Outsiders
3 - Sasuke
"Really, you two…"
Minato looked on, not sure what to feel. Sitting next to him on a park bench, eating ramen, were Naruto and Lee. Both were covered in bruises and, despite stuffing themselves with food, panting harder than he'd ever seen them do before.
As their story was, they had apparently spent the entire morning "training". This training had consisted of nonstop running across the village, sparring with one another, and a multitude of the strangest and most creative exercises Minato had ever heard of. Not that any of them sounded particularly effective.
On one hand, they were hurting their bodies on a fruitless endeavor. On the other, however, it showed that they did in fact have the determination to improve and become stronger. It seemed as if Minato's survival test had sparked some sort of fire within them that urged them to improve their abilities, though for what purpose Minato was not sure. They certainly did not have the life of a shinobi in mind when thinking about getting stronger.
"You know," he said, "you won't get anywhere if you start off with too much work. You have to do it gradually, or else your bodies will eventually give out and you'll give up."
"Are you kidding?!" Answered Naruto. "That was nothing!" Even as he said it, he was struggling to lift his arms enough to eat his ramen. Lee nodded in agreement, his mouth too full to speak.
"Yeah, well…" Minato drifted off, thinking of the next thing he had intended to say, when he noticed out of the corner of his eye a rather rare sight.
He turned his head to see Shikamaru walking towards them, and at an uncharacteristically quick pace. Naruto and Lee followed his gaze and actually gasped at the sight.
"Shikamaru?" He asked. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but part of him hoped that this was merely the showing of a change within the boy. Perhaps he had ignited a spark within the lazy Nara as well?
But Shikamaru's expression said otherwise. There was clear uneasiness etched across his face.
"What is it?" Minato asked.
"Uh…There's something I think you should see…"
"Hmm?"
Several minutes later, the four of them had arrived back at the clearing used for the survival test. Minato looked around, but spotted nothing. He looked to Shikamaru to point out whatever it was he was supposed to see.
"Over here," the lazy boy murmured, leading them towards a bush. Wondering what it could be, Minato strolled over and watched as Shikamaru pushed away the bushes.
His eyes widened at the sight he had found. He had expected something interesting, perhaps childish, or just some sort of rare phenomenon…
But he certainly didn't think Shikamaru had found an unconscious boy in the woods.
"What is it?" Asked Naruto from behind. He and Lee pushed around Minato and into the bushes to get a look. Lee gasped.
"W-what the…"
"Who is he?" Asked Lee.
Minato shook his head, unable to answer the question, and looked at Shikamaru, who shrugged.
"I don't know. I just found him lying here and went to find you immediately after."
Minato stepped forward and bent down, checking the boy's pulse. "He's alive…" he said. "I can't say for sure what's wrong with him. I guess we'll take him home and take care of him. We'll find out who he is once he's woken up."
Squatting down, Minato picked the boy up with both arms, flipping him over so he could +carry the boy on his back. When he spun the boy around, Minato assumed that shock had become visible on his face, because the other three were looking at him strangely. But this…
This couldn't be.
Could it?
Xxxxx
Holding a bucket of cold water, Minato entered the room in which he had left the unconscious boy. Sakura was with him, and immediately took the bucket Minato had brought to wet the towel on his forehead.
"How is he?" He asked her.
"He hasn't changed. Are you sure we shouldn't just wake him up?"
"Yes. He's not injured, except for that cut on his cheek, and he doesn't seem to have too large a fever. The wet towel will cool him down. Once the fever's gone, it shouldn't be too long before he wakes up."
"So nothing's wrong with him?"
"I wouldn't say that. It seems like he got sick, probably from being outside. He was probably far from home and not used to the terrain. It wouldn't be too difficult to catch something in those conditions."
Sakura nodded, indicating that she understood.
"Over here!"
Minato turned to see Naruto and Tenten leading Sagisu through the house towards that room. The ex-shinobi frowned at the sight.
"They said it was important…but it looks like one of them just beat up some kid or something. You called me over for this, Minato?"
Minato shook his head. "Shikamaru found him out in the woods this morning. He's been unconscious the entire time and has a mild fever."
"So what do you need me for?"
Minato paused before speaking again. Then, he said, "Naruto, Sakura, Tenten, the there of you can leave. Go find Lee and Shikamaru and make yourselves some food. Or better yet, go out and buy some. You know where the money is."
"But I want to stay!" Said Sakura.
"Go." Was all Minato said. His voice was serious and dark, easily scaring Sakura into submission. She nodded and followed the other two out, although they were of a similar attitude.
Once they were gone, Sagisu looked at him. "So what is it?"
Minato strolled over to the other side of the room and picked up a dark, cloth object. "We've been taking care of him since we found him and brought him here… But his condition isn't what's bothering me. When we found him…he was wearing this."
It appeared to be a ball, red on the top and white on the bottom, with a white line protruding from the bottom. It was a fan.
"T-that's…" Sagisu stuttered.
"The Crest of the Uchiha Clan," Minato finished for him.
"The Uchiha are touchy about clan pride… They wouldn't allow anyone but an Uchiha to wear that. If that's so…then what's one of them doing all the way out here? And one so young… He can't be any older than your kids."
"I know. And I can't say why he's here, let alone why he's unconscious. He has a deep cut on his cheek; I'm almost positive it's from a shuriken."
"D-damn…what could this mean?"
"I don't know. The only way to find out would be to wait for him to wake up."
"Did he have anything else on him?"
Minato nodded. "There was this," he said, holding up a pouch. Opening it, he showed Sagisu several kunai and shuriken. "It's definitely not a standard shinobi shuriken holster, or anything similar… If anything, I'd say it's something I'd expect to belong to an Academy student."
"Well, he's certainly old enough to be one, from the looks of it. So he's an Academy student…? And an Uchiha, so of course he's from Konoha. Did something happen?"
"That's what I'm worried about."
"Nngh…" Minato and Sagisu both looked at the boy. He seemed to be waking up. There was a look of discomfort on his face, but his body shifted a bit and he seemingly calm down. A moment later, he opened his eyes.
Coal black. Undoubtedly, this boy was an Uchiha.
The boy was looking around, observing his surroundings. Minato watched his eyes move back and forth. Sagisu, meanwhile, found himself a chair and sat down.
"It's okay," Minato said, attracting the boy's attention. "We found you unconscious in the woods. We're taking care of you for now."
The boy's eyes left him alone, choosing instead to stare at the ceiling above. "You have a slight fever," Minato continued, "but it seems to be dying down."
The boy pulled his hand out from under the blanket covering him and touched the cloth on his forehead, before pulling it off. Minato walked over and squatted down next to him.
"You're not well yet. You should go back to sleep." The boy's eyes continued to avoid his.
Sighing, Minato introduced himself. "My name's Minato, by the way. And that there is Sagisu."
The boy glanced at each, before staring back at the ceiling. "Sasuke," he said. "Uchiha Sasuke."
Xxxxx
Uchiha Sasuke had returned to sleep and, for the next several hours, continued to do so. Minato did his best to keep the orphans away from him, hoping to give the boy some privacy. After he had fallen asleep, Minato and Sagisu had talked, and both agreed that there was something off about him. He was unnaturally quiet and couldn't seem to look at them for too long. Something bad had obviously happened to him recently.
He continued to sleep through the evening as well. About halfway through the night, while the others were all asleep, Minato and Sagisu, who had remained to help look after both Sasuke and kids, as well as to sate his own curiosity, were continuing to speculate on what had happened to Sasuke, when at last he awoke again. Minato and Sagisu both picked up the sound of moving around in his room. After a few minutes of privacy, they decided to go in and see how he was doing.
The boy was sitting on the edge of the bed they had provided him with, looking as melancholy as before. At sound of their entering the room, he looked up. He had once again donned his Uchiha shirt.
"Feeling any better?" Minato asked. Sasuke nodded in response. "Good."
He and Sagisu both found themselves seats and watched him. Eventually, Sasuke spoke.
"Where…where is this?"
"We're in a village called Satowa," said Sagisu, "It's in the south of Fire Country."
"It's a good long distance from Konoha," said Minato, watching intently as Sasuke suddenly became more attentive.
"Listen," he said… "we know who the Uchiha are. We know how famous and powerful your clan is. But why are you so far out here? And nobody's come looking for you, so I'm inclined to think that you were alone. So why are you all the way out here instead of Konoha?"
Sasuke took his time answering. "I had to leave…" He said. "I had to escape…"
"Escape from Konoha?" Sagisu asked. "Why?"
Sasuke's chin was quivering, but altogether he remained composed.
"Sasuke?" Minato said. "Did something happen to Konoha?"
"Was the village attacked?" Sagisu asked hastily.
Sasuke shook his head. "No…" he said. "Not…not from the outside…"
What does he mean from the outside…?
"You mean to say…" Minato began, "Konoha was attacked from the inside? A rebellion? A coup?"
"…No. Not Konoha," he said. Sasuke pulled back onto the bed and hugged his knees. "Only…the Uchiha Clan."
Minato's eyes narrowed. He exchanged a brief glance with Sagisu before continuing.
"What happened?" He felt bad for asking the kid so much, but they needed to know. If something had happened to the Uchiha, then something had definitely happened to Konoha. They were too large and too powerful for nothing to have happened.
Sasuke seemed to have trouble speaking, but somehow he managed to force it out.
"Everyone…everyone was killed…"
"Everyone…" Minato said, his voice dark, "as in the entire Uchiha clan?"
Sasuke nodded.
Shock was written across Sagisu's voice, and Minato was sure it was probably etched across his own as well. What this kid was telling them…it was unheard of. Possibly the most powerful, the most famous clan in the entire world had been eradicated?
"Who…who did it? Do you know?"
Sasuke nodded. "It was…" He seemed to be biting back tears. Minato grimaced at how hard the boy was fighting against displaying his emotions.
"…my brother," he finished.
Minato's eyes widened. The boy's own…brother?
"…Uchiha Itachi," he added.
He felt an immense feeling of pity for the boy envelope him suddenly. No wonder he was so quiet, and had such trouble speaking… And of course, it explained why he had avoided their gaze so much earlier. Not only emotionally, but he had to be broken mentally as well. For his own sibling to eradicate his entire world… It was a horrible thought.
"Minato…" muttered Sagisu. Minato gave him his attention. "Do you remember what I told you about the Uchiha who graduated the Academy at the age of seven? The one who mastered the Sharingan at eight, and became a Chunin at ten…"
Minato nodded, but noticed out of the corner of his eye how Sasuke recoiled, listening to Sagisu's description. He knew what the ex-shinobi was about to say.
"His name was Uchiha Itachi."
Minato nodded. He sighed, and looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke…" he said, "I appreciate you telling us all that. I know it must have been difficult." Sasuke said nothing in return. "I think…we'll leave you to yourself for a little while. Perhaps you should get back to sleep. It's the middle of the night."
Sasuke showed little indication that he had been listening, but Minato was pretty sure he heard. "Sagisu, let's go." Sagisu nodded and followed him out of the room.
They walked out of the house and took a seat outside the door.
"What do you make of this?" He asked Sagisu.
"Well, for one… I can't stop feeling sorry for that kid. It's not uncommon for shinobi to suffer, and death of loved ones is definitely a part of that. But at such a young age…and he's not even an actual shinobi yet…"
"Yeah."
"And it's also a shame. That Konoha would lose such a powerful clan, all in one night…it's going to damage Konoha plenty. It's also a shame that such a powerful person, who can massacre a clan like the Uchiha, would be so corrupted…"
Minato nodded in agreement. I wonder, how will Orochimaru handle it?
"I want to know more," he answered. "There's got to be more to it. How did Konoha handle the situation? Are they hunting down Uchiha Itachi? Are they even looking for Sasuke?"
"I'm not so sure how much that kid is going to be willing to tell us, though."
"I'll get it out of him eventually."
"Right. Well, I've had enough excitement for one day. I'll be off. Let me know if anything happens, or if you need me for anything."
"Will do."
With that, Sagisu returned home and Minato decided that perhaps he as well should get some sleep.
Xxxxx
The next morning, Minato found three of the kids were awake rather early. Sakura, Lee, and Tenten were all up barely any later than him. Lee quickly fixed himself some breakfast so he could go out and train, while Sakura and Tenten took their time. Surprisingly, it was awhile before anyone mentioned Sasuke, and even then it was he himself.
"Ehh, Minato, since when do you eat such a small meal?" Asked Tenten.
"It's not for me," he answered bluntly.
"Huh? Then who… Oh! Is that boy awake?!"
Sakura now became more attentive, intent on finding out the fate of the boy she had helped to take care of. Minato nodded.
"He woke up yesterday, twice. Once during the afternoon and once in the middle of the night. His name is Uchiha Sasuke."
"Sasuke…" said Sakura. "It's a pretty name."
"So did he say anything?" Asked Tenten.
"Not much," Minato lied. "I'm going to check on him now. I would suggest that you guys give him some privacy for a few days. Make sure the others know."
Tenten nodded and Sakura looked just a bit dismayed at not being able to meet Sasuke yet.
Minato, meanwhile, carried the meal he had prepared to Sasuke's room. To his surprise, he found the boy already awake.
"I see you've got more energy than before," he said, closing the door behind him. Sasuke met his gaze and nodded. "I made you some breakfast. You should eat."
"Thanks," Sasuke said, graciously taking the tray of food and wasting no time filling himself up.
Seems like he's more willing to talk now, Minato mused.
Minato sat quietly as Sasuke wolfed down the food. About halfway through, the boy spoke up.
"What was your name again?" He asked.
"Minato."
"Then, Minato…are you from Konoha?"
"Hm? Why would you ask that?"
"It's just that…you and that other guy seem to know a lot about shinobi… You don't seem like you're just normal villagers. Are you?"
Minato shook his head. "We're both former shinobi from Konoha."
Sasuke nodded. "Why did you come here then?" He asked.
"Well, Sagisu fought through the entirety of the Third Great Shinobi War, from start to finish. After it ended…he decided he just wanted some peace and quiet for the rest of his life, so he came here. I'm here taking care of some kids that I promised to look after… But I suppose I got a little sick of the shinobi life as well. It's been nice to have a break, anyway."
"I see. What about those kids?"
"How did you know about them?" Minato asked, not expecting Sasuke to have noticed their existence already.
"I could hear them through my door. And in my sleep, too, I think. One of their voices sounded a little familiar."
"I see. Well…" he wasn't sure where to go with this. He didn't want anyone knowing those kids were from Konoha, even themselves. "No, they're not. I came through this village once, and I owed a favor to some of the villagers. These kids' parents were killed though, so I'm making it up by taking care of them and raising them."
Sasuke nodded again, as he continued eating. There was a somewhat awkward silence as he finished his meal. At last, when he chewed down his last bite, Minato spoke his mind.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, Sasuke," he said, "but I have to ask you for a few more answers." Sasuke stiffened, his gaze drifting downward. "I need you to tell me…exactly what happened that night. I'm sorry, but it's important."
A moment passed, before Sasuke nodded. "O-okay…"
Several minutes later, Minato stared at the ground, feeling pity for Sasuke once more. It was one thing to hear about the incident…but the story itself was…it was nothing short of horrific. The boy had lived through a nightmare. It was a wonder he was still sane.
After all… to murder one's whole clan, simply for the purpose of measuring one's own capacity? And to spare his little brother only because of how "pathetic" he was, as if the only reason to spare him was to torment him. This Uchiha Itachi was clearly wrong in the head.
"So…" he said, "what happened to Itachi? He ran away?"
"No," Sasuke said, surprising Minato. "He…he told the Hokage that it was someone else… that he tried to stop them, but he was too late. And that they cast an illusion on me to make me think it was Itachi, as a way to frame him… And the Hokage, and everyone else…they bought that story. They believed him. They were going to make him Clan Leader, even though he didn't have a clan…except for me."
"I see…so that's why you ran away."
"Yes."
Another moment of silence passed. "Well, Sasuke. Once again, I really appreciate you telling me all this. If you'd like…you can stay with us. We have plenty of food, we have space, and we have a home… And I think you'll get along fine with the others. What do you say?"
Sasuke seemed to think about it for a while. Finally, he said, "Alright."
"Good," said Minato. "Maybe later you can meet the other five."
Minato now stood up and made his way to the door. As he opened it, he found a strange amount of resistance that disappeared as suddenly as he realized it was there. When he opened the door all the way, he saw pink hair flying away as Sakura turned the corner.
Odd… he thought.
Xxxxx
For the next few days, Sasuke continued to keep mostly to himself. Every once in a while, he would come out and talk, but for the most part he just slept and ate. Minato introduced him to the other kids gradually, all of whom seemed to take a liking to him.
Minato had forbade him to mention any knowledge he had of Minato's origin in Konoha, to which Sasuke complied, albeit confused as to why.
After a few days had passed, Minato noticed a slight change in Sasuke's behavior. He was more open and more confident-looking, as if he had suddenly become his normal self. Though, Minato reminded himself, he didn't know the real Sasuke. He could only guess at how normal the boy was acting.
Soon, Sasuke began to come out more and more often. It wasn't long before he was eating meals with the rest of them, and occasionally leaving the house. A few weeks after his original arrival, he left the house on his own to take a walk through the town, which he was still getting used to. Eventually, navigating the outskirts of the village, he came upon a small clearing, where he found nearly all of Minato's kids.
Naruto, Lee, and Tenten were performing exercises, whilst Shikamaru was lying around looking at the sky. The latter of the four immediately noticed Sasuke's arrival, but said nothing as he observed the rather rare occurrence of the Uchiha leaving the house. As he made his way across the clearing, the other three took notice of him.
"Finally decided to come out, eh?" Said the blonde one, Naruto. Even as he spoke, he was pushing himself hard on some pushups.
"It's good to see you out, Sasuke-kun," said Lee, who was also doing pushups. However, his legs were placed on Naruto's back, making his exercise all the more difficult.
"Yeah," Sasuke said, a bit quiet.
Tenten, who was doing sprints, came to a stop, and, panting, said, "What, did you come to train too? You could probably do well with some exercise, you've been sitting around doing nothing the last few weeks."
Sasuke shrugged; he supposed it wouldn't be too bad to train with them. It'd been nearly three weeks since the massacre, and he had yet to do any exercise, let alone practice his ninja skills. Before he had escaped Konoha, he had resolved to one day avenge the Uchiha Clan by killing Itachi. After the difficult travel down south, however, he had forgotten that resolve in the face of the possibility that he would die out in the wilderness. It had taken some time, but he had at last come to the conclusion that he would have to begin training again to accomplish his newfound goal.
He didn't know how much he could accomplish here though. This was just an ordinary village. Minato and Sagisu were shinobi, however. Perhaps they could help him train, as an alternative to training as a shinobi in Konoha. He knew it probably wouldn't be the same… but he couldn't go back to Konoha…not with him there.
Besides, he liked the people here. Minato, Sagisu, and the other kids. He seemed oddly comfortable around them, for strangers.
"Hey, Naruto, let's spar," said Tenten.
"Yosh! Let's go!" Was the blonde's reply.
As the two began their fight, Lee stood and turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, would you be willing to spar with me?"
Sasuke nodded. He took a stance, and waited for Lee to make the first move. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shikamaru edging away, not at all intending to get trampled on.
As expected, Lee flew at him, his fist raised for a punch. Sasuke easily knocked it away, and swept Lee off his feet before thrusting his arms out to push the older boy back. Lee quickly recovered and came at him again, but Sasuke easily ducked under the punch and delivered his own assault, striking Lee first in the stomach, then in the chin, and then kicking him hard in the chest. The boy flew back, but Sasuke grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards him, using the momentum to heave him up over his own back. With a loud grunt and what power he could muster in his legs, he flipped over, and thrust Lee hard into the ground, landing in a lunge position.
"That…that was impressive…" Lee said, grimacing at the pain. Sasuke turned to see that Naruto and Tenten had stopped fighting to watch. Shikamaru's attention was also focused on him.
Was this really so strange? Well, he supposed since they were just village kids, they'd never witnessed a shinobi fighting, even if it was just an amateur academy student.
"You're…good…" stuttered Tenten.
"Pfeh, let me try!" Naruto yelled, immediately lunging at Sasuke. In retaliation, Sasuke burst forward and easily broke through Naruto's stance, punching him hard in the stomach. In a fluid motion, Sasuke delivered a spinning backward kick, followed by another midair kick from his other leg. Naruto, completely off balance, could do nothing as Sasuke once again burst forth and thrust two hard punches into his chest, sending the blonde flying backward into a tree.
"Ugh…that hurt," was all that Naruto said.
"Where did you learn how to do all that?" Asked Tenten.
"Er…at the Ninja Academy in Konoha."
"Ninja…Academy…?" She repeated. They all knew of the nine Hidden Villages; their existence was common knowledge.
"In that case, Sasuke-kun," said Lee, "you must be a shinobi!"
"Uh, no, I was still in the Academy. I wasn't anywhere near graduating yet."
"Y-you…you can do THAT and you didn't even graduate?!" Exclaimed Naruto. "Man, shinobi are so cool…"
"What else can you do?" Asked Tenten.
"Well, I'm good with shuriken, but mine are at the house…"
"R-really? I want to see…"
"I can also use a couple jutsu too…"
"Jutsu?" Asked Lee.
"Ninjutsu. Ninja techniques."
"Like what?"
A couple minutes later, they were gathered at the edge of a pond. Shikamaru, curious, had actually bothered to follow. The four stood back and watched as Sasuke took a deep breath while making strange symbols with his hands.
What's he doing with his hands…? Thought Naruto.
After five symbols, Sasuke inhaled deeply, and pulled back.
"Katon: Gougakyuu no jutsu!"
A great, blazing fireball erupted from his mouth, overcastting the entire pond. The fireball lasted for several seconds before it dissipitated. Sasuke turned to see what the others thought.
All four were staring, eyes wide, at the embers still flying about.
"T-that…" said Naruto, "was awesome!"
Xxxxx
"Ninjutsu is fueled by a power source called chakra," explained Minato. "Chakra is the combination of physical and spiritual power, and it's trained by increased physical ability, mental capacity, and experience."
The five nodded, and Sasuke agreed with the explanation.
Minato had been somewhat surprised to find them asking him to teach them Ninjutsu. Perhaps he should have expected that sooner or later, Sasuke would show them some jutsu and they'd become excited at the prospect of shinobi abilities. But he hadn't been expecting them to so quickly conclude that he could teach them Ninjutsu. Apparently, Shikamaru had reasoned that both Minato and Sasuke fought similarly in the way that they were probably both trained as shinobi.
He couldn't say that he was happy with their reason for learning Ninjutsu, but they were kids. And who knew, perhaps he was wrong? Maybe they had some potential after all. He had no way of truly knowing until he taught them, and they seemed quite excited at the idea. And so, Minato had begun to explain to them the fundamentals of chakra and jutsu.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it!" Exclaimed Naruto. "Just show us a jutsu already!"
"Being a shinobi isn't all about jutsu! There's so much more to it. There's not only Ninjutsu, but also Taijutsu and Genjutsu…as well as weaponry. And you've got to be smart about your skills. It's not about how many jutsu you can use. It's about how efficiently you use every one particular skill in your arsenal. And you've also got to train yourself to increase chakra capacity…or else your jutsu won't last five seconds."
"And also," added Sasuke, "there's so many different kinds of jutsu. Medical jutsu, sealing jutsu, and a bunch of other shinobi skills. Stealth skills, tactics, discipline…"
"That's a lot…" Said Tenten.
"But I will master it nonetheless!" Yelled Lee, a fire igniting in his eyes.
"Geez, how troublesome…" Commented Shikamaru.
"Heh, bring it on. I can handle it, no matter what it is. I won't give up, not for anything!" Yelled Naruto.
"Is it really all that hard?" Asked Sakura.
"If you want to master the ninja ways, you'll have to work hard," he answered. "You'll have to train yourselves not only physically, but mentally as well. It'll be hard…and there will be times when you won't think you're cut out for it. If you fear the disappointment of failure, then quit now. Because as a teacher, I will refuse to hold back. You all got that? On the Path of the Shinobi…there is no try. There is only success, or death."
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the wait. This was originally intended to be two separate chapters, titled Sasuke and The Path Of Shinobi, but I decided it would be better to combine and shorten them for the sake of getting through the introductory arc sooner. Speaking of which, after this, there's one more chapter, at the end of which the story starts to move. As in, the main conflict of Part I begins. Hopefully I'll get that done as soon as I can.
Please review! It helps to motivate me.