52 Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 52

"Yeah let's show him what we've got. He shouldn't have underestimated a member of Squad Seven!" Sakumo cheered on and Duy smiled genuinely.

He really was glad that he had failed twice if that let him form a team with these guys.

It really was worth it in the end.

...

"Let's go then!" he boomed and ran off, his three friends following up close behind the boy who was leaving a trail of dust within his wake.

Naruto and Sakumo were a bit peeved when they had started getting nearer towards the outskirts of the village. But nonetheless they followed their friend, who hopped down a branch and pointed his finger at an abandoned looking estate smack bang in the middle of nowhere.

"This is the dojo he uses guys…" he got three nods from his companions who started making their way to the dojo's entrance.

Tsunade looked around, the place was quite cool now that she had a closer look at it. It was mostly open with an old building near it's center giving the residents plenty of room…

Her ponytail shrilled comically like an antenna while her eyes widened at the new sensation of something roaming around her hips. Her palm opened up and she twisted around on instinct, and sure enough the boys in front of her heard a loud noise that made several birds fly off from their resting places.

"HENTAI!" her shrilled scream and the loud slapping noise that echoed the surroundings made the three boys turn around to see Tsunade covering her hips with her hands while her face was flushed red from anger and pure embarrassment.

"Tsunade-" Naruto gulped when he saw her neck snap to him with an absolutely livid expression plastered upon her face. "…what happened?" he finally got out in an attempt to calm the girl down.

She pointed her finger to a smoking mess near the walls of the estate and all of them narrowed their eyes at the slightly twitching old man who had a stupid grin upon his face.

"SENSEI!" all of them were shocked seeing Duy crying anime tears while he tried to wake the dizzy old man up.

"That pervert is your sensei?!" her voice was incredulous and Duy gave a simple nod, sighing in relief that the man was okay. Naruto and Sakumo sighed too, though this one was one pointing to the hopelessness of the situation.

"Of all the people in the world, Duy you have the best luck of them all…" Sakumo's voice was laced with sarcasm that his teammate didn't pick upon.

"See, isn't he most youthful?" the two boys sweat dropped while Tsunade picked him up by his collar with a stern look in her eyes.

"You want this pathetic pervert as your teacher?" she got a nod in return and narrowed her eyes at the boy. "You're better off without him." she finally got out seeing the lecher finally standing up on his feet.

"Is this the fees you got me for your apprenticeship, then I accept?" the jovial elderly voice of the conscious man chirped up making her gain a tick mark on her head.

"You wish you old pervert, come on now. We are leaving." she pulled the boy along with her when another hand clasped her wrist only to see Naruto looking at her calmly while he met her livid gaze.

"Calm down Tsunade, this man is the real deal." his eyes were fixed upon the stupidly smiling old man who had just finished dusting himself off. Tsunade though looked at him incredulously but her retort was cut down by Sakumo's opinion on the matter.

"Yeah, he got behind us even when I had my senses expanded. And Naruto isn't half bad if someone approaches us so close, not saying you're a sensor like me too Tsunade." Sakumo's voice of reason caused her to blink in realization.

If they looked at it like that, it certainly was true. She hadn't sensed him out too, so he was good at concealing himself at least.

"Yeah give him a chance, he isn't half bad." Duy consoled her and she let him go with a pout now crossing her lips.

"Whatever, just keep him away from me." she mumbled at having herself singled out in the argument.

"I bet you wouldn't mind if Naruto did that…" a voice whispered in her ear out of everyone's earshot and the reactions were instant. Her cheeks turned beet red, and before she could say anything Sakumo was looking away and whistling innocently.

She clenched her fists and opened them, doing it a few times to calm herself down.

It just wasn't her day.

"What do you kids want?" the old man's voice turned seriously gruff, snapping all their attentions to him. "Aren't you the one I told off yesterday, now go don't waste my time anymore…" he shooed them away in a dismissive tone.

"Why don't you want to train him?" it was Sakumo who had voiced his question and the man stopped dead in his tracks. He looked on at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Because he isn't worth it." he simply stated, and Duy's shoulders slumped a little. Naruto's eyes narrowed in on the man's back before he too turned around and started walking away.

One thing that he hated with all his being, were people who looked down upon his friend without even giving him a chance to show what he was truly made of.

"Let's go Duy, you don't need a teacher who takes on students seeing their potential firsthand." his voice was simple, as if he were reading the weather.

Master Chen's eye twitched in annoyance at his words, those damned Uchiha's certainly did know how to tick a person off without even meaning to do so in the first place.

"Aren't you full of yourself?" the old man spoke up suddenly, meeting Naruto's lone turned eye with one of his own narrowed one.

The blonde continued on his way out ignoring the man's snide remarks completely.

"Wait." his voice was strict as if he was commanding him, nonetheless Naruto did stop and look at the man in the eyes.

The old man looked at him calculatingly, his words had strung a cord within his heart as much as he was loathe to admit it.

"Let's place a bet so as to speak…" Naruto rose an eyebrow, not quite getting what he meant but didn't say anything and let him continue to humor the man a bit. "…you spar with me. If you defeat me and show me how worthless I am, I'll teach that boy everything I know." he ventured in and Naruto nodded.

"And if I lose?" he knew the stakes were going to be something if he lost too.

"Then you apologize by bowing on your knees and saying I am a better teacher than any you'd ever find though I'll still take him on as an apprentice." his voice was mocking, but Naruto's face betrayed none of his thoughts.

To decline would be to dishonor his mother figure, the man he aimed to replace one day and the teacher who had helped them through the struggles as a genin until now, all of them who had ventured to get him to where he stood today.

Plus, his honor was on the line here too.

"You have a deal, but you apologize to Duy too if I lose." his friends merely watched on stupefied while the two shook hands on a deal and the man motioned for Naruto to follow him in.

"Naruto be careful, his taijutsu is said to be even greater than that of the Hokage himself…" Duy whispered, worried about his friend and Sakumo nodded too. He knew more than anyone, pride was something Naruto placed quite high in his life.

Tsunade just kept glancing at him worriedly, not that Duy's words were doing anything to lessen them in the slightest, but she knew he wouldn't back down no matter what she would try to convince him. He was even more stubborn when someone pointed a stake upon his pride and honor.

The group stepped into the dojo, looking around the wooden built room in appreciation at how well maintained it was, despite the age the house showed on the outside.

"Alright let's get started." the man spoke up joyfully, throwing aside his shawl cloth he had draped upon his shoulders to make them see his simple kimono with brown matching pants and wooden Kabuki sandals upon his feet.

Naruto simply unstrapped his sandals to take advantage of some tiptoeing maneuverability in the shiny floored confines of the dojo without having his sandals to slow him down, having already been in a simple white T-shirt and blue pants he didn't have any need for any further tinkering than that.

He hadn't expected to fight on their day off, but now he was quite sad at having to ruin these clothes here. His thoughts were broken off by the voice of his competitor.

"The rules shall be quite simple, you land a single clean hit on me and you take a win. You have till the sun goes down the horizon to achieve that feat." the man's joyful voice spoke, shocking the four to their cores.

"You can't be serious?" Tsunade asked in disbelief, but the man just smiled at seeing Naruto's narrowed and accusing eyes.

"That's nine hours, you seriously expect him to not even hit you once?" Sakumo too was stunned at the confidence, or blatant stupidity the man was spouting from his mouth.

No matter how strong his taijutsu was, Naruto was no slouch.

And that wasn't to say how lethal he could be if he decided to let out his Sharingan in battle, that he all but avoided on any fellow villagers if he could.

"We'll just see at the end of the day, now won't we?" he mocked them even further and Naruto's jaw clenched shut.

...

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