"Hey! Stop! What are you doing!? Don't hit him!!"
Naruto had been heading home along this very road. The moment he saw what was happening, he rushed over.
He usually found Sasuke's cold, arrogant attitude annoying, but when he saw someone being surrounded and beaten up like this, he charged in without thinking, trying to pull them apart.
But Shiren, a member of the Uchiha clan, had completely lost his mind and wouldn't listen to a word. He swung back and punched Naruto hard in the face, knocking him to the ground too.
And so the scene turned into two hapless boys getting beaten up together.
In a nearby tree, several ANBU members looked at one another.
None of them knew whether they should go down and save them.
Fortunately, the other students called a teacher, who forcibly dragged the seemingly crazed Uchiha away.
Iruka held Shiren back with one hand. First, he quickly checked Naruto, then looked over Sasuke. Only after confirming that neither of them had any life-threatening injuries did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"You're Shiren, from the senior class. Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Iruka stared at Shiren's blood-red eyes, furious. If he hadn't happened to come this way, he had no idea how badly those two might have been hurt.
Shiren struggled with all his might, but as a child, he was no match for an adult.
With Iruka holding him back with one hand, he couldn't reach Sasuke at all.
A moment later, he dropped to the ground in frustration, digging his fingers hard into the dirt.
"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him! I'll make his brother feel the pain of losing someone he loves!"
Shiren had gone from extreme rage to a hysterical frenzy, and he was still in that state.
Iruka could only say, "Naruto, Sasuke, you two go on ahead. I'll take Shiren back to the Uchiha."
Naruto got up off the ground, holding his sore mouth.
He looked at Shiren with sympathy, but didn't make a fuss this time.
Then he turned and saw Sasuke, whose face was just as bruised and swollen.
After hesitating, he walked over and held out a hand to help him up, asking quietly, "Hey... are you, are you okay?"
After hearing Shiren's words, Sasuke looked pained.
The anger he'd felt moments earlier had suddenly vanished.
A feeling of helplessness made him miserable.
But when he looked up and saw the genuine concern in Naruto's cautious eyes,
he didn't snap at him like he usually would.
He didn't take Naruto's hand, though. Struggling to his feet on his own, he turned his face away slightly and muttered,
"I'm fine. Let's get out of here."
Naruto could more or less understand how Sasuke felt. "Come on."
"Ugh..." Sasuke's leg buckled, and he stumbled.
Naruto quickly reached out to steady him. Once Sasuke was back on his feet, he awkwardly tried to pull his arm away, but couldn't.
"Give me a hand. My butt hurts."
Naruto grimaced too. When he'd pulled Sasuke up, it had tugged at the spot on his backside that had been hit.
Sasuke fell silent for a moment, but in the end, he didn't pull his arm away.
The two of them supported each other as they limped home.
"When you're being beaten, you should curl up and tuck your face and stomach inside. Then it won't hurt as much..."
"How do you know?"
"I've been beaten enough times to know..."
"..."
"Sasuke, where do you live now?"
"Somewhere in this direction..."
By the time they reached the apartment building, Naruto was surprised to discover that Sasuke lived right below him.
"Huh?! You... you live here?"
Naruto pointed at the door, unable to hide the hint of excitement on his face.
Sasuke looked confused. "What about it?"
Naruto pointed happily upstairs. "I live right above you!"
They'd been beaten up together, after all. Now that they were neighbors, maybe they could become friends?
"...Yeah." Sasuke only gave a sullen little reply.
Seeing how down Sasuke seemed, Naruto awkwardly scratched his head.
Mikoto heard the commotion and opened the door. When she saw her son covered in dust, his face bruised and purple and blood running from his nose, tears immediately sprang to her eyes.
"Sasuke, how did you end up like this?"
Sasuke said nothing. Naruto hurried to explain,
"Uh, ma'am, Sasuke got beaten up."
Only then did Mikoto notice the other person beside him.
With his bruised and swollen face, it was obvious that he'd been beaten up too.
"Y-You're Naruto?" Of course she recognized her best friend's son; she just hadn't recognized him at first.
Naruto wasn't particularly surprised. Lots of people in the village knew him.
"Yeah, that's right. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I live upstairs."
Having once been the clan head's wife, Mikoto immediately understood why the Third Hokage had arranged for them to live here.
"Go on home," Sasuke said. He had too much pride to let Naruto see him acting vulnerable in front of his mother.
Naruto scratched his head, a little disappointed. "Then I'll head back..."
"Naruto, wait. Let me put some medicine on you before you go."
Mikoto stopped him. She wasn't the kind of person who could watch her best friend's son get hurt and do nothing.
"Uh... huh?!"
It was the first time anyone had cared for Naruto like this. First he was stunned, then a huge rush of warmth and joy swelled in his heart!
By the time he came to his senses, Mikoto had already led him and Sasuke into the house, one in each hand.
Mikoto took out the first-aid kit she'd bought that very day and carefully cleaned the boys' wounds and applied ointment.
Naruto grinned foolishly the whole time, as if he were dreaming.
Someone actually cared about him. Someone was putting ointment on his wounds.
Sasuke watched Naruto's foolish grin and rolled his eyes.
"All right, take this medicine home and take two pills each day."
"Hehe, thank you, ma'am."
Naruto scratched his head. He didn't feel any pain anymore.
Watching Naruto grin foolishly, Mikoto sighed inwardly. As if remembering something, she asked him,
"Do you have anything to eat at home?"
"Uh... well..."
Naruto had been about to tell a little lie, but when he saw Mikoto's gentle gaze, he could only answer honestly.
"Um... I have instant noodles."
"Then stay for dinner tonight."
"Huh? Is that okay...?" Naruto hesitated.
This was the first time anyone had invited him to dinner, and Naruto had no idea how he was supposed to react.
Mikoto gently patted Naruto's head and stood up to head for the kitchen. "You two wait here. It'll be ready soon."
"Uh... oh, okay. Thanks."
Sasuke stared at Naruto, his expression hard to read, making Naruto feel a little nervous.
"Your mom... I mean, your mother... is really nice."
"Hmph. You don't have to tell me that."
Sasuke turned his head away. He felt a little awkward about how kind his mother was being to Naruto.
He didn't want to talk to Naruto at all.
But when he remembered that Naruto had been beaten up trying to save him, he couldn't bring himself to say anything too harsh.
So he could only sulk to himself.