Chapter 7: Turning Point Part I and II

A/N: Heyo! (￣▽￣)/ T.K.月狐 here. I’ll get straight to the point besides the new Team 9 artwork being completed by @ 64027_43. You can check it out on my Tumblr or Twitter @Aldogg9951.

I’m mostly here for this chapter’s Trigger Warning. I don’t typically do Trigger Warnings as I grew up without them, but I know it’s helpful to some so this is the warning. I’m not going to say what it is or where you’ll find it in the 5 parts that is chapter 7. Since I could easily be making a big deal out of nothing. Though if you’ve ever read Mushoku Tensei then you may understand what I mean by Turning Point.

Other than that, enjoy the story and be happy knowing we’re at the halfway mark of what I planned to be in volume 1 of Yuki’s tale. Fingers crossed this actually ends with 80k words and not more. ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ=3=3=3

Chapter 7: Turning Point Part I

Eyes open, I saw a hand reach out for me. It was covered in a black sleeve. He's here! The world slowed around me. I rolled out of the way doing the hand signs as I came back around. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

"Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall Jutsu!" The floorboards jetted out, creating a wall that absorbed the fire blast.

"Tayuya! Sui! Get up! We're under… attack?" I noticed they were already up thanks to two other ninjas in black cloaks. Judging by their animal masks, they were ANBU.

"Literal. Uchiha. Garbage." Tayuya said, walking out of the room.

"Why the hell… Did you call out her name first?" Sui spoke in a cold voice behind me.

Alright, I'm fucked if I don't say something smart. I turned, and Sui had her Byakugan active. I took a deep breath. "Well, I knew you'd be ok since you're good at close quarters. While Tayuya, however strong, isn't that good at close range. She needs set up." I tried to appeal to her logical side, which should trump her emotions, but I wasn't sure with her Byakugan seeing through me. Literally.

"Fine. You make a good point, but you're starting the day on thin ice. Ok." She relaxed her eye and stepped outside with her toothbrush.

"Phew! That was a close one… Why are you all staring at me?"

The three ANBU surrounded me. They each had a cat mask, but they were colored differently. A red striped one, A blue striped one, and a green striped one. The blue one looked particularly pissed with his killing intent out in the open.

"Were you trying to burn down the Hokage's home?" The Blue masked ANBU said, getting in my face. He clicked his tongue once our eyes met. "Of course, it's the Uchiha brat that causes trouble."

The way he stared into my eyes disgusted me. Should I try it? I only watched Sui do it once, but I didn't know if it would work. No, he's obviously baiting me. His plain brown eyes gave it away.

"Stand down Kou." The Green one put his hand on Kou's shoulder. He was the one who stopped my fireball with his wood release. I thought the First Hokage was the only one who could use it? Interesting.

Kou pushed past the Green one and spoke in a low voice, but they should do a better job if they didn't want a ninja to eavesdrop. "Of course, you would protect an Uchiha. Just like Kakashi." He then disappeared.

"Damn it Kou." The Red one walked up to the Green one. "Permission to leave Tenzō, sir?"

"Go. It's my fault for bringing him when I knew of his disagreements."

"Don't feel too bad. You have big shoes to fill." The red cat masked ANBU disappeared, and Tenzō looked a little down after that, so I decided to chime in.

"I guess it's tough being a leader no matter who you are."

"Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Girls take forever in the bathroom." I said, shrugging my shoulders. Yukino used to take her sweet time in the morning where she sometimes made me late to school.

"There's more than enough rooms for the three of you."

"Sheesh, someone's adamant."

"My orders were to wake you up for training. I did that, and now I'm leaving." Tenzō ignored every attempt I made to strike a conversation and headed for the window. "Also. Tell the rest of Team 9 that if I have to fix the house again. I'll personally advocate for you three to be demoted back to the academy." With that, he disappeared.

Geez, he doesn't even care to know why I attacked him. I noticed that the room was spotless, like even our sheets were folded up neatly. The ANBU were smooth. Even with the bickering, they still did their job... Eh. I still like Kai's team more. Way less serious.

Chapter 7: Turning Point Part II

After finishing my morning routine, the three of us arrived at the Third Training Ground half asleep. I let out a loud yawn, as did Sui while Tayuya seemed to have slept like a baby. I wonder why.

"What's wrong? Not enough sleep?" Hiruzen-sensei said, standing in front of us with a river to his back. There was barely any light in the sky, so of course, Sui and I didn't get enough sleep. "I told you we'd be training in the morning."

"You never gave us a time old man—"

I was immediately struck down by a fist. It was strange. I didn't sense a presence nearby. I got up, holding onto my head as the other two looked at the figure, surprised. It was the size of a grown man with long white fur and brown skin. It was obviously a monkey, but it wore tiger-coated ninja gear and had the Leaf Village's head protector on.

"Did I just get hit by a monkey—"

The monkey ninja took another swing at me. I sidestepped the playful blow. Yet when the ground trembled, I wasn't sure if playful was an accurate word to use. The strike had even left a handprint, cracking the ground.

"Hmph. Treat your sensei with respect next time." The monkey ninja then took its place beside Hiruzen-sensei.

"Relax Enma. Yuki is just tired. The boy stayed up late last night." Hiruzen said, petting the monkey that was twice his size.

"If these three are worthy enough of being trained by you. I expected them to be at least near the Sannin's potential." Enma then eyed us and sighed. "They seem much weaker though."

"Did I just get insulted by a monkey?" I said, still surprised.

"See, even the ape knows you're trash."

"I'm pretty sure you're included with us Tayuya." Sui said, beating me to the punch.

"What the hell! I'll skin that thing alive! Putting me in the same class as you two." Tayuya lifted her flute only to be stopped by Hiruzen-sensei's clapping.

"Good. Since you're all awake now, let's get straight to the task at hand." He put his hands together. "Earth Style: Stone Pillar Jutsu!"

A stone pillar about 3 meters tall rose from the center of the river. Hiruzen-sensei appeared atop it and hung something small off its side. "This will be your team's test. Come and get the bells before I have to go do my Hokage duties. Enma and I will try to stop you."

"A straightforward fight. Perfect for two weaklings." Tayuya seemed to be reverting back to her asshole self. Great. I had hoped she'd work with us, but now I had doubts.

"No, I doubt it's that simple." Sui held onto her chin then spoke up. "How dangerous is this? Are you going to hold back? If not, is there a chance we could die?"

I stared at her, my eyes wide. There was no way he'd kill us. Honestly, from what Danzō called him, I doubt he'd even try to harm us past a fracture or two. I leaned in close to her and spoke in a whisper. "Uh, Sui, you ok? Hiruzen-sensei is a nice old man. I mean, you saw him yesterday. He takes his time, especially with the next generation, and this is our first test."

"You can't see it, but that's a clone." Sui's Byakugan was active. "Its chakra levels are only a quarter of the real Third Hokage's."

"Good question." Hiruzen-sensei said interrupting. "You should think of us as enemy shinobi and the bells as a forbidden scroll we stole. It's your job to take it back. We can call it a B-rank mission. To help you out, I won't leave the perimeter of the pillar. So, you can fight Enma without worrying about me." Hiruzen-sensei had a smile, but I finally felt his hidden blood lust. He was seriously going to take us on.

Good. The world slowed down around me, and the chills seeped in. I was cold, but the fire in my belly only burned brighter. "Sui. Tayuya. Let's come up with a plan."

"Screw that—Hey! Let me go!" Tayuya fidgeted around on the ground as Sui had her restrained.

"Tayuya. If we're going to have a chance at beating the Third Hokage. We have to work as a team." Sui nodded at me.

We didn't have to say a word to each other to know what we wanted because Sui and I were already a team. On a grade scale, we were an S rank in cooperation. She was close-range while I was a mid-range ninja. With Tayuya being our long-range support, we rounded out perfectly, but she was a wild card. We can't have that. I took a deep breath.

"Tayuya." I crouched down in front of her.

"What! Uchiha Tra–" She stopped mid-way. I was sure she saw the smile on my face and my blood-red eyes.

"I didn't save you so you could get in the way." My voice was low and cold.

"I never asked you to! I'd rather die than be in another snake's debt—" Tayuya's face fell forward.

"How long do we have?" Sui let her go and stood up, dusting herself off.

"Well, you were in it for about ten minutes." I looked down at Tayuya's unconscious body. It was already twitching. "I've gotten better, so five minutes with her."

"Five minutes to come up with a plan." Sui stared up. The purple-red sky was beautiful, but we weren't looking for that. "That leaves us twenty minutes before sunrise."

We assumed that sunrise, or rather seven in the morning, would be when Hiruzen-sensei would fail us for not taking the bells. I sighed and relaxed my eyes. I needed to conserve chakra; using my Sharingan's Genjutsu was draining. Sui did the same, and we sat down talking. My fingers were wrapped in wires, so if Enma tried something, we'd know, but after the first minute of him not moving, we doubted he'd leave his spot.

"So Sui, what do you know about Hiruzen-sensei and the monkey."

"First, you should probably stop calling him monkey. He's literally Enma the Monkey King."

Enma nodded while he balanced himself on his tail.

Did gravity not apply to him or… that bastard heard that! "He can hear us." I whispered to Sui.

"I can still hear you."

"An eavesdropping monkey king, oh how the mighty have fallen."

Enma didn't respond, ignoring my obvious bait at agitating him. There goes plan A.

I scratched my head and leaned against Sui's shoulder. She didn't even give me a glance causing me to sigh.

"You done?" Sui said, still not paying attention to me.

"Yeah, I am." I had forgotten she put me on thin ice earlier.

"Ok, let's continue." Sui began explaining the abilities of the Monkey King Enma and Hiruzen-sensei. With that, we came up with a plan. It was a simple but effective one, even if they listened to us.

Once Tayuya was up, hopefully, she'd be on our side and willing to cooperate. Together the three of us should easily stop Enma since he can only use Adamantine Staff Jutsus. Sui can hold him off with hand to hand while we restrict his movements with our Genjutsu. Even if he closed his eyes for mine, he'd still be able to hear Tayuya's giving Sui the chance she needed to strike him down. After which, we would deal with the Third Hokage together where I can unveil my Kekkei Kanri abilities.

Like I said, it was a simple plan, but we could only make it because of the information Sui had on both the Third Hokage and Enma. I didn't ask her how she found out, but Hiruzen-sensei confirmed my suspicions when he laughed. I guess she wasn't wasting her time in the hospital.

"It seems we have a natural-born kunoichi." Hiruzen-sensei said, blowing smoke from his pipe.

"I hope she uses her gift for good and doesn't turn out like Oro—Sorry Hiruzen, I may have had," Enma thought for a moment. "A slip of the tongue."

"It's fine. Should they fail the test here, I'll take a page from Kakashi and send them back to the academy." Hiruzen-sensei stroked his goatee with a serious look.

"Wait, we'll be expelled!" I didn't like the idea of that. Putting my dreams in the hands of Tayuya…

"I can assure you that won't happen. Judging by your plan."

I knew he was listening to us talk, which made me quite happy to know he thought our plan would succeed. If only he didn't lower his hat, I'd have felt safe.

"But if it does fail, then as the Third Hokage, I will ensure your future as ninja is over."

It was like a stone dropped in my stomach, weighing me down. I knew he was serious and meant every word. Was this test that important? It was just a fight, so I didn't know what made it worthy of being a total elimination. I knew he wanted us to work as a team; that much was obvious it was the only way we'd beat them. But that was a coinflip. My plan hinged on Tayuya trusting and working with us. Without her sound-based Genjutsu, we wouldn't be able to slow them down enough for a clean hit.

"We're so screwed." I said, staring down at Tayuya as she slowly started getting up. She mumbled the words "worthless scum." Which confirmed my fears. Then I felt pain come from my face as they were being pinched.

Sui stood in front of me, pulling at my cheeks, and tapped them twice as if she was a child playing. "Stop being so mopey. Have some faith in her. She's not all too bad, you know."

"What? A bowl of ramen, and you're suddenly best friends? I said, rubbing my face. It didn't hurt that much, and it somehow cheered me up with how cute Sui could be. That's one way to pick a guy up.

"Hey, I also talked to her in the hospital before she got muzzled."

"She called you a weakling earlier."

Sui shrugged her shoulders. "That's just how she expresses herself."

"That sounds… toxic."

Sui glared at me, her eyes reminding me that I wasn't too great of a person either.

"Fine." I reactivated my Sharingan and turned to Tayuya. It was a precaution in case the plan completely backfired. "You ok?"

Tayuya seemed to be fine both mentally and physically. She even had the same stoic reaction as Sui when she came back. This was the same way that I convinced Sui to entrust me with her dreams. I walked closer when she didn't respond and reached out to her. "Tayuya—"

A kunai was placed against my throat.

Tayuya stood behind me, her face next to my ear. "There you go again, not stopping me when you clearly can. I know with those eyes of yours you can react to things like this." She pressured the blade, and blood leaked from my neck. "Hell, the overgrown gorilla moved faster than this."

"I'm a Monkey King!"

"Oh, shut up! I'm not talking to you, shit flinger."

"Tch! Kids these days no respect." Enma grumbled.

"So, Yuki. Get to talking. Why didn't you stop me? Why are you holding ba—" She was interrupted by my laughter, where soon enough, everyone else joined in. "Why are all you shits laughing!"

"Sorry… hah… You just called me Yuki." I felt the blade tighten once more, and that time it stung. I glanced at the sky. We're wasting time. "Tayuya, we can talk afterwards, but we have fifteen minutes left to beat the Third Hokage, or else we'll be sent back to the academy. I know you don't care about that but—"

"Alright, I get it." Tayuya let me go.

I held onto my neck, but no blood came from it. She knew healing techniques too. I guess the gamble paid off.

"Just know we're going to have a long chat after this. Alone."

"Sure." I scratched my head with a nervous laugh. "Sui, you ready to have our first team discussion after this… Sui?"

Sui stared at us with her Byakugan active. Which wasn't the issue; it was mainly her killing intent. Worst! I didn't know who it was directed at. The monkey, Tayuya, or me! Why does she want to kill me!

"She… doesn't want me there…" Sui's words barely escaped her clenched teeth. Her hands were covered in blue chakra as they trembled.

"Th-that can't be right. She should know how important you are—"

"Lightning Style: Lightning Cloak. 50%." Sui's body was coated in deep blue chakra. Her hair stood up, and the bandages around her hands flowed against the wind. "Yuki. New plan. I'll take care of Enma. And then." Sui gave me a sidelong glance that sent chills down my spine. "We can beat Hiruzen-sensei without Tayuya."

"Uh…" I couldn't think of anything besides the word Hot.

It was my first-time noticing Sui's earrings. A silver Uchiha fan earring on one ear and a silver Hyūga fan earring on the other. She mostly had her ears covered with her hair being, very much, a conservative girl. I had been trying to get her to wear jewelry for years. I thought she'd look good in it, and I was right. She was electrifying.

"Don't worry. I won't use it." Sui tapped onto her covered eye. "Just conserve your energy." She held out three fingers. "I'll be done in three minutes. And don't you dare! Talk to her. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I gave her a salute as I sat down. "Have I ever told you, you're hot."

"All the time." She blinked away from her spot, leaving me weak in the knees as she stood in front of Enma. He was more than twice her size, but it felt like Sui was the one staring him down.

Tayuya sat down next to me, her eyes wide. "She can do that too?"

"Ah right, I only gave you the Uchiha Massacre." I had forgotten I didn't show her the memories of me meeting Sui. She used the lighting chakra mode back then too. I think it was only 10%, though. She really had improved. While I'm stagnating...

"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to talk to her…"

"I was just thinking out loud." I called back, zipping my lips and ignoring Tayuya's attempts at starting a conversation. I had forgotten she could be a dom. Lightning Cloak Sui: 10/10 definitely a mommy in the future.