Three Girls

Over the weekend, Hui kept training his ability to control matter.

Having acquired the Water Release, he had successfully mastered the Water Mirror Technique.

Sasuke and Naruto, meanwhile, were both pushing themselves to develop their new attributes.

As for their classmates, they had a miserable weekend.

Sakura was perhaps one of the few in class who hadn't been swept up in the training craze.

That morning, Sakura arrived in the classroom as usual.

But she found her classmates sprawled all over their desks.

Sensing something was off, Sakura quietly poked Ino, who was "playing dead" nearby.

"Ino?"

"Ino!"

"Let me lie here for a while, Sakura," Ino said without lifting her head.

"What's happened to everyone? They all look so worn out." Sakura was baffled.

Usually, not many students arrived this early. She was already one of the first to get to school.

She hadn't expected nearly everyone to be there today.

"Sakura, I'm so jealous of you. We spent the whole weekend practicing ninjutsu. I haven't even had a single chip in days. Look, I've gotten so much thinner."

Choji Akimichi complained from nearby.

Though he didn't exactly look like he'd lost much weight.

Sakura's heart gave a jolt, and a strange sense of dread rose within her.

Everyone else was working hard to improve, and she hadn't even known.

Hearing a familiar voice, Sakura quickly put those thoughts aside.

Sasuke's voice!

Sakura's eyes were drawn to Sasuke, following his every move.

Even though Sasuke wasn't looking her way,

Sakura somehow felt her cheeks grow hot. Shyly, she covered them with her hands.

"Ah, could Sasuke be looking at me?" Sakura thought, feeling flustered.

It wasn't until class officially began that Sakura managed to pull herself out of those feelings.

Then she noticed a small thing.

Why hadn't her good friend Ino argued with her today?

Oh well, it didn't matter. If Ino wasn't going to compete with her over Sasuke, so much the better.

Ino really wasn't paying attention to Sasuke anymore.

Her attention had been captured by Hui, standing beside him.

The two were both Uchiha Clan prodigies, and the handsome young men and beautiful young women of that clan drew countless eyes wherever they went.

Sasuke had an aloof air that kept people at a distance.

Hui seemed much the same, but his distance was deliberate.

At first, Ino had been just like her friends, infatuated with Sasuke.

It was less a matter of liking him than a competition among friends.

Like children fighting over a toy, they didn't care what they got, only that they had to have it.

It was as if whoever managed to claim that "toy" would become the winner among them all.

With the older members of her family teaching her ninjutsu lately,

she no longer had the time or energy to think about Sasuke.

Little by little, she had broken free of that unhealthy competition.

For the first time, she noticed Hui beside Sasuke.

"This whole thing seems to have started because of him." The thought made Ino furious.

But looking at his handsome face, so much like Sasuke's, she gradually lost herself in it.

Unlike Sasuke, Hui's eyes held an intelligent beauty.

They were about the same height, but Hui's hair was longer and smoother.

His clothes had the standard Uchiha style, but the necklace around his neck made him seem completely different from the other Uchiha.

The only time she'd sensed unease from Hui was when he'd been late.

Usually, he was always polite, with a faint smile on his face.

Even when Iruka-sensei called on him to answer questions, his way of thinking was completely different from everyone else's.

For some reason, Ino thought of Naruto again.

Though clever, Ino didn't know his exact background, but she had sensed something unusual about him.

One afternoon, she'd seen Hui crouching down and talking to Naruto, who was sitting on the swing.

From that day on, Naruto had worn a smile that never seemed to fade.

Ino kept thinking.

And so it seemed that she and Sakura, sitting nearby, had both stared at Sasuke until class began.

In class, Ino could see every word on the blackboard clearly, but she didn't remember a single one.

Hinata Hyuga had been having an even harder time lately.

Her father, Hyuga Hiashi, had always been strict with her.

But for some reason, Hyuga Hiashi's training had grown harsher and harsher.

Her hands were wrapped in thick bandages.

Faint traces of blood showed through.

She didn't want to fight her younger sister or her older brother.

Her kind nature made her Gentle Fist seem as weak and soft as its name.

Unfortunately, her older brother, Neji, hadn't noticed.

Her younger sister, Hanabi Hyuga, was too young to understand what she was doing and simply obeyed their father's orders.

Watching Naruto and Sasuke bicker nearby,

Hinata couldn't help thinking of the day Naruto had used the Multi Shadow Clone Technique in the classroom.

Hinata's face flushed bright red, and wisps of mysterious smoke seemed to rise from her head.

It was the first time she and Naruto-kun had been so close.

Even if it had only been a shadow clone.

Naruto-kun really was amazing, unlike me...

Pain from the wounds beneath Hinata's bandages made her hands tremble slightly.

As if he'd noticed her watching, Naruto looked over at Hinata.

Hinata noticed, of course, and shyly drew her neck in, lowering her head.

She hid her hands behind her back.

Naruto Uzumaki let go of Sasuke and strode over to Hinata.

"Hinata! What happened to your hands?"

"Don't train so hard. Here, take this. Sasuke promised me it works really well!"

Naruto paid no attention to Hinata's expression as he gently took her arm.

Seeing her hands covered in bandages, Naruto winced and pulled out the gift he'd received not long ago.

"S-so close, Naru...to-kun."

Hinata simply let Naruto "play" with her hands.

Her voice was as faint as a thread.

Dizzy with happiness, she found an unopened bottle of medicine in her hands.

She thought she could hear Naruto-kun and Sasuke bickering again.

But she didn't care in the least. She just kept turning the little bottle over in her hands.

A sweet smile spread across Hinata's face as she lost herself in her thoughts.

"...That's all for today. Class dismissed!"

At Iruka-sensei's announcement, the students answered listlessly, without their usual excitement about going home.

Once they got home, the painful training would start again.

They would rather have more classes than go through that.

Without thinking, they all turned to look at Naruto, happily chatting with Iruka-sensei.

The source of all this evil!

Thinking of how he could already perform such a powerful technique, an unnamed anger blazed inside them.

Their resistance to ninjutsu training suddenly fell by a great deal.

One by one, they all made much the same resolution.

They would defeat Naruto!

Hui, the true culprit, watched his classmates with some confusion.

The atmosphere in class had been a little strange lately.

One after another, his classmates had been losing focus in class.

Even when Hui was bored, he still paid attention.

One thing hadn't changed: Sasuke still had plenty of fangirls.

He'd also noticed that the young lady from the Hyuga Clan seemed very interested in Naruto.

At only six years old, Hui was a little slow to pick up on matters of the heart.

He was simply happy for his friends. They could make more friends and live better lives.

This was the Konoha he had always hoped for.

If only this peace could last forever!