"You looking for a fight?" Naruto raised his eyebrows, tugging at his sleeves.
Sasuke glared, looking like he faced an unbeatable foe. "Let's settle this with skill."
"My throws are perfect," Sasuke countered. "Since you're so strong, why don't you go first?"
"Oh?" Naruto grinned, sizing Sasuke up. "Trying to bait me? Look at you, using your brain. Your head must be hurting from thinking too much."
Sasuke's face flushed red. He wanted to beat Naruto up right then and there. If he could, sadly for Sasuke that hasn't happened even once.
But Sasuke couldn't win against Naruto in fight, nor even an argument. 'Ugh, so annoying.'
"Alright then," Naruto said, his voice laced with amusement. "Let me show the 'Genius' of Uchiha Clan how it's really done." With that, Naruto pulled a shuriken from his pouch. "A ninja strikes from the shadows," he declared, his arm whipping forward. "Like a snake."
He threw it-hard. The shuriken shot forward like a cannonball. It didn't just hit the bullseye, it punched straight through the target. Without losing speed, it tore through three thick tree trunks behind it before embedding itself deep in the stone wall with a solid *thunk*.
"If the first strike fails, you fall back," Naruto continued, calmly drawing a second shuriken, then a third, a fourth. "What matters is the one-hit kill."
Each throw was the same. Each shuriken didn't just hit-it obliterated the target board.
*CRACK!*
The tenth target couldn't take the force and shattered into splinters.
"See?" Naruto dusted off his hands. "No need for a dozen perfect little taps."
This wasn't throwing shuriken, it was launching cannonballs.
The Konoha instructor recording scores felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck. He swallowed hard, staring at the pulverized remains of the final target. 'If that hit a person...' he thought numbly. 'Even standard ninjutsu doesn't pack that kind of punch, does it?'
Naruto announced with a completely serious face, "This is the correct way to use shuriken."
'Correct my ass,' Sasuke seethed silently.
"That girly delicate way you throw," Naruto went on, gesturing dismissively, "won't kill anyone. Might scratch 'em, that's about it."
Before Sasuke could even form a retort, Naruto grabbed Hinata by the hand and took off, not looking back.
Naruto's violent shuriken display left the group of inexperienced kids completely stunned. Throwing them like cannonballs... it was unheard of. Everyone stood frozen in shock, including Sasuke, who started seriously doubting his own approach.
Sasuke didn't snap out of it until he was almost home.
'Wait a minute,' he thought, brow furrowed. 'Aren't shuriken supposed to just injure? Who actually expects to kill someone with one? That's ridiculous. Name one strong shinobi who got taken out by a shuriken. Or stabbed to death with a kunai, for that matter.'
The sun dipped towards the horizon as a dejected Sasuke walked back through the Uchiha Compound, finally reaching his house.
"I'm home," he mumbled, shoulders slumped as he pushed the door open.
As soon as he stepped inside, a burst of laughter echoed from deeper within the house.
Sasuke froze. That was his father's laugh. Fugaku Uchiha, stern and serious, rarely laughed. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he'd heard it or even seen him smile, especially not in the past two years.
'Could Itachi-nii be back?' Only his brother's return from a mission ever seemed to draw praise, or laughter, from their father.
"Itachi-nii?" Hope surged through him. Sasuke ran eagerly to the inner room door and slid it open forcefully-
He froze. His mind went blank.
A few seconds later, reality snapped back, sharp and unwelcome. Sasuke pointed a trembling finger at the figure sitting across from his father. "Why is this guy in my house?"
"Sasuke!" Before Naruto could respond, Fugaku fixed Sasuke with a stern glare. "Is that any way to speak to a guest? Where are your manners?"
"But he-"
"Sasuke." The single word, heavy with warning, cut him off.
Sasuke wilted under his father's gaze. He instinctively looked to his mother, Mikoto Uchiha, for support.
But Mikoto simply said, "Sasuke, Naruto-kun is your classmate. You shouldn't speak to him that way."
His own mother siding with him? Sasuke felt a surge of indignant betrayal. Pouting, he mumbled towards Naruto, "Sorry... Naruto. That was rude."
"It's alright," Naruto said easily, waving a hand with infuriating magnanimity. "Admitting you're wrong is the first step, right? That's what makes a good child." He had that look on his face - the 'I'm the mature one here' look - clearly enjoying pushing Sasuke's buttons.
'Tch!' Sasuke looked ready to explode, but another sharp look from Fugaku stopped him cold.
With no allies left, feeling tears prickle behind his eyes, Sasuke turned and fled to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"My apologies for that display," Fugaku said, turning back to Naruto with a sigh.
"No worries, Uncle Fugaku," Naruto waved it off. "I actually have high hopes for Sasuke. He's got incredible talent, and he's a good kid at heart. Takes after both you and Aunty Mikoto, I think." Naruto added smoothly, "He's got a bright future."
'Flattery rarely hurt, anyway,' Naruto thought privately.
Flattery never hurt. No matter what Naruto actually thought of Sasuke, it was always wise to start with praise. Besides, in the canon, Sasuke's future was pretty impressive.
Actually, Naruto didn't dislike Sasuke. Not only that, he even found him quite likeable. He just enjoyed teasing him.
And despite Sasuke's obvious frustration and anger, Naruto never sensed any real malice from him.
So, why was Naruto sitting in the Uchiha family home?
It traced back three months, to the day Sasuke, stubborn as ever, had challenged Naruto and ended up crying after a single punch. That same day, Naruto had run into Fugaku and Mikoto.
He'd recognized them instantly.
Naruto never forgot it. Facing the hateful villagers, he had nearly lost control, nearly fallen into a trap set by someone, because the reaction seemed clearly orchestrated.
He'd only just begun his Turtle School training then, his power was nothing like it was now. If Fugaku and Mikoto hadn't stepped in when they did... the consequences... he didn't like to think about them. Would he have become the first five-year-old Jinchuriki defector in history?
Fugaku and Mikoto were the only ones in Konoha who had offered him help back then - genuine kindness, free of any hidden motive or malice.
Naruto held onto that memory tightly.
A drop of kindness received should be repaid with a spring. That was Naruto's way. Naruto Uzumaki held grudges, yes, but he also repaid his debts.
So, Naruto had arranged things. A 'coincidental' encounter here, some 'unintentional' help offered to the Konoha Military Police Force there... again and again. Over time, he'd gotten to know Fugaku and Mikoto better. A connection had formed.
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