Chapter 12: Ch 10. Omnious tension
The feeling inside of the Uchiha residence had become worse as the days passed. Every time someone left the Uchiha residence, they came back with a newly found gloom. It had become a recent occurrence, as the village seemed to treat them more harshly than before. Talk in the town had been that the Uchiha were responsible for the Kyuubi's attack, as only a Sharingan could control the Kyuubi.
Only the Sharingan was powerful enough to make a tailed beast obey to do one's bidding.
If only the people knew how close, yet also how far away they were from the truth. It was true the enemy had a Sharingan and was a Uchiha, namely Uchiha Madara. It was however a lie to say that it was the Uchiha clan that caused the attack. The actions of one man were now affecting the whole clan, making the Uchiha's the outcasts of the village.
The people were so angry about the whole affair, that the elders of Konoha had decided that the Uchiha clan had to be moved towards the outskirts of the village. It was for the betterment of everyone if the cause of the unrest were to be moved further away.
Tensions ran even higher, as the attitude the towns people had towards the Uchiha didn't improve, only growing worse as time passed. At least the towns people didn't show it openly anymore. They were now sharing it amongst themselves, their disatisfaction only heard by their surroundings. Their general bad attitude to the Uchiha's had lessened, but that did not mean it was gone.
The worst thing that was currently occuring all around the village would be that when the Uchiha police force acted down upon crimes, the people would immediately point fingers at them, saying they were too much and that they were acting too violant.
Some of the more daring criminals even proclaimed that they had been put into a genjutsu by an Uchiha, that it was the only logical reason why he would commit the crime. All the dirt they had gotten was smeared on the Uchiha clan instead.
However unreasonable it may sound, don't mention how absurd it would even be, some people believed it and began to spread the rumour, claiming the Uchiha were abusing their standing as the Konoha military police force. That they were using their authority for their own gain, locking up whomever was on their bad side.
The scepticism grew as none in the village seemed to belief the Uchiha's disinvolvement with the Kyuubi's attack. Their fear and disatisfaction only grew and grew, affecting even the most hardened Uchiha.
Izana didn't know what was going on, but he could feel the feelings in the air become more negative as the time went by.
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Now two years had passed as Izana entered the academy. Little Sasuke had also turned three, following him around wherever he would go, but he was mostly stuck to Itachi as he asked him to be shown the many techniques Itanchi knew.
Itachi and Shisui had also grown busier than before. They would still train with Izana, but were often absent. Izana had overheard his uncle speak about Itachi joining the ANBU, but he hadn't taken it serious age-wise. Now it seemed to be true. Itachi would be absent a lot, only coming back late in the night or early in the morning. Some days he wouldn't return for days. Maybe that was the reason Sasuke was practically sticking to Itachi as soon as he was home.
Another thing that changed was uncle Fugaku's strict and unloving behaviour towards Sasuke. He would compare Itachi and Sasuke, which didn't make sense as Sasuke was younger, less experienced, while also being a whole nother person. Comparing the two would do both of them injustice, as they both had their strong and weak points.
Itachi seemed to think the same as he spent more time with Sasuke to make up for the lost fatherly love Sasuke received from their father.
Izana would spend his time with Sasuke too, but would also go look for little Naruto. He couldn't spend a lot of time with him, as the council didn't seem to like the idea of an Uchiha clan kid being friends with their Jinchuriki. It seems they had the same thoughts in mind as the village people, thinking that he would put little Naruto under a genjutsu to control the Kyuubi. Bullocks.
But luckily, every now and them, he would be able to see the little Naruto. The three year old always looked forward to when he came. As soon as Izana would appear, he felt a human cannon ball launched into his stomach, pressing all the air from it and leaving him breathless.
"Izana, let's play!"
Naruto was filled with excitement. It had been a while since he had seen Izana, the only friend he currently had. All the other kids in the orphanage always kept a certain distance from him.
Izana looked at other kids once before he picked up Naruto and moved towards a more secular spot, namely a training ground in the woods.
"What do you want to play, Naruto?"
Izana ruffled Naruto's hair as he thought of what games they could play. They often did really simple game, ball games, hide and seek and shadow tag.
Shadow tag was a lot of fun as Izana used simple shadow clones, while making them transform into different appearances. People he had been most familiar with and were not present in the village. The other children that had been experimented on.
While the memories were faded, he remembered their faces and appearances crystal clear. To make it more child friendly, he only changed into the first day the other children appeared, when they were still healthy and energetic. Looking just like normal kids.
Luckily Itachi had taught him the shadow clone jutsu before he entered the academy. It wasn't a very shinobi-like way to use the clone jutsu, playing shadow tag with Naruto, but he didn't think much of it. If Izana could have a nice day with Naruto and play with him, then he would use as many useful jutsus as he could.
"Naruto, I heard you were getting your own place." Izana said. He'd heard the villagers speak about it, though not in a positive way.
"Uhum, but I need to buy food and other stuff by myself."
Naruto said as he jumped on the shadow of one of Izana's transformed clones. He happily laughed as the clone turned around as he was now 'it'.
"Make sure that when it gets too hard you'll find me. I won't always be there, but I'll always be there for you." Izana said as his clone tagged another. When the sun went down, an ABNU appeared letting them know their time was up.
All the clones disappeared.
Izana walked towards Naruto and picked him up.
"You can also talk with the old man, he listens really well."
Naruto nodded at Izana's words, slightly confused by all the hard words Izana used. He also didn't exactly know which old man Izana meant, but he had one person in mind.
"Don't worry, I'll visit again after two weeks. I'll bring you a present." Naruto beamed at Izana's words, as only Izana gave him presents.
"Promise?"
Naruto asked, afraid Izana would take back his word.
"I promise, now let's go back." Izana said as he ran back towards the orphanage, waving goodbye at Naruto when he had dropped him off, going back to the Uchiha clan residence.
The next day would be his entry in the Academy and he didn't want to be late. It was a chance to make new friends after all.
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When Izana woke up, it was still early in the morning. The sun hadn't even full risen yet when snow began to fall. Izana had expected the snow to come earlier, but it didn't really matter.
He quickly got dressed, had breakfast at a relaxing pace and played with Sasuke for a bit. Sasuke was now the same age as Naruto, three years old. He really hoped Sasuke could be friends with Naruto, as they both didn't have that many friends to begin with. Both were kept at arms length, though Naruto more prominently than Sasuke. Parents wouldn't actively keep their children away from Sasuke.
Izana went for the door and received a pair of indigo blue mittens and a white shawl from aunt Mikoto. She tucked him in a warm jacket, making sure he was clothed warmly for the cold weather outside.
Giving Izana a kiss on the head, Mikoto shooed Izana out, letting him find his way towards the school on his own.
Going outside, Izana could feel the cold air against his face, as the white snow in his black hair made a striking contrast. He was a little nervous to go to the academy. Like Naruto and Sasuke, Izana didn't have that many friends. The one he could call his friend was only Shisui and even then he was more a friend of Itachi than that he was his friend.
He didn't have nice memories about having friends, as most of them died soon after. It would be nice if he could get a friend that remained at his side, not afraid he might die the next day.
As he ran down the streets towards the academy, he could see many parent drop off their children. The other kids happily hugged their parents as they went towards the training ground of the school. The Third was supposed to give a speech to the children.
Izana didn't feel that jealous of the others as he luckily still had his aunt and uncle. Though his uncle had become more distant and strict, aunt Mikoto didn't, making for a happy family when she and the other kids were alone.
When he arrived at the training ground, all the other kids were already sitting on the ground in front of a small platform. Izana was one of the last to arrive, so he sat down in the back. Fortunately the ground had already been cleared of snow, pillows spread out so they didn't freeze in this cold weather. He really didn't want to start his first day with soaked clothes and a cold. They might be training to become shinobi, but they were still weak children.
Everyone immediately went quiet as the Third stood on the platform and began to speak about the Will of Fire. He spoke in simple terms, while keeping the speech short. Izana noticed it was a lot like the one at the funeral, only a little less melancholic.
When the Third stopped, it felt as if his eyes shortly remained on Izana, a relieved smile shimmering in his eyes. He nodded almost indecernibly at Izana and walked from the stage.
"All right everyone, let's go to your class room."
The head of the teachers yelled as he led the children and Izana inside.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone