Tsundere

Naruto sized up the little girl in front of him.

She wore a simple, practical outfit. The fabric was not especially fine, but it was tailored to fit her well, clearly designed for ease of movement. A small ninja tool pouch hung at her waist—hardly something an ordinary child would carry around.

She didn't look like a wealthy family's young lady, but neither did she look like an ordinary villager's child...

After a brief silence, Naruto took the initiative to speak.

"Um... who are you?"

His tone was very polite. She was so cute that Naruto instinctively wanted to get closer to her, but if she gave him the same disgusted look as the other villagers... Naruto would turn around and leave immediately.

But before leaving, he would definitely give her cheeks a hard pinch, so she would know not to look down on people so casually!

The black-haired little girl stood where she was, her small hands unconsciously kneading the hem of her clothes. After hesitating for a while, she finally lifted her chin slightly and tried her best to put on a proud expression.

"...Hmph, that little move just now was passable."

She deliberately kept her voice cool, but there was still a trace of childishness in her ending tone that she could not hide.

"Still, shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking who someone else is?"

After saying that, she added, "Besides, this is where my sister and I usually train. You, on the other hand... why are you practicing here?"

...A tsundere?

Naruto almost wanted to laugh. She had not sounded like this when she was hiding behind the tree and shouting, "That's amazing!"

The little girl's remark that this was her and her sister's training ground made Naruto understand why she was here.

This patch of woods on Konoha Village's outskirts was indeed not a public training ground. It was merely an open space he had found by chance. The few simple targets nailed to the tree trunks looked as though they had been there for years.

Crap, I casually took over someone else's territory...

Although Konoha Village had dedicated training grounds, Naruto would rather run farther away. After all, he really did not want to practice throwing shuriken while enduring the villagers' disgusted stares under everyone's watchful eyes.

The little girl's attitude was strange. It was not distant or disgusted, but rather a deliberate sort of disdain and pride. Her small chin was held high, yet her obsidian-like eyes sparkled as she occasionally stole glances at the kunai embedded in the bullseye.

That awkward yet proud attitude, along with her striking looks and this location...

The Uchiha Clan.

Naruto vaguely formed a guess.

"Ah? Oh... thanks for the compliment." Naruto gave her a friendly smile. "My name is Naruto. Is this your sisters' training ground? I'm sorry for using it without asking permission."

He deliberately slowed his speech, watching her reaction.

"If you don't want me to use it, I can leave right now."

The little girl's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. She had originally expected the blond boy to take the initiative and explain his throwing technique, but she had not expected him to steer the conversation toward who had the right to use the training ground.

After several seconds of silence, she finally could not hold it in any longer. Her little face flushed slightly as she stiffly tossed out a sentence. "If you insist on using it... I don't really have any objections!"

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them—wouldn't that make her seem too easygoing? She hurriedly put on a stern face and added,

"But! How exactly did you train your throwing technique?"

Perhaps feeling that was too straightforward, she waved her little hands in flustered denial. "Don't misunderstand! I was just asking! You should know that the Uchiha Clan's throwing techniques are the strongest! At your level... it doesn't amount to anything at all!"

By the end, her voice had grown quieter and quieter, and the tips of her ears had begun to redden.

Seeing how the little girl clearly cared deeply but was still forcing herself to act indifferent, Naruto could not help letting the corner of his mouth rise.

She really was a textbook Uchiha tsundere...

He deliberately drew a kunai from his ninja tool pouch at a leisurely pace and deftly spun it around his fingertip.

"I have my own training method—it's something I came up with myself."

Before his words had even faded, he gave his wrist a light flick, and the kunai suddenly vanished from between his fingers as if by magic. The little girl's eyes instantly widened, her dark pupils filled with shock. Before she could react, Naruto flipped his hand again with practiced agility.

At some point, three kunai had appeared between his fingers, gleaming with cold metallic light in the setting sun.

That's amazing! How did he do that?!

The little girl's lips parted slightly, and she nearly cried out in surprise. Her large obsidian eyes stared without blinking at Naruto's fingers, filled with longing and curiosity. But the next moment, as if realizing she had lost her composure, she hurriedly turned her face away.

Watching her reaction, Naruto roughly understood how to deal with this kind of tsundere.

"Hmm... I was wrong to use the training ground you and your sister share without permission." He deliberately softened his tone. "But I also know that the Uchiha Clan's throwing techniques are absolutely among Konoha's best."

Noticing the little girl's ears quietly perk up, Naruto continued to coax her.

"How about it? Want to practice with me? Two people training together will always improve faster than one person alone."

He shook the kunai in his hand and gave her a sly smile. "I can teach you how to do that move from earlier. Consider it payment for borrowing your training ground. What do you think?"