"Here is your food," Teuchi said, placing down three bowls of ramen in front of them, the steam rising from the hot broth.
Naruto's eyes lit up as he grabbed his chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!" he shouted before digging in, slurping the noodles with gusto.
Sasuke and Sakura, on the other hand, were more reserved, taking their time to eat, savoring the flavor.
"So, what about you, Sakura? What is your goal as a kunoichi?" Sasuke asked as he ate.
Sakura paused, a piece of pork halfway to her mouth. "My goal? My goal is to be with Sasuke-kun, of course."
Sasuke couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. He knew she was a fangirl, but he didn't think she was this bad.
"I mean as a shinobi, what kind of shinobi do you want to be? Do you want to be a medic-nin? Or a genjutsu specialist? Or something else?" he asked, trying to get a real answer out of her.
Sakura thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I could be a medic-nin, but I'm not really good at that stuff. I guess I'll just be a regular kunoichi, you know, supporting Sasuke-kun from the back."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Then tell me, what is a regular kunoichi?"
Sakura paused for a moment, not entirely sure what to say. "Well... you know... like... support?" she tried, her voice getting quieter as she spoke.
Sasuke let out a sigh. He knew he wasn't going to get a real answer out of her. She was clueless.
He finished his bowl of ramen in silence, while Naruto was already on his second bowl, and Sakura was still picking at her food.
Naruto, having finished his second bowl, let out a loud burp. "That was great! Thanks for the food, Sasuke!"
Sasuke just nodded, not wanting to engage in a conversation with him.
"Hey, old man, can I get another bowl?" Naruto asked.
Teuchi looked at him. "Sure, Naruto, but this one's on the house, for graduating."
"Thanks, old man!" Naruto cheered, before digging into his third bowl.
Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for Naruto, looking at him eating like that... he really looked like someone who wasn't eating enough. That was not something a clan heir should be like.
He shook his head and decided not to think about it anymore; neither did he ask any more about their ninja paths.
Kakashi was an elite jōnin; he would surely be able to guide them. There was no need for him to bother with that.
Still, Sasuke had realized where the problem was, because he had two kinds of training and studies.
Those at the Academy, which he always felt were a waste of time, and those back home.
For him, the hours spent at the Academy were just something to get over with before going home to really learn something, and he knew that Hinata was largely the same.
She, too, had plenty of lessons back at the clan compound.
But for Naruto and Sakura, they had none of that, they only had what they learned at the Academy, which was next to nothing.
There wasn't even a single lesson that taught them about kekkei genkai, nor which path they might go down.
Honestly, the more he thought about it, the more shocked he was at just how poor the education they got there was.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, shouldn't we hurry back soon? The break is about to end." Sakura said, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
Her words caused Naruto to nearly choke on his ramen. "But I'm not done yet!" he said with his mouth full.
"Eww, disgusting," Sakura shot back, "But so what, Sasuke-kun and I can just go alone," she said hopefully.
"Forget it," Sasuke grunted, "We are in no hurry to get back, let Naruto finish his food." He knew that Kakashi would be late, so why should he waste his time sitting and waiting for him?
Better spend the time doing something at least a little productive.
Sakura said nothing, though she looked sad that she missed the chance to ditch Naruto, though also happy that she got to spend more time with Sasuke, even if Naruto was there and ruined her date.
Naruto, well, he just continued to slurp his food, even if he felt Sasuke was being less of a pain today than usual.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was deep in thought.
He had made his mind up. He had to do something, anything to make his teammates useful.
Naruto had potential, he just needed to push him to reach for it, as for Sakura, she was a more complex problem.
She wasn't useless because she lacked potential, but because she didn't have a goal beyond him.
While it might be flattering to have a fangirl, he didn't need one as a teammate. He needed a kunoichi.
He had seen her test scores in the Academy. The girl wasn't dumb; she was one of the best in the class when it came to theory. She was just lazy, or uninterested.
So he had to find a way to make her interested.
Maybe he should try asking Kakashi for some advice, as the teacher, it was his job to train them, after all.
"Alright, done!" Naruto shouted, putting down his chopsticks with a clatter. "That was the best!"
Teuchi and Ayame both smiled at the praise. "Glad you liked it, Naruto."
Sasuke stood up and placed a few bills on the counter. "Keep the change," he said before turning and walking out.
"Where are we going, Sasuke-kun? This isn't the way back to the Academy?" Sakura asked as she noticed they were walking in the wrong direction.
"As I said, we are in no hurry to get back, our new sensei is likely gonna be late, so why hurry back? Instead, it's better if we prepare." Sasuke said as he led them down the shopping street.
"Prepare? Prepare for what?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
"For the test." Sasuke said, "Each sensei will give their new team a test, and while they might do it tomorrow or another day, it's also possible they will do it today, so let me ask you, are you two ready for a test? A fight?"
Normally, Sasuke never talked this much, yet he had no choice; after all, he was dealing with two idiots, so if he didn't explain it fully, how would they ever understand?
Despite the fact that he was clearly treating them like morons, both of them failed to notice.
Naruto was too dumb.
And Sakura was too much of a fangirl.
Sasuke just couldn't help but sigh. This was going to be a long and painful team building.
"Damn, I didn't know there was a test," Naruto said, slapping his hands together.
"Yeah, good thing you are here, Sasuke, or else we wouldn't know about it... but how do you know?" Sakura asked, her suspicion raised by the sudden amount of talking from Sasuke.
"My clan told me this, I'm sure plenty of the others already know about it," he answered with a shrug as he led them towards their destination.
A weapons shop.
Well, not just a weapons shop, it was a place where you could get everything you needed as a shinobi, and of the best quality at that.
Given that Naruto was so poor that he couldn't even eat properly, he likely had no weapons, and what kind of shinobi didn't even have kunai and shuriken?
The dead kind.
And Sasuke didn't want to join him, so better fix this while they had the chance.
"We're here," he said as he stopped in front of a shop with a sign that said "Weapon World."
"Here? What are we doing here?" Naruto asked.
"You, Naruto, are a shinobi now, so you need to buy some weapons," Sasuke said as he walked in.
"I already have some," Naruto said, though his tone wasn't very convincing.
Sasuke just looked at him, and Naruto's words died in his throat as he started to feel uncomfortable under the Uchiha's gaze.
"I really do have some... alright?" he said, though his tone clearly said that he himself knew that whatever he had likely wasn't impressive.
"You are a shinobi, and we are a team, that means I need to be able to rely on you, so if you don't have enough kunai when you need them, that's going to be a problem, so today, whatever you need, I will get you." Sasuke said, sounding far more mature than a kid his age should.
Naruto's eyes widened at Sasuke's offer. He couldn't believe it. The guy who always ignored him, who always acted like he was better than everyone else, was offering to buy him weapons?
"Really?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Yes, really," Sasuke said, "Now, what do you need?" he asked as he looked around the shop.
It was a large place, with walls covered in all kinds of weapons, from kunai and shuriken to swords and even some more exotic weapons.
Naruto looked around, his eyes wide with wonder. He had never been in a place like this before. The only weapons he had were the ones given to him by the Academy, and they were old and worn out.
"I... I don't know," he said, feeling overwhelmed.
"Then just get a bit of everything, including some proper shinobi clothes." Sasuke said, "You can't be wearing that orange monstrosity on a mission."
"Hey! My jumpsuit is cool!" Naruto shouted, defending his outfit.
"It's a target. If you ever go on a stealth mission, the enemy will see you from a mile away. Even I could spot you from the Hokage monument." Sasuke said, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice.
Naruto frowned, but he knew Sasuke had a point. His jumpsuit was loud, and not very practical for a shinobi.
"But... this stuff is expensive," he said, looking at the price tags.
"Don't worry about it," Sasuke said, "I have enough money."
Naruto was about to protest, but Sakura beat him to it. "Why are you being so nice to him, Sasuke-kun? He's just a dead last," she said, clearly annoyed that Sasuke was paying so much attention to Naruto.
"Because he is my teammate," Sasuke said, his tone leaving no room for argument, "And I don't want my teammates to die because they were unprepared. Now, either help him pick something, or stay out of it."
Sakura flinched at Sasuke's cold tone.
Sasuke was being honest, to him, this wasn't him helping Naruto, no, this was him helping himself, because he knew that he needed someone to at least distract that other guy who injured Aiko.
His helping Naruto today served a purpose: his revenge.
As for how it looked to others?
Sasuke didn't care; he had never cared what others thought of him, except for the Uchiha kids back home.
Generous or selfish, as long as it allowed him to kill HIM, then it didn't matter at all.
(End of chapter)
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