The Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan's Considerations

As Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped down from the stage,

the Ninja Academy's opening ceremony gradually drew to a close.

"All right, children, parents, the opening ceremony is now over. This afternoon, formal classes will begin. Each child will be assigned to a different class, and the assignments will be posted on the notice board at the school entrance this afternoon. When the time comes, everyone can check their assigned class.

Now, you may all disperse. I wish the children every success at the Ninja Academy!"

The Third Hokage's voice echoed through the venue as the children and parents began to leave in small groups.

Naruto was surrounded by his friends. Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Sakura Haruno were all excitedly discussing their plans for lunch.

Naruto had clearly become the most popular person in the crowd.

"Naruto, let's go eat together!" Choji eagerly suggested, already holding his favorite bag of chips.

"Sure. My treat. How about we go get barbecue? Everyone should come along too," Choza Akimichi, Choji's father, said with a smile as he patted his son on the shoulder.

He was addressing the heads of the various clans and the other children's parents.

"That sounds good. It's been a long time since we all got together. The children get along so well, so we should strengthen our own ties too!"

Inoichi Yamanaka picked up on Choza's words and spoke to the others.

Seeing that everyone was eager for a group meal, the whole party headed toward Hidden Leaf's most famous barbecue restaurant!

Earlier, Naruto had noticed Sasuke Uchiha at the opening ceremony. The one who had brought him was his older brother, Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke and Itachi had noticed Naruto as well. Itachi gave Naruto a friendly nod.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a while before turning his head away haughtily.

They had only met once before, and because of the Uchiha Clan's own circumstances, they were not particularly well-liked in the village either.

Naruto did not feel it would be appropriate to directly invite Sasuke. After all, they had barely exchanged a few words and might not even count as friends yet.

In truth, Sasuke was somewhat envious of how popular Naruto was, and he did care about Naruto a little. Clearly, this was influenced by the chakra of Indra's reincarnation.

This twisted brotherly bond would surely come to a complete end in Naruto and Sasuke's generation!

Sasuke actually had a favorable impression of Naruto at the moment, but he was naturally aloof and did not like making friends.

Only in front of his brother did he act like an obedient younger brother.

A trace of hesitation flickered through his eyes. After thinking for a long time about whether to join Naruto's group, he ultimately decided against it.

After some time, once he and Naruto had become friends, he could join them then.

As a child, Sasuke was at most a little tsundere. He was not unreasonable, and his nature was still kind.

In the end, his brother Itachi Uchiha led him home by the hand for lunch.

At home, Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha were waiting for the two of them to return for their meal.

After they returned home, while the family was eating,

Itachi Uchiha spoke first. "Father, at today's opening ceremony, we met Naruto Uzumaki. Lord Hokage seems to think very highly of him and believes he has the potential to become Hokage. Although I do not know Naruto very well, listening to him speak, I seemed to feel a sense of agreement from the bottom of my heart."

"Naruto Uzumaki... The Third Hokage mentioned that child to me before. They say he is a good child. If not for certain reasons, that child... sigh!"

In front of Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke, Fugaku Uchiha could not speak too plainly about certain matters.

"Naruto Uzumaki... The people in the village seem to hate him. They seem to forbid their children from playing with Naruto Uzumaki, but Naruto had many friends around him today," Sasuke said as he ate.

Fugaku knew that Naruto was disliked by the villagers, but he did not know about Naruto having so many friends.

Fugaku turned to Itachi and asked, "Naruto has many friends? Who are they?"

Itachi naturally recognized the descendants of those major clans. "Quite a few. From what I saw today, there were Kiba Inuzuka, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Hinata Hyuga, and apparently a pink-haired girl named Sakura Haruno. Even their parents seemed to like Naruto very much."

"Oh? So there is such a thing? Their parents like Naruto too?"

Hiashi Hyuga would like to state: I don't. I never did!

The information contained in those few short sentences was quite substantial. The people from those clans were basically part of the Hokage's circle and had excellent relationships with the Hokage.

Without the Third Hokage's permission, they would never approach Naruto on their own.

After all, Naruto's identity was special. Ordinary villagers did not know, but the heads of these major clans were well aware of it.

Now that they were openly associating with Naruto, it meant that the Third Hokage had permitted it.

Was the Third Hokage planning to raise Naruto as the next generation's Hokage? And Itachi had just mentioned that the Third Hokage seemed to think extremely highly of Naruto, believing that Naruto possessed the potential to become Hokage.

Therefore, the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Hidden Leaf had basically been brought out into the open.

If Sasuke could become friends with Naruto and, through him, also become friends with the heirs of the other clans, it might serve as a signal of goodwill from the Uchiha Clan.

It could ease the tensions between the Uchiha Clan and Hidden Leaf's major clans.

And if Sasuke became friends with Naruto from childhood, then after Naruto became Hokage in the future, he might show the Uchiha Clan a little consideration for Sasuke's sake.

"Mikoto, what do you think?" Fugaku asked his wife, Mikoto Uchiha, for her opinion.

At the mention of Naruto Uzumaki, Mikoto Uchiha recalled many things from the past.

When she attended the Ninja Academy, she had been in the same class as Naruto's father and mother. She and Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, had even been close friends!

They had become pregnant around the same time and had agreed that if they gave birth to two boys, the boys would become brothers.

If they gave birth to two girls, the girls would become sisters.

If they gave birth to a boy and a girl, they could arrange a childhood betrothal.

But now... sigh, everything had changed!

Mikoto was still alive, but Kushina and Minato had already died.

They had left Naruto, such a pitiful child, to live alone in this world.

"I think that if Sasuke does not dislike Naruto, he can become friends with him. When there is time, we can invite Naruto over to our home as well."

Mikoto had no ulterior motives. She knew Naruto had suffered greatly since childhood, and if she had the chance, she would certainly look after Naruto on behalf of her good friend Kushina Uzumaki.

"Sasuke, what about you? Do you want to be friends with Naruto?" Itachi asked Sasuke with a smile.

They had now given Sasuke the choice. If Sasuke disliked Naruto, they would not force him to befriend Naruto.

"Hmph! That guy looks silly, like he is not very smart at all. But I do not dislike him. I can try being friends with him, but only if he comes to play with me first!"

As expected of the quintessential tsundere. Sasuke had not been so cold as a child; he simply was not good at interacting with others.

But Naruto seemed very outgoing, and he did not seem to dislike Sasuke because of his Uchiha Clan identity.

"Then that is good. I hope you can become good friends!" Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha were both very satisfied, each with their own thoughts.

It was wonderful that Sasuke was willing to be friends with Naruto!

Meanwhile, because of the Hyuga Clan's strict family rules, Hinata Hyuga was unable to join Naruto and the others for barbecue, even though she wanted to go mainly because she wanted to spend time with Naruto.

Her father, Hiashi Hyuga, would not permit it, so Hinata could not go eat with Naruto and the others.

Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father, had learned when Hinata was young that Naruto had helped her. At the time, he had been quite grateful to Naruto.

But he later heard the servants say that Hinata seemed to be constantly thinking about Naruto.

How old was she? That hateful Naruto had stolen the heart of his precious daughter, Hinata, after only one meeting.

So, in order to protect his daughter, he would not allow her to mingle with Naruto and the others. At the very least, not in front of him!

Only after Naruto earned his approval would he allow Hinata to play with Naruto.

Although Naruto's speech just now had indeed moved him somewhat, it was not enough. In the ninja world, strength was ultimately what mattered.

No matter how well someone spoke, without the corresponding strength, they could not protect the people important to them!

Hiashi Hyuga understood this deeply. It was because he had not been strong enough that he had failed to protect his beloved younger brother, Hizashi Hyuga!

Therefore, he would absolutely not allow the same mistake to happen again!