Huzzah! It's up early! Let's have a nice long chapter to start off, Alternate History 2: The Chuunin Exam… Three guesses what's going to happen later on.
Chapter 1- Of Propositions
"Goukakyu no jutsu!" Sasuke shouted as he performed the said jutsu.There was a pond of water below, even though there was hardly a fire hazard in the Water Country.
I watched him perform the jutsu from my position seated on a nearby rock. We were about a kilometer from the Akatsuki base.
"There's no need to shout." I reminded him. "Just because you're voice finished breaking early, doesn't mean the rest of the world wants to hear it." I teased.
"Feh, the first time you come home in two months and all you can do is mock me." He pouted, looking embarrassed. He crossed his arms across his chest.
"Don't get so upset, I was simply poking a bit of fun." I replied, shaking my head. "Why don't you try it again?"
He obliged, this time performing the jutsu silently. It was just as impressive as his previous attempt. "You see?"
He gave me an indignant look. Then he moved so fast that the average eye wouldn't be able to keep up. Even though my peripheral vision was fading from my use of the Mangekyou, I could still see where he was headed.
His speed had improved since I'd last seen him. But then, so had my own.
He now stood on the rock behind me. He rested his chin on my head and put his arms loosely around his neck.
"I'm so glad you're back." He muttered.
"You've said that five times in the last two days." I pointed out as I rested a hand on his arm.
"Well, don't stay away for so long!" he complained.
I changed the subject. "Leader sama says he thinks you're ready to take the chuunin exam this time… It's being held in Konoha." I pulled him around to sit next to me.
"It'd be good to see what's changed." He conceded, "But how can I take it if I don't have a team?"
The numbers had been uneven in Sasuke's class once he'd joined it. That's why he'd been a genin without any practical experience for the past year. Secretly, every time I saw Sasuke's Amegakure forehead protector I felt an indescribable, but not entirely irrational sense of guilt… Konoha no longer had any Uchiha.
Anyway, that was why Leader had been reluctant to let Sasuke participate last time. But he couldn't deny Sasuke's growing skills for much longer.
"Well, there's a team in Konoha with only two people because you're not there." I replied. A new student wouldn't have been accepted into the class. It wasn't the done thing. I knew that much.
"Do you think I could participate with that team?" he asked, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.
"It would have to be organized between the Kages. I'd have to work out some kind of disguise… We'll see what happens."
He beamed. "This'll be a great way to test myself. I hope that Sandaime will agree."
I hoped so too. Sasuke would go crazy if he had to wait another six months.
The whole idea was actually more probable than it sounded. It would look very good from a political point of view, especially if the team actually made it into the later rounds of the exam.
Relations between the Leaf and Rain would be improved greatly.
'It is a good idea.' Leader agreed, 'There would be less suspicion surrounding us. I will send a message to the Hokage. Prepare Sasuke in the meantime. You only have one week.'
Once again the mental link was disconnected before I could say anything.
I turned to Sasuke and said, "Leader sama is sending a message to the Hokage right now."
"Really?" he asked, smiling.
"Yes, but in the meantime I'd better train you up a bit." I responded. "There's only one month until the exam. We want to get there a week early, plus it will take two weeks to travel there at a reasonable pace."
"Alright, but what can you teach me in just one week?" he asked, frowning.
"Something very important." I replied, holding kunai to his throat, "To not underestimate anyone." He gaped slightly as he realized what I was doing.
"How can you move so fast?" he asked, activating his Sharingan.
"Practice." A bunshin said from behind him.
"I didn't even see the hand seal." He complained, looking slightly afraid. I put my kunai away and made the bunshin dissipate.
"If you're foolish like I was, you'll end up dead." I said, looking away.
"What do you mean?"
"The last time I underestimated someone, I would've died if they had wanted to kill me… Just remember, not everyone at the chuunin exam is civil. Nor is everyone at the average level of genin." I replied seriously.
"I'll remember." He promised.
"Good, now why don't you show me how much your other jutsu have improved?" I asked, standing.
"Sure." He replied. He did all of the basics including henge, illusionary cloning, the replacement jutsu and the fire ball jutsu again.
"Looks good." I said, noticing he seemed to be a little drained after that constant chakra use. "I think we should use this week to let you get used to the Sharingan. You only learnt to awaken it recently after all."
He nodded in agreement. "I'm going to come at you as I would an enemy. See if you can block it." I challenged.
I dashed forwards as my hand formed the familiar and basic knife hand. I aimed for his solar plexus. I saw his eyes widen as he attempted to do a basic block in time.
He wasn't quite fast enough. I'd already touched him by the time he knocked my hand away.
"Good." I praised. I was quite impressed. "What did you see?" I asked.
"Well…" he began, still gripping my wrist, "I saw a blur, then a moment before you finished your attack I saw… your chakra outline, I suppose you could call it that, standing how your attack would end. I tried to block but I was too slow…" he sounded disappointed.
"You saw it so clearly, and so quickly? I'm impressed Sasuke…" I admitted. His eyes had more potential than my own.
He smiled at that, "Seriously?" I could see he was ecstatic. I'd never praised him like this before.
"So," I said, changing the subject, "can you heal broken bones yet? That was the last task Kakuzu set you when he was here last, wasn't it?"
Since Tasha, Kakuzu had been through three more partners. No one really knew what exactly happened to them, but it was very likely that they were all dead. This made me reluctant to let Sasuke continue being taught by him.
But Kakuzu had never shown any violent or aggressive behaviour towards my brother. So I allowed his education to continue whilst Kakuzu was available to give it.
"Well… not quite…" he admitted and deflated slightly.
"It would be wise to try and figure it out before the chuunin exam. Now, let's try that again. See if you can block in time."
I wasn't expecting him to do much apart from get used to defining where I was about to be and where I actually was.
Whether he passed or not, he would definitely survive the exam at this rate. I just hoped he got a decent team to work with.
No prizes for guessing who will be in his team.
So, what do you think? Are we all satisfied with chapter one?
