"Name's Sukuna Haruno. Brother to your teammate Sakura here—if it's not already obvious from the ridiculous hair color," Sukuna introduced himself with a nonchalance that made Kakashi raise an eyebrow.
He had read the file on this boy—first in his class, yet someone who failed every ninjutsu test throughout his academic life. Kakashi wasn't sure what to think of him.
For someone who was friends with Gai, Kakashi certainly didn't look down on Sukuna. Definitely not when he knew that the Hokage himself thought so highly of this boy—enough to compare his medical jutsu to Lady Tsunade.
A front-line fighter like him knew at least this much: one should never piss off the healer if they wished for a life free of spikes.
In fact, he found the boy's enthusiasm somewhat Gai-like—to a degree, at least. The difference was that Sukuna didn't shout "youth" every two minutes, so they were cool.
But there was something more—something about the confidence this boy radiated that put Kakashi on edge.
Sukuna, for all his nonchalant attitude, also felt a bit reluctant meeting Kakashi again. He was the only one who remembered their first meeting—one that ended with Sukuna putting the masked man under his genjutsu, making him kill his teammates, rip out his Mangekyō that was gifted by a friend who wasn't as dead as he believed, and then replace that eye with another Sharingan—not a Mangekyō this time, though it did come from the same "dead" friend.
So yeah, they shared a history. A history that only Sukuna remembered. Sage bless Kotoamatsukami and the absurdity of its power.
Kishimoto really made the Uchiha clan a cheat.
"And this here is Karin Uzumaki. We're a two-man team without any jōnin sensei as of now," Sukuna introduced the girl beside him with practiced ease.
Little did either of them know that as soon as they returned to the village, the Hokage would have an ANBU escort them to his office, forcefully assign them a mission with another team heading to the Land of Waves, and they would have to accept right after returning from a bounty mission.
Still, they were anything but unenergetic at the thought of their first joint mission. Especially Sukuna—knowing the reality of this mission. He'd rather be with his friends and sister if possible. He believed they could handle it; they had all grown stronger over the years.
Naruto, Sasuke, and especially Sakura were not the same as they were in the anime of his past life—but neither was the Mist Village. The canon had changed enough for Sukuna not to foolishly rely on the original story's events.
After the order was given, they had half an hour to prepare before regrouping at the village gates to depart.
Only after leaving Konoha did they have time for proper introductions. And Kakashi, being Kakashi, gave them nothing besides his name.
"As stated, the mission is simple. We are to escort Tazuna here to the Land of Waves. We'll be moving at walking speed—it should take three to four days to reach," Kakashi explained as he observed both Karin and Sukuna.
"Got it," Sukuna nodded, with Karin following his lead.
"Man, this is so awesome! I was getting sick of picking up grass and chasing cats all day, every day. Finally, a real mission! Sukuna, just you see—I'll show you how strong I've gotten, dattebayo!" Naruto, who had been holding back his excitement, finally let it out once the official briefing was done.
"Hmph," Sasuke huffed, dismissing the blond idiot's enthusiasm—though internally, he was just as excited. What he was truly looking forward to, however, was a rematch with Sukuna.
It had been a long time since their last fight, and Sasuke was eager to test himself against the pink-haired bastard. In recent years, he hadn't managed to beat Sukuna even once—and that too against someone who couldn't perform a single jutsu. It irritated him endlessly.
How was he supposed to kill his brother if he couldn't even beat a classmate who couldn't use ninjutsu? He, Sasuke Uchiha, would not accept that. He would surpass this bastard and defeat him. Only then could he have the confidence to face Itachi.
Sasuke's mentality had changed. After repeated losses, he had learned to take defeat more easily. His Uchiha pride still soared as high as Mount Tai, but he had at least learned that there was always someone stronger—and that one had to keep moving forward.
Sukuna always overwhelmed him with raw physical power and taijutsu. Even with his Sharingan, it was hard to keep up. He thought he might gain an edge once he was trained by a jōnin like Kakashi—but that confidence quickly faded.
Kakashi instead focused on refining their teamwork, testing them with pointless tasks like chasing cats and pulling weeds from old people's lawns for pocket change.
Sasuke, the little rich kid, even considered paying out of his own pocket if it meant Kakashi would finally teach them something useful—powerful jutsu, sign language, intel-gathering tactics, anything that even Sukuna couldn't drill into them. Anything but those comical D-rank missions.
"You sure look happy for someone who didn't get a jōnin sensei," Sakura raised a brow, eyeing her brother suspiciously.
She'd been in disbelief when she first learned he failed the Academy test. She knew he couldn't perform a single jutsu, but there had to be a way, right?
So when he confirmed that he truly failed, she was distraught, unsure how to comfort him—only for the bastard to show up at the team assignment ceremony claiming he got in anyway.
Like—what the hell? Give back her emotions!
Then came another announcement: he didn't get a jōnin sensei. This time, she was skeptical—learning from her past mistake—but it was true. Even after days, he only went on missions with Karin.
She finally believed him—that he had no jōnin sensei. But should she feel sorry for him? Did he even want one? No—the real question was, did he even need one?
Sakura would never admit it to his face, but her brother was strong. Really strong. Almost frighteningly so, at times.
Her instincts, honed after years of dealing with him, told her that he might even be as strong as Kakashi-sensei.
Perhaps it was those instincts—or maybe it was connected to the powerful body and senses he always claimed she had but never used. Sakura couldn't tell. Sukuna always told her she was stronger than she knew. She couldn't be sure, but over the years, she had felt it. She knew she was stronger.
Just like him, she could feel it—the physical strength she possessed was greater not only than Sasuke's (which was already a dream for most) but even Naruto's, whose stamina and power were absurd for reasons unknown to her.
So, it would definitely be a shame not to improve and make use of this physical power, right?
Damn it.
'Why me?' she couldn't help but curse inwardly.
If not for those brutal beatdowns from that monster of a brother, she wouldn't even want to train like a pig every day under the harsh sun.
'Damn it, I should be putting on makeup and shopping for dresses, ready to live out my youth. Why is this happening to me?'
Her train of thought spiraled—from her brother's abnormalities to her unfair youth—until she finally, as if the entire Elemental Nations agreed with her, dumped all the blame squarely on Sukuna.
'This guy… he's the reason for my struggle and pain.' Her eyes nearly brimmed with tears.
...
A/N : So, how is the story so far, any good. You think I need to change few things up or something ?
xxx
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