10

Zabuza Momochi's following attack, while not wholly foreseeable, still managed to tilt Sasuke's axis sideways. The first two Demon Brothers he and Sakura had taken down was Kakashi's act of trusting their skill to handle themselves, despite the opponents being chuunins. Now, a jounin from Kirigakure wielding a monstrously sized meat cleaver left his sensei on ridiculously high alert. 

"This man is someone none of you can fight. Leave it to me and protect the bridge builder," he ordered before sprinting off to engage the missing-nin with rapidly moving hand-signs. 

To Sasuke, it really put into perspective the enormous gap in strength and experience between chuunin and jounin, but considering how Kakashi had immediately recognised the man and the same vice versa, coupled with how they seemed to be even in strength with the endless blows that neither side inflicted damage, he was coming to the conclusion that they were simply one of the best of the best. 

The only fights Sasuke had witnessed on a grand scale like this was between Shisui and Itachi. Sometimes, if Sasuke begged enough as a child, so long as he was at a safe distance away in the private clan training grounds, Itachi would reluctantly allow him to watch his weekly spars with Shisui. Their fights however, while littered with shurikenjutsu and graceful taijutsu was dominatingly genjutsu focused. Sasuke knew that meant he could not really appreciate the complexity of their subtle mind games and invasions as a spectator, making their fights less flashy on a surface level. 

Kakashi and Zabuza did not hold back, ninjutsu after ninjutsu, blow after blow, feint after feint. It was a battle of endurance between the two, one no doubt Kakashi began to lose as soon as he lifted his hitai-ate to rely on his Sharingan from the very start. Zabuza had smirked at how he was immediately being taken seriously by such an infamous shinobi. 

To put it simply, his sensei's body was not built for a Sharingan. The Senjus in their feud never stole Sharingans for themselves for a reason. It clashed dangerously with their larger chakra reserves, limiting their one true advantage as a ninjutsu heavy clan. Unbeknownst to outsiders, doujutsu theft has happened before to Uchihas, still it would never last long—their enemies would at the end grow so tired, listless and soul-damaged that they would pluck the presumed cursed eye out themselves. 

What they didn't understand was that the Sharingan was seen as a blessing from the deities Uchihas worshipped, therefore to be wielded by Uchihas only. To be placed on someone else went against their wishes and punishment would be given to them soon. Uchihas liked to call this divine timing. For this reason, a non-Uchiha would never be able to fully control the Sharingan, and it would feed on the thief's chakra unnecessarily until they collapse from exhaustion. The fact that Kakashi never gave up and continued to use the Sharingan with practice that spoke of years of mastery showed his perseverance of honouring his best friend's death and final wish. 

As the fight continued, the Sharingan's demanding price seemed to take its toll and Kakashi made a careless mistake of standing near the water, only to be encased in a water prison. 

Panicked, Sasuke's Sharingan was on and active out of desperation. Kakashi had warned him to only use the Sharingan in times of great danger. 

"Oh, an Uchiha with a sharingan. And I thought you all died," Zabuza mused with piqued interest. Sasuke gulped at the analytical, appraising gaze of the demon clad in human skin. "You—your eyes even would sell quite well on the black market. I'd make a lot of money with you. Yes, once I'm done killing the bridge builder and everyone else, you're coming with me." 

Sasuke's blood turned to ice, ears ringing at the casual dehumanisation and the potential pain and being caged up for someone else's gain. 

It was one thing to be warned about the dangers that came with being the last survivor of a clan with a rich, powerful bloodline and another thing to experience the hunger, the greed for money and the manic, bloodthirsty acts of his enemy. Memories of his aunts and uncles telling him stories of the greatness of their eyes and how the Uchiha legacy made them feared and coveted. Black markets, human trafficking and doujutsu theft was a cautionary tale for young children and the reason why the Uchihas were such a tight-knit community. 

The temperature dropped and Sasuke couldn't breathe. Kakashi was out of commission, Sakura was guarding Tazuna and Sasuke's only back-up was Naruto—fucking Naruto, just great. Was this it, then? Was his life over before it could even begin? Could he never avenge— 

"Fuck you, no-brows!" Naruto yelled from his position beside him. "You're not doing shit to Sasuke, ya hear me?" 

Grounding. Naruto was his anchor, the only force stopping him from breaking down in front of the enemy. 

In and out. 

Sasuke's Sharingan focused on the demon and the makings of a plan formed in his head and Naruto, who immediately understood what he was attempting to do, offered his help. Two inexperienced genin with far too much to live for, far too many people to prove wrong and surpass, joined forces. 

As soon as the plan worked, the missing-nin with a wounded pride leapt to end their existence and as a result Kakashi Hatake in his blazing, electrifying glory escaped from his cage and stared down Zabuza, mismatched eyes promising fury more consuming than Hell itself. 

Mesmerising in a rattling way. Sasuke could simply not look away, only watch as his sensei absolutely decimated the missing-nin. Like a switch was flipped and a warrior was fighting with sheer will-power alone. 

And just as Kakashi was about to deal the final killing blow, a few senbon shot out to stab Zabuza's neck with startling precision. 

A small figure in a mask materialised, claiming to have been searching for Zabuza for ages to execute for betraying his village Kirigakure. 

Sasuke hummed. The timing was too perfect. He looked over at Kakashi, whose composure was faltering and decided to say nothing. 

"But sensei, they're so young!" Naruto looked disturbed, face twisting with disapproval and Sasuke suddenly wanted to laugh. (That seemed to be common recently and it was always caustic, the musings of an onlooker drifting in and out of consciousness.) 

"In the world we live in, you'll come across shinobi younger than you with more experience than you and perhaps even stronger than you. This is not uncommon." 

The masked wearing hunter-nin was eerily silent, not offering any input to Kakashi's claim. 

All Sasuke could picture was Itachi at thirteen-years-old, mass murderer of one of the strongest clans in shinobi history and inwardly shuddered because Kakashi was right. 

The normalisation of children with too much talent forfeiting their childhood was common, even in a seemingly innocent village such as Konohagakure. Any hopes of finding a perfect prodigy was always open, especially after Kakashi Hatake's fearful reputation and Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and whereas Itachi Uchiha created fear over prodigies rising through the ranks too soon they were still highly regarded. A smidge of talent or abnormal chakra control and you were suddenly convinced or forced by your parents to become a shinobi and bring respect and honour to your family. 

It left shells of a human being, shinobis who only knew how to follow orders, who only knew touch that had violent undertones, who only understood any form of supposed intimacy through seduction, espionage missions, who were far too young to have the same empty look in their eyes that veterans also shared. 

Sasuke was far too aware of what he was getting himself into when he graduated from the academy. Sometimes he wished he could be as ignorant as Naruto or as optimistic as Sakura. All Sasuke could feel was time slipping away from his fingers, creeping from behind to remind him of his goal of killing That Man before it was too late. Because unlike others, Sasuke had a purpose. He would not question the state of the shinobi world and the hidden atrocities and war crimes. No, Sasuke's sole reason for existing was to avenge his clansmen and allow his family to truly rest in peace. Whether he had to destroy himself in the process didn't matter. 

He was losing himself, losing his goal, losing his sight. A constant reminder was needed to keep him sane. 

Sasuke Uchiha would not fall—not yet.