Truth Well Hidden

Sasuke's Obsession

"Why can't you be more like your brother?" Fugaku sighed in disappointment at his younger son, Sasuke.

"Itachi-nii is special!" Sasuke protested.

"Yes, he is. You should watch how he does things and learn from him. Not sit around playing with toys," Fugaku chided.

"You cannot expect Sasuke-kun to be just like Itachi-kun! They are different people!" Mikoto told her husband in a scolding tone.

"It's okay, kaa-san. Tou-san is right. I should be more like nii-san. I am a disappointment," Sasuke said as he left the room with a dejected look, heading to the training grounds in the Uchiha clan compound.

Sasuke watched his brother intently, observing his flawless weapon-throwing technique. He marvelled at how his brother was perfectly capable of throwing numerous shuriken and kunai at the same time, hitting the bulls-eye with every weapon every time. He could only stare in awe when the throwing implements embedded themselves halfway through the targets.

All of a sudden, a boy around his age wearing a black cloak and fox ANBU mask appeared out of nowhere and tapped Itachi on the shoulder. Sasuke's amazing older brother did not notice him until he tapped his shoulder. Itachi flinched slightly in surprise.

"You aren't supposed to sneak up on ANBU members!" Itachi chided the younger boy.

"Then don't let me sneak up on you," the boy's silky voice replied nonchalantly.

"That's impossible. Even Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama don't notice you when you do not want to be noticed," Itachi said with a sigh.

Sasuke's eyes widened. This boy who seemed the same age as himself is so much stronger, he managed to impress even Itachi! The prodigy of the Uchiha clan! The prodigy among prodigies!

"You are slacking off, Ita-nii. They are supposed to go right through the targets to hit the ones behind! How could they only go halfway through?" the hooded boy scolded.

Itachi, with his flawless technique, was being criticised! What was wrong with his throwing? There was no mistake that Sasuke was able to see.

What surprised him the most was the way Itachi smiled at the boy and nodded, patting the boy on the head, "Of course, Naru-kun."

The boy merely shook his head as he easily retrieved the kunai and shuriken with chakra strings. 'The boy's a puppet user?' Sasuke mused silently to himself.

"How about you demonstrate, Naru-kun? Sasuke can watch too. Right?" Itachi said as he gestured for Sasuke to come closer.

The boy huffed as he nodded grudgingly, taking the blindfold from Itachi. He set up the targets with more chakra strings that Sasuke now noticed were a strange white instead of pale blue, which was the normal colour of chakra. Sasuke shook it off as he noticed the boy get into position in the middle of the clearing, in the same stance as Itachi... though it somehow seemed a bit more refined and a lot more elegant.

The boy held the weapons in his hands as he raised them to his chest, crossing his arms. He jumped, flipping twice and launching both handfuls of kunai and shuriken at the same time -- once while he was backwards and again on his second flip. He landed smoothly in a crouch as the weapons sliced right through their targets, going straight into their second targets with a dull "thud". The kunai were buried up to their hilts while the shuriken had only a small tip jutting out.

Sasuke gaped at the boy. The technique was flawless and perfectly polished, the speed and strength so impressive that he barely saw the glint of the weapons as they flew into their targets. He was wide-eyed and open-mouthed.