Chapter 10: Pain and Competition

Welcome to Chapter 10!

HIGHLY recommended A/N to read! Especially those that have raised concerns about Orochi-Douche having Korinna's technique!

First let me say in regards to the technique, y'all need to calm down. Some of you act like hax OP techniques aren't common in the Canon storyline. Pein destroyed Konoha and killed thousands with a single technique. Impure World Resurrection? The zombie army literally killed thousands of shinobi during the war. Fuckin A, Kisame could walk into the middle of town and unleash that water prison on pure horse dick testosterone and drown the entire population. She killed 600 people. It happens. As for Orochi-Dork, that was added by me as insurance. A few thoughts flitted in my ADD brain, I wrote them down. I may use them, I may not. Either way, I didn't want some giant loophole in my plot, so Kabuto handed it to him. He CANNOT use it right now even if he wanted to. His sealing research is strictly to enhance his curse seal. He doesn't have enough Chakra. Calm it down.

Oops? I did it again, y'all. My fingers just kept going, and we end up with another beast chapter. Not AS long as Chap 8, but we're sitting around 23.5k words without A/N. You have been warned!

This chapter has a Kenta/Sasuke bro-moment. Sasuke in my story is actually not a wooden doll set in a permanent scowl. He's growing as a person. If he seems OOC to you, well he probably is, but I did my best to keep his personal growth and character traits in harmony.

So let's say this story is like… 1/3 Fluff-Ken/Sasu Broment/training… The rest is FIGHTS! Still not sure how good I am at writing fight scenes, hopefully y'all like them and they seem realistic.

Let's GO!

OH PS! There's some very subtle (at least I hope so! The might be really easy, who knows!) clues I dropped in the Ken/Sasu Broment in regards on how I'm planning on growing on of the rookies in this story. First to guess gets a shoutout and virtual cookies next chapter!

OK GO!

WAIT! – PPPPPPS – VOTE FOR AMI'S BAE! POLL IS IN MY PROFILE! SHES GETTING LONELY YALL!

OK NOW GO!

We walked casually down the road heading towards the outskirts of town. Naruto, Ami and I were on our way to meet Cpt Genma to discuss our training over the next month. It was two days after the preliminary rounds have all three of us were in high spirits. I had spent all day yesterday with Naruto and some of the other rookies at the hot springs, soaking away the stress over the last week. Abruptly Naruto stopped in the middle of the road and started staring off towards the east. He turned to me.

"Kenta, what does sensing feel like exactly." He asked seriously.

I slowed my pace to a crawl as I thought about how to respond. "Hmmmm… It's hard to explain. It's like a 6th sense I can control in a way. I've become so accustomed to it over the years that right now it's like… knowing who's around me at all times without ever having to look around. I can just feel them in the back of my mind at all times. Their chakra signatures brush against my sensing field, letting me know their general location. I can focus and expand my range and simply get a read of how many chakra signatures are within a certain distance from me, or I can focus it sharply on a single person and read them in great detail. The state and quantity of their chakra. If it's in a state of rest or being actively used. How the chakra inside them is being molded and in what areas. Things like that. Everyone has a unique chakra signature, and after becoming familiar I can pick them out of a crowd. Like I said it's hard to explain but that's the best way I can. I know that different people develop different techniques on how they sense. Father even told me of a colleague of his that senses by 'taste.'" I shrugged. "Did that help at all?"

He nodded slowly, eyes back towards the east as we started back on our way. "Yeah, yeah it did make some sense. I must have imagined it. For a second, I felt this almost pull towards the east side of town. But it's gone now. Oh well, I just thought I might be becoming more of a badass than I already am." He laughed, back to his normally cheerful self.

Ami and I just rolled our eyes and continued to training ground 23.

***************************************TG23******************************************

"So that's how it's going to go the next four weeks. The details have already been worked out." Cpt Genma drawled.

Over the next month, I would be training with my parents off and on, while Uncle Inoichi had even volunteered to step in when he could. That both excited me and made me shake a little in fear. I still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ino since she fled the arena after I humiliated her in front of everyone. Uncle had come to congratulate me on my match and my use of tactics and our clan technique, but he had been hard to read. He wasn't cold, but he wasn't his usual warm self with me. He was completely neutral the entire time.

Lord Jiraiya had volunteered to take Naruto's training on full-time, which the blonde was over the moon about. Her griped and complained about his… excentric personality, but I could see how much Lord Jiraiya cared for Naruto and Naruto was growing closer to the toad sage by the day. I was happy for my best friend, and I will admit, extremely jealous he wasn't getting trained personally by one of THEE Legendary Sannin. But I pushed that aside, training with Lord Jiraiya would be an honor, but the man was a fire and earth user, I don't know he'd even have much to teach me anyway.

Ami would of course be training with Anko, but Anko still had her job at T&I to do, so Genma and Anko had made plans for a few of their other mutual friends to take on Ami's training when Anko wasn't available. All in all, Cpt Genma had hooked us up. He didn't want to play favorites, so he would just be perioudlically checking on us all over the month, offering suggestions now and again, but would otherwise be completely neutral. Our Mother Hen captain was sucha cutie, pretending to be apathetic and non-caring, but going out of his way to make sure all three of us were as prepared as possible for the finals.

"I've got a meeting with Lord Third in an hour. You three are dismissed for the day. Rest up, your trainers will inform you at some point when and where to meet them sometime today. Good luck and work hard over the next month. I'm telling you all now, I'm betting a LOT of money on each of your opening matches. If you lose, you'll pay me back what I lost, got it?" He finished with a glare and hint of bloodlust in the air. We all quickly assured our captain we wouldn't let him down. He smirked, then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Why does he does that?!" Naruto yelled, pulling a few leaves out of his hair. "He's a bigger show off than Kenta. Kenta uses the 'Body-Flicker' all the time and he never sprays leaves all over his innocent genin!" Naruto continued to grumble about unnecessary show offs.

Ami and I laughed at our teammate's predicament before deciding on some light sparring. The three of us hadn't sparred in a while so what better way to prepare for the month of isolated training than getting a read on where we started. Over the next 3 hours we had a round robin style of sparring with each other. An hour into our matches, team 7 minus Sai had wandered into our training ground and joined us as well. We called it after the five of us were all sufficiently sweaty and sore. Naruto's growling stomach was our clock to let us know that it was time for lunch. We decided to all grab lunch together before going our separate ways for the day. Even Sasuke joined us, much to all our surprises. We were thoroughly entertained by Naruto attempting to get under the Uchiha's skin, while said Uchiha spent the entire time either silently ignoring Naruto, or asking the rest of us what our plans were for the month.

It was a rather pleasant, and much to my great relief, mundane lunch. We talked, laughed, and just enjoyed being teens for once, rather than trained killers. As lunch was winding down, I saw a very familiar face walk in. Seeing them made me happy, as it had been months since I'd last seen the boy. I also felt really guilty, as I hate to admit I'd kind of put him to the back of my mind.

"Haku!" I called out waving. The ice-user turned and smiled, seeing who had just called to him. He made his way over to our booth where I scooted over to allow him to sit with us. "How have you been? I… I'm so sorry Haku. I've been so busy with training and exams and-" I was cut off my his hand covering my mouth, laughter in his eyes.

"Do not apologize, Kenta. Or any of you. I knew coming here that you all had your own, very busy lives. I'm not so helpless or inept to be unable to take care of myself in a new town. That said, I'm doing very well, actually. My three-month crash history course finished up a week ago. I've just been waiting around, waiting to hear from Lord Third about my team assignment. After everything that has happened, I can say that I won't hear anything for a few more days, which I am OK with. How about you all, how have you been? How is your training going? You have to tell me about the exams!" and with that, my guilt faded slightly and the five of us all caught up with Haku.

***************************************Bro Moment************************************

We all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Naruto, Ami and I agreeing that we would all have regular team dinners every Friday. We were all excited to see how the other two grew over the month, so we decided to keep interactions to a minimum. I was excited to see how strong they got. I was equally excited to see their jaws fall to the ground when they saw me take down Gaara. My internal picturing of standing in the Kage booth accepting the trophy for strongest genin in the world was cut short by my name being called.

"Yamanaka. Do you have some time to talk, real quick?" I turned around to see a look on Sasuke's face I'd never seen before. Uncertainty.

"Yeah, Sasuke. What's up? You alright?" I turned to the loner.

Uncertainty flashed across his face once more before he bit it down. "You and I are… friends, right? Or we at least have a mutual respect and comradery?"

I stopped walking for a moment, slightly stunned at Sasuke's question. I thought back to our relationship and how it had developed since returning from wave. We weren't best friends, that much was certain. I don't know if we would ever get to that point. But what happened in wave had shaken the last Uchiha up enough that he seemed to be slowly but surely changing. He wasn't nearly as cold to his peers anymore. He was still confident in his abilities but that attitude of being a cut above us all wasn't nearly as present.

I then really dug deep to all that had happened over the last three months. Sasuke and I had developed a real, healthy rivalry. It wasn't one based on petty childhood attitudes of being number one in the class. It was two shinobi, with the mutual goal of attaining the strength needed to fulfil our goals. We pushed each other to our limits and respected the other's strengths.

I then glanced at the Uchiha, who was staring at me with questioning eyes. I had gotten a much better read on who the longer was over the last few months. He was, in many ways, even more mentally scarred and fucked up than even Naruto. Witnessing the murder of everyone you loved left deep emotional scarring. It also happened at an age where kids normally begin to really start to develop into their own person. An age in development where you start to question everything around you and make your own decisions, rather than strictly listening to what you parents tell you. Sasuke was emotionally stunted because instead of interacting with his peers and forming bonds, he had withdrawn into himself and never really opened up.

Me being me, I had to mess with him a little bit. Hopefully put him at ease as well, as the boy looked ready to flee at any moment. The one thing that would probably always be the same with Sasuke, he didn't like being out of his comfort zone, especially emotionally.

I sent him a pout. "Comrades? I thought we were best friends, Sasuke. I kissed you and you liked it, remember"

It worked, the boy snorted and seemed to relax a bit. "Both of those are false. So you have a minute?"

I nodded. "Whatever you need, man. I've been told I'm an exceptional listener and give amazing advice. Kind of comes with the whole "we read people's thoughts and know the brain inside and out" stereotype."

He nodded, and then took on a pensive look, gathering his thoughts. "You and Fú seem… close. At least, it seems as though you two have feelings that go beyond just friendship."

I blushed heavily. "Fú and I are nothing more than friends. Do I think she's beautiful? Yes. Do I maybe have some feelings for her? The possibility is there." I replied evasively.

He sent me a knowing look. "Right. Well, I guess I was wondering… um… How did you… ya know? Know you like her? And how did you, uh, approach your feelings?"

I stopped dead in my tracks, once again. Sasuke fucking Uchiha was asking me, ME for girl advice? The dude who became tongue tied around Fú? The dude who always seemed to second guess everything that the petite Jinchuriki made me blurt out without evening meaning to? My mind shut down, before a light switch flipped in my brain.

"Sakura?" I asked.

Now he was the one blushing up a storm. My eyes hardened.

"Absolutely not. No way, you cannot even think about that." I said, voice as hard as my eyes.

He looked at me in shock. "What? What do you mean? Why not? Do she and I not make a good match?" He asked, doubt lacing his voice.

"You two are made for each other, and would make adorable babies. I will burn your entire complex to the ground if I'm not your best man." I replied seriously.

"Then why are you saying not to pursue her?" He asked confusedly.

"Sasuke. Sakura has finally pushed aside all those immature ideals and notions about you and started to take being a kunoichi seriously. I mean you saw her battle Shikamaru. She used nothing but chakra control, and nearly beat the kid who's on the fast track to surpassing his father as the greatest strategic military mind in the village. If you went to her right now and told her you had feelings for her that would all go to waste. She's still young, and she'd fall back to old habits. Wait a few years, let her find who she is a person, then if you still have feelings, ask her out."

The Uchiha thought about what I just said and nodded slowly. "I see what you're saying, and you're most likely right. But what do I do until then? I… what if she gets over me completely and falls for someone else?" His blush was back in full force. I gaped at the love struck Uchiha.

"Alright. What the fuck, Uchiha? Did Orochimaru knock a new personality into you? This is a new person from just a week ago." I asked seriously.

He didn't answer for a few moments. "What happened in wave… it… shook me up, Yamanaka. I haven't told anyone this, but I'm the reason Arata was killed." He was staring at the ground now, refusing to meet my eyes.

I stared at the raven-haired teen. Sakura said the same thing when we were in wave. They're both suffering from survivor's guilt. "Sakura said it was her fault, why do you think it was yours?" I asked him evenly.

He didn't say anything for a few moments. "I was scared, Kenta. So scared. I had been raised on the notion that the Uchiha were the strongest. That our blood put us a cut above everyone else in the world. And then they were all murdered by my brother, and the only thing I was left with was my father's voice haunting me. When I'm awake, he cries for vengeance. When I sleep, I see all the faces begging me to avenge them." By this point Sasuke and I had wandered to a random training field that was open. We sat underneath one of the trees.

"I was so sure in myself, so confident that everything I knew was fact. But when we faced against Zabuza, I froze. I couldn't move, couldn't do anything. Sakura was no better. She was shaking, and so was I. Arata… he was the only one of us who could snap himself out of their terror. He kept charging the clone over, and over, and over. He was the dead last, and I was the genius. He was a civilian nobody, and I was the talented second son of the Uchiha Clan Head. But when push came to shove it was the deadlast that proved to be the stronger shinobi. He kept charing Zabuza until he was broken and beaten on the ground."

I didn't dare say a word. I knew this kid never opened up to anyone, probably not even his captain or teammates. So I let him get everything off his chest.

"When neither Sakura nor I moved, Zabuza grew bored. He stalked towards Tazuna and Sakura, ready to kill them both. And I still couldn't move." His voice was a hoarse whisper now. "He drew closer and closer, I kept telling myself to move, but I couldn't. He was a few feet away, sword raised to cut the two of them down. I still couldn't move no matter how loud I yelled to myself in my head." He then looked up at me for the first time and I saw the guilt.

"Arata, he… With everything he had, came barreling out of nowhere, driving a kunai into the clones side and dispelling it. He had saved Sakura and Tazuna. The dead last of the class had just saved our client and teammate, while I, the genius, sat there just trying not to piss myself." His voice was laced with self-loathing. "Zabuza didn't like that. He was done. He was tired of the games. He made another clone, and it moved too fast. He grabbed Arata by the face, and just kept smashing him into the tree, over and over again, screaming the whole time. And when he finally let go, Arata was unmoving. I was finally able to move, rage finally replacing the fear. I charged to avenge my teammate, and you know how that turned out."

His voice broke at the end. He sniffed for a few moments, his emotions battling his control for dominance. I did nothing but reach out and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He took a shuddering breath, regaining some of his composure. "It was my fault, Kenta. My unflappable belief that I was this elite ninja simply because of my blood cost my teammate his life. Had I been able to move, get ahold of my fear, perhaps Arata and I could have come up with a plan, together. But I didn't, and he's gone."

We sat there for a few moments. I mulled over everything Sasuke had just told me. I squeezed his shoulder once more, knowing that was all the physical contact the boy could handle without becoming uncomfortable. I wanted him to talk to me, get anything off his chest he'd been bottling up. I knew he'd never received the proper mental health treatment after his clan's demise. I wasn't licensed, and I could only give my own life experience and advice, but sometimes just talking about released a lot of the demon's you carried.

I finally spoke up, knowing what I wanted to say. "You know, your story had a lot of "what ifs" in it. Life itself has a lot of "what ifs." Every decision we make, we will always question. No one is ever certain about any choices they make. You heard Lord Hokage after the revelation of Naruto's grandmother. He has so many regrets in his life. The older we get, the more regrets we'll carry and always wonder "what if."

I paused, gathering my thoughts once more. "You know, I learned a lot when Lady Korinna pulled me into my own mindscape. What seemed like seconds for all of you, Lady Korinna and I talked for hours. Time flows differently there you know?" I smiled slightly at the boy, his eyes had widened slightly. "Yup. She threw so much information at me in such a short amount of time that I felt as though my head would explode. There was one certain thing though from everything I learned. She showed me the web of fate. Every single person on this planet is a thread in the web. Every decision we make branches off in the direction we take, intersecting and crisscrossing with all the people we meet and interact with. Let me tell you Sasuke, Arata didn't die by accident. Every single choice we made in our lives is spun in the web in concrete, but the future is wide open."

"When a person reaches a decision, especially those that are life altering, they reach an intersection in the web. This could be a simple yes or no decision, give the threads two ways to go. Or, it could lead to an intersection that has hundreds of branches, each one leading to a different outcome. Those are the choices we make that, I think at least, are always going to be the "what ifs" of our lives. What I'm getting at, Sasuke, is that while you may regret what happened in Wave, just know that Arata also made his own decisions. The thing that has set humans and other sentient and intelligent beings above the simple-minded animals that co-inhabit our planet, is our ability of free-will. We make our own choices every single day. From what we want to wear for the day, to what we want to eat, to decide if we want to kill or spare the criminal we encounter on our mission."

"All that being said, while you keep blaming yourself and asking what you could have done to alter the outcome, the threads were already weaving the web. Just as you made your decision, so did Arata. We will never know and it won't do anyone good to keep dwelling on the past. For even if I, or anyone alive can read the web like the dead can, there is a certainty. Once a decision is made and the thread weaves along the course of the decision, all the possibilities that could be made fade away from the web. The present is ours to decide and weave, but the past is set in stone and no one can change it." I finished.

Sasuke's gaze fell back to the ground. I could see the gears turning a mile a minute, replaying and digesting everything I had just told the Uchiha. Finally he seemed to accept what I said. He met my gaze and shocked me by giving a small, but genuine smile. "Thanks, Yamanaka. You do give some OK advice. You're smarter than that girlishly pretty face let's on." He smirked at me. I would have probably rose to the taunt months ago, but I could see the dancing of mirth in his eyes. I just sighed.

"I am cursed with looks that make women jealous, and make men question their sexuality. I just play the cards I am dealt." I said dramatically.

By now I'd lost count of the times, but for the whatever timeth today, Sasuke Uchiha blew my mind by actually full on laughing at my self-deprecating joke. My mouth dropped open and I stared at him in utter shock, which only caused him to laugh harder. After a few moments, I closed my jaw that had unhinged like one of Anko's snakes and just sighed, letting the boy laugh for the first time in who knows how long. He sobered up after a few more moments, a sad smile falling into its place.

"That was the hardest I've laughed since… before that night. Thanks, Kenta. I didn't realize how much I needed it." He admitted quietly.

I nodded before steering the conversation into happier thoughts. "So, how DID you come to the realization that you loved Sakura, hm? Did her sending Shikamaru flying 20ft get your mind thinking dirty thoughts about your female teammate?" I sent him a lecherous grin and waggled my eyebrows.

He blushed, AGAIN, but shook his head. "No, that simply made me accept the fact that I liked her more than just a teammate and friend. I'd been struggling with these feelings for a few months now."

"Well, I'm not doing anything for the rest of the night. Tell me, how did it start?" I urged him to talk more. Not allowing him to clam up until he ran out of thoughts and got irritated.

He frowned at me, probably guessing what I was doing, but continued. "At first I thought her and Ami's claim of swearing off boys would just be empty words. When we got back I thought I was right. She still kept trying to talk to me. Asking me questions. Asking me out to hangout or eat. I shut her down every time, annoyed that she was nothing but all talk. Then, about a month after we had gotten back, she landed a glancing blow on to my ribs. Shocked wasn't enough to describe what I felt at that. A week later, she landed a solid punch to my cheek."

He gave a small chuckle at the memory. "It was then I started to actually listen to what she was asking me or engage me in. It was then that I felt like a right ass. These weren't the same questions as before. The mood of the questions was different now. They were friendly questions from a curious teammate who wanted to know me better. Me, not my clan name or title or the useless drivel she used to spout. She just wanted to know me better. My favorite food. Favorite color. What I did as a hobby when I wasn't training. Just general questions you'd ask anyone. She was then asking me questions about how I performed a certain weapons technique, or what my thoughts on the best way to apply grips or holds. She really was trying to just be a good teammate. That's when I opened up to her a bit and found out… she wasn't that bad."

He cleared his throat and I unsealed a water bottle from one of the everyday scrolls I carried around. Could never be too prepared! He silently thanked me, took a drink and then continued.

"One day she asked me if I wanted to grab dinner. It wasn't her usual attempt at a date. I knew because before I even answered she had turned to Kakashi and asked him as well. She simply wanted to go to dinner with her teammate and captain. Kakashi politely decline. I tentatively agreed, while silently dreading going to eat one on one with her, hoping she wouldn't get the wrong idea. She didn't, to my great surprise. We went to this café I'd never been to. She told me that the salads there were the best because their fruits and vegetables were some of the freshest in the village. She remembered my favorite food was tomatoes. We talked about training, plans for the future, our goals. She never once stepped over that friendly boundary."

He took another sip of water. "After that, things changed. I stopped seeing her as the annoying fan girl who saw me only as the prize to win over the other girls. She saw me. Sasuke Uchiha. She continued to get better and better every day. She trained like a woman possessed. She stopped dieting. She was quickly going from annoying liability to a competent teammate. That's when I started to see HER, the woman she was becoming and aiming to be, rather than the stupid annoying girl I had only ever seen her as until recently."

"I knew she still had that crush on me. I'd catch her out of the corner of my eye staring at me. I'd catch her catching her slipup as she attempted to break all those habits she'd developed over the years. Instead of being annoyed, I found it endearing knowing how hard she was trying so I never mentioned it. The thing that really made me realize I had started to develop feelings for her was during the second exam."

His eyes darkened at the memories. "When I saw Orochimaru's detached head flying at me, I couldn't move. The wrongness of it all had shocked me, and before I could process what was happening, he was inches away. And then, I am 20ft away and I just hear Sakura's agonizing scream. The silence that followed even louder than her scream. I still have nightmares about that scream, you know. So much was happening and then we were safe. My brain finally catching up and processing all that happened."

He paused and took a sip and his eyes pinned me with a glare. "Don't think I forgot about that bloodline you pulled out of your ass, we're talking about that at some point." I simply chuckled and nodded at the old Sasuke poking its head to the surface for a moment. He cleared his throat and continued.

"No one had cared about me enough since my parents died to ever even consider doing something like that for me. Seeing her sweating, shaking pale form after we escaped sent waves of panic through me. I never thought I'd ever care about that tiny pink-haired monster, but there I was. Constantly checking on her. Trying to keep her as comfortable as my limited field medic knowledge would allow. Praying to whatever gods would listen to see her through this. She sacrificed herself, for me. I never thought anyone would do that for me. That was the exact moment I knew that my feelings were evolving. A day and a half later she woke up, and the relief I felt was an emotion I didn't think I was even capable of. That relief turned to terror within moments."

I jumped as Sasuke let out a loud bark of laughter. "That vile curse seal activated when she woke up. She woke up with the fury of a bear upon being woken from its hibernation early. I consider it luck that she had started her training seriously just a few short months ago, otherwise she probably would have killed both Sai and I. Sai wasn't making excuses or lying when he forfeited, pretty sure Sakura broke some of his ribs." He smirked at the memory and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like 'she should have broken more.' "Finally I was able to bait her into overextending and was able to detain her and knock her out. When she next woke up, she was herself once more."

He smiled slightly at the memory. "When we got to the tower, Lord Jiraiya took her immediately and sealed the thing up. She returned around dawn, and I was waiting for her. I had to know so I asked the only question that came up repeatedly. "Why?" Her smile was warm for me and made my legs go to jello. She told me how in her training sessions with Ami and Anko, Anko had explained what the curse seal was after she spied it. She told me she knew she knew what he was trying to do to me and she just acted on instinct. She told me she could handle it, that Orochimaru's influence wouldn't corrupt her like she knew would be difficult for me. She knows my desire to kill my brother above all else, and knew that the whispers of power to achieve that would be had for me to resist." He let out a grunt and frowned, as if he was just now remembering what she had told him.

He seemed to be having an internal debate for a few moments before sighing heavily. "Thinking about it with a clearer mind, she was 100% right. The whispers of my clan are finally starting to fade as I keep reevaluating everything I thought I knew. Having those whispers of power day in and out? I don't know if I could resist them as I am now." He frowned at his omission.

"So that's how it happened. Seeing her fighting Shikamaru like that, showing everyone her growth, it made me feel so proud and finally admit to myself that I was developing feelings for her." He finished his tale with a pink creeping up his neck.

"That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard in my life baby Uchiha." I cooed at the dark haired teen. His fingers twitched and out of nowhere a shuriken was between his fingers, waving threateningly in my face.

"Don't test me, Yamanaka." He growled.

I laughed loudly before calming down. "I'm just joking, calm it down Uchiha. For real though, I can see that you genuinely are developing feelings for her, which as I said earlier do not act on. It will be bad for the both of you."

"So what should I do?" He frowned, storing the pointy death tool back into his pouch.

"Just keep doing what you've been doing as its clearly working. Be her friend, and teammate. Keep pushing her to get stronger. Go have team meals together. Spar. Hang out somewhere fun on a day off when you get one. You don't have cut her off, just keep things as they are. Get to know her as a friend first and foremost." I suggested helpfully.

He nodded. "That is doable. She is serious about not dating until Jonin anyway. That's a really good goal." Color came back to his cheeks and his next sentence came out in an embarrassed tone. "Besides, once I kill Itachi, my main goal of restoring my clan will require a strong matriarch. Mother would kill be if I married some weak civilian."

I laughed loudly at the uncomfortable Uchiha. If looks could kill I'd be dead five times, but I couldn't help it. I finally calmed down and we fell into a comfortable silence.

I jumped slightly at hearing the boy's voice out of the blue. "So speaking of issues, what's yours with Ino?"

I closed my eyes and grimaced. I couldn't give him the usual half-truths and evasive answers that I had grown so fond of. Not after he just opened up to me so much. I squeezed my eyes tight and let out a frustrated sigh before answering.

"Before I answer that, I need to tell you something and then give you some history on our clan. First off, despite how I treat her and what I say, I do not hate Ino." I started off. Saskue looked skeptical, which I don't blame him. Anyone at the prelims would probably doubt that after seeing how nasty I was with her.

"I don't. I don't hate my cousin nor do I think I ever could. I'm frustrated beyond reason with her and she pisses me off just by looking at me. But no, I do not hate her."

Sasuke nodded at my statement and I continued. "When I was with Lady Korinna, it wasn't all talk of fate and destiny. She gave me a history lesson on my clan. She told me that over a thousand years ago, my clan once lived in the area that is now known as Land Of Bears. She told me that everyone that their influence stretched to feared them above all others. They were the boogeymen of their time, feared by all." I pushed down my irritation at Sasuke's disbelieving look. Those looks were the fire that had fueled my goal since I was a child.

I nodded at him. "As unreal as it sounds she assured me. I had the same thoughts, and then I felt shame. Thinking she meant that my clan was a tribe of warmongering, power-hungry bullies that terrorized people. She quickly assured me that a virtue of my clan that has never changed was their desire for peace. They attacked when provoked and then went back to their fields of flora of all kind. Our clan symbol is the bush clover which symbolizes a positive love. It was their symbol then, and has carried for over a millennia to our time."

"She told me their story. How they spent their days in their fields and just enjoying life. However, just like Naruto's clan, people began to fear us. In the dead of night they were attacked, forced to flee their homes to escape with their lives. Their strongest warriors holding back those that had come with the aim of seeing them all perish. For months my clan was forced to flee further and further west. Finally, after losing more and more of our people their pursuers deemed them broken and no longer a threat and retreated home. They had no home to try and return to and were severely weakened, so they continued west. After more months of wandering, a village in The Land of Fire took them in. Eventually we signed a treaty with the two other shinobi clans that had created that village. Those clans being the Akimichi and Nara clans. Our treaty with them has stood for a millennia."

Sasuke whistled lowly with appreciation of that, and a grin broke across my face. "Oldest known treaty to date." I bragged slightly. "Lady Korinna told me of the history and knowledge our clan lost not only in paper form, but the sacrifice of our strongest warriors to ensure the clan could continue. She told me that my ancestors of old could warp the senses and realities of their opponents. Break their minds like the weakest of locks. Delve deep enough to their inner self and crush the soul itself, leaving them a husk that just existed."

Sasuke's eyes were wide as saucers after that declaration. I chuckled at him, the same look had probably been adorning my face when I heard the same information. Something nagged at the back of my mind before something she said clicked in my head, instantly I was pissed. "That bitch lied to me!" I shouted, causing Sasuke to jump slightly.

"Who did, Lady Korinna? About what?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, her. She either exaggerated my ancestor's abilities and their ability to crush a soul. Or when she put that seal on my soul and ensured me that she couldn't have destroyed my soul since we were in my mindscape. Either way, she lied!" I began muttering to myself, causing Sasuke to chuckle. He coughed to get my attention and I came back to my present thoughts. Something to ponder later.

"Anyway, what I was getting at is that my clan was once powerful and feared. My ancestor's started over, recording all the history they could from memory, before starting the process of ensuring further knowledge gained wasn't lost. All of our strongest techniques were lost to time. I asked my father last night and he verified. This is information most in my clan don't learn until they're old enough or make at least Chunin. This is what sent my father on his quest to rediscover our lost arts, but only succeeding on creating new techniques for the clan, only a few that were actually usable in combat. And only in specific situations. It's so frustrating now, knowing all that information." I growled out, my frustration growing.

I took a few deep, calming breaths before continuing. "Side note, did you know that the branch of shinobi arts, Illusions, are the way they are today due to people trying to replicate and recreate our clan techniques." I said smugly.

Sasuke scoffed. "Ok, Yamanaka, now you're pushing it."

"No, no! I swear! Father let me read the texts. Our ancient ancestors illusions were so powerful, it was said that those with weak wills could be physically injured because what they saw in the illusion was so powerful that it reflected in the physical world. One technique that has never been lost, and there are some would argue is our unique bloodline, is that we are able to fully separate our spiritual energy from our physical. Our clan techniques use pure, untainted yin chakra to break into our opponents minds. The strongest illusionist from my clan used pure yin to warp reality. People attempting to recreate our techniques were able to, mostly, separate the two types of chakra, but none can the way we can. Their experiments resulted in the branch of illusion techniques. Using mostly yin chakra is how illusions are crafted, but there is still a small amount of yang chakra that goes along for the ride."

Sasuke stared at me for a few moments, mind comprehending what I had just said. "But if that's true, why doesn't your clan specialize in illusions? Also, don't the Nara also use pure yin to use their own clan techniques?"

I shook my head. "The Nara use a careful balance of primarily yin to manipulate their shadows, but they need yang to create the physical connection to their opponent. If they used only yin, they'd simply be doing really fancy shadow puppet shows. As for why my clan doesn't use illusions that is a great question that I have yet to answer Sasuke." The admission tasted bitter on my tongue. "It's also the first layer in the many layers of why Ino frustrates me to early grey hairs, as well as what fuels my goal. My theory though is, shame. We have the stories of what the ancient Yamanaka could do, and when the knowledge was lost and never gained again, we gave up. We couldn't shame our ancestors by using weak imitations of what they were once capable of doing."

I frowned and looked up at the sky, noticing the blue sky had become a myriad of pinks, oranges, and yellows. We had been here for quite some time. I sent a quick prayer to my ancestors, hoping that the path I had chosen was honoring them.

"Ok, so that's your clan history. How does all this tie into your relationship with Ino?" Sasuke asked, noticing the sky as well.

"I'm almost there, I promise, princess." I smirked at his scowl. "During the warring clan era, we have story after story of my clan still being recognized as a force to not be taken lightly. These are the stories I listened to as a child. Not bedtime stories, the story of how my great, great, great grandfather single handedly ended the war between the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance and the ancestors of the Yuma clan. My great grandfather met their clan head and strongest warrior on the field of battle. Using an ancient S-Rank technique that none have been able to master, my grandfather defeated his opponent by sealing his soul inside a doll, only releasing it after the ceasefire was signed in blood by the clan head's entire family."

Sasuke gaped at that and I smiled. "Yeah, he was a badass." I laughed. "So that leads us to present day. Tell me Sasuke, knowing what you know of my clan, how many enemies of Konoha do you think would be scared to face a Yamanaka on the battlefield?"

He stared at me for only a moment before answering. "Not many, to be honest. Your clan isn't known for their battle prowess. If they heard a member of your clan would be interrogating them, then there are many who would be shaking. But in battle? No." He replied honestly which I appreciated it.

"Exactly. My clan has lost so much of what once made us so feared on and off the battle field. Even listening to the whispers in the village, we're looked down upon by some of the other shinobi. We're desk jockeys, barrier corps, T&I. We've been shoehorned into support positions decade after decade that many in my clan have just resigned themselves to never achieving any type of greatness. My clan is so much more than that, but they've lost the will to push themselves and reach those heights. My dad and Uncle are the only two Yamanaka from their generation that achieved the rank of jonin, did you know that? There are dozens who've made special jonin, but they're the only full-fledged jonin."

Sasuke looked shocked at that admission. Coming from a clan that specialized at being frontline fighters, a clan as large and influential as mine only having two jonin must seem like something out of a gossip magazine. I simply nodded.

"Do you know what my goal is, Sasuke?" I asked my companion.

He shook his head. "No, but I'm assuming it all has something to do with the history lesson I just got." His snarky reply came.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. My goal is to be the first S-Rank shinobi from my clan in over a century. I want the world to think twice about the Yamanaka clan when they hear my name. I want a flee on sight order like Lord Fourth had. I want my success to be the catalyst for my clansmen to realize that they are capable of being incredible shinobi. That is my goal." I told him, fire burning in my veins.

"That's a hefty goal. S-Rank is next level. However, I truly believe if you continue to improve and train as you have been, it'll be reachable. I'll get there first though." He smirked, never letting a chance to rub that one point in my face when he could. "What does any of this have to do with my original question though?"