All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
Itachi and Bakugo both left the police station and passed near the Nakano River. Bakugo, seeing that they were already far enough away and isolated, stopped.
"What was so urgent about life or death, Bakugo?" Itachi asked.
"Hmm, let me explain this," Bakugo said, thinking of a way for Itachi to understand his problem without letting him know he was from another world. "I know! Use your power, dark-circled one."
"My power?" Itachi said, puzzled. "What do you mean, Bakugo?"
"Your quirk." Itachi continued to stare at him, his face blank. "Your quirk, damn it!" Bakugo said, starting to get impatient.
—Bakugo, I don't have time for this nonsense today.
—Fuck, it's true. I forget I'm not in my own world. —Bakugo thought.
"That shit the Hokage does, teleporting! What's that called?" Bakugo asked.
"Jutsu?" Itachi tried to guess.
"Exactly! That's what I meant, jutsu!" Bakugo said, happy to move the conversation forward. "I want you to do your jutsu, dark circles!"
"Which one?" Itachi asked, still not clear what this had to do with the matter of life or death.
"What do you mean, which one?" Bakugo said, puzzled. "You have more than one?"
Bakugo immediately thought of the half-and-half bastard who could use two quirks. He found it odd that Itachi could use more than one jutsu considering his parents were from the same clan, unlike Todoroki.
"Of course, every self-respecting ninja knows how to use a multitude of jutsus. The most experienced ones know over 1,000 jutsus," Itachi explained.
"1,000 jutsus?" Bakugo nearly choked in shock. "And how many do you know? Hmm, on second thought, don't tell me." Bakugo hated feeling inferior; sometimes it was better to live in ignorance. "Do whatever jutsu you want, haggard. But do it now. I need to fix this as soon as possible."
—I hope that after you do this you'll explain to me what this is all about, Bakugo. I'll show you the jutsu that the Uchiha clan is known for. The great fireball. —Itachi began making seals at an incredibly fast speed, then inhaled deeply. —Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. —As he exhaled, he expelled a large fireball over 2 meters in diameter.
"It's not very impressive, even the useless bastard Half-Half can create more fire. Though maybe he's contained himself," Bakugo thought.
"So, Bakugo? Why did you want me to show you a jutsu?" Itachi asked.
"I want you to explain the process of that jutsu to me," Bakugo said.
"Basically, while I'm making the hand seals to perform the jutsu, I'm storing a large amount of chakra within my body, converting it into fire and then expelling it from my mouth," Itachi explained.
—Chakra... —Bakugo thought out loud, —And what the hell is chakra, dark circles?—
"Bakugo, will you get to the point? What's bothering you?" Itachi asked.
—You... just answer the question! What is chakra? —Bakugo asked, giving his full attention to the haggard
"It's fine." Itachi let out a long sigh. "Chakra is the body's vital energy, which is essential for any jutsu, even the most basic. It is a mixture of the physical energy present in every cell of a living being's body and the spiritual energy acquired through exercise and experience."
—From what I understand, everyone has chakra, even the children in my orphanage? Even me?—Bakugo asked.
"Yes, chakra is a form of energy that all living beings naturally produce to some degree. Don't worry, you have chakra too. In fact, if you didn't have chakra, you'd be dead. It's one of the most common causes of death: the use of all your chakra," Itachi explained.
"So why is it only ninjas who use jutsus? All the extras who live in my orphanage are useless," Bakugo said.
"That's because the key to performing jutsus is being able to control and conserve chakra. Everyone has chakra, but only the most skilled ninja can properly mold and manipulate it to its fullest extent," Itachi explained.
—That's it! To use my power, I need to know how to manipulate my chakra! Teach me how to mold chakra, haggard! —Bakugo exclaimed.
"It's not that simple. It's shaped through tenketsu, which are nodes from which chakra can be released. The human body has 361 tenketsu, each of which is located along the chakra pathway system. For most ninja, even experienced jōnin, they can only release chakra from the tenketsu in their hands or feet," Itachi tried to reason.
—Stop messing around and show me, dark-circled boy!—Bakugo ordered.
—Let's see how I can make you understand. Ninjas, in most cases, are children of ninjas, who in turn were children of ninjas. And this is because, genetically, those of us born to ninja have acquired the innate ability to mold and manipulate chakra. Those not born to ninja, like yourself, need years and years of continuous training to acquire that ability. And even with all that effort, it's not certain that you'll be able to acquire such a skill. —Itachi finished explaining.
—Ha. You're fucking kidding me, aren't you? —Bakugo said, frowning. Seeing that Itachi didn't say anything, he knew he was serious. —But I don't have years to learn how to bend chakra! I have to be able to do it right now to show that stupid brother of yours and Mikoto how special I am!—
"It is what it is, Bakugo. But if it's any consolation, there are ninjas who aren't capable of shaping chakra. They specialize in taijutsu, which doesn't require the use of chakra," Itachi tried to encourage him.
"Taijutsu? What's that?" Bakugo asked.
"Techniques that use martial arts. They don't require chakra, but it can be used to enhance the techniques and make them more powerful," Itachi replied.
—Martial arts? That's for losers. In my world... —Bakugo corrected himself in time before screwing up in front of Itachi. —... country of origin, useless people without powers use martial arts to make themselves feel special, but they're losers. —After a long sigh, Bakugo continued speaking. —Well, those not born to ninjas take about your age to acquire the ability to mold. I don't have ninja parents, but I'm so amazing that I'm sure I'll master chakra in a couple of months.—
"There's also the possibility that you might never acquire the ability to manipulate chakra," Itachi reminded him.
"That's not going to happen because I'm awesome!" Bakugo shouted. "So tell me what I have to do first, dark circles."
"Meditation, to concentrate the body's spiritual energy into your Tenketsu," Itachi said. "Was this a matter of life or death? Do you want to be a ninja?"
"Of course not!" Bakugo exclaimed indignantly. The only option in his mind was to be a hero. "I've told you before! I have to show the dwarf and Mikoto how special I am!"
After his talk with Itachi, Bakugo went straight to the orphanage to begin the meditation that the dark-skinned Uchiha had suggested.
—You're all going to be amazed when you see that I'm a chatra expert in less than a week. A week? How modest of me! In less than a day! Hmm, was it called chatra? Bah, I'll master whatever the fuck that shit is called in less than a day. —Bakugo thought with an arrogant smile.
However, things didn't go as Bakugo had planned. A day passed... with no progress. A week. A month. And nothing at all. Fed up with the lack of progress, an enraged Bakugo confronted Itachi to demand an explanation. Not finding him at his mansion, he scoured the entire village until he spotted him near the Nakano River chatting with his friend Shisui.
"HAGGY CIRCLES!" Bakugo shouted, steaming from his ears. "YOU'RE A LIAR! YOU'RE DEAD!"
"What's up now, Bakugo?" Itachi asked, calm as he was used to the blond's outbursts of rage. His friend Shisui smiled in amusement; he had only seen Bakugo once before, at the police station. He thought he was quite a character.
—What's going on? You're asking me what's going on? Well, it turns out meditation isn't fucking useful! So tell me the trick to controlling chatra! And don't tell me that meditation bullshit again, or I'll kill you! —the blond threatened.
"Chakra," Shisui corrected.
"Whatever. And no one asked for your opinion, you moron!" Bakugo exclaimed to Itachi's friend. Shisui covered his mouth, holding back his laughter so as not to intensify the ash-blond boy's anger.
—Bakugo, I already told you. Unborn ninja take, at best, years to acquire the skill of chakra manipulation. There are no tricks or shortcuts. If you want to learn how to control chakra so badly... why don't you go to the ninja academy? They'll explain the entire process to you better than I can. —Itachi reasoned.
"I already told you I don't want to be a ninja!" Bakugo said, raising his voice. "That's for losers like you!"
"Well, all you have to do is meditate..." Itachi said. Bakugo clenched his fists in rage. "Meditation again!"
"THANKS FOR NOTHING, HAGGY-EYED GUY!" Bakugo shouted, turning around.
"Your little friend is very funny, Itachi," Shisui said quietly, but Bakugo heard him.
"Fuck off and die already, you retard!" Bakugo yelled at Shisui, turning around one last time before heading back to his orphanage.
"Yes, it is," Itachi said with a small smile.
Back at the orphanage, Bakugo was pacing around his room in a rage, nearly climbing the walls in frustration.
"I'm not going to give up just because of a month of failure. I'm going to learn chakra no matter what, and I'm going to show Mikoto how amazing I am, and I'm going to kick the ass of that haggard, idiot friend of hers in the process." Bakugo thought, regaining his spirits.
But little by little, his spirits were fading as the days passed, and he was still unable to secrete nitroglycerin through his sweat. He still went to the Uchiha mansion, but less frequently because of the shame he felt. He had a huge inferiority complex towards Itachi, and even Sasuke. Mikoto had two sons who were geniuses, and he couldn't use their power because he was incapable of shaping chakra.
One afternoon at the Uchiha mansion, Bakugo and Mikoto were playing shogi. The ash-blond was in a better mood, having improved his shogi and now able to beat Mikoto more than half the time. What's more, he was on a roll that day. He had won three out of three games.
"Katsuki, you've improved a lot," Mikoto said with a fond smile. "That makes me happy. It means you're growing. But it also means that soon I won't be able to beat you anymore, and you won't want to play with me," she pouted.
"That'll never happen, Mikoto!" Bakugo replied, annoyed that she thought that. "You're not as amazing as me, but you're not far behind."
A few minutes later, in the middle of their fourth game, Sasuke appeared running through the room with a piece of paper and a smile from ear to ear.
"Look, kaasan! These are my first semester grades!" Sasuke explained, handing the paper to his mother. "I came in first in my class in every subject! I even surpassed Naruto, the Hokage's son! Are you happy, kaasan?"
"Of course, my son!" Mikoto replied, giving her son a hug. "I wouldn't expect anything less from my son."
The scene was a shock to Bakugo. Without saying anything, he stood up and headed for the exit.
—Katsuki. We're not done yet. If you back out now, I'll win. Hee hee hee. —Mikoto joked. Seeing that Bakugo didn't say anything and continued walking toward the exit, she looked at him with concern. —I want a rematch tomorrow, Katsuki!—
Bakugo ignored her again and left the mansion with his hands in his pockets. He didn't even travel 100 meters when he was intercepted by the raven-haired boy.
"Why didn't you say goodbye to kaasan, Bakugo? You were rude to her!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"Get out of my way if you don't want to die," Bakugo said, narrowing his eyes. Sasuke smiled, used to the ash-blond's empty threats. "You don't believe me? Oh, yeah, right. That useless Bakugo who can't use chakra is just talk! That's what you think! Right?" Tears threatened to spill from the ash-blond. Sasuke didn't answer, perplexed by this new side of Bakugo. He'd never seen him this fragile. "Stop looking down on me, shorty!"
"Bakugo, I don't look down on you," and it was true for Sasuke. At first, he was jealous of him, but now he considered him a family friend.
"I'm sick of you! Of you, your stupid brother, and your stupid family!" Sasuke reacted like a spring and punched Bakugo hard, making him take a couple of steps back.
—Take back what you just said, Bakugo! ...Sasuke ordered, pissed off.
"Make me, shorty!" Bakugo replied.
The ash-blond tried to hit back, but Sasuke easily dodged it and delivered a hard kick to Bakugo's stomach. This made him hold his stomach in pain. Even though Sasuke was only 6 and a half years old, that kick hurt more than the ones the 13-year-old bullies gave him half a year ago. Unlike the bullies, Sasuke was a ninja apprentice with extensive combat training.
"Apologize, Bakugo!" Sasuke ordered again.
"I never apologize, Uchiha!" Bakugo said, the latter in a contemptuous manner.
Sasuke noticed the contempt and lunged at the blond. The dark-haired man's succession of blows were barely parried by the ash-blond. Physically, Bakugo was superior, but his use of chakra tipped the balance in Sasuke's favor. Thanks to this, the member of the Uchiha clan moved faster and tired less than the hero. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Bakugo's fragile defenses crumbled under Sasuke's assault. And so it did: after a few minutes, Bakugo fell to the ground, unable to get up due to fatigue.
Sasuke, seeing Bakugo so bruised and tired, took pity on the blond and offered his hand to help him up. Immediately, a childhood memory of Deku making the same gesture came back to him. His teeth ground together in frustration. With what little strength he had left, he swatted at Sasuke's hand and stood up on his own two feet.
"I'm not allowing you to feel sorry for me, shorty!" Bakugo yelled, his voice cracking with a mixture of anger, frustration, and sadness. "I'm the one who should be feeling sorry for you! ME! NOT YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME? I was the most amazing person in the world until I came to this shitty village! It's not fair!" Bakugo turned away so Sasuke wouldn't see his tears.
—Bakugo... —Sasuke didn't know what to say.
"I don't want to hear anything about your family ever again," Bakugo said, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.
"Don't say that, kaasan will be very sad if I tell him that!" Sasuke said, not wanting to admit that he would be sad too.
"She's not my mother! I already have a mother!" Bakugo remained silent for a moment, remembering his mother. "Or had..." he said the last part, looking at the ground with great regret.
—But... —Sasuke said, not knowing how to continue the sentence.
"Neither the dark-circled one nor you are my brothers either! I'm not comfortable here! We're from different worlds!" Bakugo said, struggling not to shed any more tears. "Goodbye, Sasuke." After saying that, he walked slowly, fatigued from the fight, toward the orphanage.
Sasuke stood there for a few minutes in shock. It was the first time he'd heard him say his name. Despite their fights and his jealousy over Mikoto's affections, Bakugo was the closest thing to a friend he'd ever had. It was the saddest day of little Sasuke's short life. What Sasuke didn't know was that the pain he felt right now wouldn't even come close to what he'd suffer in a year and a half.