PART THREE: ACADEMY
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Flies and ants devoured the refuse of the market stalls on the street, dogs foraged through the piles and snarled at each other and the twins stuck close to their mother's side as she went from vendor to vendor, examining wares and haggling subtly with the sellers. Sasuke and Mika watched with intense curiosity, fingering the small change in their pockets and wishing the prices were lower so they could at least haggle for something. Mika turned to follow her mother as she headed toward another stall but bumped into someone, making them drop several small packages at her feet.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, bending down to pick up the parcels.
"It's okay, just watch where you're going from now on." Mika put the parcels back in their basket and looked up at Asuma Sarutobi.
"I will. Goodbye!" She stepped away and looked around for Mikoto. She spun around twice but didn't see her anywhere. Up the street, Asuma looked back and spotted her looking around in consternation.
He turned to walk back to her as she closed her eyes and turned slowly in a circle, brow furrowed in concentration.
"Are you lost?" he asked. She didn't answer for a moment, just turned slowly again as if orienting herself.
"No, I'm not lost," she opened her eyes and looked up at him, bowed slightly and trotted off.
"Goodbye!" she called over her shoulder.
Asuma stared after her and then shrugged. "Lots of odd ones out there. Makes sense one of his siblings would be weird."
Sasuke raced around the room in excitement, jumping on every piece of furniture and flipping off them in a wild display of acrobatics.
"Come on Mika, loosen up for once! Tomorrow we start the Ninja Academy, aren't you the least bit excited?" He somersaulted into a heap at her feet and grinned up at her. She stared back at him mildly, unimpressed.
"Hm... Nope."
He pouted. "Jeez, why 're you so... so... unenthusiastic all the time?! You're like an old lady."
Slowly, Mika blinked at him. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for school tomorrow?"
Now he shifted uncomfortably. "Well... What about you? How come you're not ready yet?!"
"Packed, shined and laid out. Now come on, let's get you ready." She turned and went out.
"Aww," whined Sasuke, trailing after her. "You act like Kaa-san and Aniki way too much."
Mika laughed. "Well, when you don't want to do what you're supposed to then of course I'm going to act like them. Besides, you're important to me, so I can't help wanting the best for you." Even if I can't always do what's best for you, or anyone else. "I love you."
"Mika?"
"Yes, Sasuke?"
"Why 're you acting so weird?"
She laughed sharply. "I'm just a little worried about Itachi, that's all. He's isn't back from his mission yet."
"Aniki will be fine. He's really strong, everyone knows it." Sasuke's expression fell and he crawled onto his bed. "Someday I'll be as strong as he is. Even stronger," he looked determinedly at Mika. "Don't worry Mika, Aniki'll be fine."
She looked around from the closet and smiled at him. "Well, if you say so it must be true then. He'll be back safe and sound."
Sasuke nodded firmly and then peered at the clothes she was holding. "Hey, I'm not wearing that! No way!"
"But it's cute." Mika held up the red T-shirt and flicked the fluffy collar.
"Cute, my ass," shrieked Sasuke. "I'm not wearing that first day! Give it!"
"Sasuke, watch your language," she scolded and then dodged as her twin flung himself at her. "Why not? You look adorable in it."
"It's fuzzy and I refuse to wear it to the Ninja Academy. Now give it to me." He grabbed for it again. Mika sidestepped him.
"Alright. If you don't want to wear it start getting your things together then." She handed over the shirt and Sasuke buried it in the closet. "Come on."
"Fine," he muttered and began reluctantly preparing his school bag and clothes. Mika watched him, and for the first time felt something that she supposed the rest of her life would feel like after the Massacre happened. One vast stretch of terror in which all the things she loved would slip away through her fingers one by one until her mission was the sole thing she had left, and then after that she would be empty and alone. Sasuke looked up at her curiously and she quickly composed herself.
"Hmph," huffed her twin. "When I'm done here we're taking a walk. You're way too moody today. You need fresh air."
"Yes, Hokage-sama. As you command, Hokage-sama." She rolled her eyes.
"Damn straight," he sniffed.
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!" yelled Iruka. "Get back here!"
"Not again," muttered Sasuke. "What did he do this time?"
"I think he put glue on Sensei's seat," Mika whispered back.
Sasuke frowned. "Well, that's tame. I wonder what's bothering Naruto today."
"Sasuke-kun, Mika! Pay attention!" snapped Iruka.
The twins buried their noses in their books again. That afternoon they went home to find their cousin Shisui waiting for them.
"Hello Sasuke, Mika. You look taller than the last time I saw you both."
"Of course, we do grow, Shisui-niisan," snarked Sasuke.
"And you've gotten quite a mouth on you too," observed their cousin.
"I wish he'd be more careful about what comes out of it," said Mika in exasperation, bending down to take off her shoes. "Where are Kaa-san and Itachi?"
"They're at a meeting. The Clan Elders wanted to talk to Itachi and they said for your Kaa-san to come too."
Mika froze, staring into space as Shisui and Sasuke went to the kitchen. Meeting? Oh no, she thought. Was it starting, the rebellion? Bile rose in her throat as she crouched on the step, the terror she had felt the day before starting the Academy rushing back with paralyzing force. Shisui came back out, a kitchen towel draped over his shoulder and drying his hands with another.
"Mika, there's teriyaki..." he trailed off when he saw her face. Hastily, he sat down next to her. "What's wrong, Mika?"
She swallowed. "What kind of meeting are they in? Shisui?"
He frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
She stood up swiftly, leaning over him. "Don't lie to me," she forced out through gritted teeth. "What do they want with Itachi?"
He stared at her for a moment. "Do your parents know you're friends with Naruto?"
She shook her head. "No. I didn't tell them. I knew they would not approve. I didn't even tell Itachi but somehow he found out and we had a row about it. I won and you're avoiding the subject, Shisui."
"I know. Never you mind what the Elders want with Itachi. Concentrate on your schoolwork. It's not for you to worry about. Come and eat something." Shisui got up and walked back to the kitchen, Mika hot on his heels.
"I have every reason to worry about it if it's going to cost me my family," she argued. "You haven't seen Tou-san and Itachi bristling whenever they're in the same room. Tell me what's going on."
Her cousin spun around and put a hand firmly on her shoulder. "No. Firstly it is not my place to tell you. That privilege belongs to your parents or Itachi. Secondly, you are too young to understand what is going on."
Mika stepped back and glared at him. "Try me," she challenged him.
He smiled at her. "Itachi tells me you're different from Sasuke. Different from him as well, but I will not try you with this. You're not ready. Now," he straightened up. "Come and eat. I've made your dinners, afterward I'll help you with your homework." He strode determinedly into the kitchen.
Mika stared after him, fuming. Sometimes she forgot that to others she was still six years old, and that mistake had just cost her information. She muttered a curse and stalked into the kitchen.
"What do you mean, she knows something's wrong?" asked Itachi. He sat up straight in panic. "She knows about the rebellion?"
"No, she doesn't. She just knows that something is wrong and that you might be in trouble because of
it." Shisui lazily tossed one kunai after another at the wooden post in the center of the field. Each stuck firmly around the bulls eye painted on it. Itachi flopped back bonelessly.
"Good," he sighed. "It would be dangerous if she knew."
Shisui sighed. "Why do you think I didn't tell her what was wrong?" A pause. "I told her you would."
Itachi stared at his friend for a long time. "Ah."
"Are you going to tell her?"
"...No."
"Why not?"
Itachi would not answer.
Mika knelt in her underclothes at the edge of the water, focusing her mind to feel the energy flowing in her body. Foreign and difficult to manage, it was nevertheless what she needed to control. She had mastered all the basic chakra exercises except water walking. Half an hour ago she had successfully completed the tree climbing exercise.
As she began to circulate the chakra in her body she waded into the water slowly. When she was in up to her waist she lay back in the water and sank gently to the bottom of the pond. The light shimmered above her and the coolness of the water was relaxing, helping her to concentrate on the chakra in her body. Languidly, she extended her chakra, touching the rhythm of movement in the chakra of the water flowing around her and drawing that rhythm in, until her own energy mirrored the flow and she was buoyed by the energy up through the water to float on the surface.
Mika took a breath and concentrated again, withdrawing her chakra from the water, yet still keeping it moving in the same patterns as the water's. Slowly she rose, keeping the chakra moving as less and less of her body was in contact with the water, until she was standing upright on the surface. Cautiously she walked around the pond, working up to a sprint. She laughed delightedly and raced across the water to do a cartwheel, tumbling across the surface to come to a halt at the edge of the bank.
Crouching there, she focused again, letting her concentration on the water-walking technique slip to the back of her mind and pulling the chakra into a different pattern now. Mika's chakra throbbed, pulsing and flowing in a circle around her heart and lungs. She formed hand seals, feeling the chakra twist itself into the forms dictated by the seals. Chakra poured into her lungs and mixed with the oxygen in the trapped air, some of it traveled up her throat and into her mouth, coating them as protection from the next stage. Mika held the last seal just under her lips and forced heat to its apex and exhaled the oxygen/chakra mix. A huge ball of blazing white flame burst out over the pond, boiling the water and causing steam to pour upwards.
As quickly as it had come, it vanished, and Mika collapsed into the water with a soft splash. She struggled weakly up onto the bank, out of the hot water and lay there for a few more minutes, then rolled over to look at the pond. Steam still hissed up from the bubbling surface and her body felt as floppy as wet pasta. I must have used too much chakra for the jutsu, she thought. So this is what chakra exhaustion feels like... But why was the fire white?
She frowned at the water, trying to think. Weariness was rapidly creeping over her, trying to draw her down into sleep. She grunted and pushed herself to her feet, deciding that she would figure it out when she had rested -she was having too much trouble staying awake- and began pulling on her clothes. Creating a fireball of a decent size would help getting Fugaku off her case to be as good as Itachi, not that she cared he was on her case at all. But creating an oddly colored fireball was something else entirely. It could imply certain things, it might get her noticed, and getting noticed was the last thing she wanted to do, despite the opportunities it could offer.
Mika was the kind of person to let certain things get to her head. She might be levelheaded about one thing and then fly off the handle at another. In short, she was temperamental. Mika yawned hugely and rubbed her eyes. How had a single fireball drained her chakra so badly? And she hadn't been using much chakra before on the water walking and tree climbing jutsus. She needed to research some more things it seemed. She'd borrow Itachi's scrolls later, after a good long sleep.
Thankfully, there wasn't anyone around when Mika returned to the Uchiha home, and she was able to bathe quickly and crawl into bed. The instant her head touched the pillow, she went out like a light and fell into dreaming.
She ran in darkness, swiftly, faster than she had ever run before. In fact it didn't even feel like running, it felt as though she slipped through the spaces between the wind itself. It howled in her mind, seeking to snap and rend her sanity in brilliant flashes of multicolored light. But she held fast to her intent and emerged into a flash of radiance, sliced through an exposed throat and then slipped back into the darkness. Many times more she slipped from the multicolored brilliance to take the lives of her opponents and many times more did she see what kind of weapon killed them.
It was a three pronged knife, a type of kunai used not often but enough times to become fairly popular in some circles of shinobi. One user in particular remained insistently in Mika's mind. The Yondaime...
The only difference was, her blade was etched in silver and it gleamed gently when the light caught it every time she stepped from the howling darkness to kill.
This time, when she stepped from darkness with readied blade, a grotesque creature was waiting for her and lunged as soon as she appeared. Mika recoiled immediately, not from fear, but from horror. The thing in front of her bore the face of her eldest brother but the calm, stoic expression she knew was gone. Instead the face leered and drooled mindlessly, the mouth laughing and speaking such obscenities of her that she almost wept to hear. Into the darkness she stepped again, fleeing from the monstrosity and ran and ran until her churning legs collapsed and she screamed herself awake in the brightness of her own room.
Sobbing frantically, she struggled out of bed and crumpled into the pool of sunlight coming through her window, curling into herself.
"Little one..."
Mika jerked up and looked around wildly before focusing on the speaker. A massive gray wolf rose from where it had been sitting by her bedside, its yellow eyes holding her motionless as she stared into them. It came close to her and gently licked her forehead. She smelled the earthy scent of the forest, sunlight and something sweet. Warmth radiated from her forehead straight down to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Her chakra began to pulse slowly and to radiate outward in a soft white glow. After a moment the glow faded, but the warmth remained tingling through her chakra.
"What was that?" she asked breathlessly. "And who are you?"
"Come now, you really cannot recognize your teacher?" The wolf disappeared and in its place stood Commander Minoru.
"Commander!" yelped Mika, scrambling to her feet. "Er." She stared at him in puzzlement. "What are you doing here?"
"To pass on something to you, Sophia." He stretched and sat down in the sun.
"I have a new name Commander," she reminded him.
"I like your old one better. It reminds me of other times. Sit down in front of me. I have something to tell you."
Mika stepped around and sat cross legged in front of the Commander. She gestured expansively. "I'm all ears. People seem to be leaving things to me right and left. I wonder who will be the one to take everything back?"
"That depends on who you choose it to be. Now, hold that tongue of yours until I tell you. After this you will learn patience and maybe you will make that brother of yours proud."
Mika stiffened and narrowed her eyes at him. "Leave Itachi out of this."
The Commander threw back his head and laughed. "Really?" He sprang and in an instant Mika found herself face down on the warm boards with the Commander's knee in her back and his hand pressing on her head.
"Child, you will listen to what I tell you and then you will accept this legacy," he whispered in her ear.
"Without its power Sophia, your brother and twin will not die, they will be enslaved instead. And you do not want to know what enslavement to the fallen one is like. So learn some wisdom, and be silent."
He released her and settled back. "Get up when you are ready to listen to me properly."
Minutes ticked by and Mika remained face down. The Commander waited. Finally, Mika pushed herself up slowly.
"It's not fair," she whispered. She rocked back on her heels and stared at the floor. "If any of you so much as breathe in their direction I'll kill you." She turned to face him. "Commander," her voice burned like ice. "What did that dream mean? It wasn't from the Shinigami, was it?"
"What did you see?"
"I was strong, people were running from me. But the last person I encountered was some kind of monster with Itachi's face."
"It wasn't from the Shinigami, but dreams are not often to be taken lightly. Especially by those who have been touched by gods. Keep it in mind and perhaps you will find out its meaning." He stared at her, yellow eyes cold and steady. She matched his gaze, cold fury keeping her focused.
"You were about to tell me something Commander. Please, go on."
The Commander smiled. "You know I am one of the Ōkami, the demi-gods of the mountains. Yet we too have a summoning contract. I am its holder. Now I wish to pass that on to you."