Chapter 23

I didn't know what Sasuke wanted with me, but I still agreed and he then left. Naruto said "What a weird guy" and Sakura then turned to me and asked "So Hatsuo, what did you do all these days"? I suggested "I am hungry and you must be too. Shall we go to some restaurant?"

I felt like a scammer, making people pay for food, but I was poor and my stomach doesn't know what shame is. So, we went to a normal diner and ordered rice with curry. We then talked about what we did and, Naruto and Sakura told me about their mission. Even though they shouldn't disclose this information, they are kids and it was the first time they experienced this.

I was happy that everything was following the timeline, but there was one detail that felt weird. Sakura said that she was attacked once when she was in the Land of the Waves with Tsunami. It was at that time, she was saved by a woman with black hair. Sakura described her as the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her entire life.

I made a note to look into this later and continued to eat my dinner. We then spoke some more and Sakura ended up paying for me this time. Although it is embarrassing, I wasn't in a situation to do anything. Naruto then left, leaving me and Sakura alone. I offered to walk her home, which she didn't refuse. While we were walking, I noticed that Sakura looked down and she didn't have her usual cheerful attitude. I asked her what happened and she looked at me before she looked down. She then said in a low voice "Hatsuo, in this mission I was completely useless. Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones that fought the ninjas while I couldn't even defend myself when someone tried to attack the bridge builder. My genjutsu is turning out to be useless against experienced ninjas. I put a boy named Haku in genjutsu and it only took him a few seconds to realise he is in genjutsu and break free. I don't know what to do. When I asked Kakashi what to do, he recommended that I come to you and train in taijutsu. He said that you are very good at taijutsu, but I don't have your physique. You have been training since childhood and are obviously stronger than me."

I understood her situation and I am actually happy that she decided to acknowledge the fact that she is weak. In the show, Sakura had the pride of being one of the top students in her class, but the academy wasn't just practical. Sakura was good in studies while she isn't that good in combat. She is trained to be a support ninja and it will obviously be difficult for her to fight in a battle, but I think I can help with a few self-defense moves. So I said to her "Sakura, if you want I can teach you taijutsu. You won't be able to use it against people, but you will be able to defend yourself against attacks."

Her face immediately lit up, she looked at me and said in an excited tone "Yes. Thank you Hatsuo." and jumped at me for a hug, which I could dodge but didn't. After a while, she realised what she did in excitement and moved back. Her face was red and she said "That...that... I was just excited". I just nodded my head and watched as she ran to her home in embarrassment. I chuckled and returned home.

The next day, I went to Mikoto Uchiha's grave, which was near the graves of other dead Shinobi. When I arrived at the graveyard, I saw Sasuke standing before the grave. I approached him and Sasuke noticed my presence. He said "These flowers weren't there before I went on my mission. Did you visit her grave?" and I nodded my head.

He then turned to me, displaying his Sharingan to me. He asked in a serious tone "How did you survive? My brother killed everyone from the Uchiha clan, even babies. I won't believe that he couldn't kill you."

Is this idiot really asking that? I know that it does sound a little suspicious that I survived but then, Itachi sparing him is also suspicious. Itachi said that he wanted to test out his strength, but he also killed babies. How come Sasuke never thought that it was suspicious. I obviously was silent and Sasuke then said "I heard from Naruto that you left the village exactly the day he killed everyone in the Uchiha clan. That isn't a coincidence."

I sighed and said "Your mom and dad sensed that something was going to happen and asked me to leave the village since they didn't want me to get involved in it". Sasuke was in complete disbelief when he heard that. He caught my collar and shook me as he shouted "That can't be true. If they knew something was going to happen, mom and dad would definitely stop Itachi. You are lying."

That's right, Fugaku came to my house after Mikoto visited my house and gave me money. He obviously would know when half a million is missing in his house. Fugaku came to my house and promised me that he would make sure I left the village safely. That's the reason I was able to throw a farewell dinner for my friends.

Also, I can understand what Sasuke is going through. He doesn't know about the Uchiha planning a coup and the fact that his parents let me escape is painful for him, but even I don't think Fugaku expected Itachi to wipe out the whole clan alone. I think Fugaku thought that the Konoha would send ninjas and it would end in a big battle.

I didn't say anything and let Sasuke calm down before moving his hands from my collar. I then said "Even if I stayed in the village, Itachi wouldn't kill me. He would let me go telling me that it was useless to fight someone weak. It would be no different from your case. So, don't think too much about it." and left.

I don't know if I should have told him all this but again, I feel like he deserved to know. I then went to the Hyuga household and trained as usual. I then went to the training site of Team 8 and this time, Sakura was waiting for me there. When we arrived, I looked around since I couldn't find Kurenai. I asked Shino and he replied that he doesn't know as well.

I then said to Sakura "It looks like Kurenai is late. Let us start our practice." and she nodded. I took her away from the three and stopped. I turned to her and said "Taijutsu is mainly physical strength and if you want to use it in combat, you have to be strong. Since you are weak now, I can teach you a few moves for self defence, which don't require physical strength. You will instead use the power of your opponent to attack. Let me show you."

I then showed her a few judo moves, which my father from my previous life made me learn. I also taught her how to defend herself if the enemy has a weapon. I thought of these moves when I was training with Yugao. Sakura observed me demonstrate those moves. When I was done, I said to her "Now, learning these moves isn't going to help you much if you are against experienced ninjas. Only through real-life experience, can you use these moves against them."

I heard someone clap from behind and turned to see Kurenai standing on a branch. She then jumped down and landed before me. She asked "Those are some pretty good moves. I haven't seen anyone use them. Where did you learn those moves?"

"I just learnt that on my own in between fights." I replied. We then went back to genjutsu training while Sakura was training with Hinata. At the end of the day, while everyone was leaving, Kurenai asked me to stay back. After everyone left, she asked "Hatsuo, can you do me a favour?" and I replied with a nod. She then said "I have very important work tomorrow and I will not be able to train them. Can you just look after their training tomorrow? You don't have to do much. Observe their training and tell me what do you think. I heard many people talk about how you know to fight."

I thought for a while and said "Fine, but in return I need some information from Asuma. If you can talk with him and help me with that, it would be great". Kurenai thought for a while and replied "Ok. I will talk to him, but only if the info you want will not harm the village or anyone else."

I then went home, ate ramen and slept. The next day, at the training site of Team 8, they were waiting for Kurenai as usual. I went to them and explained what happened. When I was done explaining, Kiba immediately shouted "You want to spar with us. You don't even have chakra. What was Kurenai sensei thinking."

While the rest were silent, they also agreed with Kiba, everyone except Hinata. She knew that if I make any claims like this, it means I am confident, not overconfident. I looked at Kiba, who even in the show, was filled with pride till he lost to Naruto. I said to him "You don't have to worry about me. I can fight you guys blindfolded."

Although I want to train my advanced observation haki, the fact that I am using blindfolds, pisses many people because it looks like I am looking down on them. Kiba then said "Fine. I didn't want to hurt you since you were my friend, but this is too much. Let's show him Akamaru."

I sighed and put on my blindfolds. Akamaru transformed into Kiba and they both were on all fours. Kiba shouted "Fang passing fang" and began spinning while he came at me. Akamaru followed Kiba and did the same. I jumped onto a branch and avoided them. It was at that time I sensed a tiny bug flying in my direction. I immediately jumped to another branch and that's when I sensed that Hinata will throw a kunai at me. I dodged it with ease. Sakura looked at Hinata and said "What are you doing Hinata? He could have died if he didn't dodge that."

I then announced "I have increased my senses in battle. You won't be able to even touch me if you are not serious." while I was jumping from one branch to another. Kiba and Shino didn't let me take a break. While Kiba and Akamaru were just charging at me mindlessly, Shino was carefully trying to get his bugs on me. I will also lose once he gets any paralysing bug on me.

I was just dodging for a while when Kiba and Akamaru landed on the ground tired and said "Why are you running around like a coward? Fight on the ground if you are as strong as you say". I thought about it and jumped down from the tree because Sakura and Hinata were not able to fight properly while I was jumping from one tree to another.

Immediately when I jumped down, Kiba threw a smoke bomb towards me and performed his fang passing fang again. This time however, I didn't dodge. I just stood there and when he got closer to me, intending to attack me, I embedded my fist with haki and punched him right in the face. A single punch was enough to knock him out. It felt a lot like how Luffy took down Bellamy with a single punch.

Seeing Kiba out, Akamaru came at me. Since he was just a puppy, I punched him without haki. It was still enough to knock him out. At that time, I sensed that a bug would fly at me from Akamaru, so I jumped out of the smoke cloud.

While I was mid air, a kunai flew at me and I had to use my haki to catch it and throw it back at Sakura. When I landed, Hinata didn't give me time to think. She came at me with her Eight Trigrams technique, which I carefully blocked this time. I also punched her near her ribs and pushed her back. I didn't put much force into it, as an injury there would be fatal.

I then went to Sakura and she was surprised to see me approach her. She took out a kunai in a hurry, but I caught her hand and flicked her over my back and onto the ground. (This move is called Tsuri-goshi in judo)

As for Shino, he just said "I give up. I know that fighting you will be meaningless." because he knows that if I try to use physical attacks, I will lose and if I use weapons, it would be dangerous for training. So, I agreed and decided to stop for today. Kiba woke up after an hour and glared at me the whole time. He took a big hit to his pride, which I still don't understand where it comes from. He is not even the topper in his class.