Hey! About Building a Secret Base on Top of Hokage Rock...

Naruto and Sasuke each had one end of the sugarcane in his mouth, but halfway through chewing, they suddenly stopped moving!

Neji said, "Little bro, something doesn't look right with them!"

Yu took one look. Their eyes had rolled back, and long strings of drool hung from their mouths!

He hurriedly said, "They're choking! Pull them apart!"

After separating the two, they laid them flat on the ground.

Neji said, "Little bro, why are things that look like souls floating out of their mouths?"

Yu said, "Quick, stuff them back in!"

Oh, Neji, my dear big brother, you nearly scored a double kill on Indra and Asura!

"Cough, cough, cough...!"

After being resuscitated, Naruto and Sasuke woke up in violent coughing fits!

Though bedraggled, the two still looked dashing as they once again played out that clichéd yet endlessly entertaining love-hate routine!

"Dead last, I didn't think you had that much guts!"

"If you're game, I'll go all the way, believe it!"

Sasuke lay on the ground, gazing at the moonlight.

Nothing relieved stress better than letting loose and having a good time.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Sasuke felt a satisfaction unlike anything he had ever experienced.

That was such a rush! I want to hang out with them and do even more fun things!

He sat up. "I should go home..."

Neji said, "What's the rush? Tomorrow's a day off at the Ninja Academy. We don't have classes~."

Sasuke said, "I can't tomorrow. Some other time."

He thought, Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to get my brother to teach me how to climb cliffs with chakra!

Neji said, "All right. We're friends now, so when we see each other at school, we can say hello. No need to pretend we don't see each other."

"Hmph. Fine, then. I'm heading home..."

Sasuke walked to the cliff's edge and stood there for a long time.

Neji teased, "What, can't get down?"

"Hmph. Who do you think you're looking down on...?"

Sasuke snorted, scraping his kunai along the cliff face as he descended onto the Second Hokage Rock. Then he took out a rope, tied one end to a pointed stone lock of hair, and lowered himself down step by step, landing safely!

But there was a problem... The rope was still tied to Hokage Rock. If he didn't retrieve it, wasn't he just waiting to get caught?

So how could he retrieve it?

Climb back up and untie it? Then jump down again? Why bother using the rope in the first place?

Sever the loop with a shuriken? Never mind how dark it was now-even in broad daylight, he didn't think he had that kind of accuracy!

After thinking it over, there was only one option!

Use brute force to snap the loop!

He took a running start, then sprinted at full speed. When the rope pulled taut, he tugged with every ounce of strength he had!!

Ropes made for ninja were sturdy. There was no need to worry about it snapping in the middle!

Crack...!!!

At last, the loop came loose, but that lock of hair on the Second Hokage Rock came down with it, crashing to the ground.

Sasuke stood up and dusted off his backside. He put away the rope, glanced at the shattered stone, then looked up at Hokage Rock overhead...

"Was this statue really built that poorly? Whatever. The second Hokage statue barely stands out anyway. Nobody should notice a missing piece..."

Then Sasuke took a shortcut home.

Up on the mountaintop.

Neji said, "What was that noise just now?"

Yu said, "Sasuke knocked a little piece off the Second Hokage's statue..."

Neji took a look and said, "Seriously. There was a perfectly good path down, but he just had to show off..."

Yu said, "Hehe~. Maybe he just went to the cliff's edge to admire the view, and then you said he couldn't get down. He's so proud, of course he had to prove himself. Big bro, you really need to work on how you talk, or else... Oh, right, I've seen a girl with hair buns wearing a qipao hanging out with you every day, haven't I?"

Neji said, "Oh, the person you're talking about is actually called Tenten. She's an orphan from the village too, but her grandfather left enough money to last eight lifetimes. She hangs out with me because her father's generation had some ties with our family. Besides, her specialty is also a style of taijutsu, so we might end up as teammates. That's why Lord Hiashi wants us to spend more time together and build some rapport first..."

"What's this, little bro? Have you taken a liking to Tenten? I can introduce you when I have time."

Yu said, "Big bro, you're never going to have any luck with women like that..."

Neji said, "Hmph. Women only slow down my punches!"

Yu thought, Big bro... you've got a long road ahead of you!

Neji said, "Little bro, it's getting late. Let's go home."

Yu glanced at Naruto sitting behind them and said, "I'll stay a little longer."

Neji looked at the unconscious Hinata. "What about the young lady?"

Yu said, "How about you take her back?"

Neji hesitated. "It wouldn't be good if Lord Hiashi found out. Why don't you take her home on your way...?"

Yu nodded. "All right, then."

"I'm off~."

Whoosh! Neji did a backflip onto the Second Hokage Rock, then used his momentum to leap again. He somersaulted a long way through the air and landed steadily on the rooftop platform of the Hokage Office, then bounded between buildings and vanished into the night.

After Neji left, Naruto came over. "Yu, there's something I want to tell you in private..."

Yu nodded. "Yeah, I know."

They sat on the ground.

Naruto said, "I'm sorry. You got dragged into this because of me. I didn't know how to face you, so I didn't go to school today..."

Yu said, "Dragged into it? You mean what happened with Mr. Mizuki?"

Naruto said, "Yeah. Actually, I don't know why, but I dreamed that Mr. Mizuki was a bad guy. I thought it was just a dream, so I didn't take it seriously. If I'd paid attention sooner and told someone else... No, maybe nobody would've believed me anyway, because there's an ominous fox inside me!"

Naruto rubbed his stomach, his expression darkening.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox... My memories of what happened are pretty hazy now, but I know the voice urging me to destroy everything belonged to that fox."

"I don't even know how I lost consciousness or how I woke up..."

"That feeling of not being in control of myself really scares me!"

"Yu, you know what? I'm really scared. Scared that one day, the Nine-Tails will go berserk inside me again, and I'll hurt innocent people. I'll hurt you..."

"You won't." A faint smile appeared on Yu's lips.

Naruto said, "Maybe someone like me shouldn't have friends... But Yu, can I say something selfish?"

Yu said, "Go ahead."

Naruto said, "Even if there's a demon fox inside me, even if I could lose control at any moment... please stay my friend. Don't leave me, okay?"

"I don't want my friends to get hurt, so I've decided I won't keep drifting through life doing nothing. I'm going to get stronger-strong enough to control this power and stop it from hurting anyone, strong enough to protect everyone so they won't be hurt by bad people like Mr. Mizuki ever again!!"

"So, so please stay my friend forever, okay? I don't want to go back to being all alone anymore!!"

As Naruto spoke those heartfelt words, tears welled in his eyes!

Behind them... Hinata, who had already woken up, felt her eyelids tremble as she clasped her little hands together!

Yu slowly said, "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Naruto gathered his courage and nodded. "Yeah!"

"You finally said it. I've been waiting for you to say you want to get stronger..."

Yu smiled with relief.

His philosophy was to offer support, not do the fighting for someone else!

Yu said, "Tomorrow-no, the day after. Let's train together..."

Naruto said, "Huh? Don't we have school the day after tomorrow?"

Yu said, "We can send shadow clones to school in our place..."

Naruto said, "How... did I not think of that?"

Yu stood up and looked out ahead. "Hey, Naruto, do you know who first stood here and looked out over this view?"

Naruto said, "No..."

Yu's gaze grew distant. "Long ago, during the Warring States era, the man who would become the First Hokage and his closest friend stood here and envisioned the future. That's how the Konoha we know today came to be."

Naruto said, "The First Hokage is the old guy on the first Hokage statue, right? Then who was his closest friend? The Second Hokage?"

Yu said, "No. He was the Uchiha Clan's clan leader. His name was-was Madara Uchiha!"

Whoosh...!

A gentle breeze swept past!

Naruto looked fascinated. "An ancestor of Sasuke's clan? He sounds amazing! But why haven't I ever heard of him?"

Yu smiled faintly. "For certain reasons, Madara Uchiha left the village. Of course, my family told me all of this. As for the details, I don't really know..."

"So this place is pretty special historically, and it has the best view in Konoha. I want to turn it into our secret base..."

"A secret base!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "What's that? It sounds awesome! How do we build it? When do we start, believe it!!!!"

Yu turned around, the little pinwheel on the back of his collar spinning briskly!

"Right now, of course..."

Yu brought his little hands together in front of his chest!

-Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique!