True Mastery

SHURIKEN PRODIGY

Sasuke was an idiot. There was no other explanation for it. Why else would he announce, in front of his parents, that he had met a girl, a civilian girl, who scared him?

Mikoto, his mom, was jumping up and down with joy, screaming something to the effect, "I'm going to have grandchildren!" Fugaku was pacing up and down, contemplating the murder of the entire Haruno family. Itachi had been smiling until a minute ago, when a girl, possibly Izumi, had called him out. They had yet to return.

Fugaku looked at Sasuke sharply. "Did this girl understand that you were scared?"

Sasuke thought back to her creepy face. Then he imagined his father's reaction.

"Nope", Sasuke shook his head.

Fugaku let out a breath. "Good. But just to be safe, I'll go with you tomorrow to that same shop. Now go. Don't you have your shuriken training?"

"Dad, that's Itachi's. I'm not even in the academy!"

"Hmm. That's still no excuse. You should learn these things as soon as possible."

"But dad, you said you'd teach me today-"

Fugaku absentmindedly waved his hand. "Okay, okay. Just go to the clan library. They have tons of shurikenjutsu scrolls there."

Sasuke's face fell. He had been hoping that his father would start teaching him, but no, his father didn't have time for that.

Seeing Sasuke's dejected expression, his mother walked over to him and picked him up, despite his many protests.

"Come on, Sasuke. I'll teach you some shurikenjutsu." Sasuke immediately stopped moving about and smiled.

Sasuke reached the Uchiha training ground within a few minutes, stumbling upon an incredibly disconcerting sight.

Itachi had a kunai in his hand. He had cut a gash in his arm, and now was holding it out to Izumi, whose hands glowed with a visible green chakra.

For any mother, seeing her ten-year-old son cutting himself with a sharp blade is enough to make her crazier than normal. For a shinobi mother, crazier than normal is very crazy indeed.

Running over to Itachi, Mikoto screamed, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Proving the longtime hypothesis that all ANBU are scared of their moms.

Itachi flinched back. Then he rubbed the back of his head. "I was just, uh, helping her learn medical ninjutsu."

Mikoto blinked twice. Then she screamed again. "When did you learn medical ninjutsu?!"

"I don't. She's the one learning it. I'm just the subject."

This time, Mikoto's anger was directed at Izumi, who flinched away from her gaze. "Why does this girl need you as a subject?! Why doesn't she use fish?!" Mikoto's sharingan whirred into life, out of her control.

Izumi stepped back, whimpering from the intent to severely harm that Mikoto radiated. She felt her heart thrumming loudly. She was sweating, her head was feeling faint, and she was going to fall-

Itachi put his hand on her shoulder and stepped in front of her, staring down his mother with his own sharingan. Unlike his mother, though, his eyes were calm and protective, like the way people stare down drunk men to make them settle down. He wasn't expecting a genjutsu.

Seeing a world of red and black appear around him, Itachi frowned.

"This is a mangekyo technique."