"This guy…"
Sasuke crossed his arms, his dark eyes reflecting Seimi's figure as complicated emotions flickered in their depths.
Unlike the Hyūga clan, the Uchiha were famed for three things: the Sharingan, Fire Release, and their mastery of shuriken techniques.
Those three alone were enough to dominate a battlefield.
None of these, however, were things Sasuke could yet control. He didn't need to study strange "unorthodox methods" like Hyūga Seimi—he only had to follow the proper path and become a worthy Uchiha.
But right now, he couldn't help following Seimi's line of thinking—those little shortcuts to improvement—for one simple reason.
He wanted praise.
From his father. From his brother.
Just imagining the evening's sparring session, Sasuke could already picture Itachi's shocked expression—and the corners of his mouth began to rise uncontrollably.
He didn't even realize that the cool, aloof image he'd been maintaining all morning was starting to crumble completely.
To Sakura Haruno, however, that tiny smile looked entirely different.
He's smiling at me…!
In truth, it wasn't her fault for misunderstanding. She had paired up with Sasuke under the excuse of "wanting to learn from him," and was now earnestly practicing the spinning back kick in front of him.
That faint smile, in her eyes, was clearly a gesture of approval—a reward for her hard work.
And just like that, Sakura's inner cosmos ignited. She spun sharply, channeling every ounce of energy into her leg, and—
Boom!
Her kick cleaved the training dummy clean in half.
The training ground fell utterly silent.
Every head turned in disbelief toward Sakura, who blinked at the wreckage before her.
"I… did it?" she said, half in awe.
Then, realizing what she'd actually done, she froze. The broken straw dummy at her feet told the whole story.
Her eyes darted toward Sasuke nervously.
He doesn't think I'm some violent maniac now… does he?
But Sasuke, lost in his daydreams of familial approval, hadn't noticed a thing. His faint smile lingered.
"Sasuke?" Sakura called softly.
Her voice snapped him back to reality. He blinked, instantly realizing something was off. Dozens of stares. The shredded dummy. The awkward silence.
His mental CPU went into overdrive—analyzing, recalculating, improvising.
Finally, his eyes landed on the broken dummy.
With both hands in his pockets, he looked up impassively, his voice cool and measured beneath the sway of his bangs.
"…Not bad."
He praised me!
Inside, Sakura's heart exploded like a fireworks show, while Sasuke—still facing away—quietly turned to the nearest tree.
Damn it… that was so embarrassing!
After class, Naruto walked home alone.
Pushing open the door to his empty apartment, he called out by habit, "I'm home!"
As always, there was no reply—
Until, unexpectedly, a warm voice answered,
"Welcome back, Naruto."
Naruto froze mid-step. "S-Third Grandpa?!"
Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, he darted over to where the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat waiting with a gentle smile.
Hiruzen's gaze fell on the cup of instant ramen in Naruto's hand. He reached out, patting the boy's spiky head.
"Is this your dinner again?"
Naruto tried to hide the ramen behind his back, grinning sheepishly. "Hehe~ yeah, but I can totally fill up on this!"
Hiruzen chuckled softly, taking the ramen from his hands and setting it aside.
"You're still growing, Naruto. You need real food."
He took Naruto by the hand and led him outside.
With the Hokage accompanying him, no one dared mutter "demon fox." The shopkeepers who normally turned him away suddenly became… unusually friendly.
Back home, Naruto's eyes sparkled as he watched the Hokage prepare a freshly bought fish—its scales glistening under the light.
As Hiruzen cooked, Naruto chattered endlessly beside him, recounting everything that had happened at the academy that day.
By the time dinner was served, he was still talking.
"Looks like you've made some friends, Naruto," Hiruzen said warmly.
Naruto nodded vigorously, his grin wide and bright.
"Yeah! Seimi, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji—they're all really nice! And Sasuke too! He always acts all cold, but I can tell he's actually really kind inside!"
Hiruzen smiled and ladled rice into Naruto's bowl, quietly noting each name in his mind. "They sound like wonderful kids."
Then Naruto suddenly perked up, remembering something.
"Hey, Grandpa Third—what's the name of the Fourth Hokage?"
The old man's expression shifted slightly, the warmth in his eyes narrowing to a sharp edge.
Someone's been talking too much…?
He smiled as usual, but a flicker of killing intent passed beneath the surface.
"Why do you ask, Naruto?"
Naruto tapped his chin with his chopsticks, thinking hard.
As the boy hesitated, Hiruzen's suspicion deepened. Danzo… this better not be your doing.
Finally, Naruto burst out laughing. "Because Seimi said you were the Perverted Hokage when you were young!"
"...Eh?"
For a moment, Hiruzen's brain froze.
Naruto continued earnestly, oblivious to the tension.
"People in the village always call me 'the fox demon.' But you, Grandpa Third—you told me to work hard and earn everyone's approval, to change how they see me."
"But today Seimi said—if people think of the Nine-Tails whenever they hear my name, doesn't that kinda make the Nine-Tails my thing?"
Hiruzen blinked, processing. It was an oddly profound statement for a child—but not enough to reveal what kind of person this Seimi really was.
Naruto went on, scratching his head. "At first I thought, who'd want such a lame thing as their 'special trait'? But then Seimi gave examples!"
He started counting on his fingers.
"Like—First Hokage loved gambling, and always lost! Second Hokage liked researching weird jutsu! And Grandpa Third peeked at the women's bathhouse when he was young!"
Hiruzen's hand froze mid-air, his smile becoming slightly strained.
"Seimi said if someone loves gambling, that sounds bad. But if that someone's the First Hokage, it just makes him seem more real! Like, a legend you can actually relate to!"
Naruto tilted his head. "Grandpa Third, what does 'relatable' mean?"
Hiruzen stroked his beard and chuckled. "It means… when someone important lowers himself to mingle with ordinary people. It makes him feel approachable—human."
"Oh! That's totally you, Grandpa Third!" Naruto said cheerfully. "You always say hi to everyone on the street!"
The old Hokage's smile widened proudly.
Then Naruto's grin turned mischievous. "So peeking at the bathhouse counts as being relatable too, right?"
The hand on Hiruzen's beard stiffened. He forced a smile and quickly changed the subject.
"Ahaha… let's, uh, talk about the Fourth Hokage instead, shall we?"
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