Chapter 1: The Joke of the Uchiha Part II

“Who the hell do you think you are? Calling Sakura-chan hopeless.” The dog in his shirt barked in agreement.

The wall or rather the boy in front of me looked pissed. He had red marks on his cheeks and a scar across his nose. He wasn’t Kiba, but I was sure he was a part of the Inuzuka clan with his grey-colored… dog? It looked like a wolf to me.

“Ah, it’s you Kai.” Sakura said, recovering from earlier defeat.

“Hey Sakura-chan.” His blue eyes softened when he spoke to her.

I took the liberty to whisper to Ino. “Do you know this guy?”

“No clue.” Ino shrugged. “I’ve seen him come by the flower shop a few times though.”

“Let me guess to buy sakuras?”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, he does only leave with those.”

Well, that explained why he kept giving me the stink eye. But that didn’t explain why Sakura was running her hands through her hair all giddy-like. “Doesn’t she like Sasuke?”

“A girl can have more than one crush, you know.” Ino looked at me as if it was obvious. I mean, it made sense. I didn’t only like Ino, but I figured for those two, it was only Sasuke on their mind. Then I noticed Ino was still staring at me. I checked behind me and… nope, no Sasuke in sight. I turned back, and Ino was staring at Sakura and this Kai guy.

A crowd started forming around them. Which made sense; judging by his headband, Kai was already a Genin. We all aspired to become one, so that just made him look cool. But what ended up being the attention grabber was the conversation they were having… A flirtation one with an Academy student.

“Sorry Kai… I still need time to think about it.” Sakura swayed, and her cheeks were flushed. “I think you’re cool, but you’re also a Genin.”

“I’m only a year ahead of you.” Kai said. Then a bark came from his dog. “See, even Kabura thinks it’s fine.”

“Yeah, but what do you even see in a girl like me.” Sakura then added in a whisper. “Not even Sasuke seems to notice me.”

“Tch. That Uchiha kid…” Kai glared at me, and his dog jumped out of his shirt, lunging at me.

I sidestepped its fangs. Some Genin. Can’t even control his own emotions. The wolf-like dog Kabura continued to growl at me as I stared it down. I heard a whistle, and it calmed down.

“Wow. Nice reactions, Uchiha brat. You must think you’re so cool.” Kai walked past Sakura ignoring her plea. Since if he listened to her, he would have known I wasn’t Sasuke.

“Actually, I don’t think I am. I know I’m cool.” I blew the jutted strand of my hair out of my eye, trying to look cool. “But I wish the same could be said for you. Getting rejected by an Academy girl when you’re a Genin. Sheesh. Maybe you should train more.” My smile grew wide when I heard the Oooos from the students. “I could give you a few pointers. If you want.”

Ino looked at me with a face palm. “What are you doing? This is why no one thinks you’re an Uchiha.”

“You should listen to your girlfriend over there. Aren’t pure bred Uchiha supposed be above the masses? Not caring what others think.” Kai sneered.

“He wishes. I’m more of a Sasuke kind of gal. Which is also who Sakura likes, so you can buzz off now.” Ino spoke to him in my defense.

It even calmed him down, and he looked to have been prepared to apologize for his rashness. But I wanted to lose control at least this once. I’m used to being compared to Sasuke from time to time, but to forsake me of even being an Uchiha. To consider me a joke. I just wanted to show them for at least one second what made me an Uchiha.

“Listen man.” Kai let out a heavy breath. He bowed his head and continued. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you weren’t–”

“Imagine trying to apologize after you tried to bite my head off. Literally. That must be why we didn’t allow stains like you in our clan. No class at all.” I stuck my hands in my pockets and stepped away from Ino who gave me a look of pure disgust as if I was the jerk in the situation. I have to apologize to her later. But for now.

The class grew quiet as they heard a growl. It didn’t come from the dog but rather Kai himself. “How did you know?” Kai growled. His nails grew into claws, and there was a glint of red that shouldn’t have come from his blue eyes.

“Easy. Only a mutt like yourself would use the word pure bred.” I said, preparing for him to lunge at me.

I had wires of kunai in my pockets. I already chose the water-tagged set the moment I bumped into him. I would limit his movements first and, in that hesitation, I’d electrify the kunai with my shocking grasp technique. That’ll show him what it’s like to pick a fight with a real Uchiha.

I closed my eyes, listening to my heartbeat slow, and I heard him roar. My eyes opened, showing off my two Tomoe Sharingan. It made everything feel as if it moved in slow motion. Kai hesitated as expected. No one expected a joke like me to have a Sharingan, and a mutt like him probably didn’t expect me to be at stage two already. I smiled and snapped my hands out of my pockets, the kunai already limiting his movement. His eyes widened as he noticed the tags.

“Checkma–”

“Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!”

She came from outside my field of vision. I just took all sixteen blows to my body. I fell forward, but I never felt the hard surface of the ground. Instead, I heard a voice.

“To think you would try something like that even against your own.” The last thing I saw was her face. Her eyes in specific. A red shade in one and a white shade in the other. I let out a low laugh as I lost consciousness. Of course, she’s here to stop me…

2

I woke up inside the academy’s nurse office. My body was slightly numb, but other than that I could move just fine. I went to stand up and immediately fell. Only to be caught by one of my classmates. She had short black hair with a blue streak in it. I recognized her immediately as the person who knocked me out.

“Sui Hyūga…” I immediately put on my best smile. “You look as beautiful as ever.”

“And that’s why people call you the Joke of the Uchiha.” She stared at me with that white Hyūga eye of hers. She was the only person besides me and Sasuke that I actually expected to amount to anything as a ninja.

“You say that, but you could have let me fall. Twice now.” I added, enjoying the blush I gave her.

“And I wonder why you were falling in the first place. Is that because you were going to kill a fellow ninja and possibly harm your class?”

“Sorry.” I turned away from her realizing that I had forgotten about my class. I sighed and put back on my joking smile. “Though I’m not a shinobi just yet. I still have to graduate.” I reminded her. Using the same line, Sasuke gave me and received the same look I gave him.

“Really? I’m sure you can make a simple clone even with your chakra points still recovering.” Sui said, sitting me back down on the bed. We sat next to each other in silence before she decided to say what was on both of our minds. “So, what happened there?”

“Shouldn’t there be a hot nurse taking care of me or something?”

“You’re dodging the question.”

“Are you an ANBU? I don’t have to answer that.” I tried to stand again, only to wobble back down. Stupid gentle fist.

“We shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. Squadmates need to trust one another.” Sui stared into my dark eyes, and I could only look away. I didn’t like how I could see my reflection in her one eye.

“You say that as if it’s already been decided.” I said refusing to look at her.

“That’s because it is.” The bed shifted, and I could hear a bit of sadness come from her. “Danzō was talking to my father about keeping an eye on the Uchiha outside of the academy.”

“Oh, and you half breeds aren’t on his radar.” I stopped and bit my tongue. I said something I shouldn’t have. Damn it. That’s what I get for losing control.

“So, that’s what happened.”

I had fallen right into her trap. She had a taste of the bile I had for them: the half-Uchiha. There was surprisingly a good bit of them hanging around the Leaf Village. They were kicked out of the clan the moment they chose to marry someone who wasn’t an Uchiha. They barely even had the Sharingan due to the exchange. That was the price they paid for not being a full Uchiha, and yet they’re the ones who still lived. I guessed that masked bastard and Itachi only wanted to drive the pureblood Uchiha into extinction.

“Well, no matter. I figured as much when I saw that look in your eyes. You hate me, don’t you?” Sui didn’t look sad. In fact, she almost seemed relieved.

She was right of course, but only partially. I didn’t hate her, how could I, she was my best friend. I trusted her with my life even though I knew she was there to keep an eye on me. My personal shadow to make sure I stayed in line. I only hated the fact that her eyes made me feel… weird, like I was wrong. It was something I couldn’t explain. Not right now at least.

“I don’t hate you. How could I? We grew up together. If your eyes changed that, then I wouldn’t find you attractive.” I started to laugh pointing at the eye patch covering her Sharingan eye. “Especially with the pirate look.”

Everything I said was the truth. Though, even if I did hate her, which was a big if. It was still better to have her on my good side since she knew about my chakra natures. And besides, I needed help if I wanted to get stronger… Tch. I guess I wasn’t too different from Ino.

“Really…” Sui held onto the side of my face with a bandaged hand. Our eyes locked. Her right eye was almost opaque, something all the Hyūga had. While her left eye was covered by an eye patch. She stared at me, studying me as she always did. “You really are the Joke of the Uchiha clan.”

I knew what she meant, and I could only watch as she pulled her hand away from my cheek and stood up.

“The nurse said when you wake up, you should be good enough to go to class.” Not with my legs like jelly, I can. She had her back turned as she opened the curtains. The school infirmary was empty. Then she looked back to me with an outstretched hand. “With the help from a friend, of course.”

I gladly took it. If what she said was true, then we would be on the same squad. Danzō loved to pull strings from what she told me. Most likely, she was the one who would keep an eye on me within the team. I leaned on her for support just like I had in the past. Sasuke just wasn’t good at that sort of thing.

“You ready to go Yuki?” Sui asked once I got comfortable.

“I’m always ready if I’m in the hands of a pretty girl.” I said, swooning.

“Geez, when are you going to stop with that.” She looked away from me, but she didn’t let go. She was a bit of a joke herself, it seemed.

“I’ll stop when I finally get a girlfriend.”

“Then the world is doomed.”

We laughed our way out of the nurse’s office and right to class, forgetting our position in the world. No, pretending to forget who we are for it to one day reveal itself. For us to one day, choose who we are. That was the only outcome we had. Since we chose the easier option just to be happy.