Chapter 11 - Age 11/Year 11 [Part Three]

Times flew by faster than I could imagine. I was in my second last year of the academy. Next year I'd be pushed harden than ever for the year that followed. Graduation would likely be before I actually turned thirteen, but those were all just semantics. Eleven years, all in the blink of an eye.

It really felt so... short? Looking back on everything, it feels like I've grown so much. The days of nearly losing my sanity, to being engulfed in paranoia and fear. It took so long just to realize that the world wasn't against me. If whatever force or quirk of fate that brought me here wished me dead, I'd likely never have made it out of my mother's womb.

The world is cruel, harsh, and unforgiving. However, I've built a new life here, one where I have friends and family that can protect me. The future is a canvas with a shaky outline, yet that doesn't mean it can't all be erased and redrawn. If I want to prevent the coming horrors, then I need to do something. Standing around and hoping for what happened once to happen again is a fool's dream.

There's no Naruto. I'm  not Sasuke. No one is going to help me with this.

I'm alone, but it doesn't have to be that way forever. First and foremost, I need to grow my personal strength and prove to those that I'm needed, that I'm necessary. I have to show the Hokage that I'm someone worth trusting- someone that wouldn't lie. Perhaps telling the truth won't work, so I'll find another path. Untill then, I need to grow and help those around me do the same.

Those that once became friends might end up becoming the worst of enemies. The most dangerous of foes might end up on my side. Nothing is set in stone and with a brush in my hand, I aim to help draw a future where everyone lives; everyone I can reasonably help, of course.

What sort of future do I want?

A future where I sleep all day, comfortably resting at home?

A future where I'm in a position of power? The power of the Hokage?

A future where zi read interesting stories? A future where I don't have to fight?

Or...

Do I simply wish a future in which I follow my friends?

...

Many things had changed as time went by. Perhaps my dream was one of them. Now, as I looked at the world- at my friends, I found a burning desire within me. Power and strength now coursed through my veins. I could leap from building to building, though it took a bit of effort. With a single swing of my hand, I could accurately pin a kunai to a target.

I could breathe god damned fire by making silly signs with my fingers!

Maybe... maybe I had been far too paranoid and cautious. Everything I did was to grow stronger and prepare. But now, having developed a bit more, feelings once buried were slowly coming to the surface. It was a silly dream- one I had in my old world. A dream in which I gained power and used it to better the world; to explore unseen sights and help those around me.

It was a childish desire, but one I wholeheartedly believed in.

This world was no fairy tale, but I had the power to do something. I would help those I could and make sure my friends were strong enough to make their dreams a reality as well.

Perhaps I'd change this dream in the future. Everyone changes and no one could see what laid in store for them. Still, untill that day came, I'd try my best at this.

With each step, I walk further and further from who I was yesterday. A new me is just around the corner.

========

Another day, another morning of hard work. With a yawn, I rise out of bed, heading straight for the kitchen. My mother is already up and frying up your breakfast. Eggs and bacon, not exactly the most traditional Uchiha breakfast, but one I liked all the same.

Speaking of tradition, the Uchiha have practically seeped themselves in it. A normal meal consists of rice, a few steamed vegetables and an even smaller amount of meat. I hear the Hyuga are even more strict when it comes to this. Hinata once told me it was supposed to instill discipline and help open their "third eye." She said it was just a legend, but I practically shivered at the thought of a certain moon goddess. Even old legends like that held some truth, though I doubted a diet would help anyone obtain that.

Anyways, the food was delicious. The instant I finished my plate, two more strips of bacon made their way there.

"You don't have to-" I began, only to be stoped as my brother raised a hand.

"You need it more than me," he teased, finishing up his food.

Maybe it was because I was the one who suggested more diverse meals, but he'd been doing that as of late. My brother had become quite the trickster in his later years. Mother always seemed to blame Shisui for being a bad influence, though I knew it's not just him. Izumi was as much at fault as that scoundrel. They say finding a girl you like changes you and that looked to be the case with my brother.

Though, it's not like his more expressive nature bothered anyone. Compared to the cold, efficient, and frankly terrifying Itachi of old- my brother was friendly, surprisingly easy to talk to, and a very good listener. He still had that silent air to him, but he smiled a lot more and spoke with the wisdom I only seen in his later incarnation. The brother who lost everything, including his life, had never come into being.

Instead, I had Itachi- the brave, overprotective brother who couldn't help but tease you. Oh, and he just loved to spoil Saeko.

"Thanks." I answered, poking the bacon with my fork and smearing it around in the oil and salt. I'd burn these calories just by doing my daily exercises. Being a ninja had its perks.

"Oh, Sasuke, are you stopping by your friend's house today?" Mikoto's sudden question had my mind turning.

"Naruko?" I rarely stopped by anyone else's house. There was that one time with Choji and Shikamaru, but it was quick and not really worth mentioning.

"Yep," she answered with a little giggle. "Last time she stopped by, she said she loved my pie, so I made one just for her."

A whole pie. Honestly, I was a bit jealous, but if anyone deserved it, it was Naruko.

"Sure, I'll drop it off in a bit."

Speaking of Naruko, her face had become almost a common occurrence at my household. She'd stop by to train with my mother every week and then just crash my training. Sometimes she went diving into my room and wouldn't leave untill I spent some time with her. The shy, meek, and scared little girl of the past was unrecognizable. She was more like a spoiled brat that would barge into a friend's conversation just so they'd talk to her.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Still, Naruko wasn't Naruto. She'd never be him. Whatever the case, I had a long day ahead. Today, I wanted to find another quest.

Hmm.

==========

The day was sunny, peacefully, and just ripe for exploration. I already had an idea of what I wanted to do, but first, there was a pie that needed to be delivered. Unsurprisingly, with it being the weekend, Naruko was just lazying around in her house. She hadn't even locked the door...

Again, while my friend looked like a clueless imbecile, she was surprisingly observant and quick to catch onto things. People still avoided her and quite a few parents wouldn't let her anywhere near their child. It had been nearly a decade since the nine-tails had been sealed, yet the cracks ran deep. Konoha was finally starting to get back on its feet, but its economical future was on shaky ground. Thought, this was just something I assumed based on overhearing my parents. I wasn't some sort of economist or something.

Anyways, I stepped into her house just as easily as anyone else could. Though, the truth was that no one would. Naruko knew this, as did I. While it looked all clear outside, I was sure there was a group of ninja stationed out of sight. Then again, maybe the number had shrunk to a single one? Naruko wasn't a helpless child any longer. Nevertheless, she was still a very valuable member of the village. To leave her unattended would just be calling for misfortune.

"Sasuke, that you?!" Her voice echoed through the small apartment.

"Yeah!" I answered. "Where are you?"

"Bedroom!" she replied.

Stepping through her house, I was happy to see it that there was barely anything out of place. Just remembering the pigsty this had been a few years ago still makes me shiver and gag. How the hell could someone get used to so much garbage being around? Whatever the case, as I stepped into her room, I came to an unusual scene.

...

"What are you doing?" I questioned, brow furrowing deep in thought. It looked like she was trying to touch her nose with her foot?

"Kunoichi training!" she answered like that would explain everything. Whatever, I was pretty sure those were just stretching exercises.

"How come they don't teach us those stretches in our classes?" Seriously, stretches weren't just beneficial for girls. Everyone would be better off being a little bit more flexible.

Naruko rolls her eyes and grins like a fox.

"Well, that's cause our lessons are super-secret!" she proudly announces, walking closer and gently flicking your nose. "There's no way you'd ever do the stuff we learn!"

Really?

"I don't think I want to dress up like a pretty girl and trick people into telling me their secrets." Though, it's kind of really god damn creepy that seduction classes are a thing. No, seriously, that's super disturbing. A least, that's what I  assume those classes are, right?

"Bah! I don't like acting all nice and giving pretty eyes either!" Naruko huffs, arms crossing over her chest. "They make us practice how to serve tea, how to bow, how to make flower-hat things and a bunch of other stupid stuff!" That did sound really boring. Though, it sounded like it was more of an etiquette class than what I suspected. That was a very good thing. "Still, I'm trying to turn all that mushy stuff into something I can use- like these stretches!"

She then proceeds to draw a kunai from her shoe with her toes and hit a target on the wall.

"Did you see that!" She shouts gleefully. "Score!"

And that's how you learn about Naruko's new and interesting "technique." To be fair, no one would expect that. Either way, I quickly show her my mother's pie and got to eating. Of course, she gave me half and then ate her half with a cup of ramen.

No matter what I say, she's never going to stop. She's an addict at this point, surely...

With our stomach filled, I tell her about my plan.

"I guess extra lessons are never bad," she says with a whimper. Her tone betrays her. I'm pretty sure she'd rather be doing anything but training.

"You could always not come." I say.

Puffing out her cheeks, Naruko gives me the evil eye and shakes her head.

And that's how the two of us head for the academy. Unlike the actual story, Iruka and Naruko weren't all that close here. She was a prankster, yes, but not to the extent she could have been. More importantly, Naruko was actually a very good ninja in training. All that extra training I had her do paid off immensely.

"So, you want to train?" Naruko asked, fingers digging into her mouth. She made a wet popping noise as she suckled on her digits, cleaning off the last bits of pie. It was honestly very distracting and made my stomach churn slightly.

Those weren't human noises...

"Yeah," I answer with a nod. The door shuts behind us, and Naruko starts to walk away. "Aren't you going to lock it?" I call out, brow furrowing in frustration.

"Huh?" she turns around, a curious look in her eye. "I don't need to do that!"

I shake my head and motion her over. Naruko responds much the same and lets out a loud groan. "Come on! No one's going to steal anything!"

Ignorance is bliss, but I very much doubt Naruko is ignorant of the world. She knows full well what people can do. Though not quite as ostracised as Naruto, she's suffered her fair share of hate. Naruko's had me as a friend since she was tiny, and the list only grew as the years passed. If anything, the reprive has made her more shrewd than Naruto ever was.

Then again, he wasn't all that cunning, to begin with.

"Just because no one's done it to date doesn't mean no one's going to do it," I counter, a calm look on my face. Honestly, in the world of ninja, a locked door might as well be a wet tissue paper. Unless there are explosive seals or other crazy things like that, the door's basically unlocked. Still, that's not the point.

Normal people don't just leave their homes unlocked. It's a bad habit and one I'd rather my friend not have.

"Fiiiiine," Naruko groans, quickly rushing past me and reaching into her pocket. Out comes an old, scratched key. With a soft click, she buries said key in her pocket once more and gives me her attention.

"Ready?" she asks, a jovial tone in her voice. "Don't need me to wipe my bum or make sure I'm wearing underwear?"

Her childish taunts are like rain against an umbrella. I show no reaction aside from a raised brow. Perhaps if she'd transformed into that cursed Jutsu of hers, things might be different.

It was all fun and games when it was just a show. In real life, aside from the obvious discomforts, people will look at you weird and no one will ever forget. There's no difference from what she does and some random naked woman soliciting you on the street back home.

Thankfully, Naruko's intentions are purely innocent in nature. I wouldn't expect anything else from an eleven-year-old, but I have to make sure to keep my true feelings hidden. My face must be a stone wall that deflects all blows.

If she learns how to get me flustered, she'll keep at it. Like a shark smelling blood, she'll bite and not let go.

Truly, children can be the worst kinds of people. They poke and poke untill the bear howls in anger.

Thankfully, Naruko knows some restraint. She'll only prod and push untill it's obvious that you're upset. She stops short and then waits a while to do it again. A vicious cycle of teasing and trying to get a reaction out of me.

As of late, it seems like she lives for these kinds of things.

In a way, it's not so different from how Naruto made a fool of himself to garner attention. Indeed, some things never change.

"Well, you coming?" Naruko says, a huff leaving her nostrils. "We don't have all day!"

I bite back a smirk and nod.

"Yeah. Let's see if we can find anyone else on the way."

She wasn't the only one that found it fun to tease others. The childish part of me was just as bad as her, after all.

--------------------

As usual, Konoha's streets were filled with the bustling of merchants and people. It was one of the nation's most prosperous villages, even after the nine-tails attack. Things were slowly getting better, and the unfamiliar faces selling merchandise were more than enough proof of that.

Coincidentally, I happened to run into Kiba as he was scouting out one of the new merchants.

"Huh? Training?" He mumbled my words, eyes leaping to the stall and then back to me. "Alright, sure." He answered with a grin.

"Let me just buy Akamaru these new treats and I'll come with!" The tiny dog lets out an excited bark and began running around the young Inuzuka.

"I won't let you beat me, Sasuke!" Those were Kiba's words of challenge, which I was certain meant he was going to try and fight me.

In any case, with one more person in tow, I headed for the academy. Curiously, Sakura seemed to be just sitting by a nearby bench on the way there. She had this look on her face that made it seem like her world was ending.

When I asked her to tag along, she gave a frail smile and nodded. I wasn't sure what was happening, but she could probably use friends to talk to or at least hang out with. Speaking of friends, it was a good thing Hinata was already at the school. It seemed she had much the same idea as me and was standing by the gates.

A nervous look flashed across her face as she contemplated whether to enter or to leave. Eventually, she made up her mind and stepped inside, only to nearly have a heart attack as Kiba greeter her with an almost ear-splitting shout.

"Yo! Hinata!"

The young ninja almost smashed her head into the sun with the jump that followed. Thankfully, it didn't take her very long to calm down. Still, she was squirming like a bug for a moment there.

"O-Oh, um, yes!" She was more than happy to join our little training session.

As for the actual training, Iruka was actually doing some grading. He said he'd help us all out if we did something for him. There were a number of tasks, and to keep things simple, everyone would partner up. Everyone but the odd man out, who'd help him.

Iruka was, for a lack of a better world, a very diligent teacher. He was one of those people that would gladly spend hours of his time helping a failing student catch up with his peers. He was kind, but also stern. So long as you weren't disrupting the class, he'd let you get away with very minor things. Yet, if you stepped out of line, he wasn't afraid to put his boot down.

This wasn't how he was during the first few weeks, but that swiftly changed. Class clown or not, Naruko was still pretty disruptive at times. She had a much longer attention span, but certain subjects just bored her out of her mind. Of course, this meant she turned to me for entertainment. That wasn't good- for me or anyone else.

"Training, huh?" Iruka mumbled, eyes darting from me to the rest of my friends, eventually stopping on Sakura. "That's a good idea," he said with a small smile.

"Mizuki's not here today, so you guys will have to rely on just me."

Kiba's lip splits into a grand smile.

"Ah well, you'll do fine!" he proudly announces. "That guy's ok, but you're the best!"

His words held some truth. Mizuki was much more charismatic than poor Iruka; he knew how to handle them better. Being children, not many noticed, but Mizuki was a very good at staying out of the firing line. Whenever Iruka went off on someone, he'd be the one to calm him down and then be the "good" cop to Ituka's "bad." Of course, no one likes the bad cop, so on a surface level, Mizuki just seems a lot more approachable.

Of course, anyone that spends some time actually trying to talk to both will quickly start to see the difference. Mizuki sticks around, but not nearly as long as Iruka. He helps but isn't nearly as involved. When you succeed in something, Iruka's right there, sharing your joy. Sometimes, you'd think he was the one that figured it out. Yet, Mizuki has an air of indifference. He smiles and gives congratulations, but never seems invested.

So, while Mizuki has a sweet, friendly surface, his innards aren't nearly as soft as Iruka's. It's for that reason that most of the "smart" kids go to him first for help or training. Though, that's not to say the others aren't smart; they're just children, and seeing through sweet masks is a skill that comes with age and wisdom.

Iruka chuckles at Kiba's praise.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you shouldn't be talking bad about your teachers," he fires back, gently striking Kiba's head with the flat of his hand. "Now, let's see how you can help me get all of this finished with so I can help you."

Sometimes, it really felt like my life worked on videogame logic. This was a great example; the oh so "important" fetch quests.

Hopefully, it all went by quickly.

----------------

The five of us were split into partnered groups.

"Work together and we'll be done within the hour!" Iruka said, a small smile on his lip. Say what you will, but the man was really good at his job.

Naruko partnered up with Kiba and Hinata stuck with Iruka. I went with Sakura, if only because I was slightly worried about her. Maybe things would have been different if she were some other student, but the fact was that she wasn't. I knew Sakura, or what she would become. She wasn't the person I watched all those years ago, but it was pretty hard to get rid of that sort of bias.

"Right, you two can go inspect the boiler room in the basement," Iruka said, eyes darting from page to page. The large book in front of him was imposing and full of endless lines of text. What was it? Unfortunately, that was something I'd not be finding out today. "It's been giving us some trouble lately and I wanted to check that out."

He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small little pamphlet.

"You don't need to touch anything-" I took the pamphlet and started flipping through it. "-just read it and jot down the information I need that's on the first and second page."

Basic reading comprehension and note-taking. This really was a very easy task, though I could see why he couldn't go do it himself. The amount of paperwork on his table reached halfway up to his shoulder.

"How come Mizuki isn't helping?" Kiba huffed.

Iruka gave a small smile.

"He has something really important to do."

I doubted that.

In any case, Kiba and Naruko headed off to clean up a few things in the attic. Poor Hinata was going to help Iruka with the paperwork. Just looking at that mountain made me wilt.

"Let's go, Sakura," I said, not wanting to keep everyone waiting. The sooner this could be finished, the sooner we could start training.

Sakura gave a half-hearted nod and followed after me. She dragged her feet and I had to deliberately match her pace, otherwise, I'd have left her behind. It was extremely obvious something was eating away at her- the real question was what.

"So, how was your day?" I asked.

I wasn't a therapist or anything, but I could be a friendly ear. Though, it was up to her to talk.

"Ok, I guess," she mumbled, a sigh bursting from her lip. The conversation died then and there.

This was going to be hard. I could tell.

---------------

The basement was easy enough to find, and honestly, Iruka's task was even easier than I expected. It took the two of us less than five minutes to write down all the readings and start our track.

The school was mostly empty, it being the weekend and all that. That made talking very easy, but Sakura still refused to open up. I couldn't force her and trying to just didn't feel right. Thankfully, she eventually said something.

"Sasuke... do you think I'm a good ninja?"