AN: So, finally finished! Took me a while, but I have a good excuse: I went to Six Flags.
I'm glad to hear my pseudo-nerfing of Sasuke was well-received; couldn't exactly have him running around Remnant with nothing holding him back. For anyone who still thinks that I should have had Sasuke keep his full power and abilities, let me pose you a quick battle scenario.
Let's take Chunin Exams 12 or 13-year old Sasuke, the version that's trained with Kakashi and learned the Chidori. Of all the jutsu and techniques he knows, let's just take the Substitution Justu and the Chidori into consideration.
The best strategy for using these two abilities together is simple: make a substitution, the enemy is distracted and attacks the fake, and Sasuke launches a sneak attack Chidori from behind to pierce the target's heart. Simple and well within his capabilities.
Now, who exactly on Remnant could either survive the attack or have senses superb enough to reliably detect and avoid it? Salem. That's it. Literally every other character we have seen or heard about in RWBY would be dead from this. It's fairly obvious from the effectiveness of Emerald's semblance that illusions are not too common a problem in remnant and pretty much everyone is easily fooled; not seeing why the Substitution Jutsu wouldn't be similarly effective. And if Ozpin, the guy with thousands of years of time to develop his reflexes, didn't have the senses necessary to detect Cinder before she shot and killed Amber, I don't see why anyone else would.
So there you go. Chunin Exam Sasuke could kill pretty much any RWBY character other than Salem in a one-on-one battle with only two of his jutsu.
And people want me to put Hebi Sasuke in Remnant with no restrictions at the beginning of the story before his boots touch the ground? I may as well replace Sasuke with Saitama while I'm at it.
I will admit a good part of Sasuke's rant about Team Ten's revenge hypocrisy came straight from yours truly. It was a wonderful opportunity to have Naruto, Team Ten, and the rest of the rookies actually be placed at least partially in Sasuke's shoes. Feel the pain of loss, the need for vengeance at any cost, and be denied that by their superiors for pragmatic reasons. It could have been written so well; Sasuke's classmates could have actually sympathized with his predicament a bit and brought a lot of character development. But no. Nothing came out of it.
And it didn't even make sense. If a few members of any random real country's military disobeyed standing orders to hunt for the enemies that killed one of their own for personal satisfaction, they would be court marshalled in the best-case scenario and plenty of places would have had them shot. Whole thing was bullshit…
And for those who called me out that I forgot the Naruto verse has TV's- good for you. They're seen so rarely I guess it slipped my mind. Fixed it.
LordAzrael1- An omake huh? I do have a few other ideas in mind for more slice of life kind of stuff, but I'll definitely work in more Grimm interactions later on.
Danish78- Yeah, Sasuke lost the concept the someone having genuine, unselfishly motivated care or concern for someone else. A character flaw, one that would be so interesting to see him get over! Wink, wink.
The Baz- Kind of a depressing pep talk, but I can't deny you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for the support!
Fanfictions4ever- Oh my God! Someone actually remembered the first chapter! Not going to give spoilers, but I put all of those scenes in there for a reason.
AzazelTheFallen- A valid point, but I haven't forgotten that the Curse Mark uses Nature energy. Aoda even said in Chapter 2 that he sensed that Nature energy was even rarer on Remnant than in their home world. Let's just say obtaining it on Remnant is a little… more difficult.
Iskandar Hero- Thanks for the suggestion and the support!
EvsVsz- Preach to the choir. It always amazed me how Naruto getting 90% of the screen time made people somehow forget that other characters had arguably worse childhoods. But no, It's Naruto that gets all the sympathy. Not Kakashi, not Sasuke, not Itachi, not Gaara, not Nagato, not Neji, not Iruka, not the thousands of orphans from the Kyuubi attack or the numerous wars and smaller conflicts. No, it's Naruto. Every. Single. Time.
Shattering- Just because he's put in a situation he prefers not to use his bigger techniques doesn't mean he can't.
ObjectiveNumber1- The point you made that Sasuke shouldn't disregard his bond with Naruto is spot-on. The problem is he has not yet matured enough as a character to acknowledge that. That particular section I wrote wasn't my opinion, it was what I believed Sasuke's would be. And it's a wrong opinion because Sasuke is a human and not perfect. It's the same reason he came to the wrong conclusion about Ruby- after the massacre he lost the belief that people could have genuinely selfless bonds and feelings for one another.
KnightofZaku- The contrast between Sasuke and Ruby is definitely a part I am looking forward to writing.
Croniklerx- Damn man, you didn't hold back with your review! I like it, please do it again! The long ones are almost always interesting to read. Most of the points you made can be summed up by the phrase "you'll have to wait and see." Maybe I will make a cute Grimm scene or something though. It will be a while before I get to it, but I'll work it in.
blankdead- Thank you so much for the consistent support! This chapter has a bit less build-up and more plot, so let's see how you like it.
Timothy Burr- Damn, it has been a while since you last reviewed. Thanks for returning! Some good words of wisdom you gave me too. As for the next chapter, it will be coming out sometime between next Friday and 315,360,000 seconds from now. You get a cookie if you can tell me how much time that is without using a calculator.
'thoughts'
Uchiha of Remnant
Chapter 5: First Wave
"Bro, you mind hooking me up?"
"Logan, you took a hit two fucking hours ago," an annoyed voice belonging to a skinny young man with a rather worn jacket said, pausing his task of inhaling from a freshly-lit bong. "Leave some for the rest of us!"
The now named Logan stepped away from the tree he had pinned a rather shapely girl with vivid purple hair in an intense make-out session a few moments before. Behind him were almost two dozen other people hanging out together in an isolated section of a snow-covered park where no-one would see them pass around a few bongs or needles.
"It's not for me Josh, it's for Violet" he replied, upset that his friend was not as willing to part from the needles in his possession as he would like. "Come on, if you get on her good side I'm sure she has a friend she can introduce you to. With as much of the good stuff you get, it should be easy to find one or two bitches willing to suck yo-"
His sentence was cut off by an almost thunderous crack as one of the thicker lower branches was snapped off by the sudden force of a large object hitting it at speed. A split second later the object continued its trajectory through the branch to impact the trunk, creating a small impact crater on the bark and tilting the entire tree several inches.
Those present didn't have any time to identify the unknown object as a person before the intruder sprang from his crouching position on the tree toward Logan and threw a consciousness-stealing punch to his head. The attacker shifted direction on a dime, knocking out seven more of the larger males of their group before those remaining had drawn guns and pocket knives when they realized they were being attacked.
It only took Josh another second after drawing his switchblade to question whether the person attacking them was even human. He had seen Huntsmen in action before when he had been passing through a rural village during a Grimm attack, but even their superhuman movements fell short of what he was seeing. For all intents and purposes, all he was seeing was a blur.
The attacker's movements did seem faster than what he had seen from the Huntsmen, but that wasn't what set him apart. There was a grace to his movements that simply couldn't be explained by ordinary mechanics or laws of physics. He accelerated and switched directions instantly with no stopping and without any visible effort, somehow ignoring all three Laws of Motion.
Knives were removed from their owner's hands in the blink of an eye regardless of the tight adrenaline-fueled grip of the hands that wielded them. That or they were rendered useless when their owners were knocked unconscious.
The few present with guns didn't fare any better. Their attacker prioritized targeting anyone with a firearm as soon as the weapon became visible as they drew it. Only two managed to draw their guns and begin firing at him.
Not one of the bullets found their mark. The attacker weaved and bobbed around the line of fire of both guns without effort before knocking both shooters out with an elbow and a foot to their respective skulls.
A half-second later and two more of the group were knocked out. Josh barely had time to realize that he was the only one with a drawn weapon left standing before a pale fist suddenly appeared in front of his face. No more thoughts passed through his mind as his consciousness was lost before the pain of the blow could be felt.
One minute earlier:
Sasuke looked down onto the specks and points of light shining from the city of Vale below him. He had spent almost two hours on top of the aircraft on the flight over and was ready to get the journey over with. Plenty of time had been spent going over what he would do once he landed, and there was no shortage of factors to consider.
Obtaining an electronic device known as a scroll was going to be one of the first things on his to-do-list. From what he had seen and read this technological manifestation of electronics and miniaturization was central to everyday life for all citizens of every kingdom and walk of life. More importantly, it was one of the most commonly used means of identifying someone. On Patch he had even seen cashiers checking the scrolls of their customers to verify their age when they bought alcohol.
He was going to need a scroll or some other formal identification to rent an apartment. There were options for those who did not have a scroll for whatever reason, but it would involve either a genetically proven family member or the Department of Health and Human Services vouching for him. Needless to say, neither was an option. And due to the internal navigator, any scroll he stole would be quickly tracked.
He would have to steal a scroll, preferably from someone on the wrong side of the law who would have more to lose than to gain by reporting him to the police.
And unless he was mistaken there was a small group of such people in a park several thousand feet below him. Even without the Sharingan he could tell the group in question had no reason to be in such an isolated location at this hour of the night unless they didn't want to be found.
He was in luck- the aircraft's path would take him almost directly above them in a few seconds. All he had to do was time the jump and aim his body to land right on top of them.
"Good thing I noticed them when I did- any more time and I would have missed my chance."
Sasuke wasted no more time and jumped off the plane more than three thousand feet above the ground. Most people would describe what was essentially a parachute-less skydive as incredibly cool or badass. But for Sasuke it was both convenient and easy. There was no need to worry about the fall, reinforcing his body with chakra would prevent any serious injury unless he landed headfirst and snapped his neck. If he landed on his feet the worst he would feel would be moderately numb legs for a few minutes.
'And I don't have to worry about being seen by anyone at the airport when the airship lands this way either.'
A quick fifteen-second fall was all it took to close the distance between him and his target. A low-level gust did blow him slightly off course into a large tree a few feet from his intended landing site, but a simple crouching motion during his impact was enough to comfortably absorb the force of the impact.
A single glance of the startled group surrounding him confirmed his earlier suspicions. The bong being passed around was made of different materials than he was familiar with, but he had seen enough drug users during his time with Orochimaru to recognize it for what it was. And anyone who was not wearing a uniform in a hospital had no legal reason to be injecting substances intravenously in the middle of a park.
'This group should have more than enough lien and scrolls to take to give me a decent start in Vale, and they won't go to the police with the drugs they have in their system.'
Before the branch he had torn off the tree from the impact had hit the earth, he sprang toward the largest member of the group and struck him with a punch that ensured his target would hit the ground and not get up anytime soon. He had to hold back a lot of power- his goal was to make his opponents loose consciousness, not explode their heads into a biomass-based shower of bloody confetti.
The Uchiha managed to knock out four more of his opponents before those remaining managed to draw their weapons. He wasn't worried about the knives. Dealing with bladed weapons of any kind was child's play to him and pretty much any shinobi of Chunin rank or higher.
The guns that were drawn were more of an unknown, and he therefore decided to take out every enemy with a firearm he could find first so he would not be overwhelmed. The principle behind them was simple enough to understand; in practical terms they served the same ranged attack purpose as thrown kunai or shuriken. The projectiles called bullets that they fired however, were much smaller and flew faster than the weapons most shinobi threw, depending on the type and shape of the gun as well as the ballistics of the bullet in question. This meant that any bullet he came across would be more difficult to block and dodge than the kunai and shuriken he was used to.
The two factors in his favor with firearms was that they took slightly longer to line up a shot once the weapon was drawn and that they were anything but subtle. The almost inaudible whistle of air flowing around a kunai would be the only warning the target of such a weapon would get; guns made such a loud noise that the presence and exact location of the shooter could be immediately identified on the first shot.
He had seen Ruby's sniper rifle in action and had since read about them before leaving Patch since learning such weapons were extremely common in this world. He was able to see the bullets from Ruby's gun, which he had learned was a specialized type of long-range firearm called a sniper rifle with his Sharingan, but his bloodline would be off-limits and would have to settle with his normal vision.
After taking out all but two gun-wielders before they could use their weapons, it was time to see for himself just how he measured up.
Fortunately, he seemed to be in luck. The bullets fired from these smaller handguns were far slower than the ones fired by Ruby's weapon, which was consistent with what he had read that rifles generally fired projectiles faster than the smaller handguns. They were still moderately fast and their small size did make them difficult to track with his normal vision, but even though they appeared slightly fuzzy he could still see them even in the relative darkness around them. And they were slow enough that he could dodge them as long as he was more than five or six feet away and could see them coming. Someone shooting from his blind spot would still be able to hit him assuming he was stationary or they could hit a fast-moving target.
Sasuke wasn't sure exactly how much damage the average bullet would do if it hit him; chakra did allow him to reinforce his body against attacks to a degree. Nevertheless, he had better things to do than to find out.
As it was Sasuke didn't even need to dodge any bullets, he only had to stay out of the line of fire of the remaining two opponents that still had guns. That much was something he could have pulled off when he was five. Telling where the barrel was pointed could not have been easier or more obvious and it was all too easy to evade the areas the guns were pointed. The fact that the guns were wielded by civilians with pitiful reaction time who had no chance of following the rather tame speed he was using made his job even easier.
Two hits took out both firearm wielders, and the remaining three opponents were taken out less than a second later.
Now that everyone who had been armed was lying face-down in the snow, the Uchiha slowly turned toward the few people remaining who were unarmed that were slowly coming to terms with what had just happened.
Violet was one of the few of the group that was still standing. Moments ago she and twenty-one others were enjoying each other's company and the wonderful substances that had been distributed between them. Five seconds later she found herself staring at a half-destroyed tree and nineteen of her friends and acquaintances lying unconscious on the ground and staring in motionless shock at the one responsible.
He was attractive, unbelievably so. His face had exotic features that held an emotionless stare that made her feel like a bug someone was debating whether or not to crush.
In ordinary circumstances she would have referred to the teenager standing in front of her as a mere boy. He was younger than anyone in her group, in his late teens or very early twenties if she was to guess. She had been hit on by plenty of older high-school teens before, and all of them shared the same baseless confidence and inexperience common with their age group that made her reject their advances in a heartbeat. It had never ceased to amuse her seeing the deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces when she sent them packing or when an older guy trying to get her attention came along and effortlessly one-upped them.
That situation was completely reversed here. He was the one in control holding the cards, and she was the one who was in over her head.
"I have a question for you, girl. And I would appreciate it if you answered it truthfully and quickly."
It was not a question; it was a demand.
He spoke with an undeniably foreign accent that she couldn't identify. He didn't speak quickly or slowly; it was in a smooth, nonchalant manner. His words combined with his appearance were somehow able to make her feel relaxed, sexually excited, and utterly terrified all at once.
"Where can I find someone capable of reprogramming your friend's scrolls and removing their tracking system?"
His words made no sense to Violet for a few seconds until she tore her eyes away from his face to his hands. In between both of his hands there were three scrolls and sizeable wads of lien. Her eyes widened in amazement upon realizing that during the maelstrom earlier he had somehow managed to steal what looked like all of the lien his victims had as well as three of their scrolls.
"Th-there's a guy called Eddie down on Eleventh Street who does that. And with e-enough lien he doesn't ask questions."
An involuntary shudder went through her body as the teen started taking slow and deliberate steps toward her.
"Take me to him."
"Wh-what?" she exclaimed, desperately hoping she had heard wrong. Her remaining friends who had not been attacked had abandoned her when it became clear she was the only one he was questioning. They were currently running as fast as they could toward the city, leaving her all by herself.
Real terror began to set in as she realized he could kill her before she could even take a breath if he wanted to. Violet's fight-or-flight instincts screaming at her to turn and run were directly conflicting with her knowledge that running would do her no good.
"You know what I said. Do not waste my time. If you've been lying to me so you can help your friends," his tone taking a stern note "you will be there to explain to me why you thought you could get away with it."
The blood in her veins chose that moment to freeze. He was standing less than a foot away from her now, and she could have sworn his onyx eyes were seeing right through her own pupils and examining the contents of the brain behind it. She hadn't been lying, but there was no doubt in her mind that if she had she would have lost her nerve and confessed her deceit at that moment.
For the first time in her life, Violet was owned. It was not an opinion or an emotion she felt, it was a fact. This stranger could take her life at a moment's notice if she displeased him, and there was no way out of it until he decided to let her go. Even if she tried to call for help, there was no doubt he would be able to snap her neck before she could finish a sentence.
Holding back tears of fear and swallowing the lump in her throat, she murmured an almost inaudible "Follow me" before leading this monster in human form to his destination.
'It's been two hours since I arrived in Vale. All things considered I'm making good time.'
The purple-haired woman he had 'persuaded' to help him had kept good on her word. He had just enough lien to pay Eddie for the job he wanted. He was unfamiliar with the technical details of scrolls, so Sasuke decided to have him put together a new one from the different parts of the three he brought with him (with the tracking feature removed for an extra price) to minimize the chances of someone locating him if they tried to trace one of the scrolls he took. Just to be sure his new scroll that was essentially an illegal collage couldn't be identified he had Eddie add a dark blue cover that set it apart from the more commonly-used white theme that the ones he had stolen had.
He would worry about the basic details of how to use his scroll later; he had just enough lien to also pay for a fake identity to be implanted on the device. It wouldn't hold up under serious scrutiny, but if he didn't draw attention to himself it wouldn't matter.
With that task complete the next course of action was obtaining enough lien to pay for a small apartment. Unfortunately keeping off the radar meant that bounty hunting and other high-paying and high-profile illegal activity was out of the question, as were any ordinary jobs he may have qualified for. What was left was rather unassuming grunt work for any local crime bosses or businesses with plenty of under the table activity.
It wasn't going to be enough to get the down payment for a cheap apartment anytime soon, which was why Sasuke now found himself waiting with several other older, rather large men for his turn in a cage fight.
The purple-haired woman who led him to Eddie had readily divulged the location and time of the event when he had asked them where he could get a large sum of lien quickly. It was obvious she had been desperate to give him what he wanted in hopes he would be done asking her for help and set her on her way. Seeing as she hadn't lied to him so far, and she was terrified of him despite the fact he never directly threatened to kill or even hurt her, he decided to take her at her word and told her to leave.
It had been rather amusing seeing the look of disbelief that crossed her face when she heard he would let her go so easily. A simple 'get lost' after she stood in shock believing there was no way he was serious about letting her go was enough to get her to begin sprinting away from him. Normally he would have taken her with him until they had reached the location of the fight, but he decided it would be less risky if he let her go now. He hadn't told her his name, but even so he was pushing his luck with what could be considered borderline kidnapping and certainly assault if he included her companions he took out earlier. The sooner she left the better.
Underground fighting was popular in the more lawless areas of any city, and Vale was no exception. Places like this usually held events every week or two in his own world, and he had been lucky enough to arrive when this one was happening. It was a one-on-one match with the reigning champion, and anyone was free to challenge. There was a substantial reward that was enough for his short-term needs for anyone who lasted five minutes without being knocked out. The clerk had clearly not been impressed by the fact he didn't have the appearance of a 250-pound bodybuilder and didn't think he had a chance, but the Uchiha could not have cared less. It was none of his business anyway.
"Number three."
'I'm number four, should only be a few minutes.'
And it was unlikely the third contender would win from what Sasuke could tell. He was in his mid-twenties and well built, but a single glance at his apprehensive demeanor and unsure gait suggested he was having second thoughts now that the chips were being laid down. He was clearly someone who made the mistake believing that bulking up at the gym was all that was needed to be a good fighter.
Sasuke hadn't seen the reigning champion he would be battling tonight, but he hadn't kept his title for almost three years by being weak or inexperienced. As tempting as it was to label a simple street fighter as a weak grunt compared to a professional shinobi who had spent his childhood learning the best ways to kill people, such arrogance was not a good idea in this situation.
In order to make fights fair, there was a no-aura rule that was strictly monitored using both combatant's scrolls to ensure no one had an unfair advantage. Aura users were rare, and most of them were Hunters. Ordinary fighters simply didn't stand a chance against them.
Anyone caught using aura in the arena would instantly become a pariah; people of all walks of life in every kingdom had some recognition that Hunters had a noble and vitally important job of keeping the kingdoms safe from Grimm at the risk of their own life. Any such person caught using their time to cheat money from civilians instead was not treated kindly.
Another less culturally relevant reason for aura being prohibited was simple economics; aura users were usually Huntsmen or Huntresses or who had some kind of training thereof and were capable of much greater feats of destruction than ordinary people if they fought. It wasn't good business to have to repair and rebuild the arena every time there was a match.
Sasuke didn't have to worry about the scroll revealing his aura- he didn't have any to begin with. He had been worried the scroll would pick up some kind of reading from his chakra, but the device could not read anything from him when he tested it and was in the clear.
Still, the Uchiha would have to hold back significantly in his fight. A chakra-enhanced blow would easily kill his opponent, the last thing he wanted. He couldn't end the fight in a single blow either- even if he wasn't using aura a one-hit knockout from a random challenger would likely make them think he had cheated some other way.
He was going to have to draw the fight out a bit and probably take a hit or two to comfortably sell his performance.
"Number four."
'He couldn't last a minute? Oh well, not my problem.'
With that Sasuke stood up and followed his escort wordlessly through a short hall before being halted before a set of double doors.
"Just go through when they call your name and go into the ring."
The Uchiha had to resist the urge to roll his eyes 'do they think I can't figure that out on my own?'
"All right, our champion BoneSaw is still eager for more action after three rounds, so let's meet our next challenger!"
Cheers and shouts of an excited crowd drowned out all other noise as the announcer called him out to the ring.
'This place is far too noisy.'
The surrounding crowd began to throw various insults and taunts as he swept through the doors and passed those seated on the front row. Several cheerleaders in rather revealing leather outfits were on either side of him, either taunting him or striking poses and keeping the crowd entertained. He scoffed with annoyance when one scantily-clad blonde started walking in front of him and ridiculed him that a boy whose balls hadn't dropped had no business fighting a real man.
The blonde's eyes widened in shock when Sasuke grabbed her shoulder and brushed her aside, continuing his walk to the ring as if she and the rest of the crowd were nothing more than annoying insects buzzing around him. Onyx eyes locked onto his opponent- the only person in the room that mattered.
BoneSaw was a hulking man that appeared to be in his mid-thirties with unruly red hair that almost went to his shoulders. He was almost a foot taller than Sasuke and was probably close to around 300 pounds of mostly muscle if he were to guess. He didn't seem injured from his previous bouts at all except for a small bruise on his right cheek where someone had managed to land a hit.
'He's probably used to overwhelming opponents and ignoring most hits using his size and strength; it's about what I expected. The size of his muscles means his range of motion will be limited and his movements will be more visible and easier to predict.'
People who weren't used to fighting and killing others often made the mistake of assuming that the larger the fighter, the stronger they were. Great size and the strength it brought certainly did make a difference in battle, but there were numerous drawbacks to such a body type. Shinobi valued lean, average-sized bodies for a reason.
Large bodies usually suffered in the speed and stamina departments. A large fighter would have to have their legs and feet support, move, and direct a 200 to 300-pound body above them; a difficult task when one had to change direction or sprint forward at a moment's notice to either avoid an attack or take advantage of an opening. A more average-sized person would have an only moderately smaller leg muscles perform the same functions for a body roughly half the size in far less time and with less effort.
In addition, muscle tissue ate energy and stamina at gluttonous rates during the strenuous, quick-paced action of a battle. It only made sense that the less muscle there was to burn through the energy reserves, the longer a combatant could last before muscle exhaustion set in and their speed and strength waned.
Sasuke planned to fight without using any chakra at all to really sell the idea he wasn't cheating even though it would mean he would not be able to match BoneSaw's raw power. With his experience though, winning would not be difficult. Without chakra his blows to his opponents' stomach and torso would probably not amount to anything, so the face and joints would be the primary targets. All he had to do was exploit his opponents' size-related weaknesses as well as what the Uchiha presumed would be overconfidence, and the match would be his.
"Taka is our youngest contender of the night, and it looks like he's way out of his weight class! He still seems confident even after laying eyes on his rival, but he'll have to back that attitude up in the ring if he wants the prize!"
'Feels kind of strange having a stage name, but I can't tell them my real name in case Ruby or Taiyang hear it.'
The Uchiha took the last step up into the arena and stood in the area the referee directed him to roughly six feet from his adversary.
"Haha! You've got guts, pretty-boy, I'll give you that much! But I think you've got the short end of the stick with your brains! How is your scrawny ass going to beat me?"
The Uchiha didn't answer- it wasn't worth wasting his breath on boasting when the final result was all that mattered.
BoneSaw's mouth formed a scowl a few seconds later when it was clear his new challenger was not going to take part in any trash talk. "The quiet type huh? Have it your way kid, not like it will change anything. That face of yours won't be so pretty once I'm through with you!"
At that point the referee decided to intervene and formally start the fight now that both combatants were in their assigned starting positions.
"This is a bare-knuckle fight. If you give up, are knocked out, or fall and can't get up before I count to ten, you lose. There will be no hitting the groin, no hitting the eyes, no biting, no spitting, no hair-pulling, no fish-hooking, no hitting when your opponent is down, no hitting or grabbing the throat, and no clothes-grabbing. You have five minutes to fight."
The referee stepped back, allowing the two combatants to get in their opening stances. For his part, Sasuke got into a rather typical boxing stance with his right fist forward and left fist held back to counter.
BoneSaw let his arrogance get the better of him and didn't even give Sasuke the courtesy of lifting his arms to ready himself, clearly not thinking the Uchiha posed any threat.
"Begin!"
The starting bell rang, and BoneSaw started taking several lazy steps forward to further mock his much smaller challenger, who did not move an inch after the fight started. A smirk on his face at the thought of an easy win against such a latent adversary, he drew his right arm back for a straight punch.
The next thing BoneSaw's eyes saw were the lights above the arena as a blindingly fast uppercut jab forced his head up. Enraged that the blow actually hurt, he ignored the throbbing pain in his chin and continued his punch where he left off.
BoneSaw had lowered his head and was half-way through the punch he initially planned before he realized Taka was no longer standing in front of him.
'What? Where di-'
No other thoughts could form before another hit from his right side outside his field of vision contacted his face with audible force.
The audience watched in shock as Sasuke then placed his left hand and his right leg on BoneSaw's shoulder and leg respectively before using him as a springboard to jump directly over his opponent and land on his left side.
BoneSaw had only just finished turning toward where his opponent's last punch had come from with a furious look- determined to make Taka answer dearly for his attacks, only to find no one there.
His head had barely turned to search for his missing target when Sasuke threw a powerful right overhead that forced the defending champion to stumble a step forward as his face was once again struck.
BoneSaw's anger reached new heights when he tasted the metal tang of blood in his mouth. The last hit had split his lip, and a small but still visible amount of spittle and blood fell onto the floor in front of him as proof of his injury.
He was going to have to take this fight seriously. It was clear that despite his average stature his challenger's body was pure lean muscle and was capable of generating far more force than his size would suggest. He was quick too- his footwork, agility, striking speed, and reaction time were by far the most impressive he had ever seen.
"Whoa, whoa, will you look at this! Taka is running circles around BoneSaw and has taken first blood! It's the first time tonight our champion had been forced to bleed, and it looks like Taka is far from done! Better not underestimate him folks, he's tougher than he looks!"
"You son of a bitch! I'm gonna-"
Whatever he was going to do was going to have to wait until after Sasuke finished breaking BoneSaw's nose with a left cross. Not done, the younger combatant followed with a quick uppercut and backed away a bit to leave a fraction of an inch distance between his face and his opponent's hasty counter jab. He brought his left arm beneath the extended limb and lifted it just enough to provide an opening on BoneSaw's unprotected flank, which was exploited by another blur of an uppercut.
"This is unbelievable! Taka's punches are the fastest we've ever seen here, I can barely make out the blur when he attacks! BoneSaw seems to have the same problem and hasn't been able to block or avoid any hits so far!"
Finally realizing that talking wasn't going to get him anywhere, BoneSaw advanced forward while swinging his left arm in a broad sweeping motion hoping to get his slippery adversary to duck and place his head in the perfect position for his right arm to follow through with a cross punch.
The older man smirked in anticipation as Taka did exactly that and threw his right fist forward as fast as he could so his target wouldn't have time to pull off a fancy disappearing act again.
His fist found its target, making a satisfying thud as the force of the blow threw the younger man's head back and almost threw him off his feet.
BoneSaw rushed forward to take advantage of his adversary's loss of the initiative and pay in kind the blows he had earlier suffered through. A powerful punch angled down to account for the difference in height was avoided by the raven-haired challenger, but dodging the blow put his back to the edge of the cage around the arena.
Despite the bruise that was already starting to form on his cheek from the hit as well as a slightly split lip that was starting to bleed, his foe was clearly not rattled or panicked from the blow. He still held the same neutral, indifferent expression he had shown the moment he had walked through the doors toward the arena.
"And BoneSaw has finally landed a solid hit to Taka's face! Is he about to turn this around!?"
With a roar of rage, the older combatant sprinted forward, pinning his left arm at his challenger's collarbone and forcing him back into the corner of the arena. Taka's upper back and head were slammed into the edge of the bars of the cage with enough force to produce a cringe-worthy ringing noise from the struck metal.
Playtime was over as far as BoneSaw was concerned, he had been humiliated enough already from a rival that he should have been able to take out in the first five seconds.
His right arm wound back and was thrown forward into his rival's gut with as much force as he could muster. BoneSaw wound his arm back again and followed with four more punches to Taka's stomach, but his target's abdomen did not yield and there was no sudden rush of air and spit from knocking the wind out of the lungs like he had hoped. Taka's muscle tone and density were so high it felt like he was punching a wall of leather-covered iron.
His left arm still pinned on Taka's collar, BoneSaw once again used it to thrust his adversary's head and back against the metal cage before following it up with a vicious haymaker to Taka's head which smashed it straight into the bars of the cage with enough force to put a small dent in the metal and create several bleeding injuries on the back of his head.
"And BoneSaw follows up with a brutal counterattack! Taka is pinned against the cage, and it doesn't look like he'll be able to get out of it!"
Sasuke… was bored. He had been kind enough to duck BoneSaw's clumsy arm swing earlier and give his enemy a perfect opening to punch his face to make it not so one-sided. The Uchiha had let his adversary have a bit more fun by allowing himself to be pinned to the edge of the ring and take a few blows to his face and abdomen, but if he were being honest this fight was about as interesting as watching wallpaper dry.
The only reason this felt remotely like combat was that because he wasn't using his chakra to reinforce his body, he was taking every punch and hit with raw flesh and bone. It was certainly painful, especially the sting on the back of his scalp as it met the metal cage bars, but he was nowhere near his limit. Even with his chakra handicap, the physical force Sasuke was putting behind his attacks as well as his striking speed were being held back significantly due to the earlier assumption that he would have to exhaust his opponent and drag the fight out. He could have knocked his enemy out dozens of times over by now if he had wanted to.
BoneSaw's attacks were painfully slow, childishly predictable, and had only a bit more than half the power behind them he had expected. He had willingly taken several hits that had drawn his blood, and that was enough for his purposes.
'I thought I would have to draw the fight out a bit to wear him down, but if this is the best he can do there's no point in dragging it out any further.'
BoneSaw drew his fist back for yet another attack, ready to continue striking his foe as many times as it took to smash the consciousness out of his head. Faster than even his adrenaline-fueled eyes could see, his adversary struck the junction between his shoulder and pectoral muscle not with a clenched fist, but with extended fingers that dug into the tissue at the exact moment the massive arm was thrown forward.
The massive blow was halted mid-way through the swing as BoneSaw felt a sharp, burning pain that forced a cry of agony from his mouth. His eyes couldn't follow what had happened, but he didn't need to be an expert to know that a muscle, ligament, or some kind of soft tissue in his arm had been torn, twisted, or somehow disabled.
A punch that a civilian could only follow with slow-action video and was capable of cracking bone landed squarely in BoneSaw's Solar Plexus. His maw was forced open and exhaled the near entirety of the contents of his lungs in a sudden burst of air and noise that echoed through the arena before he even realized the previous blow to the shoulder had rendered his right arm almost completely numb and unable to be moved forward.
His body instinctively hunched forward from the sudden assault on his diaphragm, another uppercut too quick to be seen smashed into his chin and forced the head up so abruptly the brain inside was bounced off the inside of the skull hard enough to cause a concussion.
Seeing nothing but stars and unable to comprehend what was going on around him, BoneSaw did not feel Sasuke grasp his useless right arm with an iron grip before jumping into the air and using the acquired leverage to twist his body and deliver a flawless reverse roundhouse kick. His head was snapped to the side and the gums of his mouth were damaged enough from the blow to dislodge two teeth from their attachments to his jaw.
Upon landing on the ground dense leg muscles tensed and shot Sasuke's body forward the instant his feet touched the ground.
Quite ready to finish this, the Uchiha's right arm was thrown forward in a ferocious hook that smashed straight into BoneSaw's temple.
BoneSaw was thrown off his feet from the blow, several previously dislodged teeth falling from his mouth along with a mouthful of blood that smeared the floor of the arena.
He hit the floor with blood oozing from his mouth and struck areas of his scalp. He did not move and did not get up. An almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest was the only sign that he was still alive.
For a second, there was a pause as the announcer and audience gradually comprehended what they had only seen as a series of blurs before a chorus of applause and cheers erupted.
Sasuke had several small bleeding injuries on his head and face, but he still held an unconcerned look as he glanced first toward his fallen enemy and then at the ecstatic audience.
For those in the stands, his neutral look only served to increases the drama of the match. Taka had defeated the reigning champion in less than two minutes, ignoring what should have been finishing blows and a seemingly hopeless trap in the arena's corner. He had pulled through and taken the win in less than two minutes, and he had made it look easy.
The cool and aloof expression showed them that it had been easy. It was clear there had never been any doubt in Taka's mind that he would triumph. All of the jeering and taunting before the match had meant nothing to him because he had known right from the start that he would be the last man standing.
The referee came to his side to pull his arm up and announce him the victor even when it was clear he would not be heard over the roar of the crowd.
"THE CHALLENGER WINS THE MATCH! THE CHALLENGER WINS THE MATCH! UNBELIEVABLE! After three years of dominating the ring, BoneSaw has been defeated! Taka will take the 5000-lien prize and the title as Champion with it!"
Sasuke inwardly cringed- he had somehow forgotten that all he had needed to do was last five minutes in the ring without loosing to get the prize money. Defeating BoneSaw, however, technically made him the new Champion as well.
'Dammit, this position might do me more harm than good. I should have just kept my distance and run out the clock.'
Being a champion did presumably come with decent pay as long as he kept winning, likely more than enough to finance his basic needs while he worked on the seal home. Unfortunately, such a title meant his name and appearance would be far more public than he would like. He had a good cover story, but it would be better if he didn't take unnecessary risks.
'Although I probably would only have to spend a night or two working here if I accepted, which would give me plenty of spare time to work on the seal. And there are a large number of displaced people and orphans from Grimm attacks in the kingdom anyway. Even if I do become more well known it may not be that big a head turner.'
"Great job, kid! Never seen anything like that performance!" the referee interjected. "With your size it's hard to believe, but you didn't use aura or cheat to win. Follow me, I'll take you to the owner to get you your winnings."
As they started their walk out of the arena, quickly pausing to make way for a pair of medics to take BoneSaw out on a stretcher, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a slight shock at the crowd's sudden change in attitude as he walked by. The sneers and mocking comments had been completely replaced with cheers and shouts of appreciation and adoration.
'Three, two, one…'
Right on cue, the squeal of dozens of newly-born fangirls filled his ears as he was unfortunately forced to walk within touching distance of the front-row crowd. The Uchiha repressed the urge to tense his body as every female and a few men made it their goal to lay as much of their hands on him as they could as he passed.
Their appreciation for his looks had been tempered by his age and their low expectations of his performance when he had first entered the ring. But now that it was clear he had talent and skill to back up his attitude the women held nothing back.
And some of the women really didn't hold anything back. By the time Sasuke got to the door marked 'Employees Only' no less than three pairs of naked breasts had been flashed to him.
'And I thought Karin was forward with her advances…'
As aggressive and blunt as the attention he had received from Sakura, Ino, and Karin had been, he was relatively sure they would never resort to that.
'Modesty seems to be in short supply in this world.'
The Uchiha took the short time walking to what he presumed would be the owner's office brainstorming possible outcomes of accepting or rejecting the title. It would likely be a tempting offer; but if whatever deal he could make didn't include some kind of identity protection for him he would have to decline. The job Eddie had done on his scroll was a decent one from what he could tell, but it would be a good idea to have some other fake records or documentation just in case his scroll was compromised.
After a brief detour to have his weapons and coat returned Sasuke was shown to a double set of what were obviously expensive wooden doors that were opened to reveal a slightly overweight middle-aged man with a grey suit and black tie seated at a well-kept desk in a rather traditional, if slightly larger than average office.
"Ah, the man of the hour! Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mr. Slate, or just Slate if you prefer. I am the owner of this establishment. Please, take a seat."
Stepping forward, the Uchiha eased himself into the opposite chair while making a point to position his legs so he could snap himself up immediately if for some reason his meeting went south. Mr. Slate had a rather amiable smile on his face, but the possibility he was upset at his loss could not be ruled out.
"I've got to be frank with you; I don't have the slightest clue where you chose your stage name. It's sure as hell not something I'm familiar with. But with your performance tonight I suppose you've earned the right to be called whatever you want out there" Slate said while leaning forward slightly in a friendly gesture, "However, seeing as how our business is a bit more personal, I would like to ask you your real name."
"...Sasuke Uchiha." There was little chance Taiyang or Ruby would be in the same crowd as Slate, so the Uchiha wasn't too worried about being identified.
Even without taking the father and daughter into account he was tired of either hiding his name or coming up with fake ones. It was awkward enough being called Taka by the announcer. This was one of the few occasions he could think of where he prioritized his emotional will over pragmatic reasoning. His clan had a proud and noble history, and he was sick of hiding its name from the people. Even if there was no way they would have heard of it before.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sasuke. I'm sure you've heard this already, but no one was expecting BoneSaw to be beaten by a teenager half his size tonight. Normally under such circumstances I would have thought there was no way you could have pulled that off without some kind of dirty trick and would have had a few of my boys take you out back for a lesson."
The Uchiha's eyes narrowed- the scroll reading his aura had been on and had shown nothing, not to mention the numerous cameras capturing the entire fight to show he had performed nothing illegal. He had been searched and scanned for any hidden weapons before he had even arrived at the waiting room after he had handed over his kunai pouch and sword. If Slate didn't keep his end of the bargain Sasuke would not hesitate to use force- a place like this wouldn't call the Police over a deal it would be easily proven they broke.
"Now calm down, no need to get upset. I didn't see the fight personally but I did catch a recording of it before you got here, and I don't see any evidence you cheated me. I'll admit I'm a bit disappointed I'm down 5000 lien on what should have been a series of easy matches, but a deal is a deal."
Slate pulled out a yellow envelope out of his desk before handing it to the Uchiha. Sasuke briefly opened the envelope to verify its contents before placing it in his coat pocket.
"I'm going to guess you didn't bring me to your office just to hand me the prize money" the Uchiha stated bluntly.
"You would guess correctly, Mr. Uchiha. You didn't technically need to win your match to get the prize, but the fact remains you went the extra mile and deserve to be compensated accordingly. You are our new Champion, and as long as you hold the title I can promise a 7000-lien payment every two weeks as well as more… high class services while you are here."
Sasuke kept his expression neutral but stiff as he responded, "And what would you be expecting of me?"
Slate leaned back while replying, "Why defending your title of course! You would only have to come for scheduled fights every Friday night starting at 10 o'clock unless you are still recovering from any injuries from the previous week. You would only get paid half the normal amount in such an event, but you would keep your title."
"Money isn't that great a concern to me" Sasuke replied. "Your offer is a good one. But if this is going to be beneficial for both of us, I'm going to need one more thing from you."
"A teenager that considers something else more important than money? This should be interesting" Mr. Slate remarked before leaning forward in anticipation. "What might your extra condition be?"
"Identity protection. Underground fighting by itself is a grey area in legal terms, but you and I will both be in trouble if the authorities find out your champion is a minor."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on" the older man exclaimed in disbelief, "You're telling me you aren't even eighteen?"
"I'm sixteen."
At that point Mr. Slate's jaw slackened and dropped and his eyes opened in clear surprise.
"Holy shit kid! With how you look and what you showed in the ring I thought you were around twenty! Your telling me you trained to fight at that level with no aura before you can even drink!?"
A small affirmative nod was Sasuke's only response.
"Damn kid, you must have had quite an interesting and intense life so far to be driven enough to get to where you are now."
'You have no idea.'
"But your age does present a complication. Don't get me wrong, I still want you here. But I might have to pull a few strings to cover this little issue u-"
The sound of doors opening behind him prompted the Uchiha to turn around at whoever had decided they had a good enough reason to interrupt their negotiations. Onyx eyes couldn't help but widen as Sasuke observed the largest non-Curse Mark modified human he had ever seen walk into the room.
He was a bear of a man both is stature and general appearance. He was around seven feet tall and had short black hair with what had to be a ridiculously thick beard and moustache. He was clearly more than just hired muscle though- the dress pants, vest, and tie he wore were far too sharp for a security detail.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if I could cash in on that favor you owed me if this young man will agree to it."
Judging from the newcomer's tone and language, there was going to be a mild conflict of interest between the two regarding him. So it was rather unexpected when Mr. Slate, instead of an argumentative response, simply paused a moment before growing a smile on his face that gave the impression he had just had everything he needed to solve his dilemma appear before him by sheer chance.
"Actually Junior, your timing could not be more perfect. Sasuke here is in need of a bit of… identity tweaking for the public eye. Surely you or one of your many friends are capable of such a commonplace task?"
"The only reason I came up here after seeing that match was to inform the new champion of a job opening I have. Making a fake scroll history or ID papers is a small price to pay" Junior proclaimed while turning to Sasuke, making a point to let him know he was the primary addressee of his statement.
The Uchiha made no body language signals of any kind to make sure both of them knew as little as possible about his state of mind. Negotiation, after all, was a contest that was governed by which party needed the other more. The more it appeared he was indifferent or unflappable the stronger his position would be.
"If I accept Slate's offer my Friday evenings and likely Saturday mornings will be spoken for. If your proposal interferes with that you are wasting your time unless you have more to offer."
"Oh, there shouldn't be any conflict of interest with the time Mr. Slate needs you for. I'm offering you a second job on the side if it interests you. It will take up a bit more of your time than Mr. Slate will, and the pay will only be about half of what you get here. But if you're willing to take the position you do have a bit of leeway when it comes to choosing your working days and I can give you the best ID cover there is."
"…I'm listening."
"I own a nightclub near downtown with some of the best nightlife in Vale there is. I've got plenty of security for the common problems of drunks, guys starting fights over who's going to go home with the girl, that kind of stuff. I do have a couple of bodyguards who have aura capabilities to deal with the unlikely scenario of a Hunter or Huntress coming in to cause trouble. Problem is they're the only people I currently have who I can trust to handle that kind of fight, which means I can't rotate them with anyone to get them consistent breaks or days off. They're not going to leave or anything, but they have been asking me for a while to hire someone that can deal with aura-users so they can have a bit more of a personal life. I only came here as a spectator, but after I saw you work your magic I think you'll fit the bill."
"You want to hire me as a bouncer?" That was it?
"I do. You may not have aura yourself but with your skills and speed you might stand a decent chance. Your speed is definitely comparable to a few Huntsman I've seen in action; maybe even a bit faster. The position is yours if you accept."
Sasuke had to agree with Slates' earlier assessment; Junior's timing was perfect. If Slate was willing to assert that Junior could get a good cover for him there was a good chance the man could deliver his promise. The chances he would have to get involved in a real fight with Huntsmen were likely pretty low, so in all likelihood he would just be a silent observer for most of his work hours with the occasional minor dispute to break up. For the Uchiha, it was a deal that had high rewards and low risk.
It felt odd that after such a long string of ridiculously poor fortune, an opportunity this good had fallen into his lap.
"Make a cover for me and you have a deal."
"Consider it done. I don't suppose you have any objections, Mr. Slate?"
"As long as I have him Friday nights, I couldn't care less what deal you have with Sasuke. But for the record, even without a conflict of interest consider my IOU paid."
"Fine," Junior scoffed, "I wouldn't have been able to get much out of your favor to me anyway."
"Alright then," Slate concluded, "looks like we have ourselves a deal."
AN: Please read and comment, reviews are my lifeblood and motivation!
Final note; more of a life advice thing. If by chance the opportunity comes to you, make sure to go out drinking during the Fall Daylight Savings Time. An entire extra hour to drink at the bars- best accident I'll probably ever make.