After the Kiss, You're Mine

"Today is the entrance ceremony. Classes start tomorrow, so why don't you introduce yourselves first?"

Iruka stood before the podium and looked at the students below. Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention after he said that.

The classroom was eerily quiet, leaving the young teacher at a loss.

"Naruto, you go first."

With no other choice, Iruka could only start with Naruto. He was the only one in the classroom Iruka was somewhat familiar with.

"No problem!"

Naruto, who was sitting beside Hinata, leaped to his feet. With two or three jumps, he cleared the desks in front of him and arrived at the blackboard, where he wrote down his name.

"Naruto Uzumaki. My favorite thing is Ichiraku Ramen. My dream is to become Hokage, and my life goal is to marry into the Hyuga Clan."

After Naruto finished his introduction, the classroom fell silent before erupting into laughter. Everyone laughed in disbelief.

"He said he wants to marry into a family!"

"I'm dying! Becoming Hokage and marrying into a family don't go together at all. Is he an idiot?"

The students generously showered Naruto with mockery, but Naruto remained unmoved, maintaining a natural smile.

"Naruto-kun, come down already. Come down."

Hinata's face turned red beneath the podium, and several girls had already started looking her way.

"Next."

With a dark expression, Iruka sent Naruto back to his seat. Thanks to him, though, the atmosphere in the classroom had relaxed considerably, and the students began introducing themselves more freely.

"Shikamaru Nara. Don't come to me for small matters, and definitely don't come to me for big matters. My dream is to live peacefully every day."

"Choji Akimichi. My favorite is Konoha's Q Meat BBQ. My dream is to be drowned in an ocean of grilled meat. Also, I'm not fat. I'm just a little more well-rounded!"

"Kiba Inuzuka. My favorite is Akamaru, and what I hate most are felines. I'm going to work toward becoming Hokage too, Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Bring it on if you can!"

"Shino Aburame. I like insects. If anyone is interested in raising bugs, feel free to ask me."

"Ino Yamanaka. I like flowers. If you accidentally piss me off, you'd better watch your body."

"Sakura Haruno. What I like is..."—she looked toward a certain boy in blue—"sweets. There's nothing I particularly dislike. When I grow up, I want to become a strong woman."

"Hinata Hyuga. What I like is..." She looked at Naruto. "My dream is to become someone qualified to stand beside the Hokage."

"Uchiha, Sasuke."

After Sasuke finished introducing himself, the students stopped talking and examined him with far from friendly eyes. As the sole survivor of a massacred clan, Sasuke had always drawn attention. Now that he had entered the Ninja Academy, they could finally get a close look at the last child of that great family.

"Alright, now that everyone has introduced themselves, take your textbooks and go home early. Remember to come to class tomorrow."

Iruka knew a little about Sasuke's circumstances and wanted to help him out, but he received an urgent message instead. After saying that, he hurried out of the classroom.

"Sasuke, have we met somewhere before?"

Before Sasuke returned to his seat, Naruto turned to look at him. For some reason, he always felt an urge to argue with Sasuke, one he could not suppress no matter what.

"When have I ever met you, brat?"

Sasuke had also been watching Naruto all along. He was simply better at suppressing his feelings. But now that Naruto had provoked him, he could no longer hold back.

"Aren't you a brat too?!"

"You want to fight?"

"You think I'm scared of you?"

Cross-shaped anger marks appeared on both Naruto and Sasuke's faces as they glared furiously at each other. Their gazes collided in midair, sparking fiercely—but they had forgotten one thing. Sasuke was standing in the aisle.

"Class is over, class is over. What should I eat when I get home today?"

Choji's round body rose from his seat. His eyes remained fixed on the potato chips in his hand, and without looking to the side, he crashed straight into Sasuke's back.

"Ah, sorry..."

Choji realized he had bumped into someone, and not lightly either. The boy named Sasuke staggered from the impact and fell toward Naruto's seat.

"Mm!"

The entire world went quiet.

Hinata, who had been trying to calm Naruto down, went quiet.

Sakura, who had been studying handsome boys with Ino, went quiet.

Shikamaru, halfway through a yawn, forcibly swallowed it back.

Everyone's eyes shifted to Naruto and Sasuke, whose lips had collided.

"Ahhh!"

Sakura screamed. No matter how she thought about it, Sasuke's first kiss should have been hers! Why had things turned out like this? Why had his first kiss been stolen by a boy?!

"Bleurgh!"

Sasuke and Naruto came to their senses and immediately dropped to the floor, dry-heaving.

"I'll kill you! I'm definitely going to kill you!"

"That's my line! I got kissed by a man! That's disgusting!"

Good thing Naruto-kun kissed me yesterday. Otherwise...

Hinata was probably the only one who felt fortunate. Thinking of what had happened yesterday made her blush again, but at least Naruto's first kiss had been preserved.

A few months later, Naruto had become quite familiar with school. Some people treated him like a monster, but others did not, so he had made quite a few friends. Even Choji was willing to share a chip with him now—except for Sasuke.

"Today in PE, we'll practice some Taijutsu. Is anyone willing to come up and spar?"

Iruka had already prepared himself to be ignored when he suddenly saw two people step out of the crowd and consciously enter the circle.

"Naruto, you want to spar with Sasuke?"

"Yeah. Prepare to die, Sasuke! I'm going to repay you for all the humiliation from that day!"

"You've got some nerve saying that, Dead Last."

Sasuke looked at Naruto disdainfully. Compared with Sasuke, who got perfect scores in every subject, Naruto could indeed only be considered Dead Last. His academic grades were a complete mess.

"Have a taste of being defeated by Dead Last! Ow! What was that for, Iruka-sensei?"

Naruto had barely rushed halfway forward when Iruka's fist struck him on the head. Rubbing the spot that had been hit, he asked indignantly.

"Did you forget what you have to do before sparring?"

"Yeah, yeah. Please teach me."

Naruto reluctantly walked up to Sasuke and extended two fingers. He intertwined them with Sasuke's fingers to form a friendly seal.

"Begin!"

At Iruka's command, Naruto charged at Sasuke. The moment he raised his fist, Sasuke was already before him. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar and hooked Naruto's heel with his right foot. Naruto immediately lost his balance and fell to the ground, where all he could see was Sasuke's fist growing larger and larger.

"I don't even need Taijutsu to beat you."

Sasuke, who had intended to punch Naruto's nose crooked, suddenly stopped. His fist hovered before Naruto's nose. He did not know why, but a trace of reluctance flashed through his heart. He could not bear to hurt him.

"The winner has been decided."

Only then did Iruka react. An outsider might not have been able to tell, but he had just calculated Sasuke's speed when closing the distance. His conclusion was that it was no worse than that of an ordinary genin.

"Alright, I know you're not satisfied. Work harder next time. Come on, the Reconciliation Seal."

Iruka patted Naruto's head to comfort him. Naruto seemed unable to accept being defeated so quickly, his head hanging listlessly.

"Fine..."

But Iruka was wrong. Naruto was not dejected. He only pretended to form a seal with Sasuke. The instant their hands touched, he grabbed Sasuke by the collar. Unexpectedly, Sasuke had already been on guard, and his hand also seized Naruto's collar. The two fell to the ground and began wrestling.

"Naruto, you bastard!"

"Hehe, all's fair in war. You learned that saying but never put it to use."

"Who gave you the confidence to think a sneak attack could beat me?!"

"Ow! You dare hit my face?!"

"Ow, be gentler."

After class, Naruto sat on a bench on the training field while Hinata gently applied ointment to him. His face was bruised black and blue, and when she touched a sore spot, Naruto cried out in pain.

"You deserve it. Who told you to sneak attack Sasuke, only to get beaten up by Iruka-sensei too?"

Hinata mischievously poked Naruto's wound, making it hurt even more as she complained about his bad temper.

"Don't underestimate me. I hit Sasuke too."

"Naruto-kun, why do you dislike Sasuke so much? You can get along with anyone else, but not him?"

Hinata did not quite understand. She knew Naruto was a kind and gentle boy inside, yet whenever he faced Sasuke, he would always pick fights and provoke him, as if deliberately trying to be mean.

"I don't know either. Every time I see him, I get this feeling like I've known him before. Like I can't just leave him alone. That guy doesn't have any friends at school, right?"

"Then why do you bother him every day?"

"No, even though we argue every day, I can tell Sasuke enjoys it too."

"I really don't understand your relationship..."

"Oh, school's over. Hinata, hurry home. I'm going for a walk."

Hearing the dismissal bell, Naruto stretched lazily, picked up the ointment Hinata had been using on him, and ran off.

"Naruto-kun... I wanted to ask you over for dinner."

Although he called it a walk, Naruto purposefully made his way to the lakeside in Konoha. Sure enough, he saw Sasuke sitting blankly on a short bridge. Sasuke sensed something and turned to look at Naruto. This was where they had first come out to play and catch loaches.

"Hmph."

Seeing Sasuke look at him, Naruto snorted and turned his head away, quickening his pace as he walked forward.

"Tch."

Sasuke grew even more annoyed at Naruto's attitude. He touched the cheek that Naruto's fist had grazed. On average, Naruto only landed one hit for every three Sasuke landed on him, but it still hurt.

Rumble, rumble.

The sound of a small round box rolling to his feet caught Sasuke's attention. The Konoha medical symbol was engraved on it. When he opened the box, a fragrant medicinal salve came into view.

"Hmph. Heh."

"Hehe."

Beneath the setting sun, the two boys smiled happily at the same time.

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PS: Hmm, looking back over the earlier chapters, besides the nine genin who would be useful later, Naruto's class also had seven or eight extras.