The First Battle

"These two brats seem to get along pretty well. Should I put them in the same class when they're assigned to teams? And Nanfeng seems to have a good relationship with Naruto, too!"

In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe as he listened to the report from Anbu. He refilled it with tobacco, lit it, took a deep drag, and spoke.

The Anbu member kneeling on the ground said nothing. He was still waiting for the Hokage's orders.

"You may go. Keep an eye on them, and... make sure they're safe. They're the future of Konoha, after all!" Hiruzen sighed and spoke to the Anbu member before him.

"Yes!" The Anbu vanished in an instant, faithfully carrying out his mission.

Nanfeng spent the whole day staring each other down with Uchiha Sasuke. How should he put it? It was much more interesting than being at the Ninja Academy!

"Damn, I forgot I was supposed to go out for ramen with Naruto today. Want to come along?" In the evening, Nanfeng suddenly remembered and spoke to Sasuke beside him.

"Go eat that stuff by yourself. I'm still waiting to teach you a good lesson tonight," Sasuke said fiercely. But the next second, his stomach growled, and his face turned red again.

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say. But you can't fight on an empty stomach. I'm begging you to come eat with us, all right?"

Nanfeng said helplessly. Honestly, the Uchiha Clan's downfall was all because of their stubborn pride!

Itachi Uchiha's twisted love for his younger brother, Sasuke's hatred for Itachi mixed with brotherly affection, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha being like rivals and enemies...

Love?

No, no, he couldn't let his thoughts run wild. If that old geezer Hiruzen Sarutobi found out, wouldn't he come give them a lecture on the Will of Fire?

"What's wrong?" Sasuke noticed that Nanfeng seemed a little off and asked in confusion.

"Nothing. My aunt's about to have a baby, and I was thinking about how happy that makes me. Come on, if we get there late, we'll have to wait in line!" Without waiting for Sasuke to ask anything else, Nanfeng led him out of the hospital.

Everyone at the hospital knew Nanfeng well. Taking Sasuke with him was just a convenient thing to do.

As they went along, Sasuke watched Nanfeng chatting and laughing with everyone. It reminded him of how things had been before. He didn't think he'd ever had an experience like this. The people of Konoha had always looked at him with a hint of... admiration? But they had never been as gentle with him as they were with Nanfeng.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Naruto. Let's go eat. I've got another friend with us today. Afterward, we can go train. Want to come along?" Nanfeng gestured to Uchiha Sasuke behind him as he spoke to Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto didn't understand why the aloof Sasuke was with Nanfeng. But there was Ichiraku Ramen, and afterward, he could train with his friends. Wasn't this exactly the life Naruto had always wanted?

"You're so easy to please!" Once the ramen arrived, Sasuke saw Naruto smiling with satisfaction and couldn't help but tease him.

"About what happened with your family today, I'm sorry. But you should apologize to Naruto for what you said about him, too," Nanfeng said quietly to Sasuke as he ate his ramen.

"He's not like you. At least you've known what it's like to have people care about you... He's never had that kind of affection, not since he was little. Did you see how the people in the village looked at you just now? There was a little disgust mixed in with their fear. Naruto's lived with those looks for six years..."

Nanfeng's words left Sasuke momentarily stunned. Then his gaze toward Naruto softened.

After they finished eating, Nanfeng had promised to pay for the meal. He wasn't short on money, after all. The pay was pretty good for an intern at the Konoha Ninja Hospital.

"Let's begin. About our match from earlier today—I want to see just how strong the so-called genius Uchiha Sasuke really is!" In a small wood south of Konoha, Nanfeng faced Sasuke and formed the hand signs for a practical training exercise.

"As you wish!" Sasuke's eyes instantly turned red. Now that he knew Nanfeng could use Medical Ninjutsu, he'd decided to stop hiding his strength. He would go all out and crush that damn guy underfoot!

"Naruto, could you referee for us?" Nanfeng turned to Naruto. Naruto nodded and quickly announced that the sparring match had begun.

They called it training, but both of them looked like they wanted to kill each other. The scarlet Sharingan locked onto Nanfeng's movements almost instantly. With the Sharingan's keen observational ability, Sasuke quickly tracked Nanfeng's movements.

"The Sharingan really does have peerless perception. But your eyes might keep up—can your body?" Nanfeng's voice sounded in Sasuke's ear. The sudden change shocked Sasuke, but his body was already too late to react!

A powerful roundhouse kick struck Sasuke hard in the small of the back. But Nanfeng didn't let his guard down. The impact had felt more like hitting a log.

"Substitution Technique? No wonder they call you a genius. You've mastered even a basic Ninjutsu like that!" Nanfeng lowered his raised leg and quickly fixed his eyes on the bushes nearby.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Scorching flames surged from Sasuke's mouth and quickly engulfed Nanfeng completely.

"This is all I can manage, but it should be enough to deal with you!" Sasuke felt the chakra inside him rapidly running low and took a breath. Unlike Naruto, he didn't have a massive amount of chakra. One Great Fireball Technique had already used up all of his chakra!

But the sudden turn of events the next second made Sasuke's pupils contract. Once the flames died down, all that remained in the center was a burning log!

"If you can use it, why wouldn't I be able to?" A cold kunai pricked Sasuke's skin. The breeze blew, and the cold sweat made his body tremble.

"We can call the battle. If I'd wanted to kill you just now, you wouldn't have had a chance," Nanfeng said to Naruto, who was still in shock, as he put away his kunai.

"The practical training is over... The winner is Akiya Nanfeng!" Naruto stammered. He hadn't expected Nanfeng to be so powerful!

"So, since I'm pretty satisfied with how that fight went, I'll tell you a few things later," Nanfeng murmured as he passed Sasuke. Then his body turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished.

"A Shadow Clone? When did he...?" Sasuke murmured.