Naruto: Twist in Time

3. Spars aren't supposed to be fun

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CHAPTER 3
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Sasuke was a creature of habit. He loved normalcy, peace and quiet and being indifferent about anything and everything except matters about gaining power and killing his dearest brother.

He didn't get surprised, usually. He trained, ate, slept, attended the academy, excelled at everything there and then trained some more. That was his routine. And he loved it that way.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn't interact with many people not because he thought they were below him, but because he found them uninteresting. Still not worth his time. He was kind of anti social, yes.

So when he saw Naruto of all people, show the slightest hints of competence in the way he clutched his kunai and boxed his hands - well, Sasuke was just a tad surprised.

Nevertheless, he steadied himself while Naruto mock-bowed and he had to quirk an eyebrow because there was it again - the sarcasm - and it was decidedly uncharacteristic for the Naruto that Sasuke knew.

Naruto got into a stance that Sasuke didn't recognize. It was full of holes though so he could easily land hits. That's when he saw it. The blond was digging his left foot behind as if about to break into a sprint. He palmed his kunai and there was a burst of wind. Then right before him was Naruto, hand working in a slashing motion.

Naruto's kunai would've made a very painful gash on Sasuke's chest if it wasn't for his quick reflexes. He blocked the incoming kunai with his own, but just barely.

It took him a second to get over his shock. Naruto had gotten fast, very fast, and he could bypass Sasuke's defensive stance as if it was nothing.

He jumped back and made some space between them. But Naruto had other plans. He formed some unfamiliar hand signs and murmured something that the Uchiha couldn't hear. Next thing he knew, blades of wind were attacking him out of nowhere. He used the substitution jutsu hastily to get out of the way of the attack. He landed somewhere by the trees and peeked to get a glimpse of what had occurred.

He shuddered when he caught sight of the log with twenty or more slashes. That could've been him.

Sasuke soon came to terms with the fact that he was going to be surprised alot that day. Naruto knew a wind jutsu and something told him that the blond's jutsu repertoire didn't end there.

The swoosh of a kunai drew Sasuke's attention and he moved out of the way while throwing 5 kunais at Naruto which missed the mark.

Intentionally.

Sasuke too had some tricks up his sleeve. Here, quite literally.

He jerked back the wires hidden up his sleeve and pulled on the kunais he'd thrown.

He expected to see panic or a foreboding look on Naruto's face. But instead he saw a blank-faced Naruto, trapped amongst the web of wires.
Sasuke took no chances and tightened the wires to the limit, held a kunai in reverse grip and jumped to close the distance between them.

In no time, his kunai was held to Naruto's neck.

"It's the end for you," He said, somewhat assured of his victory, "Yield."

That's when he saw it. His widened and stayed fixated on the unfamiliar tag on Naruto's jacket. He could recognize the array for explosion though.

Oh no.

It was a shadow clone and now he was covered in paint.

Bright orange paint.

If he didn't have a reputation of being a calm and collected person, he would have cursed right then and there.

Sasuke heard laughter then and something in him just snapped. He rushed in that direction and wasted no time in engaging Naruto in a taijutsu fight.

Holes in his stance, he said?

He'd been cheated.

Every time, Sasuke tried to exploit a weakness in the blond's defence, he would block, or bend out of the way.

Feigning? He saw through it.

Dirty tactics? He retaliated with four more.

Pure strength? His blows struck harder than Sasuke's.

The Uchiha was supposed to get agitated at this. Because how in the world could the dead-last best him, the most promising academy student? Unfortunately or fortunately, he didn't feel rage of any kind. Instead, he felt exhilarated. He felt challenged - a feeling that he didn't usually experience - and that was simply amazing. He was having fun.

Sasuke started adapting, he went as low as he could to make a swipe and when Naruto jumped, he tried head-butting him in the balls.

There weren't many boundaries for shinobis.

Everything was fair game during a fight.

Naruto moved out of the way though and shot him an amused look. Sasuke sincerely believed that it was Naruto who was the bastard out of the two of them.

He had a realization then.

Naruto was not winded. He only looked slightly ruffled. Which meant that he was somehow so ahead of Sasuke that he didn't even pose a challenge to the blond.

Before Sasuke could do anything with this new piece of information, he felt pain. Pain in his chest where Naruto had kicked him. He was lying on the ground the next instant, clutching the centre of his t-shirt.

Naruto was onto him, pressing him against the ground, his kunai firmly positioned on Sasuke's neck.

Naruto smirked at him.

That's when it hit Sasuke.

Oh fuck.

He had...he had lost.

And through the power of some godly miracle, Sasuke wasn't the least bit annoyed about it.