Chapter 5: Shifting the board
It had been a quiet few days after the lesson with the genjutsu expert and in that time I had managed to work through the nerves and anger I had accumulated due to it, breathing out giant fireballs is one hell of a stress reliever let me tell you. It seemed that life would settle back into routine, though Naruto had for some strange reason started challenging me to innate competitions that I of course refused but man was he annoying as he would challenge me anywhere from three to five times a day. I was nothing but patient though and would wear him down with this constant refusal eventually, if I had only known at the time.
That's how I found myself walking towards class with an overly energetic blonde bombarding me with questions and trying to egg me on "Why won't you do it? Are you scared to lose? You can't handle to have you pride shattered in front of all your fans? Think you are too weak, Huh? Huuuh? Huuuuuh?" his face got awfully close in my own personal space and as such I pushed him away with a hand before speaking "For the last time Naruto, I am not racing you on who can break the most rocks with his teeth. Where did you even get this ridiculous idea from?"
Before he could even retort or continue his triad I was saved by the impromptu appearance and interruption of Iruka who ushered the blonde brat away saying he had something important to discus with me. With that done he turned towards me and cleared his throat before speaking "As I told Naruto, there is something I must inform you of Sasuke. After evaluating your current progress, the academy has come to the conclusion that you can be moved to a higher class, the one slated for graduation. I mean it's your choice and you can remain in this one, you can answer at the end of the day so no rush." With that said and after an awkward rub of his neck Iruka continued into the class room.
That piece of information left my mind whirling and trying to come at grips with the situation. The implication of it were rather frightening because with just being myself I had managed to derange the timeline to such an extent in such a short notice. But that, while concerning that I was losing the certainty of knowing the future I had also long given up on trying to maintain it anyways and live like myself. What was actually more important was even if Iruka had worded it like I had a choice in the matter it was evident I didn't really have one. Idly I would have liked to remain in the academy for the full course and grow strong enough before being trust in life threatening situations but it seemed I was out of time.
With a thoughtful expression on my face I entered the class room and took my place between Shino and Hinata. They seemed to want to ask question but with a quick mutter of that I'll tell them more at lunch stopped any inquires before they could leave their mouths. That's how the rest of the classes passed till lunch, in intense silence as I continued to weight my options. The moment break was announced our group wasted no time to reach our usual destination of under the tree and after sitting around it yet with none of us touching their lunch yet. Deciding I've kept them waiting long enough with a sigh I spoke "I've been selected to move up in the graduation class and have until the end of the day to inform Iruka what my decisions is. I am going to accept."
My tone implied that even if it was agreeable to me I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter anyway something both of them probably understood themselves too, having been broth up in a clan as well. For a few moments silence reigned before my ears picked up rustling of boxes being up unwrapped followed by the monotone voice of Shino "I expect to keep meeting here for lunch, Why? Because breaks still remains at the same time and won't be a plausible excuse to say we can't." I didn't need to turn to the other side to guess that Hinata was nodding along before speaking up herself "Ano So did any of you complete the essay Iruka made us do about the first, I am not sure if I covered everything."
With that both of them descended into conversation about comparing their essay and facts they had gathered as I opened my own lunch and started eating while occasionally chiming in with a small pull of my lips settling on my face. It was still tentative, fragile and not fully formed but maybe, without realizing it, I had missed this sense of camaraderie, I've missed being surrounded by a few people I could trust in and while this group still wasn't that maybe one day it would bloom into it.
The rest of the day passed in relative peace and once the last class was over I found myself standing in front of Iruka's desk waiting for him to finish reading through some papers. Seemingly done with them for now he looked up and waited for me to speak which I obliged. "I want to be moved into the upper class Iruka-sensei" with a nod of his head he stood up and handed me a couple of scrolls "Your admission paper was signed by the Hokage and this is the material you'll need to read through in order to catch up with curriculum."
I accepted the scrolls with a blank face and moved towards the door but before I was out his voice rang out once more, slightly tangled with guilt "Report to class room 35 in two days and ask for a Kei-sensei he'll take it from there." in the end I never had a choice and with a final nod I left the room and headed home I had some reading to catch up on after all.
Two days later I found myself standing in front of class room 35 and after a knock I entered while asking for a teacher named Kei. A brown haired man in his twenties with a missing arm stood up from his desk and answered "Ah you must be the transfer student I was told about, come in, come in." taking a pause for me to enter and stand in the middle of the podium in front of the now quiet class he came next to me before resuming "This is Uchiha Sasuke and he'll be joining our class from today, now how about you pick a seat and we'll start with the lessons."
Hushed whispers of disbelieve surrounded me as I made my way up the rows to one of the few empty seats. A few disdainful comments on how could a kid get here and a couple varieties of such comments also reached my ears but I steady fast ignored them until finally reaching the back row and I sat myself, patiently waiting to see how this would prove different from the lower grade. Interestingly enough the theory had shifted from history lessons about the village to more practical one like our relation with the daimyo and a few of the minor villages, calculation on angles for ambush and general geography on the elemental nations.
As the days passed I discovered that it wasn't the only things to be more advanced, the physical conditioning was even harsher especially to someone that was 4 years younger than the rest but thankfully nothing I couldn't handle even if I did suffer the damage of not getting the first place in everything. In fact, the only field I remained indisputably the best was shurikenjutsu and it was still only by a sliver. It was certainly a challenge that made my blood rise in excitement but I still didn't truly understand how much I would have to catch up until taijutsu practice came around.
When it did come I found myself walking towards the dirt ring after being paired with one Sarutobi Kenshiro, the widely recognized top dog of the class with not only attitude but also skills to back it up. With a stocky build and standing at the height of at least of a hundred and fifty centimeters the brown haired youth made for an intimidating figure for a twelve-year-old and when compared to my smaller stature. Well as the saying goes the bigger they are the harder they fal… was as far as my brain could process the thought before a fist impacted my jaw and rattled my skull while I stumbled backwards and fell to the ground the moment the teacher declared for us to begin.
Eyes wide my hand shot out to touch the bruise already forming on my jaw and judging by the stinging coming from my mouth and blood on my fingers, split lip too. He sure packs a punch but time for idle consideration was over because he was already upon me with an axe kick coming down towards my head. Rolling to the side quickly to dodge I scrambled halfway to my feet before tensing and like a spring lunching myself in the air and towards him. He probably didn't expect it because my fist found purchase in his jaw as I used my other hand as a support to fling myself over his shoulder.
Once more thought my arrogance cost me because just as I thought I had him his left hand shot out and grabbed me midair and slammed me harshly into the ground before I could even react. Breath left me my lungs as I impacted the earth and could only close my eyes in pain. The moment I reopened them I found his fist only inches away from my face and the teacher yelling that the match over. I had lost. I had goddam lost and miserably at that, all because of my arrogance and thinking this would be a walk in the park like it previously had been until now.
The displeasure of losing must have shown on my face because Kenshiro's eyes shown with untold amusement which only served to deepen my scowl as I accepted his hand to stand up and do the sign of reconciliation with him. The rest of the fights I spent not watching and just brooding over my loss, analyzing were I went wrong and swearing to up my training regime, I would not go down so easily again next time. The rest of the day was spent in similar with me brooding and just itching to get away and start training so I could beat that Sarutobi. Maybe if used the Sharingan but my damaged pride would not allow me to use it in a fight no I would beat him with no advantages. As I exited the main academy building my strides fastened with purpose as I ached to reach my home.
Before I could fully leave the premise of the academy I caught something in the edge of my vision that made my already thin temper rise. Just near the path that lead towards the usual lunch spot for our group I saw Hinata being cornered by a bunch of Academy students. Cracking my neck as red overtook my vision and everything became crystal clear I walked towards the group allowing me to hear the bunch of boys berating the lavender haired girl for being a part of a clan of all things and daring to look down on them just cause of that.
The fact Hinata would never do that made me even angrier and as I neared them enough I spoke loud enough to be heard "Oi, wastes of space what do you think you are doing." that seemed to gather their intention but their bravado seemed to falter because the moments they turned around some shrunk back from my angry red gaze that was further enchanted by the setting sun allowing it to glow in the fading light. Before they could even utter a word I verbally struck "Leave before I melt your brains with a genjutsu."
One of the braver ones scoffed and challenged me by saying that there is no way I could do that. An in response a sharp grin broke on my face as I continued with my lashing "Oh don't you remember the genjutsu expert we had in class, well it turns out he liked me and took me under his wing." The reminder seemed to bring back flashback of the lesson they've had with him or maybe it was cause from my eyes because suddenly they were scrambling to get way while shouting that this wasn't the last I've seen of them. Oh bonus it seemed I had even managed to divert attention from Hinata on top of it.
Turning off the Sharingan and returning my eyes to their normal state I turned my attention towards the lavender haired Hyūga just in time to notice her duck her head down with a blush and stutter out "Thanks you but Yo-you didn't have to do that Sasuke-san ,it wasn't that important" that response just made me scoff out loud which made her shrink a bit but before she could take it the wrong way I quickly followed with "Of course it was ,we are friends are we not ." that seemed to have a reaction because her head snapped up to look at my face with incredulity filling her pale eyes, like it was impossible that anyone would want to have anything to do with her.
It was kind of irritating because it just made it seem like the time spent together as a group had been meaningless until now and I voiced as much, which lead to a rapid headshaking from her and numerous apologies. Sighing at her reaction I apologized too as my eyes analyzed her form and an idea slowly started forming in my head that would benefit both of us. Liking it more and more as it took shape I voiced it out aloud "The experience in the new class has being enlightening to say the least so I find myself looking for a sparring partner to practice with. What do you say. "
Her face contoured into thinking and silence descended between the two of us for a few moments before she spoke, unconfidence underlying her tone "I'm not very good or strong but If you'll have me the-then I'll be happy to help." With a nod I quickly responded with "It'll help both of us. "and with that final statement both of us left the premise of the academy filling the air with the occasional idle chatter as the foundation of a tradition that would continue for years to come was established.
Things started to blur together afterwards as more and more time passed. Increasing the intensity of my own training and the addition of a sparring partner alongside the challenge of actually facing stronger people then me marked the beginning of my steady but certain crawl through the ranks of the class towards the eventual top I planned to grab. Less and less theory was studied and more practical lessons took their place as the date towards graduation grew closer and closer. The frequency of guest teachers also raised exponentially but I had an inkling that it was more scouting on their part then just trying to impart us with a knowledge of their trade.
I swear I saw the eyes of a former Hunter-nin gleam as they focused on my new shield against socializing that sat besides me. It seemed I had a knack for attracting weird or socially awkward people because at a point a Aburame girl that usually was avoided by the rest of the females approached me one early morning and asked if it would possible to sit beside me because it was only logical by viewing our combine lack of interaction with the rest of the class. That's how the group of recluses that was our lunch gathering gained a new member in the face of Aburame Katsumi that besides the obvious softer features almost looked like a twin of Shino.
The best thing about her though that I had been missing until now was her sarcasm and it was such a sight to behold when she unleashed it on people. Oh the back and forth we've had been simple glorious to behold. That was pretty much the only expansion of my social circle if you didn't count the continuously hounding of Naruto about doing his ridiculous challenges, something I still hadn't figured out where he even got the idea from. Asides from that the only thing of note was the improvement of my taijutsu to the point that the instructors had no other choice but to pair me with the Sarutobi. Most of the fights still ended with my loss but I was getting closer and closer to matching him and I was confident that I could even win if I ever used the Sharingan.
My ninth birthday came and passed with little fanfare only serving as marker that only a month had been left till graduation. Which was something my group of friends gave me a lashing for not warning them about it or letting them celebrate it with me after attending theirs. It was just a birthday but I decided to not fight for a lost cause. The one achievement worth marking though was my miraculous victory against Kenshiro when he stumbled out of bounds by accident, though I still counted it. It was the only one though as he too seemed to up his game afterwards, which still itched at my pride that he hadn't until then.
Soon the time for the graduation exams rolled around and I found myself sitting with the rest of the people of what remained of the class, we numbered around 14 which was supposed to be a large number considering how many civilians had been a part of it. While most were nervous I wasn't feeling as pressured, the foot taping was because I like doing it and not because of nerves thank you very much, no matter what Katsumi said. Speaking of her, soon her name was called and she left but not before I wished her luck. With nothing better to distract me until my name was called I turned to watch out of the window.
To my surprise I found a mop of blond that could only belong to Naruto in one of the trees. He seemed to be looking for ways to grab my attention and I had picked just the right time to turn because I saw him reaching for a kunai of all things, the idiot would have thrown it. Grinning now that I was focused on him he fished out a big piece of paper of all things and started scribbling with a marker on it before lifting it to show it to me. Besides the few rude gestures and picture of me with poop what was written was heartwarming "Hinata-chan and Shino were worried about you so I came here to tell you that they wish you good luck, so try and not mess it up like always Teme."
He had to bring out a second piece of paper to get the whole message across but it was enough though despite that I still made sure to return the rude gestures he had been showing me the whole time even if I was thankful he did deliver such a message. If there had been a small smile pulling on my face when my name had been called and I walked towards the test room, then it simply must have been a trick of the light.
Stealing myself I walked into the room where Kei sensei was waiting alongside a familiar scarred chuunin. Bowing my head in greeting my previous instructor began "Hello Sasuke-kun, it's been awhile but let's jump straight into this. Please preform the Kawarimi first, then we'll move on henge and finally the bushin no jutsu." nodding my head in understatement I moved to the center of the room and after flying through the necessary hand seals I felt myself twisting and shifting away before taking the place of the chair that had been placed near me.
Nodding his head Iruka wrote something in his notebook before ushering me to perform the henge no jutsu. With little fanfare I once more did the hand seals and transformed into a perfect replica of the man in front of me, thankful for the detail retention Uchiha were blessed with. With some more noting done Iruka called for me to do the final jutsu that was required of me. With yet another burst of hand seals I willed my chakra into action and formed two ethereal copies besides me.
Seemingly satisfied Iruka motioned for me to dispel them before he spoke "The substitution was satisfactory, not too much smoke and fairly seemingly. The transformation was spot on besides a few details on posture but that is to be expected and the clones were excellent. Congratulation are in order Uchiha Sasuke you pass. From this day forward you are a proud Shinobi of Konoha." It was at that moment that the silent until now Kei threw a headband in my direction that I swiftly caught and tied around my forehead as he spoke "Good job kid but now get out and celebrate, we have others to examine. "
Without further prompt I left the classroom and found myself outside, amidst a plethora of students that had passed and their parents. Knowing the rest would like to hear the news personally I moved towards our usual place but not before throwing a final wave towards Katsumi who was looking my way.
An: Bet none of you expected that did ya... Well neither did I. This marks my first time being able to post twice in the same month so Yay minor achievements. I didn't go in depth as I originally planned but if I had done so there probably would have been at least 3-4 more chapters focused in the academy and to be honest I didn't feel like it. Besides a few events that have to happen in some form this marks the end of canon as we know it and things will just be getting further away as the story progresses. For now Enjoy and beware the typos.