Sakura and Sasuke left their home the next morning eager as ever to begin their respective assignments. Sakura was going to head to the orphanage with the seven shinobi she had taken responsibility for. Three would ultimately be staying in the village and four would be leaving. Even though these last two and a half weeks would fulfill different goals depending on the ultimate destination of the shinobi, Sakura knew that it was her duty to make it educational and inspirational for all of them.
Last night, she and Sasuke had discussed what might be the best plan for those under Sakura's charge. The orphanage would be visited probably twice more. It was the youngest villagers…the ones who had lived among the hardest conditions without their parents most likely due to war….who would make the most impact. They also decided that at least one day would be spent at the Academy, giving the young students a taste of shinobi from other villages and a taste of their experiences. A day or two would be spent on various volunteering assignments for various business owners across the village – this was primarily for the three shinobi who opted to give up their shinobi status and become normal villagers. They would, of course, need to find places to live and jobs to work. In a perfect world, Sakura would find villagers who would be willing to mentor these three in case of any questions or concerns that may come up in the future. Finally, they would spend a few days touring the village itself and its various attractions. Hopefully this would endear the village to these seven and even when they left, they could still keep a little memory of the village and its merits in their hearts.
Sakura collected her charges and they went on their way. Sasuke remained behind with Rock Lee, Karin, Teki, and the two others who had expressed a desire to become Leaf shinobi.
Umi Radagan was one of the two remaining shinobi. She was originally born and trained inside Hidden Mist, but was ultimately left behind while on a genin-ranked mission and would never return to Mist again having been abandoned all those years ago. It turned out that she was simply lost (she was only 11 years old after all) and her incompetent teammates were too quick to leave her. Regardless of the reasons, to her it stung badly…as if she never really mattered at all. She did what she needed to survive. Umi ended up in a gang of rogue shinobi who mostly stole from others to make a living. While she stayed with the gang, she picked up additional jutsu and ended up becoming a relatively capable shinobi.
The other shinobi was actually the reason Umi was so willing to turn a new leaf. His name was Kawa Ito. His origins were mostly unknown due to his nomadic family life, but from the beginning he knew he was a water user. He was tricked into supporting Kabuto at one point early in the war. His mother, his only living relative by that time, was very ill and as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he ran into Kabuto who promised him a cure. It wasn't true after all; Kabuto had no intention of helping anyone letalone a frail old nomadic woman of no use to him. However, by the time Kawa found this out, it was too late and the Leaf had already captured him as an enemy. A gentle soul underneath it all, he and Umi became fast friends while under the Leaf's watch. The anger, resentment, and distrust melted away and the two shinobi became fast friends who trained together and watched each others' backs. When the offer to become Leaf shinobi came about, they quickly decided that this was where they would plant new roots and move forward with their lives.
Sasuke led them to a training spot he had once heard of from Naruto during one of their many conversations…it was the place where Naruto had once split a waterfall in half. Sasuke thought back to that particular conversation and had to admit, it took him a while to figure out what the hell Naruto was even talking about (after all, how does one split a waterfall in half?) But as two of his charges were water users, he thought this would be a good place to start the training.
This first day ended up being very informal. They started with genjutsu and found that really none of the four had any sort of genjutsu use at their disposal. Then they moved to ninjutsu. Karin's turn came and went very quickly as she didn't actually have much offensive ninjutsu…as Sasuke already knew, Karin's gift was the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, the ability to track targets though their chakra signature (as well as the ability to heal with her powerful life force).
Both Kawa and Umi cycled through several techniques in their repertoires. They lined up and performed everything almost in sync with one another, which Sasuke found rather odd.
"You two…aren't together, are you?" asked Sasuke.
Kawa stopped what he was doing. "What do you mean?"
"I was under the impression that Umi was from Mist and that you had more of a nomadic background. You didn't come to the Leaf together, is that correct?" asked Sasuke, trying to clarify.
"Oh, you mean because we are performing much of the same jutsu? Much of what we are showing you here is what we have worked on together while we have been confined by the Leaf," said Kawa.
"I see," said Sasuke, who admittedly was rather amazed at the level these two had attained in such a short time. Most of the records indicated that their jutsu should have been much more basic, but then again, the Leaf virtually ignored these homeless shinobi after the war had concluded. It didn't surprise him at all that the Leaf had no idea that these two had trained behind closed doors.
When Kawa and Umi had concluded all their demonstrations, Sasuke turned to Teki.
"I don't have water ninjutsu," Teki said abruptly.
"I didn't say that you did," said Sasuke. "You are an earth-style user. What kind of jutsu can you perform?"
Teki looked defiant. He felt like a guinea pig. He had no desire to be here and certainly no desire to be a Leaf shinobi.
"Listen, Teki…it's this or prison. Which would you prefer?" asked Sasuke.
Apparently Sasuke made his point. Teki uncrossed his arms and took a deep horse stance. "Earth-style, earth wall!" He moved his arms and a small earth wall appeared between Teki and Sasuke.
"And?" prodded Sasuke.
"And what?" Teki asked.
"Keep going," said Sasuke.
Teki grunted mostly to himself. He reiterated in his own mind once again that he did not want to be here. He didn't especially want to go to a proper prison either having spent the last year in somewhat of a normal lifestyle, just not being allowed to leave his comfortable surroundings inside the Leaf. He would have to think about what he could do to get himself out of this situation.
"Earth-style, earth bullets!" he called out.
Suddenly, the shinobi who were present were being pelted by a barrage of small, pointed earth pieces. They certainly weren't deadly, but they stung like hell. This little stunt ended up with the group scattering to avoid the pain as much as possible.
"You could have done that over there," said Sasuke, pointing into the distance. "There was no reason you had to do that right over us."
Teki was unmoved. "You weren't specific."
Sasuke by now was getting frustrated with this unlikable fellow. If only he knew what his future held should he not come around to this whole effort. It would be prison, pure and simple. And prisons anywhere in the shinobi world were never easy. Sasuke looked over at Teki once again and continued to think. He wondered if Teki was really that ignorant of the situation, or perhaps, he was planning something. No matter, that was why Rock Lee was here.
"Fine," Sasuke finally said to himself ending his train of thought. "Let's move onto taijutsu. Lee, will you do the honors of leading them in some basic exercises?"
"Sure thing!" said an excited Lee. He lined up in front of the four shinobi. "Let us begin!"
Sasuke stood and watched as Karin clumsily tried to keep up. Umi and Kawa had no issues…they weren't particularly skilled, but there was definitely potential there. Teki just stood there with his arms crossed once again.
"Teki," stated Sasuke.
"I'm not doing this. This is beneath me," said Teki.
"How will I know unless you show me," said Sasuke.
"You want to be shown?" asked Teki.
"Yes," said Sasuke.
"Fine," said Teki. "Don't forget that it was you who asked…"
Teki paused for a few seconds and no one moved. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was on top of Rock Lee. Lee dodged at the last moment and was able to strike back instinctively with a kick. Teki blocked with his forearm and came around with a roundhouse kick.
"Teki…this is highly inapp-…you need to sto-…what do you think you are do-," Lee attempted to speak at the same time he was fighting Teki.
Sasuke was truly getting sick of the attitude. Not only that, it was taking away from the three other shinobi who were following instructions and that he knew wanted to become true Leaf shinobi. However, for now, he decided to let this fight continue. Unless it was on his own terms, Teki wasn't going to give anything up to Sasuke freely…and Lee could handle this no problem. He had to know what he was capable of.
"Just fight him, Lee," said Sasuke.
Lee's brow furrowed in new determination. He then went all out on Teki…as all out as he was willing to take a match where he wasn't supposed to hurt anyone. Teki had some good moves, there was no doubting that. But Lee definitely had the upper hand the entire time.
When the two finally broke, both were panting heavily and Teki even had to bend over with hands to knees to catch his breath.
"Not bad," said Lee to Teki.
"Who asked you?" quipped Teki in response. Teki, in actuality, was a bit surprised at Lee's abilities. He had always been somewhat cocky about his taijutsu and here was this new person who was obviously even more skilled than he was. That was going to make things a bit more complicated for him.
"Well, I think we've done enough for one day," said Sasuke to everyone who was present. "Let's go back to the inn and we'll break for today." He purposely didn't address Teki or what he just did – he figured it would only add fuel to the fire, like a bratty child throwing a tantrum to get attention.
OlOlOlOlOlO
Sasuke and Lee left their four charges at the inn and started to walk away together.
"I'd watch that one," said Lee once they were definitely alone and out of anyone else's hearing range.
"Don't I know it," said Sasuke.
"I knew you said he was going to be difficult, but that was even more than I was expecting," said Lee.
"It's all in his court now," said Sasuke. "I've made myself very clear…do this, or its prison."
"You don't think he'd try something?" asked Lee.
"He'd be pretty stupid to try something with the two of us here," said Sasuke. "Don't you think?"
"I guess," said Lee. "Maybe he isn't the brightest bulb…don't always assume he has the same amount of knowledge as you do, Sasuke. Don't forget, he's been confined for quite a while. Hell, he may not even really 'get' everything you are capable of. I mean, you are one of the strongest shinobis in the world, right?"
Sasuke thought for a moment about what Lee just said. "You might be right. He might be plotting something not having a clue what he's up against."
"I'm sure he's heard a bit about the Uchiha and their capabilities. And I know you've told all of them about some of your indiscretions from the past. But listening to a story and really, truly understanding what that all means, are two totally different things," said Lee.
"Yeah, I'll try to talk with him again and see if I can open his eyes more to the exact situation he's in," said Sasuke.
"No matter what, I don't trust him. I'd advise you don't either," said Lee.
"Noted," replied Sasuke.
The two comrades eventually went their separate ways.
OlOlOlOlOlO
Teki sat alone in his room at the inn. He thought about the events of the day and all that had happened. He had successfully kept hidden most of his difficult skills from the Leaf shinobi who were evaluating him. That fight with Rock Lee…he admitted that it was difficult to hold back as much as he had planned.
If escape from the Leaf was the path he wanted to take, he would have to be sure to come across as harmless as possible. Even so, perhaps an attitude change was in order. His lack of eagerness was grating at Sasuke…he could see that for sure. Perhaps a more amiable approach would cause the Leaf shinobi to let their guard down even more?