Carbon Copy Ninja (Revenge of the Paperwork Ninja)
Prologue: Fishing with Katon
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Somewhat important Author Note: Rather than following the pattern of Paperwork Ninja, Day in the Life, which is a fairly straightforward sketch of a Wednesday in Konoha, Carbon Copy Ninja tells the story of Iruka's revenge on Kakashi through a combination of reminiscing from Post-As Need Be Sasuke and First Person 'real time' Neji, Iruka, and Possibly a few other characters. Complicated, isn't it? I'm not sure if I can pull off the effect that I'm looking for, which is to tell the story of Iruka, Neji, and Sasuke's relationship while relating the story of Kakashi's bad day as seen through their eyes. I'm trying to improve myself as a writer, and any constructive comments would be appreciated. What worked, what didn't, and what I need to clarify. Thank you!
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Sasuke, remembering
We don't know each other.
That is the game that Neji and I have played for years despite, or perhaps because of, Iruka-sensei's annoyance with it. Always I was 'Cadet', then 'Rookie', and now just 'Uchiha' while he is simply 'Hyuuga.' You might think he would dislike the constant reminder of his family, but that isn't so. After all, the Head of the Family is often simply referred to as 'Hyuuga' rather than his name.
So we have our rituals of introductions and pretense. They're a joke by now, a private joke that few others understand. So when we met in the hall before our first Chuunin exam, of course he had to ask who I was. And of course I didn't tell him.
We know already.
I am the lone Uchiha whose entire clan was wiped out by my power-obsessed older brother Itachi. I have sworn an oath of vengence against him. I nearly made the worst mistake of my life in an attempt to gain power to defeat him faster; I almost killed my best friend. I was pulled back by the teacher I thought had abandoned me. Now I have something of a family, even if it is haphazard and dysfunctional.
He was the Hyuuga prodigy doomed to second place by his Clan's traditions, orphaned by his father's sacrifice for the sake of the Main house. He nearly killed his cousin once in a fit of rage, slowly destroying himself with hate and self-pity. He was brought back from the brink by the uncle he thought responsible for his father's death. Now, perhaps he will find his family, too.
Hyuuga's cold genius used to bother me. Itachi was equally exceptional and equally disillusioned by the limitations imposed on him by his clan. The similarity is disturbing when approached from this direction, but I do not fear that Hyuuga Neji will follow Itachi's example.
Iruka-sensei would kill him.
Neji, as it happened
"Oh, you're coming, Cadet-san?"
"Hn!"
Iruka-sensei didn't even pause when I joined them, leaping for the next branch with an ease I was still acquiring. "Neji, don't provoke Sasuke unless you've been learning to dodge explosive fireballs."
I gave my younger Uchiha counterpart a sharp look. He spun in the middle of the leap from one tree to the next, his typical smirk replaced with a bland expression obviously copied from Sensei's friend Genma. Only his eyes betrayed that he was pleased at the praise.
We continued eastward for many minutes before Iruka-sensei spoke, but the silence wasn't awkward; it was a companionable silence I found relaxing after the constant chatter of my new teammates. He said, "Today our lesson is fishing, Ninja style. Then a really fresh lunch, and then sparring practice if you're up for it."
"I am." I replied, quickly echoed by Cadet.
Shortly after that we arrived at out destination, a small lake formed by the confluence of three streams, all teaming with fish this time of year. It was still early in the morning, and I recalled from somewhere that sunrise and sunset are the best time of day for fishing.
Iruka-sensei dropped his pack at the edge of the water with a clank that sounded suspiciously like cooking pots. At least fresh lunch isn't going to be raw. I thought as I placed my own day pack down. Iruka-sensei had said to pack for a long day, so I had brought a few snacks and a clean set of clothes. It seemed Cadet had received the same message, as he was also dropped a small bag of gear into the pile with a clunk.
"Lecture, Demonstration, or Trial and Error?" our sensei asked, and I decided to consult Cadet before answering. We exchanged a look. A slight shifting of weight, a quirked eyebrow, and an almost imperceptible nod later and we had reached a consensus.
"Demonstration." we said together, making Iruka laugh. He always found our silent exchanges amusing, even though we had seen him do the same thing with some of his friends. Sasuke and I don't need to speak a lot to understand each other.
So we stood and watched as Iruka-sensei waded into one of the streams, his movements leaving surprisingly small ripples in his wake. I activated my Byakugan and realized that Sensei was using his chakra to calm the water around him so to not disturb the fish. He moved quietly upstream until he found a fish lazing in the shade of a bush, then eased over to the stand beside it, his hands moving smoothly through the water. He stroked the fish's belly without disturbing its gentle swimming, then in a single motion scooped the fish out of the water and onto the bank, the sudden movement startling us as much as it did the fish. The fish flopped around on the bank for several moments before Sasuke caught it. It was not a very large fish, and Sensei motioned for him to put it back in the water.
"Fish tickling." Sensei said as he stepped out of the water and sat down next to the packs. "An exercise in patience, chakra control, and precision. To make it more interesting, let's have a little contest: whoever catches the most fish decides which training ground we use for sparring."
"Area seven." Cadet said immediately, shooting me an intense look that I ignored.
"Area sixteen." I countered. Familiarity with the terrain aside, area seven is a largly open area that would suit the long-range attacks of the Cadet, while area sixteen almost guaranteed the close-combat I prefer.
"Alright. You have until I'm done with this stack." Iruka-sensei pulled out a pile of reports and his famous red pen.
"Friday's essay?" Sasuke asked, and when Sensei nodded the cadet shuddered. I remembered Sensei's written tests well and was glad to have graduated to genin rank. Even if my team was far from perfect, dealing with Lee and Gai-sensei was probably preferrable to essay tests.
We experienced many false started during the first hour or so. The fish seemed to sense our movements, and calming the water was not as easy as Sensei made it look. After a while we adjusted to the style of moving and were able to approach the fish, though tickling them onto the bank was still difficult. We'd caught perhaps a dozen fish between us, very few large enough to keep, before I realized that Byakugan was capable of detecting Fish-chakra. The chakra-based sight removed the water's displacement from the equation, my success rate improved greatly. My younger counterpart had no such advantage.
Sensei's pile of papers grew shorter, and my lead grew. Soon it was to much for the Cadet. He growled as another fish wriggled from his grasp and landed back in the water. "Isn't that cheating, Iruka-sensei? Hyuuga is using his Byakugan against the fish."
"Hmmm." Iruka looked up from his nearly completed stack of papers, "We didn't say anything about not using Jutsu, so I would say not. Perhaps you should have thought the contest all the way through before you began?"
"He is just upset because he has no useful skills to use." I said as I flipped another fish onto the bank. The young Uchiha glared, and I returned to him the bland look he'd given me earlier. Then his eyes lit up, and I had a sudden feeling of unease.
"Jutsu are allowed?" he asked Sensei, who nodded. He turned deliberately to face the pond, his hands moving into familiar forms. Horse, Tiger... My eyes widened, and Sensei abruptly stood, the beginning of a shout on his lips.
Too late.
"Fire Release! Explosion Fireball!" the academy student cried, and with a great boom the water of the lake launched itself into the air, along with many fish, turtles, frogs, lily-pads, and small rocks. A very short moment later the echo boomed off the nearby bluff, and all the birds in the area took flight, squawking and shrieking their distress.
The stunned expression on Iruka-sensei's face was almost worth the indignity of getting hit by a falling turtle. Cadet saw and started laughing, and the pure absurdity of the situation took over and we were all laughing like maniacs when curious shinobi started to appear in response to the explosion.
The Cadet later claimed that the stunned expression on my face was certainly worth the lecture on ecology and the object lessons in stealth that followed (that all the essays had been soaked and destroyed was something of a bonus to his absent classmates). Much later Iruka-sensei admitted that the looks on the faces of the response team that had deployed to investigate the explosion and steam cloud were almost worth the embarrassment of having to explain their little fishing accident.
A quick count of explosion traumatized fish revealed that Cadet had won our fishing contest, and he went on to win the sparring match we had in his open field. But forever after that time, when things were too boring or too tense, one of us would say "Let's go fishing!" and we would all laugh.
End Author Note:
Ah! I got the idea of Sasuke fishing with a fireball late one night and had to write it! A true plot-bunny attack. I'm kind of surprised no one else has thought of that before. I mean, we've all heard the legend of the guy who was fishing with dynamite, right?
As for Neji and Sasuke knowing each other: the first time I read the meeting in the hall before the Chuunin exam I thought that something more was going on. Both Neji and Sasuke seem way too smug for an exchange that netted them very little information, as if they were making some joke at the expense of everyone else present. Thus, I have decided that they were friends before that, but had no desire to reveal that to anyone.
Next time: Jounin Stalking, about halfway written as of this posting.