The water of the Naka River flowed on as steadily as ever. Its clear current struck the pebbles, making a pleasant splashing sound. This river had witnessed countless battles between the Senju and the Uchiha. Now, it seemed to bask in the faint light of peace, and had become much gentler.
A relatively flat stretch of riverbank had become a new playground for the village children. On this sunny day, several children from the Uchiha Clan and several from the Senju Clan had arrived there at the same time. Children's thoughts were simple. They were soon drawn to this place, perfect for skipping stones and finding pretty rocks.
At first, each side kept to its own part of the bank, leaving the other alone. But curiosity and a desire to compete were part of a child's nature. Before long, they were seeing who could skip stones the most times and who could find the strangest rocks. A cheerful atmosphere gradually took hold.
But peace was fragile, even among children.
The trouble began over an unusually smooth pebble in the middle of the riverbank, one that gleamed with a bluish-black sheen in the sunlight. An Uchiha boy and a Senju girl spotted it at nearly the same time, and both wanted it for themselves.
"I saw it first!" the Uchiha boy shouted, instinctively revealing a look of hatred. It wouldn't help him get the stone, but it was an expression of his agitation and his clan's instincts.
"I touched it first!" the Senju girl shot back, a faint pulse of Chakra stirring around her—a sign of promising talent.
The argument quickly escalated into shoving. Seeing this, the other children immediately split into two groups and joined the scuffle. The Uchiha children instinctively gathered together, and the Senju children naturally banded together