NARUTO SI: A Burdened Soul (Elder Brother to Itachi SI)

Chapter 9

MIKOTO UCHIHA

Mikoto Uchiha was in her house wrapping up some chores when she was called upon by a very surprising but welcomed presence. Kushina came to visit her rather suddenly, and it had been quite sometime since they had met face to face, their recent conversations often taking place through Izuna-kun who was out training with team seven.

"You should have told me that you were coming, I would have prepared something more elaborate," Mikoto lamented as she appeared with a tray of tea and sweets, as her friend waved away.

"Nah, I was just free and wanted to talk to you," and that was a rarity for what kind of talk would have her friend come here personally, and for that only one matter came to mind.

"You are always welcome," she said as she sat down beside her and offered her the tea and took a cup for herself.

"So, what is it that you wish to talk about," she asked and saw that radiant smile dull as Kushina sipped her tea and turned her eyes towards the open yard.

"I just wanted to tell it to you, before you received the news from elsewhere," and as soon as those words left her mouth, she knew what was to come. She had expected as much as soon as Izuna had told her of how he had pulled back from the hospital and was attached to Minato's team for some time.

"Izuna is going to be deployed again," and there it was. The news that she had been dreaded, but it was a news she had prepared herself for the day she had given birth to the boy, knowing the fate that awaited him. Even though she may wish otherwise.

"They are going to promote him to a chunin, and then deploy him along the Northern front," and that was where Kumo was stationed, the very village that had taken from her, her parents, and then from him his best friend and teammates.

"Do you think he is ready?" and though Mikoto herself was a retired jounin, she was also his mother and could not be objective. Kushina herself cared deeply about the boy, but still knew more of his training and prowess than herself.

At this Kushina sighed as she looked to the skies.

"I must not say this, but even amongst Minato's team, Izuna is in a league of his own. He always was," and that was why he was targeted, why the other villages had wished to end his life so early to stop him from becoming the menace he could one day turn into.

"And he has only built upon that. He has been working on his fuinjutsu with me for years and is at a level that he can design and make original seals, his ninjutsu and genjutsu are in a class of their own. Even before the tragedy his only shortcoming was his taijutsu, where he is limited by his size and age," and she knew that as well. It was why the enemy had been able to overpower him.

"And now he has supplemented even that with his unique take on Iryo-ninjutsu," she said as she pulled up the sleeves of her shirt to show her bandages covering her arm.

"He broke my arm the other day, using some kind of iryo-ninjutsu to weaken the bone earlier by siphoning off Calcium from it," and Mikoto's eyes widened as she saw that broken bone, for she did know of Izuna's prowess and his talent for modifying old techniques, but seeing it was another thing.

"He is much like someone I remember with how he breaks arms," and she smiled bashfully at the taunt as Kushina slid back the sleeve.

"So yeah, he has prepared himself as much as one can. But this is war, and..."

"War is unpredictable," she added because none would have expected Izuna and his team facing the tragedy they had, to have sensitive village intelligence leaked to their enemies putting many lives at risk.

"That it is," Kushina added, as she sipped her tea, and when Mikoto did the same she found the taste rather off putting, much to her surprise given that this was her favourite spear-mint tea.

"I think I have made a mistake," she said as she reached for Kushina's cup.

"The tea has gone bad, let me go..."

"What are you talking about?" Kushina answered as she sipped her tea, making her frown as the red haired woman took a sip infront of her.

"It's fine for me," and Mikoto frowned as she pushed away her cup.

"Then perhaps it was my cup," and then she dismissed the idea as Kushina added.

"I don't see Itachi-kun anywhere," she asked and Mikoto nodded.

"He is out training," she said and Mikoto was much proud of her boys, and their dedication. She always thought herself lucky, specially with how both her sons had rarely ever thrown tantrums and were mature beyond their years.

"He is going to join the academy soon, right?" and Mikoto nodded.

"Yes, though I hope that the war ends before he graduates," and it was both a prayer and a plea.

"This war has done enough damage," she added scathingly, as she remembered the young Uchiha boy who would often accompany her eldest while training and then at academy.

"Are the elders still on about that?" Kushina guessed, and she nodded.

Izuna was once the pride and joy of the clan and its leadership, despite his rather opinionated choices of specialisation. But his martial prowess was recognised by everyone, and yet that one mission had changed it all.

The elders blamed him for the death of Shisui Uchiha, another clan prodigy and then were further angered by his choice of taking up iryo-ninjutsu and not pushing for a return to the battlefield.

"Those idiots, given him a few years and he could demolish those old coots in his sleep," Kushina taunted, and she believed it as well. But those elders were old fashioned and while they carried little power, they had quite a bit of influence.

"It's just that Itachi-kun is perhaps as talented as Izuna-kun, and they think they have found their replacement for their poster child. Not as if they have not done enough damage to my children," and though she may have allowed them to run amok when it had come to Izuna-kun, she knew that she could not stand it anymore.

"They wish to that he graduate early," she added and Kushina clicked her tongue.

"Those idiots, have they not learned their lesson," and indeed they had not.

"They have not, though I believe Izuna-kun has," and with that she smiled as she recalled her eldest's little ploy.

"He has been helping out Itachi-kun when he can, and I think he might be able to stop what I could not," and Kushina shrugged.

"It doesn't matter though," and with that she smirked.

"All this blabbering against my precious Izuna-kun, it is all going to end soon. The day he enters the battlefield, the whole village is going to learn just how special he is...."

0000

KAKASHI HATAKE

"Why?" his idiotic teammate complaint petulantly, as their sensei made the announcement, even though Kakashi himself had been informed about the setting a day ago, much like the boy he was set to face.

"I am a Uchiha, I should face him. He is just a genin, and I am going to be a chunin soon," Obito added as Minato-sensei smiled.

"Well, this is my decision. You will just have to observe the battle Obito," he replied as calmly and graciously as ever, and he could hardly understand how the man kept up his patience with that petulant and careless child.

"Perhaps you will learn thing or two from their spar," he added before turning towards their other teammate.

"You as well, Rin," and the sole kunoichi of team seven nodded Kakashi stepped forward, fully aware of the stakes of the spar that was set to happen, as Obito huffed petulantly.

"If you were to face him the battle would end in a few minutes," he intervened as he looked at his teammate, who perked up proudly at his words forcing him to continue.

"With you losing," he added as Obito tried to jump at him.

"HEY!" but Kakashi ignored his idiotic teammate as he turned towards his not so idiotic Uchiha opponent. Izuna Uchiha reminded him much of himself, the boy was competent. He was what, Kakashi would demand from a teammate, a deadly and competent shinobi whose skill rivalled his own, putting him above the rest of the cohort.

The boy was clad in his full ninja gear with a black shorts and shirts with no design or colour whatsoever, two tantos were bound to his back, alongside two pouches, though he knew that the boy did not really need to carry much material given his proficiency in fuinjutsu.

"Let's do this," he said and the younger Uchiha nodded, as they both got into their stances, and as Kakashi breathed out and reached for his own tanto, he saw the boy do the same as he closed his eyes, and then as the winds blew he saw those eyes open, and they appeared—The Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan.

Obito was nearly five years older than the boy, and yet had yet to manifest them. Izuna Uchiha had manifested them at age four, and was said to have mastered them before he had entered the academy, this was what had put him above the rest of the cohort, and had labelled him a genius unlike any other.

But Kakashi was a genius himself, and it was time to remind the boy of that.

And they began in an instant as Kakashi blurred towards the boy, and yet his speed was matched with the Uchiha's own as their tantos clashed.

CLANG! CLANG!

Sparks flew as metal clashed against metal, and Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he felt a foreign chakra invade his senses, his vision distorting by a bit. And there it was, a subtle genjutsu, a specialty of the Uchiha brat, and yet Kakashi had his own abilities and as he smelt his presence.

"KAI!" he disrupted his flow, as the vision shifted and the Uchiha brat vanished from the front, and Kakashi saw his tanto reaching for his neck from the side forcing him to jump as he kicked the boy's arm, as he twisted his legs and sent another kick flying at his face.

THWACK!

Izuna brought up his arms and blocked the attack but still jumped back, as Kakashi straightened out, and saw the boy immediately cycling through a set of very familiar handseals.

"Katon: Fire Ball," and he saw the boy take a deep breath, before he saw a massive ball of fire rush towards him, and yet it was nothing like the red fires of Obito.

No. These were blue, and the heat coming off of it was enough to make him sweat, as he cycled through a set of handseals.

"Doton: Mud Wall!" and he thrust his hands on the ground as multiple earthen walls rose up infront of him, and yet to his surprise, he watched as the fireball hit the earthen walls, and began melting it away, forcing him to abandon the defence as he jumped back, only to find Izuna emerge right behind him.

"Shit!' Kakashi cursed, as he tried to twist his body as he saw the boy bringing down his tanto, and he barely avoided the slash, and smashed his leg into his face, only to watch Izuna's body dissolve into a hoard of crows before he felt pain rip through his torso as the real Izuna Uchiha kicked him from down below.

"AUGHH!" and he used the force of the attack to let his body fly back, as he somersaulted and landed on his feet as he huffed, and watched the unfazed and cynical form of the young Uchiha standing there with not even a single expression on his face.

"This is about to get exciting!"

0000

Read ahead and support me on Patre 0n. Help me write this and other such stories by becoming a Patr 0n. It would be pretty important of you and would mean a lot to me.

www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest

Have a nice day!