The Strength of the Weak {A Naruto Fanfiction}

The Strength of the Weak - Chapter 36

Satomi P.O.V.

Groaning, I squint my eyes open, being faced with a dark room, a shadow looming in the chair next to me. Tilting my head up, I meet Ryouichi-sensei's worried eyes with my own.

"R-Ryouichi-sensei... what happened?" I stutter out, pushing myself up into a sitting position. A wet cloth falls from my head into my lap. He sighs, grabbing the cloth and placing it on the table next to me.

"What do you remember?" he asks lowly, folding his hands and leaning on his knees. I clench my fists, my hair shadowing my face as I recall what had happened.

"Onii-san... he came to get Naruto. Then Sasuke showed up and tried to kill him. I was... I was so helpless and confused, sensei. I'm never like that. When I came to Sasuke's aid... Itachi confronted me and put me in his genjutsu. Speaking of Sasuke, where is he? Is he alright?"

Ryouichi-sensei nods wordlessly, his visible eye scrutinizing my sorry appearance. Taking a deep breath, I push my legs over the edge of the bed, shakily rising to my feet. Ryouichi-sensei merely follows my movements with his eyes, not speaking a word.

"To start off... I want to apologize to you, sensei. I don't know what came over me. I think just seeing Itachi after so long... it ignited something inside me that I thought I had control over. Please forgive me," I ask, my head bowed to him. 

I know what kind of a guy Ryouichi-sensei is, and my actions when I saw Itachi were not something befitting a student of his. To put it simply... I was ashamed of the fact that I lost control of my sense and reasoning when I was so sure I would be able to face Itachi again.

"Don't worry about it, Satomi. I'll let it slide this time since tensions were running so high. I trust you won't let it happen again... you're strong enough. Besides that, tomorrow I'm going to teach you a jutsu. It's the only ninjutsu that I've mastered to its farthest extent... and I would like to pass that onto you," Ryouichi-sensei says.

I nod, urging him to continue.

"My one and only chakra nature is fire. As an Uchiha, you also have fire as a chakra nature. This technique is one I invented, and it's very powerful. I've named it Inferunodoragon," he explains, "I'll teach it to you starting tomorrow. You have the rest of the day to regain your strength... you're going to need it with this technique."

Sighing, I climb back in bed, multiple things on my mind. Mainly... why the hell would Itachi tell me he's sorry? I haven't seen him in years, and all of a sudden he shows up looking for one of my best friends and beats up Sasuke and I? Things just aren't adding up...

"Where are Naruto and Jiraiya?" I suddenly ask, noticing their missing appearance. Ryouichi-sensei's eyebrow twitches at the mention of Jiraiya, leading me to believe he was probably doing something involving women, booze, or money.

"He is teaching Naruto a jutsu, they've been working on it for three days now."

None of those three things? How peculiar.

"Although, he isn't really teaching Naruto, per say. Every time he sees the kid he tells him what to do then heads into the city to hang out with some chicks who've taken a liking to him. That's not really my scene."

Ah. There it is.

A sigh escapes my lips as I drop back into bed, pulling the blankets around me solemnly. Ryouichi-sensei gets up from his spot, silently padding towards the kitchen.

"Would you like anything to eat, Satomi?" he asks, opening the fridge and peering inside. Flicking my eyes over to him, I see his visible emerald eye tiredly glancing through our options. It's strange to see him so... worried.