It didn't take long for the blacksmith to finish. The blades gleamed, edges sharpened, and handles newly wrapped. Sukuna finally had his weapons ready, and the itch to train with them was burning inside him.
But as soon as he left the shop, he noticed his problem.
Step. Step. Step.
He glanced back. There she was. Bun-head girl. Not even trying to hide it, just strolling after him like a duckling.
So he sped up.
Took left, then right, then left, then right, and then every possible path to lose her.
He crossed the deep bone forest, the all-consuming sea, and even the ever-burning mountain in search of salvation.
At least it felt like he did all those things, when the girl just refused to stop trailing him.
"…Why are you following me?" Sukuna asked, irritation dripping from his voice.
Tenten blinked. "Ah, me?" She looked around, pointing her finger at her own face like she was completely clueless.
"Yes, you."
"Hmph… who's following you? You just happen to be walking in front of me." She fake-pouted.
Sukuna sighed, dragging his hand down his face. "She might have gotten more screen time if she showed this level of acting in the show…"
"What did you say?" Tenten narrowed her eyes, her womanly instincts telling her the boy was saying something impolite about her.
"Just stop following me." Sukuna spat and ran away.
Once again, no matter what route he took, she was there. He finally gave up on heading to his secret training ground and diverted to a more open area near the edge of the village. At least if she followed him here, she wouldn't learn his real spot.
It was a rare spot he created where even Hokage's Telescope Jutsu didn't work. He put a few Talismans to interfere with that old man's perverted habits.
He didn't wish for that place to be known this soon.
He unwrapped the Kiba blades, the twin lightning swords, and held them awkwardly. To anyone else, they'd just look like sharp weapons, but Sukuna knew exactly what they were. Problem was—he had no idea how to actually use them.
The style he copied from Mangetsu with his Sharingan was barely enough to handle that man. But that was Mangetsu's style. He had to come up with something he was comfortable with if he planned to use them long term.
He swung once. Too wide. The second swing nearly made him trip. And when he tried holding one sword in each hand, he looked more like he was trying to swat mosquitoes than train.
"I feel like Deadpool." He grinned to himself at the thought. It wasn't that far off—with his RCT, he had almost the same level of healing. Hell, his was better. If not for the fact that foul-mouth was practically immortal, Sukuna would have ranked himself up already.
Sukuna tried out a few ways he could use the blades. At first, he thought they would be similar to Kratos's Blades of Chaos or Tengen's Nichirin blades, but he was wrong.
They were more like daggers than actual swords. Here, he had real swords in his hands. Short swords they might be, but with his size now, they were legit full-fledged swords. Dual wielding them was hard.
From the sidelines, Tenten had been trying—really trying—to keep her mouth shut. But finally, she burst.
"Okay, stop! Just stop! You're killing me watching this!"
Sukuna turned, scowling. "Then why are you sticking around here in the first place? Just go back and help your father or something."
"You don't know how to use two swords, do you?"
That shut him up. He really didn't.
Tenten marched over, snatched a wooden stick nearby, and stood in front of him. "First of all, don't swing like you're trying to chop down a tree. That's for one sword. Two swords need more balance. One defends, one attacks. You can't put as much power in each sword, but you make it up with the unpredictability and sheer number of attacks you can dish out."
She demonstrated quick, precise movements. Even though she was only eight, her form was sharp and smooth, her body flowing naturally with each strike.
Sukuna blinked. "Huh."
"What, surprised?" she said, smirking.
"A little. Didn't think you'd actually know something useful."
"Excuse me?!" she shouted, glaring at him.
He chuckled, lifting the Kiba blades again. This time he copied her stance, trying to balance his hands. He could easily do it with his Sharingan, but then he wouldn't feel whether these movements suited his body or not.
So, his slashes were sloppy, but already better than before. He really found the previously absent balance.
"Keep your elbows closer," Tenten corrected. "And don't cross your arms when swinging. That's how you get tangled up."
Sukuna grumbled but followed her advice. Slowly, his movements began to look more controlled.
"Huh, two swords don't suit you," Tenten teased. "Why not just sell one to me? You can still use one and have one hand out for when you need to use ninjutsu."
Sukuna barked a laugh at that. "Never."
Tenten pouted.
It's not like he hadn't thought about it—having one hand free could be very useful in a fight. However, in most cases it wouldn't make any difference for him. He couldn't do ninjutsu.
"By the way, I didn't ask your name. I'm Sukuna Haruno. What about you?" Sukuna finally, reluctantly asked.
He had wanted to introduce himself earlier, but the way this girl was hungrily glaring at his swords, he decided to let the introduction wait until a few more years. But now that she was helping him out, might as well do it.
"Ah, I'm Tenten." Tenten nodded, only realizing now that she didn't even know the name of the boy she was pestering and teaching.
"How are you so good with swords?" Sukuna asked as he continued to refine his form.
"Hehe… I was already good with ninja tools. I plan to become a ninja like Tsunade-sama one day." Tenten grinned, happily announcing her dream.
Sukuna wasn't surprised. Almost every girl from Suna to Kumo wished to be like Tsunade. It wasn't even limited to the Land of Fire. If she dreamed of being a kunoichi, then more or less her ideal would be Tsunade.
Of course, ninja from other villages wouldn't admit to that.
"Is that so? Do you plan to pursue medical jutsu just like her in the future?" Sukuna made small talk while still swinging his sword.
"Yes…" Tenten happily chirped.
"Good for you." Sukuna nodded.
"If you intend to ever join the academy, then you can come to me. I already work there. If your talent in medical jutsu is decent enough, I can ask the head medic to test it and enroll you." Sukuna casually replied.
But this was like a lightning strike for the little girl.
"You… you work in the hospital? How is that possible? You're my age." This was her first time hearing that it was even possible to enter the hospital and train there at their age.
"Hmm, mine was a special case…" Sukuna shrugged.
"Can you really help me get inside?" Tenten's eyes sparkled.
Sukuna had a bad feeling, like he was knowingly walking into a troublesome situation, but seeing the expectant look on the girl's face, he nodded reluctantly.
She squealed, making his ears rattle.
Sukuna didn't match her excitement though. If she really had talent in that area, then she would have become a medical-nin. Almost every girl in the series had some medical jutsu technique with them.
Ino and even Hinata learned medical jutsu in the show. She was the only one who couldn't. So, Sukuna doubted it.
But he wasn't about to ruin the dreams of the little girl. With that said though, he wondered whether he could help her out somehow. Didn't he have those impressive weapons just lying around? If her current performance was anything to go by, then with those weapons she could definitely be a badass by the time she grew up a little.
He honestly didn't care that much about the money. He only acted that way in front of Mangetsu since he wished to get something out of his troubles. If not money, then a few showpieces for his future house wall were enough.
So he wouldn't mind giving them to her, but he recalled what Mangetsu told him—those Mist shinobi would come after these blades.
'Perhaps once she is a bit bigger and stronger.'
"Alright, how about it then? You teach me swordsmanship and I'll teach you what I learn in the hospital. If by the end of my training I see you have talent for this stuff, then I will talk about you to our head medic-nin.
What do you say?" He asked with a smile.
Tenten nodded excitedly.
"Sure, let's start the training."
...
A/N: I thought about it, and the only person who I thought could teach MC Kenjutsu was Tenten. At least until he grows up a little bit. Which will happen very soon. A big time skip is in order.
xxx
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