As you and Ino chow down on Mother's homemade gyoza, you think through your options. You could challenge Naruto, but really, what will that do? No one knows how tough he is so it's not like you'll get anything besides a sore hand for putting him down today. Besides, if his stamina is anything like what you remember from the manga then you'll be here all day. You have plans later!
Maybe you could fight that Jabari kid… he looks like he'd be an interesting match. Or maybe you could beat up on Ren; the pencil-eater deserves it after all. But no. You need to hold yourself to a higher standard than a normal bully.
No, you can't just beat up Ren, and as much fun as Jabari would probably be you need to go after the king. The best student in class. The likely best fighter in class. You need to take on Uchiha Sasuke.
So after lunch and after the afternoon workout, when Iruka-sensei asks you and Ino for your choices, you point your fan at an excited looking Sasuke. To your surprise, your choice only gathers a small murmur of conversation. It's a far cry from the hush you were expecting or the squeals of protest from some of the female students. Then again, you're all new here. So Sasuke hasn't had time to really cement his reputation yet.
You unzip your sweatshirt and hand it to Ino, laying your fan on top of it. "Do not let anyone else touch those," you order. "Or else." Your friend's response is a mocking two fingered salute, but she doesn't put your stuff down. She just backs away into the circle that's forming around you and your chosen opponent.
Iruka-sensei steps out into the middle of the circle, looking at both of you in turn. "Now since this is our classes first spar, let me go over the rules. First: you start when I say 'Go'. You stop when I say 'stop'. If your opponent gives up, you also stop. If you can't continue the fight, either say that you give up or signal that you submit." To demonstrate, he leans down and taps the ground rapidly, almost frantically.
"And finally, before the spar, we make the seal of confrontation," he continues, demonstrating the seal in question. It's a simple little hand gesture, index and middle finger raised straight up and the rest of the fingers clenched down. "And afterwards, we make the seal of reconciliation." Iruka-sensei beckons over Mizuki, demonstrating by creating the seal of confrontation and joining hands with his fellow teacher to form one united hand seal. "Do you understand?"
Neither of you says anything which he correctly takes as agreement. "Then Daisuke, are you ready?" You form the specified seal and nod. "Sasuke, are you ready?" Sasuke does likewise. "Then go!
Slowly, the two of you begin to circle each other just watching and waiting to see what the other one does. You're wary; you have some idea of what he's capable of. He's suspicious; all he knows of what you can do is what he's seen in the workouts, but that's enough to give him pause. Neither of you wants to make the first move- it might be the last one in the fight.
In the crowd around you, there are pockets of quiet as people study your movements intensely. The teachers of course. Ino. Jabari. Shino. Yui. Shikamaru- though that might be because he's drowsing again. But most of the crowd just looks confused. It's like they expected you both to just charge in and start punching. Jeers and heckling start to rain down from some of the louder students.
You tune them out with practiced ease- you train with Gai yelling in your ear, this is nothing- but Sasuke doesn't seem to have your experience. He breaks first and charges, legs pumping, dust churning up as he rushes directly at you. His fist cocks back and punches, transfering all his motion into one attack.
What a shame you're not there anymore. The moment he plants his feet to deliver the blow, you're moving. His fist sails through the air that used to have your head in it. Sasuke stumbles over stretches out, over-committing to the attack. It leaves him open.
Your ankle smashes into his ribcage like a hammer. You put everything into the strike. Full hip swivel, full extension, every bit of muscle you've got. It shows too; Sasuke skids back without moving his legs, driven away by your blow. Shock paints his face. The feeling of getting punted in the gut seems new to him.
But to his credit he doesn't let it stop him. He barely lets a grimace of discomfort cross his face. Instead he just steps back in and punches. You block and dodge, waiting for another opening. He doesn't give it to you; he's learned his lesson about over-committing.
You let him rain down blows for a good few moments as you study and judge him. And as you do, it dawns on you: this is not the Sasuke of the future.
Sure, he's good. He probably trains just as hard as you do. But he spreads his focus around, unlike you, who puts almost all of his energy and free time into Taijutsu. And half of his training time is probably devoted to nagging his family to teach him stuff. When it comes to the fine art of punch kick, you've got him outclassed by a mile.
A shame. You were hoping for an opportunity to really stretch your legs. But if you draw this out then you'll just look like an ass once people realize what you're doing. Better to end this quickly. And since Sasuke isn't going to give you an opportunity of your own, you'll have to make one.
So when he rears back just a hair more for a more vicious punch, you duck into a spin instead of weaving or taking it, extending your leg and sweeping his out from under him. He collapses into a heap with a grunt and plants his hands, ready to get back up. But you're not done; you continue the spin and rise, leaping into the air before dropping down on him with an elbow extended. It smashes into his chest with all the force of your spin and your leap.
Your move may have put down another of your classmates, but not Sasuke. Whatever you think of his skill level, he's more than willing to take a beating. He tries to struggle to his feet. But no. You're done here. You kick his legs and hands back out from under him before he can fully get them positioned, maintaining your high ground and flattening him out. He's defenseless. You rear back to deliver a hammer-fist-
And are stopped by a sharp whistle from Iruka-sensei. "Stop!" your teacher calls. "Good fight!"
You barely hold back a shrug. You guess. Still, no sense in pouting. You stand, reach down to help up Sasuke, and form the seal of reconciliation. "Not bad," he grunts out between heavy breathes. Now that you're not fighting, he's cradling his ribs. Your first kick really hit home.
You incline your head. "We will do it again later," you allow. "I'm sure it will be more competitive after we are both further trained."
His eyes flash and his jaw firms in determination. Challenge accepted, you guess.
The rest of the fights are less than stellar, but they confirm what you had already thought. Namely that Sasuke, no matter how disappointing he actually was, was probably the second best in the class. Most of the students either just flail at each other or they play around, jumping and dodging like they think shinobi are supposed to do. It's more like two kids playing a game than an actual fight.
There are, of course, exceptions. Jabari uses his superior size and strength to put down Yoshiaki just barely slower than it took you to dispatch Sasuke. Naruto and Kiba slug each other in the face over and over again for a good ten minutes before Iruka-sensei just calls it a draw. Hinata's match against Yui is surprisingly intense; the Hyuuga isn't using Juuken if she even can, but her blows are still precise and surprisingly forceful. For Yui's part, she's light on her feet and quick to strike back but if Hinata was going full force you have no doubt who would win.
And then there's Ino versus Mariko. Their fight starts a lot like Hinata's, with a feeling out process that graduates into a full fledged striking battle. Both of them are clearly trained and just as clearly familiar with each other. There's none of the early trepidation and none of the accidental acrobatics that you saw in most of the other fights. But where Hinata vs. Yui ended at the striking battle, Ino and Mariko go in a different direction as their animosity pushes them into a…
Well, there's no other word for it. It pushes them into an all out brawl. Any ideas of self defense or any technique abandons them both as they stand in place and just start wailing on each other.
Luckily, they're both small. So no permanent damage looks like was done. But if they were just a little bit older you're pretty sure one or both would need some kind of dental reconstruction. Iruka-sensei has to separate them before things get fully out of hand.
Ino's still fuming as class ends. "I had her!" she snarls between gritted teeth. "And she knows it! But now I'm gonna have to hear about how she 'won' from her entire family! And they're coming over for dinner tonight! Ergh!"
You tentatively reach out and pat her on the shoulder. "I'm sure it'll be fine," you offer.
More angry noises are all that comes out of her throat. You shrug. You've done all you can do. Hopefully no one dies at that dinner.
Thankfully, no one does. At least, neither Ino or Mariko does. They both make it to class the next day, neither looking worse for wear. They won't look at each other at all though, not even accidentally.
Your friend's simmering hatred with her cousin turned enemy aside, you settle into a pattern over the next few weeks. You wake up in the morning and go through Gai-sensei's warm up routine before putting in some time on Mr. Straw. Then you head to the Academy and do more workouts ranging from basic conditioning to more rounds of sparring- in which you're undefeated two months in. Then lunch with Ino, where you talk about any and everything. Then back inside for math, grammar, and history.
That last subject is the one they spend the most time on. Names, dates, places, stories are all driven into your head with terrifying efficiency. At times, it feels like reading and math are just secondary to learning about Konoha's history. Strange.
But after that, it's right back outside. You head home and do whatever Gai-sensei says. Normally it involves punching something to toughen your hands or working on a new lock or throw. Whatever it is, it's always good and it always keeps you ahead of the game in class sparring. After Gai-sensei leaves you go inside, spend as much time as you can with Mother, and then go to bed before getting up to start the cycle all over again.
And as the weeks go on, something strange happens: you start getting used to it all. You do the same amount of work every day and you're no longer exhausted at the end!
Which means… you have found more hours in the day. You have free time again! Holy fuck you'd thought it would never happen!
But you don't want to just lounge around the house doing nothing. You want to be out there! Doing something else! Improving something, working towards something!
But what?
What do you use your newfound free time for?
[] You're currently near the top of the Academy Rankings according to your Menu. But you can be better. You can be number one! All it will take is knuckling down and hitting the books hard.
[] It's been a while since you went out into Konoha and just looked for new quests. Most of what you do is old repeating quests that you found ages ago. There's got to be some new stuff out there. Time to find it!
[] Ino's not saying much about her issues with Mariko and her friends, but that doesn't mean you haven't noticed them. Ino is your best friend and this is pissing her off. You should help. Somehow.
[] There's a whole list of achievements in your menu, just waiting for you to solve them! The last time you went out and pursued one, you found Gai-Sensei. What'll you find if you go after another one?
-[] (Write-In Achievement you will be pursuing)
[] Train HARDER! Double your training regimen!
[] Find someone to teach you how to find your chakra ask Gai-sensei if you have to. Then once you reach it practice chakra control exercises.
[] Ino's not saying much about her issues with Mariko and her friends, but that doesn't mean you haven't noticed them. They're being petty, and there's no better revenge than living well! Help Ino leave those girls in the dust by studying together and training with Gai Sensei!
[] Write-In (Must be approved. Tag me to gain approval.)
