Teaching Sasuke

"Seriously, what time is it already? Teacher Kakashi's late again." A little girl with pink hair stood at Konoha's front gate, her face full of helplessness as she spoke.

"Hmph." Beside her, a cold-faced boy gave a soft snort, also expressing his indignation.

Next to the two of them, a middle-aged uncle wearing a bamboo hat silently wiped the sweat from his forehead, but he could only keep waiting helplessly.

After all, this uncle had a guilty conscience himself, so he was in no position to urge them on.

These three were, naturally, Sakura, Sasuke, and their client, Tazuna.

A while later, a tall figure finally arrived late and unhurried.

Just as Sakura was about to question him, a short figure suddenly appeared from the side, looking at the three of them with a smile.

Seeing this, Sakura could not help swallowing back the words that were about to leave her mouth.

Although she was always grumbling in private about Kakashi being late, when outsiders were present, she still knew to save Teacher Kakashi some face.

The newcomers were none other than the leisurely, swaying Kakashi, and... Kyosuke, who was replacing Naruto.

"Oh, everyone's here. Today, I was late because—" Just as Kakashi was preparing to make an excuse for his tardiness, Tazuna suddenly spoke up from the side and cut him off.

"You're finally here. Let's hurry up and go," Tazuna said impatiently.

"Wait a second, Naruto isn't here yet," Sakura said, gazing into the distance as she hoped to see that orange figure.

Unfortunately, her hopes were doomed to be dashed.

"Ahem, here's the thing. Naruto has something to do this time and can't come. This is Kyosuke, who'll be taking his place on the mission. Everyone, get acquainted," Kakashi said to them with his dead-fish eyes.

At the same time, he turned and introduced Kyosuke.

Damn, does the system have to arrange things this logically? Kyosuke complained inwardly in surprise.

Then he had no choice but to step forward and introduce himself to the gathered "NPCs."

After he finished introducing himself, everyone except Kakashi could not help turning their gazes toward the slightly dazed Sasuke.

"You... you're an Uchiha too?" Sasuke stared blankly at Kyosuke for a while, then asked in a stammering tone.

"All right, we can talk on the road. It's getting late." Kakashi waved a hand, cutting off Sasuke's question, then announced their departure.

"So that's how it is."

Kakashi explained Kyosuke's "background" to everyone, and only then did they come to a sudden understanding.

As it turned out, Kyosuke's identity had been arranged as an Uchiha clan member who had been lost outside, and only recently finally returned to Konoha.

Hearing Kakashi say this, Kyosuke could only twitch the corner of his mouth and nod in agreement.

After listening, Sasuke silently glanced at him, his lips parting slightly, but after thinking it over, he closed his mouth and continued on in silence.

But Kyosuke had no intention of "letting him off."

"Your Sharingan hasn't awakened yet?" Kyosuke looked at him and asked with a light smile.

"...No," Sasuke answered without turning his head, then suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked back at Kyosuke in slight surprise.

What entered his sight was a pair of scarlet eyes.

"You!!!" Sasuke stared blankly at him for a while, then his breathing suddenly grew heavy.

Damn it, how old is he? He actually awakened the Sharingan already, while I... The more Sasuke thought about it, the more agitated he became, and at the same time, his fists clenched tightly.

Kyosuke naturally knew why he was so agitated. Wasn't it because he had thought of his older brother again?

"That brother-screwing Itachi," Kyosuke sighed, then quietly said something to Sasuke.

"All right, I'll try." After hearing him, Sasuke took a deep breath, then suddenly circulated his Chakra according to the method Kyosuke had taught him.

Accompanied by a faint numbness and stinging sensation, Sasuke felt his vision suddenly clear.

After standing dazed for a while, he could not help raising a hand to touch his eyes, and then...

He let out a burst of low laughter that made people feel faintly uncomfortable.

"Sasuke-kun, what did you say to him?!" Sakura looked at the somewhat unfamiliar Sasuke in terror, then turned her head and angrily questioned Kyosuke.

"Don't panic. For him, this is a good thing," Kyosuke said calmly, then no longer paid her any attention.

After venting the emotions he had suppressed for so long, Sasuke finally raised his head.

Judging from his expression, he should have calmed down again.

Similarly, he ignored the nagging Sakura and instead turned his head to look at the smiling Kyosuke.

Sasuke thought for a moment, then still said awkwardly, "Thanks."

Then he quickly walked to the front, lowering his head, no one knew what he was pondering.

Kakashi, beside them, had been silently watching the whole time and had not interfered with Kyosuke's actions.

Perhaps in his eyes, Sasuke being able to awaken the Sharingan was also a good thing.

After all, he himself was not too familiar with some of the basic "operations" of the Sharingan, so he had no way to guide Sasuke regarding matters in this area.

Now things were good. This boy who had suddenly appeared could not only help Sasuke when it came to his "eyes," but might even be able to ease his hatred a little.

Kakashi's eyes drifted slightly over Kyosuke, then he lowered his head again and began reading the book in his hand.

"Mr. Kakashi, what are you reading? Could I borrow it?" Bored out of his mind, Kyosuke decided to tease Kakashi a little.

Only, the way he addressed him still felt a little awkward.

After all, in reality, Kakashi was just like him—a tender little six-year-old boy.

Nothing like the lecherous uncle he looked like now.

"I wonder what Rin would think if she'd lived until now and saw Kakashi like this," Kyosuke speculated inwardly, with no small amount of malice.

"Ahem. The content of this book is too complicated. It's not suitable for you to read right now," Kakashi said with a light cough, sounding slightly embarrassed.

After all, his own subordinates more or less knew what was going on, so they would never deliberately point it out.

But he hadn't expected this newly arrived brat to ask such a pointed question right away, and even Kakashi's old face flushed faintly red.

"Heh." Hearing Kakashi's answer, not only Kyosuke and Sakura, but even Sasuke, who had been walking ahead with a heavy expression, couldn't help turning back to look at him with disdain.

And just like that, the group continued quickly toward the Land of Waves amid the noise and bickering.

After walking for most of the day, when they arrived at a broad crossroads, Kyosuke's and Sasuke's expressions suddenly shifted ever so slightly.

In this dry weather, two puddles of water had appeared abruptly in the middle of the road.

"Idiots," Kyosuke mocked flatly. Then he looked at Sasuke and said, "Don't you want to try out that new ability of yours?"

When Sasuke heard him say that, the corner of his mouth curled slightly, and without another word, he charged straight ahead.

At that moment, even if Zabuza's two subordinates were idiots, they knew they had already been exposed.

Though after releasing their Transformation Jutsu, they fought back with all their might, Sasuke's speed was simply far too much for them.

After just one exchange, the two men were knocked to the ground by Sasuke, whose strength had soared.