Chapter Text
The green weirdo is back, and this time, he’s followed Sasuke to the Academy.
Ever since Sasuke met Maito Gai last week, the weirdo has not left him alone. Suspicious bento started cropping up daily (all left on his doorstep by a green blur), an unexpected first aid kit was delivered to his kitchen table (Sasuke spent three hours upgrading all his house traps after that), and of course, there’s the “old man” reading the Konoha Post while jogging just outside of the Uchiha Clan District.
The asshole didn’t even bother changing out of his stupid spandex! He just put on a wig and a mustache and called it a day! Sasuke’s eight now, he’s not going to be fooled by a dumb disguise.
As if the green spandex wasn’t enough of a give away, the bento boxes and the first aid kit all came with labels on their undersides – a green sticker with MAITO GAI in big kana, along with a stupid cartoon turtle. What kind of jounin still used sticker labels on their things?!
Sasuke’s father raised him to be a proud Uchiha who accepted pity from no one. But Sasuke’s mother raised him to never waste food. Cooking is still beyond him, and he’s sick of microwave meals from the convenience store, so he begrudgingly accepts the bento. After a thorough check for poison, of course. He had forgotten to restock his-first aid kit, and the reminder to improve his traps was appreciated.
The constant watching, the constant following, though – that was annoying. And now, Maito Gai is at the Academy too?
“Good morning, everyone!” Iruka-sensei calls out from the front of the classroom. “Mizuki-sensei was assigned to an extended out-of-village mission, so he will be unable to lead taijutsu classes for the next week. While he is away, Maito Gai” – their teacher gestures to the weirdo, who had struck a stupid pose with both of his fists thrust out and his thumbs sticking up – “will be taking over his classes. Gai-sensei is a jounin who also happens to be the village’s foremost expert on taijutsu. Everyone, please greet Gai-sensei!”
“Good morning, Gai-sensei!” Sasuke’s classmates chorus.
Gai-sensei steps forward, and gives a deep bow. “Good morning, young students! I look forward to sharing the joys of taijutsu with all of you! Let us meet at the Academy training grounds in five minutes for today’s lesson. Yosh!”
He promptly disappears in a green blur. Sasuke’s eyes widen, and his classmates explode into excited chatter behind him.
“Woah – did Iruka-sensei say he’s a jounin?”
“No way! That weirdo? A jounin?”
“He was so fast!”
“Sakura, did you see his eyebrows?!”
“Class, that’s enough!” Iruka-sensei interrupts. “Gai-sensei is one of the most powerful jounin in Konoha, and his time is very valuable.” The class breaks out into skeptical chatter again, and Iruka-sensei sighs. “Don’t keep him waiting, and make sure not to cross him – jounin don’t have the same kind of patience that we Academy teachers do.”
One of the most powerful jounin – that can’t be right. No self-respecting jounin would bother to pack lunches for random orphans like Sasuke.
But if this guy really is that strong, he might actually be able to teach me something, Sasuke thinks begrudgingly to himself, and follows the rest of his classmates to the training ground.
~
“We will begin with the basics today, so I can gauge how brightly the flames of your youth burn as you are now,” Gai-sensei proclaims at the beginning of the lesson. “Everyone – beginning stance for the first kata of Gōken!”
Everyone groans, but they eventually shuffle into several neat columns, and get into their battle stances.
“Begin!”
The first kata is exactly that – the first taijutsu forms taught at the Academy. Everyone had already mastered it back in their first year, even Naruto. It’s humiliating to be reduced to first-grade work, but Sasuke grits his teeth and obeys anyway.
Clearly, Iruka-sensei’s warning is on the others’ minds as well, because not a single person complains. Not even Kiba – he’s at the back with Naruto. They are both miraculously focused on their kata instead of plotting their next prank.
That might have been because Gai-sensei was watching them all with intense concentration, even as he claps out the beat for the class to follow.
“Good effort, class!” Gai-sensei exclaims after they run through all the basic kata. “Now, I want you all to do a hundred push ups, a hundred sit ups, a hundred squats, and a hundred laps around the training grounds while waiting!”
Everyone’s restraint finally snaps, and the entire class erupts into complaints.
“Now now, physical conditioning is the backbone of every taijutsu style!” Gai-sensei wags a reproving finger at them. “While you are doing your exercises, I will call out students’ names. When you are called, come forward, and we will work on correcting your kata. We will start with Akimichi-kun. Everyone else – begin!”
Sasuke picks a spot near Gai-sensei, and begins his exercises. If Gai-sensei is correcting forms, he’s not going to learn anything from his session -- Sasuke had perfected this form ages ago. Mizuki-sensei didn’t even bother keeping him in class for the refresher course they had when the school year started. But there’s still a lot that Sasuke can learn from watching Gai-sensei correct the others, and besides, he needs to brush up on his spying skills anyway.
After a few rounds of eavesdropping, Sasuke was already picking up more than he expected.
“Akimichi-kun, feet wider apart. The standard Academy style won’t work for your body type, so we need to make some adjustments to your footwork. There, that’s right. You need to know how to stabilize yourself in any size and in any shape for your Baika no Jutsu!”
“Loosen your grip, Inuzuka-kun! You can seriously hurt your hands if you hit a target with your fists clenched like that. I may be your sensei, but I don’t have claws! You cannot punch the same way that I do.”
When Sasuke is called, he prepares himself for a perfunctory test, and expects to be let go after five minutes.
That leaves him blindsided when Gai-sensei corrects his form.
“Move your left foot a bit back, Uchiha-kun, and bring your forearms a bit higher.” Gai-sensei instructs, eyes focused on Sasuke’s footwork.
“Tch,” Sasuke grits out, stubbornly refusing to budge. There’s not a single thing wrong with his form, and his teachers know it. Who does this asshole think he is? “Mizuki-sensei said my form is perfect.”
“It would have been perfect, yes -- if you were Mizuki-kun!” Gai-sensei agrees enthusiastically. He pokes at Sasuke’s arms, and nudges Sasuke’s feet further apart. “But Mizuki-kun is taller than you, and is differently proportioned. He is your teacher, yes, so you must listen to him, but the best teacher you will ever have is your own body! Listen to it, Uchiha-kun! Be acquainted with it!”
Sasuke is stunned to find that the minute adjustments make the position feel more natural already.
“Now run a lap; when you get back here we will check and correct your stance again.”
~
The rest of the week goes the same way. The bento keep showing up, and Sasuke keeps eating them begrudgingly. They keep working on basic kata and physical conditioning in taijutsu class, but the one-on-one instruction with Gai-sensei was really paying off. Even Naruto improves, to the point that everyone in class notices.
On Friday, Gai-sensei comes to class emotional.
“Today is going to be my last day with your youthful class,” he informs them, failing to fight back his tears. “I would like to see your progress for myself, and for warriors like us, the best way to do this is with our fists! Today, we spar!”
The entire class oohs in excitement.
“A sparring tournament, sensei?!” Naruto shouts excitedly. “Can I fight Sasuke-teme?!”
Gai-sensei shakes his head apologetically. “Unfortunately not, Uzumaki-kun! Today, your sparring opponent is me!”
The entire class shuts up.
Sasuke tenses. He’s never fought a jounin before, and while he’s fairly confident in his skills, he knows there’s still a long way for him to go before he can beat a jounin.
“Don’t worry!” Gai-sensei continues, giving them all a thumbs-up. “Since I am a jounin, there is no way for a one-on-one spar to be fair. So I will give you an advantage. I will spar against all of you, at the same time! Yosh!” He drops into his battle stance, feet wide in the same way he taught their class, hands beckoning. “Prepare yourselves, and when you’re ready, come at me!”
A beat passes.
“Well, if no one else wants to go first, I will!” Naruto yells, and charges straight at Gai-sensei.
Naruto is flipped onto the ground in a heartbeat.
“Good job, Uzumaki-kun, your footwork has improved by miles!” Gai-sensei drops back into his stance, and makes eye contact with the rest of Sasuke’s classmates. “Come now, show me what you have learned this week!”
The rest of his classmates attack Gai-sensei together, and he laughs in delight. “Yosh! That’s it! Fan those flames of youth!” He blocks a palm from Hinata, and catches Kiba’s kick from behind. “Hyuga-kun! It makes me glad to see you taking the initiative today! And Inuzuka-kun, you’ve improved the power behind your kicks!” He tosses both children to the side. “Again!”
“Well, I can't let Kiba and Naruto show me up!” Sakura proclaims, and she takes off, running, towards Gai-sensei’s left side. Ino screeches, unwilling to let Sakura show her up, and immediately follows on the right, but Gai-sensei dodges at the last minute and the girls end up punching each other.
“Yes, yes, that's it! Use your rivalry to help each other improve!” Tears of pride stream down Gai-sensei’s cheeks as he sends both girls tumbling away. “And the rest of you! Do you not wish to test your progress against a jounin’s strength?”
He meets Sasuke’s eyes knowingly. Sasuke scowls, and launches into an attack of his own.
~
“It was thirty on one, and we didn't land a single blow on him!” Naruto complained to Iruka-sensei. “No fair at all! If we had gone one on one I woulda gotten him for sure!”
Tch. As if Naruro, on his own, could manage what none of them could manage, even with the advantage of thirty other distractions. Even Sasuke didn't land a hit, and that fact still galls him hours after the tournament.
Sasuke had perfect taijutsu, improved beyond perfect in the five days Gai-sensei replaced Mizuki-sensei, and he still didn't land a single hit. Clearly, the Academy’s definition of “perfect” taijutsu is lacking, and there's still much more for him to learn.
That day, he stays behind to talk to Iruka-sensei.
“Can I help you, Sasuke?” Iruka-sensei asks warmly, as he packs away his things.
“I’ve progressed beyond what Mizuki-sensei can teach me in taijutsu,” Sasuke says bluntly. “Can I ask for advanced lessons with a jounin instead of going to taijutsu class?”
His teacher gives him a knowing smile. “Impressed with Gai-san, huh? Unfortunately, you still need to attend and pass the regular Academy classes if you want to progress to the next grade, but there's nothing stopping you from training on your own time. I'm sure if you ask him nicely, Gai-san will agree to take you on as an apprentice of sorts.”
Askhim nicely -- that means Sasuke will have to approach the green weirdo himself. How annoying.
~
The next morning, Sasuke resolves to ask Gai-sensei for extra lessons when he meets the weirdo on his morning jog.
But the “old man” in the jumpsuit is nowhere to be found.
He frowns. There was a bento on his doorstep earlier -- that means Gai-sensei had come by. But he’s usually loitering around this bench, pretending to read the papers, around the time that Sasuke leaves his house.
Maybe he’s still on his morning jog? Gai-sensei uses the same route that Sasuke does (but repeats the loop an unreasonable number of times a day), so Sasuke just shrugs and goes on with his morning run. That green jumpsuit will turn up. Annoyingly, that has become one of the few things that Sasuke can count on these days.
And it did turn up -- the crashes and booms of an extremely destructive spar precedes it, but when Sasuke approaches Training Ground 9, there is no mistaking it. A green blur that was unmistakably Gai-sensei is facing off against a silvery streak, their volley of attacks too fast for Sasuke to perceive. He slows down to a halt, and the longer he watches, the more his jaw drops.
So this is how two jounin spar. This is the level he needs to reach in order to defeat Itachi.
When the spar ends -- a victory for Gai-sensei, no less -- Sasuke swallows his pride.
“Gai-sensei! Please train me as your apprentice!"