A few minutes later, Sasuke put down his silverware, signaling he was full.
He sat quietly in his chair, waiting for the other two to finish.
Under his watchful gaze, Izumi and Aoi sped up their eating, seemingly eager to end the awkward meal.
After dinner, Izumi started clearing the table. Sasuke stood up, intending to help.
"Sasuke, sit down. I've got it," Izumi said.
"It's fine, I can help," Sasuke insisted.
Izumi felt something was definitely off.
Sasuke was acting very strange today.
---
Once the dishes were done, they sat on the sofa.
"Sasuke, is there something on your mind lately?" Izumi asked.
"Yeah." Sasuke nodded.
"Big Sis Izumi, I have a favor to ask you."
"Oh? What is it? Go ahead."
Sasuke looked at her seriously. "Big Sis Izumi, are you and Jonin Musashi... are you two dating?"
Izumi froze. "Huh?!"
"W-what dating... what boyfriend and girlfriend..."
"You aren't?" Sasuke pressed. "Then, you and Jonin Musashi must be very close, right?"
Otherwise, why would he risk his life to save you?
Izumi felt a bit dizzy. "Um... well, I guess. We're pretty close. Why do you ask, Sasuke?"
"Why bring this up all of a sudden? Do you need to find him for something?"
"Big Sis Izumi, I want you to introduce me to Jonin Musashi."
Sasuke's expression was intense. "If possible, I hope to receive his guidance."
"The progress at the Ninja Academy is too slow. The lessons the teachers teach can't help me at all. I need help from a powerful ninja."
Before Izumi could agree, Aoi jumped up excitedly.
"Yay!"
"Sis, let's go find Big Brother Musashi! Let's go right now!"
"Sit down and behave!" Izumi scolded her gently.
She thought for a moment, then agreed to Sasuke's request.
"Alright then. Okay, Sasuke. Let's go tomorrow after dinner. He should be home a bit later in the evening. I'll take you to see him."
Sasuke rarely asked for help, so naturally, she wouldn't refuse.
"But I can't guarantee anything. With his current job, he might not have much free time."
"It's enough that you're willing to help, Big Sis," Sasuke said.
"I'm going too! I'm going too!" Aoi chirped non-stop from the side.
"I know, I know. Go do your homework first."
---
The Next Evening.
Musashi was at home, researching ninjutsu while guiding Naruto through chakra control exercises.
Naruto, having finally won against Sasuke once through sheer effort, was incredibly enthusiastic about training.
He was convinced that if he could just beat Sasuke a few more times, all the girls in class would definitely fall in love with him.
Musashi fully supported this delusion.
While he was instructing Naruto, there was a knock at the door.
Musashi was a bit surprised to see Izumi standing there.
"Izumi? What brings you here?"
Izumi didn't speak; Aoi had already jumped out from behind her, unable to wait.
"Ta-da! It's not just my sister, I'm here too, Big Brother!"
"Hey Aoi, come on in. And that's Sasuke, right? Come in and have a seat."
Aoi skipped over to Musashi, her small hand naturally grabbing onto his large one.
Sasuke followed them inside, his gaze landing on Naruto, who was practicing chakra control.
Naruto noticed him too and shot him a look of pure disdain.
Why is this show-off here? Naruto thought.
As expected. He's receiving guidance from Jonin Musashi. That explains his improvement, Sasuke thought.
---
On the other side of the room, Izumi explained her purpose to Musashi.
"Musashi, this is my cousin, Sasuke."
"He admires you a lot and hopes to receive your guidance and help."
Musashi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Sasuke Uchiha is coming to me for guidance?
He felt a weird sense of excitement.
However, he looked at Izumi and said, "Is this how you ask for a favor? Showing up empty-handed?"
Izumi: (￣へ￣)
"Don't look at me like that," Musashi teased. "Isn't bringing a gift basic etiquette when asking a favor?... Fine, fine, I'll agree."
"After all, it's hard for me to refuse a request from such a confident girl like you."
Izumi: (#￣皿￣)
Seeing that she was about to explode, Musashi quickly turned his attention to Sasuke.
"So, Sasuke, you want my guidance?"
"Yes. The school curriculum is no longer suitable for me. I hope to receive guidance from a powerful ninja like yourself," Sasuke said sincerely.
Musashi tried hard to suppress the corner of his mouth from curling up.
Come to think of it, this might be the first Uchiha to ever show him 'respect.'
Calming himself down, he thought for a moment and said, "I wouldn't call it guidance, exactly."
"The Uchiha training system is very complete, and my experience might not necessarily suit you."
Sasuke bowed slightly. "As long as Jonin Musashi can spare some time, I would be very grateful."
"Is that so..." Musashi mused. "Alright then. Every Saturday morning, you can come to the Konoha Training Grounds. I can spare some time to train with you and Naruto. Naruto knows the place."
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who looked annoyed in the corner. "Thank you, Jonin Musashi."
"But, there is one condition," Musashi added suddenly.
Sasuke froze.
He thought Musashi was going to make some difficult demand.
"Whatever the condition is, please speak."
"From now on, call me Big Bro Musashi." A gleam of mischief flashed in Musashi's eyes.
Sasuke and Naruto: (°ー°)
Both of them were taken aback by this request.
Seeing Sasuke hesitate, Musashi asked, "What? You unwilling?"
"No," Sasuke shook his head quickly.
Although it felt incredibly awkward, he chose to agree for the sake of gaining strength quickly.
"O... okay. Big Bro Musashi."
"Big Brother! I want to go too! I want you to guide my training too!" Aoi shook Musashi's hand eagerly.
"Okay, okay, Aoi can come too."
Aoi was instantly overjoyed.
---
Weekend. Corner of the Konoha Training Grounds.
Musashi was seriously strapping on his weights.
Torso, limbs—different parts had different sizes and styles.
Unlike the fixed 100-pound weights Rock Lee wore, these were custom-made weights he had purchased from the Hidden Stone Village at an extremely high price.
Inside the hard metal bars, high-level Earth Style sealing formulas were embedded. When chakra was poured in, they could reach a terrifying weight.
He couldn't even bring himself to use these on his "Gutsy Shuriken."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof~
The main body walked off to the side to begin his own Taijutsu regime.
This was his immovable daily grind.
Only a shadow clone remained in place. Facing him were a solemn-looking Sasuke, a grumpy-looking Naruto, a serious-eyed Karin, and a well-behaved Aoi.
"Alright," the clone said, clapping his hands. "Let's begin."