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Leitmotif: “Sing” — Blur

-:-

Of all the teammates that he, the Speedy Tenma Hikyakuya*, could’ve had, why did the Uchiha have to be one of them?

Everything about Itachi Uchiha either pissed off or scared the fuck out of Tenma. The fact that they—he, Itachi, and Shinko Datemaki†—had graduated at the same time, despite the Uchiha being four years their junior. The fact that Itachi contained that freaky Nine-Tailed Fox. The fact that that Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe love child had those freaky eyes that turned red and copied every move.

Therein lay the greatest rub. Their sensei, Yūki Sarutobi‡, had told Tenma that there was no point in grudging Itachi for that. The Uchiha were just one of many bloodlines within Mount Oinari and the rest of the world. “Envying them would be a waste of time and energy, and with such an attitude, you might as well hang up your forehead protector for good.”

Sensei just didn’t get it, did he? Tenma didn’t give a shit about the other bloodlines; they weren’t part of his team. And at least the other bloodlines were something original! But the Uchiha? All their bloodline did was mimic others’ abilities and make learning everything else look so Inari-damn easy! Fucking copycats! Itachi should’ve been getting the lecture about envy, not him!

But for all his righteous anger, there were times that Tenma felt like a total prick. It wasn’t like the Uchiha chose what his bloodline was, nor was he a showoff... and this latter fact only served to further piss off the Hikyakuya. Why couldn’t the little creep actually be a little creep? Why did he have to make him feel like such an asshole?

And so, Tenma dealt with this inner turmoil in the only ways a headstrong boy like him could think of. Firstly, he took to calling the young raven “mockingbird”. That was all a Sharingan user was, wasn’t it? That, and it was a covert insult, though the looks his team gave him proclaimed otherwise…

Secondly, he worked ever more on his agility. Whenever he wasn’t with his team, Tenma would run through any active training fields or weave through whatever crowds and throngs of people he could find, a near blur to everyone around him. Even late at night did he do this, when most children his age would be sleeping. But he knew his old man, Ryūma§, wouldn’t give a shit. His old man hadn’t given a shit about anything since Ma left…

But it seemed all for naught. Aside from the occasional narrowing of the eye at the “mockingbird” epithet, the Uchiha remained as cool and even-tempered as ever. What was more, the looks he gave in response to Tenma’s antics were always flat—pitying, even—just like the ones the adults gave before shaking their heads in that tongue-clicking way.

Tenma fumed ever more. Would the little creep never take him seriously?

-:-

On their way home from the Inaho district, Team Yūki was walking alongside one of the roads paved especially for the civilians’ motorized vehicles. Shinobi tended to frown upon the suburbanites for their possession of such vehicles, for they saw such things as a sign of laziness, of forgoing the spiritual in favor of the material.

But when Tenma looked at them, he noticed how much faster they were than the throngs of people he’d woven through…and got an idea.

“Hey mockingbird! Watch this!”

Famous last words.

-:-

In less than a minute, the headstrong Tenma had been reduced to deader than dead roadkill, a mangled and bloodied mess from which Shinko shielded the horrified eyes of Itachi.

Thus, the Speedy Tenma Hikyakuya would run nevermore. And all because he constantly felt…

…challenged.