The Little Uchiha - A Naruto Quest

The faces of the greatest sons of the Land of Fire stare down at you with judging eyes.

What will you do, Uchiha Hibiki? When the time comes, what will you choose?

Will you willingly die for the village, sacrificing yourself for the happiness of others? Will you die for your loved ones, your family? Or will you survive, to live to fight another day?

You close your eyes to think, but deep down, you already know the answer.

Family.

You are a young boy, a child. To you, your family is your world, the thing which you hold closest to heart. You love your clan and all that it stands for; you're proud of being a bearer of the Uchiha name.

Yes...

If you ever have to sacrifice yourself, you will do it...for your family.

---

5. Mystery​

---

Your sister has shared the word of your natural talent in the art of kunaijutsu with her trainers, and it has reached the ears of the elders of the clan.

They have expressed their wish to see you for themselves; so here you are now, being stuffed into formal wear.

"Stop squirming so much, Hibiki," mumbles your sister as she fiddles with the sash tying your kimono together. Tying a knot is an esoteric art you cannot comprehend, no matter what. Your sister tries to teach you with her 'rabbit goes around the tree and into the hole' analogy, but the words completely fly over your head.

You fidget as your sister brushes your hair with long strokes.

"Nee-chan, your own hair is like a crow's nest! Why do I need to brush mine...auww!"

Hikari bullies you into silence with some liberal cheek pulling.

And then, you're done.

Spoiler

Err...ignore the cat ears...

Your big sister again has that flushed look on her face as she looks you over. Summer in the Land of Fire could get particularly hot, and you suppose today is warm enough to affect your heat-sensitive sister.

"Are you feeling alright, Hikari-nee?" you ask while pressing a hand to her red cheeks. They're rather warm...

"Y-yes!" she yelps out. "Let's go, you gotta meet an elder!"

《~》

You try not to fidget nervously as your great-grandmother holds your chin in her bony grasp, peering into your eyes with her own.

"Hmm. You have good eyes, boyo," she rasps. "I think you're ready."

You nod politely, but internally you think that looking into someones eyes is a weird method of determining their readiness for learning the ninja arts.

That, and the fact that elder Shigure, your great-grandma, looks ready to keel over any moment.

Most Uchiha children begin their training at the age of five and you aren't too far off from that. So, you've been slotted to join a few of your slightly older cousins in their daily instructions.

Roll: 1, 9

Your first lessons are in manipulating chakra.

It is the lifeblood of shinobi, allowing all the incredible feats they are capable of. Chakra manipulation must be started young as the pathways close with disuse as a child grows older. Too young however, and there's the risk of damaging the child's chakra pathways.

The Uchiha are an ancient clan of ninja with a history long enough to be traced back to the age of myth. Over centuries of trial and error, your clan has perfected the method of training their children- and the adequate age for learning to mold chakra was determined to be around five.

The training room is a dojo of sorts with polished wooden floorboards and practice mats. Including you, there are seven Uchiha children here- all cleared for training by one Uchiha elder or another.

You struggle in the first few days.

Your instructor asks you all to meditate, to find and tug on that warm feeling, but they might as well have been empty words to you. Whenever you attempt to reach that higher state of mind, you find yourself falling asleep...

*thwack*

"Ow!"

"Don't fall asleep, Hibiki. Concentrate."

That was easier said than done, but you remain silent and return to your attempts at using your innate power.

Your instructor, Uchiha Ayano, is a fearsome lady with a lethal paper-fan she does not hesitate to use.

On your fourth day of training however, Ayano-sensei grows bored and leaves you to your own devices in the training room. Your fellow disciples are all attempting to meditate and failing, twitching every once in a while.

Since the fan lady isn't here, you do the only plausible thing.

You take a nap.

Your eyes are closed. You relax, listening to your own deep breath.

And then, just before falling beyond that line seperating reality and dreams...

You feel it.

It is a pond, or perhaps a stream, you think at first. Its sound is blocked out by the rushing of blood through your veins. The stream runs faintly beneath the roaring tide of blood, flowing throughout your body and eventually pooling somewhere.

Somewhere in the depths of your gut.

Behind your navel, if you're being precise.

You grab hold of it, and pull.

"Whoa..."

You can feel it. No, you think you can almost hear it now- a faint thrum in sync with the beat of your heart. It's running through your whole body in larger quantities, rushing out like the waters of an opened dam.

The tingling rush makes you feel like you can do anything.

Chakra, you think. This is chakra.

~

Your progress shoots through the roof in the next few days.

By the end of the week, you are capable of making your chakra move around in your body according to your will. Ayano-sensei accompanies you on your visit to your sponsoring elder after that.

"Certainly not too unprecedented," says great-grandma Shigure, taking a long whiff of her smoking pipe. "But promising. Very promising."

She laughs at you with a creepy look on her face, but you valiantly succeed in not scrambling away in fear.

The Uchiha elder turns to Ayano-sensei, who had knelt primly on the tatami mat beside you. She speaks a simple command after blowing out a trail of smoke. It twists and turns in the air, coiling around in the shape of a dragon.

"Continue his training."

---

You have some downtime today. It has been a week since you've begun your training.

You are wandering through the streets of the Uchiha heavy part of Southern Konoha, when you first notice the commotion. It is near the largest house in this part of town; the home of the Uchiha clan head.

Being the curious child you are, you near the throng of hushed whispers and grunts. You neatly maneuver through the gaps between the feet of about a dozen members of the military police, to see what was happening.

Lord Fugaku stands imperiously at the gates of his home, dressed in the distinctive flak jacket of the commander of the military police. He must've just returned from duty, since it was around afternoon.

Infront of him, there is a boy. No, a teenager.

He is kneeling, head bowed, but that is not what draws your attention. You observe the shock of grey hair rising upwards and the odd cloth mask that covers half his face. No, even more; only one eye is visible.

You remember this description of grey hair and face masks from somewhere. It's at the tip of your tongue, but unwilling to come out any further.

There is another man beside the teen whom you guess to be a jounin from the heavy flak jacket he wears. Golden haired and blue eyed- a Yamanaka perhaps? Your big sister often gives you inpromptu lessons on Konoha's other clans when she talks about her classmates at the academy, and you remember the description of the Yamanaka being light haired and azure eyed.

"...it was his last wish..."

"...cannot allow..."

You frown as you hear a few snippets of the conversation. It sounds serious, but you cannot make sense out of the few words you hear.

"Come inside," Lord Fugaku finally says, perhaps mindful of the growing crowd. "This is a grave matter I cannot decide upon without further discussion."

They go inside the clan head's house, probably to talk it out further.

"What were they talking about?" you ask a military police officer near you.

Rolled 32; DC 40
Failure.

He blinks, unsure of what to say. Then he runs a hand across his face and sighs.

"Look kid, you don't wanna hear this," he says kindly, if not a bit sternly. His expression softens a bit, "Hibiki, right? Shin and Mio's son?"

"Yeah," you reply.

He looks sad for a moment, as he gazes at the closed doors of Lord Fugaku's home. The windows are too far away to look into, and the blinds are all drawn shut anyway.

You squint. Is that one window slightly open?

"Listen...you'll eventually learn about the matter sooner or later. For now," he says while ruffling your hair, "It's best if you don't hear this."

What do you do?

[ ] Insist. Come on, tell me, pwease? *teary eyes*

[ ] Find someone else to ask. There are others around who must've heard...

[ ] Go home. Eh, you guess it can wait.

[ ] Snoop around. You see a few Uchiha talking in hushed whispers, though slowly rising in volume. You could try listening in?

[ ] Sneak around the dragon's den. Sneak up to the window and try to listen in from there...

---

Chakra Control - Dreadful (0/10) → Worthless (0/50)

Your great grandmother is Uchiha Shigure, a clan elder.

Your father and mother are Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Mio. Currently out fighting in the war.

 

"Listen, you'll eventually learn about the matter sooner or later. For now," he says while ruffling your hair, "It's best if you don't hear this."

Roll 37 + 10; Pass

You stare at him, lips trembling and eyes threatening to burst into waterworks any moment.

"Come on, don't look at me like that!" the officer says in an exasperated tone. He glances in the direction of the clan head's house once more, and then sighs.

"That was Hatake Kakashi and Namikaze Minato," he says after a pause.

Kakashi? That Jerk Kakashi? Isn't he-

"Obito's teammate, that boy."

"Where's Obito nii-san then?" you ask.

The man grimaces, and you have a sudden feeling that you're not gonna like what comes next.

"Obito's dead, kid."

Huh.

No. No way...that can't be right?

"Died saving the Hatake boy on their mission."

Obito nii-san can't be dead! You refuse to believe it. Obito must be in his house, resting...or maybe he's hard at work in the training grounds. He isn't dead. He can't be dead.

"He also apparently gave one of his newly awakened sharingan to the Hatake," the officer says with distaste. "Lying bloodline stealing scum. He won't get away with this..."

He says a few more things, but you don't listen.

You are already running...

Running to Obito nii-san's house.

He'll be there, won't he? He'll be there with a smile on his face, and then he'll pull out an ice cream cone for you from hs fridge...

You reach the apartment building Obito lives in and scramble up the stairs to the first floor. You dig out the spare key from the flowerpot beside the door with nary a thought, and jam it in in.

The door swings open at your push.

And there's no one inside. It is a small apartment, and you've been here enough times to know the layout. No shoes at the entrance, no orange goggles on the nightstand in the lone bedroom.

There are a bunch of nightclothes scattered on the ground- probably how he left them before leaving on his mission.

You turn to the window, open it, and jump.

A week ago you would've probably broken your legs or maybe even die, but you've come a long way since then. You subconsciously pull on your chakra and perfect the landing, before setting off to the one other place Obito could be found.

The training grounds.

The second Uchiha training ground was used by genin and chunin; that's where Obito trained. There are no guards at the gate to stop you.

You rush in.

And there is no one within.

You roam the place, careful not to step on any piece of stray metal. You look left and right, checking behind every tree and bush.

Empty.

---

The Naka river runs through the grounds. You are walking along its bank, when you catch something in the corner of your eyes.

"Obito nii-san?"

The dark hair and coal grey eyes gives you hope for a moment, but no, the person is too young.

It is only your reflection on the waters of the river.

Obito...

He's really dead, isn't he.

You take a seat at that spot, holding your face in your hands. Wetness rubs at your palms, but you keep hiding yourself from the world.

You're crying.

Must be the dust in the air. Obito nii-san never cries after all!

Your cousin is dead.

"Then let's make a promise, Hibiki...
We'll make the Uchiha great, or die trying, okay?"

Obito nii-san had died trying...

Roll 66
Limit reached.

Your eyes burn, a steadily rising pressure beneath your closed eyelids. You open them, and stare at your reflection in the river.

Your eyes are red.

Not from your tears, but something else. Your irides are a glowing crimson, and you realise what you're looking at when you feel the drain on your chakra reserves.

Sharingan.

It is the true manifestation of the Uchiha bloodline. The mirror eyes, the heavenly eyes that see the truth of the world- there are many such distinctions for the revered eyes you now possess.

You know the real worth of the sharingan.

It is nothing more than a tool. Your cousin is dead, as he had no idea how to use it.

Obito had awakened his sharingan, but it didn't help him stay alive. It is a weapon in the same way a kunai or a sword is; deadly in the right hands, but worthless to one who does not know how to use it. A weapon does not make a man truly powerful; it's the other way around.

The sharp clarity of the world around you fades away as you force your eyes to return to normal, cutting off the flow of chakra through your occular pathways. You then trudge home- weary, but determined.

Obito is dead, but you're still alive. You'll hold up your end of the promise.

You'll make the Uchiha great...

---

Obito's funeral was held a day later near the hero memorial.

You see his sensei, the blonde man giving some sort of speech, but the words slide around your ears. You couldn't care less about him. He didn't even bring back a body to bury; Obito's corpse is now rotting somewhere in the depths of Grass country.

Lord Fugaku stands near the blonde man. He was dressed in the traditional haori of the leader of the Uchiha clan over his funeral kimono; his expression cool and betraying nothing.

The thief, Hatake Kakashi is also present. He stands to another side with some of Obito's friends from the academy, clearly aware of the glares sent his way by more than a few of the Uchiha.

You don't know how, but he and his sensei somehow convinced Lord Fugaku to let him keep Obito's sharingan. The injustice of it makes you clench your fists tightly, but you can't help but wonder how it looks...

Your sister draws you close to her side and grabs hold of one of your hands with her own.

"Are you alright, Hibiki?" Hikari asks softly. You say nothing, but you grasp her hand a bit more tightly.

The funeral is nearly over. What do you do?

[ ] Walk up to Hatake Kakashi and ask to see Obito's eye

[ ] Ask the blonde man why he didn't bring back Obito's body

[ ] Ask Lord Fugaku why he allowed the thief to keep Obito's eye

[ ] Just...go home

---

You have 10 exp to spend for the next month.

[ ] Chakra Control - Worthless (0/50)

[ ] Taijutsu - Dreadful (0/10)

[ ] Kunai Throwing - Worthless (0/50)

[ ] Running - Dreadful (0/10)

[ ] Ninjutsu - Dreadful (0/10)

Vote for exp in plan format. For example:

[ ] Plan Example
-[ ] Chakra Control - 3
-[ ] Taijutsu - 3
-[ ] Ninjutsu - 4

---

Trait discovered: Adorable Child. Adds +10 modifier to persuasion checks.

Bloodline awakened: Sharingan (single tomoe)

+1 exp to Chakra Control. Someone roll a 1d10.