First Quirk Training

The weekend came and went and Naomi allowed me to leave home to spend the rest of the summer break with Itachi. But she made me promise to call her every day before we parted ways at the train station. t

Right now I was sitting cross-legged on the ground across from Itachi in the rock garden behind his house. It was afternoon and I had just finished unpacking my belongings in the guest room.

"Today I will unlock your quirk inhibitor, once I do I wish you to close your eyes and focus on the thoughts that you hear." Said Itachi.

I offered my arm to Itachi as he showed me a silver key that reminded me of a USB device. My heart began to beat fast in my chest in anticipation, I hardly remembered what had happened when I awakened my quirk, and I'm not looking forward to having another stroke.

With a hiss of escaping air the metal bracer that had prevented me from using my quirk was taken off my arm. Immediately I heard Itachi's voice speak in my mind.

"𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘪-𝘴𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥."

I did as he instructed and closed my eyes, as I did so another voice spoke.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴? 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘩? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦?"

The voice that spoke in my mind was high-pitched and very soft.

"Sensei, is there someone else here?"

Itachi did not speak, but he did not need to for me to know his answer. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴."

This was an amazing discovery, I can finally talk to animals. If I ever decide to become a veterinarian then I'd be the best vet since Doctor Dolittle.

"𝘠𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

"How do I do that?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳."

I gulped nervously, "okay. Where do we start?"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."

"Prepare for w-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Itachi screamed in his mind.

"𝘈𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏!"

"Oh, Jesus H Christ!" I shouted in pain as I held my head. How in the hell did he do that? Is this some sort of psychic attack?

"𝘈𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏!"

He kept screaming in his mind, it was so loud, so intense.

"𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘔𝘜𝘚𝘛 𝘉𝘜𝘐𝘓𝘋 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘞𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘚 𝘐𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘐 𝘖𝘙 𝘌𝘓𝘚𝘌 𝘐 𝘞𝘐𝘓𝘓 𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘈𝘛 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘕 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘚𝘌!"

What does he mean by that, how could it get any worse?

"𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘙𝘌𝘌 𝘚𝘌𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘋𝘚 𝘛𝘖 𝘉𝘜𝘐𝘓𝘋 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘈𝘓 𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘌𝘓𝘋!"

Okay, okay. Fuck how do I build a mental shield? I scrunched my face up in concentration as I tried to imagine something, anything to stop this onslaught. I don't know why, but the first thing that came to mind was the giant force field the Gungans used in Phantom Menace.

I thought of the whole scene, the bipedal amphibious aliens armed with their weird energy shields and spears against a huge mechanical army of robots. How they turned their forcefields on once the enemy tanks rolled onto the field, how those same tanks were powerless to breach the domed purple barriers.

Without even realizing it, Itachi's voice became muffled as if he was screaming underwater and not in my mind like he was.

After several minutes of imagining the scene, I felt Itachi tap me on the shoulder. I opened my eyes to see him giving me a small smile.

"Good, but you need work. It took you five minutes to put up that flimsy shield, and you also projected your method of defense into my mind."

I couldn't help but blush a little, "I uh…I didn't know I could project my thoughts into others."

"You can, but we are not going to work on that today. Right now I want you to tell me why your method worked and how you could improve."

My brows furrowed in ponderance on his words for a few minutes, "Well…I wasn't focused on you screaming in my mind and was more focused on making a defense, when I did that I sort of lost myself in the scenario."

Sensei nodded, "the most basic defense against mental intrusion is to think of complex thoughts. This method is something everyone can do, for example, if someone wanted to prevent you from listing in on their surface thoughts, all they will need to do is solve math equations. As you are now that method will be enough to completely block you out."

I hummed in thought, "so how do I prevent accidentally projecting my thoughts when I try and make a shield?"

"Practice, lots of practice. Now let us continue, I will come at you even harder now."

My eyes closed and braced myself, this time imagining a thick steel wall between me and Itachi.

"𝘈𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏!"

Itachi's scream was louder this time but It was not as effective as I had already imagined a wall before he could start.

However, even though it wasn't as effective at stunning me, it still hurt as I felt my brain stress under the mental assault. After a few minutes, I felt my walls begin to break and Itachi's scream filtered through more clearly.

"Gah!" I shouted in pain as I held my head when my shields crumbled.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴."

Sweat began to fall from my brow and a headache was forming, but I still smiled regardless. "Thank you Sensei."

"𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯!"

Just as those thoughts were heard. I created a mental image of the Green Lantern protecting me with a green shield projected by his power ring.

Itachi's scream crashed against my mental shield like an angry wave on the side of a lighthouse. The mental image of Green Lantern stumbled, I gulped as a hero from my childhood struggled against the oncoming storm.

"𝘉𝘌 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌𝘍𝘜𝘓 𝘐𝘚𝘏𝘐𝘐, 𝘖𝘙 𝘌𝘓𝘚𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘔𝘐𝘕𝘋 𝘊𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘋 𝘉𝘌 𝘜𝘚𝘌𝘋 𝘈𝘎𝘈𝘐𝘕𝘚𝘛 𝘠𝘖𝘜!"

Just as those thoughts entered my mind, an image of a giant crow with glowing Sharingan eyes appeared beyond the luminous green shield of the Green Lantern. A flash of lightning illuminated the crow, revealing giant tentacles growing from its' back.

I looked on in utter horror as the eldritch being slammed into Green Lantern's shield and broke right through it. The hero was swiftly impaled upon the monster's beak, and as the light faded from his eyes and blood flowed from his wound, a wave of unknowable horror assailed my mind.

B̧a͘b̸͠y͜͞l̷͠o̷̵n̡͠ ́wag̢ę͘͝s̛͠ ͠w҉̛͢a͠҉r ͏ơn̵ ͟Ba̢҉b͞҉y͝l̡o҉͝҉n.͜ ̴̛͘B̀͟a̵̛͢b͟y̢͢lơn͞҉̴ v̸͟͜ąn҉͢qu̷̕i͞s̷͠h͝es̀ ̀͠t̀͘͝he̷͝ ę̸͘v́͠͡i̸l̕s ̴o̵͜f̸́ B͘ab̴̧y̴l҉on̵̸͘.͜ B̧a̴b҉̷͠y̶̡l̸̵͜o̡͡n f͘͠á͡l̸͞l͏s ̢a̸̸n͜d B҉aby͘ļ͜o̧͡n͞͏ ̵̀͘r̶̡is͏҉è̵s̷. T͡͝ḩ̸ę̴̶ ̧͜w͜ars̕͠ ̶a̶̸̡rę̡͝ ͢n͢͟oţ̢ ̢҉rea̷͘l͘͡ ̧̕͠b̵̀͟u̴t̸̷͠ ͘t̷h͏e ͞g̛͟e̸̴noçį͠͏d̷̡͡e ҉̷҉o͜f̡ ̸̀y̧͘o͟͡ur̷͝ p̴e̴opl͞e̸̡̢ ͏͢a̛ŗ̛e̢͜͏.̧̀ H̷͟ǫ̀ẁ͢͞ ҉t̵͠h̛e̴y ̡ḿ̨a͟͜s̕s̸͢͠ą̕c҉̨r̨e ̴̧͡y͝҉o̡̕ù͜͝ ͡l̶͞͠i̷̕kȩ̛ ͠ca̶͢t̕t̸͡l̸̕ę̀!̨̀ ͏̛Ho͡͞w̵̛͢ ̵̨͟G̡̛o͘͟d ̨̡͢ẁe̵͢e͟͡ps͏ f̡̧̢o͏r y̨҉ou̵ ͝҉mi̕͏s͜g̵͝ui̶d̛e̷҉̴d̷͝ ̶҉͡ş͏o̴͘͜u̴͟l͏̛͘s.

"Asfkhjfkhajfhasdusesfuaihjk." babbled incoherently in utter pain as blood dripped from my nose and eyes.

The last thing I saw was a pair of glowing Sharingan eyes before my mind went blank and darkness took me.

________________________________________________________________

I awoke the following morning to the feeling of something warm resting against my chest. With a yawn, I raised my head to find Itachi's black cat curled up on my chest.

"Oh, good morning there." I smiled and reached for the cat.

"𝘉𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱." A soft feminine voice spoke in my mind.

"I need to move some time cat."

"𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."

Demanding little shit, but somehow I don't think I expected anything different from a cat. If I didn't like animals as much as I did I would've ignored it, unfortunately for me though, this cat is very cute and I have the willpower of a methhead when it comes to cute animals.

"You're lucky you're cute, cat."

"𝘚𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩."

I sighed and laid back down, guess this is the rest of my life now.

After a few minutes of silence, the voice of Itachi suddenly spoke from the doorways of the guestroom, "Ah you're awake."

"Good morning Sensei." I inclined my head towards him with a sheepish smile.

"I see Sabrina is making herself comfortable."

"Won't let me leave."

Sensei nodded, "yes she does that." He then focuses his attention back on me. "What do you remember?"

I narrowed my eyes in thought, "we were working on building my mental shields. I remember they broke and you went full eldritch horror on me."

Itachi frowned as he shook his head, "I'm afraid that was not me."

I sat up in confusion.

"𝘎𝘢𝘩, 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦!" Sabrina the cat whined as she was forced to face the horror of being moved a few inches.

Ignoring the cat I asked. "What do you mean Sensei, is there another psychic around that I don't know about?"

"No, what happened to you was all your own doing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Itachi stepped forward and sat at the end of the bed. "As a psychic, your mind is your greatest asset, however, it can also be your greatest enemy. Your father suffered the same, he too had dark thoughts and a creative mind. At times they would become so strong and so dark that they were capable of turning his own mind against him."

Oh great, I just unlocked super depression, fan-fucking-tastic. "How do I stop that from happening?"

"Simple, you just don't allow yourself to think of it," Itachi said with a shrug.

Why didn't I think of that? Just don't be sad forehead! "Somehow I doubt it's that easy."

"I said it was simple, not easy. Lifting hundreds of pounds over your head is simple, but it's not easy, hiking a mountain barefoot in the snow is simple but not easy. So will fighting your inner demons, I did warn you you will face them before we started this."

I clicked my tongue, he was right. "Fine, let's keep going."

"Not so fast, you still have a birdbath to refill after all."

Damn, was hoping he would've forgotten about that. "Fine, but I want to learn how to throw kunai, Mr. Miyagi.

Sensei raised a brow, "what makes you think I know how to throw Kunai?"

I rolled my eyes, "because you're Itachi Uchiha." He might not be the Itachi Uchiha, but for all intents and purposes, he might as well be.

He chuckled whilst poking my forehead, "if you can finish your task within an hour then I'll think about it."

"You're on!" I shouted before scrambling out of the bed and rushing out the door.

Sabrina yowled in anger as she was flipped over."𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬!

____________________________________________________

Itachi and I worked on my mental shields for the rest of the summer, for the first week we only worked on getting me used to the concept of creation. But when the next week rolled around we worked on maintaining them for several hours at a time, Itachi would follow me around as I did exercise and chores, randomly screaming in my mind to try and throw me off.

It was exhausting, both physically and mentally and by the end of these days, I would have to take migraine pills just to be able to sleep. I've bled out of my nose more times this summer alone than I've ever had in either of my lives. It wasn't even the funny, haha anime horny pun kind of nose bleeds, I was pretty sure it was my brain cells melting out of my body.

After working on creation and maintenance, Itachi had deemed me ready to venture out into civilization. So on the third week, we would take strolls into the nearby small town for a few hours at a time. At first, it was difficult to not hear the population's every little thought, I learned way too much information about the personal lives of these random people than I ever wanted to know.

For example. Did you know the grocery clerk secretly likes the police officer who patrols around the neighborhood? Or that said police officer has a fetish for lizard people? Or that the guy who owns the candy store near the pub is a closeted racist? How about how the sweet old lady who lives near the fox shrine and how she wants to do horrible depraved things to my Sensei?

Yeah, I didn't want to know that either, but now I am cursed with this knowledge. Thank God Itachi is able to shield himself from me, I do not want to know what gets that old man's neurons activated.

After our first excursion into the nearby town, Itachi took me aside and gave me an important lecture.

______________________________________

We had just arrived from walking the town, my eyes were vacant as I stared into nothingness. The thoughts of hundreds of people still rang in my mind, all their secrets, all their beautiful dreams, and dirty little fantasies. Being psychic wasn't all that's cracked up to be.

"Come have a seat," Itachi instructed as he led me to a wooden bench that sat under a tree in front of his house.

My body moved on autopilot as I sat in the seat next to him.

"Ishii-san," Sensei began, putting a hand on my shoulder.

The contact shook me from my stupor and I turned to look up at him. "Sensei?"

"You did well to not become overwhelmed today. But there is something of great importance that I need to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

Itachi gave me a stern look, "you have a wonderful ability, and while it is your right to use it. It is not your right to pry into the lives of people."

"I didn't mean to."

He gave me a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "I know, you are still learning, and I am pleased that you didn't react openly to the thoughts of others around you. Tell me, has your mother ever discussed the concept of consent with you?"

I nodded, while we never discussed the topic in the context of my quirk. Naomi made sure to tell me how to treat people. I didn't need the lesson but it was reassuring that she was attentive enough to have those types of conversations with me. "Yeah, it means giving permission, like how it's not okay to take something from someone or touch them without them wanting it."

"Indeed it does. Tell me, did the people in town give you permission to read their thoughts?"

"No."

"Do you understand that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should?"

"Yes, Sensei."

He regarded me for a long moment, "I can see your understanding of the situation is far more advanced than your age would suggest. Tell me in your own words why it is important to not pry into the mind of every person you see."

I cleared my dry throat before answering. "Well Sensei, I've always believed that the individual is sovereign, at least to some extinct. And being able to read the minds of others violates the most sacred form of privacy there is."

Itachi nodded, "you are indeed correct, I am glad that you understand this better than your father did." He then wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "You will face mistrust in life because you are able to do what you can do, people will feel uncomfortable in your presence when they know you are capable of reading their innermost thoughts. Even if you reassure them they will still not fully trust you." He gave me a small smile. "I want you to know that is natural, they aren't doing so because they hate you, they are doing so because they are uncomfortable, it is a scary thing to not feel safe inside one's own mind."

"I understand Sensei, I'd feel the same way if it was reversed."

Itachi sighed, I could almost see the crow's feet around his eyes lesson and a weight on his shoulders I didn't see before lifted slightly. As Sensei's body seemed to relax for that moment, so did whatever defenses he had around his mind.

"If only I had this discussion with Danuja when he was this young. How things could've been different. I'm sorry, I truly failed you."

I looked away from my Sensei, the pain in his mind hurt almost on a physical level.

After several minutes of silence, Itachi stood once again, "come, we will spar before dinner."

"Yes, Sensei."

_________________________________________

After that day we started on a routine that would last for the rest of the summer. Wake before dawn and spar with Itachi until breakfast, then chores, afterwards we would go into town for lunch and walk around for a few hours. After that, we would spar again until dinner, after dinner I had free time for a few hours, which I would spend either reading or wandering about the surrounding forest. After my free time, I would take a shower and then head to bed after taking a migraine pill.

According to Itachi, I improved my hand-to-hand skills a great deal over the last few weeks. Although I couldn't tell as I never neared so much as a glancing blow against him. But who am I to question the retired ninja?

I was however able to gauge my progress with the mental shields. By the time I left for home, I could hold them for nearly twelve hours and could keep them up even when Itachi would send a mental scream my way during our walks through town. I wasn't confident in keeping them up through a whole school day or even out in about in the big city. But I could most likely keep them up at the apartment with no issues at all.

Itachi told me to return for winter break and ordered me to keep up with my training in the meantime. I promised him I would and I intended to keep to it. I was looking forward to showing him just how far I've come in improving myself by the time we meet again.