Sasuke's fists clenched at his sides, knuckles white. His Sharingan hadn't activated—it wouldn't for years yet—but his dark eyes burned with something almost as intense. The great Uchiha prodigy, heir to his clan's legacy, had just been upstaged by the village's loudest failure.
"Lucky shot," Sasuke muttered, but his voice carried an edge that made several classmates step back.
Naruto's grin only widened. "Lucky? Come on, Sasuke! Admit it—that was awesome!" He gestured wildly at the target where his kunai still quivered. "I made them bounce off each other! Even you can't—"
"Enough!" Iruka's voice cut through the tension like a blade. The chunin's usual patience had worn thin, and sweat beaded on his forehead as he stared between his two most problematic students. "Both of you, settle down. Naruto, that was... impressive, but showing off isn't what being a ninja is about."
The words stung more than Naruto expected. His shoulders sagged slightly, but he forced the grin to stay plastered on his face. *Always the lecture. Can't just let me have this one moment, can you?*
"Iruka-sensei's right," Sakura chimed in, shooting Naruto a withering look. "A real ninja doesn't need to make such a big deal about everything. Right, Sasuke-kun?"
But Sasuke wasn't listening to Sakura's attempts at support. His gaze remained locked on Naruto, analytical and cold. Something didn't add up. The dead-last of their class didn't just suddenly develop perfect accuracy and trick shot abilities overnight. And the way Naruto had moved... or hadn't moved. Sasuke's eyes were sharp—sharper than most people gave him credit for—and he'd been watching carefully.
Naruto hadn't moved from his position at all during that throw. Not a single step, not even a lean. Yet somehow, four wildly off-target kunai had collided with each other mid-air and landed perfectly. The trajectory was impossible unless...
"How did you do that?" Sasuke's question was quiet, but it cut through the chattering crowd like a whisper in a library.
Naruto's heart skipped a beat. "Do what? I just threw them really good this time! Sometimes even I get—"
"You didn't move." Sasuke stepped closer, his presence suddenly oppressive despite being the same age as everyone else. "You threw four kunai in completely wrong directions, but you never adjusted your stance. Never compensated. Yet they all hit center after ricocheting off each other."
The training yard fell silent again. Even Iruka was frowning now, replaying the throw in his mind. Choji stopped mid-chew on his chips. Shikamaru, who'd been pretending not to pay attention, lifted his head with genuine interest.
Naruto felt sweat trickling down his back that had nothing to do with the warm afternoon sun. "I... uh... I've been practicing! Yeah! Secret training! You know, waking up super early and—"
"When?" Shikamaru's lazy drawl interrupted. "We live in the same building, Naruto. I've never seen you leave early for training. You can barely wake up on time for class."
*Crap. Crap, crap, crap.* Naruto's mind raced. He'd gotten carried away, shown off too much. The smart kids were starting to ask the right questions, and Sasuke... Sasuke was looking at him like he was a puzzle to be solved.
"Maybe I'm just naturally awesome!" Naruto declared, forcing his voice to stay bright and loud. "Some people got it, some people don't! Believe it!"
"Naturally awesome at what, exactly?" Ino crossed her arms, her analytical mind—often hidden behind her boy-crazy exterior—beginning to work. "You've been dead-last in everything since we started the academy. Kunai throwing, taijutsu, written tests, chakra control..."
"Yeah!" Kiba added, Akamaru yipping in agreement. "Just yesterday you couldn't even make a proper Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto's forced grin was starting to crack at the edges. The weight of a dozen curious, suspicious stares pressed down on him. This was exactly what he'd been afraid of—the weird looks, the questions he couldn't answer without revealing everything.
But then Sasuke did something unexpected. He turned away.
"Whatever," the Uchiha said with practiced indifference. "Luck runs out eventually."
The dismissal was like releasing a held breath for everyone else. Conversations resumed, though many still shot glances at Naruto. Iruka cleared his throat and called for the next activity. The moment passed, but Naruto noticed how Sasuke's eyes kept finding him when he thought no one was looking.
As the class moved inside for the afternoon lecture, Naruto lagged behind, his earlier excitement curdling into anxiety. He'd wanted to show off, to prove he wasn't worthless for once. Instead, he'd nearly exposed the one secret that could change everything.
"Hey, Naruto." Hinata's soft voice made him jump. She was walking beside him, her usual blush coloring her cheeks as she fidgeted with her fingers. "That was... that was really amazing. Your kunai throw."
For a moment, Naruto felt some of his worry ease. Hinata never looked at him with suspicion or mockery—just genuine kindness that he'd never quite understood but always appreciated.
"Thanks, Hinata," he said, and for once his smile was completely real. "That means a lot."
She ducked her head shyly. "I believe you really have been training hard. Sometimes... sometimes people don't see how hard others work."
*If only you knew,* Naruto thought, but her faith in him warmed something in his chest. At least one person believed he might actually be capable of improvement.
As they entered the classroom, Naruto caught Sasuke's eye one more time. The Uchiha's expression was unreadable, but Naruto could practically feel the gears turning behind those dark eyes.
*I need to be more careful,* he realized. *Way more careful. Because if someone like Sasuke figures out what I can really do...*
The thought sent a chill down his spine that had nothing to do with the academy's air conditioning.
The rest of the afternoon crawled by like a wounded slug. Naruto tried to focus on Iruka's lecture about chakra theory, but his mind kept wandering back to that look in Sasuke's eyes. The calculating, suspicious look that said he wasn't going to let this go.
When the final bell rang, Naruto practically leaped from his seat, eager to escape before anyone could corner him with more questions. But as he reached for his bag, a shadow fell across his desk.
"Naruto." Sasuke's voice was flat, but there was something underneath it—a challenge, maybe. Or a threat.
"What's up, Sasuke?" Naruto tried to keep his voice light, casual. Just two classmates having a normal conversation. Nothing weird here.
"That throw." Sasuke's dark eyes never left Naruto's face. "Show me how you did it."
The classroom was emptying out around them, but Naruto could feel curious stares from the kids still packing up. Sakura lingered by the door, clearly hoping for some drama between her precious Sasuke-kun and the class clown.
"I told you, I just got lucky—"
"I don't believe in luck." Sasuke stepped closer, and despite being the same height, somehow made Naruto feel like he was being loomed over. "Especially not luck that precise. Those kunai changed direction mid-flight. Physics doesn't work that way."
*Physics?* Naruto blinked. *Who the hell talks about physics? We're twelve!*
"Maybe you just weren't watching close enough," Naruto shot back, feeling defensive. "I mean, you Uchiha are supposed to have those fancy eyes, right? Maybe yours are defective."
Sasuke's jaw tightened. "My eyes work perfectly fine."
"Then maybe you're just mad that the 'dead-last' showed you up for once." The words came out sharper than Naruto intended, carrying months of built-up frustration. "What are you looking at, Sasuke? Huh? No matter what I do, people always try to put me down. I finally do something awesome and you can't just let me have it, can you?"
The accusation hung in the air between them. Sakura gasped from the doorway, as if Naruto had just blasphemed against her personal deity. A few other kids had stopped to watch, sensing the tension crackling like electricity.
Sasuke's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. For just a moment, Naruto thought he saw... understanding? Recognition?
"You're right," Sasuke said quietly, and Naruto's prepared argument died in his throat. "People do try to put you down. They do it to me too, just... differently."
That wasn't what Naruto had expected to hear. He stared at the Uchiha prodigy—the kid everyone admired, the one all the girls fawned over, the one who seemed to excel at everything without even trying.
"What do you mean?" Naruto found himself asking, genuine curiosity replacing his defensiveness.
Sasuke was quiet for a long moment, his gaze distant. "Everyone expects me to be perfect. To live up to... to what came before. When I succeed, it's just what I'm supposed to do. When I fail..." He trailed off, then refocused on Naruto with laser intensity. "But that throw wasn't about expectations or pressure. That was about technique. And technique can be learned."
"So teach me," Naruto said impulsively. "If you're so sure there's some secret to it."
Sasuke's eyebrows rose slightly. "Teach you?"
"Yeah! You think I'm hiding some awesome ninja technique, right? So figure it out! We can train together!" Naruto's grin was back, but this time it felt different—more genuine, less desperate. "Besides, maybe the great Sasuke Uchiha could learn something from the dead-last."
The suggestion clearly caught Sasuke off-guard. He studied Naruto's face as if trying to solve a particularly complex puzzle. "You want to train... with me?"
"Why not? Unless you're scared I'll show you up again."
It was obvious bait, but Sasuke rose to it anyway. His competitive nature wouldn't let him walk away from a direct challenge, especially not from Naruto.
"Fine," he said curtly. "Tomorrow after class. Training ground seven."
"You got it!" Naruto pumped his fist, then paused. "Wait, why training ground seven?"
"Because it's usually empty. And because..." Sasuke hesitated, then seemed to make a decision. "Because I want to see you do that throw again. Without an audience."
As Sasuke turned to leave, Naruto felt a mix of excitement and terror churning in his stomach. He'd just committed to training with the most observant kid in their class—the one person most likely to figure out his secret. But he'd also just been offered something he'd never had before: a chance to train with someone who took him seriously enough to see him as a potential threat.
"This is either going to be awesome or a complete disaster," he muttered to himself.
"Probably both," came a lazy voice from behind him. Naruto spun to find Shikamaru still sitting at his desk, apparently having dozed off during the confrontation. "You realize he's going to figure out whatever you're hiding, right?"
Naruto's blood ran cold. "I'm not hiding anything!"
"Uh-huh." Shikamaru stretched like a cat and began gathering his things with deliberate slowness. "Look, whatever your deal is, it's too troublesome for me to care about. But Sasuke? He doesn't let things go. Ever."
With that cheerful warning, Shikamaru shuffled out of the classroom, leaving Naruto alone with his racing thoughts and the sinking realization that he might have just made the biggest mistake of his life.
*Training ground seven,* he thought. *Tomorrow. Just me and Sasuke and my big mouth.*
He could already feel time itself holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen when an unstoppable force met an immovable object. Or in this case, when a time-stopping dead-last met a genius who never stopped asking questions.
*This is either going to be the start of something amazing,* Naruto mused as he finally headed for the door, *or the end of everything.*
Naruto spent most of that evening pacing around his tiny apartment, muttering to himself and occasionally stopping to stare at his reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror.
"Okay, so what if he figures it out?" he asked his reflection. "So what if the great Sasuke Uchiha discovers that the dead-last can stop time? It's not like he'd tell anyone, right? Right?"
His reflection offered no helpful answers, just the same worried blue eyes staring back at him.
The problem was, Naruto had no idea what Sasuke would do with that kind of information. The Uchiha was unpredictable in the worst ways—brilliant enough to piece together the truth, proud enough to potentially use it against him, and secretive enough that Naruto couldn't guess his motives.
"Maybe I should just not show up," he muttered, then immediately shook his head. "No way. That'd just make him more suspicious. And besides..." He grinned at his reflection, some of his natural confidence returning. "I said I'd show him up again, didn't I? Can't back down now."
The next morning crawled by even slower than usual. Every time Iruka called on him, Naruto jumped like he'd been caught stealing. Every time Sasuke glanced his way, Naruto felt his palms start sweating. By lunch, he was pretty sure half the class thought he was having some kind of breakdown.
"You're acting weird today," Kiba observed, tossing Akamaru a piece of his sandwich. "Weirder than usual, I mean."
"I'm not acting weird!" Naruto protested, then immediately knocked over his milk carton while gesticulating. "See? Totally normal!"
Shikamaru snorted from his spot under a tree. "Right. And I'm the Hokage."