Chapter 2.1- One thousand Hands

XXXXX- 12 YEARS BEFORE THE SECOND GREAT SHINOBI WAR- UCHIHA UZUME

She resisted the urge to look behind her again to catch a glimpse of him. Long black hair that reached his shoulders and a warm smile that made it look like he had no worries in the world. She already hated him. He was the reason she was here. The youngest of the Uchiha Clan head’s four children, and the only one that would be expected to waste her time attending an academy to be taught by people unworthy to even clean her father’s boots. She’d be the first Uchiha from the main family to enrol in this shinobi academy, and it was that bastard’s fault.

She heard his laughter come from behind her. Loud, and easy as he entertained a group of civilians, asking about their lives and telling jokes. The joke hadn’t even been funny, she thought to herself as the civilian born joined him in his loud laughter. She’d expected to be the first one here after arriving almost thirty minutes early- all so she could secure a seat at the back where she wouldn’t be disturbed. Shockingly, she’d come in and found the classroom filled to the brim already. Most of them already knew each other, talking and trading information with ease. The opening ceremony, she suspected. She’d missed the event a day earlier, wanting to deny the reality for as long as she could.

“So what did you do next?” She heard him ask the Inuzuka from across the room, intruding into the conversation the dog boy had been having with the Nara girl next to him. She expected the Inuzuka to put him in his place- tell him to butt off and mind his business. Of course, her expectations weren’t met. The Inuzuka turned back with a wide smile on his face and began projecting his voice to tell the story of him sneaking into the kennels and meeting his companion to the whole class.

“So Haimaru, Mom’s nankeen was sleeping but his mate wasn’t. And she was pissed to see me…” She tuned him out and began to go through her memories to find something to occupy her. She absently noted that she would have to come along with a scroll or something to read tomorrow. She thought of all the things she could have been doing with her time instead of this. She could be working on her great fireball jutsu. Father said she was coming along faster than any of her brothers had managed to. She could be the youngest to perfect the jutsu since Madara himself if things went well enough. At least, that was what she’d thought. Having to spend half her day here would be one hell of a time drain. Almost like the Universe was taking pity on her and deciding to be merciful, she heard a sudden ringing from the outside. A bell?

With that cue, a man body flickered into the room. The light green vest around his upper body marked him as a Chunin.

“Good morning” He said to the shocked class, only getting replied by the Senju boy who practically sang his reply. Bastard.

“Welcome to the Ninja Academy. I am Uraraka Kichizune, Chunin of Konohagakure. You will refer to me as Uraraka-sensei.” He said.

XXXXX

She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost jolted if she didn’t hear his voice immediately after.

“Want to go out for lunch with us, Uchiha-san? I have extra” he said, looking down on her with those black eyes of his. He looked like a puppy. Like the one the Inuzuka boy had on top his head right now.

“No. Stay away from me” She said, swiping his hand off her shoulder with a negligent flick of her own. Part of her delighted in the way his smile died. But it was a temporary feeling as by the time he looked back up, the smile was back and as bright as ever.

“Let’s go guys” He said to the rest of the class as they followed him down. Not the whole class, it turned out as she looked up to see someone standing in front of her desk.

“What are you doing?” He asked her, staring down at her with eyes that she knew mirrored hers. No one in their generation had inherited the Uchiha looks as strongly as the both of them had.

“What does it look like? Sitting down to eat lunch, Cousin” She said, looking at him like he was stupid. Sometimes, Izuku was actually stupid.

“Why were you so rude to Senju-san? Your father sent us here to make friends and allies, not alienate the entire class in one day” She scowled at the reminder.

“We’re not here to make friends with the Senju, though. Father couldn’t care less about the Senju. He sent us here to befriend the other clans. Remind them that we were just as involved in Konoha’s founding as the damn Senju”

“And do you think being rude to the Senju, the one they all see as their friend, would make that any easier?” 
“Get out” She snapped finally, turning to her lunch and resolving to ignore him completely. She heard his footsteps as he made to leave the classroom, leaving her behind.

She hated it here, she decided finally. She hated the damn Senju, and the Inuzuka, and all of them and Uraraka-sensei and even stupid Izuku”

XXXXXX

“How was the academy?” He asked as she wasted no time in barrelling towards him like a rocket. She didn’t bother noticing the rest of her classmates being picked up by parents or siblings, or even Senju being escorted away by a Servant. She didn’t care about the rest of them. She had her brother here with her.

“Terrible, Tenjin. I hate it there” She said, wasting no time in beginning to make her case for never returning.

“Really? Why? It’s just the first day.” He said, sounding taken aback.

“They don’t like me. None of them. Senju has them all wrapped around his fingers”

“And that’s why you want to leave?”

“Are you saying it’s not a good reason?”
“I’ll let you discuss that with father. Instead, how do you feel about going to get some dango and then kunai shopping. I think we can get you your own set since you’ll need one at the academy”

Her bad mood wiped away instantly, like clouds chased away by the sun as her brother reached down to pick her up and then plop her on his shoulders.

She laughed as they began to cover the distance to the dango shop in a leisurely walk that made the wind blow across her hair.

XXXXXX

She almost slammed her head against the table at hearing that particular voice as they walked into the weapon’s shop.

“That bow, Uncle” She heard him say right as they entered. They didn’t turn around to look at them as she walked in with her brother but she could make out that cloak and hair anywhere. It was the Second hokage, and with him her hated nemesis. Senju Shorirama.

They were both looking at a highly ostentatious bow. Beautiful, but much too showy for her tastes. Of course it would be the kind of thing Senju would like. It was made of gleaming wood. Rarer than the wood on any of the hundreds of trees within the village, definitely. Like every other bow, it was a curved piece of wood with a string tied to either side. The wood was a deep black. If Hachiman was here, he’d identify the species of tree that gave the wood, and even its age and when the wood was harvested with just a single look.

“Made of Ebony, Young Senju-sama. It is a good choice” The store attendant said, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious sales tactic. Surprisingly, Senju didn’t appear to be fooled by that.

“It is beautiful, I agree. But perhaps something simpler would be a better choice for the time being. You are to be a shinobi, after all” The Hokage said, addressing his Grandnephew.

To Uzume’s surprise, the undoubtedly spoiled brat actually listened to the Hokage’s wisdom and they moved on to search for a different bow. She wondered what they were even looking at bows for. He wasn’t going to be a samurai. He was going to be a shinobi. Shinobi don’t use bows, she said to herself.

Everyone knew that. Even the weakest of her genin cousins could throw a kunai faster than the most skilled Samurai could shoot an arrow. They could probably throw it with more force than the arrow, she added.

“Let’s go get your kunai” Her brother said to her, pulling on her hand to take her deeper into the shop.

The last thing she heard from the Senju duo was “ I’m an adult now, yunno?” from the younger one as his Uncle began making other suggestions than a bow of all things.

A/N; Yeah, that’s it for today.