The Sannin's Apprentice
Chapter 4
Sasuke had been less than impressed with Jiraiya's first impression at the hot springs, but the Sanin had immediately proposed a training trip. That willingness to get down to business was enough to get the last Uchiha to overlook his mentor's shortcomings for the time being. Iruka had bumped into him on his way back to collect his things, handing him a shiny new headband that proudly displayed the symbol of the Hidden Leaf on the metal plate.
Sasuke had it wrapped around his head before he went to meet Jiraiya at the village gates. "Nice headband kid!" said Jiraiya cheerfully when Sasuke showed up with all his supplies in a small knapsack slung over one shoulder. Oddly enough, Jiraiya seemed to be carrying nothing save the large scroll across his lower back. Turning so quickly his long white hair almost smacked Sasuke across the face, the Sannin dramatically pointed toward the horizon. "Onward! To adventure!"
Deciding not to bring up his rapidly sinking opinion of Jiraiya as they began to walk, Sasuke tried to change the subject. "So what will I be learning first?" Jiraiya turned slowly, not breaking stride as he started walking backwards.
"The first lesson will actually be one of the most important you'll ever learn, so we're heading off to get you some 'hands on' experience to ensure you manage to learn them. I'll quiz you afterwards as a test to see if you got it. Flunk this one, and it's back to the Academy for you." Seeing the look of abject terror on Sasuke's face, Jiraiya turned to face forwards once more. Raising a hand to his chin in false contemplation, Jiraiya decided to throw the kid a bone. "Though I suppose I could teach you some basics in the meantime."
Sasuke's face lit up for a brief second, before falling again as his mentor walked face first into a tree. Or he would have, if the Sannin hadn't continued walking straight up the tree as if he was immune to gravity. Jiraiya was quick to see the stunned look on Sasuke's face. "Hahahahaha! Yep, tree climbing has never looked so amazing, has it? This'll be what you work on while we're walking. Just send some chakra to your feet to stick. Not too much, not too little. Don't fall behind though, because I'm not waiting for you."
True to his word, Sasuke could feel the technique sort of work when he tried it. Jiraiya though, was not going to wait any longer than he already was by moving so slowly to get to their destination. After almost getting left behind when he tried to practice right away, Sasuke took to constantly running ahead and trying to climb the tree so that by the time Jiraiya caught up, Sasuke had gotten in an acceptable amount of practice. Slowly, Sasuke began to improve in the technique, able to make it halfway up the tree by the time Jiraiya called him down as the sun began to set.
"Hey brat! I'm setting up camp over there!" shouted Jiraiya, pointing over to a clearing not far off the road. "Keep training if you want, but we're heading out early tomorrow, and I'm not setting up your stuff!" Sasuke's concentration was broken, and he had to twist midair to avoid face planting in the dirt. Sasuke skipped the late dinner that Jiraiya cooked over the campfire, and continued training even when the Sannin had gone to sleep.
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Sasuke continued to press on, getting higher and higher each time out of sheer willpower. If he failed to learn the techniques that came from tree climbing, his chance to catch up to Itachi would vanish like smoke. Training through the night, munching on some ration bars to replenish his strength, Sasuke managed to reach the top of the tree, which wasn't the tallest around, as the sun's light was beginning to brighten the horizon. Jiraiya had said they'd be leaving early, and Sasuke decided to make an impression by waiting at the top of the tree when Jiraiya came out.
Except he never did. Sasuke waited as long as he could, until the sun had not only risen, but progressed almost halfway towards its apex. His patience gone, Sasuke jumped down to wake his mentor. Once again his plans were foiled as Jiraiya stumbled out of his tent with a loud yawn the moment Sasuke hit the ground. "Well, that was a good nap! Let's get going. We need to hurry if I'm going to have time to teach you the most important three things ever. And don't let me catch you climbing trees while we're getting there. You'll need every ounce of energy for the trials that lie ahead."
Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond. Part of him was furious, convinced that Jiraiya had been aware of his plan and waited Sasuke out just to ignore him. Part of him wasn't sure if Jiraiya was serious in thinking ten in the morning "early". And a part of him was confused that tree climbing was apparently unrelated to the real test that could potentially ruin what little progress he had made towards his goal. Finally, Sasuke settled on silence as the best course of inaction.
"Here we are, Tanzaku Gai! Honestly, I'm impressed Tsunade would miss this, but get ready to learn your first lesson. What is the first thing any ninja needs to know? To help you answer this question, you'll be getting some hands on experience with…" Jiraiya paused for dramatic effect, continuing once he realized Sasuke was having none of it. Regardless, Jiraiya continued as he was announcing it to an excited stadium, not an unimpressed genin. "THE THREE SHINOBI VICES!"
Sasuke was unable to contain his curiosity, despite every part of his brain screaming to just stab the old man before him. "What are these vice then?"
"Glad you asked!" said Jiraiya, far too cheerfully as he slapped Sasuke heartily on the back and started to walk into town. "The vices are things that can make even a great ninja… less great. They are, in increasing order of enjoyment, money, alcohol, and women!" Sasuke was not surprised at Jiraiya's rankings.
"So how am I supposed to train this?" said Sasuke. "I'm not old enough to drink, and I'm not letting you hire me a hooker or something."
"Of course not!" said Jiraiya, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a decent sum of money. "Here. There's a poker tournament today, and you're taking part, keep anything you win, but you'll be paying me back this exact amount. As for alcohol, well, being a world famous ninja has perks other than being feared by all."
The two approached a building, and the doors opened to reveal a large casino, with people milling about chatting while watching the players 'warm-up' with a few practice hands before the stakes rose dramatically and the tournament started for real. "Excuse me, miss." Said Jiraiya, in his most seductive voice to the young lady at the registrations desk. "One entrance to the tournament."
"Sure thing, gramps." said the girl, blowing a bubble of pink gum while she made a mark on the clipboard, oblivious to Jiraiya's dismayed look. "Name?"
"My apprentice will be entering, not me. Teaching him the ways of the world and such." Jiraiya raised one eyebrow as he continued. "Perhaps I could teach you something of the world. I am said to be quite… experienced."
Sasuke took the clipboard, jotted his name down, smacked his sensei on the back of the head, and handed it back with ease that looked practiced. As he collected his chips, Sasuke didn't notice Jiraiya's scowl. "Ungrateful brat." mumbled the Sannin.
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Sasuke had long ago tried to obtain his Sharingan by practicing the things that it allowed a ninja to do. He had eventually given up on it once he has been informed that only time or life threatening danger could awaken them, but the skills remained to some degree. As a result, he had a passing knowledge of Genjutsu, had read about his clan's history with the Nine Tailed Fox, and most importantly, had gotten very good at tracking where objects were. This last one had been the easiest to practice, trying to follow certain cards as he shuffled a deck. Now that his training future depended on poker, this skill became immediately relevant again.
Sasuke partook in some of the practice hands some other players were doing to try and refresh on the skill and learn how to apply them to poker. It wasn't hard once he grasped the basics, though he lost a pittance of the money Jiraiya had given him early on in an attempt to get his opponents to underestimate him. Once the tournament started though, Sasuke dropped the act that he had based off of his mentor, who was off who knows where, probably harassing some woman or another.
The first hand went by easily, as Sasuke got decent enough hands against other players who had likely never heard the concept of a poker face. He hardly had to rely on his knowledge of what card would be coming next to win. His confidence alone seemed to crush the opposition. The second required a bit more effort, as the players were either too experienced to be cowed by the preteen's confidence and skill, or inexperienced enough to be overconfident themselves after winning the last round. Sasuke folded when he knew he would lose, and stayed in when he knew the cards would favor him. Near the end, Sasuke tried bluffing out the more inexperienced player who had made it through on luck, and had started to lose their confidence with their money. The power of the Uchiha's smirk was mighty indeed.
The third round required more than he had already been doing. The Uchiha had to pick up on the mannerisms of his opponents to know when he could bluff them out, and started to let little moments of nervousness slip to try and overextend his opponents. It wasn't all that different from the idea behind the Uchiha Clan's personal fighting style. Get your opponent to overextend themselves and then counter with devastating power and efficiency. Sadly, the damage Sasuke could do to his fellow poke player seemed to be limited by the lack of punches and Sharingan in the equation at the moment.
After many hours either separating poor people from their money or waiting for other tables to finish doing the same, Sasuke made his way to the final round. His five opponents this time were more belonging than any other he had faced yet, and Sasuke could see that everyone here deserved to be here, save him. A tall lanky man with a snazzy black fedora nodded to him and tipped his hat, seemingly unperturbed about the small child that had been deemed his equal. Another contender with a great beard and moustache cracked his neck in some kind of juvenile attempt to unnerve him. The third seemed bored as he rolled a chip across his fingertips without looking, letting out a yawn. The fourth, a bald man, ignored Sasuke completely as he stared at the table, similar to Sasuke had looked at the board, just days ago in the Academy.
The fifth contender made Sasuke rescind his previous judgment that all the player belonged but him. The young, green haired girl looked at him with orange eyes as if wondering how someone else her age had made it this far into the tournament. Sasuke was wondering the same thing. Before the round began, she reached a tanned arm across the table and held out her hand for Sasuke to shake. Tentatively, he did, and the girl smiled in response. "I'd wish you good luck, but I'm afraid I have all of it." she said, never once dropping that stupid grin. Honestly, it reminded him of Naruto, and he had to work at not sneering. As it was, he remembered the blonde's accomplishments recently, and decided not to underestimate this girl.
She also seemed to be right about her luck comment earlier as well. Sasuke was forced to fold each time, taking minimal losses as the girl was consistently dealt better hands, coming out on top even when one of the other would get a fantastic hand and raise the stakes. Sasuke had lost money on the first turn trying to bluff her better hand, and resolved not to do it again when he noticed that she hadn't even looked at her cards once before putting them down, as if she knew that she would have the better hand.
The players dropped out one by one, the tall hatted man being the first to lose with his rather large raises when he believed he had the hand in the bag. The bearded man's aggressive play style drained him of his chips second. The man who rolled the chip over his fingers the entire game was forced to give up his last chip next, and the pensive bald man's cautious play style removed him from play last. Now that it was just the two of them, the mint haired girl opened her eyes and looked at Sasuke with some level of interest that had been missing earlier. "Looks like you didn't need that luck anyway. I didn't peg you as such an avid player. How are you cheating?"
Sasuke's eyes' widened for a split second at the question asked as one would remark on the weather before he regained composure. He hadn't really thought about what he had been doing as cheating, but in retrospect he supposed it had been on some level. Still, he wasn't about to admit it. "I'm not cheating, I'm just very observant." Now that he thought about it, there was no way the girl had been as lucky as she had been. She must have been cheating somehow as well. "How are you cheating?" he asked with a cocky grin.
The girl giggled before answering. "I'm not cheating either. I'm just luckier than most. Lucky Number Seven never loses a game of chance. You can bet on that."
Sasuke folded once more, realizing that she once again had the best possible hand and wasn't about to admit to cheating. Once the cards were dealt for the next hand, Sasuke noticed that he wouldn't be getting so much as a pair, while the girl would be finishing a pair of aces on the river. Still, she had no way of knowing that, and if he couldn't break her hand, perhaps he could break her confidence. For the first time, instead of folding, Sasuke raised the bet by a significant amount, and the girl's orange eyes widened, before narrowing to look at Sasuke. "What are you up to?" she asked, her voice carrying a sort of condescending tone that one would use with a child that was obviously hiding something.
"A bluff." said Sasuke without any change to his tone. "Or maybe not. I guess I'm just testing your faith in that luck of yours."
That managed to get a chuckle out of his opponent. "You'll be sorely disappointed then. My luck never lets me down."
Sasuke smirked confidently. "Then what's in your hand? Is it something a lucky person would draw? Mine is. Or maybe it isn't. Care to find out?"
This actually gave the girl pause as she stared down at her cards, a four and an ace. There was nothing there, and they both knew it. "Fine then, I know I have the better hand!" she declared confidently. Though Sasuke noticed the look of trepidation as the dealer flipped over the King of Diamonds.
"Fine then, put your money where your mouth is." said Sasuke calmly as he raised once more. The girl seemed nervous, but full of bravado as she matched his recklessness. The dealer turned over the next card, a Ten of Hearts, and the girl's bluster went out the window as her tanned skin paled. Her eyes widened, and Sasuke grinned once more. "Ask yourself this. Are you feeling lucky? Well, are you?" asked Sasuke calmly as he went all in. The girl was sweating bullets at this point, but managed to slide forwards an equal amount. Due to Sasuke's slow losses over the course of the round and her constant victories, she still had some chips left over even once matching Sasuke's all in. The dealer flipped over the river card, revealing an Ace of Clubs, though that didn't calm the girl down any as she placed her cards down, junk save for the Ace of Hearts. "One pair." she said nervously.
Sasuke chuckled under his breath, and smiled sadly. "Three of a kind." He said, holding up the Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Spades. "Sorry." Sasuke grinned as the dealer slid the massive pile of chips over to his side of the table, reversing their fortunes instantly. It felt good to win. Sasuke's plan to cheat once the girl was too distracted with her own misfortune had worked like a charm. He breathed a small sigh of relief at his foresight in nabbing the two aces from a previous hand in preparation for his trick.
Looking over at her though, Sasuke felt a little bad for the girl. Her confidence had been replaced with an emptiness that almost made Sasuke wince. It was as if that one loss had sucked all the joy she had a moment ago right out of her. The game ended quickly after that, with the girl losing what few chips she had left to the crippling fear that had replaced her well-deserved confidence in her unbeatable luck. Even now, she was getting the better hands, only folding when Sasuke's confidence cowed her into it. She either didn't notice her solid luck, or didn't care.
Once it was over, Sasuke had resolved to go and apologize to her, perhaps even confess to cheating, but Jiraiya descended on him like a vulture on the recently deceased. "I'll admit, I was expecting you to get a taste of it firsthand, but just remember that you could be any one of those loser today, so be careful with your money. No gambling. Now I'll be taking my deposit back, with a little interest maybe." Sasuke would have argued the point of owing interest on money he had 'borrowed' for one whole afternoon, but he was suddenly too tired to care.
"Let's just do whatever you have planned now." It wasn't thanks to Jiraiya, but Sasuke figured it would be a while before he played cards again. Jiraiya clapped him on the back.
"Alright! It was planned as a pick-me-up, but celebratory drinks work even better! I'll save on a hooker and just give you 'The Talk' while we're too drunk to remember it. Hahahahaha!" Jiraiya clapped his apprentice on the back and before the Uchiha knew it, the two were in a bar, and the Sannin was pulling rank to try and get a pint for his underage drinking buddy. The last Uchiha took a large sip, emptying the saucer and almost spit the fire in his mouth right back out. Unable to suppress his grimace, Sasuke nevertheless swallowed the alcohol.
His head began to feel a little lighter, and the crushing guilt from earlier started to alleviate a tad. Jiraiya's cheeks were already flushed as he downed yet another saucer of sake. Sasuke had no clue how much he had drunk while the apprentice was still struggling to down his first saucer. "Now then, alcohol may let you forget your problems, but it can also make you weak, and it doesn't really help." slurred Jiraiya, downing another saucer. "So don't drink too much, ever, ok?"
Sasuke nodded, then shook his head to try and stay aware of himself. Jiraiya nodded sagely. "Alright then, let's talk about women…" Sasuke looked down at the saucer of alcohol, and decided he might actually need a few more before this conversation continued much further.
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Several minutes later, Sasuke was infinitely glad of his decision, or he would be if he wasn't completely plastered as a result of it. Jiraiya stood up, stumbled a bit, and managed to catch himself on the bar. "Alright. Those are the first three, so let's head back to camp." The sentence was barely intelligible, but Sasuke wasn't in much better condition. Some movement akin to walking and much vomiting later, the two arrived at their designated campsite, as grassy hill just outside of town. Unable to make it to the tent, Jiraiya collapsed on the grass, and rolled over to look at the sky. Sasuke quickly followed suit without support from his mentor.
Sasuke wasn't sure when he fell asleep, and he wasn't sure how he managed to fall asleep with anything resembling the splitting headache he had upon waking up. "Oh, god." said Sasuke, gripping his head to try and feel the fatal wound that had to be causing this pain.
Jiraiya tossed his apprentice's knapsack to Sasuke, who failed to react in time to catch it. Sasuke grimaced as the pack fell to the ground. "Rise and shine! We got one last stop to make." said Jiraiya, looking no worse for wear. The two walked all day, Jiraiya constantly talking about his many adventures while Sasuke tried to stay on his feet. Throughout the day, Sasuke's headache got better slightly, though he was still far too grumpy to even attempt to talk back to his mentor.
After another night's rest the hangover was nothing more than a horrible memory, though Sasuke was in no rush to experience that again. On the second day of walking Jiraiya remained almost completely silent, and Sasuke took the opportunity to practice his tree walking some more. They reached their apparent destination as the sun was just beginning to set. "Well, here we are." said Jiraiya. "Are you ready for the question?"
Sasuke took a deep breath to steel himself. "Yes." Jiraiya grinned at his student's eagerness.
"Alright then. What is the most important thing a ninja needs? What is the one thing you'll need to learn before I'll teach you anything?" Sasuke's brow furrowed as he racked his brain for the answer.
Power was the obvious answer, at least to the first question, but it made no sense as the answer to the second one. The reason he was being trained by Jiraiya in the first place was to obtain power. That meant that it was something more metaphorical. Yet despite saying that his training would begin if he answered this question correctly, Jiraiya had already taught him tree walking and the three vices of the ninja. That meant they were likely somehow tied to the answer that Jiraiya was looking for.
Sasuke opened his eyes and answered both Jiraiya's stare and his question. "The most important thing for a ninja to have is control."
The silence that followed was downright oppressive. Sasuke began to fear that he had actually misinterpreted the lessons that Jiraiya had already given him and gotten the question wrong before Jiraiya burst into laughter. "Hahaha! You're smarter than you look!" Sasuke grimaced at the insult, but Jiraiya continued in a more subdued fashion before Sasuke could dwell on it further. "You're right. As ninja, we have a great amount of power, and if we can't control it, we could ruin many lives, start wars, destroy everything." Jiraiya slowly walked out of the woods they were standing in, and Sasuke followed him, only to be awed by the sight that had been on the other side of the trees.
A huge canyon stretched out before him, with a river running through it, coming from the waterfall at one end. But it was the two enormous statues standing across from each other that caught his attention. Sasuke had paid enough attention in Iruka's history classes to recognize the founder of the village, and no self-respecting Uchiha would fail to recognize Madara Uchiha. What Jiraiya said next was what truly drove home the wonder though.
"This is the Valley of the End. It's actually a testament to the power of the two ninja who fought here. I'm sure you recognize them?" Not waiting for an answer to his rhetorical question, Jiraiya continued. "Their battle drastically altered the landscape, creating this valley. And there's a prophecy that my student will be capable of even more. My student was prophesized to either save the world, or destroy it, and my choice would determine that choice." Sasuke wasn't one to believe in prophecy, but the serious tone that Jiraiya used was enough to keep any scoffs of derision under lock and key.
"I thought I had found that student twice already, but both died and I don't plan on training another student. Do you think you can handle this responsibility?" asked Jiraiya, completely serious. The look he sent at Sasuke was enough to paralyze the young Uchiha, freezing his body in place.
Sasuke finally managed to find his voice. "Y-yes." said Sasuke, berating himself mentally for stuttering. Jiraiya's terrifyingly serious demeanor changed immediately, and he returned to the bubbly pervert that Sasuke had known up until now.
"Alright then, Tsunade's always been the gambler, but I think I'll roll the dice one last time. Don't let me down kid!" The Sannin began to walk back in the direction of the Hidden Leaf Village, almost leaving the shell shocked Uchiha behind. "Hurry up, I've got lots to teach you! Challenge one: keep up!" That brought Sasuke to his senses, as he hurried to catch up to the Sannin, who had begun to move incredibly fast by jumping through the trees. Sasuke could discern the concept behind the technique easily enough, but as the many tumbles from the treetops would prove in the coming hours, the idea was difficult to put into practice.
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A/N: Chapter four up! Wooo! Man, who needs to study for finals anyway? I do, actually. Next up is Sakura, but since her training is mostly studying anatomy and such, I may add in a spar between Naruto and Sasuke at the end, combine her chapter with the one where they all get back together. Regardless, the next one might be a while, or maybe not, since break is happening soon. Whatever.
Hope the fact that I've never played competitive poker isn't too apparent here. If anyone more knowledgeable notices some huge error, please tell me so I can fix it. Funny story behind this chapter, it was salvaged from my first fic idea, and took place with Kakashi teaching just Sasuke and Naruto about the vices, with Naruto taking Fu's role here as winning via luck vs Sasuke's skill. He had the Sharingan in the original though. Regardless, I'm glad I got to use it in some form. Also, if you haven't read my previous fic, Dawn's Sage, my personally theory is that the Seven Tail's power is unnatural luck, since it introduces itself as "Lucky Number Seven". Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and reviews are always appreciated. See ya!
