A Love Triangle

"All right, stop crying." Naruto crouched down, pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket, and handed it to her. "What's your name? I'll take you home."

The little girl timidly accepted the handkerchief and gently wiped her tear-reddened eyes. "Um... thank you... My name is Hinata Hyuga..."

Naruto stood and gestured for Hinata to follow. The two small figures walked down the street, one after the other. Naruto could not help marveling at how strange the convergence of worldlines was. Only this time, the ones who had been beaten black and blue were those bratty kids.

The young lady of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family was actually being bullied by civilian children?

Naruto was certain that Hyuga Branch Family shinobi assigned to protect the Main Family heir were lurking nearby. Yet those people had turned a blind eye to Hinata being bullied. The Hyuga Clan head probably intended to "temper the heir."

Thinking that, Naruto secretly shook his head. With Hinata's personality, calling her kind would be putting it nicely; putting it bluntly, she was timid. Neji's assessment in the original story had indeed been right—she truly was not suited to becoming a shinobi.

She did not even know how to offer the most basic resistance.

Naruto looked at Hinata's still-reddened eyes. She probably did not know that, to bullies like those, tears would only excite them more. With such a submissive attitude, it was fortunate that she had been born into a good family. Otherwise, in this dog-eat-dog world of shinobi, she would be destined to suffer badly.

"You're a child of the Hyuga Clan, right?" Naruto slowed down and walked beside Hinata. "Dealing with people who haven't received any training should be easy."

Hinata tightly clenched the hem of her clothes, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "I... I'm scared..."

Naruto tilted his head to look at the timid girl. "That won't do. Tears are completely useless against people like that. You know, plenty of people used to give me trouble too..."

Naruto paused there. The people of Konoha Village were still subjecting him to cold violence behind his back. The adults' malicious gossip naturally affected their children as well.

Those little brats eager to prove themselves had made the "demon fox" their ideal target for bullying—under the adults' subtle influence, they did not even think it was wrong. Instead, they believed that bullying this "guy everyone hated" was a righteous thing to do.

The result was...

"I beat them into submission, one by one." Naruto shrugged, his tone casual. "Even now, no one dares to come bother me again."

Hinata raised her head, a trace of longing in her eyes. This was the first time she had met someone like him. He was clearly about the same age as her, yet every inch of him radiated the confidence and strength she lacked.

"That's amazing..."

"You need to learn to be braver," Naruto said to Hinata as they walked. "When dealing with people like that, giving them a good beating is just what they deserve..."

"Naruto?!"

A sudden call interrupted Naruto. That familiar voice certainly had not come from Hinata.

Naruto's body abruptly stiffened, and he slowly turned around. At a street corner not far behind them, a black-haired little girl was staring at him with disbelief.

"...Satsuki?"

They called each other's names in unison, their faces full of surprise. Satsuki had not shown up as promised that afternoon because she had finally been given a chance to practice shuriken with her sister again.

In the past, she would never have missed such precious time together. But for some reason, choosing to accompany her sister and give up meeting Naruto had filled her with an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Her sister was not free every day like Naruto was...

Satsuki had used that reason to convince herself. After practice, she had gone out to buy herself some new training blades, only to catch sight of a familiar blond figure on the street, with an unfamiliar girl beside him.

At that moment, Satsuki's gaze swept back and forth between Naruto and Hinata. Seeing the unfamiliar Byakugan girl curiously looking her over, then Naruto's surprised expression, a surge of displeasure suddenly rose in her heart. It felt as though someone had stolen a treasure she had carefully cherished.

The faint footsteps of the three echoed along the stone-paved road.

"So..." Satsuki's voice carried deliberate nonchalance. "Naruto was the one who chased off those annoying people for you?"

Hinata lowered her head. "Mm... I'm really grateful to him..."

"Hmph!" Satsuki straightened her back and raised her chin like a proud little cat. "Of course! He's been training with me since a long time ago."

She deliberately stressed her words, secretly watching Hinata's reaction from the corner of her eye. "He's the only one who can keep up with the footsteps of an Uchiha genius!"

"Satsuki..." Naruto looked helplessly at the black-haired girl who was practically pressed against him. "Why are you following us..."

"W-Well, isn't it obvious?!" A faint blush rose to Satsuki's cheeks, and her voice unconsciously climbed higher. "We just happen to be going the same way! That's all!"

"...Is that so." Naruto looked down at Satsuki, who was almost glued to his arm, and forcibly swallowed the words Aren't you standing a little too close?

"Um..." Hinata's timid gaze shifted back and forth between the two. "Are you two often together like this?"

The next second, Satsuki's action startled Naruto. She actually linked her arm through his with complete naturalness, so smoothly that it seemed as if she had done it countless times before.

"Of course we are!" Satsuki suddenly emphasized a certain phrase. "He's the only opponent I acknowledge! My exclusive one."

Naruto finally understood. The girl clinging to him like a little cat guarding its food was clearly... jealous?

Yet Naruto had only understood the most superficial meaning. How was this simple jealousy? It was clearly the younger Uchiha lady's possessiveness erupting in full force.

"You're the young lady of the Hyūga Clan, right? Why didn't you call your clan's shinobi to pick you up?"

"Um... it would be too much trouble for them..."

"But Naruto is usually very busy too." She deliberately emphasized the words "very busy." "If you're going to casually ask people for help like this, you should find more reliable shinobi."

After saying that, even Satsuki froze for a moment—wasn't that basically declaring, "Naruto belongs to me"? The tips of her ears instantly flushed crimson, but she stubbornly refused to let go of Naruto's arm.

"Oh, right, Naruto." She suddenly turned her head, her eyes staring directly at the blond boy beside her.

"W-What is it?" Naruto answered stiffly.

"Come eat at my house later." Mom accidentally made too much food today."

That was a lie. Mikoto Uchiha would never make such a mistake.

"...I've already eaten." Naruto replied dryly.

That was a lie. In truth, Naruto had been so absorbed in training today that he had not eaten dinner at all. When he trained with Satsuki in the past, he always ate on time. He was refusing because he absolutely could not set foot in the Uchiha Clan Compound—as a Jinchuriki.

"Then eat another meal." Satsuki would not let it go. She even pushed further, resting her head on Naruto's shoulder. "We'll go home together later."

Uchiha Sasuke, what are you saying?!

Naruto frantically ranted in his heart, his expression nearly falling apart. What kind of bizarre situation was this? Why had the atmosphere become so unbearable? He did not even feel like farming bond points anymore. He only wanted to escape this suffocating situation immediately.