The Wind Was Especially Noisy Today

The sky was blue.

The clouds were white.

Sasuke Uchiha lay on the ochre dirt, gazing at the lush, towering trees in the distance.

When the wind blew, it made a faint rustling sound.

"How could this happen?!"

"Sasuke actually lost, and he lost so badly!"

"This has to be fake, right?!"

The girls' noisy chatter made Sasuke Uchiha's head ache. He barely raised his head and found that many people seemed to be gathered around him.

A blonde girl with twin ponytails swayed before his eyes, then turned into Naruto Uzumaki.

"You lost!"

Tch!

That voice sounded so real too. This was a dream, right?

It had to be.

After all, how could he possibly lose to a dead-last student like Naruto Uzumaki?

The corner of Sasuke Uchiha's mouth curled into a bitter smile before he sank into a deep sleep.

"Naruto, you bastard! Who gave you permission to hit Sasuke so hard?!"

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl looked painfully at the unconscious Sasuke Uchiha, then rushed over and glared furiously at Naruto.

Sakura Haruno bit her lower lip and said angrily, "If anything happens to Sasuke, I'll never forgive you."

Naruto, who had undone his Transformation Technique, was dumbfounded.

Was this world really not ruled by the strong? I beat the top student in the class, so why did Sakura Haruno still dare to provoke me?

Naruto could not help recalling an image he had seen in his previous life.

(If you don't bully people because you're afraid of dying, then what's the difference between that and being dead?)

It had triggered Konoha's underlying code.

Since that was the case, Naruto Uzumaki would have to respond to this question sincerely and humbly.

"I was too busy kicking him and forgot to kick you too, huh?!"

"Oooh!" The surrounding students suddenly raised their voices. The boys in particular had long been fed up with Sasuke Uchiha's brain-dead fangirls.

Hearing the jeers, Sakura Haruno became even angrier.

In her eyes, Naruto Uzumaki had always been the annoying pest who followed her around every day. Even when she hit or scolded him, he never fought back or talked back. How could he speak to her like that?

She immediately swung a fist at Naruto's head.

"You bastard, what did you just say?!"

[Guys, who gets this? I ran into a trashy girl. Sakura Haruno still sees Naruto Uzumaki as the bootlicker he used to be and is provoking him just because he likes her.]

[Does she think the evil Naruto Uzumaki won't target her?]

[Heh heh, ridiculous!]

[Naruto Uzumaki, turn her into an oho sow!]

That's enough. Calling her an oho sow was a little too much!

Naruto Uzumaki sighed. After seeing the system's description of Sakura Haruno's inner thoughts, he withdrew his goodwill.

He had originally thought that Sakura Haruno was, more or less, a suitable B-rank candidate. Besides, a large part of the reason Naruto had been treated so roughly was because Naruto himself had been annoying.

He could have found a chance to slowly win Sakura Haruno over in the future.

Now, though, there seemed to be no need.

For the sake of a mere B-rank candidate, having to put up with a woman assaulting him was something the current Naruto simply could not do.

So...

The moment Sakura Haruno's fist approached him, Naruto sidestepped it and immediately gave her a kick.

"Naruto, wait!"

Ino Yamanaka rushed over from not far away, trying to stop Naruto. Unfortunately, she was too slow. By the time she arrived, Sakura Haruno had already been kicked several meters away by Naruto.

Of course, Naruto had not gone all out. Sakura Haruno was only a little girl right now and probably could not take much punishment. If he accidentally kicked her to death, Naruto would be in trouble too.

So he had held back.

But for a little girl like Sakura Haruno, whose actual combat ability was not particularly strong to begin with, even Naruto Uzumaki's deliberately restrained kick brought intense pain.

She let out a muffled groan and fell to the ground. When she raised her head and looked at Naruto again, her mind was completely dazed.

She could not believe it!

What Sakura Haruno had not expected even more was that Naruto Uzumaki had not only kicked her, but after doing so, merely glanced at her before walking away without a trace of mercy.

He handled her as easily as though she were an insignificant ant.

The breeze lifted the girl's pink hair. Her former friend, Ino Yamanaka, with whom she had already fallen out, ran over to help her up, but the girl's eyes were filled with nothing but endless shock and confusion.

How had this happened?

"Naruto's strength is really terrifying now. He can actually use the Three Basic Techniques so skillfully."

Shikamaru Nara broke out in a cold sweat. "And he's so ruthless. He can even hit Sakura Haruno, the girl he likes, that hard. I hope I never run into him in future practical combat classes, or it'll probably be miserable."

Hearing that, Shino Aburame looked at the departing Naruto and gave his own assessment.

"I get the feeling that not only no one in our class, but perhaps no one in the entire school can beat him anymore."

"Naruto..." Choji Akimichi blinked. "He wouldn't hit me, would he?"

As he spoke, Choji Akimichi looked at the stunned Hinata Hyuga beside him and said, "Hinata, you'd better be careful if you face Naruto in the future. Your relationship with Naruto isn't as good as mine is with him, and he won't go easy on girls either. If you run into him in practical combat class, you might get beaten up really badly."

Hinata Hyuga nodded awkwardly. She did not know how to explain it to Choji Akimichi.

She could not exactly tell Choji Akimichi that her relationship with Naruto was already so good that Naruto called her Mom, could she?

Um...

Though she did not know how long that identity as his mother would last...

"Naruto, you already have me, so why did you still make a bet with Sasuke over being Mom..."

"Are you trying to abandon me?"

The wind was especially noisy today.

The outdoor practical combat class was personally taught by their homeroom teacher, Iruka. When he arrived, saw Sasuke Uchiha lying on the ground, and learned what had happened...

He was stunned.

Beating Kiba was one thing.

But even Sasuke Uchiha, the top student in the entire grade, had lost to Naruto...

That was absolutely not something that could be achieved through a sudden improvement overnight.

"Could that kid Naruto have been hiding his abilities all along?"

Once that thought surfaced, Iruka's guilt deepened. He began to wonder what had made Naruto hide his abilities for so long.

Perhaps it was his environment...

The neighbors around him, his classmates, and even an incompetent teacher like me never welcomed him!

If that was the case, should I still punish Naruto?

Although fighting without permission was wrong in the first place, but...

"Iruka-sensei."

Just as Iruka was torn, Naruto stepped forward on his own. "I was the one who knocked Sasuke out. I'm sorry for not knowing my own strength, so I'll take him home myself!"

[The evil Naruto Uzumaki thought that Sasuke Uchiha had yet to fulfill their bet. How could he let him use fainting as an excuse to slip away?]

[He had to make him keep his promise.]

Seeing Naruto take responsibility voluntarily, Iruka let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Since you have the courage to take responsibility, I won't punish you this time. Go on!"

"Thank you, sensei!"

Naruto thanked him, immediately hoisted the unconscious Sasuke onto his back, and hurried toward the Uchiha Clan compound.

The sun gradually sank westward, and crimson clouds spread across the sky.

Just as Naruto was about to reach the Uchiha Clan compound, he felt Sasuke Uchiha twitch slightly.

Heh!

Even now, he still wanted to muddle through?

Unfortunately for him, Naruto Uzumaki was far bolder than he imagined.

Knock, knock, knock!

He raised his hand and knocked on Sasuke Uchiha's front gate. Before long, accompanied by light footsteps, a young married woman who looked only around twenty opened the door.

A faint, fragrant breeze greeted him as well.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, her features were exquisite, and her lips red and teeth white. She wore a modest long dress at home with an apron over it. Though her outfit was extremely conservative, it still carried a hint of alluring charm.

Mikoto Uchiha.

The biological mother of Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha, and the wife of the Uchiha Clan head.

If no one said so, probably no one would be able to tell that she was already thirty-four this year and the mother of two children.