Chapter 67: Beating a brat.

"No, thanks," Tekku answered before he walked around the kid and continued towards his apartment. "Hn. I demand that you train me!" Sasuke said and blocked his path again. Tekku sighed, wishing he had agreed to go get sushi with Hayate and Yugao now, or even to the hot springs with Ryota. He idly wondered if this was karma for slipping away from his comrades. Nah, not even karma is this cruel.

"Brat, I just returned from a mission. I'm tired and have no time for you—leave." His voice was cold, but Tekku didn't really care; he had better things to do than to cater to the whims of a spoiled and arrogant child.

Sasuke ground his teeth. "I am not a brat. You are only a year older than me!"

"Age has nothing to do with whether you are a spoiled brat or not," replied Tekku, still cold but calm, as he tried to walk forward once again.

"Tch— that doesn't matter. You still should train me! I need to become stronger!" demanded Sasuke, anger in his voice. Usually, Sasuke was more in control of his emotions, but today was a bad day. Since he learned of the difference between him and shinobi like Tekku and his brother, his frustration grew constantly.

The worst of all was that he had been looking for Tekku for over a year now. Since the Chunin Exam, the older boy had all but disappeared from the village. If he hadn't heard from a frustrated Ino a few months later that he was still alive, he would have believed he was killed.

And Sasuke tried to rely more on the Academy instructors. He asked them for more advanced training since he felt that he was stagnating in the Academy, but they didn't have any real advice for him. After all, the instructors were only Chunin themselves. They only told him he didn't need to rush and should focus on the basics first.

"I have no desire to train you. As far as I am aware, I am not even allowed to become your instructor until you have your own Jonin Sensei introducing you to the shinobi life. And I hardly believe you have already mastered everything the Academy had to teach you," replied Tekku calmly, not bothered by the angered glare the boy was throwing at him.

"They are just telling me to work on the basics. I won't become stronger that way," was Sasuke's agitated answer.

'What a brat…' thought Tekku as he stared at Sasuke, until he realized that this was an opportunity. Since the Uchiha Massacre, the Uchiha compound had been constantly watched by ANBU and Root operatives. The compound held many secrets, and Sasuke, the last Uchiha, was living there. The second part was probably the reason why Root was keeping an eye on that place.

Since the night of the Massacre, Tekku hadn't had any opportunity to sneak into the compound, to his great regret. A clan full of shinobi that could copy any normal Jutsu they saw must have many interesting scrolls. But unfortunately, no shinobi was allowed to enter the Uchiha compound without permission from the Hokage or Sasuke himself.

"Sigh Okay, brat, I will give you some pointers for now. But that is all I can legally do right now. Let's head to your training field and show me what you can do," offered Tekku, as if he was bending the rules for Sasuke a bit. Which he actually did, but for his own plans.

"Hn— Follow me," nodded Sasuke, now far calmer, as he led Tekku toward the Uchiha compound. Tekku could clearly feel the eyes of the watchers on him, but they didn't do anything as he was in Sasuke's company and an ANBU himself. They didn't follow them inside, since the same rules applied to them. But he would definitely have to tell the Hokage later what he was doing here.

The compound was as Tekku remembered it from that night; just the bloodstains on the floors and walls were gone. It had been thoroughly cleaned but still looked like a ghost town. Tekku was sure that this was not good for Sasuke's psyche. But he didn't really care, as the boy hadn't had much to do with him and was only a means for his goals.

Both arrived at a training field in the center of the Uchiha compound. Tekku observed his surroundings for a moment before he nodded and looked at Sasuke. "That's fine. Okay, let's start with a fight. Before I can give you some pointers, I need to know what you can do. I want you to go all out—come at me with the intent to kill."

And Tekku didn't have to wait for any reply, there was no question whether he was sure, or that the weapons were dangerous. Sasuke didn't hesitate, since he had seen what Tekku could do during the Chunin Exam; he really didn't need to hold back, as if the older boy hadn't improved during the year.

With a quick flurry of hand signs, he initiated his first attack, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" From his mouth, a big orb of fire streamed toward the Chunin. While Sasuke was watching the effects of his technique, a voice from behind him resounded.

"Never stop during a fight just to watch your technique," said Tekku, who had used the Kawarimi to appear behind him and delivered a kick to Sasuke's back. Of course, Tekku held back since he didn't want to seriously hurt the younger boy. "The Great Fireball Technique is solid offensively but a bit slow and unlikely to hit a singular target. It's better to set up bigger techniques, as distractions or against a group of opponents."

"Tch!" was all Sasuke said before he stood up again and attacked again with a Shuriken trick that he had learned from his older brother and Shusui when the world was still fine. Only to watch the shuriken fly through his opponent. 'Bunshin!'

This time Sasuke was quick to react and instantly looked around him, not letting his guard down. Which was good, since no moment too late, shuriken appeared from his left, heading straight for him.

While he tried to defend himself with a kunai, one of the shuriken transformed into Tekku and he delivered a punch to Sasuke's face, once again throwing him onto the ground. "Surprise attacks are the essence of a shinobi. Our real strength lies in the shadows; we are not brawlers. We use deceit and strategy besides strength to fight an enemy. Even a simple, well-thrown kunai can kill a Kage," explained Tekku, while Sasuke once again tried to stand up from the dirty ground.

Once again, the younger Uchiha initiated the attack, as he became more and more frustrated during the match. He had absolutely no chance to even hit the older boy, as he got demolished while his mistakes were calmly pointed out for him. And the worst part of it all was that Tekku was teaching him a lesson from his earlier words.

All that the older boy used during the fight were the three Academy ninjutsu, and Sasuke didn't even manage to touch him once.

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