If I stop and think, I'm reminded of my shit past. So I don’t bother, I keep moving forward no matter what. I act this way so Naruto can have someone to look up to. I don’t want him to worry about me” I said in a low voice as I frowned at the floor.
I assumed Itachi thought I was talking about the villagers hating us but I wasn’t, I couldn’t care less about them. I was talking about my old life. My death traumatised me, I’ve pushed down those feelings and I don’t want to think about them ever again. I’ve had many nightmares about it.
My childhood was shit, my father abandoned us and my mother was a druggy so I had a great childhood. I was being sarcastic of course.
“You should also be taking care of yourself, not just Naruto,” Itachi said.
I shook my head “Trust me I know, I won’t until I can be confident Naruo can defend himself. When that happens then I’ll sort myself out” I said.
“That may never happen” Itachi said and I laughed at that. He cared for his brother as much as I did mine so he knew the feeling.
“I know,” I said simply as I smiled while watching Naruto.
“Are you taking care of yourself?” I asked Itachi, he simply gave me a flat look “so no?” I said with a chuckle.
“Well look at us two, two brothers trying to appear strong and dependable whilst we suffer on the inside” I said with a laugh. Itachi looked at me as I laughed seemingly in thought before he glanced away, looking back at Sasuke.
“What do you plan to do in the future?” Itachi asked and I went quiet in thought.
He glanced at me curiously as I stared at nothing, thinking.
“A lot,” I said.
“And I’m a man of few words” itachi said. My head snapped around as my eyes widened in surprise.
“Wow so miracles can happen, never thought I'd hear Itachi Uchiha be funny” I said with a mock gasp.
Itachi had a small smile on his face as he slowly stood to his feet. I followed him as I stood too.
“You’re interesting Kami Uzumaki,” Itachi said.
“Thanks, I try my best,” I said with a thumbs up and a grin.
“Sasuke!” I shouted, getting Sasuke’s attention who’s eyes snapped onto Itachi. He came running over as he smiled at Itachi.
I walked away as Sasuke excitedly told his brother about his progress. Soon I saw Sasuke go back to his training as Itachi walked over to me.
“You said you planned to do a lot, can you tell me one of those things?” Itachi asked.
I shrugged “I plan to make Naruto’s dream come true, he’ll be Hokage, I’ll make sure of it” I said with a smile.
Itachi nodded “I have to go, goodbye Kami Uzumaki” he said as he turned.
“See ya later, Itachi Uchiha” I said with a wave as he disappeared from the garden/training ground.
I wasn’t sure if my… relationship with Itachi would change anything. I doubted it would, he found me interesting, he said that much himself but I was unsure as to where our relationship would go.
For the next few hours I watched Naruto and Sasuke train. By the end of it Sasuke had achieved his goal of hitting the target ten times in a row, he did it with a faster speed than me and with better accuracy.
Naruto at most could get about 5 hits in a row. He was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to start learning Ninjutsu but he decided to use his sadness to his advantage to motivate himself to do better tomorrow.
I was unsure as to which of them would be better at the three academy Jutsu.
Soon I was home and soon I fell asleep.
The next week, Naruto and Sasuke practised the clone technique. They both struggled with it, Mikoto held them both to the same standard she had held me.
Mikoto was teaching me Taijutsu, to be exact. She was absolutely kicking my arse. She was teaching me the basics and giving me some experience.
When we finished for the day I asked Mikoto something.
“Sensei, I heard some Shinobi talking about a clone technique, a better version of the one you’ve taught me. It was called the Shadow Clone Technique, can I learn that?” I asked with an excited grin.
“The Shadow Clone Technique is a forbidden Jutsu Kami so I can’t teach you it” she said and I frowned before smiling again.
“What if I can get the Hokage to let me learn it?” I asked hopefully.
“If the Hokage tells me you can learn it then i’ll teach you it” she said not believing Hiruzen would let me learn it.
I led Naruto home before I ran to the Hokage Tower. I ran up to the reception desk, smiling at the women behind it. A while ago the receptionist had told me to go away quite harshly, Hiruzen fired her and hired someone else making it clear that I should be treated with respect. Naruto never came here but I have sometimes.
I was let into Hiruzen’s office. Said man was currently looking over a document, he looked up as I entered, smiling as he saw me.
“Kami, what a pleasant surprise, how is your training doing?” he asked with a smile.
“Really good, I've learned the academy three and I want to move onto something else but Sensei says it's a forbidden Jutsu, she said she’d teach it to me if you said it was okay” I said as I gave him a hopeful look.
“Which Jutsu?” he asked.
“The Shadow Clone Technique” I said with a hopeful smile as I gazed pleadingly at him.
He hummed in thought “it’s a very dangerous technique” he said as he let out a sigh “but if anyone is best suited for it its you and Naruto” he admitted with a sigh.
“I had some free time tomorrow morning so I was going to visit you before you went to train so i’ll come with you to Mikoto’s home and tell her you can be taught it” he said as he gave in to my pleading.
I pumped a fist in excitement “yes!” I cheered.
“How did you find out about Jutsu?” Hiruzen asked.
“I overheard some Shinobi talking about it.” I told him my lie.
He narrowed his eyes at me before nodding “I'll see you tomorrow morning Kami” he said. I nodded as I turned and left, running back home.
I soon got home and quickly fell asleep excited for the next day.