Chapter 4: Some friends, Some Dead, Some Aged
It had been 2 weeks since the day naruto found the greatness that is the library. It was quiet and peaceful, they had a specific section where you could eat your food, and they had a literal treasure of books. But- there is always a but wasn't there?
Now, he wasn't complaining but he was getting a bit bored with the scenery. Hence, here he was reading his book at Senju Park in the heart of Konoha. Sitting under the shade of a tree, he glanced at his book. He had kept it on hold, He read Tobirama and Minato's books but hadn't touched Jiraya's yet. He didn't feel like studying today and from the premise of the book, the stories about a ninja hero.
He opened the first page,
"This book is dedicated to my dream of a peaceful world!"
A peaceful world was something he couldn't understand, what did it mean really? Do the 5 great nations stop existing? Do we even get to be ninjas in a peaceful world?
'Maybe I should start reading the book, rather than getting lost in my own questions.' Naruto thought as he continued reading.
The book was off to a great start it revolved around a man named Naruto Musasabi. Yes! It was his name, the main character shared his name! Wasn't that awesome!?
Coming back to the book, he had read the first few chapters and they were mainly about the main character growing up.
So when Naruto was young, his father, whom he never met, was killed in the First Shinobi World War. Upon hearing stories about his father from the Second Kokage, Naruto decided to live up to his father's example of a shinobi as "one who endures".
At age six, Naruto graduated from the Shuku Academy and was placed on Team Shū under Shū's leadership alongside Tsuyu and Renge Momoashi. Naruto almost immediately developed romantic feelings for Tsuyu, but she was uninterested in him, much to his grief. He started a bitter rivalry with Renge during the course of their training. At one point, Naruto tried to spy on Tsuyu changing into her swimsuit, and she nearly killed him in retaliation.
*Munch* *Munch* *Munch*
Before he could read any further, he heard munching noises to his right. He turned to see a relatively chubby kid eating chips as he rested against the bark of a tree. There was another kid next to him, he had spiky hair that reminded naruto of pineapple. The other kid was sleeping under the shade of the tree. He remembered a rule from Fourth's book.
-
Rule Number 4 - Comrades!
Make sure to follow this if you are young
If you see someone who is close to your age, go say hello. He or She may be a stranger today but they might end up being your comrade in the future.
Remember, there is no 'I' in Team. You need people to watch your back.
-
They looked his age. He closed his book and got up, suddenly there was a weird feeling in his stomach, his hands gathered sweat on them, and he felt a lump in his throat. He still walked up to them.
The chubby boy looked up at him as he got close. The spiky boy opened his eyes and stared at him.
"Um, I am Naruto Uzumaki. Would you two like to be friends?" Said Naruto.
"Hm, Sure just don't do anything troublesome. I'm Shikamaru Nara." Said the now known Shikamaru first.
"And, I'm Choji Akimichi, Nice to meetcha! What's your favorite food?" The now known akimichi asked him getting straight to the point.
"While I don't mind most things, I do enjoy ramen a lot more than other foods." Said Naruto.
"Ho! Ramen sounds delicious right about now! How about it Shika? Can we go get lunch?" Asked Choji
"Second breakfast you mean? Fine, Let's go. Wanna join us naruto?" Asked Shikamaru
"Are you sure, not that I mind." Said Naruto, he didn't wanna get in the way.
"Not at all." Said the pineapple-haired boy."What are you reading by the way?" Shika asked.
"It's a book written by one of the legendary sanin, The tales of a gutsy ninja by Jiraya." Naruto said as he showed him the book.
"Do you like reading?" Asked Shikamaru.
"Mostly, It passes the time well and I get to learn. I am going to be a shinobi after all." Said naruto
"What does reading gotta do with it?" Asked Choji.
"Hm, well the second Hokage once said, 'A shinobi must master both mind and body'. So I read to master my mind, while I'll master my body at the academy."
"That sounds troublesome." Shikamaru said picking his ear, Naruto stopped immediately.
"W-Wait does this mean you don't wanna be friends anymore!? It has to be! You told me not to do something troublesome and it's the first thing I do!" Naruto started blabbering.
"Hey, Hey don't worry. Shika keeps saying that, it's like his catchphrase!" Choji said holding the blonde boy by his shoulders.
"Oh, really?" Asked naruto as he looked at Shikamaru.
"I do, do that." Shikamaru said a bit embarrassed.
"Hehe, dodo." Said a now-laughing naruto, followed by the other 2 joining in.
They went to Ichiraku's had ramen and walked around the village goofing around until it was time for Shikamaru and Choji to go home.
That night as naruto went to sleep, he thought 'I wouldn't mind having comrades.'
-x-x-x-x-x-
-Naruto's Apartment. October 15, Year 74-
It had been over a year since he met Shika and Choji, and he then went on to make more friends. Such as Kiba, Kiba was cool, he liked playing and running around, and he took them to play with the pups at the Inuzuka compound. Next was Ino and Shino, He met Ino via Shika and Choji while he met Shino via Kiba. Ino was chatty and liked to gossip, but overall she was a pretty good friend. Shino was reserved but he was interesting, his dream was to find a new species of insect.
3 Major things happened. Firstly, he found out clan kids were easy to befriend, others didn't like him from the get-go. Secondly, he was enrolled in the academy, he was officially in the shinobi program. Which was a big deal as, the moment he was a part of the shinobi program he was under the direct jurisdiction of the Hokage.
What that meant was, if wronged, he would at least have a fair judgment, he would not be pushed around by civilian laws anymore.
Now, the final thing, the one that had shaken Konoha to its core. On July 23rd, Year 74, A Missing-nin team from Iwagakure was out for revenge. Before we begin with what happened that day, let's go over the backstory.
Itachi Uchiha was one of the many golden kids of Konoha, he was an absolute genius. He graduated with scores only second to Minato Namikaze, at age 7. Became a Chunin at age 11. Matured and mastered the Sharingan at the tender age of 10. He lead a mission once he had become Chunin where he killed 3 shinobi not knowing they were related, not knowing they had a living relative.
-----
Seishi Nakata was a shinobi from Iwagakure, he was a 35-year-old man who had 3 sons, triplets. His wife had died giving birth to them. He was also only a 20-year-old Chunin at the time she died. He had gotten over all of it for his sons, he had persevered through all the pain, and he had become a respected jonin. His kids had become Chunin, they made a very strong team with their perfect coordination. Things had never been better until they became worse, Oh how bad time had treated him. It was a simple A-Rank mission, they had sent a 5 man squad.
It was, Seishi Nakata, his 3 sons, Akihiro, Akito & Asahi Nakata. Joined by another Chunin named Masao Okamoto. The mission was going as planned, they had nothing to worry about, they sneak in, take the valuables, sneak out, and rush back home. None of them knew what the scroll had in it but it was a mission, so it had to be done.
They never reached their destination as they were intercepted by a team of leaf ninjas. Nothing to worry about he thought but their fight had ended quickly and it wasn't in his favor. He should've taken them seriously, a moment of distraction was all it took. He gazed into the eyes of the devil, the eyes that see through every move a man can make, the copy wheel eye, the Sharingan. When he regained consciousness, 2 of his boys were down they were bleeding out. Akito was still standing, barely but standing. He was joined by Okamoto, he joined the fight as well.
"Akito! Go aid your brothers, stop the bleeding. Okamoto, watch my back!" He commanded as he took charge.
4 shinobi, out of which 2 were injured. The Uchiha was still unscathed. He wouldn't make the same mistake again!
He ran towards the Uchiha, they engaged in a bout of taijutsu. The Uchiha jumped off of him after attempting a roundhouse kick, he went through hand signs, and so did Seishi.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu" Said Itachi, exuding a huge ball of fire.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall Jutsu" Said Seishi, blocking off the fireball.
Seishi moved through the mud using another technique. It cost him a burn on his face, permanently making his face with flames. He soon reached the Uchiha, pushing chakra to his feet he took out a kunai.
He stabbed the Uchiha in the chest, through his heart. Effectively killing him, or so he thought.
The boy disappeared in a murder of crows and appeared behind Akito. There was nothing he could do as the Uchiha stabbed his son through the heart just like he had attempted to do a few seconds prior, But the Uchiha had succeeded in killing his son.
"We've got the scroll, let's move out Captain Itachi. Eiko can't take any more blood loss." Said a voice from behind him.
-----
The stench of blood was starting to bother him, it was the same every time. He would kill, he would spill blood, and get those vengeful looks from the survivors if any, then he would go back to the village submit a report, go home, play with his sibling, talk to his parents, and then be on his merry way to get some well-deserved shut-eye.
This one was different. From the look in his eyes, it felt as if the man had lost everything known to him. Itachi knew he should kill the man, but he was a Jonin, it would take time and his crow-clone technique wouldn't catch him by much surprise again. Eiko's life was more important
He took off, not knowing the storm that was gonna be caused due to this.
-----
-Uchiha District. July 23, Year 74-
It was a day of celebration in the Uchiha District, It was the birthday of the youngest child of the main house. There was a big party with the most hotshots of Konoha invited including the Hokage.
The center of attraction being the birthday girl, Uchiha Sueko.
// Yes it's gender-bent Sasuke. Hey, it is an AU.
The birthday girl was surrounded by people, who were passing on their good wishes and compliments to the young girl. Her mother, Uchiha Mikoto was standing with her husband, Uchiha Fugaku welcoming more guests in. This whole scene was being watched by Uchiha Itachi, who couldn't take his eyes off the adorable smile that his baby sister had on her face right now, his eyes flashed red for a second, recording the moment for him.
He walked towards his sister, who took one look at him and forgot about the rest of the room.
"Big brother! I'm 6 now, I can start the academy like you. We can even train together? So you'd stop complaining about Shisui irritating you!" Said the girl smiling all the way, as her brother hoisted her up in his arms. Both brother and sister ignored the loud yell of protest by a certain Uchiha.
"I got my big 6-year-old baby sister a gift." Said Itachi.
"What do you mean, baby sister? I'm big now!" Said Sueko
"But, I did call you big, you're my big baby sister." Itachi said barely controlling his laugh, as Sueko almost blew up with how red her face was.
"Hmph!" She said while turning her head away and crossing her arms, "I don't want your stupid gift. Knowing you, you'd probably just poke my head like always." She said still looking away.
"I'm sorry Sueko, but really I've got you a gift, here." He said, putting the girl down and handing her a beige pouch, which Sueko quickly found out was very heavy.
"It is a shinobi pouch, it has a fresh set of Shuriken and Ninja wire, there are 2 Kunai's in there too. I'll teach you how to use them properly first thing tomorrow." Said Itachi.
"Promise?" Asked Sueko
"Promise." Said Itachi.
"Yay! You're the best!" She said before jumping and wrapping her arms around his neck, "Can we go now?" She asked excitedly.
Itachi poked her forehead, "Of course, not my foolish baby sister, We'll go tomorrow, enjoy your party for now." He said putting her down. She pouted at him for a second before one of their aunts got hold of her.
Sueko
Itachi smiled, that name, was perfect. When Sueko was in their mother's belly, their family wasn't on the best of terms. Their father had taken him to a battlefield, he had gotten his first kill. He stopped talking much, he questioned everything. A blanket of dullness fell on their family, Sueko changed that. The one who united the family, Everyone came together to welcome the youngest of the family.
Sueko, meaning the youngest of the family.
Uchiha Sueko, his baby sister.
--Outside Main Manor of the Uchiha--
"Ahh, seems I've picked a good day to retaliate, it's as if this whole thing was perfectly planned. Well, it kinda was! Ahahahaha. I'll burn it away, I'll burn your love away, Uchiha Itachi!" Said a man marked by flames
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone