Sasuke looked at the Bingo Book on his table. He picked it up, flipping through the pages one by one, not in a hurry to reach the marked page that would be his teacher.
He was no stranger to this book, having one of his own, filled with little notes as he tried to imagine himself fighting against the people inside it.
Name after name, picture after picture.
The first pages were the five Kage, the strongest shinobi in the world. Following those were other names he knew: Killer B of Kumo, Jiraiya of Konoha, Orochimaru, a rogue shinobi from Konoha.
And him... Itachi Uchiha, the butcher of the Uchiha clan, with a massive 1 billion ryō bounty issued by Aiko.
Personally, Sasuke didn't want HIM to be killed by some random bounty hunter. This was something he had to do himself; only if he killed HIM would he wash away the shame of being his brother.
But no matter how much he disliked it, there was nothing he could do, Aiko hated him, wanted him dead more than anything, and Sasuke, he understood, or at least he tried to.
At least he understood that Aiko had lost just as much as he had, left only with her son, the rest of her family dead because of HIM.
So he had no right to ask her not to want him dead at any cost.
Not that he thought it would work, he didn't think any bounty hunter out there was strong enough to kill HIM, but if it caused him some problems, then that was fine, a little taste of the revenge that was coming for HIM.
With a snort, he continued to leaf through the book one page at a time, from the biggest S-rank shinobi and kunoichi into the A-ranked ones.
It didn't take him long to reach the marked page.
It was on an A-ranked shinobi, Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja.
He read the page, memorizing the little information that was available.
Sharingan, in a non-Uchiha. He was the reason the Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai was so famous outside the village. His reputation was great. 1,000 copied jutsu, or so people claimed.
Sasuke had heard about him before, and he wasn't happy about the Sharingan being given to someone outside the clan, but given that Obito had gifted it to him before his death... There was little he could do about it.
His father had allowed it back then, so there was nothing he, not even a Genin, could do.
Still, an elite jōnin, one of the best in all of Konoha, and a user of the Sharingan, he was likely the best teacher the village had to offer, at least he would be able to teach him a few ninjutsu.
Not that he lacked them, but if Hatake truly had mastered a thousand of them, then there must be a few useful ones in those that Sasuke didn't know yet.
And since they both had the Sharingan, Hatake's fighting style was no doubt also something Sasuke could do, which was likely better than that of other possible teachers.
So all in all, it wasn't bad, he was even the student of the Fourth Hokage, so he might know some secret ninjutsu learned from him.
Slowly, he started to plan for tomorrow, given the possible test, it was better to be prepared, even if Hatake couldn't fail them due to Naruto, it would still be humiliating if he failed the test and had to accept pity or politics to pass.
Still, it was pretty hard to accept Naruto as someone powerful like that... But as long as he was useful, he would accept anything for his revenge...
...
...
...
Sasuke had arrived early the next day, something he always did as neither he nor Hinata wanted to walk to school together with everyone else.
The Uchiha clan was still famous, maybe even more so now than ever before, and Sasuke wasn't a fan of all the eyes watching him walk around, not to mention the many fangirls.
At least at the Academy, there were only so many, but outside it? Tens of times more were waiting.
So, he arrived early, and as Naruto arrived, the blond loudmouth had for some reason singled him out.
Normally, Sasuke wouldn't have paid him any mind, but it was only because of what he learned yesterday that he paid him attention when the loser jumped up on the table and started staring right into his eyes.
He couldn't help but find him unbelievably stupid.
He was Sasuke Uchiha, and he had the Sharingan, yet Naruto dared to look him directly into the eyes like that?
If that wasn't stupid, then he didn't know what was.
He was really tempted to use them to trap him in a genjutsu that would teach him not to look into the eyes of a Uchiha.
Still, given they would be teammates in a few hours, he held back.
Something he deeply regretted.
Because as Naruto leaned in closer and closer as he tried to intimidate him, someone knocked into him from behind.
Which led to something happening, something which Sasuke wouldn't talk about for the rest of his life.
Something that made him hate the fact that Naruto was so damn important that he couldn't murder him for it.
"Naruto, you are so dead," Sakura said, as she and the rest of the fangirl group stood shoulder by shoulder, ready to punish the blond for daring to steal their beloved Sasuke's first kiss.
Sasuke secretly wished they would follow through with their threat, but inside, he knew it was impossible.
"Hey, whoa! It was an accident!" Naruto tried to defend himself.
Sasuke couldn't resist rolling his eyes. Did he even need to say that? If that wasn't an accident, then what was it?
But as he was thinking that, Iruka-sensei walked in, saving the dumbass from a very painful death, or at least a good beating.
"Alright everyone, settle down and take your seats," he said.
Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he was saved, and hurried to find a seat that put him far away from the still very angry girls.
As the classroom quieted down, the gravity of their new reality as shinobi began to settle in. Sasuke felt the familiar cool determination seep back into him, washing away the morning's humiliating incident. This was just the beginning. A single, stupid, accidental kiss with the dead last meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. Vengeance was a path of decades, not days.
"Now," Iruka continued, a hint of pride in his voice. "Before I announce the teams, I want to say that all of you have done well to reach this point. The path of the shinobi is difficult, fraught with peril and sacrifice. But it is also a path of honor, of protecting your home and the people you care about. Cherish your hitai-ate, for it is more than just a piece of metal—it is a symbol of your commitment."
A wave of murmurs went through the class. Sasuke felt nothing. A piece of metal couldn't bring his family back. Only power could. Only his hands, stained with the blood of a certain man, could.
Iruka picked up a scroll from his desk. "I will now announce the teams. Team 1 will be..."
Sasuke tuned him out. He already knew his team number. A benefit of being well connected, even if other parents might not tell their children this, to keep it a surprise. The Uchiha clan didn't like surprises, not anymore.
Team after team was called out. Some students looked overjoyed, others looked like they'd just been handed a death sentence. When Ino was paired with Shikamaru and Chōji, her face fell. Sasuke almost smirked. The Ino-Shika-Chō trio was a legacy, but he doubted the princess of the Yamanaka clan saw it that way.
Even then, the mere fact that she harbored hope to end up in a team with him was baffling; after all, their team was one that couldn't be changed.
It only reinforced the fact that fangirls were stupid.
Finally, Iruka reached the number he was waiting for.
"Team 7 will be: Naruto Uzumaki."
A groan rippled through the room. Naruto himself puffed out his chest, grinning as if he'd just been announced Hokage.
Sasuke kept his expression neutral, a mask of indifference. Only the slight, almost imperceptible tightening of his fists on the desk betrayed his inner turmoil.
"Sakura Haruno," he continued, which caused the girl in question to look like she had just eaten a fly, while Naruto couldn't help but stand up and cheer loudly.
Sasuke honestly couldn't understand the guy. Why would he be happy about that? Why did he even like Sakura? She clearly hated him with a passion, and she wasn't even that pretty.
Why chase her when Hinata clearly had a crush on him? Why couldn't he see that?
Compared to Hinata, what was Sakura worth?
"And Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka continued, which caused Naruto to collapse like his life had just ended, while Sakura shot up from her seat and jumped for joy.
"So loud," he couldn't help but mutter in annoyance.
Their reactions were just pathetic.
Sasuke's own reaction was non-existent. He just nodded, accepting it as the reality it was. He was Team 7. The dead last, the useless fangirl, and himself. A joke, if not for the secret Aiko had revealed. Now it was a political powder keg, with him as the wick.
"Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake," Iruka concluded before moving on to the next team.
Sasuke didn't care to listen to the rest of the teams. He already knew who would be on the Hyūga heir's team.
Team 8 was Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyūga, under Kurenai Yūhi.
A strange team, fully recon, another match made due to political reasons. Two of them were clan heirs, and the other was the youngest son of a clan leader.
Yet their teacher was far too weak. Not to mention, she was a bad match for them. A genjutsu expert wasn't bad, but what could she teach them? None of those three used genjutsu.
How he hated politics.
As the last team was announced, Iruka gave them their lunch break before their new sensei would come to pick them up.
Sasuke had read all about his new teacher, which included the fact that he was always late, not to mention he was informed that he would likely be paying a home visit to Sakura and Naruto while they were gone.
To learn more about them, after all, one could learn a lot about someone by seeing how they lived.
Though it wouldn't work for him, no way Aiko would allow someone, even his future teacher, to snoop around their home, and even if she allowed it, the Hyūga clan wouldn't.
"You two," he said as he stood up, "We are a team now, and no matter what you think about it, nothing is changing it..." he paused to look at the two. "Let's go eat lunch as a team, my treat."
(End of chapter)
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