Making Friends

Was Shikamaru saying he got good grades really not a jab at him?

After working his ass off for over a month, he had finally erased the teacher's fixed impression that he always got perfect scores on written tests. Was it easy for him to deliberately get a simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division question wrong? Meanwhile, Shikamaru could always ensure he stayed just barely above the passing line.

Barely passing without guaranteeing every answer was correct—this was true for every subject!

He did not even dare claim he could control his accuracy rate that precisely. He could only get everything right, then deliberately miss one or two questions. If he intentionally got too many wrong, he might even mess up questions he actually knew.

What a perfunctory answer.

"It's obvious you weren't the one who wanted to come find me..."

Halfway through blurting it out, Shadow Clone Sasuke remembered something. If not Shikamaru, then who else could it be? That was a slide he did not even want to touch right now!

There had been no such scene in the original story. Could it be that Sasuke had rejected them without realizing it? But one of the Great Clans under the Hokage was taking the initiative to befriend him; he could not think of any downside. Rejecting their goodwill would only make him seem ungrateful.

Just as Shikamaru showed the relieved expression of someone who had finally completed his mission, Sasuke unexpectedly swallowed back what he had just said.

"I understand. You came to find me of your own accord, and I greatly appreciate the gesture. But I still need to go home and cook. You can come find me again this weekend."

As he left, Sasuke added coldly, "Goodbye."

Startled into shivering, he hurriedly returned the farewell.

Damn it. What had seemed like a one-time task had turned into a chain quest.

Knowing about the Uchiha clan massacre, something like that did not even sound like an excuse when spoken aloud. Cooking... doing the kind of work a housewife did... How miserable.

At the playground facilities near the school, where parents waited to pick up their children, Choji, Kiba, and Naruto saw that Shikamaru had come alone.

Kiba laughed. "I told you a guy like that wouldn't want to play with us. Did he say anything bad about you? I'll go curse him out for you!"

Shikamaru scratched his head. How was he supposed to explain this? He simply repeated Sasuke's words.

"He said he had to cook, but we could go find him this weekend."

Choji's eyes widened. "Really? Dinner... My mom seems to be making curry tonight. I wonder what Sasuke eats."

Though he was talking about dinner, the thoughtful Choji seemed to have something else on his mind.

Kiba waved a hand. "That obviously sounds like an excuse. Naruto never says things like that."

Naruto tried to defend Sasuke. "But Sasuke really does cook for himself every day."

Kiba asked, "What do you eat for dinner, Naruto?"

Naruto looked proud. "The new miso ramen that came out last week!"

"Ramen again? You can't just eat ramen all the time. Even Akamaru has to change things up once in a while."

The moment the words left his mouth, Kiba realized something about them seemed wrong.

Naruto did not notice at all. "Lately, I've been adding fried eggs to my ramen!"

Seeing that Naruto did not find anything wrong with it, Kiba seemed to realize he had misspoken. The other two did not point it out either.

So annoying.

Sasuke was pretending not to know, he was pretending not to know, and Dad would not say it outright either. It would be best if everyone just remained muddleheaded like this.

With the busy farming season over, he needed to arrange a new physical training regimen. He was still young, so he could not do too much weight training. Otherwise, he would end up like Rock Lee, only reaching five foot seven even by the end. At least, he did not plan to use weights for his upper body. He would focus on aerobic exercise first, then Blade Tools and ninjutsu training.

Looking through the training records left behind by the clan members, he found that anyone who trained did not dare say they had exercised that day unless they ran dozens of kilometers.

The Saitama Training Method clearly did not involve enough exercise when applied to the world of Naruto.

A ninja's speed was very fast. With Chakra enhancement, they could at least reach twice an Ordinary Person's speed—starting at 20 m/s. That was even in Sasuke's case, with his body not fully grown yet. He could easily run around the village three times in an hour.

He had only been training for a little over a week. He did not know when he would encounter Konoha's Precious Beast and start building favorability, but there was no rush. There were still a full four years left at the academy. If he could not learn the Eight Inner Gates from Might Guy, there was still Kakashi. Building a solid foundation before then was more important.

He had no intention of opening all eight gates and becoming a one-use human cannonball. Opening two gates and fully unleashing his Physical fitness would be enough.

The other three had heard Naruto mention Sasuke several times, so naturally Naruto led them to find Sasuke over the weekend.

At the entrance to the Uchiha Clan Grounds, the seals were still there, and even the main gate was shut.

After Naruto had learned Tree Climbing, a wall merely two or three meters high was naturally no obstacle.

"I'll go open the gate for you!"

Seizing the chance to show off the results of his Tree Climbing practice to his new friends.

The wooden gate creaked open. The dense weeds made the place seem even more eerie than when Naruto had come before.

Choji ate chips as he looked at the rundown interior, shrinking back slightly.

"Does Sasuke really live in there? How about Naruto goes in and calls him out? We won't go inside. That tightly shut gate earlier did not seem very welcoming to outsiders..."

That was true. Sasuke really did not like outsiders coming in, especially a certain person in a Sacred Robe and a certain group wearing masks.

Naruto naturally did not want to miss the opportunity to lead everyone around. It felt great to guide others.

"It's fine, it's fine. Sasuke won't get mad over something like this. Just make sure to close the gate after we go in."

Shikamaru naturally wanted to take a look inside. After all, he had been the first to suggest bringing Sasuke into the group.

"Naruto, are you close enough with Sasuke to make decisions for him now?"

Naruto could only laugh awkwardly. It was not easy to take back a boast once it had been made.

The entire clan grounds looked like a scene from nature. Kiba also set Akamaru down and let him walk a few steps.

The streets gradually became tidier. The weeds vanished, and the road looked as though it was regularly washed down with water. Though the area was not large, it was clear that someone still lived nearby.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! We're coming in!"

Calling Sasuke's name, Naruto entered Sasuke's home as though he were already familiar with the place.

In the front courtyard of the Uchiha residence, the stone-paved open area that had originally contained only two rows of ornamental trees had one side of its wall knocked down, directly connecting it to the street. The foundation and the lowest layer of brick walls had already been laid. Many sheets of glass and metal frames were piled nearby.

Before the others could ask, Naruto enthusiastically explained.

"Sasuke said he plans to build a greenhouse here, but I don't know what a greenhouse is either. He said he was too lazy to explain."

"Hey, hey, do you guys know what a greenhouse is?"

The other two were a little confused, but Shikamaru knew. "My family has several greenhouses too. We grow medicinal herbs in them so they won't freeze to death during winter."

Choji suddenly understood. "Those transparent houses at your place? Too bad you can't grow chips and grilled meat in them."

Although Kiba regarded Sasuke as a rival, he was still surprised by the sheer scale of the project. "He didn't do all of this by himself, did he?"

Naruto said unwillingly, "I offered to help him, but he wouldn't let me. He said I was clumsy and couldn't afford to pay if I broke the glass. He really looks down on people!"