บท 6: Genin Days (III).
After the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village and killed a great number of shinobi, it had been decided that the current school-year of the academy would end earlier. The graduation class would finish the academy sooner while the class below them, the new graduation class, would graduate on the originally scheduled date. This way, the village would be able to produce twice a many new Genin as they would have otherwise in the same time, thus replacing the shinobi who had fallen in the attack as fast as possible.
With an earlier graduation came an earlier, additional enrolment. Originally, he hadn't been part of that earlier class. His mother had put her foot down when his father proposed him joining the academy a few months earlier, making sure that this wasn't going to happen. He hadn't been included in this argument back then, but this time, he interfered with it and agreed with his father. Together, they were able to wear his mother down, which resulted in him joining this earlier grade. Now he would graduate with the class that would finish their schooling tomorrow instead of a few months later.
Naturally, if the Uchiha heir started schooling earlier, the rest of the clan followed suit. It would obviously look bad if their Clan Head enrolled his child in school and they didn't.
Honestly, he didn't feel like it made that much of a difference if he finished the academy while still being six instead of seven. It wasn't even that impressive, considering that Kakashi graduated when he was only five.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but I don't understand what's the problem? Should I postpone my graduation until next term?"
He wouldn't like it very much, but he would do so if he was ordered to.
"No, that will not be necessary. In fact, your earlier graduation will come in very handy. You see, your graduation age isn't the only thing that changed. There is also my failure in apprehending Orochimaru, as I'm sure you remember." For one moment the Hokage truly looked his age before he pulled himself together once again. "What you might not know, though, is the fact that Orochimaru had a Genin team. He told me that he would nominate them for the next Chūnin Exams and that he would probably take one of them, Anko Mitarashi, as his apprentice afterwards should they succeed. Does this match with your knowledge?"
He hadn't thought about that. But now, knowing that the conversation was about his future, he thought he finally knew where this was leading to.
"I don't know anything about the other two members of the team, but I'm aware that Orochimaru took Mitarashi-san with him by manipulating her when he fled in the original timeline."
The Sandaime nodded. "The situation is different now. Orochimaru fled earlier, thus leaving his team before they were able to participate in the last Chūnin Exams. One of his students vanished around the same time as he did too, but with the knowledge that he manipulated Mitarashi-san in your timeline, it might be possible that this disappearance isn't as voluntary as we would assumed otherwise. Be it as it is, there is now one empty spot in a team where there wasn't one before. I already found a replacement instructor, but I still need one more member for the team. I want you to fill that role."
Itachi didn't have a problem with that. He wasn't surprised by it either, having known what was going to happen as soon as the Sandaime started to talk about Orochimaru's former team, but he still needed to gather his thoughts for a second. He knew for quite some time now that he wouldn't be part of the same Genin team as before -not that he wanted to, he already interacted with way too many ghosts as it was by simply walking through his family's district- and was fine with it.
The far much more important revelation was that he entirely missed something big as this, even when he knew that Orochimaru left the village earlier than Before. Sure, it might not be something important this time, but he wouldn't be always so lucky.
He needed to make sure that he didn't miss anything else after this meeting was over.
"I understand."
There wasn't much else he could say to that. It wasn't like he had a reason to protest against it anyway.
"Furthermore, your team will participate in the next Chūnin Exams."
He frowned."Isn't that a bit early? The next exams start in, what, five months? Wouldn't it be strange for me, the Uchiha heir, to participate after being a Genin for less than half a year? People would see this as favoritism."
"It probably would be viewed that way, yes. But if you proved your worth before the nomination -on a mission, for example- there would be much fewer protests than you might think. Most people would see this as a good way of showing off how talented the new generation is, especially after the damage we have taken because of the Nine-Tails. And anyway, the people who have the last word in this would be your assigned teacher and me, so no need to worry about possible protests."
He stopped himself from frowning even stronger as the gears in his mind began to conclude why the Sandaime was so persisted in having him not only rise in rank, but also gain public recognition and, more important, approval.
Deciding to voice his thoughts he began to speak once again: "Why exactly do you want me to become a Chūnin already, Hokage-sama? Why not let me take part in the exams after these, or at an even later date? You are aware that Konoha doesn't need me to show off in front of the other nations. I didn't participate in these exams the last time after all. In fact, I only became a Chūnin when I was ten, several years from now."
Instead of answering, the Sandaime only smiled. It was obvious that he didn't plan on giving him a straight answer tonight, not about this topic at least.
Even if not answering was an answer in itself.
"I have also received a message from Jiraiya." the Sandaime continued, changing the topic. "He has still some business to finish before he can head back and as we don't have any immediate need of him, I saw no reason to speed up his return, but he will arrive in around two months. We will have another meeting then."
Itachi nodded. This was well in time on their schedule, so there was indeed no need to hurry.
They spent the next ten minutes talking about some more details before Itachi stood up to leave. His chakra was nearly completely depleted and this Kage Bunshin would not be able to exist much longer.
Meanwhile, the Sandaime started to enjoy his food, which had just been delivered to him by the friendly waitress he had greeted earlier.
This conversation had been very constructive and left him in a good mood, and there was nothing better to celebrate a constructive strategy meeting than good food.
The exams had been a joke.
Not that he was surprised, it would have been weird if he had any problems, but it was still disheartening to see how low the standards at the academy truly were. He hoped the Jōnin-instructors would get all the kids in shape soon because they seriously needed it.
He himself had fared just as well as he had the last time. Both times, he had finished the written and the practical exams with full points, becoming part of the small group of people who had achieved this before. Some examples were Orochimaru, Minato Namikaze, and Kakashi Hatake. The only part that gave him some problems was the one where he needed to work together with other students, a feat made harder by the fact that he was close to no one in his class. In fact, he was quite disliked by many of his 'peers'.
Regardless of their feelings, however, they managed to work together well enough, so it didn't really matter in the end.
His parents have been overjoyed, naturally. Who wouldn't be if their child's progress was comparable to the likes of the Yellow Flash himself?
Oddly, while his mother still appeared to be proud, she also looked somewhat saddened as well, making him think:
Did she maybe grief for his non-existent childhood? Did she hope for him to befriend other children while being at the Academy, just to get her hopes crushed for real now? Did she want him to have as much of a 'normal' childhood as possible? After all, she did try to stop him from entering the academy early.
Honestly, he wasn't sure what to think about all this. Maybe he just thought too much into it. After all, he couldn't have overlooked this in his last life, could he? Which meant this was a recent development...
Anyway, that had been yesterday.
Right now, he was on his way to the Third Training Ground (and no, the irony wasn't lost on him), where the instructor at the academy had told him he would meet his new team.
Right before him was the clearing with its tree stumps lined side by side in the center and three people in front of them.
The first person was a violet-haired girl lying on the ground, wearing a brown-red t-shirt with bracelets, white shorts, and fishnet leggings. Logically, as there was only one girl on the team, this must be Anko Mitarashi, and if the way she played with a kunai in her hand was any indication, she was either bored or annoyed. Possibly both.
The next person was a boy with short, light brown hair and some round glasses on his nose. He wore some blue and simple but comfortable-looking robes, seemingly more interested in feeling at ease than worried about how others viewed him. Right now, he seemed busy staring at his feet while the last person in the clearing reprimanded him for something. Although by the way he had his arms crossed in front of his chest, it was pretty obvious that he was more miffed than ashamed for whatever he did that incurred the chiding he was getting.
The last person, the one that was chiding the aforementioned boy, was his instructor-to-be, and the fact that he didn't recognize him meant that he wasn't and would never be one of the more famous Jōnin of Konohagakure. He was taller than average, wore a standard Jōnin uniform, had long, brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail, and a posture that was basically screaming exhaustion by the way his body was slightly bent forwards. Itachi was actually pretty sure he could see the dark rings under his eyes from where he stood, which was nearly 30 meters away.
The first one who seemed to notice him was Anko, the other two being too busy with each other.
"Sensei" she interrupted the one-sided conversation between their teammates. "I think a little squirt has gotten lost here. Shouldn't you help him or something?"
'A little squirt', hm?
Not the most creative thing he had been called over the years, being constantly the youngest and smallest member of almost every team he joined for missions.
"Ah, be nice Anko. This will most likely be your new teammate."
Hearing the man's voice, his first impression about him being exhausted reinforced even more. He sounded so tired that Itachi was surprised he was able to stand on his feet at all.
Turning to face him now, the man continued: "Well, you must be Itachi Uchiha, correct? My name is Akihito Tanaka. I am the leader of Team 3 and, if all goes well, your future sensei."
"Nice to meet you, Tanaka-sensei. My teachers just told me 15 minutes ago to meet you here, I hope I'm not too late?"
"Ah, no need to worry, we just-"
Unfortunately, Tanaka was interrupted by Anko's indignant voice: "Wait for a second, you can't tell me that this kid will be the replacement for Nakamura? We are meant to enter the Chūnin Exams in a few months, he will just slow us down!"
Tanaka only sighed -if Itachi interpreted things correctly, he would say Tanaka was already used to being interrupted- before answering her.
"It's not my decision to make, Anko, but the Hokage's. But be assured, the Sandaime wouldn't sort Uchiha-san into our team if he wouldn't think he would fit right-"
Once again he was interrupted, this time by his other student miffed voice: "Well, Hokage-sama isn't perfect. From my perspective, this is obviously a mistake. How do you suppose we can accomplish any missions when we need to drag him along with us all the time?"
"Yukio, I know this-"
"Sensei," this time it was Itachi being was the one who interrupted the older man, "if I may propose someth-"
...only to be interrupted himself:
"Nobody asked for your opinion, squirt!" Anko scoffed, and promptly threw the kunai, the one Itachi had seen her play around with before, at him.
Akihito was tired.
In his defense, he was already 36 years old, which was a pretty decent age for a shinobi. Especially one who fought at the frontlines of the last war and had been part of the ANBU for nearly a decade. The average shinobi died before he turned 35, which meant he already excelled that and he planned to continue to do so.
Right now, all he wanted was to retire and maybe even start a family. To retire as an active shinobi of Konoha, you needed to fulfill two requirements: first, you must have served in active duty for at least 20 years. Second, if you reached the rank of Jōnin, you must have trained at least one team of Genin. Something about securing the next generation and what's not.
So, here he was. Taking over Orochimaru's former team after said Sannin betrayed the village.
It was much worse than he could have ever imagined.
He took over the team a little more than a month ago and both his students still hated him. Well, maybe not him personally, but what he represented; a mere replacement for their real Sensei. Not that they wanted to continue training under him either. If there was one person they hated more than him, it was their former teacher. Needless to say, they didn't take his betrayal too well. And naturally, they took their displeasure out on him.
They always argued with him, didn't listen to him outside of missions -at least they had the good sense to behave themselves there- and generally had always the exact opposite opinion of him.
That was also the reason for why he was berating Yukio right now. As soon as he told them that they would get a new teammate today, something he had waited for till now because he anticipated the reaction, the boy had started to argue about how they didn't need another teammate and that he and Anko could win the Chūnin Exams without any additional help.
He stopped doing that when Anko's voice interrupted him to draw his attention to the new person in the clearing. He had already noticed said person's presence coming closer some time ago, of course, he was a Jōnin and former ANBU after all, so he wasn't surprised.
Still, he stopped chiding Yukio for now and faced his prospective new student, not paying much attention to the conversation even when he took part in it.
The face that looked at him was the same he had seen in the file the Sandaime had given him beforehand, right down to the mimic. Itachi Uchiha, possibly the greatest prodigy of his generation and probably some others as well, and also one of the youngest members of his clan to ever awaken their inherited Kekkei Genkai.
There was no hint of him being nervous, or even being either intimidated or hurt by Anko's and Yukio's comments. He stood perfectly comfortable in front of him, not even looking at his fellow students. And while he didn't show much of any emotions, he didn't look cold either. Only neutral.
He was also smaller than he had imagined, even considering his young age.
Everything came to a head when Anko decided it would be a great idea to throw her kunai at the Uchiha's head.
Akihito could have stopped the weapon easily, but he decided not to. It was common practice in the ANBU to test new recruits in a trial by fire and while he knew these kids weren't ANBU, he didn't see why he couldn't do the same. Not as long as he was close by and could interfere if necessary.
The kunai flew a straight line before the boy caught it just a centimetre from his head. He had caught the weapon without any indication that he was surprised and was still looking at him, never even glancing at the weapon he had just caught.
He suppressed a smile. What a show-off, he thought.
There was a moment of silence on the clearing before it was broken by a short laugh from Anko. "Well," she said with a wide smile, "seems like the midget has some balls, I give him that."
He blinked. Wasn't she still disliking him just a second ago?
"As I was saying, Sensei," the Uchiha spoke up again, completely ignoring Anko's comment, "may I propose something?"
Sure, why not? Might be interesting. "Go ahead," he said.
The boy nodded. "I want to propose a sparring match. Obviously, my abilities are being doubted because of my age. If the main problem of me joining this team is the fear of me slowing it down, the easiest way of reassuring this fear is showing you where I stand ability-wise."
Before he even had the chance to answer Anko chimed in again. "Oh, hell yeah! I like the sound of that! Maybe you aren't too bad, kid."
"Wait Anko!" Yukio suddenly exclaimed. "You can't seriously want to fight this kid? Are you stupid, you're gonna kill him or something and then there will be a lot of consequences. That's not worth it."
"Ah, shut up, Yukio. I will just have some fun. And maybe he isn't half bad! Besides, it's not as if Sensei" -her voice dropped in disapproval at that title- "wouldn't interfere should I accidentality go too far."
"Alright, alright, calm down everyone," he decided to take control of that conversation again. Turning to Itachi he said: "That's a good idea. It will also be beneficial to witness your fighting style to see how it will fit with the rest of the team, so there is that."
Next, he turned to Yukio. "And Anko is correct as well. I would interfere if things go out of hand in a simple sparring match, so there is no need for you to be worried."
Yukio scowled but stayed silent.
"Alright then," he continued when nobody else said something, "let's start, shall we?"
"On my signal," he said, standing between Anko and the Uchiha in the middle of the clearing.
While the former was visibly excited, bouncing on the balls of her feet, the latter stood perfectly still, only the tension in his posture and the sharp glint in his eyes belying his outer calmness.
Surprisingly, he hadn't activated his Sharingan yet.
"Three," he raised his right arm over his head;
"Two," Anko went still, her body slightly bent forward;
"One," he readied himself to back away, not keen to end between these two when the fight started;
"Go!" he yelled before vanishing in a shunshin and reappearing beside Yukio several dozen meters away.
It was obvious from the beginning that the two of them had very different fighting styles. While Anko rushed in immediately to attack her opponent head-on, Itachi stayed still till the very last moment before backing away. It was also clear, to Akihito's eyes at least, that the young Uchiha was surprisingly a tad faster than Anko. It wasn't too much, but it definitively helped him evading and defending from her attacks. If she had used any other fighting style, it might have been enough to slip under her guard, a feat even more feasible because of his smaller stature. Sadly, she didn't.
Of all of Orochimaru's former students, it was Anko who copied the Sannin's fighting style the most. Her kicks and hits came from strange angles, and she proved time and time again that her agility and flexibility were top-notch. It was almost as if the usual limits of the human body didn't apply to her.
She moved as if there were no bones in her body to limit her.
She lived like a snake.
A kick to Itachi's right side suddenly changed direction, coming down to his head instead and forcing him to jump to his left. He slipped right under her follow-up attack, only to back down again when Anko bend her body at some weird angle and tried to smash him into the ground with her other leg.
Next, Anko, who seemingly had the time of her life, rushed in again, only to have her own leg being used as a springboard by Itachi who continued by connecting his knee with her face. The attack, which was also the first move that actually hit its mark, threw Anko backward for a few meters before she recovered in mid-air with a backflip and landed on her feet. She was immediately forced to jump away, just in time to dodge the kunai and shuriken that embedded themselves into the ground where she stood just a moment ago.
"Hah!" she laughed, ignoring her bloody nose. "You're really a freak, aren't you?" There wasn't any heat in her words, only approval. "Let's play with weapons, then!"
Anko rushed in again, this time with a kunai in each of her hands. In the following clash, the sound of metal hitting metal was added to the already existing sound of colliding limbs. They would meet each other head-on, more often than not initiated by Anko, meeting each other's attacks with their own for a few moments before parting from each other once again. Afterwards, the circle started anew.
After a few rounds of this, Itachi suddenly managed to disarm Anko by ramming the handle of his kunai against the back of her hand and then continued by connecting a kick with her guts that made her fly backward again. He hurried after her, not wanting to give her time to get her balance back, only to be forced to jump into the air to avoid her counter-attack:
"Sen'ei Tajashu!" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)
Several snakes shot out from the sleeves of Anko's shirt and rushed towards Itachi who was still mid-air.
Akihito already prepared himself to jump in and end the fight when he saw Itachi forming hand seals of his own with great speed.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)
An average-sized orb of fire flew towards Anko, killing the snakes and filling the area with the smell of burned flesh.
The girl gave a surprised squeak before she jumped to the side to avoid the flames. She managed to get out of the affected area just in time but didn't get a moment to rest because the next second she was forced to defend herself from an onslaught of hits and kicks. Itachi didn't give her a single moment to get her mind straight. Still surprised by the fact that the younger boy could use a wide-ranged Jutsu, as well as having not enough time to fall into the stance of her fighting style, there wasn't much she could do other than defending herself from the worst of the attacks.
Now the boy's greater speed came in handy for Itachi as Anko wasn't able to block or evade all of his attacks. Especially because she was unable to use any techniques of her own and was as such out of her depth, several of his hits connected.
A hit Anko wasn't able to block hit her left cheek. She blocked a kick, only to be thrown to the side when Itachi's other leg struck her waist. After dodging one of Itachi's roundhouse kicks, Anko tried to use this opportunity to start her offensive but was quickly taught better when he smashed his knee into her face again.
Clearly frustrated with the situation, Anko reached into her waist pouch instead of blocking one hit to her side and threw a smoke bomb to the ground.
Akihito grimaced. He couldn't evaluate them if he couldn't see them, so this was rather unfavorable. At least he had a pretty good guess about Anko's skills, having trained with her for over a month now, but he wanted to watch the Uchiha boy a bit more.
The smoke bomb had been a small one, so the smoke was already starting to fade away. It were only a few more seconds before he started to see two silhouettes. One of them, the smaller one, was lying on the ground while the bigger one sat on top of it. He knew what that meant and already prepared himself to declare Anko the winner when he noticed a third silhouette appearing behind the girl.
The smoke was nearly completely faded away when the situation became apparent:
Itachi was lying on his stomach, while Anko was sitting on his back and pointed a kunai at his head. But instead of having a victorious smile on her face, her eyes were wide in shock.
The reason for that was the other Itachi standing behind her, with a kunai of his own on her throat.
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