Growing stronger

His hair was tied up and tucked behind his forehead protector, and a scar of unknown origin marked his face.

That was right. This man was Meihui and Naruto's homeroom teacher-Iruka.

Upon entering their classroom, Naruto rushed in first, found two seats, and called Meihui over to sit down.

Meihui carefully surveyed the classroom. There were no surprises; it was still the same familiar group.

Once most of the students had arrived, Iruka began introducing himself.

"Hello, everyone. I'm your homeroom teacher, Umino Iruka. From now on, I'll be guiding you through your studies and school life. I look forward to getting along with you all."

Everyone replied politely, "Hello, teacher."

A brief roll call followed.

When Hinata heard that she was in the same class as Naruto and Meihui, she couldn't help looking toward the brothers. Sensing someone watching him, Meihui turned around.

"Oh, it's Hinata. Little brother, someone behind you wants to see you."

Meihui nudged Naruto, signaling for him to turn around.

Without thinking much of it, Naruto looked back and met Hinata's eyes. She flushed bright red, and when she saw Naruto waving at her, she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Seeing Hinata ignore him, Naruto asked Meihui curiously,

"Big brother, why won't Hinata talk to me?"

Looking at the outgoing Naruto, Meihui wiped away his sweat. This was all his own doing. Still, it was fine. No big deal.

"Little brother, can't you see Hinata's shy? All right, stop looking back."

After hearing that, Naruto could only nod and sit properly.

Iruka then handed out the textbooks and began their first lesson of the day.

He taught the students about a ninja's duties, missions, and some basic knowledge of ninjutsu.

Meihui listened attentively, while Naruto beside him was already drifting off.

When Meihui noticed, he pinched Naruto's leg hard. The pain jolted Naruto awake.

Naruto forced his heavy eyelids open and continued listening.

The agonizing lesson finally ended. Although Naruto had been terribly sleepy during class, the moment it was over, he became lively and brimming with energy.

Seeing Naruto like this, Meihui sighed helplessly.

"No wonder Naruto's a complete mess in theory class. Now I've found the reason."

At last, the day's lessons ended, and the students prepared to head home.

Watching the children whose parents had come to pick them up at the school gates, Meihui and Naruto would have been lying if they said they weren't envious. But they had already grown up.

They knew how to take care of themselves now, so the two of them went home on their own.

Several years passed in the blink of an eye. Meihui became the top student in the class, and even Sasuke couldn't match him. Naruto, however, was predictably heading for trouble. Perhaps it had something to do with the different yin and yang aspects of the Nine-Tails inside them.

Meihui could control his chakra better than Naruto, while Naruto still suffered interference from the Nine-Tails.

Whether in practical combat or theory classes, Meihui always ranked first. Sasuke couldn't help getting angry. To think that he, a proud member of the Uchiha Clan, couldn't even beat Meihui.

As a result, practically every combat class involved Sasuke challenging Meihui, only to get utterly trounced every time.

"System, open my personal status panel."

Host: Meihui Uzumaki

Age: 12

Ninjutsu: Three Basic Techniques (proficient)

Taijutsu: Chunin level

Chakra attributes: all-attribute chakra

Chakra tonnage: 3.2

Bloodline: Uzumaki bloodline (enhanced version)

Strength: ordinary Genin

Looking at his status panel, Meihui knew that what he currently lacked was ninjutsu. Otherwise, having all that chakra would be useless.

He worked out the timing. The graduation exam was coming up next.

"Naruto, your big brother's counting on you for his ninjutsu."

Muttering to himself, Meihui pulled Sasuke up, his face bruised and swollen from the beating. He had already lost count of how many times this had happened.

Yet Sasuke remained undaunted and kept challenging Meihui.

Looking at Sasuke's face, now swollen like a pig's head, Meihui came up with an idea.

"Ahem. Sasuke, look, I train with you every time. Don't you think you ought to pay a little tuition or something?"

The look in Meihui's eyes made Sasuke shudder.

"Y-you... what do you want?"

Even Meihui hadn't expected Sasuke to agree.

"Just a few ninjutsu. Give me whatever you think is fair. I'll keep training with you."

Upon hearing Meihui's promise, Sasuke ran home without looking back.

"As long as I can get stronger and defeat that man, what are a few ninjutsu?"