Chapter Four

"Train you," the blond man reiterated slowly, thoughtfully, before his face contorted into something that looked almost amused. "You demand such a thing, and yet you don't even know my name," he admonished with a teasing smile.

Sasuke bristled slightly, feeling vaguely insulted by this man's sudden amusement. "I don't care who you are. I only care about results."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly before he hummed in disapproval. "Yes, I suppose you're right on that part, but tell me, child. Why should I train you?"

Sasuke bristled once again at the jab, but decided to reign in his anger in hopes of convincing this man to take him on as an apprentice.

"I am not like other people my age. I have ambitions, goals, and the drive behind it to make those ideas become a reality. I won't waste your time. I am a fast learner and have been hailed as a prodigy. However, my potential is being held back by a lazy jonin, a useless fangirl, and a loser," he explained bitterly.

The man hummed again in acknowledgment but otherwise said nothing as he continued to study him thoughtfully.

Sasuke stood there and allowed the man to scrutinize him.

The man sighed after a few minutes had passed. "If I trained you," he stated, making sure that he put a careful emphasize on the word if. "What would you do with that power?"

'There is no value in killing the likes of you… My foolish brother… If you want to kill me… curse me! Hate me! And live a long and unsightly life… Run away… run away… and cling to your pitiful life. And then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me.'

The words of the man he had once affectionately called brother suddenly came to his mind. He could feel his eyes narrow hatefully in anger before he glanced up to glare at this blond man. "I will take that power and kill that man," he stated with an angry snarl.

The blond man gave him a look that suggested that he was not pleased with his answer. "And once he is dead, then what will you do?"

"I will revive my clan," Sasuke answered without missing a beat.

The man's eyebrows rose slightly. "With who?"

Sasuke started to reply but found that his answer died on his tongue. He blinked in surprise at this before he turned away petulantly. "To whoever is worthy of being the next Uchiha matriarch," he muttered finally.

The man snorted.

This caused Sasuke to twitch again in annoyance. "Well, will you train me or not," he snapped.

The man studied him thoughtfully for a few more minutes before his face lit up in what could only be described as the biggest shit eating grin that Sasuke had ever seen. The grin made him nervous, and he unconsciously took a step backwards in an attempt to escape this man's suddenly foreboding aura.

"Sure, I'll train you," the man stated with a dark chuckle. "But before we get started, I think it's only right that you treat your new Sensei to his favorite food."

Sasuke frowned at this man's odd request, but nodded just the same. I mean honestly. How bad could it really be?

oOo

Sasuke watched, with a twitching eye and a gaping mouth, as this seemingly bottomless pit consumed his thirtieth bowl of miso ramen. The worst part in all of this, he didn't seem in the least bit satiated. "How can you possibly eat that much ramen," he asked in disgust.

The blond man paused in the middle of his gorging to stare at him strangely. "Because I'm hungry," he stated around a mouthful of soggy noodles.

Sasuke's eye twitched again but he decided to keep quiet. He only hoped that this man didn't eat too much more or he wouldn't have enough money to foot this bill.

The owner of the ramen stand, an older man by the name of Teuchi, was also observing his fat ass Sensei with a surprised expression. "Amazing," the old man seemingly muttered to himself. "I think this man's stomach rivals Kushinas."

Sasuke barely had a moment to consider the man's words before his Sensei was suddenly choking on his food. Hmmph. Serves that fat ass right, he thought smugly.

"You knew my m-I mean Kushina," the man suddenly blurted out.

The old man stared at the blond man in surprise. "She was one of my best customers back in the day. Her appetite has only been recently rivaled by her ramen successor, Uzumaki Naruto."

The blond looked almost giddy by this man's explanation. "So she liked ramen too," he murmured with a fond smile. "What was her favorite type of ramen?"

Teuchi paused for a moment. "She seemed to favor salt ramen," he answered.

The blond nodded. "I'll take a bowl of that then."

Sasuke frowned. "Who is Kushina, and why does she matter to you so much?"

The blonde's eyes tightened slightly. "I thought names didn't matter to you," he responded after a few moments of silence had passed.

"Hmmm," Sasuke grunted.

The man smiled at him before he started on his thirty-first bowl of ramen.

oOo

The moment the blond man stepped into his ramen stand, Teuchi immediately knew that this had to be the guy that the villagers were currently gossiping about.

He had to admit that this man did share an uncanny resemblance to the late Yondaime. However, to someone who knew that man best, he could also see the difference in this man's young face.

The man had a pleasant enough voice and the greeting that he called out was familiar. The order was too.

Teuchi observed this man carefully, noting with mild interest, the familiar way this man was eating his food. In fact, it was so familiar that he found himself muttering his thoughts aloud.

The blonde's reaction had startled him, but he had heard the slip. It was quick, and he had carefully covered it up. However, Teuchi heard this man say mom just the same, and suddenly this man who was both familiar and a stranger came together in his old mind.

There was no mistaking the similarity to the Yondaime, however, there was also no mistaking this man's resemblance to Kushina as well.

He only knew one person, who embodied the traits of both, and he was currently leaning across the bar with this almost desperate expression on his face.

How could he deny those wide hopeful blue eyes the answers that he was silently begging for? He knew his best customer well after all. So there was no doubt in his mind that this was, in fact, Uzumaki Naruto.

Review please.

A/N:

I understand that this chapter is short. I apologize. Originally, I had planned on this chapter being a lot longer; however, I kept running into some problems with the overall tone of the story. Everything I wrote felt forced, and did not flow naturally into the overall story. I have a sense of humor, and every time I sit down to write that sense of humor somehow leaks onto the paper (the tease). I started this story with the intention of it being slightly darker, which is why it is labeled as Angst. However, the last chapter and this chapter kept writing itself out with a lighter tone (in my opinion at least). So, I have decided to go back and do a bit of a cleanup to the first few chapters. I want the story to flow a little bit better. My writing style has changed a bit since I first started this story, and also the overall plot has evolved onto a different path. I can't write the story the way I want it to be written until I edit the first part to match. So please, have some patience with me. I decided to throw out this teaser in the meantime while I clean house.

Let me know your thoughts on the overall reboot!