Saga of Tanya the Kunoichi

Uchiha District

Sasuke returns from the academy after class finishes. 

Damn it…

Sasuke feels down; because in the latest exam he does not get 1st in half of the subjects. He wants to be as good as his brother, and also wishes his father would praise him and acknowledge his talent. Not to mention, he had let a person with no background, no resource or help achieve great results from hard work and talent alone. Compared to himself that had everything, it's not acceptable for his pride to accept it.

He feels like he had failed to uphold the pride of the Uchiha, supposedly the best and strongest clan in Konoha.

Sasuke returns home, sulking about his latest exam result. 

"I am home…", Sasuke says blandly as he takes off his shoes and steps inside his home.

While he's sulking suddenly he felt a flick onto his forehead.

'Nnh!'.

'Welcome home, Sasuke'. Itachi gave a smile to his little brother. He had just come back after completing a mission and had free time to finally fulfill his promise to train Sasuke.

Sasuke's mood and eyes brighten up in an instance.

"Nii-san! You are home!".

'Aren't you tired from class Sasuke? You should take a rest first'.

"No! I am not! Please teach me nii-san! I want to be better than her!", Sasuke is quite giddy and desperate.

Itachi smirked slightly. 'Okay, let's go to the training compound then. I am quite curious to meet this Tsuyu you always mention really'.

Sasuke pouted. He doesn't want his brother to suddenly take interest in someone who's not himself.

'Hmph. She's- she's-', Sasuke wants to say something bad and mock her like he always did to her twin brother but somehow he really has no words to say.

'Whatever! I will be better than her, especially once I have my sharingan!'.

Sasuke really hopes to awaken sharingan soon and with it he is sure he can beat Tsuyu. 

"Sasuke, Itachi, I made desserts. Don't you two want to eat first… it's rare Itachi comes home", Mikoto's wife comes out of the kitchen to see them.

"Later mom! I want to train with nii-san first!", Sasuke pulled Itachi with him. Mikoto just smiles watching them leave.

In the Uchiha training compound, Itachi shows Sasuke his shuriken-jutsu and sparred with him in taijutsu. 

Sasuke has determination in his eyes, wanting to become better.

"Nii-san, don't hold back against me!", Sasuke said as he feels Itachi is going easy on him in the sparring.

'But you might get hurt…'.

"I want to be strong! I will not improve if you keep holding back!".

'Very well…'.

The two exchanged blow to blow. Sasuke is very persistent, and stands up even when he's beaten down.

"I can still… keep going… ha… nii-san".

Itachi sighed with a smile.

'That's enough Sasuke. You need rest now'.

"But…".

Itachi flicked his forehead.

"Ouch… Nnh!", Sasuke pouted.

'Come on… let's take a walk around market street. It's been sometime since I went there. What do you think, Sasuke?'.

Sasuke's eyes brighten up. He feels happy to hang out with his brother.

The two went out of the Uchiha clan area and the commercial street. Even if the sun has already set, the market is lively and busy.

Sasuke got himself onigiri and takoyaki, loving every single second of the hang out.

"Huh?", Sasuke's eyes darted to two familiar figures. Itachi also recognised the two. Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of 9 tails and Tsuyu Uzumaki, his twin sister. The two also happen to go around to get food.

Tanya noticed Naruto seems a little off these days. Or maybe it's her imagination; it's not like she can understand what's really going on in Naruto's mind. So she decided to bring him out and let him spend a little more for luxury which as usual makes Naruto happy again.

Their eyes met, and Tsuyu gave a polite smile to the two.

"What a coincidence to meet you Sasuke-san. And this is?", Tsuyu is polite and greets Sasuke like a classmate would.

To be honest, Tanya feels like trying to make a good connection with Sasuke and in turn the Uchiha clan is the hardest compared to others. Sasuke is so unfriendly to her for no reason. 

She is certain she did everything correctly - praising his skills when it's due, giving respect to his clan name, and never had once she done anything to cause a bad impression. The only thing she can attribute the bitterness to is his pride as Uchiha and she's not sure how to tackle this problem exactly.

Sasuke, at first having a bitter annoyed expression, suddenly had a smug expression as if showing off.

"This is my brother Itachi! He graduated from the academy at just 7 years old! And he becomes chunin at 10! He's a genius and the pride of our Uchiha!".

Tanya can almost see Sasuke's ego inflating as he describes his brother. But she has to admit, she's impressed. She looks up to geniuses as for her they are epitome of what a human can do.

'You must be Tsuyu. My little brother mentioned you at times'.

Sasuke's face blushed from embarrassment.

"N-Nii-san. I never mentioned her!".

Itachi chuckles slightly, finding it amusing. Maybe his little brother had a strange liking for Tsuyu, who knows.

"It's nice to meet you, Itachi-san. I have heard about your achievement before. The Uchiha clan really deserve its reputation with a genius like you", Tsuyu said politely.

'You are very polite, and very mature too. Sasuke can learn a lot from you', Itachi smiled.

Sasuke pouted at the side, feeling a little dissatisfied at the statement.

Itachi then turned to Naruto who had been just looking at them since earlier.

'And you must be Naruto. Sasuke mentioned you too'.

"A-Ah? Y-yes! I am Naruto! Oi Sasuke! What did you say about me?!". Naruto felt Sasuke definitely trash talked about him.

'Ha? Of course it's how… immature, you are. Dobe', Sasuke said mockingly.

"What did you say!? At least I am not so smug and sooo proud all the time!".

"Naruto, give respect to your classmate", Tanya glared coldly at Naruto. Why is he offending the Uchiha clan - didn't he realise that they're the sons of Uchiha clan's patriarch?!

"Sasuke, he's a friend, you shouldn't belittle them. In the future he will be your comrade and work together", Itachi also reprimands Sasuke.

Tanya and Itachi look at each other as if in understanding.

"I am sorry for my brother's words, I hope you can excuse his brashness".

"No, no. It's my little brother that starts it first. I should have taught him better".

Both Naruto and Sasuke pouted. Itachi chuckled thinking it's quite cute.

'If you two have not had dinner, how about we get them together?', Itachi suggested. 

Naruto and Sasuke definitely disliked the idea, but had to follow them and ate dinner at a popular izakaya.

Tsuyu takes the chance to ask Itachi about ANBU and its general structure and work. Itachi is the first person she knew who is in the ANBU organisation after all.

So ANBU is under directive of Hokage and the advisors - working for the village, rank in the ANBU is determined by merits and even a genin (if they have special skills) can be recommended into the rank. 

This means, contribution is directly seen by the higher up. If regular shinobi are mercenaries that keep the economy of the village running (in this peace time), the truly important tasks for the village are assigned to the ANBU. 

Also given the secrecy, the chances of getting hands on techniques and jutsu not available at the exchange centre is also higher. And the mentor I would have should be more likely to have better resources. Especially with direct attention from Hokage himself. Unless there's war, the right way to get merit and resources is being an ANBU.

Tsuyu already planned her career path once she graduated. Although, from Itachi's words you have to be recommended to get into ANBU unit. But she at least is certain at her performance she will be able to get in.

"Thank you for sharing your experience, Itachi-san. I highly appreciate it".

'No problem. But being an ANBU also means you cannot plan your own free time. I wish I could visit home more..', Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair.

Naruto doesn't talk much because Itachi is a little too serious in personality, much like his twin sister. While he doesn't like Sasuke.

The four people finally finish dinner and head back home. Naruto walks grumpily with hands in his pocket, feeling tired of the awkward dinner. Meanwhile Tsuyu feels great at being able to talk to Itachi, a genius of Konoha. Her mood is quite good.

***

Itachi returned home and headed to bed after washing up.

His mind returned to what Shisui had wanted of him. To how he observes his clansmen wanting to stage a coup, meanwhile the higher ups had already known of it. 

Is it the only way…? Shisui… will it be the right choice?

The day of the massacre is coming…