"This way" Sasuke ordered as he marched towards his destination, carrying a bag full of collected food. "And don't fall behind" he continued.
The young girl trailed behind, trying to catch up to him as fast as she could. "Sorry, there's just a lot to carry" she said, holding her own basket of assorted food.
Evening had come and gone as nightfall began to descend upon the land. They two had spent almost all of the remaining daylight foraging for food and were now in a hurry to reach for shelter before it became dark.
"Stop whining, we're almost there" Sasuke chided as he continued leading on while the young Erza quietly followed.
After a few more minutes of walking, the pair eventually made their way to a small wooden cabin at the edge of a clearing in the woods. The young Uchiha stopped in his tracks as he waited for the girl to reach him, noticing that she was trailing behind a bit.
Erza eventually caught up to him, dropping her basket on the ground and panting. She had no idea foraging in the woods would be so tiring.
"We're here" Sasuke said as he picked up the pace once again and began walking.
Seeing the boy walk forward, Erza sighed as she picked up her basket and followed him.
…...
The broth began to bubble over as Sasuke continued to slowly stir the pot, looking bored out of his mind. If he had the proper tools and ingredients, he might've been able to whip up a decent meal, but with the way things were and his options being limited, Sasuke decided to simply dump everything he had gathered that wasn't berries into a pot, mix them up and hoped that it tasted better than it looked.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cabin, Erza was busy making herself at home as she sat on one of chairs. Humming a song and shuffling her feet, the girl's eyes darted darted everywhere as she took a good look at the place that Sasuke was living in. It was surprisingly neat and tidy, especially for something that looked like a rundown house in the middle of the woods. Everything was placed in perfect and meticulous order, even the table looked spotless. It seems the boy was a bit of a neat freak.
The smoke rising from the pot slowly made it's way towards Erza, who took a sniff of what was being made. It felt a little strange for her, since the smell was neither pleasant nor repulsive, which meant that she just had to wait for the finished product to judge it based on its merit. That being said, it seems she didn't have to wait for long as a smile formed on her face once she saw Sasuke making his way towards her with the pot in hand.
Placing the pot on the table, Sasuke poured over the broth into one of the smaller bowls and placed them near Erza. "Here" he said, before pouring over the bouillon into another bowl and placing it on the opposite side of the table.
Erza stared at the food that was placed before her, unsure as to whether to eat it or not. It looked so strange,like everything was cobbled together. Taking a whiff of the food's aroma once again, however, seemed to have swayed her opinion of it a little. "Umm, so what do you call this" she asked.
"Don't know" Sasuke answered, "I just put everything into the pot. If you don't wanna eat, then that's fine by me."
Hearing his answer, Erza blinked before quickly shaking her head. "Of course I wanna eat!" she loudly exclaimed, grabbing the spoon with intense vigor, "let's dig in!".
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the girl attempt to take a bite out of the food enthusiastically, but remained quiet.
The young redhead was ready to chow down on her dinner, until she noticed the apathetic stare that she was getting from the boy. She remained slack jawed for a few seconds until she realized what she had forgotten.
"Oh right! I forgot to say grace! Sorry" Erza let out an embarrassed grin, placing both the bowl and the spoon down on the table as she clasped her hands together. Sasuke followed and clasped his hands as well, though unlike Erza's his fingers weren't interlocked.
"Thank you for the food" the two said in unison.
As Erza began to gorge on the food that was given, she couldn't help but notice how quiet the other kid was. There was no small talk or even questions regarding why he let her stay here for the night. Looking onward, all she could see was him silently eating his dinner without so much as a single glance in her direction. It seems like he was always this way, even when he was living back in the village. "He's so weird" she thought.
Still, there was a reason she wanted to see the kid with the scary eye, and now that she knew where he lived, she would wait until the time was right to talk him properly.
…...
"Is this alright?" Sasuke asked, as he finished preparing the bed. Once it was done, he moved over and began making preparations for the sleeping bag on the floor.
"Yeah, I guess so" Erza replied, with uncertainty in her tone as she sat on the bed to make sure it was comfy. She was a bit apprehensive with the idea of taking a nap on someone else's bed while he slept on the floor.
"You don't sound sure about all of this. Do you want to sleep on the floor instead?" Sasuke offered.
"No, no, no!" Erza immediately jolted back, frantically shaking her hands, "that's not it at all". Somehow the thought of sleeping on the floor seemed like an even worse idea for her than any guilt about taking over someone's bed.
"Suit yourself" Sasuke shrugged, continuing on with his work.
Erza looked on as Sasuke nearly completed setting up his sleeping bag. A strange feeling crept up to her, as if hammering away at her conscious: part of her felt a bit guilty for making him go through all of this. She felt like she was leeching off of his kindness despite his stoic demeanor, though there was a side of her that also wondered why he was being so generous and hospitable in the first place.
"Hey" she called out with unease in her voice as her eyes narrowed downwards.
'What?" Sasuke said as he turned around and sat on the sleeping bag with his legs crossed.
"I wanted to ask" she paused for a moment before continuing, "why are you being so nice to me? You know, like... giving me food and letting me stay here."
Sasuke closed his eyes and sat quietly. There were a lot of ways he could answer that question: he was curious, he felt bad for her for not having any parents because he knew what it felt like, she reminded him of a certain someone. Ultimately, he settled for an answer that he felt was satisfactory.
'Let's just say you and I are not so different" he answered, "and also because, I wanted to know why you were following me."
Erza's eyes remained fixed on her feet as her fingers held onto the edge of her skirt as tightly as they could. Hearing his answer gave her pause as she seriously considered her own reply. It was difficult to explain what she was planning on doing but it seems there wasn't much of a choice here. Erza felt she owed him that much at least.
"That day...when Mr. Wells was getting hurt by that man with the big sword, I was there, watching it all happen" she explained as she gripped her skirt tighter, " I wanted to do something about it, to save him. But it was like my body just wouldn't move anymore, as if I was afraid of getting hurt too."
Sasuke's glare intensified as he continued listening to what the girl had to say. Part of him felt like he knew where this story was going but decided to let it play out anyways.
"But then you showed up" Erza continued explaining, shifting her gaze towards Sasuke. "You stood there, like you were ready to fight him. You weren't even afraid of him even after he hurt you."
"I see" Sasuke added, waiting for Erza to continue. As the young Uchiha kept observing the girl, he could tell from her facial expressions that she was getting more and more excited as she kept explaining, evident by the smile that was slowly forming on her face.
"And then when you did that thing with the lightning from your hand, I thought it was incredible!" she excitedly stated.
Sasuke sighed as he diverted his gaze away from the girl. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea to get excited over that. You know what happened next, right?" he said with a tint of shame on his face. He really didn't want to get girl's hopes up and dash it away, but he thought that it was better than indulging her in any sort of idea that pertained to condoning murder.
Ezra's smile fell as she remembered what he was talking about. She could clearly recall that day, when she saw his hand run through the large man's stomach and emerge from the other side. It was vivid, grotesque and unpleasant, that much was true. "Yeah I know but..."
"But what?" he asked bluntly, not sure why a kid was trying to justify murder, even if it was well-intentioned.
"It's just...I kept wondering what would've happened to Mr. Wells if you hadn't stepped in and did what you did" she explained, sinking her gaze to her feet again.
Sasuke remained silent for a while, taking her explanation into consideration. It was a hard pill to swallow, but he nevertheless had to acknowledge the fact that it had to be done, even if people were afraid of him now.
"Anybody else would've done the same" Sasuke said, brushing off any sort of praise she might be giving.
"That's not true!" Erza argued, glancing directly at Sasuke before redirecting it back to her feet, "everyone was afraid. I was afraid."
As the conversation went on, it was slowly becoming clearer to Sasuke what was going on and he was beginning to understand why this girl was following him in the first place. He noticed how she was constantly beating herself up for freezing and being unable to do anything to protect that old geezer.
"You were right to be scared. There was nothing you could've done" Sasuke rebuked her statement, trying in his own way to stop her from putting herself down, though he wasn't sure if it made her feel better or worse.
"Thanks, but.." Erza paused for a moment before she continued, "when you were out there, you weren't even scared at all". Erza glanced at him again, looking for any sort of reaction that he might give. But considering how no nonsense he had been so far, she wasn't surprised to see him looking as uninterested as ever.
"You were really brave" she went on, "I wish I was as just as brave"
Sasuke continued staring at her, looking a bit surprised by what the girl had just said. Did he just hear admiration in her words? The young Uchiha wasn't sure as to how he should respond to that one.
"So.." Erza said, " I was wondering if you could teach me to do that thing with the lightning in your hand."
Sasuke raised his brows the moment he heard her request. It seemed like he had finally realized why she was came all the way from village just to see him. This was more than just another one of those puppy love that most girls sought him out for. Looking at the eagerness in her face, Sasuke felt like the girl was genuine in her desire to learn.
Sadly, he also knew exactly what she meant when she said wanted to learn how to draw lightning from her hands: she wanted to learn the Chidori. Which wouldn't be a problem if it had been a shinobi or anyone with a enough strong chakra for that matter. There was just one major issue for that however and that problem was the fact that the girl looked like she didn't have chakra, which meant that it was safe to assume she probably doesn't even know what the hell it was. Additionally, Sasuke also hypothesize that even if nature energy existed, chakra in the form that he would recognize would be non-existent. After all, it was Kaguya who gave rise to the concept of chakra in his world.
"That is true. Still, I'am curious if this 'magic' would serve as an appropriate substitute" Hagoromo added.
"Even if it did, I don't think everyone has what it takes to learn it" Sasuke addressed.
"And what of the girl? I cannot sense any form of chakra within her nor anything that might resemble magic" Hagoromo asked.
"Then she's a lost cause" Sasuke answered.
Sasuke held his tongue as he continued to look at the girl, one who was eagerly waiting for his answer. Initially, he wanted to just say whatever was on his mind, to blurt out the harsh truth to her. It felt like it was better than lying and deceiving her, even if it meant dashing away her hopes.
However, there was just something about that eager face of hers that was stopping him from saying those words. Those eyes that gleamed earnestly; something about them reminded him of a certain someone. Remembering everything that she had told him, Sasuke tried to piece together the clues in his head, in order to understand why this was bothering him so much.
The first thing he remembered was the fact that she didn't have any parents, which meant that she was on her own. She also seemed to be bothered by the fact that she froze up and was unable to save the old man that day, which somehow coincided with the fact that Sasuke's actions got her attention and desire to learn from him. The loneliness, distress over feelings of helplessness and a need to reinforce a sense of self worth seemed to be emotions she clearly expressed the most in her short time with him. Sasuke gently blew out some air as he closed his eyes, finally understanding what this was all about.
"So you want to be acknowledged" he said to her internally, a small smile slipping from his lips before they turned back into their usual apathetic disposition. Now Sasuke understood why she wanted to learn the Chidori so much: It would empower her and make her stand out.
Still, the sad truth was that she probably didn't have the necessary requirements to use a Chidori, let alone generate one. As a matter of fact, he could safely assume that she wouldn't be able to utilize any sort of ninjutsu or anything else that might require chakra, so in that regard, she was less like a certain blonde idiot and more like a certain kid with the giant brows and the ridiculous hair.
That being said, there were some things he could show her, at least to defend herself and also because he'd rather not have to deal with another obnoxious brat pulling pranks to gain attention.
"I'm not sure I can help you with that, I already have my own training to be concerned with" Sasuke addressed, " and to be honest, I don't know if there's anything I could teach you right now."
The young Uchiha watched as the enthusiasm from the girl slowly began to fade away as disappointment began to creep up on her face. "I see" she said with a sad tone, her eyes staring off to the side as her face looked almost dejected.
"But if you really want to learn, then we can try it out tomorrow" Sasuke said as the girl's spirit seemed to have been lifted up almost immediately again.
"Really!? But I thought..."
"Don't get the wrong idea" Sasuke stated, his arms were crossed as he closed his eyes and looked to the opposite side, trying to pull off his usual aloof tough guy look. "I just wanna see if you can do it or not" he lied, knowing that it probably wouldn't work ninety nine percent of the time. That one percent was him keeping an open mind in case she ever surprised him and got it to work.
"Alright, then I'll do my best!" Erza said, clenching her fist as she smiled brightly.
"Then stop dawdling around and go to sleep. We're gonna do this early" Sasuke said while grabbing the nearby lamp and blowing it out. The room became dark in an instant as the moon became the only source of light in the cabin.
Despite the darkness, Erza's eyes rested on the figure that was lying down on the ground and staring at the ceiling. A feeling of excitement poured over her entire body as her heart began to beat faster and faster. When she first tracked him down to the foothills, she never thought he would agree to not only let her hang around but even teach her that lightning thing he did. "I'm finally going to learn magic!" her thoughts were just as excited as she was on the outside. Just as she was getting busy lost in her own thoughts, a sudden realization hit her. She forgot to ask him his name!
She looked at him and whined in embarrassment, but was surprised at the same time that he didn't even bother to tell her his name. This seemed like a trend that was becoming common the longer she hung around with him: he only spoke when he needed to and only told her when she asked him.
"Hey, are you asleep?" she nervously asked.
"Not yet. What is it?" he answered, seemingly sounding a bit annoyed by her bugging him.
"I'm sorry about this but I've meaning to ask. What's you're name?" Erza asked.
The boy sighed before he answered her, "It's Sasuke".
"Alright, let's start with this" Sasuke stepped forward into the open clearing as Erza followed. "Memorize these hand signs first" he instructed, slowly weaving the hand signs for her to catch on.
The redhead nodded and awkwardly tried to imitate the Uchiha but found it difficult and confusing to follow through. "Do I really have to do all this?" she grumbled.
"You don't have to rush this, just take your time" Sasuke remarked, "I'll repeat the signs as many times as I can".
"Okay" Erza said, attempting to repeat the steps once again.
It took a few more minutes, but the young girl managed to weave the hand signs as cleanly as possible, something that surprised even Sasuke.
"Good" he nodded approvingly, "now gather all of your cha- your magic into your hands."
As he weaved the signs again, electricity coursed through his hands as Erza watched in awe of his demonstration. "Like this" he stated.
"Now you try it" Sasuke said as he dissipated the lightning from his hand.
With a quick nod, Erza imitated what Sasuke did just moments prior and followed his instructions to the letter. She quickly weaved the signs and channeled all of her might into her right hand, tensing her entire body as she let out a grunt.
But try as she might, nothing seemed to come out of her hand. It remained the same as it was no matter how many times she tried the hand signs and repeated the process all over again.
Meanwhile, Sasuke watched as the girl tried to summon the Chidori as best she could despite the futility of it all. He could see the look of determination on her face as she tried and tried again, even as he began to realize that this was a pointless exercise in frustration.
"Why can't I do it!" she cursed herself, finally letting go and taking a breather.
"Maybe it's just not for you" Sasuke said, knowing that the outcome was just as he had predicted.
"No! That's not it at all!" She vehemently argued, "I just need to work harder on this!"
Sasuke sighed as he scratched his head. Her determination was commendable but she was beginning to become stubborn for all the wrong reasons. The young Uchiha just couldn't find it in himself to tell her that she could never do this without chakra.
'You didn't let me finish" he scolded, though his tone remained the same. She grimaced in the corner of his eyes, looking dejected. "What I meant to say, is that it might not be a bad thing that you can't do what I do" he explained.
"You really think so?" Erza asked, somewhat confused by his explanation.
Sasuke nodded his head. It was now time for him to get to the brunt of what he really wanted to show the girl. "I'm told that every mage is unique and different from one another. So maybe you'll have...magic that's different from mine."
Doubt and confusion still lingered on her face, as she tried to understand what he was telling. "I don't get it?"
"It just means you'll have to work on the basics first" he said.
"The...basics?" Erza asked again, tilting her head while Sasuke sighed. Maybe it was a little too much to explain this to a kid, even though he himself was now a kid again.
"Just keep working out and getting stronger" he answered in brief, "and you'll get there eventually".
"So does that mean that if I work to get stronger, I'll get to do magic someday too?"
Sasuke had to commend her for her dogged refusal to give up even in the face of reality. And to be quite honest, she might actually have some talent hidden deep somewhere within her.
"You haven't mastered the basics yet" he replied, "so let's work on that first."
…...
After an entire morning's worth of training and gathering food, Sasuke rested on the edge of a small creek, basking in the peace and tranquility that nature provided for him. He felt like his soul could be at peace here and that he could forget everything that had happened to him.
"Ugh, I'm so tired" a voice next to him whined.
"You'll get used to it" Sasuke said, staring at the flowing river.
"I guess so" Erza sighed as she also fixed her gaze towards the river, having spent the entire morning following Sasuke's instruction and running. She wasn't sure what running around had to do with being able to perform magic but she decided to listen to him anyways.
A long period of silence followed, as the two kept to themselves and enjoyed the scenery.
"Hey Sasuke, there's something I wanted to ask you" Erza said, being the first to try and break the ice.
"You seem to have a lot of things you want to ask of me. So what is it this time?" Sasuke inquired.
Staring off into the distance, Erza took a deep breath before exhaling. "Yesterday, you said that the two of us were not so different. What do you mean by that?"
Sasuke's gaze fell to the flowing river, as he thought of an answer for her. It was something so simple and yet it felt so difficult for him just to say it, as if there was a lump in his throat blocking out his voice. That particular feeling was one he knew all too well, a feeling that drove him mad with grief yet also allowed him to resonate with others who shared it. The same feeling that convinced him to give her a chance.
Eventually his mouth began to move on its own before his mind could process the words that he was about to let out, "Let's just say, you're not the only one without parents".
Erza flinched a little, though her gaze remained on the creek in front of her. Somehow that answer really didn't surprise her as much as she thought it would. Even when he was still in Rosemary village, there was always something different about him; he never talked with the other kids or even played with them. Sometimes she would even find him sitting in the river bank all alone, just staring off into the empty space. He looked...lonely.
Bringing her knees up to her chest, Erza brought her arms around them, curling up and hugging herself as her expression softened. "So what happened to them?" she softly asked.
Another minute of silence followed as neither said a word. It seemed like a touchy subject for him so Erza opted to give him his space and wait for his reaction instead.
"They died. Just a few years ago" Sasuke finally spoke. What he said to her was pretty much the truth but with a copious amount of lie. It was true that they had died, but he had decided against telling her that they've been dead and buried for more than a decade or the fact that he watched his own brother murder them in front of his own eyes. The young Uchiha gritted his teeth as he remembered in vivid detail the state of what they looked like on the day they were murdered as their corpses stacked on top of one another.
Erza began to look over to him with a bit of concern on her face once she saw how distraught he looked. Even if she couldn't read a lot into him, it was obvious she pushed some sort of button of his.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" she apologized, though she wasn't sure if he was listening to her or not.
"It's fine" Sasuke answered, as relief fell all over Ezra's face, "so what about you? What happened to your parents?"
"I don't know" she said, looking off into the distance, "I never met them."
It seemed like the more time he spent with her, the more she reminded him of Naruto in some ways. It's as if fate dictated that one could never existed without the other and so life decided to throw a curve ball at his reincarnation and give him another Naruto in the form of Erza. Of course, it would be hypocritical of him to treat someone as a replacement when he himself loathed the idea of being Indra's and as far as he could tell, other than their shared circumstances, Erza was a completely different person from Naruto.
"I see" Sasuke said with deep sincerity, "so you know what it feels like to be alone, don't you?"
"I guess so. But I still have some friends here, so it's not all that bad" she answered, " Do you have any friends?"
Did she mean to ask if he had friends here or his whole life? If she meant the former, the answer would've been a flat "no", since he spent the entire two weeks with two old people and barely interacted with the other kids. If she meant the latter, then yes, he did have friends. Not only did he had friends, he also squandered his bonds with them in his pursuit of vengeance. The ones from Konoha, Team 7 and even Taka, he pushed them all away and betrayed them at one time or another. It was a miracle that everyone from Taka still remained loyal to him and that Naruto stubbornly clung onto their friendship and pulled him back from the brink of darkness. He considered himself lucky in that regard and thought the same was for her as well.
"I...don't have any friends" was his solemn answer.
Erza glanced at the waters below before redirecting her gaze towards him. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I'll be your friend" she said with a gentle smile.
Hearing her say that made Sasuke flinch a little as his eyes widened a bit. A friend? He wasn't sure if he even deserved that. But at the same time, it made him remember something; a memory that echoed in his mind yesterday when he first met her.
"I was jealous that you were so good. At everything. So I decided that I'd make you my rival" he could clearly see Naruto smiling as he continued talking "and from that day on, you've been my goal."
"At the beginning I had nothing, but I built bonds. I wanted...to be strong like you. Cool like you! I guess that's why I kept chasing after you".
Somehow, it felt like this event was playing itself all over again, except with Erza this time around. It was clear that she admired him somewhat and wanted to mimic him by learning the Chidori. But beyond that, Sasuke felt that even she understood his loneliness the same way he could for her, something that surprised him.
"Erza, you know...the more I spend time with you, the more I'm reminded of Naruto" Sasuke said inside of his own thoughts as he continued to look at her warm smile, "You're both orphans who had no one to turn to. You both understand what loneliness is and you both want to be acknowledged. Is this what you want Erza? To be my friend? And for me to be your rival?"
Sasuke took a deep breath and gently blew the air out of his lungs as a smile slowly began forming in his. "I don't don't what the future has in store for you or what your dreams are, but if that's what you want then I'll be your friend Erza. Not only that, I'll be your rival and your goal"
"Yeah, sure" Sasuke answered with a smile of his own to which Erza responded with a big grin.
"And I hope there comes a day where you'll surpass me. That you will get it right where I failed"
His left fist connected with the rope that was tied to the trunk of a large tree as he retracted it before immediately striking the tree with his right and followed that up with a kick to the side.
Going back to his normal stance, Sasuke curled his fists tighter as he reeled from the pain. Breathing out heavily, Sasuke went for one final round of striking before calling it a day, having spent the entire morning smashing his fists against the tree to improve his striking.
Once his onslaught was finally over, Sasuke loosened himself up as his bruised and cut knuckles as well as his shins shook from the pain. "Need to be faster" he remarked as he panted heavily, sweat dripping from his face.
Wiping the sweat off of his forehead, Sasuke headed for the nearby river to wash his wounds and clean himself up before continuing with his work for the rest of the day.
Once his cleaning ritual was done, Sasuke began making his way to the nearby fields in order to search for roots and berries to eat for lunch. Yet, while he was busy working on it, there was something in the back of his mind that was bothering him for some reason.
The reason being that she was late.
Due to forces he couldn't fathom, he had become accustomed to her constant presence for weeks on end and not having her around felt a bit bothersome. However, that didn't mean that he was going to change his daily routine just for her though, especially with the progress he was making with his training.
Even so, his instincts were still sharp, especially when it came to things that disturbed the flow of peace in the woods. He could clearly hear the rustling in the bushes and the snapping of twigs as something was making its way towards him. Even if he was ready for vulcan attack, his intuition suggested that it was non other than a certain red haired girl.
"There you are!" a loud voice cheered from a distance, proving his intuition correct as he knew exactly who that belonged to.
"Erza" he greeted back as she came running towards him.
As he watched her dash towards him, stepping over grassy fields and bushes, Sasuke noticed that Erza was carrying something in her hand.
Once she had finally gotten close to him, Erza gave herself pause as she bent her knee and collected her breath. "Sorry I'm late" she apologized, panting heavily.
"It's fine" Sasuke shrugged, resuming his work as the girl finally seemed to have recovered her stamina and stood upright.
"Oh yeah, take a look a this" she began talking as she took out a moderate sized piece of cloth and unveiled it in front of Sasuke, "Ta-da!".
Sasuke stared at her blankly for a few seconds, unsure of what to make of this.
"It's a cloth" the young Uchiha commented, blatantly stating the obvious.
Erza cringed with annoyance at the boy's dull surprise to her big reveal. She knew he was a bit stone faced and didn't seem like he understood the word 'fun', but even she thought he would react with a bit more emotion.
"Of course it's a cloth, but it's so pretty!" she said with a cheery smile, "I thought it'd be a great way to cover up that weird eye of yours"
"You want to cover up my left eye?" Sasuke said as he raised a brow and looked at the girl, confused.
The redhead's expression softened a bit, though her smile never left. "Yeah! I mean, doesn't it bother you? Everyone in the village has been talking about you and that eye, like they're scared that something bad might happen because of it."
"It doesn't matter what they think" Sasuke answered back, "I'm already staying away from them so it shouldn't be a problem."
Erza kept her gaze focused on him as she held onto the piece of cloth as tight as she could. "Even if you're staying away from them, the adults kept telling us not to go near the woods where the boy with the evil eye lives" she explained with sadness in her voice as her smile faded, "I told them that they were wrong and that you're not evil but they wouldn't believe me."
Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing as he almost let out a gasp. Was she defending him? Was she really going out of her way to fight for his reputation? He never really gave any thought to his situation with the Rinnegan that much, but she really seemed to have taken their friendship seriously to the point of trying to stick up for him even though part of him seriously doubted he deserved such a thing.
"So I thought that, maybe if I could cover up that eye" Erza went on as her smile slowly returned, "then maybe they won't feel scared of you anymore and you can come back."
Sasuke sighed and shook his head. As good as her intentions were, it was naive to think that they would welcome him back with open arms just because he covered up his Rinnegan. But then again, he had to cut her some slack since she heart was still in the right place. More importantly, he couldn't help but smile at the trouble she went through just for him.
"I don't think they're gonna let me come back to the village just because I covered my eye" Sasuke addressed, slowly noticing the disappointment in Ezra's face. "But...I guess you can still cover it if you want" he continued, acting indifferent and coy even if he just wanted to make sure her efforts weren't in vain.
"Really? That's great!" Erza said, filled to the brim with delight again.
The process took little more than a minute as Erza carefully wrapped the cloth across his forehead and eye, reminiscent of the way Kakashi covered his, albeit loose enough that his bangs were still in place.
"There" she said, putting on the finishing touches. "So how is it?" she asked, stepping in front of him.
To be honest, it felt a bit weird looking at the whole world with only one eye. His depth and perception definitely felt a bit different than before even if the effect wasn't as drastic as he had feared. Part of him even questioned why he decided to put up with this in the first, despite having convinced himself that it would probably be a good idea to cover up the Rinnegan anyways since it was drawing too much unnecessary attention and was basically useless in its current state.
"It feels strange, I guess" Sasuke answered, running his hand through the covered eye, "I don't have a mirror so you'll have to tell me how it looks."
"Well, you kinda look like a bandit" she giggled, "or better yet, a pirate".
Sasuke raised his remaining brow as he watched the girl laugh. He wasn't sure what was so funny about it.
"Oh, I know!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers as if an idea had just struck her. " What don't we play pirates?"
"No" he quickly shot it down.
"Oh come on! You're no fun" Erza whined and complained.
Sasuke simply ignored her whining and began making his way towards the fields again "If you want to have 'fun', then go play with the other kids. I've got work to do" he bluntly stated.
"Hmmph, fine..." she grumbled as she followed him, hunched down.
…...
The silence of the forest was broken by the sound of metal colliding with wood as a knife flew through the air and hit the bark of a tree.
"There" Sasuke said as he made his way over to the tree to retrieve the knife, "now you try it."
Taking the knife out of the bark, the young Uchiha made his way towards the young redhead, who was eagerly awaiting his return.
"Alright" she nodded as she took the knife from his hands and readied herself.
Sasuke stood behind her and observed her from a safe distance, especially in the event that she accidentally threw the knife backwards. "Remember, keep an eye out for the wind and aim just a little bit higher than where you want to hit" he instructed, "and be careful not to lose that knife. It's the only one I have."
"Got it" she replied, calmly taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes for the moment as she held the sharp end of the knife with her thumb and index finger.
"Here it goes" she said, opening her eyes and throwing the knife with as much skill and dexterity as she could, following the trajectory of the knife with her eyes.
It took a few seconds but the knife finally hit the intended spot, much to Ezra's delight. She clenched her fist with pride as she turned around to face Sasuke with a proud smirk on her face.
"Not bad. You've gotten better" Sasuke applauded her efforts, looking even surprised by her development; he never thought she would learn the basics and get the hang of it in such a short span of time, but the fact that she caught up with some of his lessons so quickly earned his curiosity. Even if she wasn't able to do the Chidori, she definitely had potential in other categories. If she kept this up, Sasuke could even find it in himself to admit that she had talent, though it was still too early to come to that conclusion.
"Of course" she stated with a massive grin on her face that was beaming with pride. "I think I'm as good as you now" the girl bragged.
"Really now?" Sasuke questioned, seemingly unimpressed by her performance. "Then let's try this" he said as he picked up two rocks from the ground and made his way over to Erza.
"Do you see that fruit hanging on the edge of the tree?" he asked, to which Erza nodded.
"Watch closely" Sasuke said, curling his throwing arm into a fist while inserting the two rocks in the spaces between the fingers. In an instant, Sasuke threw the two rocks like a shuriken in the direction higher than the intended target as they flew with great speed. Colliding mid-air, the second rock ricochet off the first and flew straight in the direction of the fruit, knocking it to the ground.
Erza was amazed by what she had just witnessed. There were several other emotions like confusion, uncertainty and even disappointment mixed in as well. She thought she had finally made progress with her knife throwing skills, only now to find out that it was nothing compared to what Sasuke could throw. And with only one eye no less.
"That was amazing!" she exclaimed, "I don't know if I can even do that!"
Sasuke shook his head at her assessment of his display. That attitude was a prime exemplification of a rookie; one who only sees the fancy moves and techniques but doesn't realize the hard work and dedication that goes into perfecting that technique.
"Keep practicing and you'll be doing that soon" Sasuke remarked.
Erza dropped to the ground and sat there with a sigh. "If you say so" she said with a dour tone.
Sasuke kept a close eye on her, while he searched for an appropriate answer to get her out of that defeatist mindset. Ideally, he thought of just straight up telling her to quit whining and square up, otherwise she'd never improve. But the more he looked at her, the more he couldn't help but be reminded of his old self, the one who watched Itachi blow everything he did out of the water. While it was true that it motivated him to do better, part of him still resented that fact, simply for causing him to be compared to his older brother constantly. It wasn't the best feeling, to be left out in the dust and he guessed that it certainly didn't feel good for her either.
"A good assessment" Hagoromo commented.
Normally, Sasuke would've taken by surprise as a spirit began randomly talking but by this point, he had gotten used to it.
"So you know as well?" Sasuke asked.
"In a way yes. My son Indra was a talented prodigy who relied on his own strength and skill. Through his natural talent, he accomplished a great deal on his own but it also meant that he depended solely on himself to solve his problem and the problems of others. It made him dependable but it also alienated him from the very people who depended on him as they felt like they could never match up to his power and thus could not relate to him" the Sage explained.
"Indra was born with that talent. He can't help who he is" Sasuke added "and what about Asura?"
"Asura was a hopeless fool who could barely hold a candle to Indra when it came to talent. Which meant that he had to rely on the help of others to accomplish what Indra could do all on his own. But that allowed him to understand the plight of others and other could understand his through the hardships, the trials and tribulations that they all shared together. It was this need to share the burden of others that allowed Asura to form a connection with those around him and develop an unbreakable bond. It is a sentiment I too shared when I once wandered the earth and developed ninshu" Hagoromo continued.
"Hmm" Sasuke hummed as he looked over at the defeated Erza before turning his attention back to the Sage. " And that's why you chose him over Indra. That's all well and good but I'm still not sure how that's going to help with this situation" Sasuke said.
"Perhaps you should try relying on her as well. Why don't you ask her for help with something that you are having difficulty with, whatever it may be. After all, to rely and be relied upon would suggest that two people are on equal footing. And when that happens, there is certain level of respect and understanding that comes with it" Hagoromo suggested.
"And I know that feeling all too well. Alright, it seems you have point" Sasuke said with a nod as the Sage disappeared into the back of his mind once gain.
Dwelling on the conversation he just had with the Sage of Six Paths, Sasuke ran through his mind once more as he tried to think of an answer that would help her without making her feel like crap. He already knew how it felt like to be overshadowed and he didn't want to perpetuate the cycle.
"Hey Erza" he called out.
Exhaling, Erza turned around, still looking dour. "What is it?"
"It's...well..." Sasuke paused as he swallowed a lump in his throat, "there's a book that I found in the cabin and I was wondering..."
Erza looked on with genuine confusion. Aside from the calm and cool act that he always had, she had never seen this side of him: he almost looked like he was having difficulty speaking.
"If you could help me read some of it. If you can read, that is" he finished his sentence as he diverted his gaze away from Erza.
"Wait, so you're telling me that you can't read?" Erza asked with squinted eyes, trying to confirm what she had just heard.
"Yeah" he softly answered.
Hearing this, the young redhead slowly began to rise up to her feet as her eyes widened. "I really didn't think he'd be bad at anything. He's always so cool and so good at everything he did" she said to herself, surprised with the current turn of events: One moment he was upstaging her with knife throwing skills the next he was meekly asking her to help him learn how to read. Part of her wanted to brag about how she finally had something that she was better at than him, but decided going against that route simply because of how much he had gone out of his way to teach her.
"If that's the case, then I'd be happy to teach you" she said, letting out a big smile.
Sasuke looked at her with surprise, though not for the reasons Erza thought it was for. "Can't believe that actually worked" he thought. That being said, even if his intentions for doing this were different from what she was thinking of, he did have a genuine problem that he wanted help with. "Is that so?" he asked.
"It's not a problem at all. You've taught me a lot of things so it's only fair that I help you too. Then we'll be even" Erza replied, still maintaining her smile.
Watching that smile of hers caused Sasuke to let a smirk escape from his lips. He wasn't sure what he had just gotten himself into, but seeing how happy she looked at the very thought of them finally standing on some measure of equal ground reinforced his decision. Maybe the Sage was onto something when he told him the story of Asura and Indra.
"So when you add this letter to a word, its meaning changes in more ways than one" Erza pointed out towards certain letters in a book while Sasuke looked on, eagerly listening to her instructions.
"I think I get what you're saying" Sasuke acknowledged, "so going by that token, if I put this letter into the words, a cat becomes cats, which would mean that now, there's more than one cat."
"That's right" Erza nodded in approval, "you know, you're actually learning faster than I thought. You're really good at this Sasuke".
"I had a good teacher" Sasuke responded, "though speaking of teachers, I was wondering where you learned all of this?"
"The people in the village's church taught me" Erza answered, "They're the ones who took kids like me and raised us together."
"I see" Sasuke stated. He was familiar with that establishment during his time in the village. Despite its small size, it was still bigger than any other house in the village and seemed to have housed a considerable number of orphans there, one of whom was apparently Erza.
"And what about you? Didn't Mr Wells and Mrs Majorie teach you how to read and write?"
"No they didn't. And I only knew them for a few weeks" He explained, "And besides the point, it's not like I can't read and write at all, it's just that the language here is a bit different from what I'm used to back home."
"So, what did they teach you there?" Erza asked again.
In response, Sasuke took another pen and began writing strange letters on one of the papers as Erza looked on with great interest. "It's a little bit different from the letters that you're teaching me so it's better that I show you" the boy said as he continued drawing.
After it was completed, he turned the paper around to show Erza what it was. "Wow, it looks so pretty" she remarked with sparkling eyes, "so what does it mean?"
"Bad luck" he bluntly replied.
The redhead immediately gawked at the answer. "That …...doesn't sound nice at all" she nervously stated.
"True" Sasuke agreed, " but what was also taught to me was that each characters in a word can be interpreted in more ways than one."
"I'm not getting you" Erza responded, tilting her head.
"Let me give you an example. While this word may mean bad luck or misfortune, that is to say, bad things will happen to us" Sasuke explained, pointing his pen at the words he had written, "it can also be interpreted in a completely different way. So instead of thinking of this as bad things that are coming our way, we can treat this as the bad that's going to come first before all the good will. So even if everything seems awful at first , everything's gonna turn out fine in the end."
"Well, when you put it like that, it actually sounds pretty nice" Erza let out a small laugh.
"That's one way of looking at it" Sasuke added.
"If that's the case, then I hope all the bad things will happen to me first so all the good stuff can come faster" Erza declared as she let out a yawn and closed the books after an entire evening of learning.
Sasuke could only shake his head at the thought of her trying to tempt fate but decided to not bother with it any further. Right now, he had immediate concerns to be looking after, the most important of which was making dinner.
AN: Okay, so I'm seeing a lot of request for me to pair Sasuke with Mirajane. Just so you all know, I only got into Fairy Tail last month, so my knowledge of the series and the fandom is very limited. That being said, I always thought Erza was the most popular girl there, so you all can imagine my surprise to see so much love for Mirajane!
As for pairings, I have to first make it clear that I have never, ever written pairings or any sort of romance (I've written stories with themes based on familial love though) in any of my other fanfics before, so this is unfamiliar territory for me. That being said, I'am interested in testing out my writing skills to see if I'm actually good at it or not. Besides that, I think it's good practice for me to push past my limits. Now, if (and that's a generous IF) I do write a pairing, I want to see which character seems to be the most compatible or have the best chemistry with Sasuke, whether it's Erza, Mira, Levy etc.
By the way, I also like listening to music while writing stories since it helps me set the mood. So I think I'll write some of the music I listen to while creating this story here in case anyone's interested instead of inserting them mid-story since that would be very annoying and might break your reading immersion. For a few particular scenes here, I was listening to Samidare from Shippuden.
To Dxhologram : I just wanted to add, he's pissed at the Sage for suppressing his powers not just because he can't use them anymore but because he did it without his permission. It's kinda like if someone messed with your body without telling you anything even if they had good intentions.
To Journey to the End : Yeah, I have a character arc planned for Sasuke regarding the dark chakra but it's gonna take several chapters.
To Isao : I agree with the Naruto harem part, I still don't understand why many writers need to make him turn to some kind of god emperor ultra chad. As for your pairing request, I'll see where it goes first, but I think it'll be very fun to write a young Mirajane acting like a Tsundere, lol!
To Gen 2324: Thanks for letting me know about Scarlet cry: Last of the Sharingan. I read it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though I personally didn't like the use of Japanese idioms and honorifics (nii-san in this case) in English text. I find it very annoying but that's just me.
To Protector for all: So from what I've seen of Makarov, he considers all the guild members to be like his own children and he himself acts like a parental figure for them. So if Sasuke ever were to join his guild, it think he'd see Sasuke as somewhat of a wayward son, a troubled kid who needs help and guidance to set him on the right path.
To Corey: I felt like we didn't see much of Sasuke genuinely express regret for his actions other than some "yeah sorry". So I wanted to give him something that would force him to confront all the misdeeds that he had done.
To Shen : No one yet? Hmm, is there anyone in FT that can see spirits?
To Dreamer: I have some interesting plans for the slavery part, though nothing that will steal the spotlight from Erza and Jellal, because that's their moment.
To Lu: Indra will be talked about but I have no plans for making him have an appearance. Sorry.
To chungorion :It seems like you're the only one pushing for a Sasuke Erza pairing, my friend. But yes, I feel like she does understand him and vice versa.
To The Loud Person : I've seen young Mira and with the way she acts, I think she'd be a joy to write as a pairing if it ever came to that. She'd be a total Tsundere to his Kuudere. As for their older selfs, I think I can see the appeal of opposite personalities attracting each other.
To Doortolight47 : I think if Sasuke ever were to meet Natsu, he'd see him as a perfect clone of Naruto in every way and shake his head thinking "oh boy, here we go again".
To Cassandra : I'am thinking of giving Sasuke some form of magic but only something akin to support or reconnaissance. His abilities are already broken as it is.
To Torres : Your interpretation is spot on!
To Shuhei : I always thought a story between Hagoromo and Indra trying to bond as father and son again would be interesting so I added it here.
To Oran : My theory was that stronger Shinobi didn't need to use hand signs but did so, since it made it easier to use jutsus. So that's what I went with.
To Kenza : I agree with the harem king gary stu Naruto being overused. I'm not a big fan either. I have to see Mira's past first before I make any sort of plan for a pairing but it does seem interesting.
To Tina : No, I don't think anyone's going to instantly recognize Sasuke as someone who fought in a war just by looking at his eyes. At best, I think they'd be creeped out by a kid not acting like a kid and I feel like Sasuke's someone who prefers to keep things to himself most of the time.
To Raven : Yes, I agree. People think that Sasuke's just stoic and emotionless but he's actually the opposite when it comes to love. His love is so strong and unconditional that if it ever were to be broken he'd completely lose it. Which is what happened with Itachi.
To Stand Up Be Strong : Definitely! I believe Sasuke is still ruthless and calculating when he's in his "mission mode".