Chapter 2

Sasuke stood in a forest clearing. All around we're wooden training dummies and targets. Standing directly in the middle of them, he glanced around, getting his bearings. Then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he did, a memory resurfaced, unbidden.

There were four of them. Sasuke recognized them as Orochimaru's bodyguards. Each one stood on a different side of him, staring. "I'll only make you this offer one more time," one of them said, "You can either come with us peacefully, or we can drag you all the way back to the Sound Village."

Without any hesitation, Sasuke jumped straight up into the air, spinning around in circles. He began throwing kunai left and right, being sure to release them at just the right time.

Sasuke glared at each of the bodyguards. "I'm not leaving," he said, "Final answer."

Then Sasuke flipped over himself, eyes still closed, releasing another barrage of shuriken and kunai.

The shinobi who'd spoke before gave a wicked grin. "So it's the fun way then."

Sasuke released multiple fireballs from his mouth as he launched his Phoenix Flower Jutsu, then landed with finality. He stood up, opening his eyes. Each of the targets had been struck multiple times. He nodded in satisfaction, then noticed a stray kunai laying next to one of the wooden targets. He frowned and walked over to pick it up, then paused. Someone was coming his way.

A young man with a Chunnin vest appeared in the clearing. "Sasuke Uchiha," the messenger said, "Lady Tsunade has requested to see you."

"Is it urgent?" Sasuke asked. The messenger looked caught off guard for a moment, then shook his head. "Then tell her I'll be there when I'm done training."

"Of course," the messenger replied. He disappeared, and Sasuke picked up the kunai on the ground. He then began to retrieve his weapons from all the targets. He wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection, even if it was just training.

There was a knock on Tsunade's office door. "Enter," she called in a business-like tone. The door opened, and she looked up to see Sasuke walk in. "Sasuke," she said, "I asked to see you hours ago."

"I needed to take care of something." He said it with a certain finality that made Tsunade not want to quesion it. Lately Sasuke had become very serious with his training, almost to the point of obsession.

"No matter," she said, waving off her other questions, "I have an assignment for you." She handed Sasuke a letter she had received that morning from Gaara of the Sand Village. Sasuke took it without a word and began reading over it. Before he was finished, Tsunade began speaking again. "Sasaku has shown some promise in becoming a Shinobi," she said, "He should arrive tomorrow morning, and I assume he will be eager and ready to start his training. I want you to be the one to train him."

Sasuke made no indication he had heard as he finished reading the letter. After a moment, he lowered it and stared into Tsunade's eyes. "It's a waste of time," he said.

Tsunade was taken aback for a moment. "A waste of time?" she said, an edge creeping into her voice, "I'll determine whether it's a waste of time or not. Without even realizing it, this boy has harnessed one of our arts and used it successfully. He could be very powerful if he learned how to focus and control his chakra."

"It would be impossible. Even if he did learn to control his chakra, he still would need to learn the ninja style of fighting. He would be a disgrace to Shinobi by tainting it with his Koyan ways."

Tsunade felt this as more of a blow to her pride than anything. There definitely was a risk that nothing would come of this, but there was a chance there would too, and her old gambling habits told her to take this. "You can never know for sure how it'll turn out Sasuke," she said, keeping her voice as calm as possible, "Didn't it surprise you when you discovered how powerful Naruto had become?"

Sasuke looked away in annoyance. "Even so, why me?"

"You're a Jounin," Tsunade said, "And it's your duty to help train the new Shinobi."

"But I could be so much more useful elsewhere. I could do a real mission, and you want to waste my talents with this Sasaku kid."

Now Tsunade glared at Sasuke, forcing him to look at her. "We have more than enough Jounin to handle things at the moment," she growled, "I don't know if you realize the meaning, but we are at peace right now. The land has been at peace ever since Orochimaru went underground over two years ago. We don't need you right now Sasuke, we hardly have enough work for any of our other Jounin." Sasuke looked away. "When the time comes, and when there is an important mission, I trust few more than I trust you, and I will have you handle it. But right now, I'm ordering you to train this boy."

There was silence for a minute. "So I take it I don't have a choice." Tsunade shook her head. He turned to leave, then stopped for a moment. "When he quits, it's on you." And with that, he walked out. Tsunade sighed and shook her head as the door closed.

The sun was just setting, painting the landscape orange and casting long shadows with the tall trees. The roar of an engine tore through the forest, frightening a family of squirrels and a mother bird nesting her eggs. A motorcycle tore down the worn dirt road which was so often used by travelers. It's rider, Sasaku, had zipped up his leather jacket and wore goggles. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, smelling the air and feeling alive. He could see why Gaara had sent him here. Sasaku would have tolerated the desert, but he felt at home here in this forest, like he was meant to be a part of it.

Then he saw it in the distance. There was the wall of the Hidden Leaf Village. With an eager grin, Sasaku revved the engine even more, speeding towards the village. It took him a quarter of an hour before he finally arrived at the gate and killed the engine. The two Shinobi standing at the gate gave the bike a look, but soon lost interest.

Sasaku got off the bike and lowered the goggles to around his neck, unzipping the jacket as well. He stepped through the gate of the Village, looking around, taking in the buildings that surrounded him. Everything was so different, and yet it all seemed familiar to him. He was drawn towards the colors, the architecture, everything about this place. He had grown up in cities, never knowing anything different. This village was exactly what he had been missing.

Sasaku then turned to the two guards at the gate. "Where can I find Lady Hokage?" he said, his grin never leaving his face. The guards looked caught off guard for a second, then one of them pointed.

"See that building there?" he said, "That's the Hokage mansion, although I doubt she's still seeing people today."

"That's fine," Sasaku said pleasantly, "I'll just go check." He nodded to the two of them and began walking in the direction of the mansion, his excited feet carrying him down the street quickly. He was so close to receiving the training he had come for.