Chapter 16
'Find me when you possess the same eyes as I do.'
All this learning and training amounted to nothing. No matter how strong Sasuke became, it would never be enough. Not until he could somehow obtain the same eyes as Itachi. Everything else was pointless.
At least that's what he thought before he met Iruka-sensei. He didn't teach them any powerful techniques or secrets. Just taught them to be better. And little by little, he saw as others got better. And a thought came to him that maybe as long as he got better, it would be enough.
Of course, he quickly shot down that idea. Just getting better wasn't enough. But it was the beginning. And at least, he was learning something useful. It didn't even become a drag to come to the academy anymore.
"What are you doing, Choji?"
Today, it seemed Iruka-sensei was even more irritated than usual. He even picked on Choji. As much as Sasuke didn't care about his classmates, even he didn't like it when people picked on Choji.
"Never try to catch the wrist of an armed opponent; he will still be able to use his hand to harm your arm. To take control of an opponent's arm, you must always hold their elbow and shoulder. Getting behind them at the same time lets you disarm them completely by kicking out the back of their knees, or you can throw them over your shoulder, just by kicking their feet, and once they lose balance, it is up to you what you want to do. Once they're defenseless, do whatever you want with them."
As irritable as Iruka-sensei was, he was still an effective teacher. In the past week, Sasuke had learned more than in all his previous time at the Academy. It annoyed him, knowing how much time he had wasted before.
"Stop daydreaming, Sasuke." A small pebble struck Sasuke's head. "You think you're better than everyone else? Then come up here and show it."
Sasuke didn't reply, even when Naruto snickered behind him. That blonde idiot would soon suffer the same fate anyway. So Sasuke jumped onto the poles that had already ruined his feet more than once.
Today, Iruka-sensei himself was facing the students, systematically beating everyone down. And he did it in a way that made it hurt. But Sasuke couldn't deny—everyone, even him, was learning from it.
Before he could even settle his stance on the poles, Iruka kicked him off. Sasuke flew straight to the ground, barely registering what had happened. Blood dripped from his nose as he looked up at Iruka-sensei.
"I never said it was a spar," Iruka said, his voice calm but cold. "I waited for the others to get ready before attacking because it wouldn't help them to get knocked out before they even started. But are you the same as them? I figured since you were daydreaming, you had more grit and didn't need me holding your hand."
"Tch. Again."
Sasuke didn't wait for a reply. He jumped back up on the poles. This time, he was ready.
It didn't matter.
With a kick upwards, Iruka broke through Sasuke's guard, then brought his leg down hard. Sasuke crashed onto the pointed stone poles. They dug deep into his skin, hurting like hell.
And he couldn't complain. That was a good kick. Iruka had predicted how Sasuke would block and used that to punish him. If Sasuke had dodged instead of trying to block, he would've avoided it completely.
His mistake.
So without overthinking, he got up and prepared for another try.
…
"Hahaha, look at your face."
Sasuke didn't understand why Naruto was laughing when his own face looked just as swollen and bruised, if not even more. But Sasuke didn't say anything—because Naruto had lasted longer than he had.
And that irritated Sasuke to no end.
Nobody noticed it—not even Naruto. But that blonde idiot lasted two bouts longer than Sasuke. Which meant Sasuke had lost. To him. He couldn't accept it. But it had happened, so he kept quiet.
It was the first—and the last—time he'd lose. He'd let Naruto enjoy this silent victory, even if he didn't realize it. But next time, no matter the task or lesson, Sasuke would be better.
"Damn, and I thought the secret training would've helped me by now."
"Secret training?" Sasuke couldn't ignore those words.
"What? Wanna know?" Naruto grinned.
Sasuke only nodded.
"Not telling you. Bah!" Naruto stuck out his tongue and mocked him.
If the next lesson weren't about to start, Sasuke might have beaten him up. But he let it go. For now. Still, he will remember this the next time they spar with each other.
And he didn't need Naruto's permission. If the dunce had found some secret training that made him last longer, Sasuke would find it and master it twice as fast.
"Sit down, everyone. We shall begin ninjutsu lessons. I'll be your new teacher. You can call me Mizuki-sensei."
Sasuke looked up. The new teacher seemed a little older than Iruka, though it was hard to tell. He had shoulder-length white hair with a bluish tint and wore a flak jacket. His headband was tied like a bandanna across the top of his head.
But what caught Sasuke's eye was his smirk as he looked at them. Something about it rubbed Sasuke the wrong way. It was smug. Condescending. Like he was looking down on all of them. And not in a playful way.
As much as Iruka-sensei also looked down on them and called them idiots, at least he proved he was better first. But even then, he wasn't condescending and played it off for a few laughs at their expense.
Everyone hated Iruka-sensei at times, but none of them could say he wasn't the real deal. He didn't hold back, and he didn't sugarcoat anything. And every single one of them had learned from him.
Hopefully, this Mizuki wouldn't be completely useless. If he were, Sasuke would use this time to rest and conserve energy for Iruka's brutal lessons. But for now, he will give him a chance to prove himself.
Hopefully, at least he will be passionate about teaching as the history teacher was. As boring as those lessons were, at least Sasuke noticed the passion from the teacher who wanted to tell a story from which they could learn something.
"Let's start with theory. Can anyone tell me what you need first to perform ninjutsu?"
"Hand signs!" Sakura answered, eager as always.
"Yes, that's right. To use ninjutsu, one must weave a series of hand signs—now let's go through them and what they're called…"
That was it?
Everyone who had ever read a book knew this already. Mizuki just repeated what was in the textbook. He didn't even correct Sakura, as hand signs were just medium. All ninjutsu started from gathering chakra.
Anyone did it differently. Some needed more hand signs to mold their chakra, others less. It all depended on their experience with the jutsu and their chakra control. Iruka-sensei would have said something like that and added that to perform a jutsu, one first needed to learn it.
Sasuke shouldn't have expected anything better. All the other teachers were the same. Read the book aloud and call it a lesson.
It was a joke compared to Iruka-sensei, who taught them through experience—pointed out weaknesses, gave tailored advice, and made sure they actually learned something useful every day. Even the mundane tasks given by him had hidden lessons in them.
Sasuke had done some digging. Iruka-sensei had been a Special Jōnin before he taught. That meant he was a specialist—probably in combat. Maybe he lacked the versatility of a full Jōnin, but in his field, he was probably better than most.
Too bad it was impossible to find out anything else. And it wasn't like he could just ask him or anyone else. He wished he could learn more about Iruka-sensei's past.
No wonder his teaching hit so hard—literally and figuratively.
Mizuki was just a man with a voice and a textbook.
Ten minutes in, Sasuke stopped listening altogether. He'd rather read the textbook again himself. This was a waste of time.
What he was interested in was Naruto's secret training.
What was it? What kind of training made Naruto last longer than him?
Hopefully, this lesson would end soon, so he could tail Naruto and find out.
…
What was this?
Following Naruto had been easy. He was an oblivious fool with no sense of his surroundings. But as Sasuke followed him through the village, something else caught his attention.
The way people looked at Naruto.
At first, Sasuke hadn't noticed. Naruto was annoying, so it wasn't surprising that people avoided him. But this... this was different.
People ignored him. Cursed him under their breath. Turned their backs with sneers on their faces. Hatred painted their eyes as Naruto passed by them.
Had Naruto done something that bad to deserve such looks?
Sasuke knew the idiot got into trouble all the time. But this felt excessive.
"Damn monster. He's lucky the Third lets him attend the Academy. If it were up to me, I'd lock him up out of sight. After all he's done, he still dares to walk around like nothing happened."
"Shh! You know we can't talk about it."
"So what? I'll just pay the fine if it comes to it. All I did was curse that damn monster."
Monster?
Sasuke frowned. Why would anyone call Naruto a monster? And combined with their looks, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder. Those looks on their faces reminded him of Irachi, just before the massacre, he used to look the same at the other clan members.
All Sasuke could gather was that it was a secret—everyone whispered about it like they were afraid. But Sasuke didn't have time for gossip. It had nothing to do with him.
So he kept his distance and continued to follow Naruto.
Of course, the idiot didn't head straight to training. Sasuke had to watch him wander aimlessly through the village like a brainless child. What was the point of all this? Sasuke wanted to smack him.
Eventually, Naruto made his way to an isolated clearing on the edge of the village. At least he wasn't completely brainless—he knew better than to train in the open.
Sasuke's expectations rose again.
At first, he couldn't understand what Naruto was doing. The boy ran at a tree and... ran up it?
Then it hit him. Naruto was using chakra to cling to the tree.
Chakra control training.
With a stone, Naruto marked the highest point he reached before sliding back down. Over and over, he did it—run, slip, fall, repeat. Sometimes he'd crash hard. And each time, he'd get back up, brush himself off, and try again.
Sasuke could've left once he understood the trick. He should have. He had enough.
But he didn't.
He kept watching. Watching Naruto fail. Watching him fall. And watching him try again.
Sasuke didn't care about Naruto. He never had. But he had never seen anyone else try so hard.
Why?
Why was Naruto trying so hard?
Sasuke had lost everything. His family. His clan. His peace. He had a reason to train like this. But Naruto? What did he have to prove?
Then again... what did Naruto even have to begin with?
No family. No friends. No one who cared. No one taught him or even watched over him.
As strict as his father was, he still found time to teach him and look after him. Even if Sasuke was never able to prove himself in the end. He still had something with his father. Naruto, on the other hand. He never had anything.
Sasuke suddenly wasn't sure who had it worse—someone who lost everything, or someone who never had anything to begin with.
He knew what his answer should be. But then... why was Naruto trying just as hard?
As he pondered, a kunai flew past and struck the tree Naruto was climbing. Naruto flinched, lost his footing, and hit the ground hard again.
"Use this. It'll be easier to mark your progress," Iruka-sensei said from nearby.
Naruto scrambled up, startled, but Iruka was already walking away.
Sasuke turned to Iruka. The man looked exhausted. Bleeding hands. Torn clothes. Sweat was running down his forehead. Even his footing wasn't even as he walked.
"Do you want something?" Iruka-sensei, of course, quickly discovered Sasuke tailing him. "Only a blind idiot like Naruto wouldn't notice you snooping around. So, spill it."
"What happened to you?" Sasuke asked before he could stop himself.
"Did you think only you kids want to get stronger?" Iruka replied, taking a long swig from a flask. "Everyone who hasn't completely given up on themselves wants to get stronger. Even just a little. The same goes for me. You're not the only one with a goal, Sasuke. Get over yourself."
Sasuke wanted to ask more. About Iruka's reasons. Even Naruto's. But he stopped himself.
It wasn't his business. He didn't have time to worry about other people.
He had his own training to get back to. His own goal to focus on. He neither had time nor any reason to worry about others.
A.N. Sorry for not posting as usual. Got a bit sick this week. I am feeling a lot better now, so chapters will come as they used to from now on. And it gave me time to think about my older stories, and I decided to bring them back and finish some of them. I will start by finishing "What is dead may never die." And then probably returning to "Ironheart Pirates" as I got back into One Piece.
As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to 7 more chapters and 28 chapters in total with all my other stories, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.