Although many people refused to believe that Naruto, the dead-last, could be this strong, that was simply the reality.
Many people found it hard to accept. Sasuke was the most troubled of all. He didn't know why, but although he felt a lot of sympathy for Naruto's situation, actually seeing Naruto surpass him was what upset him even more. He feared his brother suffering, but feared even more that his brother would get a Range Rover. At that moment, beating Naruto felt even more urgent than killing that man.
Naruto paid no attention to the others and continued chatting with Hinata, Shikamaru, and the rest, acting as if nothing had happened.
Time flew by. The sun set, and school let out. Naruto didn't head home; instead, he went to prepare his dinner, with Hinata following along.
The two strolled over to the riverside where Naruto usually trained.
"Come out. You've been following us for a while," Naruto said calmly.
As soon as Naruto spoke, Hinata was startled. She hadn't realized someone was following them. She immediately activated her Byakugan and looked toward the direction Naruto had spoken.
At once, she spotted a familiar figure: Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke wore a cold expression.
"Fight me. I want to see just how strong you, the dead-last, really are," Sasuke Uchiha said bluntly.
Naruto was speechless. He had sensed the other boy's chakra as soon as they left school, but hadn't expected him to follow them all the way here. He'd only shown off a little, and Sasuke had already set his sights on him.
Well, it was to be expected. After all, if Naruto hadn't broken free of Asura's influence, he'd probably be just like Sasuke.
"Hey, you know I'm the dead-last, and you still want to fight me?" Naruto said, exasperated.
"Enough talk." Sasuke wasn't good at arguing, so he immediately took up a fighting stance.
"Wait. Since we're having a match, let's put something on the line." Naruto raised a hand to stop him. From what he'd sensed, no one was watching him right now. This was a good opportunity—a chance to get Sasuke's chakra. Since Sasuke had come right to him, Naruto wasn't about to pass it up.
"What do you want to wager?" Hearing that Naruto was willing to fight him, Sasuke relaxed.
"You'll find out if you lose. If you win, I'll do one thing for you. Anything you want." Naruto couldn't tell him about his ability, of course.
"Fine."
Sasuke agreed without a second thought.
"Naruto, are you sure this is a good idea?" Hinata tugged at Naruto's sleeve, confused.
"Don't worry. I'll explain later." Naruto didn't say anything more and charged straight at Sasuke.
They began to fight. As expected, they started with taijutsu. Naruto held back, mainly because he wanted to see how strong Sasuke was at the moment.
After a few exchanges, Naruto felt a little disappointed. Sasuke wasn't very strong.
Sasuke had noticed it too. Naruto was better than him at both offense and defense.
Sasuke felt unwilling to accept it. How could this be? How could the dead-last be stronger than him? He was an Uchiha!
Enraged, Sasuke activated his Sharingan: a One-Tomoe Sharingan.
Sure enough, he could see Naruto's attacks clearly and even predict them.
Naruto scoffed. One-Tomoe? He simply sped up.
Sasuke immediately felt the pressure. He could see Naruto's attacks, but Naruto was too strong for him to defend against.
Sasuke retreated at once.
He rapidly formed Hand Seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A small fireball flew toward Naruto.
Hinata, standing nearby, grew anxious when she saw him use a jutsu.
Naruto vanished in an instant: Body Flicker Technique.
He reappeared behind Sasuke. Before Sasuke could react, Naruto raised his right hand and struck the back of Sasuke's neck with a knife-hand blow.
As he lost consciousness, Sasuke's last thought was, How is this possible?
Hinata's mouth fell open in astonishment.
They all knew the Body Flicker Technique, but at their level, it only made them a little faster. Their movements could still be seen, and they could only move in a straight line.
But she hadn't even seen Naruto's Body Flicker Technique just now. Even without her Byakugan activated, she should have been able to see it.
"This is what being exceptional looks like. Sasuke, you've lost yourself in other people's praise. What ordinary people consider exceptional has never been truly exceptional."
Sasuke had already fainted, so those words were naturally meant for Hinata and himself.
Hinata hurried over.
"Naruto, why did you knock him out?"
"There's a little experiment I want to try, but I don't want anyone to know about it."
"Then I'll leave for now," Hinata asked softly.
"No need." After replying, Naruto placed his right hand on Sasuke's forehead. To be safe, he also absorbed a drop of Sasuke's blood.
Hinata understood that Naruto didn't want anyone else to know what he was about to do, so she didn't activate her Byakugan. She had no idea what Naruto was doing.
Hinata's behavior warmed Naruto's heart. He didn't mind letting her see, but it still made him happy that she was so considerate.
Sasuke didn't have much chakra at his age, and a ninja would die without chakra, so Naruto only absorbed half of Sasuke's chakra.
"Let's go, Hinata. I'll teach you something fun today." Naruto stood up, took Hinata's small hand, and led her toward the river.
Hinata blushed a little, but she was happy too. This was the second time Naruto had held her hand. The first time had been when she couldn't accept Hizashi's death and had run away from her clan. Some bad kids had bullied her, and Naruto had appeared to rescue her, taking her hand and leading her home.
Warmth.
Chakra could reflect a person's will and emotions. As long as people opened their hearts completely, they could use chakra to connect heart to heart. That was the true nature of chakra, and the hope behind the Sage of Six Paths teaching it. The First Hokage and the other founders of the Ninja Sect could naturally do this; they had all been taught by the Sage of Six Paths. With the Sage of Six Paths keeping them in check, Hinata naturally had no reservations about Naruto. Naruto also liked little Hinata very much, and with his exceptionally keen senses, he felt the lively happiness in her chakra.
Naruto was a little surprised. Having read the original story, he knew how difficult it was to completely trust someone in the Ninja World. Connecting chakra was even harder. It had only been accomplished during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when everyone shared the Nine-Tails Chakra and the pressure from Six Paths Obito united their convictions.
Feeling little Hinata's emotions, Naruto tentatively let go of the secrets in his own heart. He also wanted this girl to know how he felt.
Red chakra flowed from Naruto's hand toward Hinata's small hand. They both felt it, but neither of them looked down. They silently understood each other.
They arrived at the river.
"Come on. I don't know if you've learned this yet." Naruto didn't let go of her hand. He led Hinata straight onto the water.
"I haven't yet." Children this age usually had poor chakra control, so they only learned this technique later from their classroom teacher.