Sparring Partner

Kazuma was disappointed he couldn't be a medic. But there is nothing he could do about it. He couldn't change his chakra. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed happy about learning medical ninjutsu. He applied himself by doing the training Izumi had for him. 

That evening, Sasuke thought about the day. He realized he desired to learn Medical Ninjutsu. Yes, he seemed to be good at it, but it wasn't Sasuke's main reason. All the people he knew were destroyers with his brother Itachi on top of the list. Even Jun was known for his ability to kill. But Sasuke didn't only want that. He didn't want the power to simply destroy. Taking a life was easy; anyone could do it. But saving a life was more difficult. Not everyone could save another's life. 

Sasuke didn't want to become like Itachi. He didn't want to be only known as a prolific killer ninja. Then his mind shifted to the Mangekyo Sharingan. A small part of him had hoped Itachi spared him because he loved him… because he cared about him. It wouldn't have changed anything for Sasuke. He would still hate his brother. But a part of him wanted to believe that. 

However, learning about the Mangekyo Sharingan had killed that part of him. He knew why his brother had let him live. Itachi wanted his eyes. If that was the case, then Sasuke had his answer. Never awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and let Itachi go blind. Then, he would have his vengeance. But the thought of it hurt for some reason he couldn't explain. It was the same every time he thought about his brother. 

If he learned the Mystical Palm, he would be different from his brother. He would have something his brother couldn't take away. He would have something his brother was missing. However, he didn't want to give up on being a ninja. He would still train in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. He wanted to be strong. He wanted to be able to protect those he cared about. 

But he didn't want killing to be the only option. If he knew medical ninjutsu, maybe he could have saved Haku after he defeated him. 

The next day, he asked Izumi for more training. She was surprised but delighted. Medical Ninjutsu was becoming more popular, but she didn't expect someone from her family to follow her path. She thought she would be the only medic in the clan. Moreover, Sasuke was the last person she would have bet on to show such enthusiasm toward medical ninjutsu. All the teenager thought about was shuriken techniques and Katon techniques. 

Therefore, Izumi decided to teach him the basics. Their first stop was to the library where she had him check out several books on chakra control and the human anatomy. Sasuke preferred a more hands-on approach, but he didn't complain. If reading books would help him achieve his goal, he would do it. 

However, the road to mastering the Mystical Palm was long. And there was something else coming soon that occupied the genins's minds… the Chunin exam. It was only a couple of weeks away now.

Sasuke had been hearing about it for a while now. Jun had mentioned that he was registering his team. Neji talked about it regularly, especially since Shin had been promoted during the last exam in Suna while he and Tenten had remained Genins. They both desired to catch up with their teammate. Team Gai will also take part in it. 

For a time, Kazuma hardly showed any interest in the exam, but his sensei Yamato was thinking about it. He seemed to believe his team was ready. They were strong, though he vexed Sasuke to admit it since it was Naruto's team. He found the latter annoying, always trying to stand out. When they were at the Academy, Naruto always challenged him. Sasuke sighed. They were probably stronger than his team… 

Thinking about his team, they haven't done any missions since the last one that almost cost their lives. Moreover, Kakashi didn't seem interested in registering them for the exam. Sasuke was pissed about it. The other genins for his promotion were all doing it. He was afraid his team would fall behind. If Kazuma who was younger than him became Chunin before him… And if Naruto did the same thing, Sasuke would never hear the end of it. 

They've been training more than usual. Kakashi was now doing his job as a sensei. But the jonin still didn't fix that habit of being late. They wasted most of their time waiting for him. He had also noticed Sakura and Kiba were closer now. The girl, who couldn't stand the Inuzuka at first, seemed to welcome his presence. They even hung out together just the two of them. Sasuke didn't care what caused the change. He didn't ask them about it since Sakura had stopped bothering him. He would surely not complain about it. It was more time for him to train.

One day, while going to one of the training grounds, he met Jun's team there. The Uchiha clan leader wasn't there. His genins were alone stretching. 

"Hey, Sasuke!" Tenten exclaimed, waving her hand. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing special. Just walking around. Jun isn't around?" 

Shin shook his head.

"He has a meeting at the Division."

"Ah. And... your temporary teammate?"

"You mean Inaho? She still needs to work her shift at the Police. It's just us today." 

"We were supposed to train with Kazuma's team, but they received a last-minute mission," Neji added.

"Are they running after the cat again?" 

"Who knows…"

"You want to train with us? Tenten suddenly asked him.

Sasuke gave her a suspicious look, but Tenten wasn't one of those girls who bothered him all the time for no reason. The young Uchiha didn't see the same look on her face that the other girls had when interacting with him. She was casually juggling with a few kunais. Sasuke remembered Jun had mentioned she was good with weapons. His interest was picked. 

"Sure," Sasuke replied. "Everyone for himself or we split up in teams?"

"Let's split up. You and Neji against Tenten and I," Shin replied.

"I'm good with that," Neji agreed. "The usual rules?"

"Yes. All techniques are allowed. We stop when someone surrenders or at the first serious blow. Are you ready?"

Sasuke changed his stance, his heart beating harder in excitement. He and Neji were familiar with each other's fighting style. However, he didn't know much about Shin and Tenten. It was the first time he trained with them. He was looking forward to it. 

"Go!"

They all made their move about the same time.

All the members of Team Jun were versatile, but each had an obvious specialty. Neji was an expert of the Gentle Fist and embellished the Hyuga style with a panel of attacks typically Uchiha such as Katon Jutsus and their shurikens and kunais techniques. Jun didn't want him to solely rely on the Hyuga style so he made sure Neji knew other Ninjutsu. Tenten could also Ninjutsu in addition to using weapons. She began by casting a Suiton followed by a Futon technique before releasing the seemingly endless weapons in her storage scrolls. 

Shin was the team's Kenjutsu expert. He was incredibly skilled with the sword. He combined it with Doton and Genjutsu techniques. Sasuke rarely faced an opponent that used Genjutsu. Without his Sharingan to alert him, he would have fallen into Shin's illusions. The latter could cast his Genjutsu amid his sword attacks. He only needed one hand to rapidly perform seals. No wonder he was already a Chunin. Sasuke was a bit jealous.

Hyuga and Uchiha stood side by side, facing their opponents. Neji activated his Byakugan, veins bulging around his eyes as he scanned the area. 

"Stay sharp, Sasuke. Tenten's weapons and Shin's Kenjutsu will be tricky."

Sasuke smirked, his Sharingan spinning into focus. "Let them come. I'll handle Shin. You take Tenten."

Neji sighed. He had expected as much. Sasuke had recognized Shin's strength and wanted to fight him.

Across the field, Tenten unsealed a scroll, summoning a barrage of weapons with a flick of her wrist. 

"Ready, Shin?"

Her comrade nodded and drew his Tanto. 

"Let's see how they handle this."

Without warning, Tenten launched a wave of kunai and shuriken towards Neji and Sasuke. Neji leaped forward, spinning into his Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation, deflecting the projectiles with a whirlwind of chakra. Meanwhile, Sasuke dashed to the side, his Sharingan tracking the movements of Shin.

"Katon, Fireball technique."

Shin leaped in the air and avoided the jet of fire coming for him. He landed and put his hand on the ground. Several rock spears appeared around Sasuke. Thanks to his Sharingan, the Uchiha avoided being impaled by dodging. But it gave his opponent the time to close the distance. As Shin's blade fell on Sasuke, the latter pulled out a kunai and blocked it.

In the meantime, Neji had engaged Tenten, their fight was a mix of close-range strikes and swift dodges. Tenten wielded a pair of nunchaku, her movements fluid and precise as she matched Neji's gentle fist technique. He was his teammate. She was used to his style. She threw a flurry of strikes, but Neji deflected each one with graceful efficiency.

"You're not getting through my defense, Tenten," Neji said, his voice calm.

"We'll see about that," she replied, leaping back and unfurling another scroll." This time, she summoned a massive spiked iron ball, swinging it toward Neji with surprising speed.

Neji's eyes widened, but he reacted swiftly, sidestepping and delivering a powerful palm strike to the chain, redirecting the ball's trajectory. The ground shook as the ball crashed into the rocks behind him.

Sasuke was having trouble in close-quarter combat. He would have already lost if it wasn't for his Dojutsu. His opponent was stronger and faster. Even with his Sharingan, he was being pressured. It was only a matter of time before he lost. 

"Enough of this," Sasuke muttered, taking a big step back.

He threw a kunai with an explosive tag at Shin. The latter dodged, but the force of the blast pushed him back. Several Shurikens flew toward him with a wire tied to them. Before Shin could react, Sasuke pulled on the wires, pinning Shin to a tree behind him. Using kunais, he nailed the wires on the ground while he kept the main one between his teeth, freeing his hands. He then formed a series of hand seals

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu."

Sasuke spat flames from his mouth that traveled through the wires, hitting Shin straight on and engulfing him. 

"Not bad…" A voice said besides the Uchiha. 

Before he could react a kick sent him flying.

Sasuke was surprised to see Shin. He looked at the tree and saw a burned block of wood where Shin's body was.

"You used the Substitution Technique."

"Correct. The time between immobilizing me and casting your jutsu was too long. It was enough for me to get away before your flames hit." Shin explained. 

Sasuke slowly got up.

"Shall we continue? I will be a bit more serious now." Shin said.

Neji who was monitoring their fight, exchanged a brief look with Sasuke. The Uchiha reluctantly nodded. The two changed their strategy.

"I will be your opponent," Neji said coming over to Shin as Sasuke faced Tenten.

"Shin is strong, isn't he?" Tenten said to the Uchiha with a smile.

Sasuke let out a grunt.

Without warning, Tenten launched a wave of kunai and shuriken towards Sasuke. The weapons sliced through the air, gleaming in the sunlight. Sasuke dashed to the side, his Sharingan predicting the trajectory of each projectile, allowing him to dodge with precise, fluid movements.

Neji leaped forward to engage Shin, his Byakugan granting him a near 360-degree field of vision. Shin moved at high speed in all directions, leaving afterimages.

"You're not going to catch me off guard, Shin."

"We'll see about that, Neji."

Sasuke closed the distance between himself and Tenten. She switched to a pair of nunchaku, twirling them with expertise. 

"Think you can handle me, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's Sharingan glowed, analyzing her movements. "We'll find out soon enough."

Tenten made her move, her nunchaku a blur of motion. Sasuke ducked and moved his body out of the way, narrowly avoiding her strikes. He retaliated with quick punches and kicks, but Tenten blocked them with her nunchaku and countered with a swift strike to his side.

Grimacing, Sasuke leaped back, forming a series of hand signs. 

"Katon: Phoenix Flower!" He spat multiple small fireballs toward Tenten, who dodged gracefully.

"Katon: Fireball Ball!"

A dragon of fire sprang from the Uchiha's mouth, as it shot towards its target. Tenten remained calm as she executed several hand seals. 

"Suiton: Raging Waves!"

A massive jet of water hit the dragon. Sasuke's Jutsu was stronger as the water technique didn't fully nullify it. However, it slowed it down and took away some of its power allowing Tenten to dodge the rest. Steam covered the field. 

Tenten, realizing she needed to up her game, unfurled another scroll. 

"Time for something bigger." 

She summoned a barrage of spiked balls and chains, swinging them with deadly precision. The weapons whistled through the air, their shadows dancing on the ground. Sasuke evaded as best he could, the terrain limiting his movements.

She's good, Sasuke thought, landing awkwardly after another dodge. But I can't lose again.

As Tenten swung a massive spiked ball towards him, Sasuke seized the moment. He darted forward, closing the distance before the weapon could gain momentum. Using his Sharingan, he predicted her next move, grabbing the chain and yanking it, pulling Tenten off balance. He followed up with a swift, spinning kick, sending her sprawling across the ground. 

Before she got back up, Sasuke straddled her and placed the blade of his kunai against her throat. He was breathing hard, but his eyes shone with satisfaction. 

"I surrender," Tenten said with a smile. "It was a good match."

Sasuke nodded. He would never have had such a challenge from Sakura or Kiba, that was for sure. Of all the people he'd fought so far, Tenten was the first whose style complemented his own so well, and who was at the right level… Not too far behind him, not too far ahead. It had been pleasant, exhilarating, and fun fighting her. He put away his kunai, got off her, and offered his hand to help her up. 

"We should do it again one of these days." The Uchiha said with a rare smile as he helped Tenten up.

"For sure. You should go help Neji though."

"Ah yes…"

But before he could get going, Neji and Shin walked toward them. They were both bruised. 

"Who won?" Sasuke asked.

"We decided to stop before one of us got seriously injured," Neji said.

"But since Tenten surrendered, your team wins this time," Shin said with a smile.

"So how was fighting Sasuke?" Neji asked his teammates.

"Surpringsingly good." Shin replied.

Tenten nodded.

"We could fight each other again during the Chunin exam. I look forward to it." Tenten added.

"If my sensei decides to register my team."

"Oh don't worry about that… I heard Gai challenged him to have one of his students promoted Chunin before one of Kakashi's."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. The rivalry with Gai was one of the rare things that could move his sensei. But in this case, it wouldn't complain if he allowed him to take part in the Chunin exam. He went to grab something to eat with Tenten, Neji, and Shin. The sparring had cleared his mind, and for the first time in days, Sasuke felt relaxed.