A New King Emerges Chapter 14

Sakura was preparing a true family dinner for the first time in a week.  Sasuke had just returned home this morning from a mission to the Land of Tea.  She thought it would be nice to prepare something that they could all enjoy together since one of the major pillars of the family had been gone so long.  

She heard a light knock at the door.  "Kasai?  Are you there?" she asked so she wouldn’t have to stop what she was doing.  There was no answer.  He must not be anywhere near the kitchen.  She turned the heat on the stove down so as not to burn the food that was cooking and left to answer the door.  

When she opened it, she saw a familiar face there waiting.  "Kiro?"

"Hi Sakura," said Kiro politely.  

"What can I do for you today?" she asked the nine-year old.  

"Um....is Sasuke here?" Kiro asked.

"Sure, sure.  Come in and take a seat while I go check to see what he’s doing.  He just got home this morning and he might be taking a nap.  I'm making dinner...would you like to stay?" Sakura asked.

"I'd love to," Kiro replied.  "Thank you very much."  He entered the Uchiha home and promptly removed his shoes before entering the main part of the house.  He made his way towards the living room and took a seat to wait.

Sakura appeared about a minute later with Sasuke Uchiha in tow.  He was rubbing his eyes, obviously just now getting up from resting.  

"Dinner's in about 15 minutes," she informed the two of them before making her way back towards the kitchen, leaving the two to talk.

"Kiro, it's good to see you.  What's going on?" Sasuke asked while taking a seat across from the youth.  He did see Kiro now and again...most of the time at family get-togethers or when they specifically made plans to train together, but not usually out of the blue like this.  

"Here," Kiro handed Sasuke a scroll without introduction.

Sasuke unfurled it and began reading.  It didn't take long to read - it was pretty straight-forward and to the point.  Even so, Sasuke was rather taken aback.  He had not expected this would happen.  It was never even a consideration.

"Did you tell your Mom and Dad this yet?" Sasuke asked.

"Hai," answered Kiro.  "They have expressed opinions, but they want me to make my own decision."

"Are they ok with you being here then?" Sasuke asked, not wanting to create hard feelings between his closest friends and himself.

"Dad actually suggested it," answered Kiro.  "Because you've been such a great mentor to me these last few years, he thought you might be able to give me additional insight.  There's also the fact that your brother..."  He didn't finish that last sentence.

Sasuke looked down at what was written in the scroll again.  

Kiro Uzumaki has been identified as an extremely talented student at the Konoha Academy.  It has been determined that graduation from the Academy may be permitted at any time.  Upon graduation, this individual will join the shinobi corps as a genin and serve Konoha to the best of his ability.

It was as simple as that.  Graduation was possible at the ripe old age of nine.  

"So what do you think?" asked Kiro.

"No....what do you think?" asked Sasuke, now fully understanding the situation and putting his mentoring cap on once again.

"I-It's an honor, for sure," answered Kiro.  

"You sound as if you have reservations," noted Sasuke.  Rightfully so, he thought to himself.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this," admitted Kiro.  "I mean, there's Aiko as well."

"What about Aiko?  I take it she did not get a scroll similar to this?" asked Sasuke.

"She is nearly as strong as I am yet she didn't receive a scroll.  In fact, I think I was the only one in my class to get one," said Kiro.  "I've worked hard to do the best I could in my class....just like you said when I first started, Sasuke…let them judge me by my actions not my words.  Privately, I still have to admit that I still believe I am among the strongest in the class – it’s probably the reason why I got this to begin with."

Aiko didn't get a scroll because she has not yet awakened her eyes.  They don't know if they'll ever awaken, thought Sasuke to himself.  "Fair enough," said Sasuke.  "Can I assume because you brought her up, you do not want to leave Aiko behind?"

"Y-yeah, that's some of it," said Kiro.

"What else is there?" asked Sasuke, trying to help this boy find his own way through this.

"Dad cautioned me against it.  One of the main reasons is that the world is mostly peaceful right now.  There are others who can do this job until I graduate properly," explained Kiro.

"It's tempting though, isn't it?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes...so tempting....but I'm trying to be as logical as possible about this.  Sasuke, you once mentioned your brother, Itachi, and how he graduated at the age of seven...two years younger than I am now," said Kiro.

"Ah, Itachi," repeated Sasuke.  "Now he would be a good example to talk about in this situation.  Itachi was a prodigy who only started attending the Academy at age six.  He graduated in one year at age seven, mastered the Sharingan by eight, and passed the chunin exams at 10.  Shortly thereafter, he joined ANBU and became captain at the age of 13," Sasuke rattled off as if bragging.

"Wow, he seems amazing," noted Kiro.  

"Yeah, he was, past tense" said Sasuke.  "But just as you have stated Aiko as one reason you would not want to graduate early, I can tell you that Itachi had little time for family or friends as he graduated and ascended the ranks.  He was well-respected, but I missed him a lot.  The fact that we were distant might have helped to cause some….let’s just call them misunderstandings… between us."  

"Oh, I see," said Kiro.  

"There is also the matter of the world being much more distrustful and violent back when Itachi was your age.  As Naruto has already stated to you, we are no longer in the constant state of worrying about war," said Sasuke.  "There are definitely benefits to both staying at the Academy as well as graduating the Academy.  I think it is just a matter of what you personally want.  You simply must follow your heart," said Sasuke.  

Kiro sat in silence for a good solid minute.  To Sasuke, it was obvious that this boy was conflicted, not wanting to make the wrong decision either way.  

"Do you enjoy school?" asked Sasuke finally.

Kiro nodded.

"Do you have friends there who you love to spend time with?" asked Sasuke.

"Hm-hmm," Kiro answered.

Kiro looked into Sasuke's eyes and knew what he was trying to say.  The positives for staying in school far outweighed the negatives.  

"Dinner's ready!" shouted Sakura from the kitchen.

Sasuke and Kiro both rose from their seats.  Sasuke patted Kiro on the upper back as if to acknowledge the struggle he had seemingly just gone through.  

"Let's go get something to eat," said Sasuke.

OlOlOlOlOlO

Aiko walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat before school.  Hinata was already in there getting breakfast ready for her kids.  Aiko noted that Kiro's usual egg sandwich had not been made....at least it was not within eyesight.  

"Is Kiro not eating?" Aiko asked.

"He had a meeting with the sensei before school," Hinata answered.  "He took his sandwich and left about ten minutes ago."

"Oh," answered Aiko.  "I guess it is just Hokori and me walking together then."

At the Academy...

Kiro had finished his breakfast as he walked alone to school.  Although his decision had been made, he still fretted over whether it was the right decision or not.  Would it harm his shinobi career?  What if something happened between now and graduation that made him, for some reason, not as valuable a shinobi?  

He made it to the faculty door and slightly tapped on it.  No one should have been there yet this early...that is, except for the one sensei he had made arrangements to meet.

The door opened and there stood Iruka-sensei.  "Kiro, come on in.  You normally are not allowed in this room, but there are no other instructors around so it's fine."  He moved aside and let the youngster enter.

Iruka led him to his desk and held his hand out so he knew it was ok to take a seat.

"Did you ask me here to discuss the scroll that was given to you?" Iruka asked.

Kiro nodded.  

"Have you made a final decision?  As you know, the Hokage herself is the one who makes these recommendations and her office must know your decision soon so that her strategic staffing plans can be completed," said Iruka.

"I'm afraid I will need to decline the offer to graduate early, Iruka-sensei," Kiro said a little sheepishly.  He was nine after all, and this was a huge, potentially life-altering decision.  He didn't know if anyone would be upset with him.

"You are declining," repeated Iruka flatly.  He scribbled something on a sheet of paper on his desk as he repeated Kiro’s words.  He then smiled as he looked at Kiro.

"Is that all?" asked Kiro.  “Isn’t there anything else you need from me?”  It had to be more difficult than this…more fanfare or something.  Perhaps he was making a bigger deal out of this than it needed to be?

"Do you have further questions?" asked Iruka.

"Oh…no!" said Kiro.  "I just....I just didn't know if there was anything else I was supposed to do."

"Nope, I'll take it from here," said Iruka.  

Kiro was surprised it was simply a yes or no response that was needed and now he was free to go on his way.  He rose from the chair and started to walk towards the door.

"For what it's worth....," started Iruka to grab the youngster’s attention.

Kiro turned to look at the instructor who was now talking to him.

"....I think you made the right decision.  The program to graduate gifted shinobi early is still in place from before, when we needed it....but now I personally question the need.  I was hoping you'd stay with us until you are twelve."

Kiro now understood a little more about the situation and was seemingly more satisfied with his answer.  He nodded, and sprinted out the door.  

As Kiro had expected, Aiko and Hokori were just now entering through the gates to the Academy.  He ran up to them and greeted them.  For some reason, now even considering leaving them behind...especially Aiko...seemed impossible.

"Hi Kiro, how was your meeting?" asked Aiko.

"It went as planned," said Kiro, smiling.

"Did something happen?" asked Aiko, now noting his strange behavior.

"Nope!  Everything's just the way it should be," said Kiro.  

OlOlOlOlOlO

Sasuke arrived at the training ground to find his teammate already stretching and beginning his warm-up.

"Hey Dobe," Sasuke muttered to his blonde friend.

"About time you got here," Naruto muttered back.  "I was starting to think I'd be training alone today."

"With Kakashi as a sensei, you're complaining about me being five minutes late?" Sasuke asked even though he knew he was just being teased because Naruto found it fun.  

"Hey Teme...," Naruto started.

"Hm?" Sauske said, turning to face Naruto.

"Thanks," Naruto said.  "Kiro is back to normal now and I think he made the right decision.  I can only assume you helped him find the correct path."

"He did most of the talking," noted Sasuke.  "I just steered him a little when necessary and answered his questions."

"Either way, though," started Naruto.  "You've been there for him since he started the Academy and I know you are a major reason he is the way he is today.  So seriously....thanks."