3
The Truth Stings

I'll never understand why these guys hate D-rank missions. They're basically just easy money. Painting, babysitting, weeding, escorting rich kids to school, helping people move, exterminating vermin… all these were chores, yes, but honestly, just apply your brain a little bit and it'll be easy.

Painting? Use a roller.
Babysitting? Use a weak poison and put the kids to sleep.
Weeding gardens? Overload the plants with chakra so they burn.
Escorting smartasses to school? Humiliate them so badly that they stay quiet.
Helping people move? Use a dolly! I can't believe I had to 'invent' something like this. SMH!
Exterminating vermin? Spread your chakra out to sense them and take them out using shuriken.

Tedious stuff, easy money. Not to mention the fact that you get to chill with your team. Naruto, Sakura and I grew really close, really fast. Not Kakashi though. He always seems to be keeping a close eye on me. I have no doubt I made him super suspicious with how I was acting. Hell, I even crossed paths with Ibiki Morino once; his face was easy to recognize. Normally I'd believe it to be just a coincidence, but with where I'm living and what my career is, I highly doubt coincidences will ever happen. Funny thing is that this career will be perfect for me. I was always paranoid AF when on Earth. Like I deadass used to sleep with a boxcutter a few feet away from me. In this world, that kinda shit is basically a requirement.

But disregarding all the adults and everyone, things seemed to be going fine. After missions, Naruto, Sakura, and I always trained together. Sometimes physical training – which Naruto loved, and Sakura hated. Sometimes chakra control – which Sakura loved, and Naruto hated. Sometimes shinobi skills – which they both hated. I honestly loved them all. I've always loved working out, so I didn't mind physical training at all. I understood the need for chakra control, so that didn't bore me too much either. And as for shinobi skills? Well… I've always had a feeling that I was a sociopath.

The only area of concern was Naruto and Sakura's relationship. It was barely better than before. Sakura was still too quick to berate him, and he was still too insistent on annoying her – albeit unknowingly. Every time they bickered, I'd have to step in to separate them and it was quickly getting on my nerves.

Eventually, I snapped.

Flashback

"Sakura-chan~" called out Naruto's voice.

"No!" came the strong reply.

"But you didn't even let me finish," he whined.

"I already know what you're going to say, and the answer is no!"

"But-,"

"NO, Naruto!"

"Oh, come on! Just once!"

"No!"

"Both of you shut your motherfucking cock suckers or I'm gonna shove my foot so far up your asses, you're gonna be picking my toenails out of your teeth!"

My scream rang through the forest before a heavy silence descended upon us, only broken by my heavy laboured breathing. Naruto was on all fours, eyes wide and was trembling while Sakura had fallen back on her butt, eyes just as wide as Naruto's. She wheezed as if having trouble breathing. Kakashi had also fallen out of the tree and he was also on one knee with a kunai in his hand and his sharingan eye open.

I watched them all for a second confusedly before I realized what I had done. I had unintentionally let out a massive amount of my killing intent. Jheez, I thought to myself, I didn't even really mean what I said. Only got a little bit mad and they all already fell to their knees? They wouldn't survive a day on Earth.

I quickly regained control over my emotions and scratched my cheek guiltily. "Ah… well… my bad. Sorry about that. I was just a bit annoyed. Didn't mean to do that."

"Sasuke… your eyes…" Naruto said as he pointed at my face.

Huh? My eyes? Did my sharingan awaken?

"Sasuke-kun, your sharingan!" Sakura called out right after Naruto, confirming my suspicions.

"Sasuke," came a voice from behind me. My eyes widened. Kakashi had crossed the distance so quickly and quietly, I didn't even notice. I've seriously got to get better at sensing people and shit.

"Hai, sensei?" I asked as I turned around. Once more, Kakashi was watching me intently with his lone eye. His sharingan had been covered up.

"Explain your actions." The order was short and concise.

"Well," I began. You think you can act tough with me, buddy? You could be the Hokage for all I care. I began my wordplay. "You see, I was talking to my dearest teammates, listening to them saying something about my eyes and sharingan. That's when an authoritative voice spoke my name – which is the same as Sandaime-sama's father's name, by the way, did you guys know that? I don't know why my mom named-,"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi interrupted, openly glaring at me.

"Yes, dearest sensei? How may I help you?"

"I'm in no mood for your wordplay. Explain how you unleashed that much killing intent. Now." Knowingly, or unknowingly – I'll never know – Kakashi's KI was also leaking, making my teammates slightly uncomfortable. Well, at least he got straight to the point. If only he had done that from the start.

"Sensei. Your own killing intent is leaking. I don't mind, but you're making my teammates uncomfortable. Can you please reign it in?" I spoke just as to-the-point as I'd like others to be. I ain't no hypocrite.

Kakashi narrowed his eye before returning to normal. "Explain how you unleashed that much killing intent," he repeated.

"I don't know. I was irritated." I SWEAR TO GOD I SAW HIS EYE TWITCH AGAIN! I SWEAR!

"That's… All?" Kakashi ground out with a strained smile. I'm pretty sure he wants to throttle me.

"Yep," I replied with as innocent of a grin as I could muster.

Silence fell over the training ground as the tension was thick as molasses. You could almost cut it with a knife.

"We'll be talking to the Hokage first thing tomorrow morning. Eight am sharp; be at the Hokage tower entrance. You're all dismissed." And he disappeared using shunshin.

I looked at Naruto and Sakura with a raised eyebrow as I pointed with my thumb at the spot Kakashi was occupying. "That means twelve in the afternoon, right?" I asked jokingly.

Kakashi appeared again in his spot and whacked me over the head. I lost my balance and faceplanted. "No, that means eight am sharp." And he disappeared. Again.

I pulled myself up and dusted off the grass and dirt. "Bitchass, grey-hair-having-ass, jonin-rank-ass, elite-shinobi-ass, eye-smiling-ass, leg-having-ass, acting-cool-ass, mask-wearing-ass, jutsu-stealing-ass, XY chromosome-having-ass lil shit," I muttered, scowling at the smudge of dirt that won't go away.

I looked up and realized Naruto and Sakura were looking at me apprehensively. "You okay, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, actually looking worried.

"Aww," I said, wiping fake tears. "You're actually about me? Thanks so much, Naruto!" I said and hugged him tightly.

"OI! TEME! LET GO! I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!" he said, pushing me off. Alright! Time to begin acting!

"Well, I don't either!" I scowled. "I just wanted a warm hug… but I see how it is." My expressions changed to pleading as I looked at Sakura. "You won't be like him, will you, Sakura?" I asked as I held out my arms.

Sakura practically turned into the Yondaime Hokage as she squealed and jumped into my arms faster than I could even see. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun," I could almost hear the grin in her voice. "I'll never let you go!" That… could be a problem. Either way, I had to continue my act.

"Thank you, Sakura," I said, wrapping my arms around her. One hand rubbing her back and the other raking through her hair. "Sakura gives better hugs than you, Naruto!" I said as I stuck out my tongue at him.

He seethed. "TEME!" he growled out. And now for the finale.

I opened one arm and held it out to him. "Wanna join?" I asked, suggesting a group hug.

Anger turned into confusion as he cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

"Join in. You don't mind do you, Sakura?" I asked the girl who was still holding onto me like a life saver.

Sakura pulled away a little bit as she looked at me, then at Naruto, then back at me. I stared into her eyes, silently pleading to bond. Finally, she looked back at Naruto with a smile. "Join in, Naruto!" she said as she also opened on arm to him.

"W-What?" he stammered.

Ah, right… he wasn't used to actions of affection. This was truly sad. I walked towards him with Sakura still with me and pulled him with us. "We're a team. We're family," I said, hoping to engrave this sentence in their hearts. "We might bicker, and fight… but the love will never go away."

Flashback End

That day, the three of us had drifted a little bit closer to each other.

...

You're an elite shinobi. You're definitely an elite shinobi… SO WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THE HE'S LYING, SENSEI!?

"Um… guys? Sensei? Hokage-sama?" I asked with trepidation. "You guys really think he's telling the truth?"

"Why wouldn't I be telling the truth, ya brat?" he slurred. Tazuna was just as fat and smelly as the anime and the manga mentioned.

I facepalmed. Yes, I'm a nineteen-year-old in Sasuke's body but goddamn, even I can see that this guy's body language practically screams 'LIAR!'

"Ok, fuck it. Whatever. If we get killed on this mission, it's on you! Don't ever forget that," I said to Kakashi in exasperation.

I don't know how hard that might've hit him but all Kakashi did was give us one of his famous 'eye-smile' and say, "I would never let my cute little genin die, Sasuke."

I raised my eyebrow as I looked at the Hokage. The old guy stared right back at me with an undecipherable look and we stayed like that. "Kakashi," he said after a while.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"I'm assigning Team Guy to go with you too," the old man commanded.

"But-,"

"That's an order, Kakashi."

"… understood."

"Good," Hiruzen said with a smile directed right at me. "Both teams will depart at nine tomorrow morning. Make sure to be at the gate half an hour before. Dismissed."

As we exited the tower, a hand with a vice-like grip fell on my shoulder. "Sasuke." Kakashi's voice was low. Almost threatening.

I looked back at him. My head was tilted up, eyes half-lidded, and the corners of my mouth pulled downwards ever so slightly. "Hmm?" No respect. He didn't deserve it yet. Not as a teacher, at least.

"Don't ever try to undermine my authority ever again," he said, letting go of my shoulder. Naruto and Sakura were deathly quiet, staring at us as if we were a primed explosive note about to blow up.

I scoffed. "Authority? What authority, sensei?" I asked, looking deep into Kakashi's lone eye. On my life though, he really needs to shape up. "The authority you showed when you took us to the Memorial Stone and said one sentence, expecting three fresh genin to work as a team? Or maybe the authority you showed when we were doing all those D-ranks? Oh wait, maybe you're talking about the authority you show all the time when you pull out those lewd books? Is that the authority you're talking about, sensei? Cuz, I mean, other than that, I really cannot remember any instance at all where you actually acted like a team leader… or a sensei, for that matter. So, forgive me, SENSEI," I basically spat out the word like a glob of venom, "for feeling like your authority isn't worth jack shit."

"S-Sasuke-kun. Y-You can't disrespect our sensei like that," Sakura said. Good. She's finally starting to think for herself.

"Oh, I respect this guy a lot actually, Sakura," I said without taking my eyes off of Kakashi. "I honestly respect Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja, the man who has copied over a thousand jutsu. Student of the Yondaime Hokage and one of the best ANBU captains in history. Hell, I even consider him a prime example of what a shinobi should be like… BUT… Kakashi-sensei, the sensei of Team 7, isn't worth jack shit in my eyes. Never once has he taught us any real shinobi skills. Never once has he done anything other than provide minor feedback when we were training. Not fucking once.

"What I see in front of me isn't an elite shinobi who is trying his best to make the next generation prosper. No. What is see, is a broken shell of a man who is too cooped up in self-pity and can't tell the fucking difference between his old dead team and his new students. What is see is a pathetic fucking excuse of a sensei who doesn't want his students to succeed in the world but instead wants to preserve this fake sense of security. What I see… is someone who isn't worthy of any of the respect that comes his way and instead should go see a therapist and learn how to process simple fucking emotions-,"

My brain only processed what happened after my back hit the wall and the air was knocked out me. Blood ran down the side of my face and my cheekbones felt like they were on fire. I realized that Kakashi had kicked me in the side of the face which had sent me flying all the way to a wall. Naruto and Sakura weren't the only ones staring at us, gaping like fishes. All the surrounding shinobi and civilians had also stopped and started watching us sometime during my rant. "Mind your tone, Sasuke," Kakashi said, openly leaking his killing intent and directing it solely towards me.

"Heh," I chuckled. "That's all you got, Kakashi? C'mon. Itachi can hit harder than that, for fuck's sake. But tell me, does it feel good?" I waited for an answer and when none came, I continued. "Does it feel good, hitting a genin, knowing that he can't fight back against a former ANBU captain? Was your ego hurt, Kakashi?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes even more as he slowly walked towards me ominously. I smirked. I might very well get killed right now. But if this is how I go, then I guess it's good that at least Naruto and Sakura will get more attention form Kakashi.

"STOP!" came a shout. It seemed that while I was thinking about the consequences of my death, Naruto had moved to stand protectively over me, pulling Sakura along too. "STOP IT! A team doesn't fight! A team is never divided!" he shouted desperately, trying to find the right words. I saw Kakashi's mask move, but before he could say anything, I spoke up.

"You're right! A team doesn't fight amongst themselves. But that's the point. Kakashi is not a true part of our team. He didn't slave away with us when we were doing missions. He didn't ask us how we were doing when he greeted us in the morning. He didn't sweat, bleed, or cry with us. All he is is a glorified babysitter," I said and sighed. "Whatever, man. I'm done. I'm too tired to keep arguing. Fuck this shit. I just hope we don't die on our next mission." I tried standing up but winced. Looks like my ankle probably twisted. Hell, my whole body hurt.

All of a sudden, I felt a strong hand grip my arm. I looked up to find Naruto staring right at me. "I'll help," he said, smiling. I felt myself smile at his words.

"Me too," I heard from my other side, as Sakura put my arm around her neck and Naruto did the same.

My smile widened at the kind gesture from both my teammates. "Thanks, guys. You're the best."

Naruto chuckled. "Of course, we are", he said as Sakura also giggled.

"Next stop, Konoha General Hospital," she said cheerfully.

"Ah, wait, just drop me off at home. I'll be fine," I said, trying to wave them off.

"No," came the reply from both sides as I hung my head in defeat. No point in trying to fight it.

Behind us, I could practically feel Kakashi looking at us with a melancholic look. A little bit into the walk, Sakura spoke again. "Sasuke-kun," she said, looking at me cutely. Oh god, I seriously want to just kiss that face. But no… maybe when we're older. "Why do you hate Kakashi-sensei so much?"

"I don't hate him, Sakura."

"Could've fooled me," Naruto said form my other side.

"I really don't hate him. But he has to realize that we're not just going to become shinobi by doing D-ranks and practicing on our own. We're not geniuses. We need someone to teach us. And if he's not up to the job, then he needs to pass it onto someone else. If things go on like this, we'll be dead before we even reach chunin. Or at least I will. That's for sure. The endpoint is that he needs to shape up." Silence blanketed the three of us as we kept walking – or hobbling in my case – towards the hospital. The reality sinking in deeper.

No, I'm not bashing Kakashi. I've gotta make him get serious somehow. This is the best way I found.
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