Reminiscence

Purpose

Dodging a kick aimed at his head, he crouched and sprung backward a few steps. Huffing out a sharp breath,, he barely missed the fist aimed at his stomach.

He knew that Itachi was going easy on him, knew that he was in no way close to seeing the boy's full strength or speed. However, as he sidestepped a blow and leaned in to deliver one of his own, he couldn't help but feel proud of his progress. A few weeks ago, he wouldn't have even lasted thirty seconds.

"You're instincts are sharp." Shisui would later say, when Naruto was finally given a break to catch his breath and rest for a few minutes. It was a Sunday, and the three of them were training in one of the fields hidden behind the forest near Naruto's apartment.

Twirling a kunai in between his fingers, he continued. "It's like you already have the experience but lack the technical knowledge to fight." Naruto sweat-dropped at the statement, knowing full well why that was. If Naruto had one thing in abundance, it would be experience. He shuddered, suppressing the memories that rose to the forefront of his mind. He'd fought in a war and led comrades into battle. Different, they may have been, but they were battles nonetheless.

"He's right," Itachi spoke quietly, sitting on top of a boulder a couple of paces above them. "Most people have to fight for years before they can hone good battle instincts."

"W-well, most people aren't randomly attacked while going home, you know." He inwardly winced, knowing that mentioning incidents like that made the other two tense, yet he couldn't find another way to justify himself.

"I suppose that's true." Itachi answered after a moment, eyes intense.

They were one month into his newly instated training. Naruto had learned more in the last few weeks than he had in his five years of life.

"Hey guys," He started, gaining both their attentions. "Why did you decide to be Shinobi?" The question had been circling in his mind for a while now. He knew that he didn't really have a choice in his future profession. The Sandaime had made that very clear in their last conversation. But he also didn't want to follow orders blindly. Wanted to find his own reason to go down the ninja road.

Having already fought and lived through one war, Naruto hadn't been particularly enthusiastic to jump right back into fighting. A Shinobi's journey was, after all, filled with even more bloodshed and violence. Not unlike that of an Auror, it was plagued with death and destruction at every turn.

However, he also knew, that despite his best efforts, he could never stay away from trouble. As Hermione would always say, he had something of a hero complex. His, as she referred to it, 'Saving people thing' would mean that he would eventually find himself drawn to conflict either way.

"My father is the head of the Uchiha clan." Itachi began slowly. "I was meant to follow in his footsteps from the very start."

"Was that your only reason?" Naruto asked tentatively, feeling like he was treading a very fine line.

"No, it was not." When Naruto made no move to interrupt him, he continued. "When I was five, I'd seen enough bloodshed to know that I wanted to be strong enough to, hopefully, one day put a stop to it. I want to bring peace to this world." Suddenly, he felt like he understood the boy in front of him more. Even with his limited knowledge on the inner workings of a Shinobi village, Naruto could already tell that the Uchiha, at only eleven, was already well on his way to becoming Jonin. A very skilled and talented one at that.

"I believe in you." He blurted out abruptly, louder than he intended. He meant every word.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." The ninja replied warmly.