"Hey, Rabbit, that's the Uchiha Clan head's second son."
Another ANBU member spoke to Uzuki Yugao, a hint of worry in his voice. After all, the Uchiha Clan's position in Konoha was rather awkward at present.
"Yes, he does look like his older brother, though he's a little more reckless."
Yugao recalled what Itachi looked like. They were both in ANBU, after all, and had met in the course of their duties.
"It's fine. I'll explain things to Lord Third when the time comes."
After all, this time Naruto had taken the initiative to find another child to play with, and the other boy was clearly having fun with him, too. His face had turned red from smiling.
Sasuke: That wasn't from smiling!!!
With her connection to Itachi, Yugao thought she could put in a word for Naruto.
No matter what, Naruto needed to make friends. Hadn't he paid a terrible price last time because he'd gone too long without playing with friends?
After all, compared to the life Mēidémìngzǐ had lost, what Naruto had lost was a whole chunk of flesh.
And so Naruto brought Uchiha Sasuke over to a little stream.
The stream came up to about Naruto's thighs, and a few fish swam along with the current, utterly at ease.
Naruto took off his trousers, leaving only his underwear.
"What are you doing?!"
Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's bold behavior. How could he take off his trousers in broad daylight, out in the open?
"Oh, come on, little bro. We have to get in the water to catch fish. Naturally, we have to take our trousers off so they don't get dirty."
"You're not scared, are you?"
Naruto gathered chakra in his little feet and tried walking on water again.
Splash.
Huh, failed again.
Sasuke's face was a little red, whether from the taunt or embarrassment was unclear, but he still spoke defiantly.
"Why would I be scared? Fine, I'll take them off!"
Little Sasuke took off his trousers, leaving only a pair of underwear with a blue elephant on them.
Brr, it's a little cold.
After all, it was the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the coldest time of year.
But since it was almost noon, and both boys had chakra in their bodies, it wasn't unbearable.
Naruto's underwear was orange, with a little Kurama he had drawn himself on it. The drawing was rather ugly, though, and barely recognizable as having anything to do with the Nine-Tails.
Picking his moment, Naruto thrust out his little hands. Water splashed across the stream's surface, and he caught a fish roughly the size of his two hands put together.
"Quick, give me a hand!"
The fish struggled wildly in Naruto's hands. Its scales were slippery, and Naruto didn't dare use too much force for fear of it slipping out.
That made Sasuke, who had just entered the water, the perfect assistant.
"Quit nagging. I'm coming."
The stream chilled little Sasuke the moment he stepped in, but fortunately, it wasn't deep enough to reach his elephant underwear.
Hearing Naruto's call and seeing the fish, which was rather large compared to the two of them, he took a moment to adjust to the icy water, then immediately walked over to Naruto.
"Got it!"
Sasuke grabbed the fish's tail while Naruto held its body firmly. Before these two future saviors of the Shinobi World, a mere little fish couldn't make any waves...
Smack.
Smack, smack, smack.
Little Sasuke hadn't held on properly. The fish's tail broke free and began thrashing wildly.
Meanwhile, Naruto shifted the fish slightly to adjust his grip, and the end result was that its tail slapped little Sasuke across the face several times.
Well, it didn't do much damage, but it was extremely humiliating.
Couldn't you see Uchiha Sasuke was so angry he was on the verge of awakening his eyes?
If he hadn't been too young, he might actually have awakened them.
In the end, he grabbed the fish's tail again and dragged it onto the grass beside the stream with Naruto.
"I'll go find some dry grass and things."
Naruto went to find things they could use to start a fire.
Meanwhile, little Sasuke glared viciously at the fish with its bulging eyes, the fury in his heart reaching its peak.
Fine, you'll be the whetstone on my road to success!
Little Sasuke found a fairly sharp stone and smashed it down hard at the fish.
Unfortunately, the fish knocked the stone away with a flick of its tail.
Its vacant gaze seemed to mock Sasuke, asking whether he'd put any strength into it at all.
Aaaaargh!
How dare he!
Little Sasuke had put his trousers back on by then. For the dignity of the Uchiha Clan, he decided to kill this fish that had dared provoke him!
He pounced on the fish and began fighting it to the death.
And so, when Naruto returned carrying a large pile of wood he had found, this was the sight that greeted him.
His clothes in disarray but the corners of his mouth raised, Sasuke stood with one foot planted on the fish they had caught, his hands on his hips, looking every bit the invincible master.
There were also marks on the ground where he had rolled around.
"Did you... duel this fish?"
Naruto asked skeptically.
"That's right. This fish insulted the dignity of the Uchiha Clan. I, Sasuke Uchiha, have slain it here and offered its blood in tribute to our honor."
Finally, the moment to say that line!
Little Sasuke had spent ages thinking up that line, and had even specially devised a new pose, all so he could show off his achievement to Naruto.
At that moment, the fish beneath Sasuke's foot blinked.
Fish: I'm not dead yet.
"Well... you're really amazing."
As the big brother, Naruto didn't want to spoil his little bro's fun.
Though boasting about beating a fish really did leave Naruto a little speechless. He himself had killed a ninja just a few days ago.
Inside the Sealing Space, Hashirama and Kurama declared that Sasuke was showing off, but that it was very Uchiha of him.
Hashirama's eyes were full of nostalgia.
"Wasn't Madara just like that back then? Back when we skipped stones together, I was on this side, and he was on the other."
"We'd throw stones toward each other like that, talking now and then and showing off our stone-skipping."
"It was just wonderful."
But Kurama wasn't in the mood to empathize with Hashirama, who was missing his best buddy terribly, because he was feeling melancholy too.
After all, back then, Madara had used pretty much the same excuse as Sasuke to beat him half to death, control him with the Mangekyo, and then sign a Summoning Contract.
And just like that, he'd been forced to sell himself over some inexplicable matter of Uchiha dignity.
Was there something seriously wrong with the Uchiha?!
Leaving aside the man and fox reminiscing inside the Sealing Space, Naruto finished arranging the wood.
"Quick, use that ninjutsu of yours to start us a fire."
Naruto ordered him around.
"Why should I listen to you?"
Little Sasuke retorted instinctively, then suddenly remembered that he seemed to be Naruto's little bro now.
"Because you're my..."
"Quit nagging. I know."
Sasuke cut Naruto off as he grinned mischievously and began forming his hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A not particularly large fireball burst from Sasuke's mouth and ignited the pile of wood.
Woohoo, grilled fish!
Fish: I didn't accomplish much in my life, but I got to slap Indra's reincarnation across the face a few times before I died. Worth it!
Before you continue