4 Chapter – 3 The Guardian & Cooking

A few hours later, Uchiha Sasuke's apartment, Konohagakure

Sasuke was sitting in a lotus position as he combined the physical energy extracted from his body's nearly thirteen trillion cells with his spiritual energy to knead Chakra. The Uchiha Clansmen have more potent Chakra than most other Shinobi, so it's no surprise that Sasuke's Chakra is also extremely potent, though how potent to be exact is something difficult for him to determine.

'It's not as potent as Tou-san and Itachi, but I guess that's only natural…' thought Sasuke as he opened his eyes and sighed. The Fireball Jutsu that Fugaku had shown him once is still very vivid in his mind, therefore, Sasuke is aware that his Chakra at this time is not as potent as powerful as his father.

"Oh well, at least I have confirmed that I have no problem in kneading Chakra…" he had to make to make sure. Certainly, he had confirmed this in the bath when he activated his Sharingan, however, he had to once again make sure of it. "But to be honest, it's a pity, there are no vessels for me to store the kneaded Chakra so whatever I have kneaded at the moment is a waste, on that note, if theoretically possible, I can use something external to store the Chakra I knead in my free time for later use, something like the Yin-seal… this way, I might be able to solve the problem of low Chakra reserves in a Child's body," muttered the young Uchiha with a thoughtful expression, then turned towards the balcony of his apartment.

The sun was about to set, and his stomach grumbled, causing him to groan uncomfortably, "Uhhh… I am really hungry…"

Ever since he shifted to this new apartment, Sasuke hasn't eaten anything. He went through the entire Funeral Ceremony, then took a bath, and tested out Chakra, and now that he has consumed a significant amount of his Chakra reserves, he was finally starting to feel hungry.

"If I recall, I did have a few hundred Ryō in my Shinobi bag…" mumbled Sasuke as he got up from the bed and picked up his Shinobi Bag. Fumbling through the bag, he did find a few bills in one of the small pockets, "This much should be more than enough for two to three days… but after that, I will have to tell Yūgao about this as well… I don't know whether I will receive periodic financial assistance from the village, or will get Tou-san, Kaa-san's as well as the rest of the Uchiha Clan's inheritance… I hope it's the latter because I would need a lot of resources and supplies for training and other stuff…"

How did Uchiha Sasuke live after the Uchiha Genocide, this isn't clear in the Canon. Certainly, he had an apartment for himself, but the rent, food, training materials, and supplies… these things come at a cost. If it's the monthly financial assistance, then it would be limited, and he would have to manage his funds which could limit his development… Sasuke doesn't want to focus his attention on the aspect of economics and funds, certainly, he can make money using some of his modern-day earth knowledge and experience, but he doesn't want to do that as that would divert his attention and distract him from the main task of getting stronger.

With that in mind, Sasuke removed his Pajamas and changed back into the clothes he had been wearing when he came, he had washed them while he took the bath, and put them out to dry a few hours ago, although they still retained some moisture, it's fine to wear them, even if it's not fine to wear them, Sasuke didn't really care at all since he has nothing else to wear at the moment. 

Looking at the empty wardrobe, Sasuke mumbled to himself, 'I guess, I will have to bring my clothes from my house as well when I go there to collect scrolls of Jutsu.'

Other than the pair of pajamas he was wearing earlier, and the set of clothes he is wearing now, he only has the funeral clothes left. Of course, Sasuke isn't planning to ditch this set of funeral clothes anytime soon either, they might come in handy sometime in the future.

Putting that aside, after changing his clothes and strapping his Shinobi bag, Sasuke left the apartment, he was making his way to the market district of Konoha to buy some groceries and meat.

He was a seasoned assassin in his past life, naturally, the young boy is quite good at cooking, after all, he had to act as a chef a few times in order to sneak poison into the meals of his targets, if he wouldn't have honed his skills in cooking, that approach becomes rather difficult, right? Therefore, Sasuke planned to cook his own meals. 

There are two main reasons why he wants to cook his own meals… One of which is that cooking helps relax the mind by distracting the person from unnecessary thoughts, something he really needs at the moment since only hatred and the thoughts of revenge are occupying his mind, and there's nothing he can do about it except training, but knowing that it would take him a lot of time is also making him a bit restless, and he needs to do something to get his mind off of that.

The second reason is that 'Uchiha Sasuke' is used to eating home-cooked meals, they were naturally prepared by his mother Uchiha Mikoto, and he doesn't plan to change that habit anytime soon. Maybe things will change when he becomes a full-fledged Shinobi, but right now, he wants to keep eating home-cooked meals.

It did not take him long to arrive at the Shopping District of Konoha since this area is not far from the center of the village, certainly, Sasuke is currently living near the center of the village. 

This district used to belong to the Uchiha Clan until seven years ago, but all that changed since the night of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, 'The Uchiha Clan was pushed to the edge of the village on the suspicions of being responsible for the attack.' 

Something similar happened in the Senju District. Since there were hardly any Senju Clansmen remaining alive in the village at the time of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, when the village was reconstructed following that attack seven years ago, the Uchiha District and the Senju District that occupied the centermost area of the village were completely destroyed. Part of that area was distributed among themselves by the four leaders of Konoha, while the remaining area was used for commercial districts and other public facilities.

"When Konoha village was established, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan gave up part of their territories to build the village… this entire Konohagakure is built on the territories of the Senju and the Uchiha, yet the ones living here are the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane…" mumbled Sasuke, 'No matter… for better or for worse, everything would change once I am done with my revenge… I will make sure to wipe out every single living member of these four clans from the face of this planet if it's the last thing I do!'

With these thoughts in his mind, Sasuke stopped by the stores he needed to buy the groceries from. Without wasting too much time, he bought the things he needed, some vegetables including carrots, potatoes, and onions, some spices, rice, bread, flour, eggs, and chicken meat, a few varieties of fruits, a few cookbooks, and utensils including rice bowls, a cooker, forks, spoons, chopsticks, and other stuff that he would need for cooking.

For those who can't guess already, Sasuke was planning to make the infamous Curry Rice, it's a Japanese dish that's almost a staple in the Anime. Although 'Uchiha Sasuke' has eaten the curry rice prepared by his mother quite a few times, in his previous life, he has never once tasted the Japanese curry rice, hence, Sasuke decided to try cooking this dish for his first try.

After buying all the stuff he needed, Sasuke returned to the new apartment only to find a person sitting on his bed. Seeing that person yet again on the same day somewhat soured his mood, he looked at the person, and questioned, "Why are you here at this time Yūgao?"

Indeed, it was none other than Uzuki Yūgao, who had returned to his apartment while he was out buying stuff for dinner.

Instead of answering his question, Yūgao looked at the stuff Sasuke had bought, and couldn't help but question, "Wait… are you planning to cook dinner?"

"What else does it look like?" asked Sasuke rudely as he put the stuff on the coffee table and looked at her.

"How rude?! And here I thought that you would be happy to see me since I have brought good news for you!" said Yūgao, a little dissatisfied at the way Sasuke responded to her earlier question.

"What good news?" questioned Sasuke, a little eager to hear her response. He had guessed that this must be related to the request he made to her back when she returned to wherever she was supposed to go after the funeral ceremony of the Uchiha Clan, and thought to himself, 'After that, she must have gone to the Hokage Building in order to report to Sarutobi Hiruzen… I guess, she must have been assigned the duty to observe me or something…'

Obviously, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't leave him unchecked since he is an 'Uchiha.' Knowing this, Sasuke thought to himself, 'If Yūgao had gone to report to the old monkey, she must have also reported to him about my desire to go to the Uchiha District in order to retrieve the Jutsu Scroll… and since, she mentioned the Good News, it can only mean one thing…' and questioned, "Was my request approved?"

Yūgao smiled, "Aren't you a sharp kid?" and nodded, "Indeed, Hokage-sama has approved of your request… tomorrow, we can go to the Uchiha District, and retrieve whatever Jutsu Scrolls you need, aren't you happy now?"

'Happy? Why be happy over something like this? Those Jutsu Scrolls belonged to the Uchiha Clan, to begin with, and since I am the only Uchiha left in the village, those Jutsu Scrolls obviously belong to me… why should I be happy about getting permission to take back what's already mine? If that monkey had given me something from his side, per se the Flying Raijin or any other good Jutsu, I might have a reason to be happy about, but that's not the case…' thought Sasuke to himself. Of course, he didn't bother to speak this out loud to Yūgao, and nodded, "Indeed, I am happy," then questioned, "What time?!"

Yūgao sighed. Sasuke's response, 'Indeed, I am happy,' obviously lacked any motivation since he spoke in a monotone voice, and thought to herself, 'Forget it… Uchihas have always been weird and cold fellows, not to mention, the boy has lost his entire Clan, obviously, his emotions are extremely suppressed…' Then she shook her head, and asked, "Well, how about seven o'clock in the morning? It should take around an hour or two at most for you to take all the scrolls and other stuff that you need from the Uchiha District… so seven o'clock should be fine, I can't allow any later than that since I have a mission tomorrow."

"Seven is fine with me," nodded Sasuke, then he suddenly realized something based on Yūgao's words, and questioned, "You will be accompanying me?"

Yūgao nodded while twirling her braid, and nodded awkwardly, "Well… I was kind of made your guardian or something by Hokage-sama, therefore, I am responsible for stuff related to you, so I will be accompanying you… just in case… so, if there's anything that you need, you can come to me, and I will try to help you out to the best of my abilities."

'She's definitely responsible for keeping an eye on me, my character, as well as my loyalty, and also keep track of what all Jutsu I master,' concluded Sasuke as he nodded in acceptance, "I understand," then asked, "In that case, I need your help with the problem of money, and my clothes as well… I don't have enough of them on me at the moment."

Yūgao nodded, "Well, you can bring your clothes from the Uchiha District, there shouldn't be any problem in that regard…" Then she suddenly thought of something, and added hesitantly voice, "If… you don't want to wear those clothes… we can go to some tailor, and have them custom design clothes for you…"

Sasuke shook his head, "Those clothes would be fine… but only for now, I would need them once my body grows, so I will need assistance from… but the thing about money…"

"There's no need to worry about money, your parents had carried out a lot of missions when they were active Shinobi during the second and third great Shinobi Wars, you will be able to inherit all that and more from the Uchiha Clan… Additionally, there's also all that money left behind by Uchiha Itac–…" Before Yūgao could finish Sasuke interrupted her, "Just Tou-san and Kaa-san's inheritance would be fine…" and added in a gloomy voice, "I am repulsed by the mere idea of taking my elder brother's help in any form!"

Hearing Sasuke's words, Yūgao tacitly shut up and decided not to stir up the hornets' nest, then she shifted the topic, "So, well, now that I have solved all your problems, the ones I could solve, how about we eat dinner?"

Sasuke looked at her in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean?'? Aren't you cooking dinner?" asked Yūgao in surprise.

"Certainly, I am planning to cook up something for me to eat, but what makes you think I would cook for you too? Or is it that you are planning to cook something for yourself? If that's the case, then what does that have to do with me?" asked Sasuke.

Yūgao was takenaback by Sasuke's cold question, and said with a cheeky grin, "…well, since you are going to cook for yourself anyway, can't you do it for me too? It wouldn't be too much extra effort, right? I mean… I am really tired you know… I have been guarding you and taking care of you for the past week, during that time, I had to look for an apartment for you to live in as well… and do so much more stuff while you were in Coma… I am really tired, on top of that, I have to go on a different mission tomorrow, and before that, I have to take you to the Uchiha District…!"

Hearing Yūgao's monologue, a bit of Sasuke's stone-cold heart softened, he is kind of grateful to her for what she did for him while he was in a Coma, however, he is also aware of the fact that she is doing all this because it's a mission assigned to her by Sarutobi Hiruzen. If not for that, perhaps she wouldn't have gone out of her way to do all this stuff for him, therefore, he wasn't ready to give in, he doesn't mind cooking for her, however, there should be an additional benefit for that, and said, "That's not enough of a reason for me to cook for you… after all, all you are doing is completing a mission assigned to you, right? I am not saying I am not grateful, but still… if you want me to cook up something for you, you have to give me something in exchange as well!"

"Ehh? What more could you want from me?" asked Yūgao curiously. She didn't really think she had anything that would attract the attention of a Uchiha kid.

Sasuke fixated his gaze at the Sword sheathed at her back, and said, "You are a Kenjutsu user, aren't you? In that case, teach me Kenjutsu, and in exchange, I don't mind cooking dinner for you whenever you are back to the village from a mission."

"You want to learn Kenjutsu?" muttered Yūgao in surprise as she grabbed the hilt of her sword.

"I want to learn anything and everything that can help me get closer to my revenge!" answered Sasuke.

Hearing Sasuke's response, Yūgao pondered for a moment, 'It's exactly as Hokage-sama predicted, the desire for revenge has created a hunger for strength,' then nodded, "Very well you have a deal boy, I shall teach you whenever I am not busy with missions."

Sasuke did not know Yūgao's internal thoughts, however, this did not stop him from smiling smugly, 'Just you wait monkey, I will use your own people to learn and grow stronger before I come to exact my revenge on you!'

Unaware of Sasuke's thoughts, Yūgao spoke, "Now that that's settled, will you please cook up whatever you were planning to prepare because I am already starving!"

"Hmm," grunted Sasuke as he recovered from his thoughts, and said, "It's going to be Curry rice, sit right for a while, I will get it done as quickly as possible while retaining most of its flavor." Then picked up the stuff he had purchased earlier and went to the Kitchen.

In the canon, the progress Sasuke made in the five years he spent in Konoha following the Uchiha Genocide was nothing compared to the progress he made in the two-and-a-half years he spent training under Orochimaru. The reason is that the village is in a time of peace, and there's no panic and fear of war, so naturally, teaching and training are relaxed, but the main reason is that Sasuke does not have anyone to teach him and guide him, however, that all changed when Sasuke left Konoha and went to the Sound Ninja Village.

Orochimaru's motivations and goals might have been to get a perfect Uchiha body for himself, but one thing couldn't be denied, and it was the increase in Sasuke's strength. Naruto trained with Jiraiya for nearly the same amount of time, yet the difference in their speed of progress and strength was phenomenal when they met after a period of two and a half years.

If it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke trained under Orochimaru, the difference in Naruto and Sasuke's strength wouldn't have been so significant, and this might have led to similar results as Sasuke and Itachi's first meeting following the Uchiha Genocide.

The current Sasuke does not want to go through the same problem that his canonical counterpart faced.

Although he cannot go to the Sound Village and train under Orochimaru as he is currently, he does require someone to teach him something. Certainly, he has the memory of an adult seasoned assassin from his previous life, however, that only makes him smarter, after all, the assassin lived in a normal world that did not have superpowers, so even if he was well-versed in combat, it was no way near the same level that needs to reach in order fulfill his revenge and face threats… he has to train, there is no other option!

In the canon, Kenjutsu is one of Uchiha Sasuke's strong suits, with Chidori in his left hand, and a Kusanagi no Tsurugi in his right hand, he was quite a menace there. 

Certainly, Yūgao wouldn't be as good as Orochimaru, 'That guy is probably one of the best in the current Shinobi World in terms of Kenjutsu,' but Sasuke has to make do with what he has in front of him. Therefore, he believes that laying the foundation of Kenjutsu under Yūgao wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all, she was selected into the Anbu for her exceptional prowess in Kenjutsu.

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