Chapter 12 - Fighting Sasuke
The boys went home, covered in sweat, feeling exhausted and starved. It was already past noon when they reached home. Sounds of stomach growling were heard. Although chocolate bars and chips were used to fill their bellies, without a bowl of piping hot rice, warm mellow soup, and the chewy fish, there would still be a sense of hunger.
"I"m hungry, what"s for lunch?" asked Naruto
"How would I know? You were supposed to make food today." Replied Raito
"Ehh!?"
"Well let"s make food and eat." Started Raito
Naruto sighed then nodded and joined the work.
Naruto washed the potato and said, "I"ll be going to the back mountain so I"ll be a little late."
Continuing to fill the rice cooker, Raito added, "You really wanna run again?"
"Mm, I want to beat that record."
"That?"
"Kiba"s record."
"Boy with the dog?"
"Mm."
"You are really serious about beating that record huh? You are seriously a fool." Said Raito
"I just want to beat that record." Replied Naruto
"Everything would be ready soon, go and wash yourself." Said Raito
Naruto happily ran off leaving Raito behind.
As Naruto ran off Raito continued preparing for food while doing various chakra control exercise.
*Ding
[Bonus period has ended.
Congratulation for surviving.
Hope we meet in the future.
-Yours" Game Master]
"What!? What the f.u.c.k was the bonus period?" Raito tapped the bonus yellowed out on the blue screen.
[Bonus
-Twice the experience
-Twice the loot drop]
At the notification, Raito despaired in his heart.
"If I had known I would have farmed more monsters." Murmured Raito.
"What if you had known?" asked Naruto as he came downstairs.
"Nothing important but I just remembered that I had forgotten to meet that duck-a.s.s b.a.s.t.a.r.d last week and now I can"t think how annoying he will be today." Answered Raito.
"Sasuke? You didn"t meet him last Friday? So that"s why he was glaring all the time at the academy. It was giving me gooseb.u.mps." Replied Naruto as he pointed at his arm.
"You need to learn to ignore those glares Naruto. You remember the first time I fought with Sasuke, after that match he was always giving me that glare."
"Eh? You never told me about that." Said Naruto as he filled the plate with rice and pa.s.sed it to Raito.
Raito took the plate and put the curry on the top, "Seems like I forgot about that."
"How can you forget about something like that?" countered Naruto.
"Just like that and I mean it"s not very healthy to worry about stupid things." Replied Raito nonchalantly.
"And you know....."
Time pa.s.sed and they finished their food then Naruto went to the hills and Raito went outside the house and started practicing.
After some hours at the Hokage tower.
"Sensors are the most difficult to spy on." Said the lazy Jōnin.
"Ho-ho. Is that so?" asked Hiruzen
"I am still trying to figure out the range. And an academy student should have been easy to deal with but this one is quite...troublesome." Replied Kakashi
"They are not your student currently Kakashi. So, let them be for now." Replied Hiruzen as he let out a puff of smoke.
Sighing Kakashi looked up and said, "I don"t know but I have a feeling that they will pa.s.s my test."
"Sometimes I think the bell test at the very beginning of the shin.o.bi career is not right, at all, but, on the other hand, there is hope that there could be a team, that could figure out the meaning of the test than, the five-year course at the academy would not be called a waste." Said Hiruzen as a sad look came to his face. Turning around he released the smoke which slowly dissipated into the air.
Knock! Knock!
"Hokage-sama Umino Iruka from the academy department has come." Said Mariko
"Let him in," replied Hiruzen.
The scar-faced man entered the room, stood in front and respectively bowed towards the Hokage.
"Kakashi-senpai you are here too?" asked Iruka.
"Ah, it"s nothing just some briefing. Hokage-sama I will be taking leave now." saying that the white-haired man left the room.
Hiruzen nodded and with a flicker, Kakashi left the room.
After a short moment of silence.
"Iruka, how have you been?" asked Hiruzen
"I have been well Hokage-sama." Replied Iruka with some confusion.
"Then today"s matter, as Mari is leaving the academy for a long period of time we have thought that we need a replacement and you are perfect for the job." Said Hiruzen as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
"I don"t think I am that qualified for the job nor have much experience needed for…"
"It will not matter much now all your actions in the academy will be observed by us before making you a permanent and if you have got enough problem then come and do see me."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Bowed Iruka
"Sign this doc.u.ment." Hiruzen took out some doc.u.ments for Iruka to sign.
"Now that your rank has gone up you are allowed to know more sensitive information." Said Hiruzen calmly as he gestured for Iruka to sit.
"As a headteacher and a Chunin of the village your responsibilities has increased even more but you foremost duty is to teach, it will be just like every day teaching you will have your cla.s.s to teach and a.s.sess their growth........"
An old and young continued their talk till late.
Whereas Raito was in his backyard throwing shuriken and kunai over and over.
Throw. Rest. Retrieve. Repeat
A perfect cycle for grinding "Shuriken and Kunai Mastery" and the new skill "Throw". Though not much, skill "Throw" increased the accuracy and speed of the throwing action per level.
It wasn"t that he didn"t want to increase his level but it was nearly impossible to achieve currently.
Back after eating lunch, Raito quickly created an instant dungeon to farm some more experience but what he didn"t expect was that he would only get 40 exp per zombie and his experience bar was filling too slowly. After some time of farming, only the bigger zombie would give any decent amount of experience points, he exited the dimension and started training his techniques firstly which required chakra like clone, replacement, and transformation. Then moving towards the techniques which required less or no chakra like observe, kenjutsu, running, reading and calligraphy.
The endless cycle of practicing different skills and techniques, if it was don"t by a normal student or ninja, he or she would already collapse from the acc.u.mulated fatigue. It was possible for Raito because of his "Gamers mind" and "Gamer"s body".
After working out the acc.u.mulated fatigue would disappear within 10 to 15 minutes and when it comes to the things regarding brainwork it would be even easier because there would simply be no lagging or tiredness, it was like human turned machine.
"I really feel something is wrong here?" Kakashi thought out loud.
"Mm, I too feel something is wrong with him, he is training extra hard and he is recovering quite fast from fatigue than normal and also he is not getting bored." Said Mari.
"Mari-san, how long have you been watching him?" asked Kakashi.
"We have been watching him for quite a long time, Kakashi." Answered Mari.
"His sword handling has also become much more refined, senpai." Added the purple-haired ANBU.
"Cat so you are also one of his trainers, huh? I don"t think it was written on the datasheet about him having teachers." Inquired Kakashi.
"We have been teaching him on our own free time so there is nothing about that on the paper." Answered Cat.
Processing the new information Kakashi again asked, "Are there any more people teaching him?"
"Yes, a few people like Inoichi and Anko." After pausing for a bit the cat ANBU added, "Senpai take care of him, please." With that, the cat ANBU left the scene.
Still looking at Raito, Mari added, "Kakashi, after Naruto joined the house, Raito has been getting strong faster and also strange occurrences have been reported in these last weeks."
"True but all of those occurrences have been thoroughly investigated and all of his behavior seems to be normal," Kakashi answered.
"I know he is real Raito but, I…I don"t want him to grow fast, I would be happy if he becomes just normal." Added Mari
"Normal huh?" sighing lightly Kakashi shook his head and left the area.
"Raito." Looking at the figure practicing, Mari also left the area.
Raito Naruto house backyard
"Seems like they are gone." Shaking his head he went back to throwing the shuriken and kunai.
Uchiha District, Lakeside
A black-haired boy wearing blue high collar jacket was practicing his Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and it looked like he was already wasted, sometime he would fall but after some rest, he would again get up and would again start his routine.
"I"m not going to rest, I will definitely get strong and kill you, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Growled Sasuke as he gritted his teeth then again back to his routine.
Somewhere at the land of water
A tall man with bluish skin color and a large sword on his shoulder wearing a black cloak with red cloud was walking in front with his partner behind him.
"This place really brings back memories, why don"t we go and meet a few of those leftover friends of mine. Huh, Itachi?" asked the blue-skinned man.
Itachi sighed then said, "Kisame, we don"t really have time. The client is waiting and we are already late. Why don"t we meet your friends later?"
After a long stop, Kisame replied, "Well they are not going to go anywhere so it really doesn"t matter." With that, he continued moving forward.
Itachi also looked towards the leaf village then continued moving forward.
Konoha, northwestern hills
A yellow-haired boy was resting while panting hard.
"So close just a few more second, just a few more." Said Naruto.
Taking a deep breath, he again made a starting position, "I can do it, and I just have to be a bit faster than just now."
Konoha, Hyuga Compound
Hinata was again thrown back, her face covered by dirt. Again standing on stance but weakly she prepared for the spar.
Sighing lightly the boy in front of her, the boy with long hair and a white cloth covering his forehead said, "Hinatsama, I admit you have been doing better for past few days but you are still weak. But even if you practice hard you will never win me in a fight and I will always win, it may be today, tomorrow or any day in future, the result will always be the same. Weaker people will always be weak the difference in the gap between us will continue to increase."
Then without talking any further, the boy with long hair dashed forward and hit with palm on the chest, making her stumble back.
Hinata was so much in pain and tears were coming out from her eyes but remembering her friends and her special yellow-haired boy, she weakly stood up and again positioned herself.
The boy opposite looking the girl in front of him sighed then again continued to spar which was clearly one-sided.
The elders in the room with their Byakugan activated looked at the scene, some sighed, some shook their heard and some had a faint hint of a smile on their face.
"She really is unsuitable, we should focus more on the younger one." Someone voiced their opinion.
The room suddenly became silent; looking at each other the group of elders found that everyone had the same idea.
"Let"s wait until the younger ones gets Chunin t.i.tle." Said the man sitting on the head seat
"Hiashi, you cannot just postpone this decision. You do have to make the decision and we are not going to wait that long. If you are unable then we will make the decision ourselves." Said another man.
With that being said the group of elders left the room/hall. Some of them bowed while others just walked out angrily.
After everyone left the room, Hiashi activated some seals the catching his head he sighed, "Hitomi what should I do?"
Evening, Uchiha district, Lakeside
Sasuke Uchiha was resting and it looked like he was in deep thought. At that time suddenly a kunai was thrown towards him. Snapping his eye open, he pushed the ground and dodged the kunai then he head straight towards the area from where the kunai came from. He saw a figure which was heading towards the woods and chased it but then he was suddenly thrown upside down with his left leg trapped by rope. Getting frustrated he struggled, and then suddenly realizing he took out his own leftover kunai and cut the rope. He felt good as he saw three to four kunai struck the trunk of the tree where he was earlier.
"Come out." Ordered Sasuke
"Well looks like you are getting better at this. But-" the black-clothed figure tried to say but was stopped by the thrown kunai, which caused him to back off.
Sasuke still followed the figure but after several steps, he suddenly fell into the pit.
"But it looks like you are still the same rash type of person." The figure laughed looking at Sasuke.
"Coward." Sasuke spat the words then he grabbed the rope given by the black-robed figure.
"Haha, we are a ninja so you know." Not willing to say much the figure walked out to the clearing.
"Instead of these stupid tricks you should have faced head on, Raito," said Sasuke.
"And why should I do that? Where"s the fun in that? And also miss the surprised look on your face? No way."
"Hmph, come let"s start." Said Sasuke as he got into his clan"s interceptor style.
"Woah, whoa, whoa, hold on buddy. What"s the hurry?" asked Raito as he back-peddled.
Without saying anything Sasuke charged forward and threw a punch straight at Raito"s face. Leaning his body back Raito caught the punch, drew Sasuke in and threw a backflip kick. Moving his body slightly Sasuke dodged the kick then again chased Raito. Stopping himself Raito also dashed forward and threw the punch hitting Sasuke chest. Catching the punch Sasuke kicked the flanks. Feeling the pain Raito caught Sasuke"s shirt and pulled him forward and used clothesline knocking Sasuke down. As Raito was going to continue punching Sasuke. Sasuke kicked Raito on the stomach.
Then the two of them continued fighting back and forth using Taijutsu only and Raito not using his chakra sense. Well, it would have ended much faster if Raito used "chakra sense" now.
By the end of the fight, both of them were down bruised and bloodied panting heavily lying on the ground.
"d.a.m.n you are still so much stronger." Said Raito
"You are not bad at all." Replied Sasuke
"Just not bad, well I think it is some kind of compliment coming out of your mouth." Replied Raito
Your Taijutsu is not bad but why are the teachers pairing you with Sakura and Ino and the other weakling in the academy?" asked Sasuke
Hearing that, Raito"s face suddenly turned black and angrily got up and said, "Let"s go and get us patched up. I know there is going to be your favorite medic on the duty tonight."
"Shut up!!" roared Sasuke
Two of them got treated on the hospital and of course, Sasuke got extra attention being the last of Uchiha clan and all.
"It"s really not fair those nice medic girls always flocking towards you." Complained Raito
Sasuke just gave a small smile to the complaints.
Both of them were heading towards the Ichiraku"s Ramen Shop.
After entering the shop they saw a grumping Naruto on the seat.
"Teuchi-san, Ayame-san specials for me tonight and doubles please." Shouted Raito
"Extrlarge pork ramen for me please." Said Sasuke
"Raito-kun, Sasuke-kun, it"s good to see you both here tonight." Replied Ayame
"Raito you finally come, I was really starting to think you were not going to come tonight." Said Naruto after which he quickly ordered his ten bowls of miso, pork, and chicken.
"Oh, and there is Sasuke-teme too." Naruto waved and looked towards the counter.
"Dobe." Replied Sasuke, his words as rare as chakra fruit. Then he sat on the other side.
Looking at both of them Raito sighed and sat at the middle.
Between talks, there wasn"t much and the three of them happily ate their meals politely. Or so it looked like.
Bidding farewell to Sasuke, Raito and Naruto went to the house and both of them practiced their own things."
Outside
"Senpai, it looks like it"s my lucky day I keep on bunking you all the times." Said Cat ANBU
"Say cat who are you really looking after?" asked Kakashi
"I am afraid I cannot answer your question? But don"t you already have the answer, senpai?" asked the cat ANBU.
"Looks like I will have my hands full for quite some time." Sighing Kakashi turned the page of the orange-colored book.
"Senpai, you must be reading the blank copies again?" asked cat ANBU
Raising his lone eye, he looked at the masked ANBU then stood up straight and clapped the book shut and disappeared using body flicker.
The cat ANBU looked at the s.p.a.ce where her Senpai disappeared then shook her head and went for her rounds.
Somewhere, Anywhere, Nowhere, Everywhere
"Little Seed why don"t you try something else." Came a voice from the direction of intense light
"No." The small seed use just one for the reply then spoke no more
"Mr. Light it is no use to talk to little seed, it"s not like she will change her decision." Came to a voice from a corridor of books the end of which could not be seen but if one was patient enough the very end of the corridor, they could see a big book with black pages and of which the only dozen of the first pages were black and the pages were being filled by small black earthworm.
"Everyone has a path and little seed also has a path so stop annoying her." The voice came from a river source whose end was unknown but if one was patient enough then they could see the ending where the river made a waterfall and again waterfall made the river. It looked like a circle with a river and waterfall but it could not be easily seen. And the water looked like human faces.
"Hmph, since the path is wrong, what"s wrong with starting from scratch?" a cold sound was heard from the dark purple fog
"The ancient one said that all path leads to one, the path leads to one and also no path leads to one." The voice was heard from sand dunes and it looked like the grains of sands were dropping from the sky to the sand dunes.
As all of the voices were talking nonstop, the little seed focused down to the two humans who had her blessing and whom she had given ability. Looking at the new human, who was blessed with her ability, she decided in her heart.