A Dungeon!?
"Huh? What are you talking about? Why did you even attack me in the first place!" I asked angrily, shaking my first at the boy.
Sasuke stared back in disbelief, but he asked again, "Your eyes… the Sharingan! How did you- who are you?"
I looked back at him quizzically, try to appear as confused as he was, "Sharingan? Isn't that your clan's bloodline limit? What about it?"
At this point Sasuke was looking more frustrated than shocked as he snapped back, "Your eyes! They're red! You have the Sharingan! The question is how."
"I swear, you're really going crazy, first you attack me, and how you're saying that, what, I have red eyes?"
"You-! I'm not crazy! And I could never be mistaken about those eyes. I've seen them all my life. I – I see them in my dreams… I see them when I close my eyes! You have the Sharingan, there's no doubt about it!" Looking haunted, Sasuke replied.
I raised my eyebrow in amusement, "Really. I, an orphan, have your clan's vaunted copy eyes? Yeah… I think I would know if I did."
"Grrr," Sasuke walked towards me in exasperation and pointed at the lake behind me, "just take a look at your reflection in the lake, then you'll see what I'm talking about!"
I turned to the lake behind me and looked back at him, "Is this some ploy for you to push me into the water or something, because it ain't working."
"JUST LOOK AT THE DAMN WATER!" He shouted, throwing his hands up in vexation.
"Fine, fine, don't get your panties in a twist. But I swear to Kami if you push me from behind…"
"I won't."
I shook my head in concession and made to look at my reflection in the lake. So far so good. At least he wasn't trying to shove a kunai in my gut. And I had been successful in turning the tables around – now he was the one trying to convince me I was an Uchiha and not the other way round.
"Alright fine, but I know what my eyes look like and they definitely… don't… wait what the hell? Why are my eyes red!"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, you have the Sharingan!" Sasuke yelled out as he joined me by my side when I turned back at him in confusion.
"But- but that's impossible! I, I'm an orphan! How could I have… this doesn't make any sense!" I grabbed his shoulders in my 'bewilderment' and shook him.
"I don't know either! But one thing's for sure. You definitely have Uchiha blood in you to awaken the Sharingan. Only an Uchiha can wield its power." Sasuke answered unwaveringly. Well the boy was going to be surprised when he finds out what Kakashi has under his headband; or what Danzo has under those bandages of his.
[REP increased significantly with Uchiha Sasuke]
I released him but stumbled slightly, only for the Uchiha to catch me with some concern, "I… my chakra, what's happening?"
He looked puzzled for a moment before widening his eyes, "My father told me about this before. Many Uchiha who awaken their Sharingan for the first time often collapse soon after since they don't know how to stop it. The Sharingan uses up chakra for every moment it's active. You're suffering from chakra exhaustion! Turn it off!"
I looked at him incredulously, "What do you mean turn it off! I don't even know I turned it on in the first place!"
Sasuke thought for a moment, "From what I've been taught, you just have to cut off the chakra being channelled into your eyes. Once deprived from chakra, your Sharingan will naturally return to normal."
I repeated what he said under my breath, "Cut off chakra into my eyes… I, I'm not sure but I think I know how." The red of my Sharingan slowly morphed back into my regular onyx black. "Did it work?"
The Uchiha nodded, "Yeah it did… Now, I have some questions for you. How do you have the Sharingan?"
When I had activated the [Sharingan], I could see with perfect clarity and pick up the smallest details. Which also meant that the entire time I was talking to Sasuke, I could read his expressions like I was reading a book. Every micro-expression, the faintest body language and slightest flicker in his eyes, told me every thought that went through his head. It was as close one could get to actually reading someone's mind.
Of course, just picking up on those expressions without the ability to decipher the meaning behind them was useless. You had to know what that slight tug in the cheek meant, or what the miniscule quiver in the eye was supposed to represent, in order to interpret what that person was thinking.
But for me who spent years decoding falsehoods and duplicity from people whose sole intention was to get their scheming hands on my wealth, it was child's play to read the unravel the thoughts of a… well, child.
At first Sasuke had been suspicious, but mostly startled at the sight of my eyes. And then frustration from my repeated denial of his claims. My constant dismissal of the possibility of my possession of Sharingan eyes led him to be increasingly insistent on making me believe him – which helped remove what might have initially been hostility and suspicion.
Of course I still had to supplement the lies with some Oscar-worthy acting. When I had stumbled from 'chakra exhaustion' earlier, it was also to reinforce the idea that I had no idea what I was doing. Even though my CP had barely been touched since I started using the Sharingan as my CP regenerated at a rate faster than what keeping the Sharingan active consumed.
"Like I've been saying, I have no idea how this is even possible! To the best of my knowledge, even the orphanage had no clue who my parents were. They had found me in the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack, alone and on the streets. There were no existing documents that recorded my birth, nor anyone who came forward to claim me. The orphanage assumed my parents were possibly foreign visitors who unfortunately got caught up in to the Kyuubi's attack." I paused, as though the current subject matter was too hard to get through.
This part was actually true. I had asked Rie once and that was all she could tell me.
I continued, "But now that you're telling me that since I have the Sharingan, then that could only mean… what you're saying is that it could only mean one of my parents, or possibly both, might have been from the Uchiha clan?"
Sasuke's gaze softened. He had never imagined that something this might happen. After losing all of his family over a month ago, except for his treasonous, mass-murdering brother, he had abandoned all hope of ever meeting another family member he would not want to kill. But now, as if he were stuck in a dream, his ardent wish to have just another Uchiha in the village with him came true.
"Yes, Shinji. That means you're an Uchiha too."
REP increased significantly with Uchiha Sasuke
---------
The conversation didn't last too long since Sasuke needed some space and time to process what he had just found out. Frankly, I didn't want to leave him so soon as I had been worried he might spill the beans somehow. But I didn't want to push my luck, so I compromised by walking back with him to his clan compound.
During the walk back, I tried to gauge his emotions, as we engaged in some small talk, from his facial expressions and body language. While not as effective as when I had the Sharingan active, the kid was distraught enough that it wasn't hard to decipher what he was feeling.
Mostly it was confusion, anxiety and some meagre blend of hope, expectancy and delight. I kind of felt slightly bad for playing with his emotions like that, but it was necessary. A means to an end. But it wasn't all bad, more of a mutually beneficial arrangement. He would receive a friend and clan member that he could trust, while I would gain access to the Uchiha jutsu library and the [Uchiha Natural Dungeon] when I found it.
Sasuke was so distracted by the whole ordeal that he had forgotten to ask where I learned the Great Fireball jutsu from. However, I took the initiative to earn his trust by informing him that it was a scroll I had found mistakenly placed in the academy student section of the Konoha library. Obviously untrue, but he seemed to buy it.
As we neared the clan compound I requested for Sasuke to keep my identity as an Uchiha a secret for now. When he asked me why, I gave him the speech that I had been preparing for a while. Firstly, I told him that I was afraid Itachi might find out and come take me out for whatever reason. Obviously I knew he wouldn't do that, but I felt it prudent to play into Sasuke's hatred of the man.
Sasuke had widened his eyes and demanded an answer as to why I would think that. I replied that Itachi had killed his family for reasons not known to me; but who's to say he wouldn't come back and finish the job after learning of the existence of another Uchiha in the village. I proposed that Itachi probably left him alive because there were lingering attachments to their brotherly relationship, but he would not have the same inclinations towards sparing my life.
The Uchiha was livid at the suggestion, declaring that there wasn't the slightest chance any familial ties still remained after what Itachi had done that day, and he had further been incensed at what I was implying. But I managed to calm him down when I reasoned out my thought process – why was he the only one left alive? Why did Itachi tell him to become stronger? I explained to him that I held no doubt what Itachi did was the epitome of evil, but there must have been an explanation behind why Sasuke was spared when everyone else was murdered.
Before he could continue with his tirade, I quickly cut him off with reason number two. I confided that I had seen how the villagers and other academy students treated him after the massacre - the constant pity and them treating him like he was a fragile glass doll. It wasn't something I wanted. I didn't want how I was being treated in the village to change just because I was suddenly an Uchiha.
There was no comparison to how Sasuke had suffered from the Uchiha massacre, and I felt it disrespectful if people started treating the both of us with the same kind of pity and sympathy because I personally hadn't gone through anything remotely close to what Sasuke had.
He grudgingly accepted my reasoning behind why I didn't want my bloodline to be revealed, although he still adamantly insisted that the only reason why Itachi had spared his younger brother was purely to torture him. And for that reason, the older Uchiha had to die by Sasuke's hands.
I agreed with him that yes, Itachi must be killed, and if need be I would be by his side to do so. He initially rejected my offer, but when I mentioned that it was something I too needed to do, as a fellow Uchiha, he looked touched by the gesture and quietly assented to my proposal.
But for now, I was able to secure his silence and cooperation in hiding my identity. At least for the time being.
He even asked about my leg, adding that he had noticed I was having some trouble with it earlier on. Aww, he was worried about his new friend, that's cute. I alleviated his concern by mentioning that I was just training and pulled a muscle.
When we reached the gate of the clan compound, I made to bid farewell to the boy, knowing that Sasuke would not take kindly to me entering the location, conceivably taking my nonchalant entrance as an intrusion. But before I could, a notification window popped up in front of me, but I quickly gave a mental command to dismiss the alert since I didn't want to take the time to read it right then in front of Sasuke who had been turning to speak to me as it popped up.
I said goodbye to the Uchiha and reminded him again to keep my secret. He agreed and mentioned he would want to talk to me again sometime in the future. I promised to come back here as soon as he was comfortable with it to talk things through. I should be able to assess what he was thinking tomorrow at school, and guess what he was planning to do with his newly discovered information.
He left and I retrieved the notification window. It appeared that the trigger for the game alert window to show up was when I approached the Uchiha Clan compound gate.
[You have discovered the [Uchiha Natural Dungeon]]
Please select which dungeon rank to enter:
*You can only enter each dungeon once
Rank F (LVL Req: 1)
Rank E (LVL Req: 10)
Rank D (LVL Req: 20)
Rank C (LVL Req: 30)
Rank B (LVL Req: 40)
Rank A (LVL Req: 60)
As much as I had wanted to dive right into the rank F dungeon, there was no way I was willing to risk it with my [Ruptured Muscles] debuff. So I made my way back home while making plans to return here the next day. But first, I had to go upgrade my weaponry. Right now I was only armed with Academy issue kunai and shuriken which was one step up from the blunt training kunai I practiced with back at the orphanage, but still not the lethal killing weapons I needed to bring in to the dungeon.
Given that it was a dungeon I was going to be entering, and since apparently I only had one chance of entering any given dungeon rank, I had to come prepared. I presumed that killing creatures or monsters would be involved, so the academy issue weapons I possessed currently might not be up to scratch for my purposes.
Plus, I had the 100,000 ryo that was awarded to me as compensation for the troubles with the thugs. So I was also looking to splurge. The fact that I haven't yet went on a shopping spree with the cash, was to me an achievement in and of itself. It showed remarkable self-restraint on my part.
[Quest Alert!]
Armaments:
Equip yourself with new weapons!
Purchase kunai and shuriken (0/20)
?
?
Rewards:
+300 EXP
?
?
Failure:
None
[Accept? (Y?N)]
Oh, nice timing. The system knows me too well. Accept.