Meeting Again

The Third Hokage slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, Uchiha Satsuki's image surfacing in his mind—Fugaku Uchiha's second daughter.

He remembered clearly that before Satsuki was born, Fugaku had held onto the hope that this child would grow into a powerful ninja. He had even intended to use his father's name, "Sasuke," for the child. Yet both children had turned out to be girls, so in the end, he could only make a slight alteration to the name.

The first time he saw little Satsuki, the Third Hokage had to admit that he felt a flicker of envy. Why did Fugaku get to have such an adorable daughter? Though she was only three years old, her delicate features already hinted at the beauty she would become.

If she had not been a child of the Uchiha Clan...

The Third Hokage had even considered arranging a childhood betrothal between Satsuki and his newborn grandson. Of course, reality swiftly dismissed that absurd notion. A marriage alliance between the Uchiha and the Hokage's line? If that happened, he would have no face to meet the Second Hokage in the afterlife.

At that thought, the Third Hokage turned his gaze back to Naruto, who was munching on an apple. It was a good thing for this lonely child to form bonds, but the other party was the Uchiha Clan Head's daughter... The choice was simply too sensitive.

"Naruto," the Third Hokage said, trying to make his tone sound casual. "Have you made any friends lately?"

Naruto paused slightly at that. Though the Third Hokage appeared to be asking offhandedly, Naruto knew perfectly well—this was probing into his meeting with Satsuki yesterday.

"Yeah!" Naruto swallowed the apple in his mouth, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. "Yesterday, I met someone really nice! She practiced shuriken with me for a long time! But..."

"But what?"

"That person's personality is kind of strange. How should I put it? She has this deliberate arrogance." Naruto curled his lip. "She was like, 'Your throwing technique is pretty decent,' even though she'd just been hiding behind a tree saying how amazing it was. But it was my fault at first. I used her training ground without asking."

The Third Hokage nodded thoughtfully. "I see. But... aren't there public training grounds inside Konoha? Why did you go all the way out there to train?"

"Because nobody there likes me. I don't know why, but the way they look at me... it really makes me uncomfortable. So I had to go farther away to avoid causing everyone trouble."

The Third Hokage's grip around his pipe tightened slightly. "...I see, Naruto." He deliberately slowed his speech. "Then this new friend of yours... did she agree to let you go play with her again?"

A knowing curve formed at Naruto's lips. Of course, he understood the Third Hokage's probing—he was confirming whether Satsuki had deliberately guided him toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Yeah! She said that if there's a chance... next time, we can train together in the forest on Konoha's outskirts. After training, we can sit by the river with the amazing view, eat, and look at the scenery."

The Third Hokage let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. It was within the Anbu's surveillance range... For now, he could largely rule out the possibility that the Uchiha Clan had arranged this deliberately. The children's meeting should have been mere coincidence.

"Naruto..." The Third Hokage shifted into a more relaxed sitting position, making the subject sound like the concern of an elder. "What do you think of that friend of yours?"

Naruto clenched the apple core in his hand. He understood that his next words would determine whether the Third Hokage allowed this friendship to continue developing.

"That girl..." Naruto deliberately put on a disgusted expression. "Her personality is super weird, and she always acts like she looks down on people..." His voice gradually softened. "But..."

The Third Hokage raised an interested brow, watching Naruto's rare display of bashfulness.

"But..." Naruto scratched his head. "She's pretty cute!"

The Third Hokage nearly choked on his smoke. He had not expected such a pure, childish answer. Seeing Naruto's rare shy expression, one so fitting for his age, a complicated emotion flashed through the old man's eyes.

I see... A child's instinctive preference for beautiful things.

I should call Fugaku Uchiha over for a talk later.

After cleaning up the house, Naruto deftly tied his ninja tool pouch around his waist, checked that his lunch box was packed, then pushed open the door and stepped into the sunlight.

I made everything clear enough...

Naruto looked toward Hokage Rock. If that old man still plans to stop me from seeing Satsuki... then he'd better not blame me for holding a grudge.

His small figure leaped nimbly between rooftops, golden hair fluttering in the wind. Such a dangerous mode of travel was commonplace for ninjas—even for a three-year-old child.

After racing along for some time, the familiar training ground finally came into view. Naruto slowed down and looked around expectantly...

He did not see Satsuki. Didn't she come today?

Just as Naruto thought he had made the trip for nothing, a soft "puff" suddenly came from the riverbank not far away, like the sound of a match being lit. Curious, he followed the sound.

Satsuki's small figure stood beside the river, clumsily forming hand seals. Her brows were tightly knit, her lips pressed into a line. She looked utterly adorable as she concentrated with all her might.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

With a childish shout, a fireball about the size of a soccer ball burst from her mouth, tracing an orange-red arc through the air, and then...

It went out with a soft pfft.

There it is! The Great Fireball Lighter Technique from the original story!

Satsuki stood by the riverbank, her little fists clenched until they turned white. Her father's disappointed sigh replayed endlessly in her mind. "Sure enough, you can't do it like your older sister did back then..."

...Is the gap between my sister and me really that huge?

She bit her lower lip, stubbornly shook her head, and forcibly suppressed her dejection. If I don't have enough talent, then I'll make up for it with hard work! Satsuki once again assumed the hand seal stance. I'll definitely surpass my sister... and become a ninja the clan can be proud of!

"Yo! You're here! I kept my promise and came to see you!"

The sudden voice startled Satsuki so badly that she nearly lost her footing. She whipped around and saw Naruto's radiant smile right in front of her.

"It's you..." Satsuki said, forcing herself to remain calm as she turned her face away.

Naruto did not notice her embarrassment at all and eagerly leaned closer. "Hey, hey~ That fireball just now, were you practicing ninjutsu?"

Satsuki stiffened, realizing he had seen her pathetic Great Fireball Technique. Shame instantly flooded her heart—she had boldly declared last time that the Uchiha were the strongest, yet she could not even use the most basic Fire Style properly...

"That was amazing!"

Unexpectedly, Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up as he cried out. Satsuki turned back in surprise, meeting those sparkling blue eyes.

"You haven't even started at the Ninja Academy yet! But you're already practicing ninjutsu like a real ninja! You're seriously amazing!"