A stab towards Hayate's chest was buffed by me enhancing the muscles in my wrists, elbows, and shoulders with chakra to sharply breach his guard. Hayate's bokken unfortunately was able to make contact to shift it aside, but he had to take a step back to regain his balance at the abrupt shift in strength.
Since I was already 'warmed up' when it came to channeling chakra in my extremities, I tensed my brow and started circulating chakra through my arms in a constant stream, the bokken's hilt creaking as my grip strength multiplied tenfold.
The chakra in my recently healed arm lagged somewhat compared to my dominant, which I had trained constantly still. It meant I'd need to lead even more with that side.
Hayate noticed it, judging by his eyes narrowing slightly and the faint chakra halo around him that everybody with decent chakra reserves had when not concealing themselves darkening a shade.
My first slash at his blade to knock it aside missed when he dipped it under and around my blade, the tip stabbing towards my chin and under my guard in a flash. He went full speed to put the first spar to an end.
A gasp of shock I failed to suppress was released and I sloppily pivoted to avoid it, the tip of the bokken catching a lock of my hair instead. I backpedaled and raised my bokken in a high guard, forming a hand seal with both hands clasped around my blade's hilt to adjust the flow rate of chakra in my arms to raise it. I had the chakra to burn.
Hayate was obviously well appraised of my offensive technique and wanted to see my defensive ones. He did not disappoint for long and darted forward with several probing stabs that I was able to read the trajectory of with my Sharingan and deflected or diverted the first three in rapid succession. I countered the fourth and final one aimed at my sternum by slashing downward at it and stepping forward, into Hayate's guard, and lashed out with a punch from my right hand.
Hayate looked unbothered and used his supporting hand to block my somewhat strengthened punch with his left. What followed next was, to be honest, shocking that I managed it properly when I had never done it before.
My Sharingan caught his movement in my peripheral vision, but I wasn't able to pull my hand and bokken closer to my chest. Hayate kicked at my hand, specifically next to it where the hilt of my sword met the blade and the impact pushed my arm out of position.
Like the trained fighter he was, Hayate slashed up to strike my bokken again, knocking my arm higher up and twirling his wrist to bring his own sword crashing down towards my face.
I scrambled to stop it and let go of my bokken with my left hand in fright and grabbed at the wooden sparring sword with my right hand just before it would have struck a lethal blow had it been a real sword. The only reason my grip held was because of the overwhelming amount of chakra enhanced strengthening I did, and the result was pins and needles crawling up from the tips of my fingers to my shoulder and into my neck.
Naruko's cheering had abruptly cut off and she let out a cry of shock and fear when it happened, but the sound was lost in the tunnel visioning that I experienced.
It had all gone in slow motion, thanks to adrenaline and my Sharingan. My fingers never touched the edge itself, but the flat sides of the bokken. The strength behind his attack knocked me to the ground anyway though, and the bokken thankfully didn't actually 'hit' me.
Every ligament that connected my shoulder to my chest screamed in protest on top of my Brachial? plexus burning in a way only nerve pain could, but it technically worked.
"Huh," Hayate tilted his head in curiosity at what I did, still standing over me with his weapon firmly within my grasp. "Normally the only people good enough to do that are Jonin or higher. Sharingan?"
"Y-yeah." I managed to say, feeling profoundly vulnerable because I was technically unarmed and had a weighted training sword just over six inches away from my already scarred and beat up face. I seriously didn't want to start collecting more scars before I even graduated to be an actual Shinobi.
Hayate chuckled and tapped at his index finger against his hilt. "Mind giving me my sword back?"
"Oh!" I just realized I was still death gripping it so hard my knuckles were white. I let go and rolled to my side, then pushed myself up to my feet and turned to look at Hayate while dusting myself off with my hand. "What's the verdict, Sensei?"
Hayate grimaced at being called Sensei, but that's precisely why I said it. "Your offense needs more work than your defense, but how much you've recovered is, honestly, really impressive."
I fought the urge to blush at the unwarranted praise. Most of the credit went to me circulating healing chakra through my arm when doing the recommended light stretches to break up any scar tissue the doctors couldn't scrape out of my wrist and fingers, so it wasn't really my idea; Kabuto recommended it.
It was at that moment that Naruko chimed in.
"That was awesome, -ttebeyo." Naruko looked genuinely ecstatic at seeing me spar with someone else, and I might have also been silently marveling at just how intense the faint chakra outline around her was. My Sharingan was still active and I just stared for a moment. She had next to no ability to suppress her chakra at the moment, and it was very reactive to her emotions.
"Yep." Hayate responding to Naruko made me blink and snap back to reality and I deactivated my dojutsu to conserve chakra for now. Now that I was focusing once again, I looked towards my teacher. "Using a sword is cool, isn't it?"
Naruko nodded vigorously, before staring at me with a complete seriousness that never boded well for me. It meant she had made a decision about something, something I probably wouldn't be aware of until weeks or months into the future.
Thankfully, she stopped staring at me like that after a few seconds and I looked down at my bokken on the ground. I walked over and snatched it up quickly before I turned my attention back to Hayate.
"Another round, Sensei?" I asked innocently, the wind picking up some. Hayate's brow twitched and he let out a faint cough, probably from the cold air. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and offered a grin.
"If you aren't tired already, kid."
My response was me gripping my bokken with both hands and activating my Sharingan.
The rest of the training session lasted for about an hour before my hand started to ache from a combination of fatigue and the cold weather, but it was an eventful hour that helped shake the rust off my Kenjutsu skills better than if I just sparred with my clones.
It came to an end and Hayate let out a rather harsh cough that I would have thought had, just by sound, blood in it. It thankfully wasn't and he said he needed to get out of the cold air, gave me a polite goodbye and did the same with Naruko.
After bidding Hayate farewell and getting back to my house with Naruko, I ignored her clones perched on practically every article of furniture in my front room while reading and went straight to my room for my own training that Naruko would be unhelpful at best for.
I closed the door and formed two shadow clones, ordering them to my left and right as I sat down on the floor with my legs crossed. The exercise and sparring from earlier made it easier for me to sink into a meditative state, and I did just that while my clones did their business. The faint crackle of static was all I could hear as my eyes remained shut.
After a few minutes, my heart rate steadied out enough alongside my chakra and raised up my hands steadily to form a hand seal. My chakra responded to my will and a smouldering warmth filled my extremities, followed by my lungs inhaling, and a faint cloud of steam that I didn't need to see to know exited past my lips.
Another inhale was all I needed to saturate my tenketsu with fire affiliated chakra and I made another three hand seals, activating the chakra draining technique and reaching my hand out as it triggered.
My dominant hand swept horizontally from my left to my right, then back again. A feeling not too different from static dancing along my fingertips was felt at two different distinct moments, revealing my elusive targets.
"5 o'clock. 1 o'clock." I murmured, opening my eyes to confirm that I did spot the crackly feeling of chakra with my currently rudimentary Katon sensing. Sure enough, the clones, both containing a small orb of electricity in the palm of their hands, were exactly where I felt them, the two of them sporting matching grins that I returned with an equal fervor.
"Nice, now lower the chakra use by 10%." I ordered, shutting my eyes once again. "We're going all in."
I was going to get this done before I graduate. The Hyuga can eat their hearts out with their super eyes, I'm making myself comparable in value individually to their entire clan.
With that internal proclamation, I began once again.
(LINE BREAK)
One week later:
"Finished already?" Iruka asked curiously as I set the completed written test on his desk. "It's only been 20 minutes."
Naruko and I technically had to pass our year's graduation test, at least the written part, before we could take the next year's written test to get pushed ahead. What I just finished was our year, and she was currently in a separate room so I couldn't send signals to her about the answers.
The fact that they accurately deduced what I would do was a bit annoying, if I were honest.
"I got an eye for detail, Iruka-sensei." I said nonchalantly, hiding my smile behind a wall of detached boredom at my joke.
Iruka smiled softly at my pun, before focusing his attention on checking the answers off as correct or not. The answer sheet was to his right, and I watched as his eyes flickered down the page to confirm each and every answer.
It only took a few minutes and a double-checking to confirm that I got the answers correct, and Iruka signed a sheet of paper that confirmed my passing of this year's final test for graduation.
The smile of approval was as good an answer as I needed to know I passed with flying colours.
"Are you wanting to take the physical test now or the written test for the year ahead?" He asked, holding up the clipped together papers that I assumed was the end of year test for the year ahead of Naruko and me to attend the final year of the academy.
"I'll do that now and then I'll go through the two physical tests." I shrugged my shoulders at the question, confident that I would pass those no problem. I'd rather get through the written test and be done with it.
Iruka nodded and handed me the papers. I took them and grabbed the pencil I'd used back off the desk and went back to my previously chosen seat, beginning the test.
I had no idea how long it took, but it was a little longer than the first one. This test had a few more mathematical calculations that, while easy, required a few simple equation tricks to do. Stuff like dosage amounts concerning medicine that needed to be dissolved in water, time questions about the effects of distance covered, and other topical hypotheticals for the average child soldier in training.
It took closer to 45 minutes by my estimate to complete it, but it wasn't all too difficult for me because of a mixture of my past experiences with highschool level math and my dojutsu's perfect recall. I jotted down the final answer, then stood up with the finished test and walked back over to Iruka, presenting it to him without comment like I did with the other one.
Another round of checking the answers later, Iruka signed off the confirmation that I passed and the scarred teacher turned his gaze from the papers and towards me.
"Physical test now?" He asked, smiling as he already knew the answer.
"I was born ready, Sensei." Those words might have suited Naruko's devil-may-care attitude more than my perpetually bored tone of voice, but I honestly was looking forward to it. Another year of training under what was likely to be Kakashi and I'd hopefully be able to put up a better fight against Orochimaru and Itachi…
If it even came to that.
"Okay." Iruka sat up and gestured for me to follow him towards the door that led outside in the yard, which I complied. "Taijutsu test first, then we'll move on to your physical ones."
I nodded and we went outside, the clouds parted somewhat and the breeze was absent so the weather wasn't too cold. I still was wearing a long sleeve shirt though because the scars on my arm still looked awful to the other kids; civility demanded that I not scare or sicken kids, even if I personally found the scars to be badass. I caved an ANBU's head in with my bare hands and it took a bomb to almost kill me, so the wounds from that weren't something to be ashamed of.
Shaking that thought aside, I steeled myself in preparation for the physical test that would jumpstart me a year ahead of canon's schedule and hopefully change everything to my benefit.
(LINE BREAK)
Naruko set her pencil down shakily, her face flushed as she finished the final question. It had taken her forever, almost to the point of the two hour time limit, but she finished it. She'd almost started crying in frustration at several of the questions and she was so terribly high-strung, but it was all over now and she wouldn't have to deal with non-stop book study now.
Grabbing the paper, the hyperactive blonde stood up and took it to Mizuki, handing it to the blue haired assistant of Iruka-sensei.
"Finished." She mumbled, feeling too drained to boast about it. All her enthusiasm died in the first five minutes and she just wanted to get the day over with. She felt like how Jiji looked, all wrinkly and tired. Getting to crash at Sasuke's house and have a few days off sounded amazing.
Mizuki peered at her for a moment as he accepted the papers, politely nodding and looking down at the papers to compare the answers to the answer sheet currently on the desk he was using himself.
"Hmmm." Mizuki hummed to himself, a frown flitting across his face for a moment as he marked something on her paper with a pen.
Naruko couldn't help but begin to fidget at the act and silence, each mark put down making her wince as she tried to keep track of what the minimum passing grade was.
I'm going to pass. I'm going to pass. I'm going to fai- no! Don't mark it again!
Her thoughts got progressively more chaotic as she stopped counting how many times Mizuki marked her paper and she pressed her already sweaty palms against her forehead, pressing hard as she fought the urge to scream.
"You pass."
Her hands immediately dropped to her sides and her head shot up, her eyes wide?
"What?" She asked timidly, praying she heard him right.
"You pass." He repeated himself, stacking the papers properly and putting up his pen in the desk. "74%."
The passing grade was 65% if she remembered Sasuke correctly. She passed…
She passed!
"I… yes!" She exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air as all the nervousness and anxiety disappeared completely. "I knew I would, -ttebayo!"
She and Sasuke were going to be pushed ahead together.
"Are you ready to do the physical test now or do you wish to wait a little while?"
"Now, Mizuki-sensei." She replied immediately. She wanted to be done now.
"Okay." Mizuki nodded, standing up from his desk without any fanfare and he gestured for her to follow him. "Sasuke should be finishing up soon, so follow me."
Naruko listened and walked quickly to catch up to Mizuki, who had briskly walked towards the door at the corner of the room and opened it, holding it open for a moment so she could scurry out.
"Thanks, Mizuki-sensei." She said, paying mind to Sasuke's advice about being even slightly polite could go a long way to get people to be the same. Granted, he also used some very bad words to describe, in detail, the kind of people she shouldn't worry about befriending or being polite to.
Speaking of Sasuke, she looked across the yard where they would generally spar and she saw a complex obstacle course that a black and red blur was going through with no difficulty.
A brief frown of confusion and a few thought trains later, she remembered that Sasuke had mentioned that he thought they were going to seal some equipment and bring it to the academy grounds. It appeared he was right and the blonde watched from the sidelines with Mizuki.
Sasuke was practically flying across the suspension bars, arching his body on the last one and flinging himself forward into an acrobatic roll. He wasted no time and darted forward, leaping up and flinging three shuriken at a dummy, before flinging a kunai with his other hand straight into the head of another wooden dummy without breaking his stride.
Watching him move like this without sparring against her made her understand, once again, just how scary her friend could look. His black hair, quiet demeanor, Sharingan eyes darting around, absorbing every tiny detail to take apart and understand; it all combined together to make him like those panther things she saw in the Forest of Death the one time she went there before Sasuke and her became friends.
"Time!" Iruka called out, holding a stopwatch in his right hand while holding a clipboard in the other.
Sasuke came to a stop and wiped at his forehead, his breathing barely elevated from the exertion that the physical test resulted in.
Iruka said something else that Naruko couldn't hear, but Sasuke responded positively to it by smiling widely. It wasn't the more reserved kind he usually had, it was normal and it made her happy to see it.
Sasuke's eyes, still crimson red, caught sight of her and she waved, which he returned. He then said something to Iruka before walking towards her, closing the distance quickly.
"Passed with flying colours!" Was the first thing out of Sasuke's mouth as he reached her and Mizuki, still smiling brightly as he said it. His
"That's great." Naruko replied brightly, happy that Sasuke succeeded. Sure, she knew it was guaranteed anyway, but it was still something that made her feel good. Now it was her turn to do well.
"Oh, and Iruka-sensei says you can go ahead now." Sasuke said after a moment, pointing towards where the aforementioned man stood with an expression on his face that he was thinking deeply about something. "I'll just stand by and watch."
" 'kay." Naruko's reply was rather simple and she raced towards Iruka, totally ready to ace this test and be pushed a year ahead and a year closer to being a full fledged ninja.
(LINE BREAK)
Naruko was walking right next to me, still hopping giddily after we left the academy as she ate the ice cream I bought to celebrate the day. She didn't just complete the physical test, she almost actually beat the record I had set for a few of them and I got to watch it in high definition with my Sharingan.
My kunai and weapons related ones were still superior, noticeably so, but the parts pertaining to running, striking targets with foot or fist, or the acrobatics were surprisingly close. It made me so proud, of both my best friend and myself as the one who has a major contributor to her success. The restless nights of staying up passed midnight to get every ounce of knowledge shoved into her head paid off, and now I had a giggily blonde practically leaning on me as we made our way to the Hokage monument to gaze at the sunset again and relax for the final several weeks of the term where I was now free to spend training my other techniques.
And that last part would benefit Naruko. She'd noted her interest with swords and more team building exercises with her clones, so I was going to indulge her and improve myself at that.
"I'm so happy I might die!" She squealed for what wasn't the first time in the last hour, taking another visible bite of the ice cream instead of licking it like a normal human would. "I can't be any happier, Sasuke."
I just snickered to myself, deciding to take a small bite of my own ice cream.
That turned to instant regret when something triggered in my mouth and I stifled a wince. I wouldn't be surprised if the temperature sensitivity I'd been having lately was caused by a cracked tooth from the explosion. That might be something I have one of the Hyuga techs at the hospital that manages x-rays check out, because I seriously didn't want to have to deal with an infected tooth. That root canal I remember from before was awful, so screw messing up on teeth stuff again.
"Whatcha thinkin about?" Naruko asked, her smile stained by the chocolate ice cream she was eating.
"Eh," I shrugged, deciding to be sort of honest, "I think one of my teeth is cracked, because the ice cream hurts this side of my mouth." I pointed at the right side of my face for emphasis.
"Oh." She frowned, looking downright sad at me saying that. "That sucks, can you fix it?"
"Definitely. Just need a iryo-nin to seal it shut.
"Okay that's good."
After that very brief exchange, I decided to go with my gut instinct and wrap my arm around the hyperactive blonde, pulling her close to me in an act that made her let out a squeak of surprise.
"Tomorrow, do you want me to show you how to use a sword?" I asked quietly, noticing a few strange glances from the civilians as we walked down the streets. They'd lost much of their hostility compared to before, mainly because they still pitied me and thought I was reaching out for a friend desperately, with Naruko being the only one I could find.
Idiots, and I called them that with a smile on my face.
Naruko, being the Naruko I knew and loved, let out a loud enough 'You bet, -ttebayo!' that my ears rang and she hugged me right in the middle of the street, and her partly melted ice cream cone smeared a streak across my temple.
Yeah, she was definitely interested.
I got her to let me go and I wiped the dessert off my temple and we kept walking towards the Hokage monument, finally reaching it just in time for the sunset.
And just like when I first went up here with her and marveled at how beautiful the sight of the setting sun was, I enjoyed it once again; a reprieve from tests, training, and other troublesome things.
(END CHAPTER)
If the last few hundred words or the final scene felt rushed or off, it's because I got sick… again, and I just needed to finish the scene. October has not been my month and I just want this chapter over with so I can pass out. Chapter's just shy of 7k words when it could've been 9k if not for this hell month.
Recap: Sasuke did things. Naruko did things. Stuff happens. More stuff happens. Ice cream.
I'm now going to take another vitamin c tablet, some cough syrup, and go back to sleep.
Raging.. Like ReplyReport Reactions:raihanyoiyi, Dacraun, Uthalem and 382 othersRagingSmurfOO7Nov 2, 2023NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks First day New View contentRagingSmurfOO7Not too sore, are you?Jun 2, 2024Add bookmark#695Indelible lives! Those who read the AN for my fic Infidel, you know why it took awhile. I'll not repeat myself and merely say Indelible shall not be abandoned.
This chapter was made available in advance on my discord server. If you want early chapters, some artwork pertaining to my stories, and other such things, feel free to join. This is the link, just remove the space: discord /2XN2rzuFpM
"Everybody's taller than us." Naruko pointed out unnecessarily as we sat outside of the academy building across the street while eating lunch that I ordered from Ichiraku's.
"That's because they're older and you're just short." I replied, slurping up some noodles that didn't drown out the sound of the girl's huff of annoyance at my accurate statement about her vertical disability. "Hey, the Hokage is short too for a guy and he's scary. You can be the terror of Konoha and still be a head shorter than me."
Naruko didn't respond to the last part. She just simply pulled a face and kept on eating, but I could tell she was just pouting to pout.
It was technically a school day, but we tested out and were now completely excused from attending. So, being the rational guy I was, and Naruko being the hyperactive bundle of energy and nerves she was, we stopped going and had taken a short few day break before we started training once again and studying somewhat for the electives we were going to do.
And thus that was how the two of us were situated by the academy. I was bored out of my skull after my morning routine and I needed to basically play parole officer to Naruko after she started talking about trying to make an explosive tag. That… ugh, that stupid grin on her face when I relented and took her to lunch so she'd not make explosives confirmed that she intentionally said that so I'd buy her lunch instead of her being a functional human being and fixing herself food like I taught her.
I shook off those thoughts and stared at two boys in particular, one sitting on his own away from the other kids while the other was still continuing to go through proper taijutsu movements, shadow boxing against an opponent and moving not unlike when he did when sparring against me.
Neji was the definition of stoic in how he looked and positioned himself, more resembling a statue or devoted follower of Aurelius in how his expressionless eyes looked at something I couldn't discern. He was the polar opposite of the other boy, who more resembled Naruko now in temperament.
Lee kept up his routine, thankfully not being at the same intensity as he was in the series. Hopefully Naruko and moreso my presence when we train with Gai would be enough to curb his critical charisma debuff caused by the bowl cut and spandex, as well as give him a less outspokenly obsessed nature when it came to Youth.
It wasn't his obsession to be the best that he can be that was exasperating, it was his single-minded focus on it. In a way, it… it honestly reminded me of what I could have been if I hadn't woken up with decades of memories that revealed what Itachi's motives were in torturing me. Single-minded to the point of self-destruction and unwilling to keep yourself safe.
Whether it was a god or a matter of freak circumstance, I had the means to save myself and stop Lee from nearly killing himself in an idiotic drive to test his metal against an opponent he simply could not defeat.
And it wasn't just Lee I could save and sculpt into a better version of himself. Neji could be shaped as well, and that kid could possibly break S-rank before he was 20 if handled correctly.
So. Many. Ideas.
"Um, Sasuke, why are you smiling like that?" Naruko's voice cut through my thoughts and pulled me back to reality. A quick glance towards her revealed that she was looking at me strangely.
"Oh, it's nothing." I shook my head and scooped up some more noodles to eat with my chopsticks. "Just thinking about who's probably going to be on our team." I added the last part as a straight up lie.
"Hmmm," She frowned, tapping her fingers on the side of her bento box, "If we even graduate."
I just snickered at that, not speaking at the moment because my mouth was full.
Of course, Naruko narrowed her eyes at me in suspicion. "What?"
I raised my right hand in a pausing gesture, before swallowing and looking up at her. "Trust me, we're too important to not let graduate as of now. Even if you completely bomb on the theory test like a total idiot, you're far too good at the physical side and you have me to drag your weight across the finish line if need be."
"I'm not an idiot." She muttered under her breath. I could actually hear the sound of her teeth clacking together as she opened and closed her jaw with her mouth closed in irritation.
"Well no shit." I scowled, making her flinch in surprise that I actually used profanity. But come on, what I said was obvious. "I'm saying that even if you were one, which you aren't, I could still carry you to the point that you're the second most powerful Shinobi in Konoha. I'm not smarter than you because you're stupid, I'm smarter than you because I'm smarter than everyone."
Naruko averted her gaze as she realized what I meant after explaining it, her cheeks turning a faint pink in embarrassment.
"Sorry." She mumbled, her hand going up to her face and fidgeting with her bangs. "It's… I don't know. I kept getting called stupid and believed it, until, um, you." Her voice got progressively lower until I could just barely make out the last word she said.
Nice job, dumbass. Now she's sad. And just like that, I felt the need to make her feel better or not think about the emotional abuse she'd been subjected to.
I reached over, ruffling Naruko's hair gently. "Don't let that stuff bother you, alright? You're not stupid."
She looked up at me, scowling for a moment as she got her hair out of her face. But then she smiled. "Thanks, Sasuke. You're the best friend ever."
Charisma check. Passed.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just finish your lunch before it gets cold."
As we continued eating, I couldn't help but wonder how the dynamics of Team 7 would play out now with us being a year ahead. Gai was still certainly not going to be our teacher, but I wondered who we'd be paired up with. Neji was honestly the most likely. He was an insular and rather… I wouldn't quite say 'antisocial' from the limited amount of time I'd been watching him, but he was no social butterfly and Kakashi would have a field day with training the two of us and how ridiculously different Naruko was.
Either way, I intended to continue the short break from training before the two of us would continue our little outings with Gai and mine with Hayate.
So, with that thought in mind, I finished the ramen and waited for Naruko. Once she finished, she closed up the empty box and looked over at me.
"Can we go back home to practice music now?" She asked.
I blinked in surprise, feeling like I just got slapped in the face.
"W-what?" I asked in response. How she worded that startled me. She said 'home' like my house was… our house.
You're just overthinking it. Cease your Itachi induced neurosis, Sasuke. Now… speak.
"I want to practice some more." She said, enunciating her words in an attempt to probably make me understand. "All I know is the one song and I want to learn another one."
"I… yeah, yeah that's fine." I managed to supply.
With a happy nod at my acquiescement and not noticing how her words had startled me, Naruko beamed, her enthusiasm infectious as I could've sworn there was a faint halo outlining her face and hair. We left the little spying perch and strolled through the village together. As we approached my house, I couldn't shake the curiosity about her sudden interest in learning another song. Impulsive and seemingly random as she was, this still surprised me.
Entering my home, she headed straight for the room where I kept my instruments. I went to the back room to grab my erhu, while Naruko, still buzzing with excitement, snatched her shamisen.
I couldn't help but smile at the sight. "So, what song do you wanna learn?" I asked, setting up my erhu and sitting in the preferred chair I'd sit in while practicing.
Naruko's eyes sparkled with energy as she bounced on her toes. "How about, like, a super lively one? I wanna surprise everyone with my crazy skills, -ttebayo!"
"Hmmm," I hummed aloud, thinking of a particular song I'd already practiced somewhat on my own over the last couple weeks, "I know just the one."
Grabbing the notes booklet with the necessary instructions for Naruko that I left next to the chair on my coffee table, I tossed it at her and she caught it.
"Page 17." I said, shifting my grip on the erhu and prepping for Naruko to test out the notes.
Naruko complied and had the booklet open and braced so she could see it properly, tugging at the strings to make a few experimental notes. Soon enough, she started going through the first dozen or so notes at a slow pace, then starting over, until she started to get the hang of a proper pace.
"Okay, first section, Sasuke." Naruko said confidently. "On two. One. Three. Two!"
I predictably jumped the gun and botched the whole thing, starting a second too early and I abruptly stopped when Naruko started giggling.
"I said two, Sasuke." She managed to say as she didn't even bother stifling her laughter.
"I'm friends with a toddler." I muttered, shaking my head at arguably the dumbest prank she's ever played on me.
"Then you're a toddler too." Naruko said intellectually. "Okay, on three for real. One. Two. Three."
The bow for my erhu glided along the strings to a particular pattern as I zoned out everything else but the instrument in my hands and the sound made. Practice carried on as usual, with several stops and goes to piece together longer uninterrupted sequences. At the end of almost two hours of practice, Naruko called for a pause to use the bathroom and get something to drink.
While that was going on, I decided to test my hand at trying to translate the notes of a song I could remember from the influx of memories onto my erhu. It was a violin in the original one, or was it a cello?
It'd only be a minute, so Naruko wouldn't mind.
Eh, might as well tell her.
"I'm going to try out a song to see how it sounds, alright?!" I called out, hearing a muffled affirmation echoing from down the hallway.
I started humming out the song to prep myself and started over, then I ran the bow along the string.
The nostalgia for a song I had never actually truly heard with my own ears struck me as somehow, I nailed the initial notes so perfectly that it matched exactly how I thought it would sound.
Memories of family, of watching the movies where this music came from with my parents, brother, and grandma… but, they weren't my family, not really. Itachi was my brother. Fugaku and Mikoto were my parents. My grandma had died a year before I was born.
For just a couple seconds, it felt like an eternity where I could see every individual scene where the music played, and I was back to being a small child, sitting on my dad's lap.
That fragment of a moment of euphoria ended when my less than exemplary musical talent caused a discordant note that didn't belong and I stopped, blinking a few times.
But… it wasn't right, not completely. 1 to 1, it wasn't and needed to be. I could get skilled enough to do it, but it wouldn't be the same. A violin was needed, and a piano; not what they had here, but a European one. If they needed invented by me here, I would do it. I can't die with this music. It needed heard. I wanted others to hear and love it like me.
"Wow."
I jumped like I'd been shot and turned, seeing Naruko standing like she'd just gotten out of the bathroom.
"I…" I started to say, but I was honestly reeling internally at the extremely abrupt influx of emotions and couldn't think, let alone speak clearly. I wasn't expecting such potent emotions from the memories. They'd never held a serious emotional sway over me before, even when I had tried to make them.
So, it seemed that music could breach whatever mental or spiritual block was present with the memories now.
Something to consider.
"Just a tune to a song my mom taught me." I lied without hesitation at Naruko's unasked question of where I heard it from.
"It's really beautiful." Naruko said, smiling softly at the mention of my mom. "But I need water." And just like that, she darted into my kitchen and I heard the fridge door open, and close seconds later. Naruko came back into view moments later with a water bottle in hand and looked ready to resume.
I cleared my throat and recentered myself, staring at Naruko and awaiting her signal to continue.
After taking a gulp of cold water, Naruko set down the bottle and nodded, taking her shamisen in hand and we started up once again.
Dashing across the training field, I felt a burst of adrenaline as Naruko and her enthusiastic shadow clones pursued me, each wielding cheap bokken with infectious laughter filling the air. The grass beneath my feet seemed to blur as I dodged and weaved, narrowly avoiding another aimed at my head.
"Stop aiming for my head!" I practically shouted, weaving under a swing from another clone and I flipped backwards, making a hand seal to trigger a Shunshin to escape the pile on of cackling blondes.
"You said to not hit you in one spot, -ttebayo!" Naruko's laughter echoed as she squealed that out, creating a deceptively lighthearted atmosphere that disguised our training as a game. The sun cast shadows as I maneuvered through the field, strategically evading the attacks so I didn't suffer a concussion from the possibly insane girl. The clones mirrored Naruko's movements, creating a coordinated effort to 'tag' me.
Despite the initially playful nature of the exercise when I first recommended it, I couldn't help but feel some apprehension creeping up on me as I observed Naruko's sheer enjoyment. Her laughter bordered on a mischievous delight, and for a moment, I wondered if she was enjoying this a little too much. The bokkens swung through the air with surprising agility, and I could feel the rush of wind as they narrowly missed my face in particular.
Suddenly, Naruko intensified her attacks and a swarm of six clones charged at me from all sides, my own bokken most certainly not being enough to ward off the attacks.
Thinking quickly, I snapped off a Genjutsu from my Sharingan that caught one of the clones off guard, followed by me barreling straight into the completely frozen still construct and my shoulder crashed straight into her sternum, causing the clone to explode in a puff of smoke.
A cry of indignation came from the original Naruko and she came charging at me, every ounce of strength packed into the soon-to-be 11 year old's frame being focused on her training sword as it crashed into my own with enough force to jarr both my arms.
Caught off guard by Naruko's sudden change in demeanor, I narrowly evaded the next swing of a bokken aimed at my head from one to my left. The playful atmosphere shifted as her laughter took on a near psychotic edge, and I found myself in the midst of an unexpected confrontation.
Dodging the relentless attacks, I realized that the seemingly innocent game had escalated into an impromptu test of my own reflexes and combat skills. Naruko's clones coordinated their movements with what quickly became an unsettling precision, and I became acutely aware that this was not just about group combat training anymore.
As I parried the incoming swings, I couldn't help but be impressed by Naruko's adaptability and the unpredictable nature of the exercise. The dynamic dance now demanded not only teamwork and coordination but also quick thinking and the ability to handle unexpected challenges.
In the midst of the chaotic encounter, I couldn't help but start smirking. This was actually going to be a little difficult to pull a win from.
Molding my chakra with my hands still clasped around the hilt of my bokken, I fed a stream of chakra through my upper body and I brought down my bokken in a wrath strike so hard that when Naruko, the real one, went to block it, her bokken was wrenched from her grasp with a loud clack and she did a complete 180 in her expression. She went from defiant to completely startled.
The blonde yelped and stumbled back, the exercise only continuing because her clones, numbering six right now, closed in around me and launched several staggered attacks.
I slid under a swing at my face, knocked aside two bokken from hitting my side with a spinning twirl that had my supporting leg extending to get me out of the way of another attack, and the single stab at me missed and I smacked it aside further with my hand. That left an opening that I exploited by hitting the clone over the head and causing it to pop.
Naruko still didn't seem to understand that even if the blade was edged steel, I could still grip it barehanded to stop it from stabbing me. She couldn't cry foul about it being unrealistic for me to bitchslap aside a sword when a no protective layer of chakra slap wouldn't leave me missing a few digits.
Naruko, noticing my strength-enhanced movement that broke her guard and overpowered her clones, protested. "Hey, no fair! No strength stuff."
Ignoring her complaint, because I was outnumbered in a sea of blondes that put Scandinavia's population to shame, I focused on the onslaught of her clones. As they closed in, each strike became more intense. One clone lunged with a high swing aimed at my head, but I flipped backward, narrowly evading the attack.
Another clone attacked from the side, bokken aimed at my ribs. With precise timing, I knocked it aside, the clash echoing through the training ground.
Meanwhile, my Sharingan enabled me to predict the trajectory of an incoming stab, allowing me to elegantly sidestep the attack. The clones persisted, launching a coordinated assault. One after another, they swung their bokken in synchronized attacks. I responded with a combination of flips, spins, and well-timed strikes to make Naruko use her clones to coordinate better.
Amidst the chaos that I had under total control, Naruko shouted, "Hold still and let me hit you, -ttebayo!"
I stifled a smirk, using my Sharingan to anticipate the next move. As a clone attempted a really, really bad feint, I effortlessly dodged, leaving an opening for a swift counterattack that was concluded by me educating the clone, and by extension Naruko, what hand sniping was.
The wooden edge of my bokken came down hard on her fingers and the surprised cry of pain from the clone was cut off by it exploding in a puff of smoke.
Naruko obviously felt it in the memory influx because the unarmed blonde out of the remaining four glared at me.
"That hurt!"
"Guard your hands better." I said, scowling when one of the clones attacked me and I parried a slash. "Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking." My eyes bored into the clones, who immediately averted its gaze like Naruko had been taught to do.
"This is a spar, Naruko." I took my supporting hand off my bokken and scratched my nose. "It's fun but also supposed to be training. You can't let your hands get hit."
Naruko retorted, "That's not the point! You don't have to hit so hard!"
I just calmly explained my reasoning. "It wasn't meant to hurt you. Guard your hands better if you don't want them smacked."
Naruko just grumbled, but didn't say anything as we continued.
Our continued fighting lasted another half hour or so, with me finally calling an end to it when I started to feel the drain on my chakra reserves from constant evasions, genjutsu, and a liberal use of the Shunshin to avoid Naruko's clones from encircling me.
I eventually called an end to it and I resealed my bokken in its designated scroll, my fingers combing through my damp hair as I took several fortifying breaths after the exertion.
As I did that, Naruko just stared at me, looking hardly different from when we first started. Her stamina was absolutely ridiculous, and it always left me exasperated that she could so effortlessly outstrip me in that department just because of that cheat code called Uzumaki vitality and Kurama's yang half.
"Hmph." I sighed/groaned. "Let's take a break before Gai gets here."
Today was another day Gai had where he was free to spar with us and was the main reason I'd chosen a sort of warm-up that was also fun for Naruko and me, if only she wasn't a little gremlin about it.
"You get tired too much." Naruko decided to say randomly, to which I gave a deadpan look.
My eye, the 'bad' one, literally twitched as I digested what she said and clicked my tongue.
"Naruko, you are 1/3 blonde, 1/3 ramen, and 1/3 chakra. So pardon me, my dear princess, for being a poor peasant that's just an Uchiha." I laced every single word I said with as much sarcasm as possible.
" 'm not a princess." She mumbled, looking away from me as her face flushed in embarrassment at what I called her.
"I like how that's what you deny." I snickered. "And you know it too."
Naruko just huffed, crossing her arms and continued to not look at me. "You're not funny."
"Says the girl that's part ramen."
"I'm not made of ramen!"
"You are what you eat, Naruko."
She finally looked at me and was obviously flustered, because her entire face was coloured a dark pink.
"Well…" The blonde started to say something, but suddenly closed her mouth shut.
She didn't have a rebuttal.
"Uchiha 1, Uzumaki 0." I said in a faux announcing tone.
"You're a dick, -ttebayo." She said under her breath.
"Hey." I raised a brow at that. "Don't use profanity. Girls aren't supposed to swear."
That was an old bias rearing up in my mind from the previous memories. That old life had been rife with anger, fury, and the linguistic expression involved in such emotions carried the same caustic feel as the emotions felt. In other words, I remember swearing like a sailor and the only reason I didn't now is because I'm Sasuke and my family discouraged it.
"But you swear too!" She protested. The resident blonde unfolded her arms and then promptly crossed them across her chest again. "That's not fair."
"I'm not a girl." I pointed out. "And pretty girls shouldn't use that language."
"That's still not fai-" Naruko started to say angrily, before she stopped and froze in her place.
Oh, that was an accident.
Naruko blushed to the roots of her hair at my accidental insinuation and tried to stammer out another sentence, but a shout of greeting to my right drew our attention to the very man we had been waiting for coming down the road that led to this particular training ground.
Before Gai could actually reach us, I reached towards Naruko and grabbed her arm to pull her to me. She predictably yelped in surprise as she was pulled almost up against me, but I wasn't going to deal with angsty stupidity about her wondering if I actually meant what I said.
With my friend now close to me and my hand wrapped around her forearm, I was very blunt in my clarification.
"Yes, I meant it and it's the truth. Anybody that says you're an ugly demon or monster is either a liar that hates you or jealous and hates you."
With that out of the way, I let go of her arm and waved at Gai in greeting. The jolly green giant didn't break stride as he returned the wave and reached us just a few moments later.
"I see you have done your preparations for training, my youthful students." He smiled brightly. It was no surprise that he could tell that we had been sparring and warming up, because, well, a blind guy could have been able to notice.
"Yep, Gai-sensei." I said respectfully, deciding to add some more embellishment for my own amusement. "I have followed your instructions and will be most studious today."
Gai noticed it and I could almost see the cogs moving behind that bowl cut of his as he tried to understand why I was speaking that way. After a second, he seemed to reach a satisfactory internal monologue and his eyes flicked to a still blushing Naruko.
"Ah, but what about you, my youthful student?" Gai turned his attention to Naruko, his smile unwavering. "Are you just as prepared as our esteemed Sasuke here?"
I couldn't help but hide a smirk behind a practiced mask of stoicism as I observed Naruko's still flushed cheeks. It was evident that she was still reeling from the embarrassing moment that had transpired earlier.
Naruko glanced up at Gai, her cheeks growing even redder under his scrutinizing gaze. "Um, yes, Gai-sensei," she stammered, attempting to regain her composure. "I'm, uh, ready to give it my all!"
Gai's eyebrows raised in mild surprise, but he seemed satisfied with her response. "Excellent! Remember, my youthful students, the path to greatness is paved with determination and hard work!" With a final encouraging smile, he gestured for us to begin our training session.
As Naruko and I exchanged a quick glance, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for her embarrassment. It was funny, but I could still relate to her about that. So I won't bring it up because it doesn't matter.
The two of us squared up for some 2 v 1 taijutsu training with Gai and I activated my Sharingan, relishing in the crisp sight as I once again surrendered to the thrill of fighting alongside my best friend against a hopelessly undefeatable opponent.
"One. Two. Three. Now!"
Standing side by side with Naruko, I focused my chakra, feeling the familiar heat building up within me. With a swift hand seal sequence, I unleashed a powerful fireball, the flames roaring to life and crackling with intense heat.
At the same time, Naruko stood poised beside me, her own chakra surging as she summoned a powerful gust of wind. With a determined expression, she released her jutsu, the wind swirling and gathering momentum as she blasted it from her mouth.
As our respective jutsu converged towards the target, the intense heat radiating from my fireball mingled with the powerful force of Naruko's wind, creating a swirling vortex of elemental energy.
With a deafening boom, the two jutsu collided with the target in a cataclysmic explosion. The sheer concussive force sent shockwaves rippling through the air, shaking the ground beneath our feet. Heatwaves distorted the air, causing a shimmering mirage-like effect to ripple outward from the epicenter of the blast.
The flames erupted into a towering inferno, consuming everything in its path with unrelenting fury. The intense heat seared through the air, causing beads of sweat to form on my brow despite the distance from the explosion.
A rush of hot wind then swept past us, carrying with it the unmistakable scent of burning debris. The force of the blast sent loose objects flying in all directions, scattering debris across the training ground in a chaotic frenzy.
As the flames began to subside and the smoke cleared, the once-standing target lay in smoldering ruins, reduced to nothing more than a charred husk.
"That. Was. Awesome, -ttebayo!" Naruko shouted next to me, a face splitting smile across her face as she wrapped an arm around me. "Did you see that?! It just went vvwwooommmmpp!" She included a hand gesture mimicking an explosion for emphasis.
This wasn't the first explosion we did today, as noted by the crater marks all across the training ground that we trashed. Thankfully though, the trees we were blowing up had a strange habit of being replaced on certain days of the week; almost like they were being grown by somebody.
I chuckled at Naruko's exuberance, feeling a sense of satisfaction at our successful training session. "Yeah, it was pretty impressive," I replied, returning her smile briefly before gently removing her arm from around me. "But we've had our fun for now. It's time to head to the academy."
This was technically only supposed to be a half day, hence why it was just after lunch instead of in the morning when we'd be heading to the academy. It was a half day because it was going to just be an introductory session and the basic curriculum goals.
Naruko's expression faltered slightly at my words, her excitement dampening as she realized the implications. "Oh, right," she said, her voice tinged with a hint of disappointment. "I almost forgot. It's the first day of the new academy year."
I nodded. "Yep, and we can't be late," I reminded her, gesturing for us to start making our way towards the academy. "We've got a lot to do and some new classmates to meet."
As we began to walk and leave the explosive wreckage behind, Naruko fell into step beside me, her enthusiasm reignited by the prospect of a new school year. "You're right, Sasuke! Let's go show everyone what we're made of, -ttebayo!" she exclaimed, determination gleaming in her eyes.
Leaving the training ground behind, we walked through the outer section of Konoha and through the main market street on that side of town, the sun beating down hard today as there wasn't any wind and no cloud in sight. As we passed rows of shops and market stalls, Naruko's excitement filled the air, her curiosity piqued by the colorful displays.
Like a kid in a sweetshop. I smiled to myself, almost tempted to grab her hand so she didn't wander off like a 5 year old in Walmart.
As we neared the academy, I spotted a few other kids our age entering the grounds. Their animated chatter and occasional laughter added to the bustling atmosphere of the area and I just kept walking.
Just by random happenstance, I spotted a girl around my height with her hair tied up in twin buns that rushed right past us like she was in a hurry.
Wait, was that Tenten? I wondered. I didn't generally see that hairstyle among girls my age, so maybe it was. I'd find out in like ten minutes anyway though.
"What was her problem?" Naruko wondered.
"Dunno." I said kind of lazily, the both of us then reached the entrance to the academy and we walked right in where there was a sign that said that our current class was going to be in a different room than normal because of an accident with a blast tag.
I just raised a brow at that, but shrugged and took a right after opening the door and went to the aforementioned room where most of the kids were already.
Blinking once, I activated my Sharingan for a couple seconds to memorize all the faces, pausing for a fraction of a second on what indeed turned out to be Tenten, then my gaze lingered on the somewhat solitary Neji, and Lee, the latter waving at us.
"Let's sit by Lee." Naruko said quietly, smiling and returning Lee's wave with one of her own.
I didn't care either way, so I let her walk over to Lee's spot and I followed without saying anything. We both sat down and Lee smiled in a way that eerily reminded me of Gai that had me internally shuddering.
"I'm so happy you guys made it into my year." He said, smiling brightly still.
"Of course we were going to, -ttebayo." Naruko grinned back. "Team Uchizaki for the win!" She pumped her fist for emphasis and ended up catching an annoyed look from Neji, who was about 10 feet from us.
I felt my actual spirit cringe when I heard that last part she said and I made my thoughts known.
"Please don't use that mixing of our names again." I requested, my entire face contorted into a rather expressive showing of disgust. "That just sounds unnatural."
Naruko just turned up her nose and huffed. "Only the chi part."
"You are literally a blonde, Naruko. Grow up." I responded petulantly. I really didn't have the presence of mind to smack back without actually being a dick.
"Don't be jealous that I'm more colourful than you, Sasuke." She scoffed, flicking her hair and giggling when she actually managed to, now that it had grown out enough. "You look boring, like those old people photos that are black and white."
…
Boring?! That actually almost stung, especially since my hair and eyes actually were the exact shade of black and I was a pasty white little fucker.
Had that been any of my guy friends in the past, I'd have given a resounding 'Fuck you' and conceded to not having anything better for a friendly insult. But since this was Naruko, I kind of just froze with my mouth open, not knowing what I could possibly say.
Naruko giggled in triumph and looked at me smugly, to which I looked away from her and clenched my fingers on the desk from how annoyed I was.
I was not sulking.
Not long afterwards, Iruka walked into the room and I reminded myself that he taught this year's students as well when I raised a brow.
He didn't even need to say anything for the class to quiet down from the chattering conversation of 12 year old kids and the scarred teacher cleared his throat.
"Welcome to the last year at the academy." He said with a slight smile, his eyes tracing across the room and back to looking straight forward. "I'm proud to see most of you back and ready for another year of study and training."
I didn't quite zone out, but I decided to not put all my focus into what he was saying until something interesting came up. My time at the moment was spent on looking at the different kids more intently, letting an invasive string of thoughts run through my mind because I had nothing better to do.
Kunai to base of skull. Vault over and scissor kick the brunette in green's temple. Genjutsu the boy to her right. Fireball aimed at Iruka 1.5 seconds after initial kill. Shunshin and chakra punch through the door.
It only stopped because I thought for a moment what a Yamanaka would think if they scanned my mind and I snickered at the horror they'd feel. Naruko and Lee both gave me a strange look at my reaction, so I decided to actually pay attention now.
"With all that said, if you haven't noticed, we have two new students for this year." Iruka stated, looking straight at me and Naruko. "They performed well enough to be pushed a year ahead, so please welcome Uzumaki Naruko and Uchiha Sasuke."
Collectively, several dozen kids turned their heads to look at us. Naruko squirmed in her seat next to me at being the center of attention while I just took it in stride and wasn't really fazed.
"Now," Iruka's voice cut through the air and drew their attention away from us, much to Naruko's relief, "I would normally have a small quiz done to see where you each stand on the basic theory work for the beginning of the year, but I won't be doing that. Instead, you will be sparring."
Everyone perked up at that, at least everyone of importance. A few civilian born kids, because you could sniff them out from a mile away based on body language and the slight uncertainty in how they spoke compared to a clan kid or child of Shinobi, were noticeably put-out by what Iruka said.
Neji in particular though, he actually turned and looked at me with an emotionless look that was made even more impossible to read because of his almost completely flat white eyes. I just returned the look, staring at him with a flat expression.
The Hyuga evidently knew or suspected that I would probably be the only kid here that could beat him in taijutsu consistently, and it was something I myself was aware of. It would actually be a good measurement of my skill compared to another proclaimed clan prodigy that was supervised, and I was looking forward to clashing with him.
Neji was the first to look away, and Iruka called for us to cycle out row by row to the yard to do our sparring.
Since Naruko, Lee, and I were roughly in the middle row, it took only about a minute before we ourselves got from our seats and walked towards the door.
Heading through the doorway, Naruko, Lee, and I followed the rest of the students outside. The yard was already buzzing with excitement as Iruka began to select the first students to spar. I waited next to the two, who were eagerly waiting for their turn.
As was a usual occurrence, a majority of the civilian born kids were terrible compared to the clan kids or those with Shinobi parents. But at least in this case, there were actually a couple of them that were somewhat decent.
Lee got called up and to the surprise of many, he dominated and won each round within about 10 to 15 seconds.
I spared a glance towards Neji to gauge his reaction. Aside from a slight narrowing of his eyes that could have meant anything really, he gave nothing away in expression as Lee got out of the impromptu ring and stood next to Naruko with a beaming smile.
"Sasuke. Neji. You two are up."
I raised a brow at that, looking at Neji again. Gone was the neutral expression, now it was a calculating one that made me internally try and visualize how my own gaze was when approaching a threat.
"You got this, Sasuke! Kick his butt!" Naruko shouted.
Walking into the circle, I turned to look at Iruka before I faced Neji, my hands rising up in my usual guard.
"I am told you are a prodigious student, even by Uchiha standards." Neji said shortly, his brow creasing when a girl shouted his name and cheered him on. The class was actually pretty animated about this since Neji was the resident top dog while I was my year's best student.
"And you are supposed to be the prodigy of this generation of Hyugas." I replied, blinking and activating my Sharingan. "Don't hold back with your taijutsu, I want to fight a peer."
Neji's Byakugan activated right then, his chakra sharpening and taking on a more reflective sheen denoting extreme control.
"Start!"
Neji dashed at me, staggering his steps to try and trip me up. I saw through it no problem and sidestepped, shifting out of the way of his initial jab.
He didn't lean into the hit, instead straightening and jabbing with his left hand, ducking under my punch towards his face while slapping aside his finger jab at the wrist.
I was light on my feet and backed away, hopping on the balls of my feet and looking Neji up and down.
That quick exchange told me several things about Neji and he probably learned as much about me. He knew how the Sharingan worked, but that initial staggering motion was to test the waters on just how good I was at reading him, while those attacks and position of them made me reveal in my movement that I was already familiar with at least the basics of the Gentle Fist.
But what I learned about Neji was that he was quick in his attacks, faster than his actual running speed. Still fast, but he needed more conditioning like what I had been doing in the last year just to simply keep pace with Naruko in endurance.
"Who do you think read more with our eyes?" I asked, not giving him time to answer even if he wanted to and I darted forward, kicking at his knee.
Neji pivoted to his left and evaded it, failing to hit my leg with a crippling hit from his jab.
I delivered a basic set of strikes and kicks, mindful of his ability to counter while flailing in what was difficult even for me to make sense of.
Neji evaded them all and flipped backwards, pressing his hands into the ground and kicking his feet upwards at my chest.
My Sharingan had read that he was going to jump back, but I wasn't expecting him to not commit to an actual flip and I threw my arms up to block, grunting in pain as my forearms took the brunt of the hit and I took a step back.
I didn't pay attention to the gasps of surprise and low-level cheering, because this was actually fun. Neji was back up on his feet and his head tilted slightly before giving me a nod. A straight up grin was on my face and I threw myself forward, trying to land my own hit.
That hit came when I caught Neji's wrist between my arm and chest, then leaned in and drove my elbow forward. He had no choice but to try and protect his face with his left hand and wasn't able to trade blows with me. With me having a physique somewhat better than his in spite of our age difference, I felt the bony part of my elbow hit his jaw and he went stumbling out of the ring, giving me a point.
Several people went quiet at me winning the first round, but my eyes were still on Neji as he stepped back into the ring and had a grimace on his face from the hit. Naruko on the other hand was cheering very loudly.
I hid it well, but Neji certainly knew he had tagged my side. The first lower rib above my top floating rib stung where Neji's fingers brushed against it burned like a nerve had been pinched and I gave him a respectful nod, which he returned.
As Neji and I clashed again, our movements were nearly as equally swift and precise. His Byakugan gave him an advantage over most, but my Sharingan proved better as an assistant and I refused to let up, determined to find an opening.
With each exchange, I delivered a barrage of power strikes to break his guard or make him slip up, aiming to keep Neji on the defensive. But his evasive maneuvers were honestly the best I'd encountered outside of Gai, Kakashi, and my other mentors, and I found myself occasionally getting hit by glancing blows that had entire portions of my arms or sides burning.
However, I was not without my own tricks. Focusing my chakra through my still mostly untouched tenketsu in my left arm, I launched a powerful hit directly at Neji's face. The impact was solid, and I could see the surprise in his eyes as he staggered back, feeling the force of the blow that honestly would have probably killed somebody in a world without chakra.
I took a leaf out of Neji's book and jumped up, kicking both feet out and slamming the soles of my feet into his sternum hard enough to send him falling straight into his back, all the air leaving his lungs and he laid there completely helpless.
I rolled to my feet and walked up to him, knowing I won this round as well and reached my hand out to help him up. It took him a few seconds to gather himself, but he reached up and took the offered assistance when he did and I hoisted him up.
"You just want to call the next round or continue?" I asked, having glanced at Iruka really quick and easily reading his expression and knowing that he would have asked that too.
And the fact that I was aching a lot and didn't want to fight the prodigy among a clan of uptight assholes that made stooge poking a lethal act any more than I had to. My pride was already satiated by beating him twice in a row and I didn't know if I could pull a third.
"I am fine." He said, looking and sounding affronted at what I said and showing the most emotion I'd seen from him as of yet. "Just prepare for another round, Uchiha." The way he said my clan name had genuine bite in it and I offered him the same flat gaze with my Sharingan active that had struck fear in thousands of victims in the past.
"It's Sasuke, not Uchiha, Branch Member." I muttered, drawing a sneer from him and I grinned in return. "No need to insult my name and I won't reply in kind."
Neji said nothing else and got back into position.
As round three commenced, the tension practically crackled between Neji and me.
We clashed fiercely, but I found myself struggling to keep up like I suspected, the hit to my side from the previous round inhibited my flexibility, making it difficult to move my core effectively.
Neji seized the opportunity like I would've done in his position, his strikes becoming more aggressive as he gained the upper hand. Despite my best efforts, I found myself on the defensive, barely able to fend off his relentless assault by evading or predicting the trajectory of his attacks.
With each blow, the frustration grew within me, but I refused to give in. I pushed through the pain, determined to stand my ground against Neji's attacks.
But as the spar intensified and I sank deeper into the thrill of a near equal, Neji's relentless attacks began to wear me down and the muscles in my right forearm seized up from a hit that struck me too quickly for me to avoid. His precision and skill were unmatched, and I struggled to keep up now.
In the end, despite my best efforts, Neji managed to gain the upper hand and a hit to my sternum was barely avoided by me putting my hand in front of it and falling backwards, sloppily kicking my right leg up and nearly striking the bottom of his forearm with the top of my sandal.
It forced him to back away to avoid a painful hit and I got to my feet, glancing down at my hand that was no longer shimmering faintly from chakra radiating outward. I also couldn't clench or move it properly at all.
"Iruka-sensei, my hand is nonfunctional at the moment," I informed the man, waving my now limp hand to show which one, "May I still continue?"
I didn't look away from Neji as I asked that question. If Iruka said I could continue, then me losing the next two rounds was understandable and everyone would know I'd only lost because of a handicap. But if Neji lost, that would be a hit against his own reputation.
But to be honest, and this did annoy me somewhat to admit it, Neji was a better taijutsu fighter than me in pure technical terms. I was in better physical shape and was stronger, but he had been sparring with top taijutsu fighters since he was like 4. In an open battle and fight to the death, I'd be able to probably kill half the class including him on my own with all of them fighting me, not including Naruko of course because she was all kinds of ridiculous.
Not that I'm thinking about killing my classmates. Just because I was an emotionally compromised and traumatized loner didn't mean my theme song was Pumped Up Kicks.
Iruka frowned and looked between the two of us.
"I think we should stop the spar now. I don't want either of you getting hurt, but you both did fantastically." He said this diplomatically, probably catching on to the fact that Neji was kind of cross with me.
I nodded at that and offered Neji the reconciliation seal with my left hand, which he accepted and reciprocated.
"Finally found another worthy opponent." I said to him, meaning the compliment despite my annoyance at my hand hurting and it technically being an inconclusive fight.
"The thought is mutual." Neji replied. With that, we exited the ring and another set of students were called up.
"If you're going to be staying here this often, you need to start paying rent or paying for groceries." I scowled, looking at my very depleted foodstuffs in my fridge with the door currently opened.
Naruko was supposedly 'tired' after such a long and grueling first day of the new school year and had elected to crash at my place for the night and had promptly eaten all of my leftovers because she was soooo hungry… at 10pm. She was like 4'8 and somehow ate more than what my mom and dad combined would eat in one sitting for supper.
"I'm not paying for your food or anything, Sasuke!" Naruko shouted from my living room, still eating from the bowl. "You can have some of my food if you ever went to my apartme-, oh right, you don't like going there."
"Because it looks like a pigpen, Naruko." I shot back, closing the fridge and grabbing a package of instant ramen that was supposed to be for Naruko and I started fixing it for myself because I was still kind of hungry. "And you obviously eat like one too."
"Hey!"
"Oink oink to you too."
I didn't need to be an Inuzuka to hear her muttering under her breath about me being mean, but I just ignored her sulking and started heating up the ramen after putting in hot water from my sink.
While I was doing that, I thought over a few of the plans I had for the next couple of weeks for my training and other things not related to the gremlin on my couch.
More hands-on training with Kabuto, which the spy for Orochimaru was pleased about and had complimented me once again on my continued progress. There was also my typical ninjutsu training and taijutsu with Gai and Kakashi if the lazy jackass could maintain a less hectic schedule regularly, then my occasional training with Neko or Hayate.
But what I was especially wanting to improve was chakra draining. If I were to be honest, I'd almost risk it and try and drain Naruko's chakra so I could get mildly sick or injured and can thus have an excuse to have a bit of a talk with Sarutobi so Naruko would find out she's a Jinchuriki. Because I'm gonna be honest, I hated that she didn't know. She was old enough to understand the power she contained and would do her well to realize that she truly is special. She wasn't just a child of a nearly dead clan, she was a guardian for a great and terrible power and was uniquely qualified to contain Kurama.
That last part may be my own bias from being her friend, but she deserved to know that she was special, and not just in the eyes of those closest to her. She deserved to be treated like a princess…
At least when it didn't involve her eat my food!
The ramen finished up and I poured it into a bowl, preferring the bowl over the carton and I walked into my living room, sitting right next to Naruko and actually sitting partially on her foot that was curled up to her side.
"Hey!" She squirmed out of my way, giving me a reproachful look. "Watch where you're sitting."
"That was on purpose." I admitted, slurping up some noodles and scooting closer to her.
"Sasuke." She warned, scooting her stolen bowl from me and setting it on the lamp table to her left. "Just sit over there and stop being stupid."
"My couch, my house, and my food." I said, shifting right and laying back so I was using Naruko as a very warm, very bony and temperamental pillow for my back. "Least you can do is deal with being a pillow for me while I eat your ramen."
Naruko's eyes were basically completely translucent windows into her mood and thoughts, just a big pair of blue mood rings basically. And she wasn't amused.
"No wonder moms are so grumpy all the time if this is how dads are, -ttebayo." She mumbled.
Now, that type of comment didn't make me feel uncomfortable like when she referred to my house as just home, because one was a casual addressing of what she seemed to think her actual home was, but this was just her playing up her agitation.
"Heh, you would be the worst housewife in history." I snickered, tensing my shoulders and chest as I, correctly, predicted the elbow to my ribs.
"Teme."
"Oh you wound me with your words, Naruko-chan." I said with an eye roll, adding as much sweetness to my voice as possible when I said her name. "And you don't even want to be a housewife, remember? First female Hokage, so you'd be busy running the village and can't do house stuff. You think the Sandaime cooks and cleans, or maintains a garden?"
"You do all those things, Sasuke." Naruko pointed out. "Are you saying you're a housewife?" She asked, looking genuinely confused.
…
"No, because I'm not a girl."
Don't say anything else. Please don't say anything else.
Naruko thankfully did not catch on, because that would have actually annoyed me a lot if she tormented me and teased me about being like a doting housewife that maintains the house. It wasn't my fault that I wanted everything in my dwelling to be clean, orderly, and in its proper place, as well as getting the correct food so I was healthy and strong.
Nothing to do with womanness, I just wanted to be a demigod!
I kept sitting up against and somewhat on Naruko as I ate, waiting to see whether she'd push me off or suffer in silence while wanting to whine. After a solid few minutes where I ate slowly, she didn't say anything but I could feel her glare and her sighing loudly to signal her displeasure.
Finishing up the ramen, I set down the bowl in front of the couch, but didn't actually get up. I just folded my arms over my chest and shut my eyes.
"Sasuke?"
"Hmmm?"
"I will pour the rest of this bowl on you if you try to sleep on me."
"And I'll dye your hair black so you look like an Uchiha." I replied calmly, feeling her flinch under me at the casual threat of terrible mutilation. "Indelible ink at that."
Naruko was quiet for a moment after I said that. "Um, what's that mean?"
I frowned, opening my eyes and I tilted my head to look at her. "Indelible?"
She nodded, shifting to look at me better.
"It means something that can't be removed or forgotten." I explained. "When using it to describe ink, it means ink that can't be cleaned off well. Any other use, it means it's something that is permanent."
"Soooo, like what your Sharingan does with stuff?" She asked.
"Yeah, exactly like that." I nodded. "Proper use of the word would be that my Sharingan makes images indelible."
To elaborate my point further, I activated my Sharingan and got up, brushing my hand across the bottom of her foot.
She of course squirmed and instinctively giggled, jerking her foot away from me. That was precisely the reaction I wanted.
"There." I said, staring at her face and eyes as she looked away from my hand and towards me. "You smiling and laughing will be in my mind for the rest of my life now. An indelible memory. That's the correct use of the word."
Naruko's face shifted to being totally flat, her cheeks flushing pink as she looked away from me.
"Why do I have such a nice friend?" She asked, almost to herself. "You say so many nice things."
"I ask myself the same thing every day." I shrugged, hopping up off the couch and grabbing my bowl to wash it and put it back up. I wasn't exactly a liar on that. I didn't deserve Naruko as a friend, and this entire world didn't deserve a girl as nice as her.
After I finished cleaning the bowl and putting it up, I walked towards my bedroom to go to sleep. Before I got to the hallway though, I told Naruko to just set her bowl in the sink after she was done and that she was obviously going to be staying the night since it was late at night and she was not going to be leaving my house without an escort. I didn't fancy having to come to the rescue and kill anybody else for the low low price of permanent facial scarring and having a bomb literally explode in my face.
With that, the day was completely over and I went to my bedroom, quickly undressing and collapsing into my bed, surrendering to the realm of Morpheus within minutes.
End Chapter: