Chapter 4
" I'm sorry, you can make WHAT?!"
Sasuke exclaimed, eyes wide and curious, face scrunched in disbelief.
" A lot of Fire creatures. Well more like fire looking like creatures. Snakes, Dragons, Kitsune-we don't do that much you don't want to anger mystical chakra beasts" Izuna suppressed a shiver " Peacocks, birds, falcons, cats.... Not all of them are useful for battle of course, but they are excellent for showmanship and plays." Izuna grinned.
" Wow. I didn't know that." Sasuke replied, intrigued. " But...why did the clan even invent so many if you can't use them for battle?"
Sasuke really didn't understand that. It would make more sense to just make a few and then use them for all of those purposes. After all, making a Jutsu was bound to be hard right? His own creation- which was, well, not really a jutsu, more like a seal-combination had taken two months to complete after all!
" Well..." Izuna shrugged. " Fire is basically in our blood. It's nice to use it for something that doesn't hurt people and in some way that doesn't remind you of it. It's a remember that our fire is more than a weapon, it's part of who we are." He explained, seriously. In a lighter tone, noting that Sasuke seemed thoughtful, he added. " Also it's just fun! Who doesn't want to play with fire?"
He grinned.
Sasuke didn't quite match his enthusiasm. " I...I'm kinda bad at playing with fire." He confessed.
When Izuna didn't interrupted him, he went on, hestistating a little. " It took me a whole week to just make a passable fireball...at seven...and..." Sasuke looked around, trying to figure out if they were alone and he could speak a little bit more openly.
Noting that, Izuna quickly shook his head, indicating him not to do that. Most Uchiha were Ninja, they could definetly hide from Sasukes- and some even from his eyes. And Uchiha were gossips to booth! Sasukes real story and what it entailed definetly needed to be kept secret or it could very well lead to a clan-wide panic.
Sasuke nodded very slightly, if Izuna wasn't full-on observing him and a ninja, Izuna would have missed it.
" ...Others would have done better." Sasuke finished lamely.
Izuna could guess that others did better. Perhaps Sasukes ex-brother too ( and Uchiha who harmed Uchiha wasn't Uchiha anymore. And Itachi certainly did.)
It eould certainly explain the odd mixture of emotions on Sasukes face- anger, hate, embarrassment and sadness.
Izuna just wanted to hug him but refrained. He didn't want to cross any boundaries- the poor kid must be overwhelmed by everything going on already, he didn't need to add to that. Kami knows how the kid did handle things and manage to get here in the first place, Izuna wasn't sure if he could have done the same, not to mention at this age.
In lieu of hugging Sasuke, Izuna just sort of bent down till he was almost looking Sasuke in his eyes.
" Some People learn some things faster or slower than others and that's okay. Everyone has some things they might or might not be so good at. And a week for an elemental jutsu isn't a bad time at all. " He explained, softly.
" It's fire though... You said if yourself, fire is in our very blood, so shouldn't fire be easy then? " Sasuke protested.
" And it wasn't for me...maybe I'm just defective or something." The kid joked. Expect it wasn't a joke, not really. The kid really thought there was something wrong with him for not getting fire jutsu fast.
Izuna and Madara had thought the kids problems would be bonding with others again, getting used to living in a world without the people he knew while those people were dead and accepting that he couldn't change that, but still deserved to live on, adjusting to a different time-line and dealing with the sharingan and what he had seen- not that the kid had any other issues to add to the already long list that.
Izuna couldn't solve all of Sasukes problems now, some maybe never, but he wouldn't let this stand now.
" Don't say that. You aren't defective. Some Uchiha are just not as good at fire-wielding and better in other elements or things. Every chakra-wielding person has one element that's pretty easy for them to learn and for Uchiha it's often fire but not always. That doesn't make them any less Uchiha- Amaterasu is still one of our gods and we still say we are born and would like to leave in fire...just that some jutsu are harder for them. " He explained.
Sasuke looked thoughtful but not convinced.
" I can introduce you to people that wield other elements better another day if you want. And we don't have to do fire jutsu now if you don't want to. Although it could be easier than before- the first jutsu is often the hardest. Well, or harder. I don't know if I'm a great instructor." Izuna offered, scratching his head.
Sasuke nodded.
"...Thanks. That would be nice. But only if it isn't a bother...."
" It isn't. " Izuna reassured, not really sure what Sasuke was referring to.
"...I'd still like to try fire then. And being an instructor is easy, you just have to show me what to do." Sasuke added.
" Of course. " Izuna smiled. " And no, it's more. It's giving instructions, examples, corrections and making sure you don't hurt yourself."
Sasuke shook his head. " I was literally shown a jutsu once and that was fine." He protested.
In fact it was one of his most treasured memories because his father had spent time with him, one-on one, shown the jutsu to him personally ( and his father had little time and was under lots of stress, he certainly knew that then and definetly now after reading some things in his office) and even praised and aknowledged him when Sasuke had finally done well with the jutsu.
" It wasn't fine. You could have hurt yourself. That wasn't a great instruction." Izuna denied, unknowing of the context of who taught him that, stepping on an emotional landmine.
" It was. I didn't! I'm seven, not stupid! And it was good. Don't. Say. That. Again." Sasuke hissed, interpreting the comment as a negative one against his father that he couldn't save no matter how he tried and that was dead now because Sasuke wasn't good enough and that Sasuke wouldn't see again for some time because Madara and Izuna wanted him to stay ( if an afterlife even existed) and ...
Sasuke didn't notice the tears falling from his eyes, his sweaty hands or his labored breathing but Izuna did.
" Ssssh. It's fine. Try to breathe, okay?"
Oh. This again, huh? Sasuke wasn't a stranger to panic attacks. He had them quite often when he didn't use his don't panic genjutsu and he hated every single one. He hated that he had one now, appereantly. He hated that this was just another way he would look weak right now. But he would get through this. After all, he always did- and he could cheat.
Shaky little hands formed his genjutsu while Sasuke tried to breath and get back to the present and be able to focus, slowly. Three layers did the trick.
Because Sasukes mouth moved faster than the brain, he blurted out the first thing he thought. " Well. That was embarrassing."
Izuna looked relieved. " I'm sorry...I didn't mean to distress you."
Sasuke shook his head. " It's fine. Stuff like this just happens ever since...then. And I've got the jutsu so I can deal."
Izuna gave him a look full of poorly disguised pity. Sasuke hated it.
Perhaps Izuna picked up from his facial expressions or body language that continuing this topic was a no-go, perhaps Izuna himself wanted to move beyond it...either way or any other, Sasuke was glad when Izuna asked " Do you want to go inside or stay here and maybe still learn a jutsu?"
It wasn't a question he had to think about for a long time.
" Jutsu. "
" Okay. So. Just so you know in general...learning jutsu is different here. Most of the time people will show you, give you pointers and corrections and keep an eye on you, especially when you are still a beginner and so young...I know now things worked differently for you but please try to adjust to this." He explained.
Sasuke gave a curt nod. This was all unnecessary, in his opinion...and would be annoying ( Sasuke learned well by himself) but he could deal with it if it meant learning new things. He's have to. But...
" I've got a condition. Well...two."
" Okay." Isuna aknowledged, raising an eyebrow.
" Don't...insult how things were for me. And if I am in danger or think I need to I will absoloutely still use one of the dozens jutsu in my head. Well...or try to anyways."
" That's fine. Just...Do your best to survive okay?"
Sasuke gulped and nodded.
" Soooo....is there any specific thing you want to learn?"
Izuna inquired, steering back to why they were here.
" You said you could make fire birds!" Sasuke exclaimed
" I...wanna do that too."
" Of course." Izuna smiled. " So the hand-signs go like this. And don't be discouraged if this takes longer, it's more complex than a fire ball..."
Izuna made a massive bird out of Fire. It flattered around majestically, skillfully navigating the landscape and not hitting any lone trees nearby. It was art. It was beautiful. Magnificent.
And it looked so free.
In this Moment, Sasuke wished he could fly like the bird, fly away from all his problems and be so free.
Alas he eas human and the only way he could ever fly in any form would be to get flying summons and he had no idea how to go about this.
But...for now he could learn this, captivate this piece of freedom for himself and learn it so he could watch it whenever he wanted. He would learn this.
And Sasuke did.
True to his word, Izuna did help him. He corrected him when he made a slightly wrong sign. He gave him tips on how much chakra he should use and hiw he should focus the chakra. He showed him the jutsu in a smaller form, as well as he signs, again.
And it was annoying ( and both disturbing because the last person to train Sasuke like that was that person...and nice because the only person who did that now wasn't that person anymore and Sasuke didn't even have to ask, Izuna just did this on his own)...as well as effective.
When Izuna called to a stop from the practice because " Madara is going to throw me into the lake if we are late to dinner or you get chakra exhaustion" Sasuke had managed a teeny tiny flickering fire bird that was far from majestic or as nice and detailed as Izunas...but it was his.