Following in His Father's Footsteps

The fading sunlight painted the entire forest red, bathing the two small figures in a warm golden-red glow. Their clothes were covered in dirt and leaves, and their little faces were smeared with dust—the marks left by falling from the trees again and again.

The two great trees before them were covered in kunai cuts. Every mark recorded their progress, from only being able to climb halfway up the trunks at first to now nearly reaching the treetops.

During their repeated practice, Naruto taught Satsuki the trick Sakura Haruno had mastered in the original story: keep a calm mindset and focus all her attention on the tree. Thanks to that, the two progressed far faster than in the original, without having to practice until dawn like the two members of Team 7 had.

Satsuki stood beneath the tree, her long black hair plastered to her cheeks with sweat. She felt the flow of Chakra within her body. After countless attempts, she had finally found that subtle sense of balance.

Now!

Suppressing the excitement in her heart, she tried her best to calm down. She focused all her attention on the tree trunk, feeling the subtle sensation of Chakra surging from the soles of her feet.

"Tap, tap, tap."

With a series of brisk footsteps, Satsuki ran steadily up the vertical trunk. This time, her Chakra control was smoother than ever. Every step adhered to the bark with perfect precision, without the slightest waste.

When she lightly leaped onto the highest branch, the setting sun happened to fall across her little face. Satsuki looked excitedly down at the ground—she had succeeded!

Just then, a rustling sound came from the other tree. Satsuki turned her head and saw Naruto likewise complete the climb cleanly and efficiently, landing with a graceful flip on a neighboring branch. His golden hair gleamed beneath the sunset, and his blue eyes were filled with laughter.

Naruto had succeeded too, but all Satsuki could think was that she had reached the top before him. She had won this competition!

"Hey! Naruto!" She turned around, her little face blooming with a dazzling smile. "I won this match! Well? Have you seen how amazing the Uchiha are now?"

Naruto stood on the neighboring branch, watching Satsuki's smug expression. She was like a proud little kitten; her shining black eyes and unconcealed happiness revealed the innocent joy of a child.

That kind of smile... it was rarely seen on Sasuke's face in the original story... a smile blooming purely from happiness.

Naruto, who had gone a little easy on her, deliberately put on an annoyed look. "As expected of the Uchiha genius. I lost this round."

At that, the curve of Satsuki's lips rose even higher.

"But~" Naruto abruptly changed his tone. "Don't get too proud. It was only by a tiny bit." He held up his thumb and index finger to show a minuscule gap. "Keep working with that same drive. Just don't let me surpass you."

"Of course! I'll keep working hard! I'm going to surpass my sister and become a ninja who makes the clan proud!"

As Naruto listened to Satsuki's proud yet innocent voice, he noticed one detail in her words... "Sister."

What the hell... did Itachi get gender-swapped too? Naruto remembered that when he had first met Satsuki, she had indeed mentioned that this was the training ground she shared with her sister.

I just hope there won't be a gender-swapped Kakashi or gender-swapped Rookie Twelve later on. But if Kakashi were gender-swapped, would she have those feelings for Obito? Naruto really did not want to see that scene.

Just then, Satsuki shakily rose to her feet. Her little face was slightly pale from exhaustion, and her fingers gripped the tree trunk tightly. She clearly wanted to climb down to the ground, but after an afternoon of intense training, her legs had already begun to give out.

"Ah!"

A cry suddenly shattered the stillness. Satsuki's foot slipped, and her whole body pitched forward. Instinctively, she tried to gather Chakra to cling to the trunk, but in her panic, she could not control it precisely at all. The world spun around her—she was falling!

Not good!

Naruto's body moved faster than his thoughts. He leaped after her, precisely calculating the angle and speed as he fell, spreading his arms to catch the descending figure.

Satsuki squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain to come. But unexpectedly, she felt herself fall into a safe embrace. When she opened her eyes, Naruto's deep blue eyes were right before her, filled with concern.

Naruto nimbly kicked back and forth against the trunk, each contact precisely dissipating the impact of their fall.

"Whew—"

With one final light cushion, Naruto landed steadily on the ground. The fallen leaves beneath his feet were swept up by the airflow before slowly drifting back down. He looked down at Satsuki in his arms and asked worriedly, "That was close. Are you hurt?"

Satsuki's little face was practically buried in Naruto's collar, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "Mm... mm..."

Only then did she suddenly realize how embarrassing this position was—she was curled up in his arms like a startled kitten.

Satsuki did not know that in the Ninja World, this way of saving someone had no special name. But in another world, it had a particular name—the princess carry.

Naruto had been so worried that he had not noticed he had unintentionally recreated his father's most classic rescue pose.

Hearing that Satsuki was not hurt, he let out a relieved breath. He carefully bent down and gently set the girl, whose ears were bright red, back on the ground.

"Be more careful next time." Naruto patted Satsuki on the shoulder. "If you really get hurt in a fall, the adults at home will definitely forbid you from coming to the training ground again."

The moment Satsuki's feet touched the ground, she staggered slightly and hurriedly steadied herself against the rough tree trunk beside her.

She lowered her head, her long black hair falling forward to conceal her thoroughly flushed cheeks and ears. "Mm... thank you..."

Only then did Naruto notice that something was off with Satsuki. Is this kid... blushing? Thinking back carefully, that rescue had indeed been a little too intimate.

But in his eyes, Satsuki was just a little girl who needed looking after, and he had no other thoughts at all. On the contrary, he still had not quite gotten used to being in this child's body sometimes.

"...Um! Let's go to the river!" Satsuki suddenly said loudly, as if trying to break the awkward atmosphere. "Now that we're done training, it's time to test the results!"

She hurriedly turned and ran toward the riverbank, her long black hair streaming behind her while her steps remained a little unsteady.

Naruto followed with a smile, watching the small figure ahead of him.