Insert disclaimer here

Blah Blah Blah basic text (i.e. description, speech, etc)

Blah Blah Blah Thought or some transaction within someone's mind

Blah Blah Blah Kyuubi talking Jutsu will also be bold

BLAH BLAH BLAH yelling or emphasis of some sort

Naruto of the Nine Tails

Rated M for language, violence, adult content, and graphic imagery

Chp 25: Lesson Two

Earlier that morning…

The sun hadn't even risen when you could find Uchiha Sasuke walking sedately through the trees of his team's training ground appearing lost in thought. Eventually Sasuke stopped infront of the training posts where he and his team had become gennin, his eyes searching the characters carved into the memorial stone until he found the name he was looking for.

Uchiha Itachi

Sasuke had known about this place long before he had become part of Team 7. In fact, he had found it shortly after the incident at Naruto's cage. It had always given him a strange feeling of closeness to his deceased sibling. So he had done what he had always done. He told his brother everything.

He complained about the girls at school, Sakura especially.

He explained the latest menial tasks that Iruka had assigned in class.

He'd talked about his training and how far he had progressed.

He jabbered excitedly about becoming a gennin before bemoaning the evils of D-rank missions.

He rambled about his team's adventure in Nami no Kuni.

Everything.

More recently he'd shared his doubts about entering the Chunnin Exam and spilled his guts about his fight with Orochimaru and just how small he had felt when he had watched Naruto fighting the traitor. He'd even told Itachi about how confused he'd felt about his feelings for his teammates.

For the longest time Sasuke stood there in the dark just staring down at his brother's name etched into the polished stone until the sun peeked into the clearing.

"I'll be competing in the chunnin exam finals today," he said, staring down at the stone as he spoke. "I forgot to mention that I had been paired against Hyuuga Neji. He's the one that tried to-" he cut himself off, looking disgusted, as though he couldn't stand to finish the sentence. "They say he's a genius but…" he started, his voice trailing off slowly as he tried to gather himself before giving an aggravated sigh and tugged at his hair. He was talking in circles and he knew it. "I know this isn't the sort of future you wanted me to show you but… what he did… what he did was unforgivable," he said with finality, looking away from his brother's name, almost like he was ashamed, and turning to leave. "I'm going to destroy him, Aniki," he whispered, as he moved into the trees.

Konoha Coliseum Present Time

"Good day my youthful compatriots! My sincerest apologies for my unyouthful punctuality. I was escorting Lee from the…" Gai began only for his voice to trail off as he caught sight of Kakashi. "My Eternal Rival!" he cried in alarm, rushing to his friend's side. "What has happened? What unyouthful fate has befallen you to be reduced to such a state!"

"He's in shock Gai," Asuma answered as a knowing smirk pulled at the edge of his mouth.

"…That's all?" Gai asked bemusedly.

Asuma blinked. That wasn't the response he had been expecting. "Well, yes. In the last match…" he said, starting to explain the previous match only for his voice to trail off as Gai drew his hand back like a pitcher preparing to throw a fast ball.

"DYNAMIC… BITCH SLAP!" Gai roared, his palm crashing into his rivals cheek with enough force to send Kakashi tumbling through the air and into the stands bellow.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried, scandalized, as everyone present stared at the green clad jounin in complete shock. "That was- how could you- it was so- the unyouthfulness!" the poor boy sputtered as he attempted to find words to describe the sheer level of shock

"Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures, Lee," Gai replied, nodding sagely…surprisingly he was pulling off the stereotypical Wiseman look fairly well, somehow.

Lee stared at him, mouth hanging open incredulously.

Gai surreptitiously leaned toward his student… not that it did much good with everyone staring at them. "Write that down," he stage whispered.

Suddenly Lee had out his notepad as a pencil appeared in his bandaged hand.

Tenten palmed her forehead. "I'm surrounded by idiots," she moaned as Lee began to scribble furiously.

Kurenai glanced nervously at the railing where Kakashi had disappeared. "You think he'll be alright?" Kurenai asked as she turned to Asuma only to scowl when she found him looking completely unconcerned as he stared over her shoulder.

"Hm? You say something Kurenai?"

"Gah!" Kurenai yelped, whirling around to find Kakashi standing right behind her with his nose buried in Icha Icha: Violence and looking no worse for wear. "Damnit Kakashi! Don't do that!" she shrieked as Asuma chuckled behind her only to quale as she turned her anger on him.

"So… our little prodigies are up next," Gai observed conversationally.

"So they are," Kakashi agreed, never taking his eyes off his book.

"Should I be worried?" Gai asked, staring down into the arena.

For a long moment, Kakashi didn't say anything. "Did you say goodbye?"

"…Yes," Gai responded quietly.

Arena Floor

"Combatants ready?" Genma asked standing between the two boys.

"I am," Neji replied, dropping slowly into his families signature ready stance.

Sasuke nodded spreading his legs into a wider base, one hand held in a fist near his cheek, the other held toward his opponent.

Genma nodded. "Second match, Hyuuga Neji against Uchiha Sasuke! HAJIME!" he cried, slicing his hand through the air and leaping away from the two combatants.

For a moment, nothing happened. Both boys simply stood there, holding their stances as they sized each other up, looking for openings as the crowd held its breath.

Then Sasuke smirked and, ever so slowly, uncurled his forward fist turning the palm skyward and flicked his fingers in a "Come Hither" motions.

Neji quirked a brow at his opponent. Uchiha was going to challenge him in close quarters? And had yet to activate sharingan? How foolish... in fact, he felt marginally insulted. Though, perhaps that was his opponent's intent? Or maybe his opponent was simply more arrogant than he had been lead to believe. No matter. Whatever the intent, the result would be the same.

"Hn," Neji snorted, shifting his stance ever so slightly as he prepared to charge. Whatever the case may be, it didn't actually matter. Uchiha Sasuke would fall like the others.

Sasuke for his part just smirked, waiting for Neji to make his move.

And then they were on each other, their limbs flashing like striking vipers. The sheer skill the two gennin displayed as they danced around each other was enough to make even the most cynical shinobi nod in approval, if grudgingly.

At first, Neji clearly had the advantage over Sasuke, pushing him back at every turn with an assault that was as ruthless as it was graceful until the young Uchiha was forced to activate his Sharingan. From that point the match became a back and forth as Sasuke used his bloodline and short range ninjutsu to make up the disparity in their taijutsu skills.

'He's good,' Neji mused as a scowl slowly etched itself deeper and deeper into his face.

Somehow Uchiha was keeping up with him, deflecting his strikes or dodging them all together. It couldn't be called a perfect defense by any means but Uchiha's strategy was able to misdirect his strikes enough that the damage he had been able to do was negligible, a mere fraction of what Jyuuken was normally capable of. He would still win of course, that was a foregone conclusion. While he wasn't dealing as much damage as he felt he should have been he would eventually wear his opponent down and by that point it would be too late for Uchiha to resort to other forms of attack. That said, the thought of winning this battle by way of attrition galled him. He wanted a decisive victory, a clear showing of the difference between their abilities that could not be ignored or explained away.

Anything less was… unacceptable.

Fortunately for Neji, he knew just how he wanted to accomplish this…

"Running away, Hyuuga?" Sasuke taunted as Neji skipped backwards out of his reach.

"Not at all," Neji replied, completely unfazed as he dropped low to the ground, entering a completely new stance pausing for just a moment to let Sasuke move to the right range. "You just entered the range of my Hakke," he whispered closing the distance between himself and his opponent in an instance.

Sasuke's eyes went wide. "Oh fu-"

"Nisho!" Neji murmured, striking the first two points.

Wincing, Sasuke darted to the side, attempting to side step the rest of Neji's attack as he started the seals for the Housenka no jutsu.

"Yonsho!" Neji continued, effortlessly following Sasuke's movements as he struck the second set of points, interrupting Sasuke's jutsu in the process.

Hissing in pain and favoring his side, Sasuke attempted to back pedal.

'Futile,' Neji thought, easily closing the distance. "Hachisho!"

"Gah!" Sasuke cried as the force and chakra of Neji's strikes knocked him back.

"Jurokusho!"

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke did his best to intercept as many of Neji's strikes as possible, using sharingan to follow his opponents hands as much as he could but with little success.

"Sanjunisho!" Neji cried, stepping into his opponent's guard before seamlessly entering into the final set of his attack. Suddenly his hands were a blur of motion, striking with a speed and precision that few but the most dedicated of taijutsu masters could hope to match.

And then it was over.

"Rokujuyonsho…" Neji murmured as he watched Sasuke collapse onto his hands and knees.

"Heh, that all you got?" Sasuke gasped as he pushed himself into a kneeling position.

"Bold words for someone who can barely move," Neji sneered, staring contemptuously down at his opponent. Admittedly, it was rather impressive that the Uchiha wasn't already unconscious, but he saw no reason to give the boy hope.

"You…you're right," Sasuke replied, panting heavily and clutching his side in obvious pain as a slow trickle of blood oozed past his lips.

"Or, rather, you would be if any of this had happened," a voice whispered as a deafening silence consumed the stadium.

Then Neji watched as Uchiha Sasuke, still staring at him defiantly, vanished before his eyes; just disintegrated and blew away like dust in the wind.

"Genjutsu?" Neji wondered. How had he missed that? 'Doesn't matter,' he decided as he formed the Ram sign. "Kai!"

"That won't work," Sasuke said, standing casually to Neji's left.

Neji whirled, his hand glowing with chakra as he made to strike the Uchiha only for his opponent to vanish in a murder of crows.

"Useless," Sasuke murmured, reappearing several feet behind Neji with his arms crossed.

'Genjutsu again?' Neji wondered, a deep frown creasing his lips. "That shouldn't be possible," he whispered to himself, never taking his eyes off his opponent as he once more performed the release. His byakuugan had been active and he had been aware of the possibility. Even if Uchiha had managed to catch him again, there should have been some sort of flaw that someone without byakuugan couldn't account for. Failing that he should have been able to see the release of chakra. He should have noticed something.

"Sharingan makes many things possible," Sasuke said, a knowing smirk playing on his lips as he seemed to shimmer as though he were only a mirage.

Neji's eyes went wide. 'Again!?' he wondered, his hands already flying back into the Ram seal. "Kai!" he cried.

But nothing happened. Sasuke remained, standing there in the deafening silence.

"Kai!" Neji repeated more forcefully.

The stadium remained silent, lifeless.

"Kai!" Neji roared, a visible burst of chakra washing over his body.

"And civilians have the gall to compare our clans," Sasuke scoffed, sneering as he turned away in disgust. "If this is what the Hyuuga consider a prodigy these days… perhaps it is better that your father didn't live to see this."

Neji froze. "What did you say?" he whispered, his eyes wild as

Sasuke's sneer turned positively cruel. "I said that if your father hadn't sacrificed himself in the Kumo-Hyuuga incident, he would have died of embarrassment when he realized what a complete and utter failure his son had become."

"What the hell would you know about my father!" Neji hissed through his teeth as all thoughts of genjutsu and competing for the rank of chunnin evaporated out of his head.

"I know that he sacrificed himself for the good of Konoha and her people," Sasuke drawled.

"My father was murdered!" Neji roared, glaring bloody murder at the last Uchiha as his tenuous grip on his emotions snapping like cheap string in the face of his rage.

"Murdered…" Sasuke repeated, rolling the word off his tongue as if he were tasting it, testing its flavor and meaning.

"The Main House-"

"The Main House is nothing," Sasuke snarled. "Even with clan autonomy laws coming into play, the Hokage is the only one that can order and active duty ninja of Konoha to his death without lethal consequences."

"What are you-"

"Was your father in chains when he left?"

"No-"

"Had he been hurt? Was he coerced into going?"

"How should I-"

"Did he say goodbye?" Sasuke whispered, staring straight into Neji's eyes, whirling Sharingan boring into the milky depths of Byakuugan.

Neji stared back, saying nothing as he remembered the last time his father held him, how his father smiled as he went to die…

"We all die Hyuuga Neji, we all meet our end," Sasuke told him. "Your father simply had the courage to choose his end and the luxury of making it mean something." As he spoke, Sasuke slowly moved forward, casually walking up to Neji as if he hadn't had a care in the world until he was standing right in front of his silent opponent. "Your father died for his family. He died for his brother. He died for you. Your father died a hero and you… you are a disgrace to his memory," Sasuke whispered, his tone sharp and cold like the edge of a kunai.

And then the stadium came back to life.

The wind blew softly over the walls as birds chirped somewhere beyond the raised concrete.

The crowd rumbled with the low hum of curiosity as they stared down into the arena.

And Neji stood, in his family's signature ready stance across from Uchiha Sasuke.

A single tear leaked from the corner of Neji's eye and ran down his otherwise impassive face. "That's quite a dangerous Genjutsu," he murmured, still holding his stance.

"Who said it was over?" Sasuke replied, a knowing smirk playing across his lips.

For a long moment Neji remained silent, weighing Sasuke's words. As much as he hated to admit it, he really had no way of knowing whether this was real or simply another of Uchiha's illusions. In any case, he had not been capable of countering them and that meant that, whatever else… he had already lost.

"I forfeit," Neji whispered.

"Winner by forfeit, Uchiha Sasuke!" Genma called, slashing his hand through the air to emphasize his words as Sasuke spun on his heel and began to walk out of the arena.

'So he did release it,' Neji mused bitterly as he spare a brief glance at the crowd before returning his gaze to his opponent. "When?" Neji demanded, not even sure what question he was asking as he glared daggers into Sasuke's back as the Uchiha walked away from him.

Sasuke paused mid-step before turning to smirk at Neji over his shoulder. "A good ninja should never reveal his tricks… especially when he has an audience," Sasuke drawled, jerking his head toward the crowd even as a disappointed groan went up from the lower seats.

Meanwhile, in the stands…

"…God damnit," Kakashi sighed, palming his face.

"Kakashi?" Gai asked, confused. Things had gone much better than he had expected, what was Kakashi complaining about.

"I'm going to have to fight Ibiki to keep Sasuke from vanishing into T & I," Kakashi sighed massaging the bridge of his nose as he muttered obscenities under his breath.

"…Hehe!" Gai clapped his hand over his mouth as the giggle slipped out but continued to shake as he tried to contain his mirth.

"Don't hurt yourself on my account, Gai," Kakahsi muttered sarcastically.

"BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Meanwhile in Sasuke's apartment…

"If you don't leave me alone. You're gonna have to send me home. Cause I'm about to whip somebody's ass…"

On Sasuke's nightstand his MP3 player switched off of repeat and continued on to the next track.

End Notes

Edited: 2/10/17

Quick question, who noticed the hint in the title? If you didn't, it's a reference to the bell test. Kakashi made an example of each of the three major disciplines calling them lessons. "Lesson Two" was Genjutsu. I was tempted to name the last chp Lesson One and the next Lesson Three but then I realized Sakura was going to be more weapon based so that wasn't going to work.

Rant

NEVER AGAIN!

Trouble in paradise?

NEVER! Never ever! I hate writing head trips that are supposed to have significant moral lessons or any purpose whatsoever! And the angst! Oh god, the angst!

Gave you trouble did it?

…You know, if you weren't a figment of my imagination I would do horrible, terrible, inhuman things to you.

That's never stopped you from abusing your fictional character before.

Excellent point!

Oh shit…