35 Chapter 35 : The Butcher of Blaviken (1/2)
This will be fun. Esketit.
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While Kenji escaped in a remote village, Sasuke and Aya found solace in a moderately sized town. The reason was, that place was infamous for sword battles, theft, prostitution, anything dastardly you could think of happened in that place. Aya wouldn't dare be in the middle of that at first, so she and Sasuke camped out on the outskirts most nights. They found shelter when it rained though. Through the first few weeks, Sasuke didn't know how to interact with Aya. She obviously reminded him of his own mother. Aya knew his trials through the gracious Hokage. So, she decided right there. Would it hurt to take on another Uchiha boy? No it wouldn't.
Aya was a training fiend. Once she got into it, she didn't stop. Sasuke finally realized why Kenji's strikes were so profound. Any and every little detail involved in Aya's style was drilled into Sasuke's head. And along the way, Aya managed to loosen the grip of anguish on his heart. It definitely wasn't gone, but Sasuke appreciated what Aya wanted to do. She treated him almost exactly like his own mother.
Aya even drilled Sasuke down to push ups and how he should sleep at night. The training took a lot out of the boy, but if Kenji went through this, there's no way he could lose to him, so Sasuke endured. Eventually, Aya presented him his own real sword, bought from a respectable blacksmith in the town. When Aya went into the hellhole, many men tried to have their way with her. They stopped when she easily almost sliced the manhood off someone. The sword looked straight, almost square. The blade seemed a starling silver. Sasuke loved it. Before he could try it out, Aya tapped his shoulder.
”So....I may or may not have signed you up for the tournament coming up in a few weeks.” Aya smiled.
”A tournament?”
”Yes, it has prize money, and I want you to get real, hands on experience, unless you're too scared of course.” Aya eyed him with cockiness.
Sasuke held his chest out with his eyes closed. ”An Uchiha is never afraid.”
Aya had it all figured out. It was something about Uchiha boys. If you tried to insult their pride, you could get them into anything.
Aya refocused. ”Okay, but this tournament is a little different than the rest. First of all, you'll have a teammate. And you won't know them, so you need to be ready.”
”I can't team with you?” Sasuke asked.
”Hah, I wish. But it's a random process. And this is a fight to the death. Can you handle that?” Aya was in all seriousness.
He nodded.
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