Disclaimer: The Naruto characters and the recognizable parts of its plotline do not belong to me. Everything else does.
Chapter 3
1 AM, Cemetery, Konoha
"Sasuke! On your right!"
The shout rang out suddenly, catching Sasuke unawares. The ninja twisted his body to the left as a sheet of ice swept by.
It missed him by a mere inch.
Reaching an arm below him, Sasuke barely managed to land in a defensive crouch. His eyes swept across the gravestones in a desperate search for the demon that was currently harassing him.
Yoshi and Sasuke had been training for five hours already, and the ninja was about ready to drop. His mentor, not having the physical limitations as his student, seemed to disregard all the subtle messages Sasuke was sending him.
Not that Sasuke would ever admit to being tired. He was Uchiha Sasuke, for heaven's sake! Uchiha Sasuke never complained about being overworked.
"Though," Sasuke thought dryly, "this would probably be a good time to do so."
The mediator-in-training was bruised, tired, and frustrated to the bone. He briefly considered just asking the demon to go away; perhaps he could form a kind of peace treaty – "I'll leave you alone, if you leave me alone," or something like that.
Sasuke shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. How could he even think of resolving this issue peacefully? Wasn't Itachi's message clear enough?
But then again, his current insanity could just be from having Yoshi around 24/7. That guy drove Sasuke crazy with his commentary; the boy couldn't even answer back – it would seem like he had lost his mind if he suddenly started talking to what seemed like thin air.
Sasuke's musings were cut off when the demon darted towards him and released a torrent of ice. Sasuke quickly threw up a wall of fire. Most of the ice melted, but a few were able to pass through. The ninja grimaced; he had to end this fight soon – he didn't know how long he'd last with his depleted reiki.
Drawing out his katana, Sasuke raced towards the demon, concealing his reiki and using the headstones for cover. He kept the fire wall up a moment longer, and then let it fall with a bang.
The demon blinked, surprised at this new installment. The surprised expression turned to one of shock as Sasuke, now behind him, whipped his katana around and sliced off said demon's head.
Sasuke wiped his sword, panting in exertion. The ninja glanced around to make sure there were no other attackers.
After a couple minutes of scrutinizing the cemetery, Sasuke decided that there was only him and a certain ghost. The boy relished the triumphant feeling inside of him; he had just defeated another demon!
Then he realized what time it was. Shit! The academy graduates (he was one of them, of course) were being separated into teams tomorrow…..or rather, today.
Cursing the world and Yoshi (but mostly Yoshi) for keeping him up so late, Sasuke began to head towards his apartment to catch whatever sleep he could.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid….." the black-haired boy muttered angrily to himself. He was not looking forward to yet another day of sleep-deprivation.
A pair of brown eyes peered worriedly at the retreating back of the ninja. He knew that training this intensely put a lot strain upon Sasuke's reiki, but the boy had to become stronger. The demon that Sasuke just fought was weak compared to the rest of its kind. Yoshi shuddered to think of the results of a fight between his student and a higher-ranking creature; it would not be pretty.
The only reason Sasuke hadn't met up with more powerful opponents was Kyuubi. Sasuke and Kyuubi both had fire reiki. Even though their auras were different shades of red, no one had bothered to look closer; if it really was only Kyuubi, the fox would make them pay in more than blood.
Dark creatures also loved to eat humans with higher amounts of reiki. It was kind of ironic how the strongest and most ruthless of demons was one of the only reasons Sasuke hadn't been eaten at an early age.
Yoshi grimaced. If only he could still use his mediator powers. But it seemed that once mediators died, they were just like any other ordinary human ghost. Besides the whole "I know there are dark creatures out there" thing.
Knowledge alone didn't stop you from getting killed.
The mediator could only hope that his student wouldn't have the bad luck to run into a higher-ranking creature at this stage of his training. After all, Sasuke didn't have bad luck – it was just a coincidence that the ninja kept on running into dark creatures at the most inopportune of moments.
It was just a coincidence, really. Just a coincidence.
(Author's Note: Keep on dreaming, Yoshi, keep on dreaming)
7 AM, Ninja Academy, Konoha
Sakura bounced into the room. Her gaze fell upon a certain dark-haired graduate and lit up in happiness.
From the day she had met the Uchiha, he had captivated her. Sakura was determined to get on the same team as her secret (coughnotcough) crush.
The kunoichi narrowed her eyes as she spotted a blond-haired girl sticking her tongue out at her. She'd show Ino who was better!
Inner Sakura: Hell yeah!
Sakura collected her thoughts and began to saunter towards her crush. A predatory gleam entered her eyes.
Sakura-chan was coming over to sit next to him! A faint blush rose on Naruto's cheeks as he grinned happily, waiting in anticipation for his long-time crush's approach.
It hurt. A lot.
Sasuke stifled a groan as he shifted in his seat. Using reiki always had a greater drain on his energy than chakra did. It was expected; after all, reiki was directly from the soul. The only reason Sasuke didn't complain about using it was the fact that reiki was stronger and more effective than chakra. It was another stepping stone to fulfill his goal of killing Itachi.
The black-haired boy was startled back into reality when the blond-haired dope beside him suddenly shouted out, "Hey Sakura!"
Sakura.
Just the mention of that name made Sasuke shiver. Sakura was one of the most frightening, obsessive, and stubborn fangirls he had ever had the misfortune of knowing.
"Naruto! Move your ass! I want to sit on the other side of you!" Sakura shouted, her furious expression turning into a coy one as she glanced at the black-haired boy.
Naruto whirled around and shot a glare at Sasuke.
The mediator-in-training sighed and rested his head against his hand; this was going to be a very long day.
Five hours later, Ninja Academy, Konoha
Kakashi, Sasuke decided, was either lazy or incompetent.
Or both.
After all, what kind of jounin would be late to his first meeting with his genin team? And besides, all this sitting was doing nothing to help Sasuke reach his highest goal: killing Itachi.
On the other hand, Sasuke couldn't make up his mind on whether he wanted to kill Kakashi for being late or hug him (Author's Note: metaphorically) for letting him get another five hours of rest, even though Sasuke had to keep his eyes open – just in case Naruto or Sakura…….tried anything.
Personally, Sasuke was more afraid of what Sakura would do than what Naruto was capable of. Most fangirls possessed what Sasuke called the "ultimate weapon." They seemed to be able to sneak up on you when you least expected it, like when you were –
Sasuke broke off his chain of thought. He did not want to even think about that particular incident; it had left him with severe nightmares and paranoia of enclosed spaces.
A particularly loud gale of laughter interrupted the boy's musings. Sasuke looked up just as Naruto was placing the blackboard eraser in the slit between the door and the wall.
Sakura crossed her arms and muttered, "I'm not involved in this."
Her expression somehow didn't quite match that.
Slightly curious, Sasuke reached a tendril of his mind into Sakura's. He was immediately bombarded by a loud voice that screamed out, "I love these types of things!"
Sasuke quickly cut off the connection. He winced, head throbbing from the force of Sakura's mental shout. When had Sakura acquired two minds?
He was spared from further thought into that subject when a hand reached through the slit of the door and yanked it open.
The chalk-filled eraser fell with a loud "thump!" on Kakashi's head. "Hmm, how can I say this?" the jounin mused thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "My first impression is…I don't like you guys!"
Naruto and Sakura stared at Kakashi in amazement. What kind of prank-victim said something like that?
Sasuke put his head down on his desk. Now he had two crazy teachers.