Next to a pond in the Uchiha compound, two young Uchiha practiced. One was a girl named Noramori with a pixie haircut that bordered on the longer side of the style, her piercing violet eyes set in an angular face with high cheekbones, and a look of absolute serenity schooling her features. She was on the shore going through forms her mother had taught her to help focus her mind as she continued to try and direct her chakra and learn how it flowed through her body. The other was a young boy named Sasuke with black hair and a determined look in his black eyes. His face was the spitting image of Noramori's, but while her face was the picture of cuteness and serenity, he looked like he took himself way too seriously. He was repeatedly trying to produce a fireball jutsu without much luck. Standing on the dock, his face was cast in a frown, and his hands were flashing through a series of hand signs.
“Katon: Gkaky no Jutsu, OW OW OW,” he shouted in pain as the fireball failed to form and exploded in his face yet again.
The girl suddenly stood up from her Tai Chi exercises and sprinted toward the dock to help her stupid brother get back on his feet.
“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to take a break every once in a while."
"One of these days, you're going to come out with a lot worse than mild scalding from practicing that jutsu,” Noramori sighed in exasperation at her brother’s antics.
Sasuke looked up at his sister. His face was covered in a few scorch marks, and small burns riddled the cloth wrapped around his fingers and forearms. Noramori knew that if she were to remove these, she would see the evidence of his arduous practice burned across his skin like a hard-won sleeve tattoo. Even a few small embers were clinging to his hair, which Noramori made short work of by patting them out as she looked down at her brother in concern.
“I can’t stop now. I can’t stop until I can prove to Father that I... No, we are as good as Itachi. I won’t be looked down upon anymore; I'm not a little kid anymore,” Sasuke hissed out through gritted teeth, a look of defeat in his eyes.
“And tell me, sweet brother, to whom are you going to prove this when you’ve gone and burned yourself to death?” Noramori wore a soft smile, her teeth barely showing. If Sasuke didn’t know any better, he would think it was a caring smile. But that smile and her sickly sweet tone held depths that only the voice of an angry sibling could hold. It terrified him. He had seen this smile many times before, and it usually screamed “DANGER.”
He wisely chose not to reply, stewing in silence as her mask of serenity beamed down upon his defeated form.
“Come on, stupid, let's go back. I think that was enough practice for one day.” Noramori abruptly stood up, pivoting on one foot, and began merrily skipping down the dock back to the compound.
Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, and Noramori halted in mid-step without even turning around. Her small form was a mountain of ill intent, towering over his seated figure.
He scrambled to follow his sister, mumbling words like “terrifying” and “dangerous” under his breath.
As he approached her, Noramori took his hand in hers and continued to skip forward, dragging a sulking Sasuke behind her as he attempted to act stoic and manly with his demon of a sister skipping childishly toward the family compound. Looking back at him, Noramori scoffed at her brother’s chagrined face and couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander to the past few years since she arrived in this world.
It had been eight years since their birth—eight years since Soraza, now Noramori, was born into a world of chakra and martial prowess. After her birth, she discovered that she was born into a ninja clan known as the Uchiha. They were a powerful clan with roots mired in bloodshed and misery. Their bloodline carried a powerful and unique dojutsu known as the Sharingan, or copy wheel eye. It allowed the clan to quickly gain power and tower over enemy ninjas by stealing their techniques and instantly copying their movements in battle. Sadly, she hadn't obtained her Sharingan yet, or maybe fortunately? It appeared that the circumstances surrounding its awakening were not an experience she was looking forward to having. She'd come to learn that their clan was only a major faction attached to a much larger village known as Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaf, or "The Hidden Leaf" for short.
The Hidden Leaf was small as far as she was concerned. Their population barely crested 80,000, with an even smaller portion comprised of active ninja and ANBU forces. They were one of five major villages that were spread across this land. To the southwest, situated in the middle of an inhospitable desert, was the Hidden Sand Village, Sunagakure. To the northwest, embedded in the side of an expansive mountain range, was the Hidden Stone Village, Iwagakure. To the northeast, the Hidden Cloud Village, Kumogakure, rested upon the peak of the tallest mountain range Noramori was aware of. The village itself was obscured by the clouds at the peak of these natural formations. Finally, to the east, isolated by an open sea and thick cloying mists, was The Hidden Mist Village, Kirigakure.
Each of these villages was hidden within larger countries known as the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Water. Each of these lands was ruled over by a shogun in days gone by, but most of the political battlefield was controlled from the shadows by the movements of shinobi. "A real-life ninja—who would have thought?" She cackled to herself, earning a questioning glance from Sasuke.
She had spent every second studying the history and current political landscape of the world she found herself in. Of course, it took a while for her to begin this endeavor since her body needed to build up the strength to crawl and learn the local language, which appeared to be some sort of Japanese dialect. What she learned was concerning, to say the least. It seemed that the five villages were currently in a state of peace after what appeared to be a massive war that claimed many lives and devastated some of the smaller villages scattered across the continents. Also, the word "peace" was misleading. She had learned through eavesdropping on her older brother, Itachi, and her father, Fugaku, that most of the villages still clashed in small skirmishes and border disputes while on covert missions for the great nations of the shinobi world. The Hidden Sand appeared to be their one great ally, and even that alliance seemed to be strained due to differences in economic welfare and cultural proclivities.
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More than just the world at large, it seemed that even within their village, backstabbing and subterfuge were heavily employed by the government and the various clans. Everyone was vying for greater status and control, pushing their families, subordinates, and offspring to be the best of the best, even if it meant stepping on the necks of those they deemed lesser.
Noramori quickly learned to become guarded in her knowledge and her power, putting on the facade of a somewhat airheaded, bubbly girl to be viewed as cute and precious by the rest of the village. She didn’t want to become somebody's example or stand out too much and paint a target on her back. The only ones who even realized that she was way sharper and more astute than she let on were her twin brother, Sasuke, and her older brother, Itachi, who managed to see right through her. Even their mother only saw small glimpses of this, and their father, well, father didn't seem to have a lot of time for them either way.
She thought about Itachi as she approached the doors to her family compound with her stewing twin in tow. Itachi confused her; she still remembers that strange ghostly apparition she saw when she looked at him at the time of her birth. It chilled her to her bones, and she found herself shivering occasionally when he looked at her, even when she struggled to match up the terrifying persona to the diligent example of perfection and caring that was her older brother. Itachi was amazing. Even if she wouldn't admit it to Sasuke, she practiced constantly to even attain a fraction of the success that seemed so easy for him.
Itachi was the youngest ANBU in generations. He graduated from the ninja academy when he was barely older than Sasuke and herself. Even the other clans praised him as the greatest prodigy they had seen since the days of the Fourth himself. His skills in the Shinobi arts were ludicrous, trumping all of his classmates and putting even some Chunin and Jonin to shame. He could easily be the next Hokage if he put his mind to it.
As they finally reached the compound, Noramori flung open the door to their mother's room and ran face-to-face with Itachi. She felt Sasuke tense up and attempt to hide behind her, afraid to show their older brother the signs of his previous failure at the fireball jutsu.
“Hello, big brother,” Noramori's beaming, innocent face tilted up to look into her older brother’s eyes. “We just finished practicing, and Sasuke is getting so close to finishing the jutsu; he barely even burned himself this time."
Itachi smiled at his little sister, his eyes softening as he gazed at her. "That's great to hear, Noramori. You're both making excellent progress." He turned to Sasuke, a hint of amusement in his tone. "And don't worry, little brother. The fireball jutsu takes time to master. You'll get it eventually."
Sasuke came out from behind his sister and nodded shyly. He was still embarrassed by his previous failures, but his ever-present serious face, which made Noramori chuckle, came back with a vengeance. His features cast a look of fierce determination that managed to look more cute than manly. Noramori grinned and stepped forward, hugging her older brother tightly. "Thanks, Itachi! You're the best!"
Itachi chuckled and ruffled her hair affectionately. "No problem, Noramori. You two keep up the good work." He reached out and poked both of their foreheads, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving the twins alone with their mother.
As Itachi walked off, Noramori watched him go with pursed lips and scrunched eyebrows. She just didn't understand Itachi; he was so kind and nice to them, but she couldn't help but feel weird about him sometimes.
’He is my big brother and I love him; I just wish I knew why I saw that so long ago,’ she thought to herself. ‘He couldn't be faking, could he?’
"Moriko?" her twin called out from behind her, using his nickname for her. "Are you just going to stand there in the doorway, mother is waiting."
She shook her head and sighed. Turning around with a smile on her face, she ran to where her mother was seated, "Mama, mama, guess what Sasuke did!" she shouted with a mischievous grin, knowing their mom would misconstrue this as him succeeding at what he had been practicing for weeks.
"You did it, I'm so proud of you, little Sasuke," their mother's sad eyes lit up as she turned to Sasuke, "I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it."
"..." Sasuke glared at her.
"Well no, he failed miserably, but he barely even cried this time," an absolute look of sadistic pleasure barely flashed across Noramori's eyes before turning into a smirk.
Mother reached out and thumped her on the head.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"Be nice to your brother, Noramori grumbled under her breath, "stupid brother, stupid mama, stupid Uchiha," but she couldn't hide the small smile that slipped out as she did it.
"Come here, little ones; let me take a look at you." Their mother ushered them over and gestured for them to sit with her.
Their mother, Mikoto, reached out for Sasuke, worrying over his various wounds and using spit-covered fingers to wipe the soot off his face, much to his displeasure.
"You know you don't have to try so hard, Sasuke. I don't want to see you end up hurt; I don't know what I would do if you were seriously injured."
"I can't stop here. I have to prove myself to Papa." Looking away from Mother, he said, Besides, I am so close to getting it right, I can feel it."
"Hmm," Their mother's eyes flashed with an unknown emotion, "Don't take Fugako's attitude seriously; he thinks that if he acts that way, it will make you stronger."
"It doesn't feel like that; it feels like he just doesn't care. Your father is a complicated man; he was very active during the war; he raised Itachi in a very different way; some things that most children shouldn't ever see were a necessity for Itachi to take part in back then. It's... different now. We are at peace; your father doesn't know how to act in times of peace, so much of his life was spent training for a war that took many of our friends and family from us. He does care, don't let his distant attitude tell you otherwise. Even if sometimes I think he would prefer if we were at war again, he does love you both very much."
Sasuke looked thoughtful but ultimately unconvinced. "I guess... I'm still going to keep trying until I master this jutsu and surpass our older brother."
Mikoto looked at her son, wearing a sweet smile that Noramori could have only ever inherited from her, and thumped him on the head.
"Ouch what was that fo..." Sasuke finally saw the look on her face and clammed up instantly.
Their mother reached out and pulled Noramori into her lap and settled Sasuke against her side. She began brushing Noramori's hair as Sasuke settled down on the cushions surrounding them.
Noramori sighed contentedly, feeling safe and loved in her new life. She couldn't imagine life without her new family, and she knew Sasuke felt the same way. They were lucky to have such an amazing older brother, and they would do anything to make him proud and earn the approval of their stern and authoritative father. They both sat with their mother as she combed out Noramori’s hair and spent time fussing over Sasuke and his various burns.
As the evening turned into night, Noramori couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. She knew that the world outside the walls of their compound was dangerous and that their family was involved in dangerous political machinations. She didn't want to think about it too much, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
She resolved to be careful, to keep her guard up, and to stay alert. She would do whatever it took to protect her family, even if it meant sacrificing her happiness. For Noramori, the family was everything, and she would do whatever it took to keep them safe. So it was with these thoughts that she fell asleep sprawled out on her mother's lap with her twin. They were looking forward to the challenges that the future would bring them.