After a long day of doing nothing and spending the night on Naruto's couch, I get back to the compound to find Haku training with the dummy.
"Sasuke kun!", he calls out. Seems like he is...Happy to see me. ...why did I think he would be "not pleased " to see me? Maybe I should train on some feminine skills, that way I can at least explain weird stuff to myself. Or, I'm just hitting puberty?
"Where have you been? You left so abruptly. Naruto Kun asked me to leave you alone ....so....".
"Yeah...he...I am good. Sorry for worrying you. Have you been enjoying m....the place?", I ask.
"Oh yes. It's a beautiful compound. The garden, the houses, the pond, the large tree with blue flowers....".
"The bodies...."
"What?".
"Nothing. Where is Jabuja?", I ask.
"Oh...he is gone ", Says Haku.
.... ....
"Gone?", I ask.
"Em....you....came in yesterday. As far as I remember, you guys talked about something ..... important", he says.
So he noticed me. Sharp guy as always.
"Yes, we did?", I admit.
"So....I thought you would know?", Haku says.
..... .....another morning starts with a weird ass story.
What the fuck is happening!
Who is onto me?
"Sasuke kun?", Haku snapes me back to reality.
"Oh...sorry....yeah. We did talk about meeting up ", I lie.
"But....em....you know.... it's hard to explain", I struggle to follow through with it.
"Well... I. If it's something you can't tell, then it's okay. That means, You guys made up right?", he asks.
"Oh...no problem on that front. We made peace. We are best buddies", I say.
"Yes....Jabuja never talks about anyone ", Haku says with a chuckle.
"Oh yeah... what did he say?", I ask out of curiosity.
"You don't wanna know", he says imitating Jabuja's voice.
Hmm... I guess Konoha's bad humor rubbed off on him.
Then Haku remembered something.
"Oh...I almost forgot to mention. Sakura-chan stopped by...", Says Haku.
"Emm.... okay... I guess I will meet up with her", I say with a shrug.
"Oh....Sasuke kun. Do you know where to meet her?", Haku asks.
I raise an eyebrow at that.
"Yeah? Why do you ask?", I ask.
Haku wants to say something but doesn't follow through with it.
"Good for you, I guess?", he says as if that isn't the most robotic response he can give.
I sigh.
"Did ya feed the chickens?", I ask.
Haku nods.
"Water the plants? The tomatoes gonna be ripe in a week or so", I ask.
Haku nods again.
"Wanna grabe a bite at Ichiraku?" , I ask.
"Oh? In the morning?", he asks.
I shrug.
After a second of pause, he suddenly has a face as if some enemy is coming followed by a nod.
"Wooo big guy.. gonna introduce you to some fella from my bunch. Better for you to hang out with us than some snotty academy kids", I say while waving hands.
Haku again nods. I guess that's his professional persona.
We walk to the stall.
I see Naruto , Sakura , Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and surprisingly Shino?
It's a full party in the Ramen Cult.
I stop for a second.
"Look, Haku san. You are not infiltrating and infiltrating at the same time. Being somebody's friend....is like being in a dream. You never know how it began", I say.
Haku vigorously nods as if having a mission briefing.
"It's like how a cat drops out of the sky. You are just gonna sit there and ....simply listen. Nobody will ask who you are, or where you are from...if you find a topic you can talk about ...just squeeze your way in. Don't worry about intros, Naruto talked his head off about the mission to everyone so almost half the village knows about you. Except for Jabuja since it's a rank secret ", I say nonstop.
Haku for 7th time in the day nods.
Not a shred of doubt in his mind. This guy trusts me with his life. Do I have anyone that trusts me like that?
Feels kinda weird. Naruto is Naruto. That's a different thing. And Sakura.....I don't know....its kinda like she just floats around. Like a ghost?
How does a ghost trust you? Or, how do you trust a ghost?
As I am drowning in my thoughts, Haku has already made his way to the stall.
He sat there beside Naruto.
Had a short greeting then he ordered his own Ramen. Which just happened to be the flavor Choji ordered. I see Choji wanting to start up a conversation. But the sheer blush that he has across his face says it all.
The guy has been a loser around other girls.
Kiba has already started hitting on Haku.
Poor bastards.
Haku ....for some reason is playing along with it.
Naruto wanted to snap them back to reality, but Haku's subtle smile refrained him.
Shino.....yeah...his bugs have a way of knowing a person's gender so....he is in the safe. But the sheer confusion in his eyebrows .....is hilarious. Yes, I can read eyebrows...how else am I supposed to know if my masked sensei is angry or not?
With a sigh, I drag myself by Sakura.
"Look at him go!", Sakura chirping like a mother bird looking at the hatchling.
I take a long look at Sakura. She is cute and something about her makes you feel safe and not safe at the same time.
Is it because she can kind of read a person's mind when she wants to?
"Monologuing to yourself a lot these days?", she asks.
There it is.
But I don't avert my eyes and keep on gazing at her.
She looks behind herself, wondering if I am looking at something behind her.
But no...I am looking at you.
Come on....come on.
A slight blush colors her cheeks.
Okay...that's all.
I look away and start slurping.
"Geeze...Sasuke kun....what was that? Did I have something on my face?", she asks as she pulls her bangs behind her ears.
"Say....Sakura...if there were to be a fake Sasuke, would you recognize him?", I ask in return.
"Yes I would", she says without missing a beat.
I nod while making a duck face.
"Why do you ask?", she asks.
"Never mind...just a thought", I say.
"I heard foreigners are coming?", I change the subject.
"Not just any foreigner, ninja foreigners", I hear a sharp voice.
Shikamaru has decided to join the grown-up side.
"Enemies?", I ask with a chuckle.
"Political allies", Shikamaru corrects me.
"Why here?", Sakura asks.
"The chunin exams", I answered.
Yeah....the Legendary Chunin exam arc is here.
I can feel a twist in my stomach.
Maybe it's the ramen...
"I hope they are friendly....", I muse.
"In your dreams", Shikamaru chuckles.
"In the exams, we will be at each other's throats anyway... so can't expect them to be chummy", I say with a shrug.
Sakura has her eyebrows up to her forehead. FYI, that's high.
"In the chunin exam, around 2 to 3 hundred participate from all over the nations, and only 2 or 3 are declared Chunin", I explain.
Sakura looks at her ramen and thinks for a moment.
"You think sensei will make us participate?", she asks.
"Oh, definitely ", I say while omitting a thousand reasons he has for us to be pushed into the exam.
"Then we have to prepare", Sakura says.
"Of course, we do....", I give Shikamaru the side eye.
Shikamaru, despite being the genius he is, takes a second to take a hint.
"Come on now..... it's not like we will be killing each other. We are classmates", Shikamaru says.
"They will make us. I'm not sure about the exact rules. But I heard...It's pretty....lax", I say with a wry smile.
Shikamaru goes silent, deep in thought.
I finish up my ramen.
Team 7 is assembled.
"Wanna train?", Sakura asks.
"It's a holiday", I reply.
"No training ", I and Naruto Say in unison.
"All right, alright boys", Sakura says with a sigh.
We are around the school campus like some delinquent.
Naruto with his smug smile and my yakuza-like scowl.
It is really easy to scare off kids like this.
Sakura just follows around and observes our activities.
In the end, we decided to paint one of the walls with our colors. My clan logo is red with a tinge of purple and Naruto's is yellow. The gang logo is a fox fanning itself on a hot summer day.
Then it happened. I hear a scream.
"Let go of me you freak!!", some kid orders.
"That's Konohamaru", Naruto says.
I see....some dude with clown makeup dangling the kid upside-down by the leg. Purple makeup.
That's a weird color for a clown, they said foreigners were coming.
Purple-colored clown.
"Looks like fun", I muse.
But I see concern in Sakura's eyes.
The clown guy has bloodlust oozing all over him.
Who is this character? I'm pretty sure Kishimoto had a buggy in mind while drawing this one.
There is a girl....lady behind that clown.
A lady with a large folding on her back.
Is that... Tamari?
Oh my god... it's happening.
"You guys go save his ass, I will make a dramatic entrance ", I say and go underground with" hiding like a mole " jutsu.
"Why does he always get to make dramatic entrances?", Naruto whines.
But goes in nonetheless since the village's malevolent grandson is about to get himself killed by some clown.
I slither my way to the duo and situated atop the tree.
"Kankoro we don't have time for this", Tamari says.
"Come on, lemme have some fun. This kid in one with a death wish to begin with ", Replies Kankoro.
Konohamaru scowls.
"Saying he is a field-promoted ninja while being Less than a twerp, I hate weak ass punks like that think they can do whatever they want".
All right....that's not good.
He brings his face close to Konohamaru and says
"Do you even know .. what it means to be field promoted ...punk!?", Kankoro roars.
Naruto is at the scene.
Our grandson's friends are here too.
Hmm...I don't remember their names though.
Anyway...Kanokoro is about to Snape his neck and Naruto is about to jump at them and Sakura is already out of sight.
I get down from a branch while dangling from a ninja wire upside down. Let's get a closer look.
Getting my face as close to Tamari as possible to the point my breath falls on her cheeks. She is more beautiful up close. I can faintly smell the sweat on her. Those hair really can use some conditioner.
Donning the creepiest smile I can master, I chose my next words.
"Look what fell from the heavens", I say to her face. A gentleman always starts the conversation with a compliment.
Tamari looked at me, and our eyes met.
Her face got red.
Yeah...I have that impression with the ladies.
Then there is a scream.
Tamari closed her eyes and hit me with her large fan as hard as she could.
"Wha....what did I do....", I wonder as I hit the tree trunk like a Sack of potatoes.
Naruto has the same face as the canon.
"Is he your guy?", Kankoro asks Naruto as he lets go of Konohamaru.
"No. I don't know him", Says Naruto.
"Hei.... I'm still alive you know!", I whine as I get myself together and dust myself off.
Kankoro looks at me like I'm some kind of pest.
Tamari has a disgusted and wary look on her face.
As someone who just survived a point-blank bonk of her giant club, I can empathize.
Compared to Lee Senpai's kicks, her bonk felt like a message.
I wink at her. She shows her disgust with her whole being.
I see Naruto walking away.
"Oh, come on Naruto let's welcome our guests here.
I am Sasuke, this is Naruto....welcome to our village", I say while dragging Naruto back by the neck.
"Nice to meet ya... I'm the future Hokage and I don't know this guy...", Naruto says while looking the other way.
I let him go and approach Kankoro with my arms open for a hug.
Instead of a hug, I receive another bonk from Tamari.
But this time I caught it with my hands.
Naruto has his kunai out.
"Wooo..... you are one hot lady", I say as Tamari's angry face turns to that of a blush.
"Are you the type that looks beautiful the angrier they are?", I ask.
"Wanna see how pretty I get when smash your handsome mug in?", she asks.
Oh....she complimented me.
"Oooo....how will you do that if your club is in pieces?", I ask with a dubious smile. The fan's rim crackled under my grip.
There is that sound. Bunch of coarse sand grinding along the wind.
Except there is no wind.
Tamari frozen in fear, Kankoro has a weird face that I would describe also as fear .... this guy needs to learn how to control the puppet's face.
Yeah....I know the Kankoro is hiding inside the bandaged bag on the puppet's back that he controls.
He can even make it sweat.....hmm....gotta give him credit. I let go of Tamari.
Oh...back to the situation at hand.
Gara had entered the scene and proceeded to give threats to his siblings.
Such a weird relationship they have.
"You .....", Gara points at me.
"Oh...I'm Sasuke ... and this is....", I proceed with a friendly intro.
"Mother wants your blood", he says.
Blood lust and the toxic chakra of the 1 tail make it feel like puss. An infected mind.
"Oh yeah....?", I ask with a smile.
Not feeling a single bit of hatred or fear from my response the group gets confused.
Even Gara has wide eyes...
I got close.
Past his siblings.
Past his sand defense, past his floating cloud of sand.
"Then take it!", I dare him, while my face is one inch away from a kiss.
Gara's bloodlust spiked off the roof. Anger and confusion short-circuited his brain so hard that his eyebrows twitched.
He blinked. You don't blink when your enemy is on your face man.
I put a hand on his shoulder.
With a little lightning relief....make him feel a slight zap.
All his anger and hatred suddenly turned into fear.
The pure terror in his eyes made me feel pity.
"Hei....!", I hear Naruto.
"That's enough!", he declared.
Oh....my...I was starting to enjoy it.
I put my hands in the air and back away.
I do a slight salute.
"Will be seeing ya!".
I look around.
"Sakura chan...?", I call.
Sakura pops out right behind Gara.
"Coming...", she replies cutely. Gara was unable to respond to that.
Well....that's a face I will never forget.
The trio will remember us...that's for sure.
We leave the scene while dusting off Konohamaru.
"You gotta stop scaring people like that Theme!", he says."That guy is bad news!".
"How?", Sakura asks.
"He.....", Naruto stops to think.
"He feels like the thing...that's in me!".
"Oh yeah....then he would've liked you huh!", I say with a chuckle.
"That's rude!", Sakura scolds me.
"My bad..my bad...but you see Naruto...he didn't threaten you.....he threatened me? Do you know why is that?", I ask.
"Cause you are the crazy freak that harassed his teammate?".
"Okay....there is that ....let's say....my kind has a bad history with the tailed beast and .....I am one of a kind ....so....".
"Yeah... one-of-a-kind pervert. You just think you can kill someone the moment you meet 'em!", he gets angry.
"Oh come on...if you become hokage one of us has to do the dirty work", I say.
"When I become Hokage...I am firing you", he says while walking angrily.
I sigh.....wouldn't I love that.
But alas ....there is no rest for the wicked.
"Why?", Sakura asks.
Why?...she means why Gara wanted my blood?
"Uchiha and Tailed Beast are arch-enemies. When you see them together....it .....is scary", I muse.
Then I point at Sakura...
"Paired with the only pink-haired girl.....we are walking death", I say.
Sakura smiled.
"Could you please not flirt with the enemy?", she says.
"Okay.....", I promise.