Friends

Short note:

1000+ words. Next chapter is going to be about Izuna's new team as a genin. Hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime!

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"Wait, so you learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu?!"

"Yes, I found an old book about the second Hokage that mentioned a lot of things about different jutsu he invented. This one interested me the most." said Izuna to a surprised Shisui. "By the way, where is Itachi? We usually meet together here in the weekends."

"I don't know, maybe he is busy with something else. How about you go to his house and see if he is there, Izuna?"

"M-me? B-but i've never been to Itachi before!" he responded in a shy tone. 'Oh well. I guess I am going to go then.' "Alright, I'll go. But where does he live?"

After learning about Itachi's home and a little about his family from Shisui, Izuna went to the clan head's home. Izuna thought he was kind of stupid not to realise the head's son lives in the clan head's home.

While going there, Izuna kept adjusting the headband on his forehead everytime a person passed him. He was really proud to have it on show. A sign of maturity. A sign of skill. That's what he thought being a genin meant, but he would learn the true meaning of that rank later...

After finally reaching Itachi's home, he knocked on the door and was surprised to see who answered.

"Fu-Fugaku-sama!" Izuna straightened and wanted to bow in front of the Uchiha clan head. "I wasn't expecting to see you, I am terribly sorry for disturbing you!" at this point Izuna bowed at almost 90 degrees.

"Hahaha! You must be Izuna, right? You are my son's friend, no need for such formality, no matter who I am. Come in!"

Izuna was surprised to see that Fugaku was such a nice person. He always thought that the leader of the Uchiha was fierce.

"I am here to see Itachi, sir."

"Oh? So you haven't heard?"

"What, Fugaku-sama?"

"Itachi... has a little brother now." he said, right as Itachi came into the room with a young kid, less than a week old.

"His name is Sasuke. Look Sasuke, Izuna has come to see you!" Itachi showed his little brother the face of his best friend, and, to his surprise, Sasuke didn't immediately start crying, like when seeing the face of any other stranger.

"He seems to like you." intervened Fugaku.

"Wow... congratulations, Fugaku-sama! I really haven't heard about Sasuke." Izuna didn't really know what to say. He was intrigued about Itachi's younger brother, but it wasn't his business really. "I'm sorry I can't stay any longer, but I have to go back to my training."

"Izuna! I won't be coming today or tomorrow."

"I understand. I'll tell Shisui about Sasuke as well. Have a nice day!" he said, before bowing in front of Fugaku and Itachi.

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(An hour later, back at the training spot)

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"You are getting really good at this."

"Thank you, Shisui, but I'm still not even close to you in Fire Style Jutsu."

"I guess so, but I am a chunin. I have more training behind me than you."

"Yeah sure. You're going to become jonin soon anyways."

Shisui chuckled happily at this interaction. He enjoyed moments like these. They were what brought happiness in a shinobi's life.

He thought about the days when he was in the academy, laughing with his friends all day, about his days as a genin, doing small missions with his new squad mates, and then remembered all about the chunin exam. He remembered how he lost his friend in the Forest of Death, how he almost died himself during the duels.

He was glad that he could enjoy days with Itachi and Izuna, even if only during weekends, when he doesn't have any missions. Izuna and Itachi were still young and innocent after all.

"By the way, Izuna, how much do you know about the Sharingan?"

After hearing this, Izuna suddenly stopped forming seals. He looked towards Shisui, who was looking right back at him with a straight face. The atmosphere shifted entirely. What was a friendly conversation turned into a very serious lesson.

"Not much. I know that before awakening their Sharingan, an Uchiha must go through very intense pain or sadness, after which it can be evolved either through training or other emotional shocks.

"You are correct." After saying this, Shisui's eyes started spinning and now showed two tomoe spinning around his pupil, his eye color changing to red.

Izuna was shocked at this sight. He didn't even know why though. He expected Shisui to have unlocked his Sharingan already, but he was still surprised to see him with it.

"However." Shisui made a pause before continuing, making Izuna even more curious. "You must know that this pain, this shock, can only exist if you have something to produce it."

Produce it? What did he mean by that? Do you need to do something else before awakening the Sharingan?

"In order to feel emotional pain, you must first love." Izuna widened his eyes. "The Sharingan is not a symbol of hatred. It is born from the love we give to others. It is born from our hearts, not our fists or kunai. It is a symbol of love, of friendship. You must never forget that, Izuna."

Shisui almost shed a tear when speaking about this. Having the Sharingan himself, he knew what those words meant.

"For as long as our clan existed, everyone thought that the Uchiha's power comes from hate, but that's wrong. There is no clan that feels greater love than the Uchiha!"

After hearing this, Izuna shook. He was surprised to hear this. He himself believed that his clan was cursed, a clan that was well known for killing brethren in order to achieve greater power.

He knew however, that this was wrong, so hearing Shisui say all this made him respect the man in front of him even more.

"Yes, Shisui." is all he could say. His eyes still didn't look away from his friend's Sharingan. He was fascinated.