Naruto : Monsters

"I doubt that's what my father intends for me to learn. That man is too practical to waste time on something like that." 

I muttered around my toothbrush before spitting out the toothpaste and quickly began rinsing my mouth clean. Really, Hiashi sending me to the Academy to learn about the 'power of friendship'? As if he'd do anything so asinine.

...

When I was done rinsing my mouth I turned an assessing eye on my cousin. "You know at times like this I find it hard to believe you're just seven Neji. The way you talk and act is far too mature for your age."

"I could say the same thing about you Hikaru-sama." He was quick to point out.

That's because I'm a forty-something year old man trapped in a six-year-old's body, what's your excuse?

Prodigy or nor, Neji spoke with a maturity that no seven-year-old should have. From the words he used to the topic he discussed, they should have been far above the level of comprehension for his current age. He actually sounded sophisticated at times. 

Sophisticated! I didn't even know seven-year-olds could pronounce the word let alone understand it but Neji was living proof to the contrary.

Had he been the only child like this I would have simply chalked it up to him being a genius and left it at that but it wasn't only him. Almost every child in the compound was like this. While not as advanced as Neji was, they all sounded far older than they should have and demonstrated more intelligence than I would have ever expected from children their age.

The only possible explanation that I could think of was Chakra. Having that much Chakra coursing through their bodies, and their brains, since birth must have altered how their minds functioned or matured in some way.

My bedroom door rattled slightly before sliding open, breaking my train of thought. I turned to find Neji bowing slightly towards the door, an indulgent smile sitting on his lips as he faced my morning visitor. "Good morning, Ojou-sama."

"Onii-sama?" A tiny voice called out, ignoring Neji completely, quickly followed by the pitter-patter of tiny feet crossing the wooden floor.

I walked out of the bathroom to greet my tiny guest, just in time to witness her tripping over the hem of her Kimono and falling face-first onto the ground.

We watched, stunned, as the little two year old skidded a full foot on the smooth hardwood floor before slowing to a halt.

For a long moment, no one in the room stirred, as Neji and I dumbly stared at the unmoving form of the little girl as she lay on the floor. Thankfully before anyone of us thought about panicking she began to stir.

Slowly the little girl placed both of her hands underneath her and pushed herself up to her knees, her arms shaking slightly from the effort, before raising her head up towards us, revealing an adorable little face with a red mark on her forehead.

Tear-filled eyes looked up at us, threatening to spill any minute, yet despite that she did not cry, even as her chin wobbled in her effort to hold her tears in check she refused to cry.

Neji was about to rush to the girl's aid but I beat him to it. Swiftly making my way to her, I knelt down and I slid my hands under her shoulders before standing. I observed the little girl as I lifted her up, holding her before me at arm's length.

Shoulder length brown hair, just a shade too bright to be called black, framed an oval face. Her skin was a rich healthy hue, the kind born from playing under the sun, and she was clothed in a silk kimono of a blue and white design while her Hyuuga pale eyes peered at me with bewilderment. She cocked her head to the side at me like a dog, her pain forgotten in her confusion.

"Neji?" My voice was deadly serious as I turned to look at my cousin, still holding the girl at arm's length before me.

"Yes, Hikaru-sama?" The amusement in his voice was painfully clear to hear, but I pretended not to notice.

"With this, there can be no more doubt," I turned back to the tiny girl in my hands, before cuddling to my chest and rubbing my cheeks against hers. I all but squealed out the rest of my words, "My little sister is the most adorable thing ever!"

"If you say so Hikaru-sama." Neji, the disbeliever that he was, sounded as if he were only humouring me. Blasphemy!

Little Hanabi giggled in delight as she threw her arms around my neck. "Onii-sama, stop that! It tickles." She laughed out but didn't even try to push me away as she nuzzled in the crook of my neck.

It's official, girls are so much better than boys. I knew, just knew I should have had daughters instead of sons, they were simply so much better. If I ever had the chance of having children again then I only wanted girls like Hanabi.

"I'm sorry to disturb you two," Neji, not sounding the least bit sorry but rather amused, butted into our brother-sister time, "but it's time to leave. If we delay any longer you're going to be late for your first day at the Academy."

That was actually enough to drag me away from playing around with Hanabi as a thought occurred to me. "No, we wouldn't want to be late, now would we?" I felt my lips curve into an all so wicked smile. "Not when I have some long-overdue business to attend to."

There were promises that needed to be kept. And I never broke any of my promises.

Especially to myself.

Neji, perhaps the closest thing I had to a friend and confidant, well other than my bodyguard Kou, instantly understood what I meant and paled. With a strained smile, he pleaded with me, "Please try not to punch anyone Hikaru-sama. At least not someone too important. I don't want you to start a Clan feud on your very day."

Hanabi, seeing the smile I was sporting decided to mimic me. The smile she made was every bit as wicked as my own, proof that I had raised her well. We both turned as one to Neji. 

"Neji, Neji," I cooed at the boy while he sighed with resignation and muttered 'at least I tried' under his breath, "You know me all too well."

...

The boy was sent tumbling backwards, falling to the ground and landing on his back-side. His eyes were wide with shock and confusion, still unable to process what had just happened.

He hesitantly raised a hand to touch his nose, gently prodding it with his fingers only to flinch, quickly pulling it away.

Uchiha Sasuke's eyes widened when he caught sight of the streaks of red staining the tips of his fingers and he stared in disbelief at his own blood, before finally looking back up at me from where I loomed over him.

I unclenched my fist, ignoring the slightly tender but oh so satisfying stinging on my knuckles, and pointed straight at the downed Uchiha.

"You deserved that." I intoned.

"…Huh?" Was Sasuke's eloquent reply.

It was clear that he had no idea what was going on, the kid just blankly stared up at me with his mouth hanging open as if he was watching a mad man, but I didn't care. I had waited years for this moment and was going to relish every second of it.

"You have no idea how much you deserved that," I repeated, and dear god did it feel good to get off my chest.

I had been trapped in a child's body for years, almost an entire decade, and I might have gone a little crazy over time – and let's be honest here, I probably wasn't the most mentally sound person in the first place – I needed this.

It was childish, it was stupid, it was petty but I needed this in a way that I couldn't articulate so the moment I had laid my eyes on a six-year-old Sasuke, I had punched him in the face.

I regretted nothing.

Mentally ticking a box off the mental list I had promised myself to do ever since I had arrived in this world, that stretched from petty things like punching Sasuke and ended in acquiring the Rinnegan, I nodded in satisfaction. 

The sound of murmuring coming from all around me pierced through my mental haze and I finally became aware of all the people watching us.

We were standing within the Academy grounds, in the large courtyard located in front of the main building. 

The courtyard was filled with several of my fellow freshmen, numbering over three hundred in all, who were mingling with one another in an attempt to make new friends or were chatting with old ones, though every one of them that stood nearby had stopped to stare.

It had only been a couple of minutes ago when Kou, my bodyguard, had dropped Neji and me off at the Academy. I had barely taken a single step onto the Academy's ground when my eyes locked on to a familiar haircut and, without hesitation, I charged straight ahead and ploughed a fist into Sasuke's face.

Yeah, I was probably going to get into a lot of trouble for this but the sheer satisfaction I felt made whatever punishment I'd receive worth it. 

It was a good thing that I was still technically a six-year-old kid so the consequences wouldn't actually be too serious compared to what it would have been had I been older, but it certainly didn't help make things any better between our clans.

...

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