Chapter 44: Ch.43. Awakenings

I wake up the next day to some intense shaking.

"Hii-Nii!!"

"Nii-san."

I open my eyes to see two vibrant pairs of green eyes staring back at me.

"What?"

""Where did you get that jumpsuit?!""

We stare at each other for a few seconds, and then....

I go back to sleep.

""Hii!!!!""

"Just give me 5 more minutes..."

"But it's already morning!"

Ugh....fine.

I groggily get up and rub their heads. 

I see the jumpsuit as I head out of my room on the floor and sigh.

....Better wash it and get another one for them.

No. Guy most likely has more or will get more if I ask. 

"It'll be a few days before I can get more. You can wait until then, right?"

The two rapidly nod their heads as I chuckle.

I head to the bath and wash up before coming back out and greet everyone at the table.

"Hii."

"Yes, Mom?"

Mom looks at me with a cautious glance.

Don't tell me?!

"You, Do you like to wear the jumpsuit?"

"No! I had to wear it for a promise!"

Mom sighs in relief, but she then catches on to something I said. 

"A promise? Don't tell me?! Did he have a breakthrough?!"

Mom shoots up from her chair and grabs my shoulders.

"Ummm..."

"You don't have to worry about it. I already know about the Eight Gates."

I nod my head as Mom already showed she knew more about Guy than I did.

"That fool! He always ends up in the hospital when he breaks through! He must've had you heal him. I'll have to tell Ningame again."

"Ningame?"

"Oh! It's his summoning turtle. He uses it rarely from time to time."

"Ooh! I want to summon stuff too!"

Moya jumps into the conversation, but Mom reprimands her.

"No. You must get a summoning contract with something that aids you, not because you think it's cool."

"Aaawww!!"

"What summoning do you have, Mom?"

Yozora asks Mom and she scratches her head.

"I also summon turtles. I just summon different ones since I have better chakra control than Guy."

"Can you show us?" 

Yozora asks Mom, but Mom just shakes her head.

"Nope! I won't let that old bastard come out unless I need him. Honestly, I hope you never get the chance to meet him."

"""Eh?!!"""

Is he that bad?

I look to Grandma and Grandpa and see Grandma shake her head.

Grandpa looks up at me and just says two words.

"Snapping turtle."

Nope!

"I'll hold off on meeting him then."

I heard some summonings can get big, and I don't want to meet a bigger than normal snapping turtle.

" Glad you understand, Hii."

"Why is a snapping turtle so bad, Mom?"

"You should read about it later."

Mom leaves it at that and we continue to eat our breakfast and ignore Moya's pestering.

*********

Since Guy is out of commission for a while, where should I go to train?

[To the Uchihas!]

'Akumu?'

Since when was he so excited to see the Uchihas?

[I need information on their eyes.]

'Ugh...is that ok?'

[Probably not. I just need to check something. If Itachi or Shisui is there, maybe they'll humor you.]

'I guess I'll ask for you, but no promises.'

[Thanks.]

I head over to the Uchiha estate and knock on the door once more.

This time, Maka is the one who opened the door?!

"Hey Maka!"

"Ooh! Long time no see, Hii! You hear to train?"

"Yeah! Is Itachi here?"

Maka looks a bit sad as she shakes her head.

"No, Nii-san and Itachi-san have been out on missions. It's just Sasuke and me here today."

"Well, that's fine. You want to train together today?"

"Sure! I'll show you how strong I've gotten!"

Maka gives a determined smile as she goes inside to fetch Sasuke.

I head in and greet Auntie Mikoto and also see. Sasuke and Itachi's dad,Fugaku-san,as well.

"Hello, Fugaku-san!"

"Oh. You must be Hii. Thank you for helping Sasuke in his training."

"It was my pleasure, sir."

I bow towards Fugaku who just chuckles.

"Don't be so uptight. Kaya would come after me if I allowed you to be so respectful."

"I see. I'll try to be more...familiar."

Ugh! It's awkward when you have to talk to a friend's parent for the first time.

Sasuke and Maka find me after they get their stuff. 

"We're going out to train, Father!"

"Good. Train hard!"

We head over to the training grounds and do some stretches.

"Ok, how should we train today?"

"You've been gone for a while. Let's see how strong you've gotten."

Maka cracks her knuckles with a smile on her face. Sasuke also grins deviously and takes position on her side.

Two on one, huh?

"Fine. Let me show you how strong I've gotten!"

"Heh! Don't get sad when you lose."

"Uoooh~! Cocky, are we? Let's see if you can back it up."

I jump a distance away and wield my sword.

Maka jumps away as well, but Sasuke comes toward me!

"Let's see what you got!"

He pulls out a kunai and leaps to strike at me! I dodge to the side and strike him with a slash!

He blocks with his kunai, but he's sent flying!

I'm a lot stronger than before!

"Ugh! That was pretty good."

"My turn!"

Moka flashes towards me!

She's much faster than before!

She strikes at me with her fists as I dodge and try to hit her.

"You got faster too! I won't lose though!"

"Ha! Bring it!"

Maka jumps back and.... splits into 3 clones?!

No! These are afterimages!

That's Shisui's move!!

The images rush towards me one by one and strike me! I block them, but there is no contact where I block!

The images disappear when I hit them and shurikens flood my vision right after!

*Clang Clang Clang*

I strike them away with my sword and see Maka in the distance grinning.

"Haha! You like my trick? Nii-san taught me how to do it!" 

"It's pretty good! It won't help you win though!"

"We'll see about that!"

Maka comes towards me again, but this time, I've got you!

Shadow Clone Jutsu!

*Poof*

A clone of me appears at my side and we both shoot towards Maka! 

I cross paths with my clone a few times and strike towards two of the images together!

"Whoa!"

Maka dashes out of the way of our strike and the images disappear, leaving Maka by herself on the side.

Wait! Where's Sasuke?!

*Swish Swish*

I hear shurikens come from behind me!

I duck out of the way only to see another pair of shurikens!

*Clang Clang*

I block them and shot towards Sasuke!

We strike back and forth, but I end up knocking him towards a tree!

"Ugh! Not yet!"

He weaves hand signs and takes a deep breath!

I weave hand signs as well to counter! 

Fire Style:Fireball Jutsu!

Water Style: Raging Torrent Jutsu!

We both spew our attacks at each other, but they both collide into a steamy mist!

I quickly make my way to where Maka was to see if I can catch her off guard!

*Clang*

Only she came to me instead!

She tries to strike me with the kunai, but I duck under her attack and sweep her legs! She's caught off guard as I strike her in the stomach!

"Ugh!" 

Maka is knocked away from me as the mist starts to clear.

'Now!'

Lightning Armor!

My hair spikes up and I shoot towards Sasuke! 

Huh?! He looks a little...disoriented?

"I! I can't lose here! I have to grow strong like Nii-san! I can't let Father down!"

Sasuke starts to yell something as I close in on him!

I dash behind him and hold my sword to his shoulder.

"You give up?"

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I see Sasuke turns around and I'm shocked by a pair of familiar red eyes.

"No! I can still fight!"

Oh boy! This is gonna be problematic.

Sasuke jumps high into the air and throws kunai at me in a strange pattern! 

*Clang Clang Clang*

They ricocheted off each other towards me?!

"Whoa! *Clang Clang* I didn't know you could do that!"

I block the kunai I couldn't dodge and rush towards him. 

I try to trick him with some maneuvers, but he's keeping up with me.

I don't think he's noticed his eyes changed yet?

"I won't lose! I'm strong, just like Nii-san!"

"I'll admit you've definitely gotten better."

But...

*Smack*

"Uagh!"

Sasuke fell down as my clone whacked him on the head.

'I guess he forgot about the clone.'

Fighting Sharingan users is tough, especially if they know how to use it.

'Looks like Sasuke is going to be a pretty strong opponent pretty soon.'

I walk over to him and see if I hit him too hard.

I unconsciously associate that eye with being stronger than me, so I don't think the clone held back.

"Hey! Sasuke! You ok?"

.......

Uh-oh! He's not responding?!

I quickly check his pulse and he's breathing. I guess he's just out cold.

I better heal him just in case.

[Wait!]

'Hm?'

[Use my Chakra instead!]

'Why? He shouldn't be hurt that bad?'

[I can check the eyes while I heal him!]

'Ah, right! I'll do that then.'

I weave the handsign for my Medical Palm Jutsu and my hands glow green, then they start to glow black as I place my hands on Sasuke's head.

"Ugh!"

Yeah, I definitely hit him too hard! The rushing migraine I just felt is proof enough.

The black chakra sweeps over Sasuke,making him as good as new.

The chakra then spreads on Sasuke's face and eyes very slowly. I don't feel any pain, so this must be Akumu's doing.

[Ok. That's how I remember. What about.... Ah! There it is!]

'What did you find?'

[My solution!]

I roll my eyes. Not this cryptic mess again.

'Don't tell me then.'

[Hehe! I won't then, brat!]

The black chakra shoots back into my hands and disappears. Sasuke looks much better than before, so I guess it worked.

[Now go check on Maka.]

'Right. I might've hit her too hard too.'

I leave my clone to watch over Sasuke and head over to Maka.

I find her leaned up against a tree, trying to stand on her feet. Her face seems really down.

"Ugh! You got so strong! I gotta catch up to you."

"I'm sure you'll get there really quickly. Sit down and let me heal you."

Maka nods her head and sits back down as I kneel beside her.

[Let's check her too!]

'Sure.'

My hands glow green and I place my hands over her eyes, much to her confusion. 

"Why are you healing my face? You hit me in the stomach, remember?"

"I just need to check something else too. Don't worry about it."

Maka looks in my direction and slowly nods her head.

My hands starts to glow black as I heal her.

I clench my teeth to endure the pain from the wounds Maka has. Maka had numerous other wounds besides the punch I gave her.

'Must be from extensive training. I got to respect her dedication.'

The black chakra slowly spreads on her face as well as Akumu checks whatever he's looking for.

[Hmmm.... That's there. That's there too. Doesn't seem like anything is missing. No, wait! There!]

Akumu seems to get excited as he figures something out.

'What happened?'

[I need you to keep her occupied while I tweak some things!]

'What?! What are you tweaking?! Akumu?!'

Akumu ignores me as I see the black chakra shift around her face. She doesn't seem to feel anything happening to her at all.

"Are you done yet?"

"N-No! Just hold still a bit longer."

"That's odd. You usually heal pretty quickly."

"I'm testing out a new medical technique. I think it's going to be really cool once I perfect it."

I lie to her to buy more time, but I don't know if she'll believe me.

"......"

"......"

'Please hurry up, Akumu!'

"S-So, we've had some pretty good weather lately."

"......."

"Your technique's really good! How long did it take you to get that Body Flicker technique down?"

"Hii?"

"Y-yes?"

"What are you hiding?"

I can sense Maka is going to move my hands, so I quickly press my hands to her face firmly! She tries to pry my hands from her face, but I didn't budge!

"....."

"....."

"Hii."

"Ugh! You've been training pretty hard! You had some hidden injuries, so let me just heal them for you."

I can feel Maka's eyes stare with suspicion through my hands, but I hold firm.

".....Haaa. Hii? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure! What is it?"

"Why do you want to grow strong?"

"Why do I grow strong? Why do you ask?"

Maka's head bends down slightly as she answered.

"My goal for become strong is to be acknowledged by my clan. I want to be seen as someone worthy of the name Uchiha."

"Aren't you really strong though?! Haven't you already reached your goal?"

" I worked hard to get to where I am now, but they think it's not worth the time. They think this will be all I'll be able to reach."

" I think you can definitely get stronger! Can't your Nii-san just teach you what you need to learn?"

I would if the twins needed me like that!

"No. Nii-san can protect and teach me, but he won't be able to change the clan's mind. I have to be stronger than everyone else so no one can refute my ties."

"Is it because of the Sharingan?"

Maka slowly nods her head.

"The Sharingan isn't just an ability. It's the true birthright of the Uchiha. Not having one just makes you look inferior and shunned by the others. It won't matter even if you're better than the ordinary members of the family with it."

I can feel a lot of pain in Maka's voice.

"That's why I attacked you when we first met. I thought you were another person called by those losers, looking to feel superior over a defect."

"Don't call yourself that."

My tone came out a lot colder than I thought, surprising both Maka and I.

"You have great potential, Maka. I'm sure you'll rise up to be as great as you want to be.

"I want to believe you, but the Sharingan is a status symbol for us. Some of the older boys I had to fight before awakened their Sharingans and now they don't even acknowledge me. Even if i'm sure I can beat them, they automatically look down on me just because I haven't become a "full member" in their eyes!"

I can feel the anger in her voice clearly as she clenches her fists.

"You're the only one besides Sasuke's family and Nii-san who believes in me! That's why I want to hear what makes you so strong!"

"......"

Wow. Her circumstances are....really heavy. I wonder if Mom felt like this when she learned she couldn't use Lightning Style?

Ah! I should answer her before I get lost in my thoughts! 

"My reason for growing stronger....is to chase after a friend of mine."

"A friend?"

"Yeah. A really strange friend."

I look up at the sky and the passing clouds through the branches of the tree.

"My friend and I was born at the same time, but I guess he's technically older than me. He taught me many different things and always helped me out in some crazy situations."

I feel a slight tickling sensation in my eyes, but I ignore it.

"I could only help him in little situations, so I want to get strong to help him in whatever he needs. The problem is he's growing too fast. I'm scared we won't be able to be around each other without him accidentally hurting me soon."

I look at Maka again and notice that my hands have stopped glowing. He must be done.

"I want to get stronger quickly, even just a little, to stay with my friend a little longer."

".....That's a pretty good goal."

I remove my hands from Maka's face and smile at her. She still has her eyes closed.

"I'd say we have all the reason to grow stronger, so let's get there together! I'm sure we can achieve it!"

I stand up and extend my hand to Maka to pull her up.

I see a smile form on her face as she giggles a little, and then starts to laugh?

I feel like she seems easy going now though. It's like a weight was removed from her.

She opens her eyes and looks at me with a smile.

She grabs my hand and I pull her up.

"Heh! I guess I have no choice, but to accompany you! I'll race you to the top then!"

Maka smiles sweetly as she brushes herself off and goes to check on Sasuke.

[It was much easier than I thought. I also glad you want me around more! Hehehe!]

'.....Tell me something, Akumu.'

[Hm?]

'Why...did Maka have a Sharingan as well?'

I almost froze when I saw it. 

The 1 tomoe spun around her eyes, just like Sasuke's . It was brief before it disappeared, but I know it was there!

[Well, she technically had all the emotions she needed to unlock it already. It just couldn't get to her eyes. That was easy to fix though once I had a correct template to copy.]

"Sasuke! Wake up already!"

I watch as Maka shakes Sasuke up with a headache coming on.

Not just one, but two of them?!

[Yeah, well on that thought... I might be unlocking mine as well.]

.......Three. Just great. My friends are all powering up. I better not slack off or they'll all beat me.

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