Shizuka Uchiha

Chapter 3- Decision

The day ended without any issue, in fact, Shizuka found it relatively easy while Sasuke seemed to have struggled wrapping his head around the foundation of ninjutsu.
Shizuka, Sasuke, and Naruto now trained in the open training fields behind the academy, throwing their new gifted kunai's. Naruto and Sasuke kept challenging each other, their rivalry causing her to snicker. It didn't matter how young or old they were, the two were just destined to be rivals. Her smile faltered, remembering how messed up their story becomes. Shaking the thought from her mind, Shizuka takes a deep breath and centres her arm, her eyes aimed at the centre of the log post. She arches her arm, positioning it to through the kunai, releasing it at the right moment. The knife whistle against the wind, its speed making it almost invisible to the human eye.

Bam!

Shizuka blinks, then blinks again. The kunai was embedded deeply into the wood, right in the middle. A realisation hit her in that moment. She was good. Better than she thought. Maybe.... No. She  shook the thought from her mind. It was impossible. She threw the kunai again, her mind stilling and her breathing sound. Shizuka side stepped, throwing a kunai each time she passed a target, hitting them all in the middle. When there was no more targets left, Shizuka closed her eyes and took a breath before opening them and looking at Sasuke and Naruto.  

"That was so cool!" Naruto beamed, his blue eyes sparkling in delight. Her cheeks reddened, not used to be praised but she smiles non the less. "It wasn't that amazing. I'm sure you can do the same" she replied humbly. "Can you teach me?" he asked cheerfully. She just nodded, looking towards Sasuke to see if he would join. Sasuke looked at her, his body stiff his eyes sharp. Her smile haltered, her body stiffing. Did she do something wrong? Shizuka reaches out but her brother flinches, lowering his head. She remembered it in that moment. Sasuke had always been compared to his brother and told he wasn't good enough by his father for most of his life. But to feel inferior at this age? Her heart squeezed. Sasuke shouldn't have to feel like that. Shizuka lowered her hand, letting it rest by her side. Naruto watched them, clueless to what was happening. Forcing a smile, Shizuka looks up at Naruto. "Sorry Naruto, I actually forgot that I was supposed to help my mum with some chores today but we can definitely do this again next time. Why don't you and Sasuke help each other?" She says, running off towards the Uchiha village. Sasuke snaps his head up and opens his mouth to speak but by that point, Shizuka was already out of hearing range. 

                                                                                                 🌚

Shizuka dangles her legs over a small lake, her reflection blurring in the water. She sighed, leaning back and staring at the clear sky. She was skilled, more so than she thought. She had a real shot at getting strong. Shizuka was more similar to Itachi, a natural prodigy as people would say. Something she didn't expect was that she even enjoyed it. She felt strong, felt capable for the first time in her life. But Sasuke.....She would have to hide it from him wouldn't she? Especially from their father. If he knew, Shizuka didn't even want to think how he would treat Sasuke if he learnt she was like Itachi. Her heart ached for Sasuke, what his father was doing was simply abuse. It was so wrong. She felt even worse that he felt threatened by her. Why did this have to be so complicated? 

"Shizuka?" 

Shizuka tilted her head as far back as she could, her eyes reflecting identical ones. Shisui Uchiha, dressed fully in uniform, watches her with amused eyes. Shizuka fixes her head and turns around. 

Crap! Why did it have to be out of all people. Shisui Uchiha had the strongest eyes in the Uchiha clan, nothing was unclear from him. Can his eyes see through her? 

"Shisui onii-san" she speaks, hoping it was the right thing to say. 

Shisui walks over, his steps creaking against the wooden jetty that she sat on, ruffling her hair before sitting down next to her. "What's the matter kiddo?" he asks, staring out onto the water. Shizuka looked down, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. For some reason, she felt comfortable around him.  "Say, what would you do if you know something bad is going to happen but you're not sure if you have the ability to stop it?" Shizuka asks. Shisui breathes out a small laugh, ruffling her hair once more. She wacks his hand away, "Hey, I'm being serious here!" she growls, grumbling while trying to straighten out her hair. Shisui rolls his eyes but his smile never fades. "Okay okay, I get it. Hmmm, If it was me, I would try to get stronger so that I could protect the people around me but I also know that even if I'm not strong enough, I'll have my comrades by my side to help me just like you have Itachi and Sasuke.  Does that answer your question?" 

Shizuka nods her thanks, staring back at the water. So her options are either sit back and do nothing or she could grow strong enough to try and stop it. She now had her answer. Shizuka jumps up, startling Shisui. She grips his shoulders, staring directly into his eyes. 

"Help me grow stronger! You know Itachi nii-san won't do it and my dad will only compare Sasuke and I together and I don't want that. Please Shisui onii-san" she begs, her eyes wide. Shisui sits there, stunned for a moment before sighing. "I don't know what's gotten into you but if it helps you feel better than I don't mind, I could use a practice buddy anyway" he answers. 

Her eyes lighten and her lips part, spreading into the first real smile of the day. Her chances were almost 0 but what if she could prevent Itachi from murdering all the Uchiha? Or at least protect him?