Anticlimactic ending?

A few hours later

Arata POV:

I groaned and sat up in my bed. Wait a second… bed! How did I get into a bed! Wasn't I fighting against Shisui! But how…Oh! Right, I lost… But then again, it was never about defeating Shisui, it was to show our skills….

"Well! What's done is done, you can't change the past so focus on changing the future." I took a look at my clothes and found that I was in a normal set of clothes. So, I got up and walked down to the main room. There, I saw everyone except Izumi talking to each other. Mother and Mikoto-oba-san were talking to each other about Izumi's injuries.

"Hm, injuries? I didn't know that Izumi was injured" I thought to myself.

Father and Fugaku-oji-san were talking about our performance in the forest. Shisui and Itachi were discussing about his performance in the test. Then, everyone saw me enter the room.

Before I could blink, Mother was kneeling in front of me and asking me about my injuries. I looked at Father who smiled at me, Shisui was grinning smugly. Tch , the bastard was probably proud of beating me. As if reading my thoughts, Shisui walked over to us and talked in a smug voice, "Well, ototo. Did you enjoy the ass kicking I gave you?"

I gave him the best glare I could muster but it didn't work as Shisui started laughing, despite myself, I couldn't control the small urge to laugh as I let out a chuckle. We looked at each other and grinned as he ruffled my hair.

Then he asked in concern, "Are you sure you're okay? Theres no shame in telling us about any injury you may have." Beside him, mother nodded in agreement.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm telling you, I'm fine. No lasting injuries, not even a dull ache."

Ignoring my words, Mother got up and pulled me along to Mikoto-oba-san. Then, she made me sit on the couch as Mikoto-oba-san checked for any injuries. A few seconds later, Mikoto nodded and spoke, "He's completely fine. Though he still has a minor case of chakra exhaustion, that should heal with a few hours of rest."

Accepting the answer, Mother finally let me go. I asked her curiously, "Where's Izumi?" A trail of sweat rolled down her forehead, while Itachi and Shisui gulped. Fugaku and dad had no visible reaction. Narrowing my eyes in suspicion, asked mom again, "Kaa-san, where's Izumi? Is she okay?"

Mom answered, "Well, other than a few injuries that Mikoto healed up, she's perfectly fine. However, her injuries were a bit more serious than yours so she's still unconscious."

I stayed silent for a second. Then, "Oh, okay then." The others looked as if a huge weight had been dropped off their shoulders. I looked at Shisui and smiled, "We'll talk about it. Won't we, nii-san." I asked sweetly.

Shisui started shaking. (Hehehe, that's right! You better be scared! How dare you hurt my cute little sister!!!)

Let it be known, Arata Uchiha was an extremely overprotective brother.

I laughed and walked up to Itachi, intending to ask him about the details of his fight with Shisui. I looked at Shisui and gestured him to follow. He wordlessly followed. I sweatdropped, (Maybe I took it a bit too far…).

Ignoring his mood for now, I grinned at Itachi who smirked at me in return.

"So, how way it?" I asked.

"It went just as I expected"

"Ho? So you did manage to get a hit in after all."

"Sure did. In fact, I managed to trick him into a genjutsu, even if it was for only a few seconds."

"Huh, color me impressed. Capturing him in a genjutsu, that's really impressive." Itachi smiled sheepishly,

"It was nothing. What about you?"

"Heh, I managed to catch him off guard thrice." I said proudly.

"The first time, I almost blew him up with my kunai paper bomb, the second time was when I threw a spoke bomb and almost managed to stab him with my kunai. The third time was when I gave him a taste of my chakra-boosted punch, right in his gut!" I finished enthusiastically.

Shisui interjected in the conversation, finally breaking out of his stupor, "Oi! The only reason you got those hits in was because you got lucky! I could have beaten you any second!"

"But you didn't"

"Hn"

"Damn it! Not you too Itachi!!"

"Sorry Shisui, it's the truth. Deal with it."

"That's right Nii-san, deal with it. Hehe"

"Tch, why do I have the most troublesome brother in the world…" he muttered to himself

"Because that's what you deserve, Shisui-nii."

Shisui winced while Itachi whistled, "Damn, that was cold, even for my standards"

"Yeah, he's right. Be a bit more polite to your Onii-san, Ara-kun"

"You're an idiot who can't think straight. You're always getting into trouble. I should be the one complaining" I said in a deadpan voice.

Shisui sniffed, "What did I do to deserve this hate…"

"That's enough chit-chatting boys" Fugaku's stern voice interrupted our conversation.

He then turned to us, "Itachi, Arata, both of you performed excellently against Shisui. I'll allow you to enter the academy. Also, if your performance continues to impress us, I'll personally request the Hokage to grant you a place in the early graduation exam." Itachi was delighted and so was I.

However, "What about Izumi?" Fugaku answered, "The skills she showed were impressive so I'll allow her in the academy as well. However, she'll have to be a bit more insightful and mature if she wants to apply for early graduation."

I nodded in acceptance. He was right, Sachi didn't have the maturity that was required to be a shinobi. Strength wasn't everything. There were many factors to be taken into account when judging a shinobi.

Taking once last look at Itachi and I, he flashed a small, proud smile to Itachi whose eyes widened in shock. Then, he quickly walked away.

Itachi seemed to be in a daze, he looked at me and asked me, "I'm not dreaming, am I?"

In response, I held up my fist and punched him right on the face. Itachi went airborne and fell to the ground.

He laid on the floor, groaning in pain. "Definitely not a dream." He groaned. I snickered at him. He glared at me. Before I knew it, I fell to the ground face first. I growled, just when I was going to retaliate, I found myself being lifted off the ground. I looked above only to see that amused look on Dad's face. I heard a cry of rage, so I looked ahead. Huh, looks like Itachi was going through the same treatment.

Mom and Shisui walked over to us, Mom smiled at the Uchiha head family, "Well, it's getting late so we'll be on our way now." Mikoto nodded.

Itachi waved at me, "See you tomorrow!" I grinned, "Sure!" With that, we returned home.

A few minutes later:

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I stared at the stars as in the night sky as I thought to myself, "Wow! I didn't even realize that it was night. Guess I was out for a pretty long time." "Ah! Home sweet Home!" Shisui said loudly. I shook my head and looked ahead. Huh, he's right. I smiled at we got ready to enter.

It was nothing special, just your average two-storey Japanese house. Even though it wasn't the biggest or the most lavish house in the Uchiha complex, it was still home.

We opened the door and stepped in. Mother smiled at us, "I'll go fix us some dinner. Till then, freshen up." she said.

Chorusing voice of "Sure" "Okay" and "Alright" was the response she got.

10 minutes later:

The four of were all gathered together in the dining room. The delicious food served in front of me made my mouth water. I controlled myself and looked at the others. They simply chuckled at me and brought their hands together. Following their movements, we spoke in tandem, "Itadakimasu!".

Soon, we finished dinner and were sitting comfortably in the living room. "Arata-kun, I'm going to introduce you to one of my old friends tomorrow." Mom said cheerfully. I looked at her in confusion and surprise.

(Huh! One of mom's old friends! I wonder who it is…) as if reading my thoughts, she giggled, "Don't worry, you'll find out tomorrow."

Beside me, Shisui and dad chuckled evilly. I looked at them weirdly. Then, their expressions suddenly changed from evil to pity.

They looked at me sadly, "Good luck son…" "You'll need it…." They spoke in a haunted voice. As if even thinking of this friend brought back bad memories.

Hm? Something that scared dad and Shisui? That's a new one. The only people that dad has ever been afraid of are Mikoto-oba-san and Mom. I wonder who it is that measured up to those two she-devils.

Well, it's not as if I was going to find out today. With that thought, I gave an uncaring shrug and started walking to my room, "Well, I'll be off now. Goodnight."

I heard the three say 'goodnight' as I laid on my bed.

(Mom's old friend huh… whoever she is must be pretty scary if she could scare dad and Shisui so badly. Well, one thing's for sure. Tomorrow's definitely going to be interesting.)

With that, I drifted off to the land of dreams.