Chapter 42: Sasuke
Sasuke on the stage looked at the weights in the two large pits in the arena, his brows tightly furrowed. He hadn't expected such a master to be hidden within the small Ninja Academy.
After school, Naruto, as usual, was heading to the training ground with the Ino–Shika–Chō, Shino, and Hinata.
Along the way, they saw Sasuke leaning against a wall by the roadside, and not far away, Sakura was looking at Sasuke with her hands clasped to her heart.
Seeing this, Naruto turned to Shikamaru and the others and asked, "Should we ask him to join?"
Shikamaru shrugged and said, "I don't care!"
Choji also nodded. One more person or one less person didn't matter to him; he didn't care about such things.
Ino glanced at Sakura not far away, then at Sasuke, and said, "Let's go. It's just training together."
Ever since she started training with Naruto, Ino had stopped being infatuated and chasing after Uchiha Sasuke.
Finally, Naruto looked at Hinata and Shino.
Both Hinata and Shino nodded, indicating their agreement.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Naruto turned to Sasuke and said, "Follow us!"
With that, Naruto led the way to the training ground.
Konoha's training grounds were numbered, but their use required a rental fee, and specialized Ninja maintained them daily.
The Great Clans also had their own training grounds, but the usage times were arranged by the respective clans.
Naruto's training ground was paid for and booked annually by Hyuga Hiashi, for Naruto and his friends to use.
Upon arriving at the training ground, the Ino–Shika–Chō, Hinata, and Shino each found a corner and began their daily training.
Sasuke, however, didn't know what to do.
Naruto found a spot to sit down, looked at Sasuke, and said, "Come sit here, let's talk."
Sasuke actually wanted to talk to Naruto as well, so he sat opposite him.
Naruto looked at Sasuke and asked, "What do you usually train?"
"Taijutsu! Ninjutsu!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke, which made Sasuke blush a little.
Sasuke lowered his head and said, "Every day I practice hitting wooden stakes and the Great Fireball Technique, and then shuriken practice."
Naruto waited a moment, and when Sasuke didn't say anything more, he shook his head and said, "That won't do. Your training needs a plan. For example, for Taijutsu, you should add some weights when you train. For the Great Fireball Technique, shouldn't you improve your Chakra Precision Control to use less Chakra but achieve power beyond your current Great Fireball Technique? As for shuriken, your Uchiha Clan all have the Sharingan, so practicing shuriken can be twice as effective with half the effort. Although practice is needed, you don't need to practice so frequently; just occasional practice to maintain your skill level is enough."
Sasuke listened, his face grim, and said to Naruto, "I'll figure out a way to add weights to my Taijutsu training. As for Chakra Precision Control... I'll try my best to learn it!"
Naruto frowned a little at Sasuke's grim expression.
"Is there something wrong with what I just said? If there's an issue, just tell me directly, and I'll explain."
"It's nothing! There's nothing wrong with what you said."
Seeing that Sasuke had no intention of cooperating, Naruto said angrily, "If you have this attitude, I don't think you need to train with us. We train together so we can discuss problems and help each other with difficulties. If you don't tell us your problems and difficulties, no matter how diligently you practice, it will just be a waste of time."
Hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke angrily wanted to leave. The pride of the Uchiha Clan would not allow him to bow his head to Naruto and the others.
However, what Naruto said afterward also made sense. Without proper planning, no matter how frequent or hard he practiced, it would just be a waste of time and effort.
Ultimately, for the sake of revenge, Sasuke still spoke of his difficulties.
"My current living situation is a problem; I have no means to buy weights, and no one has taught me Chakra Precision Control, so I don't know how."
"Even though all the Uchiha Clan members were killed, their money should still be there! How could you be short of money?"
Naruto could only feign ignorance now; he couldn't possibly say that he had looted all the money, could he?
Sasuke lowered his head and said, "I don't know what happened. After I woke up in the hospital and returned home, the house was a mess, and I searched everywhere but couldn't find any money."
"Then how have you been living these past two years?"
Sasuke lowered his head, unwilling to say how he had lived these past two years. He didn't want to lose his Uchiha pride in front of Naruto.
Seeing this, Naruto said angrily, "Sasuke, if you truly consider us comrades, don't have so many reservations. If you're secretive, it's hard for me to find a way to help you."
Sasuke knew Naruto genuinely cared about him, but he still felt somewhat embarrassed.
Naruto, seeing Sasuke's expression, said impatiently, "Since you're unwilling to treat us as comrades, I don't need to shamelessly insist on helping you."
Sasuke also sensed some anger in Naruto's words. After much thought, he finally revealed how he had lived these past two years.
"For the past two years, I've basically been living off the food left behind by the Uchiha Clanmembers."
Naruto understood what was going on. He stood up, looked at Sasuke, and said, "Let's go! We'll go to the Hokage Building and get justice for you."
Sasuke froze for a moment, looking at Naruto, and said, "This... isn't this inappropriate? Will Hokage-sama even bother with such a small matter of mine?"
"Nonsense! You are now the orphan of Konoha's Uchiha Clan. You could say you represent the Konoha Uchiha. Even if the Uchiha were annihilated, they were once a prestigious family. The entire clan's assets disappearing without a trace—we definitely need to ask Hokage-sama for an explanation."
Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Hinata all heard what Naruto said.
Shikamaru stepped forward and said, "Naruto is right. No matter what, you now represent the entire Uchiha Clan. Some things definitely need to be clarified."
Hinata, Ino, Choji, and Shino also walked over, standing behind Naruto, looking at Sasuke.
Sasuke understood that Naruto and the others were encouraging him. He nodded heavily and said, "Alright, I'll go to the Hokage Building with you."
The group of seven marched grandly towards the Hokage Building, inevitably drawing stares and whispers along the way.
After all, the group included Naruto, the demon fox, and Sasuke, the Uchiha orphan. Both were already hot topics in the Village, and now that they were together, how could people not notice?
Furthermore, with the young clan heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the Hyuga Clan, and the Aburame Clan, it drew even more attention.