8 Uchiha's

I honestly don't know how I did that, but that technique was awesome—I mean, making shadows touch physical things? Okay, I mean, I did know the concept, but honestly didn't know if it would really work—lo and behold, it did.

For the duration I had been in this new life, I've read many books to pass time. I've read history books, compilations of different jutsu's, and so on… and one of them are different uses of chakra strings.

See where I'm going here?

Following that concept, but instead of pure chakra, I incorporated the Nara's clan justu's I know… and this was actually my first time actually doing it. They're like chakra strings but with shadows. They're still a bit unstable, but are still controllable.

The sound of tiny stones simultaneously hitting a piece of wood snapped me out of my wonder, making me notice that a log had replaced that silver-haired bastard—I probably shouldn't think that… it'll make me a silver-haired bastard too.

Kakashi reappeared to the side a couple of steps away, fixing his already mess of a hair before looking at me with his raised brow. "Sorry for this but, what the fvck are those?" He asked, pointing at the vicious stringy shadows connected to mine, "Those are chakra strings… right?" He asked as a familiar red glint appeared on his left, scarred eye.

Since the Shadow Strings are still unstable, they faded on their own before I got to look at them again, not giving him any chance to analyse it further with his Sharingan. "Those were… shadows…?" My tone sounded as though I was unsure. I shrugged and scratched the back of my neck, "Shadow… Strings…?"

Shadow Strings sounds nice.

Though, the "Shadow Strings" were thick and visible, but that's okay, for now. I'm only did that to save my ass from my sadistic uncle. And they did an absolutely great job connecting to those little stones I threw at him. I didn't know that it will actually work since the idea had only been constructed the moment I turned my back from Kakashi—I did it on the spur of the moment.

I had to.

But, the "Shadow Strings" and the one I did back when I was being chased are not the same… these Shadow Strings are a lot lighter and easy to control, while the other one was heavier and felt a lot… darker. I don't know why it did, but it gave that feeling.

Oh, and Shadow Strings are pretty similar with… what was that jutsu again? Ah, the Kage Nui, or "Shadow Sewing".

Wait.

They are similar! Did I just create a much easier way to activate it? OH MY KAMI—

"Shadow Strings?" Kakashi raised a brow, making me blink.

"Well… Kage Nui in a much simpler way of doing… and used in a different way…?" I looked down at my own shadow, a bit disappointed that the jutsu I had "discovered" already exists.

It seems like I'm capable of taking a bunch of trash that will soon turn to something useful when I'm in a pinch… which is a good thing, I guess. Well, I was merely basing off of the information I had gathered—and that's why I love books. They may be complicated, but once you get the idea, it'll be a piece of cake.

Except for that "Shadow Step" that's still in the "pending" area of my mind.

Man, I need to work on that move. That'll be crazy.

"Kage… Nui…?" Kakashi blinked, narrowing his eyes at me. "Shadow Sewing? A Rank-B jutsu?!" He coughed, covering his already covered mouth with his hand.

"Pardon?" I blinked.

Ah, right. Kage Nui is a Secret Clan Jutsu, from what I've read from the past, and no other information was brought to public—and only a few of the people from the war knew of this technique because, well, the Nara's used it, duh (info from Shikaku-san).

"I'm genuinely surprised." Kakashi wiped a non-existent sweat from his forehead. "Let's put the challenge on hold for now." He cleared his throat as he started walking towards me and giving a signal to Karasu-niisan to come over.

I just stood there as they both approached me.

"When and where did you learn that?" Uncle asked as he was crouching down to level with my small figure, placing a hand on my left shoulder.

"Uh…?" I blinked.

Should I tell the truth? I mean, they could help me develop more knowledge about stuff and… probably help me with my dream technique, if possible. But, I'd make a name for myself for sure. It's far too early for me to do so.

Buuuuut… then again, they could help me…

'Argh—I'm just gonna risk it. Screw it.'

"Just… now…?" I shrugged, "Well, when I did it…?"

His stare intensified, trying to find a hint of "lie" in my chakra signature, but failed for he gave a long sigh before giving me a pat on my shoulder, "You cheeky little genius."

I cringed at the phrase, finding myself making an eye contact with Karasu-niisan standing behind Kakashi. I'm literally giving him my "please-do-something" look, but he's just returning the silent treatment I had given him when he was around like the good guy he is.

Great.

Kakashi then started pinching my cheeks, "Tell, me—how did you learn it without knowing "how" to do it?"

"Owowowow—" I cried, trying to push him away and to pry his hands off of my poor cheeks.

Seeing that I really can't answer his question when he's pinching my cheeks, he let go and softly chuckled, "Oops, my bad."

I turned to my side as soon as he let go, rubbing my throbbing, red cheeks before giving him a, dare I say, glare. "Meanie." I pouted, showing my childishness, "Bakashi-sensei."

His eyes twitched. At first, I thought he'd be angry, but he just laughed it off. "Very funny, Ori-kun." He ended, emphasising the '-kun' part, sending light shivers behind my neck.

Ugh. I hate being addressed as '-kun'. It doesn't sound right, and I'm still not used to it despite of hearing it since my day zero in this world.

Kakashi then looked up at the sky and sighed, ruffling my hair before trailing his gaze towards Karasu-niisan, who's standing straight behind him, "Send him home for me, would you? Thank you."

The young ANBU didn't even have the chance to reply since the silver-haired ANBU captain already disappeared. He only managed to muster a somewhat long sigh before looking at me through his black mask. "Let's go, I guess." I didn't see it, but I know he smiled.

"Hai…" I answered lazily, displaying the Nara's name… but I did return a small smile to him.

He then started walking towards me, holding out his hand for me to grab, which I did. We walked like that the whole time he's walking me towards home. It was a pretty silent trip, and nothing really interested happened until we passed by a clearing just outside of an infamous clan—the Uchiha's.

I'm no sensor, but I felt a little spark of chakra signature over to where a rustling sound came, making me halt my steps and look up at my chaperone. It seems like Karasu-niisan noticed it as well, looking back at me with his knowing eyes. We both nodded at each other to see who the person is.

When we got near the clearing to see what was going on, familiar face greeted us as he train with all of his might… and that familiar face is Sasuke—THE Sasuke Uchiha.

I didn't expect to see him this early in the plot, making me sigh… and it seems like he noticed us because of my sigh, sending a kunai towards my direction, which was caught, thanks to Karasu-niisan's fast hands.

"Ah! Gomen…!" The child Sasuke had realised his mistake and came running towards us, bowing immediately to show his apology.

I blinked and stared at the bowing Uchiha. Weird—I'm not used to this all-so-nice attitude of his. I've always perceived him as someone who'd do anything to reach his goals—even if he needs to forsake someone. Well, that's from the manga and anime, and this is the "real world", so I guess it will be a little different? I hope…?

I then smiled.

Well, playing nice won't hurt. Who knows? With the plot changed up a bit from the recent events, things might flow in a different way, right?

"It's okay." I told him as he raised his head, a streak of red hint forming on his cheeks—which I really hope is from embarrassment. Hell to the no—I don't want a reverse harem happening here. I'd rather jump down to hell than have that.

"I—I really… um…" The Uchiha stuttered. "I'm really sorry… I could've hurt you if it weren't for ANBU-san…" He looked up shyly at the masked man he's talking about.

"Oh?" I tilted my head to the side a bit, "You really don't have to say sorry… it was our fault for not giving you a heads-up for coming here." I smiled.

"Heads… up?" He repeated in curiosity.

"Uh… notice?" I cleared.

"Oh…." He nodded, understanding what I've meant.

"…"

"…"

"…"

This is getting a bit awkward… the silence is deafening. Someone should really break it up now at this point. My legs are also getting tired from standing around for too long. The jutsu I did earlier also took a bit from me too… I bet I'll get knocked out once I lie down on my bed.

"…"

Ah, fork it. "Thank you, by the way." I broke up the silence, staring at his onyx eyes that are looking away repeated me.

"Why w-would you thank me?" Sasuke asked, and he seems to be pouting, "I'm the one who did wrong..."

"Uhm… thank you for approaching us?" I questioned my own self. "Well, word of thanks are much better than apologies so, thank you."

Look at that, I still believe in that logic even after all of these years.

I felt Karasu-niisan's fingers twitched when I've let go of those words, making me look up at him. He was looking down at me with his curious eyes reflecting mine, trying to get some answers that even I don't know of, giving away that he's in deep thoughts as he gave his gaze at me.

"I guess…" Sasuke shrugged as I looked back at him. "Say…"

"Hm?" I raised a brow.

"My brother's gonna pick me up later… and I have really nothing to do…" He continued.

He's gonna invite me to a challenge, isn't he?

"We can maybe uh… talk a little… please?" He smiled awkwardly.

A shiver ran down my spine as I heard his plead, 'This isn't good.' Welp, I was wrong to assume and maybe, it won't hurt to have a seat for a bit. I'm still tired from earlier.

I looked up at Karasu-niisan with a questioning look. He looked up at the sky before looking at me, giving me a subtle nod. I smiled at his answer and followed Sasuke as he led us in the clearing.

A tree stump is conveniently located in the middle of the patch of grass, which served as our table as we gathered around it, sitting nicely on the green grass. The air's quite nice and relaxing, almost inviting me to just li down and gaze at the clouds above, which I did.

Sasuke tilted his head at me before lying down as well after Karasu-niisan did the same.

"Ne, Shiro-chan."

I almost choked from the name the Uchiha gave me—and I hope the crow next to me choke after letting out a noticeable snicker when he heard the name. 'This bastard—'

I sighed, "Hm?"

"I haven't seen anyone like you around… are you new here?"

"Um… no. I was born in Konoha and I'm not really going outside that much so, that's probably why you didn't see me until now."

I'm chatty now, aren't I? Well, only I'm chatty when I'm comfortable talking to someone, or I'm chatty when I'm annoyed. I'm probably chatty because of the latter. The former only applies to Shikamaru and a couple of my relatives—and when someone talks about books.

"You look like you're around my age…" He hummed, "I hope we'll be in the same class in the next few years…"

"Hm…" I hummed before pausing.

Wait, class? As in THE Academy? Wait—sorry, I was home-schooled in my last life and attended 1st grade when I was only 5 because I've passed the exams, which is equivalent to the academy here. I completely forgot that kids here starts ninja school at age seven after being home-schooled or going in nursery to preparatory to be prepared.

Ugh—so, my hair's still gonna grow strong for three more years. Man.

"Say, may I know who you are?" He asked oh-so formally.

"Only if you say your name first…" I lazily answered, still anxious about the fact that my hair's gonna stay longer than I've imagined.

He sat up enthusiastically, pointing at himself. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha! The brother of Itachi Uchiha!" He beamed, enthusing about his great hero of a brother. He then smiled at me, "Your turn."

"Orion's the name." I sat up and smiled at him, letting a couple of long locks fall at my face. "Ori's just fine."

He tilted his head and was about to ask another question, but he was cut off as Karasu-niisan stood up and helped me up, indicating that it's time to go—the sun's setting anyways.

"Already?" The Uchiha-boy asked, pouting.

"Kaa-san will definitely scold me if I go home past dinner… and home's pretty far, too." I told, him walking towards him to bid my goodbye.

"Uhm… I'll see you around then?" He smiled.

"I hope…" I nodded. '… not.' I finished in my mind.

I looked down at him as he was about to say another word. I smiled at him and leaned closer, lifting my hands and flicking my fingers at his forehead, "Thank you… maybe we'll see each other next time."

Karasu-niisan and I then walked away after a short pause.

__________

It was getting late so, Karasu-niisan used shunshin to make the little walk a tad lot faster. Before he even took another step to return to his post under the ANBU's commands, I tugged on his shirt and prevented him to go farther.

"Karasu-niisan." I called him and he looked back somewhat swiftly, "I really want to learn this 'fast travel'-like jutsu. It's like you're teleporting when you're using it—so cool." I smiled.

He slowly blinked at my words before nodding with uncertainty, "I'll try to, I guess."

"Don't try." I pouted, imitating Sasuke, "Just do it."

Ah! Don't sue me! Nah, it's not like I'm in my past life anyways. That "brand" doesn't exist here, or does it?

"Hn." He shrugged before disappearing in front of me.

'Pfft—a typical Uchi…ha…'

Then it dawned to me—'Is Karasu really "him"? I might be wrong though… but—"

"Ori-kun!" Kaa-san's voice snapped me out of my sudden trance. "You're right on time—time for dinner! Also, your father had just came back from his three-day errand. You should greet him, okay?" She continued to rant as she practically dragged me inside the house.

I was just letting her drag me at this point… I'm too tired to walk anyways.

"Ori-kun…!" A warm voice greeted me as kaa-san pushed me inside the kitchen. He mustered a smile as I started walking towards an empty seat around the table, "How's your training with Shikaku?"

"Ah…" I guess neither uncle nor the clan head had told them yet about it. "I'm… not training under him anymore…" I scratched the back of my neck.

Kaa-san paused on her tracks and tou-san almost spat out the water he was drinking whilst I was talking. Both of them stared wide-eye at me.

"What?!"