Lost in the Whirlwind (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 19

           
"Now tell me, have you had any training prior to this session?" Yamada-sensei asked, his voice lacking any enthusiasm whatsoever.

"Yes. With Uchiha Shisui." I answered shortly.

"Ah," the man in front of me said in recognition. "The Uchiha pariah, isn't he?"

"No. Not the Uchiha pariah." I defended Shisui. "Uchiha Shisui of the Body Flicker, prodigy of the Uchiha clan."

Even at the age of thirteen, the Uchiha teenager had already made a name for himself with his famous body flicker technique; a jutsu Shisui refused to teach me despite my constant begging.

Yamada-sensei gave me a long stare. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. That kid is a little too loud for my taste, but he's got the skills. You, on the other hand, don't have the skills at all."

"How would you know that?" I challenged him, staring straight into his hard eyes.

The instructor didn't answer but looked out to the Sarutobi training grounds. "Do you know any jutsu?"

I hesitated. "Not yet, I only know the basics of chakra control."

"Do you know how to use any weapons?"

"...No."

"Then right now," he growled at me. "You are useless."

My fingers twitched in annoyance but my face remained passive. "Well... aren't you supposed to teach me instead of criticizing me before we even started?"

My mind drifted off to Naruto. I was having an unproductive conversation with this judgmental jounin while he and Hanako were out to Ichiraku for some teacher-student bonding time.

That traitor.

"What is that scar on your face?" He nodded to the scar under my left eye.

The grey-eyed man cut me off before I could answer. "Let me guess, couldn't save your loved ones in time and was awarded with the scar?"

I wisely kept my mouth shut despite the flash of anger that flared inside me momentarily.

"Why do you want to be a ninja?" Yamada asked, his arms crossed, once he knew I wasn't going to answer.

I looked up from the ground that I was staring at- the Sarutobi training ground was full of grass- to look at the man.

"I..." I paused, my eyes drifting to the clouds. "I'm not very sure."

"Is it because you think shinobi are cool? You get to run across the rooftops, disappear in a flash and spit out fire?" He accused.

"No." I denied. "I'm fully aware that ninja are supposed to kill and do all the other dirty jobs." I shot him a disgruntled look. "I'm not that oblivious."

"Then why would you want to be a shinobi? Why not be a bookshop owner? Go brew tea or be a housewife?" The black haired man countered spitefully. I knew Yamada was trying to get a rise out of me, but I wasn't about to stoop that low.

I glanced at the daffodil that grew beautifully amongst the grass.

I remembered the countless times Naruto and I were left alone in our room with no one to talk to. I remembered the times when we struggled just to find food for the day.

I knew that Uchiha massacre wasn't going to be pretty; that the Fourth Shinobi World War would suffer many casualties. I knew that there are many deaths that could be avoided, many lives that could be saved. They weren't just fictional characters anymore. They are real people, breathing and with feelings.