A Better Sensei ch 4
Disclaimer: Insert generic disclaimer about me owning nothing spoken by the character of your choice.
This chapter is going to be way more Sasuke centered. If I suck at writing with him as the center it is because he isn't my favorite character, unlike his new sensei is. I also don't write romances often and I hadn't even planned for this story to become one. The story has a life of its own!
Chapter 4: A Better Send-off part 1
The dragon, his master, and their passenger landed just outside of Konoha. Sasuke continued to stare in awe as the mage gave the dragon a command; it condensed to a small ball of blue light and the light zoomed into a pocket in the mage's robe. The Archmage turned his attention to the young Uchiha and the boy shuddered again.
"Now Uchiha Sasuke, would you accept my tutelage in the arcane craft, a power that in its own way far outstrips the shinobi arts?"
"Yes!" he said with no hesitation, still shuddering in anticipation as to the power he could receive. Raistlin looked him over with his golden hourglass eyes and gave a small frown. He walked up to the young Nin and raised his arm. Sasuke flinched having seen that any movement of the dark master could bring about massive damage. The Archmage jabbed two fingers into the boy's shoulder, nails digging into the flesh. The black robe drew his fingers out and held between them was a small white winged snake, about four inches long. The curse seal on Sasuke's shoulder faded away, only leaving a small scar where the mage had removed the serpent. The dark sorcerer encompassed the snake in an orb of black fire and incinerated it. Sasuke felt a burden, physical and mental, lift from him.
"That prattling fool even left a part of his soul in you to influence you, which could have been quite troublesome later on. It probably has been messing with your mind the whole time," the mage observed.
"Domo arrigatou (thank you very much), Raistlin-shisho (master)," said the grateful Uchiha. "I would be honored to be the apprentice of one with such power."
Raistlin gave his trademark cynical smirk. "Feel honored after you passed a few of the tests I have in mind, I do not take students lightly, now take this scroll to the Hokage and you will find yourself being assigned to a very interesting solo mission. Also you will need this to find me," he said, handing Sasuke a scroll and a necklace composed of a piece of charcoal in a silver chain. "I'd say good bye to your friends too," he said with a faraway look. "Not everyone gets the chance to part with them on good terms; they might even still consider you a friend if you're lucky." Shadows wrapped around him and he vanished.
Sasuke walked back to Konoha in a better mode than he had been in years. The removal of the seal had cleared his mind and removed his tunnel vision. His goal of killing his brother wasn't just a vague possibility in the distant future; he now knew that under the teaching of the Archmage, he would get the power he needed very soon. He knew that he could now make plans for after his destined battle. He didn't have his previous craving for power as he knew that that hunger would soon be more than sated. He wasn't so delusional as to think that it would be easy under the dark mage, but he knew that he now could waste his time in the village without it afflicting his goal. Maybe he didn't even have to see it as a waste.
Sasuke went into the Hokage's office and had to duck as a chair was thrown at him. Usually that behavior was reserved for the dobe; Sasuke wondered what he did to cause her irritation. "You fool, where the hell have you been!? In case you hadn't guessed, you'd been marked as a flight risk, so when you disappear and we see several large explosions, what did you expect us to think? We've already sent out a search team!"
Sasuke sighed and handed her the scroll. "A bunch of Orochimaru's cronies roughed me up a bit and tried to convince me to join him," Tsunade gave a deep scowl at the mention of her old teammate. "Then this man named Raistlin came and defeated them with an easy that is frightening. These were five ninja trained by Orochimaru ANBU level or even higher, four of them he fought at the same time, and he was toying with them even more than Orochimaru was toying with me in when I first saw him in the forest of death. He had a summons that made Orochimaru's giant pythons look like garter snakes. Whatever he's asking for in that scroll I suggest you give him, as he can level Konoha in a sweep of his staff."
"He's asking for you," the alcoholic Hokage said. "He requests we allow you to train under him, though he will allow you to retain your loyalty to Konoha as long as it doesn't inconvenience him. You will be training with him for several years and will be allowed to return to the village for recreational purposes and to test your skills in missions. I will be assigning this as an S rank mission, gathering info on a powerful force that could be a threat to Konoha. Do you accept?"
"You'd better believe it!" Sasuke said then froze horrorstruck at what he just said. He silently cursed his good mood and excitement repeatedly and tried to regain his composure. The dark, brooding teen filled with nothing but negative emotion that she had once healed was diminished and Tsunade saw more of her favorite little blond in his teammate now. She smirked at him and told him he was dismissed to pack as he had to leave the next night. Sasuke tried to leave with his dignity but left some behind.
As he was walking out of the Hokage building he found himself clutched in the death hug of Haruno Sakura. She then proceeded to constrict him with tears in her eyes. He found that he was less annoyed by it than he normally would have been which he found annoyed him more than the event itself. He felt the annoyance fading, which confused and annoyed him even more. He was broken out of his annoyance/unannoyance cycle when Sakura managed to speak through her sobs. "I was so worried, I was afraid you were leaving."
Sasuke loosened her grip and said lightly, "I am."
Her grip tripled and a fresh wave of tears came. "Please don't go! Why can't you stay with the village? Why do you want to go to Orochimaru? Is his power all that can make you happy?"
Sasuke gave a light sigh that felt different from his usual ones. He gently loosened her grip and said, "I'm not going to him. Let's get some tea and I'll tell you what's going on." His words went through her like a Chidori. 'Did Sasuke just ask me out on a date!?' Her brain seemed unable to process this information and like her friend on team 8 around Sakura's blond teammate, fainted.
Sasuke gave another light sigh and scooped up his strawberry haired teammate princess style and carried her to a teahouse down the street. Sasuke deposited the kinochi at a table, took the seat across from her, and ordered two green teas. The waitress gave him a suspicious look, as anyone who saw a guy carry an unconscious girl into a store at 11:30 at night. Sasuke gave her the infamous Uchiha glare and sent her scurrying into the kitchen; he then waited patiently for his friend to awake.
Sakura blinked several times as she rejoined the land of the living. She wondered where she was, what made her faint, and why she was sitting. She then saw Sasuke across from her grinning and was mortified. Her Inner Sakura screamed at her. "CHAAAA! NOOO! YOU MORON LOOK WHAT YOU DID! NOW SASUKE-KUN THINKS WE ARE WEAK!" The real Sakura cringed at the thought and looked up meekly to see Sasuke still grinning.
Sasuke chuckled at his friend's inner conversation. Unlike most people, Sasuke had always sensed what was going on in her head. It was an Uchiha trick that was usually used to find concealed weaknesses, but in her case it reflected a hidden inner strength that he would have been glad to acknowledge if she had ever brought it out in the open. "I-I'm sorry about that Sasuke-kun, you probably think I'm we-weak now," she said meekly with a blush on her face. Her Inner Sakura continued to howl at her and she felt more like Hinata with each passing minute.
"Don't worry about it," he said casually, sitting sideways in his seat leaning against the table. He shot another glare at the waitress who was peeking out over the doorway to the kitchen and she scurried over with their tea and scurried back. He took a sip of tea and gave a small smile to Sakura as she lifted her cup. Sakura froze with the cup poised at her lips then slowly lowered it.
"Umm, not to be rude but, why are you so relaxed today?" asked Sakura. She wanted to know why he had become her prince charming in manner as well as looks. Sasuke gave a small puzzled frown and took another sip of tea.
"I think the curse seal is part of the reason. It was removed completely, not just covered like what Kakashi-sensei did. I may not have been Mr. Outgoing before, but that seal made it worse. It constantly reminded me of how inferior I was to my brother. Orochimaru showed up in all my dreams and reminded me of how he could give me power. But now it has been completely extracted," he said, moving his collar to reveal the small scratch where the seal had been.
Sakura blushed a bit at the sight of his neck then paused thinking seriously on what he said. "But I thought they said Orochimaru's seal was too powerful to remove without possibly killing you. Who removed it, and what happened earlier tonight with those explosions outside the village, where were you?"
"A bunch of Orochimaru's lackeys cornered me and tried to convince me to join Orochimaru," Sasuke began, and Sakura gasped. He found himself enjoying telling the tale of the Archmage saving him to her. Several minutes, six cups of tea, and three glares at the waitress later and the story was told. For some reason, Sasuke felt like giving her all the spells the mage had used and what he thought at each time. He went into far more detail than he had given to the Hokage. When the story was over, Sakura had a slight look of disappointment.
"So you're in a good mood only because of the power," she said with a bitter tone.
Sasuke frowned. "That isn't the only reason. I am glad that I now have an incredibly powerful teacher; I am glad that I will finally be able to defeat my brother and lay my family's souls to rest, but that isn't the main reason. I am glad because I can get this power without having to forfeit my body, betray my village, and most of all," he said, taking her hands in his. "I won't have to lose my friends."
Sakura blushed and started stuttering a thanks while Inner Sakura screamed, "DON'T YOU DARE FAINT!!!" Sasuke chuckled again and let her hands go. "You can't get rid of us that easily," she said. "Oh wait what about Naruto? He was sent looking for you and doesn't know what's going on. Lady Hokage will probably tell him that you are going on a mission but what are you going to tell him?"
Sasuke thought about it as he was walking Sakura back to her house. "I know what I'm gonna say to the dobe," he said with a foxy smile that was a dead on impression of the blond's. "Look for the knucklehead in the morning and tell him that I am shopping for materials for my mission, then meet me at that teahouse again." Back at said teahouse, the waitress shuddered. "I have a nice going away prank to pull on him."
She giggled and waved at him as he walked down the street. She went to bed and was amazed at how long the day had been. From being treated like trash by the love of her life in the morning to being on a date with him in the evening; from trying to break up a fight between her teammates in the afternoon to watching one smiling at the prank he was going to pull on the other. She wanted to meet this man Raistlin so she could thank him a thousand times over for the change he had already made in her love. She went to sleep and dreamt of children with pink and black hair and fans on their clothes.
AN: This chapter got way longer than I expected. I seemed to have written quite a bit of SasuSaku in here, and I have plans for more. I hadn't originally wanted that but hey once the ideas start flowing stopping them might stall you completely. I have kinda rethought almost my entire plan thanks to this chapter, but hey, that's the writing process.